Open Letter to the Senators of the United States

It is with great pride and a heavy heart that I write to you today.  I am proud of the United States of America's heritage and foundation based upon the Bill of Rights that give the American People the opportunity to speak their mind to their government and to ask their representatives to do that job which they were elected to do: represent the People.  It is with a heavy heart that I am writing today to discuss a topic which has eroded the American People's ability to have a real voice in their government and turned elections into little more than class warfare.

The Citizen's United vs. FEC ruling by the Supreme Court in 2010 in a divided 5-4 vote began allowing corporations to not only begin spending money through political broadcasts in an effort to promote their candidate of choice but allowed unfettered amounts of money to begin undermining the people's voice.  Corporations do not enjoy the right to vote, but they do enjoy the right to directly affect the outcome of elections by spending exorbitant amounts of money to spread their message more loudly and widely than any individual could hope to.  

Lobbyists that represent special interest groups are little more than shadow companies that stand between representatives and corporations with the sole purpose of funneling funds from corporations (for-profit and not-for-profit) to candidate's campaigns for election and reelection.  Done directly and without a middle man, this act would still be considered illegal in federal campaigns, but by allowing lobbyists to act on their behalf, it has become standard practice and perfectly acceptable to spend money on candidates and ask for political favors and consideration in return.

As of today, I do not accept that it is a foregone conclusion that my government is utterly lost to us.  I do not accept that you have all abandoned us completely in the lust for the almighty corporate dollar.   I believe that our first act as the People of the United States needs to be communication with our representatives in the United States Government.  I am writing you today in an effort to communicate to you, my Representative, my wishes as a member of your constituency.

It is time that you and your peers return the government to the hands of the American People and take it away from faceless corporations that have only one goal in mind: profit for the few on the backs of the many.

On Thursday, December 8, 2011, Sen. Sanders of Vermont introduce a bill to the Senate that would create an amendment to the Constitution to overturn the Citizens United ruling and put the power of governing back into the hands of those that you represent, instead of allowing corporations to continue to dominate our elections by funneling money into campaigns and political broadcasts in an effort to undermine the American People.

I am demanding that you, as a representative of the people, as one of MY representative, sponsor and support this bill with every ounce of your political influence. When a similar bill is introduced and passes in the House as well as the Senate, we can begin the process of letting the People retake their rightful place in a Government.  I would like to be able to say that MY representative is the one that began the process of removing corruptions from the United States Government and returned honor and respectability to those that represent the American People.

Please do not ignore those People you represent.  Approval ratings for both the House and the Senate are at an extreme low.  Recent surveys suggest that close to 80% of the American People, people that you and your peers represent feel that no one in Congress should be reelected.  This is an expression of our distaste for the way in which our government has quite literally been bought by corporations that are beholden to a small group of shareholders rather than the American People.

We cannot and will not continue to abide this corruption.  I am writing you today with the hope that you will reflect the opinion of your constituents and agree that this cannot continue.

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Feel free to use the above text to contact your Senator.

Find your Senators HERE

Awesome Keith Olberman rant

Be Heard Not Just Counted

I believe that we are lied to in the open so often by so many politicians and corporations in so many different ways that people not only think it's true but automatically discount any other way of thinking. Enjoy the corp/pol Kool-Aid; it's tasty but holds no nutrition. 

Corporations and politicians have colluded to make themselves richer without regard for the potential consequences to their employees, customers, communities, and environment. And they know that keeping a separate class of people down is the only way they keep that wealth and power. (See the last 300 years of history.)

I don't want completely free education, I want equal opportunity for reasonably priced education to those that desire to make more of themselves. 

I don't want to stop paying taxes; I want those that make more to pay the same percentage I do instead of getting tax breaks that aren't available to the rest of us.

I don't want a corporation to have the ability to give gifts and money to politician's campaigns in exchange for special exemptions and considerations and call it lobbying instead of being prosecuted for bribing. 

I want banks to recognize that when we trust them with our money, we expect to be treated fairly and not to be preyed upon by nickel and diming us out of every cent they can.

I don't want free health care or even universal health care, but I do want to live my life without being afraid that my next accident could result in an insurance claim that won't be paid by the company that I PAY to insure my health, thereby sending me spiraling into debt. 

I don't want free money in my pocket. I just want less money going into the pockets of politicians and more money going into our communities. 

I don't want MY debts to be forgiven; I incurred them. But in today's economic crisis CAUSED by the banks that we owe the money to, the banks need to accept some responsibility and fault for some individual's hardship. Yes there are programs out there, but the onus is still on the indebted to deal with the bank that helped create the problem in the first place. The banks should bear the responsibility for their poor business practices that harmed so many. Instead of a fine to the SEC which amounts to a slap on the wrist, they should take some losses and admit guilt while making things right for the borrower by modifying their loans to allow people to keep their home. 

I know that my opinion differs in some respects from OWS, and I don't have all the answers, but I believe that when the system is broken and allows for these abuses to continue, then something new must be tried. I don't see how we can just put new people in the same chairs and expect different results without LOUDLY and with great emotion voicing our displeasure at the current status quo. There is NO incentive for Congress to change their ways as long as we remain quiet and complacent. 

I will always encourage people to voice their opinion in the voting booth, but it is time we voiced that opinion in the streets too so that the politicians truly understand what we want.

Be heard not just counted. 

Politics

I'm tired of people and politicians that refuse to see the ocean of gray that exists between their black and white views of the world.

It's time for real change.

No, I'm not talking about Barack Obama's brand of change from a Republican run administration to a Democrat one. I'm talking about real change. It's time we stopped listening to the far left and the far right. It's time we realized that both sides have no real interest in fixing everything. As long as something is broken, they can always blame the other side and implore American citizens to vote for the opposing parties candidates. It is time we realized that they both have it wrong!

Come on, people! Do some research. Find someone else to vote for. Stop voting just because some has a "(R)" or a "(D)" after their name when they make an appearance on TV. Stop voting for one person just because he says the other guy can't do the job. Let's vote for someone that didn't base their campaigns on personal attacks.

Let's find individuals that we believe care about the future of this country and our children, and let's encourage them to run for office. We may have to start small, but that's OK. Get on city councils, get elected as mayor of your city, and start taking care of your constituents.

We don't need representatives whose only goal is to remain in the seat of power; we need representatives that want to REPRESENT their people. If they don't get elected again, then they need to understand that it is because the PEOPLE didn't like the job he/she did.

This goes both ways! You have to learn about your representatives...local, county, state, and federal. You need to educate yourself about what they vote for and against. You need to hold them to their promises. We need to call them out when they make promises they can't possibly keep while they are campaigning. We need to hold them accountable for what they do and what they don't do. Today, politicians count on the general population to NOT do any of these things. As long as we remain ignorant, they have an increased chance of keeping the status quo.

I don't care how futile you think it is. DOING NOTHING WILL ACCOMPLISH NOTHING. If you really want to see some changes, then STOP VOTING FOR REPUBLICANS AND/OR DEMOCRATS. They are the source of the problem, and our ignorance fuels it.

-A.W.C.

Gates...Cops...Obama

This whole Professor Gates thing in Chicago has gotten way out of hand, but here's my take on the situation.

Gates should have been glad that a police officer was doing his job properly and just showed ID without acting like a lunatic.

The cops should have taken into consideration that an exhausted person that had just returned home from China could be a little irritated at the situation and just left the house once Gates had identified himself.

Obama should not have opened his mouth to say anything other than, "I have no comment."

-A.W.C.

Obama...Citizen or Not

Disclaimer: this is not an article in support of or against the Obama administration. It is an article about the absurd things that people will believe in spite of the evidence to the contrary.

Barack Obama has provided a Hawaiian birth certificate. It shows that he was born in Hawaii and is a citizen of the United Sates of American and this means that he is eligible to hold the office of President of the United States. That is all the proof that is necessary by law.

None of those facts, however, seem to dissuade some groups from claiming that his is not a citizen and therfore not eligible to hold this office. If you believe that, then think about this: The entire RNC, John McCain, the FEC, Rush Limbaugh, and thousands of other people were not able to find one shred of proof for this accusation. If there was any proof that Obama was not a citizen, don't you think that his political opponents would have found it and publicized it? It would have been a boon for for the RNC to wait until a week or two before the election and provide the proof that would have sent the Democrats into a tailspin that they could not have recovered from in time. There is NO eveidence anywhere that has been produced by anyone that Obama is ineligible to serve as President of the United States.

The goal of those that spread these rumors is to plant the seed of doubt in the minds of those that disagree. It casts a shadow on this administration and the Democrats. It is only there to put a false perception in people's minds, so that in the next election, they hope that people will remember this and think that there is a reason to vote for a Republican instead. Buck the system and vote for a different party if you don't like this.

Think for yourself, and analyze the physical evidence that is available. Or you come up with some physical evidence that can be confirmed that supports your accusations. The burden of proof in this country is on the ones making accusations, not on the accused.

-A.W.C.

Left or Right? Neither!

I am so sick of the media and politicians trying to lump everyone into a conservative or liberal label. The reality is that most of us fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum if we based our political alignments on our personal beliefs. If you don't use your own personal beliefs, I would find it a little disconcerting.

Republicans have created a brand for themselves by telling the same story of family values, and anyone that doesn't subscribe to "traditional family values" is evil. Democrats have created their brand by telling the same story about victims all over the country that deserve to have social programs funded by tax payers, and that anyone that doesn't agree is intolerant. People that hear these same two messages over and over and over again begin to align themselves with one or the other. Unfortunately, most don't even have a clue about the broader issues that each side deals with.

I challenge you to take this quiz: The world's shortest political quiz. Before you do, however, take a moment to think about your position on the political scale. Where do you think that you fit in? When you do take the quiz, answer the way you truly believe, not the way you think your political party of choice would answer.

If you find yourself occupying a different portion of the scale than you expected, I challenge you to do more research on the party you currently identify with and the other available groups for you to choose from.

Here is a list of the major parties along with some others that have been active in the recent past. This is by no means a complete list and you should do your own research into what is available to you. Research not only the candidates we have to choose from but what party they belong to.

Republican Party
Democratic Party
Libertarian Party
Constitution Party
Green Party
American Party
America First Party
America's Independent Party
Independence Party of America
Jefferson Republican Party
Moderate Party
Objectivist Party
Reform Party of the United States of America
Working Families Party

-A.W.C.