Campaign finance

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13603636

Ah my dear Senator Bennet. How you annoy me. let me count the ways! Why is it that everyone, including the people trying to unseat Bennet, refuse to say what is so obvious in the story? Political campaign contributions by corporations, special interests, etc are BRIBES! You can look at any campaign summary for any politician and see a direct link to how he/she does or does not vote. Bennet gets donations from financial institutions, who in turn demand government assistance for THEIR pile of shit when their bets go south, and surprisingly Bennet votes for the bailout. Where I come from that is bribery plain and simple! Mr. Powers and the Shurteff campaign have it half right. You can’t change politics by reelecting the same people over and over, but they miss the bigger point. In order to bring politics and government BACK to the people, politicians have to STOP accepting big campaign donations. Ban gifts, meals, etc and limit donations for EVERY type of donor to $100 or less. Until that happens this problem will never go away on its own, and continue being a self fulfilling prophecy.

Second for the night

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hrNWyEF7txWkMGjOSknmUYRhnZNAD9BANG6G0

Is it any surprise that the people who lose with health care reform are the some of the ones fighting vehemently against it? I mean this latest “industry sponsored study” is a complete joke. How can they, with a straight face, commission a study that miraculously says reform will crank up prices and force the insurance companies to pass those costs onto their policy holders? It is no different than banks, or any other industry, saying that new regulations or new consumer protections will force them to pass costs onto customers.

Since when has an honest living ment making billions off of sick people who may have to decide whether to live or go bankrupt? Doctors do their jobs because they HONESTLY care about helping people. It is one of those fields were you can’t do it simply as a job. The only reason that insurance companies exist is purely out of greed. They are the middle men between doctors and patients and middle men are ONLY concerned with how much money they can milk out of both sides. To these people I say this: if you don’t like people having the fundamental right of health care then get the hell out of the health insurance industry.

To those who aren’t part of the industry but are still paranoid of health care reform that has a government OPTION in it, I repeat my previous statements. Write your Representative and Senator and tell them to abolish Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and the VA. If it’s such a travesty and abomination then no one should have government health care ESPECIALLY our men and women in the military. Tell those military personnel, and their families, that they now get thrown into the shark tank that is the health insurance industry with the rest of us and if they can’t get covered or can’t afford it then too bad because it’s the best system in the world.

No offense...

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8297467

I’m sorry but the back-lash from the Mormon Church’s support of Cali’s Proposition 8 is NOT EVEN CLOSE to what blacks went through before the voting rights act. It’s not even on the same plane. To put it simply: if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. No one barred Mormon’s from voting because of this. No one made them into second class citizens. The Church decided to get involved in a POLITICAL issue and now is whining because of what came of it…please. Welcome to the world of politics people. Not to mention the fact that religion has NO PLACE in politics and determining laws. Religious freedom does not mean that you can force through legislation that supports your beliefs. Religious freedom means that the government can’t force you to be a certain religion or throw you in jail because of your religion. Religions have every right to tell people who FOLLOW their religion how to act and live but they don’t have the right how to dictate that life to others. If ANY religion decides to take a political position (which to me should revoke their nonprofit status) then they need to be ready for the consequences of taking that position. I’m not trying to be an ass. I’m simply saying that when you get involved in politics (especially when in a completely different state) be prepared if people don’t worship the ground under your feet. If you don’t like it then stay mute on ALL politics and laws.

Keith Olbermann on Health Care Reform

Now normally I wouldn't devote an entire blog to only a few sentences but in this case I will. Keith Olbermann from MSNBC did an hour long comment on health care reform. It is emotional, very well done, and should be shown to every person. I give you Keith Olbermann:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33213245/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/

Drugs and Unemployment

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/astvdrugadsincreasesodoconcerns

Why is this story such a huge surprise? Anyone who watches the smallest amount of TV can tell you that drug commercials, more often than not, far out weigh all the other ads. Why are we surprised that prescription drugs are abused when we get bombarded by ads to buy them?

This nation needs to wake up and realize that it's not illegal drugs that are destroying this country. It is in fact the very legal prescription ones. Now if I have an infection, cancer, or some other major issue, sure I will go to my doctor. But some of these drugs "solve" problems that PEOPLE can solve themselves! Rather than shoot up kids with ADD and ADHD drugs, why not just let them be kids. Let them actually PLAY so that they can burn off their energy.

I have ALWAYS wondered why the FCC and FDA have allowed for this mass market advertising of prescription drugs. You can promote all the prescription drugs you want, but legalizing pot (which would be a massive tax influx) can not even be considered in rational discourse. The illegal drug "war" needs to end and the "war" on prescription drug ads needs to begin.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_economy

Another week, another "expert opinion" on where, or where not, the unemployment rate will top off. Can we stop with this bull shit? I understand people ideally want to know when things will happen but sometimes guessing only makes the situation worse. Which is more productive: guessing where the unemployment rate will stop, or trying to put people back to work? The truly sad thing is that the U.S. Congress (to be precise the Senate) is working for the good of the corporations and Wall Street and not for the common man (the people they supposedly were elected to represent). It has been mentioned multiple times that we need a New Deal for this crisis and yet EVERYONE knows that it would die a slow and horrible death once it got into the Senate. It is time this government and this administration MUST take a side! Either chose to do EVERYTHING in their power to put this nation's WORKERS, not investment bankers and corporations, back on their feet OR admit they don't care about middle America and are only concerned about their big money campaign donors!

Hatch Act: Applicable or Antiquated

http://www.osc.gov/hatchact.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatch_Act_of_1939

As a federal employee I am banned from running for a partisan political office (Representative, Senator, etc) because of a piece of legislation called the Hatch Act. Now if I understand correctly the Hatch Act was passed to try and reduce “government corruption” however I feel that it is not only unconstitutional but also antiquated.

In 1947 and 1974 the Act was challenged in the Supreme Court on the basis that it violated the First Amendment. The Court disagreed and upheld the Act. That being said, I still believe that it is unconstitutional. The mistake the other two challenges made was that they challenged the Act based on free speech, but what they should have challenged it on is far earlier in the Constitution. Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 2 states the exact requirements that MUST be met in order for a person to be eligible to be elected as a member of the House of Representatives; Article 1, Section 3, Paragraph 3 states the exact requirements to be a member of the U.S. Senate; and Article 2, Section 1, Paragraph 5 does the same for the President. Since these requirements are spelled out in the Constitution, any change or addition to them MUST be in the form of a Constitutional Amendment and unless the Hatch Act is passed as an amendment it will continue to be unconstitutional.

I also mentioned the Act being antiquated. It was created as a way to reduce government corruption and the “buying” of votes but politicians, interest groups, etc have found ways around it. A comparison of a politician’s voting record and his/her campaign finance report will prove that votes are in effect being bought. Special interests, corporations, etc would not donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to a politician’s campaign unless it got results. It is no coincidence that the NRA pumps tons of money into Republican, pro-gun, campaigns. In this type of environment, the only thing the Hatch Act manages to prevent is a large portion of U.S. citizens from running for office.

What are people thinking?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/28/kill-obama-facebook-poll-_n_302090.html

Seriously, what kind of DUMB ASS pulls a stunt like this?! I mean come on, did he/she honestly think that no one would notice? I would be very interested to see what tv, radio, etc personalities this person follows. If it’s people like Glen Beck, then this is further proof that hate speech DOES in fact get people to act. I’m sorry but as much as Democrats and other liberals hate(d) George W. Bush, they weren’t out there advocating that A) he wasn’t a citizen and therefore not really President, and B) he should be “taken out”. This is seriously getting out of control. People who spread such animosity and hate (calling the President a racist, comparing him to Hitler, etc) should be taken out of their jobs or at the very least be warned that if they don’t shove it they will be fired. This type of talk is down right treasonous! There is absolutely no excuse for it, much less evidence to support it!

I hope that whoever did this is severely punished by the Secret Service. There are some things that you just DO NOT DO and this is precisely one of them. This has gone on long enough and it is time that we as a country stand up and denounce this pervasive hate and animosity that is directed at the President and at government in general. I hate to use the term because I feel it fosters a pissing contest, but this type of poll and thinking are distinctly UNAMERICAN! Honestly people, are we a civilized country and a major beacon in the free world or what? Idiots like this make me wonder…