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A Take on Newt — from Alan Grayson
12/27/2011

I am so enjoying my emails from former Florida congressman Alan Grayson, who is running to get his old seat back. You may remember him as the guy who said that the Republican health care plan is "don't get sick and if you get sick die quickly." He was endlessly attacked – but it turned out that IS the Republican health care plan. (Remember "Repeal and replace"? Heard anything about "replace" lately?)

Grayson's emails are bold, humorous, entertaining, and on target. It's worth subscribing to his email list just to read them (Sure, he asks for money from time to time, but at least he gives you something worth reading.)

Go here to subscribe: http://congressmanwithguts.com/

I thought his email today, talking about soon-to-be-former front runner (like Cain and Bachmann and Perry before him, he's collapsing in the polls) Newt Gingrich was especially worth sharing:

Dear Anastasia,

As remarkable as it may seem, we can no longer exclude the possibility that the Republican Party will nominate Newt Gingrich for President. And it’s remarkable for this reason: that apart from Sarah Palin, there is no major public figure in America today with such an attenuated connection to reality.

Many people have flailed Newt for being a philanderer; a corporate shill; a crass greedhead; an egomaniac; and a cranky, crabby, crotchety, caustic, cantankerous, choleric cus. All of that may be true, but I think that it may miss the point. The point is that Newt is wrong, wrong, wrong. Consistently wrong. Shockingly wrong. Newt Gingrich is the Emily Litella of politics.

Not exactly what we are looking for in a President.

How can I put this politely? Newt is not astute. Newt’s grasp of things is minute. Newt’s credibility is in disrepute. What Newt says in not hard to refute. When it comes to understanding what goes on, Newt is not acute. When Newt is talking, the truth is often lost enroute.

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Congressional candidate Angela Zimmann (Oh-05) parodies Rick Perry commercial
12/27/2011

Maybe Rick Perry is too dumb to realize yet that his infamous anti-gay "Strong" commercial wasn't a good idea. But given the spate of parodies, the Perry advisor who thought it was a terrible idea now looks like a genius. Ohio congressional candidate Angela Zimmann, who is running in the 5th district in northwestern Ohio against incumbent Republican congressman Bob "Special Interest Lackey" Latta is the latest to do a take on it.

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Redfern claims: "Another victory" on reapportionament
12/27/2011

Or "how to put lipstick on a pig."

I'm with Anastasia on this one!

The partisan split is the same 12- 4 divide as the GOP rammed through in the first place. The best thing about the final map is that Lucas county and Toledo are reduced from three districts to two (When they should be in one...). But now we have the terrifying prospect of Dennis the Menace to Society running in the "minority-majority" district and squeaking through because of the resulting three way split in votes. Frankly, even then, I hope he'll get clobbered. I see no way that he can win and might very well finish last. If he runs against Marcy, in the Ninth District, she will clean his clock.

This is a defeat for both democracy and Democrats. Giving these U.S. House seats to guaranteed GOP control for at least the next ten years is a setback for the whole country.

NONE of these districts in Ohio can be described as "competitive." This nonsense is a major underlying cause as to why Americans have come to hate government in general and Congress, specifically.

And as far as the "bipartisan" reapportionment commission goes, it has NO CHANCE of producing any meaningful change whatsoever. It is Ohio's version The Great Cat Food Commission. (National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform) It's strictly putting lipstick on a pig to make this abject defeat seem like some sort of compromise.

A special heaping of disgrace goes to those "Democrats" in the General Assembly who supported this abomination because they somehow think it's in their narrow self-interest. Their justifications are delusional.

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Oh lookee — actual jobs bills!
12/27/2011

http://sutton.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=24&sectiontree=23,24&itemid=...

"Rep. Sutton Introduces '?American Jobs First' Initiative"

Ohio's own Betty Sutton is actually proposing something constructive, just like she did with Cash for Clunkers. Unfortunately, these four bills are being proposed by a Democrat so of course, they won't get anywhere in the Republican House controlled by the likes of election rigger John Boehner and nasty little Eric Can'tor.

Sutton said

“The ‘American Jobs First’ initiative is a common-sense plan that will give American manufacturers the tools they need to put people back to work. At a time when Americans are looking to Congress to work together, the ‘American Jobs First’ initiative presents a real opportunity to set aside our differences and focus on real job creation in this country. I urge Speaker Boehner to bring these bills to the floor for a vote and show the American people that we can truly put American jobs first.

Oh Betty, you are such a jokester. Yes, Boehner is just been a job-creating dynamo! Maybe in some other universe.

Here are the common-sense, low-cost things she's proposing:

H.R. 1684: Keep American Jobs from Going Down the Drain Act (35 co-sponsors): Requires that any funds made available through the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act spent on the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public water system are spent on American made materials.

H.R. 3645: American Jobs Preservation Act (12 co-sponsors): Requires the Secretary of Transportation to consider the impact on waiving ‘Buy America’ provisions on American manufacturers and jobs.

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Democrats in legislature "compromise:' HB 319 repeal dead
12/27/2011

Well, I guess we must have been on track to get those signatures to repeal the congressional map aka HB 319. The Republicans in the legislature came back to the table today — mostly because they were trying to unite the two costly primaries their intransigence required.

But I am not happy about this. The new "tweaked" map at first glance doesn't appear to be much of an improvement on the previous one. And after the release on Monday of the Ohio Redistricting Transparency Report, spearheaded by the League of Women Voters of Ohio and Ohio Citizen Action, we had the momentum and the support and a big weapon to use as a club for some major concessions. No map derivative of the one the GOP created in secrecy, outside the prescribed legislative process, should have been allowed to stand. And we WERE on track to get the signatures as well.

People like me have spent the last month and a half — our pre-holiday time — diligently gathering signatures to repeal the GOP-created Congressional map that gives them a 12-4 advantage in a 50/50 state and creates no competitive districts. Now we find that our efforts have been thrown to the wind, without our getting very much in return.

Oh, but we are getting such a special Christmas gift in return! (You'll have to forgive my sarcasm here). The big box with the shiny ribbon contains a "task force" made up of legislators, half from each party, to study districting reform. Yeah, I'm so sure that will produce stellar results.

I mean, why would it? The Republicans got the lopsided map they wanted for the next decade. Why on earth would they want "reform"? At best, they'll probably propose what Secretary of State Jon Husted was talking about a month or two ago, doing "bipartisan" reform — in 2021. But why would they be sincere NOW?

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Ohio legislature's War on Women produces mixed results today
12/27/2011

After wasting the days before holiday recess holding multiple hearings on abortion, the Ohio state senate passed the clearly unconstitutional while shelving the "Heartbeat" Bill (probably so they can waste more time in the next session holding more hearings while not doing anything about the real crises our state faces).

Kellie Copeland of NARAL Pro Choice Ohio writes:

This has been a dark year for the women of Ohio, with the introduction of ten separate bills to limit access to abortion and family planning services, and four of them passing the Ohio General Assembly. We are happy to see that H.B. 125, a ban on abortion before most women realize they are pregnant, has been shelved indefinitely by Senate President Niehaus, but we are disheartened that he continued the war on women by passing H.B. 79 this afternoon.”

By passing one bill after another to restrict the ability of Ohio women to make their own private, personal medical decisions, the Ohio Legislature is ignoring the will of their constituents. With the passage of H.B. 79 and the countless hours of testimony in committee over the last week on H.B. 125, the “heartbeat” abortion ban, the Ohio Senate is demonstrating their lack of concern about our broken economy and the millions of Ohioans out of work.”

H.B. 79 will outlaw non-therapeutic abortion coverage in the to-be-created health insurance exchanges as laid out in the Affordable Care Act. This will even apply to Ohioans who are paying for their health insurance with their own private dollars. By banning coverage for abortion, H.B. 79 is in direct conflict with the Ohio Constitution under the recently passed Issue 3, which states that the Ohio cannot prohibit the sale of health care or health insurance. The ACLU has announced that they will challenge H.B. 79 in court.

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Franklin County HB 319 repeal petition signing info
12/27/2011

Here is a list of times/locations that folks in Franklin County can sign the petition to repeal the reprehensible congressional map:

HB 319 Petition Signing Locations

Monday - Friday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Ohio Democratic Party Office
340 E. Fulton Street, Columbus, OH 43215

Wednesday, December 14
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Whetstone Public Library
3909 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43215

Thursday, December 15
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Whetstone Public Library
3909 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43215

Friday, December 16
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Whetstone Public Library
3909 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43215

2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Upper Arlington Public Library
2800 Tremont Road, Upper Arlington, OH 43221

Saturday, December 17
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Whetstone Public Library
3909 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43215

2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Upper Arlington Public Library
2800 Tremont Road, Upper Arlington, OH 43221

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HB 319 repeal signing tomorrow in Toledo for Northwest Ohio
12/27/2011

Tom Galloway will be at the University of Toledo Student Union tomorrow (Wednesday, December 14) with petitions for most of Northwest Ohio Counties. Stop by between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to add your signature and help us repeal this reprehensible congressional map!

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Chris Redfern returns to his "roots"
12/27/2011

I realize that I am completely "out of the loop" nowadays, but when I heard that Dennis Murray was giving up his seat in the Ohio House, I didn't grasp that he was doing so in order to give Chris Redfern back his old seat.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2011/12/08/Ohio-s-top-Dem-pursues-ol...

In the past, this District, which includes Ottawa and Erie counties, was called the "80th" District.

In 2010, the District gave 20,220 votes for Murray and 19,359 for his GOP opponent (49.06% to 46.97% with just less than four percent going to a Libertarian.) In 2008, the Democratic margin was slightly larger: 30,262 to 26,603 (53.22% to 46.78%) But the last time that Redfern ran in the District (2006) it was a romp: 27,870 to 16,122 (63.35% to 36.65%)

I guess that the Republicans must have seen this coming, as they have fielded only the bare minimum of a "name on the ballot" candidate... Poor kid, I was a poli sci major once (long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away...)

I hadn't noticed any discussion about this in the Ohio 'sphere and just wanted to hear what others have to say about Chairman 'Fern's plans. Any thoughts? Probably no surprise to anyone.

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Love this — would explain a lot
12/27/2011

http://www.borowitzreport.com/2011/12/16/conspiracy-theorists-believe-ac...

"Conspiracy Theorists Believe Actual Republican Candidates Are Tied Up Somewhere: Obama a Prime Suspect"

There’s no way that these people are the actual candidates,” said Tracy Klugian, a leading conspiracy theorist who subscribes to the warehouse theory. “The American people need to stand up and demand the return of the real ones.”

“When the most sensible person onstage is Ron Paul,” he said, “you know that what you’re witnessing is an elaborate hoax.”

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State legislators continue to waste our time and tax dollars on abortion debate
12/27/2011

So the two weeks before Christmas in our statehouse, our legislature is devoting all day every day to one issue. Is it unemployment? Hunger? Foreclosure?

Nope — it's abortion. And as we've already mentioned, they are debating a stinky bouquet of bills that are most likely ALL unconstitutional, creating still another level of waste of our tax dollars when all are challenging in court.

This week, right now, hearings on going on over the atrocious "heartbeat" bill which would essentially ban all abortions — no exceptions — and make Ohio's the most extreme and backward law in the country. It is a grotesque abuse of government power and invasion of government into the most private decisions — by a group of legislators who laughably claim to be for smaller government. And a bill this extreme is almost certainly opposed by a comfortable majority of the state's citizens.

Hearing were still going on at 7:30 this evening, and pro-choice activists packed the statehouse. They'll continue tomorrow starting at noon, and you are invited to come if you support the right of women to make one of the most personal and life-changing decisions she will ever make.

If you cannot make it down, please please please call committee chairman Scott Oelslager at 877-810-9757 and tell him to stop House Bill 125. Tell him Ohioans do not want government making their medical choices and they DO want the legislature to create some jobs so parents can support BORN children.

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No honor among thieves
12/27/2011

So even while they are scheming and plotting to sabotage democracy and the electoral process in Ohio, the Republicans are kniving each other in the back.

http://thebellwetherdaily.blogspot.com/2011/12/heimlichs-wife-recuited-b...

While they plot behind closed doors to basically disenfranchise every Ohioan with their congressional map (because no vote will make any difference in these rigged districts), they are eating their own. Kasich in his power lust to call all the shots in the party and the state is alienating long-time activists, the people who make the calls and do the work on the ground and ... boy, this sounds familiar. Democrats doing that put Kasich into office to begin with — although I must say the bullying of the Kasich thugs makes the actions of Strickland's political operatives look benign by comparison (and I don't think I would accuse Strickland of Kasich-style power lust, just short-sightedness and perhaps a loyalty to the wrong people).

I also want to say that it is good to see out friend Bill Sloat in Cincinnati blogging regularly again at the Daily Bellwether after months of relative inactivity. Bookmark his site to keep up with what's going on in the southwestern sector of our state:
http://thebellwetherdaily.blogspot.com/

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So the Republicans continue to block Rich Cordray
12/27/2011

refusing to confirm him to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — not because they don't like Cordray but because they don't like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

http://consumerist.com/2011/12/senate-blocks-vote-on-confirmation-of-ric...

In fact, they dislike the very idea of consumer protection, apparently feeling that continuing to ratchet up public district in the financial system is somehow good for the country and that blocking people from having the information they need to keep from getting ripped off is somehow fair.

If they believe this (and it's clear they do), then Rich Cordray is certainly their worst nightmare, given his track record as Ohio's attorney general fighting for citizens against the predations of large corporations and financial institutions. The New York Times spotlighted his victories in winning back millions for the state.

The LA Times points out in this editorial entitled "Consumers loses as GOP moves against nominee for new consumer bureau" who really loses in this GOP obstruction.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/09/business/la-fi-lazarus-20111209

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-12-10/opinion/opinion_martin-gop-block_1_

This CNN opinion piece says:

By forcing the Senate to meet the 60-vote threshold, the GOP effectively prevented Cordray from taking control of the office. By not having a full-time director, the bureau, already approved by Congress and signed into law by Obama, can only do a limited number of things.

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Read this & then go sign an HB 319 repeal petition NOW
12/27/2011

http://www.progressohio.org/blog/2011/12/report-on-republican-gerrymande...

We'd been hearing rumblings last week that this was coming and here it is: a report by a consortium of groups supporting fair elections on just how corrupt and secretive the process of drawing the new Ohio district maps was.

We already knew a lot of this - at least what the general outline looked like. We saw a map appear out of thin air and pushed through in less than 48 hours, allowing no time for study or public input. We saw that it clearly failed to even acknowledge the statewide public hearings the legislature sponsored, which turned out to be shams, nor did they ever seriously consider any outside input or rational democratic criteria.

And the map is so bad that virtually every one of this state's generally conservative newspapers has begged and pleaded with Republicans to come back to the table and be reasonable.

But just how far they went in creating this power grab of a map is still shocking. And we MUST tell the they cannot have this map. It does not fairly represent Ohio's voters, it is designed to cause confusion and prevent people from participating in their government, and it is too much of an affront to everything our country stands for. If you have not signed the petition to repeal HB 319, please do so as soon as you can.

There is a map of signing locations here:
http://ohiodems.org/hb319_signing_petitions/

Or call your county Democratic Party.

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HB 194 repeal officially on the November 2012 ballot
12/27/2011

Well, we did it: the voter suppression bill HB 194, passed by the legislature this summer, will go to the voters in November 2012. Petition circulators gathered more than 300,000 valid signatures, well above the 231,150 required to make the ballot.

http://www.progressohio.org/blog/2011/12/secretary-of-state-husted-certi...

The bill threw up dozens of roadblocks to voting, including shrinking early voting periods, prohibiting the mails of absentee ballot applications, loosening campaign finance regulations, setting minimum sizes for urban polling places that would likely increase congestion, tightening up the rules for referendums to make it more difficult for voters to vote on onerous legislation like SB 5, HB 194, and HB 319, and much much more.

Here's the letter from secretary of state Jon Husted to the committee that spearheaded the signature collection effort:

http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/news/20111209.pdf

Not only did Fair Elections Ohio collect 307,358 valid signatures, it also reached the threshhold of 3% of the votes cast in the last governor's race in 64 of 88 counties. It was required to do so in 44.

The campaign to keep the legislation will probably focus on the alleged economies this bill brings about, the supposed "level playing field" it creates by imposing a blanket set of rules on the whole state — never mind that imposing identical rules on a very diverse state creates winners and losers when it comes to ease of voting — and of course, "voter fraud," which is basically nonexistent. But then, what's the big deal in preventing tens of thousands of people from voting to maybe prevent two or three cases of voter fraud?

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Big rally against Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid cuts tomorrow in Cleveland
12/27/2011

I kind of wish all the people staging rallies would get together and focus on one thing. I know of four rallies in Cleveland over a period of five days. That's going to spread the activists thin. But tomorrow, Saturday, starting at noon at Public Square, there is a biggie that will feature three of the four congresspersons who represent a piece of Cuyahoga County (the fourth is a Republican). Marcia Fudge, Betty Sutton & Dennis Kucinich will be among the speakers at the March & Rally for No Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The rally will be followed by a march to the Federal Building a few blocks away. The rally is advocating for reducing the debt by cutting military spending, closing corporate tax loopholes and ending the Bush tax cuts which mainly benefited the rich. It's being sponsored by a big coalition of organizations which I'll post at the end.

Additional speakers Harriet Applegate of the North Shore AFL-CIO
Federation of Labor; Rev. Tony Minor of the Metropolitan Lutheran Church; Becka
Hawkins, representing Occupy Cleveland; Khalid Samad of Peace in the Hood; Wynne Antonio of the Senior Voice Retiree Council; Nina McLellan, Peace Action; Amy Hanauer from Policy Matters; Debbie Kline of Jobs with Justice; April Stoltz of the National Association of Letter Carriers (ret,); David Anthony from the Akron Education Association; Rachel DeGolia of the Universal Health Care Action Network; Greg Coleridge from Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee; and Jerry Gordon from the Emergency Labor Network.

The coalition's press release says:

On November 23, the Joint Select Committee on Budgetary Reform failed to reach agreement on a budget for deficit reduction. The failure of the "Super
Committee" means that automatic cuts will impact safety net programs such as
Medicare. These cuts will begin on January 1, 2013 and will affect millions of
hard-working and retired Americans.

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HB 319 repeal signing in Northwest Ohio, Wood County, tomorrow
12/27/2011

Look for Tom Galloway tomorrow from 2-4:30 p.m. at Nedley's Ice Cream and Coffee Cafe (former Baskin & Robins), 200 E. South Boundary, Perrysberg. They also have dozens of flavors of ice cream, chocolate treats, and fair-trade coffees, so that should make the trip worthwhile.

http://www.nedleys-hershey.net/

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Non-Jobs bills advance in Ohio legislature
12/27/2011

Boy, that Republican-led "All Jobs, All the Time" legislature in Columbus is sure busy going into the holidays. They are just a veritable flurry of activity, working hard to assure that parents can bring a child into the world, confident they can feed, clothe, and educate him — and not be forced to have an abortion because they are economically overwhelmed.

Or not.

Here's what we are hearing from our friends at Planned Parenthood — the organization that has probably prevented more abortions than all the anti-choice legislatures combined, thanks to its CORE work of providing accurate sex information and access to affordable contraception:

Within a 24 hour time period this week, anti-choice legislators in the Ohio Senate advanced three - yes 3! - proposals aimed at restricting women's access
to health care. In a time when over half a million Ohioans are out of work, our
Senators are spending the last days of the 2011 session trying to legislate
private medical decisions when they should be creating jobs and putting people
back to work.

The Ohio Senate's priorities have been demonstrated in their actions this week:

* Tuesday at 2PM: Hearing on SB201 to defund Planned Parenthood.
* Tuesday at 4PM: Hearing on HB79 to ban insurance coverage of abortion care.
* Wednesday at 1PM: Hearing on HB125 to ban all abortions without exceptions
for rape or incest once a heartbeat is detected.

Two of these bills are inherently unconstitutional. Even more egregious, all
three of these bills would create a significant financial burden for the state
and waste even more taxpayer dollars.

Planned Parenthood is deeply concerned that our elected leaders are so aggressively focused on advancing policies that will harm so many people. Unlike the Senate leaders who have prioritized advancing these dangerous policies, Planned Parenthood believes the people of Ohio need and deserve access to affordable health care and information.

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Clermont Count HB 319 event and signing Tuesday Dec. 13
12/27/2011

Hey Clermont County — we know that even though the county is the bulwark of Jean Schmidt's support, not all of you are on that particular page. And those of you that aren't might want to get yourselves, and your family and friends, down to the Amelia Library, 55 Maple Street, in Amelia, this coming Tuesday, December 13, from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

A League of Women Voters speaker will talk about fair districting — something of a fantasy in Ohio right now — and how HB 319 has created a map that is radically unfair to voters and discourages citizen participation. There will be volunteers outside the library collecting signatures to repeal HB 319.

So come on down, learn, and sign.

here's the event page:
http://www.clermontdems.org/ht/display/EventDetails/i/1363714/pid/276805

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Gov. signs constitutional abortion bill
12/27/2011

Well, he's gone and done it. Of course. The gov, put his signature on H.B. 79, a bill that pretty much everyone knows is unconstitutional thanks to ballot Issue 3, passed in November by the very people who support H.B. 79! How despicable and dishonest is that?

H.B. 79 is the bill that would ban women from purchasing insurance with abortion coverage WiTH THEIR OWN MONEY in the new health care exchange created under the federal Affordable Care Act. Issue 3 banned the state from making any changes in health insurance regulations following the date of that act's passage so of course this cannot take effect. it's all theater.

The ACLU already has said they will challenge the H.B. 79 in court.

http://www.acluohio.org/issues/ReproductiveRights/default.asp

Yes, I'm on hiatus but I had to get this out. The gov. doesn't stop being dishonest and pandering to the far-right crazies just because it's the season of peace and good will.

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Protesting fracking in Youngstown
12/27/2011

This happened in late November but I wanted to get this out there before I take a brief holiday hiatus.

On November 30, a small group of protestors gathered outside D&L Energy in Youngstown to try to block trucks carrying brine water, a byproduct of fracking, that many believe could endanger the water supply for millions of people. Seven of the protestors were arrested in an act of deliberate civil disobedience when they refused to move. They included five Oberlin students (never let it be said that Oberlin students don't stand behind their strong left-wing beliefs!), Oberlin graduate Ben Shapiro who has been active in Cleveland Occupy and the local sustainable farming movement, and a 61-year-old veteran from nearby Warren, Sean O'Toole.

Here's video of the protest:

"Fracking attracted my attention, because it represents a terrifying future for Ohio and the rest of the world," says Annie Lukins, one of the Oberlin students. "What really made me decide to get arrested is when I found out there have been no arrests of individuals taking direct action at fracking sites in the United States. It seems protests against it have been pretty low key. That’s disastrous considering how important this issue is for the future of energy in the United States.

It's interesting how matter-of-factly the Youngstown Vindicator reports,

There have been seven earthquakes with epicenters near the D&L well this year — the first earthquakes recorded with epicenters in the Valley, prompting protesters to visit the site.

Geologists have said earthquakes can be a result of injection wells.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/dec/01/staff-report/

Seriously? And they don't find that even a little alarming?

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Last-ditch PUMAs — or something else?
12/27/2011

Well, this is interesting. I got home today to find a robocall voice message that said,

"America would be better off today if Hillary Clinton was our President. The Wall Street robber barons would be jailed, young people could afford college and find jobs, and six million homeowners wouldn’t face foreclosure [and the streets would be paved with gold and every child would get a pony for Christmas.] We need to change course. Please sign our petition to draft Hillary Clinton for president. Visit runhillary2012.net. In 2012 we can elect Hillary Clinton President of the United States.

I visited the site and got a message that said, "The site you are looking for has not been published." So I was not able to find any indication if this money is being squandered by diehard Hillary supporters or maybe some right-wing billionaires trying to sow discontentment with Obama (as if the Republicans in Congress would have greeted President Hillary with open arms and pledged to cooperate with her on everything).

Politico took note of this today — these calls are apparently being reported all over, BIG money being spent on this mission of futility — but they're scratching their heads too.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2011/12/robocalling-hillary...

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"There Is Only One Issue in America"
12/27/2011

When I saw the title of this piece which appeared recently in Huffington Post and has been making the rounds, I didn't expect too much — more tired showboating about someone's pet beef. I only read it because it was penned by E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt, someone who put himself on the line for peace and justice back when doing so was only an "image". move for his "Boss."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-van-zandt/democracy-in-america_b_11...

It turns out that Van Zandt's "only" issue is related my "only" issue: the corporate control of our government via the corruption of politics and elections by money — which as he points out is the raison d'etre for corporations.

He says,

Campaign finance doesn't need reform. It needs elimination.

To accomplish this we must overturn Buckley v. Valeo, one of the two or three worst decisions in the history of the Supreme Court.

The ruling makes the extraordinary decision that money is protected by the First Amendment.

He wants to come up with a pledge for people to sign supporting the elimination of private finance from the electoral system. That's fine. But I do disagree with the process he suggests to fix things: forming a third party. Unfortunately, forming a third party prior to eliminating money from the system is a way to ensure making the system worse. As long as the system depends on money and money flows into two major parties, a third party will only guarantee that the MOST money-driven, greedy and amoral candidates will win.

And his equating of the Occupy movement with the Tea Party shows he hasn't been paying attention to those movements and is accepting a lazy media frame. He is apparently unaware of the Tea Party's roots in secretive big money which crafted a message designed to suck in a certain type of disgruntled person and hid the source of the message in order to falsely make the Tea Party appear "grassroots."

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NGLCC Honors Local Affiliate Chambers at National Conference
12/22/2011

SOURCE: http://www.nglcc.org/2011+Chamber+Awards 8/11/2011 Washington, D.C. (08/11/2011) – The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) recently honored excellence in local affiliate chambers at the 2011 Out For Business Conference in Las Vegas, NV. In addition to naming the best NGLCC affiliated LGBT business organizations in the nation, the NGLCC recognized chambers for innovative leadership [...]

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SIR ELTON JOHN AND BILLIE JEAN KING BRINGING WTT SMASH HITS CHARITY TENNIS EVENT TO CLEVELAND ON OCTOBER 27
12/22/2011

SIR ELTON JOHN AND BILLIE JEAN KING BRINGING WTT SMASH HITS CHARITY TENNIS EVENT TO CLEVELAND ON OCTOBER 27 Andy Roddick, Martina Navratilova, Amelie Mauresmo first to sign on New York, N.Y. (August 16, 2011) — Longtime friends Sir Elton John and Billie Jean King are bringing their annual World TeamTennis Smash Hits charity night [...]

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