After yesterday's budget plan in which the President pulled a Neville Chamberlain by offering up our Social Security benefits as a bargaining chip to the Grand Old Party of hate, I'm now fully convinced that all three branches of Government are owned and controlled by large corporations, and the 0.1% of the population sitting atop of the economic pyramid.
So, after being a registered Democrat for many years, today I re-registered as an Independent voter. I finally figured-out that the Democrats hold us in contempt just like the Republicans do, except they're not as in-your-face with it, and try to do it more covertly. But, they all work for the corporations paying for their election into office.
Not that becoming an Independent will do me any good, since I don't really believe the 99 percent of Americans filling in the rest of the economic pyramid have any say in how our Government operates, it's just my way of saying "fuck you" to a corrupted political system.
Personally, the only person I trust in the Legislature is Senator Bernie Sanders.
He seems to be the only one willing to tell us the truth about what's happening in Congress, to stick up for the average American, and is someone who actually does exactly what he says he's going to do without compromising his principles. I mean, I thought that's what being an American is all about?
Bernie Sanders on the Independent in Politics from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.
The "chained CPI" proposal in President Obama's budget continues to draw much-deserved fire, which is only likely to increase as more information about it becomes known.
ReplyDeleteHere are nine embarrassing facts about the chained CPI which the White House and its defenders would prefer to see overlooked:
9 'Chained CPI' Facts They Don't Want You to Know
And there we go - more "faith" building. President Obama has just signed a rollback of key transparency provisions of the STOCK Act.
ReplyDeleteLate Thursday night, as we reported last week, the Senate gutted the disclosure requirements by approving S.716, an act amending the requirements of the 2011 law. The House followed suit the next day, and the president signed the bill minutes ago.
The bill doesn't just eliminate a controversial requirement that personal financial disclosures of tens of thousands of high level federal employees be made publicly accessible online. It also reverses two critical components of the original STOCK act: mandatory electronic filing of PFDs by the president, his cabinet and members of Congress, and the creation of a publicly accessible database.
Source: Open Secrets Blog
Jon Stewart's take on the gutting of the STOCK Act. - Insider House Rules
ReplyDeleteThe Dodd-Frank Act, the 2010 law aimed at preventing another financial crisis, "put in place a variety of measures that work together as a system to protect consumers, hold big banks accountable, and reduce the risk of future crises," Warren said in a statement. "It is dangerous for Congress to amend the derivatives provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act."
ReplyDelete"Wall Street's aggressive determination paid off last week" when the bills passed out of committee, Warren said. The bills also have bipartisan support,.."
Source: Elizabeth Warren Slams Wall Street Again
I think this U.C. Irvine professor's opinion pretty much sums up my own thoughts about our troubled democracy. Can American democracy survive its betrayal by the government?
ReplyDeleteStill don't think we live in a corporatocracy, where politicians work on behalf of the corporations, and that political affiliation takes a back seat to political contributions? Then read this -
ReplyDelete"A letter that a group of progressive Democrats sent to federal regulators opposing new protections for millions of Americans' retirement accounts was drafted by a financial industry lobbyist, according to documents obtained by Mother Jones.
The Department of Labor (DoL), which oversees the federal law setting minimum standards for many retirement plans, would like to require retirement investment advisers to act in the best interest of their customers, as opposed to their own best interest.
But 28 out of the 43 members of the Congressional Black Caucus—a group of African-American members of Congress that advocates for the interests of low-income people and minorities—signed onto a June 14 letter opposing the rule. So did Democratic lawmakers Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Ed Pastor of Arizona, and Jim Costa of California." [my emphasis on Ed Pastor]
Read the entire report at: Lobbyist Secretly Wrote House Dems' Letter Urging Weaker Investor Protections
Do you see why I believe as I do? In all of this Government shutdown bullshit, where politicians on both sides are now cherry-picking "who" the shutdown will affect, where do the President's loyalties reside? It's not with any social programs.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the news report in The Atlantic, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Saturday that most of the 400,000 civilian defense workers who were furloughed due to the government shutdown can go back to work. Earlier Saturday the House voted unanimously to approve back pay for all furloughed workers, which Hagel said he “strongly supports.”
..President Obama signed the Pay Our Military Act late Monday, just hours before the shutdown, that keeps uniformed personnel on the job.
At a time when politicians—particularly members of Congress—are almost universally reviled and blind partisanship seems to dictate the fate of every piece of legislation, one U.S. senator stands out as a unique voice.
ReplyDeleteA candid conversation with Vermont's maverick U.S. Senator about the end of the middle class, avoiding foreign wars and why he hates both political parties.
Playboy Interview: Bernie Sanders