IS THERE A LIGHT AT THE END OF TUNNEL? MY TAKE ON THE IMPACT OF THE WISCONSIN RECALL

I have always been a very optimistic person but lately it seems as though there is little to be optimistic about.  The failure of the recall vote in Wisconsin has dark implications for us as a country.  Here is a man who has outright lied to his people and may be indicted for allegedly criminal acts but can survive a recall election.  This shows the power of money and greed in this country and I suspect it means very dark days ahead for us as a country.
29 million dollars were spent by the Walker campaign in this race and 16 million was spent by outside interests .  On the Democratic side the Barrett Campaign spent 3 million and outside interests spent 6 million.  So money won the election.  This is sad news for the country when the voice of the people counts for less than the money spent by big super pacs.  Citizens United will be the death of Democracy.
Also when will the Department of Justice take its mission and responsibility seriously and investigate the illegal robo calls that were used to discourage voters by telling them that if they signed the recall petition they did not need to vote.  Voter suppression needs to be stopped in its tracks, but that is a subject for another day.
This morning in a daily devotional that I receive the writer, Quinn Caldwell, talked about an experience he had in Manhattan on September 11, 2001 when a group of theological students gathered to help if they could and were turned away.  They began to sing what he called a very "lame hymn" for adults to be singing This Little Light of Mine and people gathered and held up cell phones and the light from them shone and it seemed like this was a song that people needed to hear at that time.  So maybe we should be looking for a very dim light at the end of the tunnel that we are in to give us hope and hope that it isn't a train rushing at us to destroy us.

A Fable from Robert Reich

I have been absent for awhile as I could not handle all of the foolishness that we call Washington.  But I think it is time to begin speaking out again in order to keep my sanity.
So to begin I will refer you to a wonderful article by Robert Reich, a professor at the University of California, Berkley.  I admire his work and hope that you will find time to read it.  We can affect the outcome!

http://robertreich.org/post/20538393444

DOES THIS MAKE YOU ANGRY???

A friend reminded me the other day that I haven't posted for awhile.  That is true because at times it seems so hopeless and one wonders if anyone reads this blog or cares what is going on in the world.  Why are people so apathetic?  Maybe they are just hopeless and struggling to make ends meet or have other issues that are taking up their time.  But when I saw the following it made my blood boil so I am sharing this with you.
We all know that corporations really do own the government and that is one reason why nothing gets done as everyone is trying to appease their contributors.  The other is just playing a political game to make the President look as bad as they can make him.

Anyway, from Moveon.org, this chart that shows the 30 Corporations who want to buy our government and pay for it with tax breaks.  This is eye opening and very scary.

There is a larger version of this chart at http://front.moveon.org/these-30-corporations-want-to-buy-our-government/?rc=fb.fan

Al Sharpton Rips into Olympia Snowe

Just a short post but it is a must read and it is going viral here in Maine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Ia1QxvFyA&noredirect=1

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Vice President Biden.  It was a fund raising appeal for the 2012 Obama campaign.  Obviously I hadn't given any money at this point.  That email really ticked me off.  Every day I get at least 6 requests for money.  They come from the Obama campaign, Moveon.org, Democracy for America, Emily's List, the Democratic Senatorial Committee, The House Democrats, Progressives United and who knows where else.
Now it is partly my fault as I have given all of those organizations money at one time or another and they do stand for the things I believe in, but ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!  When I think of all the money that is being raised for these campaigns it disgusts me.  All of that money could be going to help feed the poor in our own country or to the Free Health Clinics that are being held all over the country for folks who have no insurance.
This country has gotten off the right track.  Instead of caring for the people we are robbing them to pay for these huge expensive campaigns.  I also understand the need to raise money when you have billionaires like the Koch Brothers who give millions and people like Karl Rove who collect millions to give to conservative candidates.  But basically I think it is wrong and we need to work to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.  Will that solve anything?  It might help but now we are in rut and campaigns cost too much.  That is why an ordinary person can't run for office and that is why we basically have only rich people running the government and don't kid yourself, they do not care about you and me, the average person.
Now I won't tar all of them with the same brush.  You have good people like Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Chellie Pingree of Maine and there are others.  But the majority of elected officials do not care one bit about the average American citizen.
I will say that this week I got notes, in the mail, from Chellei Pingree and Bernie Sanders thanking me for my donations and they didn't ask for more.   Usually it is a form letter by email that has a big Donate at the bottom of the email.  The personal touch is nice and it is effective.
So what is all this rambling about?  It is just my thoughts on the state of campaigns and the amount of money being spent.  I am tired of feeling guilty when I can't give more but the reality is that the recession has hit retirees hard and yes we are going to get an increase in Social Security but most of it will be offset by an increase in the Medicare payment so it will really not help all that much and for those of us on a fixed income it makes it that much harder.  How can we change this race for money?  How can we clean up the election process?  I am afraid that I will not see it in my lifetime.
What do you think about this subject???

Corruption, Corruption

Each day there are articles that discuss the corruption that is prevalent in our government.  Yesterday I read an article by Matt Taibi in the current Rolling Stone.  In this article he tells of whistle blowers who have given Senate and House committees evidence of the corruption in the Securities and Exchange Commission.  It seems that this is a revolving door between Wall Street and the SEC.  The SEC is being accused of destroying records of cases that have had a preliminary investigation.  This has been going on since 1993.  It also portrays an agency that has covered up crimes on Wall Street much to the detriment of our country.
I consider Matt Taibi to be a very good investigative reporter,  I recommend that you all read his article at http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/is-the-sec-covering-up-wall-street-crimes-20110817.  It is eye-opening but not particularly surprising since corruption in our government seems pervasive.
Then on the same day there was an article on the staff of Darrell Issa's.  He is the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee.  This article from think Progress details one of his staff members who was a vice president at Goldman Sachs.  He left Goldman Sachs and changed his name and then became a member of Issa's staff.  Here is this quote from Think Progress.

"ThinkProgress:
Has Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) turned the House Oversight Committee into a bank lobbying firm with the power to subpoena and pressure government regulators? ThinkProgress has found that a Goldman Sachs vice president changed his name, then quietly went to work for Issa to coordinate his effort to thwart regulations that affect Goldman Sachs’ bottom line."
To read the whole article go to http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/18/298485/exclusive-goldman-sachs-vp-changed-his-name-now-advances-goldman-lobbying-interests-as-a-top-staffer-to-darrell-issa/
This type of corruption which, I believe, exists throughout both parties and all agencies of the government is abhorrent to me and I hope to all of us.  It makes me wonder if there is an honest person in Washington.
Then there is the issue of back taxes owed by federal employees.  They owe billions in back taxes.  If you or I were in that situation we would probably be in jail by now or at the very least being harassed by the IRS.  What allows them to get away with this type of fraud?
We need to keep up the pressure on our elected officials to make sure that these things are cleaned up.  It seems like a hopeless cause but we must prevail.

Will They Do What Is Right?

A letter to Senator Collins and Snowe.  Will they pay attention?  No, they never do.  Join me and send your letter off too.

NO ! NO! NO!
We do not need a super congress.  We just need the rest of you to do your job.  How can you be supporting this extreme measure when you have voted to raise the debt ceiling 7 times under Bush!  You helped create the deficit and now you are willing to make cuts that will hurt the very people you represent.

I don't trust you or any one else in Washington.  You are all corrupt and just trying to hang onto your jobs.  Go ahead and cut medicare and see how many Mainers will end up selling their homes and going bankrupt.  you are all set because we are paying your salaries, your pensions, your healthcare, supporting your gym and dining room yet you refuse to do the same for us.

I could get down on my knees and beg and you would just turn around and kick me again.  I have never in all of my 75 years seen people so unwilling to govern and to represent the people.

You are all beholden to the big corporations and Wall Street.  Am I angry?  You bet I am and further more I am totally disgusted and frankly hopeless.
Priscilla Payne