Happy New Year

Well, 2010 is coming to an end and we did survive but at what cost?  Some good things happened.  I had a new great granddaughter born in October.  She is a keeper!  My baking orders increased so I will have spending money for a vacation.  My family members are well and I am still financially solvent.  What more could one ask?
As I look at the year that I have had I am reminded of all the folks who haven't had such a good year.  Too many are unemployed, uninsured, have no access to medical care, too many are homeless and living in poverty.  Too many children go to bed at night hungry.  This is America for heaven's sake.  We can continue to fight two wars and send all kinds of money overseas, give tax cuts to the wealthiest 2%, allow banks to still cheat and still receive huge bonuses for doing that but we can't take care of our own.
We allow corruption in government by not calling our elected officials into accountability.  Our government is being run by the big corporations and not by the people because so many of our elected officials are owned by big corporations.
In the so called "Lame Duck Session" finally the Senate did some work by repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, passed a law improving food safety, and extended unemployment benefits.  But they were annoyed that they couldn't go home early for the holidays.  What they don't realize is that most of their constituents had to work right up to Christmas and many worked on Christmas Day.  They get so much time off on our tax dollars that it isn't funny.
In the spirit of the New Year let's hope that things get better.  I urge everyone to become involved and to let your senators and representatives know how you feel and how you want them to vote.  It can be discouraging as they seldom listen but we do need to keep trying,

So I will raise my glass in a toast to hope for the new Year and for happiness and health to every one.

This Week in Washington

Well, some good things happened in Washington this week.  Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed with support from Maine Senators, Snowe and Collins.  I give them credit for breaking ranks with their party.  It looks like the START Treaty may get ratified without changes that a couple of Republicans wanted which would have doomed the treaty and again our Maine Senators seemed poised to support the treaty.
I have to laugh when I hear the Republicans complaining that too much is being jammed into the "lame duck" session.  You know if they hadn't blocked just about everything all year this would not have been necessary.  It is as if they have never done the same thing.  I hope Harry Reid keeps them there till after Christmas.  They have just had a long break for the elections anyway and most of us are lucky to get two weeks off for vacation.
But on the other hand some bad things happened also.  One was the two year extension of the tax cuts for the very wealthy which will cost the country billions of dollars even though many of the wealthiest like Warren Buffet said they didn't need or want them. So much for the hypocrisy of the Republicans worrying about the deficit.  What did we get for that, a measly 13 month extension of unemployment benefits.  Yes there were other things in the bill but basically the middle class got screwed again!
It looks like the FCC is going to pass some rules governing the Internet.  Will it be true Net Neutrality?  NO! The FCC and the Obama administration are again favoring the big corporations over the will of the people.  Over 100,000 people signed a petition circulated by Senator Al Franken.  He has been the spokesperson for Net Neutrality along with some progressive groups.   So we have been betrayed again.
The Dream Act did not pass and that is too bad for so many young people who were brought here illegally by their parents.  This would have given them a path to citizenship by attending college or serving in the military and it would help solve a portion of the immigration problem for these young people who have been brought here with no choice of their own.
The failure to pass the Omnibus spending bill which will fund the government will hurt the child care and Headstart programs which benefit those children whose parents are struggling to make ends meet.  The days of taking care of the people is coming to an end and will get even worse under the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
I am trying to have a positive attitude but it gets increasingly more difficult as program after program gets slashed and government rolls to a stand still.  Let's all keep writing and calling our elected leaders and hope that President Obama knows where the veto pen is and how to use it if necessary.
Hey, the Patriots won in a close game so that is good!

Don't You Love Bernie Sanders?

This photo of Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, shows the passion that is such a part of this man.  His passion and belief in the welfare of the American people make him a true hero!

He had the courage to conduct what some are calling a mini filibuster or as he said, "You could call it a very long speech.".  For 8 1/2 hours he spoke about the tax cut bill and his opposition to it. During his time in the floor he said the following, "How can I get by on one house?" I need five houses, ten houses! I need three jet planes to take me all over the world! Sorry, American people. We've got the money, we've got the power, we've got the lobbyists here and on Wall Street. Tough luck. That's the world, get used to it. Rich get richer. Middle class shrinks." 

He read from Arianna Huffington's book Third World America.  If you haven't read this book it should be required reading for all of us.  He also had charts and graphs showing the problems that Americans are facing.  He called out the Republican's hypocrisy for wanting to decrease the deficit but then adding to it with tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans even when some of them are saying they don't need it.

We need more people like Bernie Sanders who is not afraid to stand up for what he believes is right for the American people.  Contrast that with our Senators from Maine who follow the leader, Mitch McConnell, even when in their hearts they know it is wrong.  Oh my, did I say hearts?  I think they lost their hearts and souls long ago!

Anyway, Bernie Sanders is my hero!

What is the Stockholm Syndrome???

I had never heard of this phenomena until I read a very interesting article by Frank Rich  in the New York Times.  He references an article Understanding The Stockholm Syndrome found in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin.  He explains it as the way captives win over their hostages. They do it by "winning a victim’s loyalty if they temper their brutality with a bogus show of kindness. Soon enough, the hostage will start concentrating on his captors’ “good side” and develop psychological characteristics to please them — “dependency; lack of initiative; and an inability to act, decide or think.”"
 Rich uses this syndrome to explain President Obama's reaction to the Republicans and uses the example of the Republicans canceling the meeting with the President due to scheduling conflicts and then agreeing to come at a later date.  This way Obama could then look at their good side. 
In my mind this explains the President's behavior over the last two years.  He reaches out and gets slapped down and then they give him a nice word or two and then he gives them just what they want.  In other words bend over and I'll kick you in the rear again!  This is leading us into a very serious situation where nothing gets done and every bill gets watered down so that it is almost meaningless.
The other part of the problem is that the Democrats in the Senate at least don't have the backbone to stand up and fight and tell the President the truth.  They don't even have the backbone to fight for what is right.  The lame duck session is almost at an end and still nothing has been accomplished.  No repeal of Don't Ask, Don't tell, the tax cuts are not resolved, the budget needs to be addressed and the biggest of all is the extension of unemployment benefits.
Our government is at a standstill.  It is a very sad and deplorable situation.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

It is time for clean and fair elections nation wide.  In the last three days I have received over 15 requests for money for different candidates and causes.  I have received them from John Kerry, John Slotz, the DSCC, the DLCC, True Majority, Moveon.org, Joe Biden, Act Blue and many others.  Can you chip in $85.00  for this, can you donate $5, 10,25, 50 or more for this.  Now you could say it is my own fault because I have given some money for various candidates and causes but come on, I am on a fixed income and to be showered with these emails is getting very annoying.
Have you ever stopped to think what good all that money could do?  Karl Rove is raising over $400,000,000.00 dollars to give to Republican candidates.  Yes that is four hundred million dollars.  So the Democrats obviously want to reach or surpass that amount so they can stay competitive.  This is insane that so much money is being spent by both parties.  My God we could begin to wipe out the deficit or feed millions of people with all of that money.  All of this is to try and buy an election and therefore achieve personal power.
We need to clean up the system so that our monies can be directed in more valuable ways.  Of course the powers that be in Washington will never support such a measure anymore than 100% of them would sign a pledge to clean up corruption in Washington.  They like it this way!
So my friends it is time to out the pressure on candidates and elected officials to change the way the system works.

Corruption, Corruption Everywhere

The news this week that we are bailing out Afghanistan's bank is very distressing!  We cannot even get our own house in order and now we are going to bail out a bank that is failing because of the very corrupt society that it functions in.
We tolerate corruption in our own society and now we are asking our service men and women to give their lives trying to improve a corrupt society that we can never change.   Only the Afghan people can change that.
It is time for us to get out of Afghanistan and bring our people home.  Then we can use the money to help those in our society that are suffering because the government has not cared enough to make sure that our own economy improves.
150 legislators in Washington have signed a pledge to fight corruption in Washington.  It is time to clean up our house before we attempt to clean up another government's dirty house.
I am so disappointed with the Democrats who seem to have lost their backbone.  They are just letting the Republicans steamroll them and if you think we are in big trouble now just wait until they try to repeal health care, cut social security and medicare and extend tax cuts for the rich.  Our government is run by the corporate lobbyists and believe me that is corruption at its highest level.  The only bright hope is the President Obama will have the guts to veto such legislation if it ever gets to him.
This is one very liberal Democrat who is disillusioned that our own party could not stand together to get things done because they are just as corrupt as the Republicans!

Ethics and Corruption in Government, Corporations and Institutions

I have contemplated the writing of this post for two weeks.  I have long been concerned about the level of corruption that exists among elected officials.  The Maine Sunday Telegram on June 20, 2010 had an article titled Big Business: Losing the Fight to do Right. ( http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/big-business_2010-06-20.html).  This article examined the levels of corruption and unethical behavior by both corporate and public institutions.  It was written by Dan Boxer and Peter Pitegoff.  This article has weighed on my mind ever since.
Unethical behavior and corruption does exist at all levels and it is most evident when we look at Congress and see how they give in to the big corporations and do not act in the best interests of the people who elected them. Members of Congress are owned by big corporations and banks.  Their lobbyists control the legislative process and the people lose out.  How can Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe defend their votes against extending unemployment benefits to millions of people including thousands here in Maine.  They say it is because of increasing the deficit.  Well for the eight years of the Bush Administration they didn't worry about the increasing deficit and funding trillions of dollars for an unwinable war.  If we weren't spending billionsof dollars a day on two wars we might be able to get our economy back into shape and bring back some jobs that have been outsourced.  Where is their concern for their constituents?
At the state level we are decimating human services and education because no one is willing to think of a new way to do government.  Do we need to increase the sales tax?  Probably.  We never should have decreased it in the first place.  We always need to be prepared for the bad times as well as the good and we need to be prepared to take care of our neediest citizens.  If the system isn't working then we need to look at what is wrong and how to fix it.
 I believe that this unethical behavior permeates all of our institutions, political, corporate and religious.  It is all about how much money you can wrest from the people.  In tough economic times religious organizations need to put on hold capital campaigns that suck  money from people who cannot afford it.  Businesses, including the big banks and Wall Street,  need to stop ripping off the consumer and ruining our economy by employing risky business practices.. 
Power and greed have taken over and we have lost all sense of community and how to care for each other and for our country.
I despair of ever changing this behavior.  I fear that it will be the downfall of our society if it hasn't already begun.
I am usually a very upbeat, positive person but this is a very sad and dangerous situation for our town, state and country.