With all the talk in Washington D.C., Indianapolis, and City Hall, about budgets, I figured I would share our household budget for a two week period for groceries, as one of the things that gets touted aimlessly about is social security welfare and food stamp benefits reduction without reserve or cause. This is just food and doesnt include somethings as it is always an on going process and shifting from one thing to another to make things stretch and operate with less than you have or need. But as with every budget process you have to start somewhere in order to figure out if you have fucked something up along the way. I prefer to start at the top and work my way down.
One thing that is not listed in the budget is our beverage consumption as it varies based on the individual another is that I try to set aside up to $40 per month for really good deals that come up over the course of the month that allow me to stock up on stuff that then gets dissipated over next several months of savings by not having to purchase stuff at normal or increased prices and or quantities because I was able to purchase for dimes on the dollar now. This doesnt happen every month but its always in the back of my brain as a consideration. It also helps that I own a deep freezer too. Anybody hit a deer lately?
I encourage everyone to put their grocery budgets out there on the web, especially FACEBOOK, as a way of telling Congress (tag your member of Congress) and your State Legislature and City/County Council and pundits to get real about debates and budgets and have an honest conversation about where our dollars are spent, and quit trying to use or malign those whom barely have enough to survive on a monthly basis or receive benefits, because as I can attest below, it doesn't go to waste.
Grocery $77 for two weeks for basics for 3-4 people.
30 medium eggs $ 2.85 = $74.15
3 Gallon vD Milk $ 7.50 = $66.65
2 8oz pk cream cheese $3.21 = $63.44
3 loaves of bread $3.00 = $60.44
8 5oz cans Tuna $5.60 = 54.84
(+or 2 cans of Salmon $4.00 @FD)
3lbs roll of hamburger $6.00 = 48.84
Cottage Cheese tub $2.50 = $46.34
2 lbs Turkey Lmeat $8.00 = $38.34
1 48oz Butter Tub $ 2.25 = $36.09
3lbs Turk Burg/Sausg $6.00 = $30.09
3lbs Chicky Breast @1.79/lb = $24.72
Cereal/Oatmeal/Waffles $3 = $21.72
2lbs bolonga cheap shit $2.50 = $19.22
Herbs and Spices (AN) $3.22 = $16.00
Veggies Can & Froze $8.00 including:
+ 2 1lbs Broci &Chz Sau $4.00 WM/F
+ 2 13oz net Mushrooms $3.00 WM/C
+ 4 28oz cans of tomatoes $6.00 SL/C
+ Unknown Carrots/Peas/Corn $4.00
+ 3lbs bag of yellow onion $3.00
+ 5lbs bag of taters $3.00
1 8.5oz Olive Oil $3.00 = $5.00
1lbs Colby Cheese $4.00 = $3.00
1-3 pkgs of seeds $1 = $00 budget met
Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts
12 February 2011
BULLOCKS: Bitching About Budgets
08 July 2009
HEALTH CARE REFORM! The Squirrel Society is back and looking for some more nuts to tease, tag, and bag. Spread your cheeks wide open to speak out!!
I think both sides of this debate have been drinking too much KoolAide and need to quit bending over to the chemically flavoured coloured sugar rush of politics, and just do what is right for We The People in both practical care and further advancements within medical research and development. As a budding Participatory Economist and a Libertarian, this may seem to be a conflict of philosophies, however I disagree with both sides of the debate so far. I think that Health Care Reform is the perfect opportunity to move towards a new style of economics where money isn't the issue, but the affirmative answer to that historical question: "And we are our brothers keeper?" is the principle on which we stand!
Tomorrow @ 12 Noon concerned citizens across northeast Indiana can open their mouths, and the first 150 can even deep throat a Coney Dog, at the Allen County Courthouse on South Clinton at Main Street, to protest against national health care reform that is currently making its way through Congress. The hour long rally event is hosted by Americans 4 Prosperity and Patients United Now and will include commentary from highlighted speaker, Honorable David McIntosh, former US Representative from 1995-2001 in the 2nd District, who was succeeded by the Honorable Mike Pence in the sixth District, and is currently also working with Conservative Lobbying Groups against the Sonia Sotomayor nomination/appointment to The United States Supreme Court.I believe that we can have a health system that both acknowledges personal and collective indemnity for basic health care yet at the same point assure a stable health care system that is not based on economic profit or to a very minimum more as a surplussed commodity of trade. Here are just some basic thoughts to start out:
1. Medical staff should be semi nationalized (LPN and below at min.) and all trained under a limited exchange pay system or for free. By not attaching such a cost to the education matrix persons in the medical field can be trained and monitored and advanced based on skills and desires to serve their fellow man not how much money they can accrue in a trust fund or slave to pay back for the next twenty years of their lives in college loans. The same regarding free education is true with teachers and other academics. All students should leave start college between 16-20 years old after six years at the age of 22-26 with at minimum a bachelors degree and possibly a Master Degree, and if able two - four years of apprenticeship and civil service under their belt.
2. By first eliminating the cost of education as a society we also trust that not far behind would be the serious reduction of and the amounts awarded because of malpractice or malfeasance to both a. an affordable standard and b. reasonable compensation, since the profit margin has been reduced drastically by the industry.
3. Basic care and wellness provisions would assure that everyone merits a basic standard of care. If you choose to be obese you will have to pay more into the system to deflect the cost of your added care but at the same pointe if you choose to work at maintaining a healthier life or donate time back to the work matrix the drain you added could be adjusted or removed from the matrix. If there are natural medical diagnosis like cancer or other ailments it would be covered under routine maintainability of life.
4. The matrices can be assigned locally and governed regionally with cross oversight by both a national council for final review and malpractice and a council of patrons served elected by each matrix's participants and professionals within each field of license to assure best practices management both locally and regionally.
5. Prescriptions and procedures are automatically covered no questions asked as the development cost is now covered by the matrix, this would greatly reduce the burden and profit margins simultaneously.
I began this post with a reminder of our own hopes and dreams for the future through where our current failures in leadership have and can follow towards by commentary of characters Captain Benjamin Sisko and Dr. Julian Bashir, whom while traveling back in time to AD 2024, expose us to the eventual fraud and dereliction of humanitarian services within indigent persons sanctuary districts, located in the abandon urban areas of major cities throughout this great Nation. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Past Tense, 8 Parts, c/o Project Infinity). I will leave this debate to y'all for now with these words from Jay Brannan in 26 Hour Day and ask you to consider the future you wish to leave behind for our children and our fellow Americans. The time for reform is now. The questions we must ask ourselves as a people now is, What will that reform look like ten or fifty years from now? How can we be sure that we will always take care of our fellow American?
WEBSITES AND RESOURCES ON HEALTH CARE ALTERNATIVES:
Northeast Indiana Chapter of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan which promotes public financed, privately delivered, aka single-payer, universal health plan at the state and national level.
OTHER COMMENTARIES ON HEALTH CARE REFORM:
ObamaCare Yay or Nay? The Truth About Canada!
by Steven Crowder 13 July 2009
[Website][YouTube][Twitter][H/t: Fort Wayne News]
OTHER STAR TREK COMMENTARIES ON HEALTH CARE
VOYAGER: Season 7 Episode 5, Critical Care: The Emergency Medical Hologram Doctor willingly challenges the health care practices that are apportioned based on an individuals social class at a hospital facility he is held hostage at by infecting the Hospital Administrator and changing his designation to a lower section.
(Original Date 01 November 2000, 5 parts c/o Chromalias7)
NEWS STORIES AND OTHER BLOGS REPORTING OF EVENTS AND COMMENTARIES:
Pre Event Promotion:
08 July Rally Around Free Health Care Choices
by John B. Kalb @ Fort Wayne Politics
08 July Rally against Obamacare tomorrow at Courthouse Square
by Stephen Parker @ Around Fort Wayne Blog
08 July Rally Against Obamacare Tomorrow At Courhouse Square
09 July Patients United Now Rally Against Obamacare Today!
via Dan Turkette's @ Fort Wayne News
Local Commentaries on Health Care Reform debate:
22 June That Horse Is Dead
by Leo Morris Opening @ Arguments The News Sentinel
02 July Health Care Debate
by Jeff Pruitt @ Fort Wayne Politics
07 July Democrats To The Rescue?
by Leo Morris @ Opening Arguments The News Sentinel
08 July Evan Bayh's Priorities
by Craig Skinner @ Reverent and Free
Post Event Reports and Commentaries:
09 July Fort Wayne Health Care Tea Party
by Scott Sarvay Indiana News Center
09 July Protesting Obamacare in Fort Wayne
by Morgan @ My Two Cents Worth
10 July Obamacare Rally photos and video
by Stephen Parker @ Around Fort Wayne Blog
FOLLOWUP COMMENTARY: There is a snag excerpt copy of this post on the Libertarian Party of Allen County's blog. To which I will repost comments on that post here also:
1. Kevin Knuth, former Chair of the Allen Co. Democrats asked, "Anyone else find the humor (that an) event that wants to stop changes to health care is serving coney dogs and potato chips?"
2. To which I your Editor responded, "It was actually the second thing I noticed in the 1 1/2 page press release. It really got my creative and sarastic juices flowing.
Nothing says health care reform like 150 people digesting over processed meat smothered in sauteed onions and fried meat, sometimes with cheese, and always with mustard. The protest/rally organizers could have at least served ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and rasins) as well and eaten them in protest against a well rounded meal.
What really sucks is I didnt get the message til last night otherwise I could have forwarded out to more homeless people and had all them get fed a decent lunch. But I have a feeling some already know about it."
3. Robert Enders, Chair of the Libertarian Party in reply stated, "I'm planning on going and I'm planning on having a hotdog too. People should be allowed to make their own healthcare and diet choices."
EDITOR: More links, information, and comments to come later.
04 July 2009
OUR PRIDE! Our Independence? If Democrats want 2 find our votes in 2010 .... repeal DADT & DOMA now, or more QUEERS will become Greens & Libertarians!
*PLEASE NOTE THIS POST HAS A MAJOR DOMA & DADT UPDATE BELOW*
It is official! June was GLBT Pride Month! It was declared first by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then sheepishly a few more hours after that by President Barack Hussein Obama. The Gay & Lesbian Community has finally received a boost toward equality because as of now thirteen states have considered and eight passed or decided to make marriage available to everyone. Nevada and Wisconsin are in the process of creating Domestic Partnerships and the approximately 18 thousand Same Sex Marriages in California performed during the 6 month window last year were also retained as valid. Ironically even Rhode Island is considering legislation to allow for Same Sex Divorce proceedings. But wait, before you hoist your lovers across the threshold, that initial euphoria has begun to ware off.
That hope was quashed recently by two drastic legal injunctions done by the Obama Justice Department in recent Supreme Court cases which, as some speculate, set our fight for equality back five to ten years, as well as negate legislative and judicial victories across the fifty states. This has brought the GLBT Community to honestly call into review all of the previous promises made and financial investment in not just political campaigns but also national queer lobbying organizations also. Soon after the threats of such boycotts, like the DNCs 10th Annual LGBT Leadership Council Dinner fundraiser in D.C. last week (which still raised 1 million dollars supposedly), the Obama Administration made several courtship moves to keep the GLBT Community from curtailing any future investments in his and others of his Party's campaigns, leading up to the 2010 federal mid term election cycle.
WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME WE WILL ALL FEEL GAY!
Previously on F6 we covered the story of Air Force Major Margaret Witt whose case in the Ninth Federal Circuit Court elevated homosexuals judicial scrutiny to a suspect classification, in need of greater legal protections, and raised the bar in 9 western states for Military discharges based on United States Code 10§654 to include that "the military can't automatically discharge all openly gay soldiers, but must prove in each case that dismissal would promote troop readiness or unit cohesion" in order to permit the constitutional discharge from Military service, based upon sexual orientation or association within a judicially protected minority group.The Obama Administration refused to challenge the decision in the Witt case to the Supreme Court, which 1. allows the precedent while the case is brought back to lower courts to be retried; 2. allows for the Obama Administration and certain Lobby Groups to strategically delay a Judicial Review of DADT; 3. puts pressure on Congress to repeal DADT through HR1283 Military Readiness Enhancement Act.
However at the same time, "President Obama's Solicitor General, Elena Kagan," interjected in the 1st District case (formerly Cook v. Gates) of James Pietrangelo II whom along with 12 other plaintiffs originally challenged their separation from US Military under DADT, "filed a brief with the Supreme Court urging it not to hear Pietrangelo's appeal. But Kagan's brief said that the 1st Circuit "properly upheld" the statute." The 1st District ruled that: 1. DADT is an exercise of Congressional judgment in the area of military affairs and warranted enormous deference from the judicial branch; 2. laws based on animus Romer v. Evans (1996) couldnt be used against DADT because the policy, it said, was based on legitimate concerns, not animus. 3. the military should do more than prove homosexuality to warrant dismissal 4. ensuring national security outweighs arguments from 12 former military members who say their rights were ignored when they were dismissed for being gay. The Supreme Court declined to hear the Pietrangelo appeal on the 8th of June 2009. (Source: The Bay Area Reporter)
Rather than standing on the principles of equality now for our Troops, by not having the Witt case go before the Supreme Court, The Obama Administration also threw off the 1st District case from being reviewed, as this would have forced the Supreme Court not only to deliberate the role of scrutiny in the lower courts, but also deal at the same time with the lower courts interpretation of the Supreme Court's legal precedent in Lawrence v Texas (2003) which was cited in both the 1st District and 9th District case regarding the same issues under law. In other words, certain politicians in Congress and the Administration are both trying to make DADT a mid term election cycle victory and at the same time prevent the Courts from doing their job by using legal tactics which remove the exercise of scrutiny and review of these two distinct precedents, and possibly overturning DADT, before Democrats in Congress could claim it as a victory for equality coming up to the midterm elections cycle in 2010. In summary Gay and Lesbian Service Members are nothing more to the Democrats than bargaining chips in an upcoming election cycle and they are using every trick to keep us and them in line.There is nothing "LEGITIMATE" about the arguments in support of DADT, and "CONCERNS" over UNIT COHESION or GENERAL ORDER and MORALE are simply defamatory! Every time someone utters the absolute fallacy that is the arguments for the restriction on integral and honest lives of Gay and Lesbian Service Members they disrespect the honour of all of our Service Members. The very nature of the arguments for exclusion in fact surmises that our men and women in uniform cant uphold themselves to the highest standards. That is a slap in the face to every person who has, does, and will, wear the uniform in service and sacrifice for our freedom and liberty!
Even though he continued to patronize our struggle for equality, by signing a light list of rights for federal employees, allowing GLBT partners to use their married name on their US Passports, and throwing a party on Monday at the WHITEHOUSE on the 40th Anniversary of the STONEWALL RIOTS. He still refused to act as Commander In Chief, as 78 members of Congress have requested him, to also suspend by Executive Order the unconstitutional discrimination towards our men and women that serve in the United States Uniformed Services, from being able to do so openly, without fear, reprisal, or discharge, based upon whom they love and not the merit of their service and sacrifice. The Secretary of Homeland Security did just the same thing with another law in regard to Immigration and Naturalization policies regarding an early death otherwise known as the 'widows penalty' (Source: Dan Savage c/o SLOG).
However over the last week new information has come to light that the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, whom originally stated that DADT was "something to kick down the road for awhile (13 April 2009)", like a can of tuna in a game of street hockey, while traveling back from the US European Command Center in a recent statement Stars & Stripes, The Associated Press, and ABC News, all report that, under his direction, Pentagon lawyers and Administration officials are now looking at ways to add "flexible enforcement" to the existing law to accommodate when a Service Member is outed by a third party specifically citing a scenario of a jilted ex lover or someone with an axe to grind with the Service Member or their family, while the Congress takes its sweet ass time to repeal the 16 year old law, which it unconstitutionally created.
WE'RE GOING TO SEEK JUSTICE BUT WE CANT EVEN FIND MERCY!
The California Supreme Court in their ruling on the matters surrounding Proposition 8 in essence created three classes of people when it maintained the validity of the 18 thousand marriages performed during the six month window in 2008 when it was legal to do so. Besides the actions by the Obama Administration in the above cases of law you also have the Justice Department interjecting with another case brought by Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer out of San Francisco, California, in regards towards the validity of Proposition 8 in California, which directly challenges the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA based on several Constitutional grounds and previous Court precedent.
After having the case pulled from the State Courts to the Federal Court The Justice Department, according to John Aravosis of The AMERICA Blog, in order to maintain the defense of the current law's discrimination towards homosexuals they compare homosexuals to pedophiles, citing several previous domestic and foreign cases of heterosexual incest and adults marrying children, in their 54 page brief (pdf)to the Court.
Why did the Obama Administration file the brief if they are opposed to the law?
At first Justice Department Spokesperson Tracy Schmaler said that, "... until Congress passes legislation repealing the law, the Administration will continue to defend the statute when it is challenged in the justice system." After an outcry and official boycott of two DNC Fundraisers one in Boston (with picture to left c/o Wicked Gay Blog) and the 10th Annual LGBT Leadership Council Dinner in the District of Columbia began a week went by and Robert Gibbs, The WHITEHOUSE Press Secretary stated to Jake Tapper during his Daily Briefing on the 17th of June:"Well, as you know, that the Justice Department is charged with upholding the law of the land, even though the President believes that that law should be repealed....Well, again, it's the President's Justice Department. And, again, we have the role of upholding the law of the land while the President has stated and will work with Congress to change that law."Then during a panel discussion 10 days later President Obama's Staff "Secretary Lisa Brown, expressed personal reservations about some of the language in the Justice Department brief against same-sex marriage" by deflecting the conversation "It was an awful lot better that the brief that was written in the Bush administration," and trying to one up the Obama brief by comparing it back to the original Bush era version of the brief. (Source: Jake Tapper, Political Punch, ABC News)
That was not even an apology! That was an excuse, and a bad one at that!
After the DOJ brief in both the San Francisco DOMA case and the several DADT cases, the GLBTIQAS Democrats have finally had enough, and called the National Democratic Committee and certain elected officials to task for their pandering to and blatant disregard for our struggle for equality. The call went out across the blogoshpere and twitaverse and exploded center stage with the National Democratic Committee getting spanked across sidewalks and caught fudging the numbers to make it look like they raised up to and possibly exceeding 1 million dollars during the fundraisers, when most of the main players for the event backed out in protest of the political pandering and judicial slams against Our Community.
OUR QUEER PRIDE! OUR COUNTRY'S INDEPENDENCE?
As I have stated many times before, specifically in F6's original format back in June of 2005, GLBT PRIDE is not just about being proud of who we are or forcing everyone to accept our flamboyant displays of independence.
OUR PRIDE is outlined by individual sense of dignity and our collective value as created equal in the image of God/dess and viewed as such under the law of this land too. OUR PRIDE is defined as a group formed not necessarily based on heredity or biological connections, similar to that of a pride of lions. When we shout and holler back about OUR PRIDE, the rally cry doesn't mean we are a bunch of Dancing Queens but that We ARE Family!E Pluribus Unum, Out Of Many One, is also why OUR PRIDE is very much attached to our Country's Independence, and why we can also say We The People with the greatest of honour and demand at the same time that self evident truth declared so many years ago "That All Men Are Created Equal" be applied to us also. That is what also caused our Founders during that first Continental Congress to not just Declare Independence from the tyranny of an oppressive King and a clueless Parliament that refused to hear our forebearers redress of grievances. That is what makes the United States of America by definition a Republic and not a Democracy. That is what prevents the majority from eliminating the rights of the minority.
America, please pay attention to your own words:
Have We forgotten to swear to one another our lives, fortunes, and sacred honour?
Have We traded each for the sake of ego, greed, and power rather than brotherhood?
How long will We stop declaring our independence and let these truths be denied us?
WE THE PEOPLE DEMAND THE SIMULTANEOUS REPEAL OF DADT & DOMA
In all reality both pieces of legislation DADT & DOMA are tied at the hip they revolve around the same issues of law and the same religious prejudices within Civil Society, but they also revolve around similar issues within the Constitution too.
1. The Declaration of Independence
A. The DOI has the force of law today as it is included in the United States Code at the beginning under Organic Laws of the United States of America. As the Constitution falls within that same category, The DOI, if
2. The Constitution Of The United States of America
A. Obviously 1st is the Full Faith & Credit Clause of Article 4 section 1:
... shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.
B. Article 6 paragraph 3 (specify last clause)
... no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust.....
C. Amendment 14 (1868)
section 1 All persons born or naturalized...subject to the jurisdiction...are citizens of the United States....
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Marriage and Military Service an Office of or part of the Public Trust?
I would argue that they are. When clergy perform the marriage ritual they evoke two authorities to solemnize the act of Sacred Union, that of Deity and the State: "By the power invested in me by the State of Indiana and (insert affiliation) I now declare you (plural) to be partners in life" As I stated here a month ago, originally Civil Unions were intentionally done to strip religious test out of marriage in this Country, by the Puritans. Some how between the Civil War and Reconstruction through World War II and Korea religious test found their way back into the public ambiguity of normal regulation, to preventing interracial marriages from happening, until 1967 when Mildred and Richard Loving took on the State of Virginia at the Supreme Court.
I HAVE FOUR MORE QUESTIONS FOR YOU AMERICA:
Are We The People willing to put our money where our mouth and motives are, not in politicians hands? Are We The People willing to allow the men and women whom fight for our freedom be free to love?
Are We The People willing to let them live together with whom they choose and raise their children?Are We The People willing to deny them the very sacrifice they offered us freely, personal liberty?
F6 LINKS & RESOURCESNormally there would be a full battery of links, resources, and recommendations for the readers and other works cited either stated and/or recapped here from throughout the post, However due to both the length and the detail of both this post and the amount and individual text of the works cited, I felt it necessary to create a separate post on F6's LINKS PAGE for this post alone. Please refer to it for some pretty cool finds over the last month that it has taken me to write this post out, please. Thank you for your consideration.
F6 EDITORIAL POLICY STATEMENTS F6 has several resources and commentaries regarding GAYS IN THE MILITARY. As an issue of editorial policy, F6 will challenge any assertion that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is either Constitutional or proper policy in our great country, the land of the free and the home of the brave, especially in a place where all men are created equal!
F6's EDITOR UPDATE: 08 JULY 09 US Representative PATRICK MURPHY of Pennsylvania, a retired Army Captain, and West Point Professor, has taken pointe on HR1283, The Military Readiness Enhancement Act which will cause the repeal of Dont Ask Dont Tell by Congress. Please also note that Representative Murphy, four days after this post was originally published, specifically used (7:15 mark) my direct arguments above, that the Oath of Office that both Members of Congress and the Military both swear and affirm are equal and therefore our Troops have status as an Officer of or part of the Public Trust and therefore are free from any religious test or bias to hold such positions. Thank you Congress Member Murphy for picking up the ball for the final run across the field! (MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show via News Politics News)
F6's EDITOR FOLLOWUP: John P. Mortimer, Esq., a retired civil rights attorney, has a wonderful post that I was just referred to by RobMuch on You Tube, which also outlines similar ideas and develops deeper the arguments against The Defense Of Marriage Act, details stringently President Obama's hypocrisy and political pandering when dealing with the Gay and Lesbian Community's struggle for equality, and why he wants to keep DOMA out of the Court's proper place of review. I'm glad that he also chose to speak out about the disenfranchisement we have and are suffering at the whims of a religious bias in a secular nation.
15 April 2009
While We The People fondle tea bags w/o loincloths on, Fort Wayne braces for bright lights today as d TINCAPS play Parkview Field for 1st time!
I think the title says most of what is going on right now and I do want to keep this blog post varied but concise. So with that in mind, lets roll back the AstroTurf and lay down on the grass, sip on some tea, instead of licking a politicians balls, and get back to the root cause of the matter, uncontrolled government spending and accountability.
The issue is not who promoted what but how we the people allowed the irresponsible activities in the first place and didn't force a correction 10 or even 20 years ago. Then within the last year, let some of the same people that caused the problems we are in right now, to be back in charge of the same government positions that once regulated the businesses they helped screw up and then allow them to turn around and bailout those businesses with taxpayer money. That is where the disgrace should lay is with We The People who were complacent in times of boom versus bust, who refused to participate in the process, and allowed their say in the matter to be whitewashed through a conservative and liberal media bias, the media did fail us but we let them fail us too.
I will be the first to admit that on some issues I would seem very conservative, and on others very liberal, in fact what I am is an American Traditionalist. I believe that there are certain principles which are inerrant from our Country's legacy and history, no matter how turbulent or controversial.
These attacks against our principles are very easy to overlook and pass aside when they are done in moderate form, even by our own government. They are being done now by lobbyist and the media, they were done previously by Republicans and Democrats as well as the current Administration, because we as a collective people have either failed to be educated or were failed in our education to understand the history of this beautiful Country even within its stains and bruises on other peoples histories and freedom.
Therefore as the proverb goes because we failed to learn we are doomed to repeat the same events until we remember to tell the stories of our forefathers and the lessons we learned to our children once again.
As any recovering addict can tell you, moderation is not always the key to control any habit. In some cases it has to be cut off not just at the source but at the catalyst for the source and activity, and that was the message of the Boston Tea Party and 18 months afterward our Country's Independence from the Sovereign of Great Britian.
On the 16th of December 1773, the Sons of Liberty and other colonists, dressed as Native Americans took over three ships in Boston Harbor and threw the tea from the corrupt East India Company overboard in protest of the unhealthy monopoly granted to it by Parliament as a way of allowing the colonist to get a cheaper tea but at the same pointe pay the tea tax which they despised and thought to be illegal. This of course was the resounding cry of the time "no taxation without representation" and a hallmark of American ethics and law.
(Photo: Joseph Forshaw for One Day Equals PSA
by Steph and Alek of OhLaLa Magazine)
Quick Links: [WIKI] [EYEWITNESS HISTORY]
There are major lessons that can be learned from this and also correlated back to both Federal, State, and even Local Government issues today. Let us first cover the federal issues and then the local issues and I will let all the other bloggers worry about the state level issues for now.
The Historical Aspects Of Parliament:
allowed a major corporation to have a monopoly over a particular trading commodity;
forced 20 new taxes but after revolt by the people repealed all but one...tea...to assert privilege;
instructed said monopoly to reduce the price of commodity drastically but still expects people to pay in full;
got prissy when people refuse shipment and destroy product, forced trading area ceased until restored;
paid the salaries of the local officials rather than the people that they governed;
lowered the local taxes when times got tight but then forced the colonist to pay extra to prove a point;
signed off on a tax cut for the company let it expire and then signed off on it again;
used the tax code & price fixing to eliminate the black market and officials netzero pay balance.
The Application And Principles Of History To Todays Federal Government:
Democrat Admin and Republican Congress repeals 70 year old Glass Stiegel protection against financial monopolies in 1999 which allowed Securities Companies to own Banks and Insurance Companies as well.
Attempted 20 new taxes but kept only one...tabacco... because of childrens health care and because Marboro and others loosing money from people rolling their own cigarettes and or buying cheaper products.
Is going to get pissy when people stop buying cigarettes, and start growing own tabacco, will make it illegal.
Starts to bitch about corporate salaries and bonuses uses clout/tax payers money to assert business control
Supposedly lowered the taxes on the middle class but then raised it on the upper class who own the businesses that provide the services and employment that then causes the middle class to loose their jobs and homes.
Sets there own salaries with tax payer dollars and then throws taxpayer dollars to fix the same problems they caused so the taxpayer begins to depend on their own money, but Congress gets the privellege to do it again.
Using the tax code and price fixing and grant/loan stimulus plan aka taxpayers money to prop up failing companies and dog collar/pork barrel initatives and projects that special interests groups want to happen.
Do I need to continue spelling it out for all the punditry both liberal and conservative?
The connections between what was going on in the 1770's and now is obvious to me anyway.
We have made ONE BIG ASS MISTAKE AMERICA! We have two national automakers General Motors and Chrysler, which have received an unfair advantage over their competition, Ford. Their employees and retirees are loosing benefits they worked twenty years or more for, because first the federal government said they would insure and secure them and now they are saying nope they have to make concessions on that too. Because of all this subsidies and nationalizations, industry leaders, even Honda and Toyota which are made in Greensburg and Princeton Indiana are feeling a crunch along with five other previously solvent companies because we are subsidizing their competition. That is nationalism 101 it has been proven time and again to fail horribly. (Photo: Dan Turkette)
So how do we fix it? What is the solution to the economic collapse/recession that we are in?
1. Stay informed about national state and local legislative, judicial, and administrative actions. HOLD your elected representatives accountable and don't let them get away with taking away your rights and voice.
Watch this video from the Jon Stewart's Daily Show on Comedy Central last night whose guest is Elizabeth Warren the head of the Congressional Oversight Panel on TARP. She outlines the fact that of the original 350 billion, released by the Treasury Secretary Paulson, (who was the former head of Goldman Sachs before becoming Bush's Treasury Secretary and his predecessor who was Clinton's Treasury Secretary also), actually only collected originally 66% on the dollar of assets for troubled institutions, which has now further depreciated in value giving away 78 billion dollars plus the continued depreciation of value, without any possibility of recouping the loss.
2. One of the biggest issues that caused the original tea party in 1773 and today is a failure in some peoples thought of a bloated legislature that is out of touch with the people they represent and levy taxes against. Currently each Congressional District covers on average 693,000 men, women, and children as of 2007.
In 1911, the number of Congressional Districts had risen to 435 and the House was becoming impossible to manage every ten years. It was decided to cap the total number of districts at that point and to instead reapportion them with each census so that they were roughly equal in size as the population grew and shifted. There are currently seven states that only have one Representative in the House: Vermont, Delaware, both Dakotas, Montana, Alaska, and Wyoming. Even back in May 2001, Representative Alcee Hastings (Florida 23rd) wrote a Dear Collegue letter to all the members of Congress, House of Representatives? Hardly!, in which he stated:
In the past 90 years, the U.S. has become the second most underrepresented democracy in the entire world, but the size of the House of Representatives has remained the same. In the past 90 years, U.S. population has more than tripled, but the size of the House of Representatives has remained the same.....The effect that an increase in the size of the House of Representatives will have on the American political system is obvious. Increasing the size of the House will result in a reduced amount of campaign spending, smaller Congressional districts, more personal interaction between Members of Congress and their constituents, and most importantly, better representation for the American people. (Fair Vote)
It is time for us as the American people to bring back the first amendment to the Constitution, which was never ratified by the States at the time the other ten were, with some revision of course, as the original platform [Text: Early America] would mean that we would have over six thousand people in Congress. Adjusting the Congressional Districts now after just under a hundred years of the current system would:1. Revise the appropriations of Congress from 435 to 761 or 75% increase in the Congressional Districts
2. Relocate the expanded Congress into two new Federal Districts in Denver and Philadelphia. You could either leave the Senators in Washington D.C. or put Juniors in Denver and Seniors in Philadelphia. This would also allow for a smoother transition of power if we were ever attacked because Congress is responsible for the transition of executive powers, the formation of the Army, they are the only ones who can declare war.
3. This adjustment would then allow the federal budget to be restricted to a certain amount per Congressional District as the numbers would be locked in at approximately 500 thousand in ten years time and an additional stipend per State that has to be agreed on by both Senators thereby reducing the amount of clout gained or chaos effected by just one member of Congress, and the federal budget might actual be balanced regularly, the national debts paid off quicker.
4. To control spending and income by District is essential; because otherwise, there is no accountability for extra resources being used by one part of the Country over another. In essence if District 421 generates 5 billion dollars in tax revenue but only uses 3 billion in Federal Tax Dollars, which isn't necessarily a bad thing just and issue of accountability, a. Congress would then have to validate why they are keeping 2 billion dollars of tax revenue to the constituents of District 421 or b. their Representative might get removed from office in two years for not maintaining transparency or accountability to his/her constituents.
5. By increasing the members and restricting the spending the process is opened up for all to have equal access to information and everyone is receiving a minimum amount of resources and any additional spending per district has to be brought out into the light of day rather than being peddled behind closed doors and private parties or lobbying efforts.
6. By forcing the Senators from each State to agree on their stipend budget spending, equal to that of two Congressional Districts, restores the original principles of their role as representatives of the State not just the people. There can also be a provision that any stipend earmarked by the Senators of each State must have an effect on a certain portion of the state 25%-66%, etc. so that way everyone is effected equally by their representation and advocacy.
It ultimately comes down to a question of, "Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How Much?"
There are some other things that can be done specifically by the earmark process (not all earmarks are bad) and the Truth in Legislation laws and the One Item per Bill laws and the Simplified Language laws that have watch dog groups with their loincloths crawling up their posteriors can start to readjust the process. But the main issue is that Congress was never intended to be either a. a life long career path or b. a place of secrecy and back room deals.We have allowed Congress to become a Leviathan of a creature when in fact it was suppose to be more of a pack of squirrels storing up and then dispersing our nuts between all the different knot holes.
Sorry that was a horrible tea bag pun.
That way We The People can still see them at work but at the same time not have to know everything right away, just every three months or so. We have allowed Congress to become corrupt and it is our duty as a people to correct it. Please contact your State Legislator today and ask them to start the process of forcing a Federal Constitutional Amendment to readjust Congress to serve the people and save the Country we all love. Call your Congressional Representative and ask them to have the 1911 Appropriation Act revised and updated.
That is enough about Federal Government and National Politics lets get to the more local stuff....
I've covered the Harrison Square debacle several times over, and every time I switch hands it does grow another inch, in the level of bad decisions and legal twists made by the developers of this project. The latest of course is the Courtyard by Marriott hotel which has been stalled for almost a year now due to White Lodgings inability to acquire financing and the Henry Administrations refusal to hold contract deadline requirements and fines against the developer, not to forget to mention that the requirements of the contracts have been side stepped almost every pivotal moment in the process.
The latest fiasco came up because another developer out of Valparaiso wants to build a 6 million dollar, 89 room, 4 story Towneplace Suites by Marriott extended stay hotel at the pending ICE CUBE, another regional sports arena, on the north side of town by Glenbrook Mall. This turn of events is being protested heavily by Linda Skaggs of the Northeast Indiana Hospitality Association as it would reduce the business at surrounding crappy and mid-level hotels in the same area.But the fact of the matter remains that they were able to get financing but yet White Lodging is still stalling on its requirements which are way overdue. When is City Council going to force this issue to go ahead or get our money back and go with someone else that actually plays ball and keep their promises?
...back to the local teabag parties for just a moment....
The LPAC Annual Income Tax Protest @ Main Post Office had approximately 7 people show yesterday. The tea party in Huntington had hundreds show up. Hoosiers For Fair Tax will be hosting a Tea Party at the Allen County Courthouse on Saturday the 18th of April from 11A-1P. Former Ambassador and frequent candidate for POTUSA, Alan Keyes will be the guest of honour. There will be a reception in his honour from 6-9P @ Don Halls Guest House with a donation of $10 or dinner @ 7:30P for $30 a plate.
<=====STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO=====>
F6 EDITOR: FOLLOW UP ON LOCAL INFORMATION/REPORTS COVERED
TEA PARTY COVERAGE:
hundreds showed up on Saturday; Keyes made points but rambled
18 April FTWP [Tea Party Thoughts] [Tea Party Photos][]
17 April FTWN Letter by Ric Runestad
HARRISON SQUARE HOTEL:
50% of financing secured supposedly by White Lodging
18 April WGDT Beyond The Field Of Play
16 April FTWP More Self-Serving Tripe From Hardball Capital
13 April FTWP Hoocoodanode? The Harrison Square Edition
TIN CAPS 1ST HOME GAME:
16K attend 3 game series, parking issues, positive feedback, awesome pictures
21 April FTWN NO Privacy @ Parkview Field
21 April BIFW Padres Brass Thoughts on TinCaps, Parkview Field
19 April AFWB [TIN CAPS 10-0] [Parkview Field Opening Day]
18 April BIFW At 8-0, TinCaps Are 1 of 3 MiLB Unbeaten
16 April BIFW Gallery from Opening Night at Parkview Field
15 April BIFW Kyle Day Comes Home to Christen Parkview Field
16 April WGDT Tin Caps Extend Win Streak To 7 In Opener
15 April WGDT [847 Days] [TinCaps Games To Be On Comcast Digital Cable]
15 April AFWB TinCaps home games live on Comcast!
BLOGGER CODE:
WGDT What's Going Down, Town? by The Spaulding Brothers
FTWP Fort Wayne Politics by Jeff Pruitt and Mike Sylvester
FTWN Fort Wayne News by Daniel Turkette
AFWB Around Fort Wayne Blog by Stephen Parker
BIFW Baseball In Fort Wayne by Chad Gramling
15 December 2008
F6 UPDATE: DONT ASK DONT TELL LEGAL CASES AND THE FUTURE POLICY & Should Gays Worry About Their Houses Being Rented Out For Domestic Security Forces?
EDITOR: If you have no idea what the second part of this title is in reference towards go to this post regarding the 217th anniversary of The Bill Of Rights, which are the first ten amendments to The Constitution of These United States of America, on the Libertarian Party of Allen County's blog at some pointe to get a refresher in history and get caught up the latest news at the bottom.
We are first going to start with the update of a story previously covered on F6 under Gays In The Military. We first discussed Air Force Major Margaret Witt's case on Memorial Day (top story) and highlighted it again in the middle of July (fourth story).Lesbian major’s DADT lawsuit moves forward
By 365gay Newscenter Staff | 05 DEC 2008
(Spokane, Washington) A full panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled a legal challenge to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” - the ban on gays serving openly in the military - can proceed. The Bush administration had asked the court to reverse a May ruling by a three judge panel that overturned a lower court decision to toss out the suit. In upholding the decision by the panel, the 9th Circuit said the case should be considered on the basis of the 2003 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which struck down a Texas criminal statute penalizing homosexual conduct. The Supreme Court in that decision said that laws against sodomy were an unconstitutional intrusion on privacy. The Air Force and Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked the full 9th Circuit to hear the issue. In a 4-3 decision, the court let stand the panel decision to allow Maj. Margaret Witt’s case to proceed.This is not all bad news, the Administration is starting to actually realize how stupid DADT is. Their game plan is actually quite cunning. They now ask the
Witt joined the Air Force in 1986. She served in the Persian Gulf and in 2003 was awarded an Air Force Commendation Medal for her action in saving the life of a Department of Defense employee who had collapsed aboard a government-chartered flight from Bahrain. In 1993, she was selected to be the “poster child” for the Air Force Nurse Corps recruitment flyer. She then was assigned as a flight nurse and operating room nurse at McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Washington. But after commanders received an anonymous tip in 2004 that she is a lesbian and in a long-term relationship, the military began an investigation that led to her discharge under the military’s ban on gays serving openly. In November 2004, Major Witt was placed on unpaid leave and told she could no longer participate in any military duties, pending formal separation proceedings. In March 2006, the Air Force informed Major Witt that she was being administratively discharged on grounds of homosexual conduct.
In upholding Witt’s lawsuit the 9th Circuit did not strike down the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. But the court said the Air Force must prove that her dismissal furthered the military’s goals of troop readiness and unit cohesion. The military can now appeal the 9th Circuit ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Courts to push it through for a Constitutional showdown in the Supreme Court, so no one actually has to act with the Executive or Legislative powers, and get the bad rap amongst their religious conservative base, for turning it over themselves. It is almost like they want the Courts to do the dirty work for them. Of course then, the same politicians who refuse to take a stand, can use it as a wedge issue later and assert that the bad Justices are legislating from the bench.The American people should be ashamed that their elected representatives are taking the easy road home and not standing up for our fundamental principles that, all men are created equal. In other words, they are playing the game so tight, that Democratic Party Bosses in Chicago, Illinois would be impressed with the sly play, if they weren't to busy trying to cover their own corruption and lies back under the carpet. Now for the rest of the stories politically and socially speaking in reference to how negligent Dont Ask Dont Tell really is in the lives of our Service Members and what a scorching wound it is to the honour of their sacrifice for our freedom and liberty.
Is Obama caving on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?
By Jennifer Vanasco, Editor in Chief, 365gay.com | 21 NOV 08
This is what I was worried about. According to the Washington Times, Obama’s team is saying that even ASKING for a repeal of the ban on open gays in the military may not happen until 2010. First, he wants to build consensus. Fair enough. But it seems to me that consensus is already built - or at least as much as it’s going to be. Earlier this week, 104 retired generals and admirals called for DADT’s repeal. A former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke out against DADT in 2007. So did a former Secretary of Defense. 143 members of the House have co-sponsored a bill to overturn the policy; a bill approved by the House Committee on Armed Services.He opposes DADT; but he first wants consensus from the Joint Chiefs of Staff?
We know the US military needs more soldiers to fight the two wars we are engaged in - last year alone, 627 servicemembers were dismissed under the DADT. The military needs servicemembers and gays want to serve. You know what else? DADT is expensive. In February 2006, a University of California Blue Ribbon Commission concluded that so far, it has cost the government (meaning, us, the taxpayers) $363 million. Don’t Ask is a failed policy. The only people who don’t think so are homophobes. I understand what Obama is trying to do here. He’s trying to avoid a Clintonesque debacle like the one that gave us DADT in the first place. But of everything we’re fighting for, DADT seems like it’s the least controversial and would make the most sense. If this isn’t even being looked at until 2010, then when is he going to start making good on his campaign promise of federal civil unions? When (if) he’s re-elected?
I’ve got a better idea. Why doesn’t Obama name a gay person - like Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, say - as Secretary of Defense? That would signal real change - and give gays and lesbians real hope.
(continued from first article).... The issue of gays in the military became a flash point early in the Clinton administration as Clinton tried to fulfill a campaign promise to end the military’s ban on gays. His efforts created the current compromise policy - ending the ban but prohibiting active-duty service members from openly acknowledging they are gay. Last month more than 100 retired generals and admirals issued a statement calling for repeal of the ban.
Legislation to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was taken up in committee this year for the first time, but did not make it to a vote. The bill is expected to be reintroduced in the upcoming session of Congress. Under DADT, two people every day are dropped from the military for being gay. In the 15 years that DADT has been in force, more than 10,000 personnel have been discharged as a result of the policy, including 800 with skills deemed ‘mission critical,’ such as pilots, combat engineers and linguists. The number of gay men and lesbians turned away by military recruiters is unknown. A study conducted last year for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network concluded that the U.S. military could attract as many as 41,000 new recruits if gays and lesbians in the military were able to be open about their sexual orientation.
Personally, Mr. President Elect, it is not the Joint Chiefs you should be consulting; it is the thousands of gays and lesbians currently serving in silence with honour but yet also disgrace that you should be talking to.But in order for that to happen, you would have to suspend enforcement of DADT, give them immunity for them to be able to come forward, while you question or discern the "honorable course of action". Continuing to ask them to live a life of honour and truth, and yet withhold the very nature of who they are, is a disgrace to everything this Country stands for and was founded on.
It is really sad when the lyrics of Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" can get changed to something people look forward to hearing. What GLBT Service Members desire is simple, "to just say hello to you, my love" and their families too, with the exact sentiment surrounding the idea that, "our government wont let me even tell you goodbye when I ship off to sea, or inform you when I die for your freedom", and eventual peace.
In the article below, Lee Quillian, now retired from the Navy, remembers one holiday season when she was serving on a ship in the Middle East.
Gay soldiers (not) home for Christmas
By Jennifer Vanasco, editor in chief, 365gay.com | 11 DEC 08
"They risk outing their partner."
All the other sailors were going to a special room to film video messages to their sweethearts. But not Quillian. She didn’t record a message. She couldn’t. Because her partner is a woman. Quillian and her partner Jenny Kopsstein are just two of the thousands of gay couples affected by Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The policy, which forbids disclosure of a gay identity while serving in the military, is challenging under the best of circumstances – but during the holidays it becomes particularly dire.
“The holidays bring up memories, expectations,” said Trey Malicoat, a therapist who has worked with servicemembers. “There are more parties, more activities, there’s a financial drain. For gay soldiers, there’s the added burden of not being able to talk about home, about where he or she would like to be, about the person who has the most significance in his or her life.” Malicoat says that this added burden can bring anxiety, depression and an increased sense of isolation to servicemembers who already feel isolated. This is true even for military members who are serving in the U.S. and can go home at the end of the day. “Even while I’m here stateside at lunch, people are talking about what presents they’re going to buy their wife or girlfriend – I’m part of the group but I can’t be part of the discussion,” said Elizabeth, an officer in the Army.
Elizabeth married her partner in Massachusetts a year ago (they’ve been together seven years), but they still need to keep their relationship a secret. “It’s very difficult to abide by the policy and not talk about what’s really going on in your life and at the same time try to connect with your fellow servicemembers. And you are supposed to connect pretty deeply, because we are supposed to put our lives on the line for each other,” Elizabeth said. She added that she thinks that the secrecy does a disservice to straight military members, “99 percent of whom would just roll with it and be OK.”
Extraordinary precautions
Servicemembers say that they have to take the most extraordinary precautions for the most ordinary activities. They need to watch everything they say, using gender neutral pronouns or making up a significant other of the opposite gender. They need to hide who sent them care packages, who sent them a letter, who they write to themselves. If they’re deployed in a foreign country, their partners need to limit calls to the shared phone, lest others on the base (who usually answer that phone) begin to suspect something is up. Quillian, who was on a ship, couldn’t call Kopsstein at all – ship calls are all monitored by Navy personnel.
“We definitely had less contact than a straight couple would have,” Quillian said. “Our goodbyes had to take place at home. And Jenny couldn’t be on a pier waiting for me during homecomings, even though every other sailor was kissing and hugging.” It’s tough on the person at home, too. The military has an excellent support system for family members left behind that includes counseling, a newsletter updating families on unit activities, and support groups and networks.
But gay partners of servicemembers can’t take advantage of any of that. If they do, they risk outing their partner – who under the policy will then lose their job. “Under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, you go years and years having to hide who you are,” said Quillian’s partner Kopsstein, who herself was in the military before she told her commander that she was a lesbian. “The policy affects how you relate to people, your friendships, your work relationships, everything.” “I waste a lot of time protecting my conversations in ways I shouldn’t have to,” Elizabeth said. “I think it’s very tiring. I’m tired of it. I’m a good soldier and a good citizen. It’s ridiculous that I have to hide my real life.”
Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not right, moral, honest, nor legal! It is time for this heresy of American Law to come to an end!EDITOR'S NOTES:
- F6 has and always will hold the men and women of this Country's Uniformed Services in the highest esteem possible and will at all times give them the honor and respect above and beyond that which they inheritable deserve from each citizen.
- F6 as an issue of editorial policy will challenge any assertion that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is either Constitutional or proper policy in our great Country, especially in a place where all men are created equal!
- F6 has several resources and commentaries regarding GAYS IN THE MILITARY for your perusal.
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give medals 4 killing men but 4 loving men they wish you were dead?
thanks to the sacrifice of many the scourge of Dont Ask Dont Tell in the land of the free and home of the brave will be gone by the end of June!!!!
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