For over a month and a half now, as the Occupy movement has grown from a small group of people protesting near Wall Street to protests across the country and around the globe, there's been a certain segment of the population that has looked down on the protesters and derisively asked , "What do those people think they're doing?" Many in the media have already answered that question, more than once - including us - yet the anti-Occupiers continue to insist that the Occupy movement produce some kind of definable change as proof that the movement is more than the disgusting caricature painted by those who enjoy the status quo.
With great pride, Occupiers, and those that stand with them, now have some tangible proof that our union around the subject of inequality can indeed make a difference.
Late Monday, more than a month after Bank of America announced plans to charge customers new fees - for the customers to use their own money - Bank of America backed down, along with virtually every other major bank. While some senior banking officials have denied on record that the Occupy movement directly influenced their decision, they've admitted that the movement has been at least partially responsible for the banks retreat.
It hasn't been just the marches and the protests at bank branches around the country that changed that minds of those responsible at the banks.
Efforts like Move Your Money, GetMoneyOut.com [which our webmaster has been part of], and New Bottom Line - an effort to help cities and local governments move their money away from the big banks - all have some responsibility for putting the banks and Wall Street on notice.
The unified efforts of these different and diverse groups of Americans seems to have given those politicians who support them, especially the President and those in the Democratic Party, a boost of courage to begin standing up to do what the American people have been clamoring for.
Democratic House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and 182 other House Democrats, including both liberals and Blue Dogs, are demanding the removal of major government policy changes that John Boehner and the Republicans are trying to slip into smaller spending bills that must pass later this month.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate aren't sitting down anymore either. New Mexico Senator Tom Udall officially proposed a constitutional amendment on Tuesday to reverse two highly controversial Supreme Court decisions - 1976's Buckley v. Valeo, which said campaign money is a form of speech, and the nearly universally hated 2010 Citizens United decision, which has opened the floodgates to virtually unlimited campaign spending.
President Obama has also been emboldened, as he's pushed forward on his "We Can't Wait" initiatives to help homeowners with their mortgages, help returning veterans find jobs, help college graduates weighed down by debt, and help the ill and elderly get the medicines they need.
All this, and still most Republicans in D.C. refuse to do anything to help the American people that might also help the President or Democrats.
This willfully ignorant "head in a box" attitude has disgusted even fellow Republicans. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a prominent Republican in President Obama's Cabinet, openly admitted that his party no longer wants to do anything to help the American people - because they're myopically focused on their sole aim of beating President Obama.
We're not saying all these changes stem solely from the Occupy movement, because they don't - at least, not directly.
That said, no one can ignore that the wheels of progress seem to be turning slightly faster again, since people everywhere have been coming together, uniting with the Occupy movement and against the inequality that's been the focus of the movement.
To those people who still seem to have their head locked in a box, refusing to acknowledge the power of the people, our advice is simple:
Quit being a block head.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Welcome And Unwelcome Guests
We apologize in advance if we're a bit distracted this week. We're excited that our friend and Paul's fellow cartoonist, Gustavo Rodriguez, is going to be our guest for a few days.
As the current staff cartoonist for El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language version of The Miami Herald, and as a naturalized American citizen, who emigrated from Cuba, Gustavo has had more than his fair share of dealing with bureaucracy and strange government rules under both so-called capitalism and so-called socialism. We're sure Mr. Rodriguez will be willing to discuss many of those differences with the journalism and other students he'll meet at Peru State College this week. You can even join him at the recital hall tonight at 7, local time, or in the Student Center, Wednesday morning, starting at 11.
The likelihood is that many of the individuals Gustavo addresses will listen intently, and some may even learn to think about a few subjects in a different way.
We're not so confident that the members of Nebraska's Unicameral will follow the lead of those young college students.
Today marks the beginning of the special session for that body of lawmakers, and they have only one topic to consider: the Keystone XL pipeline.
As we've mentioned previously and extensively, even allowing the existence of a new Keystone pipeline over the Ogallala Aquifer endangers the water supply for the entire middle section of the United States - where large portions of the world's food are grown.
Not surprisingly, TransCanada, the massive oil company desperate to build this pipeline, hired lawyers - not scientists or pipeline engineers - to release a statement on Monday to attempt to tie the hands of the Nebraska Legislature, and limit the scope and vision of the task that lies before them.
Like our welcome guest, Gustavo, and the students at Peru State, we hope our suggestions here to members of the Nebraska Legislature will help widen that scope back to where it should be.
In short, we're aware the pipeline is likely to ultimately go through Nebraska, regardless of what its opponents do or say.
That doesn't mean TransCanada should be able to bully and push the citizens of Nebraska around, in a similar way to the unwelcome and unethical influence exerted by Wall Street banks on the American political landscape.
The Nebraska Legislature MUST seriously consider not only its legal obligation to its own citizens, but also the fact that, should the pipeline leak oil or other contaminants into the aquifer, virtually every other state in the central portion of the country may sue Nebraska for destroying their water supplies as well.
Furthermore, while there are already Federal standards for safety along the pipeline, Nebraska currently has almost no significant binding legislation regarding the cleanup of a natural disaster, like a massive oil spill.
Finally, one of Nebraska's extended neighbors has already dealt with the bullies of Big Oil over a similar nature - and won. Nebraska's senators and governor should warmly welcome advice from Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer and Montana's legislators, on the problems they experienced - and how they could have handled their own pipeline re-routing challenge better.
There are ways in life to make some interactions with even unwelcome guests more successful.
Many times, those methods for success can be learned from the guests we'd rather interact with.
As the current staff cartoonist for El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language version of The Miami Herald, and as a naturalized American citizen, who emigrated from Cuba, Gustavo has had more than his fair share of dealing with bureaucracy and strange government rules under both so-called capitalism and so-called socialism. We're sure Mr. Rodriguez will be willing to discuss many of those differences with the journalism and other students he'll meet at Peru State College this week. You can even join him at the recital hall tonight at 7, local time, or in the Student Center, Wednesday morning, starting at 11.
The likelihood is that many of the individuals Gustavo addresses will listen intently, and some may even learn to think about a few subjects in a different way.
We're not so confident that the members of Nebraska's Unicameral will follow the lead of those young college students.
Today marks the beginning of the special session for that body of lawmakers, and they have only one topic to consider: the Keystone XL pipeline.
As we've mentioned previously and extensively, even allowing the existence of a new Keystone pipeline over the Ogallala Aquifer endangers the water supply for the entire middle section of the United States - where large portions of the world's food are grown.
Not surprisingly, TransCanada, the massive oil company desperate to build this pipeline, hired lawyers - not scientists or pipeline engineers - to release a statement on Monday to attempt to tie the hands of the Nebraska Legislature, and limit the scope and vision of the task that lies before them.
Like our welcome guest, Gustavo, and the students at Peru State, we hope our suggestions here to members of the Nebraska Legislature will help widen that scope back to where it should be.
In short, we're aware the pipeline is likely to ultimately go through Nebraska, regardless of what its opponents do or say.
That doesn't mean TransCanada should be able to bully and push the citizens of Nebraska around, in a similar way to the unwelcome and unethical influence exerted by Wall Street banks on the American political landscape.
The Nebraska Legislature MUST seriously consider not only its legal obligation to its own citizens, but also the fact that, should the pipeline leak oil or other contaminants into the aquifer, virtually every other state in the central portion of the country may sue Nebraska for destroying their water supplies as well.
Furthermore, while there are already Federal standards for safety along the pipeline, Nebraska currently has almost no significant binding legislation regarding the cleanup of a natural disaster, like a massive oil spill.
Finally, one of Nebraska's extended neighbors has already dealt with the bullies of Big Oil over a similar nature - and won. Nebraska's senators and governor should warmly welcome advice from Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer and Montana's legislators, on the problems they experienced - and how they could have handled their own pipeline re-routing challenge better.
There are ways in life to make some interactions with even unwelcome guests more successful.
Many times, those methods for success can be learned from the guests we'd rather interact with.
Monday, October 31, 2011
The Scariest Thing Of All
Whether you have to battle the snow today, or your community attempted to celebrate the holiday over the weekend, today is Halloween - or All Hallow's Eve, to some. It's a day filled not just with cherubs in costumes begging for goodies, but also with the mythological frights of kids and adults alike.
This week also marks one full year until the 2012 election.
What worries us most about the next 365 days isn't the news from this weekend about U.S. plans for continuing U.S. Persian Gulf military presence, or the ever-more-obvious effects of the Supreme Court's 'Citizens United' decision as outside groups succeed in buying ever bigger stakes in our American political process.
It isn't even the series of unnecessary and offensive abuses by law enforcement brought against the Occupy protesters this past weekend.
What scares us most is the ever growing list of needs the American people have that their Congress refuses to address - and that too many Americans may yet be more than willing to re-elect the do-nothing idiots currently sitting on their rears in the House and Senate.
Today SHOULD begin a race to accomplish something for a Congress that has so far done next to nothing. On the positive side, the Democratically-controlled Senate has no more breaks scheduled between now and their year-end holiday break. Unfortunately, the Republican-controlled House has at least two more weeks of "recess" scheduled just this month, with a target for their year-end break to begin the second week of December.
The super committee MUST make its recommendations for revenue enhancement methods - tax increases, mostly - and budget cuts by the end of this month. There are a whole pile of funding bills that MUST make it through multiple committees AND both the House and Senate, including agriculture, criminal justice, transportation and housing bills. And Congress has to make sure the government doesn't shut down - or even threaten to shut down, as has already happened three times this year.
In a country so desperate for so many solutions on so many fronts, we're glad that the President's advisor, David Axelrod, had the courage to say out loud this weekend, what so many Americans, left, right, and center have been quietly saying to each other for some time.
Axelrod said about Congressional Republicans, "...you have to ask a question, are they willing to tear down the economy in order to tear down the president or are they going to cooperate? Listen, there’s a reason why the Congress is at nine percent in some polls, approval, lowest in history. Because this is different than we’ve ever seen before."
So far, President Obama has been willing to do almost anything to try and get positive results accomplished for the American people.
When he hasn't been hamstrung by this do-nothing Congress - like in foreign affairs - our President has been amazingly successful. For that, we thank him.
That's not how our government is supposed to work, however - and it's certainly not how it works effectively.
As Halloween passes, and turns towards Thanksgiving - and the 2012 elections - we hope the political hopefuls and those already in office remember what we told them nearly a year ago.
When the polls open one year from tomorrow, our legislators will be judged on what they've actually accomplished for the 99% of Americans who've been decimated by the all-too-real real horrors of our current economy. Without any accomplishments, the "grades" of those legislators will be zero - which is the same number of votes we hope candidates who have done nothing will receive.
We also hope the fear of a 2012 political "bloodbath" of do-nothing legislators losing their cushy jobs will scare some sense into those Congresspersons after all.
This week also marks one full year until the 2012 election.
What worries us most about the next 365 days isn't the news from this weekend about U.S. plans for continuing U.S. Persian Gulf military presence, or the ever-more-obvious effects of the Supreme Court's 'Citizens United' decision as outside groups succeed in buying ever bigger stakes in our American political process.
It isn't even the series of unnecessary and offensive abuses by law enforcement brought against the Occupy protesters this past weekend.
What scares us most is the ever growing list of needs the American people have that their Congress refuses to address - and that too many Americans may yet be more than willing to re-elect the do-nothing idiots currently sitting on their rears in the House and Senate.
Today SHOULD begin a race to accomplish something for a Congress that has so far done next to nothing. On the positive side, the Democratically-controlled Senate has no more breaks scheduled between now and their year-end holiday break. Unfortunately, the Republican-controlled House has at least two more weeks of "recess" scheduled just this month, with a target for their year-end break to begin the second week of December.
The super committee MUST make its recommendations for revenue enhancement methods - tax increases, mostly - and budget cuts by the end of this month. There are a whole pile of funding bills that MUST make it through multiple committees AND both the House and Senate, including agriculture, criminal justice, transportation and housing bills. And Congress has to make sure the government doesn't shut down - or even threaten to shut down, as has already happened three times this year.
In a country so desperate for so many solutions on so many fronts, we're glad that the President's advisor, David Axelrod, had the courage to say out loud this weekend, what so many Americans, left, right, and center have been quietly saying to each other for some time.
Axelrod said about Congressional Republicans, "...you have to ask a question, are they willing to tear down the economy in order to tear down the president or are they going to cooperate? Listen, there’s a reason why the Congress is at nine percent in some polls, approval, lowest in history. Because this is different than we’ve ever seen before."
So far, President Obama has been willing to do almost anything to try and get positive results accomplished for the American people.
When he hasn't been hamstrung by this do-nothing Congress - like in foreign affairs - our President has been amazingly successful. For that, we thank him.
That's not how our government is supposed to work, however - and it's certainly not how it works effectively.
As Halloween passes, and turns towards Thanksgiving - and the 2012 elections - we hope the political hopefuls and those already in office remember what we told them nearly a year ago.
When the polls open one year from tomorrow, our legislators will be judged on what they've actually accomplished for the 99% of Americans who've been decimated by the all-too-real real horrors of our current economy. Without any accomplishments, the "grades" of those legislators will be zero - which is the same number of votes we hope candidates who have done nothing will receive.
We also hope the fear of a 2012 political "bloodbath" of do-nothing legislators losing their cushy jobs will scare some sense into those Congresspersons after all.
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