September 2011

Republicans and Democrats have come together to offer a new jobs package in the House. Well should I say “Republican” and “Democrat” in the names of Rep. Lee Terry [R-NE2] and Edolphus Towns [D-NY10]. The two have introduced HR 3035, the “Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011”, which gives this quick summary:

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to permit informational calls to mobile telephone numbers, and for other purposes.

“Informational calls” is a nice way of saying “robo-calls”. This will certainly increase the hiring of people in these call centers, even though most are over seas.

Currently under federal law these types of calls are illegal to place to cellular phones. This strips that law and makes it fair game now. The bill doesn’t stop there though. It also forbids states from enacting their own laws banning these types of calls.

Of course not everyone thinks this bill is bad [pdf file]. Numerous businesses, including banks and the Chamber of Commerce, have written Reps. Town and Terry to thank them for introducing it.

If you don’t have an unlimited cell plan, I would look at changing or getting rid of it. This bill will open the floodgates to countless unwanted calls just eating away at your minutes. Remember, consumers have no rights or protections in a 21st century America. Both political parties are in power only to serve corporations while screwing over “we the people”.

Bev Perdue, the governor of North Carolina, has an interesting suggestion:

North Carolina's Democratic governor suggested this week that the U.S. suspend congressional elections for two years so the people's representatives won't have to focus on reelection while they work to solve the nation's budget woes.

"You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things," Gov. Bev Perdue (D) told the Cary Rotary Club in North Carolina yesterday. "I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover.

"I really hope that someone can agree with me on that. The one good thing about Raleigh is that for so many years we worked across party lines. It's a little bit more contentious now but it's not impossible to try to do what's right in this state. You want people who don't worry about the next election."

We are 9 months into this session of Congress and already things are coming to a halt because of upcoming elections. Remember last month when John Boehner wouldn’t let President Obama address Congress about his jobs bill because there was one of a million Republican debates on that night? Things like that right there contribute heavily to a broken Congress.

At last night’s Republican debate Stephen Hill, a soldier currently serving in Iraq, asked the GOP field what they would do about the US policy for gays in the military, like Hill. Instantly the crowd went to booing this brave soldier. Rick Santorum instantly answered the question by saying he would reinstate DADT.

It’s really amazing when you think about it. Here we got a man, risking his life for a country that wants to exclude him from serving. Then we have a Republican presidential candidate that never once had the courage to out on the uniform and serve saying he shouldn’t be allowed to. I’m also sure many of those booing in the audience never had the courage to serve either. It is really sickening to see how the GOP tries to use soldiers as their political backdrops, but then wants to disqualify so many from serving over something our military leaders says isn’t a problem.

My heart weeps for this poor fellow:

Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) appeared on MSNBC with Chris Jansing this morning to attack President Obama’s new deficit reduction plan, which includes some tax increases on the wealthy. Taking up the typical GOP talking point, Fleming said raising taxes on wealthy “job creators” is a terrible idea that kills jobs because many of these people are small business owners who pay taxes through personal income rates.

Fleming is himself a businesses owner, so Jansing asked, “If you have to pay more in taxes, you would get rid of some of those employees?” Fleming responded by saying that while his businesses made $6.3 million last year, after you “pay 500 employees, you pay rent, you pay equipment, and food,” his profits “a mere fraction of that” — “by the time I feed my family, I have maybe $400,000 left over.

We should tax the middle and lower class more, take away healthcare for poor children, close schools and dismantle government just so this man from the party of the “common man”, the Tea Party can survive. 

Welcome to the sick and twisted views of America’s Tea Party. They champion people who complain about living on only $400k a year, yet insult those who only make $20,000 all while saying they believe in Jesus. The Tea Party isn’t a “party” – it’s a god damn mental illness!