Change Congress, fight corporate greed and corporate power

This post compliments of Janet Flint and Kathy C:

By the way, are you aware of CHANGE CONGRESS? It was begun by Lawrence Lessig and Joe Trippi and seems like a great yardstick to measure our candidates by, to see if they truly follow the progressive vision that John Edwards is advancing. Marla is asking all our candidates to take the pledge…

http://change-congress.org/about/

Did you see John on Larry King? He was wonderful–talking about his new program to end poverty, “Half in Ten”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SllGFip7Lmk

“I absolutely believe to my soul that this corporate greed and corporate power has an ironclad hold on our democracy.” — Sen. John Edwards, Iowa , 2008

Vote NO on Proposition 98 - Vote YES on Proposition 99 (Update)

UPDATE by adragonfly 3/26/08

It is important to vote on June 3, 2008 on these two critical propositions that will directly effect every renter in California - including mobile home owners who “rent” the land their mobile home sits on.

VOTE NO on Prop 98: The California Property Owner & Farmland Protection Act (CPOFPA being called ‘the hidden agenda’ proposition) is being promoted as an eminent domain proposition only ( the right of a government to take, or to authorize the taking of private property for public use.) HOWEVER, there is a ‘hidden agenda’ in this initiative to abolish rent control and gut the laws that protect renters in California . The LARGEST SUPPORTERS (BY DONATIONS) ARE THE MOBILE HOME PARK OWNERS at 44%, APARTMENT OWNERS at 41% (a total of 85%!), and misc donations.

It is documented that the Western Manufactured Housing Communities have donated over $155,000 to Prop 98 (more as of 3/26/08), and the major mobilehome management companies (including Sierra Corporate Management) have donated as well. (I obtained the above statistics from Bicker, Castillo, & Fairbanks .) This gives us an idea how important this is to them to get Prop 98 passed. VOTE NO on PROP 98. IT IS NOT IN OUR BEST INTERESTS!

NO on PROP 98:
- Masquerades as Eminent Domain reform
- Carries hidden agenda of eliminating rent control upon resale
- Destroys value of mobile homes
- Allows park owner initiated condo conversions of MHPs
- Outlaws local affordable housing ‘inclusionary’
zoning requirements
- Contains poorly drafted provisions that could stop future water projects
- AND destroy local land-use planning and erode environmental protections.

As of 3/10/08 Tenants Together ( a statewide organization supporting tenant rights) publishes: “Today, Prop 98 will be sent to the printer with a ballot title that omits any reference to the fact that Proposition 98 prohibits rent control in California . Although Attorney General Jerry Brown acknowledges that banning rent control is a key feature of Prop 98, he refuses to put the words ‘rent control’ in the title of the ballot measure, a decision that has prompted outrage among California tenant advocates.”

To give you an idea on how important is is to vote NO on Prop 98, these are only some of the organizations supporting NO on Prop 98: AARP, California Alliance for Retired Americans, Senior Action Network, CA Police Chiefs/ Fire Chiefs Assoc, League of CA Homeowners, GSMOL, COMOCAL, numerous county mobilehome associations including Nevada Co, CA Chamber of Commerce, Western Growers Assoc, CA Teachers Assoc, Housing CA, CA Coalition of Rural Housing, Coalition of Economic Survival, Tenants Together, Housing Justice Campaign, National Wildlife Assoc, SIERRA CLUB, CA Council of Land Trusts, Audubon CA, Assoc for CA Water Agencies, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS of CA, WESTERN CENTER ON LAW AND POVERTY, Progressive Jewish Alliance, Americans for Democratic Action, Pride at Work SFO, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), NATIONAL ASSOC OF HISPANIC ASSOC, LEAGUE OF CA CITIES, CA Redelopment Association.

YES on PROP 99 (Home Owner’s Protection Act (HOPA)
- A grass-roots effort with well over 1 million signatures to qualify a ‘clean’ eminent domain proposition on the June 3rd ballot. This is supported by GSMOL, Comocal, Neighborhood Friends, the League of California Cities, and many senior and advocate organizations. My opinion is this, it’s not perfect but it is better than anything we have in place now.

IMPORTANT: IF BOTH PASS, THE ONE WITH THE MOST VOTES WINS - so NO on PROP 98, YES on 99

VOTE NO on PROP 98 - VOTE YES on PROP 99

by adragonfly

It is important to vote on June 3, 2008 on these two critical propositions that will directly affect any renter in California - including mobile home owners who “rent” the land their mobile home sits on.

VOTE NO on Prop 98: The California Property Owner & Farmland Protection Act (CPOFPA) is being promoted as an eminent domain proposition only ( the right of a government to take, or to authorize the taking of private property for public use.) HOWEVER, there is a ‘hidden agenda’ in this initiative to abolish rent control and gut the laws that protect renters in California. It is being supported by the Howard Jarvis Tax Association, and the LARGEST SUPPORTER (BY DONATIONS) ARE THE MOBILE HOME PARK OWNERS at 44%, Apartment Owners at 41% (a total of 85%!), Calif. Farm Bureau at 10%, and misc donations.

It is documented that the Western Manufactured Housing Communities donated $154,020.71 to Prop 98, and the management company, Sierra Corporate Management has donated at least $35,000 that has been tracked so far. (I obtained the above statistics from Bicker, Castillo, & Fairbanks.) This gives us an idea how important this is to them to get Prop 98 passed. VOTE NO on PROP 98. IT IS NOT IN OUR BEST INTERESTS!

NO on PROP 98:

- Masquerades as Eminent Domain reform
- Carries hidden agenda of eliminating rent control upon resale
- Destroys value of mobile homes
- Allows park owner initiated condo conversions of MHPs
- Outlaws local affordable housing ‘inclusionary’ zoning requirements
- Contains poorly drafted provisions that could stop future water projects
- AND destroy local land-use planning and erode environmental protections.

YES on PROP 99 (Homeowner’s Protection Act - HOPA):

- A grass-roots effort with well over 1 million signatures to qualify a ‘clean’ eminent domain proposition on the June 3rd ballot. This is supported by GSMOL, Comocal, Neighborhood Friends, the League of California Cities, and many senior organizations. My opinion is this, it’s not perfect but it is better than anything we have in place now.

IMPORTANT: IF BOTH PASS, THE ONE WITH THE MOST VOTES WINS -
So NO on PROP 98, YES on 99

NEWS UPDATE!

Members of the NO on 98/YES on 99 coalition, which includes the Coalition for Economic Survival, have just filed a lawsuit in Sacramento Co. Superior Court, asking a judge to change the official title of Prop 98 to include mention of the measure’s rent control provisions!

The Privatization Plague

I have watched as Govenor Ronald Reagan first attempted to destroy the California state government, and then went on, as President, to do the same to the federal government. We are dealing with this legacy now, as we see gutted state and federal agencies unable to provide essential services in times of emergency, as we see our infrastructure crumble due to corruption. And now we have Govenor Arnold Schwarzenegger carrying on this “proud” Reagan tradition.

As someone who has worked as a civil servant for the state of California, as someone who saw his mother and father both work as career civil servants for the state of California, I am offended by the way government workers are often depicted. They are too often described as lazy, incompetent, and worse. My parents worked hard and were proud of their work, and they were very competent.

The problems with government are not due to the civil servants, they are due to the same problem that plagues private corporations, GREED. Greedy politicians and their pork barrel projects, their bridges to nowhere. Greedy politicians ignoring laws and regulations. Greedy, corrupt politicians taking money from corporate lobbyists.

Big government is not the problem, and privatization is definitely NOT the answer. There is far more greed in the corporate world then in government. A prime example of why privatization is not the answer is that of the prison system. The United States has approximately 4.5% of the world’s population, but has the highest rate of imprisionment in the world with almost 2 million people imprisioned. The primary reason for this is GREED. Private prisons are paid by OUR government with OUR money on a per head basis, so it is in their interest to keep prison populations and their PROFITS high.

For more insight into this issue, please see this excellent article:

Arnold’s Privatization Push: A Dangerous Giveaway For California

As A.Citizen has said, this is important!

If an outrage falls in the forest…

In this case the forest is our nation’s capitol, inside the beltway. Anyone who has tried to make a telephone call to any of their “representatives” in Washington knows that busy signals are not unusual. And we all know of others who have written, emailed, and telephoned those same representatives. It is not uncommon or rare.

A virtual flood of communications are directed toward offices in Washington every day, expressing outrage, calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq, calling for the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney, calling for our representatives to uphold their oaths of office, their Constitutional duties. But there seems to be a shield, a kind of screen preventing those representatives from hearing us.

One might contend that the shield is what the representatives, congressional leadership, and staff are actually listening to rather then their constituents. They are listening to corporate donors, corporate lobbyists, their “advisers”, and the elite media (becoming more marginal then mainstream).

But, let us not be discouraged by the apparent lack of response to our outrage. We must continue our assault of reason, we must continue to reason with unreasonable people - people like Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, and Jerry McNerney, people we may have once thought were on our side.

So, if an outrage falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, is there still an outrage?

First impeachment is off the table, now filibuster too?

Do you call this governing? First impeachment is off the table, now filibuster too? From a recent New York Times editorial, In Search of a Congress:

“We support the filibuster as the only way to ensure a minority in the Senate can be heard. When the cloture votes failed this week, the Democrats should have let the Republicans filibuster. Democratic leaders think that’s too risky, since Congress could look like it’s not doing anything. But it’s not doing a lot now.”

It’s not like they actually brought a piece of legislation to a vote. I totally agree with the Times that the Democrats should call the Republican bluff. I would love a filibuster on the subject of this so-called war on terror. I’ll bet it wouldn’t last a week. The majority is against this war, the people are against this war.

Can you really imagine all the bushdog Democrats and all the lapdog Republicans spouting their lame support for the war, for days on end. Only four votes out of fortyfour need to switch to force a vote and really start to wind down this war. If the Democratic leadership in the Senate does not allow filibuster, then logically they plan to allow this war to continue without end, and they plan to ignore/defy the will of the people.

This so-called leadership will say that filibuster is too risky, a waste of time, there will be a veto anyway. What they’re really saying, is that they would rather defy the will of the people then defy this poor excuse for a president and his corrupt administration.

Democrats in Congress are so risk averse, they can’t even see the possibility of real rewards. A bit of wishful thinking perhaps. Can you imagine if these Democrats actually helped bring a war to an end, restore Habeus Corpus, restore the rule of law, restore the balance of power, restore the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Can you imagine the goodwill of the people towards the Congress? Well, maybe not, but it would be a hell of a good start.

The Great 9/11 Contradiction

There have been hundreds of blog entries on the 6th anniversary of 9/11. This is part of what I find is a great contradiction. While our “leaders” use the events of 9/11/2001 to justify their often criminal actions, these same people expect us to simply accept their explanations of what happened that day: “stop asking questions you conspiracy nuts”. So they want to keep using 9/11 at the same time they are wishing it would go away.

Well, it’s not going away. Sifting thru dozens of 9/11 posts leads me and many others to conclude that “the truth will out”. Many people that have accepted the “official conspiracy theory” for years are starting to discover the truth. From various polls it appears that over 50% of the people in the US have serious questions about the “official story”. These people are unified in recognizing the need for a new 9/11 investigation.

Unfortunately, this is another case of the people being way ahead of most of our “representatives” in congress. There are a few exceptions like Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul (see the patriotsquestion911.com link below). We are going to have to work hard to get a new investigation, but it is essential to the future of our country and the world that this crime be exposed.

Please check these links for more information on this movement:

Sibel Edmonds case: The real culprits of 9/11
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=4362

Opening Minds to 9/11 Truth
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=4336

The Suppressed September 11th
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_johndora_070910_the_suppressed_septe.htm

Too Many 9/11 Questions Still Unanswered
http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2007/09/11.html

Responsible Criticism of the 9/11 Commission Report
http://www.patriotsquestion911.com/

9/11 Was there a conspiracy and if so what did the conspiracy entail?
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_steven_l_070911_9_2f11_was_there_a_con.htm

I have posted a comment to this last post.

Keep asking questions.

An Open Letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Dear Speaker Pelosi,

I have written your office on several different occasions asking that you move to initiate impeachment proceedings against George Bush and Dick Cheney. We’ve all heard you say that “impeachment is off the table”. You have said one reason for this is that impeachment would be a waste of time. I’m not at all sure this is your primary reason.

One very strong reason you probably have for opposing impeachment is the well known but rarely discussed fact that you are third in line for the Presidency. I don’t see how you could be in your position and not be strongly influenced by this fact. I can also see that the possibility of ascending to the Presidency in such a time and manner could be very intimidating.

I suggest that you fear not the consequences, that you carry out the full responsibilities of your office, that you uphold your oath of office. Many events, foreseen and not, would take place between the time the House commenced impeachment proceedings and the time you might ascend to the Presidency. Few can predict the future, but the likelihood that you would ascend to the Presidency in this manner is very low.

Meanwhile, thousands of Americans and Iraqis are being maimed and killed every month as a result of impeachable acts committed by this Administration. How many more will be maimed and killed in the next eighteen months if the House fails to act?

There was an earlier time when Congress failed to impeach, when our representatives failed to uphold their oaths, when they failed to provide adequate oversight, when they failed to prevent the Executive branch from grabbing power not granted by the Constitution. That time was Iran/Contra during the Reagan Administration.

Many members of that Reagan Administration, including Dick Cheney, are or were members of this Bush Administration. And I contend that these people were emboldened into carrying out the current abuses of power by the fact that they were not held accountable for the abuses of Iran/Contra. Imagine if you will, that this Administration is also not held accountable, that the current abuses become accepted and are condoned as were the abuses of Iran/Contra. Imagine that this Congress is complicit as was that earlier body. What abuses might future Administrations be tempted to carry out?

No impeachment then, no impeachment now. But, we did have impeachment proceedings during the intervening years - simply for lying about a “private” matter. Please do not continue that mockery by abdicating your responsibility now. Impeachment is not a waste of time, it is absolutely necessary, and it is your duty. Do not worry - the people will be behind you, we will march in the streets of Washington to support you.

Thank you for your time.

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