Category: politics

Senator Heath needs a portable escape ladder

Last week Senator Bill Heath made a critical bad turn while dodging WSB reporter Lori Geary. The Senator ducked into the Senate Clerk’s Office, and later sent the Senate Press Secretary out to tell Geary the Senator needed to get to a committee meeting. If you watch WSB’s coverage, it looks like Heath missed that meeting.

It occurred to me that Senator Heath could have used a portable fire escape ladder to rope ladderextricate himself from the Clerk’s Office. While a little bulky, this ladder could easily be tucked under one arm and carried to meetings and hearing rooms for quick escapes from reporters and constituents.

This particular ladder is sold by Home Depot, a Georgia based company. Sales would boost much needed state and local tax revenues while supporting a Georgia owned business.

It is ironic that this ladder will cost about $35.00, which is the same amount of a Georgia Public Broadcasting membership, where Senator Heath’s former colleague Chip Rogers is now working for $150K per year (quick math: Rogers’ salary is equivalent to 4,286 GPB memberships. GPB says Rogers’ salary is covered by taxpayer dollars, not GPB membership funds, as if that provides us with any relief).

Budget watchers might be wise to look for “improvements” to the Capitol like more fire escapes or underground tunnels. It seems if the need is there, the money can be found, unlike Senator Heath last week.

 

 

Senator Bill Heath tells constituents they are “annoying” him

The capacity for Georgia’s elected leaders to dig the Chip Rogers/Gov Deal hole deeper keeps growing. After 3,200 Georgians signed a petition calling for Rogers to be fired from his new $150K state taxpayer-funded job at Georgia Public Broadcast (GPB), Senator Bill Heath of the 31st Senate District responded by sending out his own email telling constituents they are “annoying” him and other legislators.

That’s not all.

Senator Heath thinks being engaged with elected officials by signing a petition is a “childish tactic.”

The senator, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, is now just as duplicitous as Nathan Deal in Rogers’ appointment. As Better Georgia points out, Heath sits on a heath1powerful  committee that could stop Deal and GPB in their tracks by voting against Deal’s proposed budget.

Instead of putting the brakes on spending tax dollars to get disgraced legislators out of the Georgia Republican Party’s way, Heath said the petition signers (i.e. taxpaying constituents)  have been “conned.”

The only con job I can see is the one Governor Deal has tried to pull on Georgia voters. Now Senator Heath is helping by saying taxpayers are “annoying.”

Senator Heath and the 27 other Appropriations Committee Members, led by District 4’s Jack Hill, can put a stop to whatever you want to call it by voting No on Deal’s budget, and then following up with a careful examination of proposed spending.

I just sent Bill Heath a “special for him” email at [email protected]. I asked for a personal response since mine wasn’t one of thousands sent to him via a petition. His office number is 404.656.3943 if you want to call him. I was politely greeted by his staffer when I called to confirm the address.

I’ve asked my representatives under the Gold Dome, Representative Mack Jackson and freshman Senator David Lucas, for their thoughts on Rogers hiring and salary. I have no track record with Lucas but during previous General Assembly sessions Jackson has carved time out to respond to me by phone and email. I look forward to their thoughts on taxpayer dollars being used by the Governor to micro-manage personnel decisions at a state department.

 

Customers abandon Whole Foods in lockstep

Earlier this month Whole Foods CEO John Mackey spoke with National Public Radio (NPR) as a book Mackey co-authored, Conscious Capitalism, was released. For years Mackey has said he thinks the healthcare reform laws are a form of socialism, but he took it up a notch and told NPR he thinks, “it’s more like fascism.”

The next day on CBS This Morning the Whole Foods founder tried to dial back his rhetoric and “bad choice of words.” Customer’s weren’t buying it.

Mother Jones followed the NPR and CBS features with a January 18 email interview with Mackey. BAGHe seized the opportunity to set off Whole Foods customers with his comments on Climate Change, which included, “climate change is perfectly natural and not necessarily bad.”

Mackey is pretty egalitarian in his ability to alienate customers who know they are paying premium prices to shop at Whole Foods (also called “Whole Paycheck” by customers).

My friend Karen Bonnell sent this email to Whole Foods, which she is allowing me to reprint here:

Dear Whole Foods Market,

I am writing to tell you I must end our love affair. Your (CEO’s) recent comments that Obamacare is “like fascism” and now, saying that Climate change “is not necessarily bad” shows me beyond any shadow of doubt that you don’t have a clue about things most important to me. So, it is adios, and I and my pocketbook will shop elsewhere.

I bet the lines are shorter at Whole Foods these days. That’s the way conscious capitalist consumers behave.

Chambliss won’t run in 2014, challengers expected to jockey for position soon

horsesJim Galloway at the AJC reported earlier today that Senator Saxby Chambliss told his senior staff this morning he won’t be running in 2014. Talk of a horse race among the Georgia Congressional Delegation, including Representatives Phil Gingrey, Tom Price, Tom Graves, and perhaps Paul Broun, isn’t new. Former Secretary of State and Susan G. Komen policy mastermind Karen Handel has also said she might want back into Georgia politics.

Broun’s staff will hold a town hall meet and greet later today in Sandersville.

Gov Deal and Chip Rogers know how to put the public back in public broadcasting

Governor Nathan Deal and former state Senator Chip Chip Rogers and Will "The Winner" Rogers Rogers, aka Will “The Winner” Rogers, sure know how to put the public in public broadcasting.

Yesterday Governor Deal’s staff spent the day telling reporters that the Governor didn’t hire Rogers and appoint him to work at Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) as an Executive Producer.

The denials aren’t very convincing, because another public radio station, Atlanta’s
WABE, has an interview with Rogers spelling out exactly how Deal “reached out” to him for this job. Now Better Georgia is calling Governor Deal a liar.

But that isn’t all.

On January 31 GPB will have  a real job vacancy to fill, and it includes producing Lawmakers. a daily news report on the Georgia General Assembly, where Rogers already knows everyone!

While Deal was denying his December appointment of Roger’s, GPB Senior Producer Ashlie Wilson Pendley was submitting her resignation effective at the end of this month, and she spelled out exactly why she is leaving her job as the Senior Producer of GPB’s Lawmakers.

Wilson Pendley describes Rogers’ salary as “unconscienable” She also wrote, “This was the wrong decision for GPB. It has the appearance of the political manipulation of the public airwaves. This stinks of cronyism. I believe that this decision was in fact made at the highest political levels and forced upon this organization. In the interest of my own personal integrity, I find I must leave.” (Her letter is included in Creative Loafing’s coverage.)

GPB just can’t get a break from all the Deal/Rogers fallout. Today the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that GPB donors are cancelling their donations to the public radio station. The AJC also reports that in response to a donor’s cancellation, GPB Vice-President Yvette Cook emailed a donor and said that Roger’s salary is funded by taxpayer dollars (as if that makes it any better in the end) .

Cook’s email isn’t a confidence builder for Roger’s ability to be an Executive Producer. The AJC reports that Cook wrote Rogers “may or may not be the best spokesperson” for the programming that has been created just for him.

So Deal hired Rogers, gave him a salary almost nine times higher than what Rogers got as a state senator, and now the station where he works says Rogers may not be the best spokesperson for what he is supposed to produce? Wow.

I bet Deal and Rogers are glad this is a short work week. We aren’t even through three full days and it has already been a doozy.

Chip Rogers’ new job at GPB will cost almost $1M

Email-Chip-Rogers-Nathan-Deal
graphic from Better Georgia

Today Chip Rogers begins a $150K per year job at Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) which was gerrymandered by Governor Nathan Deal. Rogers became an embarrassment for the Republicans in Georgia and resigned from the Senate seat not long after the November elections.

He’s getting quite a pay raise with this move. State Senators are paid $17K per year (plus per diem expenses, and we know how those get used by some elected officials in the General Assembly). The former Senator’s new job at GPB will ring in at $150K per year, making him the second highest salaried employee at the station (nearly twice as much as any other executive producer at GPB according to Better Georgia).

And Rogers will have a learning curve at taxpayers’ expense. He has never been an executive producer of a radio program. His previous broadcasting job was working as “Will ‘The Winner’ Rogers” for a sports  gambling network.

Better Georgia has details on Chip Rogers’ career changes and more details on the to costs to Georgia’s taxpayers.

I wonder if regular donors to GPB will have second thoughts during the Spring Membership Drive. Apparently Governor Deal found some operations money no one else knew about.

Update: GPB Producer Ashlie Wilson Pendley has resigned following reports of Rogers’ $150K salary. Jim Galloway at the AJC covers the resignation. 

The NRA must stop using our children as pawns

Being the President’s child in the White House can’t be easy. Now the NRA is dragging the Obama’s daughters into the politics of gun control by producing a web video criticizing the President as “elitist” because his daughters have security details at school.

Clearly the NRA is so desperate now that it  resorted to using the President’s own children in its campaign to arm our society to the teeth with assault weapons and magazines.

Disgusting.

The NRA is losing the grip it has had on Americans for too long. We don’t need assault rifles and we don’t need high-capacity ammo magazines. Finally citizens are saying it.

connecticut-state-police-lead-children-from-the-sandy-hook-elementary-school-after-shooting-dec-14-that-left-27-deadWhat we do need are laws and procedures which will help reduce the all-to-easy access to guns.

And we have to couple that with increasing the access to mental health services so that people who need care can get it before they reach a crisis. Our mental health care delivery system is not set up to help patients and families until they reach the breaking point.

Congress and state legislatures have the power to make it harder to get a gun. New York did it last night and Governor Andrew Cuomo said after signing the legislation, “We put rules in place that actually protect innocent people in society. That is what the State of New York is doing today. It says common sense can win and good people can win. And you can actually get government to work and get good things to happen. You can overpower the extremists with intelligence and with reason and  common sense.”

If Congress and state leaders won’t act, the President has Executive Authorities to make changes in gun ownership that Americans are calling for. He should use them.

Last night Lawrence O’Donnell reported on The Last Word that the NRA edited its video and took the Obama girls out of it during his broadcast. The NRA’s video begins at 2:00. 

Scientific American: “Gingrey is a bad doctor, says science”

After Mitt Romney’s 47 Percent video went viral in the fall, pundits thought politicians might dial back their comments in group settings where they might be recorded.

Rep Phil Gingrey (R-11th District) didn’t get that memo (or doesn’t care), and last week in front of a Cobb County Chamber of Commerce group in Smyrna, Gingrey defended former Missouri Rep Todd Akin’s statements about “legitimate” rape. Gingrey also added that as an ob/gyn (trained at the Medical College of Georgia) he tells women trying to conceive, “Just relax. Drink a glass of wine. And don’t be so tense and uptight, because all that adrenaline can cause you not to ovulate.’”

The hailstorm of criticism which exploded after the Marietta Daily Journal‘s coverage  ranges from a petition by a Gingrey constituent calling for his resignation to #philgringrey  trending on Twitter. Then all those sciencey people, including women, started telling Gingrey he was just plain wrong.

A post on the Scientific American web site titled Gingrey is a bad doctor, says science,  written by Cell and Molecular Biology PhD candidate Christie Wilcox, includes, “Gingrey is just wrong on all accounts, and so is Akin. There is no evidence to support the role of adrenaline-mediated prevention of ovulation due to rape. There is no science to support their insinuations that, somehow, rape victims are less likely to get pregnant. Their statements directly contradict reproductive science, and serve only to demean women who have already undergone a terrible atrocity. There is simply no excuse for such blatant ignorance and thinly-veiled misogyny, especially coming from the mouth of someone claiming to ‘know about these things.’ ”

Wilcox continues, “Here’s a tip for the GOP and republicans (sic) in general: stop citing biology to defend your misogynistic positions. At least stop claiming things to be true without a cursory look at the literature. It’s not hard to look these things up, boys, and you have a team of assistants to do such things for you. When you flap your lips without even the slightest clue as to what the science actually is on the subject, you look stupid at best. I’d say stop talking in general, but I think it’s good that the general public sees your positions for what they really are. On second thought, ignore my advice: keep on trucking. The baseless, unscientific lies that you tell will only serve to strengthen the people who run against you.”

That’s enough pressure to make a poor member of Congress forget his own medical advice. Instead of having a glass of wine and letting his own adrenaline levels subside, Gingrey took his Twitter account down:

@philgringreyWilcox is right.

We’ve got less than two years to find good candidates to run against the waahoos Georgians are sending to Congress. It will take a lot of money to run against Republicans with big war chests. Based on the first few days of this Congress, I hope some smart people in both parties are thinking about testing the water.

I would say we couldn’t do any worse than who we have now, but I’m afraid, based our recent voting trends, that we could.

 

 

 

And they’re off!

January 2013 General Assembly

The Georgia General Assembly session begins today. Last year brought us:

  • Rep Terry England (R-Auburn), who compared women to farm animals, provoking a national social media campaign featuring Academy Award winner Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, Amy Poehler, Olympia Dukakis, and others
  • Rep Kip Smith (R-Columbus) who was stopped for DUI during the session and quickly told the officer he is a state representative
  • Senator Chip Rogers (R-East Cherokee), was shamed into resigning after the November re-elections for hosting an Agenda 21 meeting (an absurd theory involving the United Nations, urban housing, and mind control that gets ginned up periodically by the wing-nuts on the Right)
  • Rep Doug McKillips (R-Athens, defeated in November) who championed access to abortion bills so medically unsound that doctors, who don’t usually show up at the Gold Dome, came down to the Capitol to oppose the bill. Women legislators also left the floor in opposition during votes. (A Georgia court delayed the law after three Georgia obstetricians filed suit.)
  • Senator Don Balfour (R-Snellville) just stepped down from his powerful position as chair of the Senate Rule’s Committee after GBI investigations into his expense filing to the state (Balfour’s filing have been questioned in the past on numerous counts. It turns out that filing a request for expenses when you were actually out of the state with lobbyists isn’t o.k. after all , even though the ethics requirements for Georgia legislators are few and far between)

The list could go on because, just like a clown car, there always seems to be room for one more Bozo at Georgia’s General Assembly.

Commissioner refuses to attend Commissioners’ meetings

Elected officials who are good at being in engaged with their constituents give up a lot of time to serve their community. On the local level in Washington County, they don’t get much money as an elected official, so there must be other factors motivating them.

Yesterday Benjamin Dotson, the county leader of the NAACP, made another respectful but powerful request that the Washington County Commission meetings be held early in the evening so that more working citizens can attend. The monthly meetings have been held at 9:00 a.m. on the second Thursday of each month “forever.”

Dotson’s request wasn’t new. That same request has been made by citizens over the course of several years, but it fell on deaf ears.

Larry Mathis 2010 WLarry Mathis, who is serving his first term as a Commissioner, once told a room full of citizens that if their concerns were really important to them, they would find a way to be there. People said they can’t afford to clock out at work and asked why they should take a day of vacation or expect a smaller paycheck because they needed, or wanted, to attend a Commissioners meeting.

Yesterday Mathis softened his stance and agreed with three other commissioners to try evening meetings.

This time it was Commissioner Melton Jones, who stunned the small group attending the Melton T Jones 2006 Wmeeting yesterday. Jones said point blank, and repeated himself, that he would not attend any Commissioners meetings due to his family and work schedule. Period. He followed up by being the only one to vote against granting a long-standing request from a broad range of citizens over several years.

So now the ball is in the public’s court. The meeting dates and times will be advertised in the local papers and on radio stations.

If citizens don’t show up we give the Commissioners our approval to meet at a time that is convenient to them, which looks like 9:00 a.m. on the second Thursday of each month.

Which would suit Commissioner Jones just fine.

Being present

This year I will sign petitions, write letters, and call elected officials about the things that matter to me. And this year I will be more present in my beliefs by showing up.

I began yesterday in Decatur at a “We Do” event organized by the Campaign for Southern Equality. The couple in this video, filmed by the GA Voice, speaks volumes about why I want to be more present in what I believe:

 

 

Advent 1: Doing the math in hope

This post was shared with me by Betsy Blake Bennett, the Archdeacon of the Diocese of Nebraska. It was originally posted at Green Sprouts.

Advent 1: Doing the math in hope

Our Advent Scripture readings, hymns, and prayers emphasize the themes of expectation, hope, and repentance.

Today’s reading from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 33:14-16) is a prophetic voice of hope in a situation that looked hopeless. People of faith are people of hope. A gift people of faith can bring to conversations about the environment – and especially about the climate crisis – is hope.

The Do the Math tour presented by Bill McKibben and 350.org was in Omaha last night. The Do the Math website summarizes Bill McKibben’s primary message:

It’s simple math: we can burn less than 565 more gigatons of carbon dioxide and stay below 2°C of warming — anything more than that risks catastrophe for life on earth. The only problem? Fossil fuel corporations now have 2,795 gigatons in their reserves, five times the safe amount. And they’re planning to burn it all — unless we rise up to stop them.

An article published today by Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press drawing on new international calculations on global emissions published Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change says that rather than decreasing the amount of greenhouse gases, in the past year the amount increased by 3 per cent. The study’s lead author, Glen Peters at the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo, Norway, says that the only possible way to stay within the goal of two degrees of temperature rise is to start reducing these emissions now and “throw everything we have at the problem.” Given how little we have thrown at the problem up to now, it seems unlikely to happen now.

With 0.8 °C degree of warming, we have seen all sorts of extreme weather in 2012, including Superstorm Sandy, the drought in the Midwest, and wildfires such as the one that forced evacuations around Estes Park, Colorado, this weekend. Imagine what two degrees would bring! Some scientists have said that reaching even the two degree limit would be disastrous , but it’s clear that our earlier failure to notice the signs and turn things around makes it nearly inevitable. Anything beyond two degrees changes our world in even more extreme ways, ways that are nearly unimaginable.

In today’s Gospel lesson (Luke 21: 25-36) , Jesus talks about paying attention to signs that are right in front of us, signs that people tend to deny or ignore. He describes distressing, fearful times and then says (Luke 21:28): “Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

In Omaha last night, Bill McKibben said that even though the information he was presenting was very discouraging, he found it exciting in a way because we are getting “nearer to the heart of things”. And we are indeed down to what is essential to survival; we are down to questions of meaning and questions about our priorities; we are down to questions about where our hearts lie when we face the finitude not only of our own lives but of our biosphere, our planet, and the way of life it has supported. Our search for hope in this seemingly hopeless situation leads us to a place of repentance and conversion: Are we willing to do what it takes to make hope possible?

The Do the Math campaign is taking a page from the anti-apartheid campaign and asking institutions – including religious institutions – to freeze new investments in the fossil fuel industry and then to fully divest themselves of all fossil fuel investment within five years unless those companies change their way of doing business. When energy companies are willing to leave most of their current reserves underground, to stop exploring for new hydrocarbons, and to stop lobbying for special breaks and for the defeat of legislation that would promote a switch to other forms of energy, in short, when the fossil fuel industry puts life ahead of profits, then divestment will become unnecessary.

Bill McKibben said that people tell him this sort of campaign is impossible, that it’s a “David and Goliath” situation. He said these words were discouraging until he though, “Wait a minute! I’m a Methodist Sunday School teacher; I know how the David and Goliath story ends!” We know not only how that story ends, but how the entire salvation story ends, and that is why we hope when all seems hopeless.

The questions we must answer are Advent questions; the journey of the heart we take to repent and turn ourselves and the world around is an Advent journey. Where do our hearts lie? How do we hope when everything seems dark? Can we set aside lesser priorities of personal convenience and comfort in order to do what needs to be done for the greater common good both close to home and in corners of the globe about which we know very little?

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility…(From the Collect for the First Sunday of Advent)

Posted by Betsy Blake Bennett at 5:59 PM  

 

 

Can someone ‘splain this to me?

This morning NPR ran a short feature on a proposed cigarette tax increase that will be decided on by state voters tomorrow. NPR reports that Missouri has the lowest state cigarette tax in the country at 17 cents per pack. An Illinois shopper, named Deb Sarenson (sp), who was stocking up on cheap Missouri smokes, told NPR this, “It’s ridiculous! Why are they raising taxes when they need to be cutting all the ridiculous spending they are doing?” (never mind that “they” would be the citizens of Missouri, not legislators).

Is she saying spending money on cigarettes is a good idea?

 

REI, Ann Coulter, and one voice among millions

I count myself among the lucky who avoid the political venom of people like Ann Coulter. When the web burst into flames last week over Coulter’s use of the R word after the Presidential debate Tuesday night, (which wasn’t the first time she had used it), I couldn’t ignore the flash point.

As I began to put this post together, I decided to see who supports Coulter by advertising on her web site. I was aghast to see that Recreational Equipment Inc (REI) a co-op selling outdoor gear and clothing, which also promotes environmental stewardship, had not one, but two ads on Coulter’s site. I have been a member of REI since 1984.

REI ads on Ann Coulter’s web site

As readers of this blog may know, I am also a member of another co-op, Washington Electric Membership Co-op (WEMC), which had 15,268 metered accounts last year. Member engagement is not encouraged by the Board of Directors or senior staff at WEMC.  Co-op members, who are also the owners of WEMC, are barred from attending monthly board meetings, and we must fill out request forms for information. This continues to suit the needs of the Directors and Senior Staff just fine.

I like, no love, REI. The customer service is wonderful. The products are great. The staff is well-trained and helpful. They stand behind the products they sell. I love getting my yearly dividend check each year. I have given memberships to my daughters, my mother, and a friend as gifts.  Earlier this week Santa, via the Postal Service, delivered three Christmas gifts to my house, along with something for the elves.

But hate speech trumps that warm and fuzzy feeling when the dividend email arrives along with the 20 percent member discount in the spring.

Just 13 hours after a short phone call with Megan Behrbaum, REI’s Public Affairs manager, and a follow-up email with the screen shot of Coulter’s web site, I got a response. It included this,

“In addition to removing the ad, we are working with our internal teams to double-check that we have the proper parameters in place to ensure that a similar issue does not arise in the future.  These parameters will ensure that we are not purchasing any political websites moving forward.

REI is deeply committed to providing an inclusive workplace and shopping experience to our employees, members and customers. Per your request, this commitment is communicated on our website on the following pages http://www.rei.com/jobs/diversity-inclusion.html and http://www.rei.com/stewardship/report/2011/workplace/diversity-inclusion.html.

We sincerely apologize for the oversight and please know that we addressed the issue as quickly as possible.”

In 13 hours time, a co-op serving 4.7M active members via online and phone orders, operating 127 stores in 31 states, with 2011 revenues of $1.8B, heard the concerns of one member, and changed the guidelines for its advertising.

One voice among 4.7 Million.

Say no to hate speech and those who use it. Speak up and say it is wrong.

I could do no less.

 

On the road in Virginia

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community, and spontaneity
October 26, 2012

This week’s Friday photo and post are used with permission from Robert Gluck.

photo courtesy of Robert Gluck, taken in northern Virginia

I took this photo on my way home from work today. In case you can’t read the bumper stickers, they say:

Anything you GET
from the GOVERNMENT
was TAKEN from someone else.

THIS IS AMERICA
We Don’t Redistribute Wealth
YOU EARN IT!

Let’s parse this, shall we?

The first three lines are basically true. Assuming this person (we’ll call her Jane) paid taxes, at least part of what Jane GETS from the government came from her own pocket, but that is pretty negligible in the big picture.

The next line is also indisputable; this is, indeed, America.

The fifth line is the problem, because, actually, we DO redistribute wealth and always have. You’ll notice that Jane is driving on a road. I happen to know that this road was built with money gathered from millions of Virginia taxpayers with, no doubt, some thrown in from taxpayers around the country via federal transportation dollars. That money was REDISTRIBUTED to the Virginia Department of Transportation which in turn paid to have the road built (and repaved several times since then) for the benefit of everyone, including me and Jane.

The last line, taken on its own with the understanding that it is referring to “wealth,” is also true. You EARN wealth, except, of course, for the money that is passed down to you from parents and relatives (though we could argue that THEY earned it — or at least someone up the family tree earned it), by working for a living.

However, if we consider the six lines as a single sentiment, as I believe they were intended to be understood, it is clear that Jane has not thought her statement out carefully enough.

America DOES redistribute wealth. This was not a decision imposed on us by a hostile outside force, rather, it was a decision made by Americans back in the good old days that I’m sure Jane wishes we would return to (but, alas, Jane, they never existed). It is a decision that has been reaffirmed and expanded upon by liberals, moderates, and conservatives for decades and decades.

And Jane, when America chose to collect a share of wealth from those who could afford it and to then spend it in ways we agreed it should be spent (because America is, after all, the greatest democracy on earth), we understood that we were GIVING something to our beloved country in RETURN for roads, schools (Jane, by the way, also had a bumper sticker for a public elementary school which, presumably, Jane Jr. attends), and our national defense (and we ALL honor those who serve our country).

So Jane, this is America, and we SHARE our wealth because we love our country, our children, and our freedom.

Coal miners told showing up for Romney filming “mandatory” but without pay

Coal mine workers in Ohio were told that attending, and apparently appearing, in a Romney ad was “mandatory.” Now ProgressOhio has filed a complaint with the FEC over campaign violations.

It says a lot about Romney, Murray Energy, the mine owner, and the desperate steps they will take to win this election. Forcing workers without pay to attend or appear in a campaign ad crosses all kinds of legal and ethical boundaries, and tips the hands of Romney   and an industry frantic to elect a candidate who believes in “clean” coal.

And what about “clean” coal? Bloomberg government analyst Rob Barnett says this, “We’re a long way off.”

The choice in November is clear: vote for big industry that opposes protecting workers, our air, water, and mountains, while supporting a candidate who thinks science, safety, our health, and global warming aren’t important, or elect a President who wants to create good jobs using renewable and safe energy, while protecting the air we breathe, the water we drink, fish, and swim in, or the mountains we climb. It’s just that simple.

Listen to Marketplace’s report today.

Hey lady, your racism is still showing (a follow up to The Friday Photo, August 31, 2012)

At the end of August I posted a Friday Photo and report by Ari Shapiro on NPR’s Morning Edition which included comments about the Obamas made by Bobbie Lucier, a veteran’s wife. Her comments came across as poorly veiled racism directed primarily at Michelle Obama (although she couldn’t manage one kind word for the President either). The report sparked a slew of comments via social media and NPR’s Ombudsman addressed the report and listener comments too.

As chance would have it Shapiro ran into the Luciers and got to ask some follow up questions. Mrs. Lucier’s answers did nothing more than convince me more firmly that in fact the reason she dislikes the Obamas so vehemently is due to her own racist views.

Lucier said Jacqueline Kennedy and Laura Bush knew how to dress like First Ladies, specifically saying that wearing sleeveless dresses and shorts, or emphasizing strong muscles  are not what a First Lady should do. Really Mrs Lucier?

 

While Mrs. Lucier was busy digging her racist hole even deeper, she had to make excuses for the way she had dressed to attend Romney’s event.

Go figure.

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