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Monthly Archives: February 2015

Being in Majority means -What?


The U.S. Senates strikes again! The Senate has deemed themselves to be doing their jobs by passing a temporary funding of one the most important agencies we have. Hey- isn’t Mitch McConnell in charge of the Senate? Did we not hear him say how the Senate was going to be functional again? Thank you all of the folks who voted these guys in the majority in spite of information indicating the results of poor information and the Government shutdown several years ago. Is it possible that many voters have been “Koched”

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Telling IT In Music


Just before President Nixon resigned his office, Stevie Wonder presented this song with the Jackson 5, I have  shortened for the purpose of  brevity. This is still applicable to our Congress now! 

We are amazed but not amused
By all the things you say that you do
Though much concerned but not involved
With decisions that are made by you

But we are sick and tired of hearing your song
Telling how you are gonna change right from wrong
‘Cause if you really want to hear our views
You haven’t done nothin’

It’s not too cool to be ridiculed
But you brought this upon yourself
The world is tired of pacifiers
We want the truth and nothing else, yeah

And we are sick and tired of hearing your song
Telling how you are gonna change right from wrong
‘Cause if you really want to hear our views
“You haven’t done nothing”

We would not care to wake up to the nightmare
That’s becoming real life
But when mislead who knows a person’s mind
Can turn as cold as ice

Why do you keep on making us hear your song?
Telling us how you are changing right from wrong
‘Cause if you really want to hear our views
“You haven’t done nothing”, yeah no, no nothin’, nothin’

Thank you Stevie.

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Ongoing and Hopefully Not Everlasting


The new majority Congress is again acting “on behalf of the American people” with out our consent. This Congress with the backing of big money and the help of closeted bigots is aiding our enemies indirectly with the withholding of funding for the agency  (Homeland Security) that provides protection for us all. There are members who have stated that the funding should not be held up but the top dogs or curs of the Congress are at a loss to control their members and are hoping to keep an edge for the upcoming 2016 elections. These masters of ineptitude are showing us now how bad they really are since they do not have the Scamocrats to blame. How is it doing the work of “The American People” when they put us at risk to satisfy the few?  If ” The American People ” was really their concern, they would have acted appropriately on the ACA (Obama care) and the emigration bill . All that was required was for them to do the job they were elected to by the “real American People” not the fictional ones they are so fond of quoting. This is not about Race, ethnicity or anything else, it just about inept politicians whom we trusted and have now betrayed that trust. Our job (the real American People) is simple, we vote them out and trust nothing that passes from their lips!

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Andy Shaw’s Guest Column


 

Andy Shaw is president and CEO of the Better Government Association. Email him at ashaw@bettergov.org or find him on Twitter:@andyshawbga. Mr. Shaw wrote a guest column for the State Journal Register in Springfield, IL. This what it is really about! This can be applied to the actions of  the Congress of  the United States.

 

Fighting for access to the transactions of our rulers
In 1788, Revolutionary War hero Patrick Henry said, “The liberties of people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.”

It’s not his most famous line — that’s “Give me liberty or give me death” — but more than 200 years later, it still reflects the ethos of watchdogs like the Better Government Association.

We rely on the Freedom of Information Act to help us shine a light on government and hold public officials accountable. Illinois’ FOIA gives us access to most of the information on where our tax dollars are going and how key policy decisions are being made.

That paper trail detailing “the transactions of our rulers” — our elected and appointed government officials — undergirds countless investigations. And let’s face it, this is Illinois, where transactions are frequently the product of patronage, inside deals and conflicts of interest.

Henry probably would recognize the latest battle in our ongoing fight to make government transparent.

We asked the Chicago suburb of Rosemont — you may recognize it as a neighbor of O’Hare Airport and home to an arena and convention center — for copies of last year’s contracts for entertainment events, including country music superstar Garth Brooks’ concerts. We wanted to see how village officials managed those extravaganzas, but they wouldn’t give us the most important details, including how much they paid out in incentives to attract the performers and what they took in.

Rosemont hid behind a new village ordinance classifying the information as “secret” and claiming authority as a home rule unit of government to make up its own FOIA exemptions.

You don’t need to be Henry to play this one forward: other home rule units of government making the same claim as they stonewall us.

We’ve already seen many other state and local government agencies refuse our document requests on shaky grounds, forcing us into litigation to keep the “liberties of the people” secure. So now we’ve taken Rosemont to court, and we’re encouraged by Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s binding opinion against the village’s intransigence.

Hopefully Rosemont will see the light, but this won’t be our last FOIA fight because there simply aren’t enough disincentives to convince government that transparency is our right. The horror stories we hear from hundreds of regular people who take our FOIA training courses indicate secrecy is an epidemic in Illinois.

FOIA also has been eroded in Springfield by lawmakers who apparently care more about the convenience of their counterparts in local government than the obligation of those officials to be transparent and accountable.

The open records process certainly can be improved — we support changes that make it easier for the public and government — and we’ve encouraged officials to work with us on a balanced reform effort. In fact, that’s the goal of FOIA Facts and Friction, a free BGA “Idea Forum” we’ll host in Springfield next month in partnership with The State Journal-Register and WMAY News Talk 970. Stay tuned for details.

Meanwhile, we’ll continue to fight for the information we’re entitled to, whether it’s in the courts or the General Assembly. Henry and the other patriots who shed their blood and gave their lives to create this great democracy deserve no less. — Andy Shaw is president and CEO of the Better Government Association. Email him at ashaw@bettergov.org or find him on Twitter:@andyshawbga.

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Intelligence


Ignorance subsidized by stupidity equals Bigotry. This statement sums up my feelings about folks who believe everything they read and hear with no filters. Many of us ascribe to one political faction or another and often cross lines because they misunderstand their  Constitutional rights. These rights while broad do not allow for the extreme measures some people (and States) take on certain issues and in some cases. This country which is , if not the freest  is one of the freest allows for personal actions and thinking up to a point of trampling on the rights of others. When these outlaws (as it were) gain followers through radical actions and writings then the time for the general public to look cautiously at them for their beliefs and actions is at hand. Many other countries would immediate attempt to eradicate these people along with their beliefs but here we allow it up to a point. What is apparent is that some who take up their cause for often ill conceived and under informed reasons  are many times the victims in  events that could result in death and imprisonment. This sense of self and being are many times fueled by the nattering’s of the “white” politicians who unfortunately have the innate sense that no one can run the government as well as they can. The current Congress while recently in the majority has never been a good force in the Government as  a whole, primarily because of the  backing received by big money donors (not the “American people ” they are so fond of citing). These Dupublicans have for so long spoken from both sides of their mouths that they can no longer speak straight. (this is true too for the other “major party” too). We have to look and listen carefully at what is being actually said and what is reported to in the media. On the subject of the media we have to closely monitor what is said and printed, the modern media outlets have become more entertainment than information and begs us to depend on what we actually read elsewhere. An example of misrepresentation is the Keystone XL pipeline, this is one item being pushed to show that the majority party has power and is working for “the American people”. This pipeline will connect to the gulf states via an existing (through Nebraska pipeline and will initially provide thousands of jobs in several states but thereafter only about 50 jobs will be permanent. The Dupublicans are gearing up for the 2016 Presidential race and nothing more. If we are not careful we will have a Government of the Richest and not the people.

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Point Well Made!


Again my dear friend Martin makes a clear point:

Remember when buying votes was illegal?

Abel Oldsworth, my reticent friend, said he was “rendered cockeyed,” by the multi billionaire Koch brothers’ plan to spend nearly 1 billion dollars to elect their candidates in the 2016 federal and state elections.  Contributors’ do not even have to show voter IDs to participate.

He recalled Chicago and Texas in the 50s and 60s that achieved similar results at a snippet of the cost.  The poll workers miscounted ballots and misread voting machines.  They filled ballot boxes and stumbled with poor math.  Repeat voters—the early and often ones—resurrected the deceased.  Voting vagrants got swigs of whisky or free lunches.  Of course, it was all illegal, and eventually, watchdogs cleaned up the process.

Using a new ploy, the powerfully wealthy want to leverage election outcomes through massive PAC campaign funding. They essentially buy candidates.  These elected ones must accept their dictates first, not the mandates of Republicans and Democrats.  It’s a legal arrangement, controlled and expensive.  The donors are well-concealed.

 

A hundred million should be sufficient

To make our candidates loyal and proficient

But our strategy could be impaired

If the donor lists get aired

Likely stirring up voter backlash and devilment.

 

Martin Egelston

Battle Creek Enquirer

February 8, 2015

Too many of us decry the big money contributions to the political process and say and do nothing about it. While it does take numbers to make a movement, lately not enough of us care (enough) to break out of our comfort zones as far as political, racial and social standing  loyalties to understand that these buyers of the government favor are a detriment to the our process of free elections (an oxymoron these days). As AMERICANS, we have set the standard for freedom which is why so many people want to come here by hook or crook. It is time we took a real stand against the buyers of elections. Forget your innate and overt biases and the power of the vote to get this country out of the grips of Government controlled by money.

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While We Wait


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Now that the Dupublicans have control(?) of the Congress we are now waiting to for the change in how government  and Washington works (remember how they resisted  when the President said it?). The party in power is fractured within its ranks and now has presented legislation for the Keystone pipeline which in its concept would produce approximately  4000 jobs for the time it takes to complete the pipeline and about 50 permanent jobs  at its finish. The construction period will enhance the areas where the construction  will take place but thereafter the areas will  return to their previous states and sometimes worse. The Power party will do what is required for votes and that is how they act on everything, this is no different when the Scamocrats are in power . While we wait for the changes that the Majority power has promised (in our names), its business as usual in the political world-get ready for the next election. This makes one wonder why do we continue to vote for the same people? The best thing we as voters can do is to go against our established patterns and vote for “outsiders, in doing this we can gain control of our government and show that “we the people” are the “bosses” of our Government. Meanwhile-“we wait”!

Martin Strikes Again


 My friend Martin has sent me another posting that is relevant:

 

 

Those speaking for God

Don’t know what they say

Abel Oldsworth, my reticent friend, cannot understand how some talk show hosts and religious orators can unabashedly speak for the Almighty, asserting that He uses catastrophic events to punish the human race for sins committed.  Is that a comforting message to families who lose innocent children and relatives as a result of wars, epidemics, accidents, and fires?  They suffer great grief and hardships. They would prefer Providence employed some other means. These arrogant and superior feeling commentators compound the anguish with false, malicious claims that are devoid of sympathy and usefulness.

A few pundits and preachers exclaim

That great tragedies stem from God’s aim.

But their cocksure presumptions

Based on clueless assumptions

Heap more hurt on the ones without blame.

Martin Egelston

Battle Creek Enquirer

January 26, 2015

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