I have to say that those foreign corporations have made some fancy anti-Obama campaign commercials . There is nothing we can do about it since the Supreme Court ruled that corporations could have a say in electing a President. They have been sliding money into commercials like a Dr. Seuss Balanced budget. It is time to pull together and vote.

The War Chest of 2002

Do you remember everything going to the Pentagon War Chest in the year 2002. Wall Street got their share of war work. But where were my savings going? I was just trying to get by. If I remember correctly Halliburton was in 7th heaven with America's funds. We were just spending overseas, we were just spending overseas, we were just spending overseas and the Grand Old Party just loved it. The Republican War Chest was just full of goodies and all the big war machines were marching in goose-step with America's money.
In 2007 America realized that it was time for the common man back home to get his fair share of the profits and elected Barack Obama into the White House and the Republican War Chest was slammed shut. Corporate America sealed its doors and Wall Street put all it money in hiding and then the bubble burst. Now we have a lot of wealthy men standing around with their hands in their pockets just waiting for the Republican War Party to get back in office to get the War Chest rolling and chugging again. It is time to pull together and vote.

Text from Marin Luther King Speech

"

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!^"

Republican Blanket Obstructionism

Today a handful of senators are successfully blocking President Obama’s nominees by forcing the Senate to choose between confirming judges or completing any other business.

A supermajority of senators can break a filibuster, but once a filibuster is broken, Senate rules still permit up to 30 hours of floor debate before taking a vote. It would thus require nearly two months of uninterrupted, 24-hour days of debate in order to confirm President Obama’s 45 pending nominees. And no other business could be conducted during this entire period. When you also factor in the more than 100 executive branch nominees awaiting a vote plus the need to actually enact appropriations and legislation, it is simply impossible for the Senate to get more than a fraction of its work done in the face of blanket obstructionism.

Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act - Vote Agreed to (61-39)

The Senate passed this bill to provide $16.1 billion to extend increased Medicaid assistance to states and $10 billion in funding for states to create or retain teachers’ jobs. The House must vote on the bill next.

Sen. Mitch McConnell voted NO..
Sen. Jim Bunning voted NO..

Why I was Angry by Congressman Anthony Weiner

It is good that this is brought out and in the eyes of the public. Wrong is wrong no mater how you paint it.

It is sunny and peaceful in Western Kentucky.
I remember the dust and I knew that it was dangerous on September 11, 2001 in New York City. Concrete dust mixed with everything in those building will kill and that is what we have to pay for. I know that the " T Party" will not want to pay any tax to help those people.
If they want to pay a tax to help those people then write your congressmen and say so.
I know that they will not write their congressmen because they have some kind of excuse to not write their congressmen.
Congress will vote for a tax if you say so.
I know you do not believe this.

Here is what I wrote on that day.
_____________

September 11, 2001
Delicate Being

We are so vulnerable. Our hearts are very strong.
But when it comes to violence our body cannot protect itself without help.
I was told that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center Buildings in New York.
I walked over and looked at the TV, as I watched the fire and
smoke in one building, another plane flew right into the other building.
I knew then that something was not right.
I knew that something evil was taking place right before my eyes.
I realized that human bodies were being consumed by fire and wreckage.
The intense heat was vaporizing human lives in those buildings.
I knew that the smoke was going to smother the lives of human beings trapped in the upper stories of these two buildings.
As I watched in amazement white/gray smoke fell slowly to the ground.
I thought to myself, " The other building is disappearing and falling to the ground."
The concrete from the building was falling on human beings and disintegrating them right before my eyes.
This catastrophe was pulverizing human life.
More that two thousand human lives were being blown to bits by the heavy weight and pressure of the falling building.
The vaporized bits of concrete and human beings formed a cloud that billowed over the earth.
This dust of human form and concrete settled on the earth.
Only pieces of life were blown away to fall to the ground and settle into their own dust.
I watched again as the second building fell in the same manner with the same results.
It is difficult to understand why another human being would take pride in seeing this happen.
It is difficult to understand why any one would think that this was good and that god would approve of this violence.
The dust of these human beings will settle over the earth.
The dust that is choking me was once alive, a life with a family.
***
Where is the value in the lighthearted flower?
Could I paint a wonderful picture of a mare standing with her foal behind a black fence swishing
her tail in the colors of the fall foliage?
Would there be any harm in painting a picture like that.
Could I write a poem about dreams in an obscure language making it flow with delight?
Would there be any harm in that?
I have wonderful choices. So why can't the world have those choices?
Where did the world depart in the wonderful dreams of youth?
Are we going to stand up and say what is on our minds?
I think the world knows that we are divided and together as one.
We will all behave differently.
We will condemn violence but we will try to stop a recurring ball from bouncing out of control.
Will our words make sense? Nope!
Our emotions will tell the story.
***
In the minds of the young, terrorism has sealed it's own coffin.
The world now knows that death of two thousand people will not solve any of their problems.
Like an old factory, the framework of their minds will have to be retooled.
They'll have to update their thoughts and realize that violence does not solve anything.
They are condemned in the minds of the world.
The prison is in their minds; the falling building will fall repeatedly in their dreams.
The screams of the children of god will slide down their walls.

2010 Election

The Obama Administration recognizes that the most effective way to keep America’s youth drug-free is to prevent them from getting involved with drugs in the first place. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) administers programs that focus on community-based substance abuse prevention, and supports prevention initiatives in the Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, Education, and others. The President’s FY 2011 Budget seeks to increase funding for drug prevention efforts by 13.4 percent over the FY 2010 Budget.
A vote in the right direction would help prevent your sons and daughters from abusing any substance known to man.
***

Goodbye, 'Safe and Drug Free Schools'; Hello, 'Successful, Safe and Healthy Students'

The Obama administration is proposing a new "Successful, Safe and Healthy Students" grant program to replace the Department of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools (SFDS) program, which has suffered significant funding cuts in recent years amid doubts about its effectiveness. The new program -- intended to create "an improved school climate that reduces drug use, violence, and harassment and improves school safety and students' physical and mental well-being" -- would receive $283 million under the Obama plan, $107 million more than SFDS received in FY2010. Unlike the formula-based SDFS national grants, the Healthy Students grants will be awarded on a competitive basis to local education agencies. CADCA's Dean welcomed the funding but worried about how it will be used. "Although the new program does speak to some drug prevention, it's more implicit than explicit," he said. "If it's not explicit, school officials might not give drug prevention the attention it deserves." The budget would establish a $15-million Prevention Prepared Communities program, a pilot project intended to create a system of evidence-based youth prevention interventions lasting throughout adolescence. Another $5.6 million would be spent on supporting community prevention specialists who would assist in developing these projects in collaboration with the states, and $2 million would be used to evaluate the project. The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign -- a frequent target of critics who claim the program is expensive and ineffective -- also would receive a major funding boost under the Obama drug budget, up $21.5 million to a total of $66.5 million in FY2011. "The president is throwing good money after bad when what we really need is a new direction," said MPP's Houston. $100 Million More for Treatment, But No New Funds for Block Grant About $100 million in new funding for treatment programs within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) would be spread over a variety of programs, notably the Second Chance Act, which would receive $20 million more to provide community-based treatment services to ex-offenders

Republicans vote no for the Unemployed

The Senate passed this bill to extend unemployment benefits through November 30, making the extension retroactive to June 2 when the last extension expired. Because it was amended by the Senate, it was sent back to the House for final approval.
Sen. Mitch McConnell voted NO
Sen. Jim Bunning voted NO

Vote for a Democrat the next Election in Kentucky. Jack Conway is as smart as John F Kennedy.

Does Anyone Know What Will Happen When The Democrats Are Voted Out of Congress?

Will the Republicans still vote, "NO!" on anything Obama wants. Safe foods, safe environment, more jobs, more control of out of control international banks, big oil.
I can understand what the upper middle class want. They want their investments to go up and their employees paychecks to go down. They want labor unions to disappear so they control the cost of products. More profits. That makes perfect sense.
Child labor maybe in the future, the 40 hour week is history as is overtime and benefits.
They want the "govern" out of government.
The famous ,"Trickle Down Economy" trickled overseas with the movement of our union jobs to non-union jobs in China and Obama gets the blame for that?
Big oil wants the land in Alaska and are paying Sarah Palin big bucks and a lot of fancy public relations to get the job done.
0900
I am watching C-Span and they are talking to and about the laid off workers in our nation. The manufacturing companies have the pick of the litter when hiring any employee. The workers were making $20.00 and hour plus before they got laid-off. Now if they do get selected from the 1,000 of employees vying for that one job which starts at $8.50 an hour, without the benefits they had before their company left the country.
Obama is trying to hire or pay these people but the Republican Party says that costs too much. Our President and the Democrats are in this situation, "Your dammed if you do and your dammed if you don't." The Republican T Party just loves it and some gold coins in their future.
There are a lot of folks on TV (cable, Satellite) getting paid to analyze the situation. Those are the only employed folks I know that make any money other than bankers.

Lobbyists and Political Action Committees are Unconstitution

Lobbyists and Political Action Committees are unconstitutional because they represent an individual more than once.
An eligible voter gets one vote and is represented by one representative and two senators.
By lobbying for a business allows an individual to be representative by another vote in congress?
A Political Action Committee does the same thing.
It allows a voter to vote more than once on an issue. In order for this government to work we should vote in an election to cast a vote.
The broken circle represents a PAC or Lobbyists that allows us to vote more than once by influencing the government before or after an election is not what our country founders wanted in this government.
Is it one person one vote
Or
Is it one person eight votes or more.
You can plainly see that more than one vote can corrupt a government.

If a Congressman asked the lobbyists who he represented and the lobbyist said,” I represent Tomas, Motherkitty and the city of Marion, KY”.
In the statement above the lobbyists says he is acting as a representative which is the same job that the Congressman was voted in to be for the area that is Marion, KY.
Or
If a Congressman asked the lobbyists who he represented and the lobbyist said,” I represent Tomas, Motherkitty, the City of Marion, KY and the people of Davenport, WA.
In this second statement above the lobbyists says he is acting as a representative which is the same job that the Congressman was voted in to be for the area that is Marion, KY and also for the people of some other community in another part of the country who has a different Congressman.
That is not what our founders wanted.
We have a right to assemble and speak our minds as a group or privately as an individual and be represented by the United States Congress.
People can attempt to influence or sway The United States Congress toward a desired action for a cause or they can vote in an election for a desired action.
Do I have the right to be a representative of some company?
The answer is yes and do I have the right to represent my company before congress?
I think not because the people in the company are already represented before Congress by their Congressmen.
Lobbying is not built into the checks and balances of our government even though former congressman can be seen jawboning their way into the halls of government.
The conservative political world wants a smaller government but they seem to maintain the largest Political Action Committees in the land who run their Political Action Committee as great influencer of our inner circles of the checks and balances of our government.

Temporary Extension Act of 2010 - Vote Passed (78-19, 3 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this bill that provides short-term extensions of a number of programs that expired February 28, including unemployment benefits and federal health care subsidies for jobless workers. The bill was quickly signed by the President.

Sen. Mitch McConnell voted NO.
Sen. Jim Bunning voted NO

"The Party of Obstruction"

"Reporting from Washington - As voters lose patience with political gridlock, the Obama administration is embarking on a strategy aimed at putting Republicans on the spot: Either participate in bipartisan exchanges initiated by the president, or be portrayed as the party of obstruction."
***
The Kentucky Basketball team play hardball and they also try to be diplomatic but the Republicans Senators play Political Hardball and hold their stance thinking that the Tea Party will vote for them in the next election. The Tea Party Motto is, "Throw the Bums Out!" and that means any one that does not cooperate with the majority of people in Kentucky.
***
The Supreme Court said that Corperation can put their money into any part of our Government and that includes the Supreme Court and the Justice System, The Presidency and our Congress.

Do we as the public have a chance? If you see their ad on TV they are paid for by Cooperate America in our next election.

Turkeys Voting for Christmas

"Why is it that people so often vote against their own interests? Are pragmatic politics patronising or simply a turn off? David Runciman investigates the unpopularity of President Obama's healthcare reforms and he asks why so many Americans seem angry about efforts to make them better off."

Why do people often vote against their own interests?

The value of politics in the Commonwealth of Kentucky is of my concern. I have two Republican senators that represent me in our state.

I have voted Democratically these past two years and was previously an Independent.
I believe in health care for everyone at no cost other than a tax on everyone for it. That is not going to happen.
The Democratic Party in the United States Senate have voted to keep the government running by a 60 to 40 vote. The Republican Party voted no on the spending.
At least one of my United States Senators for the Commonwealth of Kentucky added an amendment to the bill they voted against to help Kentucky. That is politics.
They may also have added an amendment to the Health Care bill that is moving in toward passage.
Even though both United States Senators voted no politically their amendments are going through.
See MegaVote below.