Yesterday President Obama stated the people do not have high priced lobbyists to speak for us but I respectfully disagree with him on that point .We were shocked and in some cases broken hearted by the 109th Congress led by an all republican administration .We saw our complete infrastructure crumbling ,big corporations flourishing .We watched a war started on a lie and precious resources of all kinds squandered .We were told to work hard if we wanted change, so we did .We spent time calling for national organizations like Move On ,to help sway senate elections in states we may never set foot in based on knowledge of issues we learned about that individual state.We wrote letters to our local newpapers, we blogged, we called congress, we volunteered our time, we sent money nationally using tools like Act Blue and other funding sources that support democratic candidates .We won a slim majority in both houses of congress but that was not enough.So we worked harder donated more to our lobbyists and here we are today still listening to the same so called reasons why we are still hurting.
The democrats in the 110th Congress were accurate. They needed more of a majority and of course the Oval Office.We a long hard presidential primary that many said would rip the democratic party apart but we joined as a united party and worked to elect Obama.
The 111th Congress is now here and yes there is some progress but to be honest it is more of a trickle down progress than a bottom up boost.I am not just speaking of econmics .We have so much to do and mch of it should have already been done.The FDA allows carbon monoxide in packages of meat ,vegetables ,and pretty much anything shrink wrapped.We saw this exposed in hearings .Why is this allowed ?Because it makes food look fresher longer.Not stay fresher- simply look fresher longer.We see spikes in illness' like autism,asthma and other disease and I wonder could this be a part of those increases ?I don't know. What I do know is I pay a fee and wait in line to get my car tested to make sure it is not emitting too much carbon dioxide but nothing has been done to elminate this from foods.Why?
Americans are obese .It is called by some the new American epidemic.So we try to buy healthier foods and pay more for all natural foods .They are labled and sold as healthier alternatives .Yet they can contain large amounts of high frutose corn syrup .Look at any packaged fruit that we send as a healthy choice to cookies in our children's lunch boxes . It probably has high frutose corn syrup in it which adds large amounts of empty calories.Technically it is all natural but is it contributing to obesity ? Why has this not stopped already? The food we consume has a large part in our national health.
A recent study has found mercury in high-fructose corn syrup, and the FDA has known for years? It’s been linked to obesity and diabetes. Nothing has changed so far.
Is this why ? Take note of the sponsors of a commercial supporting corn syrup use that recently aired on American television screens.This is just one example .
http://www.corn.org/
That takes us right into the health care reforms we so desire.They say we must claim some responsibilty for personal behaviour and I agree.But must we read every content on every label before we buy any product ? Is this reasonable ? Good government would stop this.These are two small quick fixes that should have been done already but they are not.Who will lobby for that if not these people we sent to govern ?
We see record levels of profit and predictions for some larger bonus's on Wall Street this year as we simutaneously see growing unemployment and home foreclosures.The analysts on Wall Strret say we may have a jobless recovery and "The Street" still is a tad nervous because consumers are still sitting on the sidelines.Sitting on the sidelines? I don't think a lot of us even have the gas money to drive to the game let alone buy a ticket at the gate and sit on any sidelines.If we look at the two new stadiums build with tax exemptions in New York City one sponsored with TARP funds via CitiBank we see the real game.If you build it and charge exorbitant prices or an income to pay for a seat- we can't come.
That is the stimulus story so far.Instead of funding Wall Street any further how about a 20% pay roll tax rollback? Then I can at least pay for a bleacher seat in this economic game we are playing right now.
Would someone please tell me what jobs Americans don't want right now? Tell me one person in Michigan that is losing there home that would not work in a poultry plant not to loose there home.Tell me what rural husband that would not pick lettuce to have grocery money for his children .Show me the one mother who has an empty cupboard that would not clean a hotel room to feed her children.Pro Publica has a great tool called a stimulus tracker.Jobs are what we need yet this link shows the painfully slow pace they are being created.Why is this not an emergency ? It sure is at that kitchen table we heard so much about .
http://www.propublica.org/...
We need less of Lawrence Summers who led Harvard University into a series totalling $3.52 billion of financial derivatives that he stated could be used for either hedging or speculation.By late 2008, those positions had lost approximately $1 billion in value. This forced Harvard to borrow significant sums in distressed market conditions to meet margin calls on the swaps. The decision to enter into the swap positions have been attributed directly to Summers.
What we need more of is Joe Biden 's answer to our economic dilemna .J-O-B-S as he so eloquently put it during the campaign.They seem to be the trickle down item in this fiscal equation and that seem a lot like Summers beliefs and not so much like the description Biden gave prior to the election .
What happened to a moratorium on all foreclosures for 6 months until the mortgage market could be reformed and work outs made with responsible home owners? Wall Street is chugging along but Main Street is still in foreclosure .Why ?
We constantly are warned that Social Security and Medicare are going to be bankrupt in 20 or 30 years.To that I say nonsense. We can choose to fund or bankrupt any goverment agency we want.All we have to do is defund it and it is bankrupt . Stop using our tax dollars to operate them and they are bankrupt ,right? Why are we never warned the Dept of Defense is going to be bankrupt?
Why not the Department of Agriculture ? These are said to be unauditable but never about to run out of money .Audit them and we will probably find we have the dollars we need to run them all .Do we do this ?
John Stewart showed a segment last night on Senator Franken's bill last night.
In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by her co-workers while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. She was detained in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water, or a bed, and "warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she’d be out of a job." (Jones was not an isolated case.) Jones was prevented from bringing charges in court against KBR because her employment contract stipulated that sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration.
Sen. Al Franken proposed an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts from companies like KBR "if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court."
This bill was opposed by 30 senators based on the premise that government should not interfere with private business contracts.I hope every single Senator that voted against this bill makes sure his mother (they are all male senators) is forced to work for one of these corporations based on thier strong belief in private enterprise.
I think they are all notable so I am listing them all here.
Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS
Some of them like Brownback ,Shelby and Vitter have 100 % approval rating with the moral majority group Family Research Council .Really ? How many of contracts like this are are still proceding business as usual ?
This is a long diary and beleive me I have just scraped the tip of the iceberg I have inside me .
Being a Gore for President supporter as most here probably are I find little comfort knowing we are not alone.I want what can be done now to be done now.There are many problems but we have never asked Obama ,The House of Representatives and the Senate to cut back or defund agencies that protect us or their staffs.
What I do know is we have gone through every hoop they asked us to jump through to get what we asked for as Americans who care about issues.They told us we would never take the Senate with 60 votes but we did it.They told us a black man would not win the American presidency but if we believed that we were the people we were waiting for anything was possible.We did that as well.A fillibuster proof house of representatives ?"Maybe- but probably not" the pollsters said with their all knowing smiles .We did that too.
We took years of work,time,research and money to hire the supposed ultimate lobbyists for the people and now it is time we start seeing some fruit for our efforts.
No one has to tell us "a nation does not turn on a dime " We worked for many years and to have that taken so lightly by some that are in office now because we did the "impossible" is almost a betrayal .Some of these things mentioned above should have already been done. That is the promise they made.It is time for promises to be kept.