Yes Senators Pryor & Lincoln, I'm calling you out as the Senators from Wal-Mart. Why don't you just come out of the closet and switch parties instead of pretending to be Democrats? My Representative is also a member of the Blue Dog/Blue Tick (Sellout) Coalition. What a mess...

Until we get these leeches off of our backs and out of the party we are screwed...

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If Congressional Democrats all in unison backed single-payer healthcare, then Republicans who oppose it would be slaughtered in 2010 election and finished off in 2012 election. Instead the DC Dems are already caving on real healthcare reform and thus undermining themselves in 2010.

Overwhelming majority of Americans demand an end to medical insurance industry screwing them over. Since neither Dems nor Repubs in Congress stand up for single-payer system, therefore We the People are forced to vote out all incumbents (of both parties) who betray us. A New Labor party for America is needed to eliminate stranglehold of the existing corporate-owned parties.

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I thought the Democrats had a leader... that guy who sits in the White House. Wasn't he once a Community Organizer? Doesn't usury effect the very people he had once tried to help, the very voters that put him over the top and now that he is in a position to help them he can't be bothered?

Greider ignores the elephant in the living room ... the Democrats need leadership from the White House and with a 60% approval rating there is plenty of politicaal capital to spend ... But Where's the Love? The banksters are getting plenty of Love ... trillions of dollars worth ...

Barack has betrayed those who counted on him to do the right thing, the moral thing and Greider pretends not to notice ...

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The bottom tier of American society has grown to disproportionate levels since Kennedy/Johnson. There is no longer any consideration for working families and the fundamental needs of: jobs that provide a living wage; schools that matter; healthcare that reaches everyone; homes that provide shelter, refuge and family security; and the dignity that should be accorded to those that do the best with what they can offer to themselves and others. Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich and Russ Feingold are champions of such values but they, as the rest of us, are "off the table" and of little to no significance in their own political party. I had the privilege of knowing Henry Gonzalez, D-TX from his first day in Washington upon being elected to the House. He stands today as the single greatest champion of human rights and dignity that I have known and his statue should be prominently placed in the House rotunda. It won't be, because his goodness, mercy and love of all mankind are "off the table" now as well. Those of us that cried out loudly for the impeachment of Bush did so in honor of that late, great statesman whose like will not be seen again. Therein lies the heart of the Democrats problems and there is no prospect for reversal. We had another hope but Paul Wellstone, D-MN died prematurely and with him progressive governance departed as well. The future? It couldn't be bleaker and all of us know it!

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Ignore This Article.
We are pleased to announce to the world that we now have a President who can use the word obfuscate in a sentence.
GREEN SHOOTS.
And many other polyslyabic words.
THERE IS NOT A ESCALATING HUMANITARIAN CRISES IN AMERICA.
If there was we would have responded to it in the same way we responded to the humanitarian crises in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan ect
Which we havent so there isnt one.
Except for that one time.
Which we had no prior knowledge of or involvment in.
THE FUNDEMENTALS OF THE ECONOMY ARE STRONG.
Step on your nieghbors face.
"Nothing personal buddy, its only business"
THE PREVIOUS TWO SENTENCES WERE THE RESULT OF FAULTY INTELLIGENCE.
We meant to say love thy neighbour and do unto others as you would have done unto you.
AMERICA HAS NEVER BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE A SOCIALIST COUNTRY.
For those of you who believe we are living in the midst of an Orwellian nightmare we are not listening to your phone calls or tracing your emails.
Because we're not and we dont.
Unless your a terrorist.
AMERICA DOES NOT TORTURE.
NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW.
In a nation of laws anybody who broke the law would be charged tried and convicted in a court of law.
Nobody has been so we never did.
WE WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE AMERICANS TO KEEP SENDING ANGRY EMAILS TO PROGRESSIVE WEBSITES AS THIS IS A EFFECTIVE MEANS OF ACHIEVIEVING CHANGE.
It is imperative that we move forward with the forwardness that we all so desperatly look forward to.
And always twirling, twirling, twirling into the future.
AMERICA IS SCREWED UNLESS WE LEARN HOW TO PROTEST COLLECTIVELY.
Faulty intelligence.Faulty intelligence...

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There has been a coup within the Democratic Party. That's why Obama and company are screwing up all over the place.

The fight occurred during the Democratic primaries, which were more like World War III than like normal primary elections. There was a pitched battle between the Obama Democrats--who fancy themselves progressives--and the Clinton contingent of the party.

As you should know, millions of Democrats were grossed out by the Obama primary camapign--which was the dirtiest ever--and left the party.

The Obama people's favorite trick was to call their fellow Democrats racists, which they did over and over and over. They called Hillary's female supporters the C word constantly.

Since no real Democrat would do such a sh*tty thing, I knew then we were screwed.

After handing the primaries to their neocon candidate, the Democrats pretended to reconcile...and then went on to conduct a Presidential campaign which was as clean as his primary campaign was dirty.

What a shocker! The primary campaign--waged against their fellow Democrats--was the sorriest mess I ever saw, with Obamites fighting like rabid weasels. The Presidential campaign, by contrast, was perfectly nice.

In other words, the Obama supporters were willing to do anything to defeat their fellow Democrats...but they would never harm a Republican.

That's who's running the party: people who hate Democrats. Is there any wonder we're in trouble?

The official story is that the acrimony ended with the primary, Obama and Hillary joined forces, and everything is hunky-dunky.

But it just ain't so. The hardcore Obama people hate the Clintons, and they hate the DLC. This is odd, since subsequent events have shown that the Obama contingent are are far more corporate than the DLC could ever hope to be.

So the progressives had their first shot at the big-time in decades, and they completely blew it. Obama has dispelled any belief that progressives are smart.

My prediction: Obama will be known as The Worst Democrat Ever™. With the lowered popularity of the Democrats, the Pubs will flip Jeb Bush into the White House in 2012.

Of course, Jeb will vigorously prosecute members of the Obama Administration for their many crimes. Maybe then we can pick up the pieces of the party the Obama people have wrecked.

Swine!

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There has been a coup within the Democratic Party. That's why Obama and company are screwing up all over the place.

The fight occurred during the Democratic primaries, which were more like World War III than like normal primary elections. There was a pitched battle between the Obama Democrats--who fancy themselves progressives--and the Clinton contingent of the party.

As you should know, millions of Democrats were grossed out by the Obama primary camapign--which was the dirtiest ever--and left the party. The Obama people's favorite trick was to call their fellow Democrats racists, which they did over and over and over. They called Hillary's female supporters the C word constantly.

Since no real Democrat would do such a sh*tty thing, I knew then we were screwed.

After handing the primaries to their shockingly weak candidate, the Democrats pretended to reconcile...and then went on to conduict a Presidential campaign which was as clean as his primary campaign was dirty.

What a shocker! The primary campaign--waged against their fellow Democrats--was the sorriest mess I ever saw, with Obamites fighitng like rabid weasels. The Presidential campaign, by contrast, was perfectly nice.

This means the Obama supporters were willing to do anything to defeat their fellow Democrats...but they would never harm a Republican.

These are the Obama Democrats. Our party has been taken opver by poeh people

The story we all want to tell is that the acrimony ended with the primary, Obama and Hillary joined forces, and everything is hunky-dunky.

But it just ain't so. The hardcore Obama people hate the Clintons, and they hate the DLC. This is opdd, since subsequent events have shown that the Obama contingent are are far more corporate than the DLC could ever hope to be.

Among other sthings, Obama has dispelled any belief that progressives are smart. They had their first shot at the big-time in decades, and they completely blew it.

My prediction: Obama will be known as The Worst Democrat Ever™. The Pubs will flip Jeb Bush inot the White House in 2012. Jeb will vigorously prosecute members of the Obama Administration for their many crimes.

Maybe then we can pick up the pieces of the party the Obama people have wrecked.

Swine!

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At least half the Dems in Congress are in real political terms Republicans. They are forever amazed that they keep getting the support of The Nation et al. Greider and company somehow keep believing that chicken salad can be made out of chicken shit. Obama has used and abused them already worse that Clinton did. The only thing more nauseating than the Democratic Party is the hand wringing left.

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The problem now is the Democrats, not the Republicans.

I have long maintained that as long as Democrats can get away with refusing to Impeach Bush/Cheney, now refusing to prosecute them, they will never give us Single Payers or fix the problems that are hurting families.

They simply don't have the courage to buck their campaign contributors.

And WE apparently Don't Have The Courage To Put Enough Pressure On our Politicians To Change Their Behavior.

In each age there is one defining issue which can push Congress right or left. In our generation that defining issue is

Prosecution of Bush, Cheney and Lawyers for Torture.

If WE, You and I can't make our politicians do that the rest probably won't happen.

If you do nothing else for your Country today,

SIGN THE PETITION To Prosecute Them For Torture

ANGRYVOTERS.ORG

Over 250,000 have signed
Join them and call yourself a Patriot

.

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on both economy and health care.

Can anyone explain to them that will only make the problem(s) WORSE?

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Obama is smart and realistic and he knows that "politics is the art of the possible". I have been giving him the benefit of the doubt on big and small matters in the belief that he is playing along with reality and that when the biggie comes along, health care, he will stick to his guns. If he caves on this one, he is going to find that while his career rocketed upward, a rocket moves in two directions: first one, and then the other. There must be a government option. Coverage must be mandatory. Private companies cannot be allowed to run this show. Can anyone imagine LBJ making Medicare voluntary and run by Blue Cross?

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n/t

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Supporting Democrats is a serious political disorder, like alcoholism or returning again & again to an abusive spouse who repeatedly lies to you. It's easy to fall off the wagon, to make excuses & rationalizations for it.

Even many whose views are developed enough to recognize such truths as the fundamental rottenness of the 2-party system & the complicity of Democrats in all of the Republicans' major crimes, are still unable to draw the logical consequences of these insights. (Those so naive that they still conceive of Democrats as being the "opponents" of Republicans are another case altogether.)

The central point is this: capitalist society permits the Democrats to be one of the 2 allowed parties for a very definite reason. It's not because the Democrats "serve the people." It's because in a subtle but effective way, they help the capitalists keep the populace under control by providing them with the illusion of possible change. TPTB don't want the people "served." They want them managed, or controlled.

It is the job, the central social function of the Democrats to always be dangling before the people's noses vague pseudo-hints of possible change, so as to keep them from bolting from bourgeois politics altogether. It is the Democrats' intention to never deliver meaningful change, but rather to keep dangling hints of it alluringly forever. This produces control -- a populace habituated to remain safely within the lines required by ruling class interests.

This is why the Democrats NEVER paint a picture of US history that's the slightest bit accurate -- they want a brainwashed population every bit as much as the Republicans do. This is why they NEVER are willing to set forth an honest socioeconomic analysis of why things are as they are -- they much prefer that people not understand such things.

As long as a large chunk of voters can be deceived by the seemingly "nicer guy" act of the Democrats, there is no hope whatever of coming to grips with the core problems of our society. The most dangerous trends -- a wasteful consumer society, environmental destruction, grotesque social inequality, and an uncontrollable propaganda/war machine -- cannot even be approached within the framework of bourgeois politics, because they all serve ruling class interests. This is what is really being protected, when people opt to support Democrats just because they seem less blatantly cruel on TV.

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I don't think the status quo has party lines as both sides of the isle are equally to blame. Just two sides of the same coin. Nothing is going to change or get better until We the People draw a line in the sand and say ENOUGH. Every branch of our government has been corrupted by greed and corporate lobbyist.

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Looks to me like we are screwed either way. The rich get richer and the rest of us, well you know!

RT
Online Privacy when it Counts

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We the people have to continue keeping pressure on the Democrats (especially those Blue Dawgs)! They need to understand that they work for "we the People", they need to be very afraid of US not the corporate oligarchy! Write/fax/phone/email these buzzards to hold them accountable to US!

The problem is much like the banking elite, these politico's have not faced serious competition for their seats which means they are just way too comfortable! Opponents (other Dems, Independents) with more progressive agendas need to be sought out and encouraged to run for office! The time to act is now!

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they are two sides of the very same coin.

Obama is a tool of the Elites, as were all our other presidents for decades before, with the exception of JFK, perhaps.

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The first thing that Obama needs to do is look-over the resumes of everyone that is in his administration, or wants to work for him.

I would immediately throw out any that mention how many years the candidate has worked in K street in Washington DC.

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was once a serious and effective operation. Greider described some of its successes in Who Will Tell the People. Hopefully it might rise again, but somehow I find Greider's hopefulness here overstated. What is needed, it seems to me, is a citizenry terribly alarmed and committed to survival. A movement less ocncerned with making the system work than with making sure that it can work. And if not, ready to dismantle it.

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...was different. If you believed in silly things like D's and R's, then you might as well have believed in Care Bears and magical pixie ponies.

Or that a messiah would come and have a different approach, with a complicit Congress! Gee, feels like 2000 again, except many Americans are doing worse and getting worse day by day.

Oh, and those little perpetual democrat and republican sponsored wars.

Nevermind, cronyism and imperialism died with the republican ouster and the ushering in of a new, golden, democrat age. Long live cronyism and imperialism.

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Let me get this straight. Alternet really believes there is a two party system? Genuine progressives realize that Republicans and Democrats wish to represent all the American people. Republicans want to represent those with buisness and wealth while the Democrats claim to be for the poor and the downtrodden. Yet we the people keep heading in the same direction.(Unless one believes the Dems. are really helping.)
The two parties are really one party with the ability to cover both ends of the spectrum while making us believe they are separate.

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There is no effective protest movement on the left in America these days. I see 'Code Pink-Women for Peace' bumper stickers next to 'Obama for president' ones. I hate war, but I'll vote for a warmonger if he's a Democrat? How does that make sense?

The Left needs a Ron Paul movement like the Right has. Until the Left wakes up and gets organized enough to fight back, there is no hope for the Democratic party. Whether we go Green or try to win back the Dems is immaterial, but we absolutely have to stop voting for them until they change.

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LEADER[and I say that with a grain of salt] available for the disappointed electorate to support in 2012?
The Internet Progressives have the numbers and the $$$$$$$$. The time is NOW.

We must start NOW if it is a possibility. Time is running out. As it is many will never live long enough to see a REAL change.

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Thank you Mr. Greider. This is exactly why I started the Betrayed By Obama website. The Dems and Obama have sold us down the road and it pisses me off to no end. What these dirty, rotten scoundrels don't seem to understand is that this crisis is NOT just another game of 'politickin' as usual. People's lives are at stake as is the future of the USA. These oligarchs are so far removed from the daily lives of the populace they don't seem to realize that this is going to end in a very ugly fashion.

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they're working hard as hell to lose and give the power back to the Republicans come 2010 and 2012 and they just might succeed in that. Such dishonesty and working on out-rightwinging the GOP ! Keep it up Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Mark Warner, Evan Bye-Bye, etc ... I withheld my vote for Warner but very reluctantly gave my vote to Obama. By moving to the rightwing, the Democrats are losing the real center of moderates and independents.

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Like I keep saying, until we get Instant Runoff Voting as the law of the land, there will never be a viable Third party!
IRV means you have an all-important SECOND CHOICE at the ballot, so you can RISK voting a third party WITHOUT having your vote DEFAULT TO YOUR LAST CHOICE.
This adjustment to our voting mechanism can also make all the difference when it comes to all this graft and corruption, because the lobbyists and corporate party BRIBERS won't automatically be able to assume that either a Dem or a Repug would win, because with the People having MORE CHOICE, all bets would be off!

I am disappointed that Moyers hasn't been championing this from his advantaged position.

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They are the status quo.

They're the liberal rationalization that holds it together and prevents something better. It's great to try to shape them for the better and demand peace and freedom from fascism, like we would from the republicans. If we think this is new, or the democrats are any the less status quo, and haven't had control of things for years, it's gonna screw us.

It's like supporting terrorism in other countries pushes people into recruitment and creates insurgents out of children. Everyone's responsible for their own actions. Support for "democratic" fascism and big money misdirection recruits republicans, who do the same.

The democrats act weak when it comes to doing right, like the republicans acted dumb. Neither or neither. They're both powerful branches of big money imperialism stifling public discussion of meaningful details with catch phrases, nice speeches and photo ops.

It's good that we can talk like this, but if realistic discussion doesn't get pushed to the mainstream soon we leave it open for Obama's new Internet Czar program to seriously stifle free speech. Although with a media that acts like we never fought one war for oil and the democrats aren't just another party of the elite, murderous imperialism, our options are limited.

This mess relates to the wars too. One of Obama and the democrat's main tasks right now is to drum up military recruitment. Putting people in debt goes greatly towards that, as history has proven. We still need to support Africa pushing China out so they can fight with Russia over more local oil, and swamp Afghanistan with more troops, among other things. National poverty swells military ranks.

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And people must understand that to remedy the situation WE THE PEOPLE as a whole need to register as Democrats and VOTE ALL THE REPUBLICANS OUT of the Democratic Party in the PRIMARY ELECTIONS, if not all, as many as is possible to vote out, so that we can get someone in that represents the LEFT, instead of both parties representing the RIGHT.

NO OTHER POLITICAL PARTY is equipped to remedy the situation, only the Democratic Party, the remedy will have to be done through the Democratic Party, the only institutionalized political left party, and these right-wingers have to be VOTED OUT; there is no other way, THEY WILL NEVER LEAVE ON THEIR OWN, and they will never do anything beneficial for the left, the 70% MAJORITY COMMON POPULATION.

The PRIMARY ELECTION in my state will be July 27, 2010, which is time for ALL PEOPLE LEANING DEMOCRATIC to get registered as Democrats and VOTE ALL POSSIBLE RIGHT-WINGERS out of the "ONE" LEFT POLITICAL PARTY, so WE THE PEOPLE can clean up the political system. Forget any other party and forget the Republican Party, the Republican Party is AUTOCRATIC, NOT DEMOCRATIC. We as a people must zero in on the Democratic Party and vote out all incumbents possible, without fail.

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The Democratic Party stopped being the "people's" party some time between 1968 and 1983 or there about.

In that time the Democratic Party morphed into, what I term, a white, suburban, socially-liberal, economically-conservative party. In part this was due to the Vietnam war--the Republican Party had no room for anti-war activists, primarily suburban, coordinator-class, white males--and the so-called Reagan Revolution--the Republican Party had no room for so-called Rockefeller Republicans, primarily suburban, coordinator-class white males.

So in essence from the end of Lyndon Johnson's administration in 1969 to present the Democratic Party is now the party of Nelson Rockefeller.

True, due to Democratic stances on social issues, the party has made great gains in the African American and Hispanic American communities yet in its soul leading Democrats are committed to the chimera of a "free market" economy with all the fervence of their supposed opposites in the Republican Party.

Point of fact a couple of years ago when the issue of telephone deregulation came up in my state's legislature a Democratic representative said, she wanted the state to lead the parade in deregulation and expected more legislative action on public utility deregulation to follow. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed and further deregulation in my home state is on hold, permanently I hope.

Also on the state level my DLC state senator is active in improving health care access. However he poo-poo's any and all talk of a single payer health care system. Instead his "brilliant" idea is what he calls a "beautiful patchwork quilt" of public and private health insurance. I have news for him, a beautiful patchwork quilt my great-grandmother made for me fell to tatters long ago, but a wool blanket the US Navy issued to my dad in World War II is still good. See the analogy?

By the way while we're on the topic of the credit card usury law My Blue Dog U.S. Representative voted for this piece of shit. He also voted with the Republicans on the bankruptcy deform bill and the "death tax" bill. When a mutual friend asked him why he voted against the average Joe and for big money, Rep Blue dog said if he didn't the Republicans would use it against him in the upcoming campaign!

Look, I've voted straight Democratic ticket since 1972. I've voted for all the losers, McGovern, Carter, Mondale and Dukakis. And the winners Clinton and Obama. But I'm getting a little tired of getting stabbed in the back. I keep thinking a "real" liberal Democrat will rise out of the dung heap and give us a "real" people's party.

I'm always disappointed.

America can solve its energy crisis simply by plugging the electric grid into the graves of William Jennings Bryant, Huey Long, FDR, Harry Truman, JFK, LBJ and Hubert Humphrey. They have to be spinning at the shape the Democratic Party is now in.

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Usury, usurious practices that injure society.

I've never once heard this terminology in the mainstream media.

It is what it is.

And yes, Obama took a walk on reform.

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That way, when the insurance companies raise the prices, our money saved from reduced taxation will protect us. Who needs healthcare anyway? If I get sick, I just watch videos and pictures of sexy skinny girls pouring milk into their boots and then dipping their sexy nyloned legs into them and watching the mess plop out. OOOOOH, it feels so sexy !

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Both are pipe dreams that just won't happen. In both cases, nearly everyone in society is hooked on to at least a piece of it that they just cannot let go.

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Ideologically, we stay at each others throats while these corporations write all our laws and do any damn thing they want without any consequence. It's a form of fascism. Our congress is corrupt up to their beady little eyeballs. Meanwhile, we cannot seem to start with first things first- campaign finance reform, boycott Walmart, exxon, insurance(pick one)and mega banks. We need to start saving for something when we want it, because most every time I save to buy something, I'm over wanting it by the time I get the money. We need to come together on things we all agree on- IN FORCE.

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This past Saturday, in Springfield, MA, 2500 delegates to the annual convention of the Massachusetts Democratic Party passed by an overwhelming voice vote the following resolution, which had been circulated by PDA of MA and signed by over 400 of them:
................
"Whereas the Massachusetts Democratic Party supports the Rule of Law in the federal government and elsewhere; and

"Whereas the Massachusetts Democratic Party reveres the Constitution of the United States and finds abhorrent acts contrary to its intent, such as excessive executive privilege leading to 'preemptive' war and torture

"Therefore be it resolved that the Massachusetts Democratic Party instructs our Congressional delegation to support and work for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate, and, where appropriate, to hold accountable, any person, including persons at any level of government, who is found to be responsible for willfully violating the laws and the Constitution of the United States, and/or willfully violating the rights of citizens and the rights guaranteed to all persons under international treaties, and/or employing or advocating torture, and/or waging illegal wars with wanton disregard for truth and for the lives and safety of civilians, and/or presenting false testimony, and/or ignoring, bypassing and sabotaging the law, or resolutions and subpoenas issued by the Congress of the United States."
.................
This and many other events at the Convention underscore a growing struggle between the base of the Democratic Party and its leadership for control over its direction and program. However it turns out it is a necessary struggle with potential for good. Don't dismiss it lightly.

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gee, this is a bit tedious.

perhaps caring about the impact of American policies & corruption
UPON BILLIONS OF NON-AMERICANS is a worthy interest?

nah, that's not worth discussing, is it??
If its not about AMERICANS, its just not worth reading, I suppose

can you define a narcissistic culture?

I can.



Perspective.

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"... tolerance of intolerance is cowardice..." ~ Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

"We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid.

"Violence can only be concealed by a Lie, & the Lie can only be maintained by Violence." ... "Any man, who has once proclaimed Violence as his Method, is inevitably forced to take the Lie as his Principle" – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire.

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not opposite begets like. The nature of politics/politicians is divisiveness, if one side accuses the other of wrong doing, then the result of that accusation is conflict. If all parties concerned put their methods as secondary and unity first ,then unity instantly manifests. Unity appears when individual considerations are dropped. The greater the addiction to ones point of view the greater the difficulty in dropping the investment in personality. That said, do not expect any thing resembling cooperation between political parties to occur any time soon. If one seeks love, does the elimination of all haters expose love or does the process of elimination expose another hater?

PS WTF are the flashing " you have won our hourly prize" ads doing on Alternet ? New lows have been achieved on this site by allowing this crap. Disgusting!

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You will be bitching about the same things four years from now. You are inherantly incapable of rational thought and logical deduction.

You repeat the same mistakes because you fail to learn from history. Heck, you fail to even remember history let alone learn from it.

You teach your children this same mode of thinking and they continue to make the same mistakes you made.

All the while the ultra rich get more powerful. You have less rights, liberties and opportunities. Dont worry about your children being slaves, because you already are slaves.

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Now here's a solution: the Green Party. Sometimes, you just need a new broom.

www.gp.org

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"Following the example of the civil rights movement, people of conscience have to find ways to turn up the heat on the established order and discomfort the silent citizens who are passive and indifferent."

One way would be to expose – advertise – the financial corruption of Congress. Put out ads documenting how much in graft ... er..."campaign contributions" each person in Congress collects from each lobbying group, cross-referenced with which way they voted on issues those lobbyists work for.

Another, more difficult, move would be to bury Washington in people: send huge delegations of citizens who would both lobby and get across the point to our esteemed legislators that "business as usual" CANNOT be carried out in Washington until The People who put them there are supported.

The choices are difficult; but we as a nation are in a similar situation to where blacks stood before the Civil Rights movement and the marches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the '60's – and this time, the destruction of our lives directly affects ALL of us. I'm afraid that, with Congress' corruption at an all-time high and Washington D.C. completely bought-and-paid-for by Big Business, it will take nothing less than a peaceful and legal – but MASSIVE – new civil rights movement to get results. We have been abandoned by our legislators who, I believe, are in the clutches of a de-facto "shadow government" of wealthy insiders.

At this point in our history, however, two things should be obvious: that letters to the editor, calls to Congresspeople and complaining to eachother are not getting the job done; and, more critically, that usurious interest rates/predatory lending, coupled with the most individually expensive and predatory healthcare system in the industrialized world, along with cruel bankruptcy laws that guarantee the creation of indentured servants and shattered lives, will destroy this nation if allowed to stand. A nation that is democratic but horribly oppressed, financially and psychologically, by its own corrupt elite, even if it maintains a modicum of other freedoms, cannot endure. No democratic nation under these conditions ever has. That would require a dictatorship – a possible future that, maybe, we also should be worrying about if we don't right our own ship.

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“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and the corporations which grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their father conquered.” - Thomas Jefferson

Seemed appropriate to post this.

The Democrats are still stuck in the Free Market ideology that, since the 80s, has been the only capitalism in Washington. And has been the philosophy that has brought us to todays economic collapse.

A return to common sense capitalism (think FDR) that has basic protections of competition, regulation, law, and utility for the stability and slow growth of the nation (not the hyper-growth free-for-all of the banks on Wall Street) is the only sane economy. An economy that looks into the far future instead of creating depression and dept upon our children.

The power must come from government, not the banks. But it's the banks that are calling the shots thanks to the Democrats still being stuck on the Free Market religion, just like the Republicans are.

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When I was a kid you could get a loan from the loan shark on the corner. No qualifying or bothersome colateral necessary. Of course, if payment wasn't made on time, and in full, you could end up on crutches. The interest rate was pretty high and compounded often, so if you took out a loan of this type, you needed to be damn sure you could pay it back within the alloted time. Let's just say it sharpened one's financial skills. Nowadays, all that has been subsumed by fancy- schmacy bankers who WANT you to be late with your payments. This makes it easier to repossess your car, house, jewelry, or anything else of value you may have. So, what's the difference between Looie the Lender on the corner and the fancy-schmancy bankers? You probably get to walk normally with the bankers, but that's about it.

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I'm always glad to see civil disobedience and protests, but they'll likely not do too much in the way of bringing change

35 million worldwide protested the Iraq war before it even started, which was unheard of both in numbers and in being before the war even began. This set a U.S. and worldwide record. It achieved absolutely nothing. Yes, Bush was in office, but it likely wouldn't have mattered who was in office.

You can protest things that aren't concerned with finance & imperialism and possibly get a result, but when it comes to protesting wars and imperialism and financial matters there is a highly, highly likely chance that nothing will change.

Also, it's close to impossible to get the info out that the masses need to reach the kind of momentum necessary for achieving a positive result. Corporate media won't let it through, and as alternative info grows in availability - info that might produce a change in the status quo - corporate media goes on ahead and tweaks there coverage so that the alt news is undercut before it reaches enough people.

"Let's pressure the democrats" is a strategy that hasn't worked very well in the past. Someone posted a pretty good link on another thread the other day to questionwar.com . . . there's an article there entitled "liberal holocaust," which goes through the deaths/slaughters that took place under democrats and liberals . . . I already knew the number was high, but, as usual, it was even worse than I thought. I bring this up just to say, the idea of appealing (intellectually or emotionally) to a group of people who can consistently kill innocent people (think Iraqi children under the sanctions) is a rather depressing and silly thought.

The green party is appealing, but as I've said elsewhere, it'd damn near take a revolution to get one in office. The media would have to radically change, for one, and everyone knows how likely that is. The only viable way for a green party candidate to get elected is for him or her to sell out.

Civil Rights legislation was passed not after protesting or emotional appeals or intellectual appeals but rather after weeks of rioting. It goes to show what the state is apt to respond to.

"Voting with your wallet" is another strategy that Peter Gelderlos in "How Nonviolence Protects the State" argues is not effective enough on its own to produce the desired result. I do vote with my wallet, but as a poster above said, "the bigger the wallet, the bigger the vote" - which means my vote is very, very small. The problem with this strategy, while I don't discourage it (or any others), is that corporations have, to use the phrase, a much bigger wallet. & By the way, "voting with your wallet" is part of a bigger nonviolent strategy that's called something to the effect of "building an alternative lifestyle," which means relying on locals for good, independent news, local farmers for food, and so forth . . . it's a "live as you'd have others live" strategy, to some degree. Once again, I'm all for it, but I don't know how much change it'll produce . . . or rather if it's likely to produce the large changes we need soon: lower carbon footprint, ending war, addressing hunger and water shortages, etc.

These aren't things that are enjoyable to point out, but I believe everyone here who has a problem with healthcare or war or media or any other thing ought to bear in mind what the state responds to and what it doesn't respond to.

&, By the way, personally I still believe in non-violence, I've just come to realize it's not very likely to produce much.

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"A roll call on usury would have compelled legislators to choose between their constituents and their bankers."

Excuse me -- They ALREADY chose to screw their constituents by not voting on it!

Yet another disgusting example of how the corporate-funded Democrats have been selling us out for decades.

This betrayal of citizens by Democrats is repeated in virtually every area, from health care to job outsourcing. Yet the average ignorant American liberal continues to vote for them.

Get a clue: The corporate-funded Democrats (like the corporate-funded Republicans) ARE NOT ON OUR SIDE!

You keep them in power with your votes. Voting Green or Socialist is the only way to send them a wake-up call.

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I agree that the Federal Government has no business in heath care. But the Corporations have turned healthcare into a for profit system where profit takes priority over medical attention. If we could get rid of the greedy insurance and other gluttons in the middle, the government, at least in the majority of cases, out of heathcare. Get the GD corporations out, so we can afford our own care.

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The Democrats have betrayed their progressive supporters. We have to inform them on all levels (local, state, federal) that we are watching their words and deeds and that their actions speak louder than their words. The Democrats and Obama fooled us once by promising real change, but we won't be fooled again. We must threaten to withdraw all our support and place our funds and efforts, our voices and our feet on the streets with a third party. We have seen that the corporations and the military industrial complex are in control of the Democrats and the Republicans and that campaign promises to the citizens of this country don't mean anything . We are early into this presidency and maybe our organized and concentrated efforts can influence for better policies and programs. We must quit making excuses for what the president and the Congress are doing or are not doing on our behalf. They are supposed to represent we the people of this country.If we are not happy with their actions representing us then we have no choice but to got outside the Democrat and Republican parties for our president, senators and representatives in the upcoming elections.

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If Congress can't agree on a method for protecting the American people from the greed and corporate corruption that is running rampant in the this country, the American people can go on strike. We can cancel our credit cards, and refuse to do business with companies that do not have addresses listed on their web sites and do not answer their phones with human voices.

If corporate America is allowed to set prices at unreasonable levels, we can refuse to buy their services.

If enough citizens quit using credit cards and quit paying for optional health care programs that don't deliver the care they promise, corporate America will have no choice but to change.

We keep hearing that the market should be left alone to correct itself. We are the market so let's do the correcting. Buy local products. Support your local farmers and manufacturing base. Pay with cash. Barter when you can.

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There are the powerful and the powerless. All of the skulls clacking away on this and hundreds of other forums are powerless. American "culture" is materialistic: if you are powerless, you lose ontological status and substance: your existence is diminished. Whether you squeak like a mouse in a trap or die as a myrmidon of the nation matters not a bit to the powerful. These voices clashing in cacophony in the bowels of American society call out for unity, for awakening, for the reform of misguided politicians, for revolution, for validation; but none of it can or will happen. These voices of the powerless carry no weight--they are insubstantial, and they do not understand the world of the powerful at any rate.

No, the Dems will not "shape up." They are the powerful playing the game of the powerful by its rules and this is a matter of structure and national institution. These are inflexible matters. But the powerless cannot conceive of themselves as valueless, insignificant, negligible. One of them at one time wrote that all men are created equal, and they wave this document in the air as they cry. But it never really was and never really will be. Only the relatively "privileged" whites of America will attempt to argue this point, and their cries of protest do not matter. No, people will not "wake up"; no, they will not unify; no, they cannot grow tall and see the world as it is above the level of their mouse holes. No, the Dems will not shape up. No, the Repubs will not become human. No, the corporations and banks that run this world will not have a change of heart. Any argument predicated upon tigers changing their stripes is self-mooting.

Now get back to the hunt for cheese. . .

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which party these cowardly people are affiliated with, they are representing US, their constituents that expect honest governance, not SHIRKING their DUTY as OUR representatives to give the PEOPLE fair and just treatment, NOT to be subservient lap dogs to business, which is getting taxpayer monies handed to them without regulatory conditions that benefit CITIZENS. Re-enact policies such as Glass - Stegall, policies that REGULATE corporate behavior in the interest of the CITIZENS! What a bunch of COWARDS!

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It is too early to tell anything because nothing has happened. The entire economic juju is an expensive Band-Aid. Sooner or later congress is going to deal with the root causes, financial regulations and job exportation. Wars, we can not escape from until we love our enemies, then we will have none. Pretty good speech wasn’t it. The first real test will be healthcare. If Obama signs a lousy bill, just to claim he did something, we are doomed.
Option one; have the government buy insurance for the uninsured, currently covered by Medicaid.
Option two; pass a law forcing everyone to purchase affordable health insurance, and tax benefits to help pay the cost of affordable health insurance, currently covered by Medicaid.
Option three; create a public healthcare insurance, which will lead the way to single payer. Economic affects would be minimal because the change would take place slowly.
If Obama signs anything but option three, we should start an “impeach Obama” movement. Not representing the people should be a high crime.

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The “Health Choices Act” is not a solution for the uninsured.

Any attempt at mandatory and obligatory “private insurance” will backfire. Subsidies are not a substitute for real coverage.


America needs to join the civilized and industrial nations.


Plain and simple, that means a Universal Single-Payer insurance plan for all Americans.


This week’s European Parliamentary elections moved that body to the extreme fascistic RIGHT because the labor and Democratic parties in Europe keep coming up with non-solutions in their bid to “triangulate,” their effort to expand government power without accountability, to hang on to office while undermining progressive solutions, and by actively blocking progressive appointments within their governments in favor of their subservient version of the status-quo. The reason for this leap to fascism according to the BBC is the failure of laborites to enforce the distinction between “legal” citizens and “illegal” refugees. Voters did not go to the polls within nations that did not protect their citizen’s jobs nor provided sound programmatic economic “security.”


In the US, the Clintonoid pro-insurance-company “Health Care” scheme is one more example of why people become frustrated with the Democratic Party, and with their pro-corporate, and pro-capitalist liberal ideology. Change this, or the Democrats will become irrelevant on the morrow. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? You had better look closely at the European elections.


For leftist and progressives the alarm bells are ringing!


The government bankrupting of American Auto producers while bailing out Banksters, crooks, and Billionaires is insane!


The time has come to close down shop on the Military/Contract/Complex and to create a non-war human centered economy.



For many newly unemployed American workers its’ either guaranteed socio-economic equality with protection of citizen Rights, and, especially, good paying jobs, or it is bust, and, perhaps, extreme political reaction.



Alternative to fascism: Onward to socialism, on to democratization of the Federal Reserve and to nationalizing of the US currency > with an eye towards the rapid re-industrialization of America . OR, otherwise, it could get very ugly.



I for one will never click my heels and shout “Sig-Heil” at the finance-capitalist bastards, at media liars, at the rulers of the corporate police state, at pirate bankers and thieves that steal wealth created by the public for personal use. (Change . . . What Change? The ship of state is still being piloted by lobbyist, and social wealth is still being pirated by corporate lawyers and by most of the “representatives” and elected officials in DC, and by a fully-armed sleazy group of aggressive warmongers beyond.)


Have a good day,
A.Z. Arrow
---------->
June 09,2009

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And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity that the people of the land called America , having lost their morals, their work initiative, and their will to defend their liberties, chose as their Supreme Leader that person known as "The One".
My lack of experience, my questionable ethics, my monstrous ego, and my association with evil doers are of no consequence.
One lone reporter asked, "That shouldn't be, isn't that Marxist policy?" And she was banished from the kingdom! Then a citizen asked, "With no foreign relations experience and having zero military experience or knowledge, how will you deal with radical terrorists?" And "The One" said, "Simple. I shall sit with them and talk kindly to them and show them how nice we really are; and they will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!"
Then "The One" said, "I shall give 95% of you lower taxes." And one, lone voice said, "But 40% of us don't pay ANY taxes."
Then "The One" said, "I shall tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!" And the people yawned and the already slumping housing market fully collapsed. And He said, "I shall mandate employer-funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage, and lower the white collar wage. And I shall also give every person unlimited healthcare and medicine and even transportation to the free clinics." And the people said, "Give me some of that!"
Then "The One" said, "I shall bankrupt the coal industry, and perhaps even the oil industry (Cap & Trade/Carbon Tax) and though electricity rates will skyrocket, we shall soon build wind farms and solar power stations and drive green cars that I shall mandate in Detroit!"
So "The One" said, "Not to worry. If your rebate ($10/week) isn't enough to cover your extra expenses ($3,000/year), we shall bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!" "Only the fat cats will have to pay." Then He said, "Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let's grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing..."
And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers; though they sold much less of their products. Others simply gave up and went out of business, and the economy sank like unto a rock dropped from a cliff. The banking industry was destroyed. Manufacturing slowed to a crawl. And more of the people were without a means of support.
So "The One" again blamed the prior administration, extended unemployment benefits to a year, bailed out his favorite banks, and then took over the banks and auto industries. "The One" said, "I am the "The One" - The Messiah - and I'm here to save you! We shall just print more money so the government will have enough!" "Surely one trillion dollars will make everyone happy." And immediately the Fed complied and the money presses roared. And China reconsidered their one trillion dollars of loans to the US ,, and threatened to call in their debts.
Other foreign trading partners said unto "The One", "Wait a minute. Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung! You will have to pay more.. for everything.. as your dollar becomes worth less." And the people said, "Wait a minute.. That is unfair!!" And the world said, "Neither are these other idiotic programs you have embraced.
Lo, you have become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. What factories are not owned by your government are owned by us. Now you shall play by our rules!" And "The One" said "Americans are arrogant, divisive, and derisive!" "We will listen."
And the people cried out, "Alas, alas!! What have we done?"
And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish, "Give us back our nation and our pride and our hope!!
This is NOT a fairy tale, its happening RIGHT NOW.....SUCKAS

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How did this article fall under "Reproductive Justice and Gender"? Did some editor see the word "screwed" and just assume?

Good grief!

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We voted for these people to stand up for us. If they won't, then need to be ejected (and preferably midterm.)

Like it or not, if we need to in order to get our way, we'll have to demand at a grassroots level that people don't vote for ANYONE who makes more than $100,000 per year or who owns more than $100,000 in wealth. That will fix things in a hurry. Then we'll be represented by "people like us", and apparently, not until we do this.

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I'm a noparty person...I vote according to what I see is going to make the most sense given the conditions....
I did not vote Obama, because what he promised to all and sundry, simply could not be done....
Unless he and the Dems really kicked some butt...

Pick yer siren call, and it ain't gonna happen...
I went the other way, because he wasn't lying as much...maybe woulda been worse, but at this point really can't see that...

Same issues, same problems next election...

We might just remember that.....

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Add the following premise, and the transparent conclusion follows, namely:

The Dems will not shape up.

Thus:

We're Screwed on Everything From Health Care to the Economy.

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Every royal court has its courtiers. In our mighty oligarchy, they are elected by the serfs. We, the wee people, vote for our own fouetteurs, our democratically elected tax-collectors and "Sheriffs of Nottingham". Contrary to all the contrary evidence, the belief persists that the democratic brand of sheriff is nicer than the republican.. We now can judge the efficacy of all those pain relief commercials we’ve ingested over the decades. Not only did they boost pharma’s bottom line, they also provided us with valuable lessons in civics--teaching us the basics of brand loyalty. Recognizing the existence of a political class that transcends party affiliation, could be a first step in the process of deposing our tormenters.

A couple months ago Rep. John Dingell came to an Ann Arbor Dem. Party meeting. He touted his support for the House’s credit card “reform" bill; assuring us that he opposed those “outrageous fees”. I asked for clarification. Did that mean, at long last we are saved? An end to usury? That limits would be set on interest rates? "No, no, we couldn't do that", Big John responded. I noticed that his spouse was not in attendance and wondered if she had gotten herself kidnapped. How else to explain the crushing impotence, our little rep who “couldn’t”?

Sen. Debbie Stabenow--who has a long, (probably permanent) tenure, on the list of Political Sows of the World-- helped draft and pass the 2005 Bankruptcy “Reform” bill. More recently, as Greider reported, voted against an interest rate cap proposed by Bernie Sanders. I believe she will actually show her face in Michigan sometime again, claiming to be a sow of the people. And why not? The Michigan Dems. will likely re-nominate her. The logic is, alas, unassailable: though she is but a sow, she is our sow. So much for brand Democrat.

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The amazing J. Carter Obama must be kidding…”watch the spending”…that is like me charging 80k on credit cards last week and then telling my wife to “watch the spending”. This smiling confident walking ego is a piece of work.
Who just spent a trillion? Who just forced 9 trillion in debt on us? Who just 4x the budget debt in his first budget?

This, as others are saying, is simply code for…..drum roll….many big taxes from the Party of Taxes! Bet you didn’t see that coming. Okay, voters for JCO did not see it coming but the thinkers (not the feelers, the Oz Landers) have the common sense to realize the vote-buying is over on our VISA. Now its coming out of your 2010 paycheck.

Its ALWAYS part of the democrat strategy to assume you dropped out in 7th grade.
That you missed the Jimmah Carter Misery Index Era.
That you think massive borrowing has no consequences.
That economic laws and history never matter.
That inflation is a myth.
That there is always a free lunch.

Here come the predicted taxes on top of 9.4% unemployment…ya like ya 401k balance this month?…SUCKAS.

http://conservablogs.com/theconservativecrawfish

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What do you expect? The Democrats are another part of the Wall Street party. I am not surprised by this. Remember Bill Clinton? Obama is a bit better, but you have to be realistic about this. We have to move the democrats left, if they will not budge, then we are forced to look for a new party.

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Elected politician of, for and by the corporate state do this to us every time, yet we cling to the two party system. We have no one to blame but ourselves.

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I have been posting articles in local papers in different states telling people that if their reps are not workng for them then they need to get them out of office and then I've been calling my rep and said if they don't vote for a single payer system and don't work for me I won't vote for them again. And I tell them I'm posting articles in local papers and on the internet and they take it very seriously when I tell them this. I tell them that the relationship between special interests and Congress is very destructive. So Just voting for Obama is not enough we have to keep getting these guys out and we need to tell them we mean business !!!- 202 -224-3121. So get off your lazy butts and stop flapping your lips and throwing up your hands because one thing our reps really want is to get reelected and if everyone gets this and votes for someone else they will get the message.

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Until our representatives (in both houses) fear their constituents more than they fear the loss of funding from corporate donors and lobbyists, we can expect more of the same non-representation we've had up to now. On a gut level, it seems that most people in this country feel the anxiety of health care coverage that is totally contingent on having, and keeping,their job. We just seem unable to get our congressional representatives to recognize the basic ideal that access to health care ought to be universal for rich and poor. And access to health care should not come at the cost of one's financial security. No one should have to choose between food or medicine; between treatment for cancer or paying their mortgage; between surgery or their retirement fund. And in most civilized western-style countries, these are not choices their citizens are forced to make because those in government know their citizens will not tolerate such a backward and heartless system.

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All of these problems have been clearly visible on the horizon for the last thirty years.

Our entire "American way of life" has been based on unsustainable practices, which, by definition, cannot continue indefinitely. The next time someone tells you, "No one could've seen this coming," know that they are either very stupid, very uninformed or they are lying to you.

(If they do all three, they're probably Republican.)

Well what now? Are we going to follow the path of the baby boomers to absolute calamity or are we finally going to grow up and reign in the unholy power of corporations?

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The only way to get their attention is to prosecute as many as possible.

SIGN THE PETITION To Prosecute Them For Torture

ANGRYVOTERS.ORG

Over 250,000 have signed
Join them and call yourself a Patriot

.

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should meet the author of the "Progressives will rule for 40 years" article and arm wrestle or something. I used to be optimistic--until Obama picked his cabinet, particularly his Wall Street economic team and his Monsanto shill Ag-Sec (and the fact that none of them pay their taxes). It was like waking up and finding out that Bush had won the election (or...shudder...the 5 terms won by Nixon in WATCHMEN). I went from hope to stocking up on can goods before the man even took office. I bought into the whole Hope and Change bit--but hope is "I hope I find a job soon!" and change is "changing back to Clinton." NO NO NO!!! That's not what we thought you meant!

And this Democratic congress is nothing short of the Republican congress we voted out. How in blazes can they be so inept?!?!?

dang.

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The majority of Democrats are taking bribes from Pharma and health insurance companies. These are people you voted for. We all need to call and spread the word that we are not going to vote for those who support special interests at our expense 202 224 3121. Get Active - now is the time. Ask your rep if they are supporting a single payer system.

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The following link, takes you to a "utopian" article, entitled "Home of the Brave?" which I wrote and appeared in the Athenaeum Library of Philosophy:

http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/steinsvold.htm

John Steinsvold

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BEFORE GOV-MEANT BAILOUTS, PROMISES AND BORROWING TRILLIONS
May 30, 2008…..12,638.32
June 6, 2008……12,209.81
July 4, 2008…….11,288.54

August 1, 2008…11,326.32
September 5, 2008.11,220.96
October 3, 2008..10,325.38

OBAMA ELECTED

November 7, 2008…8,943.81
December 5, 2008….8,635.42
December 31, 2008…8,776.39

January 2, 2009……..9,034.69
February 6, 2009…….8,280.59
March 6, 2009………..6,626.94

April 3, 2009………….8,017.59
May 1, 2009…………..8,212.41

AFTER BAILOUTS, PROMISES AND BORROWING TRILLIONS

June 5, 2009…………..8,763.13

NOW IMAGINE AFTER THE COMING TAX RAISING WAVE
(look closely at your retirement fund balance again)

http://conservablogs.com/theconservativecrawfish/

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Twain said it all about how 'murica works, a long long time ago.

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I didn't vote for Today's Tom Sawyer and his little whitewash routine (ironic, ain't that?).

Finally ready to dump "your" party? For good? No looking back?

Like a hopelessly screwed up marriage, there comes a time when it just has to end.

Just wait until the great health "reform" con is pulled off. They are already setting up for the con in the congressional finance committees (which like insurance companies, somehow qualify as the arbiters of health care, but, hey, only in the USA), as well as on the pages of the NYT, where coverage of this issue is being carefully filtered. Stay tuned.

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