Day: November 11, 2010

A Word Of Warning

This is just a small piece of advice for those in the GOP that have a new mandate in Washington……change….or was that the last batch that was elected?  Anyway…not that important….what is important is that all the campaign rhetoric was about just how inefficient the Obama admin has been in the last two years…and then there were the whackos on the far right that keep trying to equate liberal with some form of socialism…..they bitched heavily about the lack of job creation and the “out of control” spending and the size of the government (who was it that said size does not matter?)…….

My advice is to remember that the average American voter has all the patience of a horny rabbit…they proved that when the Dems did not have a magic fix for the economy in two years…so maybe their first official act is to come up with a workable plan to get the economy rolling again…and to spout tax cuts in every other breath is NOT a plan…..also recall that the same groups that voted them in a wave of expulsion for the Dems will have to vote again in two years…

So unless there was some sort of collusion between the GOP and business to keep the jobs down until after an election, then they will have to find real answers to the economic problems and hopefully they will not find a way to increase government spending on such fanciful things as massive investigations into perceived problems…..you know kind of like in the 90’s when they investigated just about everything Democratic and it bit them in the ass….it can happen again……the only thing that would do is put a bunch of bottom feeding attorneys to work on the taxpayers dime….not a smart move…..but then….few accuse them of being smart just devious….

So my dear GOP friends….please work for the country and let the rest of the crap fall by the wayside or you will be back to thinking of happier days….again!  Hit the ground running or hit the bricks….you have a choice, but choose well…..

How About A “Bull Moose Party”? #1

With the advent of the Tea Party and the uproar that it has caused in the past election, the 2010 mid-terms, I got thinking about some of the stuff that the Teabaggers are bitching about….you know stuff like….financial stuff and special interests and campaign funds….etc etc

Teddy Roosevelt and the Progressive Party in 1912  gave Americans “A New Nationalism” and their platform was as follows….

In the social sphere the platform called for

  • A National Health Service to include all existing government medical agencies.
  • Social insurance,  to provide for the elderly, the unemployed, and the disabled.
  • Limited injunctions in strikes.
  • Farm relief.
  • Worker’s compensation for work-related injuries.
  • An inheritance tax.
  • A Constitutional amendment to allow a Federal income tax.

The political reforms proposed included

  • Women’s suffrage.
  • Direct election of Senators.
  • Primary elections  for state and federal nominations.

The platform also urged states to adopt measures for “direct democracy”, including:

  • The recall election (citizens may remove an elected official before the end of his term).
  • The referendum (citizens may decide on a law by popular vote).
  • The initiative (citizens may propose a law by petition and enact it by popular vote).
  • Judicial recall (when a court declares a law unconstitutional, the citizens may override that ruling by popular vote).

However, the main theme of the platform was an attack on the domination of politics by business interests, which allegedly controlled both established parties. The platform asserted that

To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.

To that end, the platform called for

  • Strict limits and disclosure requirements on political campaign contributions.
  • Registration of lobbyists.
  • Recording and publication of Congressional committee proceedings.

Besides these measures, the platform called for reductions in the tariff,  limitations on naval armaments by international agreement, and improvements to inland waterways.

The biggest controversy at the convention was over the platform section dealing with trust and monopolies.   The convention approved a strong “trust-busting” plank, but Roosevelt had it replaced with language that spoke only of “strong National regulation” and “permanent active [Federal] supervision” of major corporations.

Some of the proposals have become law in the years and some we are still fighting for in the century that has past…..but what can we do……how can we use history to solve some of the political problems we have now?

Part 2 will answer that question and possibly be the future of this country….we can only hope!

Now This Is How Democracy Works!

The will of the people is paramount in the political philosophy known as democracy….is that about right?  Maybe in its original form back in the day when Greeks were the dominate force in the world of logical thought….but if you believe that in today’s world…..then I have some land in Florida I want to sell you….if you do not like that…then there is a bridge for sale……

Do you remember the French protests?

The boisterous and even jubilant mood at earlier demonstrations gave way to a morose atmosphere in Paris, as new signs of discord emerged in the union ranks, who have protested the measure since September.The marches led by labor unions are the eighth of their kind since early September aimed to derail Sarkozy’s efforts to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 in order to salvage a money-losing pension system.

Police said 375,000 had turned out nationwide, down from 560,000 that hit the streets on Oct. 28. More than a million took to the streets at a protest in late September, according to the police.

The millions protested turned to violence and many were injured or arrested in the protests….the people took to the streets to voice their disapproval of the retirement proposal…..civil disobedience at its best….and the people wanted their voices to be heard…is that not what democracy is all about?

And here is what all their protests earned for the people of France…

French President Nicolas Sarkozy ‘s reform raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 became law Wednesday, a victory for the conservative government and a defeat for unions that waged massive strikes and street protests to try to capsize the plan.The French reform means that the minimum retirement age is now 62 instead of 60. Those who want to claim full-fledged pension benefits must now wait until age 67 instead of 65.

Living proof of how democracy really works….in case you are confused…it does NOT work the way you think it does!