Hobby Lobby, religous freedom or force fed religion.

      The Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision was a big in a few ways. First it proved that Supreme Court Justices should not be a lifetime appointment. Second it showed how far our country has strayed from what we are. Third it showed a complete disdain for the protections the United States Constitution afforded us. It all showed the Conservative wing celebrating a “victory” over the common folks.

The First Amendment of the Constitution states; Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free excersize thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peacably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. What does this mean? Do we the people still have said protections?

Making no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free excersize thereof. That would mean that no religion shall be protected over the other by states or federal government. Basic, simplistic view. Everyone is free to practice any religion they would like. Republicans like to say that we are a Christian nation, which as stated violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. They say prayer should be allowed in school and creationism taught, not all but many. But the only prayer they want in school are Christian prayers, all others be damned. Christian right wingers believe abortion is a sin and contraceptives are abortion. That statement has been lambasted by anyone who is a doctor but a degree means nothing in that discussion.

Republicans claim they are the protectors of our Constitution and that liberal Democrats want to rip it to shreds. Anyone with half a brain can see the obvious, Republicans do not care about the Constitution. I realize i have gone off topic but this will come together, I hope. In Republican lead states across the nation our right to peacably assemble is being stomped upon. People arrested and disgraced by the GOP while a criminal like Cliven Bundy and his group of hooligans walj away scot free. Armed people stopping a government agency from enforcing the law, supported by Republicans. Freedom of Speech is stomped upon dailly and being able to redress Government is a joke. Republicans are trying to take away our government voice, the right to vote.

Now not only is a corporation regarded as a person, they also can force their religious beliefs on their employees. Before the ACA was put into effect, Hobby Lobby offered health insurance plans that had access to birth control. Not only that, but much of their inventory is bought from China. China is notorious for its abortion rate. I think with those two sentences I established Hobby Lobby’s hypocracy. Why did Hobby Lobby’s stance change? I dont have the answer but anyone who isnt blind realizes how much the Republican base hates President Obama. Is that the reason? Who knows? But why now? Why did the Supreme Court rule directly on party lines?

How does my employers religion effect my health care decisions? Is that religious freedom? For the employer, yes but where is ours. How does my employers religion outweigh mine? If this ruling is correct; then if i worked for a Muslim company I have to adhere to Shariha Law. Or a Satanist for instance. Or would my choices be mine then? I am paying for a portion of my health care, as well as visits, meds or anything else Dr. related. How can my employer come between myself and my doctor? These questions arent answered yet but I have a feeling this ruling will have unintended consequences. I do not think these justices had the foresight to see what would be around the corner.

Whatever your opinion of religion is, you are entitled to it except when it comes to your employer. This is a idiotic interpretation of our Constitution. Ee have seen some awful rulings coming from this Supreme Court. Please remember you are free to practice your religion but your employers is more important.

Where did our elected leaders go?

           In 2009 President Obama took over as our first African-American president. That was the day government shut down. The Republicans vowed that making him a one term president was there number one priority. They would do anything to make that happen. In their efforts to unseat him, they did irreapairable harm to America. They created a divide so wide that if you disagree with a conservatives point of view, you are a Nazi, a marxist, a socialist and a traitor.

Health care costs were raging out of control. Increasing about 200% since the year 2004. I did not have a copay in 2004, meds cost 10-20-30. By 2008 I was paying $65 a week and 20-35-55 for meds. Office visits went from $10 to $20 and specialists $25 to $75. The ACA was put into effect to stem the rising costs, help get the uninsured insured at a reasonable rate and stop people being denied for pre-existing conditions. Despite the President and Democrats trying to stem health care costs, which were crippling our manufacturing sector, Republicans railed against it. In fact they have voted 41 times to repeal it, costing us $60 million dollars with those votes, some fiscal hawks right. What is wrong with stopping people from losing their homes when they get sick. Shows who Republicans really work for.

Republicans attacked President Obama over unemployment. While at the same time shooting down his jobs bill, which would have created a million new jobs. They said the unemployment rate was to high. But when the president got it under 8%, they said the president doesn’t create jobs. Republicans took over the House in 2010, they have not created a single job. They are much more concerned with anti-abortion laws and religious laws. The president’s economic plan is working despite sequestration and continued Republican interference. If Republicans were willing to work with Democrats maybe their input would be in these bills, possibly even improving them.

Paul Ryan, John Boehner and several other prominent Republicans have said that there is no longer a debt crisis. Yet these so called budget hawks try to take the country hostage on the debt ceiling. First this is just for bills that Congress already approved. Why would they not approve money for spending they already approved? It is a domestic terrorist attack designed to further an agenda that caters to corporations, ALEC, the Koch Brothers and NRA amongst others. These is not what our forefathers envisioned when they wrote the Constitution.

Does the Republican party really mean what they do?

             Many of the things the Republican party are currently doing are inherently unAmerican. The Constitution seems only to matter when it helps their corporate masters. The lobbyist, Koch Brothers, ALEC and the NRA are some very prominent puppet masters. The will of the majority has been pushed to the side. Do Republicans even realize what they are doing?

Take Gun Violence. Instead of pursuing a possible solution they spout out the rhetoric they are fed by their puppet masters. All the numbers shown by independent researchers directly contradict the numbers put forth by the NRA. The areas with the highest amount of guns tend to have a very high crime rate. About 5,000 people have been killed by gun violence since Sandy Hook, yet Republicans refuse to do anything about gun violence. The public wants action, yet Republicans stall and protect the money.

For 2 years Republicans complained about President Obama and Democrats not creating enough jobs, despite Republican efforts to thwart any type of job creation. They have held the House for 3 years, yet have not created any jobs. They denied the Obama Jobs Bill and the Veterans Jobs Bill, yet have passed 44 anti-abortion measures and another 90 religious bills. They say they want the corporate tax lowered, yet when President Obama offered it, they refused. They refuse to help the average American.

Republicans seem to enjoy holding Americans hostage with the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling enables us to pay the bills we have already incurred. They raised it 7 times for Bush 43 and another 7 or so for Reagan. This is the first time a President had to fight to raise the debt ceiling. The last time Republicans did this it resulted in a credit downgrade for the U.S. Are they truly willing to default on America’s bills to further their agenda?

Then we have the way Republicans talk about race. Anne Coulter referred to President Obama as ‘Putin’s Monkey” several times in an interview. Another Republican Senator called Latinos “wetbacks”. A Republican leader in Pennsylvania said the Voter I.D. laws were put in place to prevent minorities from voting. This is not what are forefathers had in mind when they drafted the Constitution. It is not for our representatives to pick and choose from.

Do Republicans really expect to be taken seriously? They keep pushing the will of the people to the side for corporate interests and then try to tell us all the good they are doing. They are slimming their voting pool. Democrats already outnumber them, their actions are pushing more people away. They talk about a broken system, they broke it. They are also prospering because of it.

The Republican party’s all out attack on Women, minorities, the poor and the U S. Constitution.

                 This is a very difficult time in in American politics. One party calls the other Marxist, socialist and unAmerican. Yet while saying these things they attack Americans fundamental rights, voting and the First Amendment. The Constitution seems not to be the sacred document we thought, it is being treated like a 7 graders essay.

The party in question is of course the Republican party. They believe in and support the Second Amendment, but stomp all over people’s religious freedom by forcing their religious beliefs on others. They are attacking people’s right to vote because they can’t win a presidential election. Several Republican lawmakers have said the new Voter I.D. laws will cause less people to vote. Which of course works in their favor.

They are essentially telling the citizens of America that their opinion doesn’t matter. They do this although they hold a publicly elected office. Since we the Constitution was written Americans have had the right to vote, white men did. It took many, many years and the hard work of the Civil Rights movement to get African Americans the right to vote. Women couldn’t vote until the 1920s. That proves that our Constitution is a fluid document, open to change. Republicans like to think otherwise.

President Obama and Democrats alike are fighting new Voter Laws nationwide. They are defending our all of our Constitutional rights, not just the ones lobbyist pay them to protect. While fighting these laws and trying to improve the economy, Republicans have an all out assault on Womens Reproductive Rights. The hell with Roe v. Wade and the U.S. Constitution that protects these rights. Women, minorities and the poor have been the targets of the new Republican party. Their attempts to protect the 1% hopefully will prove their undoing in the 2014 election and others there after.

Governor Rick Perry and his special Anti-Abortion session.

                   The Texas legislature is currently working in the midst of another special session. This special session, like the last, was convened by Governor Rick Perry to further his anti-abortion agenda. This session will end on July 31. Republican lawmakers in the Texas legislature have been proposing one anti-abortion bill after another. So much for Wendy Davis’s 13 hour Filibuster and the people who helped at the end.

3 Texas Republicans filed a measure that would criminalize abortion services after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. That typically occurs at about 6 weeks of pregnancy, many women do not even know they are pregnant then. The measure to ban abortion at 20 weeks effectively shuts down the majority of the states abortion clinics. The legislature gave final approval to that bill last Saturday and Governor Perry signed it into law Thursday morning.

Evidently the 20 week ban was not enough for several Republican representatives. Phil King, Dan Flynn and Geanie Morrison filed HB59 the same day Perry signed the 20 week ban. The Texas legislature has already denied minority Democrats their Constitutional rights during these special sessions. Now they have made it more difficult for the public to attend, using smaller facilities. Security was confiscating tampons and maxi pads while letting people with guns in. So now women’s feminin products are more dangerous than guns. Maybe Texas should change the state name to NRA.

These radical heartbeat laws are even dividing the pro-life community. They criminalize the vast majority of abortions and also mandate invasive ultrasound procedures for women seeking abortions. The only way to detect a fetal heartbeat so early in pregnancy is to use a transvaginal probe.

North Dakota became the first state to pass a 6 week abortion ban. It is the strictest abortion ban in the country. It is being challenged in the court for overstepping Roe v. Wade. Republicans insistence on ignoring a Constitutionally recognized law shows their contempt for the U.S. Constitution. The Republicans war on women is distracting from them helping to create jobs, help the economy or anything that the American people really want.

The heartbeat ban is a trigger provision. It cannot take effect until Roe v. Wade is overturned. If the law is struck down HB59 will immediately go into effect. Several other states also have trigger provisions in the hopes of quickly banning abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

The Republican party wants smaller government, but wants access to women’s uteruses. It is a strange way of forcing religious beliefs on the people. They claim these rules are for women’s health, but the evidence shows otherwise. Unfortunately this is what the Republican party has become. The only way to change it is by voting them out of office. Prove to them that Democracy is stronger than money, manufactured scandals and all the other junk they through ou there.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Congress’s actions may reduce economic growth.

             Ben Bernanke said that tax increases and spending cuts during slow economy can reduce economic growth by 1.5%. He told the Senate Banking Committee that the Fed’s low interest rate policies have carried an awful lot of the burden to drive economic growth. As well as the Fed’s $85 billion a month bond buying program. He said the Fed would happily share the burden with a gridlocked Congress.

Congress focus on the Federal Defecit has been detrimental to economic growth. Republicans have pushed for austerity, wide, deep sweeping spending cuts. They have also supported the Sequester, which has caused many thousands of furloughs, as well as job losses. Democrats and President Obama have pushed for tax increases. They are trying to raise taxes on the super wealthy, as well as trying to get big corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.

Republicans said that they wanted dollar for dollar tax increases to spending cuts. They got $4 in spending cuts to $1 in tax increases. Any issue President Obama stands for Republicans stand against. Even if Republicans have supported it recently. Republicans have shot down 2 seperate Jobs Bills, one a Veterans Job Bill, that would have created more than 1 million jobs. Republicans inability to compromise has caused the gridlock plaguing America.

Senate Republican Bob Corker said Congress has grown to dependent on the Fed’s efforts to drive growth. Senate Republican Tom Coburn said ” We have let you down. The kindergarten of Congress has let you down by not doing the things to create confidence in the business community.” These 2 Republicans say this, yet support the Republican agenda of obsuruction. They have presented 44 anti-abortion bills, 99 bills about religion, several hundred spending cut bills, 445 Congressional hearings and ZERO bills to create jobs. Democrats have proposed tax increases.

While I realize Ben Bernanke may be uncomfortable calling out a party, someone needs to. President Obama and Democrats do it, but people are swayed by main stream media calling them horrible people. In many cases they tell half the story that suits their political agenda. I do not believe that Democrats didnt do anything wrong. They have screwed up quite a few times. But that pales in comparison to the Republicans intentionally harming the country to hurt President Obama. That is not a successful policy. In fact it has hurt American and no one is holding them responsible.

Republicans are harmful to America.

                    Republicans have gone out of their way over the last 5 years to make President Obama look bad. In the process they have hurt the American people and the way the rest of the world views us. It is a party of whiners who throw pity parties when they lose and do not accept anything unless it agrees 100% with their party agenda.

They are against Immigration Reform. They subscribe to the theory that all of them should be deported. In fact Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney believed in self deportation. They do not agree with a Path to Citizenship, saying it is amnesty. Didnt Ronald Reagan do Immigration Reform somewhat like this?

Republicans have obviously declared war on women. They refused to vote for VAWA, because it protected Native Americans, among other things. State after state governed by Republicans have declared war on Reproductive Rights. One restrictive Abortion ban after another, yet there has been a grand total of ZERO jobs created by the Republican majority in the House.

Supporting banks that hurting homeowners through illegal practices. Siding with the NRA on the Gun Control issue. Railing against the Supreme Court DOMA decision, voting to repeal the ACA 37 times. Cutting funding for embassy guards then blaming the Benghazi incident on Hillary Clinton. This list of offenses against the people of the United States goes on and on.

Democrats, while not anywhere near perfect, have done a lot more for the people than Republicans. Republicans conservative agenda hurts America and every state they are in the majority. If women’s uteruses were jobs women would be safe from Republicans and their lobbyist masters.

Governor Corbett’s education budget is preferential treatment masquerading as broad based supplements.

             Recently Pennsylvania gave an extra $1 million in state money to a school district through an unusually specific supplement. Only one district, Hazleton Area School District, recieved the $1 million. As much as that cash strapped district can use the money, so can almost every other School District in Pennsylvania.

There was a bit more than $30 million handed out to a few schools under titles like Small School District Supplement, Small Rural School District Supplement and Third Class County School District Supplement. There are 154 districts in the states 12 third class counties, designation is determined by population. But to qualify for the piece of the $1 million supplement, a district had to have a stare calculated “Aid Ratio” that fell in a very narrow range, leaving only 24 qualified districts. 6 of those districts were in Luzerne County, 5 of them, as well as 18 out of the 24 did not meet the last requirement based on enrollment for the supplement. It seems as if the supplement was tailor made for the full $1 million to go to Hazleton.

There were 12 supplements, 6 went to single districts. With the rest divided by 2 and 3 to 5 districts. The $500,000 Rural School District Supplement went to Phillipsburg-Osceola School District in Clearfield County. The $500,000 Small School District Supplement went entirely to Penns Valley Area School District in Centre County. If size was the only consideration, requirement was 1,600 students or fewer, it could have been divided between 166 districts, 152 of which were smaller.

This is not a reflection on the School Districts who recieved these supplements. With all the cuts Corbett and his Republican supporters made to the Education Budget, any and all schools needs this money. This is a direct reflection on Governor Corbett and his ludicrous policies. All of the School Districts are suffering with him as Governor. Instead of focusing on Education, he has focused on Privatizing Liquor Sales, Privatizing the Pennsylvania Lottery and another Anti-Abortion lawmaker. He has Pennsylvania ranked 49th in the country in job creation. Good job Governor.

A recent poll shows how Pennsylvanians feel about Governor Corbett. 43% of Republicans believe he will be reelected. 25% of Independents believe he should be reelected. Democrats just plain want him outvof office. He is as much as 10% behind his probable Democrat challenger for Governor. Things are not looking peachy for Corbett and it is his own doing. To sacrafice Education and Seniors to give large Tax Breaks to corporations does not endear you to the people.

Republicans are not job creators, useless law creators.

                  Over the last 5 years Republicans have done little to help the economy and in fact have impeded its recovery. The Sequester alone has cost several hundred thousand jobs; not to mention all the furloughs. They have worked with corporations to stop the will of the people and have made a mockery of our Government.

They believe in deregulation which directly led to the Financial Collapse, the Great Recession and the Housing Crisis. They have fought against reform in all of these markets, hurting our economy. They have not supported American ideals, leaning more toward a bigoted, short sighted corporate view of America. They have shot down Jobs Bill and Veterans Jobs Bills to concentrate on Anti-Abortion and Voter Regulation Laws.

The only way to make the ACA work is to work together. Republicans refuse and would rather destroy the middle class and social safety nets to prevent Tax Reform. They support the Citizens United Supreme Court decision but refuse to hold corporations accountable for their illegal actions. I and most other Americans do not think anyone is above the law or deserves a free ride. That is why not prosecuting CEOs of Too Big Too Fail Banks is a slap in America’s face.

I dont think our founding fathers imagined an American governed by corporations. Nor did they envision a Congress that would work against the countries best interests. But thus is where we are. Knuckleheads screaming for secession, yet they recieve more government money than anyone else. This is a country being held hostage by a party throwing a 4 year temper tantrum. Time for the rich white party to grow up.

Happy 4th of July, Independence earned through blood.

               HAPPY 4th of JULY!! The day our fledgling country declared its Independence from a colonial power. The day our founding fathers said enough was enough. The day we said no more to an oppressive regime. The day the American experiment began. Of course all of the rights we have today were earned with the blood of brave Americans and over our many years as a country more blood has veen shed to spread these freedoms worldwide.

Our Freedom to scream at our leaders, protest, although that seems challenged at times, to write what we want, religious freedom, freedom from tyranny among many other freedoms started that day. Our right to elect our leaders and elect different ones when they don’t do the job all started that day. All these freedoms that other countries would put you in jail for, we have. No other country has anything like our 2nd Amendment, however misinterpreted it is. Our Bill of Rights guarentees our Freedoms as an addition to our Constitution.

Republicans show blatant disregard for our Constitution. Stomping on 1st Amendment rights, our voting rights, workers rights and women’s rights. The Voter I.D. Law, which was model legislation from ALEC which is in cohoots with the NRA, as well as these Anti-Abortion Laws Republicans are attempting to pass nationwide. The Republicans show disdain for the office of the President, because they don’t agree with President Obama. Democrats are not perfect, the Monsanto Protection Act, is a complete joke, but they do more for the people than the Republican party.

Gettysburg is celebrating yhe 150th anniversary of what is probably the most pivotal battle of the Civil War. 50,000 Americans were killed or injured during this battle. This was the beginning of freedom for African Americans. African Americans were only considered 3/5s of a person in the Constitution. Our Country is not and never will be perfect. But our syste m of government has worked for a long time. To let it be hijacked by lobbyist working for corporate interest makes everything these men and women sacraficed for a joke.

So today while celebrating our independence remember the blood that has been shed. Thank your neighbors son who serves in the Navy. Thank your good friend who serves in the Air Force. Thank the man in the wheel chair for his Army service in Iraq. Thank the Marine you know or see for putting their life between you and those who despise the freedoms we have. The Marines are special to me because I was there, so I personally thank all of you service members for what you do. We are celebrating our county’s independence, but it was won with the blood of soldiers like these. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!!!! HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!! Have a great day and don’t drink and drive. Be careful with those fireworks as well.