Time To Throw An Elbow, Mr. President

We all know the President's abilities on the basketball court. With that in mind..

This is it, Mr. President. If you do not put Mr. Romney away in this round, Democrats will not have the fire to get out and vote, and the Republicans will be on fire and voting in a replay of 2010.

Conversely, if you challenge Mr. Romney everytime he tries to shade the truth, fudge the numbers, or evade specificity, you can pull victory from the jaws of defeat. 

Challenge him on the deficit. The largest part of the deficit is extension of the Bush tax cuts, which were supposed to expire at the end of 2010. Remind people that the only reason the cuts got passed at the beginning was through the budget reconciliation process, and that, in turn was based on the fact that it was acknowledged that those cuts would result in a deficit. That deficit is here and is choking our economic vitality every day.

Challenge Mr. Romney on the economy. Remind Americans that when you assumed office, our economy was shedding jobs at the rate of 750 THOUSAND a month. You have turned that trend around, and, despite all of the partisan obstructionism from the Republicans, our economy has added over 5 million private sector jobs. Remind the public that Senator Mitch McConnell vowed to make you a one term President. Take off the gloves, Mr. President and call him out by name, since the video is available for anyone with eyes and ears.

(Mitch McConnell (one-term president) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-A09a_gHJc). 

Challenge Mr. Romney on the abortion issue. Be a staunch advocate for a woman’s right to choose her own reproductive destiny. Let those who oppose abortion choose not to have one; they have no right whatsoever to impose their morality on the rest of us who may or may not share their religious values. Remind him that our First Amendment gives us not only freedom of religion but freedom from the pernicious use of religious dogma to rule our private lives.

Don’t be afraid to challenge Mr. Romney on foreign policy. It was the Republican-controlled House of Representatives that refused to appropriate over $300 million to beef up security at our embassies worldwide. Remind people that whatever the President says to the press is virtually instantly blasted and magnified out in the public sphere and that it is imperative to have all of the facts before making any such statements. Mr. Romney should be aware of this, given his crass statements issued well before all the facts were verified in an area where information is almost impossible to obtain instantaneously. In like manner, you can challenge him regarding the middle east and how he would address the issues of Iran and Syria. 

Challenge him to SPECIFICALLY state what he would do differently. And, if he doesn’t, don’t allow him to spout platitudes and boilerplate in lieu of genuine policies, AND how he would go about implementating them (i.e. how he would enlist support among our allies) with a broad coalition of other nations.

Indeed, Mr. President, don’t allow Mr. Romney to do any evasion. Call him out whenever he tries (and you can be sure he will), just like Joe Biden did when he schooled Mr. Ryan last Thursday.

Do these things, Mr. President. Be fearless and staunch in standing up for principles that have served Democrats well ever since the party was formed. Smile often and sincerely. Speak simply and sincerely and to the people, via the camera. Do these things and you will have been elected President to a second term by the morning of November 7, 2012.

The Shirt

[The post you are about to read is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. The part of “Mom” is played by my Mother. The part of “Dad” is played by my father]

You could tell from the feel of the material, the cut and the needlework, that the shirt was top quality. 

Celebrating my eighteenth birthday, Bethany gave it to me as my present. Mom was impressed (quite an achievement), Dad smiled warmly over the mashed potatoes; Bethany looked especially lovely that evening. We went out to the drive-in that night. At that time of year, nighttime temperatures were pleasant.

The pattern was very geometric, different squares, rectangles, lines and colors, grays and blues and fit my lean frame nicely.

Bethany and I were quite an item. She was the most beautiful girl I had known. Couldn’t believe that she had felt an attraction for me. Her laughter was so free, so natural - it had the quality that was musical; infectious, joyful.

By the time of my next birthday, however, we had broken up. The details escape memory, but I was heartsick. 

I treasured that shirt; deliberately did not wear it often so as to insure that it would not wear out. As long as I could wear it, part of the halcyon days of youth would stay with me. Years and addresses went by, as they are want.  And marriages. But the shirt remained.

Finally, somewhere in the mists of decades the shirt disappeared. And Bethany retreated further back in memory. 

Yet, anytime I would overhear the name “Bethany”, my heart would miss a beat. 

It’s now fifty years since we parted. Somewhere in the course of everyday, I saw a pattern that was enough like the pattern of the shirt that the memory triggered. And, predictably, my heart missed a beat.

For whatever reason, I went to the ‘Classmates.com’ website, and after only a few minutes, found Bethany’s link. Sent her a message along with my email, not knowing if she would respond or not. It wasn’t two days before Bethany’s name came up in my email. And, this time, my heart raced. Breath tightened in my chest. I clicked open the email to find that Bethany had remained in the Phoenix area and a light search of Google surrendered her address and phone. It took a full half day to work up the courage to call.

“Hello”? 

“Bethany? It’s me, from Scottsdale High”

Her voice hadn’t changed a whit, even though fifty years have passed. And, her laugh! Her laugh, as always, bright, free. My heart was racing by then. It’s been almost two weeks now. We email and phone as time is available. 

And fifty years are as only a week or two...

Time to Unite to Fight the Forces of Evil

...and secure your own financial future

Sixty-three days and counting.

And it doesn’t look good for President Obama. The President’s campaign is being out-funded (out-spent) by something unreal, like 10-to-one by the Republicans and the big-money interests.

When a staunch Democrat like Michael Moore (“Fahrenheit 911”,”Bowling For Columbine”,”Sicko”,”Roger & Me”) says that he sees a very real possibility for Romney & company to win the November election, that’s not a cheerful scenario, by any means.

But, we have to be realistic.

Citizens United was a real game-changer. For one thing, it gave the multinational corporations access to OUR domestic electoral process. Think about that for a second. 

Countries like Iran. Yemen. Somalia. 

They’re not our friends.

And yet, their petrodollars can be spent to influence the outcome of OUR election. To this writer, that smacks of Treason on the part of our very own Supreme Court. 

And it doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out who’ll be the beneficiary of their largesse.

Our Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex has a vested interest in a continued state of war to satisfy our addiction to oil. Exxon/Mobil, Chevron, Koch Industries are not the most profitable enterprises on the planet absent well-laid plans and strategic spending in the halls of Congress.

What chance does a lone citizen have against the powerful interests which now infest the corridors of power?

We have our vote. 

Wouldn’t it be more comforting however, if we could, somehow level the playing field? Counter the profligate spending by the Big Boys with campaign contributions comparable in size.

Pipe dream. Right?

There IS a way. 

We CAN Empower ourselves. 

WE CAN, today, change the dynamic of the electoral process. 

WE CAN, in less than Two Months, generate a cash groundswell that will completely ALTER the political landscape in such manner as to reclaim our great Nation for EVERY citizen, not just the 1% at the top of the income scale.

FOLLOW THIS LINK: http://www.empowernetwork.com/almostasecret.php?id=rogrthebloggr

THEN; spread the word. 

I’ve done the math...

If everyone reading this post enlists only TWO OTHER PEOPLE to become  Empowered...the compounding effect can generate OVER $100 MILLION before election day. No political campaign can ignore a sum that great.

Don’t believe me?

There was an article in “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” some 70+ years back about a man who agreed to work for another man for the sum of ONE PENNY on day 1, provided the employer would double the pay every day for ONE MONTH. The employer jumped at the offer. Who wouldn't?

On the 30th day, the employer found he owed the laborer the sum of $5,368,708.80 !!! It is said that the employer suffered a massive heart attack when confronted with the calculations.

Now...

Shall we reclaim OUR country?

Get ALL IN !

See you tomorrow...

BEWARE THIS RIGHT-WING TROJAN HORSE !

Tonight’s post has been put on hold. It’ll be back within a few hours, but this got me so riled I had to dash off this post.

Now, normally I have the founders of the Empower Network in highest awesomeness. 

But then, yesterday, one of The Two Daves emailed me about an organization that he believed to be devoted to keeping the internet free of all interference, especially from that big, bad old Federal Government.

It calls itself Campaign for Liberty, and it’s stated goals are to (somehow) “RECLAIM the Republic” and to “RESTORE the CONSTITUTION”. And it has the scariest picture of President Obama I’ve seen since before the 2008 election, with the Header, ‘DON’T LET OBAMA TURN OFF THE INTERNET”, urging readers to “Sign the internet freedom manifesto”.

If you want to view this piece of political garbage, here's the link 

It’s got a capture section where a person can submit their information (first and last name, email address and zip) and click on a button “Sign Your Manifesto”.

Identifying information at the page bottom shows that “Campaign for Liberty is a 501(c)4 lobbying organization...” which is the tip-off.

This organization has NO, repeat NO interest in preserving internet freedom. Indeed, if there is any goal of this organization, it is to attract funds and generate support which will ultimately be channeled toward legislation which will effectively give the telecom giants control over the internet.

There is ONE and ONLY ONE organization  dedicated to preserving internet privacy and freedom. NET NEUTRALITY is the only mechanism structured to keep the internet free from interference by the government or the corporate sector (the telecoms and media conglomerates like Clear Channel, Viacom, Disney, etc.

Here’s a link to illustrate how media consolidation has constricted the free flow of information over the past two decades. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the pattern of deceipt and evil waiting to rule the masses.

Go here: http://www.nationofchange.org/if-public-knew-corporate-media-helps-gop-sneak-plutocrat-agenda-1343223843

As I said at the beginning, this so-called “Campaign for Liberty” is anything but. It is a trojan horse designed to enslave those who don’t know the truth.

Now YOU know.

Please leave a comment. I want to know your thoughts.

Who's Pulling The Strings?

?? Who’s Pulling The Strings Mr. Nestande ??

Assemblyman Brian Nestande is out with his latest screed entitled

“RESTORING CALIFORNIA’S ECONOMY: YOU DECIDE !”

Of course the Assemblyman doesn’t want you to decide on the basis of facts and/or logic. He wants you to decide based on deliberate misrepresentations, misleading ‘facts’ and, in some cases, outright lies embedded in his flyer.

On the inside of this slickly designed flyer we find:

Legislative Update: Which Approach Do You Favor?

We find a chart listing four areas Mr. Nestande believes are of concern to Californians. Interestingly, some of these Californians have made substantial contributions to Mr. Nestande’s campaign ‘war chest’. Predictably we can ascertain who those Californians are by examining closely the wording in the columns titled “Proposals That Help” and “Proposals That Hurt”.

Make no mistake...these flyers are designed by professional “consultants”, (by the way, who pays for these “consultants” Mr. Nestande? Not us taxpayers, I would hope) experts at molding (read: ‘manipulating’) public opinion in favor of whomever has the fattest checkbook or connections to the levers of power in Sacramento.

The “Proposals That Help” section is presented in green (deliberately), a color that is neutral-to-friendly, while “Proposals That Hurt” is presented in black, a negative-to-unfriendly hue. To the untrained eye, the difference is imperceptible, but the deception begins there at this subtle, insidious level.

Topic #1 - Taxes Again, the placement of this topic is designed to draw the unwitting reader in at the most visceral level. Yelling “TAXES” goes right for the emotional solar-plexus - forget an unemotional, reasoned or intellectual discussion; people don’t like to pay taxes, even if they are Justified, even if they are necessary.

Mr. Nestande claims that elimination of the Minimum Franchise Tax on small businesses will somehow magically make it possible for them to expand their operations and hire new workers (AB 166). EXCEPT THAT IT WON’T !

Assemblyman Nestande’s reasoning is fatally flawed due to his lack of understanding of one of the most basic tenets of economics. Businesses ONLY expand their operations and hire new workers in response to an increase in DEMAND for their product or service. PERIOD. There is NO, repeat NO guarantee that passage of AB 166 would have the effect he claims. One outcome that IS certain is that foregoing the revenue that would be generated thereby would exacerbate our State’s fiscal woes. 

Alternatively, the five year 1% increase in the State sales tax would move our budget closer to the ‘balance point’.  And, that proposal “Hurts” us how? Please, Mr. Nestande, don’t insult our intelligence.

Topic #2 - Job Creation In the light of the abject failure of “Reaganomics” (G.H.W. Bush referred to it as ‘voodoo economics’) and the disastrous effect of Howard Jarvis’ Proposition 13 in the early 1980’s, it’s a miracle that our State was able to claim the distinction of being the WORLD’S 6th largest economy during the 1990’s. It is testament to the industry of our workforce coupled with an entrepreneurial climate not found in any of the other 49 states that such came to pass. It may be good policy to provide tax incentives to companies, businesses and corporations that move their headquarters here (AB 303), but I would suggest that a BETTER policy is one that rewards those same companies, businesses, etc. who actually bring JOBS, workers, you know, to the state. It’s of little benefit having headquarters here while the jobs are outsourced to cheap labor ghettos like India, China, Indonesia and the profits also ‘offshored’ to places like Switzerland or the Cayman Islands.

Mr. Nestande’s assertion that imposition of an oil severance tax (AB 1326)“may” result in the loss of 10,000 jobs is little more than a scare tactic, in light of the already enormous tax breaks, government subsidies, write-offs, ad infinitum to an industry that reports the highest profits in it’s history. Beware caveats like “may”. They are a tip-off that speculation is behind the scenes, in this writer’s opinion a red flag warning of deception. Also, in my opinion a major portion of such revenue generated would wisely be directed to the implementation of procedures to insure against repeat of the Deep Water Horizon catastrophe of 2010. This is just good common sense, as we all have been witness to the deplorable actions of BP.

Topic #3 - State Regulations  Requiring the California Small Business Board to review the effects proposed regulations would have on small businesses (AB 541) is tantamount to giving the fox the keys to the henhouse AND a recipe book for fried chicken to boot. This is a blatant stall tactic, and worse, INCREASES costs to the taxpayer through another layer of bureaucracy. 

On the other hand, AB 341’s required mandate of 75% of solid waste generated here is source reduced, recycled, or composted by the year 2020 is reasonable considering the 8-year time frame into the future. This goal is commendable, and is fully in line with Californian’s desire to be responsible stewards of our environment. It is, in this writer’s opinion a boon, and will solidify further build-out of ‘green’ industries here in the Golden State. Here in the Coachella Valley, one of my favorites is Burr-Tec Industries; another is Sunline Transit, both have achieved national notoriety for their commitment to a cleaner environment.

Topic #4 - Growth Of Government This topic is “red meat” to conservatives here in district 64. Actually, conservatives everywhere rail against the boogeyman of ‘big gummint’. To repeal State laws and regulations (AB 425)sounds commendable on the surface, but, in fact will result in yet another layer  of bureaucracy and thus, ADDED COST to the taxpayer. I’m interested in knowing which of Mr. Nestande’s friends and/or supporters would be serving on such a board, panel, commission. Is this a plum for those people, Mr. Nestande?

So, finally, we come to the “Proposals That Hurt” category, and, predictably the Assemblyman takes aim at SB 810, asserting that spending $200 billion to create a State agency to administer a government operated health care system is evil. There is a stealth linkage to our DMV, as if that would be the framework of the proposed system. Such confabulation is intellectually dishonest on it’s face. Could it be that Assemblyman Nestande would prefer that Californians continue to be gouged by the for-profit private insurance industry, represented by AHIP. I don’t know about you but I don’t appreciate a private company taking up to 30 cents of every premium dollar so their CEO’s could continue to enjoy multi-million dollar bonuses, then turn around and drop me should it be necessary to file a claim. Now I have Medicare, which has only a 3-cent per dollar ‘overhead’, meaning that 97 cents of every dollar goes for diagnosis, treatment, even follow-up. AND I cannot be dropped for simply filing a claim. Finally, to sweeten the deal, I assert that the same innovative energy that has set my state head-and-shoulders above all others will come to the fore and make our state-run system a model for others to emulate. A price of $200 billion will be a bargain and show that California is a state that truly places the needs of it’s citizens first.

Yes, Assemblyman Nestande, there is a real difference in philosophy up there in Sacramento. Some are trapped in the past, wedded to the thoroughly discredited “trickle-down” economics, while others, like myself subscribe to  the “bubble-up” scenario, where economic empowerment of the working and middle classes results in an ever-expanding field of play for those willing to work hard and play fair. You might be interested to know that such viewpoint was put forth by Malcolm Forbes, one of the greatest capitalists our country has produced. It was he who stated, “...money is like manure. Gather it together into a great pile and all it does is sit there and stink. But, start to spread it around and things begin to grown all over the place...”. Who would have thought that Steve Forbes’ father was a Keynesian?

On the back page of your flyer you allude to the loss of millions of dollars with the bankruptcy of Solyndra. Wow! How ironic! You are aware, sir, that Solyndra had it’s genesis during the Bush administration - I believe the year was 2007. Even then, it was apparent to auditors that the financial underpinnings were dicey, at best. Yet the Bush administration attempted to get Solyndra rolling, even when alarm bells were going off in the governments’ offices overseeing (enabling?) it’s creation. Please elucidate me, Mr. Nestande - if government “...should not be in the business of picking winners and losers...”, why do we have the SBA? Or maybe you would have us do away with it as well. The guy that owns the little bike shop I know probably would not agree with you, as it was an SBA-backed financial agreement to got him started. Would you change your mind if he were to contribute a few thousand $$$ to your campaign fund? But, of course, by doing so, he couldn’t afford to expand his business or hire any additional workers. Sort of a catch-22, huh?

So, here we are.

I’m still wondering, who’s pulling the strings, Assemblyman Nestande?

Is it the National Chamber of Commerce? They’ve got incredibly deep pockets and worldwide ‘connections’. Certainly, they could come up with 30 pieces of silver.

Or, is it the Oil companies?   (Isn’t Chevron-Texaco headquartered here in California?)

Perhaps it is AHIP, the health insurance lobby that would be most threatened by passage of SB 810. Certainly, passage of that legislation could be a death-knell for them.

It all comes down to Money, the ‘mother’s milk of politics’.

When will you make full public disclosure of those who are funding you, Mr. Assembly man?

We, the people would like to know.

Highway 111 – Part 1 (w/apologies to Bob Dylan) Revisited

Many more years ago than I care to recall,  there was a television commercial that asked rhetorically, “Is it possible for a man to love a machine?”

Needless to say it was an advert for an automobile. The premise being that a man could form an emotional attachment to a car. As an extension of male ego, much has been written, of course. Somewhere in that same time frame the television sitcom “My Mother The Car” appeared. Mercifully it had only a brief run before being cancelled; some premises were just too improbable even then. (I must confess I felt a little sad for Jerry Van Dyke. His brother, Dick, had an award-winning comedy running, and he had a lame vehicle (in more ways than one, obviously) which failed. But I digress.

By what stretch do we migrate to a man’s emotional attachment to a thoroughfare? Can we even make such a stretch? Good question; that’s been plaguing the back of my mind ever since this idea started tugging at my consciousness, demanding release.

By way of explanation, Highway 111 stretches a great deal of the length of California’s Coachella Valley, the most-traveled portion roughly between Indio on the east to North Palm Springs at the western end. Winding through Indio, La Quinta, Indian Wells, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and finally, Palm Springs, the highway roughly parallels Interstate 10.

Up to this point in time,  I had intended for this post to be a paean to Highway 111. As it meanders through this portion of the Coachella Valley, it seems to me to be a living,  throbbing vessel, an artery of both commerce and conviviality.

A regular part of my routine is to have a bagel and cup of coffee on the front patio of the New York Bagel Deli, adjacent to the intersection of San Luis Rey and Highway 111. As I sit there I can feel this tremendous energy and I am captivated,  even enthralled.

For the past several weeks this post has gone unfinished. I’ve progressed to this point…for what? What is this focus? Where does this highway fit into the larger narrative?

Now, I believe I have at last found the answer. The focus.

That’s coming up in Part 2

NO MORE FEAR

While commenting on my favorite website (Huffington Post), I came across a comment by a fellow poster, posting under the name of Matt7. “Matt” had reacted to a speech in the House of Representatives by Virginia Foxx (R-NC). In the short span of 1 minute and 4 seconds, Ms. Foxx had managed to speak the word ‘fear’ a whopping 7 times, about once every 9 seconds!

It set me wondering, “What is there about these times that makes fear such a potent motivator”?

Of course, that question was easily answered; September 11, 2001.

Since that day, our nation has behaved largely as a nation in fear of it’s own shadow. Virtually every issue that has been part of the national dialogue since that date has been framed in terms of ‘fear’.

Health Care Reform? Fear of ‘Socialized Medicine’.

The ‘War on Terror’? Fear of attack by Islamic radicals. (Never mind the incongruity of a ‘war’ on a concept, which is what ‘terror’ or ‘terrorism’ is. And, of course it has to be presented as ‘war’, since this nation is so consumed with war as an instrument of national prerogative.)

Of course the ‘War on Terror’ was a fantastic vehicle for the previous administration to launch the most egregious assault on civil liberties that I have witnessed in all my years. The “Patriot Act” was the Trojan Horse that allowed the Executive Branch to spy/pry into every aspect of civilian life without fear of reprisal; Fourth Amendment to the Constitution be damned! Of course, if anyone, private citizen or Congressperson raised objections they would instantly be branded as ‘traitors’, their opposition was ‘treasonous’. At one point it became so ludicrous that even a private citizen’s choice of books to be withdrawn from a public library could be portrayed as having sinister design.

Some months back I read the account of one of the secret service people who guarded Vice-President Richard Cheney on the day of the 9/11 attack. He recounted how, in the basement secure bunker area designed for just such a contingency, Cheney appeared visibly shaken and constantly fearful despite the presence of the guard. As the years have gone by since that day, it has become fairly common knowledge that the Vice-President always carried a gas mask whenever he left the Vice-President’s residence. Mr. Cheney went so far as to have his residence obscured in the Google ‘Earth’ database and video files. This, then, is a man very intimately acquainted with fear. That may explain, ultimately, why he sought and received 5 deferments from military service during the Viet Nam era.

Fear, of course, is one of our most primal emotions. It can trigger the ‘fight or flight’ reflex when we encounter the unanticipated. Not only primal, but powerful, the Republican party has built it’s entire raison d’etre around fear.

Of course, just the act of change can be a fearful experience. This is what fuels the conservative message; the fear of change of the status quo.

Conversely, this can explain why many in the Democratic party seek to bring about change.

It is generally accepted that there cannot be growth except through change. Much of the Democratic party is directed toward growth, acknowledging that time marches forward, not backward and that yesterday’s comforts cannot be certain in a world that changes all around us.

One of the most iconic figures of Democratic values in the 20^th century was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And, perhaps one of his most oft-repeated audio clips was, “We have nothing to fear…but fear itself”.

Even author J.K. Rowling in the famed “Harry Potter” stories put forth the adage that “Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself”.

Perhaps that is why the current Republican strategy to thwart meaningful health care reform finds such resonance by branding the reform as “ObamaCare” rather than ‘health care’. We all know what health care is. Many of us do not know much about President Obama and so, by branding health care reform in such manner, the Republicans seek to capitalize on fear of Barack Obama, as he is a relative newcomer to the national scene. In this case new represents change and thus departure from the comfort of the familiar, the status quo.

There can be little doubt that the motive of the major insurance companies in the health care reform dialogue is to thwart any kind of meaningful reform; as that would negatively impact the insurer’s bottom line-profits, in a word.

Now that we know the motivation of the insurance industry, it is not a great leap of reason to understand why they would seek to utilize fear to paralyze meaningful reform.

Preventing genuine reform means an end to the exorbitant seven-figure bonuses the heads of these firms can collect from their legalized extortion under the guise of providing insurance services to the ill.

In a recent hour-long special commentary on health care reform, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann put it most succinctly:

Death is the issue! How can we not be unified against death? I want my government helping my father to fight death! I want my government to spend taxpayer money to help my father fight to live and I want my government to spend taxpayer money to help your father fight to live! I want it to spend my money first on fighting death. Not on war! Not on banks! Not on high speed rail!

Spend our money, spend my money, first: on the chance to live!

You can find Keith Olbermann’s full commentary here. I suggest you read it. Then, think again about FDR’s famous words. No doubt if you are over the age of 25, you have heard them replayed at some point in time, “We have nothing to fear…but fear itself”.

I believe that it was John Donne who once wrote, “A coward dies a thousand deaths, a brave man, only once”.

So, what are we afraid of?