In the past two years I have recommended three books:
1. Backlash by Will Bunch;
2. Free Lunch by David Cay Johnston;
3. Greedy Bastards by Dylan Rattigan.
I now add:
4. The Price of Justice by Laurence Leamer.
It's the true story of how people with money get a different type of justice than people without and it reads like a great legal thriller.
Well-researched and precise in detail, The Price of Justice is a long read, but worth every minute and it should be must-reading for every legislator and political candidate. Anyone who helped pass "Citizens United" should read it.
I truly believe you are missing out if you don't read these books.
The Price of Justice is not a fun, beach read. It's a serious examination about how people with money can try to buy the law and then tell you how to live. That's too dangerous a path for this country to take.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Six definitions of hypocrite
1. A Democrat or Republican who criticizes someone from the opposite party for unethical, illegal, or criminal behavior, and then makes excuses when someone from his or her own party does the same thing.
2. A Reformer whose only act of reform is getting himself or herself elected.
3. A Conservative whose only act of conservation is not paying taxes.
4. A pro-life zealot who believes that abortion is murder and then kills a doctor who performs one.
5. A philanthropist who donates money to his or her house of worship, that he or she earned by taking advantage of others.
6. A pro-gun supporter who argues about his or her second amendment rights, but thinks nothing of the other amendments.
2. A Reformer whose only act of reform is getting himself or herself elected.
3. A Conservative whose only act of conservation is not paying taxes.
4. A pro-life zealot who believes that abortion is murder and then kills a doctor who performs one.
5. A philanthropist who donates money to his or her house of worship, that he or she earned by taking advantage of others.
6. A pro-gun supporter who argues about his or her second amendment rights, but thinks nothing of the other amendments.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Arming teachers...
... is one of the stupidest ideas.
Without giving statistics here are some of the scenarios:
A teacher gets shot reaching for an eraser.
A criminal mugs the teacher on the way home and when the teacher reaches for his/her gun, the mugger shoots the teacher instead of just robbing him.
A student brings a gun to school because he's convinced the teacher doesn't like him.
A nervous teacher aims at a perceived threat and instead shoots one of his/her students.
Where does it end? Give teachers guns, then give guns to doctors who commit abortions so they can protect themselves from Pro-Life fanatics. All our elected representatives should also have guns - maybe fire them in to the air when they're speaking. People who go to the movies? Guns. Firemen answering a call? Guns. All that violence at sporting events? Think how much better it will be when all those drunk fans are packing heat.
Bang is the answer.
The gun lobby can find an excuse for everyone to own a gun, even to protect themselves from other protectors. What the NRA must do, in order to protect the individual with a gun is
to make sure less guns are out in the public, not more guns. A gun should be a deterrent, but it can't be if everybody has one. Regardless of the answer, the NRA needs to be on the side of the solution and not the problem. All they need is the will and sense to correct a bad situation.
Without giving statistics here are some of the scenarios:
A teacher gets shot reaching for an eraser.
A criminal mugs the teacher on the way home and when the teacher reaches for his/her gun, the mugger shoots the teacher instead of just robbing him.
A student brings a gun to school because he's convinced the teacher doesn't like him.
A nervous teacher aims at a perceived threat and instead shoots one of his/her students.
Where does it end? Give teachers guns, then give guns to doctors who commit abortions so they can protect themselves from Pro-Life fanatics. All our elected representatives should also have guns - maybe fire them in to the air when they're speaking. People who go to the movies? Guns. Firemen answering a call? Guns. All that violence at sporting events? Think how much better it will be when all those drunk fans are packing heat.
Bang is the answer.
If more guns are the answer to safety, why do they screen you for them at the airport? Maybe more metal detectors is the answer, not more guns. Maybe smart guns, which can only be fired by the person they're registered to, should be on the table. Something has to be.
The gun lobby can find an excuse for everyone to own a gun, even to protect themselves from other protectors. What the NRA must do, in order to protect the individual with a gun is
to make sure less guns are out in the public, not more guns. A gun should be a deterrent, but it can't be if everybody has one. Regardless of the answer, the NRA needs to be on the side of the solution and not the problem. All they need is the will and sense to correct a bad situation.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Why I'm voting for Obama
In 2008, I originally wanted Hilary Clinton, and I still believe she would have done a great job.
But eventually I bought into Obama's cry for change. After President Bush I wanted
big changes. Unfortunately, Obama's changes weren't big enough.
I thought he failed in not fighting harder for a single pay health plan. He did not fight hard enough for Elizabeth Warren. He did not fight hard enough endorsing progressive Democrats and even supported the likes of Blue Dogs who supported most
Republican initiatives. He did not rebut the claims that the Tea Party made about him. He simply wanted the Republicans to negotiate with him, and they would not. They wanted him out, and did nothing in the way of bi-partisanship - then blamed him for being a divider.
So why am I voting for him?
We need someone who really has the middle class issues under consideration.
We need someone who is not another Hawk, who realizes we need to end our present wars.
We need someone who does not embrace the Tea party and its Anti-American policies.
We need someone who understands that trickle down economics does not work.
We need someone who knows that outsourcing jobs is not wise and that outsourcing FEMA is crazy.
The pro-choice president who saved the U.S auto industry, passed the Affordable Health Care Act, came around on gay marriage and responded to the Superstorm is the president I am voting for. He's not perfect, but in a choice of two, he's the far better choice.
By trying to block all of President Obama's initiatives during his first term, the Republicans did not give him the chance to fail. I hope they have learned their lesson and that a second Obama administration will lead to more cooperation and less obstruction. Our politicians are supposed to - encouraged to - argue over their differences. They are not supposed to make their No. 1 priority stopping all proposed legislation from a president a won a landslide victory in 2008. Here's hoping the next four years will be different.
But eventually I bought into Obama's cry for change. After President Bush I wanted
big changes. Unfortunately, Obama's changes weren't big enough.
I thought he failed in not fighting harder for a single pay health plan. He did not fight hard enough for Elizabeth Warren. He did not fight hard enough endorsing progressive Democrats and even supported the likes of Blue Dogs who supported most
Republican initiatives. He did not rebut the claims that the Tea Party made about him. He simply wanted the Republicans to negotiate with him, and they would not. They wanted him out, and did nothing in the way of bi-partisanship - then blamed him for being a divider.
So why am I voting for him?
We need someone who really has the middle class issues under consideration.
We need someone who is not another Hawk, who realizes we need to end our present wars.
We need someone who does not embrace the Tea party and its Anti-American policies.
We need someone who understands that trickle down economics does not work.
We need someone who knows that outsourcing jobs is not wise and that outsourcing FEMA is crazy.
The pro-choice president who saved the U.S auto industry, passed the Affordable Health Care Act, came around on gay marriage and responded to the Superstorm is the president I am voting for. He's not perfect, but in a choice of two, he's the far better choice.
By trying to block all of President Obama's initiatives during his first term, the Republicans did not give him the chance to fail. I hope they have learned their lesson and that a second Obama administration will lead to more cooperation and less obstruction. Our politicians are supposed to - encouraged to - argue over their differences. They are not supposed to make their No. 1 priority stopping all proposed legislation from a president a won a landslide victory in 2008. Here's hoping the next four years will be different.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Debate 3 ...And the Winner Is
The third and thankfully last debate is over and yadda, yadda, yadda. I guess it is
impossible to come up with a new idea after such a long process although Mitt Romney proved again that he could come up with new ideas for himself - the ideas opposite the ones he's had on the campaign trail.
Romney's best answer was to the hypothetical question Bob Schieffer threw out as to what he would do if Israel said its airplanes were on the way to Iran. He said it is not necessary to even discuss that.
As for Romney's plan, whatever the president has done on foreign policies I agree with, but I can do them better. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me. My medicine cures all ailments.
If he was looking for Independents he may have gotten some at the expense of extreme right wingers.
Obama on the other hand probably strengthened his hand with progressives and people concerned about Israel.
impossible to come up with a new idea after such a long process although Mitt Romney proved again that he could come up with new ideas for himself - the ideas opposite the ones he's had on the campaign trail.
Romney's best answer was to the hypothetical question Bob Schieffer threw out as to what he would do if Israel said its airplanes were on the way to Iran. He said it is not necessary to even discuss that.
As for Romney's plan, whatever the president has done on foreign policies I agree with, but I can do them better. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me. My medicine cures all ailments.
If he was looking for Independents he may have gotten some at the expense of extreme right wingers.
Obama on the other hand probably strengthened his hand with progressives and people concerned about Israel.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
The Second Obama-Romney Debate
To hear the Pundits, the contributors, the paid hucksters, you would think that watching that debate was the epitome of brilliant oratory.
I wish to congratulate Candy Crowley for doing a remarkable job within the confines of the format. Each of them would give short shrift to an answer and then recite unrelated prepared speeches which we've all heard many times before. If you were looking for one new thought
you must have been sadly disappointed, as I was.
While Obama certainly won on substance he did not win on style because of the format.
I do not like the Town Hall format, because I do not know how the audience was chosen and how the questioners were chosen. Many years ago when I was President of the Riverdale Community Council we had a School Board election program. In order to make it fair
anyone could come to the meeting. The questioners were given a card and told to put their question on it. Then we put all the questions in a large drum. We had different people from the audience pick the questions out of the drum. This way the answerer never knew who was asking the question.
What happened to a real question on Medicare and Medicaid? What happened to a real question on reforming our education system?
I wish to congratulate Candy Crowley for doing a remarkable job within the confines of the format. Each of them would give short shrift to an answer and then recite unrelated prepared speeches which we've all heard many times before. If you were looking for one new thought
you must have been sadly disappointed, as I was.
While Obama certainly won on substance he did not win on style because of the format.
I do not like the Town Hall format, because I do not know how the audience was chosen and how the questioners were chosen. Many years ago when I was President of the Riverdale Community Council we had a School Board election program. In order to make it fair
anyone could come to the meeting. The questioners were given a card and told to put their question on it. Then we put all the questions in a large drum. We had different people from the audience pick the questions out of the drum. This way the answerer never knew who was asking the question.
What happened to a real question on Medicare and Medicaid? What happened to a real question on reforming our education system?
Saturday, October 6, 2012
The Debate Nobody Won
If I had to give points on Wednesday's presidential debate, I would say Obama 501/2 Romney 491/2.
In football terms Obama scored on a safety, got two points at the end of the first half and spent the rest of the game in prevent defense. He had a shot when Romney said he got the help of the Democrats in Massachusetts when they passed the Health Care law. Obama answered that if the Republican Congress had given him any help we would be
well on the way to recovery . He just threw that line out as if it did not matter.
Romney on the other hand could have made points if he just once explained how he could do what he said his plan was, with a Democratic Senate. What if the Republicans lost the House? This is a possibility.
Too much time was spent on the issue of the small business community and how they make jobs. Ever since I was a small kid, I have heard speeches as to how the small business community makes jobs, and how each and every president takes credit for it.
Actually they do almost nothing in that area. If Congress does not allocate funds for loans there is very little the government can do to help small businesses. When I was 24 I went into my first small business, and was a minimum success. I borrowed $10,000 dollars from the bank that my father guaranteed. When I went for more capital to the Small Business Administration, I was turned down. Many years later when I was president of the Record Dealers Association I wrote President Nixon about the small business problem and he said I should join SCORE or become an ACE counsellor. That was 42 years ago.
At that time the SBA was in the loan business and indeed we helped small business. Congress then decided to go out of the small business loan business, saying the banks could do a better job. As it turned out, the banks were interested in the mortgage business
and did not do a better job when it came to small business loans. The situation was further aggravated by states and cities taxing small businesses with taxes like the Gross
Receipts Tax. The cities and states do very little to help small businesses.
The president had one other good point when he said he would fight for tax relief for small businesses if the businesses keep the jobs in this country. Except no one really defines what a small business is. Some businesses would blackmail the government by claiming to take their entire business abroad unless the government gave them tax benefits. That is what big
corporations have done.
In football terms Obama scored on a safety, got two points at the end of the first half and spent the rest of the game in prevent defense. He had a shot when Romney said he got the help of the Democrats in Massachusetts when they passed the Health Care law. Obama answered that if the Republican Congress had given him any help we would be
well on the way to recovery . He just threw that line out as if it did not matter.
Romney on the other hand could have made points if he just once explained how he could do what he said his plan was, with a Democratic Senate. What if the Republicans lost the House? This is a possibility.
Too much time was spent on the issue of the small business community and how they make jobs. Ever since I was a small kid, I have heard speeches as to how the small business community makes jobs, and how each and every president takes credit for it.
Actually they do almost nothing in that area. If Congress does not allocate funds for loans there is very little the government can do to help small businesses. When I was 24 I went into my first small business, and was a minimum success. I borrowed $10,000 dollars from the bank that my father guaranteed. When I went for more capital to the Small Business Administration, I was turned down. Many years later when I was president of the Record Dealers Association I wrote President Nixon about the small business problem and he said I should join SCORE or become an ACE counsellor. That was 42 years ago.
At that time the SBA was in the loan business and indeed we helped small business. Congress then decided to go out of the small business loan business, saying the banks could do a better job. As it turned out, the banks were interested in the mortgage business
and did not do a better job when it came to small business loans. The situation was further aggravated by states and cities taxing small businesses with taxes like the Gross
Receipts Tax. The cities and states do very little to help small businesses.
The president had one other good point when he said he would fight for tax relief for small businesses if the businesses keep the jobs in this country. Except no one really defines what a small business is. Some businesses would blackmail the government by claiming to take their entire business abroad unless the government gave them tax benefits. That is what big
corporations have done.
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