Sometimes I get so confused when I hear Republican Lawmakers' and Right Wing pundits’ accusations that the President is “ignoring” them; health care reform discussions were “not transparent” or that Democrats are “not bi-partisan”. I could have sworn that I saw Republican Lawmakers ON C-Span DEBATING health care reform in the “transparent” halls of Congress stating that health reform was all about “killing old people” and a “communist takeover”. I was further confused when I read provisions in the Senate’s health care reform bill that included numerous Republican Lawmaker “ideas” including- but not limited to- tort reform and NO public option!
Now, I realize that I was confused because Republican Lawmakers and Right Wing pundits speak a SECRET form of the English language that only they and their TEA’d-Off spokespersons understand! Here are a few definitions from the TEA’d-Off Secret Dictionary:
“ignored “ To use 40 to 80 percent of MY ideas instead of 100 percent of MY ideas.
“transparency” Where I wasn’t where you saw me saying what I didn’t say.
“bi-partisan” It’s MY way or take the highway!
If you have additional or better TEA’d-Off Secret Dictionary definitions, feel free to add to the list and pass it on!
When Massachusetts voters and SARAH PALIN’S RIGHT WING TEA PARTY PALS put Brown in the Senate, Republican Lawmakers got what they wanted – a filibuster majority! They, also, got something they didn’t expect – a NEW target for the “governance” blame game- themselves! Here’s why…
Because of the legislative process, a Republican “Filibuster Majority” carries the power to STOP Congressional legislation dead in its tracks, no matter how many Democrats or Independents remain in the Senate OR the House! Republican Senators, successfully, BLOCKED the President’s and House of Representatives’ legislative proposals for job recovery, corporate finance reform, tax cuts for the middle class, tax cuts for small businesses, health care reform, AND they placed our nation at risk by, successfully, blocking the appointment of an EXTREMELY QUALIFIED Homeland Security Director for nearly a year!
Let’s see what Republican Lawmakers do with their new found filibuster power? Will they CONTINUE to promote the “just say no” interests of Sarah Palin’s Right Wing Tea Party Pals, or will they BEGIN to save a nation? The choice is in THEIR hands. IF THEY ABUSE IT, USE IT!
Spread the word!
Hello again !!!
There is a trillion dollar national debt in our country , mostly a result of the failed policies
of the Bush administration , and new budget deficits keep occuring .
A good way to take care of this problem is to have sufficient money coming in to the
budget from taxation or to spend less and cut the budget somewhere .
My recommendation is to repeal the tax cut for Americas wealthy once and for all .
President Obama could even take it a step further and do what so many European countries
do : tax the upper class and the wealthiest more than the middle class !!
A M E N
Against my earlier notion - not to post any further articles here - I am overcome with madness and sorrow when I read the new article about sheer wickedness of servicemen and those in charge of AbuGhraib prison.
We all know now that our new president is a puppet, simply an illusion to Americans and world citizens alike. He has deceived all of us.
The worst part - he has not gone after the thugs responsible for the worst crimes against humanity since the second world war. Those who were in charge of OP in Iraq at the time are now repeating the same atrocities in Afghanistan http://bit.ly/94TYZ bit.ly/94TYlz (link insert des not work )
Gen. Mc Crystal was the henchman in Iraq, just as he is now in Afghanistan. http://bit.ly/boJMhf bit.ly/boJMhf .
Why in the world - if he won't be scared to step on some people's toes - can't he take on these thugs who were responsible for the greatest misery inflicted on innocent people in AbuGhraib ?
Or is it that his mentors have left him no chance but to act in the same role as Condoleeza Rice once did, betraying Millions of Black Americans in order to serve their white Masters ?
Mr. Obama you are on the verge of becoming a joke of the person you predicted you would be. There is nothing that inspires us anymore. You should resign and tell the whole world why you could not do what you ought to do.
For those who suffered in AbuGhraib and other places, including the innocent lives of U.S. servicemen you and your predecessor shed. For the grieving mothers, in Iraq, the U.S., U.K. and in Afghanistan, you ought to judge yourself now.
May those who suffered in ABUGHRAIB get their justice, Mr Obama.
You will be judged by different authority, just as George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfield, and Condoleeza Rice shall be judged.
Disappointed
sources : http://bit.ly/boJMhf
It was striking. President Obama spoke at Washington’s annual Prayer Breakfast and I had no expectations other than hearing what one would expect at such a function, a speech peppered with issues of faith.
But instead, I heard President Obama reaching out a hand of civility to find the hearts of even his harshest critics. I heard President Obama trying to once again, find common ground, trying to get all people to work together on the pressing problems of our world and to put aside the partisanship, the gamesmanship and the hatred because helping our fellow man is simply a higher calling.
President Obama is a remarkable man. Some question why I support him, they say he’s against the interests of businesses I work for that his policy about this or that is bad or ineffective or whatever. What I always say is that I can’t and most ordinary citizens can’t truly understand the complexity of the issues a President is dealing with and therefore my opinions are just merely that, opinions. Hard facts are hard for me to come by and therefore what I know for sure is that I know very little.
But one thing I do intuitively know, President Obama is a good, honest, well-meaning man whose vision and intelligence will help our world when our world so desperately needs help. We are at a precipice of immense proportions in this world with evils that can wipe humanity off the face of our planet; problems so grave that I wonder if my children will see their future at all.
That’s why I support President Obama. Because I know that during a crisis we need a person at the helm of his honesty, compassion, vision and intelligence.
If you’re not convinced, watch this speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHwEmWVp6i8
And read this speech
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog_post/this_is_my_prayer/
We think the American P-E-O-P-L-E will POPLUV THE PAYGO!
By WallStreet BullMonster and MainStreet BearMauler
Is this a “strong dollar” administration with a substantive public action policy? Can the administration enable the creation of new ways - transformative concepts and the resolve to implement ideas from the new Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the U.S. Commerce Department?
Since November 2009, so far, the monetary function and financial mechanism for the U.S. economy is called POPLUV THE PAYGO. By Proclamation and executive order, and soon Statutory PAYGO Legislation [Enforcement].
Look at this...Why the Supreme Court campaign finance decision is terrifying
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/01292010/watch.html
If you were not able to view the President’s responses at the Republican Retreat Question and Answer Session on Friday, you HAVE GOT to watch the UNEDITED replays. It was a REAL eye-opener. One of the measures of how well the President performed was that FOX News was the ONLY news network that BROKE AWAY from its UNEDITED coverage of the event from the moment that the President’s responses, also, exposed THEIR falsehoods and misleading talking points. By the way, in the language of ‘FOX NEWS-SPEAK’, does the FOX News network’s “plot” to break-off unedited coverage of the President’s responses constitute a “communist takeover” by the Right Wing media? I’m sorry. I digress. Let’s continue.
During the Q& A session, Republican Lawmakers peppered the President with sarcastic, speech(ified) questions, but the President exposed their sarcastically-delivered remarks in a calm, fearless, deliberate and extremely knowledgeable manner. He ticked off FACTS and figures like an Internet search engine setting the record straight on falsehoods ranging from “non-coverage” of health care reform discussions on C Span and “ignoring” Republican health care reform ideas to falsehoods about “wasteful spending” and “lobbyists” in his administration.
For me, the MOST REVEALING part of the whole experience was that the President’s responses were based on FACTUAL information that Republican Lawmakers ALREADY knew to be true! Here are THREE EXAMPLES: (1) The lion’s share of Stimulus monies DID NOT go to the banks, it went to tax cuts for families and businesses, unemployment insurance and COBRA, the alternative minimum tax, and state infrastructure projects at which REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS were photographed attending “ribbon cutting” ceremonies; (2) the Republican budget that the President supposedly “ignored” HAD NO NUMBERS in it, and (3) the REPUBLICAN-calculated deficit that the President, supposedly, “created” INCLUDES the long-term 8 trillion dollar deficit passed on by the previous Republican-dominated administration AND Congress. The President’s ACTUAL portion of the CURRENT deficit amounts to 1.2 trillion dollars!
Watching the President expose the falsehoods and misleading talking points of Republican Lawmakers, Conservative pundits, Tea Party spokespersons, AND the Right Wing media was EXTREMELY refreshing! The President proved that his ‘mojo’ is alive and kicking!
Yes WE Can!
American Dynamics of free enterprise system can work if the middle class remains strong.
American dream may be perpetual if the social mobility of the middle class is active in American size.
The thrust in the State can be regenerated if the federal equality and fairness is available.
Therefore it is necessary to lift up the standards of the middle class.
The Morning Calm
By
James Strauss
Acid-laced coffee. Tawdry imitation 60’s décor. Indian music drifting down from worn out ceiling speakers. The Route Sixty-Six diner, ironically located on 56th Street. New York.
Wayne stared out through the long expanse of windows fronting the busy street. In spite of a punishing wind and beating rain, people flowed back and forth by the window in amazing numbers. He was the restaurant’s sole customer. ‘Late lunch,’ his new acquaintance had suggested, hours earlier.
The opening of an alley directly across the street attracted his eye. The alley was unusual, from what Wayne had seen so far in New York, in that it extended only half way through the block, and ended in a brick wall. Also, it appeared clean, well lit, devoid of the usual collection of crumpled trash cans. A small white sign with black lettering was placed high up near where the walls met the sidewalk. It read simply, ‘Korea.’ Just beneath were letters hand-done in red paint; ‘Alley of the Morning Calm.’ Tiny Christmas Tree lights ran row upon row up and down along the bricks, twinkling brightly in the rain. A single business had been built into the wall at the end of the alley. A blue awning stretched across it’s top. In a window next to the door a malfunctioning neon sign occasionally blinked “Izumi Maru,” right above a crossed knife and fork.
Wayne smiled to himself, his face remaining expressionless. Korea, translated roughly from the language, did mean ‘ land of the morning calm,’ and Izumi Maru, in Japanese, was close to ‘fountain of life.’ There was a warm serenity to the entire scene, only slightly diminished by pounding rain. He drank some of the bad coffee. A young make-believe American kid tried to offer a warm up. The boy’s coloration and accent indicated Filipino heritage.
“Nothing more yet,” Wayne told him.
The server began to walk away.
“By the way,” Wayne inquired, stopping him. “What’s down that alley, across the street?”
The kid’s gaze followed Wayne’s.
“Jappo restaurant. Run by Korean. Koreans hate Jappo’s. Serve poison fish. Jappo’s eat, get crazy, but always come back.”
“Puffer fish,” Wayne said, not looking at the server’s departing back, instead his eyes fastened on the uncommon street scene before him. Puffer fish were filled with a neurotoxin that was among the most poisonous in the world. The flesh of the fish was prepared at restaurants all over Korea, however. In Seoul, the places were required by law to post a sign indicating the number of people who’d died from consuming the poison during the year before. The most popular restaurants were those that posted the largest numbers. Wayne had never eaten the delicacy, but he’d known many Korean’s who had. When prepared properly by a master chef, the Puffer meal gave it’s gourmet consumer a ‘high’ much more intense than cocaine, and one that lasted far longer. Most of the world outlawed such restaurants, including the United States.
Wayne wondered whether the kid was right. It seemed unlikely that some rogue Japanese restaurant was serving the illegal meals in the middle of a place as heavily policed as New York City.
“Korean Yakusa,” the kid said from behind him. Wayne lowered his right shoulder, then leaned back, twisting his head to face the boy. He didn’t like people approaching him from behind. The Filipino server walked past, however, to stand facing the broad expanse of clear glass. The rain was abating with the wind, but everything outside remained shiny and cleaner looking. A group of young men had appeared from nowhere, taking up residence half-way down the abbreviated alley, crouching, bending over and motioning to one another with weird hand signs.
“Fake phony cowards, they are…fake cowards they are…” hissed his server, like he was repeating a line from a twisted Dr. Seuss story.
“Yakusa is the name used for Japanese mafia, not Korean gangs,” Wayne corrected him.
A homeless man passed the alley opening. He wore a tattered and torn version of Wayne’s own outfit. Irish tweed coat with worn blue jeans. Wayne noted the similarity, and then shifted uncomfortably.
There was no retirement plan for hit men. No Social Security. No Medicare. It was a lonely business, without any social support network, and it didn’t pay anything near what people had come to believe it paid from movies and television. Wayne had a few dollars invested and a solid chunk in his checking account, but every once and awhile he worried about what might happen in his later years.
The street person pushed a shopping cart piled high with unidentifiable junk, the outside of his cart festooned with plastic bags tied all around it, like old tires circling the hull of a harbor tug. The man and cart moved very slowly past the opening of the alley mouth.
The boys from the alley moved, like a single rippling stand of willows. One moment they were crouched down in the alley, the next they were surrounding the old man and his cart, as if blown there by a great gust of invisible wind,
One boy pitched things from the vagrant’s basket onto the sidewalk and street, while another opened a folding ‘sling-blade’ style of knife and cut slits up and down all the bags tied to the cart. Trash spilled into piles, some of it blowing about in the remains of wet stormy winds.
At first the homeless man attempted to defend his belongings, but soon gave that up as the pack descended fully upon him. He ran, but only made it a step or two before being brought down by a blow to the back of his legs. Once down, the boys began an obviously ritualized ballet of martial arts movements. Dancing and twisting, they delivered kick after kick into different parts of the agonized man’s anatomy. The gang’s enjoyment was palpable, even from well across the street and through a pane of thick glass.
The gang ended their onslaught as they had begun it, running lightly, like interlacing lemmings, to recollect back at their lair, half way down the alley. The vagrant’s body twitched, while his arm’s and legs fought for control. He got up shakily, then tried to assemble something from the piles of junk surrounding him. He lacked the strength to refill the basket completely. Finally, grasping the cart by it’s bar handle, he glanced once into the alley, before staggering away down the street.
“Assholes,” the Filipino server said aloud.
“What about nine one one?” Wayne inquired, quietly.
“None of my business,” the boy responded, instantly, spinning about, and then walking away toward the kitchen in back.
“Mine either,” Wayne whispered, but the kid was gone. Averting his eyes from the hypnotic scene, he checked his wallet. He put a twenty on the tabletop. His ‘late lunch’ was not coming. He’d guessed that when they’d made the date. Wayne was used to it. He had no friends. People found his company vaguely disconcerting in some fashion no one had ever taken the trouble to explain. He’d never expected the guy to show up, but he’d gone through the motions anyway.
Outside the Route 66 he stood for a moment next to the entrance. The rain was gone. A low afternoon sun was trying to penetrate between the buildings further down the street. Wayne stared at the alley mouth, breathed in deeply several times, and then walked to the corner for a cab.
Sitting on the side of his bed at the Waldorf, he looked at himself in a mirror perched above the clothing drawers next to an overly-large plasma T.V. He inventoried the image staring back at him. He was sixty but looked forty-five. He was ‘born-again’ hard, mentally and physically. He was still quick as a striking snake and agile as a Lynx. But, deep inside his blue eyes there was a haunted lonely glint he was not surprised to note.
The young Catholic priest had effected him deeply. Wayne was a Catholic but had fallen away in his youth. He’d gone back into a church, just to talk to somebody, the week before. It had not gone well. Unbelievably, the priest had refused him absolution for his sins. Wayne had not thought that possible. The priest had come out of the confessional to tell him, in a hushed whisper, that Wayne would have to find some other redemption from God for the things he’d done. He’d said that it was simply not within his power to forgive, or offer further advice.
“Well God, what do you have to say?” Wayne asked the mirror, “or do I have to do this on my hands and knees?” Nothing happened. God remained his usual silent self.
The television was filled with idiotic sports games and awful news, so he turned it off and paced. Finally, he decided to take a walk. Three blocks from the Waldorf, on Lexington, he ran into it. The rain was gone but a brisk wind remained. The wind drove an empty shopping cart right into Wayne’s path as he walked. He pushed the thing away with an irritated shove, and then walked on. After only a few steps he stopped dead in his tracks. What was an empty shopping cart doing on the sidewalk of a busy downtown street? Wayne looked back. The shopping cart waited, unmoving in the center of the concrete walkway.
Pushing the cart before him, Wayne made his way back to the Waldorf. The cart felt right, as if it was rolling on well lubricated ball bearings. He left it jammed against the side of the hotels’ granite entrance. A doorman looked over at him, then at the cart, but said nothing. Wayne went up to his room.
An hour later he returned, exiting through the same door. The cart was right where he’d left it, as he’d known it would be. Wayne threw an armload of used towels, a trash bucket and some extra rolls of toilet into the basket. He pushed the cart toward 56th Street. He knew he didn’t really look his part. He was not properly filthy or seedy enough in his disguise, but was counting on the dying light of early evening to cover a multitude of sins. Nobody paid any attention to him at all, as he made his way the mile and a half, or so.
The yellow lit opening to the alley was even more welcoming than before, when he rounded the last corner. It beckoned warmly. The thronging masses of a busy metropolis had withdrawn with the fading light. Wayne checked his shoulder holster. The factory-suppressed Ruger, in twenty-two short for less sound, was there and ready, loaded with nine rounds, one in the chamber. The weapon was designed for close, nearly silent, work. It was all but useless beyond ten feet.
Wayne’s hand swept down to brush past the forty-five taped to his right ankle.
As opposed to the Ruger, it was terribly loud, devastatingly destructive, and good for much more than ten feet, as any proper backup should be. He was ready.
The shopping cart moved before him, almost of it’s own accord. Wayne bent forward, beginning to drag one leg behind, as if he was crippled or injured. His main concern was not based on either his appearance or his preparations. It was in attendance. Was the deadly flock of predatory animals going to be waiting when he rounded the corner and entered the alley, or was he merely to arrive there, abandon the cart, and enjoy the first Puffer meal of his life?
He felt their attention before he was even under their full gaze. Slowly and deliberately, he turned the cart to direct it down the alley while, at the same time, bowing his head further down so the smile he could not suppress wouldn’t alert them, His right hand sought out the warm comforting butt of the Ruger. He unsnapped the hoster release with his thumb.
Wayne heard the gang’s near silent approach and thought of the priest. How correct that agent of God had been to deny him absolution. God Himself was so much more generous in His allowance for Wayne’s redemption.
During televised presentation shows, HO-HUM, NONDESCRIPT individuals are selected to JUST SIT THERE ‘filling’ seats left empty by LEGITIMATE, NOTEWORTHY audience members. REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS WERE THE HO-HUM SEAT FILLERS during the President’s State of the Union Address. They just sat there ‘voicing’ their scowling, silent objections to just about everything THEY SAID they stood for and just about everything THEY SAID they wanted the President to do! HOW IRONIC, YET…HOW, TYPICALLY, REPUBLICAN!
They JUST SAT THERE when the President called for the Senate to pass job recovery legislation, outsource legislation to bring jobs BACK to America, ‘pay as you go’ legislation that contributed to the Government’s budget surplus in the ‘90’s, and health care reform. The Republican “Seat Fillers” JUST SAT THERE when the President called for legislation to regulate big corporations. The Republican “Seat Fillers” JUST SAT THERE when the President called for ALL Lawmakers to be transparent and post earmarks on their websites. The Republican “Seat Fillers” JUST SAT THERE when the President “set the record straight” (un)lumping THEIR bank and Wall Street deregulated, tax cuts for the wealthy, Iraq Invasion, 8 year Congressional deficit figure from the MUCH SMALLER deficit figure incurred by the Democrat-dominated administration. The Republican “Seat Fillers” JUST SAT THERE when the President ‘called-out’ Republican Senators for VOTING AGAINST the House’s, recent, job recovery, financial reform and job-generating/internationally competitive clean energy bills. The Republican “Seat Fillers” JUST SAT THERE when the President announced that he would meet and hear the voices of Democrat AND Republican Lawmakers on a monthly basis.
Now that Republicans have a FILIBUSTER-READY Senate, will they BECOME “legitimate”, “noteworthy” Legislative representatives of the people, or will they CONTINUE to be “ho-hum”, “nondescript” Seat Fillers for the Right Wing/Tea Party/Corporate Establishments? The fate of saving America is, now, in their hands. Keep an eye on which path they choose, and hold them accountable from now until November AT THE POLLS. Also, remember…a Republican by any other name is STILL a Republican!
Tonight, as an Organizing For America Intern, I hosted my first watch party for President Obama's first State of The Union address. It was a great experience being around like minded and well educated people. I wish everyone that signed up would've showed, but the weather in Chicago has that affect on us! Lol!
I thought that Obama made some great points. I particularly like when he struck a right cross to the Republicans with this quote!-
"If the Republican leadership is going to insist that 60 votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, a supermajority, then the responsibility to govern is now yours, as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership."
They did not like that ONE BIT! But it's the truth! A lot of these politicians (including Democrats) work so hard while campaigning to get into office, but when they get in they don't do a thing! I find that strangley wrong! We the people elected you, therefore YOU WORK FOR US!!! Everything should not be about making your pockets fatter. Doing the work of the public (Public Service) is one of the most necessary things in life! It has to be done! but society shouldn't have to pay for it. We already pay for your salaries! Get it together guys!
Another quote that struck me-" We will support -- we will support the Iraqi government -- we will support the Iraqi government as they hold elections, and we will continue to partner with the Iraqi people to promote regional peace and prosperity. But make no mistake: This war is ending, and all of our troops are coming home."
I love it, but is August of 2011 realistic? One of my close friends told me just tonight after the speech that her boyfriend going for a ten month tour in Iraq staring in May and another tour set in 2012. I don't know what to think of this situation. All I know is I HATE stupid wars and Iraq and Afghanistan qualify for stupid!
If I ever run for a political office (State or U.S. Senator) taking care of Military Veterans is going to be one of my top priorities! Along with people that work in governmen, the Military should get top rate benefits, without question! They've been fight for us overseasfor over one hundred years and THIS is we treat them?! That just isn't right.
The last point the really got me going, but was stated earlier in the speech was about the focus in 2010 on Job placement programs! Every face in the room lit up with enthusiasm! This is the President we voted for!
"For every success story, there are other stories, of men and women who wake up with the anguish of not knowing where their next paycheck will come from, who send out resumes week after week and hear nothing in response. That is why jobs must be our number-one focus in 2010, and that's why I'm calling for a new jobs bill tonight." "I'm proposing that we take $30 billion of the money Wall Street banks have repaid and use it to help community banks give small businesses the credit they need to stay afloat. I'm also proposing a new small-business tax credit, one that will go to over 1 million small businesses who hire new workers or raise wages. While we're at it, let's also eliminate all capital gains taxes on small-business investment and provide a tax incentive for all large businesses and all small businesses to invest in new plants and equipment."
Job placement is SO important to the economy. People that have jobs, spend money which boosts the economy. It's a no brainer!
Alright. I'm done. I'm gonna leave you guys with some more qoutes. Good night and God Bless!
"Washington has been telling us to wait for decades, even as the problems have grown worse. Meanwhile, China's not waiting to revamp its economy. Germany's not waiting. India's not waiting," Obama said in his first State of the Union address to the Congress."These nations aren't standing still. These nations aren't playing for second place. They're putting more emphasis on maths and science. They're rebuilding their infrastructure. They are making serious investments in clean energy because they want those jobs,"
"Well, I do not accept second-place for the United States of America. As hard as it may be, as uncomfortable and contentious as the debates may be, it's time to get serious about fixing the problems that are hampering our growth,"
I love International Relations! Go hard or Go home! Good job Pres. Obama!
We are in dire straits out here in the trenches, it is just that simple. We need to stimulate our domestic economy now. It is real nice that the military and industrial complexes composed of the Fortune 100 and 500 are making money overseas through our 'engagement' in the affairs of others, but we need to focus on domestic economic stimulation and growth as in clean and green energy development, biofuel development and recapturing expended energy and reusing it is a meaningful way instead of destroying our troposphere. There is always room for innovation and technological advances in this process or that system.
Bottom line, we need to focus on our situation here at home so our people are afforded freedom, liberty and justice.
Mr. President Obama, Congressional Leaders in the House and Senate, Governors, County Executives, and City and Town Hall Leaders ---We the People, the American public voices, continue to ask for Bipartisan Leadership, and indeed Change, whether we were going to get it though their party ‘poster-boy-girl’ or under the ‘second choice windfall’ nominees of change the partisan parties the Elected President BarackObama or Presidential nominee John McCain it did not matter. Bipartisan for our country is a permanent reality change whether we like it or not beyond party dominance lines of fire. Yes, President Obama you were given the Big Stick and the platform to outline and deliver “The 21St Century New Big Deal” for our nation that will guide us for generations to come. With the lack of web or political, as a community-base-at-large statesman savvy I’ll say, “We must get on board or get left behind.”
The American Citizens deserve better than the past ‘good ole’ 20th Century business as usual Capital Hill-White House tactics of party bickering, backbiting, pandering, deceit, interest group sleeping with the enemies, and finally to make matter worst, the blitzing of media stations and networks to skew issues to the winds of their desired interests popularity; this has been a few of the negative distractive trends of 2009. Our leaders, Democrats and Republicans must immediate cease the bashing. We are promoting division; anger or untruth is not acceptable. Our maturity as a nation must ignite the responsible benchmarks of America the Beautiful beyond party ambitions and political lines with the goal of multiplying the confident level in our people, our businesses and foreign businesses and nations abroad.
We the People both Democrats and Republicans voted for change, not in leader but the way in which our government operates ---- these are the special need in these historical hours of crises. We passively agreed to the bailout to seek relief and trusted our Democratic and Republican Congressional Leaders and the Presidential Administration to be on one accord never having a clue that they would refuse to work together. It is 2010, enough is enough, now is the time!
Prior to the late Senator Kennedy’s death, Senator Hatchet and Senator Kennedy were symbolically paired—it is time for a 2010 Kennedy-Hatchet Health Care Reform Compromise Act that has been fifty year in the making; we are one nation under God!Put the Kennedy-Hatchet team together.
Now is the time for the Presidential ‘Big Stick’, it time for the party demagogues to yield, it is time for a renown presidential Bipartisan Bill to level the party line to yield to the bipartisan playing field that we must carve into the mountain to establish a economic, social, class, and bipartisan-multiparty line party USA plateau of substance, character, belief, and culture of who we are as a people rich and poor, in the United States of America!
Another day must not go by without three (House, Senate, Administration) balanced Bipartisan Review Caucuses (with the responsibility to make measurable input through evaluation and review on our budget and the ability to recommend a prioritization of needs in a time of crises) to level the playing field is a must! ------This Is Change!----- Congressional Leaders tear down these false pork barrel walls of earmarks set up to meet your own political goals and focus on the priceless jobs you were elected to do! Let us (Our country leaders) be committed to Our Country first and party second in this 21st time of crises. If we’re going to say no, let say no to partisan roadblock, gridlocks and filibustering! Let us say no to unemployment rates going up, the gouging of prices, lost of homes, no heath care and hiring freezes.
With the blatant disrespect of the face of America which goes beyond party how can Wall Street, the Banks, Auto Dealers, and Recovery Act Beneficiaries not come out of the panic mode that came into public realization in September of 2009 although the symptoms were seen as early as 2007-8? In short Wall Street, Banks, transparency is a must, hiring, not profit only is a must, the needs of Main Street, and taking responsibility the role you played in causing part of the crisis, to be proactive in bailing out the Nation that bail you out is extreme important in being a viable U.S.A. corporation. Let’s not forget the small businesses and the Mom and Pa operations across Broadway!
The stimulus package only stabilized the governmental agencies from its three year state of stagnating existence; this allowed them to make permanent the provisional, temporary, and stipend and un-stipend volunteers into an upgrade status. I know since I’ve been unemployed for 18 month but, I now have the opportunities to serve in one of the volunteer State slot available because of the new hiring. Wall Street sensitivity is a must one bonus check in some cases can put one hundred USA citizens to work! The interviews are great but, one out of two hundred is the odds for getting an interview in today 2010 job market climate. Fifteen million people want jobs as much as I do: let’s make this happen!
We the people believe in the leaders we elected to remain solution driven ---- a balancing Act is a must ---- I am a Republican for Obama because I made a judgment on which leader would in spite of partisan strife would take the giant step and over the olive branch across the isle and appoint a Bipartisan Caucus to monitor and evaluate absolute Change.
We are not a Nation of extreme right or left! Have the right ears left out our voices because they believe we are in the wilderness? Indeed the waters of our nation is troubled but and more difficult time are ahead, but we the People of this great nation will cross these waters to dry lands of prosperity.
The American voters are not angry we just do not want either party to be drunk with power rather sober with their authority. The time is now for the birth of America the Beautiful!
It is history now, “As the inauguration neared, Obama consulted with McCain on a variety of matters, to an extent rarely seen between a president-elect and his defeated rival, and President Obama's inauguration speech contained an allusion to McCain's theme of finding a purpose greater than oneself"; what bipartisan efforts will be nurtured in 2010 beyond party lines, America the Beautiful first, because two leaders took the time to work with and include the people of the United States of America and form /embrace an alignment of CHANGE and allow The State Of The Union To Blend The United States Of America Into The 21st Century America The Beautiful 2010!
May God continue to Bless America!
In Spirit and Truth,
Ernest RayEdward WalkerEXCELLENCES
Republican Lawmakers need to STOP bending the truth regarding “non-partisanship” and health care reform. The HOUSE version of the bill “started from scratch” from the moment REPUBLICAN SENATE Finance Committee members and health insurance industry lobbyists put in their two cents and WATERED it down into the Senate version of the bill!
The media isn’t helping matters either. Whether mainstream, liberal or Right Wing, media interviewers insist on asking Republican Lawmakers what they don’t like about the health care reform bill INSTEAD of what they don’t like about health care reform that THEY put in the bill! EVERYBODY is making it seem like Republican Lawmakers had no input in something they NEVER had any intention of passing!
When is ANYBODY going to focus on the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth when it comes to bi-partisanship and health care reform?
There are THREE branches of government responsible for governing the American people: the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch and the Judicial Branch. When the bow breaks, there is PLENTY of blame to go around…
So far, the ONLY BRANCH that’s taking ANY action to deliver us from 8 years of REPUBLICAN-DOMINATED big spending, corporate and banking deregulations, and economic decay – whether or not you agree with the method of deliverance - is the EXECUTIVE BRANCH!
The LEGISLATIVE BRANCH is bogged down in STALLING, and “PAUSING” because REPUBLICAN Lawmakers have decided to NOT LEGISLATE in order to fulfill their pledge to “break” the President.
Two conservative Supreme Court Justices from the JUDICIAL BRANCH, recently, issued decisions that REVERSED 20 yeas of legislative regulations aimed at preventing corporations from influencing political candidates to serve their special interests via campaign ads. By the way, REPUBLICAN Lawmakers are bending over backwards DEFENDING that decision, and WE ALL KNOW how well that’s going to go down on ANY further attempts at “hope” and “change” legislation based on the health insurance industry’s influence over BLOCKING health care reform.
So , when the bow breaks, test ALL of the tree “BRANCHES”, and don’t’ be too quick to let the cradle fall!
I always feel left out when I hear poll results because I’m never polled and everyone I know isn’t polled. However, I want to be counted when it comes to whether or not I want health care reform. Since poll questions cannot be directed to everybody, I figured, why not participate in a “Grassroots” poll? If you want to join me, send the following poll “response” to ALL of the following poll “sites”.
GRASSROOTS POLL QUESTION: Do you want health care reform?
YOUR GRASSROOTS POLL RESPONSE: “Yes, I want health care reform.”
GRASSROOTS POLL SITES:
Direct your Grassroots poll “response” to ALL of the above poll “sites” BY MIDNIGHT ON MONDAY (JANUARY 25). Let’s see if OUR “Grassroots” poll numbers get recognized, and even if our wishes are not recognized, WE will know that THEY know!
“Yes WE Can!”
The Flip Side
My eyes opened to dim gray filth. The ceiling above me looked like it hadn’t been painted since the Civil War. Intricate cobwebs rounded the corners of the bedroom, while dirty clothes littered all open spaces on the floor.
My head hurt with the kind of pain that neither aspirin nor Tylenol could come close to touching. I groaned out loud. Escape, a Russian Blue cat, lay comfortably on my chest, long whiskers close enough to tickle a cheek, but not intrusively so. Escape answered my groan with a strange sound of his own. I stroked him, more to make him move than to satisfy any need he or I might get from the act. He wasn’t into the physical ministrations of species Homo Sapien, so it worked.
I got out of the bed. The mattress was the only decent thing in the room, being of aged but quality lineage. Beautyrest, the tag said, when I infrequently changed the sheets. I found the name humorous. Only in the movies did anybody have any beauty when they got up from a night’s sleep.
I went into the bathroom and began my habitual preparations for the day, grimacing with pain radiating from the core of my brain, thankful that the hangover was not worse. One full fifth of expensive Vodka the evening before should have left my body in much worse condition.
“Thank you, God,” I intoned to the awful image that stared back at me from the cracked mirror. I ran the hot water, beginning the process of filling my ancient tub. If I hurried, I could shave, floss, and brush by the time it was at the perfect level for a quick bath. The much more convenient shower had quit sometime back, but since Gordy, my landlord and best friend, never complained about months of back rent owed, I was duty bound not to say anything about anything, especially when it came to upkeep.
Escape sat near the heating vent, absorbing warm air, waiting for me to climb into the hot water. When I was ready I plopped myself in, cutting the tap off with one foot. The tap only produced water up to a medium degree, not hot enough to burn skin.
The cat jumped up to the rim, slowly bent his front legs, and then began drinking from the water. It was a move I had never come to understand. What possible interest could the very hot water hold for him when he had a perfectly good bowl of fresh water next to his food dish. I had to wait for him to finish before soaping up. I didn’t want to the growling that would ensue if I fouled the clear hot water. For unknown reasons my being in the water was not a violation.
The damned cat, a beach stray, had somehow wormed its way into the apartment building one day, and then selected Gordy and I as it’s victims. He cat liked to walk on Gordy’s computer keyboard, deliberately step on the ‘escape’ key, and mess up everything on the screen. After awhile the key word became his name.
Once out of the tub, dried, and deodorized with my hair brushed, I was ready for the day. I fastened my Mont Blanc watch bracelet to my wrist. The watch was my single most expensive possession, as I’d lost my car in a bet the week before. Gambling had swept over me when I had taken a leap of faith, with respect to the Mayan prophecy.
Gambling and drinking. I was in the act of considering where I might find a drink, to get through the morning, when I looked down at the face of the Mont Blanc. My eyes came back up to the mirror. I peered at my shocked image.
It was December twenty-second, of the year two thousand and twelve. I surprised myself by smiling at my own pained image.
“It is the evening of the day….” I stared, singing the Maryanne Faithful song happily. I rushed into my shorts and polo shirt, throwing on flip-flops. I headed for the front of my apartment at a run.
I beat on Gordy’s door. He had a patio which overlooked the whole beach. Pacific Beach was right on the ocean, and at our fifth floor ‘penthouse’ level we could stand and look far out to sea.
“Jesus Christ, hold your horses. It’s seven in the fucking morning in here,” he said through the wood.
Escape and I waited for Gordy to unlock the door, he sitting patiently while I fidgeted, rubbing my head with both hands.
Once inside, I rushed by the scrawny little man, bumping him aside to get to the exposed deck. Escape moved to his back up bowl near the sink.
“Got something to drink?” I threw back at Gordy over my shoulder.
“You smell like you’re still drinking already. It’s seven in the morning, for Christ’s sake. You’re killing yourself. I’ll make coffee, he answered.
I stood on the deck and looked out across the open ocean. The sun was coming up behind us on the backside of the apartment building. The horizon to the west was dark.
I listened to Gordy bang things around in his kitchen. He lived as alone as I did, both having gone through a succession of decent women before they’d found about us. In spite of the fact that he had nobody on earth that gave a damn about him, like me,
he wasn’t a believer in the Mayan prophecy.
Moments later he appeared at my side with a hot cup of coffee. He had one of those machines that was always on, always ready to produce a single cup from a neat little plastic container. At one time, before I had become a true believer, I had had such toys, but now they were all gone. My apartment was a gutted shambles compared to Gordy’s showplace.
“What are you looking for,” he asked, both of us drinking from ceramic cups while leaning our forearms against the deck railing.
“It’s the day, idiot, the Mayan calendar day,” I responded, a lilt to my voice, headache fading into the background. “We should be drinking booze.”
“Not that crap again. The world is going to end today. The Mayan prophecy says it’s all over. Niburu, the red dwarf is going to strike. An asteroid is going to hit the center of the Pacific. Phooey! It seems pretty normal out here to me.”
We sipped in silence for a few minutes. The day was coming on, the sun climbing ever higher behind our building. I peered intently at the horizon. There was a darkness rising higher than darkness should be out there.
“Look at that,” I declared, pointing at the horizon.
“Hmmmm. Looks a little weird, I’ll give you that,” Gordy responded.
`We waited. The darkness grew higher, the bottom of it turning black. Something was moving at us, across the full length and breath of the horizon. It was coming fast, and it was terribly ominous. Escape appeared, and then leaped up to sit atop the narrow railing, his side uncharacteristically pressed into my forearm. He too stared into the coming darkness.
“There it is. I just hope it’s what they predicted. Our problems are going to be over soon.”
“Great, just great,” Gordy intoned, his voice leaden. “You got yourself fired, blew every dime you had, lost what you didn’t sell, all in the hopes that the end of time was coming today. What kind of sick mind do you have?”
“Ha, you don’t get it at all. I’ve never been right about anything. But I’m about this. That counts for something,” I replied, my voice not nearly as enthusiastic as before. Escape turned his head to look into my eyes.
“Well, it’s not my fault,” I tried to explain, shaking my head.
The three of us stared into the approaching wall of blackness.
“See you on the flip side,” Gordy said through clenched teeth.
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