Judge Grants Injunction Against Arizona Law

US District Judge Susan Bolton has granted an injunction on the most controversial portions of the controversial Arizona Immigration Bill.

Fifty-Seven Should Win.

In the old days, if something got fifty-seven votes in the Senate, it would have been a victory for the majority.

Clearly, we we are in a different time. Republicans have struck a blow for corporate secrecy, for people to pump millions of dollars into ads they don't have to take responsibility for. But they certainly haven't struck a blow for Democracy.

A Lesson in Democracy

Robert Rizzo, the City Manager of Bell, a very poor city in Southern California, receives annually $787,637 - almost $800,000! For overseeing a population of about 40,000! How come? Nobody was paying attention to the politicians running the place.

If you're driving the bus...

Andrew Breitbart has some gall. I mean, really folks, he says he's sorry for Shirley Sherrod, but the way he says it strongly resembles the non-apology apology that Joe Barton issued a while back.

The Republican Agenda

Evidently there is a big debate going on within Republican circles whether to come up with a Republican Agenda to help win a Republican victory in November. John Boehner, the House Minority Leader, has a neat, simple, easy to enforce suggestion that neatly, simply and easily encapsulates the Republican philosophy of government. Boehner told reporters:

Wall Street Reform Passes.

Bill passes over almost every Republican's objection.

Republicans are Worried about the Deficit?

Why can't we get an unemployment-benefits-extension bill passed? Republicans say they don't want to increase the deficit. Why were they against the stimulus bill? Worried about the deficit. The healthcare reform bill? Again, the deficit. But then Republicans shout with one voice: "Maintain the tax cuts. Never mind the deficit."

Corporate Corruption of Washington

Washington is corrupt and getting more corrupt by the day. As an advanced democracy, we should be dismayed. But we're not. We keep merrily rolling along Democrats finding fault with Republicans, Republicans finding fault with Democrats and Independents finding fault with both Democrats and Republicans. The complaints of all of us should be directed instead at the outrageous Washington corruption!

Welfare for Big Oil; Not for People

We have a welfare state. We have millions living on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. And now we have a government takeover of the entire healthcare system. So say Republicans who, are suddenly worried about the ballooning deficit. These are the same Republicans who are screaming for welfare for Big Oil.

Read My Lips: No New Ideas

If you are constantly having to clarify your statements after the fact, it's time to shut up and reconsider what you're saying. After that nice, gift-wrapped gold nugget of a gaffe from Joe Barton, one would think Republicans would pull back and start to think of alternative messages to send. But no, they can't do that, because they've tied themselves to a platform of policy dogmatism the likes of which hasn't been seen in a long time.

Democrats Are Killing the Ants!

The latest criticism from Republicans is that Democrats are killing ants. By ants they mean the huge banks that lost the money of ordinary Americans in casino gambling that brought about the current big depression; the same huge banks that ordinary Americans bailed out.

Obama, the New FDR

Barack Obama promised change to help the little guy. Republicans were upset because they believed Obama meant it. For them, nothing was worse than change. The status quo, where they were in cahoots with Big Business, was working well. Why change it? So the Republican Party decided to delay, obstruct and destruct legislation and to defame, demonize and delegitimize Obama. Nevertheless, President Barack Obama has, in less than 2 years, achieved enough to be compared with FDR!

Spending to Reduce the Deficit

It sounds ridiculous: the more you spend the less you have and therefore spending increases the deficit. However, spending straightforwardly increases the deficit only if you do not consider related factors. If you do, you may find that under certain circumstances spending may reduce the deficit.

Ah, Hypocrisy... How Refreshing!

It’s clear from those speaking on behalf of the Republican Party (and like-minded citizens) that the problem with America is too much government interference, or regulation. They believe that increasing regulation on corporations, especially mega-corporations, such as Big Oil, Big Banking, Big Credit, Big Pharma, and Wall Street, is anti-America, bad for the country, and just plain wrong in every way. Then, on the other hand, at least in regards to the Gulf Oil Tragedy, these same individuals (and their like-minded followers) demand that President Obama not only “do more”, but that he is responsible in part, if not fully, for not doing “enough” to prevent, stop, or fix the disaster.

The Shakedown

Poor Joe Barton. The conservative representative from Texas has been set upon by everybody for his "courageous" act of defending BP. He called BP's agreement to a $20-billion escrow fund to pay claimants a "shakedown." Why is everyone so upset? Aren't shakedowns common every-day occurrences in Washington D.C.?

Another War On The Horizon

The primary mission of the Republic Sentry Party is to work for the abolishment of Corporate Personhood. We believe that before we can proceed as nation we must right some wrongs. Few would argue that we are now governed by 'Corpocracy', by the best government money can buy. Corporate Personhood has rendered our congress and courts irrelevant to the citizenry.

Please read this article thoroughly, debate the issue here and with friends, post it on blogsites and help in the effort to make the public aware of the coming battle to abolish Corporate Personhood law. In that endeavor we believe there are two possible paths to overturning this law. It will require the congress acquiese to Article V Convention whereby ratification by the states of a proposal to abolish Corporate Personhood would amend the Constitution to do so. Another path is through a strong third-party movement that could gain influence in congress and press the Supreme Court to abolish Corporate Personhood.

Otherwise, we have the Corpocracy we deserve….

A Snapshot In Time

Ethics: Charlie Rangel, five term Congressman, hits the courts in September, charged with a number of alleged violations. In March he was asked to give up the Chairmanship of the House Ways And Means Committee.

Beck's Latest Rant

Well, I have just watched the ‘show of the century’, IMO. Following the interference of his 5PM show by the apologetic Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, Beck went on a scathing rampage in eviscerating the MSM and the current administration. Were he not a Libertarian, Hollywood would double his salary on the spot. I do believe no news/entertainment show will ever top his performance this evening, Jul 21st, 2010.

Are You On Board With This?

Does it make sense to you that the U.S. is the only country with an anchor baby policy? Talk about jumping to the front of the line! How did this country get into the anchor baby business? The better question should be, how do we get out of the anchor baby business.

The Ladies Time At Bat

The following article, by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, gives a most comprehensive assessment of ills of Corporate Personhood. Interesting that these women go back to the history of the Founder’s, much in the same vein as Glenn Beck, and for the same reason it appears. To know where we should be going we need to know where we came from. Please read the article thoroughly and then let’s have a debate. But, it is clear that as long as the Corpocracy can divide us, as the article alludes, we have slim chance of REAL reform in any sector. Regaining our Republic, our sovereignty, and our Constitution will require a strong united movement with the specific goal of removing the Corpocracy government.

It's Only Getting Worse!

It is only getting worse. This was the message delivered this morning to the National Governor's Association (NGA) by Erskine Bowles (D), and Alan Simpson (R), co-chairs of the President's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a bi-partisan committee to address the growing debt crisis in the making. Their report to the NGA indicates every year reform is delayed, the cost to fix the problems increases dramatically, and the number of Americans who will suffer the consequences of delays rises significantly. There is a time limit, beyond which, reforms will become meaningless.

A Plea To The MidWest

A Sunday Washington Post article reports that the country may not be ready for a complete insurgency relative to anti-incumbency. While acknowledging that the 2010 midterm elections will have major influence over the power structure in Washington, the writer senses that America’s heartland, the Midwest, may be content with the status quo.

Economics: What Most Folks Should Know

Economics is not intuitively grasped. Paul Siegel at WatchBlog wrote an article that prompted my considered response here. Siegel was right in stating that under the right circumstances, specific and targeted spending can increase government revenues, counterbalancing that spending, both in the the near and more distant future. This same kind of non-intuitive economics applies to lowering taxes and increasing revenues, under a very specific set of circumstances, and with specific limits.

Raging Rum Wars aka Drunken Corpocracy

Not much action on the next thread down relative to abolishing Corporate Personhood law. Perhaps yet more tautology is necessary to indulge the reader. Dan Eggen wrote an article in today’s Wash Post which draws a fine focus on Corporate Personhood and Money Is Free Speech laws. "The rum wars have come to Washington.

Solutions For A Broken Government

Primaries will be held in a dozen states this Tuesday, June 8th. The November election cycle is only five months away. Political pundits are all over the map as to the influence voting groups such as Independents and TEA Party supporters will exert over these elections. It is clear that an anti-incumbency sentiment continues to build across the nation, and with good reason. Far left and far right ideology has waxed heavily on the voting public but, there is an overlying reason for our problems that extends beyond ideology.

My Conversation with Sen. John Cornyn, Citizen's United

Dear Sen. Cornyn,

In your reply to my petition regarding the Citizen's United case, you said:

"I agree with the Supreme Court's decision to strike down a law that violates the intent of the First Amendment, which reads: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the Press."

Thus Begins The Battle

David Remer recently posted that “There is capitalism whose largest players aspire to monopolism and corporate control of governments sanctioned by the Republican Party, and then there is Socialism which taken to its fullest extent attempts to incorporate all human endeavor into the government’s control and regulation and dispensations while meting out an equal share to all, sanctioned by a few Democrats, but, not by any means, the whole Party. Then, in today’s Washington Post an article by Arthur C. Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute, writes that the country is engaged in a ‘culture war’, “on one side, the forces of free enterprise. On the other, an expanding and paternalistic government. It’s time to choose”.

Anatomy of a Political Ad: Insulting Intelligence

GOPUSA has emailed a campaign advertisement letter from Carly Fiorina (R), running to unseat California's Senator Barbara Boxer (D). The ad is an insult to voter's intelligence, and Fiorina is doing the insulting, herself. Before analyzing this ad, let it be said now, that this type of insulting ad is typical of politician's ads from both the major and third parties. Fiorina however, should know better than to insult voter intelligence in a bid for their vote.

Let's Stop The Clock, Right HERE

So, how do you like living in the Corpocracy of late? Only took them 20 years to bring us the greatest transfer of wealth in history, render us the greatest debtor nation, deliver the ‘great recession’ with a very expensive soft landing, and on and on. Ask for the major reason and you get corrupt politicians, corrupt financial institutions, globalized economy, etc. All wrong, IMO.

Economic News Favors Democrats; In the Short Run

In today's business news, Ford sales rise 25% as auto manufacturers see growth in year over year sales. Manufacturing sees 9th straight month of growth. Consumer spending rises for 6th straight month.

Credit Where Credit is Due

Much of what passes for a rich-poor divide is actually more related to a smart-stupid one. A smart person changes his behaviors and habits to adapt to conditions and take advantage of opportunities and minimize problems. Often these changes seem trivial and they often are very small in each instance, but they tend to be compounding and cumulative and end up very big and important.

Call Them Racists - Divide to Win

Democrats are playing the race card & Barack Obama is turning out to be a very divisive president, at least that is what a couple of Democratic pollsters wrote in WSJ. The new strategy is is to call them racists. Democrats understandably worry that they have to defend their record. They long for the halcyon days of burning liberal rage when they could just heap vitriol on Republicans w/o having to stand for anything. They figure that they can light the fire again with the torch of racism.

Biofuels: Food, Fuel & the Future

Biofuels can be a part of our energy future, but are not a solution and they will never play a dominant role. That one of the big ideas I took away from a talk on biofuels at the Wilson Center, called Biofuels: Food, Fuel & the Future. The reason we use fossil fuels is that they are so wonderfully concentrated. Coal, gas or oil represent millions of years of concentrated power of the sun captured by photosynthesis.

Democrats: How are They Doing?

Our Democratic colleagues have run both houses of Congress for almost four years & Obama won the presidency two years ago this November. Enough time has passed to ask, how are they doing? In a sentence: less well than they promised and about as bad as they threatened would happen if we left the other guys in. Most noticeable is the record high budget deficit, which the Obama folks tell us will be 10% of GDP in 2010, up from 9.9% last year, despite (because of) the stimulus.

Owed an Apology

The Sherrod case is big today; tomorrow it won’t much matter. A few years back we had a more serious scandal accusing Bush’s Attorney Alberto Gonzales of politicizing justice. Liberals played it up and demanded investigations. What happened to that? The Obama Justice Department told Congress on Wednesday that a special investigator in the case found no evidence of wrongdoing. All those crying about unfairness in the media might want to apologize to Alberto Gonzales & maybe Karl Rove.

An Honest Discussion About Race

The generations that remember pre-civil rights America have mostly retired or died. We have come a long way, with a biracial president and blacks at all levels of society. Yet to hear some people talk, you might think it was still 1963 ... or even 1863. But the taboos about talking about race are falling. Eric Holder called for an honest discussion. He might get it.

Finish Fannie & Freddie

Fannie May & Freddie Mac helped provoke the recent subprime collapse. They are relics of an earlier age of finance that have outlived their usefulness. Worse, they have become tools and toys for semi-honest politicians of both parties. We should get rid of them both. We should do this in a deliberate and organized way, but the goal should be to end them, not mend them.

Capricious & Disloyal Leadership

It turns out the Shirley Sherrod’s seemingly racist comments were taken out of context. Accusation of racism are often overblown. For Ms. Sherrod the consequences were swift and brutal; the Obama Administration fired her & the NAACP condemned her w/o giving her a chance to respond. They now feign outrage at being fooled. But doesn’t being fooled sometimes imply being a fool? And don’t the rules of good leadership and plain fairness require a little more from employers and rights organizations?

Ongoing Ecological Disasters

China is now the world’s biggest consumer of energy. It passed the U.S. as the world’s bigger emitter of CO2 a couple years ago and accomplishes these things with an economy 1/3 as big as ours. Low energy efficiency and excessive dependence on dirty coal explain why China falls high on the list of ecological disasters. Over the next fifteen years China will build 1,000 gigawatts of new power-generation capacity, the total amount of all electricity-generation capacity in the U.S. today. The big environmental problems will increasingly be beyond our borders. We have to drop our America-centric viewpoint.

Wasted on Youth?

How important is it to reach youth audiences? If you can reach them, can you actually engage with them? And if you can engage, does it stick? I will tell you my thoughts and I ask you to add, agree, or disagree. In other words, I want to tap into the “hive wisdom.”

Racists

NAACP accepted the likes of Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan and Jesse Jackson. They remain silent about the nut cases from the New Black Panther party who recently called for the killing of “cracker” babies. They ignored attacks by SEIU thugs against a black man even though it was caught on tape. But the NAACP did manage to pass a resolution against the Tea Party.

Is it Fair?

Nobody knows if the Republicans will take back either the House or the Senate, so now is a good time for some hypothetical questions about right & wrong. My Democratic friends have expressed various levels of outrage about what they call obstructionism by the minority. Now – hypothetically – is it always bad for the minority to obstruct the majority in a legislature?

Trust is Key

I read Amity Shlaes’ book “the Forgotten Man” a couple of years ago when it first came out just before the big economic downturn. Her timing was excellent in the light of subsequent events and the insights for the Great Depression have been helping me understand the events of the great recession.

A Breach of Trust Kills Cap & Trade

We used to brag about the effectiveness of cap & trade in reducing the elements of acid rain. It is hard to recall that in the 1990s environmentalists talked about forest death (I like the German word for it better – waldsterben) in the same way we might now talk about global warming. Experts feared that it couldn’t be reversed or that it would cost a fortune to change. The cap & trade system brought the problem under control in a short time and for much less money.

Obama’s Malpractice

Obama promised to fix the economy. His advisers threatened that w/o Obama’s aggressive intervention, unemployement could go as high as 8.5%. But after adding billions in debt, unemployment rose well above the worst case of what Obama promised and has stranded America at almost 10%. If Obama was your doctor, you might want to get a second opinion.