There They Go Again…Those Fools in Washington Go Off the Walls

If the noise from Washington seems like something we’ve been through already then maybe it is because it was. Remember 2002? President Bush told the American people that we faced a serious and creditable threat from Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell said that we have proof of their weapons of mass destruction. Then-National Security Advisor Rice said that we don’t have time to wait for a warning. That warning might be in the form of a mushroom cloud. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld issued the threat that, “There’s no question but that he does have some things that he doesn’t want inspectors to find.” Current Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee and Delaware Senator Joe Biden said if left unchecked Iraq’s “weapons of mass destruction” would pose a serious threat to America. So the Congress rushed through a “Use of Force Resolution” and started the beating drum towards an endless and costly war in Iraq that is the main cause of the current economic situation we are in. They lied on the warnings, Congress acted fast and in a hast to sell our futures down the road. However the more things change the more they stay the same.

Ten days ago President Bush sent his Treasury Secretary and Chairman of the Federal Reserve to Capital Hill for a meeting with Congressional leaders. This was after they bailed out Bear Sterns with the assurance it would help fix the economy. It was after they bailed out AIG and stated it should claim the markets. Took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with commitments that under government leadership the housing market would stabilize. So even before this meeting they had been WRONG, WRONG, and WRONG. However still at this meeting they came with another dire threat. If Congress didn’t approve $700 billion dollars to bailout big banks in New York the United States economy would fall in a matter of days. Congress acted and on Monday of this week the House of Representatives voted down the bailout bill causing the stock market to fall by almost 700 points. However it gained points Tuesday when Congress left town for the Jewish holiday. However on Wednesday when the Senate passed the very same bill the market tumbled by hundreds more. Earlier today before the House voted on the bailout bill the market was up 150 points. Seconds after the voted was certified approved the market fell by 150 points. Is this a sign that once again they are wrong? Will members of Congress or Presidential candidates in the future claim they had been mislead about this crisis when it doesn’t work? The market fell because job numbers came out today and this year alone we have lost more than 700,000 jobs. Like Afghanistan should’ve been the target of the United States following the September 11th attacks Jobs is the problem we face today not money. However despite the facts arm twisting led more than fifty members to change their votes, including my new Congresswoman Donna Edwards. What got Donna? A phone call from Barack Obama! Give me a break.

Donna Edwards defeated Congressman Al Wynn in the primary earlier this year. After he lost he resigned and she took his seat early promising to represent the people. When she voted no on Monday Donna said, “This legislation would have done little to help the hard working people in my district.” However today after flipping she said that after speaking with Senator Obama she was convinced to vote for the bill. You have got to be kidding me. She went on to say the choice was this or nothing. You know why? Because members of Congress don’t want to work on the real problem in our economy, jobs so people can actually pay their mortgages and banks will have the money needed to operate, they want to go on break. They want to come back home and campaign to keep their jobs. So instead of doing their job they want to campaign to keep their jobs. This is not the change I thought Edwards and Obama wanted to offer. It wasn’t the leadership that she promised when we ousted Wynn. Wrong is wrong and again the American people are without the right leaders in Washington who are more concerned with a falling Mr. and Mrs. Jones then a falling Dow Jones.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

My Answer to George Bush on Bailout…Hell NO!

Does it not amaze you like it does me that President George Bush is asking that the average American voter dig down in our pockets to bail out the big banks on Wall Street. However listen to what happened as Americans faced a number of issues:

When gas prices started to shoot up Hillary Clinton and John McCain proposed a tax holiday and the response was we can’t afford it because it would reduce the highway trust fund. Barack Obama proposed a $1,000 emergency energy stimulus check to help families pay their gas and energy bills. It would out right be too expensive.

When Americans started to be forced out of their homes because of the unfair and outright bogus loans these very banks issued and Democrats called for restructuring power for judges in bankruptcy courts the GOP called for leaving the free market alone.

Now that big bank billionaires on Wall Street are in trouble we are “days away from our very economy clasping” and must approve $700 BILLION DOLLARS in aid. To them I say not just no but HELL NO!

Congress should send this bill back to the White House and demand a billion dollar financial plan to protect and bail out the American tax payer who doesn’t have tax shelters that cut into our share of the pot for the federal coffers. We need a new stimulus package that brings jobs to the out of work and not just a shopping spree to get Americans back to work and able to pay their own debts. That is real reform and real help. This bill is just a blank check to Wall Street after a “good talking to” by the Principal and then let go out and play. These plans don’t call for the firing of the directors who got us into this mess. These plans don’t call for executive compensation reform to ensure that our hard earned dollars don’t end up in the pockets of the CEO failing banks. This is a bad plan, a bad deal, and therefore a bad bill. For the record I agree with Senator Sanders if a bank is too big to fail then it is too big to exist.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

If These Are Our Friends Than Who Needs Republicans?

Freshman Representative Travis Childers in mainly his first victory in the House of Representatives took to the floor of that body to advocate for the most anti-home rule, undemocratic, and big brother intrusion on the residents of Washington, DC in the history of the body. New to DC and from Mississippi Childers wasn’t happy with the restrictive gun laws of the DC. However earlier in the year the US Supreme Court threw out most of those laws and the elected members of the City Council have been working on new one’s to “comply” with the order. This happens in Congress all the time. They pass a law and then the court strikes it down. Congress then works to comply with it. That is how this democracy works. Not for the newly minted member of Congress from Mississippi eager to show his voters that despite being a democrat he would buck the party if he wants. Even more he was emboldened by the eager support for the NRA and the lackluster of an effort by Pelosi, Hoyer, and Clyburn.

For those who might not be aware of what is going on in the Hall of Congress, the US House of Representatives passed a bill today that overruled the laws of the District of Columbia governing hand guns in the city. Now only that but it passage of their bill overturn local laws but it took extreme measures right out of the NRA hand book.

1) For instance the new bill Childers says he wrote would allow for the carrying of military style, long guns that are similar to AK-47s, and concealable Uzis on the streets of Washington, DC. Can you imagine a city full if residents armed to the teeth with Uzis?

2) This bill would cancel the current ban in DC from interstate travel of gun purchases into the city. This is not out of line with many states that prohibit the sale of guns into their state or city from other jurisdictions. Now of course there are countless loopholes in those laws, however this bill would gut that law totally and it in direct words encourage residents to seek guns from Maryland and VIRGINA. Why does Virgina cause alarms so much? This is a state that is being sued by many cities because the large number of guns made and sold in those states that violate other state laws and end up in crimes committed in those states.

3) Finally an issue that greatly shocks me is the complete dump of any gun registration at all. Childers would make it illegal for the city to require residents with guns to have to register those guns. These are the same requirements in place in almost every other state in the union.

Childers is from Mississippi. His state just went through a massive hurricane that reaped large damage in the numbers of billions of dollars all over the state. The economy is falling right in front of our eyes while gas prices continue to be on the rise. So what does Childers use more than a day on? Gun laws in the District of Columbia even though it is well known that the DC Council was working hard to comply with the order from the court.

Childers is only one of the focuses we should look at. The other is where the hell was Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Majority Whip James Clyburn? Not once could they take out three minutes of their night to come to the floor and address this issue? Where was the leadership in blocking from a vote this substitute bill that Childers wrote? Where is the outrage at the 80 something party members who jumped ship to side with the GOP? On almost every other issue the party fights to ensure the leadership wins these battles.

Since the Democrats have come to power two years ago the Speaker has used parliamentary procedure to protect and uphold party values. On issues of equal pay, the war in Iraq, health care, you name it. She has rewarded members for their staunch support of those values and dared others to cross her. However when it comes to a majority black city with crime through the roof all of the sudden it is time for members to “vote their values”. Give me a break.

If these people are our friends then trust me we don’t need the Republicans.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

Congressional Black Caucus Turns Their Back on Black Gang Victims

I couldn’t be more outraged to hear that members of the Congressional Black Caucus have blocked passage of Senate Bill 456. This bill also known as the Gang Abatement and Prevention Act would for the first time make being a member of a street gang a federal crime. Not only that but it would embolden the United States Justice Department to work closely with Mayors, Police Chiefs, and others in taking back our communities. The FBI is preparing to report that overall crime in America is down, but violent gang-led crime is shockingly on the rise NATIONWIDE. In every community in America police officers are reporting the negative effects that these criminals are having on our livelihoods. Now the CBC which boosts memberships that represent a majority of the most violent cities in America has blocked passage of this bill. Let me tell you what is in it and why I support it.

I am a California native. Was born there and raised. I saw from birth the death grip that these thugs have on the future of America. I saw and felt the terror that some of them present in young children who walk back and forth to school, who play street ball like I used to, who only hope for a better future, but see the nasty reality they live in. This bill would increase the investigative measures that police can have in taking down these gangs. It would lengthen the times of sentences that those convicted of crimes serve, but also boost funding for effective FBI crime prevention tools. It would also create a national center to analyze and share “best practices” nationwide.

S456 was introduced by California’s Senator Dianne Feinstein in January and passed in September of 2007. When the bill passed more than 40 of the 100 members of the senate had become co-authors. It passed without dissent in a body that argues over everything. Now it is sitting in the Judiciary and Education Committees of the House, and members of the CBC are sitting on it. It is shameful and beneath the behavior that is normal for these members. CBC members don’t block legislation, they debate it. CBC members don’t hide from a fight, they meet it head on. I understand the statement they want to increase intervention tools in our inner-cities but it shouldn’t stop prevention methods. So I would hope that members of the CBC would take another look at this legislation and see the merits in it. We need to not only work to get people out of gangs but punish those who commit acts of terror against innocent citizens. The CBC has been so honorably respected in the House of Representatives and now the Senate not because all of the members are black, but because they fight everyday for those who are often forgotten. No one is more forgotten then the innocent kids who fall victim to gangs everyday.

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

69 People I Will Not Have Dinner With

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 has passed the Senate. For those who did not read my post yesterday, this bill grants the telecom companies immunity for helping the NSA spy on phone conversations so that we may never know the extent of the NSA’s warrentless wiretapping program, and grants the president even more warrentless wiretapping powers. What follows is a list of all the senators that voted in favor of the FISA bill. Hopefully, I never have to meet any of these people (again), because I do not want to shake their slimy hands. Read more

Obama’s FISA Reversal and Imminent Vote

Well, Obama has finally made a proper statement about his disgraceful flip-flop on the FISA Ammendments Act. Mr. Charisma now supports the bill (though with only about with as much enthusiasm as I support him) after saying for the last few months that he would filibuster it as long as it had immunity for the telecom industry (which it does). More over at The Swamp.

As it stands, the bill is the results of apathetically lackluster “compromising” and “negotiations” between Democrats and Republicans in Congress which gave the Republicans more than they could have ever hoped for if there had been a competent negotiator on the Democrats’ side. The bill grants retroactive immunity to the telecom industry for helping the NSA with their warrentless wiretapping, meaning that we may never know for sure the extent of the spying (unless you listen to this man). And, all of this is happening before the results of a report by the Inspector General on the warrentless wiretap program.

To learn more about the FISA bill, check out this video at Four Hour Work Week. It is well worth watching, and makes includes a great argument that even though you may not be doing anything wrong, you still do not want the government spying on just anybody without a warrent. Daniel Ellsberg says that warrentless wiretapping means that government officials and activists can be spied on by the ruling party in an effort to stop plans that may be against what the ruling party wishes (Watergate anyone?).

Obama’s defense of his flip-flop is laughable. For one thing, he says that he will fight to remove immunity from the bill, but then admits that even if immunity is not removed, he is still voting yes on the bill. What kind of commitment is that? He continues on by saying all the reasons that the bill is “imperfect” (see: dangerously unconstitutional), but then brushes it all aside in favor of the “well counter-terrorism is important” defense. Clearly just playing towards the center during an election instead of sticking to his convictions. Obama claims that once he is in office he will have the Attorney General review survelence programs like this one, but not only is he making the assumption that he will win in November, but anybody who believes him is forgetting that power corrupts, and once in office he will have no reason to have that review. McCain is going to vote for the bill, so all Obama is doing by voting for it as well is playing politics for the election, and it is not right. The American people deserve better from a possible commander-in-chief. At least McCain seems to believe in his vote (however wrong it may be).

And please, call your senators. The vote is tomorrow. The EFF has a great script to read to them.

It’s Her Party & She’ll Cry If She Wants To: Clinton For Majority Leader?

I’d like everyone to meet Linda. Linda is 35 years old, and from North Carolina. As the sole head of her family, she has had to work two jobs to help support herself and her three young children. What makes her special is that she is seen as the keys to the gates of the White House for either Barack Obama or John McCain. Why? As a 35 year old, blue collar, single, high school educated, white woman, she was the backbone of Hillary Clinton’s sixteen month campaign that many say deeply divided the Democratic Party. When you speak to her about Hillary Clinton’s defeat she still comes to tears. Ask her to suck it up, stop crying, get back on her horse, and support the party’s nominee, you might need help getting out the door. This is now Sen. Obama’s party to be in charge of, but not so fast Linda would say. “I’ve been an avid advocate, activist, and supporter of the Democratic party for my entire adult life. While he was over there going to private schools and making corporate friends, I was here on the street fighting for our people. At the same time, I took care of my kids and never complained. This is MY PARTY not his. This is our party. We all built it.”

Many believe that the White House is ours as long as we don’t defeat ourselves. One way to defeat ourselves is to enter November with a divided party. So how can Sen. Obama ensure that we don’t ‘defeat’ ourselves? A growing consensus among people like Linda is that Hillary Clinton should be the new Majority Leader of the United States Senate. I asked Linda if she meant Vice President, but she was clear that she should be Majority Leader. So I was a little confused and sought more. Linda wasn’t alone because her friend (of which she made as a campaign volunteer for Clinton) Jaz felt the same. Neither of them felt too happy about what they saw as not so subtle statements in the press of support to Obama’s campaign from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or leaks to the press from her staff about her behind the curtain efforts on his behalf. Both believe that Howard Dean’s inability to solve the Florida and Michigan dispute before it got out of control should force him to lose control of the DNC. However, when it came to effectiveness, what wasn’t out of the question is to kick Harry Reid out of the Majority Leader’s office.

Democrats in the House of Representatives have acted quickly on many of the promises that the party made to voters in the 2006 midterm elections. Should we have stronger leaders in the Senate, we might have even met the one to end funding to the war in Iraq without a timeline to bring the troops home. 2008 hasn’t been better on a number of major issues:

1. Passing a major housing bill has been stalled because of the improper conduct of two leading democrats. Instead of seeing the importance of this legislation, sacking these two leaders, and moving forward with the bill that was a lock before this news, Majority Leader Reid did nothing.

2. Most people think that an update to FISA is mandatory. However the Senate can’t approve the new legislation because some senior Democratic members have sided with the President, and against the majority of their party to push for a disgusting retroactive immunity for telecom companies. Instead of providing the immunity and moving the bill by making the government the responsible party, Majority Leader Reid recessed the body without doing anything.

3. As Americans pay higher gas prices then at any other time in our national history, the Senate has refused to pass legislation to bring in market speculators, which has driven prices up faster than anyone considered possible. With the average American paying $4.00 a gallon, and in some parts of the nation like my hometown of Fresno $4.65, Congress instead takes a two week break from work less than two months before they adjourn in August for the REST OF THE YEAR!

This election has become a change election. We need to change not only the President, but how the Congress operates. One way to do this is to change the Majority Leader of the Senate. So why Clinton?

I believe that she would make an outstanding President and a great Vice President. However, I agree with those who say that Sen. Obama deserves the chance to make his own run for the White House, and when he is there, have his own administration and his own agenda. I won’t argue with anyone who says that is impossible if Hillary Clinton is his Vice President. This is a former First Lady of the United States, she is wife of the last sitting Democratic President, 48% of the party voted for her over her opponent, and at least 23% of those are at least now not going to support Obama. She has received at least 18 million votes, the most of any candidate for President in a primary EVER. Basically, she has a national audience, and a national following, is what I’m trying to say. This is along with the impressive bridges she has built with leaders of both parties. Throughout her run for the White House she has been praised for getting to the Senate putting her head down and getting to work. This is what America deserves in a Majority Leader. One who can use politics to win on the issues, but be able to compromise and deal when log jams blocks the legislative highway.

Harry Reid, your time is up. Hillary Clinton, I believe her time is now!

Tha-Kid JK

tha-kid@revkitchen.com

p.s.- I would even support his succession by Dianne Feinstein, Dick Durbin, and others.

Hersh: Congress Agreed to Bush Request to Fund Major Escalation in Secret Operations Against Iran

Veteran Investigative Journalist Seymour Hersh has published an article in the New Yorker Magazine that asserts that congressional leaders agreed to a request from President Bush last year to greatly increase funding, to 400 million dollars, for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran. This escalation of these covert and secret activities is meant to destabilize the religious leadership of Iran. Hersh wrote his article based upon information from “current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources.” The article notes that covert activities by the United States are not new in Iran–we have been conducting cross-border operations from Southern Iraq since last year.

The request for the $400 million was described in something called a “Presidential Finding”, signed by President Bush, and, under Federal Law, these Presidential Findings “must be issued when a covert intelligence operation gets under way and, at a minimum, must be made known to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and the Senate and to the ranking members of their respective intelligence committees”. The article by Hersh noted later that, “In other words, some members of the Democratic leadership—Congress has been under Democratic control since the 2006 elections—were willing, in secret, to go along with the Administration in expanding covert activities directed at Iran, while the Party’s presumptive candidate for President, Barack Obama, has said that he favors direct talks and diplomacy.” This is a glaring contradiction and hypocrisy that is certainly not unfamiliar to the politics of the United States.

I hope that we all can now clearly see that the Republican Party is a war-like party of imperialists and interventionists. And I hope that we can now also clearly see that the Democratic Party is a war-like party of imperialists and interventionists, through their aiding and abetting of policies that are as such. I hope that we can now clearly see that both political parties are about policing the world, and spending huge amounts of taxpayer dollars to do so. We are spending 400 million dollars alone on trying to destabilize one single country. That money could have gone to education. That money could have gone to healthcare. That money could have gone to infrastructure. But, out of all of the needy areas of our country, our political leaders, of both parties, decided to direct the money instead towards destabilizing another country. 400 million dollars! That could not be described as “spare change”. Obviously, though, there is no “change” that our leaders can spare. And the small, superficial change that they do provide is worthless.

But Iran is not the only country targeted by the United States. According to Dennis Kucinich’s 35 Articles of Impeachment against President Bush, “On September 30, 2001, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld established an official military objective of overturning the regime in Iran, as well as those in Iraq, Syria, and four other countries in the Middle East, according to a document quoted in then-Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith’s book, ‘War and Decision’.” The four other countries in the Middle East were, according to Wesley Clark, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Lebanon.

It is my opinion that the United States has been the interventionist policeman of the world for too long. And especially covert interventions, because that promotes “blowback”, defined as a term used in espionage to describe the unintended consequences of covert operations. Hatred in the Middle East towards the United States as a result of our covert operations targeting Middle-Easterners, and then Middle-Easterners demonstrating their hatred in a terrorist attack, is an example of blowback.

Is it honestly in our best interest to undertake operations such as this, especially when domestic issues are in such dire need of attention? And, ask yourself, do we even have the right to interfere in and destabilize another country, someone else’s country, as such? My personal opinion is that we have neither the right nor the obligation to try to destablize the governments of other countries and throw them into political chaos. Aside from the concerns of blowback and the misplacement of tax money, it is very important to do unto others as you would want done unto yourself.

Vulnerable Republicans: The Mitch McConnell Edition!

Nationwide backlash against the Republican Party cost them control of the Congress in 2006. This year, the same backlash could cost them 20-30 seats in the House, and as many as 6 or 7 in the Senate. Among the handful of Republican Senators worried about their jobs is none other than Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). From Rasmussen:

United States Senator Mitch McConnell has a seven-point advantage over Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford in the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Kentucky voters. It’s McConnell 48%, Lunsford 41%.

[...]

Still, any incumbent who polls below the 50% level of support is considered potentially vulnerable and McConnell remains in that category.

Under Senator McConnell’s leadership, the Republican Party has engaged in almost-unprecedented obstructionism, using parliamentary tactics to consistently block promising pieces of legislation put forth by the Democratic majority. The only factor in play making McConnell a tough challenge is the generally-Conservative nature of his home state. However, while Kentucky may be Conservative, I can’t conceive of the people of Kentucky appreciating counterproductive politics and politicians any more than the people of any other state in the nation. That could make all the difference.

Republican Congressman Supported al-Qaida and Taliban

Just when you thought Republican corruption had hit a peak, a Kansas City grand jury charged former representative Mark Deli Siljander (R-Michigcan), who was also Reagan appointee to the UN, with money laundering, fraud and 42 other counts. Here’s what the Kansas City Star said:

A Kansas City grand jury has charged a defunct charity in Columbia with sending money to an Afghan terrorist with ties to al Qaida and the Taliban.

The indictment, returned early this afternoon, also accuses a former U.S. congressman of money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Siljander received $50,000 in stolen money to lobby the US senate to remove the terrorist financing organization from a list of banned non profits. The money was removed from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The charges where appended to an investigation of Islamic American Relief Agency, which has sent money to al-Qaida and Taliban

The only thing we have to fear is…

Franklin Roosevelt said in his First Inaugural Address, during the thick of the Great Depression, to a frightened, uncertain, and despairing population: “Firstly, I would like to assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is… fear itself.” Roosevelt, arguably one of the greatest Presidents of these united states, gave new hope and comfort to the down-trodden population with his first address to the American people. And, ultimately, he would assuage the people’s fears altogether by lifting them out of the terrible Depression. 

In 1933 and the years following Roosevelt’s Inauguration, the leaders of yesteryear triumphed over the problems facing them. We must face many new challenges in this new millennium, and it seems to me that we have something new that should be feared above all. Read more

Congress Finally Does Some Good

The Democrats realized something recently. They control the congress. Sure, it took them about a year to realize, but they’ve realized it. They have control, and they are finally starting to make that clear to the president. Read more

Do we truly control our government?

Contemplate this quote, “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” It was spoken by Thomas Jefferson. Do you think that the people fear the government or the government fears the people?

I, personally, came to the conclusion that the government certainly isn’t afraid of the people, or it wouldn’t be doing all of the horrible rubbish that it is now (such as torture and wiretapping). Rather, the people are afraid of the government, or at least have good reason to be afraid of their government. Rightly so, because the government is getting rid of our civil liberties daily (this includes Congress too, because they facilitate it); our privacy has all but disappeared, we are all at risk of being whisked away by the government and detained for an uncertain period of time, and there seems to be nothing we, the people, can do to stop this erosion of our civil liberties.

But this converges with my next point. Voting is supposedly our power, correct? It’s how we control and change our government and representatives? That’s what we’re taught in our schools and families. Well, here’s the question I asked myself the other day: If we control our government, if we can actually change our government, if we actually have power over our government, by way of voting, then why on earth are we afraid of it?

My conclusion is that we don’t truly control our government. My conclusion is that, when we go to the polls to vote, we are simply giving our power away to elected officials that manipulate the electoral process to be elected. Once you elect a politician (usually from one of the two designated political parties) to office, they very often do not fulfill their campaign promises, and you can beg, plead, write letters, start a petition, etcetera, but you have no real power. The main power of government is not voting: it is lawmaking. So, if the people are ever truly going to gain control of their government, they must acquire the power to make laws.

This is where the National Initiative for Democracy comes in.

The National Initiative for Democracy is a federal ballot initiative that would allow citizens to directly vote on and establish laws about the issues that affect their lives, in partnership with their elected officials; the laws created by the ballot initiative process would be subject to the scrutiny of the Congress and the Courts (the laws passed by the people would have to be constitutional). With the National Initiative for Democracy, the people who make the policy could finally be the ones to suffer the policy, and, with the National Initiative for Democracy, average Americans could finally have some control over their government.

The ability of the people to make laws would solve a lot of problems in this country. For example, campaign finance reform is a necessary remedy to campaign finance corruption. But how can you expect a politician, who got elected because there was no campaign finance reform, to pass campaign finance reform? Wouldn’t that be directly in conflict with their own self-interest? Perhaps that is why we have seen little to no campaign finance reform passed in Congress in recent years. Or what if a proposed law directly hurt one of their big campaign donors? Wouldn’t voting for that be against their self-interest? The people are not influenced by the corruption of money in politics, and the people can not be bought out by the forces that currently control our government.

Now, if you would like to learn more about National Initiative for Democracy, please visit nationalinitiative.us, and, if you would like to learn more about the man who is the founder of the NI4D, please visit Gravel2008.us.

Low Congress Ratings due to Republican Control

Two inter sting things happened relating to congress today. First an immigration bill granting children citizenship in the US after meeting certain criteria was struck down. Second a controversial judge, who overwhelming sides with corporations, was elected to the 5th Circuit Federal Court.

But last November Americans voted out the current leadership in congress. But some politicians haven’t realized Americans want change from twelve years of Republican mismanagement. But they’re still voting for (the Iraq war, uncontrolled spending) and blocking (children’s health care, immigration reform), the same policies that Americans are disgusted with. Unless the Republicans can let the Americans have a voice, more can look to loose their seats in 2008.

And it’s time for Democrats to be Democrats. I want to see Lyndon Baines Johnson type strategies. Not Democrats defecting, and siding with the Republicans. Many of the issues that have failed to be solved are just as important, if not more than the Civil Rights Movement.

Racism is making a resurgence in America (not that it was ever gone), for instance the State Department wants to shut down a Muslim school, because curriculum doesn’t “Meet their standards.” The head of the voting rights protection agency feels “The white vote is the most important to protect.” And there is a tremendous government/Republican started backlash against legal and “illegal” immigrants.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid need to become true leaders, willing at any cost to pass important legislation. But blame cannot be entirely placed on the leadership, Democrats need to stop being bullied by Republican tactics. And Americans need to stop being intimated by Republican fear mongering (ever noticed how a new Osama tape appears when Bush needs more money?). Lets live by the motto “Give me freedom or give me death.”

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