Fixing the System

I have been talking with a friend who is of the opinion that there should be a one -Party system because the Constitution says "We the people" and  having more than one party is placing a label for the purpose of separating people by groups and that is what is wrong with the nation.

I disagree profusely. Having different Parties is what has made this country great, it allows people with similar political point of views and vision to work together for the good of the country.  People elect for office a person with a similar vision as theirs.  This doesn't mean that each political Party should be in "war" with each other; as adults and "professionals" they should be able to jointly brainstorm issues, work for a common goal and  be flexible enough to satisfy the majority of the people and always, always work together for the betterment of the nation, as a whole. 

However, I told my friend that any given Party is just a name to identify a group of people with similar ideals and that is definitively not where the problem resides. The problem we are facing it is not that we have multiple Parties; it is that since the 80s changes have been made to the rules of how the "game" it's played. The Equal-Time rule is no longer in existence and Congress allowed the Fairness Doctrine to expire and ever since then the most important concern for those running for office, from a simple City Official to the President of the United States, is to get funds for their next campaign since now they must pay for the airtime to run their TV and newspaper ads.  That's what they do from day one: Fundraising, not governing. 

We, the people, are no longer their main concern... their priority is to find the money to fund their next campaign. 

Then, about 3 years ago Citizens United - a Republican dream for at least 3 decades – became a reality, and now large corporations can "help" elect candidates that will benefit them and not the people. This must be overturned, a corporation will never be a person unless one day it can donate one of its vital organs, if it can be sentenced to death or give birth to a child.  I doubt they will ever be able to do any of these things, therefore they are not and will never be people. 

Money corrupts, this is known by everyone for centuries and money has to be taken out of the equation. An amount dedicated for elections, an equal amount of money for each and every candidate regardless of Party should be assigned. These monies should be provided by the Treasury and be part of the Federal budget. This will eliminate the sugar daddies and would free the elected official from "campaigning" and concentrate on what they were elected to do, govern. 

Lobbying should be banned, period. 

Furthermore, passing something in Congress doesn’t require a majority of the votes anymore. It used to be that 50% +1 was a majority, even mathematically it still is.  However, for Congress today 60% is what they consider a majority.  This needs to change and fast. 

Filibustering should change too. It is absurd that one candidate such as "Ted" Cruz can stand there and talk for hours about anything, even reading Green Eggs and Ham to filibuster a vote in Congress. I do believe in filibuster, but if you are - as a single individual – obstructing a vote, then you should do it by talking about the subject that you passionately object to and nothing more. I can talk for hours on end about a subject I am passionate about and this shouldn't be that difficult. A person shouldn't obstruct without providing a solid and clear reason for his or her objection. 

Serving the people (what these official are supposed to be doing) shouldn't be a career; it must NOT be a career. The President is allowed to serve two terms, Congressmen should not hold their jobs forever, and neither should any of the Supreme Justices. Perhaps Congressmen should be allowed to serve 3 terms and Justices 4, but that's it... after that, new blood is needed since an apple in a barrel of rotten apples will eventually rotten too. 

Any member(s) of Congress that maliciously obstruct legislation because they are answering to a political agenda should immediately be removed from office, regardless of party affiliation. A member of Congress can disagree and even obstruct, but if that obstruction is obviously malicious, and that Congressman is obstructing more than three times, the Congressman should immediately be removed from their position and new elections for that post should take place or the Governor of those States should appoint a temporary replacement. 

The rules for Federal Shutdowns should also change. If Congress decides to exercise their right to shutdown government, then they should not receive compensation and that time should be deducted from their years of service. 

Amendment 14, Section 4 of the Constitution clearly says that all public debt must be paid, without exception. Therefore, the President should be granted power to pay the public debt WITHOUT the approval of Congress... there is no need for Congress to approve payment of the expenses they previously approved. 

Members of Congress should not have more than 20 working days of vacation. For Thanksgiving they should have 2 days off, and the same goes for Christmas - that's what an American worker gets. They are not a "special class," they are our SERVANTS. 

And finally, not a single member of Congress should get 80% of their salaries for life after 5 years of service... Not a single citizen gets that not even after 20 years of service, and these public servants shouldn't either, after all, it's OUR money. 

If these changes could be done what's currently broken in the system would be fixed.

America Defunded

A Federal shutdown is nothing new even when most of us are acting as if it is the end of the world. For the last 37 years there has been a total of 18 Federal shutdowns, including the one we are experiencing now.

Every one of the previous shutdowns were due to differences of opinions about spending, about funding bills that were to be passed… none of them were about bills that were already law. President Carter experienced 5 shutdowns mostly because the Senate and the House couldn’t agree if Medicaid should pay for abortions or not. There were 8 Federal shutdowns during President Reagan’s presidency; most of them were because the Senate and the House couldn’t agree regarding increasing or decreasing the defense budget and funding the Nicaraguan Contras. This is the first time in history that there’s a Federal shutdown because the House wants to defund a law, not a bill but a constitutional law. This is the first time that Republicans in office have said repeatedly, since 2010, of their desire for a Federal shutdown and this is what makes it not only different but dangerous.

These same Republicans have been threatening about allowing the United States economy to crash to get their wish. They have tried to obstruct raising the debt ceiling before, they even accomplished our credit rating to drop for the first time. Raising the debt ceiling is less than two weeks away and we all know they will use it once more as an extortion tool to defund the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. These new Republicans, aka the Tea Party, are constantly manipulating the more seasoned Republicans in Congress who have become their puppets to fulfill their wishes. These new breed of Republicans do not care about the country, they couldn’t care less about our good standing or credit rating and have no understanding of what governing is all about. They claim they want a smaller government and I would think they wished there was no government at all if it wasn’t because they are part of the government they say they hate so much, if it wasn’t because they keep thinking of more government intrusion to regulate and control women, minorities and the poor. They want to create more government but not for corporations or the wealthy – they protect those. That is the part of government they want to shrink, the one that regulate businesses, the one that prevent these corporations from abusing us even more than they already do.

If they use extortion again, we will once more default on our obligations and lose our credit rating. This will negatively affect not only the United States but also the world, which is already suffering from the austerity imposed by their government. The Tea Party can’t grasp that raising the debt ceiling in order to pay our debt is a must, non-negotiable and their constitutional obligation and definitively it’s not a choice.

You watch them laughing and practically celebrating every time they pull one of these “pranks.” They feel so proud of obstructing and destroying this country while screaming at the top of their lungs how much they love America and that they want to return America to its glory days.

What many people don’t realize is that the “glory days” they’re talking about has absolutely nothing to do with the economical prosperity of its citizens. They couldn’t care less if people are sinking more and more into poverty, which is not their concern and some of them have openly said it is not their problem. The “glorious” days they want to return to are the days where blacks were segregated, where women had no voice and where white men, especially the wealthy, ruled.

That’s their vision and their goal.

It is up to us, the American citizen to stop it and to prick their delusional bubble and clean house in 2014. No matter how difficult they have made it in Red States we should vote in masses. We have a little over a year to plan and organize. We must make sure that every single voter votes, if they don’t have transportation, we must rent buses and get them there. If they don’t have all the documents needed, we should help them get those papers. If it is the last thing we do, we must unite and save our country and ourselves from these traitors that wrap themselves on the flag while holding the bible instead of the Constitution.

An Act of Treason

Section. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.  

The Fourteenth amendment, section 4 of the United States Constitution clearly states that it is the duty of Congress to pay the public debt, no questions asked.

But for five long years this debt has been held hostage by members of the Tea Party elected to Congress. These people claim to defend the Constitution but use it as toilet paper and do not care that our country would default on their debts. They couldn’t care less if their irresponsible actions will sink this country in an economic chaos from which it may never recover – that is not their problem. Their only concern is Obamacare and if in order to repeal it the country goes to hell, so be it.

I’m sorry, but this is not love of country; this is not patriotism… this is actually treason. Their irresponsible act is an act purposely perpetrated to inflict damage to the country, to destroy its economy, to destroy our image and leaving us vulnerable against the attacks of our enemies. Nowhere in the constitution it says that we can forfeit paying our debts to satisfy the tantrum of members of Congress, nowhere. It is the duty and obligation of Congress to pay the country’s debt, period.

Article I Section. 6 The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

Article III Section 3 Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

Ted Cruz and his gang are waging war against the country for personal gain. Do not be fooled by thinking this is being done for the good of the country because it is not. The only thing Ted Cruz is interested in is in getting enough funding from his supporters to run for president in 2016. He doesn’t care about the country, perhaps because he is not a true American after all he is half Cuban and born in Canada, not the United States.

Obamacare has been the tool the Republicans and Teabaggers have used to agitate their base and the reason why they are holding the debt ceiling hostage in order to get what they want: repeal Obamacare. It matters little that they can do this any time they want, actually they’ve tried over 40 times to repeal it. It matters none that Obamacare can start and if it is as bad as they claim to be, people will back them up and the law could be reversed. None of this matters because Obamacare is not what matters to them, for Ted Cruz and his gang all it matters is to bring this country to its knees and in their sick mind, they will come out victorious. They are so stupid that they don’t seem to realize that if we destroy this country economically, what they will inherit is a country that will be a shadow of it’s glory and it may never be the world power again.

Perhaps the Koch brothers have promised them to bail the economy out once Obamacare has been repealed and of course, once a member of the Tea Party wins the White House. The problem is, that will not happen. The Koch brothers will not be able to restore the credit score of the country, will not have enough money to sustain the country’s expenses and what’s more absurd is that the American people will not forget who destroyed us, who was irresponsible enough that designed and executed this destruction. We will never elect a Teabagger for president!

Syria... Seriously?

“Now, after careful deliberation, I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian regime targets. This would not be an open-ended intervention. We would not put boots on the ground. Instead, our action would be designed to be limited in duration and scope. But I’m confident we can hold the Assad regime accountable for their use of chemical weapons, deter this kind of behavior, and degrade their capacity to carry it out.”

Such were the word spoken by President Obama on August 31^st explaining to the American public why the United States is engaging in a confrontation with Syria.

The attack of the government of Syria against it’s own people it’s, without a doubt, a crime against humanity, I don’t think there is a single American that doesn’t find this act a cowardly, repulsive and despicable act. However, unlike the attack on Saddam Hussein – where there were no WOMD – this time we have very few allies. Perhaps it’s precisely because of the Iraq fiasco that our allies do not want to back us up on this, but regardless of the reasons of their refusal, the truth is we have almost no one on our side but we are going to take matters into our own hands… We are once more getting involved in someone else’s business and the outcome is almost predictable… I truly hope I’m wrong.

I love President Obama but I cannot approve this attack, at least not without knowing what comes next if things don’t go as planned. I want to know what’s “plan B”, or “C” or “D”? We have not been totally informed, we don’t know what will happen if our military strategy fails.

China and Russia can’t see eye to eye on almost anything, actually they’re enemies except when going against the US; then they are allies and both of them are forces that we don’t want to mess with and they are backing the Syrian government. Does the President think China and Russia are going to do nothing to help Syria against our attacks? What are the plans if China and Russia decide to defend the Syrian government? This attack could open the Pandora’s box or a can of worms and be the prelude for WWIII.

It is true that their own government indiscriminately slaughtered thousands of people, presumably innocent adults and for certain innocent children. I understand that the means in which these people were killed is illegal – the world has banned the use of chemical weapons – that these weapons could be used against anyone in the world and represents a clear and present danger to us all. But, where is diplomacy? Where have negotiations gone – with Syria and in case Syria doesn’t want to negotiate, with our allies and their allies? Why aren’t the neighboring countries  intercede or join us? Aren’t they in more pressing urgency to disarm Assad or at minimum to negotiate with him than us?

What is happening in Syria is a civil war. No attacks or confrontations have occurred, yet, with neighboring countries, but by the US getting involved in what up to know has been a bloody and even unfair regional war – a civil war – it will turn into an international war that could easily evolve into WWIII.

It is not the first time a government has purposely mass murdered its own people and we have been idle. The government of Sudan has been doing it for a while; women, men and children are being blown to pieces in Darfur on a daily basis and while these massacres were taking place, we’ve condemned it, we spoke out against it but we did absolutely nothing. Where were we when the people of Rwanda were being slaughtered? We were infuriated, but we kept our distance from these killings. Why?

The difference between Rwanda, Sudan and Syria is not the color of the people’s skin; it’s not necessarily the danger to neighboring countries or the way these governments have chosen to kill their own people. No, it’s none of these. The truth is that our government feels irate and offended when atrocities such as these take place in equal proportion to the riches of the country perpetrating these massacres. If the country has no riches we don’t lift a finger, that’s the cruel reality. Syria is a rich country with access to our most desirable and precious commodity: oil and it is this commodity the trigger for our country to get involved in a war that is not ours, it is oil the lubricant that sets the wheels of war in motion, that turns us into the police of the world even when all we will accomplish is to amplify the hate the Middle East feels against us – this will only create more terrorists, more Al’ Qaeda’s militants that will perpetuate the never-ending “war on terror” achieving the same level of success as our “war on drugs.”

I know that my opinion will make no difference in what will take place and our involvement in Syria, but I have to let everyone know where I stand on this issue. I can’t support another war, any war for that matter, when our country is claiming to be broke, when we are taking food away from our own children, when we are closing schools and firing the teachers because we can’t afford them… but we are not broke to drone Pakistan or Iran, we’re not broke to spend trillions of dollars in an unsuccessful engagement in Afghanistan and now we are not broke to attack Syria. What about our own children? What about our seniors? When are we going to defend our children and seniors against poverty, our youth against a crowded classroom and a poor education? When can our seniors feel safe that the government is not going to cut their only source of income? When are we going to create more jobs? But of course, our poor, our children and our seniors don’t own an oil well so it’s perfectly fine to take away from them the dry bone we throw them to feed the monster of war.

To read the full transcript of President Obama's speech, click here.