Occupy Wall Street

I have to be honest here, I just don't get Occupy Wall Street. When it started up, I was geeked.  I was ready to join up and finally get something done about the dysfunction in DC. Occupy Wall Street seemed like the perfect laxative to end the constipation that is American government.

An alternative to the Democratic Party....dare I dream?

I jumped downtown on public transportation and into Piatt Park...and … it didn't feel like a protest....felt like a bunch of kids who got together and were now sitting around asking each other...”well...what do you want to do?....I don't know...What do you want to do?”

I went home.....They mean well...but they don't know what to do. A few weeks in...Jessie came to town and did the “I am somebody shuffle” for them. Made em happy...many more Black people showed up....but left when Jessie did......OWS still on their butts, camped out in Piatt Park.

Several weeks into these so called protests, I'm sitting on the sidelines watching and waiting....and watching and waiting...and watching and waiting..

What am I waiting for....well, I guess I'm waiting for something to happen...like...protest maybe...like civil disobedience maybe....like mass arrests for, well protesting instead of sitting on your ass in a public park, playing drums.

Protesting to me is not pitching a tent in a public park and waiting for someone in power to take notice.

This time around... I don't have the luxury of youth on my side....If I take to the streets now and risk getting smacked upside the head or jailed...It's going to have to be worth it....real change....for everybody.....I don't see that with OWS...not yet...

Protesting for change, to me is pitching your tent on someone's desk...in someone's hallway.... or on someone's front steps...demanding they talk to you...or...call the cops to arrest your ass for interrupting their day.

You post bail...you go to the hospital and get your wounds treated...and you come back..You don't take time off to celebrate holidays with your parents in the burbs.

Sitting in a public park under a tent, under the watchful eyes of cops....seems more like a temper tantrum...something to do...until your parents give into your demands.

You need to earn your tear gas and pepper spray...sitting there reacting to over reacting pigs is not protest...ghandi-esque....picturesque...useless..

It's safe....it's “look at me, world...I'm taking a stand to change the world...sorta”

Safe....but not effective.

OWS is on the tongues of nearly everyone nationwide. It has seized the opportunity...but it doesn't know how to harness the power....and it is not reaching out to those who do know how to make it work..

Like I said, Jessie showed up in Cincinnati. Angela Davis made an appearance in Oakland.

MlK's peaceful protestors needed the counterpoint of the Black Panther Party, the SDS (students for a democratic society), CORE and SNCC to make it's point.

OWS just has OWS...no leaders...no one apparently willing to take the heat and lead..OWS is not reaching out to form coalitions....

It is complaining because Congress won't do the bipartisan thing...well....OWS is not being very bipartisan either...instead of waiting for the church to come to you...why not go to the church?

Folks are watchin...but OWS...just sits there and drums..

GOP Wing Nuts Targeting Sherrod Brown

60 Plus Association lying through its dentures about Affordable Health Care, Senator Brown and Medicare.

Oh man, did you know there was a wing nut counterpart to AARP? Sure is. Been around since 1992 according to their website. These are not your touchy-feely seniors having fun on the golf course or senior sex behind the club house.

These are mean old fart crazy uncles and aunts, who hate the world as it is changing around them. The group's national spokesperson is none other than Pat Boone singer and former movie star, who shot to fame recording covers of “race music” as R&B was called back in the day.

This commercial, attacking US Senator Brown lies about Medicare, about the health care law and about Senator Brown. Here is the script:

“Hi friend, I’m Pat Boone.  Last year, a lot of promises were made regarding health care reform, but America’s seniors knew forcing a bill through Congress when Americans overwhelmingly opposed it would be disastrous.  And we were right.

NARRATOR:
President Obama’s health care law cuts $500 billion from Medicare and creates a board of 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats.  It’s like a Medicare IRS with the power to cut Medicare in order to pay for new government programs.

PAT BOONE:
This IPAB board can ration care and deny certain Medicare treatments so Washington can fund more wasteful spending.  Your choices could be limited and you may not be able to keep your own doctor.  Medicare will be bankrupt in nine years, but Washington politicians, like Sherrod Brown, are ignoring the problem, putting their own re-elections first.  Call Senator Brown.  Urge him to support real Medicare reform and protect our seniors. Tell him unaccountable bureaucrats should never have the power to deny you the care you deserve.”

                                         

These old fogies are agitated about the IPAB, or the Independent Payment Advisory Board, created by the Affordable Health Care Act. This board, to be made up of doctors, nurses and medical people appointed by the President and confirmed by Congress...that's law... put in place...IN CASE Medicare costs get out of control in the future.

The only thing that the IPAB CAN DO IS TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS...IF AND ONLY IF MEDICARE GROWS TOO FAST....It has absolutely no authority to change anything...It can't change anything by law.

Congress still has to do the work, period.

By law, the IPAB Cannot Ration Care, Increase Taxes, Change Benefits Or Eligibility, Or Increase Premiums And Cost-Sharing Requirements.

Bottom line....No bureaucrats in your exam room standing over your doctor. No $500 billion coming out of the Medicare budget......that is unless the GOP/teabag party gets it way and takes control of the government...

Once again, this is just a baseless, totally undisguised attack on Senator Sherrod Brown.

The only truism coming out of Pat Boone's mouth....is his name....everything else is a lie meant to bring down America by causing strife among Americans.

There is no unity...no patriotism...no compassion nor concern for fellow man...

This commercial is the embodiment of what the GOP/Teabag organizations are about...lies...lies and more lies in order to turn back the country to what it once was....a place where most of us aren't welcome...even though we were born here..

This ad should be taken off the air immediately with a swift apology  to Senator Brown.

Dear Governor Jimmy John Kasich

Hey, John-boy...you git the number of that truck that left those tire tracks on yo ass? Man, it's a wonder you still walkin'.....are you walkin'? Or you playin' piggyback with you security men?

The national news media is calling it an “overreach,”......as in “Kasich overreached himself by going after the unions in Ohio."

Let's flat out call it what it was....a bitch slap of the monumental kind...you know the kind that Momma deals out when you totally screw up and she's totally fed up with yo sorry ass!

John-boy, you need to go do what we all do after Momma beats yo ass...you go sit down and quietly rethink your position..vowing never to do that simple shit again...at least while she is within earshot, anyway. 

 

John-boy...it's still JOBS and the ECONOMY, dummy!

You got into office promising to bring jobs to a struggling Ohio...Yet what do you do.... you confer big raises on your INCOMING, ALL WHITE , NEARLY ALL MALE administration, before they've done any work to merit a raise....you kill light rail for all of Ohio....you promise to privatize the prison system at a job loss of approximately 50,000 upfront.....You pimped the casinos for 3-4 million dollars for your out of town cronies..you couldn't even bring that job to Ohio...AND THEN YOU TRY TO BUST THE UNIONS....

Boy you been cruisin' for an ass whuppin' since last election day back in 2010...

Let me quote Fred Sanford here. “Note to Dummy”.....Killing the middle class, by killing the method by which the middle class was formed.... DOES NOT REDUCE THE DEFICIT...it just pisses people off.

It's a good thing for you that we don't have a recall law in Ohio or we might have been able to get rid of you altogether last Tuesday.

And oh yeah...you need to get a handle on those pro birth people too...women are only going to take so much...and you see what happened in Mississippi when folks such as yourself...OVERREACH....I'm tellin' you...don't bring that weak shit to Ohio...We ain't havin' it...

Respectfully yours

2011 Ohio Election Results

Well, Ohio still can't seem to get it right on federal health care, but never the less Ohioans did get it right more often than not, in this off year election last night.  Issue 3, was largely a symbolic vote against what the GOP calls Obamacare. It was really on the ballot so that the GOP/teabags can mount a court challenge to health care. Issue 3 spoke to the mandate requiring that all Americans have health care.


If the federal health care mandate is wrong...then so is the requirement for having insurance, in general, Right? Think the business driven GOP is going to kill one its staunchest allies, the insurance industry? I think not, in the long run. So we will have these skirmishes until SCOTUS rules.


Ohio did get it right on SB 5, Kasich's first and blatant attempt at union busting. SB 5 or Issue 2, went down in flames, which was a good thing in particular for the LGBT community. In addition to union busting, if SB 5 had been allowed to stand all hard won domestic partnership rights would have been flushed down the toilet. This is because domestic partnership benefits are negotiated rights in Ohio and SB 5 would have turned back the clock and prohibited unions from negotiating for them in the future. This is what SB 5 said:

“The recognition or extension by the state of the specific statutory benefits of a legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is against the strong public policy of this state. Any public act, record or judicial proceeding of this state, as defined in section 9.82 of the Revised Code, that extends the specific statutory benefits of legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is void.”

Don't think Kasich is done. I'm sure he will now take a page out of President Obama's book and attempt to piece meal this travesty through the house, when he thinks folks are no longer paying attention.

Voters in Cincinnati elected a democratic majority to City Council. The field was led by Roxanne Qualls, followed by newcomer PG Sittenfeld, Wendell Young, Cecil Thomas, Charlie Winburn, Laure Quinlivan, Yvette Simpson, Chris Smitherman, and Chris Seelbach.

Incumbents, all of em GOP, were unceremoniously retired. Those would be the Bortz family scion, the immature and mean girl Ghiz, the Japanese speaking Murray and the very bland and vanilla Lippert.

The fact that voters returned Winburn and Smitherman to council means the city must still need some comedy relief mixed in with its politics in these dire economic times.

Another good sign that the city is waking up is the vote on Issue 48, which was a COAST driven amendment that would have destroyed all city development until 2020 if it had passed. It didn't, thankfully. The street car will go forward and that is a good thing.

Cincinnati's school levy failed....not surprised...there are not enough homeowners in the city to make this an equitable tax. This statewide taxing system is well past its expiration date and needs to be changed.

The war on women is still raging, but with a little less steam, today. The personhood amendment in Mississippi, failed by a wide margin. However, the papers to resurrect it have already been filed here in Ohio. This very bad law criminalizes sex, and pregnancy, putting all burden on the woman while exempting men and their sperm from all childbearing and child-raising consequences.

Overall a good night.... now if we can just get that Kasich recall going for real..

2011 Ohio Election, My Take

 For Cincinnati City Council: Wendell Young, Jason Riviero, Roxanne Qualls, Yvette Simpson, Laure Quinlivan, Chris Seelbach, PG Sittenfeld

These are the people for whom I intend to vote. There are 9 slots to be filled but I'm not happy with the rest of the candidates and their past performances, so I have included four newbies who, at least on paper, and in person, say the right things to get my attention.

Issue One: Mandatory retirement for Ohio Judges...If someone can do the job effectively, I personally don't think they should be forced to retire just because they've reached a certain age. Vote: No

Issue Two: Proposal to repeal SB 5, Governor Kasich's attempt at union busting in Ohio, like what went down in Wisconsin earlier this year. SB 5 makes it illegal for workers to speak up for themselves in negotiating better working conditions. It criminalizes free speech in this context, in fact. You can actually be fired from your job if Kasich prevails on this. Make no mistake about it..if SB 5 is voted down by the people, our slippery little governor will find other ways to impose his wingnut policies on the State. Vote: No

Issue 3: Proposal to write into the State Constitution, a ban prohibiting Ohio from abiding by the federal Health Care Law, approved by Congress a couple of years ago. Success of this law means insurance companies can return to discriminating against people with pre existing conditions or against women's health care in general. It reads: "no law or rule shall compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer or health care provider to participate in a health care system." Vote No

Issue 48: A proposal to literally screw the City of Cincinnati until at least the year 2021. What it does is hinder any and all major development downtown along with the street car. This proposal is badly conceived, badly written and will keep Cincinnati the third rate backward city that it has become for years to come. Vote No

Issue 44: A plan to lower electric rates by forcing Duke Energy to the negotiating table....Two proposals on the Nov. 8 ballot promise Cincinnati residents and small businesses the chance for bigger savings on their electric and gas bills. These plans are already working in other parts of the state. What I've read about aggregation, sounds good on paper and I am all for anything that will rein in the arrogant Duke Energy. Vote Yes

Issue 32: Permanent Levy for the Cincinnati Public Schools. Money to be used for books, computers and building renovation...NOT SALARIES OR BENEFITS. The levy hopes to raise $49.5 million..meaning the owner of a home valued at $100,000 would pay an additional $243 per year in taxes.. Vote: Yes

Issue 37: Hospital renewal levy. Doesn't cost us any money and provides a much needed service. Vote Yes

Regardless of whether or not you agree or disagree...the important thing is to get off your ass and vote. It is the only weapon that you as a citizen have against mediocrity and stupidity in your government....

You stay home...we all suffer!

VOTE NOV 8TH!

John Jim Crow Kasich

Let's get right to the point, shall we...

A lazy electorate, impatient and tired of what they perceived as Barack Obama's ineffectiveness in solving their pet causes in the first two years of his presidency, lazily stayed home in droves in 2010, refusing to deploy the only real weapon that a citizen has against its government. Many of you who did vote stupidly voted to put the very people who had pushed America to the brink of destruction, back in power, all because he couldn't get it done fast enough.


And you know who you are...

You actually believed that Barack the magic negro bullshit back in 2008. You expected him to blink his eyes, or wave a magic wand and presto, gay people became equal and marriage material, white people would starting actually liking Black people, the wars would automatically stop, the troops would fly home, the deficit would be fixed and Wall Street would pass out money to everyone, making us all millionaires. 
 
We the people, gave Obama a boat without a paddle inches from going over a cliff and told him to “Get us out of here, quick!”  And some of you didn't bother to try and help him paddle. 
 
The result is not just partial, but complete gridlock in Washington. The mini-minds of the Republican Party have convinced themselves that the 18% who did go to the polls, in the midterm election gave them a mandate to rule the rest of us lazy-ass immature 80%, regressing the country back to a mythical and perverted version of itself. 
 
This mythical version had workers who worked like slaves from sun up to sundown for no money. It had slaves, real ones, happy ones, dragged over from Africa who smiled and buck danced at the first sight of Massa.

It had women whose only roll in life was to please her husband, father, brother and bring children into the world sometimes fathered by their husband, father or brother. But the men folks was happy, and so were the rest of us, they assumed. Everybody was Christian, period.

Cut back to present day 21^st Century America, the GOP, with its fake mandate, has declared war on workers with laws such as SB5 in Ohio. They have declared war on women with no less than 44 new laws designed to deny women's rights and keep them under a male thumb.

This GOP has literally redacted the Voting Rights Act for Blacks by changing when, where and how people can vote. They have gerrymandered the voting districts to give Republicans and Teabaggers a better opportunity of winning electoral seats.


HEY JIM CROW, C'MONNNNNNNNNNNN DOWN!

The GOP has declared war on immigrants both legal and illegal. They have decided that the only “child” worth saving is the one still in the womb, with closer resemblence to a frog than a baby. If a woman should happen to get raped by ET, oh well...tough titties..

But it's still okay to execute innocent people...nothing in the constitution prevents it..right Justice Scalia?

The GOP/Teabaggers lied and said they would make jobs, but they've been telling this lie since Nixon was in office. Truth be known these fools have tanked more jobs than they've made these past two years. 
 
It's not just happening in Ohio. The feds have gone to court in Texas to stop Rick Perry's gerrymander of the Lone Star State, whose sole purpose is to deprive minorities of the right to vote. If Perry is doing this in Texas, imagine what he can do if you give him the keys to the White House. 
 
Kasich is attempting the same thing in Ohio, but the Ohio Supreme Court has stepped in and stopped it so far. This is going to force us to have two primaries next year and the GOP is crying foul, because an extra primary will cost $15 mill. 
 
Should'da thought about that before rigging the elections. AND...by the way...the Ohio Supreme Court which called a temporary halt to this nonsense, is all republican with one exception...and if they smell a rat...you know it's got to be a big one...

Texas and Ohio are also joined by the likes of North Carolina, Arizona, and Colorado. In fact every state that had a massive and EARLY voting turnout in 2008 is being gerrymandered by the GOP, as we speak.

Jim Crow is back and dancing a jig on the White House lawn.

So how are they doing it? Provisions that no longer allow early voting on the Sunday before the election. It is estimated that 1/3 of the Black vote came on the Sundays before the election in 2008. Another change...third parties...such as the NAACP and people who help others to the polls...must submit their paperwork allowing them to do this within 48 hours, instead of 10 days or risk having to pay heavy fines. This is another way of killing organizations like ACORN...which was never in the business of rigging elections..proven only after they were forced out of business by the GOP.

This provision is particular has caused the League of Women voters to suspend their voter registration efforts for the first time in 70 years. 
 
It's not just about the Sunday before...it's about early voting in general. Kasich has tried to cut the early voting window in half. He doesn't want blacks to have a chance to exercise their constitutional rights.

Colorado tried to get their counties to declare anyone who did not vote in 2010 as “inactive.” This would mean that an early voting ballot would not be mailed to them, a move that effects the elderly, low income and minority voters.

Let's not forget the new ID laws. It is estimated that the new laws in Alabama, South Carolina and Texas could keep more than 5 million people who voted in 2008, from voting in 2012.

And it's not just minorities....married women who have not changed their surnames on their ID...the elderly who can't get out and may not have updated their ID...people who simply can't afford the cost of a government issued ID are in jeopardy, too.

The fix is in, people. This is election year 2000 on steroids. When the GOP plays to win....they cheat.

But don't take my word for it....look at the justice system...look at what is going on in state governments....look at what is being voted on, on Capital Hill.

Makes ya wanna holla...