People have spoken
Last Tuesday the people of the nation spoke clearly and quite eloquently. They said they wanted a voice in their own lives and destinies…they wanted democracy and not some system where decisions are based on the power of wealth. They said that the ordinary citizen would not be ignored or shuffled off to the fringes. The working class stepped up, the young stepped up, the poor stepped up, minorities stepped up and women stepped up, as did many others, to say that people are more important and trump money, wealth and profit.
I was inspired. I had been concerned that people were not going to see through the charade of manipulation and half-truths dominating much of the media. I was concerned that too many would be intimidated into powerlessness by the massive financial resources poured into the campaigns. I should not have been concerned. People saw through the rhetoric and were pushed too far and angered by the blatant attempts at manipulation and voter suppression. The ordinary American citizen stood up and was counted.
Now those same citizens have to finish the work. Big money lost this round, but will simply regroup and find other, more devious, ways to corrupt the democratic process. We must get big money out of our political process.
We must insist that those who have benefited the most, financially, from the system we have all built together, rejoin our community and go back to the old ways of sharing the increases in productivity with the workers as they did during most of the last century. We must re-establish a progressive tax system and go back to the old taxes for the wealthy, which have been reduced by more than 60 percent over the last 60 years.
A great start, now is the time to finish the job.
Bob Passi
Baxter
Comments (31)
Add commentLet's hope that everyone in
Let's hope that everyone in the government can put aside their old personal agendas and do something together for once.
Voter supression efforts in AZ really takes the heat off FL
Now maybe everyone will understand what a
"provisional ballot " really is.
As of yesterday only 160,000 + voters need to hurry to their County Seats or polling places by Wed this week with who knows what kind of ID ( papers ?) ,or their votes dont count !
Hey Mary K. (R) Big Lake , Dont wait for a call from Gov Dayton to try & fix your horrible idea.
People Have Spoken
Hey CWC libs. The people may have spoken but your work has just begun. You lost in CWC and the Repubs won. I'm sure your state and federal party are proud of you. LOL. Can't blame Bush for that one. It must have been all the great Snowdas, Southies, captrons, Bubbas etc. around here that helped their party so much. Go ahead, take your shots now.
try to be civil -- we are
Some of us remember the days right after GWB was re-elected for his 2nd term. That was not easy, but the world did not end. We plunged into a recession because he put everything (2 wars, tax cuts and Medicare Part D) on a credit card.
Take a deep breath and let's ALL work together to move our great country forward, That's all that should matter now.
A belated thank you to Keith
This post doesn't fit the title of the article but I just got around to reading Sundays BDD and would like to take this opportunity to thank Keith H. for his wonderful article on the Vets. Thank You. Good Job. Also, I would personally like to thank all who gave a few minutes over the weekend to remember those that fought for our freedom. God Bless You All. ALL GAVE SOME-SOME GAVE ALL. (Tears-Sob) s/s Charlie
Take a deep breath?
Snoda... do you have any clue what a 16 trillion dollar debt is? Our only way of avoiding this crushing load is if we "stop" breathing period. It's currently like 128 thousand dollars per houshold. It's too late for this "can't we all just get along" . Even If this bunch of brain dead, delusional people that are currently in power quit spending all together, we'd still be paying just the interest on the debt for decades.
Sadie...
Yes, we do. And putting two unneeded wars on the credit card did that, too.
And the "brain dead, delusional" ( your words), women-hating politicos didn't win.
Bye bye to Allen West and other tea party guys.
Hello, Rick Nolan, Heidi Heitcamp.
Welcome back, Allan Grayson.
Now, now, southie.
Please re-read snowda's post. Even if she did immediately resort to the blame-game, her sentiments did start out in the right place.
Southie
I wouldn't cross out Allen West and other t party guys just yet.
I read the comment on the two unneeded wars and differ
on that . An argument can be made on the needed aspect , but Pres. Obama has added 6 trillion so far and will add more trillion in 2013 unless the spending can stop.
It's hard to add revenue when jobs are scarce which is why
I want people to get jobs. The administration is adding
many regulations and all the new taxes in the Obamacare
is stopping some employee additions as well as layoffs.
Some Executives are meeting with the Pres tomorrow but
no small business . Small business is identified by the Small Business Admin as 500 and less employees.
Corporations can handle the regulations and taxes better than the small business. I hope for the best for our country.
HELP WANTED
The army is in need of three reliable and honest four star generals to replace these guys:
David Petraeus
John Allen
William Ward
Yup,
They all were present during Obama's unconstitutional behavior and gun running. They need to take the fall for the "One". They are guilty of following Obama's orders, covering up the results and sleeping with other Obama supporters.
The regime needs to discredit them before they can testify to Obama's TREASON!
Let the Republicon distractions continue , Their Entertainment
Complex/Networks need the ratings. ($)
And dont forget all good bunker dwellers should use the GOP approved Gold Vendor of a former AR Gov Named Mike H.
Its a really great concept , you send in a certified check and they will safely hold your gold bars for you !
And if by chance Gold is not your thing , they can come up with another distraction , maybe a sacrifice or sucession, ? Can 94,000 yahoos that live in Teaxas ( pop 27,000,000) be wrong ?
See misleading graph that follows.
Mission Accomplished !
re: People Have Spoken
That article was nicely written but it is nothing but a bunch of claptrap. I want to know in what world you live in, Passi? The only thing I agree with you in the article is the money spent on the election was obscene and the people did speak. The wrong people...the adults in the room voted Republican because they got that the country is in a fiscal mess, but the kids in the room voted with their uterus and on social issues, which is hardly impressive. The young people who voted can't even identify who the vice president of the United States is by a photograph. And then there are those that love the free stuff. How can you vote out your personal Santa Claus. These are the same ignoramuses who will be in charge of our country and are making decisions that affect all of us? During the primaries, the right beat each other up and disclosed every little flaw in the candidates, while Obama stood off to the side taking notes. The same Obama who started campaigning the moment he got into office in 2008. So do tell me the people spoke, the working class spoke up. Who really spoke up were the big bucks the unions pulled in for Obama, the states that got money from Obama, the bail outs..etc. He bought his re-election with our tax dollars and it was solidified by the unions.
the young voters
The young are inheriting the administration mess and then
they vote for him. Although not all of them did, my two voted
for Romney. They have jobs and pay taxes and fully understand what will happen Jan. 1 and in the future.
They work in private sector so, are not dependent on the
public sector for a check.
This is why I have been complaining about spending
since 2008. Not on this site - but to others.
I care about this country and really can't understand
why people don't look at the spending and compare
it to what the treasury takes in. The food stamp program
alone is out of control. there is so much waste and abuse
and people seem to only care about where you get the info. from. Well, it is the federal government where the info. comes from.
elkatraz
"The young people who voted can't even identify who the vice president of the United States is by a photograph."
I'm not so sure that's a bad thing.
Health Care and private businesses
So if Papa Johns and Applebee's do not wish to be financially burdened by providing a portion of their employee's health care, then that is ok with you folks? Because those same employees do and will get sick and will show up in ERs and we will pay for it.
I would like to see an article in the Dispatch reflecting how these local restaurants and others provide for their employees regarding health care.
And let's see what percentage of clients show up at our local ERs with no insurance. And who pays for their care?
Just the beginning of...
Obamagate!
tough questions southie
According to the GOP everyone is responsible for themselves, so that would mean that everyone should have health care coverage so that others do not have to pay for their care in ER. We can't afford that and people need to do preventive care vs. only using it in crisis situations.
How do we provide access to affordable health care for everyone? Romney laid out the plan in MA. Obama copied it.
Do the math. If everyone is 'in' and buys health care (because we WILL ALL NEED IT) then the rates can go down and buying pools can be created. This is not social welfare, the insurance companies are awaiting the mandate -- they will have more business. Many of them are creating tiers where people can buy in already, in anticipation of the ACA being implemented.
Businesses like Wal Mart who send their employees to the county for their insurance are no bargain. Not when 6 of the 10 richest people in the country are Walton's. Costco can afford to offer their employees benefits. Not all the profits need to go 'to the top.'
To southie and snowda
Have either of you run a business......ever? Have you ever found yourself looking for the best price on anything? Do you ever shop around? Do you buy Heinz ketchup because John Kerry is a Democrat? Have you ever considered the generosity of some of these wealthy people? Do you even know how much the Waltons give to charities.....like Joe Biden and John Kerry?
yes, owned a small business for a decade
I started it and I worked some long hours getting it going and later I sold it. Sorry to shatter your image of me being a slacker.
I have some friends now who have businesses and they agonize about offering their employees health insurance.
As it is NOW, it is unaffordable for many, except the larger businesses. I saw an article on the PaPa John's owner that is going to cut hours because he's mad Obama won. Then he appears in an ad offering free pizzas.
This is a matter of CHOICE for some employers. Many who consider themselves charitable and good Christians. They should look in the mirror and check their motivations.
p.s. nice to see all the thumbs down for being a business owner. LOL.
Yes, trip
And it was a real learning experience.
I sympathize with small business owners who find themselves competing with the box stores, thus my reluctance to shop in them.
And I buy generic brands.
elkatraz and unions
I know unions have so much power when they are a very small fraction of the population < 6%!
Hey Galt
How come your chart doesn't match the debt clock that is on the BDD website? Your chart says the current amount is about 11 trillion but all during the campaign it was said to be 16 trillion (and in 2010 I heard it as 14 trillion)?
mmp129,
I'd bet 90% of government employees are union members, excluding the military. And some elected folks, I might add. Some of those elected folks are union though.
Who knew Obama had a budget?
I thought the GOP ran on that issue saying he never had one.
The credit card
Come on people lets get with it and spend, spend, and spend some more. Before you know it the recession will be over!
Fair and Balanced is......
Union membership in the private sector is running less than 7% of workers and of those a sizeable percentage for sure vote republican! About 4+ % more belong to public employee unions and I would not doubt some good number of them vote republican (I knew some that did). So just where is all this union power and voter influence?
The unions
If the unions have no clout and expect nothing as I do....then why is Obama meeting with them first rather than business leaders or congress? The unions now own part of GM which was "saved" by our leader. I am wondering when they will come to save my business or do they just expect me to pay more taxes so they can save someone else??