Political Commentary pertinent to our future as a world.

I will be posting information I deem important for each of us to consider, whether we agree or not. There are multiple sides to each story and the writer of this letter weighs all sides carefully before he writes. He has earned my respect.

Dear Editors:

Tom Ashworth’s letter (“Obama’s interview with GloZell a sad situation for America”) reveals both Ashworth’s “FoxNoise” predilections and his resultant ignorance regarding the multi-lateral negotiations with Iran to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons.

President Obama’s “sit-down” with green-lipped GloZell was one of a series of chats with U-Tube “stars” appealing to tech-savvy younger citizens -- whose futures depend on both prudent economic policies and – potentially – on the Iran negotiations.

An increase in sanctions prior to March 1, 2015 – when the current “Interim Agreement” with Iran expires – would breach that agreement, justify Iran’s withdrawal from further negotiations, likely end Russia’s and China’s cooperation with any sanctions, and thereby move us closer to nuclear war with Iran (since a conventional attack would likely fail).

House Republicans (including Scott “Tea Party” Tipton) and Democratic Senator Bob Menendez are playing a most dangerous game by deliberately attempting to scuttle the negotiations.  Even Israel’s vaunted Mossad advised a visiting Congressional delegation that enacting increased sanctions would be “like throwing a grenade into the process”.

Nevertheless, Speaker Boehner duplicitously and reprehensibly invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress in February – to both insult President Obama and bolster the case for prematurely imposing increased sanctions – but even Netanyahu apparently realized how treacherous that timing could be for the delicate negotiations in Paris.

President Obama will not meet with Netanyahu – because it’s U.S. policy not to meddle in others’ democratic elections and Netanyahu’s rescheduling of his visit until March 2 makes it a shameless campaign stop in his bid for re-election on March 17.

An Iran with nuclear weapons is an “existential threat” to Israel, but not necessarily to us.  Therefore, the preferred outcome remains a verifiable negotiated agreement -- no matter how long it takes – rather than a U.S.-supported Israeli preemptive nuclear attack on Iran. 

                                                                        Bill Hugenberg

So the word is "jobs!"

If jobs are the priority, then why can I go back and find the many times the Party of NO has purposely made sure legislation which would have created jobs, failed. Does this have anything to do with the Speaker of the House, "Boner" bragging that this was the one action his party wants to make sure happens?
I'm not wasting my time citing other clues because if you have a brain you can find such easily.
Now the kids who came illegially with their partents to work in the US who are in their twenties and thirties, who had no choice in the matter, have been recognized to receive at least a 2 year safety span.
They may pursue college and do what they can to begin the citizenship process.
Here in happy valley I interviewed quite a few farmers and fruit growers who had to let their crops rot in the field because they could not get anyone to work the harvest. US citizens wouldn't touch such jobs if their life depended on such. I was told that US workers would come, find out how hard the labor is, then quit. This is but one example of how false is the premise, "They take our jobs."
Not long ago, a major news outlet, (infact it was two media sources and not either of them, MSNBC)
who recognized that usually illegals are very careful not to break the law, that they work, pay taxes and often fall prey to Mr. US citizen who hires them for a job then doesn't pay but threatens "If you report me, I'll see you deported." They cited the facts that in areas where ICE is hunting down persons, groups have left that state which has hurt jobs since the population is depleated, needed workers are no longer available so businesses either close or downsize. This is helping our country?
So for years the US happily accepts the illegals' tax money, seldom prosecutes anyone (bullies) who cheats laborers out of honest pay and breaks up families all in the name of ICE and narrow-minded
leaders who also play the game.
But then, we are a Christian nation following the Sunday sermon, do unto others as you would have them do unto you...or something like that.

Meanderings on today's political game.

I can't help but wonder when I constantly see letters to the editor in our local newspaper from individuals who seem to have very short memories or...worse yet, have been brainwashed by the machine that seems to be taking over so many unthinking minds in our nation.
October 23 saw a Kelly Sloan, not even an American citizen, who frequently writes (I am told) material for our State Senator King,who had the gall to make the decision that Proposition 103 will "do more harm than good." Interestingly, his follower King agrees but disagrees on the issue concerning our School District #51. I am not sure just why the paper even publishes his ideas.
That aside, there have been letters blaming the present administration for everything that has accumulated from the past two terms under Mr. Bush, Cheney, Runsfeld and Rove, eight years of handing out candy to their corporate friends in the guise of subsidies to oil and gas who make outrageous profits.  Of course, these are breaks a-many to corporations, who of course, contribute to their campaigns, deregulate everything possible to put more money in their friends' pockets at the risk of the rest of America, our air, our water, our land, the cost of our health care.
I cannot understand how the Republican machine actually gets the ordinary voter to vote against himself, but it does.
Remember when Gov. Ritter wanted to help higher education? Well, he simply wanted to take the bundle of money that has been given to the oil and gas companies, and move it, move it to higher education, no tax increase, no loss, just a different placement of the funds.
Well the Republicans hollered "tax increase, tax increase" and the little guys listened and were scared. The oil and gas industries reached into their deep pockets and spent millions on TV and other media ads  which convinced the workers and common people to vote aggainst education through their fear mongering "you'll lose jobs if we lose our subsidies" and it worked.
The voters who don't think past their noses voted against themselves, giving money to oil and gas, who definitely don't need more money (note the huge, huge profits they make as they, many of them rape mother earth, and kept money away from education, education, the foundation of Democracy....Do we not want to keep Democracy strong? Do we want to live under an Oligarcy of corporations?
This is but one example of corporate manipulation of the masses...fear, misinformation, outright lies.
The Koch Brothers do not have the interest of Democracy in mind as they fund any group that will do their bidding, as they manipulate their businesses in such ways as to escape paying their fair share. The ALEC corporation picks out greedy legislators to attend their special meetings where they promise support if that senator or rep will but take bills they have written and get them passes in Congress as law.  Did you know it is most unethical for legislators to attend ALEC meetings? Well even our state reps have been invited and happily went ....
I did have the percentages of how many Governors now in office, are connected to ALEC and how many legislators have carried bills written by ALEC. These bills are not in the interest of most Americans, just the One Percent. One can find this data on the Web if  one looks hard enough.
The Party of NO has to be admired for sticking to the game plan of their contributors. They have denied any help for working America, jobs, getting their businesses to loosen up the funds needed to get jobs opened.  They will do anything, no matter how hurtful for America to fulfill Bohnar's brag to get Obama out after one term. Wow, such dedication to America!
Health care has gotten out of reach for many, again thanks to lobbists and campaign funds and Health Industries being owned by that one percent. And this is what the common man votes for?
Lack of support for schools, does this mean we want a "dumb" worker ant colony as our pattern for the future? Let's see, was it Nero who said "Give them cake...they will do as we want." (or something to that idea?)
The Republican House and the greedy Republican Senators are killing America as I used to know it.
I grew up Republican, went Democratic and now am Independent...because, in Colorado one must declare a party to vote in the primaries
So, before you,  who seem to follow blindly the present Republican machine, think about what you are doing to yourself and to your family. Learn to read primary sources, follow other news casts besides Fox, which is only another mouthpiece for the one percent. Investigate exactly what kind of organization is claiming to know it all. There are credentials out there which sound good, but are not. Investigate the truth, don't just swallow fear and lies.

Who really elected Tipton

At a time in America’s history, a time when we read headlines and view television news which talk about the proposed cuts to student loans, which results in limiting who can afford a college education,

At a time when those in power are aiming to cut or do away with Medicare, Medicade and Social Security, on which far too many of our elderly depend on for any type of health care, for food on their tables

At a time when each of us knows there must be a way to reduce out country’s debt, spending, we find in the news that the five major oil companies have broken all records with their phenomenal profits…and yet, as an example, we Colorado tax payers are paying $25 million every year to these big oil companies as subsidies, as charity.

Last week this played out again as the Senate, all its Republicans and 4 Democrats (from oil states) voted down a bill that would have cut those subsidies, that charity…

Those votes only serve to make it harder to cut government spending…these votes force the cuts onto Americans who can’t pay campaign contributions, our kids, our elderly, our veterans, the working class.

Take for example the fact that America, once on the top of the list, is now placed at 17 and 25 in education for our youth in science and math. Where will America’s innovation and leadership in those fields now be found?  Who said “Education is the foundation of Democracy” a quote our superintendent of schools recently used.

Congress seems to rather want to feed our money, our taxes to those very prosperous oil companies rather than feed the little ‘ole lady down the street, or the parents, or single parent who is out of work, who worries how they will feed their families, how to keep a place to live. Congress would rather give charity to big oil than fund programs to help our veterans who sacrificed all, their physical and mental well being for their country, as they seek to cut medical and other benefits for these veterans.

The list of cuts that effect the poor and the working class is long, while the list of those who do not need the tax loopholes, the subsidies, continues with relatively few cuts  because it is these entities who give that big money to campaigns and to lobbists….

Think about this…The top five big Oil earned nearly a Trillion dollars in 2010. Already this year, the number is up.

Having taken part in Scott Tipton’s phone conferences and having asked him questions about these subsidies and what he intends to do to help the everyday American, I received only the “canned” responses that evidently are written in the R playbook ,

With 44 Billion in profits so far this year, cutting subsidies which amount to 4 billion won’t hurt these companies one bit.

They will still have 42 billion with which to saturate media and they convince non-thinking citizens to actually vote against themselves.  (Example Ritter trying to boost funding higher ed tried to take Colo subsidies from oil and simply put the money over into higher ed fund…Oil saturated Colorado TV and other media with fear mongering ads about losing jobs, hurting business, and Rep. shouted the usual “tax increase, tax increase.” And what did voters do…voted to continue the charity for oil)

So there it is, cut ed. Cut programs that actually prevent crime, cut programs that keep people more healthy thus keeping emergency room costs down, help workers who then help productivity in business.

Who elected Tiption?  Who does he really serve, campaign contributors, the R party or the people of his district?

Just closing the loopholes for these 5 big oil co would result in a saving of 77 billion between 2011 to 2021.

This quarter’s Oil profits are up 38% over  2010’s quarter.

Gas prices have increased 28% compared to 2010….The result of Exxon and Conoco Phillips Oil using 53% portion of profits to spend as they repurchased stock to drive up their company share values in the first quarter of 2011….Remember, something which we don’t think about, it is the commodity market that increases the cost of gas…NOT oil industry regulations….

Then note this comparison…

Effective tax rates for Exxon paid 17.6% as average effective federal corporate tax rate in 2008 to 2010

YET

Average American individual paid federal tax rate of 20.4%  according to last available data in 2007.

Oil has the clout in money to fund campaigns which helps them influence Congress to keep their  “charity” loopholes. Just in the first quarter of 2011, they paid $273,500 to republican and $7000 to the Democrats from oil states.

And you saw how well this worked….The Senate voted to continue subsidies to the big oil.

When polled, the public…66% say gas prices effect their personal finances…

74% favor eliminating tax credits for oil and gas industry…

and  big surprise…. By a margin of 2 to 1, Republican voters supported ending those subsidies as well….that’s the little guy who happens to be a R.

Cutting those subsidies could have reduced the deficit by 21 B this year,  it could have reduced the deficit over the next 10 years by 77 Billion…

Think about the fact that the money could have gone to paying back Medicare fund from which the government borrowed big money to the tune of 30 billion…and now won’t pay back. 

Then add the fact that It could have paid for 18,000 teachers for a year….

Plus 251,000 pell grants essential to average and poor American students…worth $3,900 each.

b

Tipton said “Our country cannot afford the debt we now have…”

But, while he touts cuts, he continues to support billions in charity…known as subsidies, for Big Oil…Why this corporate welfare?

Tipton also said “everything is on the table for cuts…” What he forgot to add was “everything but cuts for Big Oil….remember how the Republicans voted NO on the bills which would have helped SMALL business? Go figure!

Tax Payers for common Sense is a non partisan organization having worked for over 10 years to get government to assume fiscal responsibility.

We the tax payers foot the bills   Definitely, the oil Companies should be paying their fiar share, which they are not doing….

We the tax payers foot bills for our military abroad, for protection of shipping lanes, for the very salaries and huge benefits our Congressmen are given, and so much more…

JUST WHY DOES CONGRESS CONTINUE TO USE OUR DOLLARS AS CHARITY, AS A HAND OUT, TO BIG OIL?

Come on, Tipton and other Republican and some Dems…stop using ALEC and the KOCH brothers playbooks,….start representing we the people….

ALEC is smart for corporations and business NOT for America's working class

Smart ALEC: Dragging the Secretive Organization Out of the Shadows

3/31/2011

For nearly forty years the American Legislative Exchange Council has been providing conservative legislators with the tools to undo the New Deal piece by piece. Now, in the Year of the Cold-Blooded Republican Governor, ALEC is achieving an unprecedented level of success.

by BILL BERKOWITZ

As puzzle master Will Shortz might say, what is a four-letter acronym for a virtually unknown, but politically powerful conservative organization? If you guessed ALEC, you won't be receiving an NPR lapel pin, but rest assured, you are in very elite company.

Most people are unaware of the existence or reach of this shadowy organization. The members of ALEC would rather you remain ignorant of their purposes. In fact, these folks are so uncomfortable with anyone knowing about them that a University of Wisconsin history professor is being hammered by the Republican Party of that state for suggesting in an entry on his blog that in order to better understand the actions in various states with new Republican governors whose radical legislative proposals are remarkably similar, it might be worthwhile paying attention to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Hardly a day goes by without a conservative governor proposing some draconian anti-labor, anti-middle class law aimed at - dare I say it -- destroying democracy in this country. And, while the Washington, D.C.-based ALEC (http://www.alec.org/) may not be responsible for all of the mayhem going on in such states as Wisconsin, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Florida, and Michigan (with more states certain to follow), it has historically played an extraordinary role in shaping pro-corporate legislation in a number of states.

Interestingly, as of May 2010, Wisconsin's long-serving Republican Sen. Scott L. Fitzgerald, now the state's Senate Majority Leader, the man who has led the charge in the Wisconsin state senate against the state's workers on behalf of Governor Scott Walker, was listed as an ALEC State Chairman. This year, ALEC lists Assembly Rep. Robin J. Vos as its Wisconsin State Chairman. Vos is the co-chair of the Wisconsin budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.

A little ALEC history is in order: In 1973, the organization was established by the late Paul Weyrich (who co-founded the Heritage Foundation and is widely considered to be one of the Godfathers of the New Right), former Illinois Republican Congressman Henry Hyde, and conservative activist Lou Barnett. According to Source Watch, a project of the Wisconsin-based Center for Media and Democracy, ALEC is a "semi-secretive" organization that "has been highly influential, has operated quietly in the United States for decades, and received remarkably little scrutiny from journalists, media or members of the public during that time."

ALEC denies that it is a lobbying group and it is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)3 charitable organization that has tax exempt status.

Although thousands of state and local lawmakers pay a "nominal membership fee to attend ALEC's retreats and receive model legislation," the bulk of the organization's financial support - over 80 percent of its income - comes from corporations. ALEC provides state legislators with model legislation in support of limited government, free markets, federalism, and individual liberty.

In a report titled "ALEC: Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America" (http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xbcr/justice/ALEC_Report.pdf) and issued last May, the American Association for Justice described ALEC as "the ultimate smoke filled back room." In 2009 alone, according to the report, "826 bills were introduced in the states in 2009 and 115 were enacted into law."

This year, it is unclear whether the number of ALEC-inspired bills will exceed 2009's numbers, but it is clear that the scope of this year's frontal attack on working people appears to be the broadest in ALEC's nearly forty-year history.

"Behind the scenes at ALEC," the report pointed out, "the nuts and bolts of lobbying and crafting legislation is done by l[the] large corporate defense firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon." This "law firm with strong ties to the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries, ... has long used ALEC's ability to get a wide swath of state laws enacted to further the interests of its corporate clients."

Over the years, the report noted, "the organization has promoted the interests of:

•           Oil companies to undermine climate change proponents;

•           Pharmaceutical manufacturers, arguing that states should be banned from importing prescription drugs;

•           Telecom firms to block local authorities from offering cheap or free municipally-owned broadband;

•           Insurance companies to prevent state insurance commissioners from requiring insurers to meet strengthened accounting and auditing rules;

•           Big banks, recommending that seniors be forced to give up their homes via reverse mortgages in order to receive Medicaid;

•           The asbestos industry, trying to shut the courthouse door to Americans suffering from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases; and,

•           Enron to deregulate the utility industries, which eventually caused the U.S. to lose what the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) estimated as $5 trillion in market value.

As of last year, ALEC was organized into 10 separate issue task forces to produce model legislation, research, and reports. These task forces include Civil Justice, Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development, Education, Health and Human Services, International Relations, Natural Resources, Public Safety and Elections, Tax and Fiscal Policy, and Telecommunications and Information Technology. In each task force, according to ALEC's website, "legislators welcome their private sector counterparts to the table as equals, working in unison to solve the challenges facing our nation."

The organization convenes three legislative Task Force meetings each year, an Annual Meeting each summer, and a State & National Policy Summit toward the end of year. ALEC is apparently known for holding these meetings at delightful retreat sites and they offer "'scholarships' to defray the cost of attendance for public sector members."

Interestingly enough, former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, widely known as a major initiator of welfare reform - also known as the wholesale privatization of welfare services -- was a "major force in ALEC's rebirth as a corporate front." In a 2002 piece for The American Prospect, Nick Penniman noted that Thompson once said that, "I always found new ideas and then I'd take them back to Wisconsin, disguise them a little bit, and declare that it's mine."

Although Wisconsin is a state that has a long history of progressive politics - think the early twentieth century's Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette and, more recently, Senator Russ Feingold - it has also given America the scourge of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and it currently is the national headquarters of the John Birch Society.

Which brings us back to the case of William Cronon, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin. Last week, the Wisconsin Republican Party made an Open Records Request seeking access to Professor Cronin's e-mails. The request came after Cronon wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times that criticized Wisconsin's Governor Walker and his attempts to destroy the state's public sector unions. On March 15, Cronon used his blog ("Scholar as Citizen" -- http://scholarcitizen.williamcronon.net/) "to examine the role of the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council in drafting that legislation," Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the Daily Kos, wrote recently in The Hill.

According to Moulitsas, "... Republicans have filed an open records request demanding access to Cronon's email, in particular any email with the words 'Republican,' 'collective bargaining,' 'union' and the names of several specific unions like AFSCME as well as the eight Republicans currently threatened by the recall effort."

In his blog post titled "Who's Really Behind Recent Republican Legislation in Wisconsin and Elsewhere? (Hint: It Didn't Start Here)," Cronon provided a condensed "Study Guide" for those wanting to know more about the genesis of Walker's legislative initiatives as well as a short history of the modern conservative movement.

Cronon pointed out that despite the enormous contributions - financial and ideological - the Koch brothers have made to the conservative movement, he didn't "find it plausible that two brothers from Wichita, Kansas, no matter how wealthy, can be responsible for this explosion of radical conservative legislation."

He went on to note that he is "pretty sure" that "the most important group" behind the current spate of anti-labor legislation is ALEC. "If you're as impressed by [its legislative successes] as I am, I'm hoping you'll agree with me that it may be time to start paying more attention to ALEC and the bills its seeks to promote."

Soon after the blog entry, the state Republican Party launched its attack.

It remains unclear as to what direct role ALEC has played in the current spate of activities aimed at dismantling workers rights and ultimately destroying the middle class.

For years an assortment of enterprising journalists and progressive organizations have taken a go at ALEC. The headlines and titles of some of the stories and/or reports that have been written -- "Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America," "Corporate America's Trojan Horse in the States: The Untold Story Behind the American Legislative Exchange Council," a report by the Defenders of Wildlife and Natural Resources Defense Council -- serve as examples of how difficult it has been to expose ALEC's activities. It's more than past time to drag ALEC out of the shadows.

__._,_.___

Poltical meandering by a friend

April 16, 2011, 9:08 am

Civility is the Last Refuge of Scoundrels

At the beginning of last week, the commentariat was in raptures over the Serious, Courageous, Game-Changing Ryan plan. But now that the plan has been exposed as the cruel nonsense it is, what we’re hearing a lot about is the need for more civility in the discourse. President Obama did a bad thing by calling cruel nonsense cruel nonsense; he hurt Republican feelings, and how can we have a deal when the GOP is feeling insulted? What we need is personal outreach; let’s do lunch!
The easy, and perfectly fair, shot is to talk about the hypocrisy here; where were all the demands for civility when Republicans were denouncing Obama as a socialist, accusing him of creating death panels, etc..? Why is it OK for Republicans to accuse Obama of stealing from Medicare, but not OK for Obama to declare, with complete truthfulness, that those same Republicans are trying to dismantle the whole program?
Beyond that, are we dealing with children here? Is one of our two major political parties run by people so immature that they will refuse to do what the country needs because the president hasn’t been nice to them?
But the main point is, what are we supposed to have a civil discussion about? The truth is that the two parties have both utterly different goals and utterly different views about how the world works.
It’s not nice to say this (but the truth is rarely nice): whatever they may say, Republicans are not concerned, above all, about the deficit. In fact, it’s not clear that they care about the deficit at all; they’re trying to use deficit concerns to push through their goal of dismantling the Great Society and if possible the New Deal; they have stated explicitly that they want to reduce taxes on high incomes to pre-New-Deal levels. And it’s an article of faith on their part that low taxes have magical effects on the economy.
Obama believes that the major social insurance programs are a good thing, and has extended them with health reform. Some of the best-known research by his chief economist is his work debunking claims that tax cuts for the rich pay for themselves. Click on  here and here (both pdfs) for more information.
So what is there to talk about?

John

Response to President's Speech, April 13.

I thought David summed up present politics very well and in short terms. Now, after hearing the President say he could not support tax cuts for people like himself to the tune of $200,000 , the amount for which it would take 30 retired seniors to pay for by having their health care cut. Now, do you think the average American who now bashes Obama because of the lies from FOX, and the other media controlled by ALEC, MURDOCK and the KOCH Brothers, will understand just what is going on...the taking of America by Corporate Business?  My relatives in Kansas have bought in to the lies and actually vote against themselves. Go figure!

Dear Mr. President...

The battle lines now have been clearly defined and drawn. Each one of us and all of us will decide if we will envision a society that is based upon benevolence, tolerance, and empathy or a society that is based upon arrogance, ignorance, and greed. (Eric Cantor, John Boehnar and cronies)

We will certainly realize the difference when we see it.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

David A. Argenta

Fruita, CO 81521