We're All Tucsonians

If you didn't catch the memorial last night, you missed something beautiful.

Here are the President's remarks. If you don't have time to watch the entire thing, watch the last 10 minutes or so - but I would urge you to watch it all the way through.

An American Tragedy

Today in Arizona, 18 people were shot in a super market parking lot at an event hosted by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The congresswoman was shot in the head and six people were killed - including a Federal Judge and a 9-year-old child (this all according to The New York Times throughout this hour). The Congresswoman underwent surgery and they think she'll recover, although it's unclear what her condition is.

I think this is a pretty good time to start talking about the way folks in the political arena conduct themselves.

When you have high profile public figures equating our President with 1930's Hitler, followers of that figure will take it upon themselves to try to thwart that President's agenda, and those that support it, at any cost - even if that means approaching a Democratic Congressman during a public event and opening fire on her, her staff, and her constituents. If our President is Hitler, then those stopping his agenda - no matter the way they do it - must be heroes right?

During election season last year, Sarah Palin released these images showing a number of Congressman and women who voted for Health Care Reform. On the map of the United States, gun sights were placed strategically next to each district of each person who voted for Health Care Reform (See Pictures below).

Aside from those images - which she took off her website just minutes after the news of the shooting broke (she may have taken it down before she even expressed her condolences) - her rhetoric has been hateful.

She continually uses the same old line about "reloading, not retreating" when it comes to dealing with political adversaries.

This is the kind of rhetoric that leads to tragedies like the one we all watched unfold today. And this is the kind of rhetoric that needs to stop - no matter what political party you're apart of.

Sarah Palin needs to rethink how she conducts herself and what she asks of her blind followers. Getting attention and advancing your own personal agenda isn't worth it if you have to incite violence in order to accomplish those things.

I don't know how Alaska does it, but down here in the lower 48, someone like you, Sarah Palin, whose job consists of hunting moose, posting tweets, and inciting violence, has no business being and no capacity to be apart of the political system in the United States of America.

Say a prayer for the Congresswoman from Arizona and the families of those who lost their lives today.

Frustrated Yet?

Yesterday, the President of the United States met with top Republican leaders in Congress to discuss a way to move forward on some of the top issues we face. They all came out of the meeting optimistic that, after a tough election, the two parties could work together and realize that the problems we face are bigger than political differences.

So, today, Republicans sent a letter to Democrats saying they will block everything they do until tax cuts for the top 2% of income earners are passed.

Let me be clear on what they want to hold hostage for the sake of tax cuts for their friends:

-Unemployment benefits to the millions still out of work.

-Extending tax cuts for 98% of working Americans and small businesses

-The START Treaty with Russia (which would reduce how many strategic warheads the United States and Russia could hold and would set up a system where each nation could inspect and verify what weapons the other has)

-The DREAM Act which would give kids who were brought here illegally the chance to gain citizenship through service in our military or two years in college

-A vote that would repeal the outdated and discriminatory policy that is known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Today, the Republicans just put in writing what their philosophy has been for the last four years - stand in the way of any progress if it doesn't serve their party's interests.

So, if you lost your job and your unemployment benefits ran out last night, you know why. If you're a middle income American and your tax cuts expire after this month, you know why.

These are the folks you voted for. Just wait until January when you get to see more of them take power.

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.