Unbelievable

So, you're a Congressman. You get the unemployment numbers often and you know how many people are still unemployed and looking for work. You look at the calendar and it says November 30th. You realize that when the clock strikes midnight and December begins, unemployment benefits expire for nearly a million people. What do you do?

You would think they would get their act together and hold a vote which would immediately extend those benefits. It makes sense -- not just because millions are still looking for jobs, but because Christmas is a little over three weeks away. If anything, do it because it's the season of generosity.

It came up today in the Senate and the Republicans blocked debate on it.

Their reasoning? Well there's two reasons:

1. They don't want it to add to the deficit.

2. They want to push through tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans before anything else.

The Republicans blocked discussion on this issue because they don't want it to add to the deficit but they won't do anything else until they get tax cuts for the top 2% of income earners which will end up adding $700 billion to the deficit.

Make sense to you?

If it doesn't, you're not alone. If it does, you need to see a doctor.

I know Republicans get off railing against anything resembling a welfare check or an unemployment check.

The President sometimes discusses it as follows (I'm paraphrasing):

They tell you its the ownership society, but basically it's "You're on your own." If you lose your job, you're on your own. If your child doesn't have health care, you're on your own. If you can't afford to send your kids to college, you're on your own. If you lose your home, tough luck, you're on your own. In other words, pull yourself up from your own boot straps -- even if you don't have boots. You are on your own.

This is what it's all about. There are two lines of thoughts here. Look at the two priorities of the respective political parties. Who are the Republicans fighting for when they reject unemployment benefits for the millions out there without jobs but fight tooth and nail for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires?

According to the Congressional Budget Office, extending these benefits to the unemployed is one of the quickest ways of stimulating the economy. Why? Because unemployed are likely to pump the money back into the economy right away by spending money on groceries and necessities. What are the top 2% of income earners going to do with the money they get back from their tax breaks the Republicans are fighting for? Chances are (and this is according to most economists), they're not going to invest it back into the economy but instead save it.

As the benefits of nearly a million Americans run out tonight, the Republican Party continues to show that it isn't just the party of no but the party of no conscience -- straight from the pages of Ayn Rand.

Good night, and good luck.

Gays in the Military and Senator McCain

Can you tell which of these dead soldiers is the gay one? Neither can I. I wonder if Senator McCain goes to all soldiers' funerals or just the soldiers who are straight.

It's about time we end the policy that says a gay person can't serve his or her country.

And, Senator McCain will go down in history on the same page as those who said African Americans couldn't vote or eat in the same restaurants or go to the same schools as white Americans. In 50 years, after we have broken this barrier, Senator McCain will fall into the scrap heap of American history and be on the page of other old and out-of-touch Conservatives who stood against anyone and anything that wasn't like them.

He's a sell out.

Jobs

Here are some numbers showing the continuing improvement of our employment situation here in the United States. We've had ten months (11 if you count this month) of private sector job creation. In fact more jobs have been created under the Obama administration in 2010 than under all 8 years (2001-2009) of the Bush administration.

If you didn't notice, the red bars represent the job growth (or loss) under the Bush administration and the blue bars represent job numbers under the Obama administration.

Not Your Parent's Republican Party

I have not been around to experience that many election cycles, but I have been around enough to know this one is unique.

In 2008, we experienced a grassroots movement of ordinary people who were inspired by the simple idea that they could change their country. It was fueled by a positive belief that we can move this country forward by lifting its people up and solving problems our leaders have put off for decades.

In 2010, we are witnessing a different kind of movement – the Tea Party movement - filled with candidates who are proudly pursuing an agenda, fueled by anger, which would put a halt to progress, not just made over the past 2 years, but progress made over the past 50 years. Not only is their agenda frightening, as I will later explain, but their personal views are particularly disturbing.

These are the same folks that the pundits and the polls suggest are going to win in this year’s midterm elections, and win big.

In Delaware, the Republican Senate candidate, Christine O’Donnell, thinks our Constitution does not include anything dealing with the separation of church; and she can’t name a single Senator in the Democratic Party.

In Kentucky, Republican Senate candidate, Rand Paul (son of former Congressman and Presidential hopeful, Ron Paul), says he may have not voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed major forms of discrimination and ended segregation.

The Republican Senate candidate from Nevada, Sharon Angle, thinks that autism is a socialist conspiracy that aims to give undeserving children free health care – and this might be the least extreme thing she has said.

In South Carolina, the Republican Senator, Jim DeMint, believes gay people should not only be restricted of the right to marry but also restricted of the right to be a school teacher.

Alaska’s Republican Senate candidate, Joe Miller, thinks the 17^th Amendment that gives American citizens the right to elect Senators should be repealed; not to mention how he believes we should build a 21^st century version of the Berlin Wall on our borders.

I could go on all day describing the troubling views of Tea Party candidates running for office all across this country (and I didn’t even mention some of their opposition to the federal minimum wage or their support of privatizing Social Security). According to the New York Times, there are 138 candidates affiliated with Tea Party movement running in races all across America this year with the letter ‘R’ next to their names.

But make no mistake; this is not your parent’s Republican Party. This is a Republican Party that has been hijacked by the loudest voices with the most extreme views, and this year we need to make sure we don’t let this Republican Party and the intolerance and extremism they promote take over any branch of our government.

If you think some of their extreme views aren’t enough to disqualify them, then take a look at their agenda.

The Republican Party’s line of attack is that the Democrats in Congress and the President in the White House love to recklessly spend money. Unfortunately, for them, the numbers just don’t add up.

Not only has the deficit been reduced by 8% in President Obama’s first fiscal year, but taxes have been cut, the auto industry has been saved, health care has been reformed, the markets have been stabilized, and we have seen nine straight months of private sector job growth. These are facts.

The Republican Party’s 2010 agenda which they titled, “The Pledge to America” is an effort to turn back the clock and erase the progress we have been making over the past two years.

I know numbers and statistics bore the heck out of people and Tea Party candidates do their best to avoid dealing in facts, but I think it is extremely important that we take the time to inform ourselves before we go to the polls on November 2^nd.

This Republican agenda claims it will cut spending, cut taxes, and put the country on a course to balancing the budget by 2020. Sounds good, right?

Well, here are the facts:

Their tax plan is projected to cost about $4 trillion; that’s $700 billion more expensive than the Obama administration’s plan. Keep in mind, that $700 billion extra (which will have to be borrowed) will go to tax cuts for millionaire and billionaires – people who are least likely to put it back into the economy.

Balancing the budget over the next ten years sounds good too, right? Well, the only way we could even come close to balancing the budget under “The Pledge to America” is if we essentially abolish the federal government, Congress included; just not practical. Aside from that, their agenda will result in a drop in the Gross Domestic Product which translates to a net loss of 1.1 million jobs according to the Economic Policy Institute.

I hope you’re still with me here because the next part is extremely important, particularly for college students.

In addition to the forty-eight page Republican proposal, the Republican leader in the house, Congressman John Boehner of Ohio, released a proposal that would cut education funding by about 20% which will lead to approximately 8 million students being slashed from student loan programs (according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities).

This is the choice we all face this year. Anger may lead us to believe that we must vote out the same people we elected two years ago because progress has not come fast enough. But when have you ever made a decision out of anger that you are satisfied with?

Progress is never easy. It takes time – especially when we have just gone through such a devastating recession. But giving up because progress is not always quick is not the right course of action – not now.

The Republican Party is banking on fear and anger to turn these elections in their favor. Prove them wrong and score a victory for sanity.

Vote.

Register to Vote!

The deadline to register to vote in the November 2, 2010 General Election is October 4th, 2010, so any registration form must be returned either in person to your Board of Elections, Secretary of State’s office, office of the registrar or any deputy registrar of motor vehicles, a public high school or vocational school, a public library, the office of a county treasurer, or a state or local office of a designated agency or postmarked no later than October 4, 2010.

If you haven’t registered to vote, do it today! And don’t forget to vote!

Downloadable Registration Form!
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/publications/election/VRform.pdf

More Republican Hypocrisy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I was reading about this the other day and I turned on MSNBC last night to see The Rachel Maddow Show explaining in a pretty straightforward way that it's the Republican Party who is more of a threat to our deficit. Want to cut taxes for the top two percent of income earners AND bring down the debt in this country? Good luck.

Oil Spill Opportunity

We have all seen the coverage of the oil spill over the past three months. The devastation in the gulf and the images coming out of that region have been heart breaking. Not only have the images of wild life covered in oil been the source of disappointment but the notion that so many of those living in that area will have to spend the coming months and years putting their lives back together because of how this spill has impacted them is also unsettling.

This is why I was extremely pleased that the Obama administration secured a $20 billion clean-up fund from BP last month after the President met with top executives from the oil company. They should pay whatever their circus show in the gulf costs.

I don’t claim to be the smartest person in the world and I definitely don’t claim to have all the answers but when the fate of the gulf coast rests in the hands of Kevin Costner (no offense to Mr. Costner, but seriously?), you have to begin to wonder if the best and brightest working down there to “fix” this are really the best and brightest.

But we, as citizens, and those serving us in Washington and across the country cannot let our frustration cloud our view of what is important. This oil spill gives our country a great opportunity to do something about our energy policy.

I have never been a strong supporter of drilling off-shore for oil, no matter how much I enjoyed hearing Sarah Palin and her followers shout “Drill, baby, drill!” (More like Spill, baby, spill!) throughout the 2008 presidential campaign (funny, I don’t hear those same people shouting that once-popular campaign slogan anymore). It’s an outdated, and – as we are seeing in the gulf recently – a sometimes dangerous process.

It is up to all of us to make sure that this oil spill is the last reminder that our energy policy must change and it must change now. There are simple ways we can all take advantage of the great opportunity this tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico has given us.

Call or write to your Congressmen and tell them that now is the time to stop talking about our outdated energy policy and actually start doing something about it. More specifically, call those Republican congressmen and tell them consistently voting ‘no’ in what is clearly a political decision does not count as an energy policy. Election year or not, we cannot wait.

My generation should be concerned about the future of our country and our climate more than anyone. It will be that generation that must deal with the consequences if no action is taken today.

Action in Washington D.C. may be slow but that doesn’t mean we can’t do our part in the mean time to help our environment. Reconsider how you get from place to place (take a bus, ride a bike, car-pool, etc.). Plant trees in your yard or your community. Recycle. Use fluorescent bulbs. And turn out the lights if you don’t need them or aren’t using them (right now I’m sitting in a dark cellar with a candle writing this on recycled paper). These are just some simple, common sense ways we can all help out our environment.

Our country may be divided and those serving us in Washington may be more concerned about what is politically popular than what is the right thing to do. But the images we see coming out of the gulf should give all of us a reminder of what needs to be done.

The time to do something about America’s energy future is now.

It is a challenge that must be faced and it won’t be easy. But, I will ask what many leaders from many generations have asked in the face of difficult challenges and great opportunities: If not us, who? If not now, when?