Who's Really On Your Side?

This chart was taken in its entirety from http://www.therationalmajority.org/snap-facts/specialsnapfact-acomparisonofthe2012democraticandrepublicpartyplatformdocuments.

I'm re-posting it here and will research and go over each point, and what it means, more closely during the coming weeks.

Campaign Finance	Our opponents have applauded the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United.... In stark contrast, we believe we must take immediate action to curb the influence of lobbyists and special interests on our political institutions. [p.12]	We support repeal of the remaining sections of McCain-Feingold, support either raising or repealing contribution limits, and oppose passage of the DISCLOSE Act or any similar legislation designed to vitiate the Supreme Court’s recent decisions protecting political speech in Wisconsin Right to Life v. Federal Election Commission and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. [p.19]
Commerce: Unions	Democrats believe that the right to organize and collectively bargain is a fundamental American value. [p.9] We will continue to vigorously oppose “Right to Work” and “paycheck protection” efforts, and so-called “Save our Secret Ballot” measures whenever they are proposed. [p.10] Minimum Wage : We will raise the minimum wage, and index it to inflation. [p.10]	We will restore the rule of law to labor law by blocking “card check,” enacting the Secret Ballot Protection Act, enforcing the Hobbs Act against labor violence, and passing the Raise Act to allow all workers to receive well-earned raises without the approval of their union representative. We demand an end to the Project Labor Agreements; and we call for repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act.... [p.8] We support the right of States to enact Right-to-Work laws.... [p.8] We will aggressively enforce the recent decision by the Supreme Court barring the use of union dues for political purposes without the consent of the worker. [p.8]
Education: Student Loans	We doubled our investment in Pell Grant scholarships and created the American Opportunity Tax Credit worth up to $10,000 over four years of college, and we’re creating avenues for students to manage their federal student loans so that their payments can be only 10 percent of what they make each month. [p.5]	The federal government should not be in the business of originating student loans; however, it should serve as an insurance guarantor for the private sector as they offer loans to students. [p.37]
Health Care	We believe accessible, affordable, high quality health care is part of the American promise, that Americans should have the security that comes with good health care, and that no one should go broke because they get sick. [p.3] We will continue to stand up to Republicans working to take away the benefits and protections that are already helping millions of Americans every day. We refuse to go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your health policy, deny you coverage, or charge women more than men. [p.4]	Congressional Republicans are committed to its [the Affordable Care Act's] repeal; and a Republican President, on the first day in office, will use his legitimate waiver authority under that law to halt its progress and then will sign its repeal. [p.32] No healthcare professional or organization should ever be required to perform, provide for, withhold, or refer for a medical service against their conscience. [p.34] We likewise support the right of parents to consent to medical treatment for their children.... [p.34]
Medicare and Medicaid	We will... oppose efforts to block grant the [Medicaid] program.... [p.4] Democrats adamantly oppose any efforts to privatize or voucherize Medicare. [p.5] President Obama is already leading the most successful crackdown on health care fraud ever, having already recovered $10 billion from health care scams. We will build on those reforms, not eliminate Medicare’s guarantees. The health care law is closing the gap in prescription drug coverage known as the "doughnut hole." [p.5]	The first step is to move the two programs away from their current unsustainable defined-benefit entitlement model to a fiscally sound defined contribution model. [p.22] While retaining the option of traditional Medicare in competition with private plans, we call for a transition to a premium- support model for Medicare, with an incomeadjusted contribution toward a health plan of the enrollee’s choice. [p.22] The age eligibility for Medicare must be made more realistic in terms of today’s longer life span.[p.22] We propose... block-granting the [Medicaid] program to the States....[p.22]
Immigration	We won’t deport deserving young people who are Americans in every way but on paper, and we will work to make it possible for foreign students earning advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to stay and help create jobs here at home. [p.6] The country urgently needs comprehensive immigration reform that brings undocumented immigrants out of the shadows and requires them to get right with the law, learn English, and pay taxes in order to get on a path to earn citizenship. [p.13]	A policy of strategic immigration, granting more work visas to holders of advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math.... [p.7] Foreign students who graduate from an American university with an advanced degree... should be encouraged to remain here and contribute to economic prosperity and job creation. Highly skilled, English speaking, and integrated into their communities, they are too valuable a resource to lose. [p.14] We support changing the way that the decennial census is conducted, so that citizens are distinguished from lawfully present aliens and illegal aliens. [p.19] We oppose any form of amnesty.... [p.25] We insist upon enforcement at the workplace through verification systems.... [p.26] The pending Department of Justice lawsuits against Arizona, Alabama, South Carolina, and Utah must be dismissed immediately. The double-layered fencing on the border that was enacted by Congress in 2006, but never completed, must finally be built. [p.26] Federal funding should be denied to sanctuary cities that violate federal law... and federal funding should be denied to universities that provide instate tuition rates to illegal aliens....[p.26]
Jobs	President Obama put forward the American Jobs Act.... We have already enacted key parts of the American Jobs Act -- payroll tax relief, tax credits for businesses that hire veterans, and an extension of unemployment insurance that also included reforms like work-sharing, a "Bridge to Work" to help the long-term unemployed reconnect with the labor force, and support for unemployed workers looking to become entrepreneurs. [p.3] The President helped school districts save more than 400,000 educator jobs. [p.5] Thanks to President Obama’s recovery program, American manufacturers are creating jobs for the first time since the 1990s, including more than 500,000 jobs since the beginning of 2010. [p.8] President Obama and Democrats boldly rescued America’s auto industry, saving more than one million jobs.... [p.8] GM and Chrysler have repaid their outstanding loans years ahead of schedule, new American cars are inspiring pride, and the auto industry added more than 200,000 jobs in the last three years. [p.8]	To spur job creation here at home, we call for a reduction of the corporate rate to keep U.S. corporations competitive internationally, with a permanent research and development tax credit, and a repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax. We also support the recommendation of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, as well as the current President’s Export Council, to switch to a territorial system of corporate taxation, so that profits earned and taxed abroad may be repatriated for job-creating investment here at home without additional penalty. [p.2] Nine federal agencies currently run 47 retraining programs at a total cost of $18 billion annually.... We propose consolidation of those programs into State block grants so that training can be coordinated with local schools and employers. [p.14]
Taxes	We want to cut tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas and for special interests, and instead offer tax breaks to companies that are investing right here in the United States of America.... [p.8] We Democrats support lowering the corporate tax rate while closing unnecessary loopholes, and lowering rates even further for manufacturers who create good jobs at home. [p.8] President Obama's administration will continue its fight against the exploitative practice of employers fraudulently misclassifying workers as independent contractors or white-collar workers to evade taxes or deny them protections and overtime benefits. [p.9]	We call for a reduction of the corporate rate to keep U.S. corporations competitive internationally, with a permanent research and development tax credit, and a repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax. We also support the recommendation of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, as well as the current President’s Export Council, to switch to a territorial system of corporate taxation, so that profits earned and taxed abroad may be repatriated for job-creating investment here at home without additional penalty. [p.2] Any value added tax or national sales tax must be tied to the simultaneous repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, which established the federal income tax. [p.3]
Taxes: Business	We want to cut tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas and for special interests, and instead offer tax breaks to companies that are investing right here in the United States of America.... [p.8] We Democrats support lowering the corporate tax rate while closing unnecessary loopholes, and lowering rates even further for manufacturers who create good jobs at home. [p.8] [President Obama's] administration will continue its fight against the exploitative practice of employers fraudulently misclassifying workers as independent contractors or white-collar workers to evade taxes or deny them protections and overtime benefits. [p.9]	We call for a reduction of the corporate rate to keep U.S. corporations competitive internationally, with a permanent research and development tax credit, and a repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax. We also support the recommendation of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, as well as the current President’s Export Council, to switch to a territorial system of corporate taxation, so that profits earned and taxed abroad may be repatriated for job-creating investment here at home without additional penalty. [p.2] [A]ny value added tax or national sales tax must be tied to the simultaneous repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, which established the federal income tax. [p.3]
Supreme Court	We will continue to nominate and confirm judges who are men and women of unquestionable talent and character and will always demonstrate their faithfulness to our law and our Constitution and bring with them a sense of how American society works and how the American people live. [p.20]	We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life. [p.14]
Women’s Rights	We are committed to ending violence against women. We support reauthorizing the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act and oppose the proposals by Republicans in the House of Representatives.... [p.20] Abortion: The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay. We oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right. [p.18]	Abortion: We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion or fund organizations which perform or advocate it and will not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life. We oppose the nonconsensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from people with disabilities, including newborns.... [p.14] We oppose the FDA approval of Mifeprex, formerly known as RU-486, and similar drugs....[p.34]

THE CORPORATE BAILOUT

People have been saying that Obama "shouldn't have given all that money to the banks and Chrysler."  Here's what really happened:

The corporate bailout that everyone’s talking about was begun by George W. Bush in 2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailout), the last year he was in office.  These are some of the organizations that were given money:

• 2008 - The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc.
• 2008 - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
• 2008 - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. bailed out by the federal government and Berkshire Hathaway
• 2008 - Morgan Stanley bailed out by The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
• 2008-2009 - American International Group, Inc. multiple times
• 2008 - Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008^[16]
• 2008 - 2008 United Kingdom bank rescue package
• 2008 - Citigroup Inc.
• 2008 - General Motors Corporation and Chrysler LLC- though not technically a bailout, a bridge loan was given to the auto manufacturers by the U.S. government, this is referred to by most as a bailout.

In addition, it wasn’t $150 billion that Bush gave to corporations; between the open bailout and several other federal loan programs, corporations actually benefitted by $1.2 trillion in taxpayer money:

“By 2008, the housing market’s collapse forced those companies to take more than six times as much, $669 billion, in emergency loans from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The loans dwarfed the $160 billion in public bailouts the top 10 got from the U.S. Treasury, yet until now, the full amounts have remained secret.”

(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-21/wall-street-aristocracy-got-1-2-trillion-in-fed-s-secret-loans.html).

 Coming into office at this point, Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as “the stimulus package,” and launched recovery.gov, a website that allows taxpayers to track spending from the Act. http://1.usa.gov/ibiFSs http://1.usa.gov/e3BJMk

The Bush-led Great Recession was costing the economy nearly 800,000 jobs per month by the time President Obama took office. But by the end of his first year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created and sustained 2.1 million jobs and stimulated the economy by 3.5%. http://reut.rs/i46CEE

Obama took over the financial and banking rescue plan, and then he leaned on the banks and others, and recovered virtually all of the bail-out money. http://1.usa.gov/eA5jVS http://bit.ly/eCNrD6

The economy is improving, but it takes time.  Find out what's going on and VOTE! 

 For more information about what Obama has been doing since 2009, go to this site:

http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/what-has-obama-done-since-january-20-2009.html

The Star Trek Show the Couldn't

It's ironic that the last Star Trek television show should be about the first journey of the Starship Enterprise. And that it should be a complete failure. I woke up this morning wondering why that was, and the answer came to me that there were two main problems: one was the premise of the show. The other, the casting.

Do those who watch Star Trek really care how it all began? Do we want to watch people who are like us using technology that's really not that advanced? Of course not: Star Trek is not about us as we are. It's about the far future because it's on the future that we base our hopes and dreams. We want to believe that there is a future in which human nature will triumph over itself and do the right thing. Consistently. Where everyone we know (and come to love) is a hero at one time or another, and the enemies all come from outside. Yes, each of the characters at one time or another may face situations where they grow and become more heroic, but the struggle with themselves is always in finding a greater truth than the one for which they began their struggle.

Star Trek Enterprise just couldn't cut it. The characters were not heroic and never became heroic. The future looked a lot like our world. The technology we so admire in the Star Trek series hadn't been invented yet. And then there was the casting.

I firmly believe that if you'd put the original crew of Star Trek, or that of Star Trek Next Generation or Voyager on the bridge of this early day Enterprise, the show would have flourished. There were many flaws in the casting of Enterprise but three stand out: the Vulcan, the captain, and casting in general.

First there was the Vulcan. We've seen Vulcans before, and we know that they're completely logical. But does that mean they have the personality of a fruitfly? Spock had charm and charisma, a wink in his eye that we never saw but knew was there. Another purely logical character, Data, was a computer, but he won us over with his boyish charm and desire to be human. The only charms Tapol every displayed in her wooden portrayal of a Vulcan, were caught up inside her skin-tight body suit. And they looked fake too.

Captain Archer was a better actor than Tapol, but he never had the looks or the passion of Captain Kirk, could not make us believe with the authority of Captain Picard, nor rouse our sympathies with the compassion of Janeway. Archer just didn't have the power or skill to claim the bridge of the Enterprise and make us believe it was real.

Finally, the casting director chose two characters in the crew who looked so much alike onscreen, it was difficult to tell them apart.

All in all, casting was a disaster, the premise of the show missed the boat (at least we should have seen the first inklings of the dream) and Star Trek Enterprise went down in flames, the first Star Trek failure in forty years. We can only hope this outcome will not make Hollywood producers think that Star Trek can no longer provide monetary rewards. Because there's still an audience dreaming of technology that will save us from ourselves and build us ships that will take us to the stars, where we will behave like heros and always be the good guys.

Mediating the Media

The media have tremendous power. Television and movies, in particular, can make or break the weak and strong alike, as people believe what they see. Because of this power, one would assume that those who make decisions that can bring down presidents and unseat kings would do so responsibly. But this is not the case. Instead of acting in the interest of the people, the media only act in self interest. From top to bottom, from left to right, from entertainment to militainment, the media plays with our minds and rarely provides us with anything but watered down truth and outright lies.

Many have taken on the media in a big way. For instance, take a look at the video, Weapons of Mass Deception. While I'm not so ambitious (just don't have the time), I do have a pet peeve with the entertainment media that I want to write about: so-called "historical" drama and so-called "true" stories that have been doctored, fictionalized, and altered beyond reason. Believe me, the true story of Queen Elizabeth I is far more thrilling than the fictional movie of that name starring Cate Blanchett. It seems that no one wanted to bother with research. Or maybe it's just egotism.

Some might say it doesn't matter. Who cares what the truth is about a queen dead four hundred years? But the point of history is to learn from it. If we are fed nothing but lies, what can we learn? Of what use is it? And let's not even start on the erosion of logic in our children due to television programming and video games.

In any case, the enemy is disinformation, and we live in the tower of Babel. This is my small way of contributing to sanity, historical accuracy, and truth.

Deborah