You do your part big time, I promise I’ll do mine big time
Posted by Michelle Moquin on April 16th, 2014
Good morning!
I’ve been wanting to respond to a few comments from a few days go, and I’m finally getting around to it.
Monroe: That is the point, the “youngsters” need to get with it. They were all so excited and participatory in the 2008 elections…but they quickly lost steam and stayed away during the midterms, which is part of the reason we lost the House. Dems, ALL Dems, need to get a fire up their asses and realize that if we lose this chance, life will be far worse than they can imagine.
As Eldon, Mildred and Stewart said, the repubs will vote during the midterms. The Dems…who knows why they don’t show up. Could be laziness, complacency…whatever. I don’t care what the reason. No reason is a good reason. Any reason is no excuse.
Readers: I am speaking to you, who read my blog, that this time it is not enough for us Dems, to just get fired up and do nothing but walk down to the voting booth and vote Democratic. If you have always voted Dem, or if through reading my blog you changed parties, and voted Dem for the first time in 2008 and 2012, more action needs to take place before it is time to vote in the midterms this year. More action in rallying up friends, family, strangers, to vote Dem and get to the polls. It may mean helping drive people to the polls so they can be sure to vote.
This is the time, where we need to do more. This is the time where Dems need to act differently than we have in the past, and surprise the heck out of the repubs, and show up big and strong, big time. This is not the time to get passive, lazy, complacent, or throw up your arms in frustration, feeling as if our vote doesn’t count. It does. Because whether you make it to the polls or not, your vote or lack of vote will count for one party. You might as well make it count for the Dem party, because a no vote will most certainly count for the repubs. And..if you think you’re frustrated and disillusioned for whatever reason, you will have plenty of reason when it gets worse and you realize you could’ve done something.
Anonymous: I love your idea. That is exactly what I am talking about when I say we need to do more than just vote this time around. Thank you!
Anyone else inspired by Anonymous? Maybe you can’t go out and buy a billboard, but you can certainly walk the streets and be your own personal billboard.
I know I can do more because, quite frankly, I am sick and tired of bitching about all that is happening on a daily basis. And worse, I am sick of the bitching from people who complain about the state of our affairs when it is us, the Dems, who are the ones to blame. Yes we are. We can point fingers at the repubs, and all they are doing, but we gave them they control. We had control and we gave it up. We’ve got one more chance with Obama as our president. Big change can happen if we retain control of the Senate and get back the House in November.
You do your part big time, I promise I’ll do mine big time.
You don’t like the fact the raving S.T.A.R.K. are in control? I don’t either. If the repubs remain in control, STARK will remain bought and paid for and this country will be at the mercy of those 5 repubs, who will remain on the bench working for the billionaires until the day they die. I’m not willing to see this country become a one party nation, and launch into a third world war. Are you? Don’t doubt that the repubs will take us there.
The question is, what are you willing to do in the coming months to prevent this? If we get control of Congress, we can set term limits on the time a Supreme Court judge can be on the bench and take away these insane “Until I die, Lifetime” appointments. Down with lifetime appointments.
If we get control of Congress we can overturn Citizens United.
From The Nation:
Bernie Sanders Raises Battle Cry Against Citizens United: ‘I Vote for Democracy!’
Citizens United is not just the default reference for US Supreme Court decisions—including the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling—that have ushered in a new era of corporate dominance of American elections. It’s the name of the conservative groupthat encouraged Chief Justice John Roberts and the most activist Court majority in American history to tear the heart out of what were already weak campaign finance laws.
Citizens United still exists as an activist group that produces documentaries—ACLU: At War with America, Border War: The Battle Over Illegal Immigration, Fire From the Heartland: The Awakening of the Conservative Woman, America at Risk: Hosted by Newt and Callista Gingrich—and organizes gatherings that highlight right-wing policies and politicians. On Saturday, Citizens United hosted something of a kickoff for the Republican presidential race in the first-primary state of New Hampshire.
Organized in collaboration with the Koch brothers–funded Americans for Prosperity Foundation, Citizens United’s “Freedom Summit” attracted a list of speakers that included leading contenders (and wannabes) for the GOP nod. Indeed, Greg Moore, the director of AFP-New Hampshire, described the summit as the first “cattle call” of 2016.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul made his pitch to the Koch crowd.
So did Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
And former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
And perennial (if never quite announced) contender Donald Trump.
The Freedom Summit was not entertaining objections to the latest Supreme Court decision to steer more big money into politics—in the case of McCutcheon v. FEC—or to the political machinations of bottom-line corporations and self-serving “mega-donors.”
But across town, on the same day, the objection was raised.
The New Hampshire Institute of Politics on the campus of Saint Anselm College was packed Saturday for a town-hall meeting with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who roused the crowd with a condemnation of the money power that is corrupting American elections and governance.
“In the United States of America, billionaires should not be able to buy elections,” declared Sanders, to thunderous applause.
“If we do not get our act together, we are moving towards an oligarchic society,” he continued, arguing that, “We have got to fight to defend American democracy.”
Like some of the Republicans who will be in New Hampshire this weekend, Sanders has talked about running for president. And his visit to the first-primary state has stirred speculation about a possible bid.
The independent senator says he is months away from any kind of decision. What he’s doing now is inviting progressives to join in a conversation about how to take on the money power. It’s a conversation he’ll carry forward May 9 and May 10 in Northampton, Massachusetts, with a series of events, including an appearance with the activist group Progressive Democrats of America.
What Sanders has already made his decision about the absolute absurdity of the High Court’s approach to cases like Citizens United and McCutcheon.
“What world are the five conservative Supreme Court justices living in?” Sanders said after the McCutcheon ruling.“To equate the ability of billionaires to buy elections with ‘freedom of speech’ is totally absurd. The Supreme Court is paving the way toward an oligarchic form of society in which a handful of billionaires like the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson will control our political process.”
Sanders has also decided that a constitutional amendment is needed to push back against Supreme Court decisions that threaten to make the dollar more consequential than the vote in American elections.
The “Democracy is for the People” amendment, sponsored by Sanders and Congressman Ted Deutch, D-Florida, is one of several proposed by members of Congress in response to the national outcry over the Citizens United decision—an outcry that, so far, has seen sixteen states and close to 600 communities demand that the Constitution be amended to address the crisis created, and now compounded, by the court.
Section I. Whereas the right to vote in public elections belongs only to natural persons as citizens of the United States, so shall the ability to make contributions and expenditures to influence the outcomes of public elections belong only to natural persons in accordance with this Article.
Section II. Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to restrict the power of Congress and the States to protect the integrity and fairness of the electoral process, limit the corrupting influence of private wealth in public elections, and guarantee the dependence of elected officials on the people alone by taking actions which may include the establishment of systems of public financing for elections, the imposition of requirements to ensure the disclosure of contributions and expenditures made to influence the outcome of a public election by candidates, individuals, and associations of individuals, and the imposition of content neutral limitations on all such contributions and expenditures.
Section III. Nothing in this Article shall be construed to alter the freedom of the press.
Section IV. Congress and the States shall have the power to enforce this Article through appropriate legislation.
Sanders is blunt with regard to the crisis.
“The disastrous 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United threw out campaign funding laws that limited what wealthy individuals and corporations could spend on elections,” he has argued. “Since that ruling, campaign spending by Adelson, the Koch brothers and a handful of other billionaire families has fundamentally undermined American democracy. If present trends continue, elections will not be decided by one-person, one-vote, but by a small number of very wealthy families who spend huge amounts of money supporting right-wing candidates who protect their interests.”
And Sanders is blunt about the necessary response.
“Clearly, if we are to retain the fundamentals of American democracy, we need to overturn the Supreme Court decision,” explains the senator, who argues that the time has come for “overturning Citizens United.”
It is part of what Sanders sees as a :political revolution” that has as its point the establishment of electoral landscape where the vote matters more than the dollar.
In New Hampshire Saturday, Sanders summed the concept up with a declaration that earned a standing ovation:
“I vote for democracy!”
Take Action: Tell Congress to Pass the ‘Democracy Is For People’ Amendment
*END*
Are you with me?
Ann: The LSOS feature has not ended. Go at it sister.
Vic: Nope no censoring here. The blog goes as it flows.
Helena: Is this the same Helena from many years ago? HOPE so. Always nice to see you here. If not, I still like your comment. :)
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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April 16th, 2014 at 10:31 am
Michelle, you have my support. I hope others will fall in line.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:35 am
The only problem is that it leaves out not-for-profit entities, like PAC’s, which ruins the bill. PACs will still be able to functionthe same way, and they’re a BIG problem!
April 16th, 2014 at 10:36 am
I’m with you Michelle, b/c we’ve got more work to do.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:37 am
I agree with you Michelle. We will need a grassroots movement to support your proposal. That means human power and dollars to make this a reality.
And, we need to start now.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:38 am
Mary#2: Perhaps you missed Section 4 where it states:
“Congress and the States shall have the power to regulate and set limits on ALL ELECTION CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES, including a candidate’s own spending, and to authorize the establishment of political committees to receive, spend, and publicly disclose the sources of those contributions and expenditures.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:38 am
You know we could use the Republicans own arguments against them. Every time gay rights as brought up they talk about people marrying dogs and horses.
Well now that inanimate objects such as corporations are citizens perhaps that can be extended to pet rocks and the mountain that I live on. I am kind of thinking that my car could be declared a citizen.
The Supreme Court had absolutely no right to do what they did in determining citizenship for corporations. This is patently against the democracy that we live in.
Now the big problem is going to be how many Democrats who belong to rich people and corporations will go along with this. We already know the Republicans are not on the side of Americans
You can add this onto the actions that Los Angeles took the other day. Do away with citizens United
April 16th, 2014 at 10:52 am
Steve#6, you know that we are not in a democracy right? We are in a republic. Sad that people are so wrong about that.
It doesn’t really matter what a city says. A city could declare that redheads are not people and can’t participate in elections but it wouldn’t hold water either.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:56 am
Actually, Phd, we are in a democratic republic.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:04 am
NO Sarah#8, actually we live in a plutocracy.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:07 am
Marc#9, oh, you’re going to go all realist on me.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:09 am
FredPhD#7, isn’t it a constitutional, democratic, federated republic? Don’t forget those very important Federalist Papers written while the Constitution was being banged together, in the early days of democratically elected government of the republic!
April 16th, 2014 at 11:12 am
FredPhD#7;
Stop with this we are a republic business on the right. If we were just a republic, we would not have the constitution. So up yours!
April 16th, 2014 at 11:13 am
Kat#11, I think you meant that question for me. My short answer is: I thought I saw those tattoed on Sarah Palin’s hand….so yes.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:22 am
Sarah#13, Look up the actual meaning of republic. USA is a republic. So what?
The problem is, that some people think that because this is a republic it should be ruled by republicans LOL.
No joke … Dumb azz hillbillies(almost half of the electorate) thinks exactly that !!!
April 16th, 2014 at 11:24 am
Karen#12, I would love to see the faces of these people when they learn that their idea of “republic” is as Machiavelli intended, rather than as the founders intended. American republicanism (as opposed to “Republicanism”) is based on liberal ideologies.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:28 am
Frank,PhD#7, the word democracy takes on many meanings. If you want to play strict with the language then you are absolutely right. But for all intents and purposes this is a democracy.
And it does matter what a city says, especially when a city the size of Los Angeles says something as a group. Simply because cities that size can influence other cities and other people.
But I’m sure you knew that having a PhD. Your example is childish and meaningless.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:29 am
Sarah#15, trying to explain that to these people is a waste of time. You can’t explain it to a 3rd grader and expect them to understand, trying to explain it to people with 3rd grade educations is basically the same thing.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:32 am
We are nothing like a democracy. 51% of voters can’t rule over the 49%. LA doesn’t sway the public because everyone knows it is pandering at its worse. The same reason states do not follow on gun laws or car emissions.
This amendment has no chance but it does show that Bernie has his own target and has friends to protect. Something clean like all human citizens would accomplish the goal of ending corporate donations.
Do you know why we have corporate personhood? There is a reason the focus is on donations and not on stripping personhood.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:40 am
It was Venus who posted the link about the cowards yesterday but yes, what a cowardly strategy (if you could honor that idiotic thought process with calling it a ‘strategy’ and again – worst than blonde jokes by 100%, in fact all these men are making that blonde stereotype fall by the wayside, pretty soon jokes will start with ‘what did the old white dude say when…?’)
I said men in their right minds should questions his rap/talents bc all women would consider this man an Ahole of high caliber for those statements.
I’m sorry, forgot name and number from yesterday, though the gist is this: just because it is a popular thought about when life exists for the taking it seems to be presupposed by buying religious ideology and not science. You are correct on one thought though, that bc there are people who want to protect zygotes (and then not give a crap about mother’s poverty or ability to care for the ‘life’ that now is there against her wishes, and basically bitch about her now present need to feed, cloth and shelter the child) you’ve got to love this kind of short-sightedness…
Beverly (again, forgot #) – yes, easy access to birth control could help all this tremendously…I am all for giving it away to those in need, I’d rather pay for birth control/abortions for women (in need) than to feed, clothe and shelter all the unwanted children (this is not to mention the psychlogical impact of being unwanted, that’s HUGE, believe me, there are a lot of broken people in this world, makes me sad…)
Good call to action there, Mischa, get to the younger Dems and explain the importance of mid-terms otherwise they may under-estimate what voting for Obama meant for themselves.
Luv, Zen Lill
April 16th, 2014 at 11:56 am
Frank,PhD Says:
April 16th, 2014 at 11:32 am
========================
Los Angeles does sway other people because it is a very large city. Gun laws and car emissions are not the same thing as what citizens United is. Maybe the amendment has no chance but it raises Attention to the issue.
A Corporation is made up of people but in and of itself is not a person. The Supreme Court had no right in determining that a Corporation which is a name only to have physical human rights.
The people who make up a Corporation are free to give contributions from their own personal pockets. A Corporation should not be.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:59 am
Michelle, I will do everything I can to get people to the polls.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:59 am
Why do we have to make loopholes in these things. Simply state that homo sapiens are the sole recipients of these rights. We can worry about the dolphins and robots later.
This is a power play by the religious right to make themselves more powerful.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:02 pm
I’m with you Michelle. I’m telling all my relatives and friends if they need help getting to the polls, call me.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:04 pm
Kidman#22, So long and thanks for all the fish.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:04 pm
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Aum Namaḥ Śivāya!
April 16th, 2014 at 12:04 pm
Good on ya Bernie, but don’t expect any help from the corporate right.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:05 pm
Steve, damned right. ALL inanimate objects are people so now my cars can be declared as dependents on my income tax.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:08 pm
Olson#26, Or the corporate left I imagine?
April 16th, 2014 at 12:09 pm
Michelle, you got my attention and help. I will definitely vote and encourage everyone I know to do so too.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:09 pm
Zen Lill#19, I couldn’t agree with you more.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:10 pm
Michelle, we need to storm those polls with a purpose. I intend to take your advice and bring a crowd with me to vote dems all the way.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:11 pm
And my Dog. She deserves to be a person too.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:11 pm
It is curious that it blocks business but only for profit so a not for profit is clear. Also depending on the charter, a union may be clear. Good thing this would not pass Congress and a requisite number of states. =)
April 16th, 2014 at 12:15 pm
With this bunch of bought and paid for 5 on SCOTUS how soon will it be before they allow corporations to vote?
Coming soon another S.T.A.R.K. raving mad decision.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:16 pm
Michelle, you are so correct if we don’t make it our business to vote out these criminals and idiots we deserve the lot they will surely give us.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:17 pm
Frank,PhD#33, a union is a collection of workers (people) who collectively contribute money to the union. Union members (people) also get to decide who gets the campaign contributions.
A corporation does not ask it’s employees (people) where they think the contributions should go. And they shouldn’t ask either … because it’s not the employee’s(people’s) money that the corporation will use. It’s the corporation’s money.
A corporation is not a person.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:22 pm
Helena#34, my guess is just as soon as the figure out how man votes to give each corporation.
If the republicans take the Senate and hold the House, that could be as soon as S.T.A.R.K. agrees on a price per vote from their handlers.
April 16th, 2014 at 12:24 pm
Danny#36, a corporation is a collection of shareholders (people) and the shareholders (people) vote on what the company does through elected representatives (board). There is no reason to go after business and give Sanders’ friends a pass.
April 16th, 2014 at 8:07 pm
September 23, 2014 is National Voter Registration Day. Anyone can volunteer to help get people registered to vote. Here’s info:
http://www.nationalvoterregistrationday.org/frequently-asked-questions
Be the change you want to see.
/SB
May 2nd, 2014 at 12:11 pm
Pretty! This has been an incredibly wonderful article. Thanks
for providing these details.