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Solutions for Arizona
Corporate Raiders vs Hostess Unions
As a candidate for mayor of Toledo, I ran as a Republican in a sea of Democrats. I ran as a Republican because I totally bought into the right-wing rhetoric that it was the unions who were destroying my hometown. I remember standing outside in the freezing rain, watching in horror as factory after factory closed up shop. Toledo Metal Furniture and Champion Spark Plug, come to mind. I now know that I was duped.
What is happening to Hostess, by Bain Capitol-like vultures, is the cause of the decimation of urban centers like Toledo -- not unions.
Last month I went back for a visit of my hometown. What I saw was shocking. Toledo is not in a recession, she is in a depression. Thank God Romney was lying about Jeep closing.
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Yes, we now live in a world where "profit is king." But no worries, Hostess was able to peal away their pension obligations in order to make this type of union busting more lucrative for the next buyer of this once great company, leaving U.S. taxpayers holding the bag. With each plant closing in urban America, it's becoming crystal clear who stole the American Dream, and it's not the union worker making $20 an hour.
I wish I knew about this when I was running for Mayor!
GOP Voter Fraud Rampant in Arizona
Former Arizona Republican Party Chairman Nathan Spraul, is being investigated for wide spread voter suppression (you can read more about that HERE). It's also looking like Nathan Spraul, was involved with Attorney General Tom Horne, in deliberately breaking campaign finance laws. Oh the irony -- the party who is pushing for voter ID in order to safeguard election integrity -- is simultaneously involved in years of active voter fraud. So this is how they turned Arizona ruby red. Wake up Arizona. A band of right-wing, corrupt-political operatives have hijacked our state government. Where is the outrage by my fellow Republicans? Governor Brewer?!! Sheriff Arpaio!!! Anyone!
End the corruption in Arizona -- Vote for Open Elections! Yes on 121
And the winner is ....
Forget the polls, forget the pundits -- President Obama debate performance last evening is being severly underated. I believe Obama won the debate. I loved that he refused to get down and roll around in the mud, with the now transformed, right-wing Mitt Romney. I also loved how, unlike Romney, Obama, in a heartfelt -- unteleprompter moment -- asked for my vote.
Yes, Romney was on his game, and Obama looked tired. He looked like he'd rather be at a nice candlelit dinner with his lovely wife, celebrating their wedding anniversary. Who can blame him for that? All that aside, nothing Romney said last night changed my mind about Obama as my vote for president this November is based on the candidate who agrees that the bailouts to Wall Street must NEVER happen again.
Who can forget that only a few years ago our economy was on the brink of disaster. Are we better off today than we were back then? Absolutely! Taxpayers must never forget, that under the Bush administration -- we witnessed the single largest transfer of wealth from Main Street to Wall Street.
Romney did a great job whipping up the base last night, but it was a performance filled with several untruths that fact checkers are sifting through as we speak. At the end of the day -- we all know that the Romney campaign is run by the same corrupt, right-wing Bush/Karl Rove/Nathan Sproul machine that got us into this mess. We are not electing a great debater -- we are electing a president. We are not going backward -- we are moving forward -- Obama2012.
BEST QUOTE OF THE DEBATE:
RE: Dodd-Frank: Obama opined -- if anyone thought the Great Recession was brought on by too much oversight of Wall Street. "If so, Romney's your guy."
Who can forget that only a few years ago our economy was on the brink of disaster. Are we better off today than we were back then? Absolutely! Taxpayers must never forget, that under the Bush administration -- we witnessed the single largest transfer of wealth from Main Street to Wall Street.
Romney did a great job whipping up the base last night, but it was a performance filled with several untruths that fact checkers are sifting through as we speak. At the end of the day -- we all know that the Romney campaign is run by the same corrupt, right-wing Bush/Karl Rove/Nathan Sproul machine that got us into this mess. We are not electing a great debater -- we are electing a president. We are not going backward -- we are moving forward -- Obama2012.
BEST QUOTE OF THE DEBATE:
RE: Dodd-Frank: Obama opined -- if anyone thought the Great Recession was brought on by too much oversight of Wall Street. "If so, Romney's your guy."
Yes on Open, Non-Partisan Primaries in AZ
An opinion piece titled, Can a Young Democrat Liberate America From Pete Stark?, appeared in the WSJ yesterday. It was great news for supporters of Open Elections. Like California, Arizona's election system has been reformed to include an independent redistricting commission. A good-government reform measure that the TP-AZGOP and MCRC continues to fight. But it is not "mission accomplished," Arizona needs to add one more important election reform -- Open Elections.
And right on cue RWers like, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, are frantically fighting this good-government reform. It's called voter suppression GOP style as they like things the way they are in AZ.
States across the country must follow California's lead. Election system reform measures like Open Elections and Independent Redistricting will revolutionize the way we think about our government, and return it to "we the people" not the political bosses.
Realizing there is a paywall on this LINK -- below are my quotes of the week.
QUOTES:
"Thanks to a reformed election system, a 31-year-old insurgent may unseat the liberal House baron and loose cannon in California's East Bay."
"Other incumbents -- such as Mr Stark-- now have to run in districts that have undergone serious plastic surgery."
"Voters in 2010 also passed Proposition 20, which sends the top two primary finishers onto the November election, no matter their party. Now moderates and challengers have a better shot, as they're no longer weeded out in primaries dominated by hard-line party activists. Republicans make up less than 20 percent of Mr Stark's current district."
END QUOTES:
The U.S. Can Help Libya
Who knew, at the end of the day, that President Obama's strong suit would be foreign policy?
That's right -- even after 3 1/2 years of trying to make Obama a "one term president" -- the GOP that is comprised, for the most part, of angry white men, may not be able to bring down the guy who killed Osama bin Laden.
According to recent polls, it's looking like Romney isn't selling well in River City -- so to speak!
That does not come as a surprise to any of us who has been plugged-in to what is going on in our world. The polls suggest that voters are not going to embrace Mitt Romney, who sucked up to the far-right just to get the nomination, and hand him the keys to the White House. That kind of strategy works great for sell-out Republicans running for statewide and legislative offices here in Arizona, but not across America.
And thank God for that!
It's looking more and more like the GOP's anti-Obama, anti-Latino, anti-Muslim, anti-Islam, anti-woman, anti-everything agenda will not be a winning strategy come November. And that is why my quote of the week goes to Jason Pack and Andrea Khalil from today's WSJ's OpEd piece: Amid Chants of 'Free Libya, Terrorists Out,' a Nation at a Crossroads:
QUOTE:
In the words of Sen. John McCain, "Libya is wealthy. It does not need our money ... It needs our technical expertise."
Based on our observation, popular sentiment in Libya longs for increased international cooperation. If America abandons the country or lashes out in revenge, security and stability will deteriorate, foreign investment will dry up, and the Libyan economy will stagnate. America (read Obama) wisely played a supporting role in ending the Gadhafi dictatorship. In the struggle for post-Gadhafi Libya, the U.S. cannot be silent. Only intense engagement can help restore momentum to the political transition already under way.
END QUOTE
GOP Heading Toward Irrelevance
I predicted this months ago. Right-wingers could not get their candidates out of the Republican primaries, think Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum, and are now realizing that candidate Romney is in trouble. Should Romney lose to Obama -- they will say the GOP lost because Romney was not conservative enough. LOL!! The Republican party is heading toward irrelevance.
The GOP has become a party of angry white men! Obama 2012!
QUOTE:
"Limbaugh just gave the best reason yet to vote for Obama."
You can read more about the beginning of the end of the now radicalized GOP HERE.
You can read more about the beginning of the end of the now radicalized GOP HERE.
Republicans for Obama
“I hope this is the last time I support a Democrat, but I’ll just have to see how the Republican Party responds to this election first.”
John Martin, Founder Republicans for Obama
Calls for Republicans who support Obama to leave the party are hilarious. The now "Extreme GOP" folks think they can win national elections without we "true conservatives." Only time will tell if they are correct -- but I am betting that their small tent, extremist mentality is going to have disastrous consequence come November.
Todd Akin of Missouri, and his “legitimate rape” diatribe, may cost Republicans the Senate. Just like tea party, and right-wingers Sharron Angle of Nevada, when she lost to Senator Harry Reid, and Delaware Senate candidate Christine, I'm not a witch, O'Donnell did in 2010.
If the angry white men, who now control the GOP, think we women are going to support policies that will take us back decades -- they had better think again. Going after contraception, under the guise of "freedom of religion," was the last straw for me!!! I am pro-prevention -- not pro-abortion or pro-welfare.
That is why my quotes of the week go to former Republican and Governor of Connecticut Lowell Weicker, and John Martin, founder of Republicans for Obama.
QUOTES:
The Republican presidential nominee lacks the will or desire to stand up to “extremists” who have gained a sturdy foothold in the party, Mr. Martin said, and President Obama is far from the socialist demon portrayed by GOP leaders.
“The Republican Party has changed from being a party of fiscal conservatism and social moderation [to] become a ‘praise the Lord and pass the ammunition’ party,” he said from his home in Connecticut, where he served as governor from 1991 to 1995 as a member of a third party he created.
“It’s disheartening for me to see our party move away from what it was always about, and that is to stay out of people’s lives, let them live their lives, don’t impose their religion on anybody else, don’t impose their feelings, let them live and uphold the Constitution."
END QUOTES
To read the entire article, click HERE.
Helping Wall Street And Not Main Street Will Hurt GOP
One of the reasons I am supporting President Obama, is because Republicans continue to give major tax breaks to giant corporations like Amazon, all while insisting that smaller Internet companies collect the required sales tax. This is hurting small businesses, the backbone of the new digital economy.
One of Amazon's stated missions is to put brick and mortar business out of business -- they are well on their way to accomplishing that goal -- with the help of the right-wing of the Republican party. What hypocrites -- they opposes personal welfare -- but love corporate welfare.
Either we all get the same tax break or no one gets a tax break. Picking winners and losers is not my definition of smaller, limited government.
The right-wing thinks their Amazon purchases are" tax-free," when in reality they are breaking the law by not paying the required use tax. Helping Wall Street and not Main Street will not help the GOP come November.
The Party's Over!
When I announced on my facebook page yesterday that I would be voting for President Obama, the comments from my friends reached an all time high. If I have to choose between the "better of two evils" -- the decision was easy. I used to be a fan of Paul Ryan, until I realized just how far-right and radical his record is. This will be the first time, since registering Republican after college so I could vote for Ronald Reagan, that I will be voting for a Democrat for president. We don't need to redefine the meaning of "rape." We need to redefine what it means to be Republican.
And that is why my quote of the week comes from the book -- The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted - By Mike Lofgren
"As we embark on the second decade of the 21st century, the commanding heights of corporate America--the banks, the military-industrial complex, corporate interests benefiting from huge subsidies like Big Pharma and Big Oil--largely have the government they want. They have the tax structure they desire. Under Bush appointee Chris Cox, the SEC's regulatory function was wrecked. The military has been so outsourced that the Army can no longer feed itself, while a policy of permanent war assures a perpetual cash flow to contractors. Federal law guarantees pharmaceutical companies the kind of collusive and monopolistic profiteering that antitrust laws were intended to prevent. Corporate America has posted record profits even amid the most protracted period of joblessness in post-World War II history. It is corporate nirvana. Under these circumstances, who needs an activist government? Now that the commanding heights have achieved their objectives, a grid locked government will work just fine, regardless of who is in charge."
END QUOTE
Love this quote from a reader of the party's over!
"How will the Republican moderates who are increasing pushed out of their party going to react to the extremism of the current party? Will they have enough and vote Democratic as the better of two evils? Will there be a candidate with the resolve to do what is right rather than doing what they are lobbied or outright bribed to do? These are the questions that Lofgren focuses on that can help us as voters to think through what must happen in a long-term effort to reclaim our government."
END QUOTE
Small group undermining better democracy in state
Looks like those of us who are tired of having our voices squeezed out by those on the far left and far right will have to wait to hear from the Arizona Supreme Court on whether "we the people" will get to vote on a historic measure that could end the partisan gridlock and dysfunction that plagues our government. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark Brain issued an injunction last week to keep the Open Government initiative off the November ballot. Looks like a small but artful minority has figured out a way to potect the status quo and undermine democracy. It was a bad week for good government.
