Month: March 2010

Fiery Rhetoric After Health Care Passage “A Clear And Present Danger”!

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Mike Vanderboegh, an Alabama survivalist and former militia leader, has advocated that Americans break the windows of Democratic leaders’ homes. After calling for this last week, we have had attacks of violence against property, and death threats against Democratic politicians. He is now calling for supporters to be well armed and ready to defend the Constitution.

This event, on top of demonstrations planned at the home of an Ohio Congressman in his district; and Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King slapping a picture of Nancy Pelosi in front of a Tea Party crowd in Washington, DC; and the continued fiery rhetoric of Republican leaders, including John Boehner and John McCain, makes it clear that conservatives and Republicans, either by plan or by their dangerous rhetoric not being understood to be inciting, is provoking a possible insurrection that will lead to bloodshed and death!

All of these events are a “clear and present danger” that will soon force the government to utilize the Schenck case of 1919 and intervene to keep law and order in the midst of what is rapidly becoming a threat to public security! People must be held responsible for their speech, when it incites violence!

We cannot allow chaos and anarchy to rule this country! The evoking of the Constitution does not allow violent action to be considered legitimate! It is time for violent rhetoric and advocacy of lawlessness to end! Cease and desist!

Threats Against Bart Stupak And Other Health Care Supporters: Republicans Must Be Held Accountable For Ugly Atmosphere They Have Created! :(

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It is indeed a sad time when Democratic members of Congress, at least ten at last count, have to face threats and intimidation because of their support of the Health Care reform legislation.

Bricks have been thrown through windows, a gas line to a house was broken, and threatening emails and phone calls have been delivered, with the biggest victim of these attacks by fanatic right wingers being Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan, an anti abortion Democrat who came to an agreement with President Obama that led him and others who were anti abortion to support the Health Care reform legislation. When one listens to the obscene, threatening, despicable phone calls that went to his home in Michigan, terrifying his wife and family, one can only denounce the whole mood encouraged by the extremist right wing radio talk show hosts and Fox News Channel, and even by the rhetoric of Republican leadership in both houses of Congress!

And when Glenn Beck talks about picking up guns, and Sarah Palin makes a list of Democrats in Congress to target for defeat with the image of cross hairs of a gun surrounding their states, one has to say again that freedom of speech is being abused to the extreme!

There has to be real fear that violence is going to escalate, and it will be blamed on GOP tactics that have so divided this country in the past year, that there is no civil discourse anymore!

The Republicans have a responsibility to stop provoking continued anger among their supporters, and act in a civil manner in defeat! Otherwise, they will bear the responsibility for any tragic events that might occur because of their rhetoric!

Barack Obama And Joe Biden: A Close Relationship

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Barack Obama proved once again how much he respects and relies on Joe Biden when he came out with the Vice President to hail the passage of Health Care reform legislation on Sunday evening, and had the Vice President introduce him on Tuesday as he signed the landmark legislation.

It is not typical for a President to allow his Vice President to share the limelight with him at key moments in his Presidency. Some Vice Presidents have been kept at a distance, such as Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Spiro Agnew, George HW Bush and Dan Quayle.

Only Walter Mondale and Al Gore were seen as real partners with their Presidents, but even they rarely shared the limelight with Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Dick Cheney was sometimes in the background, but was much more often not present at all in the public spotlight.

But Joe Biden has become an important part of decision making under Barack Obama, and he is totally committed to and loyal toward his President, and Barack Obama knows it and trusts him implicitly. Obama is not an egotist who needs the total spotlight for himself, and is very generous in having Joe Biden, his good friend, rejoice in the successes of the administration.

We are very fortunate to have a team of Obama and Biden, as together they are dedicated to essential change and reforms at home and abroad!

Rep. Louie Gohmert And Direct Election Of The Senate

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One of the great “progressive” reforms a century ago was the 17th Amendment, promoting the direct election of the US Senate by the people, a move advocated because of the terrible and corrupt image of the Senate due to corporate influences on the state legislatures, who had the responsibility to select the Senate under the Constitution.

Now, Texas Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert promotes a repeal of the amendment, in order to promote states rights!

This is a loony idea, to move AWAY from democracy, back toward corrupt state legislatures and corporate influence!

Is this Texas Congressman crazy? What is it about Texas that they elect such loony people to Congress?

I would argue there is a better case for giving Texas back to Mexico LOL than to repeal the 17th Amendment! 🙂

Republicans And Destruction Of The “Safety Net”

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The Republican party is beginning a “war” on the “safety net” that Democrats have created nationally since the 1930s, and is also reaching into the states, as for example, Florida, to destroy gains made by state employees in a state famous for low pay!

Nationally, the Republican plan, enunciated by Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan and others, is to gain the majority in Congress and work to privatize Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, along with repealing the Health Care reform legislation just signed into law by President Obama.

In Florida, the dominant Republican majority in both houses of the state legislature is setting out, as we speak, to destroy the Florida Retirement System as we know it, by dramatically changing the system for pensions for teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other state workers.

In many cases, the pensions will be cut by one third to one half for future recipients, and the method by which state employees have built up pension credits will be retroactively negated. Thus, work already completed in past years will be put under a new, much more stingy, pension crediting, and include the need to work more years to be eligible, and sick leave and overtime work in the past and the future will no longer be counted.

This is an outrage, and will be occurring in a similar fashion in other states, and is a harbinger of what is going to happen nationally IF the Republicans regain control of the Congress.

Having done tremendous damage for the 12 years they held the Congress from 1994-2006, and now doing the same in Florida and other states, is there anyone in their right mind who would support the Republican goal of retaking power in the nation’s capital?

More than ever, the Democrats in state governments and nationally must fight “tooth and nail” for every legislative seat and every governorship to prevent further destruction of the “American dream”!

Future Obama Presidential Library: Hawaii Or Illinois?

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Imagine this: It is only early in the second year of the Obama Presidency, and already, discussions have begun on where the Obama Presidential Library should be after his time in the White House ends!

Being that he was born and lived in Hawaii for part of his youth, the Hawaii legislature is planning to petition the President to place his Presidential papers in their state.

At the same time, Obama’s adult life was primarily in Chicago, and certainly that is a more central location for his papers, regarding access to scholars.

A good compromise would be to do what happened with President Ford. His papers are in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the University of Michigan, a major scholarly repository and outstanding university where Ford graduated. However, there is also a Ford Presidential Museum in the city which he represented in Congress–Grand Rapids.

So I propose that his presidential library be in Chicago, either at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, or the University of Illinois at Chicago.

At the same time, put a Presidential Museum in Honolulu, as the home of his birth and early childhood.

That way, scholars have easy access, but tourists visiting Hawaii have another major historical site besides the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

This would be a good compromise to be fair to both Hawaii and Illinois!

Is Barack Obama A Socialist? Ask Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders!

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A large percentage of Republicans in a poll think Barack Obama is a Socialist, but with most of them having no clue as to what Socialism is.

This charge, along with the beliefs that he is a Muslim, and that he is foreign born, are part of an assault unprecedented in American history on a sitting President of the United States!

But if one asks Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont if Obama is a Socialist, his reaction is to laugh heartily!

Sanders WISHES that Obama WAS a Socialist! 🙂 He makes it clear that Obama is FAR from being a Socialist!

And when one looks at Bernie Sanders as a person and as a principled Socialist, one has to wonder: What is it that makes conservatives, Tea Party people, and Republicans so uptight about the word Socialism?

Bernie Sanders comes across as a very decent fellow, far from being “radical” or “dangerous”! Many members of the Republican party in Congress sound and act a lot more “radical” and “dangerous”, some to the point of great embarrassment for the party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt!

Senate Republican Obstructionism: Not A Winning Strategy!

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The House Republicans disgraced themselves by their behavior this weekend as that chamber passed the Health Care reform legislation.

Now the Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and with the full backing of John McCain, have decided to be totally obstructionist, and to pledge to do everything to delay or prevent the “reconciliation” bill designed to make the newly minted Health Care reform better than it presently is.

So, as a result, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans all night sessions to prevent delay in the enactment of “reconciliation” beyond this pre Easter week.

If the Senate Republicans think this is a good image they are presenting the nation, they will soon discover how wrong they are!

Already, the first polls out after the enactment of Health Care reform indicate that 49 percent favor the legislation, compared to 40 percent opposed.

The GOP is about to have a rude awakening! Health Care reform is here to stay, even with 14 states trying to promote its repeal in the courts!

From Theodore Roosevelt To Bill Clinton: Presidential Commitment To Health Care For All Americans!

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As we celebrate the accomplishment of landmark legislation on health care, we must acknowledge for history the role of several Presidents of both parties who saw health care as a right for all Americans.

The fight has gone on for nearly a hundred years now, since Theodore Roosevelt first enunciated the idea in his 1912 Progressive Party platform.

Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke about it as a basic human right in his 1941 speech to Congress.

Harry Truman first promoted formal legislation on health care in the late 1940s, but it was stopped by a coalition of conservative Republicans and southern Democrats.

John F. Kennedy promoted Medicare, but could not get it past the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, a Southern Democrat.

Lyndon B. Johnson accomplished both Medicare in 1965 and Medicaid in 1966, overcoming the opposition of Wilbur Mills, the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee.

Richard Nixon came up with a health care plan which was rejected, sadly, for partisan reasons in the early 1970s.

Bill Clinton made the most massive effort for Health Care reform in 1993 and 1994, but it was rejected by Republicans and conservative Democrats.

Now, Barack Obama, with the full support and aggressiveness of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has gained what seven past Presidents worked on but could not fully achieve!

So let us salute and hail the seven former Presidents who had the guts, the courage, and the principles to make progress, no matter how limited, toward the ultimate goal that now has made Barack Obama an historic President!

When Obama is no longer President, and after his lifetime, Health Care reform will be part of the basic biography of this principled, dedicated man, who made his country a better place, as other great and near great Presidents have done!

A Tribute To Ted Kennedy’s Memory: Health Care Reform!

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Senator Ted Kennedy died pursuing his dream of Health Care reform legislation.

The Congress and President Obama have now paid tribute to his memory, and the greatness of this man in our legislative history, by enactment of Health Care reform on Sunday evening.

It was a touching moment that Kennedy’s widow, Vickie, and his son, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, were present today when President Obama signed this bill, the most important in 45 years, into law.

The accomplishment of this reform will only add luster to the image that Ted Kennedy was one of the ten greatest Senators in American history, a man for the ages, who in many ways accomplished more than his brothers, John and Robert Kennedy!