Archive for December, 2009

It’s Time to Clean Up Congress

It’s Time to Clean Up Congress

I’m one of the million, who appalled, watch the outrageous performance of many of the people who are supposed to represent us, but do not. I feel –like many of us in Twitter– that it is time we make a list of the people who need not to return when it’s time for re-election.  So, I have asked a few tweeps to send in their comments and recommend which members of congress should not return, and why.

A few things that I’ll begin with here:

1. We need more women and minorities in congress, representing us

2. We should request banning of ALL corporate contributions or restrict them to at most $500

3. We should have the media limit ads, and discount them greatly.

4. Campaign funds should have a requirement of at least 75% constituent donations of under $100.

5. Require and allow citizen lobby groups to have more leverage and restrict corporate lobbies.

Ok, that’s my initial feedback. Now, on to what some great tweeps in twitterverse had to say on the topic:

“@HBK112 – The 3 that come immediately to mind are shoe-ins, DeMint, Kyl and Coburn.”

1. DeMint

2. Kyl

3. Coburn- Seeking re-election in 2010.

I will ask what are the reasons and will list them here.

Her reply was hillarious:

“@HBK112 – DeMint because he’s an insane teabagger. Kyl because he’s a disrespectful asshole.Coburn bcz nobody that stupid s/b in congress.”

“@elgocho67 – I said let’s start with anyone with more then 8 years in either the house or senate”

I agree with elgocho67. When you’re in congress long enough, you make it a career and then all you care about is staying in power and forget about your constituents.

“@zoomarang – most of these senators are relics..old habits die hard..we need 55 n under politicians,period”

I could agree and disagree with that statement. I see both sides of the point. Zoomarang always has good insights, so I respect his opinion.

While more input comes from you, here is my personal list of men and women whom I have seen do a terrible job representing us, the people, and are certainly representing corporate interests instead.

Lieberman on the left, embracing McCain on the right.

Lieberman on the left, embracing McCain on the right.

1. Joe Lieberman (Ind). Senator from Connecticut – Also known as “Traitor Joe.” As a VP candidate in the Democrat ticket in 2000, I found him a yawner. He droned on and on and on.. No wonder Al Gore barely won by a few votes, enough for the election to be decided in favor of GW by the Supreme Court. Lieberman loves the sound of his own voice. When he did not get the support of Democrats in CT for his re-election in 2006, decided instead to run as an Independent, and won, he gained my respect. But soon after, it was clear he was out for revenge and to prove he has power. He supported the McCain Palin (Republican) ticket in 2008, turning his back on millions of constituents who felt otherwise. He did that for himself, not for his constituents. Connecticut is for the most part Democrat and Liberal. And now, aligning with the party of NO to keep healthcare reform from passing, clearly states it is time for this man to go away. Too bad he won’t be up for re-election until 2012, but let’s not forget this. That is why Joe Lieberman is at the top of my DON’T COME BACK list. Let’s see who his true constituents are, as per listing in OpenSecrets.org. His campaign coffers are well-stocked.

Here's who really owns Lieberman

Here's who really owns Lieberman

2. Michelle Bachmann - (Repub) Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota’s 6th district. She is like having Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck in a skirt. If any of those two outrage you, she should not be in congress. Unless the people in her district truly feel she represents them, she makes Republicans look like they belong in the psychiatric ward at the county hospital.

Let’s see, as per OpenSecrets.org, who funds her campaign and who owns her real allegiance:

3. Ben Nelson of Nebraska - (Dem) Not because he is a democrat, but because he stood in the way of passing health care reform, and his key issue was a woman’s right to choose.  He should be replaced by a woman Democrat.

As per OpenSecrets.org, let’s see where is his real allegiance. This guy has gotten quite a bit of money from the Insurance and healthcare lobby. Objecting on the base of abortion was just a decoy to derail Healthcare reform. Here is the real reason:

Look at all the money that the insurance, healthcare & lobbying interests in Nelson's pocket.

Look at all the money that the insurance, healthcare & lobbying interests in Nelson's pocket

4. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – (Repub) – Senate minority leader – Because he leads the party of No down a path of destruction. He comes across as a sore loser who because is now in the senate minority, will resort to any tactics to prevent important legislation from moving forward.  Let’s look at who does Mitch McConnell really represent. As of 12 noon, today, Saturday 12/19/09,  he went on CNN to state how outraged he is about possibility of the passage of the Healthcare bill. My question is, when you were in charge, what did you do to help Americans in this area? He has promised to pull every stop to keep this bill from passing. Everyone who supports healthcare reform, remember his outrage when he’s up for re-election in 2010, which by the way, his campaign seems to be well-funded.  Take a look, as reported by Open Secrets.org:

Listing of contributions to Mitch McConnell, as listed in Open Secrets.org

McConnell states he's outraged over the passing of Healthcare. We should be outraged at his financial alignments.

5. Eric Cantor - (Rep) Virginia – He also is part of the leadership of the party of No, aligning with the rude and negative attitudes and speeches coming from the Republican leadership. Again, do I ask, does he really represent the people of Virginia?

Here are some of the sources of his financial support, as per OpenSecrets.org. By the way, he’s up for re-election in 2010. Same as Boehner & McConnell!

Money from Cantor's constitutents make less than 50% of his funds and rank bottom

Money from Cantor's constitutents make less than 50% of his funds and rank bottom

As more names come up, I will be updating this post. Feel free to add your comments, suggest names, and why. Share with the world why these people in the United States legislative branch need not to apply again.

On a last note:

There is a Republican list of Democrat members of congress whom they are targetting. I will address this list next. It’s actually a thorough and good list. Since I am an Independent with no party affiliation, I will take a look at it and post my feedback here.

More to come….

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Secretary Hillary Clinton on relationship of US with Latin America

Secretary Hillary Clinton on relationship of US with Latin America

Secretary Hillary Clinton discusses the relationship of the United States with Latin America, and the new dangerous alliances with Iran. A must see..

For transcript of this video, please visit the Dept. of State website: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/12/133453.htm

Here’s an important excerpt from the Q&A session on the possible alignment of Iran with countries like Venezuela and Latin America:

QUESTION: I have a concern because in the trafficking of passports from – especially from China, buying basically different – I don’t know if the State Department is doing any investigation or not – from different nations. And that seems to be like, once they buy a passport from, let’s say, a nation down in Venezuela, Bolivia, and they sell a business which seems to be a front for a – behind giant economic enterprise on there. So is the State Department doing some investigation on – another question also is the – in term – the penetration, basically, of China and other nations like Iran from Latin America. Of course, you mentioned Bolivia – I don’t think you mentioned Bolivia. You should also mention Venezuela, Bolivia, well – as well as other nations that are basically (inaudible) international, basically, security issue that I’m very concerned.

SECRETARY CLINTON: I thank you for raising this. We’re concerned too. In speaking to a number of the Central American countries, they have reported to us large numbers of people being trafficked into their countries, particularly Chinese, but not exclusively Chinese. And we do need to redouble our efforts to try to help our friends in Central America deal with this. I was told in one of the countries that there is a large detention area – detention center which has hundreds and hundreds of people who are there illegally from China.
So this is a problem that is affecting a number of our friends, and we are working with them to try to provide more resources and support to help them deal with it. And as you point out, we have no problem with any country such as China engaging in economic activities – business, commerce – with any country anywhere. But we do want governments to drive hard bargains. We don’t want to see corruption that benefits the fortunes of a few leaders and undermines the sustainability of the economy and the environment and the natural resources of any country.
We also are well aware of Iran’s interests in promoting itself with a number of other countries – Venezuela and Bolivia, as you mentioned – and we can only say that that is a really bad idea for the countries involved. And we hope that there will be a recognition that this is the major supporter, promoter, and exporter of terrorism in the world today. The Revolutionary Guard of Iran, which is increasing its control over the country because of the elections, which were a stark example of the abuse of human rights in action, is deeply involved in the economy as well as the security issues of Iran. And I think that if people want to flirt with Iran, they should take a look at what the consequences might well be for them, and we hope that they will think twice, and we’re going to support them if they do. (Applause.)

That last line is very important:

And I think that if people want to flirt with Iran, they should take a look at what the consequences might well be for them, and we hope that they will think twice, and we’re going to support them if they do.

We have the support of the United States to fight off these dictators and their friends. It looks like the United States understands what is happening in Latin America, that they understand the danger of Chavez, Castro and their alignments, especially with Iran, and it’s great to know this.

This gives millions of us, who are struggling to protect our democracies in Latin America, hope that we are not alone.


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