Posts Tagged With: Democrats

We ALL Lose

Posted on August 27, 2016 by tomASS

We All Lose

I have never been shy to share my thoughts about politics. That has not changed. What has changed is my FEAR about political outcomes. I have thought myself rational and even when faced with opposing views may have felt challenged but not afraid. What is frightening to me about this 2016 presidential election is that I can’t defend “my” own candidate of choice, I can only say that her opponent scares me more.

I have joked that I voted for the lesser of two evils most elections but the choices here are Obamathe most extremes of evil I have had to choose from. I like President Obama but grew frustrated with the stalemate between the executive and legislative branches of government. With either candidate… America will have even more of that. If Hillary wins without Democrats also winning control of the legislative branch NOTHING will change. I will also bet there will be paralyzing scandals. Donald has so little support from his own Republican party that if he wins… stalemate becomes standstill and then standstill will become a stagnate pool of festering malice!

Hillary Clinton is definitely qualified to be president, but she is SUCH a politicianimpeachment by nature, I don’t trust her. I expect her term(s) to be scandal filled, lest we forget history!  Her political ambitions make her seem to follow polls instead of having real leadership abilities. Where was she during the gay marriage debate? She was waiting for the poll numbers to show a 51% support before she could also support it. Her husband’s administration brought America DOMA (Defence Of Marriage Act – ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court June 2015) AND Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (repealed in 2010) and his impeachment (without removal from office). Where as Donald Trump has NO qualifications to be president. Running a supposedly successful business is not a qualification to be president nor is being a reality tv star. If his business IS so successful, why won’t he release his taxes? Again, he can’t be trusted. He campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” is offensive. America IS great and someone that thinks it is not should not be running for president.

My biggest disappointment this election cycle is that I did have a candidate that I could Bernietrust, that I felt had true intentions to do good for Americans – Bernie Sanders. I resent Hillary and see her as power-hungry. She has a net worth over $80,000,000. Along side Bill’s $120,000,000 makes them worth $200,000,000. Politicians can’t be worth that and not OWE someone favors or relate to the everyday struggles of most Americans. Donald Trump’s wealth is disputed as to what he claims, what journalists report and what his supporters believe. Bernie Sander’s had a net worth of $500,000 after more than 25 years in politics, a lot by my standards but still not enough to have corrupt influences.

How many presidents were millionaires before taking office? In the last 100 years only 3 presidents had less than $1,000,000 before office: Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Harry Truman*. That is 63 years since someone was even close to being representative of a typical American lifestyle in the White House.

ThroneIncome inequality is the greatest threat to our democracy and Bernie is the only candidate that campaigned on that issue. Now he is out, even for Hillary it is no longer addressed as a major issue. How can Donald Trump even pretend to understand an average American’s life and struggles? The photo on the right is when he and Pence were interviewed on 60 Minutes. Who the hell has such tacky, gaudy furniture? Oh… I see!  lol  What I see in the photos is also what scares me… Donald Trump has the same temperament to be president as Gadhafi and Hussein. The US democracy is like Citizens United, money = voice. So those without money are not heard and understandably lose interest in a representative government that no longer represents them.

PoorlyUntil Americans stop voting for president like they would a popularity contest, we will continue to be stuck with candidates that can and will say this, “I love the poorly educated.” Yes Trump not only said that out loud, he said it as part of his victory speech in Nevada, February 24, 2016.  So thanks to an uninformed populace, we have a choice between unqualified, Mean Girl Donald Trump and MS I will not be able to get anything done Clinton.

SupportMy fear of Trump is not only him, but his supporters. How can they not see his vitriol? Watch the video link below of him mocking a disabled journalist… they laugh! Trump says he is a great negotiator… is this the man you want representing the US in negotiations?

To sum this up… I am a disgrundled Bernie supported who begrudgingly supports Hillary because Bernie Sanders did not win, and Donald Trump scares me. My vote for Hillary will be a vote for the lesser of two evils. As Americans, we are losing democracy by continuing to vote for evil of any kind, but it’s my civic duty!  lol

https://embed.theguardian.com/embed/video/us-news/video/2015/nov/26/donald-trump-appears-to-mock-disabled-reporter-video

*(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Presidents_by_net_worth)

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Are You Crucifying Christianity?

Posted on August 19, 2013 by tomASS

I grew up going to church anytime the doors were open. After high school I even considered becoming a minister as my profession. Being reared in a middle-class home and maintaining a middle-class lifestyle in my single income home after university made it easier for me to hold to the values and principles I had grown up with. After admitting to myself I was gay, being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, losing my health, job, lifestyle and health insurance… I became one of “those people” – I am POOR! This is my new “coming out”, admitting I am poor. I tried and struggled for a while to hold  on to my lifestyle but was not Vegas Stylesuccessful. I had to watch as a new owner drove off in my BMW convertible and I was a witness as it faded on the road’s horizon. Soon after this event, I left Las Vegas (where I lived at the time) and I began feeling scared by the idea as an “adult” I was dependent on others for help with even basic needs.

Along with the change in location, came a change in the way I saw the world. My attitude changed. I got over: being a conservative, being a devout Christian and a Republican as I felt the challenges of my new life choking me. I can’t fully embrace the Democrats because they are not doing any better either. The more I learned from studying the Bible, the more I felt distanced from the God of the Bible. The Bible as a moral guide for my life just felt wrong. As I see Republicans fight to protect the wealthy and try to take money from social programs for the poor, the more they reveal to me that they are hypocrites that only talk about church and Jesus for their campaigns (again the Democrats are not much better, they just do not court the religious vote as much as the Republicans do). The more I learned about Jesus, the more I began to realize that most who profess to be Christian should be called Biblican not Christian. A Biblican is one who uses the Bible to justify their disdain and prejudices for others while dismissing the main points of Christ’s message – love and help one another. So now I introduce a new name I added to my vocabulary – Republibiblicans. Republibiblicans use the Biblicans to to sir up votes as they frighten people of the very things they should support and embrace – if they were true Christians.

Now, how do these things come together for me? With my background and education in marketing, I saw to it that I continued to “market” myself as something I wasn’t. I soon realized I was a Clean Handshypocrite and there are few things I hate more than hypocrites. I was presenting myself one way to the world while living quite differently. My facebook marketed myself as “healthy”, “happy” and living an adventurous life. I needed to be more honest with my family, friends, and even the few people who read my blog – MY LIFE IS A CHALLENGE! As a gay man, I urge other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to come “out”; I now want to be an advocate for people living challenging lives to “come out” and become a voice for CHANGE! As the LGBT community has learned, when people KNOW who we are, they are more comfortable embracing us as “people” they can love and accept in their lives! Being poor is no more contagious than being gay is!

Since I am no longer a person of “faith”, why am I concerned with how conservatives, Christians and Republicans are marketing themselves? Because some of “these people”… I love and care about and they are better than what these groups are standing up for and standing against! I want to encourage someone I know that is a “conservative Christian” to see that he/she is not helping his/her claim to be Christian with a post like the “PLEASE DON’T FEED THE ANIMALS” photo! The photo also makes me wonder… who measures the Department of Agriculture’s “pleasure” to do anything and what evidence do they have the DoA is “pleased”?! Jesus (the Christ part of being a Christian) taught: RepublibiblicanFEED the poor, render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s (a “comment” Christ made about taxes), do not be like the Pharisees that wear their religion as a badge of honor! Where is the Christian outrage for what Congress is trying to do to the poor?  Isn’t the food stamp program exactly the kind of “program” Jesus would support? Would Jesus also encourage people to do even MORE to HELP these people? I am not sure who to credit with saying, “get off your cross, we need the wood”, but I do hope I am able to BUILD and do more for society than just mock poor people, because I am one of them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say, I may be poor – living only my social security disability and I do have Medicare, but I am not homeless and do not receive food stamps or welfare. That is not why I am defending the ones that need food stamps, I am defending them because it is the right thing to do! My “lifestyle” is maintained with a below US poverty level income – nothing glamorous or leisurely about my live. ALL of my worldly possessions can fit in 2 checked bags and 1 carry-on. I have been hungry, I have needed to skip meals because of a lack of food and/or money, but I have never really known HUNGER. I would rather go down fighting with people who can empathize with my situation than to help enable the ignorance so many have of what life may be REALLY like for many poor people and highlight the apathy someone must posses to ignore their NEEDS – basic needs like food, health, and shelter. And yes… my “personal” marketing campaign still includes more highlights of the “good”, simple pleasures in life than my struggles with Multiple Sclerosis and finances. No longer is my “personal” marketing campaign a denial of the pain, suffering and challenges I face in life… these challenges are more difficult to express sometimes.

When I posted on facebook my feelings about this situation, I was told,”Judge not lest you be judged.” But that is exactly why I feel I need Joel Osteen Houseto SAY something, I would be judged for my silence! I cannot escape judgement of others but thank goodness and thanks to people like this, I do not fear “judgement” from their God! And OBVIOUSLY their leaders are not worried about being judged either with MULTI-million dollar homes! As I stated earlier, I have read and studied the Bible and hope never to be called a Biblican or a Joel Osteenian! But if I were called a Christian because my life reflects Jesus’ very solid ideals and sound social teachings, I would not mind at all. Just as I would not mind being called a Gandhian, Martin Luther Kingian or any variation of the name of someone who stood up for social justice! I am simply making sure my hands are clean, Mr. Marley! Maybe after a post like this… I SHOULD consider the ministry again? Maybe you can support my “MINISTRY” by using the paypal links on my page? OH MY God… I am as bad as “THEM”!! lol

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Discarded Obama Campaign Stickers

Posted on November 7, 2012 by tomASS

I was visiting overseas during the U.S. Presidential election, but I tried to stay informed. This was my first time to ever contribute to a Presidential campaign. I was also the first time I was really actively involved in any campaign. The Obama campaign had sent me a few bumper stickers as a thanks for donating and I was so excited that whenever I do get home… I was going to be able to post my Obama stickers on my little OLD truck. But my conservative mother threw them away! No thought given to the idea I may WANT them. No consideration, just trash. Some I had actually purchased. 

This campaign MEANT something to me! I willingly gave up my middle class lifestyle because of my Multiple Sclerosis and I had a tough decision to make – my lifestyle or my health. My health won-out! I gave up living in a nice house with one of my most favorite people in the world as a roommate, driving a BMW convertible and living in the exciting city of Las Vegas for living at home with my parents, with no car, in a small town in Mississippi. Like I said… NOT an easy decision, but a necessary decision. I knew the sacrifices I was going to have to make and I was lucky to have a loving and supportive family to help me.  

I struggled for two years with no healthcare because my M.S. was a pre-existing condition and this was during the time Obama was trying to get what is now labeled Obamacare passed. For the first time I saw something in politics that directly affected me and it was the President leading the cause. My new standing as a poor person with no insurance helped me see a side of this issue like others could not. I was living solely on my social security disability income and living at home, I was still only barely by. Eventually I qualified for Medicare and FINALLY had health coverage.  

My conservative, Republican, Christian family that watched more Fox News than ANY other news outlet, called Obama a socialist and believed all Fox News said, even though I was one of the very people Obama was trying to help with Obamacare – they saw it as evil and bad and so was Obama. This is when a passion for what was going on in politics began to grow IN me. My frustration also grew because I could not get them to see and understand – I AM ONE OF “THOSE PEOPLE” Fox News is demeaning! My parents had Social Security & Medicare and others in my family even had Medicaid and they witnessed my struggle with health issues all-the-while I had no health insurance. I began to see “conservative” to equal – I got mine and I do not care about you.

Needless to say this created a struggle for me in relating to my family and even strains our relationship today. I felt like an outsider in my own family.  Church was so important and BEING Christian was even more important. But as the conservatives boasted of their Christianity, I witnessed a great deal of not so Christian actions. Being gay has helped me see “church”, Christians, and even God in a much different light. I saw the principles of the Democrats relate more to Christianity than the “religious right”. I wrote a blog specifically to try to engage people to explain how “conservatives” were Christian (http://wp.me/pKLa8-GU) and e-mailed a blog that asked the same but in a friendlier tone than I had be able to muster! (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithforward/2012/11/time-for-christians-to-make-a-choice/) Republicans extol their Christianity but for me it conflicts with their politics and I feel the Democrats live it by their politics.

I see Jesus as someone that would spend time with gays, having wine and talking with them, not standing in line at Chick-fil-a so the company has more money to prevent gays having equality! I see Jesus touting the GOOD of Obamacare, not worrying how it could affect his personal coverage if the uninsured get access to care! This creates for me my biggest struggle – it makes me see my dearly devoted, Christian mother and others in my family as hypocrites! They already dislike me for being so different in how I think… how could they deal with being viewed as hypocrites? Or possibly even racist because of things they say about Obama? Oh yeah, that is why it was such an internal struggle for me to live that close to them. I hate myself for seeing my family the way I do. We DO love each other… but there is no respect unless there is agreement and I just can’t agree with them. They refuse to listen to my points because I think they do not want to see the hypocrisy. But any attempts I make to talk and try to understand only ends badly! I am a critical-thinker and NEED more than rhetoric and “faith” to understand things! Now I live far away and even at a distance it still hurts me!

My father was diagnosed with Dementia and suddenly Fox News was not on the tv as much (if any actually). A few months later he had a stroke, then 9 days later died. At his funeral, all that spoke (including me) mentioned his trademark little, old, piece of crap Toyota trucks he had over the years.  I did eventually get a little money and had the opportunity to travel to see my friend I call Little Buddy (one of my FAVORITE people in the world) and when I returned from that trip – I bought a little, old, piece of crap Toyota truck like my Dad used to have. I was looking forward to putting my Obama stickers on MY little, old truck, but they were thrown away because no one considered them relevant at that house  – the same as me… discarded without consideration or concern!

P.S. I do love my family and they do love me… like my facebook relationship status says – it’s complicated! My writing is to express feelings I am unable to share otherwise and this is how I feel now.

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OUR President

Posted on July 25, 2012 by tomASS

I had to post this because I almost forgot what a REAL President and First Lady look like….

The photo to the left is a post I recently saw on facebook!  I shot off this post on facebook as my status, “I saw a post earlier today that was a photo of FORMER President George W. and Laura Bush with a caption that read, “I had to post this because I almost forgot what a REAL President and First Lady look like….”! How DISRESPECTFUL! I am sorry America… but PRESIDENT Barack Obama and FIRST LADY Michelle Obama are REAL and he is PRESIDENT! Even if you do not agree with their divisive politics that help the poor have insurance and teach children about nutrition and exercise… at least have respect that they ARE the PRESIDENT and First Lady of the United States of America!! Even when the person you did not vote for wins….he (or she) is still winner and comments like above just show you are a SORE LOSER!”  

I was ashamed and embarrassed for the person that posted it for so freely being disrespectful to OUR current President and First Lady, Barack and Michelle Obama!  True, not all Americans love the current President and some may even miss FORMER President George W. and Laura Bush.  But for someone to infer that President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are not REAL and deserving of our respect is a VERY SAD commentary of discourse in America.  To disagree with the politics of the President is completely normal if you have differing views, but the growing acceptance to disrespect the office of President is alarming to me.

I did not want to mention it in the very first paragraph, but now I am one sentence into my third paragraph I will say it – I think it may, in part, be because he is black!  But now I said it I will not dwell on it, but it does deserve mentioning.  I find ANY white woman pointing in the face of a black man to appear racist to me.  To see a sitting governor do it to a sitting President!  WOW!  I am not so naive as to think Obama is the first President to be disrespected, but to mention race one more time…. as a society, maybe this is a good place to start toning down the hatred, rhetoric, hyperbole – even if it is so we do not appear to be racist.  Political discourse will ALWAYS be a part of politics, but it is possible to disagree without being so blatantly RUDE!  

The following is a reply I recieved about my post, “We’ll just have to ‘Agree to Disagree’ on your post. Obama is NOT my president, and Michele will never be my ‘First Lady’. Disrespectful or not, what is disrespectful, in my opinion, is how fast Obama’s administration has managed to degrade and destroy what has taken millions of working-class families decades to accumulate. Perpetuating the ‘handout mentality’ of low and poverty-level Americans is like ‘keeping them in chains’, they might as well call it ‘Slavery’.”  All I could say to myself was WHAT THE FUCK?  I want to respect her opinion, but I am at a complete loss to know what she THINKS Obama has done?  It is rhetoric that has NO fact to support it!

Yes… we (she and I) DO have to agree to disagree! I in NO way have seen him perpetuate ANY such policy – namely because Congress has done NOTHING to support ANY of his polices since ObamaCare.  Even ObamaCare is not so much about entitlement for the poor (the poor already had Medicaid) but for people like me with pre-existing conditions like Multiple Sclerosis! I had no health insurance for 2

Our President is ALSO a loving husband and father!

years and so YES, I supported ObamaCare… because now I have insurance and I am getting treatment again. But I feel conservatives only see he is a Democrat and does not understand that ObamaCare was built on Republican Bob Dole’s health plan that was the basis for Romney as a Republican Governor to also use.  Even in an effort to gain bipartisan support, they tried to demonize the program that in Romney’s own suggested alternative (as Presidential candidate) to his own plan established in Massachusetts wants to keep the KEY provisions of ObamaCare! They FIGHT it just because it is a Democrat’s plan.  But even as a Democrat… I never said or acted as if Bush were not MY President, because at the end of the day we are all still Americans and that even includes President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama!  As all past Presidents, I feel they have represented America with ALL the best intentions that what they did (do) was (is) good for our country!  I feel both the President and First Lady have represented America very well, with grace, poise and  dignity – they are a GREAT First Family!

Repeating LIES does not = Truth!

I have a disdain for A LOT of the Tea Party’s divisive politics and how they feel cooperation and compromise are an evil part of politics.  Even

Hyperbole is BAD for the Nation and BAD for your soul!!

as a CHILD I was taught to share and play nice with others!  A concept that escapes most Tea Party idealist.  The Tea Partiers seem to ALWAYS go back to our “Christian” fore-fathers as their point of reference.  They want to legislate their Christian beliefs in a nation founded on Christianity – NOT FREEDOM!  The founders of our nation left England because the KING was basically “legislating” his idea of Christian beliefs .  The founders intentionally left religion out of our constitution because they knew religion and government were separate entities.  As a gay man in America, I am astonished at the idea that Christians (not all… but A LOT) in some way feel that if I am given equal rights and benefits of marriage, it in some way  effects their marriage.  They feel they have a responsibility to remove freedom in our nation and enact laws based on their beliefs.

MY Presidents!

Bush was MY President, Obama is MY president and even if Romney wins he will be MY President, because I am proud to be an AMERICAN more so than a Democrat (or even a Republican as I was most of my life)! People need to unite, love, support and encourage each other – not say things like Obama is NOT MY President… unless you have left the USA and surrendered  your Passport & citizenship- He is YOUR President…. just maybe not who you voted for! 

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Politicians Are the Spoiled Children from Our Childhood

Posted on May 5, 2011 by tomASS

As children, we did not like playing with the kid that always cried, “If you do not play my way, I’ll take my ball and go home!”  Now we know what became of those kids – they became politicians.  Politicians are blind to the effects their partisanship is having on Americans.  Their new mantra is, “Give me what I want or I will hold the democratic process hostage.”

“There comes at times leverage moments, a time when the president will capitulate to what the American people want right now,” he (Eric Cantor) said. “They don’t want to raise taxes, they don’t want borrowing to continue out of control.”(3)  This is laughable!  He thinks that the American people want him playing politics as usual and using leverage to get what he thinks he and Republicans want? The House of Representatives is only one of three parts of the legislative process.  Americans do not want you to hold passage of raising the debt ceiling as LEVERAGE!

Is he really in touch with what Americans want?  “Changes to Medicare and Medicaid remain wildly unpopular and more than two-thirds of registered voters want to repeal Bush-era tax cuts for households that make more than $250,000 a year, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll.”(2) Billionaire Warren Buffet is one of the wealthiest men in the U.S. and even he understands what Americans want better than Rep. Cantor.  Mr Buffet says Americans want the wealthiest (those make $250,00 or more) to pay more and make cuts for those making less than $250,000.(3)  He knows and understands the rich are better suited to absorb paying more in taxes.

Even small business owners know they can do more.  “Tax cuts for the wealthy, according to Teahan, will do nothing to bolster his firm. They won’t affect his hiring decisions, they won’t encourage him to buy new equipment or help him move into a bigger warehouse. He says all of those decisions — the nuts and bolts of actually running a small company — depend on the his customers’ economic conditions, not his personal tax rate.”(4) But my theory is they (Congress) cannot see beyond their own self-interest and wallets.

I know I seem to beat up on Republicans a lot, but I am a fiscal conservative with liberal social views.  The Republicans are the party that is supposed to reflect my fiscal conservative views and they cannot even represent my fiscal conservative views anymore!  Now fighting Democrats on everything is all I see from Republicans.  All of Washington,D.C. is out of touch with what Americans want – Democrat and Republicans alike.  Now the Republicans start wanting to attack Medicare and Medicaid with this crazy voucher idea…. they are driving me even further away!  The solution to helping with cost of Medicare and Medicaid is to attack healthcare costs not established working programs like Medicare and Medicaid.  There is also room for making Medicare and Medicaid more efficient and to better control abuses to the system.  Work together (yes even with a Democrat President and Democrat Senate) to solve problems Congress – STOP THE PARTISAN crap! More evidence just in – Cantor does not want to be reasonable… just play political games!(5)

The Republicans are too fond of the throwing the baby out with the wash idea!  Being responsible does not mean be radical!  Learn to play well with other and listen to Americans…. or WE will take your ball and send you home!

(1)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/10/eric-cantor-debt-ceiling_n_847149.html
(2)http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/05/04/voters-dislike-gop-plan-to-change-medicare-medicaid/
(3)http://www.mediaite.com/online/warren-buffett-bush-tax-cuts/
(4)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/04/small-business-owners-bush-tax-cuts-rich-repeal_n_857204.html
(5)http://www.newser.com/story/117875/gop-backs-away-from-budget-compromise-reports.html

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I Enjoy My Rage: Am I the Only One?

Posted on April 15, 2011 by tomASS

Republicans continue to attack the poor and seek to further benefit the rich! Where is Americans outrage over what the Republicans are allowing the tea baggers to do?  I once considered myself a fiscal conservative with liberal social leanings.  Now the Republicans are trying to pass their CRAZY “budget blueprint”, I am seeing that I cannot even call myself a fiscal conservative anymore by this far, far right fiscal thinking.  I am beginning to have RAGE against the Republican Party for allowing the tea baggers to be the tail wagging the dog.  Republicans are proving crazy is infectious!

The Republicans are alienating independents like me by catering to these nut bag tea baggers.  Even Donald Trump is gaining momentum with the “birther” theory as part of this “Tea Party” movement (I agree with Bill Maher – I will stop calling them tea bagger when they stop calling it Obamacare).  Showing this is a movement of nonintellectuals.

The “budget blueprint” that passed the House of Representatives today (Friday, April 15, 2011)1 calls for changing Medicare to a voucher system, cutting Medicaid and food stamps, all while not only keeping the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest but also reducing the top corporate and individual income tax rates from 35% to 25%.  Where is the rage against this?

The Democrats by default come across as less fanatical and more level-headed.  “Democrats dismiss this strategy, saying that although some spending cuts are needed to rein in deficits, wholesale reductions in education, public works, research and other core government programs leave Americans unable to compete globally.” says Pat Dollard2.  While programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the defense make up the majority of the budget, these programs can be improved, made more efficient or even reformed without throwing the baby out with the wash! Where is the rage from the poor?

GE made $14.2 billion profit and paid no taxes and in fact received a $3.2 billion tax benefit. 3 GE also employs a 975-employee tax department4 to insure they find as many loopholes as possible.  Why are the Republicans leading their fight by attacking programs that assist the poor and elderly instead of attacking the corporations they are trying to help even more with an even lower tax rate?  Why are they not trying to get the U.S. out of 2 very expensive wars?  My thoughts are the Republicans are influenced by the self-serving interests of the Tea Baggers.  The tea baggers are self-indulgent and have the idea, if it does not benefit me – cut it.  Where is the rage against Corporate America?

Wall Street bonuses increased 17%5 from an already astronomical amount, after the government bailout.  Why have the Republicans not besieged Wall Street in this “budget blueprint”?  Again, does it have something to do with protecting big money?  The poor are an easy target that find it difficult to have access to defend itself in a government that money = access!  The poor do not have access as demonstrated by my unsuccessful attempts to have an elected official listen to my concerns about E.R.I.S.A. and inspiring a blog Mr. Smith Still Needs to go to Washington6.  Where is the rage against Wall Street?

There was a time when it was political suicide to even mention cutting, changing Medicare or Social Security!  The idea of such  caused outrage!  Where are these groups now?  Are they allowing the Republicans to hang themselves?  Why aren’t the old school Republicans curtailing the Tea Baggers?  Where is the call to reform for Corporate America & Wall Street?  Where is the rage against the Tea Baggers?  In the past I would hear tea baggers say they wanted to “take America back” and I would ask, who are they taking it from?  Now I know, they want to take it from the poor and helpless so they have more for themselves.  I am glad my tax money does something to help the poor, sick and elderly because I do not have the money the tea baggers are trying to protect from the government.  I wish I could do more to help the poor, sick and elderly! Why don’t the Democrats harness this rage and take America back – from the crazy tea baggers (note: I am not using rhetoric, I am saying who I want America taken back from)! Am I the only one outraged?

Help me out… give anything… even if it’s only a $1

1 http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/15/house-passes-6t-spending-cut-plan/

2 http://patdollard.com/2011/04/republicans-propose-6-2-trillion-in-budget-cuts/

3 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/business/economy/25tax.html

4 http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/GE-Bringing-Creative-Tax-Strategies-Light-57849-1.html

5 http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-02-23/news/27057087_1_bonuses-wall-street-personal-income-tax-collections

6 https://thomasajohnston.com/2010/11/09/mr-smith-still-needs-to-go-to-washington/

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Shallow People In The Tea Party’s Shallow Tea Pot!

Posted on April 6, 2011 by tomASS

Typical Tea Bagger

I do not know how Teabaggers (The Tea Party) sees themselves; but I see them as shallow, selfish,  incoherent, trivial people!  Like Bill Maher on “Real Time with Bill Maher” says, “I will stop calling them Tea Baggers when they stop calling it Obamacare.”  Now the government is facing a shut down because they have shown they cannot play well with others.  They say to themselves….it’s our very minority ideal way for all or we will just take our ball and go home – while shutting down the government!  The Democrats and Republicans have enough problems without the “Teabaggers” bringing their frivolous ideas to government.  To use another expression from Bill Maher, they are like the kid that only reads one paragraph, when the teacher says who read the chapter and that kid raises his hand to ask a question about that paragraph to make it seem they read (or know) something.

13th Generation American said on 19 Saturday 2011 am31 9:56 am:
“With 43 million people in the US living in poverty, 20 million unemployed, The Patriot Act constitution buster, US record military spending in 2010, record deficits, 50 thousand troops and 20 thousand mercenaries in Iraq, 94 thousand troops and 170 thousand mercenaries in Afghanistan, GITMO still in business. We are talking about a birth certificate? Nice!” (I saw this posted at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/18/the-2012-speculatron-week_3_n_837854.html#s255150&title=Haley_Barbour)

Teabagger Work Ethic

The paragraph they did read, they did not even understand.  They read – cut government spending and for some reason they think it means cut any program they cannot benefit from directly.   Many of them profess to be Christian, attend these WalMart Mega-churches and read the Bible the same way – the Bible hates the same things they do – Gays!!  These people attended college to pledge Mom’s sorority or Dad’s fraternity, oh… and to get a degree.  They never thought of college as a place to get an education and actually learn something!

Many of the Teabagger Party do not even believe in evolution or global warming.  Neil deGrasse Tyson, the Host of PBS NOVA scienceNOW says it best, “The nice thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe it.”  Even when they can be proven wrong with science they just feel what they “believe” is foundation for governmental policy.

Why do the teabaggers feel they are acting on some mandate from the people? Where is that coming from?  The Republicans barely have control of the House and not many old school Republicans will endure this teabag farce for long.  Do they really feel they are doing what is best for Americans?  They should see Americans see they are acting for their own self-interest (pockets). The poor don’t watch Fox News and can’t be the loudest, they have bigger problems than worrying where Obama was born. Or is it simply the poor have an inability to organize, protest, and in some cases vote because of limited means or jobs that are more important for feeding their family, than concerns of governmental policy.  They better enjoy their ride because I can only hope it will be VERY short lived.

Help me out… give anything… even if it’s only a $1

https://thomasajohnston.com/2011/04/02/repeating-a-lie-does-not-make-it-true/

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People Really Believe This CRAP!!!

Posted on March 24, 2010 by tomASS

This was actually posted on a friends facebook page:

“Just heard the most remarkable statement by a Russian native on CNN. Could not believe CNN didn’t edit it. Old Russian woman “You American people don’t understand, you need to listen what they are telling you! I have lived it, this is exactly how Communism works! It is becoming the Soviet Union all over again.” wow!”

This friend is a good guy.  But he is also a hard-core conservative and has no realization that something good can come of this or that he is believing and repeating the panicked rhetoric and other unfounded reactions of other conservatives and Republicans. He jumped on the chance to use CNN instead of Fox News as his source but I wanted to see this video for myself and cannot find this relevant evidence on CNN, Cnn.com or even youtube.  Remember the Republicans… you know the entire party that did not participate in the creation of the healthcare reform bill because they were not in control and resented the Democrats being in charge and doing something for Americans instead of acting on behalf of Insurance companies, Health Management Organizations and Pharmaceutical Conglomerates.  The Republicans are more interested in playing a blame game to try to regain political control instead of actually being bipartisan and participate in creating this bill.  It is so sad that their “power in Washington” is more important to them than trying to actually do some good for Americans.  Since they could not get their DEMANDS all the time… they took their ball and went home!!   Sen. John McCain vows, “There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year,” McCain said during an interview Monday on an Arizona radio affiliate. “They have poisoned the well in what they’ve done and how they’ve done it.” *(2)  He earlier said, “The first casualty of the Democratic health care bill will be immigration reform. If the health care bill goes through this weekend, that will, in my view, pretty much kill any chance of immigration reform passing the Senate this year.” *(3)  Talk about sour grapes and a bad sport!!  And he was a presidential candidate.  Why can’t politicians just represent their constituents and quit representing their party affiliation?  I say this to Democrats as well.  The PARTY POLITICS HAS TO STOP!!  How sincere was the invitation from the Democrats for the Republicans to join the debate?  But the Republicans should not have cried and gave up to only change their game plan to traditional party politics.  Both parties together could have created a better plan… but I am happy we have something.  I also hope the Republican party makes comments soon that John McCain does not speak for all Republicans and there will be a real effort to do more great things for Americans now this bitter fight is over.

Also England has had socialized Medicine since 1911 for all workers over 16 and in 1948 extended the system to the entire population.  Last I checked… socialized healthcare has made England neither Communist nor Socialist.  England remains a capitalist democracy.  In an international comparative study of the health care systems in six countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the United States), the British health care system was ranked in first place for quality of care. It also gained first rank position for equity and efficiency and a top place ranking for performance overall.*(1)  Amidst all the misinformation about Canada’s universal healthcare system (also called Medicare) which began nationwide in 1966, 43 years later Canada is still not Socialist or Communist.  85.2% of Canadians reported that they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the way health care services are provided in their country and an even higher number (89.8%) rated their physician in the same way though slightly lower ratings were awarded to hospitals (79.9% being “satisfied” or “very satisfied”) *(4)  I bet you could not find 85% of Americans to be satisfied with anything much less healthcare!!  lol  Israel established socialized healthcare since the country was established in 1948 and it remains the sole democracy in the Middle East, well the sole democracy until America leaves Iraq and Afghanistan. lol

The next issue with this argument – the healthcare reform bill is not socialism!!  lol  Or it is not any more socialist than the police forces, fire protection, public education or city water systems used in the United States.  These are all services that are funded by taxes and are shared by citizens.  So why would medical services be considered socialist if these other well established and accepted services are not considered socialist systems?  When politicians use words like socialism to describe anything… it is only to cause fear and panic because their argument is to weak to stand on its own.  It also displays to the educated they do not understand the meaning of the words they are using!! lol

This is where I get ugly…. sorry…. but a day or two before my friend posted that status message on facebook he explained to me as a father, he is concerned for his son.  That is understandable.  Fathers want the best for their kids.  But what about that father with a sick child that has fallen in the cracks, is uninsured and wants desperately to help his son, daughter, or even his wife but has no insurance or access to healthcare?  What about a kid with a serious illness like Spina Bifida, Juvenile Diabetes or Leukemia ….. he or she has a pre-existing condition for life and will make his or her having insurance after he is grown nearly impossible in the current healthcare system.  What about the caps insurance places on treatment of costly illnesses like Multiple Sclerosis or cancer?  How is the healthcare reform bad in these situations? ….. Because sadly, my friend and a lot of Americans are not concerned with that other father… he is not concerned about the pre-existing condition that child will live with long after he or she leaves his or her father’s house…. he is not concerned about the caps on treatments for illnesses like Multiple Sclerosis or Cancer….  he is only concerned with how he feels NOW and is not open to think beyond what he has been taught and believes because as a conservative he is more concerned about his politics.  HE is in a position as a father to protect his child by supporting the healthcare reform bill, help his unemployed neighbor or even a sick former co-worker.  I do not say “he” like “he” is the only one! He is typical of Americans… he is scared… they are scared.

Change is hard and yes, even frightening.  I also feel they are scared of the 1/2 black, Democratic  President that has accomplished something that his predictors have been unsuccessful at achieving and OMG what happens when a President can accomplish things with the cooperation of Congress?  We only have to look to the Bush administration that has left us in 2 wars that has cost more than this healthcare reform will cost, Bush started the big Bailouts for the banks and the economy was crap when Obama inherited his office.  Bush accomplished this with his same party controlled Congress.  So a President getting what he wants from Congress is not new…. but a Democrat President getting what he wants is new!!  Keep it up President Obama – keep fighting for me and the other Americans that have not been able to afford to buy our influence in Washington D.C.!!

I have been that uninsured person with a chronic illness and I want no one to be in that same or even a similar situation.  I want to ask the Americans that are upset about the healthcare reform bill to just take one second to realize they can be happy for the ones this will help – even if it is not them!  But if they take the time to learn what the bill is… they will see it is good, the U.S. will not become socialist or communist as a result and most of all – we can share even healthcare in a country as great as the United States of America.  Others do not have to be WITHOUT insurance so others CAN have insurance.  Americans are not as selfish and uncaring as they are presenting themselves to be to the rest of the world with this issue… Americans need to think, read and learn about this (and other) issues without trusting only one news source like CNN, Fox News or even The Daily Show. But I do kind of like they are getting a taste of the fear I lived with, without having an actual bad situation at hand.  But they are getting the taste without having to eat the whole meal I have choked on for 2 years.

President Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”  I change that just a little to say, Americans ask not what I can do for myself, ask what can we do for each other. Americans may be afraid of change… I was afraid there would be no change and I thank GOD there is a change!

I feel there is Hope Again for a New way of life for the forgotten Americans!!

Although almost 90% of my blog is opinion, I try not to rely on rhetoric… I try to show where information I consider relevant comes from lol Sources below:

*(1)  Davis, Karen; Cathy Schoen et. al. (May 2007). “MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL: AN INTERNATIONAL UPDATE ON THE COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF AMERICAN HEALTH CARE”

*(2)  http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/88285-mccain-dont-expect-gop-cooperation-the-rest-of-this-year

*(3)  http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/vengeance-will-be-mccains

*(4)  “Healthy Canadians: Canadian government report on comparable health care indicators”

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