2014 midterm election, voter apathy or a GOP strategy?

                So the 2014 midterm election ended with a Republican runaway.  They gained the majority in the Senate and gained more seats in the stagnate House.  Congress had an 11% approval rating yet 96% of incumbents retained their seats.  I find it very odd that people were so unhappy yet kept the same people in office.  If anyone thought the Republican strategy would change,  that they might work with President Obama, joke is on you.  Senator Lindsey Graham called him a child in an interview.  Seems the citizens of American did what the GOP wanted,  stayed home on election day.

Is this a master plan by Republicans? No, it is being perpetuated by the party but their marching orders come from the Koch brothers and groups like ALEC or the NRA. The plan seems very complicated but it is not. Very simple, how can a party with a very large deficit in membership beat a party with the larger membership? First they had to win at the state level. When they did that, the began to redistricting or gerrymander. Gerrymandering is the process of breaking up voting districts into more favorable districts for the party in charge. The Supreme Court ruled that Gerrymandering was illegal, but why would laws stop these crooks.

Step 2 was a little tougher. Once they took over the states and gerrymandered the districts they needed to keep moving up the ladder. The gerrymandered districts allowed Republicans to win seats in predominantly Democrat areas. Once they gained seats in the House, the majority, they started pushing voter ID laws in their States. These laws are intended to limit the votes of minorities. Many minorities do not have the proper ID, in some states people that voted for years were no longer allowed to vote. They shortened early voting, voting hours, absentee ballots went missing in several states, voter registrations went missing, people were turned away and Democrat votes turned into Republican votes. All of these laws for a .0002% rate of fraud over the last 10 years. Republicans have said from different states that they needed to limit voting in order to have a chance to win. These are the so called protectors of democracy.

At the same time all this was happening in 2010, still happening today, the billionaires went to court in the Citizens United case. They won the right to contribute as much as they want without anyone being able to track their political spending. The last estimate I saw, the Koch brothers spent over $300 million on the 2014 election cycle alone. Many of this us dark money, which is extremely hard to teach, but is traceable. It is said that Republicans and Democrats get the same amount of money. The upfront money we see, Republicans had about a 20% advantage on. Where as dark money it is estimated anywhere between a 60% to 150% advantage. Most of this money comes from single donors. If you believe money has nothing to do with elections, you couldn’t be further from the truth. The candidate with most money wins 94% of the time.

The last part, which probably should have been the first part, is the main stream media. For instance, 2 of the most popular conservative news sources Rush Limbaugh and FOX NEWS are the 2 most unreliable news sources. Limbaugh is estimated to lie approximately 75% of the time and FOX News tops them at about 85% of the time. Approximately 250 newspapers are owned by 7 conservatives. News channels are complicit as well. Instead of covering anything going right, they went with Ebola and Is is. They played the Republican scare tactic game. So the plan was later out.

Through all these things they routed a Democrat party whose President lowered the deficit, GDP, unemployment, the unemployment rate is at 5.8%, gas prices and health insurance. There would be more jobs of not for Republicans led by Mitch McConnell voting against the Veterans Jobs Bill and the Jobs Bill. This Republican party is not here for the people, they are there for those with the paper. Democracy is not dying a slow death, it is being murdered right before our eyes by enemies dressed as Patriots.

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.

Another mass shooting, let’s start the blame game.

                Aaron Alexis went on a shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard yesterday. At about 8:20 in the morning he opened fire, killing 12 and wounding another dozen. This is a man who had a history of violence. He was even arrested for shooting at a work crew. But because he was never convicted he was able to get a gun. So now the blame game starts.

A person who knew Alexis said he played violent video games a lot, for hours at a time. So Call of Duty must have been the reason he shot these people. Of course he learned how to shoot a real gun by playing this game. It also gave him the ability to plan his attack and sneak the weapons in. I think the people who make these games should be held responsible. This is a cop out. I play violent video games, many people I know play them as well. I do not know any mass murderers.

Maybe it is violent movies. They are desensitizing our society. So watching Taken 2 must have caused him to do it. He learned everything he needed to know from that movie, as well as the mental ability to pull the trigger. It is not as easy as a Hollywood movie makes it out to be. Sadly this is another cop out. These movies do not cause mental disorders or even cause the act to happen. Do they exacerbate the situation? Possibly, maybe even probably. But are these the true issues.

Alot of the problem lies with our inability to change anything. As a society we are angry. To change anything causes waves of anger and protests. Media protagonists make the situation much worse. Firing up fringe elements of society and inflaming hatred for anyone who disagrees with them. Is this the cause, maybe not this case, but it is another possibility. We as a society need to be careful how we approach these type of things. The instability of a person is more likely to be pushed over the edge. In an era of mass media knowing everything about the shooter and very little about the victims sends the wrong message.

An already polarized society is made worse by the polarization in government. Our elected officials, Republican and Democrat alike are guilty of making the situation worse. Democrats pushing for more social safety nets and Republicans pushing for everything the Majority of Americans don’t want. The NRA makes it worse with saying how the government intends to take everyone’s guns. How the Second Amendment is there to help overthrow tyrannical government. This most definitely exacerbates the situation.

So how do we fix the problem? There is not one solution. We need to make access to guns a little more difficult. Walking through Walmart and seeing them sell Assault weapons is very unsettling. We need comprehensive gun reform, as well as stronger mental health standards. We need less anger in government and more focus on the victims. If we stop making violent video games and movies would the violence stop? No, for some reason we seem to be a violent society. If violent video games and movies had so much to do with this, why don’t other countries have the same amount of mass shootings? They care for theur people and help take care of them. They are not societies that bury the poor, they help. Maybe if we weren’t a top down nation, we would be a little better off.

Bloomsburg Fair in northeastern Pennsylvania bans guns, then changes rule because gun owners threaten to boycott the fair.

               The Bloomsburg Fair banned guns at its 157 inception.  Gun owners took to Facebook to threaten to boycott a tradition in Pennsylvania. Why do these people need their guns at a fair? What about the normal people who do not carry guns? The fear a person having a gun causes for others, it is absurd to have a gun in a public place. Why does the Second Amendment trump all other parts of the Constitution?

What if someone gets killed by a nut job with a gun? If the fair gets sued, does the lawsuit now fall on this group? What if it is another group of kids that get shot? These people have no compassion for anyone else. Having people walk around with guns in a place with as many as 20,000 a day. What if the gun gets stolen and the theif shoots someone? I know it is a lot if what ifs, but the job of the fair is to mitigate risks.

So once again gun rights trump common sense. It seems to be the only Constitional Amendment that matters to people. The First Amendment was stomped all over constantly by the Republican party, but the gun nuts don’t care. Don’t touch my guns, but force religious beliefs on me, take away my voting rights and my freedom of speech. This is what our great nation has come too. The hilarity of it is that most of these gun nuts dont even know the full Second Amendment. If you are offended by this, tell me the complete Second Amendment.

The gun nut comments may bother some, but why does your right to haveca gun trump my right to feel safe. The numbers the NRA gives about gun owners stopping break ins are seriously skewed. The numbers are much lower than they give. Sadly the NRA is a lobbyist for the gun industry, not a group with no financial interests. So if course anything they give is skewed. Democrats and President Obama tried new gun control laws but were stopped by a Republican filubuster funded by the NRA. So once again big money triumphs over the will of the people.

You need to register your car and get insurance for it, but not for a gun, which is built to kill. You need homeowners insurance as well. Sadly a portion of the American public outweighs the rest because of money. Money has led to Americas fall from the top and it will topple our political system. It will soon be a Fuedal Society governed by corporations and protected by gun owners. The rest will be indentured servants.

The North Carolina Senate makes guns easier to get without background checks.

                      The North Carolina Senate amended sweeping pro-gun legislation making it easier to buy a handgun without a background check. It allows for the private purchase of guns in the state without a permit. Background checks and a permit would be needed only when buying from licensed dealers, but not from private purchases, including sales at gun shows.

This is just part of a larger gun package making its way through the Republican controlled legislature. This amendment would become part of the package that the Senate is taking up after the House passed it. The bill includes provisions to allow guns in locked cars at all public colleges and schools in the state. As well as at parks, bike paths and restaurants that serve alcohol. Attendees at a funeral will be allowed to carry a gun, along with people participating in parades. Judges, registers of deeds and court clerks would be permitted to carry guns during a work day.

Conservative legislation has dominated the current North Carolina Session. Current proposals include overhauling the states tax system and creating an official religion. Yes you read that right, an official religion. That is a complete violation of the First Amendment. Republicans talk of protecting the Second Amendment at the cost of every other Freedom we have.

This is the first year in more than 100 years that Republicans have controlled both houses of the legislature and the Governorship of North Carolina. Hopefully for the state this will be the last time for the next 100 years.

State Democrats question the logic of the Gun Bill. The State Democratic Spokesman told the Huffington Post ” Republicans in the General Assembly have no concept of consequences. They have shown that time and time again. Guns and Alcohol don’t mix. Guns at town parades or at playgrounds with our children are unacceptable. Guns on campus makes our college students less safe. To add insult to injury this legislation undermines our local Sherriffs ability to make their towns and cities safe.”

Republicans nationwide seem to want to poke President Obama in the eye. After Sandy Hook, President Obama and Democrats pushed for Gun Reform. The Gun Reform legislation was stopped by a Filibuster, supported by Republicans, who were funded by NRA Lobbyists. Since Sandy Hook about 5,000 more people have been killed by gun violence. Republicans seem to support chaos, both economically and socially. They seem deadset on a Fuedal Society controlled by wealthy corporations.

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.

This isn’t my grandparents America.

                 Our grandparents would not recognize the America we live in. The Government has let the people down now more than ever. Fracking is causing pollution to water and air across the country and Natural Gas Drillers are not being held responsible.

Because of an exemption in the Clean Water Act, Natural Gas Drilling Companies don’t have to report the chemicals they use. The Federal EPA does not control what happens in states, that is left mainly to the states EPA. Across the country the EPA was pressured to stop their investigations. Corporate money has shown its true hold on our government in the Fracking issue.

President Obama, who I am an ardent supporter of has done nothing for these Americans who are suffering. Democrats have done little more and Republicans share more of the guilt than any party. The lack of action from the Obama administration really bothers me. I know Democrats are not perfect, I have said so on many occasions. But this is an issue they should be perfect on. To let a government agency like the EPA be shutdown by corporate interests is inherently wrong.

The people have lost their voice in many cases. We lost it to lobbyist throwing money at Legislators and then pulling their puppet strings. The people don’t control our government, large entities like the Koch Brothers, ALEC, NRA and Exxon Mobile seem to control our everyday life. The Supreme Court exacerbated this problem with their Citizens United decisions. Corporations have the rights of people, but don’t get punished like the people when they break the law. The corporations have had their thumb on our head long enough. It is time for this to change.

Trayvon Martin deserves justice, Zimmerman got away with murder.

                 My faith in America’s judicial system is gone. A teenage boy was murdered by a man, a man who followed him when 911 told him not to. A man who carried a gun on neighborhood watch when he was told not to. A man who instigated the fight, after a year of Mixed Martial Arts training. A man who shot this child when he started losing this fight he started.

For Don West and Marc o’Mara said this case had nothing to do with Civil Rights, race. They could not be farther from the truth. If Zimmerman was black and Martin white, the case is closed, Zimmerman is convicted of murder and it never garners national attention. I am flabbergasted that a murderer walks free today because of an ALEC model legislation, that was made into law by Republicans.

I can’t process this decision. I am a white man, with a bald head, large goat-tee and a lot of tattoos. I get dirty looks and judged regularly. But I cannot grasp how a young black man feels. Every race has bad people, but entire races should not be judged on the actions of a few. Race should not be so prevalent in 2013. I feel for young black men, I know how I feel and it cannot compare to what they feel. They should see police and feel safe, if innocent, like everyone else. I really believe they are not.

This decision has shaken me to my very soul. I feel let down, I could not be as calm as Trayvon Martin’s parents. If it was my child, I would be going nuts. The Republicans have sold America to corporations and lobbyist like the NRA. Democrats are just as guilty for letting it happen. We the people are guilty of letting America become this joke it has become. It is now legal to murder a kid because you think they may be doing something wrong. You are allowed to shoot someone if you feel threatened, but not defend yourself from some creepy guy who is following you. This is a disgrace.

Gabby Giffords keeps up efforts for Gun Control.

          The former Arizona Congresswoman, Gabby Giffords, vwas shot in the head about 30 months ago. She recently met in New Hampshire with the parents of the children killed in the Sandy Hook massacre. They gathered to talk strategy, how to get Congress talking about Gun Control again.

Giffords, a Democrat, has become the face of the Gun Control movement. She is still recovering from injuries incurred in a 2011 attack that killed 6 others. Her and her husband, Mark Kelly, have been travelling the nation encouraging states to defy the NRA. They are trying to gain traction for legislation to expand background checks. They would also like to push for legislation for Assault Weapons Bans and High Capacity Magazine Bans.

Giffords recently formed Super-PAC and related non-profit group have ambitious plans to expabd their political clout in 2014. The group is known as Americans for Responsible Solutions and they are expected to raise $20 million for political activities and ads for the next election and the next Gun Control Vote. Up to now New York City Mayor Micheal Bloomberg has provided much of the financial support for Gun Control advocacy. His group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, has spent more than $12 million in an effort to pressure lawmakers in several states.

Despite Giffords and Bloomberg’s effort, they reportedly have not won any more votes in Congress. It seems as if the Bill has truly bogged down and will not move forward. In the lead up to the Manchin/Toomey Gun Bill vote, the NRA poured close to $400,000 into the Senators who voted against the bill. Republicans have been bashing Mayor Bloomberg for throwing his money around. It seems as if the NRA is uncomfortable going up against another lobbyist with just as much money.

Since Sandy Hook, over 4,500 have been killed by gun violence. Children have shot other children and people have been shot at gun shows. The NRA and other gun lobbyist use fear to mobilize gun rights activists. I am for children being able to live, as well as stopping at least some of the gun violence. If 20 murdered First Graders doesn’t sway Congress, what will? It seems they only support things when it hits close to home. I hope this is not what it takes, hopefully it won’t take another Elementary School massacre either.

What happens when a Congressman doesn’t listen to the NRA?

           Senator Pat Toomey is beginning to see the answer to that question. Toomey a Republican from Pennsylvania helped author the Manchin/Toomey Gun Bill, which of course was shot down, against NRA wishes. Before this he had an A rating with the NRA. Who are the NRA to rate any of our Senators? They are a lobbying group.

The Virginia based National Association for Gun Rights is running a smear campaign against Toomey for that Bill. The Bill required background checks on all gun sales, internet, gun shows and the classifieds. Current law only requires background checks on sales conducted by Federally licensed dealers. They are trying to connect Toomey with President Obama. They are attemptimg to connect him to the manufactured IRS, Benghazi and the NSA scandal. All of which have been proved fruitless. But Toomey is a conservative Republican who is on tge other side of most issues with President Obama.

Toomey now sees what Democrats deal with during each election cycle. Each election cycle the NRA and NAGR go into full attack mode. Portraying anyone who disagrees with their lobbying stance as trying to rob people of their Constitutional rights. All these Senators were trying to do was create sensible gun laws that might help prevent another massacre like Sandy Hook. Lobbyist attack Democrats for going to the bathroom the wrong way. This is what they mean when they say corporate America, politicians owned by corporations and lobbyist groups.

Republicans now on the other side of these attacks, now aren’t so convinced that Super-Pacs are right. They are also questioning the Citizens United decision. They haven’t felt the full effect of lobbyists and corporations trying to get you out of office. Maybe now Campaign Finance Reform can get done. Maybe this will help break the gridlock and help Gun Reform and Immigration Reform get done. But then again any Republican that goes against the grain finds themselves on the outside looking in. The Republican party looks to regress any progress made in America, how else do you explain their support of the Supreme Court gutting the Civil Rights Act. Republicans are beginning to dislike the system they created, it is now hurting them.