Democrats cowed in the corner with their fingers crossed that no one would make an issue of the Affordable Care Act. 

President Obama was absolutely correct when he stated, "...my policies are part of this election." He should have been out there knocking down Republicans where they live because this country is going to be a disaster after 2016 when all the US Senate does is pout over vetoes and filibusters.

Did anyone bother to take a look at the ballot initiatives while they campaigned? In California the ballot initiative was about criminal sentencing. 

October 5, 2014
By Erick Eckholm

...The law epitomized (click here) the tough-on-crime policies that produced overflowing prisons and soaring costs.
Now California voters appear poised to scale back the heavy reliance on incarceration they once embraced, with a measure that would transform several lower-level, nonviolent felonies into misdemeanors punishable by brief jail stays, if that, rather than time in a state penitentiary. The referendum on Nov. 4 is part of a national reappraisal of mass incarceration.
To its advocates — not only liberals and moderates, but also an evangelical conservative businessman who has donated more than $1 million to the campaign, calling it “a moral and ethical issue” — the measure injects a dose of common sense into a justice system gone off the tracks....

This should be a liberal issue by all rights. How many times have I heard the right wing complain about liberal language when it comes to calling prisons, a campus. By all rights the right wing should be up in arms about reducing sentencing demands and shortening prison time and even discharging prisoners that have served longer than current sentencing for the same crime. 

This issue is also a right wing issue now. Rand Paul and other right wing politicians are embarrassing this. Why? Is it because they found compassion in their years? No. They found MONEY. The liberals want to 'do the right thing' for people and put crime into perspective to even end the death sentence. But, for right wingers, it is about money. So, as long as the political climate is ripe for it, the right wingers will end all the harsh sentencing in states and federal laws.

This was on the same ballot in which Jerry Brown won his fourth term and three Republicans won their elections. 

The idea that Democratic campaigns should involve women and minorities in their priorities in nationwide elections is clearly a priority. Women and minorities can be found in the Republican Party, but, only under a microscope. Ben Carson is out there running for President already. A lovely young black woman won a Republican campaign at the federal level and I don't think was based in the War on Women. 

This is the second year the Democratic Party has been off message for federal elections in off year elections. 2010 victories for Republicans set up horrible gerrymandered districts. Now, 2014 saw Republican back in seats they once occupied in 2008. Six years should have shown those electorates how Democrats can provide for them as well as Republicans. That didn't happen. 

Off year elections are every bit as important as presidential year elections. BUT, the focus is different. The off year elections have to be run by those running with priorities important to their state. The Colorado defeat of Senator Udall was about the most important defeat in 2014. It proved national issues don't play well during off year elections.

I want someone heading up the Democratic Party that has vast experience in running and wining in red states. The Democrats are successful in winning in off year elections in their traditional Democratic districts and states, but, they aren't where the color is red predominantly.

Rush Limbaugh set up the Democrats to lose and they did it throughout their races at the Senate level. The Democrats need new people infusing the focus of their elections. And President Obama is correct, cable news is too distracting with subjects that are nonsense in elections opposed to real issues, hence he doesn't watch it.

While a party chairperson has to be aware of the slander from the right, that has to be sift through to what really matters and redirect the nonsense to issues based in reality.

The Dems were on complete defense.

November 2, 2014
By Glen Thrush and Carrie Budoff Brown

...Obama, (click here) for so long the man with the bright future, has hated being relegated to a sidelined pariah in the midterms—even if it is the inevitable lot of a second-termer with approval ratings hovering in the low 40s—according to a dozen current and former Obama advisers we spoke with in recent days. He both resents the narrative that he’s basically irrelevant and doesn’t much relish the fact that many of his longest-serving staffers, the remnant core of his once-buzzing and brash White House, are strapping themselves to ejector seats. More than anything, Obama’s loathing for Washington, an attitude that reads as ennui to outsiders, has hardened into a sullen resignation at being trapped in a broken system he failed to change, advisers told us....

The Dems let FOX News and the right wing media define the 2014 elections in faux priorities setting President Obama in the shadows.

There was no initiative for the future and the needed work Democrats need to conduct from the Senate and House to move the country forward. It was the worst campaign ever fought. 

I will never believe polls again. Where are they made in the basement next to the water heater of every news room in the country!

A fire wall? It wasn't even a fire extinguisher.

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Republicans (click here) are aiming to deal Democrats a decisive blow in the closing days of the campaign for control of the U.S. Senate by pouring millions of dollars into three states -- Colorado, Iowa and North Carolina -- that favor Democrats.

“These states are the Democratic firewall,” says Jennifer Duffy, a Senate analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report in Washington. “They’ve got to win most if not all of those.”

Democrats are responding to the advertising blitz with spending of their own, aiming to win over voters that are more closely aligned with their party than in most of the other competitive states....
The war on women was something that came out of a Rush Limbaugh rant about contraception paid for by insurance. It was bad, it was nasty, it should never have happened, but, it happened ...

Please learn from this lesson. Democratic women are very autonomous

within their relationships, not so with Republican women. Please remember where the threats to Women's Rights are stemming. Why would any Democrat running in a red state expect to win on blue state values? 

...Allen won the primary in June (click here) to take the state Senate seat left behind by Democrat Ted Lieu. According to LA Weekly, the Santa Monica-Malibu school board member held a 22-point lead over Fluke after more than half of the votes were in.

Both candidates, who faced off Tuesday after finishing as the top two in the June primary, raised over $1 million for their campaigns....

Sandra Fluke is a very intelligent woman capable of leadership, but, she needs to reassess how she is going to achieve district importance so she can climb the latter to statewide recognition and ultimately nationwide recognition. Her opponent was on the local school board before he ran for state office. I don't know if that will work for Sandra, but, this episode should be telling her to remake herself in an approach that has meaning to the voters, not just to women.

Conversations about race have traditionally been laced with anger and hatred. No more

White people need to talk about white people so they can then understand why there is such a segregation of the races in the USA. If white people understand themselves they can then understand their views of others. When anyone understands their views of others, there can be validation to the facts vs. the prejudice. 

Racism is hatred.

Segregation is prejudice.

Peace is living with the difference, until peace is no longer broken by fear, hatred or prejudice. 

Can you recognize peace?

Is peace silent and undetectable?

If peace is silent and undetectable, how do we protect it?

Does peace need to be protected?

...These interviews (click here) are just the first part in a larger series, and already, they’re valuable. It’s rare that white Americans talk about race. It’s even rarer that they do so on camera. And it’s rarer still that they reveal ignorance, confess to prejudices, and share their fears....

Governor Chris Christi forgot about morality when he went begging for elections funds.

He accepted the Medicaid Expansion in his state. I am sure there are many in New Jersey grateful for it. But, as the Republican Governors' Chairman he forgot about morality and the people who he should have been advocating for, instead, he simply sold the right wing rhetoric.

...“Would you rather have Rick Scott in Florida (click here) overseeing the voting mechanism, or Charlie Crist?” New Jersey Governor Chris Christieasked this week at a Chamber of Commerce event in Washington. “Would you rather have Scott Walker in Wisconsin overseeing the voting mechanism, or would you rather have Mary Burke? Who would you rather have in Ohio, John Kasich or Ed FitzGerald?”

Christie went on, “The fact is it doesn’t matter if you don’t really care what happens in these states, you’re going to care about who is running the state in November of 2016, what kind of political apparatus they’ve set up and what kind of governmental apparatus they’ve set up to ensure a full and fair election in 2016.”...

When it comes to his run in 2016, will Chris Christie return to his roots and admire the efforts of the State of New Jersey to bring equity in healthcare to the Poor and Lower Middle Class or will he completely dismiss such ambitions and allow the destruction of The Affordable Care Act and the equity it has brought to millions across the USA?

Microcosm in North Carolina is a reflection of the Republicans federal agenda for education.

It isn't scary enough to realize how much education spending is in decline in North Carolina even with a statewide weekly lottery to support it. But, to realize this is the kind of priority Tillis and Burr bring to the US Senate is disquieting.

Guilford County, North Carolina had a one quarter percent increase for spending on education. It was a referendum issue the Guilford County Board of Education hopes the citizens would pass. I haven't seen any Koch Brothers anti-millage ads so I have to assume the odds of defeating it are overwhelming.

This has been the Republican agenda in North Carolina for the previous two years. There was a Republican governor and majority Republican state legislator in NC. 

One might ask why would there be a need for a millage increase throughout Guilford County. The school systems are governed by a county authority and not a local authority. So the taxes for schools all go into one fund for distribution throughout the county.

In 2009, after the global economic crisis, the State of North Carolina cut monies to education across the state. It was significant in every county and in Guilford County is was $22 million. The thing that the cuts never stopped. And today Guilford County is missing nearly $48 million in it's school budget. The quality of public school classroom education is suffering.

October 6, 2009
By Sam A. Heib

...Furthermore, (click here) school systems “should pay special attention to spending on personnel because salary and benefits represent the largest single category of expenditure for public education in North Carolina.” 

This has been far from a normal budget year for any school system. GCS initially thought it would have to contend with as much as $38 million in budget cuts from the state. Making matters worse, Guilford County commissioners, on their own mission to radically streamline their budget, provided practically no relief, granting the school system the same operating budget as last fiscal year.

But the state ended up cutting only $21 million from GCS’ budget, and salaries for the administrative positions were part of the final $4.9 million left over after several revisions. Of the $4.9 million, $3 million was held in reserve for operational expenses or — in a worst-case scenario — if the state ordered the school system to return funds....

In 2013 SAT standings for North Carolina came in 38 out of 51 including the District of Columbia. That is static for North Carolina since 2000. The graduation rate is higher for high school at 83%, but, that has not translated into employment or further education in college. The unemployment rate for 19 year olds in North Carolina has been 25.4%. 

...In 2013, NC state-wide budget cuts (click here) have been making headlines for ending teacher tenure, reducing spending on teacher assistants, and enabling taxpayer money to be spent on private school tuition among other issues.  While this has served as the catalyst for many important conversations, we would like to highlight another important change that potentially affects gifted education:

The heretofore protected and dedicated 4% of funding for academically gifted education has been reclassified as “Flexible Spending” by the NC Legislature via Senate Bill 402. This means LEAs, including Guilford County Schools, are allowed to transfer funding out of AIG/AG programs and use this funding for other educational purposes.

Now, perhaps more than ever, we believe parents, teachers, administrators, and others interested in gifted education should be educated and vigilant about changes to legislation and other matters that affect gifted education. Guilford County PAGE’s mission is to advocate today for a gifted tomorrow, so we can join together to give voice to our gifted students and the education they deserve....

Say good-bye to Talented and Gifted classes. But, spending for incarceration is up regardless of economic collapse.

Black youth (click here) are disproportionately locked up in North Carolina. In 2011, black youth were approximately 26% of the total juvenile population but were 61% of youth admitted to detention centers and 72% of youth committed to YDCs.

North Carolina still spends too much money on locking up youth. During the 2010-11 fiscal year, the Division of Juvenile Justice spent $11,327,783 on detention and $39,884,674 on YDCs. Millions more is spent on throwing 16- and 17-year-olds in jails, prisons and mental health institutions. Taxpayer money could be better spent on prevention, early intervention and community-based alternatives to confinement.

North Carolina is the only state that treats all 16- and 17-year-olds as adults when they are charged with criminal offenses and then denies them the ability to appeal for return to the juvenile system. The decline in juvenile incarceration rates doesn’t include the unknown number of 16- and 17-year-olds in North Carolina’s adult jails and prisons. It also doesn’t include youth ages 13, 14, and 15 who are in adult facilities after being transferred to and convicted in adult criminal court.

Counties in North Carolina were begging for millage to fund their schools, where was Kay Hagan?

...“It is unfortunate the 1/4 cent sales tax (click here) did not receive enough votes to pass in Rockingham County. I appreciate the county commissioners’ willingness to place it on the ballot. There are several capital projects which would have benefited the school system, as well as the community college. The school board and the commissioners will have to review our options and make decisions on addressing the capital needs. It is our hope that the lottery funds for capital needs/debt service will be fully funded at the 40 percent level rather than the current 22 percent. If this were to happen it would be beneficial to both boards. The debt service concern would be less going into the 2015-16 fiscal year.”...

She was fighting the good fight with citizens that had something to say about their experience within the North Carolina education system and under the leadership of Tillis. Her message was spot on for the state, but, she didn't include people like the Board of Education in Guilford County or Rockingham County.

Where was the voice of the Belhaven, N.C. Mayor Adam O'Neal of North
Carolina who lost a hospital to the tactics of the North Carolina Republicans
while citizens were having heart attacks without hope of reaching a hospital in time?

Belhaven, N.C. Mayor Adam O'Neal walks along highway 1 in Stafford, Va on his way to Washington, D.C. O'Neal is walking from the site of the now closed Vidant Pungo Hospital in Belhaven to Washington, D.C. to protest the closure of his town's hospital. 

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/07/28/234665_an-nc-mayor-treks-273-miles-to.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

July 28, 2014
By Tony Pugh

WASHINGTON —  Only four days after the Pungo District Hospital (click here) in Belhaven, N.C., closed its doors for good on July 1, Portia Gibbs suffered a heart attack in neighboring Hyde County, which has no doctors or hospitals.

Residents of Hyde, a sprawling, rural county in eastern North Carolina, had long relied on Pungo for emergency medical care. Now the nearest emergency room was 75 miles away.

More than an hour after a Medevac helicopter was called, Gibbs, 48, died just as the chopper arrived to airlift her to a hospital.

“Before, she would have been given nitroglycerin, put in the back of an ambulance and been to a hospital in about 25 minutes,” said Belhaven Mayor Adam O’Neal. “In that hour that she lived, she would have received 35 minutes of emergency room care and she very well could have survived.”

The memory of Portia Gibbs was alive and well for O’Neal on Monday as he completed a grueling 273-mile walk from his hometown to the U.S. Capitol, where he met with reporters to share his town’s story of losing its only hospital....

These people are still suffering from the inability to have a hospital close enough to them to save their lives. Walking with Mayor Adam O'Neal should have been Kay Hagan to be sure to emphasis the ruthless of the legislators in Raleigh and the man that lead them. That ad should have played in every venue across the USA stating, "It could be you next, if the Affordable Care Act is repealed." Why? Because North Carolina didn't take the Medicaid expansion that would have saved Pungo District Hospital and Portia Gibbs. Now, because the Dems were unable to formulate a message to the people of the USA Portia Gibbs will never know her 49th birthday.

The United Nation's Small Arms Treaty has never been more important.

How is it those that wave the flag and scream "Constitution" at the top of their lungs want foreign oil and a land grab by a Canadian company?

November 5, 2014

Following an election night (click here) that saw anti-Keystone Democrats replaced by pro-Keystone Republicans, the oil-sands pipeline project now appears to have at least 60 supporting votes. That means legislation forcing approval of the long-delayed project may be headed to President Obama. Before the election, at least 57 senators could be counted on to support pro-Keystone legislation, but that was never enough to beat a filibuster from the project's opponents....

Now before the Democrats go on defense and disputing a 60 vote margin, there is a far deeper truth that seems to escape the conversation.

This isn't domestic oil. This isn't Light Sweet American Crude. The Republicans previous to this election has been ranting about "No foreign oil." This is foreign oil. Now, if the Republicans want to say, "It is only over the border in Canada and with the USA's dearest ally, then what is Saudi Arabia, yesterday's left overs?"

This is Bush giving the Prince a kiss on the cheek. Excuse me?

The Home Drilled oil and gas the right wing covets as their own (and who else would, really) was to avoid foreign entanglements. Canada seems to have as terrorists as well. Does that mean when we take Canadian tar sands oil, the USA is open to terrorists attacks? Because that is what is implied by the statement, "No foreign oil." According to the Republicans foreign oil comes fully equipped with al Qaeda and downed buildings. So, Canada is different?

February 28, 2014
By Elizabeth McGowan

...The proposed 36-inch-diameter pipeline, (click here) the controversial Keystone XL, is part of an infrastructure designed to pump up to 900,000 barrels per day of heavy crude oil from the tar sands mines in the province of Alberta to refineries along the Gulf Coast.

"They came out here with an offer and we said no," Lynn told SolveClimate News in an interview about TransCanada's quest for the legal right to cross part of her property, known as an easement. "This land was left to us kids. When somebody comes in and tells us they're going to take our land, well they're barking up the wrong tree."

Oklahoma attorney Harlan Hentges filed the legal challenge on behalf of Lynn and the other children and grandchildren of the late A.L. and Dollie White at the state district court in Durant.

"The prospect of a foreign company using the U.S. law to take land from U.S. citizens, this is problematic," he said in an interview.

"I think we have a strong case but the deck is stacked against the individual and in favor of the fossil fuels industry," continued Hentges, a lawyer since 1992. "That industry has invested a lot into making sure things are in their favor since the beginning of statehood."...

I had to do a double take on this one. The USA State Department and/or US States were willing to provide 'Right of Way' to a foreign company. This is a right wing issue both in allowing the pipeline and protecting the country from foreign interests. 

First, the USA isn't going to accept any foreign oil and then next thing the right wing is siding up to foreign oil in Canada. First the USA is to be a sovereign nation without any foreign impingement, then it is okay to sell vast amounts of land as an easement to a Canadian company. That is talking out both sides of your mouth by the right wing. 

That isn't even the frosting on the cake. The real issue is the length of the pipeline, it's destination and ultimately the destination of the tar. There is also the ability of any pipeline to maintain it's integrity with 50% naphtha flowing inside it. There is also the PRIMARY issue of the climate crisis. But, for simplicity, which seems to be the Republican talent, let's just look at the foreign oil and right of way issues.

How is it Republicans turned on a dime to state Canadian oil is the same as American oil? It isn't. And how did the Republicans gloss over any indication American land was going to a Canadian right of way. And it isn't simply a small short jog to a port somewhere, it is right down the middle of the USA to refineries in Texas. And how is it, the refineries in Texas are even a part of a scheme to transport Canadian tar sands all over the world?

I would think Canada would see this as their resource and that of generations of Canadians and if the time ever comes where they need it, it would be there. Additionally, why aren't Texas Oil Men building a refinery in Canada? Why don't Texas Oil Men value a sovereign USA as much as it's citizens do? Why endanger a precious aquifer at all?

The Democrats should have been all over this thing in elections making more noise than anyone else, especially realizing how people like A.L. and Dollie White's decedents are staunchly opposed to losing an inch of their land? Are the Dems on the payroll for TransCanada, too?

There were a lot of people that are also voters standing against this mess coming across the country and they are absolutely correct. All one needs to do is point to the aquifers in California and what happened there to make the case for protecting sovereign American farm land.

I am sure no one is going to like this, but, the DNC needs a chairperson from a red state, not California.

Subprime lending is still a nightmare today. The American people have to understand the evil in lack of regulation.

 While the Bush years saw so many in their own home for the first time through a secondary mortgage market, it was never real while wealth was garnered by those lending the monies. It was the banks that fell into bankruptcy, not their executives. The clients simply had to accept foreclosure and find a way to move on.

June 6, 2014

Foreclosure's Persistent Threat to New York City and It's Minority Communities

....After years of suffering, (click here) this is a struggle that the nation is finally starting to rise from. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the delinquency rate for mortgage loans fell 6.39% nationwide at the close of 2013’s fourth quarter.

1 This represents the lowest level since the beginning of 2008. On top of that the foreclosure rate fell 2.86%; again the lowest since 2008.Unfortunately, despite this rebound the foreclosure crisis persists in numerous areas throughout the country. In fact, the third highest foreclosure rate resides here in New York. This finding led Bloomberg News to conclude that the “epicenter of the U.S. foreclosure crisis” is now firmly implanted in our State.

2 In fact, this year foreclosures are on the rise again in New York City.

3 Not only are foreclosure notices up 15% from the previous year, but foreclosure activity in the region experienced an annual increase in 21 of the past 23 months. While New Yorkers suffer, many of the financial institutions behind these mortgages continue to see their profits increase. Last year, commercial banks and savings institutions earned a net income of $154.7 billion.

4 Moreover, in 2013’s fourth quarter these institutions reported a net 
income of $40.3 billion, marking the 17th time in the last 18 quarters that earnings saw an annual increase!...

The Democrats have to stop being on defense. They have to be on offensive to bring the real message to citizens. Don't answer the attacks until consumers first hear the message that is more important than politics. Don't play the FOX game. Go on offensive, fight for the rights of citizens again and let everyone else answer the Democrats' message.

The conversation has to be about what needs to be changed in America, not the differences in parties.

October 30 2014

To protect students (click here) at career colleges from becoming burdened by student loan debt they cannot repay, today the U.S. Department of Education is announcing regulations to ensure that these institutions improve their outcomes for students—or risk losing access to federal student aid. These regulations will hold career training programs accountable for putting their students on the path to success, and they complement action across the Administration to protect consumers and prevent and investigate fraud, waste and abuse, particularly at for-profit colleges.

How did the USA get here? How is it there are so many career colleges that have no promise of good paying jobs at the end of that education? How is it students don't know the follies of enrolling and taking loans for such an education? Why isn't this common knowledge to every parent, student and high school?

"Career colleges must be a stepping stone to the middle class. But too many hard-working students find themselves buried in debt with little to show for it. That is simply unacceptable," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. "These regulations are a necessary step to ensure that colleges accepting federal funds protect students, cut costs and improve outcomes. We will continue to take action as needed."...

Career Colleges are not Community Colleges. How did so many Americans go astray of good paying jobs while burdened with such debt?

During the Bush White House there were vast changes made to bankruptcy laws. While that is somewhat of a good idea, BEFORE, any of those changes were made, no one bothered to tell the American people about the trap they were falling into in areas where they are vulnerable such as these Career Colleges.

If the government wants citizens to take serious steps toward a good and sound financial footing, then when will they first take the step to prevent pitfalls such as this?

Propagating hatred is easy to execute elections, but, sustaining and growing 'the promise' is difficult in the absence of the promise itself.

...To fund the initiative, (click here) the RSLC raised more than $30 million in 2009-2010, and invested $18 million after Labor Day 2010 alone. Specifically, the RSLC:

• Spent $1.4 million targeting four New York State Senate seats, winning two and control of the New York State Senate. (-2 Congressional seats).
• Spent nearly $1 million in Pennsylvania House races, targeting and winning three of the toughest races in the state. (-1 Congressional seat).
• Spent nearly $1 million in Ohio House races, targeting six seats, five of which were won by Republicans. Notably, President Obama carried five of these six legislative districts in 2008. (-2 Congressional seats).
• Spent $1 million in Michigan working with the Michigan House Republican Campaign Committee and Michigan Republican Party to pick up 20 seats. (-1 Congressional seat).
• Spent $750,000 in Texas as part of an effort that resulted in 22 House pick-ups. (+4 Congressional seats).
• Spent $1.1 million in Wisconsin to take control of the Senate and Assembly.
• Committed resources to Colorado (more than $550,000) and North Carolina (more than $1.2 million).
• The RSLC also invested more than $3 million across a number of other states including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington. (Five of these eleven states gained or lost Congressional seats).

Election Day 2010 proved to be a “wave” election nationally, in both REDMAP targeted states and others across the country....

It's Sunday Night

"Here I Am Alive" By Yellowcard (click here for official website)


If I could write to the kid I was before, 
I'd tell him you'll get everything you ever wanted, 
But you will still want more.
Someone's going to tell you
Who should want to be 
So you'll forget the vision that they didn't want to see
And when they give up, cause they will give up say
Here I am alive.

They say you don't grow up
You just grow old, 
It's safe to say I haven't done both 
I made mistakes, I know, I know
But here I am alive.
So many people close to me cut me down, 
This is supposed to be a bad luck town
I jumped, I fell, I hit the ground.
But here I am alive.

If I could write to myself
When I was on top of it all,
I'd say you're going overboard
and when you're falling 
You're gonna feel so small, 
Someone's gonna tell you that you deserve the worst, 
They'll say you're never coming back
And tell you that you're cursed.
And when they give up, cause they always give up.
Say, here I am alive.

They say you don't grow up
You just grow old, 
It's safe to say I haven't done both 
I made mistakes, I know, I know
But here I am alive.
So many people close to me cut me down, 
This is supposed to be a bad luck town
I jumped, I fell, I hit the ground.
But here I am alive.

(Alive alive alive alive alive)

And when they give up, cause they will give up
Say: Here I am alive! 
When they give up, cause they always give up
Say: Here I am alive! 

They say you don't grow up
You just grow old, 
It's safe to say I haven't done both
I made mistakes, I know, I know
But here I am alive.
So many people close to me cut me down, 
This is supposed to be a bad luck town
I jumped, I fell, I hit the ground.
But here I am alive.

Here I am alive! 
Here I am alive! 
Here I am alive! 
Here I am alive! 

If I could write to the kid I was before

What will the next two years look like?

54. March 14, 2014: The House voted (click here) to repeal the 

sustainable growth rate and make improvements to Medicare payments made to physicians and other medical professionals. It passed 238 to 181 with 12 Democratic "yes" votes.

March 14, 2016: The Senate voted 54 times to repeal Obamacare with 55 pass and 45 no. The president once again vetoed the measure.

The Republicans have openly stated, "We will vote on bills to send to the president until he becomes weary of it. "

The Congressional House has been in chronic protest of the president since the elections of 2010.  Now, it will be the entire Congress, House and Senate, that will protest this president until January 20, 2017.

Is this the kind of government the American people want? A government that accomplishes nothing and remains sequestered into the corners of political extremism? Is this the way Americans define their freedom now to prevent destruction of the US Constitution completely? When are Americans going to act better than sheep in their choices at the polls? Have the assaults on our democracy as demonstrated by the breakdown in The Voting Rights Act caused Americans to take a defensive stand against their federal government so that stalemate after stalemate is a victory for the people?

The President isn't going to grow weary of anything, because the Republicans are a bunch of crackpots and plutocrats.

Senator Thune has said the Republicans don't intend to do anything, except, pass a military appropriation bill until next year. 

That is setting up the failure of bipartisanship for the next two years. Congress has a perfect opportunity to set the tone for the next two years by moving nominations for the President's cabinet forward now. But, that isn't what is occurring. Obviously, the lunch with the President was one of never ending tensions.

I fully expect Congress to use their new majority to continue the politics to 2016 without accomplishing anything significant legislatively. The gridlock will continue and the Republicans will continue to play political games. 

The Republicans don't have to work at their jobs. They are funded by huge amounts of money that purchase their elections. The do nothing Congress is something the American people will have to get used to. If purchasing elections time after time is the only method that works, those elected don't have to do anything. They can collect their paychecks without ability or ambition.