There are several issues that clearly define and differentiate where I stand and what I believe in versus my two opponents. I've found that my stances on Health Care Reform, the future of Social Security, understanding the economic problems in the 5th district and, most importantly, fiscal responsibility by the federal government separate me from my two opponents. Read More »
With the recent taxpayer funded bailout of $35 billion to Bear Stearns Bank, it's the least the Democrats and the rest of our government leaders could do for the average American is making this outrageous interest on credit cards deducitble for individuals.
While both are to blame (consumers and lenders) for the easy credit they extended, the ones appearing to benefit are the creditors and not the consumers.
The creditors can charge upwards of 30% interest on credit cards. These creditors stand on campus while 18 year old freshmen are wondering around with little to no money in their pockets. They give them a t-shirt and a credit card with a small $500 limit. By the time the average student graduates they will have over $20,000 of credit extended to them, in addition to the student loans.
Think about it. Would you lend someone who made $1,000 a year $10,000? If you did, and they did not pay, you would be a fool. However, creditors do the exact same thing and then it takes the average person, especially college graduates, forever to pay off these debts.
But the problem is deeper than just giving credit to easy prey. It starts with education. Schools teach students English, Math, Science, History, Social Studies, even Home Economics, in some cases, but they fail to teach Basic Finance. Something that we all use every single day.
We need to start making this a part of the curriculum for every single student at a young age (elementary school), so we may educate our youth and future about the dangers of credit cards. Moreso, we need to take a stance against creditors who lend credit to those who should not have it.
What is done is done, however, our Democratic Leaders, should be working for the people in making this a top priority (demanding we allow credit card interest as a deduction on personal tax returns). This would allow for the consumer who was put into debt to climb out of it faster and to be able to spend their money and save their money on the American Dream items we have been told if we work hard enough for we will get: a home, financial security and everything else that comes with working towards the American Dream.
Please write your Senators, Congressmen and Congresswomen and demand they start to take this issue seriously and it's an issue the Democratic platform must address for the future of our country.
It is well known that business's and entire industries are able to donate enormous sums of money to support the candidate they feel will represent their interests above the interests of the public. When this happens, the government no longer acts on the behalf of the nation, but rather, acts in the best interests of business. Purchased influence has inverted our democracy in favor of business many times throughout history. Read More »
Reform the super-delegate system so that the people, not the party establishment, choose their candidate
I realize that this has been discussed before, but since the situation still exists, I think that it OK to bring the topic up again.
An article that appeared in THE NATION titled The Tyranny of Super-Delegates
by Katrina vanden Heuvel explains the issue of super delegates and how they influence the choice of candidates.
One thing to remember about the delegates who are currently listed for the candidates is that some of that count that represents “super delegates” are not cast in stone. This makes the Democratic nomination much more fluid.
Regardless their claims of commitment to a candidate, They may vote for whomever they wish, for any reason, and may change their minds at will at anytime throughout the primary process. Just because they say today that they are committed, does not mean that they have to honor that commitment. They can switch their votes at any time up to and through the convention in August. So the total number of delegates committed to Hillary or to any candidates could change drastically according to many influences in between now and August.
Here is an explanation from vanden Huevel’s article
Read More »We are going to hear,
"We can't be like Canada... they wait too long for service."
Answer: There are some who have nothing at all, we need a basic Universal Health Care Coverage for All.
"What if I want to pay private insurance to cover things the basic coverage doesn't"
Answer: You Can. Medicare Recipients have Supplemental Insurance Now, and it is a reasonable price. The program as it is now is not very well designed, because you have to be very poor to get Medicaid, and those who don't want to impoverish themselves sometimes cannot afford the copays, or supplemental insurance.
"How will the economy survive losing the Health Insurer Sector?"
Answer: Properly engineered, the Health Insurers will be allowed other types of insurance that will provide an income for them. Many of those jobs will fit well into the new system, as it will not be totally fraud-proof.
"Where will the savings be?"
Answer: Many savings have come up in the blogs on this site, One of the major agreements is savings by standardized paperwork. My newspaper today carried an article that discusses how to make health care universal and cheaper. Here is the link:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-na-costs18dec18,1,1862752.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
We can also save tons of money to medicare/medicaid by involving families in the care of their elders, instead of warehousing. It is a program in great need of revamping along with plenty of input from the people.
We need to be a caring community, locally, statewide and nationally... RELIEF is the watchword. RELIEF must be the action, and RELIEF will be the Peace we seek.
CQ TODAY
Dec. 7, 2007 â€" 1:00 p.m.
California Electoral Initiative Dead â€" At Least for Now
By Rachel Kapochunas, CQ Staff
The initiative to allocate California’s presidential electoral votes by congressional district instead of by a state “winner take all” approach appears to be over. After months of Democratic efforts to kill it, Republican supporters announced that their attempts to place the initiative on the June 3 ballot were unsuccessful.
Multiple news sources reported Friday morning that Dave Gilliard, campaign manager for California Counts, the group spearheading the initiative signature-gathering effort, indicated that time ran out for the group to submit the required signatures.
The group had been aiming to submit 650,000 to 700,000 signatures by the end of November...
Link
Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL
""Obama on Ethics and Lobbying Reform""
Throughout his political career, Barack Obama has fought for open and honest government. As an Illinois State Senator, he helped pass the state’s first major ethics reform bill in 25 years. And as a U.S. Senator, he has spearheaded the effort to clean up Washington in the wake of numerous scandals. In the first two weeks of the 110th Congress, Senator Obama helped lead the Senate to pass the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, a comprehensive ethics and lobbying reform bill, by a 96-2 vote. This landmark bill was signed into law by the President in September 2007.
PART OF ARTICLE INCLUDED
""Alone among the U.S. Presidential candidates"", Barack Obama is confronting the question of how to produce more accountable and effective politics in our democracy. His just-released Tech Plan (Download Obama Tech Plan) uniquely understands that the time, expertise and enthusiasm that ordinary people invest in making Wikipedia better, for example, can be transformed into practices to make government work better and more accountably. So he doesn't just call for making information more transparent to citizens; he wants to hear what we have to say and enable us to participate. The Plan calls for citizen engagement in the work of federal agencies and demonstrates respect for the intelligence and expertise of the American people. He calls for opening up the closed practices of government and using new technology to enable genuine citizen participation and engagement in our democracy. This is a major and unprecedented step. No other candidate “gets it.” They pay lip service to transparency. He proposes making government data available online as well as ensuring that agencies do their work in public. They talk about citizen congresses that would deliberate in quaint town hall meetings having nothing to do with real world politics or power. He proposes engaging citizens in the actual and ongoing work and decision-making of government -- not Americans talking to elected officials but Americans genuinely participating. They talk about technology and innovation. He offers a comprehensive broadband strategy, commitment to media diversity, and a proposal to improve patent quality, including the practice of rigorous, public peer review like Peer-to-Patent. They talk about strong IP. He balances his support of strong IP with recognition of the need to promote collaboration and innovation. I am excited about Obama’s Tech Plan. In fact, it should be called the “Democracy Plan.”
He alone does what a President should do, namely articulate a vision for democracy in the digital age.
CLICK LINK TO SEE WHAT He wants to DO: Link
Read More »For all my time in the public education system - and I was in about a score of them in three different states - none of them did a very good job. I attended schools in Madison, Wisconsin, supposedly among the best Public Schools in the nation; an inner city school in Dayton, Ohio; and a small town school in North Carolina. There were short periods in my life when I was home-schooled, educated in suspension, and even educated in a psychiatric hospital. I have experienced most aspects of our education system, from the mainstream to the alternative, and as one might gather from reading that lengthy list, it wasn't a smooth sea to sail. Read More »
The House has brought back its 2006 ethics reform package that was killed by the Republican Leadership in that year. Democratic leadership recognizes that ethics reform and the issue of corruption are front and center as to why they won back the House and Senate in November of that year. Following is a short list of the most recent government officials to be indicted, convicted, placed under investigation, or resigned under a cloud of corruption...
Lewis “Scooter” Libby was sentenced to 2 ½ years for lying and obstruction of Justice in the “Treason-Gate Scandal,” that exposed the identity of one of the CIA’s covert spies. Libby’s sentence was commuted by President Bush. By commuting rather than pardoning Libby, Bush has allowed Libby to avoid testimony before Congress for the remainder of his term, thus stopping the Peter Fitzgerald led investigation from exposing Vice President Dick Cheney’s role in the scandal.
Randall Tobias, a 69 year old, married grandfather and head of the Bush administration's foreign aid programs, who was en-charged with anti-prostitution efforts, has abruptly resigned after his name surfaced in an investigation into the “Washington DC Madam Scandal.”
Senator David Vitter ®-LA the “family values conservative” admitted, after he was exposed, that he had frequented the “Pamela Martin Escort Service,” in the infamous “Washington DC Madam Scandal.” Days later, according to the Madam at the equally infamous New Orleans “Canal Street Brothel,” Vitter was identified as a steady customer. She stated that Vitter "wasn't a freak or anything and didn't do drugs." It is good to know that the Senator has some redeeming qualities.
Bob Allen ®-FL The “family values Republican” state Representative was arrested on July 10th, 2007 for soliciting sex for pay from an undercover male police officer in Veterans Memorial Park in Titusville, FL. Allen, married and father to a young daughter has authored numerous bills relating to sexual crimes and misconduct.
Glen Murphy Jr. For the second time in 9 years charges of forced/unwanted sexual acts were filed against Glen Murphy Jr., president of Young Republican National Federation and Chairman of Indiana's Clark County Republican Party. A 22 year old man claimed that on July 31, 2007, Murphy attempted to perform a sex act on him while he was asleep. A similar charge was filed against Murphy by a 21 year old man in 1998.
Michael A. Flory The former chairman of a Michigan Young Republican Federation has pled guilty and faces 1 to 5 years in prison or probation and will be registered as a sex predator for sexual battery against a young woman committed while Flory was attending a Young Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
Rep. Mark Foley ®-FL Congressman McCreepy, resigned in disgrace after it was revealed that he had engaged in predatory practices against young male Congressional aides. The scandal and lack of oversight by the then Republican leadership played a leading role in the Democratic tidal wave in November of 2006.
Gov Jim Gibbons ®-NV helped secure federal contracts for business associates while a member of the House. Gibbons is now reportedly under FBI investigation for fraud. Bernie Kerik, a Rudy Giulliani recommended, Bush nominee to head the "Homeland Security Agency," is facing several felony charges including income tax evasion and conspiracy to wiretap.
J. Steven Griles Former Deputy Secretary of Interior pled guilty to obstruction of justice in a Senate committee's investigation, becoming the highest-ranking Bush administration official convicted in the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal.
Italia Federici pled guilty on 6/9/2007 to charges of lying, fraud, and income tax evasion in the Jack Abramoff scandal. The Republican head of an environmental advocacy group admitted a romantic relationship with J. Steven Griles and was linked to Gale Norton, Interior Department Secretary and Republican activist Grover Norquist. She is the 12th Republican to be convicted in the Abramoff sleaze-fest.
Jared Carpenter, a Republican Environmental activist (an oxymoron if ever there was one), connected to convicted felons Italia Federici, and J. Steven Griles, former Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton and uber conservative Grover Norquist, has pled guilty to fraud and tax evasion. Carpenter faces 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and over $71,000 in back taxes. Carpenter becomes the 13th (all Republican) person to be convicted in the Jack Abramoff K Street Scandal.
David Safavian, Chief of Staff for the General Services Administration under President Bush, was sent to prison for lying and obstruction of justice in the Jack Abramoff Scandal.
Mark Zarchares, former aide to Don Young ® AK has pled guilty and is co-operating with authorities in the ongoing Jack Abramoff scandal.
Lurita Doan, General Services Administrator, according to The Office of Special Counsel, in a letter to President Bush released 6/12/2007, engaged in "the most pernicious of political activity" banned by the 1939 Hatch Act when she asked, at a meeting of General Services Administration political appointees, how they could help Republican candidates.
Senator Peter Domenici ®-NM and Representative Heather Wilson, ®-NM, are under investigation for attempting to influence Federal Prosecutor David Iglasias.
Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, is under investigation by Congress and his own Justice Department for his role in the firing of 9 Federal prosecutors.
Michael Battle, the director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, caught up in the “Gonzales 9 Scandal,” resigned on March 16, 2007.
Kyle Sampson, Chief of staff to Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, Sampson resigned over his role in the political hatchet job that fired 9 Federal Prosecutors.
Tim Griffin, chief aide to Karl Rove, resigned 12 hours after John Conyers’ (D) MI, request for BBC documents and e-mails mistakenly sent by Karl Rove to reporter Greg Palast. These e-mails detailed Republican “caging” of Democratic voters.
Monica Goodling, a Justice Department official, resigned, pled the fifth, and then under immunity admitted she had “crossed the line,” in hiring practices at the US Dept. of Justice.
Paul McNulty, a senior Justice Dept. Official has become the 4th official to cut and run from the swamp of lies surrounding the "Gonzales 9 Scandal.”
Michael Elston, Chief of Staff. To Deputy Attorney General, Paul McNulty, resigned on 6/15/2007, becoming the 5th senior level Justice Dept. official to cut and run from the "Gonzales 9 Scandal." Elston was accused of threatening a number of the dismissed Federal Prosecutors in an attempt to silence them.
Bill Mercer, the number 3 man at the Dept. of Justice, became the 6th person to cut and run just days before he faced further questions about his role in the "Gonzales 9," scandal. One of the Bushwhacked prosecutors, Daniel Bogden of Nevada stated that Mercer told him the prosecutors were being fired to make way for Republicans so that they might be eventually positioned to stack the Federal Judicial system.
Scott J. Bloch of the White House Special Counsel, who has announced he is opening an investigation into Karl Rove's political machinations in the "Gonzales 9" scandal is himself under investigation for a number of charges, including purging a Washington office to fill it with people that agree with his political views. Sound familiar?
Ted Stevens ®-AK, the in-famously grumpy, poster boy for unhinged right-wing lunacy, has been linked to a corruption probe that has resulted in the indictment of 3 Republican Alaskan State legislators. Steven's involvement revolves around the recent +$100, 00.00 remodeling of his home. Rep. Victor Kohring of Wasilla, and former state Reps. Pete Kott of Eagle River and Bruce Weyhrauch of Juneau, were arrested but deny wrongdoing. Kohring was charged with extortion, attempted extortion, bribery and conspiracy, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Friday. Kott and Weyhrauch each entered their pleas to four counts, including conspiracy to commit extortion, extortion, bribery and fraud. If convicted of all charges, each of the men could face up to 55 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
Don Young ®-AK The FBI has started an investigation into bribery charges against Representative Young in the scandal linked to Senator Stevens.
Reps. John Doolittle(R) CA, and Rick Renzi ®-AZ, disclosed that the FBI raided their homes and business’ belonging to their wives.
Rep. Ken Calvert ®-CA, had his financial disclosure forms seized by the FBI.
Rep. Gary G. Miller ®-CA, is under investigation by the FBI for a series of suspicious land deals.
Rep. Jerry Lewis ®-CA and Rep Tim Murphy ®-Pa are both under investigation for using taxpayer-funded congressional staff and resources to do political work.
Rep. Randal "Duke" Cunningham ®-CA, and Robert Ney ®-OH, are settling into their new digs in the Federal Penal System. Both were convicted of accepting bribes.
Tom Delay ®-TX resigned in disgrace and is under indictment for numerous charges of corruption, criminal malfeasance and misconduct.
Johnnie Frazier, of the Inspector Generals Office, is under three separate investigations, including misappropriation of government monies, destruction/alteration of official documents, firing of whistle blowers in his office, and the awarding of a no-bid $150,000 contract to a person connected to his staff.
Michael Aaron Lay, a field coordinator in Congressman Patrick McHenry’s (R-NC) 2004 campaign has been indicted for voter fraud in North Carolina.
Julie McDonald cut and run a week before a House Committee investigating her activities as a Deputy Assistant for Fish, Wildlife and Parks began. Among allegations against McDonald, who had no educational or professional history in her field before her appointment, are that she is accused of pressuring scientists to alter their findings, violating the Endangered Species Act, and mistreating her staff. Her tenure has been characterized as, "a reign of terror," and "a betrayal of mission."
Below is an excellent resource to follow the rotten trail of Congressional crooks and charlatans under investigation, indicted or convicted of crimes. Ten former members of the 109th Congress, the aptly named Doolittle & Delay Congress, all Republicans, are featured along with 12 current members. Of the 12 current members, 8 are Republicans. The remaining four, Bob Menendez (D) NJ, had the charges involved cleared by the Ethics Committee in advance. Allan Mollohan (D) WV, resigned his seat on the House Ethics Committee and William Jefferson (D) LA, has been removed from his committee assignments by Nancy Pelosi until investigations are complete. This stands in stark contrast to the attempts of the 109th Congress to change the rules and squash the investigations into the now indicted and disgraced Tom Delay. On 6/6/07 the House voted 387 to 10 to bring within 30 days of an indictment of a sitting Representative, a House investigation of that individual. Immediately afterward the House voted 373 to 26 to begin an investigation of recently indicted William Jefferson (D) LA, indicating a willingness on the Democratic Leadership to pursue reform even when one of their own members has his head on the chopping block of justice. And in what may the most important sign of all, Nancy Pelosi is supporting efforts to allow ANYONE to bring ethics complaints against members of Congress. Currently only fellow members of Congress can file ethics charges against their colleagues. Having the fox guard the henhouse is always a bad idea. Speaker Pelosi is determined to end the insanity.
Resource link: Link
Written by mike kohr 8/10/2007
Right now, right this very minute, we, the people of the United States of America, need honesty.
We need a president that is true to public service, not in it for the money. Each one of you, the presidential candidates, have done it. Each one of you has spoken of this in private, or whispered about it to your closest friend. But it appears that Greed has taken control. Read More »
Johnathan Alter writes in a web article destined for the August 13, 2007 issue of Newsweek magazine.
"a clever lawyer for the state [of California] Republican Party thought of a gimmicky shortcut. Thomas Hiltachk, who specializes in ballot referenda that try to fool people in the titles and fine print, is sponsoring a ballot initiative for the June 3, 2008, California primary (which now falls four months after the state's presidential primary). The Presidential Election Reform Act would award the state's electoral votes based on who wins each congressional district. Had this idea been in effect in 2004, Bush would have won 22 electoral votes from California, about the same number awarded the winners of states like Illinois or Pennsylvania."
Link
Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL
Universal Health Care means no, nada, zilch, end of, hit the road, you are history, zero private insurance companies permitted to sell coverage for health care that a national program would cover. Anything less will serve only to undermine the public program and, in fact, expand (i.e. make wealthier) the private industry. The scenario will be that healthy people get "cherry-picked" by the insurance companies while the sick or pre-existing condition risks are left to the public program, which becomes overburdened and fails. In fact, that is kind of what is happening now, and we all pay for it big-time. Here is a Link to a list of (truthful) FAQ regarding the issue - problem and solution.
We can look at support (or not support) of H.R. 676 (Link) as the litmus test for candidates who will likely follow through with true universal health care. If you are not familiar with H.R. 676 "The United States National Health Insurance Act" please follow the link and check it out. (Talk about it, please support it!) Now as far as I've learned from our candidates, only Kucinich supports this bill. Is this correct? If so, it's troubling and should be addressed. If anyone knows differently, please let me know.
Eighteen thousand Americans dying each year directly due to lack of health insurance (and hence, lack of life-saving care) is too much for us as a country to continue to tolerate, especially now that more and more of us are learning that it doesn't have to be that way. We can follow examples being set all around the world by other industrialized nations and care for each other, regardless of class or condition. It's important that each of us know that there is enough, more than enough, of everything (including money) to provide all Americans with health care. If you wonder about this, please visit this Link for one place of information. There are many more, and more like them all the time.
The time is now! True Universal Health Care here in America. It is within our grasp, if we will grasp it.
Thanks for reading. Go Dems!!!
HOUSE DEMOCRATS BRING BACK 2006 REFORM PACKAGE
The House has brought back its 2006 ethics reform package that was killed by the Republican Leadership in that year. Democratic leadership recognizes that ethics reform and the issue of corruption are front and center as to why they won back the House and Senate in November of that year. Following is a short list of the most recent government officials to be indicted, convicted, placed under investigation, or resigned under a cloud.
Lewis “Scooter” Libby was sentenced to 2 ½ years for lying and obstruction of Justice in the “Treason-Gate Scandal,” that exposed the identity of one of the CIA’s covert spies. It is believed Libby’s lying stopped the Peter Fitzgerald led investigation from exposing Vice President Dick Cheney’s role in the scandal.
Randall Tobias, a 69 year old, married grandfather and head of the Bush administration's foreign aid programs, who was en-charged with anti-prostitution efforts has abruptly resigned after his name surfaced in an investigation into a high-priced call-girl ring.
Read More »This is the kind of leadership that bothers me. Why is the DNC wasting its time on such issues? I think ABC should have the right to air whatever they like. It's called Freedom of Speech. Should I blindly follow the DNC's request to petition a program without having seen it? I don't think I should. How can I oppose something that I haven't even seen? Wouldn't we have a greater affect if we all watched the show and then protested in outrage?
This seems to be another case of "us against them". Let's put this mentality behind us and help bring this country back together.
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