Tag Archives: politics

July 11, 2012 · 3:38 am

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THAT CURTAIN: SEC.501(C)(4) AND THE 2012 ELECTION,By Louise Annarino,July 10, 2012

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THAT CURTAIN: Sec. 501(c)(4) and the 2012 Election, By Louise Annarino, July 10, 2012

We live in the Land of Oz these days; not the movie, but our very lives, Is anyone out there listening to Dorothy’s lament? She has suffered through terrible storms, as have we: climate change, unfunded wars, 9/11 attack, bank fraud, mortgage melt-down, economic recession/depression, privatization and de-regulation, destruction of the middle-class, erosion of a safety net, attacks on public servants,women, immigrants and union workers. She fears she has lost all. She sees no clear future. The American Dream seems to be merely that, a dream. She simply wants to find her way home, home to the familiar where she feels safe, where she awakes from dreams with the ability to make them happen. Unfortunately, like Americans today, she does not realize she has the power within herself to find her way.

One person finally listens to her; but only when he realizes he can benefit from bringing her within his fold.He opens the door to Oz, invites her in,and promises her exactly what she wants. She falls for the mirage created by a Karl Rovian version of a “very nice man” but “very bad wizard” who uses tricks and deceptions to build a false idea that Dorothy and her buddies must risk all, and take on the formidable Wicked Witch of the West, an enemy he fears and has been unable to contain, before he will help her go home to Kansas. He fully expects she will not survive the ordeal; thus, he is no danger of having to make good on his promises. A typical political operative.

But Dorothy, again like Americans, is determined to succeed with the help of her stalwart friends. It is her willingness to put every concern aside and throw a bucket of water on Scarecrow whom the witch has set afire, which melts away the witch, and her threats. Dorothy saves herself, her friends, the entire city of Oz, even the Wizard himself.

When Dorothy returns to Oz the Wizard plays games with her three compatriots:the Cowardly Lion is given a badge for courage, the Scarecrow is given a diploma for his brains, and a ticking clock to the Tin Man for a heart. Each of these qualities are already present within the characters, but like Dorothy, they have been unable to recognize this fact on their own.

In a memorable scene while Dorothy awaits word from the wizard regarding her return home, her dog Toto pulls back a curtain revealing a man turning gears on the machinery which has created the lie that is the Land of Oz, the lie the people of Oz have also fallen for. He shouts into his microphone, “Pay no Attention to the man behind that curtain.” The wizard sees his power crumbling, and Dorothy sees the truth. She confronts him with such conviction, not allowing him to pull the curtain closed again, and he admits his flawed humanity.  If only we had journalists, politicians, and jurists so brave as Toto, so fearless as Dorothy, so willing to pull back the curtains and reveal truth.

Perhaps we do. Despite the fact that the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) is slow to act, and probably will not do so before 2012 election, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a formal complaint this week against three social welfare groups, charging them with willful violation of federal election law: Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies,Americans for Prosperity, and 60 Plus Association. THese organizations hid behind the curtain provided by section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, which grants them tax exempt status for social welfare work and allows donors to remain anonymous. Public policy is often written into the tax code. In the case of 501(c)(4)s all funds collected are deemed to serve a social welfare purpose which would likely save the government tax dollars which would otherwise need to be spent to assure the public welfare tasks performed by the  organization.

What are these organizations actually doing? Buying political attack ads against specific Democratic candidates. Crossroads (Rove and former RNC Chair Ed Gillespie) has already spent $25 million on ads attacking President Obama, and plans to spend nearly $40 million (Rove’s Crossroads GPS) attacking Democratic senatorial candidates. Americans for Prosperity (David and Charles Koch) has poured $1 million into Ohio to defeat Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, attacks only Democratic candidates, and has chapters in at least 38 states.(see more at http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=Americans+for+Prosperity.) In 2009, Rachel Maddow opened the curtain on 60 Plus Association (Pharmaceutical Industry) disclosing its ties to the GOP, disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the lobbying group Bonner & Associates.  (see more at http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=60_Plus_Association) Social welfare? Welcome to Oz.

To anyone willing to pay attention to that man behind the curtain it is clear the major purpose of such groups is federal campaign activity, political benefit not social welfare. Therefore, they should not be treated as 501(c)(4) organizations but as political committees, and their donors must be disclosed. Then, each of us, like Dorothy and her companions, will be able to see the truth behind the messages, tricks, distortions and lies that are Oz; and, find our way home. As a result of CITIZENS UNITED, President Obama has for the first time accepted donations from PACS and SUPER PACS, but not from a 501(C)(4) organization. He refuses to draw a curtain over our eyes. His donors are disclosed, along with his tax returns, and bank balances. Is the Mitt Romney behind that curtain? He may be a very good man but he is a very bad wizard.

(see more at http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/campaign_finance/index.html) and http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/us/politics/democrats-want-fec-to-restrict-donor-shielding-groups.html?_r=1&ref=campaignfinance)

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July 9, 2012 · 10:00 pm

DOJ FIGHTS TO PROTECT TEXAS VOTERS,By Louise Annarino,July 9, 2012

DOJ FIGHTS TO PROTECT TEXAS VOTERS, by Louise Annarino, July 9, 2012

“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” … Thomas Paine

For over 20 years I worked the polls, taking a vacation day off work to help others vote. I considered it a civic duty. When I moved to Upper Arlington from Athens I started at the bottom again, sent from neighborhood to neighborhood to fill-in as needed. Within a few years I was posted to my own precinct, a republican precinct. The presiding judge was therefore  Republican. I had been a presiding judge when posted in Democratic precincts because as an attorney, and after so many years working polls, I understood the ins and outs of election law. I recognized many of the voters. In primaries, they self-identified as Democratic or Republican voters in order to vote in their party primary. The republican judge consistently refused to issue provisional ballots, make name changes or address changes, or redirect voters to proper voting location to Democratic voters. When I intervened to do so I was told only she had authority to do so. I reminded her of the law, ignored her directive, and proceeded to assure every voter was helped to cast a valid vote within state and county guidelines.

She repeated this behavior at the following election. I reported our disagreements in our problem reporting booklet, for each voter she attempted to disenfranchise. I wanted a record indicating the validity of the voter’s right to cast a vote, and the need for my intervention to assure that vote was counted. Later, I discussed this presiding judge’s behavior with the Board of Elections trainer. She promised to look into the matter. Nothing changed. Following the next election, I not only documented the problem within the reporting problems booklet, I also wrote a letter documenting each charge against the presiding judge, and sent it to several parties, including the Board of Election and the Democratic Ward Leader who assigned me to that polling site. I called numerous times to review the matter with him. Each time he promised the matter would be looked into. The next election, there she was again, smiling at me as she told a Democratic voter  they could not vote since they had moved, instead of doing an address change and redirecting and/or allowing a provisional ballot as the situation required. She made it clear she was not going anywhere, nor was she going to change. Voter fraud by appointed or elected officials is the real threat to our democracy. This is why each polling site has persons from each party working together, to keep one another in check, and to protect voters. This is why tallies are taken throughout the day and posted in the front windows where anyone who wants to check can see what is happening. This is why exit polls are so important, to measure against the posted vote tallies.

It was in Florida 2000 that we saw so intimately how party operatives can corrupt the popular vote, when republicans delayed and challenged every vote, forcing recounts that would have gone on long after the US Supreme Court declared George Bush the winner of the Florida presidential campaign, pushing him into the White House. “The reality, therefore, is that Mr. Bush’s victory in the most fouled-up, disputed and wrenching presidential election in American history was so breathtakingly narrow that there is no way of knowing with absolute precision who got the most votes. After all, there is no perfect way to decide which disputed ballots should be counted and rejected.”(see more at http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/12/politics/recount/12ASSE.html and http://www.factcheck.org/2008/01/the-florida-recount-of-2000/) Clearly,close elections are more easily subject to fraudulent manipulation, and less easily challenged.

This is the same year that tapeless electronic voting machines  which could be hacked and manipulated reared their ugly heads. MAnufactured by companies which poured millions of dollars into the Bush campaign. This is the type of fraud we must guard against. This is the real threat.

Everyone can agree that voter ID is not inherently wrong. But It is wrong when it disenfranchises voters; and we have a system in place to assure only qualified voters can cast votes and that only those votes will be counted. It works so well there is no evidence of meaningful voter fraud by voters. Dead persons on the rolls? Sure. Dead persons voting? No. Voter ID adds nothing to help eligible voters; it does disenfranchise eligible voters. In Texas, SB 14 requires voters to show one of short list of government-issued documents, excluding Social Security, Medicaid, or student ID cards. Gun licenses, however, are acceptable. 

Texas‘ own records estimate “a Hispanic registered voter is at least 46.5 percent, and potentially 120.0 percent, more likely than a non-Hispanic registered voter to lack this identification.” The DOJ found more than 600,000 Texans will be disenfranchised, most minority voters. Social security card? older voters disenfranchised. Student ID? students disenfranchised? Medicaid card? Poor and disabled disenfranchised.

Today, Texas will defend the law against Attorney Holder’s Justice Department, claiming it is needed to prevent voter fraud. “But the San Antonio Express-News reported that fewer than five ‘illegal voting’ complaints involving voter impersonations were filed with the Texas Attorney General’s Office from the 2008 and 2010 general elections in which more than 13 million voters participated.” (see more at http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/07/06/512245/texas-voter-id-law-which-accepts-gun-licenses-but-not-student-ids-challenged-in-court/). Texas is one of more than 2 dozen states the DOJ is investigating in order to protect the right of eligible voters to cast their ballots.

What can you do? Help neighbors, friends, relatives, and community organizations identify voters in need of ID, help them obtain the ID, update yours and their voter registration with name or address changes, then get them to the polls to vote. If the margin between candidates is small, voter fraud by officials and parties is easily manipulated. Only if the margins are fairly large can such subterfuge succeed.

Help at the polls,as a poll worker, a poll watcher. Start now and attend local Board of election meetings;let officials know we are watching them and recording their comments and activities. MAke it difficult for them to disenfranchise ANY voter.

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University College of Law (see more at http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/truthaboutvoterfraud/) after exhaustive study has determined that voter fraud simply does not exist. Yet, an orchestrated movement to end that which does not exists has taken off thanks to a well-financed disinformation and legislative action campaign. The 2012 reelection of the scary black man is justification enough,it seems. The only believable explanation some people have for how he was elected in the first place is rampant voter fraud. These same people don’t believe racism exists despite hundreds of years of factual data; yet believe voter fraud exists despite no evidence. This movement is not about election reform. It is solely for election manipulation by denying qualified voters opposing one party’s candidates their right to vote. In evidence: Pennsylvania State Rep.Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) listed recent GOP accomplishments during his speech to Republican Central Committee members, including this one: “Voter ID, which is going to allow Gov. Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania. Done.” See video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87NN5sdqNt8  “If you have to stop people from voting to win elections, your ideas suck,” responded Pennsylvania Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery.

We must protect every voter: Democratic, Republican, Independent, or Libertarian. We must protect all voters or no voter is protected. We do not fear the vote of our opposition. We know President Obama’s ideas  are good ones. We believe he can win this election.

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July 6, 2012 · 4:23 pm

WE DON'T DO THINGS BY HALF, By Louise Annarino, July 6, 2012

WE DON’T DO THINGS BY HALF, BY Louise Annarino, July 6, 2012

It is 7:35 AM. It is 75.3 degrees; humidiity 87%; heat index 80.2 degrees. We expect records to be broken a second day in a row, with high temperature of 100…or more. Who knows anymore? Yesterday, Columbus broke the record high temperature set in 1911. We are now accustomed to reading 100 degrees on our car and home thermometers, no matter what the official figures are. We trust it will be too hot to care if the weatherperson hits the mark or not. It will be hot. Too hot. That is all we know.

Yesterday, I spent almost 2 hours at the Columbus Zoo with my teenage nephew. The temperature was 100 degrees; heat index 110. We don’t do things by half. The heat has made our judgment faulty. We had left a WATER exhibit at COSI to see how the animals were faring at the zoo. We forgot we are human animals. We thought ,for once, the polar bears might be in the water instead of sleeping on the rocky outcropping in their display area. Only one was on display, sleeping on the rocks with water to swim in mere inches away. The water was too hot. We are saving polar bears from global warming’s melting polar ice by placing them near water too hot to swim in at the zoo. Nice save.

We walked slowly, from mister to mister, viewing animals much smarter than ourselves, curled motionless in shady nap spots while we walked the sun alive on the pavement beneath our feet. The heat has made us stupid. The misters lost moisture before the beads of water could touch our faces. It was too hot for water to last.  Consider that it is too hot for water to last, too hot for H2O to stay beaded together until our bodies can use it for sustenance or comfort. The WATER exhibit at COSI explains water’s use and effect, and the threat of its loss . We saw COSI’s message played in real time at the zoo. It is an uncomfortable reality that water is being superheated beyond our ability to access it for human use. The polar bears already know this.

We don’t do things by half. Would that we could. Then,we could survive. But, we are made stupid by the heat. Our judgment is faulty. We don’t do things by half, even when our survival depends upon it. There are some whose anger with our president’s willingness to do things by half ,which he can do no other way, clouds their judgment of his abilities, his motives and his wisdom. Their over-heated rhetoric only makes a successful economic recovery less assured. His first half may have pleased no one on the far right, nor on the far left. But, it is those of us in the middle half who understand his many accomplishments, with half a Congress in support, half in opposition:

– Cut payroll taxes for all Americans,putting $40 per paycheck back in the pocket of the typical Ohioan.

– In Ohio, the manufacturing sector aded more than 33,500 jobs in last 2 years, while President Obama works to end tax cuts for companies shipping jobs overseas and lower tax rates for companies which manufacture goods in America.

– Created over4.1 million privates sector jobs, 123,000 in Ohio over the last 2 years.

– Rescued the U.S. auto industry, protecting 848,000 Ohio jobs and over 1 million jobs nationwide. US auto industry is once again #1 in the world.

– Created or extended 18 tax cuts for small businesses – the drivers of economic growth.

– Strengthened medicare, saving 185,000 Ohioans an average $512 on prescription drugs.

– Expanded access to preventive care with no out-of-pocket costs to 2.1 million Ohioans, including 559,000 children and 797,000 women under age 65.

– Stopped insurance industry practice of denying coverage for pre-existing conditions for  643,000 Ohio children.

– Expanded health care coverage to 82,000 young adults by allowing them to stay on parents’ health care plans until age 26.

– Required Insurance companies who failed to spend at least 80%-85% of premiums collected on health care to return an average of $127 to 3.4 million Americans who paid for their own insurance. Over $1 billion dollars will be paid back nationwide.

– Reduced our dependence on foreign oil to lowest level in 16 years. Domestic oil production is at an 8 year high, natural gas at an all-time high, and renewable energy from wind and solar has more than doubled.

– Helped Ohio produce 9 times more electricity from wind in 2011 than in 2010.

– Signed VOW to Hire Heroes Act, providing tax breaks to businesses hiring returning veterans.

– Brought Iraq war to honorable end, and is working towards same goal in Afghanistan.

– Brought 2/3 of Al Qaeda’s leadership, and Osama Bin Laden to justice.

– Ended “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.

– Doubled funding for Pell Grants. Signed into law a tax credit up to $10,000 over 4 years to help middle class families afford tuition.

– Supported 12,500 teachers and school staff jobs in Ohio 2009-2010, reducing burden on local school districts.

The list of accomplishments made by doing things by half – with the support of half the Senate, half the House goes on and on. We are out of the hole and moving forward after years of digging the hole deeper under Republican leadership. We Americans don’t like doing things by half. But, when we must do so, it is good to have a president who knows how to do so effectively. Hopefully,  more progressive Democratic candidates will be elected to the US House and Senate more fully supporting President Obama during his second term. Don’t like doing things by half? Then, vote for Sherrod Brown for US Senate. Vote for the Democratic candidate in your congressional race. Vote for Barack Obama. Don’t let the heat of Republican attacks distort your ability to think straight and move the country forward.

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June 24, 2012 · 8:54 pm

DON'T PUSH HUMPTY DUMPTY OFF THE WALL by Louise Annarino

DON’T PUSH HUMPTY DUMPTY OFF THE WALL

Louise Annarino

June 25, 2012

Democratic republics in the West did not emerge in full blossom overnight; nor will they in the East. The seeds of power within people must be planted in good soil and be kept moist despite periods of drought. Those who feed the country’s growth are ever in danger of being choked by weeds. Egypt’s journey, and that of other nations seeking some form of democratic republic, is our own.

As we watch the Egyptian military generals write and rewrite laws to secure their power base in the face of shared power with a president and parliament not of their choosing, let us recall the first parliaments in England which were made up exclusively of the privileged few, heirs to the original land barons granted fiefs by their king for military service to protect and defend his crown, and more importantly, his crown jewels. The king was loath to part with his landholdings which generated his wealth. The barons agreed to supply a percentage of crops, minerals, forest, game and resources to the king in exchange for permission to act as lord over the serfs who were attached to the land, and to  supply troops whenever called upon to do so by the king. In this way, both the king and his barons grew excessively wealthy. Sound familiar?

In 1215 King John agreed to the Magna Carta, the great charter, which gave legal rights to the Barons and Earls and mandated that the king listen to them and follow their advice. Before the Magna Carta the king called a parliament at his whim with no legal obligation to follow the barons’ advice. The Magna Carta granted no rights to the serfs; but, merely became a tool of the landed gentry (who had personal armies supporting them) to control the king in order to protect their own interests. Sound familiar?

In 1265, following a war between Henry III and Simon De Montfort, De Montfort briefly established a parliament which also included  burgesses, representatives from each county,city and town until Edward I, who killed De Montfort in battle, called is first parliament in 1275 which included churchmen,two knights from each county, and two commoners from each town ( the house of burgesses). Since 1327 parliament set the pattern we know today: House of Lords, House of Commons, Monarch.

It took another hundred years to establish that Parliament’s House of Commons controlled granting money raised through taxation to the king (usually to wage war); and wrote statutes creating the law of the land, replacing the writ to the king for favor system of an earlier day.

Overthrowing the leaders of countries does not necessarily mean more power to the people. It took great Britain several hundred years and a civil war to do so. The United States, copied Great Britain’s lead, replacing the monarch with a president. The House of Lords became our Senate; the House of Commons our House of Representatives. There are those who pressured newly-elected President George Washington to accept the appellation Your Majesty. He insisted on Mister, in a new nation where all men are considered equal. And so we say, Mr. President when addressing him.

The U.S. shortened Great Britain’s time-line: 1776 – Declaration of Independence, 1789 – Constitution and first 10 Amendments ratified, 1789 – Judiciaries Act passed, 1803 – Marbury v. Madison. Hopefully, emerging democracies can shorten the time it takes to become nations of law and not men, and avoid civil war. Building a strong middle class will help.

The industrial revolution which began in the 1500’s with the guild movement solidified in 1760-1850. It is no coincidence that the movement to end serfdom occurred on the same time frame. Prior to industrialization in England, land was the primary source of wealth. “The landed aristocracy held enormous powers [through] the feudal system. However, a new source of great wealth grew from the Industrial Revolution, that which was derived from the ownership of factories and machinery. Those who invested in factories and machinery cannot be identified as belonging to any single class of people (landed aristocracy, industrialists, merchants). Their backgrounds were quite diverse, yet they had one thing in common: the daring to seize the opportunity to invest in new ventures. It was these capitalists who gave the necessary impetus to the speedy growth of the Industrial Revolution.”1

In the United States, the Industrial Revolution made the North economically stronger than the South, which barely maintained a landed gentry system on the backs of slave labor and that of poor white sharecroppers. The bloody rise of labor unions prevented this quasi feudal-serf system from taking root in the North. Despite fighting a Civil War to end slavery, and the efforts of labor unions, we still see vestiges of the old feudal system within our economic institutions, policies and practices both north and south. Since the election of our first African-American president those differences in how we choose to govern ourselves have become more overt. Ohio and Wisconsin, as well as every other state,thanks to ALEC, are fighting to protect unions, not just to protect the unions but to protect all workers from being reduced, once again, to serfdom. 2

In China, Thailand, Guam, Africa and all over the globe multi-national corporations are locking in workers for excessively-long shifts, with little or no pay. Human trafficking in workers, slave or forced labor, is on the rise world-wide in every imaginable  industry including my favorite – chocolate. 3

What is the connection here? It is that human beings seek power over their own lives. Money is power, so they seek money. The reason taxes are a big deal to both Tea Party Republicans and Liberal Progressives, The US Chamber of Commerce and the churches, Wall Street banks and non-profit organizations, Democratic and Republican parties, the upper class-middle class- and poor is because money buys power. Money bought the King. Money bought the Corporations. Money bought the politicians. We all want money because we all value power. Why? Power brings freedom: the freedom from want, the freedom of choice over need, the freedom of association, the freedom to say no just because we want to do so. If we truly believe we are all entitled to be free, then we must also believe we are all entitled to enough money to feel power over our own lives.

When we are without money for too long we feel powerless as a result. It is this feeling of being powerless which brings out our racism, sexism, homophobia etc. Those who feel powerless resent others who seem to be acquiring power. Hidden in our psyche is the racist belief that an African-American has no business being so powerful when white men now feel so powerless. That is the crux of this election. Even Roman Catholic bishops, losing esteem and power over their flocks due to their misogynist attitude toward women and their cover-up of pedophilia within their ranks are fighting for power by attacking President Obama. Even Christian church leaders accustomed to financial power and preaching its attainment as a Gospel truth, which fell apart in the recession, are attacking President Obama. They have no qualms viciously attacking him, trying to knock him off his game. Unfortunately, his game is governing this country we all love.

What can we do? We can stop attacking people who want power, who want money, who want to feel safe; who cannot feel truly free without these things. We all want these things. We all want freedom.

We can stop attacking each other lest we all end up “Humpty Dumpty”. 4  Despite British and American love of freedom, and each country’s Civil Wars to establish equality among all its citizens and clearly unified governance, neither would suggest civil war as a positive step. We can learn from these past divisive periods. History does not have to repeat itself around the globe, nor within our own borders. We can stop being so afraid that we needlessly try to knock one another off the wall. We can recognize that there is enough wealth to share so that all feel powerful and free.

We celebrate freedom in this country without understanding its roots. No banker, no corporate executive, no shareholder, no priest nor bishop, no Tea Bagger, no liberal, no politician, no judge, no citizen will feel free until they feel financially secure. This was the beauty of a strong middle class; it made everyone feel free. It was an imaginable state of being for the poorest citizen aspiring to move higher through education and hard work; and for the richest executive who fell from grace, a safe place to land. Without a middle class, no American feels free.Not the wealthiest, not the poorest, and not the middle class.

To America and to the world a message of freedom: Build and protect the common man’s wealth, the middle class. The BRITISH COMMONWEALTH is a not a fluke. American economic success since the Civil War is not a fluke. Stop seeking to be excessively wealthy; instead, seek to build wealth within the middle class, a commonwealth within and among nations. With commonwealth comes common power. With such a sense of power comes a sense of freedom and peace. The Eurozone is struggling with this concept as I write.

Look at what Britain accomplished. Look at what the U.S. accomplished. Those lessons will serve us well. this is what President Obama has been trying to remind us.  Destroying the middle class destroys our commonwealth, pushes Humpty Dumpty off the wall; and, neither all the king’s horses nor all the king’s men can put us back together again. Life is too fragile for such nonsense.

 

 

1. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/2/81.02.06.x.html

2.http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed 

3.http://www1.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm “Presently, about 700,000 children and women are trafficked around the world annually. The UN says that profits for this trafficking amount to approximately $7 billion a year (Anti-Slavery International).”

4.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpty_Dumpty  “In 1648 Colchester was a walled town with a castle and several churches and was protected by the city wall. The story given was that a large cannon, which the website claimed was colloquially called Humpty Dumpty, was strategically placed on the wall. A shot from a Parliamentary cannon succeeded in damaging the wall beneath Humpty Dumpty which caused the cannon to tumble to the ground. The Royalists, or Cavaliers, ‘all the King’s men’ attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall, but because the cannon was so heavy ‘All the King’s horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again’. In his 2008 book Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes author Albert Jack claimed that there were two other verses supporting this claim. Elsewhere he claimed to have found them in an “old dusty library, [in] an even older book”,but did not state what the book was or where it was found. It has been pointed out that the two additional verses are not in the style of the seventeenth century, or the existing rhyme, and that they do not fit with the earliest printed version of the rhyme, which do not mention horses and men.”

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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 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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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 24, 2012 · 2:23 pm

A POLL BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD SMELL…

A POLL BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD SMELL…

Louise Annarino

May 24, 2012

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

It is estimated that William Shakespeare coined approximately 135 phrases in common use today. The quote above is a line spoken mournfully by Juliet on her balcony, as Romeo lurks below in the bushes. It is one of Shakespeare’s most memorable lines. Juliet has been taught that Montagues are bad. Romeo is a Montague. In coming to know him she learns that this is stupid point of view. Whatever his name or family affiliation, he is still the same person.

Obviously, this is a lesson many of us still need to learn. Political strategy developed and perfected by Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, Grover Norquist et al. over the past 30 years continues to demonize opposition candidates within and outside its own party. Ironically, Newt Gingrich himself was a victim of this strategy during the 2012 Republican presidential primary.

The 2012 Republican primary was very ugly. How ugly? So ugly it stunk. Last night, Dan Rather told CNN’s Erin Burnett that the 2012 campaign is the worst campaign he has covered; and, he has covered eleven campaigns.  When he says, “There have been bad ones before, but this is the worst so far,” he is not exaggerating.”I hope I’m wrong about this,but I think by the time we finish with this campaign, not only will it be a three billion dollar presidential campaign – three billion dollars – but it will be ugly enough to choke a buzzard before we get through with it.”1

Media buzzards are circling the candidates, waiting to pounce on any sign of weakness as measured by daily polls. At the close of this piece is a list of poll info sites. Reviewing them may be fun, but not necessarily very useful. Watching them over time, one realizes that a single media story can shift the results temporarily; an aggregate of stories can shift it substantially.

Call in more buzzards, the admen, to create stories funded by PACS and SUPER PACS; some true, others created out of whole cloth without a stitch of truth.  Does it matter if the ads are true or false? “…a rose by any other name would smell…” as bad. To most of us, the whole thing stinks! Are we so overwhelmed by the stench of lies we can no longer smell the roses of truth?

As for the polls, they are not “truth” either. Even the best efforts fail to consider large numbers of our populace. A recent report on the 2010 census with strong outreach to historically undercounted persons, shows both an undercount and an overcount, although an improvement over past years.

The overcount was “due mostly to duplicate counts of affluent whites owning multiple homes.”  On the backside of the count, the census missed about 2.1 percent of black Americans,1.5 percent of Hispanics (1.5 million people), about 5 percent of American Indians living on reservations and nearly 2 percent of minorities who marked themselves as “some other race”. “While the overall coverage of the census was exemplary, the traditional hard-to-count groups, like renters, were counted less well,” Census Bureau director Robert Groves said. “Because ethnic and racial minorities disproportionately live in hard-to-count circumstances, they too were undercounted relative to the majority population.”2

The disparities of the census count which occurred in every community over many months makes daily polls made via landline phones even more suspect. Who are these people who have the time to answer the phone and answer questions? Not the working poor. Not young men seeking to make their fortune by sheer effort of will, not minorities suspicious of white people asking a lot of questions.”We remain deeply troubled by the persistent and disproportionate undercount of our most vulnerable citizens — people of color, very young children and low-income Americans,” said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League and chairman of the Census Bureau’s 2010 Census Advisory Committee.2

The breakdown analysis of the census shows the following:

—Renters were undercounted by 1.1 percent, while homeowners were over-counted by 0.6 percent.

—Broken down by age, men 18 to 29 and 30 to 49 were more likely to be missed in 2010 than other age groups, while women 30 to 49 were over-counted; that is a pattern consistent with 2000. Adults 50 and older had over-counts of their population, while some young children ages 4 and under were missed.

—The District of Columbia had the highest shares of people who were missed, at 2.2 percent. West Virginia had the highest over-count of its population, at 1.4 percent.2

Polls and the census are useful tools; but they are merely tools, not truths. Political ads are useful tools; but,they are merely tools not truths. Too often these tools are being used to tell us “Montagues” are bad. Unfortunately, that messaging leaves us with no good choices. Such a paradigm undermines our faith in our  political system.

What can we do? Look at the record of accomplishments for each candidate;is it broad and deep,or narrowly focused? Watch how each candidate plays to a specific audience; does he factually present his record, or play on people’s fears and racism? How do the candidate’s surrogates describe their candidate; with a recitation of the factual record of each candidate, or with an ad hominem attack on their candidate’s opponent? Does the candidate talk down to voters, or respect them as equals? Does the candidate acknowledge our current situation in a realistic manner, or in a bombastic fashion?

Whom do we trust to assess candidates? Not political ads. Not polls. Not news analysts. Not all these buzzards! Trust yourself. Use your head. Set aside the stupidity of thinking a person is bad because of his name, the color of his skin, or even his party affiliation. Look for truth. Feel it in your gut. Replace fear with knowledge. Learn to know the candidates as well as you know your self; even if it means you have to learn to know your self first! This is your country. This is your election. Own it.

  1. http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/05/dan-rather-worst-presidential-campaign-124418.html
  2. http://hosted2.ap.org/OHCOL/0798b35a2b9245c790110b1366b5cc82/Article_2012-05-22-Census%20Accuracy/id-51befaeae7d3442c967b4e951b5466e5

Poll Links:

http://www.nationalpolls.com/obama/independents.html

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/elections/

http://electoral-vote.com/

http://www.politico.com/2012-election/presidential-polls/

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May 23, 2012 · 6:11 pm

THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT IS OVER

THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT IS OVER

Louise Annarino

May 21, 2012

Memorial day is just ahead, a time to remember those who filled a place in our hearts and minds we had no way to access on our own. Now, they have gone to a world we do not know but hope and long for, depending on our faith to bring us home. Whether we are Christian,Muslim,Hindu or Jew,agnostic or atheist, we can each identify with E.T.’s solemn entreaty to the children who loved him as he pointed skyward, “E.T. go home?” When those we love leave us it becomes winter in our souls. We are discontented, anxious, even angry. We say things we do not mean, statements indicate more about what we fear than what is true about those who left us. It is a winter of discontent.

Many Americans are in their gardens.The bird feeder is full, the bird bath in use, the compost spread. They spend time weeding, identifying the reborn perennials, dividing and moving them, and planting new seed. They do not ask if their plants like the spot they have chosen for them, but the plants will tell them with drooping stem or browning leaf edge. After a winter of discontent, anxious for the sun’s return, often angry over slick roads and crazy drivers, we find peace in our gardens. Spring brings hope for increased growth and abundance, a richness of color and diversity after a long grey-spell.

We have been through a winter of discontent with our political leaders,as well. Anxious over the excessive use of the filibuster by Senate Republicans, the deliberate block of Democratic House bills and appointments in Republican-led House committees which keeps President Obama’s legislative agenda locked away in committees to prove to us his promised change is a farce, the ease with which both Democratic and Republican parties cozy up to lobbyists and media, and the dead on arrival gridlock make us angry.

No one is satisfied with where we are as a nation. We are in winter’s grip even as we face a new political season, a new spring seems impossible. There is a calculation in play, a deliberate disorder to the natural ebb and flow of our political seasons. A Republican Party strategy was being designed even while President Obama was being sworn in on Inauguration Day.1  The Washington,D.C. garden of governance was being put to bed for the winter, a winter meant to last for the next 4 years.But, we cannot truly be without hope. Surely, we nation of farmers who tamed a wilderness, the world’s breadbasket, we who sing of “amber waves of grain” understand that after the winter comes the spring.

Much of the work by a gardener is unseen, testing and amending the soil to prepare for seeding, researching and reviewing past and future gardening practices, noting weather fluctuations and expected weather events, anticipating new technologies, finding the money to buy the best tools, incorporating new practices into old routines, preparing the beds, choosing the seed. Much of governance is unseen. It is just as tedious as gardening. Each can result in great productivity and abundance. We know when a gardener is on the right track. We can see the garden greening as plants begin to grow. But, watching plants grow can be as boring as watching paint dry. We really only understand how much progress has been made at the summer season’s close, when the garden has passed its zenith. That day is in the future. Neither the Obama administration’s accomplishments, nor our gardens are yet in full swing. For example, The Affordable Care Act does not become fully implemented until 2014. Growing a health care financing system which combines private/public sector efforts across 50 states with diverse delivery of care constructs, increased services, updated technology, best-practices and most cost-effective reviews etc. takes time. A gardener understands growth does not happen overnight. A gardener does not lose hope when change comes slowly.

This presidential race is not about change; change is occurring. It is about the direction of change. We can decide to govern using the same practices which nearly destroyed our garden of state and the entire world’s economy; or, we can move forward with the vision Barack Obama has for the sustained growth of this nation and its ability to offer the promise of abundance for all of its citizens. The difference between the candidates could not be more pronounced. The choice is backward or forward.

Furthermore,as Benjamin Byron points out, “…there is something rather odd going on in this presidential race. The Republican candidates — currently interested in courting conservative voters interested in shrinking the size of government, reducing debt and deficit, and reducing the tax burdens on individuals and corporations — have all submitted proposals that would, in most cases, increase deficits and debt over the next 10 years. Surprisingly, it is President Barack Obama’s budget proposal that has received the best scoring on reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio over the next 10 years.” 2

America was once untamed wilderness, and Libertarians such as Ron Paul revel in the freedom of the wilderness. There is a place for wilderness in each of our lives, and in a part of our garden. But, wilderness is a frightful task-master, and most of us are not up to its challenges. Too many would be left to struggle and die alone in the wilderness suggested by Mr. Paul. Civilization arose when wilderness was tamed. This is the role of government: to tame the wilderness.

When I visited Hilton Head, S.C. the first time I was appalled by the manicured, faux-garden island. It’s beauty left no room for spontaneous growth and abundance, no allowance for divergence of color or form. Like Mitt Romney, it seemed stilted and stuffy, with a controlled appearance meant to calm and orchestrate one’s compliance with the norm. We each need such places of calm in our lives and in our gardens; but, we need freedom to explore and ignite ideas which upset the norm in order to grow abundantly.

The best gardeners are those who take time to test the soil, feel the wind, learn the lay of the land and research what grows best given current conditions. The best gardeners are those who experiment to see what actually works, moving and adapting plants and treatments to get the strongest, most productive plants for sustained success, even if it takes a lot more work and a little more time. They don’t mind getting dirty, hot and sweaty; looking bad to make good on the promise of a healthy future for the garden and for the country. They leave room for wilderness to ignite our dreamers. They create spots of calm certainty for our most staid thinkers. They are the hope for our country and for our civilization. They are those who garden the middle ground. President Obama is the one candidate who can create such a garden of governance.

1.Method to Republican ‘Madness‘,May 5,2012,Consortiumnews.com, By Robert Parry (Originally published March 31, 2010) http://consortiumnews.com/2012/05/05/method-to-republican-madness/

2. Barack Obama Debt Plan Reduces Deficit While All Other Republican Candidates Increase Deficit, Polycymic, Next Generation News and Politics, Business, National Debt, by Benjamin Byron,  http://www.policymic.com/articles/4895/barack-obama-debt-plan-reduces-deficit-while-all-other-republican-candidates-increase-deficit 

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May 18, 2012 · 6:43 am

LESSONS FROM MY KITCHEN

LESSONS FROM MY KITCHEN

Louise Annarino

May 18, 2012

 

For years I was a good cook, and a great baker. Then a few years ago, nothing seemed to turn out right. Cakes fell on one side. Cookies were either burnt or raw. Pie crust was soggy. It was so difficult to produce a tasty product I nearly stopped trying. Friends and family stopped asking for a sweet from my kitchen, turned down my offerings, and made strained faces as they said they were “not hungry” when offered a treat. I gave up, believing my baking days were over; others would replace my efforts with their own. Recently, my oven died. A new oven was installed. Suddenly, my cooking and baking skills were restored, my productivity increased, and the demand for my sweets increased. The secret? I now used an oven whose heat was regulated. Baking, like any productive endeavor, is both an art and a science. There are rules to acknowledge, recipes to follow, and regulated patterns to maintain proper heat to alter the interaction of the ingredients for successful cakes-pies-cookies. Baking for a family is not without risk, but less demanding than baking for a huge family wedding. Baking a wedding cake and catering the event is an enterprise too big to fail. Throwing a burnt batch of cookies out to the birds is no big deal; failing to deliver a wedding cake is.

 

Regulations are not meant to restrict an enterprise, but to make it more productive. Following rules and regulations is not counterproductive; it assures the common good will be served by the success of the enterprise. It encourages growth and productivity. It assures certainty which reduces fear and risk to manageable proportions. regulations are good and necessary. Not just in kitchens, but in the corporate world as well.

 

What do we mean by too big to fail? Consider the nation’s biggest banks collective holdings: In 2008,the nation’s biggest banks held $6 trillion, 40% of the nation’s wealth; today, $8.5 trillion, 56% of the nation’s wealth. the bail out first orchestrated by president George Bush, and later adopted by president Obama, successfully avoided the loss and actually increased the gain of Wall Street Banks. While unemployment continues to drop slowly, wealth of the banks has increased quickly and dramatically.

The unemployment rate hovers around 8% at best, and in our minority communities it has slid to 40-50%.1 Meanwhile, CEO and upper level executives of Wall Street enjoy million dollar bonuses,on top of multiple-million dollar salaries. Wall Street’s golden boy, JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, earns about $20 million per year before bonuses and perks.2

 

This same Jamie Dimon recently announced his bank lost $2 billion in a “sloppy” and “stupid” trade whose “red flags” he and others had seen for months but which he had characterized as “a tempest in a teapot”. “We made a terrible, egregious mistake,” Dimon said in an interview that aired on Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press. “There’s almost no excuse for it.”1 There is no “almost” about it, Mr. Dimon.  There is NO excuse. Later, Mr. Dimon indicated the loss had doubled to $ 4 billion, a drop in the bucket for JPMorgan Chase, if not for its investors.3

 

The Obama administration and Democrats in Congress did manage to enact financial reform legislation to rein in such sloppy/stupid and speculative derivative trades, before the Republicans gained complete control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 election. The Dodd-Frank Bill may not have been strong enough for most economists, but has been under unceasing Republican attack. Republicans have blocked every effort to expand financial reform measures, and to implement rules to enforce Dodd-Frank; and, they have refused to confirm Richard Cordray to oversee the newly-created  Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, forcing President Obama to make a recess appointment, also opposed by Senate and House Republicans.

 

The recess appointment to the new agency, hobbled by the lack of a permanent director, faces possible litigation as it tries to regulate banks and other financial institutions.The position of House Republican Leader,Rep. John Boehner and Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnel is best illustrated by Alabama Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus’, the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services,comment, “President Obama has delegitimized the CFPB and has opened the agency up to legitimate legal challenges that will cripple it for years”. Clearly, every effort will be made to stop financial reform.4

It is not simply that Republicans oppose Dodd-Frank and the Volcker Rule which stops banks with government guaranteed deposits from proprietary trading; Mitt Romney has promised he will overturn it. The Volcker Rule prevents such banks from speculating with depositors’ money, backed by government guarantees supported by our tax dollars. While AIG used market derivatives to bet on the housing market causing a world-wide economic bust, JPMorgan Chase more recentlyused market derivatives to bet on corporate debt. Again, using depositors’ money backed by federal guarantees – using our tax dollars. Clearly, why would we expect anything else? What is the incentive to rein in risk when you are betting with someone else’s money, and the taxes collected by the federal government guarantee your failures will not result in your personal loss?

To add insult to injury, Republicans argue it is morally wrong to ask those who “earn” their wealth from the capital gains made from such investments to pay the same rate as those who “earn” their wealth from their own labor, instead of the 15% they now pay. Also, they pay nothing at all until they draw down their profits. If they reinvest and take loans against these profits/assets they pay zero on the gains, living off the loan whose costs may be deductible. They do all of this with depositors’ funds backed by tax-payers’ dollars.

This same strategy of using others’ money for one’s personal gain, without risking one’s own assets is a key feature of venture capitalists such as presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Bain Capital. Do banks and venture capitalists sometimes turn a profit for their investors and the companies they buy? Yes. But, at what cost?  The recent JPMorgan Chase loss might have resulted in gain, had things gone differently. But the only risk was to depositors. Romney and Bain may have saved a few companies, while closing down most; but at what cost to down-sized workers who lost their jobs, retirees who lost retirement income and benefits, workers who lost health insurance coverage? Romney and Bain faced no risk of their own.If the company could not be saved it was sold off and Bain was reimbursed before workers or retirees, who lost most if not all in the company’s bankruptcy.

The willingness to risk loss is increased when using someone else’s money and your own potential loss is prevented by the structured guarantees which assure one will not lose one’s own profits;and, that one can avoid taxes on such ill gotten gains. Such gains are ill gotten and inherently immoral, but not illegal. That needs to change. Such change is being fought by ALEC, Koch Brothers et al, and an army of lobbyists.

Recently, the Ohio legislature, as have other state legislatures armed with sample legislation prepared and funded by ALEC, passed legislation requiring welfare recipients to take drug tests at their own cost. If they pass the test they are reimbursed. If they fail they are not reimbursed nor granted benefits for which they are otherwise entitled. The rationale? Welfare recipients are using other people’s money (government revenue) for food and shelter; and perhaps drugs. If we want to protect the funds of one set of persons from misuse by poor people-unemployed people-disabled people-and yes- those with drug or alcohol addiction in order to protect the common good, should we not also test CEO’s-investment capitalists-and bankers who are using other people’s money; and perhaps misusing it for their own gain at the expense of the common good? I can assure you the rate of drug and alcohol abuse is just as high among this group. And whom do you think launders the money for those who transport drugs into our communities? The banks.5 The street junkie denied benefits is probably not using the bank in this way, but the drug lords are doing so.

The patterns clearly favor the haves at the expense of the have nots. This is not new. What is new is that the middle class is now expendable to the haves and have joined the have nots. And the haves are doing all they can to keep the rest of us from seeing the pattern, regulating it, and saving ourselves from it.

This election is not about taking back our country; nor taking back Congress and presidency. It is about taking back ourselves. It is time to get in the kitchen, get fired up and ready to go!

 

1.Inner City Black Male Unemployment At 50 Percent, http://westorlandonews.com/category/opinion/roger-caldwell/  August 24, 2009

2.JPMorgan boss eats teapot tempest words

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120514/jsp/foreign/story_15486300.jsp#.T7ORUI7QVIA 

3.Morgan’s Corner: Banks reject any regulation, even as billions evaporate, Earl Morgan/For The Jersey Journal 

4.Richard Cordray Recess Appointment Sparks More Bickering,Obama achieves goal by appointing consumer watchdog–but risks backlash in courts and in Congress,Alex M. Parker, http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/01/04/richard-cordray-recess-appointment-sparks-more-bickering

5.How a big US bank laundered billions from Mexico’s murderous drug gangs,Ed Vulliamy The Observer, Saturday 2 April 2011  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/03/us-bank-mexico-drug-gangs

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