How to Dump the Rich for the Poor

There is a new Progressives report out that details how "to dismantle, reverse and fix how the laws and policies governing the American economy are rigged to benefit the wealthiest individuals and largest corporations." The poster boys should be the Koch Bros. A conclusion is “The American economy no longer works for most Americans…" then it tells what is causing this followed by policy changes to fix the problem. You can read the full report here. The study refutes those who say "government has shackled the free enterprise system and hobbled business" and that the "risk takers and job creators deserve the wealth." Their findings are based on the fact that the 1 percent are just getting wealthier while workers' wages remain stagnant. The 37 ways are all spelled out in the article which you should read but here are some highlights:

• End “too big to fail” by imposing additional capital surcharges on systemically risky financial institutions and breaking up firms that cannot produce credible living wills.
• Restructure CEO pay by closing the performance-pay tax loophole and increasing transparency on the size of compensation packages relative to performance and median worker pay and on the dilution as a result of grants of stock options.
• Provide health care cost controls by allowing government bargaining.
• Raise taxes on capital gains and dividends.
• Reform monetary policy to give higher priority to full employment.
• Raise the nationwide minimum wage and increase the salary threshold for overtime pay.
• Reform immigration law to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers.
• Invest in young children through child benefits, early education, and universal pre-K.

The 37 points demonstrate what this group of Progressives thinks will improve the working man and woman's financial future in the U.S. What do you think?

When the Cards are Stacked Against you OBAMACARE Comes Through

The GOP has been trying to repeal OBAMACARE since it was first passed into law. But the number of uninsured Americans has dropped by 16.4 million since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and the rate of uninsured Americans decreased by 35 percent, the largest drop in 40 years. The Atlantic adds, if people have good information they make good choices. And this is just what lifelong Republican Luis Lang is doing after failing to sign up for the Affordable Care Act, previously priding himself on covering his own medical bills. Lang commented that, "thanks in part to a flood of media attention that led him to learn more about health care policy, he doesn’t identify with the GOP anymore." This was all prompted by thousands of dollars in medical bills he couldn't afford to pay. He did try to navigate the AFC website with its numerous technical glitches with no success. Lang said, “I put the blame on everyone — Republican and Democrat. But I do mainly blame Republicans for their pigheadedness. They’re blocking policies that could help everyone."

Tennessee Hillbilly Proves GOP Abortion Hypocrisy

It's okay for my dumb constituents but not for me. That's how Tenn. Republican Representative Scott DesJarlais characterized his position on abortion. This yokel was one of 242 in his party to vote for a proposed 20-week abortion ban that has become one of the top priorities for the current GOP-controlled Congress. But ThinkProgress reports that DesJarlais "has advocated for at least three legal abortions in his personal life." He supported his ex-wife’s decision to legally end two pregnancies and then pressured his 24-year-old mistress to abort her pregnancy she claims was his child. A researcher reported that many will oppose abortion for years then terminate their own unwanted pregnancy. One of his subjects once told him, “Most pro-life women oppose abortion with four exceptions: rape, incest, the life of the mother, and me.” But Scott DesJarlais is simply a con artist posing as a U.S. Representative. Pathetic!

Bernie Sanders Says...Hillary Clinton Does

On May 6, Bernie Sanders introduced a bill in Congress to break up the nation's biggest banks. On May 19, in Cedar Falls, IA, Hillary Clinton said she wants one thing to be crystal clear: she is not afraid to stand up to Wall Street. Sanders makes his case that if they are too big to fail and they do, they will bring the American economy down with it and we've already bailed these monsters out once. Here's a quote from Huff Post:

"There are 45 million people living in poverty and we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on earth. Half of the American people have less than $10,000 in savings and have no idea how they will retire with dignity. Real unemployment is not 5.5 percent - it's close to 11 percent."

Hillary said on CNN,  "It's not the big banks that need relief from Washington -- it's small banks and small businesses. We should be doing more to rein in risky behavior on Wall Street and 'Too Big to Fail.'" But Alternet recently reported, "Bill Clinton did not become president without sharing the friendships, associations, and ideologies of the elite banking sect, nor will Hillary Clinton."

Either Bernie Sanders is bringing Hillary Clinton more to the left or Clinton is simply appeasing potential Progressive voters to win the primary. However, in the case of Bernie sanders' candidacy we know where he will stand when elected. He has maintained this same position for all of his congressional tenure.

Cancer Can Kill Your Pocketbook

Four cancer charities run by various members of the same family duped donors out of $187 million from 2008 through 2012, spending only 3% on cancer patients. The other 97% went to support the opulent lifestyles of the con artists. "Donated funds were used to pay for vehicles, personal consumer goods, college tuition, gym memberships, Jet Ski outings, dating website subscriptions, luxury cruises, and tickets to concerts and professional sporting events," the complaint says.  There was "rampant nepotism," according to an article by CNN that linked James Reynolds to his son, his son's wife, two sisters, a family mother and the accused list goes on. The government is taking appropriate action to shut them down but you can bet it won't be long before they open under a new name with a fresh P.O. box number.

Greed is here to stay as evidenced by the fact that I witnessed this same behavior in the junk mail business starting in the late 60s, and it had already been around for years. It's so easy to open a post office box, get a list of names--gullibles, I call them--and send them an offer they can't resist. Catch them and the box is closed and they move on, sometimes even to a new city. In the 1970s the rage was the "cancer scare" which alluded to the fact that the recipient may not have cancer now but there was a good chance they would in the future. For a few bucks you could buy their insurance which was basically worthless. The worst part is that the junk mail industry condoned this because of the revenue it produced. And that is the reason it will never go away.

It's Official-Fox News Viewers Are Really That Dumb

In a 2011 PublicMind poll conducted by New Jersey's Farleigh Dickinson University, it was found that not only do Fox News viewers score lower on current events than viewers  of other new channels when tested. This group actually knows "less correct information about current events than people who watch no television news at all," according to the report. Further, Dan Cassino, Professor of political science at Farleigh Dickinson University, revealed what we already know, that most Fox viewers are conservatives, which makes me come to the conclusion that Republicans are ill-informed. That would partially account for their stupid moves in Congress. Examples of this are Fox viewers erroneous fixations on Benghazi and President Obama’s birth certificate. Now I know that this study is dated but I'll bet that most thinking individuals will agree that Fox News has only gotten worse in its bogus reporting in the last four years. 

Experts Predict That Firearms Deaths Will Surpass Vehicle Deaths

Firearms deaths in Missouri in 2013, the most recent federal data available, surpassed vehicle deaths and significantly, 880 to 781. Unfortunately, this trend is also prevalent in 17 additional states. A Kansas City mom asks, “How did we as a community get to this point and everybody still be OK with it?” This was following the death of her 26-year-old son who was shot and killed in his K.C. apartment. But the scary part is that this is a trend and some experts "predict that for the first time in decades, firearms will kill more people nationwide this year than motor vehicles." Gun deaths are down about 15 percent from their 1990s peak, however there is a slow growth of firearm deaths nationwide over the last decade. Over the years from 1972 to 2013 vehicle deaths dropped to 35,612 from 54,589. This was due to consumer highway campaigns to make the driving experience safer. Sadly, today's gun culture refuses to take a lesson from this success.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article9311399.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article9311399.html#storylink=cpy

Tea Party Says Gay Marriage Goal to Eradicate Christianity

The Tea Party crazies are at it again. This time it's one of the top conservative fruitcakes, Phyllis Schlafly, saying that gay marriage advocates are targeting Christian businesses to "wipe out" the Christian religion. As reported in the Tea Party Newsletter, these Christian businesses are the objective of gays but not Muslims, Hindus and businesses of other faiths. Could it be that these other faiths don't have the big mouths that Christianity, backed by the blowhard Tea Party and various radicals on the religious right? People want their rights and the LGBT community is willing to go after them, and I feel sure most of the American public agrees, it isn't right to not to sell a wedding cake to a couple just because they are gay.

Can a Hacker Take Over Control of a Plane?

A cyber-security consultant by the name of Chris Roberts says he could have taken over the controls on a United Airlines flight from Denver to Chicago but didn't. Apparently "Roberts had posted tweets in the past about hacking into the plane he was traveling on and possibly activating the emergency passenger oxygen masks." It would appear that Roberts might have tampered with electronic control boxes under his seat and the seat in front of him connecting to in-flight entertainment systems to do his hacking. But Boeing quickly commented that these systems are isolated from flight and navigation systems.

Roberts claims to have done this 15 to 20 times between 2011 and 2014, and FBI experts think he both had the ability and equipment to get into the planes' flight control systems. He alleges that he "caused one of the airplane engines to climb resulting in a lateral or sideways movement of the plane during one of these flights." Roberts says he used a modified Ethernet cable to connect his laptop to the entertainment flight system electronic control boxes under his seat. The point here is that, if Roberts can do it, terrorists can do it, and it's a given they won't just wave the wings around for show and tell. The plane will end up smashing into a building, or the side of a mountain or at the bottom of the ocean.

Computer security experts have been warning of this possibility for years but, as usual, the business community refuses to act until an incident such as this forces them to, and on many occasions the delays have resulted in death. Unfortunately, it all continues to stem from the bottom line.

BRADY CENTER: GUNS IN HOMES INCREASE CHILDREN DEATHS

In a February report from the Brady Center, they found that suicide by firearm increased among American adolescents for the third consecutive year. Before you gun nuts question the figures, it comes from the latest fatal injury data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). You remember the CDC don't you, the organization that has been compiling information on gun violence for years that the National Rifle Assn. would not allow to be released. Well it's out there now and the numbers are appalling. In 2013, suicide by firearm claimed 876 lives among adolescents ages 10 to 19, the highest level since 2001. Most of these youth suicides occur with a gun belonging to a family member, usually a parent. And therein lays the problem: irresponsible parents leaving firearms unsecured so the kids can just fetch them up and blow theirs or their brother or sister's brains all over the couch.

Brady says that parents who think having a gun in the house is a safeguard are missing the point entirely because the CDC data says that having a gun in the home dramatically increases the danger that a child will be shot and killed. Further, the same holds true for preventable accidents and school shootings, including the tragedy at Sandy Hook. It’s usually a gun that belonged to a parent or a relative. This might give some credence to what the NRA is constantly flashing in the face of gun control advocates, that "Guns don't kill, people do."
In this case guns don't kill, feckless gun-owning parents do.

The Brady Center’s analysis of the latest CDC fatal injury data shows:

• States with the most gun deaths (Alaska, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Wyoming) had high rates of gun ownership. Conversely, states with the fewest gun deaths (Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island) had low rates of gun ownership.
• In 2013, firearm-related injuries were the second most common cause of death for children and teens ages 1-19. Only motor vehicles were responsible for more deaths among this age group.
• Following a decrease in 2012, the unintentional gun death rate for children and teens rose 15% in 2013.

It's hard to argue with these cold facts but I am sure the gun nuts will.

MOST AGREE THE TIME FOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA HAS COME

Back as early as 2013, 58% of the public approved of legalizing marijuana. In 2015, Pew Research says 53% favor with 44% against. The question now is what new Atty. General Loretta Lynch will do in response to the urging of the Supreme Court for the Justice Dept. to take a position. Eric Holder before her exclaimed that he wouldn't challenge the states with legal marijuana. But Lynch, in her confirmation hearings, expressed strong views in favor of upholding the federal ban on marijuana. However, she didn't agree with Obama that it was more dangerous than alcohol. In Slate's examination of the first year of legalization (medical and recreational) apparently state teens did not increase their use as predicted. Number of drug related crimes remained steady or dropped. And a significant increase in highway fatalities due to drug us never happened as opponents prophesied. "Retail and medical weed generated more than $60 million in tax and licensing revenue for the state in 2014," much of which went to schools and the regulatory system. So what's the problem and that is something Loretta Lynch will have help decide.

BERNIE SANDERS TAKES EARLY POSITION WITH HILLARY CLINTON

Bernie Sanders has made a strong point in his fight against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. He calls her a newbie when it comes to the left's fight against income inequality. Is that true? Well about a year ago she did come down hard against it at the New American Foundation. She brought it up again this past April. In June of 2014, The Guardian reported that Clinton herself had an income problem and it started with her own income. Recently, the Clintons have reportedly made $30 million on their speeches since the beginning of 2014. It would appear that her populist approach is recent, at least in relation to income inequality, and Bernie Sanders is correct in his portrayal of her as a "newcomer." She, like her husband, Bill Clinton, has mostly chosen the middle of the road position before. In the past that path would most likely lead to getting one elected but this new Progressive awakening makes that need passé.

FINALLY LIBERAL RADIO HAS ITS PUNDIT

Watch out because Bernie Sanders, who for years has graced the airways of the liberal left, has now become a stronger voice due to throwing his hat in the ring for the Democratic nomination for President. It is time someone did battle with the conservative right blowhards, most of which are suffering significant declines in ratings. As an example, Rush Limbaugh has fallen to a dismal 22nd place in New York, 37th in Los Angeles. Sanders says his core audience is, of course, the Democratic Party and he is very consistent in making his point. According to Michael Harrison, editor and publisher of Talkers Magazine, there are some 20 million listeners to Progressive radio and experts say conditions are perfect for Bernie Sanders to get his message out since he is considered Mr. Progressive. Harrison says radio speaks to the grassroots audience and is now "trending back towards 'independent and populist talk.'" Boston-based radio host Jeff Santos said, “It has been 99% a love affair between Bernie Sanders and my audience.” With those numbers, how can you lose?

IS CLINTON'S BENGHAZI DILEMMA REAL OR IMAGINARY?

How do we interpret Hillary Clinton's comment on Benghazi, "What difference does it make?" It was in reference to whether the terrorists were just out on a casual walk and decided to attack the embassy, or was this an official protest. And does it make any difference either way or at all. Four Americans died including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. The big question is, whose fault was it, and could it have been averted. David Brooks, conservative writer for the New York Times says it is not fair to blame Clinton since this all happened at an operational level that she can't be blamed for. Another report says that more protection was needed at the embassy and alleges that Stevens asked for it, but there is no indication of which level of the State Dept. was responsible. Right now Hillary Clinton's congressional testimony is up for grabs due to scheduling problems. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy has done his best to keep this in the news and it may be the reason for her recent drop in the polls.

DEMS WANT ONLINE VOTING BUT REPUBLICANS DON'T

At first there was an agreement that online voting was a good thing for both parties until...Republicans did their research. Now they're getting cold feet; Florida is backing out due to "outlandish claims opposing an online registration measure." Texas GOP lawmakers are afraid of fraud; this coming from the party of fraud. But Pew Research found "that 22 states plus the District of Columbia, representing more than half of all eligible voters, will offer the chance to register online for the 2016 election." The hard facts are that blacks and Hispanics, traditionally voting democrat, have more computers and smart phones than they have in the past. Today, 80% of blacks are internet users compared to 83% of Hispanics. It has become clear that Republicans will fight any form of voting that does not favor their party and that illustrates the desperation of the GOP for votes.

CONGRESS NEEDS TO FUND AMTRAK OR JUNK IT

AMTRAK's crash on a curve in the Philadelphia area last Tuesday evening killed 7 and injured more than 200. It hit a curve with a speed limit of 50 at 106 MPH. The day after the crash House Republicans voted to cut AMTRAK's budget. The engineer of that train, Brandon Bostian, 32, of Queens, New York, who wouldn't talk to Philadelphia police, is drawing a blank on what happened. He took his lead from a bunch of Republican congressional numb nuts that started drawing a blank on reality when President Obama entered office. How can you know that the entire infrastructure of the AMTRAK system is near collapse and then say we're going to keep it running but not support it financially, while certainly expecting more crashes like the above? This has become typical of the way the GOP think, or better, the way they don't think. I would be very surprised if 216 doesn't clean out at least some of these blockheads.

NRA ADMITS ILLICIT FUNDRAISING

The "Mouth," AKA Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Assn., was caught with his hand in the black powder. I first blogged on this the end of April. Josh Horwitz, Executive Director, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, reports that the NRA admits doing it but blames it on the fact that it was "Convenient, unexplained 'coding and clerical errors.'" Only Wacky Wayne would think he could get away with this and it's possible that he will unless a gutless Congress finds some balls. Now this is the man who weaseled out of going to the Vietnam War by getting his family physician to claim he had a nervous disorder. That could account for some of the incredibly imbecilic things he has done in the last few years.

Here are the charges:

• For a period of four months in 2014, online donations made to the NRA's Institute for Legislative Affairs (NRA-ILA) were deposited in violation of federal law into the account of the group's PAC, the NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF). The NRA claims this was because of a “coding error.”
  
• The lobby failed to report its political expenditures (such as fundraising on behalf of the PVF) to the IRS for the years 2008 to 2013, as required by law. The NRA describes this omission as “a clerical error.

CSGV is pressing for a full investigation by the FEC and IRS and need your help with their efforts.

BERNIE SANDERS SMACKS KOCH BROS. ON SOCIAL SECURITY

Bernie Sanders has issued a three-prong assault on the Koch Bros., who he calls the poster boys for the 1% wealthy, re. their ongoing assault against Social security. First, they want to increase the retirement age to 70. Now, let's see, would their efforts be in behalf of the SS program to help it survive? Hell no, it's to save Koch Industries billions from the 60,000 people they employ in the U.S. Put it off as long as possible and maybe some of these nice employees will die before reaching age 70. Second and third, they scream that SS is going broke and that it needs to be privatized. Again, are they coming to the aid of one of America's institutional benefits? Hell no once more. The savings and potential revenue for something like this would be enormous for Koch Industries. What is interesting about the video with this article is that it exposes many of the secret lobbying groups supported by, who else, the Koch Bros. Watch it! 

COULD THIS POPE HELP SOLVE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS?

The Vatican has recognized the Palestinian state and the Jewish community is up in arms. What has really happened is that it has switched its diplomatic recognition from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the state of Palestine. The key here, according to the Israeli government..."is there a state of Palestine?" I have read the history of this conflict and for the life of me I cannot see how Israel can deny that Palestinians have some right to live in a land where their ancestors came from. Somewhere. The idea of who was there first has been described childish by some historians and the stories abound about the early settling tribes from both sides.

According to one story, the name Palestine was given to the region spreading from eastern Mediterranean coast to the Jordan Valley to the area covering Galilee Lake in the north and southern Negev Desert.  "Plesheth" is the origin of the word Palestine, appearing often in the Bible, and popularized as “Philistine” in English. The story goes on to say, "These people were mostly originates of Asia Minor and Greece and gradually became a part of the Arab world."

A major concern of the Pope is the plight of the Christians affected in the territories that are clashing. Along with this is his contention that those involved no longer place any value on human life. It would not surprise me if Pope Francis were able to bring these two countries together with a realization of what they are doing to each other and help them to decide that peace is the better way.

IS THE INTERNET REPLACING GOING TO CHURCH?

Although churches aren't empty, the congregations are dwindling and a new Pew Research study says "...the Christian percentage of the population [is] dropping precipitously." It's down to 70.6% from 78.4% in 2007. Millennials, or Generation Y, those with birth years from the 1980s to 2000s, are bailing out of Christianity with some one-third now claiming to be unaffiliated. And here's the kicker, some researchers blame it on the Internet, where the public can now get the facts on their faith and bond with those who think as they do. And in my view, if the person is knowledgeable enough, they can use the Internet to confirm or refute the dogmas of a religious group. My gut tells me the latter has a lot to do with the escape from Protestantism and religion in general. The only time I've been in a church in the last fifty years is for a wedding and when our granddaughter took my wife and me to a special service. Oh yes, a couple of Catholic Christmas Eve midnight masses. I am not proud but either am I apologetic. It's a matter of choice and apparently the current generation has chosen to veer away from all the pomp and circumstance.

ARIZONA LEADS NATION KILLING WOMEN WITH GUNS

All we hear from the gun nuts is, if you put more guns on the street, deaths will go down. Well Arizona has done that with their loose gun laws and the state's rate of intimate-partner gun murders was 45 percent higher than the national average from 2009 through 2013. Of course we do not know exactly how many guns are in Arizona, thanks to the National Rifle Assn., but apparently enough to kill 94 women in the above period. Once again the gun nuts scream we have enough laws but they didn't stop 12 of the shooters from obtaining a gun and killing his spouse or girlfriend. In addition, "41 percent of the shooters had a previous arrest or conviction or had been under an order of protection at one time." There's more, Arizona has 14.9 firearms deaths per 100,000 population, more than California, 7.97, New York, 5.1, the latter two with much more stringent gun laws. Some of this is due to protective orders that are not enforced.

"Part of the problem is that nearly 40 percent of the protection orders issued by Arizona judges in 2013 and 2014 were never entered into the National Crime Information Center," reported Andrew LeFevre, a spokesman for the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. Police departments are remiss, not only in Arizona, but all over the country for not entering important data that could save lives. This is compounded by a patchwork system in sharing what data is available. But the primary problem here is guns in the wrong hands and the only way to solve that is more responsible gun laws...like background checks.

FEDS TAKE OHIO TO TASK ON NEW VOTING LAW

Ohio stopped in its tracks with a new federal lawsuit to stop their restrictive voter law designed to keep Democrats away from the polls. I reported on this today charging a shut out of some 930,000 Ohio voters, non-whites, college students and those with low incomes. Guess what party they usually vote for. This is all pretty blatant and typical of the dirty GOP politics first made popular in the Geo. W. Bush administration under the leadership of Karl Rove. The question is just how much the courts will let Republicans get away with.

REPUBLICANS ATTEMPT TO SHUT OUT 930,000 PROBABLY DEMOCRATIC VOTERS

The question arises over and over, why do we have to keep fighting for voting rights since this was passed into law back in the 1950s? The answer is that the GOP is constantly looking for loopholes to bar non-whites, college students and those with low incomes from voting. The reason is that most of these folks are Democrats and if they are allowed to vote, the Republicans lose. The latest in Ohio, John Boehner's state, finds Rep. Andrew Brenner pushing for a voting ID bill using the same old rhetoric, "...the need to stop illegal voting by non-residents, non-citizens or others." It's pure crap and they know it because a report issued by the Republican Sec. of State Jon Husted said "...fewer than 0.003% of votes in that [2012] election could have been fraudulent." With facts like this, even coming from one of their own, we can only assume that Andrew Brenner must consider that the Ohio voters are completely stupid. Well, Ohio, are you?

WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR BERNIE SANDERS TO BEAT HILLARY?

In a recent piece on MSNBC, Bernie Sanders answered "YES" to the question of whether or not he could beat Hillary Clinton. He followed by implying that her closeness with the corporate world would push voters in his direction. When Clinton welcomed the support of a Super PAC, Sanders quickly backed away saying he won't have outside groups like this in his campaign. So far Mr. Progressive is right on but that also defines the needs of the Bernie Sanders campaign. Individual, Progressive grass-roots voters who can cough up some bucks to put this man in the White House. Corporate America will come through for Hillary because they need her support if she becomes President. And I don't have to tell you what these Super PACS can produce. In an earlier post I identified some 30 million Progressives out there, another 40 million Democrats that aren't necessarily Progressive but certainly don't want another Republican in the White House. Sen. Sanders won't be able to garner all 70 million but the question is what does Clinton's huge base think now since Bernie Sanders entered the race. If enough think he is the better candidate, and polls will be telling us that soon, the Vermont Senator could be on his way to the White House.

WHAT'S GOING ON BETWEEN POLICE AND BLACKS?

Blacks are naturally skeptical of Police and now the cops are even more scared of the black community. This has been going on for years in one form or another. So why all of a sudden do we have a rash of police beating and killing blacks and blacks killing police, leading to riots? The black community will tell us it is fed up with unjust treatment, and rightfully so. The police will tell us that blacks are prone to resisting arrest and in some cases completely uncooperative both individually and as a community. And there is credibility in this charge. This is a powder keg that has only seen the tip of its potential. Officers kicked a black man in the head in Dover, Delaware, with no obvious provocation. And now four blacks have shot and killed two Hattiesburg, Miss. police officers after being pulled over for a speeding violation. What is the sense in all this? The answer, of course, there is none. It will be tough to control the gangs, but most of the black people want this to end and now. And a large majority of the cops in this country have high standards dealing with the community, white or black; they really only want to protect and serve. I vote to put New York City's Police Commissioner Ray Kelly in charge of a task force to deal with this mess. He already has a great record running the policing of the largest U.S. city.

OBAMA MAKES ECONOMY MOVE FOR PROGRESSIVES IN 2016

Bernie Sanders is The Progressive and President Barack Obama is doing everything in his power to pave the way for a winning economy for the Progressives in 2016. By the way, what happened to all the nay-sayers who said Obama would bring the country to Armageddon? Notables like John Boehner and Mitch McConnell plus a lot more of their GOP numbnuts. The U.S. added 223,000 jobs in April, unemployment fell to 5.4%. It was 7% when Obama took office. There isn't the shadow of a doubt that Republicans had no hand in this improvement, if anything, they have fought tooth and nail everything this administration tried to do. And yet it has survived and prospered. The stock market is making gains and wages are finally on the upswing. Obama said: "If you are persistent you'll get it. If you are consistent you'll keep it." It's now time for Bernie Sanders to take up the mantle.

GOP FRUITCAKE REMAINS THE ENVY OF THE IDIOTS

California Republican Darrell Issa commented recently to MSNBC that the poor people of the U.S are the envy of the world. To be fair, they are no doubt better off than their counterparts in 3rd world countries. But that doesn't give this numbnuts the right to belittle the less-fortunate in America. Especially when the man has a net worth of $350 million. He was being questioned about income equality in the U.S., which, of course, he would know nothing about. Issa is one of those GOP radicals that attacks anything Democratic, whether it has merit or not. Like accusations the IRS purposely investigated the Tea Party. Congressional probe of former Atty. Gen. Eric Holder on "Operation Fast and Furious" to list a couple. Like Republican Mitch McConnell in the Senate, he is simply out to get Obama.

MOTHER'S DAY SCARRED BY CHILDREN GUN DEATHS

Happy Mother's Day

We can thank the National Rifle Assn. for bloodying an otherwise joyous Mother's Day for some who have either lost or had their kids maimed by guns. Yes, the NRA refuses to allow simple methods to stop this violence like background checks and the banning of assault weapons that have been used in many of the massacres on children. Another primary reason is irresponsible parents who don't secure their guns so the children can't play with them and kill themselves. The problem of unsecured guns is significant and was highlighted recently when a child found a loaded gun in House Speaker John Boehner's office. Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America announced "there have been at least 80 unintentional shootings involving children, resulting in 57 injuries and 24 deaths since January 1, 2015. In many cases the parents are not charged and they very well should be. It's useless to say there are too many guns out there in the wrong hands because the American public continues to allow the NRA and Congress to proliferate more on the streets. Until you realize what you are doing, there will just be more bloody Mother's Days.

ANOTHER OBAMA HATER...THIS TIME FROM IOWA

U. S. Representative Steve King from Iowa has just blamed the Baltimore riots on President Obama. Another Bible thumper, his reasoning is that if we had had a different President, one that would have come out with fire and brimstone, telling the public that God would want them to be nice to each other and go home to their beds, they would have done just that. Iowa has enough problems with its other lunatic, Joni Ernst, now they have a new one. Here's what King said about Obama's middle name and a connection to Islam in 2008:

"I don't want to disparage anyone because of their race, their ethnicity, their name—whatever their religion their father might have been, I'll just say this: When you think about the optics of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected President of the United States – I mean, what does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the world of Islam? I will tell you that, if he is elected president, then the radical Islamists, the al-qaida, the radical Islamists and their supporters, will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11."

Well, none of what he predicted happened. But what kind of conservative religious right would condone comments like this? And I will say it again, President Barack Obama has lived through some of the most racist times of this country since the 1960s and has always stayed far above radicals like Steve King.

POLICE ON THE STREETS WITH ALMOST NO TRAINING

The only training Nancy Cummings received in the Alexander, Arkansas police dept. to become a cop was whether or not she could hit a target 25 yards away 80% of the time. Hell, in the rural areas of that state most anyone can do that. And it's all legal, state law, as a convenience for small police departments that desperately need officers. In Nancy Cummings case her lack of training resulted in her shooting a black man in the back, killing him, during an arrest for which she was later charged with manslaughter. But Arkansas isn't the only state; in Indiana the cop can be on the job a year before requiring any training, except for firearms. This is not only a case of stupid law but is also a slap in the face to well-trained police officers across the country. At a time when cops are under such close scrutiny in alleged racial situations, the good ones don't need this crap.

DOES BERNIE SANDERS NEED TO TAKE A STRONG STAND ON GUN CONTROL?

We need to know now, today, where Bernie sanders stands on basic gun control. He has taken positions for background checks and banning assault rifles but Slate reports that he, "supported the most odious NRA–backed law in recent memory—one that may block Sandy Hook families from winning a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the gun used to massacre their children." Further, it says that he is skeptical of gun control and "invested" in the interests of both gun owners and gun manufacturers. THIS IS NOT GOOD! Sen. Sanders needs to qualify this because Slate is calling him a gun nut, to which he replied on CNN that this wasn't possible since his rating with the National Rifle Assn. is a big "F." He added that he supports hunting and target shooting and that Vermont, his home state, is relatively free of gun violence, exclaiming though, that there is a big difference between Vermont and Baltimore and Los Angeles. But as an example, where does he stand on closing the gun show loophole and would he vote to require training before someone can buy a gun? In any Progressive administration, gun control must be a priority. PERIOD!

I'M NOT READY TO DIE YET

I haven't even learned how to fully use my smartphone yet, so although I am 82-years old, I can't pass away until I have at least mastered this modern technology. And there's much more in the making so I don't know when I'll be ready to go. Just today I found there is a semi-truck that drives itself; self-driving cars have already been around for a while. Although I don't have diabetes, I might try Google's contact lens that monitor your blood sugar level, just in case. And skateboards came along way after I quit being a kid but I'm willing to take my chances on the new hoverboards that never touch the ground. I've played around with artificial intelligence already in a computer modeling program with outcomes that were downright scary. I want to see at least one drone come to my house from Amazon.com delivering my order before I check out. Genome editing has been done in China and I'm hoping to see that performed here on radical conservatives turning them into progressives. There's more and this just shows what a great age we live in today, something apparently even the U.S. Congress can't fuck up.

GUNS ARE BLASÉ EVEN IN THE U.S.CAPITOL

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Along with being the clown of the U.S. House, it would seem that John Boehner now has egg on his face. When leaving his suite in the U. S. Capitol recently, Boehner left a loaded Glock pistol, no safety, unattended. A 7-year-old visiting the building found it. No word from the National Rifle Assn. if the Speaker is a member. If he is, he must not have taken the training course. "In January, a member of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's security detail left a Glock in a Capitol Visitor Center bathroom, with the magazine removed but stuffed inside a toilet seat cover holder," said the Daily News. Apparently the gun was in plain sight in one of the stalls. Gun control groups exclaim that these are just more examples of a careless adult public being irresponsible with firearms. "At least 100 children aged 14 and under were killed in unintentional shootings in the United States during the 12 months that followed the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut," according to a report published Wednesday by the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety, from MINNREPOST. Are we just stupid or will someone do something about this?

BERNIE SANDERS WILL RESTORE THE MIDDLE CLASS

Bernie Sanders stands for the middle class and this is nothing new, it has been his mantra for the 25 years he has spent in Congress. If you're looking for consistency, Bernie is it. As the middle class has declined, the wealthy have just gotten wealthier, at the sake of the middle class and the poor. When we have corporate CEOs in this country making upwards of $300 million annually and over 600 thousand in the U.S. homeless, not to mention the 16% of the population below the poverty level, there is something very wrong. The middle class demise was accelerated by the Wall Street crash of 2008, with Sen. Sanders exclaiming that no bank should be allowed to get too big to fail.

To quote the candidate: "Today, we have more wealth and income inequality than any major country on earth. We have one of the highest childhood poverty rates and we are the only country in the industrialized world which does not guarantee health care for all. We once led the world in terms of the percentage of our people who graduated college, but we are now in 12th place. Our infrastructure, once the envy of the world, is collapsing." Wages and total income for the working public are decreasing while the rich get richer. As President, Bernie sanders would demand that Congress address these issues and you can depend on him keep driving until the job is done. 

IMMATURITY OR JUST PLAIN STUPID?

A mother of one of these dull-wits in the picture said she thinks it's just immaturity. It is this kind of apathy that spawns acts like that of James Eagan Holmes just miles from where this prom was being held when he killed 12 and injured 70 in an Aurora movie theatre. It's not funny and these young people are old enough to know that. The Confederate Flag represents defiance and the guns represent hostility and when the two are shared by a group, it can get out of hand and lead to, well, another Aurora. To begin with, if they are real, where the hell did they get the assault rifles? If it's from their dull-witted parents, then, we can probably thank the National Rifle Assn. for its demand for loose gun laws. It is one thing to be the country with the most gun deaths, it is another to be the country with the most gun nuts.

STUPID ARIZONA (JOE ARPAIO) VOTERS

Arizona is the worst run state in the country. It treats its Hispanic population like crap, has the loosest gun laws in the U.S., extremely low educational standards and completely ignores its battered children, to name only a few flaws. The recent outgoing governor Jan Brewer was twice selected as America's lousiest in that job. And then there is Sheriff Joe Arpaio. In a recent Arizona Republic article it was reported that despite current federal contempt-of-court proceedings against him, delusional Arizona supporters continue sending money to his reelection campaign. $5.5 million in the last two years. Do they know something that we don't or are they just more of the stupid Arizona voters? I think it's the later.  At the time of this deluge of dollars the Sheriff is being held in contempt of court for ordering his deputies to harass Hispanics...just because they are Hispanic. He was ordered not to do this by a federal court.

There are 16 hate groups in Arizona as documented on this So. Poverty Law Center map. You have to wonder if one of those clusters might be the ones who are funneling so much money to the man known for persecuting Hispanics.

HUGE CHASM BETWEEN GOP AND DEMS ON WHAT TO DO IN CONGRESS

Republicans say the priority of Congress is national security and terrorism. The Dems say it's jobs creation and economic growth. As far as I know we are doing everything possible to prevent a terrorist threat, as evidenced by some recent captures of bad guys before they had the chance to act. We can't possibly know everything that's going on but Homeland Security seems to be doing its job. What we do know is that the GOP throws out the terrorism threat for basically two reasons. One, keep their electorate scared so they can drum up the issue during elections for votes. Two, if they can keep the American public anxious, they can pass more defense spending that goes right in the pockets of their supporters. For Republicans, terrorism was followed by the deficit and government spending, job creation and economic growth and religious and moral values. For the Dems, second was health care, climate change and then national security and terrorism. Take your pick but I would much rather live in a country of full employment, with the sick and needy taken care of and breathe air that won't asphyxiate me. Any of the three would probably kill me before any terrorist threat.

CAN WE SAY REVOLUTION TODAY? BERNIE SANDERS DID

There was a time when to say revolution would have put you behind bars. But then there was the Tea Party revolution and everyone knew the word had become a joke. Yesterday presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called for a revolution against the billionaire class. I predict Progressives are standing in line all over the country to join; I am one of them. And the implication seems to be that Hillary Clinton is in that class. Sen. Sanders is a Democratic Socialist who has been standing up for working families for the last 30 years. Since he won't take the billionaires' "vulgar" money, as he puts it, how can the average person out there not vote for him? If you are afraid of the Socialist label, don't be. Even though he is calling for a revolution, it will be affected by White House and congressional action not on the streets.

GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES SHOULD LOVE BERNIE SANDERS...I THINK

The Senator from Vermont who is running the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton has voted for more background checks and to ban assault weapons and magazines of over 10 rounds. But on the other hand he voted against the Brady bill, voted to block lawsuits against gun manufacturers, and voted to allow guns to be transported in checked baggage on Amtrak trains and to prohibit foreign aid from going to any international efforts to restrict gun ownership. Not sure where Sanders stands on open and concealed carry and so far cannot find where he has voted for or against. The latter is a hot issue and is now being voted on in the house to drop some of the requirements on getting a permit. This is my sore spot because there are so many cowboys on the street carrying around a gun in a holster or concealed who have not had one iota of training. Anyone who stands for that does not deserve to be President.

CARLY FIORINA-HEWLETT PACKARD SLAYER

Carly Fiorina brought Hewlett Packard to the bottom of the barrel with her style of management. She laid off 34,000 workers and then another 16,000 had to be let go. After six years and signs of her faltering business methods she was fired. NOW SHE WANTS TO BE PRESIDENT AND PUT THE WHOLE COUNTRY IN THE TANK. Where does the GOP come up with these people? Oh, by the way, she was an adviser to the John McCain presidential campaign in 2008. So far, she's batting 1000. Right now her major push is anti-Hillary, as if Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, ad infinitum weren't anti-Hillary. Fiorina keeps saying, "I'm ready for Hillary," which I, and am sure millions more Americans, doubt very much. What's she's ready for is the pasture and it's time to put her there.

TED CRUZ CONSPIRACY MONGER

Anyone remember the movie, Viva Max, with Peter Ustinov, John Astin, Pamela Tiffin and Jonathan Winters? Ustinov, a Mexican General, along with his sidekick Astin, with soldiers march from their country to San Antonio, Texas, where they plan to retake the Alamo. It is a hilarious comedy of blunders from both countries with an eventual outcome...well, you should really see the movie. Ted Cruz, who probably doesn't even know what the Alamo is since he is actually from Canada, thinks the exercise called “Jade Helm 15” is a conspiracy against the people of Texas. The implication is the feds are holding these domestic military training exercises in Texas to implement martial law, seize Americans’ guns, and imprison political dissidents. His lunacy, along with other touched Texans, mimics the antics of Jonathan Winters in the movie, who plays a Brigadier General in the National Guard. The locals bumble through everything they do but the Mexican troops eventually return home. At least Peter Ustinov's threat was real, although a farce in the making. Ted Cruz wouldn't know a real conspiracy if it ran over him.

U.S. ELECTION LAW IS CRAP

Election laws have come under scrutiny for years but this approach takes the cake. Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush has decided to thwart campaign finance rules by raising tons of money before announcing his candidacy. It's legal, as long as he hasn't said he's a candidate. He can raise all the money he wants, any way he wants until then. It's farcical and I am sure another presidential contender by the name of Sen. Bernie Sanders would agree. He described billionaire money to finance elections as "vulgar." It's more than vulgar, it's obscene when big business can go out and buy an election so the recipients are in their back pockets. A classic example of this is the National Rifle Assn. who has bought Congress for years. 288 members of Congress have an "A" rating from the NRA, meaning they get top dollar from the organization. There are 535 members of Congress which means the NRA "As" equals more than 50% of those who represent us. The system is broken and needs to be fixed.

IF GAY MARRIAGE LOSES SUPREME COURT LOSES

I am curious if there is any leeway in the process of a SCOTUS decision to hedge on the side of what's right? I mean if Chief Justice John Roberts leaned in favor of the gay issue once before, something must have urged him in that direction. And all of a sudden, even some anti-gun legislation that was blasphemy a few years ago has favored the gun control advocates. Plus, the feds are leaving the marijuana controversy alone for the time being. I mean, if you really want to find a loophole in the Constitution, SCOTUS is the one to do it. Gay rights should be a slam dunk though, based on the 14th Amendment. It clearly forbids "the states to restrict the basic rights of citizens or other persons." But, then, there's that Bible thing saying  "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination." This is the conservative, radical, religious ideology that has been controlling the right of the Supreme Court for the last few years. It could be that SCOTUS senses the importance of being morally right today, as well as constitutionally correct, and their timing is right if they don't want to start a revolution

BERNIE SANDERS DOESN'T WANT THE "VULGAR" BILLIONAIRE BUCKS

Presidential contender Bernie Sanders says he neither needs nor wants the tainted money that comes from billionaire donors like the Koch Bros. I believe him, and here's why. In a post yesterday, we uncovered some 30-million potential Progressives in this country. There are another 40-million Democrats, not necessarily Progressive, but most of whom don't want to see another Republican president. If you hit all 70-million for $5.00 twice, that's more than Barack Obama spent on reelection in 2012. For those of you who question my numbers, sure, all 70-mil won't give but with $5.00 as a standard, the range could be anywhere from $1.00 to $100 or more and the total amount could be even higher. Sen. Sanders actual words about the issue were, "Frankly, it is vulgar to me that we're having a war of billionaires." This is the kind of statement Progressives have been looking for for years. Now that you have it, run with it.

BERNIE SANDERS OUT-RAISES GOP OPPONENTS

In his first 24-hours in the race to be the Democratic nominee for president, Bernie Sanders raised over $1.5 million, outdoing all his Republican challengers. Hillary Clinton declined to release the figures on her first day. Now that's a good thing and very positive for someone who is relatively unknown, but Bernie has a long way to go. In 2012, Barack Obama raised $715,677,692 and spent $683,546,548. Mitt Romney raised $446,135,997 and spent $433,281,516. What his first day proves is that Sanders has an excellent base to which he can appeal and they are responsive. I do not know exactly how many Progressives there are in the U.S., but based on a series of reliable sources, I am projecting some 30 million. President Obama received a popular vote of 65,915,796 in 2012. So Bernie Sanders will need a portion of the balance of Democratic voters; some 40 million not necessarily considered Progressive. His chances are looking better each day.

WHO SAYS BERNIE SANDERS CAN'T WIN?

Sen. Bernie Sanders is running for President as a Democrat, when actually he is an independent from Vermont whose political philosophy is Democratic Socialism. Finally, a Progressive. An MSNBC article says it is important that he run, even if he can't win. I think he can win. Progressives have ultimately realized that the only way we can get what we want is to come out and vote to elect the President and Congress that will get it done. Actually there were 70 Democratic Socialists counted in the Congress in 2010, among them Raúl M. Grijalva of AZ, Dennis Kucinich, OH, Elijah Cummings, MD, John Lewis, GA, Ed Markey, MA, Charles Rangel, NY, Maxine Waters, CA, and of course Bernie Sanders. You can see them all here. Now that's pretty impressive and a good number to start with for 2016. What you Progressives have to understand is that you are not alone. Our views aren't anti-American like some conservatives would have you believe. They are right for this country and it is time that they are expressed nationally.

BALTIMORE RISING

Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore State Atty., has brought the Freddie Gray matter back into perspective for the city of Baltimore as well as the rest of the country. The 35-year-old is only in her fourth month on the job but she has acted quickly in charging six of the city's police officers from murder to manslaughter to assault. She found theFreddie Gray, arrest was even illegal since the knife Gray was arrested for was not a switchblade; it was legal. In reflecting on the riots now, there is justification for the unrest of the black community but not justification for the rioting. But when you think about it, tension builds emotions which have to be expressed, and often, these days, it all tends to go in the wrong direction. In Ferguson, MO, it was blatant racism from the police chief on down. If the white people of this country think the blacks are going to continue to take this without a more disastrous retaliation, they are going to be sorrowfully wrong.

WHICH VERSION OF THE BIBLE DO YOU FOLLOW?

There are hundreds of translations of the Bible and I would think that would be a nightmare for devout Christians, especially fundamentalists, although they say they don't take all scriptures literally. So if they pick and choose, what does that say about the Bible as a whole? Even Jesus said, "You have heard it said...but I say to you..." The site Biblica states there are two views on how the translation should be conducted. On the one hand the "translation should stick just as closely as possible to every word of the original Hebrew and Greek." On the other it, "should transfer the message, that is, the exact thought and emotion of the original text." For those who favor the King James Version, dating back to 1611, if you tried to interpret its scriptures literally you would be a lost soul. And then there is the Apocrypha (meaning hidden), a second set of booklets that were never included in the Bible nor talked of by Jesus and the Apostles. It is full of history and can be fascinating to read.

My point here is that no matter what version of the Bible you follow, you must face up to the fact that it was written by human beings, no doubt divinely inspired, so there is always the possibility of inaccuracies. Faith is a good thing, as long as it is tempered by facts.

INSTANT CITIZENSHIP-IS IT RIGHT?

It is one thing when immigrants who have been here for years, contributing to the U.S., become citizens through the legal process. It is another when an immigrant crosses the border into this country with her unborn baby with the express purpose to birth it here for citizenship. But the 14th Amendment clearly states, " All persons born or naturalized in the United States..." It makes no distinction to who they are or how they got here, it's an open invitation that GOP members of Congress are now questioning. As is the rage over the 2nd Amendment, we haven't yet heard the shouts about what the "Founding Fathers" meant. Just what Republicans want to do to put another barrier up against the Hispanic movement. And this whole issue would not be flaring up again in a completely new venue if the GOP would help pass immigration reform.

Incidentally, if you're in the changing mood, you should focus on the 2nd Amendment and either revise it drastically or get rid of it altogether.