10 Questions for Mitt Romney and The President-Presidential Debate Day USA

(understanding that all aspects of American life are affected by the economy)

Romney

1. Your proposed tax plan for the country consists of a 20% across the board cut for all Americans...Since all progressive tax plans are redistribution of wealth from one segment to another, how do you justify giving more to the rich at a time a time when they obviously don't need it.
2. You have stated that you believe life begins at conception. If that is the case, how do you justify any exemption based on rape or incest, and why do you place so little value on the life, and well being of women who find themselves pregnant.
3. You recently formed a Council made up of several of your Black colleagues to advise you on how to reach out to the African American Community, yet so far, we've heard nothing from them or you, for that matter. How do you plan to convince Black people to vote for you instead of the President
4. You are on record as favoring the use of vouchers in place of several programs such as medicare and medicaid or to fund public education for students in the hope of gaining a better education for them. My question: vouchers are a fixed amount of money...what happens to the individual when the money doesn't cover even basic costs of what is needed to buy services.
5.  You have said that President Obama is too timid in his approach to dealing with the Middle East, specifically Iran. Are we to understand that a President Romney would follow the preemptive strike doctrine created by former President George W. Bush, whose approach led America into two unfunded and some would say illegal wars, one of which we are still fighting.

President Obama

1. For the past four years, you have worked diligently if unsuccessfully to get Congress to approve your programs. If re-elected, what will you do differently in the next four years.
2. The afghan war is winding down. More of our troops are being killed by so called allies than Taliban. Why not just bring our guys home now instead of waiting until 2014?
3. Our roads, highways and bridges are crumbling under our feet. How do you get the money to fix these problems and how soon does the work begin once you secure funding.
4. The past four years have been tough on the middle class, yet the wealthy such as your opponent have prospered, so much so that you wonder why they are complaining about your policies. How do you bring parity back to the country so that all Americans get an equal share of the pie. I guess what I'm asking is why should I vote for you, if you're going to continue to aide the rich and let folks like me suffer.
5. On January 1, 2013 the sequester will take effect. Do you plan on preventing this or are the mandatory cuts the medicine that America as a whole needs to swallow, understanding that the poor and middle class will suffer the most.

10 Questions for Both

1. Do you favor codifying discrimination into the US Constitution in the form of DOMA-the defense of marriage act, and why or why not ENDA.
2. What is your plan for immigration reform.
3. Marijuana- legalize or not and why
4. What would you do to ensure that women are finally elevated from second class citizenship when it comes to health care and living wages.
5. Do you favor the repeal of tax exempt status of all churches and 501 C4 alleged social service agencies, considering they don't adhere to the separation of church and state rules of the American Constitution.
6. How do you reverse the trend of more black men in prison than in school
7. What will it take for a Black man or woman to get elected to the US Senate under this current two party system.
8. Creationism  or evolution and which should be taught in school
9. Is the 1964 Civil Rights Law unconstitutional and why or why not
10. Affirmative Action has it over extended its expiration date and why or why not.

9/11 + 10, A Family Conversation

My family has come home for a visit and like always the central meeting point is our parent's family room in front of the television. Some old habits never die because that is where we spent most of our family time growing up, watching a consensus program. In other words it was one we could all stomach at the same time, especially since in those days, we only had one TV.

Most of the time the station played whatever dad wanted, period, and usually what dad wanted was sports.

Today was no exception. We were watching tennis, a Serbian versus a Swiss National, then a Scot versus a Spaniard. But all of us were simply passing time, waiting for Serena, no last name needed, to take the court. We didn't know it, but we had a long wait, because the men played very long, very entertaining matches, well past Serena's scheduled time of entry.

Like always, the conversation bounced around the room. We tend to think alike since we're family. However we, all of us, tend to come to the same conclusions in vastly different ways and this is what makes the conversation so much fun. Never an argument, but always different view points and, yes, times that we agree to disagree. The disagreement always signaled by someone deciding to go help Mom in the kitchen, which meant, they went upstairs to watch reruns of Perry Mason or Cannon with my mother, until they cooled off.

Mom never just sat and watched and talked with the rest of us. She was more “sniper” in her approach. In other words, she would walk to the top of the steps, test the air, launch a volley of thoughts down the stairs toward us, then suck on her teeth to let us know she was done talking and walk back into the kitchen to catch up on her show, totally unconcerned about any blow-back opinion.

Group conversation in my family has always crossed generations with no one being deemed too young or too old. If you could talk, and you had an opinion, then you spoke or jumped into the fray. The young asked questions and sometimes got several answers. It was up to them to sort it out in their/our heads, which sometimes led to off shoot conversations for clarification. Sometimes that clarification amounted to, “don't listen to that fool, he crazy.”

Next to sports, the other favorite topic is current events and politics. The generation of elders prior to this generation was Republican and the talk was exceptionally lively, back in the day. Nothing like an old Black Republican to mess up Sunday dinner. These members have since passed on to that great GOP caucus in the sky. Although I would suspect that based on the composition of today's GOP, if they were still here, my folks would have transitioned into Democrats. But that is only my supposition, based on remembered stances that they periodically took. The current elder generation is Democrat with a heavy dose of anarchist, ready, willing and able to fight, if and when the revolution comes. The conservatives at this time tend to be younger to middlin' in age.

This day was Saturday, September 10^th, 2011, and with prompting from the television, our thoughts turned to 9/11, remembering where we were when we heard or saw. For all of us the images in our mind were as clear as the day we watched the Towers fall. It never occurred to me that you could knock down a sky scrapper, and I still can't wrap my head around what I saw that day. Going around the room, the second plane into the building, the picture of the second plane frozen in the moments before it struck the tower and burst into flames, the pancake collapse of the buildings, the people falling, choosing to transition in their own way, rather than die by fire, the tears we all shed followed by tremendous anger and outrage that someone would dare attack our country.

We lost four cousins that day. All worked at the restaurant on top of the building.

That anger was palpable in the room among us. My dad, a World War II veteran, stung by the ongoing discrimination against Blacks even as they served their country. My brother in law, snatched out of college to become cannon fodder in the Vietnam war, spending his time on the USS Long Beach parked in the Gulf of Tonkin firing missiles at the Vietcong laden coast. My niece, a naval veteran who now makes her living as an air traffic controller in Texas. My nephew, recently discharged from the United States Marines, but not before being injured on his first and only tour of Iraq. Two of us lifelong, active campaigners and outspoken critics of the wars and any and all discrimination against Blacks, women and minorities, carrying scars, wounded in our individual ways, drawn together by name and an act of terror against our home.

The general consensus was that Bush should have listened to Joni Mitchell and paved a parking lot over Al Qaida's ass in Afghanistan. Never should have gone to Iraq. Should have finished what was started in Taliban country. Very supportive of President Obama, but not real happy with his continuation of Bush policies crafted in the wake of 9/11.

Another thing we all agreed on, is that America still has some unfinished business, some scores to settle, for the USS Cole, for Dar Es Alam, for Lebanon, with Iran and Saudi Arabia. We're not real happy about Israel either, We collectively need a Michael Corleone payback for past injuries suffered at the hands of those who dared to strike at us.

An unspoken consensus in the room....we were all still crying, inwardly and outwardly.

Healing is taking a very long time.

The War on Poor People

"Callin' out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat? Summer's here and the time is right for dancin' in the streets! They're dancin' in Wisconsin, Alabama, too. Can't you hear the music playin' down in Ohio, too?"

There is something seriously wrong with a universe in which poor people and the little money they take home to feed their kids is considered a problem. Think about it, one man on wall street takes home a paycheck in 2010 totaling 5-billion dollars. That is $1159.00 for every second of every day for the 365 days. This 5-billion dollar paycheck follows a 4-billion dollar check from a couple of years ago to the same man.

Yet, there was hardly a peep out of anyone, anywhere. The teabaggers in the House didn't blink, sitting quietly as he testified before a House subcommittee, defiantly justifying his take home pay. No outrage about the lopsidedness of the pay structure. No concern about the people at the other end of the ladder worrying about meeting their mortgages. No wonderment at how one company can pay one man so much, yet not be able to add more hourly workers in order to help the country get its unemployment under control. No talk that congress was kicking the can down the road and foisting the problem off on future generations.

The newly elected members of the House of Representatives, the governors of many states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida have decided that the problem is poor people and the money they make in order to live.  It's their money, in 40 and 50-thousand dollar yearly chunks that will bankrupt their kids down the road. The benefits they won through collective bargaining is bad. Collective bargaining is bad. They don't deserve to be able to talk back to their bosses who still get automatic pay raises and bonuses tallying in the millions and billions of dollars.

All this despite few if any pay raises to equal the cost of the living for the past several years or of having to live with wage freezes because their companies tell them there is no money to pay them, or to fund their pension plans.The workers are told they will have to work more and longer if they want to make enough money on which to live.  John Kasich of Ohio even thinks anyone bold enough to talk back, should be fired for insubordination. 

Kasich bragged about the pay raises he gave his  virtually all white male, minority-free staff before they took office, all the while refusing stimulus funds designed to tie Ohio into the projected high speed rail system and create jobs. He also is refusing education funds designed to improve Ohio schools and elevate the intellect of Ohio kids who rank right up there with a box of rocks.

These same legislators are leading the challenge against health care reform, against women in general,  against reform on wall street, against medicare and medicaid and social security. Pensions need to be cut because investment counselors like the good governor of Ohio used to be, fumbled the pass and dropped the ball, losing billions of dollars for the working class. Too many people are out of work and using the system to survive, so it needs to be brought under control and flushed out a little bit. Raise the age limits on social security so fewer people qualify or die before they qualify.  And don't forget to cut those taxes for rich people because they are so full of the christian spirit and always use the extra cash to create jobs for poor people.

As they take care of the rich, cut taxes and yank the safety net for women and children, these same legislators are rolling back the regulations designed to protect poor people in the future, allowing the pillaging of America to continue unabated. The financial gang rape of America  has never stopped amid this economic crisis and recession. The rich guys can still buy 100,000 dollar toilets to complement their designer desks in their little used offices located in the financial centers of the world. 

Greed is still good in America as we prepare to sell our stock exchanges to Germany and ship jobs over the ocean allowing consumers in the Far East to drive supply and demand, causing prices to sky rocket world wide.  Kasich has Ohio on the block. He's already costed out how much he can make by selling the Ohio turnpike. What's next, I-75 or 71? If he gets his way in Ohio, he will have a whole new pool of indentured servants to work the toll booths at $7.25 an hour, or less, if he thinks that's too much money for a booth clerk to make.

I guess I could stomach tightening my own belt even more if the pain were spread around equally. Equally, meaning Congress foregoes its own pay, automatic pay raises and health care while they wrestle with mine. Or, Congress takes measures to really force the banks and wall street to get off their golden piss pot and start funding the economic recovery of America. I mean these so called financial raiders had all the balls in the world when they were screwing people and laughing all the way to Aruba. Why are they suddenly so shy about making the one investment that would bring this country back. Wouldn't that be a win-win situation?

Don't you have to spend money to make money? Why are the banks being allowed to simply stockpile the money? What are they waiting for....all the poor people to die? It's certainly not for a "complexion change" on Capital Hill. The complexion paled visibly in this past election and the war on poor people got worse...literally broke out into the open.

Why won't Congress tell the boys in the backroom that it is time to give back and do their part? Don't they understand that by turning all of the world  into a  bankrupt ghetto it becomes a very dangerous place for rich guys with bling. People are marching on state capitals, now. Even Stevie Wonder can see the next target....the federal government and after that, the gated complexes of the rich but not necessarily famous. With all the cutbacks going on...there simply aren't enough police, security guards or mercenaries to go around to protect all the exclusive enclaves where rich boys hide.

The war on poor people has hit stride. Globalization of the job market is continuing unchecked...outsourcing of jobs is continuing unabated....wage freezes are spreading....health care costs are continuing to rise because the feds won't penalize the big insurance or pharmaceutical companies....what little regulation Obama tried to put in place is being rolled back...the corporate raiders and investments pirates are once again being unshackled....

Hell....we're going to have to start another war in order to recoup some of our losses. This one will be against Iran while riding shotgun for Israel and come with mandatory conscription otherwise known as the draft. After all, how else do you employe masses of poor people at a job that will routinely cull the herd, quietly, legally and in the name of patriotism.

Kill that deficit in no time at all....

A scary thought....

Dubya is having a colonoscopy. That means that while he is unconscious (for real), Dick Cheney will be in charge of the government for a couple of hours.

Somebody please...please go hide the red button so that fool can’t fire nukes at Iran. We’ve got enough trouble now. We don’t need another war front.

We don’t need expansion of the Patriot Act or suspension of more of our civil liberties.

Hell, he’s already declared himself outside government. He refuses to talk to anyone except his assistants...Is he still even talking to Dubya, except to say, “I don’t have to...I’m the VP?”

Anyone looking at us from outer space would see Dubya in the White House and think that Cheney was emperor of the USA the way he behaves.

After looking at Cheney, I can understand why his daughter feels she can be a lesbian, have a baby and not have to face the consequences that others of us have to live with daily.

Can’t Bush appoint someone else to take over...someone with common sense, common decency and an understanding that other people live in this world beside him, his family and his business friends and associates.

Ten Men Talking

Well, the first GOP “debate” is over and it went well:

If you deny evolution,
if you think Ronny Ray-gun was the best president, ever, and refuse to criticize Bush, or other members of his evil cabal,
think gays and lesbians are abomination,
think stem cell research is murder,
don’t think women have enough brains to make good decisions when it comes to their own bodies,
Think Alito and Roberts will do great things from the Supreme Court bench,
think congress has a right to mess in private lives like what happened with Terri Shiavo,
continue to equate the Iraq quagmire with a war on terror,
are willing to go to war with Iran tomorrow, despite the messes in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and feel this administration is doing a good job..

They all hate Hillary and one of them (sorry, they all look alike) told Joe Scarborough that every man on stage would make a better president than Hillary Clinton. The answer also shows that she is the one they fear the most. They all ranted against Hillary health care, circa early 90's. They all took pot shots at Bill and most of them voted to impeach him. They all accused Democrats of being soft on defense.

If Hillary gets the nomination, I’m willing to bet that it will be a very negative campaign. Men turn into "mean girls" and get bitchy, when challenged by women, we all know that.

Did anyone stand out.....Mitt Romney looked presidential...but it was that idealized, calculated look of what a president should look like. Listening to him....he’s got the Joe Biden slime factor going on.

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy....got buried in the shuffle. He didn’t stand out or have a chance to stand out. He was trying to be everything to everyone. It’s not working. He doesn’t seem really interested in the job. I think he likes campaigning as long as it holds his interest, nothing more.

And if the GOP hands Rudy the nomination it will illustrate just how hypocritical republicans are when it comes to making moral judgements. Rudy’s so tainted, he should be a democrat.

John McCain....tried too hard. I think the parade has passed him by and he can’t catch up.

As for the rest of them, well, we needed some comic relief....I found myself wishing for Newt or Fred or even Arnold to jump on stage..

It’s the End of the World, As We Know It

Well, for the first time since 2002, the Doomsday Clock has been adjusted. The minute hand has been moved to five minutes to midnight and that is not a good thing.

The Doomsday Clock was created by the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project in 1945. It was unveiled to the world in 1947, after America bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II. The scientists of the Manhattan Project invented the bomb, in case you missed that day in history class. They decided a simple clock would be the best way to make people understand the gravity of nuclear power. Midnight on the doomsday clock symbolizes the end of the world. The closer we get to midnight reflects just how close we are to blowing ourselves up.

The BAS, which stands for The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, says the move reflects the perilous times in which we are currently living. They say we stand on the brink of a second nuclear age.

According to the announcement from the BAS. You can read it here.

Life, as we know it is threatened by 27,000 nuclear bombs, with 2000 of them capable of being armed within minutes. Couple this with world climate change, which directly affects human habitation and you have a very good recipe for annihilation.

The doomsday announcement doesn’t surprise me, considering the number of crazy men who now have access to “the button.”

Take that fool in Korea, the minuscule idiot in Iran, toss in the nut who runs America along with the crazies in India, Pakistan, Israel and probably every other black market arms dealer from Russia or in Africa, and you have a world gone mad, possibly all the way to oblivion.

Even Japan is thinking of changing its enforced pacifist world stance. The Japanese government is currently debating whether to re-arm itself in these trying times. Japan, you will recall from your history lessons, was forced into pacifism by the USA after losing World War II. The pacifism was actually written into their constitution. Those clauses must be removed before Japan can jump into the nuclear race and buy itself a bomb.

World watchers think Japan wants to re-arm because of the 800 pound gorilla named China that sits on its doorstep. China, with it’s massive globe-killing population, its blossoming economy and its penchant for killing girl babies, which is leading to a testosterone fueled, overwhelmingly aggressive, totally masculine future, will be the next superpower to dominate the world stage. As anybody who watches chop-socky martial arts movies knows, there is no love lost between China and Japan.

Since its creation, the doomsday clock has only been adjusted 17 times, the last time, as I said, back in 2002, following 9/11.

The BAS does offer solutions to the problem. It asks that the United States and Russia take a step back from launch readiness and completely remove nuclear weapons from day to day military operations.

The BAS also wants 20,000 nukes dismantled and destroyed over the next ten years, and to find a better and safer way to store the dangerous material.

The scientists are also asking that all production of nuke materials be stopped, for both military and civilian use.

And finally, the BAS is asking that the world leaders start talking to one another again, rather than using military tactics to make a point.

Ya listening, George?

I should insert some kind of joke at this point to downplay the seriousness of which I write, but I don’t have one.

The end of the world isn’t funny. It’s just the end, senseless and preventable.

Failure to Communicate

An Open Letter to the President

Dear Mr. President,

I listened intently to your speech last night, waiting patiently for clarity, and some indication that you finally understand what you’ve done by sending American troops into Iraq. I waited and waited for you to reveal the logic behind your actions. I waited to see you return to the realm of sound thinking about the way we, as a country, deal with the rest of the world.

Instead, with mind firmly planted in the old west, you handed us more platitudes, lies and denials fueled by the religious fervor of your arrogance. The smugness with which you have tried to sell this travesty to the American people is still very much in evidence.

You just don’t get it. You still refuse to face the reality of your actions. You are going ahead with sending more troops into danger, despite the recommendations of your generals, whom you’ve now replaced with puppets. You have turned your back on the Baker-Hamilton commission and their recommendations for getting us out of this trouble. You have steadfastly refused the counsel of the United States Congress, circumventing them and bypassing the Constitution at every given opportunity.

Sir, you were elected President, not Emperor of the United States. The last King George lost, and you will too. The difference is that he didn’t take us down with him, but you might accomplish the destruction of America, if you continue down this perverse path. History will not treat you well. Your legacy is in shambles.

You say that you are fighting the war on terror, keeping it away from American shores. I understand the move into Afghanistan. I understand going after Osama Bin Laden. It makes sense to go after the people who have tried to harm us. I even understand the recent retaliation bombings in Somalia, albeit late in coming.

But your move to Iraq and your wrong headed decision to stay there boggles the brain. What are you thinking?

There was no Al Quaida in Iraq before you invaded. Now the whole country has been turned into a terrorist practice ground ready for export to the rest of the world.

There were no weapons of mass destruction.

The man who tried to kill your Dad has been hanged.

Your policy of forcing democracy with the business end of a gun has not worked.

You haven’t tried diplomacy and you should. It served your father well. Maybe you should ask Dad for some help.

The new Iraqi government is a sham. Your puppet, Maliki, is a joke and unable or unwilling to confront the Shia death squads that are dominating the streets of Baghdad.

You asked for more money, a billion dollars more, to rebuild and restructure Iraq. This after you’ve already poured billions into the country and your cronies' coffers for the past four years to do this very thing.

Yet, the people still don’t have the necessary comforts of safety, electricity, and water.

You want to rebuild a country when you can’t even rebuild Louisiana and Mississippi after Katrina.

I guess what scares me most are your blatant threats against Iran and Syria. Threats such as the ones you issued should only be made from a position of power. We have none. Our dog in this fight is the little one in the corner, not the pit bull with the big teeth.

You have taken us from being the one true superpower to a shadow of our former competence.

We don’t have the troops to open another front in your war on the middle east. Some of your generals have recently asked for repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," thereby bolstering military numbers and enlistments, while providing more cannon fodder for your fatal dream of a democratic middle east.

Your mea culpa comes four years and 3000-plus lives too late. How many more are going to die for your ego and your perceived legacy?

You have ruined this country financially for years to come. We are a debtor nation in debt to China which is slowly buying us one highway at a time.

My fervent hope is that Congress will finally stand up to you by refusing to support this death march that you call a surge.

Saner heads are needed now. You, Mr. President, and your invisible vice president, need to step aside and let more rational people take over, before you take us from civil war in Iraq to global World War III. A war that I fear, given the current climate, we may not win.


With sadness and little respect,

Jo Anne Moore