Bernie Sanders for President?

Senator Bernie Sanders threw his hat in the ring today as a Democratic candidate for president of the United States.
As a progressive Democrat, I support Senator Sanders in this effort.

My concerns in this are many.
Senator Sanders will be painted as a socialist, communist? By the main stream media, Wall Street and the wealthy. This is a mighty force and they have unlimited funding behind them.
Senator Sanders does not always come off well in his public appearances as displayed already last night on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Where videos of Senator Sanders were played showing him addressing the senate.
Disregarding the visual and listening to the Senator and his views on the issues should be enough to sway the people to liking him and his proposals but, can we expect the general public to disregard the visuals?
For the record Senator Sanders is opposed to citizens united. He is opposed to TPP. He is opposed to the high cost of education for our children. Senator Sanders is for expanding Social Security and Medicare.
Senator Sanders has many other positions that ring a bell in my chapel. Check him out and join me in supporting him.
*Note. Senator Sander’s entry into this race if nothing else, will highlight the needs of our country and require a response from Hillary and the Republicans and that in itself is a worthy cause.
Should Senator Sanders lose the primary to Hillary, this voter will give full support to Hillary.

And again the uneducated masses rise up in anger

What are we to do?
These young people wake up each morning lacking the proper education to get a fulfilling job.
They will be spending another day living in poverty.
They see no vision of hope for ever improving their lot in life.
Yesterday in Baltimore they spoke up saying “We are mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it anymore.”
Their method of communication was looting and violence. The message of last resort?
Meanwhile thousands more participated in peaceful demonstrations protesting the conditions in Baltimore. Christian and Muslim clerics joined hands to peacefully quell the looting and violence. For the most, the mainstream media chose to ignore these groups.
And in the suburbs the whites either went tsk, tsk or screamed “shoot those thugs” and carried on with their daily lives.
The root cause of this civil disturbance is immense and has been brushed under the rug for years.
The apathy is overwhelming.
Today Facebook opens with a call for donations to the victims of the earthquake in Nepal. What about the victims in our inner cities?
What are we to do?

Michigan’s Proposal One!

This is a proposal coming up for vote on May 5th.
The proposal calls for an increase in the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent.
The primary reason for the increase is to supply monies to fund road repair.
There are additional items in this proposal regarding funding for education and monies to local governments.
We could go into great detail explaining how the roads in Michigan are in such poor shape/condition but in a nutshell the roads are bad because we have not been spending any money to maintain them.

We did find money to give tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy including an elimination of personal property taxes which the public voted in favor of recently. (Fooled you!)

These breaks were paid for by increased taxes on the working poor and seniors. The working poor saw a seventy (70) percent decrease in their earned income credits and the seniors saw, for the first time, a tax on their pensions and elimination or a decrease in their property tax credits.

These breaks for the wealthy and additional taxes on the rest of us were said to provide increased employment in our state. Current data suggests this has not come to be.

Now Snyder and his cohorts are asking the working class to dip into their pockets again to bail out their dismal financial management of the state. (Projected 2015 deficit ~ $500 million)

Many groups normally opposed to Snyder are coming out in support of this proposal, they seem to believe they will be sharing in the largesse.
To those people I have to share this old cliché.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

Koch Brothers Now Interviewing Prospects for President

It is now public knowledge that these two Libertarian/John Birchers are interviewing candidates for their appointment to the presidency of the United States.
They have already stated their preference of Scott Walker. He is a good puppet and follows rules dutifully as he has shown us in Wisconsin.
But to be fair they have opened their doors to other potential candidates.
Criteria for selection include a willingness to eliminate Social Security and Medicare. This is in line with the brothers training as baby John Birchers.
Elimination of taxes for wealthy folks would be a plus for any possible candidate, so keep this in mind if you are considering applying.
Another topic they favor is climate change deniers. Science be dammed, we want more profits.
Social issues are not really important but anything anti-gay will be a plus on your resume as a vote getter.
Like I said, Walker has the inside track here but, if you can tastefully express hate for any and all minorities and/or poor people, you may be able to get a hearing.
Competition is expected to be fierce so apply now for the $900 million prize.
Thank you for reading and please reply if you have made an appointment with the brothers.

American Workers Continue to Struggle

As it is well known the United States has outsourced most, if not all manufacturing jobs, in pursuit of lower wages and increased corporate profits.
In addition to this, there is resistance to America’s primary economic stimulus program… WAR!
This has led to a declining economy that has had adverse results for middle class workers. Albeit the extremely wealthy are doing well.
America now relies on minimum wage workers to carry the load and keep the economy rolling along.
Learned economic leaders have recognized this condition and have instituted a new program designed to keep our economy robust and vibrant.
America has embarked on a new money generator. Namely, perpetual political campaigns.
This activity shows promise for various reasons. The corporate controlled main stream makes enormous profits from political advertising, both obvious and hidden ads by secret groups are profit cows.
This also gives billionaires another way to play with their money. Currently they just buy professional sports teams and have taxpayers build them stadiums.
The billionaires can now also buy their own politicians, and again, the taxpayers pay the bills.
China’s slave labor may be the best source for our I-Phones but for good old corruption and greed you cannot beat America’s oligarchs.

A suggestion for my friends in the Green Party

This is not the suggestion, just a picture to keep the youtube video embedded. 🙂

First, a wee bit of background.
The two party system in American politics has a lock on our government. This comes from various reasons, possibly the greatest being money.
At this point a round of “Money makes the world go round the world go round” would be fitting, if you care to join me. 😉

There that feels better, now back to some facts.

There are states in this union where it is virtually impossible to get on the ballot for president as a third party candidate.
Main stream media supports the two party system and cracking that lock to get any coverage is also nearly impossible.
Based on these few facts this is my suggestion.

What about sacrificing just a bit of our purity and joining the Democrats and using our efforts to pull/drag/push the party in your direction?

Go to the local monthly meetings, get involved spend a few bucks and become a dues paying member. Really get involved, volunteer for committees and voice your opinions.
Do not expect an overnight change in the parties goals and efforts but, do look forward to a hard left turn in the near future because of your efforts.

You can and will do more to promote your desires this way than standing on the outside shouting and fussing.
If you are still not convinced, think for a moment about how the tea party has dragged the Republicans so far to the right that some of them are scared.
This message is not just for Green Party folk but for all Progressives that feel the Democratic Party is too far right for their liking.
You can make a difference from within, just do it!

And my Friend from the North shares her view

Notestoponder, a blogger from Vancouver, has posted in her blog an opinion piece regarding Hillary Clinton’s run for the presidency of the United States.
In reading her blog it appears she considers Hillary to be too boring to be a viable candidate. She is inspired by Elizabeth Warren, a true breath of fresh air.
Hillary is just a replay of days gone by. Nothing inspirational here.

IMHO Hillary is the only chance the Democrats have of winning the White House. She is pragmatic, she knows that in order to win she must have the support of “big” money including Wall Street money.

The Democratic Party has failed in their efforts at delivering a message to the voters that inspires them to get out and vote. This is evident in the results of the last few elections. Republicans came out in numbers significant enough to win numerous races.

The Democrats won the presidency because they had a gimmick, a black candidate. In the upcoming election they will need another gimmick, say a female candidate.

Personally, I think Hillary is further left than she lets on, she did try to get national health care when she was first lady.

Elizabeth Warren has the correct ideas regarding income inequality and I support her fully in her efforts to help the middle class and lower income people in America. However she does not have what it takes to win a national campaign in experience and skill. YET!

I also like Bernie Sanders but his “socialist” tag would be his albatross.
So, while I agree to some extant with Notestoponder, Hillary is boring and just another pawn of the Oligarchs. I do think she is the Democratic Parties only chance of holding the White House.

Ah what a shame, again the lesser of two evils gets my vote.

Link to Notestoponder’s blog here…..

Hillary Clinton A Big Mistake?

Special note to notes, I hope i have not misinterpreted your blog. If so I apologize. 🙂

Time for a Sea Change in American Law Enforcement?

This shooting, killing and brutality has to stop.
Hardly a day goes by without another video of police officers doing some form of brutality popping up, either on the web or less frequently on the corporate controlled media.
Has the culture of police reached a point of no return?

Some years back in a neighborhood watch meeting a local police officer was instructing us on how to deal with a would be breaking and entering. He suggested we take our gun, point it at the baseboard in a room and fire a warning shot followed by a shot at the suspect. He then jokingly said, the warning shot can be made either before or after you shoot the burglar.
Personally, the humor escaped me.

Have our police become so hardened that violence is their first reply to a confrontational experience?
Or even worse, have they been trained to act with such violence in these situations?
I don’t know, but it may be time to begin ridding our police of their current forces and replenish them with officers who are trained to only use force as a last resort. Officers who are trained to serve and protect ALL the citizens of our communities.

Maybe it is not just the police, maybe it is time for a sea change in American culture. We are also being inundated with common citizens shooting and killing each other on an almost daily basis.

Remembering an America where unlocked doors and an unarmed citizenry were the norm makes me long for the “good old days”.
What do you think?

South Carolina Policeman Shoots and Kills Black Man

One thing being overlooked in this case is the fact that the man was behind in his child support payments.
In most southern states being behind in child support while also being black is punishable with the death penalty.
Like stealing a pack of cigarillos while being black in Ferguson, Mo.
Or selling singles while being black in New York, NY.
Or even being mentally unstable while being black in Saginaw, Mi.
And many other cases which shall be left untold here.
Release of dash cam video brings up another no, no. Running from police while being black is also a crime punishable with the death penalty.
Per police reports all killings were the result of police being attacked by those nasty black men.
There have also been unconfirmed reports of police being attacked by gay people but, it is too early to determine the validity of these reports, no shots have been fired yet.
What must we do to teach these men to stop attacking those poor defenseless police officers?
Come on men, you know the rules.

Boston Bomber

The young man has been found guilty of all 30 counts he was tried on. Now comes the sentencing stage of the trial.
Regular readers of this blog know of my feelings regarding killing people, anyone not knowing should know, I am against it.

There is some discussion as to the proper penalty for this crime. Many are calling for the death penalty. I have heard no one, save his attorney, call for life in prison.

Personally, I think life in prison is the correct penalty. Killing him would serve no purpose other than possibly bringing some temporary comfort to those that lost loved ones as a result of this evil action.

People that do these type things have no fear of death, rather they expect to die. It is part of their plan, to go down as a martyr.

Let this young man that was led astray by his brother and his religion spend the remaining years of his life in prison.

Or:
Let this young man that was led astray by his religion and his brother spend the remaining years of his life in prison.
Your call as to the correct phrasing of above sentences.