Officers, Representatives, and Senators of the Great State of Oklahoma -Lets Talk Sedition

 A lot of people in Oklahoma are furious about what happened on Jan 6th 2020 and there is some confusion about things.  So lets clear it all up, ok?

Some people are saying that what Trump, his lawyers, and other people did in giving a speech to incite the attack on the Capital as Treason. Also that Senator Lankford, all the members we sent to the House, and the state legislatures who signed on to the parliamentary gimmick of objecting to the election as Treason.

This is in fact not true. Treason requires us to be in a declared war and Congress disdains the US Military and those serving in it by refusing to call any of the armed conflicts were in a war.  This is done to deprive them of various benefits and honors and getting that redressed requires veteran groups to have to continually fight to get some of those benefits they earned by sacrificing for the country.

You can, and I do call these people traitors,  as that is not a legal term but a personal judgement based on disloyalty. However I do feel they are guilty of Sedition.  I am not a lawqyer, so maybe I am wrong. Read for your self.

18 U.S. Code CHAPTER 115—TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES

There is a lot to review here so lets examine the most relevant sections of that law.

18 U.S. Code § 2383 - Rebellion or insurrection

Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

What happened was clearly illegal, and the FBI has already charged over 60 people as of this writing.  Seems pretty clear listening to what many of the rioters said on camera and by breaking into the building, as well as vandalizing and assaulting people, one of which resulted in the death of an officer that the purpose was to overturn a legal election and thus the US Government. Plus there were chants like hang Mike Pence. Anyone really dispute that was insurrection?

Section 2385 is even more compelling, specially as regards to the instigators and our elected officials who encouraged these rioters.  And for those crying about Social Media platforms silencing their voices, well it seems if they didn't they would be guilty too!  Might in fact be a good case for it anyhow, but maybe they can claim ignorance. But those in Congress and the 17 local state legislators - well cries of ignorance  seem far less credible.

Section 2384 Conspiracy likely applies to the Congressmen, Turning Point USA, and the wife of a Supreme Court Justice who paid for transportation. I dont recall all the names but you can be sure the FBI has a better memory and notes than I do.

Will anyone in power actually be charged and see jail time?  Very unlikely, the rich and powerful are often above the law and escape consequences we regular Americans would pay.

Its up to voters to hold them accountable.

Write down the names of those who represent you and attacked our country IN YOUR NAME by saying they did it in your interest and because you demanded it.  They all knew that blocking the state electors was not going to happen and it was just a stunt to get attention, raise money (Hawley and Cruz for example) or appeal to disgruntled Trump voters in hopes of them helping win their own future elections. They knew about the mob, everyone did - it was planned well ahead of time and very very public. They chose to put their personal or party political ambitions ahead of the risk of violence in the best case, and some it appears were more directly involved at the worst case.

Some are paying some consequences now, local newspapers calling for resignations, Senator Lankford being asked to step down of a local but prestigious committee (I think that one hurts him the most,  maybe I'm wrong but I think he really cares about the cause) and businesses are stepping back - at least for now.  That money train really hurts and is the likely reason Senator McConnell has indicated he may support impeachment.

Meanwhile many in the GOP are asking us to forgive and forget about the attack on our country that impeachment and calls for resignation are divisive and should stop. They say now we should heal and move forward, seems similar to the eternal "Thoughts and Prayers" after every mass shooting.  Ask yourself would they say the same thing if a Democrat had done this? Or if it was a left wing grouplike Black Lives Matter or Antifa.  Though many like Rep Jordan and Gatz are trying to blame them even though the FBI has said no evidence of that.  And really, can you see that? Left wing groups march in normal clothes - not armed and with military surplus gear. The lefts version of terrorism is chaining yourself to a tree to protect an endangered owl, or using a small boat to try and drive off a whaling ship. You may think they are crazy but when you lok at mass violence its generally the right wing from Ruby Ridge, to Waco, to the Federal Building in Oklahoma to the uni-bomber. Of course not all Republicans or conservatives are terrorists or unpatriotic just as there are vandals among the very angry crowds of people fighting not to be killed over their kid stealing a barbie doll, shot while sleeping because a warrant had the wrong address,  or a routine traffic stop.

Oh, and as I hear the news on the background one other thing. Whats up with the excuse that voting for Impeachment could put your or your family at risk? Are Democrat's the only ones with courage? People in elected office should not allow their choices to be decided by either personal profit or risk. If you cant handle that to quote AOC "Find another Job!" You certainly should not be a position to decide the lives of veterans and active duty service members.

The nation must heal and unify, we have let the media and political parties divide us for too long. They do this for ratings, fund raising, and to weaken the American people. However we must not allow these people to get away with these activities and crimes, if they have no accountability they will just do it again and again.

A Final Thought

It pains me that the Senate does not think this is an important enough issue to call off their vacation. Right now Secratary Pompeio is politically attacking other countries and damaging relations with our alles. Hes a known warhawk so some of this is just to please him and the defense contractors but what f Trump uses it to start a war, send a a few missiles somewhere or whatever?  The military will disobey an unlawful order but civilian political appointees are in charge and  who is to say a missile strike or troop movement is unlawful? If you were ordered to do something your boss told you to that you thought might be a bad idea but if in refusing the order  you risked a felony conviction would you do it?

Trump is in my view a petty and vindictive man, and I dont trust him not to cause as much damage as he thinks he can get away with.  Apparently the majority of Republicans disagree with that assessment or at least they are willing to risk it.  I hope I am wrong, but if not we must hold them accountable for their cowardice and poor judgement.

The Striking Absence of Courage and Loyalty to America in the GOP and Amazing Self-entitlement

 The House voted to impeach Trump for sedition today, a small number of Republicans voted for it.  Apparently not a single Oklahoma Rep was among them.  So Rep Tom Cole, Rep Markwayne Mullin, Rep Kevin Hern, Rep Stephanie Bice, and local Rep Frank Lucas all voted in support of Sedition, just as they voted to encourage and give aid and comfort to seditionists by objecting to blocking the will of the voters in declaring Biden as the new President elect.

Some like Rep Tom Cole said it was just a parliamentary move, others think and have said letting Trump get away with attempting to overthrow the government as something that the country should just move beyond and forget about, such as our own Senator Lankford.

Meanwhile Republicans are screaming more about losing book deals (Senator Hawley), being censored by a few losing social media accounts and saying that prevents them from talking to people (duh you can go on TV or radio anytime you want to!).Also seriously does any Congress person actually read or understand the Constitution? or do they know but just think their voters are too lazy or stupid to, and will just believe whatever they are told? Or even more petty crying about not being able to carry guns onto the House floor and walking through metal detectors.  How out of touch and self entitled are these people? Regular Americans are typically not allowed to carry guns on their jobs, many schools have metal detectors, and have they boarded a plane lately? But somehow they think they are special and should be able to carry a gun in a supposedly secure location. Consider that several were and still are engaged in active sedition and some calling for the death of fellow congress people. At least 4 were involved in organizing the rally that led to the riot and one Rep Lauren Boebert is an admitted conspiracy theorist and was sending the location during the riot Speaker Pelosi's location to her followers. There were only two credible reasons to do that 1) Hoping the rioters would go after Pelosi and leave the floor alone (in hopes of protecting herself) or 2) Hoping they could reach Pelosi.  Why should she be allowed in office, much less to carry a gun? Apparently our own Rep Mullin was also among those crying about the metal detectors.

So these are the priority issues of the GOP, not the people who died or risked their lives to save their lives (By the way, many Republicans, including Senator Graham and some from the Oklahoma delegation were yelling at the Capital Police for not doing enough during the crisis.  We even have American service members sleeping on the Capital floor to protect their ass. While as a former service member myself I can say this is not the most uncomfortable billet, its shameful that Republicans in office are devaluing that and putting their own personal privilege's over and above the people sacrificing to protect the self-entitled spoiled brats.

When will Republican voters ever hold them accountable?  Will they ever do so? Or is racism so that damm important to you? Can't really be anti-abortion based on the reckless disregard for human life. Maybe its just the lie about taxes.  Shameful whatever the reason is.

A Real Hero

So I saw small clips of this Black Capital Police Officer running from the mob. My initial thoughts were that is understandable as they likely would have killed him if they caught him but he should probably lose his job. Dying is part of the risk you take for these kinds of things, which is why few people should be in these high risk jobs.

However, I heard a report and checked into it and turns out the Senate chambers were just down the hall. Looking at this video clip you can see him glance over (apparently noticing the Senators had not been secured yet) and deliberately egging the rioters on. Then he runs a short distance, turns and continues to confront the, This repeats several times and you hear him giving his location an calling for backup where he leads those that followed into a trap.

This shows incredible bravery and presence of mind in a tough situation. Remember these people are waving racist flags and symbols around so its clear they hate any nonwhite and likely would have beaten him to death had they caught him.  Sure that skinny white guy at the front doesn't look too dangerous as commentators have said, but he could easily have been armed. Plus there is the whole mob behind him.

He deserves our thanks, a raise and hey President Biden why dont you use the Medal of Freedom appropriately instead of the participation trophy Trump has turned it into? Give this guy a medal!

Common Sense Thoughts on the COVID-19 Epidemic and Getting Past it.

As states and other entities talk about reopening lets look at this closely.

Why did people decide to shut down?

The purpose of the shutdown is to delay the spread of the virus, not stop it just slow it down enough that the hospitals are not overwhelmed. If the hospitals get too many patients at one time they cant handle the load and more people die. That includes hospital staff, nurses, service staff, even patients not in the hospital for the virus as they get ignored because of overcrowding or actually get infected.

The sooner we open up again the worse the effect on human lives and though this may give a short term economic respite it will prolong the crisis and increased overall costs.

What do I do if it opens too soon?

• Use masks and physical distancing from others as much as possible.
• If your lucky enough to have a job that lets you work from home, do it as much as possible.
• If your in an office cancel meetings in the conference room and use video or conference calls. Even if your all in the building, being in a room for an hour is asking to catch anything your coworkers have.
• Avoid restaurants, bars, gyms, salons, etc. Delivery can support them and get you good food.  These businesses will suffer the most which is why Congress needs to take care of them.
• Don't hoard! Supply chains are stressed but working, hoarding puts your neighbors at extra risk as they lack essential supplies.  On the other hand shop wisely and infrequently.
• Remember you can be a carrier before you show symptoms!  Avoid close interaction with people till a vaccine is available. If you get sick notify everyone you recently encountered.

What Should the Government Do?

Roughly every decade we have a significant countrywide disaster, its pretty predictable and the government needs to stat taking their jobs seriously and think long term. Just as any member of the military they swore an oath under God to serve and protect, time they started taking that obligation seriously.

• Get Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) into peoples hands, no excuse for this not being done months ago. It was just laziness that killed thousands of Americans. Nurses do not need to be called heroes while we send them into die from getting infected because our government doesnt want to spend the money to get them basic equipment to protect them.
• Get Testing out, again we are way behind where we should be due to laziness and government inaction.  This was no real surprise, a pandemic has been expected for decades, so why are we so unprepared?  Because politicians think short term, not long term and too many let them get away with it.
• Once PPE and widespread testing are available it wont be safe to open up, but it will be safer. Again short term thinking makes the long term cost much more severe and expensive overall. If we had been prepared we may have not even needed a shut down, and certainly fewer people would have gotten sick or even died. When things open up there will be another spike, the longer we hold back the smaller that spike will be and the fewer lives lost. They key is how prepared we are when we do open up.
• Businesses are suffering now and will suffer even after we reopen. Government needs to take care of them, primarily the smaller businesses who dont have the resources of larger businesses. Also emphasis service and restaurants.
• Politicians looking at their wallets and encouraging people to die so they can get more money for themselves and their donors need to simply stop thinking that way and put the country first.

As an aside those Churches trying to encourage people to come to service are likely doing it to serve the church leaderships pocket, not their parishioners. Ask yourself, how many services dd Jesus have in a church versus open air? Think about it, you dont need to worship together to be faithful, so whats in it for those wanting you to risk your live to go to their building?

What Should we do Before the Next Disaster?

We know there will be another one, probably not as bad in about ten years. We should think ahead and plan for it. Whether its another bank, oil, airline, real-estate, or manufacturing bailout, a pandemic, or a climate inspired refugee crisis there are measure we can take now that will save lives and money later.

• Medicare for All saves lives and taxpayers hundreds of billions annually. More than that, imagine a world where instead of paying your health insurance premium, co-pays, and deductibles you pay HALF that total in taxes instead. Imagine  not worrying about losing your health care if you lose your job (as many are doing now) or even just switch to a new job (usually you lose it for 90 days). Imagine not losing your home or lifesavings if you or a family member get cancer or other serious illness. Imagine looking for a job based on pay or it being what you like to do rather than worrying about its health benefits. As a business imagine not having to deal with insurance companies and the extra overhead. Able to hire older or disabled Americans without your health costs going up. Imagine a small business owner being able to compete on a level playing field with larger companies, or hiring full time workers instead of twice that many part time workers (and the extra training costs) or permanent instead of contractors all to avoid dealing with health care coverage requirements. Imagine a healthier workforce because they can get preventative care instead of putting it off till its far worse or maybe they infected other workers.
• Financial regulation to keep big "Too big to fail" companies from knowingly making poor decisions because the CEOs know the taxpayers will pick up the tab.
• Responsible and forward thinking EPA and Climate legislation to reduce the effects of natural disasters and seasonal extremes that are hurting so many industries.  Remember we will have to pay for it at some point, but the longer we put it off the bigger the tab and total costs. Millions of new jobs can be created, farms saved, etc and current businesses relying on fossil fuels wont shut down overnight, there will be years, probably decades in transitioning. And remember, those jobs are going away. If America does not step up other countries will (and are moving that way now) and in trying to put it off by sticking our head in the sand and thinking short term we and those people will be left behind. If we dont work on electric cars someone else will, we used to be a leader in Solar energy but other countries have started moving ahead which means jobs we just gave away. How smart is that?
• Election Reform should be a priority.  We cant hold our politicians accountable if they get billions from the wealthy to buy ads and tell us their lies. Politicians use a classic Divide and Conquer strategy to keep Americans fighting each other instead of holding them accountable to us. Voter suppression needs to be stopped for the good of everyone and money must be taken out of politics. Why should a Congressmen or Senator get away with insider trading? Especially when they put their wallets ahead of yours and the country?

The 2020 Crash and Failed Response to Corona virus

So the Virus we knew was coming a decade ago finally hit us and the USA is woefully unprepared. Pay attention and please share these talking points as we still have a chance to reduce the damage the next time this happens, and it WILL happen again.

Why its so bad

• Trump disbanded the emergency response unit that was put in place to protect us. Standard Conservative policy, cut govt programs because individuals and corporations should be able to fend for themselves.
• Trump has made things much worse by not taking it seriously from the start and worrying more about the stock market than human lives. So he kept telling people it was contained and over rated, nothing to worry about. So it spread further.
• He waited to long to restrict travel and then exempted countries where has hotels.
• Testing kits were offered by WHO early on but Trump admin refused, so an American company could get exclusivity. Except of course the kits were made in China because of our disastrous trade agreement and turned out to be contaminated. This put us way behind the rest of the world.

Trump and Republican "Solutions"?

• Bailouts to major corporations.
• Payroll tax cuts which of course wont help the people sent home without pay or laid off.
• Finally after more than a month persuading insurance companies to not charge copays for testing and our taxes covering their costs. Meanwhile treatment wont be covered, and of course millions of workers will lose their insurance because there no longer working.

The Corporate Response

• Lay off workers because consumer demand in many industries is down.  Honestly you cant blame the companies, but rather than put people on leaves of absence so they keep their health insurance (If they can afford the premiums without a paycheck) their now out of work for an unknown length of time.

The Biden Plan

• This is what the status quo with our health care system looks like.Once you lose your job you lose medical coverage. Even before that happens your discouraged from getting testing (when available) or treatment because for many people the copays and deductibles are too high.
• Taxpayers by the way foot the bill when these people use the ER after it gets serious because they could not afford to go.
• Think about that come election time, The AHCA was better than what we had, and certainly better than the nothing Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnel came up with but it was not enough.

The Sanders Plan

Had Sanders won in 2016 and managed to get his Medicare for all plan through Congress (yes it was and is a long shot and hard. But anything worth doing is hard, and the alternative to not even trying is failure) we would simply not be in this mess.

• You have no Health Insurance now or its too expensive? Under Sanders plan you and all those healthy young people would have been paying into the same healthcare pool everyone uses.  Yale did a study and showed it would save $45 Billion a YEAR. Yes it costs 30 trillion over 10 years as the health insurance companies and the talking heads on TV tell you.  But were already spending 54 trillion in that same time period according to a REPUBLICAN study by The Heritage Foundation. In other words even they know it saves money, they just don't want YOU to know so Health Insurance companies will keep paying them off. Every researcher knows it saves money, they just tell you the costs in taxes but not the savings in your wallet with no more premiums, deductibles, and copays.
• Imagine if everyone who gets sick could get tested (Neither Sanders or Biden would have botched the testing kit thing) and would get tested because they could afford it. Maybe they lose their job for being sick, thats sad but they would still get medical care and maybe quickly find another job.Especially since companies would still be doing a good business.

Summary

Its really too late for this outbreak, we should have elected Sanders in 2016.

However there will be another one, maybe in a few years, maybe a dozen, we do not know when but we know it will happen. In the meantime 45,000 Americans die each year and thousands of newborn babies because people cant afford the current system. It works great for the upper class, lousy for everyone else. And do you really like your insurance company? Not talking about your doctor, but the company you pay every month to help with your medical bills when you need it - are they there for you when you need them? Or do they delay payments and string you along with paperwork?

Getting rid of a business that only makes a profit by not paying out what you pay them for just makes no sense. Of course we have the worst health care in the entire modern world!

Biden is winning the Dem election, not because people like his policies, exit polling in every single state so far proves that. He is winning because the millionaires on TV and the Radio, as well as those in D.C. are telling you everything is fine, lets not rock the boat. Ask yourself, is it fine for you? Would you like it to be better? Sanders can still win if people come out and vote not on nostalgia over President Obama, not over fear of stupid buzz words like socialism but because they want a better future. If Sanders loses America loses, simple as that.

Its true he may not get his plans through Congress and we may lose anyway. But the other side is telling us we certainly will lose of they win and Sanders is defeated because they will change nothing.

I fought for America in the USAF, I'm not surrendering now. My country and generations after me deserve better!

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.

Critical Thinking Applied to Politics

So you believe everything politicians tell you?  How about the media?
The fact is many people lie, and even more spin things so they only tell us part of the truth. Its frustrating and people lose confidence and do not know who to trust or what to do about it.  However there are things we can all do to improve things.

Pay Attention to Agendas

Everyone has one, often more than one. If you understand someones agenda or the bias they have you can more easily spot the spin or half truths they tell you.

• Politicians want to get elected or reelected so will tell you things that he that goal. They are vey unlikely to tell you anything bad about them, many wont even own up to it when they are caught. Likewise they will tell you things to hurt their opponent, even if its not true or certain details are left out.
• Politicians have donors and often put those donors ahead of everything else, after all donor money pays for ads and other campaign expenses to get them elected or keep them in office. Sometimes a politician gets personal favors or expects a job from the donor after they leave office.  Many politicians get very cushy jobs as lobbyists or otherwise working for industries they helped while in office.
• News and political media have advertisers, donors, or subscribers they need to stay in business. Legitimate news organizations have legal and ethical standards so wont lie to their audience, but they will spin and slant stories certain ways.
• Political media is subject to far fewer restrictions and sometimes outright lies to their viewers. How do you know the difference? These are the talking heads who give opinions rather than simply report facts. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and in America allowed to share it. The trouble is when they express their opinions as facts, so watch for that.
• Mixed media is a blending of both, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc all have legitimate news and talking heads so mix it up. We need to pay close attention to who is reporting the news and who is trying to make or change the news.

Follow the Money

For media look at the advertisers, they will tend to favor stories that help their advertisers. After all if you put out stories that make your advertisers look bad they will stop advertising. They don't give the money for charity, especially to for profit companies. So look for that bias.  Also this means boycotts are powerful as the advertisers are effectively pushing the stories and do not want to be associated with bad images that may hurt them.
Also look at donors and subscribers. If the owner is a Conservative they will be more likely to hire conservatives and push a conservative agenda, similarly expect liberal owners to push liberal agenda.  However most media push an establishment agenda and that is often not talked about and overlooked. Whats an establishment bias? The idea here is that the media and advertisers are making a lot of money so want things to stay as they are and fear change to the status quo.

Whats the Bias?

• CNN and MSNBC are primarily an establishment bias. They are making money off the current system and Fox has the Conservative side locked down so they are pro-establishment and sometimes tend liberal to differentiate themselves from the competition.
• FOX News is heavily conservative, relying heavily on drug manufacturers and advertisers aimed at older demographics. The company was founded for the purpose of helping the Republican party recover from the Nixon debacle.
• The Young Turks is an online Progressive company so has a left wing agenda.
• Print and web based media are mostly donor or subscriber based. They often cater to specific audiences or demographics. Subscriber based will tell their audience what they want to hear and donor based will support the agenda the donors want.

How do I Find Out the Bias?

• The money is key here.  Find out who is paying the bills and you find out who they are most likely really working for.
• Politicians have to list their donors with the FEC, its a bit hard to read but you can get very detailed information here. Open Secrets gets its info from the FEC and lays it out in an easy to read manner, though it skips a lot of the details. Follow The Money does the same thing but goes into more detail. These sites are used by news media and politicians for opposition research but are also available to any voter. We can see donors based on industries, special interests, or individuals.
• This is Important! Ideally a politician gets most of their money from voters and small donors (usually listed as under $200). If they get most of their money from companies or large donors they will work harder for them than they will voters. Often you will see groups of companies in specific industries and often based on committee assignments.
• Media is harder but pay attention to their primary advertisers and owners can be looked up.

Polls

Polling is often used to push an agenda but works the same way. While a reputable poll wont lie, they can spin things. What questions are asked, how they are phrased, and whom they ask all can affect the answers. So Conservative organizations will phrase things to encourage answers that favor their agenda, same with liberals. Note however that most polls have an establishment or conservative bias, this is because they are run by companies. Entrepreneurs and young companies tend to be more liberal and willing to take risks, bigger established companies tend to favor deregulation (conservative) because that saves money and fewer rules favor the big guys over the little guys. As for the establishment bias obviously if they are successful the way things are they tend to want things to stay that way. Also big companies are often less nimble and able to adjust as quickly as smaller companies.

So pay attention to who made the poll.
Real Clear Politics has aggregate polls so you can filter out the bias, further since the sources are named you can see who is biased for or against a candidate or issue.

Summary

By figuring out the agenda and who is financing someone we can usually spot their agenda and more easily know when they are trying to put one over on us. It can take a lot of work but if more people did it America would be a lot better for it, regardless of your political leaning try to see the bias of those talking to you.

At the very least use Open Secrets to see the main income for your politicians,

Trump and FoxNews shutdown about to hit day 30

So Trump came out with his new offer.
He wants 5.7 billion for his wall, offered to hire 75 more judges (instead of the 275 or so requested by Senator Lankford last year), a 805 million on increasing security and inspections at Ports of Entry, 2750 border agents (where most of the drugs enter), 3 years extension for DACA and TPS (which he himself canceled and is being ruled against in the courts).

The temporary extension is meaningless since Trump has shown he is wiling to use it as a negotiating tool and cancel it at anytime. Plus its in the courts hands now.
Not enough judges so we still have to pay hundreds of millions for the extra internment camps he set up, at a whopping $680 per person per day! That huge price tag is why Senator Lankford proposed hiring so many judges. The faster the cases are pushed through the less it costs the taxpayers.
However certain people are making a lot of money with those camps and can you guess who is getting kickbacks to keep them open and full?

Trumps plan offers nothing the Democrats want or can rely on, costs the American taxpayers more money, and does not solve the Immigration or illegal drug problem.
Remember he was ready to sign a deal without the wall until Fox News laid into him, then he canceled on Senator McConnell (who is still hiding from embarrassment).

So it looks like the shutdown will go well beyond 30 days, possibly into the Feb timeframe Trump said he was prepared for (though not years). Soon a lot of federal workers will miss their second paycheck, and as people quit to get jobs where they will get paid replacements will be long in coming.
And contractors will never get paid for the lost time.
If this goes into February a recession seems likely.

Summary

Bottom line it, whats going on here?

Trump wants his wall and he is unwilling to negotiate in good faith. An actual negotiation is the concept behind what our government was founded upon. Different sides and points of view coming together and compromising until a mutually satisfactory deal is reached.

Trump has said and shown thats not what he wants, he refused deals when the GOP controlled both Houses and now is in a weaker position and wont act like it. Since he wont negotiate or give up something substantial in trade he chose to shut down part pf the government, just as last year he blocked CHIP (health care for poor children) and a VA benefits bill passed by the GOP Congress.

Without being wiling to trade something of value to get what he wants he has decided to hold American workers hostage by withholding their pay.

The Democrats could give into that tactic, but of course that just proves it works and encourages him to do it each time he wants something.

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!

Trump helps Russia, Again

Trump said he is considering pulling out of the nuclear arms deal President Ronald Reagan made.
Some of the media will over the coursew of the next few days talk about it, some will in trying to "analyze" it will say its a distraction to change the topic from the Khashoggi murder by the Saudis.
I'm sure that is partly true.
Fox will undoubtedly play it as a bold move to strike a better deal and say it proves Trump is not under Putins thumb. Putin will of course bluster about how dishonorable America is and that we cant be trusted to keep our agreements and honor treaties.
Under Trump that seems obvious.

Congress could block it, but as we have seen the GOP controlled Congress is unlikely too.
However regardless of what happens countries will lose trust in America, knowing any President can come in and throw out or otherwise sabatoge previous agreements or treaties. That hurts our national security going forward.
Maybe the deal wont be canceled, in which case we gain nothing but lose credibility and power. Maybe the deal will break down and Russia will improve their nuclear capability. Maybe they wont bother since they are still hurting financially. They never really recovered from the Cold War and all that military spending. Maybe they will even use that to get new concessions from the USA to avoid nuclear escalation they cant afford anyhow.
Maybe even Trump will manage to get a better deal than President Reagan was able to, though seriously who really believes that last option?

In the meantime we continue to see a passive GOP weakening our country, increasing the national debt, killing business and weakening alliances while China and Russia gt more powerful and take advantage of the weakness were showing under failed leadership.
Meantime they distract the American people with scandals and divide our country up. While they weaken it so they can retain and grab more power and further line their pockets, they weaken us against our enemies without.

We must stop this nonsense and replace Congress with people who put the country first!

Dr. Ford vs. The GOP

So I watched the whole thing today and here are my thoughts.
First, my respect to Prosecutor Mitchell. I figured she was brought in to do a hatchet job but look like it wasn't one while providing cover for the GOP members of the Judiciary committee.
She was very professional, probably why they gave her the boot early into Kavanoughs portion. She did go after Dr. Ford in a few areas, like the fear of flying and who is paying her legal fees. I think the fear of flying was a bad move, most people have fears of something that they can overcome. So why attack her on her preference not to fly to D.C. even though she does fly sometimes?
The money bit was probably put in her list by the GOP to see if they could label Dr. Ford as a political operative, a fair attack that failed.

The Committee

Pretty much a bunch of political grandstanding by both parties as expected. Special mentions...

• Senator Harris Solid questioning, one of the more professional members today.
• Senator Klobachar: Wow!!! Kavanough got personal there. One of his worst moments, challenging her if she got drunk.
• Senator Durbin Probably the best questioning on why Kavanough didn't want an investigation.
• Senator Graham Rich with hypocrisy and hyperbole.
• Senator Grassley: Really needs to go, embarrassed everyone today.
• Overall Members: Pretty much a lot of partisanship on both sides, little effort to reach the truth. Most of their energy was focused on attacking or defending political turf.

Kavanaugh

Came across as smug, rude and ill tempered. Most people who spoke that way to a committee would be hit with contempt of congress. Like his earlier interviews he was evasive way too much for me to believe his overall honesty. Basically he talks like a politician, I felt even his crying was faked.

Republicans obviously want a conservative judge who is going to overturn Roe vs. Wade and restrict workers rights in favor of corporations. I dont like it but elections have consequences so fair is fair. Even though the GOP has proven they dont extend the same courtesy.

However the GOP can and should do better. Find someone with more maturity, self control, and who will be honest.

Dr. Blasey Ford

She came across as very credible, even FOX was saying so.

She was mature, respectful and so obviously not a prepared political operative. Her memory falures were reasonable, if unhelpful. I had wondered why she did not remember the party address and other exact details but she made it make sense.

I mean really do you recall the address of every party you ever attended? Maybe a regular place but this was a last minute, hey want to come to a party tonight?  Also trauma can explain a lot.

I am betting some on the Right will attack her memory lapses and not knowing dates, but perhaps because I can relate to a poor memory for such things myself it helped her case for me.  Much better than one who can recite chapter and verse and rattle off a bunch of names and dates, except when its not convenient.

Who was More Credible?

In my view, she was and significantly so.

• She asked for an FBI investigation, he doesnt want one. An innocent man would ask for one and maybe force the Senate and Presidents Trumps hand by saying he wants a clear name so would withdraw if they did not give him one.
• Her lawyers stopped her from speaking several times, that struck me as her being both confused by some questioning and wanting to be painfully open and honest. However, he did a lot of filibustering and bragging or otherwise proclaiming how great a guy he is.  Came off like a used car salesman or seedy politician.
• She came across as honest and trying to help, he came across as evasive.
• I find the Renate Alumnus thing as being very un-credible, A bunch of jocks all declare that statement as a recognition they respected her? Seriously who believes that?
• The never drunk to blackout, but fell asleep line, Devils Triangle was just a drinking game like quarters, and the conspiracy rants all tell me he is a liar.
• He blamed his roommates comments about his drinking habits on a dispute between that one another roommate. Wierd

Summary

I believe her but she did not prove her case. Had the Senate allowed her to provide her evidence and subpoena Mark Judge the outcome might have been different. But this was not an attempt to find the truth, it was a political maneuver so the GOP can say they let her speak, now lets get on with the confirmation.

I think he should not be confirmed based on his behavior. What we saw today was no proof of illegality but it reflects very poorly as a job interview for one of the most important careers in the United States of America. I would not hire him to work for me at a call center, I would be worried about his behavior on the job.

In my opinion no reasonable person, regardless of their political views would vote for him except as a vote for party over country.

Anyone who does vote for him should be recorded in your notes and voted out of office at the next opportunity. And he should be investigated and likely impeached.

Those opposed to him should make that clear to their Senators, the GOP wants a long lasting conservative on the court. Tell them to find someone likely to be their longer and without a cloud over their heads.

The Fall of the GOP

So the GOP can add Rep Duncan Hunter and Paul Manafort (Not just Trumps campaign manager but also the RNC Treasurer) to the growing list of  Republican leadership indicted, convicted, or just having to resign due to scandals.
With the dual hit of Manafort and Cohen further implicating Trump in criminal matters the GOP needs to decide their fate, if its not already too late.
The last two years have seen a record number of disgraced politicians, most of them Republicans and a rise in white nationalists running for office under the GOP banner.

The GOP was discgraced under President Nixon but they did step up.  The modern GOP has yet to do so, choosing to hitch thier wagon to Trump and as each new scandal occurs they keep doubling down.
President Trump is..

• Guilty of violating the emoluments clause of the US Constitution.
• Lining his pockets at taxpayer expense by funneling money into his properties
• Guilty of having the highest turnover and corruption in any Administration.
• Dividing the country and promoting hatred and fear, rising hate crimes and mass shootings.
• Alienating our allies and sucking up to our enemies.
• Encouraging jobs being sent overseas and setting up a trade war that costs more jobs and may send us into a recession.
• Attacking US intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
• Trampling on the Constitution, including vital rights such as Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press.
• Campaign finance violations and probably working with a hostile foreign power to ensure his victory.

That's just the highlights!

Some people do not believe or see all those things, but the number that do is growing as more and more examples and evidence emerges. At some point it will be obvious to even his most devoted supporters and then they will be angry at being lied to for so long. The GOP needs to decide do they ride the Trump train over the cliff or do they step up and put party over country and show some loyalty to the United States of America.

The longer they take the worse they look and the more of them like Jordan, Nunes, and Gowdy will go down in history as traitors to the country.

We are beyond appealing to their patriotism, now we need to hope they will start looking after their own survival and legacies.

And the ones that claim they do it for thier conservative agenda? They lie to you.  Pence would be far more effective at pushing it. The only reason they hold back is cowardice and greed.

Air Force One turned into a touristattraction

From Buzzfeed, Trump has found another way to use the Presidency to line his pockets at taxpayer expense. Of course the GOP does nothing about it.
We have to vote in independents or democrats to replace the GOP in November!
Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats are our best hope to save the country from the current and worsening corruption that plagues it.

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? 

Why Medicare for all is a win for America

Watch this if you care about Medical Costs.

It was a good Town Hall, far more then any other sitting Senator or Congressional Rep would care to do.
Medicare for all would..

• Reduce business costs as employers would no longer have to spend so much time, money and staffing to handle company based insurance,
• Reduce lost productivity since their employees would be healthier.
• Save workers money paid towards premiums.
• Raise employee and likely business taxes but STILL mean each pays less annually, and get rid of copays and time lost while waiting to see if they will cover a procedure.

Who wants it or something like it?

• The Left wants Medicare for all because its the moral and christian thing to do.
• Medical Providers (Other than Insurance and Drug companies) want Medicare for all because it saves them money and hassle.
• Businesses want Medicare for all because it saves them LOTS of money.
• Workers should want Medicare for all since employers can more easily higher full time people.
• Workers should want it since wages could go up.  Ok, they may not but its the same logic as giving tax cuts and hoping they use that money to increase wages.
• Older workers who are often let go and discriminated because of their age. Insurance companies try to discourage companies from hiring older workers.
• Women who are discriminated against.
• Vets who are also discriminated against by insurance companies.
• Taxpayers who will save by reducing all these bailouts and cut back on related expenses.

Who does not want Medicare for all?

• Banks who profit from foreclosures from medical bankruptcy.  This is the number 1 reason for bankruptcy in the USA.
• Drug companies who make billions off scams with insurance companies.
• Insurance companies who profit off your pain and suffering. They take your money for premiums then try everything they can to avoid paying the bills they promised you they would take care of.
• Some Conservatives who feel the old way is always the best way and fear change.
• Politicians who rake in billions from Banks, Drug and Insurance companies

Holding your Representative Accountable to YOU

Have you noticed how so many politicians pivot and avoid answering questions?
How when held to task they the excuse of a five year old "But look at so and so!"

The trouble is most politicians say one thing on the election trail and do another once elected.
Conservatives pretend to be patriotic and christian to get votes, yet once in office sell the country off to their donors and foreign investors and behave in unchristian like ways.
Liberals ignore pragmatism.

Regardless of what your issue is you need to be willing and able to voice your concerns and preferences.
So here is some contact and general info for the people who are supposed to represent YOU.
Who Represents me
Government contact info
By zip code

Open Secrets The go to site for checking on campaign finance.  See who bought your politician.
Personally I prefer politicians who get most, if not all their money from individual contributors. That means they got paid by voters, not companies or political organizations.

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

GOP Tax scam, not about Conservative Values, just greed.

So the final version of the GOP Tax bill is out.
I haven't been able to find the full text online yet but have read the House and Senate versions going into this plan.

Senate Taxplan 515 pages!

https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/11.20.17%20Tax%20Cuts%20and%20Jobs%20Act.pdf

House Bill 429 pages

https://waysandmeansforms.house.gov/uploadedfiles/bill_text.pdf

House Summary and breakdowns

https://waysandmeans.house.gov/tax-cuts-jobs-act-resources/

You have probably heard the talking points already, it raises the deficit, does very little for wage and job growth while granting huge boost to the super rich and corporations, hurts teachers and firefighters, will prompt millions to lose their insurance and raises everyone else premiums, close many hospitals, increase the national debt, and even how the individual tax cuts are only short term while corporate tax cuts are permanent.

They put the lie to the test when they said this was about reform and closing loopholes.  You did not need a 500 page bill if you got rid of all (or even most) of the loopholes.

Further, this bill punishes individual tax payers in a lot of hidden in the dirt pile ways.

• Repeal of Casualty loss:  You wont notice this until your hurting but this repeals a deduction if you suffer a major loss such as your house burning down, flood damage, earth quake, tornado or even theft. That deduction enabled you to rebuild and get back on your feet faster, However they repealed it, except for Hurricanes.  Wonder why Republicans decided to repeal it for earthquakes but leave it for hurricanes? However, everyone is at risk for these things.
• Territorial Tax:Most countries use this system which means your not taxed on income made overseas. We tax our corporations on that money when they bring it back to the U.S. Personally I am ok with going to a territorial system to help our companies be more competitive and avoid offshore tax havens.  However lets not take on more national debt or lose jobs to do it.
• Chained CPI: This little gimmick will keep the standard deduction from keeping up with inflation. So as inflation goes up or taxes go up faster!
• Repealing the corporate Alternative Minimum Tax: Corporations already pay an average of 18% tax even though we have a top rate of 35%.  Removing the minimum tax means many larger corporations will be able to avoid paying any taxes at all!  Meanwhile smaller businesses will pay the bulk of corporate tax.  How fair is that?
• Repeal of Deduction for Income Attributable to Domestic Activities: Currently companies are allowed to deduct up to 9% (6% for oil and gas companies) for costs related to making and selling stuff in the US.  Getting rid of this will just incentivize them to move those operations overseas.  More job loss.

This bill does nothing to encourage companies to increase wages or hire more workers. Companies are already sitting on tons of cash and have access to low interest rates.  Instead of job growth we see mergers and stock buybacks. The only way to boost the economy is to increase consumer demand.

Tax Scam

Most of the individual and Middle Class cuts are only temporary and will be phased out within 10 years.  The corporate tax cuts are set to be permanent.
Watch this, especially the first 12 minutes where they talk about the GOP tax plan.
Some middle class people will pay more, others less in taxes for the first few years but the majority of lower and middle class Americans will pay more as the individual tax cuts expire.
Also insurance and tuition will go up and major cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will impact many families.
Why cut taxes to corporations, millionaires and real estate moguls? Big donor money.
Will tax cuts to corporations increase jobs and wages as the GOP says? History says no. They will buy back stock, lower their debt, pay dividends and executive bonuses, and merge with other companies to reduce competition.  Corporations have been doing historically well and making more money than ever and have access to cheap capital.  Instead of job growth we will see lay offs due to mergers and consolidation and deregulation.  Wages will remain stagnant or continue to drop when compared to inflation as nothing in this tax plan requires or even encourages wage hikes.  Between increased automation and less competition in fact they have fewer reasons to increase wages and many of the larger companies will lay people off.  Smaller businesses will face stiffer competition from the big companies who can take better advantage of the tax cuts and cheaper loans.

This is something I havent heard a lot on the news...
The AMT or individual minimum tax is repealed for individuals (that gets talked about) but also for BUSINESS so it will be possible for companies through loopholes to pay NO INCOME tax at all!
And why does the corporate tax rate need to be lower than many individuals?

Note This!

• Expiring Provisions: All individual income tax changes, excluding the move to Chained CPI and the elimination of the individual mandate penalty, would expire effective December 31, 2025. This includes the individual income tax rate cuts, the expanded child tax credit, the repeal of personal exemptions, and the expanded standard deduction.

• The House Tax cut plan The summary is just a few paragraphs, please read it.  The full text is of course much longer but there is a table of contents.  Guess what? Lots of corporate loopholes in it. Estimates are corporations will pay much less than the average 18.1% they do now.
• Summary of Senate Tax plan by the Tax Foundation 
• Breakdown by sample families of tax changes  Most people get a cut (at least till the sunset expiration in 2025) though its not that much.
• Analysis of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act  Pay attention to the 2027 estimates! And browse that table of individual items below.
• Interview on AM Joy where a small business owner talks about how service (restaurants, bars, etc and smaller businesses will see higher taxes and how tax cuts on the larger corporations will shed jobs. 

Frankly if they really wanted to increase your effective income it would be much better to raise the minimum wage which would spread out to everyone getting a wage increase. We would have more income, pay more in taxes because we make more but still have more in our pocket!

That would even lower the national debt instead of increasing it!!

More money in the general economy also leads to job growth as people spend more and companies can then sell more.

2004 Bush Taxcut to  bring money back to the USA resulted in massive stock buybacks and layoffs.

What Happened? Hillary still blaming everyone else for her failed campaign

So excerpts of Hillary Clinton's latest book is out and she is still blaming everyone else for her loss.
Still going after Bernie Sanders, among others.
The lack of accountability by her and the DNC is truly amazing.
People voted against her because they did not trust her and they were against the establishment.
Heck millions of people (including myself) who DID vote for her felt she was corrupt, untrustworthy and interested in her self more than the country.  We just felt she was less of a threat to the country than Donald Trump, as usual it was a choice between what you hoped was the lesser of two evils rather than someone you actually wanted in the White House.

Please vote for Justice Democrats or Brand New Congress and lets get rid of these establishment people and put in some fresh faces.