politicalpartypooper

Several commenters here and at Firedoglake have stated that a Repeal of the 14th Amendment isn’t necessary, only a change to that amendment is needed, in response to my previous post, If 14th Amendment Is Repealed, What Makes Any Of Us Citizens. I answered that statement a bit in my comments section on my blog, but it’s an important enough issue to write a new post about it.

So you want to change the 14th Amendment, do you? You want to insert language in it which states that children of any “illegal” immigrant are not automatically afforded citizenship and the rights that come with that? I heard that argument before I wrote the first post, and I’ve also heard that some of you want it to be retroactive. Of course, because after all, here in America, there is no Statute of Limitations on burying the evidence of our ignorance. I’m not calling my commenters ignorant; I hope they understand this. I respect them. Allow me to explain.

When considering the recent uproar over the Fourteenth Amendment of our U.S. Constitution, this is the section that is under fire by many Republicans:

Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Okay, here is where I ask the obvious question. If being born here doesn’t make you a citizen, what does?

From the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President, the United States of America has Free Trade Agreements with the following countries:

Australia

Bahrain

Canada

Chile

Costa Rica

Dominican Republic

El Salvador

Guatemala

Honduras

Israel

Jordan

Mexico

Morocco

Nicaragua

Oman

Peru

Singapore

The United States has signed free trade agreements with Colombia, Korea, and Panama, but Congress must enact legislation to approve and implement each individual agreement in order for them to go into effect.

The United States is also in negotiations of a regional, Asia-Pacific trade agreement, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement with the objective of shaping a high-standard, broad-based regional pact.

Seeing as how the word “Fascism” is being bandied about lately, I thought I’d add something to the mix:

“The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism—ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Think about it.

I was just browsing around today at Open Secrets. org when I noticed that Citigroup has contributed $853,930 to PAC’s and Individual Campaigns for 2010. Citigroup; the bank that American taxpayers bailed out to the tune of $45 Billion, only $31 Billion of which has been paid back. So let me get this straight; I bailed them out because they didn’t have any money. I know that’s simplistic, but stick with me. They were bailed out because they could not meet their obligations as a bank..translation: had no money. But for 2010 they have $850,000 to use to influence legislation. Sounds logical. I hope if I ever owe The Feds $14 Billion that they’ll look the other way while I try to bribe my favorite elected officials.

I’ve stayed away from the whole Sarah Palin thing, for good reasons. It was my initial belief that the more attention you gave her, the more she would talk, and her “followers”, for lack of a better word, would become more emboldened. But I’ve changed my mind, at least for today.

Palin, the former governor who quit her Alaskan job to do God only knows what, said that President Obama had no time to appear on The View while the Arizona border remained so porous. She also indicated that she would be visiting the border area soon.

The DISCLOSE Act…I ask you…

The “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections” Act was passed by the House in late June, and is now up for debate or consideration in the Senate. The bill is a Democratic response to the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v FEC (Federal Elecetions Commission). I was vocal about that decision and shaken by how silly the Court’s opinions were over the matter; in essence calling corporations citizens and having the same rights as citizens, such as free speech. What it all boils down to is money. Corporations want the same rights that charities have to influence elections through contributions and ads. The DISCLOSE Act aims to force any person or corporation to identify themselves as the contributor behind the ad or donation. Republicans, surprise, surprise, have decided to filibuster.

I drove to my local Walmart today. I know, I know…big bad Big Box store. It’s true; they ran most of the small, local competition into the ground. But that’s not what this post is about. I just needed some sheets for my daughter’s new bed, and a comforter. Along the way I had to park in their ginormous parking lot. So I did what I always do; I took the first available spot.

As I was driving to my spot, I saw numerous cars driving up and down the rows of parked cars, looking for that prized “spot closest to the building”.

I get asked repeatedly by clients and friends, “Pooper, when is the recovery going to happen?”

To which I answer, “Are you referring to the recession, or the actual beginning of the collapse of our economy?” I typically get blank stares.

Allow me to expound. What you are seeing in America today is not a recovery from anything; not from the “recession” (called so because we have to have a label for everything), not from jobs lost, not from jobs outsourced overseas…there has been no recovery and will be no recovery until we undo what Conservatives (and in some cases, Democrats) did to ruin the economy.

We got us some anger issues in this country. We got Democrats hating Republicans, conservatives hating liberals, and both groups blaming each other for every ill that ever occurred…ever. We got both sides stretching the truth or outright lying, using fear to manipulate their constituents, and demagogic rhetoric to stir up tensions.