Money: The Disease that is Killing our Politics

Recently, all the news networks in the United States reported on the fundraising efforts of all the candidates for 2008. Barack Obama raised 25 million, 1 million short of Hillary Clinton's 26 million. This was the big story of the week. Although I am 100 percent for Barack Obama for president, I must say that money is not what makes presidential candidates. Tom Vilsack, a good man dropped out of the 2008 field, because he couldn't raise enough money. This is what our politics have come to. We are more interested in who raises how much, then who is going to do what for what issue. Campaigns are about the people, ideas, and the future of our country. They are not about money, money, and did I mention money. I propose today that all campaigns be publically financed. If we want money and influence to be taken out of our politics and be returned to the people, we can't have the system we have today. We must change our ways and say to the candidates: SAY SOMETHING. Tell us about your ideas on national security, the economy, and education. Let that be what you campaign is ALL about. It's time they start talking. Candidates are spending most of their time dialing for dollars. Money for breakfast, money for lunch, and money for dinner.
Democracy and politics isn't about money, it's about your hopes, dreams, and fears. However, our system is a game that only the rich can pay to play. Our pay to play system must end. Therefore, in accordance with this belief, I will not give one cent to campaigns. Instead my contribution to democracy will not be 2300 dollars, but volunteer hours, knocking on doors, passing out literature, and talking about the issues. I am going to draw attention to this problem. McCain-Feingold is a crock of bull. It's time we take the money. Let's rebuild democracy, one person at a time. Let's make our democracy be about what it should be: people. And to all those who say money is speech, I say: NO IT ISN'T! Money does not equal speech then only the rich can speak and the rest of us are left behind. You want to know what speech is: it's writing to the editoral board of your local paper, writing your own blog, writing and calling your elected officials, attending rallies, and VOTING! Money is the farthest thing from speech. Democracy is speech. People are speech. America is speech. So if you agree with me leave me a comment and go to www.house.gov or www.senate.gov and look up your congressmen and senators and tell them you want publically financed campaigns.

Carrying on the Movement: A Tribute to Paul Wellstone

“In the last analysis, politics is not predictions and politics is not observations. Politics is what we do. Politics is what we do, politics is what we create, by what we work for, by what we hope for and what we dare to imagine.”
-Fm. Senator Paul Wellstone, 1944-2002

I recently finshed a book called Paul Wellstone: the Life of a Passionate Progressive by Bill Lofy. Let me first say it was one of the greatest books I have ever read. I knew little to nothing about Paul Wellstone previous to reading this book. However, through reading this fantastic book, I have gained a new hero in Paul Wellstone. Paul Wellstone was our nation's last great progressive. He was extremely committed to the progressive movement in this country. He worked his entire life to give a voice to the voiceless. He stood with working families, minorities, and those left behind by government and big companies. He was someone who stood with everybody. He fought corruption and was able to work accross the asile. He had this ability to make friends in the senate even with those who are his polar opposite. LIke Roberty Kennedy before him, he took a tour around the country, going to the poorest areas in the nation. He put a public face on poverty. He cared about everybody in this nation. He loved this country. He was one of the last men or women in Washington who was truly and utterly a good person. He stood for what he believed in, no matter what. Sadly, he was killed in a plane crash in 2002 a few days short of election day. So I am writing this post simply to tell all those reading this, that we must carry on Paul Wellstone's work and keep the progressive movement in America going. We must stand for the progressive ideals we love. So lets stand up for the poor, the working family, and the little guy. Lets go back to the days of Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Wellstone. Lets kick that conservative movement and the Reagan Revolution and replace it with the progressive movement and the Wellstone Revolution. Wellstone was a strong believer in community organizing and grassroots politics. He believed you could make a national difference through the grassroots. Let's continue his legacy. Wellstone might be gone, but his message lives on. As John F. Kennedy said, "A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on."

Say No to the Surge

The War in Iraq is the worst foreign policy blunder in American history. The American death toll is well over 3000. Innocent Iraqi
death tolls are in the 10,000s and climbing. There is more violence today then there was when Saddam Hussein was in power. George W. Bush has advocated a reckless policy of “stay the course” for 3 years and has furthered American debt. Now, George W. Bush is proposing a surge of more than 20,000 troops to Iraq. This policy, like previous policies, comes too late. We should have gone in with more troops when we invaded Iraq. In terms of foreign policy, you cannot make up for your mistakes this late in the game. Bush should’ve admitted failure earlier, and taken action then. This surge is irresponsible, reckless, and sloppy. It seems to be a “quick fix.” Bush hasn’t thought this out and has ignored the recommendations of more experienced and better foreign policy experts. James Baker and Lee Hamilton are arguably some of the best foreign policy experts in the nation. Both have held important positions. Jim Baker was President Bush Sr.’s secretary of state and Lee Hamilton is a former congressman (D-IN) and former co-chairman of the 9/11 Commission. This, past year they headed the Iraq Study Group, which recommends several courses of action to find a peaceful solution to Iraq. Bush has ignored every one. Moreover, he has ignored the recommendations of the chairman of the foreign relation committee and senator from Delaware for the past 32 years, Joe Biden. Biden proposed cutting Iraq into 3 states for the 3 religious groups in Iraq fighting each other. However, President Bush would rather take the advice of those were wrong from the start. He wants to lengthen and escalate the war for a cause that has already been lost. What this nation needs to do is reject this reckless course of action. Write your congressman and senators. Say you oppose this irresponsible course of action and this surge. We must support a phased withdrawal plan that would put pressure on the Iraqi government to take action and stand up for their country. We cannot escalate this war. We cannot continue this violence. We must end this war as soon as possible and start rebuilding the little international credibility we have left.

Somethings Never Change: A Rant From A Proud Liberal

George W. Bush said this week that he would veto any Iraq War spending bill that contained a timetable and criticized the Democratic Party or as he likes to say the "Democrat" Party for "playing politics" with war funding. Well, Mr. President obviously your new to reality, so let me refresh your memory. There was this event that we Americans like to call an election in 2006 and the party that overwhelmingly won was the Democratic Party. We won because we said we would bring an end to this war. We are doing exactly what we were elected to do. So, my hat goes off to Senator Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to keeping their promise to the American people. Last week, a bill passed in the U.S. House and Senate that was a spending bill but it also contained a timetable that would call for America to start withdrawing troops in 2008. This bill sums up the overwhelming public opinion of nearly 65 or more percent of our population. So, Mr. President, if you veto this bill, you will be vetoing the OVERWHELMING belief of the United States that this war must end. Wake up and see with don't stand with you. We want an end to this war. There is a difference Mr. Bush to being like President Truman and making the right decisions that weren't popular and totally and utterly screwing up and creating the worst foreign policy blunder in American history. There is one big difference between President Bush and President Truman: Truman was a man whose leadership in the long run helped this country, he was smart. Mr. Bush what you are doing ceases to amaze me. You have overstepped the realm of political sanity and have gone nuts. I can no longer hold in my feelings and allow this president to disgrace this land I love so much. Oh, yes and another thing: don’t question our patriotism. You Mr. Bush and you Mr. Cheney are traitors. You have disgraced your office. Therefore, you have to be pretty damn audacious to question the Democrat's patriotism. You might not say it explicitly but I know you think it. You have led America into a classic catch-22. So I just have one thing to say to the Republican Party: I will NEVER vote for ONE GOP candidate unless you change your way. How you have conducted yourself over the past years, shows me that you have no respect for democracy, no respect for the world, and I seriously question your motives. However, I do not question your patriotism. I believe you are a blind patriot. You rap yourself in the American flag and cut yourself off to the world. You think that supporting our president is more patriotic than exercising freedom of speech to protest him. And one more thing, before I step off my soapbox, this week Mr. Bush, you said that Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria was a mistake and undermined U.S. foreign policy. However, what you fail to see is that what Nancy Pelosi is doing is new to you, it's called DIPLOMACY. She is sitting down with a government we don't agree with and is trying to help our country. Any good solider will tell you, you have to talk to your enemies. We must exercise diplomacy. So, Madame Speaker I applaud you. So, the next time you Republican's open your mouth, remember this: the Democrats are for people. We are doing this because we were voted in office to do so. We are going to fix this country. And to America, don't vote Republican in 2008; they still haven't learned their lesson.

This can also be seen on www.ydmovement.org