Who I want to be President and Why

There are a lot of candidates running for President, several hundred in fact! Yes thats right, according to the FEC as of Aug 12 2019 we have 816 candidates who have filed to run.! Naturally we have never heard of nor are likely to most of them and of course most do not expect to win.
Lets take a quick look at some of the major candidates and my personal opinions.
Senators Sanders and Warren are my top picks so I'll start off with the others in the order I think of them.

• Marianne Williamson: Initially I thought she was kind of a nutjob but I have since listened to some of her interviews and changed my mind. She appears smart and well educated and has a good depth of knowledge on several issues, shes done her homework. Net Worth $1.5 Million, Progressive, Signature Issue is healing and uniting America. She has a lot of good plans to do that too, but I suspect some like reparations are too controversial to pass.
• Kamella Harris: I liked her more early on but do not feel she is handling the debates and interviews very well. In my opinion shes too evasive and has flipped flopped on several issues. I feel shes too worried about what polls well and not authentic. Net Worth $6 million
• Pete Buttigieg: Hes smart, maybe the smartest and best educated of the candidates. However he has not handled local division and races issues well as Mayor. I'd like to see him get more seasoning and prove his ideas. Also he is catered to by the big donor class far too much for my liking and I fear would work more for them than the average American.  Net Worth $100K, Socially left, otherwise more centrist and pro-establishment.
• Joe Biden: Far too establishment for my taste, also thinks he can work with #MoscowMitch even though President Obama was usually blocked by him. The establishment and big donor class love him and I think we have had them in control for far too long. Net Worth $9 million. Establishment and a bland moderate to Conservative. Signature Issue is "I can work with Republicans" and wont rock the boat.
• Andrew Yang: I initially dismissed him,that Universal Basic Income thing is a bit too socialist fir me. However listening to some interviews and its not as out there as I thought. Alaska does this already where every adult gets money from oil pumped out of the state. His proposal is to do the same thing for the tech industry. Considering how much they make off our personal data and the jobs they want to automate I'm ok with a tech dividend for Americans. I love that hes talking about the dangers of automation too.  No one else really hits on that but the fact is most Americans will lose their jobs to automation and sooner than most people think. Net Worth $1 million, Progressive, Signature Issues UBI and how to counter the massive unemployment thats coming.
• Inslese: An afterthought, i dint think he expected to win. I think he jumped in to get climate change talked about and I respect that dedication to a vital issue

Senator Sanders and Senator Warren

Both are strong progressives with a long track record of working for American people over corporations. 

          Senator Warren fought for us while she was a law professor and was responsible for creating the Consumer Protection Bureau. She was nominated to head it but Republicans feared her so much they killed that, she then ran for Senate and won and been a thorn in their side ever since. "Never the less she persisted" is a fitting theme.

          Senator Sanders has been a champion of human and civil rights his entire career, probably more consistently than any other serving politician. One of his early famous moments was when he was arrested at a 1963 Chicago protest for defending black civil rights. As Mayor and later in Congress he has continued to fight for human rights for everyone.

Both have the broadest appeal across the country of voters, where the others may be more popular in certain regions. This is best seen by looking at the small dollar donations and where they come from.

Both of these people are powerful progressives with plans to move the country forward and work for the people instead of the corporations. They have similar ideas, I would say that Warren is more focused on economic protections and preventing exploitation by corporations, while Sanders is more focused on health care and other basics. Either one would be great for the country.

My Preference is Bernie For President

This is purely my opinion and some of it based on feelings more than a comparative analysis.

• Sanders is the underdog and I like underdogs. Hes hated by corporate media, Republicans and Democrats both fear him and each are working hard to push the narrative that hes too left and extreme to win. With that many powerful organizations after you, your an underdog- and hes winning!
• He pushed the Democratic party to the left and we know he means what he says because hes been pushing it for 40+ years. Others have come to his ideas much later as polling shifted so we have less reason to trust them.
• Hes willing and able to fight for us, anywhere and anytime.He went on Fox TV and defended his left wing policies to a right wing audience against right wing moderators who were trying for a got'ya moment and he got a standing ovation.
• Health care is a major economic issue for Americans and he will fight hard to give it to all of us. Media trying to kill the idea of Medicare for All happily point out that his plan will raise taxes to pay for it. Where most politicians dodge that he comes out and says the truth. I love that honesty and integrity, we need more of it! I have blogged about Health care several times so wont repeat it here, check out the blog using Healthcare as the keyword.
• Climate Change is the other key issue for the country, even if climate deniers try to push it away. He has plans for that too and if we dont act soon and vigorously nothing else matters.
• Campaign Finance Reform is another important issue.  We need to change things so politicians work for the citizens, not the corporations and special interests. He is another pioneer here and while many talk about he has been fighting it for years. He is an independent to avoid the "Dialing for Dollars" routine and stand aside from the corruption rather than help it. His 2016 grassroots campaign proved individual donations from voters could fund campaigns without being bought by corporate PACs. Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats were inspired and successful because of him in 2018 and likely will be more so in 2020.

I'll be perfect;y happy with Warren for President but Bernie is my first choice. Both are fighters with proven records of working for Americans rather than against them, but for me the edge goes to the stubborn goat who has been fighting the establishment the longest. I want the underdog to win and the more the mainstream media and establishment Democrats say he can't the more I want it.

All that fear and dismissive asides tells us all what we really need to know about this race.

Right Wing Challenge!

So if you read this blog you know I am a humanitarian and thus Left Wing in my politics.
But one of the biggest personal goals is to get money out of politics. Efforts to do this seem to mainly be from the Left, with Take Back Our Republic the only group I know of on the Right.
On the Left we have Wolf Pac, Brand New Congress, and Justice Democrats.

Why so little effort from the Right?  If its really a populism movement and not just corporate manipulation of some of our population how come there is so little effort to get money out of politics?

If you really believe in privatization because you think its good for America how come people have to pay politicians to do it? If Americans really believe deregulation why do corporations have to buy Congress? If you prefer private insurance and those who are in between jobs, laid off, work for small business, or simply cant afford it why is so much of the money coming from insurance companies?
Shouldn't the individual voter and American citizen be able to matter and influence their politician if the numbers are really on their side?

So my challenge to the Right Wing is start an organization like Brand New Congress or Justice Democrats and help Take Back Our Republic.
If your goal is to get rid of elitist control of our government put thepower back into the hands of the individual American!

The Green New Deal

The Green New Deal is getting a lot of talk right now, which is why the resolution was put forward. Its not an actual bill and if it had passed the Senate it would have done nothing. It is simply put a Mission Statement. If you work or have worked for a large corporation you'll be familiar with them. They are a statement of intent and purpose, often meaning little and being a marketing tool.
Thats what this resolution is, a marketing tool to get people talking about it and declare some peoples values and goals in a broad sense.
The Green New Deal basically says that Climate change is a recognizable and immediate threat to the world and the United States of America (something the Pentagon, NASA, and others have been saying for over a decade).
It purports that to combat it in time we need a national initiative on the level of FDRs New Deal.
So the goal is not just to reduce emissions but to avoid economic collapse, whether from ignoring the problem as we have been doing or changing things. The cost to change grows every year we delay or EPA regulations are rolled back and the economic growth potential grows slimmer as other countries take up the opportunities we have let slip through our fingers.

Jobs

The coal industry has been dying for awhile now as other forms of energy become cheaper and easier to get. The Conservative answer is subsidizing the companies, meaning taxpayers pay to keep them in business. The Progressive answer is to let the free market take care of the companies rather than prop them up and retrain the employees.  Ideally using the money that has been going to the companies. The difference is that as those workers get new jobs they generate tax and local revenue as consumers when they get new jobs instead of costing more money when they get laid off.

The oil and gas industry is still thriving, though we also subsidize them. This industry is not going away anytime soon, even if we cut back on emissions. However it will go away and living in Oklahoma I can tell you that workers are laid off all the time, then sometimes rehired. Its effectively seasonal work for many nonadministrative personnel. As the price of oil changes so do the number of employees!

Further we KNOW that the amount of oil and gas is limited and getting whats left costs more each and every year.  Also we leave our country vulnerable to threats from the Middle East and elsewhere. Oil funds terrorism in many countries and is a significant national threat,

Renewable energy sources such as wind, water, and solar power are getting cheaper each year (though the Trump administration is working to counter that trend by imposing tariffs on components and curbing research), and more people are working in these fields as well.

Look at the jobs data below, more people are working in green energy than oil and gas extraction

Environmental Costs

Every year we see huge costs for disaster relief efforts, both money spent and lives lost or uprooted. Besides the big tax bill were paying out, local economies suffer from lost revenue and even the national economy suffers. How much?  2017 cost the US $306 billion in 2017 and $91 billion in 2018! Think what we could do if we just cut that in half! And as storms get more severe, sea waters rise, and farmers suffer from droughts and floods because the weather is less predictable and keeps swing towards extremes the costs as taxpayers and consumers just keeps going up.

A dramatic effort now can slow and perhaps reverse the change, had we started in the 1970s when we first knew of the problem it would have been easier. But that is what happens when you keep borrowing money or procrastinating a problem, it just gets worse. Hiding our heads in the sand wont resolve the problem.

And for those hoping thoughts and prayers will solve the problem, why should God fix the mess we made for ourselves? God gave us a beautiful and wondrous planet, its sacrilegious what we have done to it regardless of what your Faith is.

Summary

The Green New Deal is a least a declaration of intent, until most of Congress and the President are replaced nothing will actually get done. Our politicians are bought and paid for and will just keep kicking the can down the road and let another generation deal with the consequences. Working now to resolve the issue means hard work, tough decisions, and sacrificing bribes by the oil and gas industry. As a voter it is up to each and everyone of us to check the policies of our representatives, and check where they get campaign donations from. Remind them they are supposed to work for American citizens, not international corporations. 

Its possible to lessen the impending disaster, it might even still be possible to prevent it, but every year we delay the chances go down and the costs go up.

The Green New Deal is simply patriotic, it proposes we help Americans and America itself by creating new jobs in energy, manufacturing, construction, and service sectors (boosting the economy far more than a billionaire or corporate tax cut) and including ideas such as safety nets for retraining, keeping our healthcare promises to those coal miners who sacrificed for us, and improving the quality of life for every American.

Relevant links

AWEA says 105,000+ jobs now
The Solar Foundation says 242,000+ jobs in 2018

Various Bureau of Labor Statistics

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey 2018

So based on those numbers in 2018 Oil & Gas extraction =784k. Coal Mining =78k

Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction: NAICS 21

Oil and Gas Extraction: NAICS 211 About 150,000 (Seasonal)

Careers in Wind Energy

Careers in Solar Power

Careers in Geothermal Energy

Green Careers

Industries by Supersector and NAICS Code

This week in Congress

So AOC had this wonderful bit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJlpS4vhKP0
You know what was amazing there? Not just how clear she framed and showed the corruption really is but that she was so clear not one Republican dared interrupt her to try and obfuscate and hide the corruption.  Normally we see a lot of theater and grandstanding for the cameras but here she made it so obvious that no one wanted to call attention to themselves or be caught on camera defending these practices and regulations.
Make no mistake, they will fight tooth and nail to protect that corruption but in this instance at least they knew they were outmatched.

Meanwhile in another committee we had Whittaker make a fool of Congress and showed he is loyal to Trump, not the United States of America. So did several Republicans.
This was all about theater and pandering to the audience with no real answers.

Why Democrats Lose

The Democratic party demonstrably doesn't represent their constituents. They push for establishment contenders and oppose primaries which present constituents getting a chance to vote for their preference. The party also pushes for centrist and establishment views, even though polls and voting history show most Americans are sick and tired of the establishment and Congress.

When Americans say they want change why does the DNC think more of the same or incremental change is a winning strategy?

In 2018 a record number of House seats were flipped from red to blue, yet the democratic leadership and pundits till the record number of freshman to sit down and wait their turn. In other words, keep doing things the same way we have been. They ignore the fact that their voters put them into office to make change, telling the people they elected to just be quiet or follow their lead is a direct slap on those voters.

So why should Democrats expect people to vote for them if they A) Ignore the demand for change and representation B) Declare the people they voted for as radicals and unimportant youngsters who need to toe the line C) Refuse to fight for core demands of their base and say everyone should accept slow and incremental change. D) Take their base for granted by assuming they will vote for them without clear evidence the party is actually going to do what the voters want.

Summary

Democrats won big in 2016 and in 2020 they have a favorable electoral map (This time more Republicans are up for reelection, last time it was more Democrats up for election) and Trump and the Republican party are mired in scandals, criminal activity and in general ticking off the American people.  Their strategy of sowing fear and hatred to divide the country is backfiring on them as more people are wanting to fight back.

But the Democrats can still lose, and lose big if they dont start messaging better and convincing their base and Independents that the party will follow through and do what their voters demand.

They need a big win or at least the ability to put out a few big proposals that are killed by Republicans so they can tell their voters give us control and we can make this happen. Then they need to stick to it and make it happen.

The Trump and Fox shutdown on Day 21

So we just hit day twenty one in the latest shutdown of the Trump administration. As of midnight it will be the longest one in US history and Congress has adjourned for the weekend so its likely to go into next week. Congress and Trump are showing its simply not an important issue, especially Mitch McConnell who is refusing to even allow a vote to resolve the issue. Apparently giving money to Israel was more important to him.

The Players

• Trump says its a National Emergency despite illegal immigration from the southern border continuing its lowered trend. In other words less illegal immigration than before, starting under President Obama. He cites fake statistics and just lies (surprise) to make it seem like an emergency yet offers no specifics when asked about what hes going to do with the funding if he gets it. 
• The Democratic House voted to open the government by passing previously approved Senate bills that Trump killed after Fox News told him to do so.
• The Republican Senate has decided to bow out and cedeits authority to the President and says they will not vote on anything or try to do a veto overide to open the government. They, through Senator McConnell have declared no votes on the issue until Trump decides he has gotten what he wants.

The Issue

• The Wall is the key sticking point between Trump, Democrats and many Republicans (mostly old fashioned conservatives who dont like spending money and border state Republicans who say there is no emergency or real problem) and Democrats.
• The Secure Fences Act, passed in 2006 was a major effort at securing the border but DHS later leaned away from that for more modern methods. There is still alot of fencing but DHS determined there were cheaper and more effective methods, depending on location.

The Problems

• Trump considers this a campaign issue and needs a fight on this, not a win but an ongoing fight. He keeps changing his requests and when prior funds were approved (most still unspent) he kept ramping up the demands and refusing to negotiate and compromise with the Democrats in return. One of the more talked about incidents was his refusing 25 billion for the wall in return for DACA, The last was him canceling the deal he had with Senator McConnell after Fox News laid into him.
• Related to the above, Trump needs attention and a distraction from the investigations into him. Whenever someone seems to be getting more attention he manufactures a crisis of somekind to get the media focus back on him.
• No one can trust Trumps word since he goes back on it and changes his mind so often. A deal requires trust or a means of enforcing compliance to it.
• If Trump gets what he wants he can be expected to shut down the government again or refuse to sign any bill anytime he wants something. Its a policy of extortion he has shown a tendency for so its like negotiating with a terrorist. So if the Democrats give in, they can expect to see this happen again and again. He did it with CHIP (withholding money for childrens health care), the VA (holding off signing a VA benefits package to get wall funding), and others that dont stick in my mind as much.
• The Republican party shows no willingness to stand up to Trump.

The Solutions

• National Emergency: This was floated so Trump could do what he wants and avoid dealing with Congress. However some people have appeared to talk him down from that ledge for fear of setting the precedent. I dont count this option as complete; out however, as we have seen he frequently changes his mind.
• Trump feels the heat enough to give in but somehow can call it a win.
• Democrats cave into political or moral pressure as more people get desperate at losing pay and the consequences such as losing their homes or apartments. Also, remember its not just government employees but stores, restaurants and other businesses that take a hit.
• Republicans feel enough political heat to be willing to stand up to Trump.
• Someone comes up with a compromise everyone can live with.

Is Compromise Possible?

The trouble here is giving everyone what they really want (not always the same as what they say)

Trump wants something he can declare a win but the Democrats have to be careful to give him a win without looking too weak (or they will be voted out again) or encouraging him to just repeat the tactic every few months (also gets them voted out again).

So as I always say, you have no right to complain if your not offering solutions or at least trying to fix a problem, here are my ideas 

(I keep telling my Congressman, but Rep Lucas staff says its not a focus, Senator Inhofe less said the better, Senator Lankford seems to care but sides with Trump.)

• Democrats offer to rebuild broken fencing and barriers, probably citing specific areas recommended by DHS. Gives Trump a win he can spin.
• More judges (Senator Lankford supports this, Trump opposes it) so we process those seeking asylum faster. This is actually a true conservative ideal since it actually saves us money. Did you know that under Trump were now paying $680 per person per day?! Thats because Trump and Sessions encouraged private prisons and they have seen massive stock rises in return. At taxpayer expense of course.
• Improve inspection stations with upgraded equipment and more personal to more effectively catch imported drugs.
• Improve border patrol with more people and equipment, including drones and fast response stations. Trump has actually taken money from border security (and other organizations, including FEMA, Coast Guard, and the US military) to fund those internment camps which are growing quickly under his new policies (again at taxpayer expense).
• Offer the Democrats a high profile win such as DACA so they can say thats why they voted for it instead of bowing to extortion and the extortion of America. That hopefully keeps Trump from seeing this as a precdent so he keeps doing it, and the Dems feel they wont be voted out for being cowards and encouraging GOP terrorism.

The GOP lost 41 House seats (might end up as 40, depending on what happens with NC but its 41 right now) because they have left Trump unchecked. The Democrats know that (along with Health Care) it was a key issue that won them their seats and failing to hold him accountable will cost them in 2020 just as it cost so many Republicans in 2018.

Remember there is no real Immigration emergency or border invasion. Thats just made up by Trump and alt-right members who promote racism. We know this because the numbers are in decline so its less urgent an issue now than previous years. We actually have more illegal immigrants coming from Canada! But no talk of a border wall there, hmm wonder why...

As for drug importation, most of that is from ports of entry not fence hopping (makes sense its cheaper and get more bulk driving, flying or shipping it in than walking) also most drug deaths are from BigPharma and the opiod crisis, but Republicans want to protect the doctors and pharmaceutical companies so they can keep pushing addictive pain killers.

If there was a real crisis we would hear different numbers from DHS, FBI and others.

If there really a need for urgency why did the Republicans do nothing on the issue when they were in control of both houses of Congress? Why wait till now?

The answer is obvious, there is no actual emergency just the same old issue Congress has failed to address for decades. People need to get back to work, make it happen!

Wolf Pac

So some news on the political side of my life as we wind down 2018.

• I was recently made a State Organizer for Oklahoma Wolf Pac.
• Democrats won 40 seats in the House, a record year! A significant number of those were true progressive candidates, several Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress reps whose campaigns I worked on.
• A lot of Progressive grass roots candidates lost, but more won than mos people expected. True grass roots candidates are at a huge disadvantage because they dont accept corporate or foreign money so they are at a huge financial disadvantage. This is made worse because big media tends to ignore them and talk about the candidates with the biggest war chests. Also most of these were first timers and up against incumbents. So any win is a big deal, and we had 11 of them! Next time it will be a little easier as we learn from mistakes, improve our resources and volunteer base and candidates name recognition.
• I was unfortunately wrong in my prediction that Trumps impeachment proceedings would start by end of 2018. However I was fortunately wrong in that he would have us n WW III by now.
• The GOP has shown time and time again that they are Anti-American and more people are waking up to that every day. Despite one of the most favorable political maps in history they took a huge beating in 2018 and the 2020 map will be less favorable as more Republicans than Democrats will be up for reelection. Plus they will still have the Trump effect to deal with, even if he resigns or is impeached it will now be part of the 2020 election cycle,

So for 2019

Wolf Pac and Brand New Congress will have my focus. Other groups and candidates I volunteered for in 2018 and 2017 are free to reach out to me as needed. I will help wherever I can and there are a lot of issues I believe we must effectively address to keep America strong and improve every Americans lives. Climate Change, Universal Health Care, Living Wage, Voter Suppression, National Security, Economic Security, Criminal Justice Reform, Immigration Reform, Tax Reform, and more are all important! However the number ONE issue is election Reform and Campaign Finance because until we fix those problems our politicians will continue to put the desires of the Special Interests, Corporations, Billionaires, and even Foreign Governments that pay for their election campaigns instead of the American People!

Green energy means LOCAL jobs!

Listening to an interview of Christine Hallquist, candidate for Governor in Vermont and she mentioned something I hadn't really considered from quite the same way before.
Most states pay other states, and even other countries for their energy needs.
Think about that a minute.
What if the money paid for out of state energy (coal, gas, oil, even hydro or nuclear) stayed in state and created local jobs?
Every state can provide energy see the Solutions Project for some options. Conservatives tend to prefer the old ways of doing things and many still do not think climate change is a serious issue. Those wanting to address the climate change system need to tailor the messaging to better reach the current audience.
If warmer weather causing rising sea levels, more severe storms, and billions in bailouts and recovery efforts for increasing natural disasters is not enough you can add jobs to the mix.
Fossil fuels will of course fight you, even if in another state but if you can create new permanent jobs, while lowering consumer energy costs (That means your utility bills) that should win some people over.

Summary

Clean energy is a practical and desired goal because...

• Reduces the damage were doing to the environment. This saves lives and money.
• Cuts down on health costs because the air and water will be cleaner.
• Increases USA national security due to less reliance on foreign oil.
• Increases our exports if we go green before most of the rest of the world.
• Provides local jobs which helps economic growth.
• Reduces the negative effect of seasonal layoffs in oil jobs as the price of oil fluctuates.
• Eventually oil and gas will run out, or simply become too expensive to use or sell. We already see this as a temporary problem whenever prices drop people get laid off till they rise again.
• Likely results in spin off technologies if we get serious and develop the tech before everyone else does. If were too late to the game we may have to pay other countries instead. China is making significant efforts to place themselves as the go to tech source in this industry.

Single Payer Week: But Socialism!

Labels are handy tools for keeping a conversation short or weapons that work well as propaganda. The trouble is people forget labels are just shortcuts and often misleading.
Lets briefly hit some terminology first.Four types of economies Traditional, Command, Market, Hybrid.
Republicans want a Market system, Democrats want a more mixed system.
America is currently a mixed system and always has been, though ratios vary from year to year.
Communism, Socialism, Capitalism a fairly short explanation

Capitalism is great for a growing economy and encourages research, competitiveness but those left behind tend to get further and further behind and eventually you get a sort of generic lottery where your success is based on to whom you were born to more than how hard are effectively you work.

Socialism gives everyone an equal chance and opportunity but removes a lot of the incentives to work hard since your not bettering your personal situation as much.

Socialism is definitely a more humanitarian and Christian system but there is no doubt human nature makes capitalism more efficient at long term survivability and growth.
But like most things in life the answer to what is best lies not at the extremes but somewhere in the middle.
America was founded by reformers and liberals, though over time the definition has changed with the country moving further to the left.
Public Education started in Boston in 1821 and spread throughout the country. One side says the wealthy should pay for their own education and the poor can remain uneducated. Another side says the rich should share so that others have a chance to better themselves.
If your being honest you can see both sides but probably either argument is unconvincing in getting you to switch.
How about looking at it from a larger picture, one of patriotism?
 A better educated population is better prepared for the modern world and able to do jobs that require more education. Companies improve their products without having to import foreign talent. Those companies will make better products that more effectively compete in the world marketplace, bringing more wealth to the country.
Higher wages mean more money in the hands of consumers which means more demand for product which means companies make more money. Even better they have to higher more people to make and sell things so its a replenishing cycle.

I thought this was Health Care week?

Sorry, I just wanted to lay the foundation.

As above, one side says if you want health care you need to pay the costs yourself and one way to do that is through health insurance. Either you pay it all or your employer pays part as a benefit to attract workers. The other side says get the insurance companies out of it as they just increase costs and cut care to make higher profits.

But wait! If my taxes go to health care I am paying for other people to get medicare, is that fair?

How do you think insurance works? Get a lot of healthy people paying in and as few sick or likely to get sick people as possible so you have fewer payouts.

If your working for an insurance company you want to continue that system, anyone else though should take a serious look at Single Payer. It cuts costs dramatically by removing profits, marketing, lobbyists and bureaucratic systems put in place to make it harder for people to get coverage.

Government medical coverage is a social system, just like public education, military, law enforcement, and the fire department. However some things just make more sense as government programs than as private ones.

We do need to monitor it and talk out the details, those are important debates. But the current insurance based system is hurting the country so we need to change it.

Single Payer Week: Follow the Money

The Republican party was paid over $5 million by insurance companies and over $4 million by pharmaceutical companies in the 2018 cycle. And remember this is a midterm, lobbyists usually pay more during presidential elections as more people vote.
How much did your rep take in?
My congressman Frank Lucas was given $44,000 by insurance companies, his largest contributor was of course security and investment companies at $97,500 and he has a safe seat so no real competition.
My Senators of course get most of thier money from energy and utility companies, though Senator Lankford received $301,000 from healthcare and $240,000 from commercial banks.
I just looked at the top 5 contributor industries for this election cycle. OpenSecrets.org is easy to use for you to see who lines your representatives pockets.
Its possible to dig deeper using the FEC or other sites but all we need to know here is how much money they get from companies who want to fight single payer.
Insurance and drug companies like the current system, not many other industries do.  How about you?
The thing is we must consider when our representatives take in that kind of money will they ignore it when working on legislation or will they work with your interests in mind instead?
Those companies are not spending that money for nothing, they expect a return on that investment. Maybe its just tax breaks and lower regulations so that the lobbying costs pay for themselves. But there are going to want as much as they can buy for their money.

Follow the Money, always.

Single Payer Week: Advantage to employees and business

So we defined our terms and went over common scare tactics, now lets get into the detailsof will it work for America and how?
Today lets look at the possible advantages.

Businesses

A big cost of business is employee wages and benefits. If a company can save money on health care it will be able to put that money elsewhere. Either in the pockets of shareholders or reinvest it in company growth.  Even if companies pay the exact same amount towards a healthcare tax they will save considerable money in HR costs and not dealing with insurance companies.  Also employees with access to affordable health care are healthier which saves lost work time and worse new hire expenses in replacing those that leave the work force.

If the company can actually pay lower costs in taxes than they do towards their current costs such as insurance and emergency sick programs they come out even farther ahead.

Employees

How much do you pay for your insurance out of each check? What are your copay's and deductibles? Do you know what your caps are? What if your a new hire and not eligible for insurance yet? What happens if you get laid off work? Do you have preexisting conditions? What if you see the doctor and then it turns out your not covered for that visit? Maybe they were out of network, a form was not filled out properly, or the procedure is just not covered even though they told you it would be?

Ever had any of that happen to you? Most Americans have, and it can be a crushing blow.

Now imagine if you just go in when you need to, no deductibles or copay's and your doctors office knew exactly what was covered because everyone has the same rules.

Ever been hurt on the job and have your work and insurance company fighting over who will cover the bill? Meantime, the doctor and bill collectors come after you.

What if your a contract, temp or part time employee? A lot of companies hire that way to avoid dealing with insurance costs. Can you make ends meet?

Medical Facilities and Doctors Offices

Ask your doctor the next time your in for a visit how much time and money they waste dealing with insurance companies. With the new junk insurance the GOP is pushing it will get even worse. Ask them if they would prefer a single set of understandable rules and coding. Ask them if they would prefer to prescribe the medication you need rather than what the insurance and drug companies push for?

To be fair they may not like what medicare pays but at least its predictable. And if everyone is on it, they can probably lobby for better pricing.

Single Payer Week: Scare Tactics

Single Payer opponents rarely use facts to counter it as those are easily refuted. Instead they try to overwhelm with scare tactics and shout their opponents down. Watch them and you'll see.

Common Scare Tactics

• Its Socialism: While socialism can go to far the concept is not inherently bad. Other things that can be attributed to socialism, police, fire departments, Non profits that get tax breaks, including churches, FEMA and the National Guard going in for disaster relief, charitable contributions being tax deductible, Social Security, National Parks, and other ideas where the government helps the American people rather that let everything go wild.
• Long wait times for care: Ask your friends from Canada or European countries about it, I have. ERs are based on Triage so see the ones at greatest risk first then everyone else. Other visits you call your doctor and make an appointment. In the USA you may have to wait to have the doctors office check with your insurance company but otherwise your delay is comparable to most other countries.
• Its expensive!: The most conservative estimate (Koch brothers) says it will save $500 billion over the next ten years! Some say as much as $17 trillion, though most estimates come in around saving $2 trillion. Our current system means average medical costs are at least twice that of most countries, and drug prices even more than that.
• Healthy people will have to pay the costs of sick people! Really Mr. Ryan? This should not even need to be addressed but that is exactly how it works now. Insurance companies charge people and hope they are low risk so they make a bigger profit.
• Privatized Healthcare is anti capitalism! Doctors and hospitals will still be privately owned and run, all that changes is you pay the government instead of an insurance company. How well do you like your insurance company anyhow?
• Government run programs are as efficient because they are not trying to make a profit. This IS true for some things. And is a strength of capitalism vs. say communism. However you need to look at the details. If a company produces a product and you dont have to buy it they need to sell it at a desirable price or you wont buy it. Health care does not work this way for most things. If your sick you need care and will pay anything you can to get better. Companies know this which is why prices are so high and the number one people go bankrupt in the USA is medical bankruptcy. Medicare is the most effecnt system in the USA because it has a low overhead and does not spend money lobbying or trying to create complicated policies to avoid covering you when you get sick.
• But Venezuela! A popular Fox talking point. Venezuela like almost every other country in the world has socialist health care and the country is in sad shape. But so does Canada, England, Finland, Sweden, and again just about every other country in the world. They have it so bad because the government is corrupt. Are you really saying that America is so pathetic that instead of doing it better than everyone else we would do it worse?

Single Payer Week

Single payer, Medicare for all, universal health care, what do these things really mean?
In the upcoming week I will be posting an entry a day to explain the concept and what it means for Americans and business, and I look forward to comments and questions.
Starting off lets break down some of the words above.

Medicare For All

The idea here is that we already have a federal health care system for the elderly. Signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat) in 1965 as an amendment to the Social Security Act (Created by Franklin Roosevelt (D)). He also signed Medicaid into law at the same for the disabled. President Truman was actually issued the first Medicare card as part of the ceremony.

It was created because private health insurance was virtually unavailable to those over 65.  Health insurance companies make their profits by charging the healthy and avoiding paying the sick as much as they can. So if they can exclude people based on preexisting conditions or being to old they will in order to increase profits. The reason this has so much traction is it already exists and has a proven track record of low administration costs and overhead so its more efficient per medical dollar than any other system in the USA. The idea here is instead of creating a new thing we just expand it.

Universal Health Care

This is a less specific idea that seems to have less traction but the goal is the same. Create a new agency or process to provide funding for health care. Possibly funded by SSI, possibly another tax.

Single Payer

Really it all boils down to this. The idea is that instead of paying for insurance through your health insurance and its maze of deductibles, co-pays, and caps you use a government issued medical card and its covered by the government. See posts later in the week for plans on how its paid for.

It is important to note that this is not a take over of private medical care, anymore than Medicare or Medicaid uses government doctors instead of private doctors. It wont even completely abolish medical insurance, though they will have stiff competition and be used to cover specialized care such as elective surgery.

I am Pro-American

Listening to some of the news pundits and I found some agreeing with the goals but hating the term of Democratic socialism. They are right, there is a lot of baggage associated with the term as we have seen. I mean most people d not even understand what the term means so its easy for those opposed to it to misconstrue it. Some are even confusing it with communism, either deliberately or through ignorance.

So how about a new term?

Its hard but so far Pro-American is the best I have. When someone attacks the platform by name calling turn it around (Pull a GOP tactic).

• I'm Pro-American, Americans should have good health care at affordable prices not ones inflated by insurance or drug companies. #Singlepayer
• I'm Pro-American, I dont want my taxes wasted on corporate welfare and donor subsidies, single payer will save at least 2 TRILLION dollars in overall health care costs compared to the current system over the next ten years.
• I'm Pro-American, I believe our kids should have access to quality education so that ALL Americans have the best chance at a better life and good paying careers.
• I'm Pro-American, I believe Americans should decide who our representatives are and have them be accountable to US, not corporations, special interests, or foreign governments. #NoPACMoney
• I'm Pro-American, I believe we should all have the right and opportunity to financial dignity and good paying jobs. Not struggling at 2 or even 3 part time jobs, or afraid of the next lay off.
• I'm Pro-American, Veterans deserve to be taken care of and helped back into the work force. Active duty service members should protect our country, not be used as fodder for corporate interests.
• I'm Pro-American, I want us to keep our national parks, have clean air and water, and curb the ever worsening weather due to out dated technologies.
• I'm Pro-American, I want Anerica to be the world leader in renewable energy sources and the job growth and other benefits that will give the country.

The GOP needs to start working for America again

The shameful surrender of America to Russia's wishes and demands must stop and Republicans must step up to the task they swore oaths to.
I have called my local Reps and Senators and ask that you do as well. Congress has been protecting Trump and demanding the DOJ hand over documents so they can pass them along to Trumps attorneys. They have been doing everything they can to sabotage the Mueller investigation, including slandering the FBI and leaking information.
Why does the GOP put so much effort into this obstruction of justice? If Trump is not guilty what are they afraid of? They spent years attacking democrats and often came up empty, yet this probe has indicted over 30 people with several convictions and the unmasking of extensive corruption and Russian interference. From Social media to using the NRA to funnel money into GOP pockets to actually hacking not just private servers but state election computers.
Why would anyone who is a patriot try to block this investigation?  Again what are they afraid of? Why the sudden effort by the Treasurer to exempt the NRA from reporting where they get their money?
Is it just to push their agenda? They could impeach Trump for violating the constitution with the info already in public domain and put Pence in charge, Pence is ultra conservative and would do everything they want and more effectively than Trump. Yet hey are willing to destroy the image of the GOP for generations to protect Trump. Are they really protecting Trump or protecting themselves?  Perhaps they just like the media distraction that is the puppet president so they can pass unpopular legislation and deregulation with less notice.
Whatever the reasons the GOP needs to think it through.

• If your ideas are so unpopular your afraid of what happens if Americans see what your doing as your ding it, maybe you should remember you work for those Americans.
• If you believe Trump is innocent, despite the mounting evidence you should be quiet and let the investigation finish unmolested. The faster the better and your efforts at obstruction are slowing it down.
• If your goal is to slow and eventually kill the investigation then you need to remember that eventually it will all come out. If Trump is guilty the longer and more devoutly you protect him the harder you will fall, deservedly so. The smart move if Trump is innocent is to let it play out and hopefully quietly so you should stop attacking it, the FBI and our intelligence agencies. If Trump or his campaign are guilty the smart move is to be quiet and adopt a wait and see approach so you come off as fair and patriotic.
• One wonders then why so many in the GOP, especially the House are staking the reputation of the GOP and willing to do anything possible to loudly kill the investigation.  What is so valuable to protect that your willing to sacrifice the country and the long term prospects of your party for?

I think were going to see more than one congressman indicted for asking the Russians for help and a lot deeper ties to corruption. That is the only thing that really fits the facts presented. The GOP is terrified of Americans finding out something.

If I am wrong then prove it by stopping your efforts at obstruction and get back to legislation.

Right now many people have lost faith in the GOP and Republicans are leaving the party. If you want to get back our trust lets see some action.

Items GOP needs to do in order to recover Americans trust and protect the country

• Impeach Trump, failing that Censure him.
• Subpoena his tax returns to see if they reveal money ties to Russia.
• Protect the Mueller investigation.  It has already done more to protect the USA and identify Russian attackers than the House Intel Committee did. Even if Trump is not shown to have been involved in election meddling and has no back channel ties to Russia or other foreign powers it has done more to protect US interests than all of Congress. So Americans ask yourselves, why do they want to shut it down?
• Find out who the Congressional candidate was that ASKED the Russians for dirt on his opponent. Was it one of the ones trying to shut down the Mueller probe?
• Figure out a way to convince our allies not to abandon us even though were attacking them.
• Impose more serious sanctions against Russia.
• Not approve a SCOTUS appointee until after the investigation is over. GOP said Congress should not let a lame duck president pick a nominee, how about one under criminal investigation? One who appears to put the interests of Russia ahead of the USA?
• Immediately pass and approve the budget for beefing up our cyber security. Not only our are elections at risk but reports indicate our power grid is as well This is a national security issue, plain and simple. It should be treated as such by Congress and the White House.
• Pass an Ethics bill requiring tax returns of all federal elected officials be published, get rid of hidden slush funds such as Congress uses to pay for sexual harassment claims against them at taxpayer expense, beef up election fraud penalties, and make it a crime for an elected official to lie to the American people. They can always opt for "No Comment" but should not be allowed to keep lying to us.
• Congress needs to not be exempt from insider trading laws where they can personally benefit by choosing which companies benefit and which lose from the laws and regulations they set.

Why do Americans pay Trumps hotel fees to stay at his own hotels? Remember Trump gets this money from us every weekend for him, his staff and the Secret Service.

He does not even offer us a discount rate.

He is using the Office of the President to milk the taxpayer for billions to line his pockets and the GOP is ok with it. He also is getting money from foreign governments which is a violation of the Emoluments clause. How can you trust that his actions are for the USA when he and his family are pocketing money from governments prior to policy changes?
The GOP is supposedly fiscally conservative, yet they do not object to these things and they voted to increase the national debt and spending as they always do.
Its time people looked at the facts, not their spoon feeding media outlets and realize the con-job the GOP has been running on them.

GOP Continues to Attack and Harass the FBI and DOJ

Why does the GOP want to protect Putin?

I get why Trump does, he owes him too much money and I suspect getting out of paying by declaring bankruptcy again wont work in this case. He has to do Putins bidding to pay the debt off, hence stalling and reducing sanctions as much as he can, weakening NATO, and making China and Russia more powerful on the political and economic stages at the expense of America.

But why are so many Republicans trying to help those efforts?

The GOP has..

• Blocked a bill to require Tariffs be voted on. Remember Tariffs are in effect a sales tax. Tariffs on incoming goods mean Americans pay more, and as long as Americans buy the goods or foreign countries can sell elsewhere they are not hurt at all.
• Allowed the withdrawal of multiple international treaties and agreements. Most of the benefit is going to China, but Russia is also gaining as the USA steps back other countries make new deals and trade partners. So our farmers and manufacturers are losing business.
• Allowed the weakening of the US dollar by massively increasing the national debt. If this continues the dollar will be replaced by the Euro or something else as the default currency. At that point we are in major trouble and unlikely to recover.
• Sabotaging the Mueller investigation into Russian meddling with the 2016 election. In doing this they are further eroding Americans confidence in the government, just so they can protect Trump.  If they really believed he was innocent they would wait for the investigation to finish and then declare victory.  No one fights that hard to obstruct justice if they are innocent. One of thier current excuses is that its gone on too long with no proof of collusion. 
• Russia Investigation; 397 days over 20 indictments and 5 guilty pleas so far, including 4 ex-trump advisers and a bunch of Russians.
• Benghazi, over 2 years
• Hillary Clinton's email investigation, over 3 years
• Iran-Contra; 2,420 days
• Whitewater; 2,978 days.

The evidence that Trump is helping Russia at the expense of the USA is clear and indisputable, the only thing we dont know for sure is if that is because of an arrangement or just incompetence.

Most of the GOP dont get the possibly incompetent excuse, they dont have a history of multiple bankruptcies and are reasonably presumed to be competent.

So why are they selling America out? 

Early Primaries.
Texas voter turnout is up almost across the board.
Especially democratic turnouts so far which is awesome.
https://ballotpedia.org/Democratic_Party_primaries_in_Texas,_2018#Early_voting_in_Texas_primaries.2C_2018

It is looking like a lot of people are riled up. Your not likely to see this for incumbents, people voting more than normal is a strong indicator they want a change.

As Shutdown looms, the blame game continues

Its amazing listening to the news and the excuses and blaming going on.
Republicans are saying its all on the Democrats, Democrats are saying its the Republicans so whose fault is it?
The answer of course is both, but we have to review the details to decide where and with whom we want to blame.
The issues at the heart of it.

• CRs or Continuing Resolutions: Republicans cant come up with a budget that satisfies moderate and far right members within their own party.  So they keep using stopgap measures and the Pentagon and other agencies are demanding a real budget.
• DACA or the Dreamers: President Trump canceled the program and told Congress they have until March to come up with something. At least 3 bipartisan plans have been floated but extremists such as the Freedom Caucus and Rep Jim Jordan wont have it. Democrats want it and realize that they cant trust Republicans to keep their word on any deal.  So they want to see something passed now rather than rely on a 'promise' to deal later.
• CHIP: The Children Health Insurance Program was defunded by Republicans in prior CRs so they could use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations.

Republicans refuse to compromise and feel that since they were elected everyone in America wants what they want.

Democrats feel that the people who elected them want some different things.

Both sides want something different and say they represent the people who elected them. The difference is Democrats have shown they are willing to compromise, not just now when they are out of power but when they had power as well. In fact many of their constituents feel they compromise too much and have voted for replacements. On the other hand the Republicans since taking over in 2017 have shown an unwillingness to compromise and try to force everything through along party lines. 

The Republicans have shown they will not compromise and that they feel that EVERY American wants what they want since they were elected. The problem is not everyone voted for any individual politician and Americans are a diverse people and this is not a dictatorship.

They are pushing hard for everything they want, rather than compromise, and claiming they have a blank check.  Trouble is we voted them in to get things done and for certain issues but they seem unable to govern and think everyone is 100% in lockstep with them on everything.

So who is responsible?

I blame the Republicans.  They are in charge, they set this up in advance by de-funding CHIP canceling DACA, those were 100% Republican calls.

Perhaps just as importantly they have proven they cant be trusted and will not deal honestly and in good faith. That means Democrats have to either fight now or surrender completely until the next election. Republicans backed Democrats into a corner thinking they would fold because they view previous compromises Democrats were willing to make as weakness.

17 prior shutdowns and why they happened

Why we need Regulations and the Consumer Protection Bureau

The Wall Street Journal reported yet another scandal with Wells Fargo cheating their customers.
Republicans want to strip out regulations and watchdog agencies because they think small government is better and that businesses do better without burdensome regulations.

But what about the cost to the American people?  How about the cost to taxpayers when we have to bail banks out because they are careless with their money?
Its bad enough that executives can steal billions and ruin lives but do less time than a shoplifter or someone caught with a little pot.
People need to remember who is on or not on their side when it comes time to vote or donate.
Dont be fooled by rhetoric, just look around and pay attention.  Republicans are clearly in favor of big business over small business and citizens.

The Tax scam is out

So the House and Senate Tax bills are out.  They dont match so details will be hammered out in committee if they pass.  Here are some of the highlights, its several hundred pages so there are a LOT of loopholes to read through.
Going Away or Down ...

• SALT (Local state tax deductions) for most individuals, Those who incorporate still get them.
• Personal property tax deduction, lowered or gone
• Import tax for corporations (making it cheaper to import things)
• Earned Income Tax Credit
• Medical Deductions
• School Loan Interest Deduction
• Teachers deduction when they buy school supplies for the kids.
• AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax)

Still In....

• Carried Interest
• Corporate property tax deduction
• Golf course owner deduction
• Real Estate LLC and Pass Through deductions
• 
  

The claim is 800 to 1200 break for middle class, higher wages because companies will take the money they save a raise wages. How many people think they would rather raise wages then buy back stock, invest in more automation or buy out the competition which means lays offs and more people out of work?  Or maybe they will just raise the executive bonuses.

This is just another con job and not even a good one, the Republicans in Congress think and are counting on Americans to be stupid to see it till its too late, and too lazy to vote.

We proved Trickle Down Economics does not work, lets not give it another chance.