Give us a Public Option, Or the Status Que. No More and no Less

Today the finance committee in the senate voted down the public option amendment. This bill coming out of that committee will not contain the Public Option. Some of the senators had smirks on their faces and appeared cavalier with a Country Club aired about them. While saying resoundingly clear, No to any competition to the health insurance industry. which is exactly the intention of the Public Option. I wonder if some of the senators equate the  word “Public”with the Projects, or Welfare, or some other negative connotation, therefore a “Public Option” to the Health Care Bill, must be bad?

Back to the country club, smirking U.S. Senators. We can’t allow them to deny us the right to competition,
And then still give a gift of 30 to 40 million new customers to to the Health Care Insurers. After all they will still be in control as they are today. They will have no competition as they have none today. The health care cost curb will continue going North.

So Senators of the U.S. Senate, The insurance companies may have helped you get elected, by contributing to your campaigns, But know this, It is us, We the People, who turn out in the sun, rain, cold, and snow to pull that lever.

Beyond the issue of removing those Senators who don’t serve us, The next issue before we let them go, is to make sure that without a public option, We demand these Senators pass no Health Care Reform at all.   And leave us with the status Que until such time that we elect officials who will give us True Health Care Reform. The last thing we should be doing is rewarding big insurance by giving them a Windfall if Health Care Reform passes without a Public Option.  That would just be business an usual, in government.  Quid Pro Que.   We cannot let that happen people.

Acorn, Singled Out, Unjustly

The Nationally known community organization Acorn, has been under intense scrutiny after Fox News aired secretly taped video of Acorn employees allegedly engaging in questionable behavior. These employees were “Jack Asses” if the allegations are valid. Be that, as it may be, I must say, that Acorn, the organization, apart from the two or three people caught up in the Fox News entrapment., Or was it really the witnessing of the Fox actors being: “Rocked to Sleep” by the street savvy workers? After all, I think the young lady, acting like a woman of the night, was only 18 or 19 yrs old. The Acorn people work directly with ” People of the Street” and I think they may have just played along. They didn’t realized they were being secretly recorded for the Fox News Network. That is Fox’s crime to answer for unless they are “Above The Law? Acorn has filed a suit and rightfully so. The question is whether it is legal for Acorn’s contractors both public or private to arbitrarily cancel their contracts with Acorn based on tapes from a right wing entertainer on Fox News? It seems to me that Acorn’s due process rights are in violation. Is Acorn the new template, on how the government will handle all contractors who are embroiled in a scandal? Even if the employees involved were tiny people in the organization. Should we shut down the government the next time we catch a Senator or Representative involved in shenanigans? Fox News was not removed from the air when Glynn Beck called President Obama a “Racist”? We didn’t demand it. And he still has his job. Acorn accomplished the registering of two million new voters in 2008, Two million new voters can decide elections, The Tea Party Protesters have eclipsed the W.E.B. Du Bois’ term: “Sleeping Giant” for themselves. W.E.B. Du Bois, in a book entitled: “The Souls of Black Folk” published in 1903. In this book W.E.B. DuBois was examining the African-American experience some 40 years after the Civil War. He referred to those African-Americans as the original “Sleeping Giant”. At that time the powers that were in charge knew who the real sleeping giant was and they were the oppressed African-Americans. The Tea Party Protesters have been the ones in control from the foundation of America, and their past generations, Not mine. Now, they are suppose to be the Sleeping Giant?. I think they better wake up! How ironic…it is. The Tea Party Protesters and their generations were never sleep. Nor are they sleep now and they never were the sleeping Giant. Acorn is waking up the real Sleeping Giant, I think that would be about two to four million new voters. While it appears that the Republicans figure if they can get rid of Acorn, they will also get rid of two to four million new voters in future elections. . Acorn should be treated fairly. And where they are not let the Courts decide the issue

How About Twenty-Five Billion to Save Detroit, the City

Recently I wondered what if the past and current administrations had invested the roughly fifty billion dollars that it “invested” in the auto industry in redeveloping the city of Detroit?

What If the federal government had invested half the amount of money that it invested in Chrysler and G.M., which is about twenty-five billion to redevelop the city of Detroit? What might  the results be?  I believe that such an investment would have lifted up the overall auto industry in Motown?

Today there is no other word to describe Detroit other than just sad. You walk around downtown as I did a few months ago and you see all these great old tall buildings and it makes you cry to think about how awesome a downtown this once was.

Using twenty-five billion in redevelopment capital targeted towards making Detroit a World Class city once again verses Bailing out G.M. and Chrysler with fifty billion dollars might have been a better investment. After all both companies still went into bankruptcy and are being sold off in parts to other auto makers. We could have just saved that fifty billion and just let the business cycle be fulfilled under the capitalist system we believe in..

Who would have thought back when the government was debating what to do to save the auto industry other than me, that a better way to help the “Big Three” is to rebuild the city of Detroit. History has repeatedly demonstrated the obvious, and that is a region goes up together, as well as, falls down.

When a city or region is infused with a massive amount of targeted development and redevelopment, you not only reinvigorate the city, but also the industries and businesses in that region, as well as bring in new industries and businesses to meet the needs of a reborn World Class City.

Twenty-five billion would go a long way in making this, my dream, a reality.

GLBT Lobby Must Be First, Give Obama a Chance.

Today, Wednesday, June 17, 2009 The president signed a Presidential Memorandum extending “Some Benefits” to same sex partners of federal employees. Some in the GLBT community and its lobby has signaled their dissatisfaction because they say the measure does not go far enough. And that it is nothing more than simple tokenism.

This is an opinion piece by the way, therefore, what I am about to say is simply that, my opinion.

In my opinion, I sense an impatience with some in the GLBT community with President Obama’s pace in overturning the “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Which he has not done yet. And I think the word yet, is the operative word in this case. I think it is very significant because the President has a lot on his plate to get a grip on.

President Obama is addressing a myriad of issues, two wars, an inherited recession from the previous administration. He is working to achieve universal health care for all Americans, extending benefits for the unemployed. Putting together a team to come up with some guidelines to prevent the collapse of the country’s financial system from endangering the entire U.S. economy in future years.

No one appreciates being pressured and prodded and neither does the president. The lobby’s interest are first in their minds but not in the President’s at least not first. I am for the abolishment of Don’t ask, Don’t Tell, but give the president a chance. When you push and make demands of a person even though he said on the campaign trail that he would overturn D.A.D.T. Those tactics will not make the President acquiesce to such demands.

What some in the GLBT lobby seem to not get is when a new President takes office he must build a relationship of trust and credibility with the top brass of his armed services. This lobby seems to care less if he lost all that credibility from day one had he came into office and immediately overturned the policy of D.A.D.T.

Those who criticize the President’s signing today of the Memo to extend federal benefits to the same sex partners of federal employees as tokenism are simply being selfish and impatient.

I believe the President will eventually over turn that policy. I think he would be wise to build a little support among the rank and file first. I also think that he has 3 years and 6 months before his presidency is over at least the first term. And I believe he will keep his word if he can. So all I can say to those who want change today is you will just have to wait your turn.

Gingrich and Republicans, Back Off the Speaker!

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said again today and will continue saying tomorrow that Nancy Polosi should step down.

Please somebody tell Newt Gingrich these facts about his ambitions. Number One, Even if Nancy Polosi steps down from the House Speakership, He can’t get his old job back. By the way didn’t he step down or was he push down? I know it was not pretty.

Tell Newt, that as much as He and his cronies i.e. Michael Steele, Rush Limbaugh, and D.Cheney, would like to dictate what Obama should and should not do, in the case of Cheney. And now every time you turn on T.V. there’s is Newt dictating to Nancy Polosi to step down.

Who is Newt Gingrich? The man less influential than Romney, Giuliani, and McCain otherwise he would have decided to run for the White House instead of backing out at the eleventh hour. However with little to no support you cannot raise the amazing amounts of money required to run a first rate campaign and Newt saw the writing on the wall and sat on the sidelines. He continued his puppetry as a talking head at Fixed News. You know the fair and balanced cable station.lol.

Newt Gingrich realizes I think that he is only making Democrats stand by her side instead of agreeing with him and the dumb republicans that Polosi should step down. Gingrich and his republican cohorts are attempting to pressure a fine women of integrity to abdicate her position by that bunch of opportunist and buffoons who attack her relentlessly. Simply to advance their own agenda. Politics will always be politics and politicians will be politicians. In the end the best man or women wins. In this battle of the Speakers I’ll bet on Nancy, Mr.Speaker

Gingrich will continue to beat the dead horse. The democratic party will continue to believe Nancy Polosi’s statement about what she was told about Torture. Over Newt Gingrich’s big mouth assertions because his words are not proof of truth either. He’s nothing more than a publicity hound.

Gingrich and Cheney have had their day but as they say some people are addicted to power long after they realize that they don’t have any.