Supreme Court Smackdown

Last night’s State of the Union was pretty impressive by President Barack Obama along the way he verbally laid the smackdown on the Supreme Court. I thought he came out with the fight that he carried with him through the Democratic Primaries and Presidential Election. A swagger that seemed to be lost to a man that had people crying during his Inauguration. Instead replaced with an attitude of aloofness and “to cool for school” thought process. A man who thinks that because he was so loved that the old rules of Washington didn’t apply to him. That with a wave of his hand and some words from his silk tinged throat all things President Obama wanted would come to fruition. From Universal Healthcare to the Venezuala problem and even the Iran Nuclear Problem. With his leadership he would unite the world and this country and that politics as usual wouldn’t count or even have any power against his charm.

The President has learned some hard lessons in year one. I think we all have. I really think that his “inexperience” that concerned voters during the election process came  true during year one. That when you are loved by all it is hard and scary to hear your enemies like Rush Limabaugh say “I hope he fails”. What the President must remember if he wants to become a two term President is to not take it personal. It’s just politics. Nothing in life is easy Mr. President. You had one year to learn the ins and outs of this job. Now is the time to roll up sleeves and get to work. Honest serious hardwork. Lead by example to the Congress and the rest of the constituents that even the President is willing to call meetings between the top tier of the Democrats and Republicans to get important legislation through. In the world of 24 hour cable news cycles things are sped up. One year does not make a Presidency. In the past Ronald Reagan’s first year was a bumpy ride with inflation and foreclosure’s abounding. Do what is right for the American people and become a legend Mr.President.

The best and most shocking moment in last night’s State of the Union speech was when the President publicly rebuked the Supreme Court for their decision that “reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections.” Obama said corporations can “spend without limit in our elections.” However, corporations and unions are still prohibited from contributing directly to politicians. That was pretty dramatic stuff to publicly rebuke the Supreme Court in front of the Congress and more importantly America. That’s maybe the lesson that the President learned the hard way this year. Be brave and call it like it is. Americans respect that. Below is the video of the moment. Enjoy it. You won’t see a moment like that for a very long time.

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J.P. Douglas

Following the Money

I recently made contact with www.followthemoney.org a non-partisan website that has been audited by the RAND corporation. This website is the number one site for finding out who is lobbying your politicians. In the old days citizens would be very limited to the access of who is lobbying. Now with www.followthemoney.org we have a one stop shop to find out which politicians are getting the money and from who. The usefulness of this site is immeasurable. Did your Senator vote for health care reform? You can find out why. Who paid him to vote that way? The possibilities are endless.

Here is some of the information provided to me by Executive Director Edwin Bender of www.followthemoney.org.  “First, the Institute compiles the donor information filed by more than 16,000 candidates and committees with state disclosure officials every two-year election cycle. From the 100,000 individual reports, we build a database of more than 3 million records that totals more than $3 billion. It represents all donors to state legislative, statewide and other candidates, to state political party committees as well as ballot measure committees. Where we can’t get electronic data, we input it from PDF or paper reports. This unique database has been used by conservative and liberal groups alike to make points about the role of campaign finances in the public-policy processes at the state level.”

That is a wealth of information. Information is power. As a voter I can look to see who is giving money to my Congress person and see how that influences’ his vote. I asked Mr. Bender how this information could and should be used in a “perfect world”. He stated, “In our perfect world, voters would use the information we make available about candidates on both sides of the political aisle to inform their votes come election time. Most candidates run on three or four “hot button” issues, yet are required to make decisions about hundreds or thousands of issues. Our data is a key indicator of how they will vote on those issues, as donor-issue-to-vote correlations are in the high 80 percentile. (Political party correlations are lower, in the mid-70s.)”

The old saying that “he who pays the piper calls the tune” is now more true than ever as lobbyists have taken over Congress on the Federal and State level. We know that family members of  Congress are paid lobbyists. With this information we can see if their lobbying firm paid to get their agenda through. This website opens up the transparency of government that we all strive for, whether the politicians like it or not.  The piper may play the tune but now we can read the sheet music.

J.P. Douglas

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Merry Christmas and a Happy Corrupt New Year!

 

This will be my last post before the Holidays. I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Here is a list of the most corrupt members of Congress as determined by C.R.E.W.-

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)

Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)

Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA)

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV)

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)

Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)

Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

56Rebels