Sunday, October 20, 2013
Back to work
The shutdown ended late Wednesday night, capping off 16 days of drama in Washington as well as uncertainty for workers and financial markets alike. The bill, signed by President Obama after midnight, means that hundreds of thousands of federal workers are back on the job. Head here for the latest story.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Politics
After Cutting a Deal, McConnell Draws Criticism from All Sides
With Congress stuck in a bitter dispute over fiscal matters, there seemed to be no good solution for Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader up for re-election next year. Forge a compromise and risk attack from a primary opponent on the right. Block a deal and give fodder to a general election opponent on the left.
By stepping in after two weeks of a government shutdown, but right before a potential default, Mr. McConnell ensured he would be attacked from both sides.
For the most part, the responses from back home have been predictable – the campaign of Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic candidate for his seat, said Mr. McConnell “hid in the shadows,” for weeks, while Matt Bevin, his Tea Party-backed primary opponent, said Mr. McConnell had “cut and run from yet another fight.”
But the heat has also come from outside the state: a conservative group assailing him for an issue that seems almost anachronistic — earmarks.
The Senate Conservatives Fund is calling it “the Kentucky Kickback”: a $2.8 billion authorization – an increase from an earlier allotment – for the Olmsted Locks and Dam project in the western part of the state.
“In exchange for funding Obamacare and raising the debt limit, Mitch McConnell secured a $2 billion Kentucky kickback,” said Matt Hoskins, the executive director of the group, which is affiliated with former Senator Jim DeMint.
Mr. Hoskins directly tied the Kentucky Kickback to the so-called Cornhusker Kickback, $100 million in extra Medicaid funding for Nebraska to get Senator Ben Nelson’s support for the health care overhaul. (The measure was ultimately eliminated before passage.)
But in this case, the request for the Kentucky measure actually came from Tennessee and California.
Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, said he and Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, asked that the authorization for the Olmsted project be included to avoid losing $160 million in canceled contracts.
“It’s the biggest lock in the country, and I’m not going to stand around and see $160 million wasted,” Mr. Alexander said on Wednesday. The project, which has been approved by both the House and Senate before, would replace existing locks and dams near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, affecting Illinois, Tennessee and Kentucky.
In an interview on Thursday with the talk radio station WVLK, Mr. McConnell dismissed the idea that the authorization was an earmark, saying that the Army Corps of Engineers had requested the money and that other senators had been able to review the deal and none asked for it to be removed.
“If he didn’t want the earmark included, he could have kept it out,” Mr. Hoskins said in the statement.
The dispute reflects a broader cultural change in Congress: Mr. McConnell is trying to deflect responsibility for financing a project that will most likely bring jobs and improve trade in his region. In the more recent past, a top spokesman for Mr. McConnell called the Olmsted Dam “a top infrastructure priority for Kentucky” in an August interview with James Bruggers of The Courier-Journal of Louisville.
Dam earmark or none, Mr. McConnell might be unable to prevent another torrent from rolling into his state. In a Facebook message on Wednesday night, Sarah Palin announced that Kentucky would be her next target.
But he is focused on a message that is very different from hers. As part of a series of interviews on Thursday, Mr. McConnell told The Courier-Journal, “I’ve demonstrated again within the last 24 hours that when the country needs an outcome, I’m the person who can negotiate with the other side.”
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
War of the worlds
War of the worlds
worlds
worlds
worlds
so many worlds
and in each world
yet so many worlds
and in each world
war..war...war
down to the tiniest creation
each foreign world
floats and sinks in its own world
a world of nature
a world of war
ever ready to
guard us against
foreign worlds
world
world
world
yet each to his own world
at least for now
worlds
worlds
so many worlds
and in each world
yet so many worlds
and in each world
war..war...war
down to the tiniest creation
each foreign world
floats and sinks in its own world
a world of nature
a world of war
ever ready to
guard us against
foreign worlds
world
world
world
yet each to his own world
at least for now
Land of the Free
Land of the Free home of the brave
Land of disease home of the slave
#Freedom of religion Freedom of speech
Freedom of press and freedom to breach
Freedom to steal freedom to take
Freedom to carry guns and Freedom to break
The laws of the man and the laws of the word
Freedom from peace but to still use the bird
The only home of brave and Land of the Free
The land who rules based off democracy
Freedom to starve and Freedom to be poor
Freedom to break and enter someone’s door
Freedom to lay off workers and close off jobs
Freedom to take what they want and to rob
Freedom of abortion Freedom of extortion
Freedom to own land and give everyone their portion
Freedom for action by any means necessary
But what their picture of that can really be scary
Freedom to wage war without our consent for our hours to be spent
Freedom to take our money then make us pay rent
Land of the prospering riches and of those who don’t care for the
People who live in the FREE old America
Land of disease home of the slave
#Freedom of religion Freedom of speech
Freedom of press and freedom to breach
Freedom to steal freedom to take
Freedom to carry guns and Freedom to break
The laws of the man and the laws of the word
Freedom from peace but to still use the bird
The only home of brave and Land of the Free
The land who rules based off democracy
Freedom to starve and Freedom to be poor
Freedom to break and enter someone’s door
Freedom to lay off workers and close off jobs
Freedom to take what they want and to rob
Freedom of abortion Freedom of extortion
Freedom to own land and give everyone their portion
Freedom for action by any means necessary
But what their picture of that can really be scary
Freedom to wage war without our consent for our hours to be spent
Freedom to take our money then make us pay rent
Land of the prospering riches and of those who don’t care for the
People who live in the FREE old America
life
What life is!
Life is ………………………
Sometimes hearing sometimes deaf
Sometimes green fruit sometimes a fallen leaf
Sometimes speaking sometimes dumb
Sometimes sensitive sometimes numb
Sometimes shallow sometimes deep
Sometimes arid sometimes damp
Sometimes honour sometimes damn
Sometimes king sometimes clown
Sometimes full sometimes hollow
Sometimes dim sometimes glow
Sometimes stagnant sometimes flow
Sometimes quick sometimes slow
Whatever life is …………
Stand straight, never, never bent or bow
Remain glad, never, never sad or low.
Sometimes hearing sometimes deaf
Sometimes green fruit sometimes a fallen leaf
Sometimes speaking sometimes dumb
Sometimes sensitive sometimes numb
Sometimes shallow sometimes deep
Sometimes arid sometimes damp
Sometimes honour sometimes damn
Sometimes king sometimes clown
Sometimes full sometimes hollow
Sometimes dim sometimes glow
Sometimes stagnant sometimes flow
Sometimes quick sometimes slow
Whatever life is …………
Stand straight, never, never bent or bow
Remain glad, never, never sad or low.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
Government Shutdown Discussions Continue In Congress (LATEST UPDATES)
The government shutdown entered its 13th day Sunday as negotiations on how to end the budget standoff continued in Congress.
The Senate was set to return to work Sunday after rejecting a plan put forward by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Saturday.
Also sidelined, at least for now, was an effort by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to assemble a bipartisan coalition for a plan to briefly fund the government and extend the $16.7 trillion debt limit, in exchange for steps like temporarily delaying the medical device tax that helps fund the health care law.
Democrats said Collins' plan curbed spending too tightly and Reid said it was going nowhere. Collins said she would continue seeking support for it.
Democratic leaders in the Senate may have rejected a bipartisan push among more junior members to come up with a compromise to Capitol Hill's fiscal standoff, but at least a dozen senators working behind the scenes Sunday were still rallying around a plan led by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).
It's unclear how the effort has changed since Senate Democratic leaders shot it down Saturday in favor of direct talks between Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). But the basic idea was to fund the government through March at the levels specified for 2013 in the 2011 budget deal, and to raise the debt ceiling enough to last through January, to give time to negotiate a longer-term budget. The plan would leave Obamacare alone, but replace for two years a device tax that helps fund the law.
Even though Reid and his fellow leaders rejected the idea -- objecting both to the short-term debt limit hike and to keeping deeper across-the-board spending cuts in place through March -- it got a new burst of support on Sunday.
Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), both praised the bipartisan push in Senate floor speeches.
"We had a group of folks that had an idea. I thought it was a good starting place, candidly, with six Republicans and six Democrats, who had an idea of a way to move beyond this," said Corker.
"I want to associate myself with the effort underway by Sen. Collins from Maine and Sen. [Amy] Klobuchar from Minnesota (D), Sen. Mark Pryor (D) from Arkansas and others on both sides of the aisle that have been working throughout the evening, the night, early morning hours, talking, trying to find a way forward," said Landrieu.
to be continue on http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/13/government-shutdown-2013_n_4093166.html?ref=topbar#495_collins-plan-not-dead-yet
The Senate was set to return to work Sunday after rejecting a plan put forward by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Saturday.
Also sidelined, at least for now, was an effort by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to assemble a bipartisan coalition for a plan to briefly fund the government and extend the $16.7 trillion debt limit, in exchange for steps like temporarily delaying the medical device tax that helps fund the health care law.
Democrats said Collins' plan curbed spending too tightly and Reid said it was going nowhere. Collins said she would continue seeking support for it.
Democratic leaders in the Senate may have rejected a bipartisan push among more junior members to come up with a compromise to Capitol Hill's fiscal standoff, but at least a dozen senators working behind the scenes Sunday were still rallying around a plan led by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).
It's unclear how the effort has changed since Senate Democratic leaders shot it down Saturday in favor of direct talks between Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). But the basic idea was to fund the government through March at the levels specified for 2013 in the 2011 budget deal, and to raise the debt ceiling enough to last through January, to give time to negotiate a longer-term budget. The plan would leave Obamacare alone, but replace for two years a device tax that helps fund the law.
Even though Reid and his fellow leaders rejected the idea -- objecting both to the short-term debt limit hike and to keeping deeper across-the-board spending cuts in place through March -- it got a new burst of support on Sunday.
Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), both praised the bipartisan push in Senate floor speeches.
"We had a group of folks that had an idea. I thought it was a good starting place, candidly, with six Republicans and six Democrats, who had an idea of a way to move beyond this," said Corker.
"I want to associate myself with the effort underway by Sen. Collins from Maine and Sen. [Amy] Klobuchar from Minnesota (D), Sen. Mark Pryor (D) from Arkansas and others on both sides of the aisle that have been working throughout the evening, the night, early morning hours, talking, trying to find a way forward," said Landrieu.
to be continue on http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/13/government-shutdown-2013_n_4093166.html?ref=topbar#495_collins-plan-not-dead-yet
Government Shutdown Negotiations Stuck On Sequestration
WASHINGTON -- As the United States government approaches a deadline for raising the debt limit and the government shutdown nears its second week, Senate Democrats are taking a stand on sequestration.
The party’s leadership rejected an offer from Senate Republicans on Saturday morning mainly because the proposal locked in those budget cuts for too long.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called it the “single biggest sticking point” in negotiations, while his counterpart in leadership, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) deemed it the central dispute.
“The parties have different views. We passed a budget of $1.058 trillion and they passed one -- the Ryan budget -- [at] $988 [billion],” Schumer said. “So that is a serious issue.”
Democrats' stand over sequestration is a nice surprise for some progressive members who worried leadership would cave in this area. But instead, they were emboldened after polling showed them with the upper hand in budget fights. Democrats also noted that they, too, were concerned about the severity of the cuts.
Under a Senate Republican proposal crafted by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the government would have been funded at $988 billion for the next six months. Many Senate Democrats said they could live with that number -- just not for that long.
“If we can have a short term [continuing resolution at $988 billion] to get us through, say, the first of December, that is fine with me,” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) told The Huffington Post.
The question, said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), was: “Are we locked into the number for what amounts to the next year, or are we going to be able to get to the point where there are budget negotiations that can work with that number?”
The concern for Harkin and King, among others, is that the party could sacrifice too much negotiating power by signing off on Collins’ plan. Under the Budget Control Act, annual spending will be reduced to $967 billion around Jan. 15, regardless of the budget at the time. Democrats want to avoid that. They've concluded that it would be a misstep to put off a motivating moment (such as a budget deal ending) for those negotiations for six months, or to go on record supporting a six-month, $988 billion budget.
“[Waiting] would dis-incentivize the negotiation. It would put Democrats on a weaker ground,” said a top Senate Democratic aide. “If, in the next few days, we break the will of [Speaker] Boehner and Senate Republicans, and we pass both a clean CR and debt limit increase, I think that there is a belief within the Senate Democratic caucus that there is absolutely no way that they would have any leverage to make major demands in future negotiations about this, that we would be in a better position.”
Hints that Republicans may end up playing ball on sequestration emerged this week. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) hinted that he would be willing to trade sequestration relief for entitlement reforms. Democrats aren’t ready to make that exchange yet because they view it as imbalanced, and because they want to get through the current crisis first.
During talks Saturday morning, aides with knowledge of the meeting say, Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) implored her colleagues that it would be a misstep to agree to the spending levels in Collins’ plan. Many lawmakers emerged from that meeting calling Murray’s presentation convincing.
“Patty Murray makes a very important point,” said Durbin. “If she is bound going into a budget conference by the Paul Ryan number, where is her bargaining power? Some Senate Republicans were insisting on that. But that’s unfair.”
White House officials, meanwhile, have signaled to Senate Democrats that waging a fight over sequestration during current talks is acceptable. An administration official told The Huffington Post that while they found the Collins’ proposal “constructive,” they had concerns about the spending levels.
With just five days until the debt ceiling deadline, the party is now holding out. The goal, ultimately, is to produce a deal that funds the government at $988 billion, but only for a short period of time, and to include a framework in which both chambers negotiate to replace sequestration more fully.
“We clear back to a clean state and start where we were before,” explained Harkin. "That’s where the appropriations and the budget negotiations need to start from. Patty Murray should start from negotiating from our standpoint – $1.058 trillion. And if they want to start from their standpoint, fine.”
The party’s leadership rejected an offer from Senate Republicans on Saturday morning mainly because the proposal locked in those budget cuts for too long.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called it the “single biggest sticking point” in negotiations, while his counterpart in leadership, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) deemed it the central dispute.
“The parties have different views. We passed a budget of $1.058 trillion and they passed one -- the Ryan budget -- [at] $988 [billion],” Schumer said. “So that is a serious issue.”
Democrats' stand over sequestration is a nice surprise for some progressive members who worried leadership would cave in this area. But instead, they were emboldened after polling showed them with the upper hand in budget fights. Democrats also noted that they, too, were concerned about the severity of the cuts.
Under a Senate Republican proposal crafted by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the government would have been funded at $988 billion for the next six months. Many Senate Democrats said they could live with that number -- just not for that long.
“If we can have a short term [continuing resolution at $988 billion] to get us through, say, the first of December, that is fine with me,” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) told The Huffington Post.
The question, said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), was: “Are we locked into the number for what amounts to the next year, or are we going to be able to get to the point where there are budget negotiations that can work with that number?”
The concern for Harkin and King, among others, is that the party could sacrifice too much negotiating power by signing off on Collins’ plan. Under the Budget Control Act, annual spending will be reduced to $967 billion around Jan. 15, regardless of the budget at the time. Democrats want to avoid that. They've concluded that it would be a misstep to put off a motivating moment (such as a budget deal ending) for those negotiations for six months, or to go on record supporting a six-month, $988 billion budget.
“[Waiting] would dis-incentivize the negotiation. It would put Democrats on a weaker ground,” said a top Senate Democratic aide. “If, in the next few days, we break the will of [Speaker] Boehner and Senate Republicans, and we pass both a clean CR and debt limit increase, I think that there is a belief within the Senate Democratic caucus that there is absolutely no way that they would have any leverage to make major demands in future negotiations about this, that we would be in a better position.”
Hints that Republicans may end up playing ball on sequestration emerged this week. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) hinted that he would be willing to trade sequestration relief for entitlement reforms. Democrats aren’t ready to make that exchange yet because they view it as imbalanced, and because they want to get through the current crisis first.
During talks Saturday morning, aides with knowledge of the meeting say, Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) implored her colleagues that it would be a misstep to agree to the spending levels in Collins’ plan. Many lawmakers emerged from that meeting calling Murray’s presentation convincing.
“Patty Murray makes a very important point,” said Durbin. “If she is bound going into a budget conference by the Paul Ryan number, where is her bargaining power? Some Senate Republicans were insisting on that. But that’s unfair.”
White House officials, meanwhile, have signaled to Senate Democrats that waging a fight over sequestration during current talks is acceptable. An administration official told The Huffington Post that while they found the Collins’ proposal “constructive,” they had concerns about the spending levels.
With just five days until the debt ceiling deadline, the party is now holding out. The goal, ultimately, is to produce a deal that funds the government at $988 billion, but only for a short period of time, and to include a framework in which both chambers negotiate to replace sequestration more fully.
“We clear back to a clean state and start where we were before,” explained Harkin. "That’s where the appropriations and the budget negotiations need to start from. Patty Murray should start from negotiating from our standpoint – $1.058 trillion. And if they want to start from their standpoint, fine.”
Trucker Group Citing Government 'Corruption' Calls To 'Shut Down America' With 3-Day Strike
A new social media rallying call has truckers across America buzzing.
Citing government corruption as its main grievance, a Facebook group dubbed "Truckers to Shut Down America" is calling for a three-day general strike set to take place Oct. 11-13. The page has quickly amassed more than 53,000 Facebook "likes" since its launch on Sept. 15.
Scores of truckers have declared their solidarity with the movement, posting messages like "Thank you, Patriot! Godspeed!" along with selfies taken in their trucks.
While the page's description does not list specific goals or terms of negotiation, the plans for the strike read thus: "Truck drivers will not haul freight! Workers will call in sick! Consumers will not buy or sell anything on this date! Stay home! Buy nothing!"
In addition, a "Ride for the Constitution" event page calls truckers to gather in Washington, D.C., in an effort to "Restore the Constitution, Defund Obamacare, Lower Fuel Prices."
The group did not return requests for comments from The Huffington Post.
This grassroots attempt to organize a truckers' strike was dismissed by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the largest trade organization for truckers.
"We're not a sponsor or a supporter, and we certainly don't condone it," ATA spokesman Sean McNally told The Huffington Post.
McNally said the movement appears to be using information from a 2006 ATA report about the essential role of truckers in the United States. Among other findings, the report noted that halting trucking could call "significant shortages" to the country "in as little as three days, especially for perishable items."
Given those findings, a successful 72-hour trucker strike, like the one proposed by the Truckers To Shut Down America, would be problematic for the country. However, McNally expressed skepticism on the likelihood of such a large-scale protest taking place.
"There hasn't been a nationwide [trucker] strike of any kind for many years," he said.
This attempt to gather a crowd of 18-wheelers is the latest in a series of organized protests in D.C. The previous two were unable to reach their target turn-out goals, despite media attention. The 9/11 Million Muslim March, for example, fell exceedingly short of its goal, only managing to attract about 30 protestors. The 2 Million Bikers to D.C. fared better, organizing thousands of bikers in a ride through D.C. (The event took place despite being formally denied a police permit.)
The Truckers, meanwhile, don't appear to be stressing about any potential hurdles they may face along the way: "We do not need a permit. Homeland Security has nothing to say. Everyone will police themselves," the group said in a Facebook post.
Citing government corruption as its main grievance, a Facebook group dubbed "Truckers to Shut Down America" is calling for a three-day general strike set to take place Oct. 11-13. The page has quickly amassed more than 53,000 Facebook "likes" since its launch on Sept. 15.
Scores of truckers have declared their solidarity with the movement, posting messages like "Thank you, Patriot! Godspeed!" along with selfies taken in their trucks.
While the page's description does not list specific goals or terms of negotiation, the plans for the strike read thus: "Truck drivers will not haul freight! Workers will call in sick! Consumers will not buy or sell anything on this date! Stay home! Buy nothing!"
In addition, a "Ride for the Constitution" event page calls truckers to gather in Washington, D.C., in an effort to "Restore the Constitution, Defund Obamacare, Lower Fuel Prices."
The group did not return requests for comments from The Huffington Post.
This grassroots attempt to organize a truckers' strike was dismissed by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the largest trade organization for truckers.
"We're not a sponsor or a supporter, and we certainly don't condone it," ATA spokesman Sean McNally told The Huffington Post.
McNally said the movement appears to be using information from a 2006 ATA report about the essential role of truckers in the United States. Among other findings, the report noted that halting trucking could call "significant shortages" to the country "in as little as three days, especially for perishable items."
Given those findings, a successful 72-hour trucker strike, like the one proposed by the Truckers To Shut Down America, would be problematic for the country. However, McNally expressed skepticism on the likelihood of such a large-scale protest taking place.
"There hasn't been a nationwide [trucker] strike of any kind for many years," he said.
This attempt to gather a crowd of 18-wheelers is the latest in a series of organized protests in D.C. The previous two were unable to reach their target turn-out goals, despite media attention. The 9/11 Million Muslim March, for example, fell exceedingly short of its goal, only managing to attract about 30 protestors. The 2 Million Bikers to D.C. fared better, organizing thousands of bikers in a ride through D.C. (The event took place despite being formally denied a police permit.)
The Truckers, meanwhile, don't appear to be stressing about any potential hurdles they may face along the way: "We do not need a permit. Homeland Security has nothing to say. Everyone will police themselves," the group said in a Facebook post.
isnt it true????????
be strong Mr. president its good to know that you care about the people. you are the only one who fight and is still trying to help the poor people from suffering.
But I know without Obama some of us wont even be in this country but still some of us hate him, why hate someone who try's to do something good? I wish I could help but am know body ''
But I know without Obama some of us wont even be in this country but still some of us hate him, why hate someone who try's to do something good? I wish I could help but am know body ''
Sunday, October 13, 2013
the cynical optimist
america, cameroon, campaign finance, congress, corruption, eastern europe, house of representatives, lawrence lessig, politics, Super PACs, TED talk, United States, West Africa
Eastern Europe and West Africa are two regions that come to mind when I think about corruption. Corruption is, at its worse, an overt and unethical expectation of money or a service from someone in order, or in exchange, for another to be able to conduct their business or their daily routine.
I don’t think I have experienced such corruption in America which is where I reside. Indeed, one of my most vivid memories of Cameroon, a country I visited over a decade ago (but I hear things have not changed much and may in fact be worse), is being approached by a police officer and being told to pay a bribe and to promptly leave the parking area of the US embassy. My family wasn’t asked to pay a bribe in order to stay, but to pay an exit fee! I also distinctly remember the roads being littered with illegal tolling stations and at one road block my passport was taken away from me in an attempt to get a bribe and/or intimidate my family. This is in stark contrast to what I experienced traveling in Ethiopia and South Africa. And, it is because of my personal memories of Cameroon, in addition to things I read in the news, that I associate corruption most closely with West Africa (and Eastern Europe because I read similarly things in the news).
This afternoon, however, I realized that my belief that corruption is a foreign issue is completely false. The United States is currently displaying the side affects of a serious affliction of corruption. Congress has shutdown the federal government over a gridlock of interests, positions and grasps for power from representatives who “serve” an excruciatingly small segment of the population. In essence, the American population is at the mercy of “representatives” and senators who are, in fact, private servants–serving the private interests of a discrete segment of America.
Professor Lawrence Lessig presented a lecture entitled “Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress — and a Plan to Stop It.” I think I have found an excerpt of his hour-long presentation on Ted.com. I encourage Americans, in particular, to watch it. It’s fascinating and timely given the current state of our federal government. One of the audience members at the presentation asked Professor Lessig if throwing everyone out of Congress might be a good start. In the past week or so, I have wondered the same thing. Maybe it’s time for Americans to revolt, clean house, and start over. Except, without the proper laws, regulations and expectations in place, new members of Congress would be up to their old tricks. The American public has to expect more. Too often when we think about what Congress should be doing, we roll our eyes or laugh because we know it won’t happen. Congress is a joke. Professor Lessig has made me understand the critical importance of campaign finance reform. Noone’s interests–whether you care about education, women’s rights, tax policy, or the environment–will be effectively legislated on unless and until Congress acts. And Congress isn’t acting because they are beholden to special interests. This must change. The future of our republic depends on it.
#Corruption in America
In Democracy, Government, Thoughts?? on October 10, 2013 at 7:36 pm
What is Corruption?
I don’t think I have experienced such corruption in America which is where I reside. Indeed, one of my most vivid memories of Cameroon, a country I visited over a decade ago (but I hear things have not changed much and may in fact be worse), is being approached by a police officer and being told to pay a bribe and to promptly leave the parking area of the US embassy. My family wasn’t asked to pay a bribe in order to stay, but to pay an exit fee! I also distinctly remember the roads being littered with illegal tolling stations and at one road block my passport was taken away from me in an attempt to get a bribe and/or intimidate my family. This is in stark contrast to what I experienced traveling in Ethiopia and South Africa. And, it is because of my personal memories of Cameroon, in addition to things I read in the news, that I associate corruption most closely with West Africa (and Eastern Europe because I read similarly things in the news).
This afternoon, however, I realized that my belief that corruption is a foreign issue is completely false. The United States is currently displaying the side affects of a serious affliction of corruption. Congress has shutdown the federal government over a gridlock of interests, positions and grasps for power from representatives who “serve” an excruciatingly small segment of the population. In essence, the American population is at the mercy of “representatives” and senators who are, in fact, private servants–serving the private interests of a discrete segment of America.
Professor Lawrence Lessig presented a lecture entitled “Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress — and a Plan to Stop It.” I think I have found an excerpt of his hour-long presentation on Ted.com. I encourage Americans, in particular, to watch it. It’s fascinating and timely given the current state of our federal government. One of the audience members at the presentation asked Professor Lessig if throwing everyone out of Congress might be a good start. In the past week or so, I have wondered the same thing. Maybe it’s time for Americans to revolt, clean house, and start over. Except, without the proper laws, regulations and expectations in place, new members of Congress would be up to their old tricks. The American public has to expect more. Too often when we think about what Congress should be doing, we roll our eyes or laugh because we know it won’t happen. Congress is a joke. Professor Lessig has made me understand the critical importance of campaign finance reform. Noone’s interests–whether you care about education, women’s rights, tax policy, or the environment–will be effectively legislated on unless and until Congress acts. And Congress isn’t acting because they are beholden to special interests. This must change. The future of our republic depends on it.
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