June 21, 2012 · 3:26 pm

IT'S THE NRA, NOT ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER WHO SHOULD BE CALLED TO ACCOUNT

IT’S THE NRA, NOT ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER WHO SHOULD BE CALLED TO ACCOUNT

louise Annarino

June 21, 2012

Yesterday, The House Oversight Committee chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R- CA) voted along party lines 23/17 to hold United States Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of congress despite a claim of executive deliberative process privilege by President Barack Obama to protect the unwarranted disclosure of additional documents sought by Issa and committee republicans. This executive privilege applies to a president’s executive branch officials such as Attorney General Holder. It is intended to protect strategies and procedures from falling into the hands of those who would harm the nation’s security. In this case, the documents in question are part of on-going criminal investigations, and contain strategies which would aid and abet those seeking to evade the long arm of justice by the Department of Justice, even as it is pursuing them. As a retired attorney and former Ohio assistant attorney general, I understand and applaud Holder for honoring his oath to uphold and defend the law despite the slur upon his character by Mr. Issa and the Republican leadership. The president is absolutely correct to exert executive privilege in this matter.

Mr. Issa is more interested in blaming the outcome of “Fast and Furious” on President Obama through attacks on Attorney General Holder, and dragging the president into the middle of the issue by forcing him to use executive privilege, than in bringing those at fault to justice. No one form the Bush era has been called to testify or answer his committee’s questions.Issa understands exactly why the president would use the privilege. Issa himself approved such a use for republican presidents in a 2008 hearing where he defended the right of Bush EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson not to answer committee questions.

One must admit it is a brilliant election year strategy, the usual attack where your opponent is strongest and lie to destroy all the praise he rightly deserves. Adhering to his promise to increase transparency, this is the president’s first use of executive privilege. A spokesperson for House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) quickly attacked: “The White House decision to invoke executive privilege implies that White House officials were either involved in the ‘Fast and Furious’ operation or the cover-up that followed. The administration has always insisted that wasn’t the case. were they lying,or are they now bending the law to hide the truth?”

It is also strange that Rep. Issa’s rationale for such dogged pursuit of Mr. Holder is the death of a border agent with a legally purchased and transported gun. Months ago, in his opening statements before the committee, Issa opined that gun control, not crime control is the Obama administration’s real objective. Is the NRA gunning for the two African Americans: Obama and Holder?

Pay attention to the tone. Republicans did everything but call Mr. Holder “boy” during his appearances before the committee. It was painful to watch such an accomplished professional racially demeaned in public view. Pay attention to the timing. Neither the NRA nor Issa, Nor Boehner, nor any Republican called for the resignation of anyone in the Bush administration which first orchestrated “ Fast and Furious”. This is not about executive privilege. This is not about ‘Fast and Furious”. This is not about the death of a border agent. This is about the NRA’s lobbying efforts to block gun control efforts. http://nraila.org/media/7733622/cc-letter-to-issa.pdf In his interview with NRA News Issa agrees with NRA’s Wayne La Pierre call that Holder should be resign. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IF_I4lGl9A  The irony is that the Obama administration has not legislated stiffer gun control, to the dismay of law enforcement, big-city mayors, and citizens injured and killed by unregulated guns.

Below is an article worth reading with 5 more things you should know about the witch hunt against Attorney General Holder and President Obama.

From ThinkProgress:

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/06/13/498521/five-things-to-know-about-the-house-oversight-chairs-witchhunt-against-attorney-general-holder/

Five Things To Know About The Republican Witchhunt Against Attorney General Holder
By Ian Millhiser on Jun 13, 2012 at 9:00 am

In 2006, during the presidency of George W. Bush, the Justice Department launched the first of a series of misguided “gunrunning” schemes that eventually led to the death of federal Agent Brian Terry. Rather than look to ways to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, however, House Oversight Chair Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) spent his tenure as a committee chair trying unsuccessfully to embarrass Attorney General Eric Holder.

Next week, Issa plans to escalate this witchhunt by holding an committee vote on a resolution to hold the Attorney General in contempt of Congress. Here’s what you need to know about this vote:

1. Issa Has No Case: Issa’s uncovered no evidence showing Holder bears any blame for the botched operations begun under George W. Bush, even though the Justice Department turned over thousands of pages of documents concerning the operations. Instead of accepting this fact, Issa has requested many more documents containing confidential information regarding ongoing law enforcement investigations, and is now threatening to hold Holder in contempt if these documents are not turned over. Holder is entirely correct to withhold these documents, however, because Justice Department documents are not subject to congressional subpoena if they would reveal “strategies and procedures that could be used by individuals seeking to evade [DOJ’s] law enforcement efforts.”

2. Reagan’s Justice Department Agreed With Holder: President Reagan’s Justice Department warned in the 1980s that the Constitution’s separation of powers prevents the kind of documents Issa is seeking from being revealed to Congress because of the risk that the legislature could “exert pressure or attempt to influence the prosecution of criminal cases.”

3. Law Enforcement Rejects Issa’s Witchhunt: Issa’s efforts to embarrass Holder are an unnecessary distraction that hinders the Department of Justice’s ability to do its real job. As an organization representing numerous senior law enforcement officials warned Issa, his efforts are “an impediment to the vigorous enforcement of violence and crime.”

4. Even Top Republicans Think Issa Goes Too Far: After Issa leaked his plans to pursue contempt charges to the media, the House Republican leadership pressured him to back off. Indeed, even House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has indicated that Issa is overreaching.

5. Issa Is Fixated On A Conspiracy Theory: Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of this affair is what Issa once suggested his investigation will uncover. In an interview with Sean Hannity, Issa claimed that the Obama administration “made a crisis” when they continued the Bush-era gunrunning operations because they wanted to “us[e] this crisis to somehow take away or limit people’s Second Amendment rights.” This accusation originates from a former militiaman who supports violent resistance to imagined government attempts to seize his guns. And it amounts to an accusation that a series of botched gun stings that begun during the Bush Administration were actually part of a secret Obama plot to release guns to Mexican drug lords, so that those guns could then be used to kill federal agents, which would then cause a national uprising in support of gun control.

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June 12, 2012 · 8:27 pm

DADDY

A break from global politics to family politics today. I was one of the fortunate kids with a good father. I often think of what he would say about the world today. It is really not so different from the one he first deciphered with me. He was a strong Republican;on the local Republican Central Committee. One of his best friends since childhood was Rep. John Ashbrook, a very conservative Republican. Another childhood friend he remained close to his entire life was the Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. This openness to diverse political thought worked just fine back in Dad’s day. Dad was a die-hard republican but he could listen to another point of view. He would make jokes about the other guy “talking like a guy with a paper hat”; but, he would later affirm the “guy might have something there”. He always told me to find a union job which would offer the greatest job security, protection, and best work environment. He was self-employed and could not imagine working for anyone else without a union. Today, his party is intent on destroying unions. Times have changed. I don’t know if dad would have changed to fit the party but I doubt it. He would have told his party it was “talking like a man with a paper hat”. I still don’t know the origins of that phrase,but I get its meaning.

It was understood and Dad imparted to me that all politicians, and all attorneys, are “crooks”; always have their hands out for a donation, or in your pocket for taxes. He told me whenever another’s behavior confused me to “follow the money” and all would be made clear. Still, politics was the core of the community and important stuff according to Dad. He suggested I attend both the Teenage Republicans and Teenage Democrats,both led by friends of his, to see how each party  operated. He encouraged me to visit Congressman Ashbrook when he held week-end office hours at the  Licking County court house and confront his support for Rhodesia even though it practiced apartheid. He knew his friend would deal with the concerns of a fledgling Democrat as equally important to the concerns of a Republican constituent.

In his later years, as he saw the benefit of Democrtically supported programs such as PELL grants, equal pay for women, voting rights, Title VII and Title IX, social security, medicare, disability benefits, unemployment compensation etc.his view of political theory mellowed. His view of politicians did not. He thought the crook Nixon deserved what he got, thought Reagan behaved wrongly and owed the nation an apology for the Iran-Contra Affair, thought Bill Clinton was a sleazy womanizer (most men in power are) but not deserving of  impeachment. By today’s standards he would be a liberal Republican and that description would absolutely enrage him. He prided himself on his conservatism, and voted for John Kennedy, even though “his old man made his money as a bootlegger”. He never asked anyone except the VA for anything. His first reaction to any liberal suggestion was opposition until we discussed it more fully and he could then see some value in the program or policy. Like most hard working small business owners, he had little spare time to research anything on his own, but was willing to learn and change when facts were brought to his attention. He was not an ideologue. He was man who believed most persons could make it on their own.

He also acknowledged some could not. Quietly, anonymously, he helped those people. Sometimes, he thought he could do it better than government. Most other times, he acknowledged government could do it better. He understood the benefits and limitations of government. He held government accountable. That is a true conservative.

We seldom agreed on political theory, and seldom disagreed in political practice. Most moderates are like that. They can see the good in both sides, and the bad in both sides. They want what works for the country. How I miss my dad, those old style Republicans, those moderate voices of reason who could laugh, live, love and work together with Democrats.

On this Fathers’ Day I hope you will recall your own father kindly, if he is no longer with you. And, if he is, let him know how much his wise counsel has meant to you. If we can’t find common ground with our own fathers, how can we hope to find common ground with anyone? There are those who will try to stop an approachment, who do not want Republicans and Democrats to find common ground with one another. Such Tea Party types like “a good fight” better than peacemaking. Ignore them. Have a happy  Fathers’ Day. I’ll be thinking of my conservative, Republican dad. I share my poem with you below:

DADDY

Louise Annarino

Fathers’ Day 2012

Those laughing eyes

and strong hands

which fashioned safety

from the strands

of life

which too often looked

like a cage

but was nothing more

than a ladder

one could climb

on his lap

where every problem

could be left

in his care

so all consuming

which too often felt

like loss of self

but was nothing more

than a cushion

against hard knocks

he absorbed

with his own body

to protect

his children with

a father’s love.

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June 11, 2012 · 2:40 pm

A DAY WITH DAD: ECONOMIC LESSONS OF THE WORKING CLASS

A Day With Dad: Economic Lessons of the Working Class

Louise Annarino

June 11, 2012

 

Feet on the hassock, legs crossed at the ankle, lit pipe dangling over his left lower lip, Angelo lay back against the chair and closed his eyes, hoping the children would give him two minutes to rest.

 

“You shouldn’t sleep while smoking,” chided  5 year old Louise.

 

“I’m just resting my eyes,” her Dad responded with a sigh.

 

It was his questioning child who sat on the floor at his feet, the one who was never satisfied with a simple answer; who always followed each answer he gave with the question, “But why?”. He slowly opened his eyes and stared into his daughter’s questioning gaze. “What did you want?”, he asked.

 

“Can I have a horse?”

 

“No.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Horses need a lot of room to run. We don’t have enough property for a horse.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“We can’t afford a farm; we can’t even buy this house. And even if we could it would not be large enough for a horse.”

 

“Why can’t we buy a farm?”

 

“We don’t have enough money.”

 

“How do we get money?”

 

“You think money grows on trees; we have to work for it.”

 

“Can we work more so we can get more money?”

 

“I already work 14-16 hour days 7 days a week. I can’t work any more than I already do.”

 

 

“Oh. Well, if you work so hard why don’t you have enough to buy a house?”

 

“Because it takes money to make money, and we started our business with very little money.’

 

“Can I work?”

 

“No, you are too young.”

 

“If I can’t get money, then how can I make more money?”

 

“You can’t.”

 

“But, why not?”

 

“Ask the rich people.”

 

“How did they get rich?”

 

“They dad’s or grandads stole it from someone else, starting with the Indians, and used it to make more money.”

 

“It’s wrong to steal, isn’t it?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why don’t rich people share their money so everyone can make more money? Then, no one would be poor.”

 

“Rich people never share anything. They don’t even pay their bills. I would rather cater a wedding for a poor man than a rich one. Poor people pay me right away. The rich people complain about every little thing and try to avoid paying the full bill. They delay,delay,delay. Some of them have never paid me.”

 

“But, why not?”

 

“They think they are entitled to my hard work;that they are better than us.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because we are working stiffs.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because we were poor.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because.”

 

“But, why because.”

 

 

 

 

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June 10, 2012 · 8:42 pm

SO HE'S NOT PERFECT

SO, HE’S NOT PERFECT

Louise Annarino

June 8, 2012

I have been asked on more than a few occasions, by Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Rand supporters if there is anything I don’t like about President Obama. The question is a legitimate one since I remain so supportive of our current president, willingly and strongly oppose any attack upon his presidency or personhood, and encourage others to support him at every opportunity that one might consider my approval of the president too good to be true.

Supporting Obama, or any candidate for that matter, does not mean that one approves his every move, agrees with every position, or does not cringe upon occasion. It does not mean one is unable to assess with reason and wisdom Obama’s actions, or failure to act. It does not mean one does not appreciate certain positions of opposition candidates, nor of the opposition party. There are things I appreciate about every political party. I am seldom 100% happy with any of them.

We are all human. The Tower of Babel fell thousands of years ago and we have had trouble communicating with one another ever since. Of course we experience mistrust, tension and fear of one another. We are destined to disagree with one another. How do we overcome this? How do we not become cynical? How do we build a future in such a confusing world where people behave so contrarian? How do we remain supportive of one another? How do we move forward?

We move forward as President Obama has shown us: by simply putting one foot in front of the other and doing the best we can with what we have to work with. That is what a pragmatist does. Ideologues rant and rave, whine and tear up, demean and distort, and poke their fingers in another’s face. The pragmatist keeps on “keeping on”. While the moaners and groaners fall behind, the pragmatist moves forward. He never gives up. When he reaches a brick wall, he climbs over it, digs under it, or goes around it; but, he keeps moving. I recognize this trait in president Barack Obama because it is one of my own.

Some say President Obama and I are stubborn. Maybe so. I just know giving up on the goal is not an option; letting go of the plan, however, is often necessary and wise. We don’t always produce what we hoped for, but we keep producing. We don’t always reach the goals we sought, but we move closer. My writing is not always the best. I keep writing; and, leave to the Creator, the rest. Like President Obama, writers need thick skins. They offer themselves to the public, expecting  little but negative feedback.

Like President Obama, writers can take constructive criticism. Here is a list of criticisms of the man I fully support:

1.  Afghanistan – Leave ASAP or sooner.

2.  We need universal health care – medicare for all- single payer plan.

3.  Immigration – Dream Act immediately/prioritize unification of families over deportation/better quota system. Rein in ICE.

4.  Stop referring to Congress as the problem – Republicans in House and Republicans in Senate are obstructionists;not your own party. the vote statistics tell the tale. Use the data. Be clear and specific as to who is obstructing your efforts; Name names.

5.  Insist on Stimulus: explain that government must lead the recovery and why.

6.  Demand more proactive Justice Department – voting rights, civil rights, wall street fraud and collusion. Go after those who sank our economy with fraudulent schemes, including the “best bankers” in the country.

7.  More fireside chats for all, fewer rallies for supporters.

8.  Walk with Labor- we missed your promised leadership in Wisconsin.

9.  Rehire government workers – regular salary increases and no furloughs.

  1. You lead and let Republicans attack and show their true colors. Better to fight and lose, than to accede to wrong policies and principles.
  2. No more back-room deals with ANYBODY.

I wake up every day happy to know Barack Obama leads this country. I don’t believe anyone could do better than he has done with so little to work with and with such oppositional behavior by members of both parties; and despite Republican party obstructionism intended solely to destroy his presidency. Like other African-Americans before him, he has been measured against untenable standards to which white men are not held. He has faced daily racial assaults;some openly racist, most covert, and some subliminal even to the perpetrator. The intent of the Republican leadership is not simply to win the 2012 election, but to create such a negative and powerless image of an African-American presidency that we won’t soon elect another person of color. It is not simply about this election;it is about our racial history.

I could not be prouder of the way President and Ms. Obama face such long odds in our racially charged society, and overcome them. I am certain few, and certainly none of the current crop of, candidates could ever come close to their interpersonal and leadership skills. Politics is dirty business, and no politician can lead without getting muddy. But President Obama is open about this, admits his failures, remains transparent in his undertakings and asks us to hold him accountable. This is why I am voting for President Obama. He is not always able to make me perfectly happy;  but then, who could? Not Mr. Romney. Not Mr. Paul. He’s not perfect, and neither am I. None of us is.

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June 8, 2012 · 7:51 am

RUNNING TO CATCH UP: A Fathers' Day Tribute

RUNNING TO CATCH UP

Louise Annarino

May 29, 2012

 

My first memories of my father are the most precious, foreshadowing our life-long relationship. My five feet four inch giant, happy-go-lucky father would scoop me up with both arms, lift me high with legs dangling, then tuck me into the crook of his right arm, both of us chuckling madly at our good fortune. I was just learning to toddle and could not keep up with my parents and three year old brother whose hand Mom kept in a firm grasp. As I got a older, it was Dad who held my hand, as Mom gripped the hands of both my older and younger brothers. They seemed a world apart from me and Dad. While Mom was intent on teaching the boys to walk like little gentlemen at her side, Dad and I were off on a merry jaunt.

 

While Dad loped along with an easy gait, my short legs scissored so fast to keep the pace I would trip. Up I went into Dad’s arms. He never slowed down, nor stopped grinning at me as if we held some grand secret, even as Mom chided him to slow down and let me walk! I can still see his discomfort trying to arrange the frilly dress and crinolines layered over his arm, while Mom rolled her eyes at him. He loved to make Mom roll her eyes. He would reward her with a kiss and a laugh.

 

Dad’s cousins had warned her before they married “Angelo is ornery.” Mom liked ornery. We all liked ornery. Dad worked long hours with his brothers John, Joe, and Frank and cousin Johnny “Dayton” running an Italian-American restaurant. Every other week, it was his turn to be home between 5 and 7 pm before returning to stay later to close. That meant we could have our supper all together.  We would fight over who got to sit next to Dad. Mom joked, only because she knew we could never afford a new one,she would soon buy a table with a hole in the center for Dad to sit in so we would each be near him. 

 

Dad could draw the best cartoons and funny pictures, but he could not spell worth a darn. His notes to school would read, “please excuse Lousie from class as she had a sure throat and we had to keep her home.” “Lousie? Dad, you called me lousie! Sure throat?” I would protest. “Sister knows who you are,”answered Dad. “Don’t worry. Nobody’s perfect. It will give her a good laugh! She needs one.” She did. Most teaching sisters did need a good laugh. Most Moms, too. Dad kept them all laughing. 

 

Mom could never threaten us with “Wait ‘til your Dad gets home.” Dad usually thought our daily shenanigans great fun. He would try very hard to keep a straight face as he berated us for some activity my Mother thought out of bounds. Then he would relate some of the trouble he got himself into as a kid, “one-upping” us every time.No one held their breath over Dad’s discipline. 

 

It was Mom who chased us through the house with a wooden spoon to smack our behinds. She could not run very fast, she seldom got close enough to connect spoon to backside. Her aim was awful, too! Faking her frustration at her failure to get us, she would crack that spoon over the telephone bench so hard it broke in half. “Next time,” she would threaten, “when I buy a stronger spoon!” It took years, and many broken spoons, to realize Mom had had no intention of catching us.

 

The only time silence and tears welled up in us over Dad’s discipline style was when he took off his belt and ordered my older brother into the bathroom for a whipping, with Mom’s full support. I remember sitting at the table, looking at the faces of my younger brothers, our eyes open wide in fear, as the sound of the belt connecting was followed by Angelo,Jr.‘s tearful screams. As both Angelos rejoined a now solemn group of children at the table, my brother would be wiping the moisture from his face, his and dad’s eyes downcast, faces blushed in humiliation. We were the best-behaved kids on the block for at least the next twenty-four hours, an eternity to us. 

 

It was not until one Thanksgiving at that same table, thirty years later that we learned the dirty little secret about Dad and Angelo. Taking his tight belt off so he could eat a second helping of Mom’s lasagna (yes,we had turkey and lasagna),we started a discussion about other instances where Dad had to take off his belt. The Angelos finally confessed that Dad would hit the clothes hamper with his belt instructing Angelo to fake screams. Before leaving the bathroom, Angelo would splash water on his face to create false tears. Both kept their eyes downcast when they rejoined the table to stop the laughter they each held back, blushing with the effort. All those years we had wondered why only Angelo ever got the belt.

 

Mrs. Rowe lived on the huge lot behind us which stretched from the side street all the way to the alley. Neighborhood kids played baseball there until she called “Kreager”, the truant officer, to report our trespassing. Kreager would tell Dad, stopping in for a drink at the restaurant before he headed down to the south-end to clear us out, so Mom could get everyone out of Mrs. Rowe’s yard before Kreager showed up. This seemed to make everyone happy for the moment and no one had to worry about going to juvenile hall for playing baseball in Mrs. Rowe’s yard. I once hid in the bushes along the alley edging her property and overheard Mrs. Rowe chastise him for being so slow in responding to her calls. She desperately wanted him to catch the “juvenile delinquents” in the act. Kreager answered her that she should be glad we wanted to play in her yard. Our poor neighborhood had no playgrounds, no place for kids to be kids. She should “do her part” and let us have a place to play so we did “not become juvenile delinquents,” he told her. In such overheard conversations are great truths revealed to children.

 

Mrs. Rowe had an ancient and fertile apple tree in her yard, just over the wall between us but not within reach of our short arms. The tree produced sweet,firm yellow-green apples on limbs far above our heads. The ground apples were fine for Mom to make applesauce, but not for eating. We stood slightly out from under the tree hurling the fallen apples, knocking the good apples to the ground where we would gather them up. Mrs. Rowe was no happier with chucking apple-pickers than with ball players. She informed us “I don’t want you kids in my yard knocking apples out of the tree. You can have any apple you find on the ground, but do not stand in my yard and throw apples at the tree.” This was no bother for Mom but left us dissatisfied until we got the bright idea to use the clothes-line pole to extend our reach. 

 

We still had to find a way to reach those apples without standing in Mrs. Rowe’s yard, focusing on the stand in my yard part of her reproach. So, I stood on our wall and swung the pole out toward the tree, while my brothers waited below. Swinging the pole didn’t knock down a single apple but invariably knocked me off the wall. We gave up. The boys went off to play near the railroad tracks. 

 

I went inside surprised to find Dad asleep in his chair on a rare afternoon break, while Mom fixed dinner. I awoke Dad and asked for his help outside. He came without question, still half-asleep. I placed him on the wall and handed him the pole, instructing him to start swinging the pole at the apple tree as soon as I climbed over the wall into Mrs. Rowe’s yard. I forgot to tell him about listening for the squeaky door hinge which would tip him off that Mrs. Rowe was about to discover us. That loud hinge gave me just enough time to hide in the bushes. Thus, when Mrs. Rowe came around the corner off her porch all she found was Dad, standing on the wall, swinging the laundry pole, apples flying out of her tree. “Mr. Annarino! No wonder your children are such delinquents. Shame on you.”

 

I waited unti
l Mom called us all in for dinner, expecting a stern lecture or worse from Dad. Instead, as soon as he saw me Dad started laughing out loud asking, “Where on earth did you get to so fast? How did you know to run?” He thought it one of my best pranks, ever.  But, he admonished, it was one we could never repeat. With Dad,everything that happened in life was a cause for joy; and,learning life’s lessons was always fun.

 

Dad, Mom, Mr.Kreager, Mrs. Rowe – each of them so far ahead of us, with so much to teach us simply by being themselves. Each of them loving us and expecting us to grow into respectful and respected adults. But, it is Dad’s lessons and laughter I hold dearest. His ability to see the absurdity of rules, his ability to avoid the ordinariness of daily living by adding his own creative spark, his willingness to risk the haughty stares of others for a bit of good fun made every day a delight for us. We had no wealth, but we ate well. We never took vacations, but were always on vacation from disquiet and poverty. We worked hard within the harsh reality of the working poor, but we laughed harder than the seriously wealthy. Dad was a man on the go his entire life. He has been gone over 12 years. I am still running to catch up.

 

Happy Fathers’ Day from a daddy’s girl.

 

 

 

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June 8, 2012 · 7:42 am

THE RAINS WILL COME

 

THE RAINS WILL COME

Louise Annarino

June 7, 2012

 

It has been so dry here. Finally, the rains have come to clear the air of pollution and allergens and the whisper of ruined crops. Plants freshen their colors in the mix of water and carbon dioxide absorbed by their leaves, painting new lines of life for roots to grow deeper and  leaves to reach higher as the soil dries and expands in the coming days.

 

I hear the birds as if at a distance, not of miles but of hiding away in nearby bushes. They playfully sing out to one another, chattering away between moments of sublime wealth as they open their beaks to tiny drops of moisture. Gratitude lifts them while their wings remain folded tight against their sides.

 

A moment in time to reflect upon this 2012 presidential campaign where my words fall on parched ground, hoping to drown out the pollution which fills our airwaves, the allergens of bad intent which harm our civil discourse. I seek a cleansing of the hurt and anger I sense in my fellow citizens who suffer such poverty of body, mind and emotion after years of struggling to merely keep up, knowing they fall farther and farther behind,as the few march strong and sure ahead. My words rain on the parade of those who have made it ahead of the curve, before the streets fell part, factories closed, and our health was destroyed by the food and chemicals we ingest from a chemical and hormone-soaked soil, draining into algae-ridden waterways, and the water we drink. All for their profit, parade organizers, funded by a handful of billionaires, lead the way, tossing few pieces of candy to the crowd in promise of nothing more substantial than the grins of those who win.

 

Are we mere children? Does a piece of candy tossed our way suffice to give our vote away and suffer the lies of a candidate who will say anything to lead the parade? Who has left most of us behind every time in order to get ahead? Does a piece of candy suffice to give our vote away to a candidate who acknowledges he deliberately sent his goons to disrupt his opposition’s public discussion of economic issues he fears will disclose his true Massachusetts record? Does he think that impresses those of us who seek to know truth, who believe it will set us free? Does he not know that the rains will come regardless of his ability to spend $1.3 million dollars on campaign ads? Even he cannot stop the rain from falling. What else doesn’t he know?

 

Does he believe everyone will simply stand still as voters are removed from the polls simply because they might not vote for him, as voters are restricted to time and place to prevent votes being cast at all, as voters are refused information needed to find their correct voting location, as voters are permitted to show gun permits but not university ID in order to cast a vote? Does he think we cannot see through the dust he has kicked up? The rains will come. The dust will settle. And he will lose. The parade will go one and we will be marching, not watching along the sidelines, and we will leave him in his dust. He can keep his candy for himself. We never wanted it.

 

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June 4, 2012 · 2:16 pm

TALK TO SOMEONE YOU DON'T KNOW

TALK TO SOMEONE YOU DON’T KNOW

Louise Annarino

June 4, 2012

 

One of the most common campaign mistakes is the amount of time spent talking to those people you know. They already know what you think. They either agree or disagree. You have had plenty of time to sway them. Talking to them is liking talking to yourself. They already know you want their money, and give what they can. Asking them for donations is like taking candy from a baby. Of course we need to talk to our supporters. they need to be informed, enticed and rewarded for whatever they can do to help the campaign. Contacting them on a regular basis lets them know they are needed and appreciated.

 

There is so much more to a campaign, some of it scary. Let’s do the scary stuff for a change and reach out to those we do not know, in places we have never gone, doing things we have never tried. This is how we expand our base, our voting block, and our volunteer list. This is how we spread the effort so wide each person’s burden is lessened, making the campaign fun rather than a chore.

 

It would be thrilling to see such outreach occurring; but,I would be happy this election cycle to see more of what we learned from the past. Where are the Obama supporters on the corner at the farmers’ market passing out bumper stickers, buttons and signing up voters or making address changes? How many canvasses are going on every week-end? how many phone bank events are being held? Where? When? Who is giving this information to those who would help if only they knew about the events. Who is coordinating fairs and festivals? Where are the flyers? Bulletin boards around town show no indication of campaign activity. Where are the newsletters encouraging participation?

 

I see plenty of fundraiser invitations for local candidates. We need those. When President Obama came to town and we needed to fill up the Schott a concerted effort to recruit attendees occurred. Then, it stopped. The real effort right now seems to be to get signatures on a non-partisan petition to place a referendum on the ballot to improve redistricting in Ohio. Ohio desperately needs to correct the abuses in our current redistricting plan. I get that. What I don’t get is that we are diverting so many resources to this effort while ignoring, delaying, overlooking the imminent need to build a strong Ohio campaign to re-elect Barack Obama and Senator Sherrod Brown.

 

Promoting the $250-10,000 fundraisers for these candidates is only the beginning of a campaign. Money will help, but money won’t win this election. We need to put more effort into the grassroots campaign. We can only do this with more volunteers. We can only get more volunteers by reaching out beyond our comfort zone, day-after-day.week-after-week. We need a presence at every local event, no matter how small, even if simply someone wearing a t-shirt, carrying buttons, holding a clipboard with sign-up sheets. We need to put flyers on every public bulletin board at every business in town. If they get taken down, put a new one back up.

 

When recruiting volunteers we need to already have a variety of events coming up quickly which we can plug them into. They lose interest and ability to help as their daily schedules get filled. Keep a list on you of every upcoming campaign activity. Always be ready to recruit.

 

I know, so why don’t I do this like I did the last time? I can hear your sighs through the key board. I am not physically well enough to participate yet. But, we cannot wait for me to get well, for the petition drive to wind down, for the summer fun to end. Is there someone out there willing to take on these tasks? Willing to help Worthington’s Glenda and Lucie find more volunteers? Willing to form smaller neighborhood units to expand the work of the neighborhood teams? Willing to have a registration effort at the library every Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon? Willing to stand on the corner of the Farmers’ Market every Saturday? Able to roam Comfest, Red-White-And Boom, 4th of July parade etc.? We need not wait for anyone to give the go ahead. Simply go ahead! Wear your Obama garb. Carry a clear plastic envelop containing buttons and bumper stickers so the crowd can see what you have. Carry a clipboard with volunteer sign-up sheet and voter registration forms. Never split up your group. One person walking around like that looks pathetic, and people clear a path to avoid you; but, a group looks like a “happening” and attracts others to you.You’ll draw a crowd. Just don’t block the sidewalk and give anyone cause to complain.

 

If this sounds like the ranting of an anxious supporter, it does because it is. There is no time to lose. Having only a blog as a means of contributing makes me feel like a horse with the bit between its teeth, pulled out of the race. It makes me anxious. Please, talk to one person you do not know today and ask them, “Do you support President Obama? Can you come to -name some activity- and help us out for about an hour?” Then, ask another person tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after that. Let’s get the ball rolling. This is not going to be easy, but it is doable and it can be a lot of fun enough of us get involved. JUST DO IT!

 

 

 

Location:

Franklin County OFA Ohio HQ Office (Columbus, OH)

1973 Dublin-Granville Rd

Columbus, OH 43229

 Directions:

Located in the Beechcroft Center.

 

 

FIND AN EVENT AT:      https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_results?orderby=day&zip_radius%5b0%5d=43085&zip_radius%5b1%5d=40&country=US&radius_unit=mi

 

CREATE AN EVENT AT:  https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/create?source=primary-nav

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June 1, 2012 · 2:19 pm

PIRATES AT THE HELM?

PIRATES AT THE HELM ?

Louise Annarino

June 1, 2012

 

As Fathers’ Day nears I have been thinking about the fathers of America and what they are thinking about our presidential candidates. Polls show that the largest group of Democratic candidate President Barack Obama’s supporters are women; the largest group of Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s, white men. Clearly, the patriarchal position of Republican policies and legislative agenda does not sit well with most women. Also, President Obama’s record abounds with efforts to empower and protect women and their children. Men who think they can offer platitudes to women are sadly mistaken, and will not gain women’s support by returning them to second-class citizenship.

 

But, it is the men who cause me to ponder. One would expect strong support for a president who is hands-on seeking out and destroying the enemies who attacked us on 9/11, who works hard to assure our military and veteran’s have our full support and gratitude; who repeatedly asks congress for approval and support to rebuild our bridges,  ports, roads, airports and infrastructure; and who seeks legislative reform to  bring home companies which have moved off-shore, rebuild our manufacturing platform, gives tax breaks to small business etc. to encourage economic growth. Since President Obama took office we have only moved forward with an on-going increase in productivity, job retention and creation, GNP, and a reduction in unemployment. They must understand that slow and steady growth which is sustainable over the long term is best for our economic stability as the world’s economic powerhouse. While currency values fall worldwide, the U.S. dollar remains strong.

 

And, it is the men who cause me to ponder when they seem unwilling to consider how President Obama explores changes which will transform how we educate their children. I realize rich men need not be concerned; they simply send their children to the best schools money can buy: low class size, highly paid and trained staff, broad extracurricular opportunities, readily available tutoring and support services. But even working men, whose children attend public schools in overcrowded classrooms, with poorly paid staff who must use their own money to enrich classroom activities, who must deal with those unruly and emotionally stressed children of poverty without anyone’s support; men who must pay for their children to play sports and engage in other extracurricular opportunities out of their unemployment checks who oppose this president. Why do such men, such fathers, oppose what is in their own best interest, and the interests of their wives and children?

 

Do they believe Mitt Romney, who as Governor of Massachusetts plunged that state to 47th. in the nation in jobs creation will do better as president? Do they really believe that a man who made his living by destroying the livings of men like them will protect them and their families? I am sure his equity firm made companies more profitable. He did so by eliminating union and non-union workers, reducing wages of workers who remained, stopping workers’ health care coverage. Once the company was profitable, however, his company withdrew those profits to repay the bank loans he had used to buy the company in the first place. Then, he used what profit remained to repay his investors and pay himself the fees to which he was entitled. Often, he had to sell off the equipment needed to continue production.

Finally, the company he tells you his equity firm made more profitable had to file bankruptcy. Since there were no longer assets, nor sufficient equipment to continue to create worth there was no means to pay retirement benefits to the workers who lost their jobs. The companies eventually closed. The bankruptcy court approved termination of retirement benefits for people who had worked their whole lives for the company.

 

This is how Mitt Romney became a self-described successful businessman and multi-millionaire. I don’t call that success; I call that legal piracy.  Like a pirate his money rests in off shore accounts one would need a map to discover. He’s not telling; not even disclosing his prior tax returns. Is this what makes him appealing to men? Do they all want to play pirate? Do they all think if they follow Romney they will become wealthy, too. Do they want a pirate at the helm of our Ship of State? At what cost to their women and children? At what cost to their country, and mine?

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May 30, 2012 · 3:53 pm

Time to Grow UP

AMERICA’S TEEN YEARS ARE OVER

Louise Annarino

May 30, 2012

 

In 1978, as Columbus Legal Aid Society staff attorney, I had a client who had traveled to the Nebraska Territory as a 5 year old, her bare feet dangling over the back edge of the Conestoga wagon. As she was making her way west with her family, my Italian immigrant grandparents were being processed through Ellis Island. The timing of these events seemed to my young mind to be in the ancient past. These were events I had studied in history books. Interviewing my client that day affirmed what I had also been taught in history class – America is a young nation.

 

Over the years, I have often had to remind myself that young countries, like young people are often impetuous, misguided, unable to imagine a future where they are not the center of everyone’s universe. As we age we realize we are but a small part of the whole, no one is really paying any attention to us, and we need to think before acting to avoid mistakes. Young people are the gods of instant gratification. Older people are surprised whenever they have reason to feel gratified. Accepting less than what one hoped for is all too commonplace. Okay replaces great, good replaces perfect in the  vocabulary of the mature.

 

Tall tales are told by every age group; but,the young are more likely to believe them. Ad agencies, abetted by entertainment-focused news media have institutionalized tall-tale telling in America. And America is still young enough, naive enough, and gullible enough  to believe what it reads, sees, and hears. We chide the ancient Greeks, Italians and Vikings for their ancient wisdom urging them to act like the teenagers we act like. Teens assume everyone is the same, and hide any unique characteristic which would set them apart from their friends. They travel in packs, alert for any opportunity to enhance their stature or wealth, with the least amount of effort and few accomplishments to justify it.

 

Maybe it is time America grew up. Maybe it is time we only reward those who contribute to the common good and the survival of America. Maybe it is time to realize we are not infallible and admit when we make mistakes. Maybe it is time to accept those civilizations which survive are those which have something positive to offer the world: art, music, freedom, education, compassion, wisdom, openness to the gifts of other nations.

 

Maybe it is time we grew up. Maybe it is time to see bravado and war-mongering as a sign of  fear and weakness. Maybe it is time to see stereotypes and discrimination as a lack of imagination and knowledge. Maybe it is time to see distorting truth and manipulating economic markets for private gain over public good as greed and piracy.

 

Mature nations and mature people know themselves well, take time to learn others well, remain true to reality, understand life is difficult and complex, make decisions calmly and  with the input of those more knowledgeable than themselves, can cooperate and assimilate, mediate and confront with more light than heat. Mature persons reserve their strength, their opinion, their actions for the greatest impact. Mature persons are other-centered, not me-centered. A mature person would not associate with a buffoon-ignoramus-racist, going to the lowest level of American politics to win the presidency.1

 

I do not intend to vote for a teenager. I shall vote for the adult in the room, President Barack Obama. His leadership during his first term has been measured and mature, focused and decisive, cooperative and comfortably confrontive. America is now a mature player on the world stage; steady and dependable, self-assured and polite, strong and supportive of a more mature and peaceful world. Neither America nor President Obama are perfect; but, they are good. They are very good!

 

 

1. Matthews: Romney ‘Going To The Lowest Level Of American Politics’ With Trump Appearance, Noah Rothman,5:59 pm, May 29th, 2012,  http://www.mediaite.com/tv/matthews-romney-going-to-the-lowest-level-of-american-politics-with-trump-appearance/

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May 28, 2012 · 1:52 pm

CHANTING FOR FREEDOM

CHANTING FOR FREEDOM

Louise Annarino

May 28, 2012

 

Perhaps it comes from attending Mass every day between the ages of 6 and 18, singing Gregorian Chant as part of the liturgy, which brought me such peace each morning and created my world view. Perhaps it was the chant itself.Chant flows seamlessly, each voice modulated to mingle with those of other chanters rather than lifting one voice above others. If every chanter took a breath at the same time, the fabric of the chant would tear, leaving tiny holes through which the notes would fall away. So, chanters learn to listen closely to nearby chanters, stretching the time to take a breath before or after that of those on left or right, to keep the fabric of communal song strong and vibrant. Chant is complex, rising and falling across chords layered in groups and overlapping phrases. When a soloist  lifts high a clear voice soaring above the whole, that single voice remains supported by the underlying chant of the group.

 

Chant is organic, flowing, ceaselessly seeking release as its power grows then crests and subsides, finally coming to rest in an eternal ohm. Chant leaves one attuned to others, supportive of one another, more alive within the whole than a single voice alone can do. Chant builds strength in cooperation and sharing. Chanters let go of ego, sacrifice personal control and individuality for the greater good.They know the song, the chant, the melody will enrich all who sing and all who listen. It will lift the entire universe in prayerful energy toward light and away from darkness into joy, toward strength and away from fear into freedom. It is ironic that such communal effort should result in joyful, fearless freedom.

 

When I hear presidential candidates talk about being free I listen carefully. Being free is the hallmark of our nation. Not one of us wants anything less than freedom. And, we describe it in many different ways. We talk about freedom from something: from taxes- from want, from dictators-from anarchy, from crime-from oppression.We talk of freedom of something: religion, speech, assembly. We talk of freedom to do something: marry, bear arms, pursue happiness. But, what is the underlying basis of freedom? What is the common thread which allows us to be free rather than puts us in chains?

 

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s dramatic opening statement in his treatise “The Social Contract” explains “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. One man thinks himself the master of others, but remains more of a slave than they are.” the very fact that Rousseau titles his work “The Social Contract” implies an answer.

 

With the first part of his opening sentence, Roussseau distinguishes the common good interests of “the sovereign”, the collective group of all citizens, from the private interests of each individual citizen. Are these competing or complimentary interests? It depends upon which song the nation sings. I prefer chant, in which each individual understands and appreciates his unique contribution to the group; and adjusts tone, cadence, rhythm, and vocal power for the common good. If man has chained himself to others for the common good, he remains free. It is only when others chain a man against his right to be free that he becomes enslaved. So long as man creates and attaches his own  thread to the common good, he can remain free. He is free to participate as an equal, empowered in a way he could not be on his own, and the result is greater freedom and power for the group.

 

The American system of slavery, and its current remnants is illustrative of Rousseau’s second statement. Those who think they are masters over others are more enslaved than those they seek to control. America’s premise that all men are created equal and have equal rights, is enshrined in her constitution and its amendments. Yet, for too long we chained our nation’s wealth and productivity to the system of slavery. Although America abolished slavery, we continue to chain our wealth and productivity to a system recognizing the rights of masters over workers,investors over laborers,the privileged over the 98%. It is not by chance that political operative Grover Norquist insists every Republican candidate take “the Pledge” to not raise any tax; nor close any tax loophole for those who believe themselves rightful masters over laborers. Such a pledge hardly allows a legislator or presidential candidate the freedom to work for the common good. Whom is enslaved by such a pledge?  Those who claim themselves our masters. Why do we allow this?  We allow it because we have yet to address the underlying justification that masters must remain in control: race, sex, and class.

 

E Pluribus Unum, Out of many One, is the fabric of America and the fabric of chant. We are all Americans, and all Americans are equal. But, having a bi-racial president has proven too much for some Americans. Those who seek to make President Obama the other, seek to deny his status as their equal because they do believe all Americans are free and equal. In order to justify denying some Americans freedom and equality, these persons must deny those Americans are as American as themselves. People of color, women, LGBT, new immigrants cannot be allowed to believe themselves equals, nor masters over themselves, nor over anyone else. A Black president cannot be allowed to disprove the construct by which some believe themselves masters over others.

 

To justify the determined ruination of the Obama presidency, he must become something (not someone) people can hate. He is described as a Muslim terrorist, a N*****, or Black liberation theologist ala Rev. Wright. He is a socialist, communist, fascist; some misguided souls say all three at the same time! They see no inconsistency in describing him simultaneously as a  strong and overpowering despot, and a weak and overwhelmed failure. The message is simple, “He is not like us”. Therefore, he is not entitled to equality, nor freedom. We use this ploy to train soldiers to kill the other: Japs,rag heads,gooks. 

 

In dehumanizing others so we can find a way to justify killing them, we dehumanize ourselves. We chain ourselves to lies. We give up our freedom to be fully, painfully human. No apologies needed.Our apologies are lies themselves, “IF (but of course only the other would say so) my words (not my SELF) or my actions (which I cannot remember) hurt anyone, I apologize. Man is born free, and is everywhere chained to self-deception.

 

Obama haters want to take back their, not his, country. They cut holes in the fabric we weaves to make America strong, productive, and a beautiful “one out of many” nation. It is easy to lie about the other, when we are lying to ourselves about ourselves. Once we start lying, it is difficult to stop. Until we honestly face what we are recovering racists, we feel more comfortable with lies than with truth. We remain enslaved, while attempting to enslave others. If only President Obama had stayed in his place, this country would be fine. We would all be wealthy. We would all be free to serve our own interest at the expense of the environment, mortgage security, the middle class, public education, equal pay, immigration reform,finding Bin Laden and hobbling Al Qaeda,commodities oversight,Wall Street regulation,closing Guatanamo,speeding up economic recovery through government investment in our communities etc. The boy needs to be taught a lesson. You think this is hyperbole?

 

Think back to the George W. Bush re-election to his second term. He had created the largest deficit and waged  two wars without raising taxes to pay them for the first time in our history; instead,funding them from loans from China. He lied and used others to unwittingly lie to justify invading Iraq; then joked about not finding weapons of mass destruction when he spoke at the Washington Correspondents’ Dinner, pretending to look for them under the table. He declared “mission accomplished” in Iraq as his unwarranted war escalated out of control at the cost of thousands of American and Iraqi lives. He announced he was not interested in finding Bin Laden, it was really not that important, and he took his eye off Afghanistan to invade Iraq making it more difficult for President Obama to wind up operations and end the Afghan war.

 

Under George W. Bush, Wall Street’s investment bankers and commodities traders were unregulated and out of control, creating unsafe investment packages with little to no real value other than to hedge fund investors’ huge profits,and a housing bubble based on unregulated and predatory mortgage lending practices. Banks were primed for failure, failing at such a rate that the FDIC was underfunded to handle the losses it guaranteed. President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, even though it was less stringent than he had hoped for.1 Republicans still block his efforts to implement rules to enforce Dodd-Frank, and have refused to approve “anyone” Director of the newly created Consumer Protection Agency, forcing President obama to make a recess appointment. 2

 

President Bush spent 35% of his presidency vacationing at his Crawford Ranch, his parents home in Kennebunkport, Maine and Camp David.3 All presidents need time away from the White House, their vacation homes and Air Force One are equipped for business as usual. But the sheer percentage of time away must have left an impression on second-term voters. When president Obama used a much smaller jet to take his wife out for an anniversary dinner in Chicago one evening, it was considered an assault on U.S. taxpayers.

 

Energy prices skyrocketed under George W. Bush. He is on record stating that cheap energy was bad for America. U.S. oil production was low, refinery capacity at an all-time low. 4 Under President Obama, U.S. Oil production is at an all-time high, storage is at full capacity. Yet, he is attacked for being anti-oil production, while V.P. Cheney made secret deals to increase profits for energy companies behind closed doors of the Bush White House.  Oil is traded on the global market. No president is able to control oil prices. But regulatory oversight of commodities futures’ trades, increased production and legislative plans to make use of U.S. production at home, as proposed by Democrats, can influence the costs at home. President Obama’s plan does just that, despite unwarranted and distorted attacks by candidate Mitt Romney.5

 

When George W. Bush was re-elected despite what all agreed was a somewhat less than stellar performance during his first term, common knowledge affirmed that he carried the benefit accrued by any incumbent. Why does this reasoning not apply to President Obama? Gas prices were higher during George W. Bush, yet current gas prices are offered as a reason to vote out this incumbent.

 

The Iraq War has ended and Afghanistan War continues, scheduled to end by 2014. In the past, common knowledge held we not change presidents in the midst of war. This was one reason given for the re-election of incumbent Bush,despite his misguided Iraqi invasion. Why does this reasoning not apply to President Obama, who is responsibly ending these wars, while continuing to attack global terrorist networks?

 

Incumbent Obama meets every criteria used in the past to support re-election of an incumbent. Yet, he is not treated as an incumbent. The one way to avoid this discussion is to simply lie about his accomplishments and his challenges. The media, the public, supporters and non-supporters are too readily willing to overlook his record of accomplishment, to degrade, demean and distort it. Why, when they were willing and able to do so for former incumbents such as George W. Bush?

 

Racism. He is not one of us, not entitled to the same consideration. This is our dirty little secret. Racism plays the discordant notes of American history. It grates on our ears. It disturbs our souls. It holds back our future. We prefer to avoid it, like avoiding the scrape of chalk across a blackboard. We cringe when we hear it. We become angry with the kid holding the chalk. But it continues.How do we stop it? How do we drown out the noise of racism?

 

How we can make music together without listening to one another, without breathing an unbroken melody of continuity and completion, without learning the complexity of the governance process as part of the chant, without supporting each soloist in his diverse skills and needs, without putting aside our own ego to become part of a larger whole? …Well, it stuns me. It does not surprise me, but it wounds me. Worse, it hurts our nation. Take up the chant for freedom, and against slavery. Make music with one another as equals, where none is master over another.

 

There is a chant I hope you will join. To do so you must commit to seek the common good, knowing the individual needs of each of us will be sought to support the whole. You must set aside ego and accept the imperfections of other chanters. The chant itself is easy enough to remember: “Obama-Obama-Obama-Obama-Obama…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, Summary by Kimberly Amadeo, About.Com, Economy, http://useconomy.about.com/od/criticalssues/p/Dodd-Frank-Wall-Street-Reform-Act.htm

2.  “Putting Mr. Cordray in place grants the agency the standing to move ahead with new regulation of varied financial entities, authority it has lacked in the absence of a director since its creation in July 2010.With the three appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, Mr. Obama moved to ensure that the board, which has five seats, would not become paralyzed. The board shrank to two members when the term of a previous Democratic recess appointee expired on Tuesday, and under a Supreme Court ruling, it is not allowed to make decisions with fewer than three members. Helen cooper and Jennifer Steinhauer, New York Times, January 4,2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/us/politics/richard-cordray-named-consumer-chief-in-recess-appointment.html?pagewanted=all

3. ”As it turns out, Bush easily eclipsed Ronald Reagan’s previous record for presidential sloth.  By March 2008, Bush had spent all or part of 879 days at his Crawford, Texas ranch or at Camp David, surpassing Reagan’s mark of 866.  By the time he left office, George W. Bush had made 149 trips to and spent 487 days at Camp David, with another 77 getaways to (and 490 days at) Crawford.  Toss in 11 visits and 43 days at his folks’ compound in Kennebunkport, Maine and President Bush spent 1020 days – 35% of his presidency – getting away from the White House.” Obama NYC Date Night Highlights Bush Vacation Record , Avenging Angel, May,31,2009, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/05/31/737229/-Obama-NYC-Date-Night-Highlights-Bush-Vacation-Record

4. “Why the price spike now?[under George W. Bush] We are talking about an oil price that is higher (again, in nominal terms) than at the height of the Nixon-Ford inflation, when we all found prices intolerably high. Prices fell all during the Reagan years, thanks to the effects of Carter’s deregulation, and during most of the Clinton years as well. In fact, prices reached good-old-days levels at the very end of the Clinton era: $11 per barrel. Gas hovered at $1 a gallon, an historic low in real terms. Pure heaven!” High Prices As Policy,Llewellyn H. Rockwell,Jr., http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/high-prices.html

5. ”In a television interview on Sunday and a Web video released on Monday, Mitt Romney said that President Obama has sought higher gasoline and energy prices and called on the president to dismiss three cabinet officers Mr. Romney claims have abetted him.But the assertion, which echoes charges from other Republicans, is largely unsubstantiated or misleading.”Romney Misleads on Obama and Energy Prices, JOHN M. BRODER,NYT blog, The Caucus,  http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/romney-misleads-on-obama-and-energy-prices/

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