Remembering When, Women!!!

I just posted a new opinion on my Father Thinks He Knows Best, blog and wanted the people that get my America's Voice to see it also. It is a political conversation and I wanted both sets of readers to see my comments. Hope you enjoy it and will pass it along to raise awareness on the Republican attempts to strip women of their rights, under the guise of preserving religious rights. Thanks John.

Limbaugh, Should Be The Poster Child For Birth Control.

It seems like every time, someone has a discussion of importance, good, old, Rush comes along and inserts a huge degree of stupidity into it.  Yesterday, the round, mound of ridiculous sound added his idiotic voice to the debate over a women's right to chose. Rush blasted Americans, who do nothing but have sex, mindlessly, day in and day out, for whom contraception is simply a means of avoiding serious consequences. He then went on to call us mindless, brainless twerps, who will vote for Obama on this one issue.

This comes from a drug addict. That has failed at three marriages. Hired illegal immigrants, and had them go buy his drugs for him. He also spews racial comments as frequently as some people open their mouths. My wife and I have been married for 37 years and our whole life together we have used birth control. Not to have mindless sex, but to actually be responsible. Is it responsible to have unprotected sex and give birth to unwanted children ? Is it responsible to have abortions because you do not want to use birth control? See, Mr. Genius, Rush, wants everyone to just abstain from sex. That is quite simple for his three, unfortunate wives. I am sure that all women have to do is take one look at Mr., I sure wouldn't want to have sex with him, Limbaugh and it is clear that is never going to be his problem. Abstinence has not and will not ever work. We can hope all we want, it is against human nature. Look at Rush's appetite for drugs. He couldn't control that and yet he expects the human race to control their desire for carnal knowledge.
As for the mindless, brainless, twerps remark I will say this. I am voting for President Obama and the reasons are numerous. Read any of my other posts on this blog and it is clear why my vote is going to the President. As for mindless, brainless, twerps, I suggest that Rush look into a mirror, that mindless, brainless (fried on drugs), twerp staring back at you, is exactly who you should be addressing. Rush you have met the enemy and the enemy is you.

Is This The Direction We Are Heading To?

Headline:

Petty leaders are becoming incapable of supporting civic infrastructure required to maintain, libraries, roads, water systems, public arenas and major educational institutions. Cities and merchants are losing the economic benefit of safe conditions for trade and manufacturing. Intellectual development suffers and money is poured into supporting unpopular wars.

This could be a front page article in any major American newspaper, but it also could have been the lead in a paper during the fall of the Roman Empire. Too often we fail to read or acknowledge history. The line, "Those that fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it", certainly applies to us today. The Roman Empire slowly dissolved into obscurity, because while Rome burned Nero fiddled. This is the line that keeps repeating in my head, but in this case our political leaders fiddle while America is burning.

Both parties are to blame. Neither side has decided to put away their own, and party fortunes to focus on the problems facing America. There are many solutions to the issues we face today and yet all we hear is, petty leaders, with their own agendas, going back and forth and taking us nowhere.

I have listened, as the President's new budget arrived, to the people on the right saying, it is dead on arrival. Why? Is there nothing that we can build on? Oh, that's right, Mitch McConnell's most important item for this session is to make President Obama, a one term President. That is all the Republicans care about, except for retaining the current corrupt tax code. There are some very simple ways to start us forward.

Number one we can throw out the tax code. Go with three brackets and no deductions. No write offs for mortgage interest. No write offs for dependants. No write offs for business purposes. No separate rate for capital gains, this would be treated the same as employment income. Everyone would pay. The poor, the middle class, the rich and the corporations. We would start with rates being a little higher and that would be marked for our debt reduction, by law. Once we pay our debt off we would be saving trillions of dollars in interest. We would then build a surplus for that unknown that would occur unexpectedly, such as a natural disaster. Simple. Why can't it be done? The answer to that is also simple. Our politicians are working for the multi-millionaires and billionaires, instead of the people.

We would also be able to start and rebuilt our infrastructure and promote industries to stay here and build in America. Money would be available for research and development, so we could resume our position as world leader. Education would become a priority, instead of an after thought. Our workers would be able to compete against anyone in the world and win.

On the other end we would have to look at Social Security and Medicare-Medicaid. One solution for SS is to have people pay on all money they make to buoy the SS trust fund. We would be able to delay, when someone could start receiving payments. This would also add to the trust fund. It would not effect those that are close now, but as younger people get older they will wait longer. This would reflect more toward the length of time they will live after retirement.

For Medicare and medicaid, once more I support everyone on a single payer system and Medicare-Medicaid for all would fit that bill. We would eliminate the enormous profits the insurance companies are now enjoying and place that money into the care of people. We would have managed health care that the doctors and patients would oversee, not some executive that wants to maintain his profit margin. We would increase the amount of money flowing into the health care of patients and reduce costs, by allowing hospital and health professionals to spend their time taking care of patients instead of filing paperwork with the insurance companies.

Solution are simple and obtainable. We can either allow our leaders to go the way of the pettiness of the Roman Senate and bureaucrats, or we can demand they start finding solutions. Rome collapsed. What direction will we go in?

Even Many Republicans Know, The Birth Control Issue Is A Losing Path.

The issue of separation of church and state, was one that made me uncomfortable with the HHS ruling. The Republicans came out of the woodwork, salivating over the spin they were able to place on a issue that was quickly solved. The problem is, and many Republicans feel this way,  the Republican leadership is now falling flat on their collective faces as they hurl the party off the cliff. They are now making this an attack on birth control.

Earlier this year, Senator Marco Rubio, who I will get to vote against in four years, introduced a bill that would cut off access for millions of women, by allowing even non-religious groups to refuse to pay for contraception, as long as they cite a religious reason.

Speaker of the House John Boehner, wants a bill that would allow employers to refuse to provide birth control and Senate, minority leader, Mitch McConnell will push that type of bill to a vote in the Senate. These are just three examples of the Republican and far right wing, using an opening to attack the Health care reform law and in the process dictate to women and families around the nation, whether they can have access to birth control. You would think the right would welcome the idea of reducing abortions by having a clear program of birth control in place. The insurance companies would save money, because it is much less expensive to pay for contraception, then an abortion or a full term pregnancy and birth.

The core of the attack by the Republicans on birth control is very clear. The party that lies and tells people they want to protect your freedoms is actually the party that is attacking the freedoms of people to have access to birth control and family planning. They want to uphold the freedoms of women, until an issue arises that conflicts with their social agenda. Then they attack the rights of women to decide whether the want to carry a pregnancy through term or have an abortion. They then want to go further. They want to take away a women's access to birth control, even if she pays for her health insurance. They want to dictate their terms and beliefs on the 98% of all women that have used or are now using birth control, in their lives. Understand this, even if you pay for your insurance they want the government to tell you how and when you will have children. The old, be fruitful and multiply phrase was fine in its time. The world is overpopulated and when people want to make responsible decisions and keep from having more children, the Republican controlled government wants to tell you, no. They want the decision, not for you but for the same government, they pretend they want out of our lives. The Chinese, currently control their population and how many children a person may have. The Republicans want to do the same.

This is a serious issue of government overreach and intrusion in our lives. The Republican and far right religious groups need to stay out of the business of regulating child birth in our country. Let women and families determine their path in child birth and decide whether they feel the need for birth control. This is going to back fire on the Republican party and from my stand point, I hope they keep talking about it. It could end up be the losing stance in the fall elections.

I stand behind President Obama's budget telling Republicans to end tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. Will you add your name?

I stand behind President Obama's budget telling Republicans to end tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. Will you add your name?: I stand behind President Obama's budget telling Republicans to end tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. Will you add your name? http://dccc.org/budget

When You Lack Intelligence All You Can Do Is Name Calling!

One of the people that is one my face book has once again resorted to her only way of communication. She calls our President an ass clown. This remark speaks volumes for her level of intelligence. When people lack the ability to have a discussion about the facts and issues, they do the only thing they can do and that is call people names. I remember, as a child, the really mean and not so smart kids were the ones that would run around and call others names. This is what happens when they grow up. In today's proliferation of social media, everyone has an option of stating opinions. I support this quite strongly. What I do not support is the use of lies and  resorting to the type of attacks that this particular person does frequently. She calls everyone that supports our President, stupid. She has stated that our President, as dumber then a giraffe. I am not quite sure what that last one means, but I do know that it was an attack on our President. This is personal, not policy.

Some people have asked me, why do you keep her on your face book page. The answer is simple. I want to know what, even the unintelligent people are saying. This is the same person that has on numerous occasions used racially insensitive remarks. This is the same person that will attack others, with mean spirited and totally inappropriate statements. So I follow her because I have a need to know what this type of individual has to say and then respond back to her. Some may say it is not worth the time to respond to the ugliness that individuals like her spew. To this I say, I will not be silent to hatred. I want to respond, not to elevate her, but to drive home the point to others, that people like this, have a right to their voice, but we have a right and even an obligation to speak against them. We have an obligation to let the truth be told and say it loud enough to drown out the rantings of the unintelligent.

Her latest comment comes in regard to the controversy created over the administrations effort to help provide birth control to women all across the country. I spoke of the issue and my concern with the separation of church and state. The HHS ruling is going to be watered down and a compromise will be reached that will satisfy the church and the right that, all of a sudden, are screaming about the first amendment rights. You see I can make a point without calling someone names. Have I done so in the past. Yes, I am human. However I am also aware that the quickest way to have people not hear me is to resort to something that amounts to only a personal attack.

President Obama is our President. The President of The United States. He was elected by the majority of people and that is how our system works. People want to delegitimize him because they disagree, that is not how it works. They have for over three years used, the idiotic voice, of the birther movement to say he is not our President. They attack him not with facts, but with mean and ugly remarks, that in my opinion, smacks heavily of racism.

When the Supreme Court ruled that the votes in Florida would not be recounted in their entirety, and President Bush was declared the winner, my first comment was, he is our President and now we have to see what he does. Remember, he inherited a surplus and we where looking at the prospect of paying down our national debt. During his first State of the Union Address, President Bush , stated that he would give the surplus back to the American people. Mistake number one. Later he and the people around him, such as Dick Cheney, would push us into two wars and neither one of them had anything to do with the attacks on our country. Mistakes number two and three. Mr. Bush then had tax cuts that are still in place today and costing us trillions of dollars. Mistake number four. He then gave the largest banks a bail out with tax payer dollars, without any restrictions or directions as to how those funds were to be used. Mistake number five.

The top five mistakes President Bush and his administration did has cost us trillions of dollars. Dollars that could have been used to rebuild our decaying infrastructure. Dollars that could have been used  to bolster our failing education system. Dollars that could have gone to shoring up the broken health care programs in our country. Dollars that could have made us more independent on foreign oil, by developing alternative energy sources. The list that we have addressed instead of ignoring could grow more, but I believe my point is made. We have arrived at this point, because the previous administration put us here. Has Mr Obama and his group made some missteps also. Absolutely. However as you can see above nowhere did I call Mr. Bush any names. I spoke of policies. Policies that I could say were stupid, without calling our President stupid. So to Darlene and all of the people like her, I know what ever I say you will still take the low road. You will still seek personal attacks over substance. You will continue to rip at the fabric that holds our great country together. You will still act like the small children in the schoolyards, but I will continue to lift the national discussion to a higher level. I will continue to fight for America, not tear it down. I will continue to talk about the issues and will try and avoid the name calling. I will watch what people like you say and call you out on it and on those occasions where I can stand it no more, I may just say things like, the ass clowns like you will never rise to be the leaders, you will always be in the background where you belong. Drowned out by the smart intelligent people of our country.

When Will We Stand And Protect Our First Responders?

Each and every day in cities and towns across our great country a group of under appreciated and underpaid, men and women don their uniforms of civic responsibility and protect us. These are the fine people that are police and firefighters. We asked all of them to take on the incredible task of providing support and help, whenever we call.

What do we give them in return? A police offer pulls someone over for reckless driving and receives a profane laced triad for their work. It does not matter that they might be saving you or someone you care about from a disastrous accident, all people think, is how much it is costing them in dollars. They do not take the responsibility for their reckless actions. This is the same officer that will place themselves between you and any harm that is approaching.

Firefighters are viewed somewhat differently, but also fall under the wrath of the public. At times they are ridiculed for spending too much time at the local grocery store, when they load up supplies for the station. We impede their progress, as they respond to an emergency, because we do not want to arrive at our destination two minutes later.

In the history of America, first responders have placed the interest of the public first and never hesitated because of concern for themselves. They were there during the great fire in Chicago. They fought against the devastation in the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake. More recently we heard and observed their bravery and heroism as they ran toward the burning towers on 9-11. On that one day we lost thousands of remarkable people and, yes we mourned, but we did so briefly. Since that remarkable day many more have lost their lives, due to the fact that they breathed the very air that surrounded them. The lives that were devastated that day, a decade ago,  belonged to true American heroes. Thousands of responders report to work every day and some of them never get the chance to return home. They loose the opportunity to say good-bye to their families and their families have to bury them without a single change to say, "I love you," once more. I ask again, what do we do for them?

We question their decisions, that are made in a fraction of a second, if something goes wrong. We want to drag them into court for criminal and civil actions because the outcome of their choices is not perfect. Now we want to demonize them, as the root of our financial problems in America. All across the country, Republican, governors and Republican legislatures are attempting to take away even the small amount we pay them. They are attacking the unions that help them perform their jobs, and the idea of collective bargaining, that will cut how they are compensated. How much is your family's life worth? How much would you be willing to spend to save someone you love? How hard is it to show them the respect and admiration they deserve? How hard would it be to say, "thank you", to each and every first responder that you encounter? Lastly how hard would it be to contact your local, state and federal politicians and tell them that these brave and wonderful leaders in our society are so important, and they should be protected by all of us in return?

The next time you pass a police officer or a firefighter, think about the fact that they are always there. Whether it is during the day while most of us are out working they serve us. During the night, while we all lay down to sleep, they are ready to respond to all of us at a seconds notice. Think about those brave men and women, that rushed toward their deaths in New York and remember they are rushing toward their deaths each time they put that special uniform on and protect. Do we not owe them the same? I believe we do. Tonight when you hit your knees, remind God to place each of these special people in the palm of his hand and protect them, while they protect us.