Michael1942's Blog

The recent High court ruling on the so called “Obamacare” has opened  the door to the truth about our elected officials , you know the people who promised to do what right for us. These Scamocrats and Dupublicans have all weighed in saying they will work to repeal the law but none of them have said they will work to improve it.  They have had time before passage to spend the much aired time objecting rather than tweaking and improving. There have been endless rants and speeches about this issue for 3 years but none of the dissenters have issued any comprehensive ideas or explanations to what the act does or does not do. What we have heard are sound bites and snippets that serve to anger and excite us in the right place for them but not for us. What is needed are people who are not campaigning at every breath but telling  the public what these issues really are and  perhaps gather a consensus to determine the direction to take ( we are their bosses, remember?). If these  people would perform any of these simple things we would be better off and less up in arms on many issues. The tryst is the unspoken and often hidden pacts between big business influence through favors and cash that got many of them in office. These favors are like paying protection, you cannot just stop! We have had 3 years of personal attacks and obstructionism in the Legislature at all levels but no real solutions since all that valuable time has been spent on them. Suppose there were term limits set for our Congress, say 12 years, could you foresee a change in their work habits? A single term of 12 years (with the onus of being ousted for cause) through popular vote with a predetermined salary and office perks that relate to their job. No more special pay for leading a committee or being a speaker. No more tenured pay or cost of living increases. No pension other than the same social security the public pays into. Healthcare along the same lines as any ordinary citizen. Could you imagine a different Government? The assorted factions that currently influence our political agendas and the government would have limited  effect on policy making those policies more universal.

The Supreme Court has upheld the debate on The Health Care issue. There have been many known pundits weighing in pro and con. The House and Senate republicans have weighed in more of a political weigh in than actually taking responsibility for their lack of positive input to actually insure the Health Care issue was formed in best way. These members of Congress in their barely concealed Racist way are as responsible for this long running and money wasting feud. If the Congress had spent the same amount of  time examining and tweaking this law, this recent time consumption could have been spent issues that require work such as the money to repair the infrastructure of America and put people to work. This issue was touted as a job killer, economy ruiner but not one of the dissidents came up with any alternatives. I listened with interest as a representative of the Cato institute expounded on the negatives of the recent Court decision but failed to add any positive side to his argument. The Cato institute which is  financially supported by the Koch brothers , who attempted to take control to further their own ends which are not in the interest of most Americans. I have a real issue with political aspirants and office holders who cannot or will not do the work they were elected to do but can weigh in on issues in the media with half-truths and innuendos. W e have suffered the indignity of neer do wells purporting to be working for us and taking handouts from the very people who they claim they are protecting us from. There are other issues that have more relativity to this election but the opposition continually rings the Race bell (surreptitiously), rides the economy horse and throws out the baby with the bath water rather than address those real issues. Since most of us are single issue voters, it is important to be given correct information instead of political (“elect me”) rhetoric.

The recent firearm buyback in Chicago netted 5500 firearms, this is good turn out but it only means that the illegal firearms are still out there. There is no way to determine the legitimacy of the fire arms so the point of the exercise is moot. The community of  people who illegally obtain and use firearms are not among the 5000 plus who turn out for this event unless they were just after the money. The idea behind this is to get firearms out of circulation and off the streets yet the use of firearms is still high. It has been proven time after time that banning the use of and ownership of firearms exacerbates the situation rather than cure it. There will always be Illegally owned and obtained firearms. The folks who own them and purchase them are usually felons to start  or someone who feels desperately threatened. The laws that protect the law abiding also protect the lawless, this allows the crime to be committed before the law can step in to assist or roll you out on a gurney. The law requires everyone to plead not guilty until proven so and even in the face of facts that clearly show guilt, not guilty is the plea. To be sure crime will always be with us and thereby a violent criminal element along with the nonviolent and white collar type. This exercise is just that , an exercise and will be until the city leaders allow the legal ownership of firearms as is in the rest of the State and most of the United States.

President Obama has proposed  several stimulus plans which have not worked as well as hoped but had some effect. The stimulus involving spending that would create some jobs that involve road repairs in all states and by extension give the economies of those states a boost, the Congress (one side) wants to decrease spending and rely solely on private enterprise to fill the gap and stimulate hiring. There is no perfect solution which is why we have a Congress that makes the final decision on spending with the assistance of well-reasoned information. Unfortunately this current Congress has spent and is spending so much time fighting the White House as to be more ineffective than they have ever been. This affair is clearly personal and will never get better unless we the people pay close attention and push our selves above the pettiness of  Race , religion and color. Some people may find it hard to believe that our Country has not moved far enough away from the Civil War to be  considered improved but we have been “played” by our elected officials who we believe are acting in our best interests. It is difficult for me to believe anyone who has the benefits the Congress has such as medical and pension can actually do what good for us. Looking at the rhetoric and disrespect given to our President should be a clear sign that our Congress needs the change. I have attached a snippet from a long ago beleaguered White House Resident that sums up my feelings.

The recently reprinted Lincoln historical remark dated originally August 22,1864 eloquently
states the mindset we should all have regarding the upcoming election for our National Leader. If as
voters we really pay attention to the events that have occurred in last 8 years then we know we need more
change. This is not to endorse one candidate over another but to point out that we should give ourselves
an opportunity to make our way back to a firm financial and world position. The man who embodies the State of Illinois
and Springfield stated: “We should perpetuate … this great and free Government…I am a living witness that
anyone of your children may look to come here as my fathers child has. It is in order that each of you
may have, through this free Government which we have enjoyed, an open field and a fair chance for
your industry, enterprise and intelligence .. .It is for this the struggle should be maintained, that we may
not lose our birthright“ Our birthright is to vote for the candidate you consider the best choice ignoring
the political rhetoric,buzzwords and negativity. Your vote is your voice … Speak up!

The President has for two years spoken of having a Bipartisan government
and now we see that He is having a big problem getting any dual party work
done. In an attempt to cure the ills of the past few years of government Mr.
President has run in to problems with nominees (with problems) to his cabinet,
posturing from foreign governments and even the lobbyists that he is trying to
contain. What ever can he do? I believe the onus is not on him but all of us who
vote. We have people in place who were elected to get the work of running this
country done in a responsible way so all citizens are able to live the best life they can.
These very people are the ones doing us the most harm. They have by their
action or inaction caused us more harm than good. When examined closely you
will find that not many of them have skeleton free closets. They have with
impunity continued their improper ways while creating a weakened government.
The lobbyists still have power and some legislators are still receiving “gifts”. How
will a new guy make things change? We the people need to demand term limits
on these people so they do not have time to win friends and influence people. In
my opinion they in no small part have created as corrupt a system as any
totalitarian government. Remember “absolute power corrupts absolutely” (this is
a paraphrase) and for years these Ladies and gentlemen have made the rules and
set the agenda. How many of us realize that their pay raises are mandated by a
law that they (the congress) enacted with very little fanfare. One of their pensions
would feed about five families for a year. They have the ability to move around
the country free, mail to us free and we also pay for their assistants. It makes
sense to me that with fewer terms they will be unable to make sweetheart deals
that endure after they leave office then reduce the pension they have granted
themselves and finally remove the perks that we pay for and are unnecessary.

Recent reports show that 2000 plus people have been convicted and incarcerated on  perjured testimony and suspect evidence, this is reminiscent of som early convictions and death from our country’s early history. That time period in the 1600’s was perilous for many since the paranoia of living in a new world along with the religious and personal baggage brought from  the old country. This type of condemnation by supposedly credible witnesses caused the exile, maiming and sometimes death of people who may have had special powers or who were not considered main stream (normal). We now have arrived at that time period again with the advent of  mass media, it is worse even though there have been no mass hangings , tortures or dunking to extract confessions of guilt. What we currently have is political and high profile business people who castigate the sitting administration creating the same atmosphere as the witch hunt era. This neo witch hunt has factionalized the people with uninformed, misstated facts and outright lies. Our political system has reverted to name calling, slander and ineffectiveness. The public has been misinformed for so long that the truth  appears disingenuous . I have found that I have to read several papers to get a true idea of what is real and what is not, even with this amount of reading I have to use my common sense in understanding what the real (not correct) information is.  As long as we (voters) allow our elected officials (et al)  to perpetuate  these  myths and misinformation, we will always have witch hunts.