Annie Birdsong's Homepage



    On the Left: Bold Vision for Rebuilding Our World    


May we be a tolerant nation.
North Koreans Mourn Death of Leader

 
How might we teach the children harmony?
Carter: USA a Most War-Like Nation


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The utter insanity of war
The Tragedy in Afghanistan

We've been fighting in Afghanistan 10 years. The USA is intervening in a civil war to prevent the Taliban from taking control.

The Taliban is an Islamic Republic, which is socialist, similar to North Korea.

Ten years after Bush invaded, the Taliban won't yield.

General McChrystal says we're only half way done. I guess that means he wants 10 more years of war.

In 10 years, the Afghani's won't have any more sons to send to war and that will allow us to claim victory.

They will then have Western style democracy, but no form of government will be effective, because already, they are a nation of widows.

Now Newt Gingrich is wanting to invade Iran, which is also a socialist country.

Will the Christians bring Gingrich to power?

The Bible says, "Woe unto those who call bad good and good bad." War is a profound evil -- unthinkable and shocking to the human imagination. Yet Pres. Carter says since he has left office, the USA has used its military forces 50 times.

But during Carter's administration, no bombs fell! I love him so much!

During the 12 years of Reagan-Bush, Carter says the military was used 32 times.

The USA has troops in 120 countries with military bases in 63 of them.
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The utter insanity of war
Nobel Winner and Harvard Economist: Iraq War Costed Taxpayers $3.3 Trillion




"Let the nations gather together, let the people be assembled." Isaiah 43:9
Focus on the Family Lied About U.N. Treaty for Children



Be alert -- not brainwashed.
The Southern Strategy

Ronald Reagan came up with the "southern strategy" -- a trick or conspiracy for how to get Christians to turn against their party and vote for Republicans, which most of them hated at that time.

I learned in a political science class that one scheme of the southern strategy was to use Jerry Falwell to draw christians to the republican tent. He attacked Jimmy Carter, a liberal -- even told lies about him, according to President Carter in his book "Keeping Faith."

By observation I can see that this southern strategy is enormous and sets out to redefine the word liberal -- wrongly associating it with sin.

The people under attack
What Does It Mean to Be a Liberal?

 
One of nation's top environmentalists
Robert Kennedy Jr.: Unholy Alliances



"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20
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Understand the importance of good leaders.
The Radical Agenda of Modern Day Conservatives




Renewable energy: no help from republicans
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:
Corruption of Republicans

 
Understand the importance of good leaders.
Harvard Economist: Bush
Mistakes Costed U.S. $10 Trillion

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Christians should go left
The Stands of Dennis Kucinich, Our Most Liberal and Most Idealistic Congressman




Know the agenda of the party you support.
Nobel Winner Criticizes Tea Party

 
The whole world is shaken.
Nobel Winner: Republicans Radical


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Don't tell your wife, she'll divorce you.
You're Probably a Liberal and Just Don't Know It.




Author of "Why we're liberals"
Dr. Eric Alterman: Most Are Left Wing

 
Columnist for Harper's Magazine
Deregulatory Agenda of Republicans


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Digging at the roots of deficits, high interest rates and unemployment
Our Monstrous Immense Defense Budget

President Carter said the USA spends about as much on the military as the whole world put together!

It really creates a budget deficit, which causes unemployment since the banks must raise the interest rates to attract money to fund the deficit. People then can't get loans to build or buy equipment etc.


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California always leads the way.
Fixing Our Election System with Rank Choice Voting

Did you know there is a new election system in place in Oakland, California, that would allow third party candidates to participate, without spoiling the election?

Here's how it works. Let's say there are three choices in the election, Ralph Nader, Al Gore and George Bush. Let's say I want Nader -- really really want Nader. I mark my ballot this way: first choice, Nader, second choice Gore.

Then, if Nader really bombs out and gets very few votes, he is threwn out of the election and those who voted for him now get their second choice counted. My second choice was Gore, so now my vote goes to Gore instead of Nader (since Nader was threwn out.)

This way you are not threwing away your vote if you vote your heart for a third party.

Bring this about in your city!
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It's a dirty dirty system!
Free Air-Time for Political Candidates

"The United States is the only major democratic country that does not provide some free air time to parties or candidates," say Karen O'Connor and Larry J. Sabado in the college text, "American Government: Continuity and Change."

"Politics would be transformed beyond recognition if free air time were given to candidates," wrote Mary McGrory in the Washington Post. "Aspirants could rise up from their knees if they didn't have to spend so much time groveling for funds, 40 percent of which is eaten up with purchasing television time. The average Senate campaign requires $4.3 million; for a House seat, the going rate is $545,000."

Reed Hunt, who was Clinton's Federal Communications Commision Chairman said, "The average Senate candidate must raise approximately 15,000 a week, every week for six years starting the moment he or she is sworn in office."

Raising money for advertising has the potential for deeply corrupting the system. For instance, after the petroleum refining industry gave members of Congress $2,002,703 in 1993-1994, the House of Representatives barred the use of EPA funds to develop, issue or enforce air toxics standards for the petroleum refining industry, according to Joan Claybrook, the former head of Public Citizen.

These standards would have reduced hazardous emissions from 190 petroleum refineries by 68 percent and reduced total hydrocarbon emissions by some 750,000,000 pounds per year, according to Claybrook.

UCLA professor of law Daniel Hays Lowenstein says the great majority of campaign contributions are bribes "made to influence legislators."

The Supreme Court gave us a mandate to fix our dirty system. In the Buckley decision, the court said "facilitating communication by candidates with the electorate and freeing candidates from the rigors of fundraising" meet the general welfare clause.

Here the court was applying the principle to the public financing of campaigns. But certainly the principle would apply to free air tie for candiates as well.
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Recreating our political system
Nominating Candidates for Office


Here's America's backward political system:

We all stand around idle and wait until some bold crow comes forward and announces himself a candidate for office.

He then goes directly to the petroleum industry, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, polluters, banking barons, auto giants and other vested interests and promises to do their dirty bidding if they will give him astronomical sums of money to fund air time (instead of passing legislation to give him free air time on broadcast tv. The airwaves are legally owned by the people.)

Then we scratch our heads and wonder why America is so desperately violent. President Carter says we invaded 50 countries since he left office.

And we wonder why the water is so dirty, the fish full of tumors and one in two men and one in three women come down with cancer at some time in their lives.

In the republican primaries, all of the candidates were found to be deeply corrupted, with the possible exception of John Huntsman, who couldn't get any media attention and dropped out.

What we need is a national conversation on a very progressive, intelligent strategy for nominating our candidates for office.

We must get money completely out of the system.

I say we should entrust our college professors with the responsibility of searching out the brightest, most sincere, most innovative, most well read individuals in the entire country -- individuals with unshakable integrity -- and nominating them as candidates for office.

Everyone put before the public should be well screened and excellent.

Our scholars are our treasure.

They are the well informed ones who study on a daily basis so they can inform us about the urgent problems we face and possible solutions.

They are collectors of wisdom.

They are a vast untapped precious resource. If we would listen to them and lean on them, we would be a protected, richly blessed country rich in amazing solutions in every area.

Let's urge the corporations to relinquish their domination and power and turn it over to the true fathers of the country.

Those professors who are Republican could come together to nominate some Republican candidates to participate in the primaries. Those professors who are Democrats could nominate candidates to particpate in the Democratic primaries.

Furthermore, instead of splitting the vote with more than two parties, we could have various types of democrats that participate in the democratic primary and so forth.
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This is who would protect the people.
Who Would Make a Good President? Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

WE MUST NOT STAND AROUND AND WAIT ON CORPORATIONS TO PICK OUT OUR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES.

In these perilous times, we need a real leader as president. One with real courage to stand up against vested interests to reform our media system, campaign finance laws, clean up our water, break our dependence on foreign oil, phase out coal and bring in solar energy and much much more.

I believe the best president would be environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -- not as a third party -- that would split the vote -- just as a candidate in the primaries.

He was groomed for this from a child.

He is very very sincere.

He might have difficulty getting media attention, for our media system is weak since it is owned by the rich and supported by advertising dollars.

And he won't get one dollar from corporations. But he would have public financing. Jimmy Carter had no funds from corporations and won.

Kenndy has something the other candidates might not have -- strong name recognition. And people marvel at his courage and vision. There would be an enthusiasm among the people that would catch afire and result in an outpouring of support and activism.

Moreover, his political family knows how to win elections. One way they advance is by obtaining labor union support.

Wouldn't it be great if Occupy would work for his election?

Using Youtube and the Internet, we could pull this off if everyone would work at it.

Won't you write him today and encourage him to run?

Other good candidates would be House Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senator Dennis Kucinich (a strong advocate for peace) and our beloved Ralph Nader, a real scholar on how to fix the trade problems that led to 50,000 factories moving overseas to exploit cheap labor.

What if we had a Kennedy -- Nader ticket? Or Nader in charge of the EPA?

But I sure would not support Nader as a candidate in a third party, only if he runs in the Democratic primary.

Click here to read more about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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Election reform
Holding Congressmen Accountable

Ralph Nader says one way to hold congressmen and congress women accountable is to require by law that each law maker's website have a link to how they voted on all issues in a clearly retrievable fashion.

I think it would also be a good idea to urge news media outlets to display voting records on their websites.
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Creating a better world for the children
Cleaning Up a Dirty Dirty System

 
No to Newt Gingrich for president
Newt Gingrich for War in Iran!


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How the rich would rule.
Newt Gingrich Would Shut Down the EPA

Newt Gingrich is in favor of closing down the EPA, which he calls "increasingly radical."

He sites as evidence a regulation in Iowa to control "particulate matter," which he said is a regulation to control "dust." But particulate matter is a whole lot more than dust.

The EPA estimates that particulate matter in the air kills as many as 160,000 people in just one year many and sickens many others.

The particles are so tiny, they lodge deep in the lungs where they can cause serious damaage.

Particulate matter from coal burning power plants or industrial smoke stacks can often contain such substances as free radicals, mercury, lead, benzene, carbon monoxode, PaHs, heavy metals and even radioactive substances such as uranium and thorium.

Particulates have been linked to irregular heart beat, heart attacks, stroke, cancer, infant mortality, chronic bronchitis, impaired lung function, asthma, as well as reproductive and developmental harm.

Particulte matter can take nine years off the lives of vulnerable residents, such as those with asthma.

Babies and children are very sensitive to pollution. A wrong chemical signal during growth can cause development to go awry.

Researchers in the UK estimate that one in every 50 heart attacks in London may be triggered by air pollution.

There is technology for preventing the release of particulate matter. The EPA has to force businesses to use it.
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Be alert. The primaries are coming.
Nobel Prize Recipient: How Gingrich Would Impact Medicare

Here is a quote from the book "The Conscience of a Liberal" by Dr. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at Princeton and a columnist with the New York Times:

"Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the house, was trying to impose a plan that would sharply cut Medicare's funding and, equally important, give healthy seniors an incentive to drop out of Medicare, undermining the program's universality and its financial base.

"In effect, Gingrich wanted to subject Medicare to slow death by strangulation. Gingrich had enough votes to get his plan though Congress, but he didn't have the votes to override a presidential veto.

"So he tried to force Clinton's hand by denying the federal government the funds it needed to keep operating. ... Clinton's impeachment three years later, which seems otherwise a bizarre event, is best understood as Gingrich's attempt to take revenge."

"...And Gingrich, who was carrying on his own affair with a subordinate even as he denounced Clinton's immorality, displayed a combination of grandiosity and hypocrisy rare even among politicians."
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Don't be silent.
Why Gingrich Should Not Be Our Next President


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We must break our dependency on foreign oil soon
Amidst Wars Over Oil, Rick Santorum Speaks Out Against Renewable Energy Programs

As you listen to Santorum's speech in the video below, you should not believe him that we have 100 years worth of fossil fuel left and do not need to break our dependency on foreign oil. In fact, international tensions are rising -- the world is in crisis over the burgeoning demand for oil.

The oil companies are resorting to melting dirty tar in tar sands to produce fuel.


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Know the importance of good leaders
Santorum Would Attack Iran

 
Understand the agenda of Rightists
Santorum: Cut Social Security Checks


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So much is at stake in this election!
Radical! Santorum Speaks Out Againt Gov. Regulation of Mercury

CNN recently
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on mercury in fish
reported that Rick Santorum, a republican candidate for president, was criticizing the EPA's decision to take tough action against mercury.

Click here to see the article.

Controlling mercury costs money. Lots of money for expensive technology. But we must protect the public -- especially the babies, who are the most sensitive to pollution. A wrong chemical signal when a baby is developing can cause develpment to go awry.

Click here to see a shocking youtube video about people poisoned by mercury.

Examining his voting records in the Senate, The League of Women's Voters gave Santorum a failing environmental grade -- a puny 9 percent out of 100 possible points.
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Pollutions kills, sickens and ages our bodies.
Nobel Winner Reveals How Rick Santorum Is Sold Out to Narrow Interests

Here is a quote from the book "The Conscience of a Liberal" by Dr. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at Princeton and a New York Times columnist:

"Until his defeat in 2006 forced him to take a new job confronting America's enemies, Sen. Rick Santorum held a meeting every Tuesday with about two dozen top lobbyists. Here's how Nicholas Confessore described those meetings in 2003:

"Every week, the lobbyists present pass around a list of the jobs available and discuss whom to support. Santorum's responsibility is to make sure each one is filled by a loyal Republican -- a senator's chief of staff, for instance, or a top White House aide, or another lobbyist whose reliability has been demonstrated. After Santorum settles on a candidate, the lobbyists present make sure it is known whom the Republican leadership favors."
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Radical people are trying to gain power.
Republicans: A Danger to Your Health

CNN reported that Rick Santorum was criticizing the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to regulate mercury in the water we drink.

Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachman and Ron Paul all want to do away with the environmental protection agency!

That's a government agency with an army of lawyers that haul corporate interests into court and make them pay big big bucks for poisoning people's water and land.

Do we want to go back to the days when rivers were so full of solvents and other industrial toxins that they would catch afire?

Do you want to drink and bath in trichlorethylene, PBC's and mercury?

It's the babys that are the most vulnerable to chemicals. A wrong chemical signal when a baby is developing can cause development to go awry.

Chemicals in the water can cause lower intelligence, weaker immunity, hyperactivity, degraded genes, impulsivity, leukemia and much much more.

In Sweden, it's mothers that go to the government to complain of pollution. They say, "We can not have it."

CHECK OUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD OF REPUBLICANS:

One way to tell that Republicans are controlled by narrow business interests instead of being focused on the welfare of the people is how they vote on environmental issues.

The League of Conservation Voters publishes a scorecard every year.

The DIFFERENCE IN SCORES of Republicans and Democrats is amazing: Compare the leadership of the two partys for 2006. Out of a possible of 100 points:

Notice Santorum's record below:

HOUSE 2006

Republicans:
Hastert, Speaker of the House -- NA
Boehner, Majority Leader -- 0%
Blunt, Majority Leader and Whip -- 0%
Pryce, Conference chair -- 25%

Democrats:
Pelosi, Minority Leader -- 100%
Hoyer, Minority Whip -- 100%
Clyburn, Caucus Chair -- 100%


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SENATE 2006:

Republicans:
Frist -- Majority leader -- 14%
McConnel, Majority Whip -- 0%
Santorum, Conference Chair -- 9%

Democrats:
Reid, Minority Leader -- 57%
Durbin, Minority Whip -- 100%
Stabenow, Conference Secretary -- 76%

Here's another scorecard. I think it was in 2002:

In Alabama, EVERY congressman except one, a democrat, got all F's!

Shelby (republican) 4%, 6%, 0%, 0%
Sessions (republican) 4%,6%,0%,0%
Callahan (republican) 0%,0%,0%,3%
Riley (republican) 0%,0%,0%,7%
Aderholt (republican) 5%,0%,7%,3%
Bachus (republican) 5%,0%,7%,7%
Hillard (democrat) 64%, 63%,64%, 63%
Craner (democrat) 36%, 50%, 29%, 30%


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Congressmen from Massachusetts are among the finest in the country:

McGovern (democrat) 100%,100%,100%, 100%
Frank (democrat) 100%, 100%, 100%, 90%
Markey (democrat) 95%, 88%, 100%, 90%
Capuano (democrat) 95%, 100%, 93%, 97%
Lynch (democrat) 100%, 100%, 100%
Kennedy (democrat) 84%, 82%, 88%, 81%
Kerry (democrat) 92%, 94%, 88%, 94%
Olver (democrat) 91%, 88%, 93%, 97%
Neal (democrat) 77%, 88%, 71%, 90%
Meehan (democrat) 77%, 63%, 86%, 100%
Tierney (democrat) 100%, 100%, 100%, 93%
Delahunt (democrat) 91%, 75%, 100%, 93%


You can see the environmental scorecard on the website of the League of Conservation Voters: http://www.lcv.org/images/client/pdfs/2002_Scorecard_preview.pdf

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a newspaper article:

"George Bush will go down in history as America's worst environmental president. In a ferocious three-year attack, the Bush administration has initiated more than 200 major rollbacks of America's environmental laws, weakening the protection of our country's air, water, public lands and wildlife.
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A candidate for U.S. president
Radical: Rick Perry on Social Security

 
He may become U.S. vice-president
Radical: Marco Rubio on Social Security


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An urgent priority
Voting Machines Can Be Hacked

 
Exploding our deficit
This Happens When Vote for Rightists


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We are the 99 percent.
Scenes and Sounds From Occupy Protests Around the Country

When the wealth is inequitable so is the power, says Ralph Nader.

Now, this amazing group of people, the occupy protesters, is forcing the country to discuss the staggering powerlessness of the 99 percent to affect change and control our destiny.

 

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The impacts on democracy are extreme
Lappe: Drastic Inequality
in the United States

Frances Moore Lappe, a recipient of the prestigious Right Livelihood Award, also called the Alternative Nobel Prize, is the co-founder of the Institute of The Institute for Food and Development Policy, co-founder of The Small Planet Institute, which focuses on creating living democracy, and a founding councilor of the Hamburg-based World Future Council.

 
The party you vote for matters.
Paul Krugman: Income Inequality
and the Middle Class

In this video, Dr. Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning columnist for the New York Times, economics professor at Princeton University and author of the book "The Conscience of a Liberal," shows the great power of a president to impact our wages. The party you vote for does matter.



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Occupy Wallstreet
Clips From A PBS Special Report: Drastic Inequality in the United States

 

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A segment of a PBS report on inequality
How Inequality Hurts

 
A segment of a PBS report on inequality
Nicholas Kristof on Extreme Inequality


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Inequities in wealth and power
Is It Wrong to Charge Higher Taxes On the Rich?

Should the rich pay high taxes on their income?

The top 1 percent in America brought in 49.7 percent of total wages in 2007, according to Dr. Emanuel Saez, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley. The research was published in the Huffington Post.

In fact, the top 5 percent has more wealth the the bottom 95 percent, according to New York University economist Dr. Edward N. Wolff, author of the book, "Top Heavy: the increasing Inequity of wealth in America and what can be done."

Thats not only wealth but incredible power.

Higher taxes on the rich mean $300 billion per year in revenue to the U.S. treasury. To the rich, it is just plain stealing to make them pay that and they are fighting a horrible war on the radio against democrats (labor).

Consider this, the typical top wage earner makes 18,000 times the wages of the typical American. Has he done 18,000 times more work -- or did he have a lot of assistance?

A businessman has taken out a hefty loan to purchase technology, but it is the labor of the workers who paid off the loan.

Moreover, the technology was often created by research in our universities which are supported by tax dollars.

Bill Gates created technology that made him a billionare, but he stood on the shoulders of researchers in universities across the world who helped develop knowledge of programming.

Notice that his Microsoft and NBC's MSNBC vigorously supports Democrats and higher taxes on the rich.

In one of my classes, an economist said in an ideal economic system, there would be no profit. The prices charged would be what is needed to cover salaries and the overhead costs.

But a text book explained that a profit can be charged so there is surplus in order to invest in starting up new jobs. So the businessman is in effect taxing the public. The profit is a public investment. But we need some of it back in the form of taxes.

If we don't charge higher taxes on the rich, there are huge budget deficits and the government just has to print money to pay its bills. This causes money to lose its value and prices to rise. Then savings for retirement lose their value. For example, $10 used to buy a lot. Now it buys nothing.

While Jimmy Carter almost balanced his budget -- very little debt, Ronald Reagan quadrupled the debt.

Integrity shines so bright.
President Carter Discusses Social Security, Money Corrupting Politics and More


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Solution to social security problem -- vote for Democrats.
MSNBC Guest Exposes Republican Propaganda About Social Security

In the video below, Fmr. Rep. Elizabeth Holzman, D-N.Y., tells a simple way Social Security might be fixed so it is solvent forever.


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Many will suffer if we ignore this issue.
Danger! Republicans Seek to Privatize Social Security




The most important issue of this election is Social Security.
Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Compares U.S. to Other Countries -- and more

In this video, Dr. Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning columnist for the New York Times, economics professor at Princeton University and author of the book "The Conscience of a Liberal," gives insights into politics and our economic crisis, including how we can fix our Social Security system.


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Playing hardball for privatization
Republicans Crushing the U.S. Postal Service


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Let your voice be heard.
Creating a Participatory Democracy

How can we create a more participatory democracy?

One way is to study for the country -- keeping a wonderful journal of important facts and quotes -- and sending information to our journalists and Congressmen.

This is what Ralph Nader does. One of the great New York Times writers said he still has a letter from Ralph Nader helping him understand globalization.

For instance, Rachel Maddow, Ed, Dylan Ratigan, Chris Hayes and others on MSNBC are great! But you can make them even better!

Love the country.

Here are a few email addresses at MSNBC:

Ed at MSNBC: ed@msnbc.com

Rachel at MSNBC: Rachel@msnbc.com

Chris Hayes at MSNBC: Chris@msnbc.com

MSNBC investigates: msnbcinvestigates@msnbc.com

Also to help strengthen our democracy, we can invite people into our homes for a potluck and to watch documentary video on the environment and on politics and on petroleum depletion.

We can also form study groups to read great books together and hold discussions. See the section on Further Reading for suggestions of great books you could read.
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We need to deepen health care reform.
We Need Single-Payer Health Insurance

Health insurance should not be a for-profit business.

A former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, Physician Dr. Marcia Angell, said in a congressional testimony that in our for-profit health care system "it's been estimated, no one knows for sure, but it's been estimated that no more than 50 cents of the health care dollar actually reaches the providers."

In contrast, the overhead (for billing, profit, advertising etc.) of Medicare, a government-ran program, is less than 3 percent.

Across the country, millions of people yearn to see Medicare expanded to all citizens.

Making a profit off the sick

A Bill Moyers report on PBS said the country's largest health insurance companies recently increased their profit by 56 percent to $12.2 billion.

Below are the annual salaries of the top CEOs of some of our top health insurance companies:

Aetna -- Ron Williams -- $24,300,112

Cigna -- H.Edward Hanway -- $12,236,740

Wellpoint -- Angela Braley -- $9,644,212

Coventry Healthcare -- Dale Wolf -- $9,047,469

Amerigroup -- James Carlson -- $5,292,546

Since we are the only industrialized country without non-profit health insurance, our healthcare costs are twice as high as in other countries, which has dire consequences. For instance, it means many businesses have had to move their factories overseas and many families have been bankrupted.
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You are beautiful, Democrats
Democrats Pass Health Care Reform
to Improve Care and Control Costs

The video below, featuring then-speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), captures an emotional moment when after long years of debate and failed efforts, Democrats finally passed health care reform depite strong opposition from Republicans that weakened their efforts to control costs and efficiency.

 
Learning from other countries!
Sicko: A Documentary by
Oscar-Winning Filmmaker Michael Moore

Below is a small snippit from one of the top ten highest grossing documentaries -- Sicko -- which discusses the failures of the U.S. healthcare system in comparison to systems in other countries.

Click here to order it from Amazon.com.


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Love the mother land.
Jezebel and the Dirty Underbelly of Capitalism







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Know the importance of good leaders
Sen. Dick Durbin (D) Majority Whip, Tells Radical Agenda of Republicans

During elections in November, Sen. Durbin told told how Republicans are for privatizing Social Security, how they oppose legislation against tax breaks for corporations that move jobs overseas and how they filibuster 100 times in a year to obstruct reform.
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Know the importance of good leaders
Vice-Pres. Joe Biden Tells How Republican Mismanagement Costed U.S. $3 Trillion

In this video, Biden tells how the democrats get blamed for the bad economy, but it was mismanagement by Republicans (deregulation of the banks, immense tax cuts for the super rich, tax loop holes for corporations etc.) that caused the economic collapse.

 

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Even the conflict in Palestine may be related to resources.
Let all Be Said: Blood, Tears and Dispossesion in Palestine




One solution in eliminating unemployment
We Need Higher Taxes on the Rich to Redistribute the Wealth

Good people do not tolerate unemployment.

Unemployment means women turning to prostitution. Men breaking into homes and stealing cars -- in your neighborhood. People marketing drugs to your sons and daughters. People committing suicide. Women with no rent money shacking up with men they hardly know and that they care nothing about. Families splitting up. People living on the streets. People losing their minds. Kids giving up on going to college.

One cause of unemployment is drastic inequality. In 1998, the top 5 percent had more wealth than the remaining 95 percent of the populationNew York University economist Dr. Edward N. Wolff, author of the book, "Top Heavy: the increasing Inequity of wealth in America and what can be done."

The gains in the productivity of labor are making their way to the top. It is not unusual to have top CEOs of corporations making $2 million. A labor union would have fixed that.

High taxes on the super wealthy is essential in capitalism to stimulate the economy -- increasing demand by redistributing the wealth. But its a bitter bitter pill for them to swallow.

Indeed, they are fighting a war in the truest sense of the word, trying to wrest control of government from the Democrats.

They buy out newspapers and radio stations -- churning out yellow journalism -- pure deceptive propaganda that shakes democracy to its roots.

They want tax cuts for the super rich, but they often use this money to send jobs overseas and merge, which costs us jobs, or they just sit on the money.

I think we must make it ENJOYABLE for the rich to pay taxes. The rich should be allowed to tell the government how to spend every penny of that portion of their tax dollars over 25% -- as long as the money is spent on projects that generate employment in communities.

For instance, a man might direct the government to give a grant in a specific community of his choosing to hire violin teachers and piano teachers for the children with his tax dollars.

He might direct the government to give a grant to people to write children's books.

He might direct the government to give a grant to put solar panels on libraries, schools, the zoo and churches.

He might direct the government to set up a store in a particular community to sell locally made goods.

He might direct the government to people to plant flowers or trees along the streets in the area of his choosing -- his own neighborhood if that's what he wants.

He might direct the government to give a grant to a specific community of his choosing to repair the roofs of low income elderly people.

He might direct the government to hire activists to study environmental activists to study problems and educate the people on those problems.

He might direct the government to give free bus passes to workers in businesses he specifiies.

He might direct the government to hire people to hold after school programs to tutor children, read to them and play games with them.

He might direct the government to provide free day care to underpaid women in a community of his choosing.

If he is making the world a wonderful much better place with his tax money, he will have joy.

Another cause of unemployment is that farming is being destabilized by free trade agreements as small farmers have to compete with huge subsidized agribusinesses across the world who dump cheap food on the market.

When millions of farmers in developing countries are threwn off the land, each of those farmers will take a job from the us.

The unemployed farmers trudge to the cities. Our factory owners hear about it and send them our jobs. Or, the farmers come to America and take our jobs.

By the way, the Democrats want to STOP giving tax breaks to those who take jobs overseas. But Republicans want tax breaks for them.
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He changed America
The Great Franklin Delano Roosevelt: One of the Founders of Liberalism