Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Bits and Pieces
Dear All,
A Reminder:
I am a Conservative,Independant-swing voter, Humanist and a Catholic
I am not a Rupublican, nor a Democrat, nor a Fundamentalist Catholic
Some of my Beliefs:
I do not believe in the merging of church and state in America
I believe that the Catholic Church must stay out of American politics
I believe Bush and Cheney must be impeached for high crimes against America
I believe that Congress is very much out of touch with the American people,
and they do not in any way think like the average American citizen
I believe that almost all of the Republicans and one-half of the Democrats
should be thrown out of congeress
Bush has made America a: "Totalitarian Republican Theocracy"
Bush, Bush and Reagan have made the Supreme Court a: "Totalitarian Republican Theocracy"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We the people must take back America from the Bush government. We must stop using electronic voting machines. We must abolish the electoral college, those who wish to win office must do so by winning the popular vote. Corporations control our government therefore all lobbyists must be physically removed from Washington, D.C. The revolving door must be stopped, therefore those who have served in congress or federal government must not be allowed to engage in any lobbying activity for a period of five years after they have left office.
Corporate employees must never be allowed to serve in congress. If any lobbyists are to be allowed in Washington then there must be only one lobbyist from each association. For example, the mining companies must all belong to one association such as a 'Mining Association Special Interest Group' and they would be allowed to have only one lobbyist in Washington, with a very small staff. The excesses of lobbyist money and pressure in our government must be greatly reduced and strictly controlled because many congressman (Tom DeLay) just abuse and abuse and abuse the system, and lobbyists help them do it. Lobbyists do not seem to have any morals and neither do many of our congressman, especially the Republicans.
Supreme Court justices (Alito etc.) must be allowed only one six to eight year staggered term in office and must be elected to that office by the voters. No president should ever be allowed to corrupt the Supreme Court as Bush and the Republican Party have done. The voters would use the judges reputations and judicial records to guide their selection. This should be the same for all judges in America especially federal judges. Bush/Rove have completely polarized Americans and the American political system. They have completely polarized and politicized the Supreme Court. The Court is now controlled by 'Republican Religious (Catholic) Fundamentalists'. It is for these reasons that I propose the above mentioned changes.
Congress cannot be allowed to control congressional reform because this allows the 'fox into the hen house'. Independant committees with voters on them must be formed to investigate and study this and similar situations. These committees would develop a list of reforms and the voters will decide which reforms will become law. One-half of a committe must be composed of average,everyday, ordinary citizens to be selected similar to jury duty service. The ordinary person will be appropriately and adequately compensated for wages, travel and living expenses for their service on such committees. Selection boards would exist in every county and the process would be random selection from a list of those holding 'social security numbers'. Only age, infirmity or family problems would be acceptable excuses and then only for temporary deferment from this duty.
When a congressional committee needs information before deciding an issue they will call upon appropriate members of the groups for and against the issues for input just as is done at the present time. The Legislative branch of our government will make the laws and the president will be responsible for enforcing those laws. The Supreme Court and the federal courts will rule on the constitutionality of those laws and on whether they are being carried out by the president. The president, the congress and the people may nominate citizens for Federal and Supreme Court judgeships. The Congressional Judiciary committee will investigate and evaluate all the nominees and refer them to both houses of congress for a limited debate before certifying their names to be put before the citizens for their vote. Furthermore that committee and all other committees must be composed of equal numbers of congressman from both parties. That will force them to compromise with each other. With Rovian/Bush politics the act of compromise has been completely stamped out, as has the right of free speech.
Bush, Cheney and Rove better never tell me that I am not a patriotic citizen or against our troops. I contend that Bush, Cheney and Rove are completely unpatriotic because they do everything for the benefit of themselves, the Republican Party, corporations and the super rich while doing nothing for our troops or America. The aforementioned do only those things that benefit themselves through the never ending acquisition of wealth and political power. I just wish the Democrats would stand-up against this Rovian strategy of calling others unpatriotic since the Republicans never will. . .
Remember that idiot republican congresswoman(Jean Schmidt) from Ohio, my home state, who criticised Congressman Jack Murtha for his lack of patriotism when he called for withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. Murtha is a warhawk, completely supports America and our troops in every way and is himself a multiply decorated Korean war and Vietnam war veteran. That Republican congresswoman from Ohio does not have an ounce of patriotism and has never done anything for our country or our troops, she just does for the Republican Party and nothing more. She should be censured for her comments and be required to visit our injured troops every weekend just as Jack Murtha does. I ask her to visit our hospitalized troops every weekend and spend time sitting and talking with them. Then I further ask her to write a weekly report to congress that will then appear in the Congressional Record and be carried by every newspaper in America. Then, someday, she 'may' earn the right to criticise a war veteran. I ask the same of George Bush, Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, Lynn Cheney, Karl Rove and Darby Rove.
Sen. Kerry is another decorated Vietnam war veteran whose record was blackened and besmirched by Bush and Rove, neither of whom have served America during wartime and never visited the injured troops. Bush has a very, very questionable service record and it's almost non existent. While Karl Rove has none at all, having avoided the draft on five occassions. I am absolutely amazed that all Americans and all veterans especially Vietnam veterans did not stand up and shout loudly on behalf of Murtha, Kerry, Cleland and McCain. Their service records are above and beyond any doubt, unlike Bush's. Even Republican veterans should have stood up and complained loudly about the treatment of these men, but being blind, lock step, knee jerk 'Stepford Republicans' they did not do it.
Bush and his Republicans will do exactly the same thing to our troops who have served in Afghaniston and Iraq when they need medical or psychological care. Bush and his Republicans will decry the service of our current veterans when they run for political office, unless they are Republicans of course. And that my readers is the disgusting situation in America since the beginning of Bush's run for the presidency and we Americans let him, Cheney and Rove just get away with this completely outrageous and disgusting behavior. Those Americans who voted for Bush should have their heads and values seriously examined and questioned. Are those who voted for Bush patriotic Americans, they must examine their own consciences for the answer. I strongly encourage them to do that personal self examination of their values as human beings and as Americans.
Two parties are not enough, Americans must have a five party system with representatives from each party offered up as candidates for elections, just as in many other countries. Our two party system in America is woefully inadequate and does not allow for adequate representation or a sufficient variety of choices for the voters. A limit of two four year terms in office is a good strategy and allows for adequate stability in government. Campaigning must be limited to one month and elections should be held over a three day period of time. Campaigning dollars and media coverage (radio, tv and newspaper ads) must be limited and equal for the candidates of all five parties.
Tax reform is absolutely necessary. The average, poor and the wealthy must not be overtaxed. Savings and investments in business must be encouraged. The tax burdens on business and the consumers(the people) must be limited and carefully controlled. Government must be required to live within a budget and no additional funds may be taken from the people or businesses. Only catastrophes, such as hurricane Katerina, may be specially funded and then only by a special act of congress and/or a vote of the people. War must never be considered as an accidental catastrophe because the act of going to war is not accidental but is a planned event. Neither congress nor the president will be allowed to spend more than the yearly budget allows and that budget must be voted on by the citizen- taxpayers of America.
American businesses must be helped by the government and the people so that they may thrive. Finland and Japan are good examples of countries that really help their businesses. American business executives must be personally fined and punished for wrong doing of any kind. Executives must not be allowed to damage the business that employs them. The company employees, shareholders and public must not be damaged in any way by executive wrong doing. Many corporate executives are tremendously overpaid and that puts a terrible and unnecessary burden on the business just as too many taxes do.
Just as corporate executives are to be heavily fined and punished for malfeasance and misfeasance on their jobs so too must government officials be equally fined and punished. A new class of crimes must be enacted to punish white collar criminals, these should be called 'crimes against the people and the fabric of our democratic society'. Since most of these white collar crimes are damaging to many citizens these crimes must be more heavily punished than non-white collar crimes. Whistleblowers in government and in the business world must be protected and viewed as good and patriotic citizens. They must be rewarded in some way for the risks they take in reporting white collar crimes. White collar crimes drag our entire society down and do great harm to very large portions of our people. Crimes such as those committed by Enron, Worldcomm, Bush, Cheney and many congressman must be severly punished. Significant jail time and loss of personal wealth must be the punishments incurred. Those are, clearly, the only ways to stop malfeasance and misfeasance in office and on the job.
A good example of wide spread damage done by corporations is in the use of chemicals. The chemical 'Thimerosal' has been around since about 1929 in the form of 'Merthiolate' which tens of millions of Americans have used, and with no warning as to it's great danger. The prescription drug industry has since 1932 been using 'Thimerosal' in vaccines. This chemical has mercury in it which causes damage to the human brain. The company that invented it and the companies that have used it are being protected by the Bush administration. Many children ( mostly boys but also some girls though more subtly) have been damaged by this drug. I can't begin to tell you of the many parents who told me that their child sustained intellectual and motor damage after being given their vaccinations. Classes for the learning disabled, autistic and behaviorally disabled are populated mostly by boys. These children and their parents suffer throughout their entire lives.
Another example is that almost all drinking water sources in the USA are contaminated by a chemical that is put in our gasoline, by the oil companies, and which comes out the exhaust pipes of cars unbeknownst to almost all Americans. One oil company is still running ads bragging about their use of this chemical. Those who have seen the movie "Erin Brockovich" are now
aware of another case of widespread chemical poisoning. There are many, many, many cases of chemicals poisoning Americans. There is a river in New York State and a small town in Missouri(I think it's Missouri) that have been poisoned and then there is Love Canal. In the past week the chemical C-8 has been revealed as the latest toxic chemical that we are exposed too.
Our veterans and troops have been and are currently exposed to toxic chemicals, nuclear radiation and horrendous mental experiences. But for the sake of this discussion lets stick with radioactive and chemical exposures. Chemicals such as 'agents orange, pink, purple, blue and green' used during the vietnam war and for which our veterans, their children and grandchildren have been denied care by the VA, while vets in other countries are receiving care for their exposure. For those who do not realize it that is one of the reasons why Congressman Jack Murtha spoke out against the Iraq war, namely his great concern for the health and welfare of our troops who serve so valiently in Iraq just as he did in Vietnam. I have this very same concern and feel it just as intently as he seems too.
There is the current situation where our government is exposing our veterans and countless numbers of Iraqis to radiation poisoning through our military's use of depleted uranium shells in tank guns etc. We are leaving radioactive debris all over Iraq for the children to pick up and play with. This material has a half life of 25,000 years as I recall. Will our veterans or the Iraqi people ever be compensated for being exposed to this radioactive material.
The draft should probably be reinstated and the children of the wealthy and the politically powerful must serve in the military just as do the children of the average and poor families. Military service must become a national responsibility for all citizens and families. During times of peace the tour of duty of those in service can be limited to one or two years, while during times of war that tour of duty would be extended appropriately. Also the financial burden of war must not rest solely on average and poor American families. When the personal and financial burdens of war are distributed equally among all citizens and all families then the burden of suffering will be distributed equally among all families. Only then will we have fewer wars and only then for the most serious reasons where war is chosen as the very last resort/alternative.
More, next time---
A Reminder:
I am a Conservative,Independant-swing voter, Humanist and a Catholic
I am not a Rupublican, nor a Democrat, nor a Fundamentalist Catholic
Some of my Beliefs:
I do not believe in the merging of church and state in America
I believe that the Catholic Church must stay out of American politics
I believe Bush and Cheney must be impeached for high crimes against America
I believe that Congress is very much out of touch with the American people,
and they do not in any way think like the average American citizen
I believe that almost all of the Republicans and one-half of the Democrats
should be thrown out of congeress
Bush has made America a: "Totalitarian Republican Theocracy"
Bush, Bush and Reagan have made the Supreme Court a: "Totalitarian Republican Theocracy"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We the people must take back America from the Bush government. We must stop using electronic voting machines. We must abolish the electoral college, those who wish to win office must do so by winning the popular vote. Corporations control our government therefore all lobbyists must be physically removed from Washington, D.C. The revolving door must be stopped, therefore those who have served in congress or federal government must not be allowed to engage in any lobbying activity for a period of five years after they have left office.
Corporate employees must never be allowed to serve in congress. If any lobbyists are to be allowed in Washington then there must be only one lobbyist from each association. For example, the mining companies must all belong to one association such as a 'Mining Association Special Interest Group' and they would be allowed to have only one lobbyist in Washington, with a very small staff. The excesses of lobbyist money and pressure in our government must be greatly reduced and strictly controlled because many congressman (Tom DeLay) just abuse and abuse and abuse the system, and lobbyists help them do it. Lobbyists do not seem to have any morals and neither do many of our congressman, especially the Republicans.
Supreme Court justices (Alito etc.) must be allowed only one six to eight year staggered term in office and must be elected to that office by the voters. No president should ever be allowed to corrupt the Supreme Court as Bush and the Republican Party have done. The voters would use the judges reputations and judicial records to guide their selection. This should be the same for all judges in America especially federal judges. Bush/Rove have completely polarized Americans and the American political system. They have completely polarized and politicized the Supreme Court. The Court is now controlled by 'Republican Religious (Catholic) Fundamentalists'. It is for these reasons that I propose the above mentioned changes.
Congress cannot be allowed to control congressional reform because this allows the 'fox into the hen house'. Independant committees with voters on them must be formed to investigate and study this and similar situations. These committees would develop a list of reforms and the voters will decide which reforms will become law. One-half of a committe must be composed of average,everyday, ordinary citizens to be selected similar to jury duty service. The ordinary person will be appropriately and adequately compensated for wages, travel and living expenses for their service on such committees. Selection boards would exist in every county and the process would be random selection from a list of those holding 'social security numbers'. Only age, infirmity or family problems would be acceptable excuses and then only for temporary deferment from this duty.
When a congressional committee needs information before deciding an issue they will call upon appropriate members of the groups for and against the issues for input just as is done at the present time. The Legislative branch of our government will make the laws and the president will be responsible for enforcing those laws. The Supreme Court and the federal courts will rule on the constitutionality of those laws and on whether they are being carried out by the president. The president, the congress and the people may nominate citizens for Federal and Supreme Court judgeships. The Congressional Judiciary committee will investigate and evaluate all the nominees and refer them to both houses of congress for a limited debate before certifying their names to be put before the citizens for their vote. Furthermore that committee and all other committees must be composed of equal numbers of congressman from both parties. That will force them to compromise with each other. With Rovian/Bush politics the act of compromise has been completely stamped out, as has the right of free speech.
Bush, Cheney and Rove better never tell me that I am not a patriotic citizen or against our troops. I contend that Bush, Cheney and Rove are completely unpatriotic because they do everything for the benefit of themselves, the Republican Party, corporations and the super rich while doing nothing for our troops or America. The aforementioned do only those things that benefit themselves through the never ending acquisition of wealth and political power. I just wish the Democrats would stand-up against this Rovian strategy of calling others unpatriotic since the Republicans never will. . .
Remember that idiot republican congresswoman(Jean Schmidt) from Ohio, my home state, who criticised Congressman Jack Murtha for his lack of patriotism when he called for withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. Murtha is a warhawk, completely supports America and our troops in every way and is himself a multiply decorated Korean war and Vietnam war veteran. That Republican congresswoman from Ohio does not have an ounce of patriotism and has never done anything for our country or our troops, she just does for the Republican Party and nothing more. She should be censured for her comments and be required to visit our injured troops every weekend just as Jack Murtha does. I ask her to visit our hospitalized troops every weekend and spend time sitting and talking with them. Then I further ask her to write a weekly report to congress that will then appear in the Congressional Record and be carried by every newspaper in America. Then, someday, she 'may' earn the right to criticise a war veteran. I ask the same of George Bush, Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, Lynn Cheney, Karl Rove and Darby Rove.
Sen. Kerry is another decorated Vietnam war veteran whose record was blackened and besmirched by Bush and Rove, neither of whom have served America during wartime and never visited the injured troops. Bush has a very, very questionable service record and it's almost non existent. While Karl Rove has none at all, having avoided the draft on five occassions. I am absolutely amazed that all Americans and all veterans especially Vietnam veterans did not stand up and shout loudly on behalf of Murtha, Kerry, Cleland and McCain. Their service records are above and beyond any doubt, unlike Bush's. Even Republican veterans should have stood up and complained loudly about the treatment of these men, but being blind, lock step, knee jerk 'Stepford Republicans' they did not do it.
Bush and his Republicans will do exactly the same thing to our troops who have served in Afghaniston and Iraq when they need medical or psychological care. Bush and his Republicans will decry the service of our current veterans when they run for political office, unless they are Republicans of course. And that my readers is the disgusting situation in America since the beginning of Bush's run for the presidency and we Americans let him, Cheney and Rove just get away with this completely outrageous and disgusting behavior. Those Americans who voted for Bush should have their heads and values seriously examined and questioned. Are those who voted for Bush patriotic Americans, they must examine their own consciences for the answer. I strongly encourage them to do that personal self examination of their values as human beings and as Americans.
Two parties are not enough, Americans must have a five party system with representatives from each party offered up as candidates for elections, just as in many other countries. Our two party system in America is woefully inadequate and does not allow for adequate representation or a sufficient variety of choices for the voters. A limit of two four year terms in office is a good strategy and allows for adequate stability in government. Campaigning must be limited to one month and elections should be held over a three day period of time. Campaigning dollars and media coverage (radio, tv and newspaper ads) must be limited and equal for the candidates of all five parties.
Tax reform is absolutely necessary. The average, poor and the wealthy must not be overtaxed. Savings and investments in business must be encouraged. The tax burdens on business and the consumers(the people) must be limited and carefully controlled. Government must be required to live within a budget and no additional funds may be taken from the people or businesses. Only catastrophes, such as hurricane Katerina, may be specially funded and then only by a special act of congress and/or a vote of the people. War must never be considered as an accidental catastrophe because the act of going to war is not accidental but is a planned event. Neither congress nor the president will be allowed to spend more than the yearly budget allows and that budget must be voted on by the citizen- taxpayers of America.
American businesses must be helped by the government and the people so that they may thrive. Finland and Japan are good examples of countries that really help their businesses. American business executives must be personally fined and punished for wrong doing of any kind. Executives must not be allowed to damage the business that employs them. The company employees, shareholders and public must not be damaged in any way by executive wrong doing. Many corporate executives are tremendously overpaid and that puts a terrible and unnecessary burden on the business just as too many taxes do.
Just as corporate executives are to be heavily fined and punished for malfeasance and misfeasance on their jobs so too must government officials be equally fined and punished. A new class of crimes must be enacted to punish white collar criminals, these should be called 'crimes against the people and the fabric of our democratic society'. Since most of these white collar crimes are damaging to many citizens these crimes must be more heavily punished than non-white collar crimes. Whistleblowers in government and in the business world must be protected and viewed as good and patriotic citizens. They must be rewarded in some way for the risks they take in reporting white collar crimes. White collar crimes drag our entire society down and do great harm to very large portions of our people. Crimes such as those committed by Enron, Worldcomm, Bush, Cheney and many congressman must be severly punished. Significant jail time and loss of personal wealth must be the punishments incurred. Those are, clearly, the only ways to stop malfeasance and misfeasance in office and on the job.
A good example of wide spread damage done by corporations is in the use of chemicals. The chemical 'Thimerosal' has been around since about 1929 in the form of 'Merthiolate' which tens of millions of Americans have used, and with no warning as to it's great danger. The prescription drug industry has since 1932 been using 'Thimerosal' in vaccines. This chemical has mercury in it which causes damage to the human brain. The company that invented it and the companies that have used it are being protected by the Bush administration. Many children ( mostly boys but also some girls though more subtly) have been damaged by this drug. I can't begin to tell you of the many parents who told me that their child sustained intellectual and motor damage after being given their vaccinations. Classes for the learning disabled, autistic and behaviorally disabled are populated mostly by boys. These children and their parents suffer throughout their entire lives.
Another example is that almost all drinking water sources in the USA are contaminated by a chemical that is put in our gasoline, by the oil companies, and which comes out the exhaust pipes of cars unbeknownst to almost all Americans. One oil company is still running ads bragging about their use of this chemical. Those who have seen the movie "Erin Brockovich" are now
aware of another case of widespread chemical poisoning. There are many, many, many cases of chemicals poisoning Americans. There is a river in New York State and a small town in Missouri(I think it's Missouri) that have been poisoned and then there is Love Canal. In the past week the chemical C-8 has been revealed as the latest toxic chemical that we are exposed too.
Our veterans and troops have been and are currently exposed to toxic chemicals, nuclear radiation and horrendous mental experiences. But for the sake of this discussion lets stick with radioactive and chemical exposures. Chemicals such as 'agents orange, pink, purple, blue and green' used during the vietnam war and for which our veterans, their children and grandchildren have been denied care by the VA, while vets in other countries are receiving care for their exposure. For those who do not realize it that is one of the reasons why Congressman Jack Murtha spoke out against the Iraq war, namely his great concern for the health and welfare of our troops who serve so valiently in Iraq just as he did in Vietnam. I have this very same concern and feel it just as intently as he seems too.
There is the current situation where our government is exposing our veterans and countless numbers of Iraqis to radiation poisoning through our military's use of depleted uranium shells in tank guns etc. We are leaving radioactive debris all over Iraq for the children to pick up and play with. This material has a half life of 25,000 years as I recall. Will our veterans or the Iraqi people ever be compensated for being exposed to this radioactive material.
The draft should probably be reinstated and the children of the wealthy and the politically powerful must serve in the military just as do the children of the average and poor families. Military service must become a national responsibility for all citizens and families. During times of peace the tour of duty of those in service can be limited to one or two years, while during times of war that tour of duty would be extended appropriately. Also the financial burden of war must not rest solely on average and poor American families. When the personal and financial burdens of war are distributed equally among all citizens and all families then the burden of suffering will be distributed equally among all families. Only then will we have fewer wars and only then for the most serious reasons where war is chosen as the very last resort/alternative.
More, next time---
# posted by t bob @ 11:07 AM 
