Monday, June 30, 2014

Will you vote this year? A good focus for action as July 4th approaches … by gimleteye

Clinton-era Secretary of Labor Robert Reich is spot on, about the most do-nothing Congress in history. His recent Facebook post is reprinted, below. The basic goal of the GOP is to cripple the federal government. This tactical intransigence is a pre-cursor to public emergencies that are not many years in the future, the foremost of which is climate change. A GOP controlled US Senate would be a disaster for the American people, but that is what will happen if Democrats and Independent voters do not trundle to the polls during upcoming primary and the general election. Voters are shell shocked for good reason: Iraq, a war started on false pretenses, the ceaseless war on terrorism, an economic recovery for the .001 per cent, and the dissolving middle class. The choice seems simple; either one believes in the power of government to do good or one believes that the system will always be rigged for special interests and therefore hiding in one's own bunker is the best course of action. The GOP ridicules the notion that government can do good, cripples Congress where it controls the House and spares no expense to assure predictable majorities to control state legislatures (cf. Fair Districts Florida).

Robert Reich: "Congress has recessed until after July 4 holiday and then plans to be back in session only a dozen days before recessing again through the midterm elections. It’s the most do-nothing Congress in history, which is exactly what Republicans want. Not only is their aim to make the federal government so dysfunctional that the states have to take over many responsibilities (guns, abortion, gay marriage, minimum wage, labor laws, voting rights, and so on) but also to fuel doubts about government’s capacity to get anything done. According to a new Pew survey, 62 percent of Americans think the economic system unfairly favors the powerful, and 78 percent think too much power is concentrated in too few companies. Even 69 percent of young conservative-leaning voters agree the system favors the powerful. Republicans know this populist discontent can be neutralized politically if Americans see the federal government as part of that same corrupt system, fundamentally dysfunctional, and incapable of working for the public good. The COP’s fundamental and most potent strategy is public cynicism."

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm voting NO on all county/city stuff because it is never good for the people, even term limits didn't go far enough because they weren't retroactive.

I'm voting yes on state amendments 1 & 2

I'm voting for Rich in the primary

I'm voting for anyone running against an incumbent because I don't think many if any are doing the peoples business.

The above will keep my life very simple this election cycle and my recycle bin full because I'm a super voter.

Anonymous said...

Change where change is really needed...How about considering a very poor, very new, very brave candidate starting from scratch who is running against Commissioner Souto.

As the Commissioner heads into his second decade in this post, he has unfortunately become confused, with rambling, long-winded monologs that make no sense while everyone in the chamber rolls their eyes or winces. Will another term help Miami-Dade County?

One candidate, with public no name recognition, is trying to fight for change. Marina. Look her up.

Anonymous said...

Commissioner Souto takes care of his constituents. He is responsive to their problems and needs. Because of this, he will have to withdraw himself. It will be difficult to unseat him.

Anonymous said...

Commissioner Souto is one of the best. He is constantly thinking of his constituents and provides quick and effective response to residents' concerns.

Anonymous said...

As a life-long Democrat, I too will be voting for Nan Rich.

Anonymous said...

As a third generation democrat, I will be voting for Charlie Crist.

Anonymous said...

The key is to keep Americans focused inspite of all of the disruptive things that republicans are doing, and remember that the vote can bring calm in the middle of chaos. If you look behind many of the crisis we face, republicans and their money are behind creating them. We simply have to hold firm, and go out and vote. Many republican voters, vote against themselves. They too are going to have to wise-up and begin voting for the best interest of themselves and the country.

The Mississippi election was instructive. The results were not based on republican in-fighting as many of the talking heads argued. But it was simply that ' money talks and BS walks'. Mississippi is a receiving state, meaning they get more money from the federal govt. than they pay in taxes. The incumbent had a long history of bringing money to the state. The Tea Party candidate made it clear he would cut education and a host of services that get tons of federal money and many people would lose jobs and services. So democrats, republicans, independents, Blacks, and Whites joined together for their economic survival and defeated the Tea Party candidate.

Anonymous said...

He is right about crippling the federal government. The GOP cares nothing about people. We only have to look at the aftermath of hurricane Sandy. The republicans held up funding, and the country had to literally beg for money for the victims. Then after much delay, the republican governor of that state still did not give the money to the victims, but used it for political payback. Even now victims are still waiting for the relief money.

God help us if we have a category 5 hurricane this year. Can you imagine having to go before this lazy Congress to get relief money? That is another reason why we have to get Crist in. We have to start right away with a rainy day fund just in case this sorry Congress refuse to help us through the crisis.

Anonymous said...

While Americans think there is too much power concentrated in too few companies, they are asleep at the wheel on the global nature and scope of these companies. They pay little more than regulatory attention to national boundaries, and are new independent players in the geo-financial, geo-political landscape of the world.

Anonymous said...

It's always been said that voters pick candidates most like themselves. With that in mind, how can anyone vote for Charlie Crist?

Anonymous said...

Like most of us, Crist is evolving. Hardly any of us stands still in our growth and development over time. The people who are unable to change are left in the dust-bins of history. New information, different and varied experiences, alternative ways of looking at problems and solutions, new technologies, life-changing events, interacting with new and different people, new ways of processing information, and personal progressions, all conspire to change us. I simply am not the person I was 20 years ago, 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago. Each day I am confronted with new things that I have to deal with. And somehow in the process of addressing these things, I rethink, reprocess, and yes, change. . .