Enjoy!!

 

M.B.

 

 

 

July, 2003

 

   A fearful people are easily governed, easily led down dark paths. In the 50’s the “-ism” to fear was commun-ism. In order to “protect” the country from communism, great injustices were done which caused many lives to be ruined and/or wasted. Sen. McCarthy was able to manipulate the Committee for un-American activities into his personal inquisition, with himself as the grand inquisitor. Billions were spent on the military, and decisions made which led to the involvement in Vietnam.

Fifty years later we have a new “-ism” to instill fear, terrorism. Let me state unequivocally that I am all for persecuting and prosecuting fully the evil minds behind 9-11, but the Bush administration has taken the “war on terrorism” and turned it into a ruse, a way to obscure the mismanagement of this country. Bush was handed a 200 billion dollar surplus which he has turned into a 450 billion dollar deficit (just imagine the increase in interest owed)) through such bad ideas as two rounds of tax cuts for the wealthy, two billion dollar bailouts of the airline industry, and 8.8 billion in last year’s budget for a missile defense shield that most experts say will not work. Yet our schools have been hamstrung by the un-funded No Child Left Behind mandate. Teachers are underpaid, schools are understaffed, and school programs are being trimmed, if not slashed, nationwide. Wouldn’t it be nice if Bush’s priorities would allow a billion dollar bailout of our schools?  

   We have record trade deficits, billions of dollars being cut from veterans’ benefits (yet Bush sends our soldiers to war), and Medicaid is on the verge of being turned over to the insurance agencies. Now, administration officials are attempting to rewrite the policies concerning overtime pay (which, according to one estimate will result in 8 million workers losing their right to overtime). Hundreds of people were detained for months without charges or legal recourse under the so called Patriot Act. We are spending billions of dollars in Iraq (and suffering hundreds of casualties) to clean up an unnecessary mess. Notice though that Bush and Cheney’s buddies at Haliburton and Bechtel are making millions from the governmental contracts obtained since the fall of Bagdad.

 The CIA reported in the Fall of 2002 that Iraq was not a threat unless attacked. But the spin doctors liked the boost to ratings that being a “war time” president gave to Bush, so into Iraq we went. Big deficits?  Raise the terror alert level. Patriot Act being questioned?  Cry “Back the president!”  Record monthly trade deficits?  Land on an aircraft carrier. Distract the people, keep the citizenry thinking war, war, fear, fear. Bush is just a friendly face used by the trickle down crew in Washington to mask their greedy intent. I stand in defense of my country, its constitution and our future. This administration is concerned with power rather than progress and profits rather than people. It’s time to wake up and oppose them.

 

 

 

Sept., 2004

 

                           Richard Burr: The Reality

   The voting record of Congressman Richard Burr reveals what his priorities as a lawmaker really are. The following is a list of facts gleaned from Project Vote Smart, which is a nonpartisan organization devoted to public awareness.

    In 2001, Burr voted for the millionaires’ tax cuts and accompanying budget that allowed 38% of the benefits to go to the top 1% of income earners, cut domestic programs by 5.5 billion dollars for 2002 and 60 billion dollars over the next 10 years.     

    Also, in 2001 Burr cast votes against calling for improved gas mileage for cars and trucks, including SUV’s, and for drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, in effect sacrificing a national jewel on the altar of the oil industry.

   In 2002, Burr voted against corporate accountability, and his vote made it more difficult for the S.E.C. to pursue white collar corporate criminals. He voted to deny collective bargaining rights to the workers in the new Department of Homeland Security. Also in 2002 he voted to make the tax cuts for the wealthy permanent, in spite of a growing federal budget deficit for which the yearly interest payment now is about $300 billion.

   Last year Burr voted to cut domestic programs by a further $500 billion to pay for Bush’s 725 billion dollar tax cut, $364 billion of which was a reduction in the corporate dividend tax. That $500 billion included cuts in education, job training and veterans’ benefits that are being felt nationwide. Also, Burr voted to eliminate eligibility for overtime pay for millions of workers.

   Burr’s record shows him to be in favor of wealthy, corporate interests at the expense of the middle class. Veterans’ benefits, Pell grants, other scholarships, and job retraining programs have all been cut while the states’ debt burden continues to increase as federal spending on critical domestic programs gets eaten up by the interest payment on the growing national deficit, all brought to pass by legislation supported by Richard Burr.

   In 1998 Mr. Burr participated in a poll (N.P.A.T.), the results of which are available online. In this poll he states that he would repeal “the ill-conceived assault weapons ban”. Since it recently expired without any action by the Bush administration or the Republican controlled Congress, Burr got his wish.

        Erskine Bowles was part of the team that helped to bring about the largest budget surplus in our country’s history, which has since evaporated due to legislation supported by Richard Burr.

   Burr’s record speaks for itself. On November 2, vote for financial responsibility, vote for fairness, vote for the struggling middle and lower classes, vote for Erskine Bowles.

 

 

Oct., 2004

                                                                                                  

 We live in dangerous times. Record budget deficits ($413 billion for 2004) are paying for tax breaks for the wealthy and for corporate welfare. Bush’s tax cut for 2003 was $16,511; Cheney’s was $104,823. Oil companies are recording profit increases in the billions. Halliburton has been caught profiteering in Iraq twice. A U.S. Army War College study refers to the linking of al-Qaeda and Iraq by Bush as “a strategic error of the first order”. The Patriot Act allows homes to be searched without a search warrant based on suspicion of NON-terrorist activities. Rupert Murdoch owns over 300 media outlets including Fox “News” Channel which claims to be “fair and balanced” yet 83% of the guest speakers are Republicans. Their “we report, you decide” line is equally false. Murdoch and his henchmen “decide” and pass on the spin of the day to the talking heads.

   The Constitution’s purpose is to guarantee freedom, and amendments to it should never be used to limit any peaceful citizen’s right to “…the pursuit of happiness” or to divide the country for political gain.

   These are dangerous times because about 45% of the country thinks all the above is ok, whether through self-interest, a lack of information, or by buying into Republican misinformation.

   Democracy demands informed citizens, especially now. The very fiber of our nation has been severely damaged over the last four years, and this year all Americans who care about the United States must work to restore our government and our country to the ideals upon which it was founded.

 

 

March 2006    Time for a Change

 

   The Republican Party has had control of our government for over 5 years now, and I will plainly state that the United States, and the world, cannot take much more of the incompetence, greed, and abuse of power demonstrated by the president and his republican cronies.

   In his State of the Union address Mr. Bush chirped about being a “…good steward of tax dollars…” yet overall government spending has increased 42% since 2000. The debt limit will soon be increased to nearly 9 TRILLION dollars; 3 trillion of that is Mr. Bush’s and the republican controlled Congress’s responsibility. Annual deficits (and trade deficits) have exploded to record levels under this republican administration, yet Bush persists in wanting to have his capital gains and dividend tax cuts made permanent. Those tax cuts won’t help poor and middle, working class families at all.

   The recently released Katrina video and the Dubai ports deal call into question the competence of the republican leadership. Bush knew about the impact of Katrina and knew nothing of the Dubai deal that puts security at six busy ports in the hands of a government that diplomatically recognized the Taliban (Al Quaida’s buddies) and refuses to extradite prisoners or exchange judicial information. If they are an example of a good, trustworthy ally, must be slim pickin’s.

   Delay, Abramoff, Cunningham, Libby, K- street project – need I say more about republican abuse of power?

And for a fine example of greed, I present Big Oil. ExxonMobil had a record 36.1 billion dollar profit for 2005. Other oil companies did nearly as well with the industry as a whole racking up near 100 billion dollars in profits. All this while the republican sponsored and republican passed Energy Bill gives Big Oil over a billion dollars in tax breaks and subsidies. Bush speaks of lessening our dependence on imported oil yet last year 60% of our oil came from other countries, up from 53% in 2000. Since 2000 Big Oil has given about 35 million dollars to the Republican Party.

In Iraq over 19,000 Americans have been killed or wounded, 200+ billion dollars spent, three years of effort, and the place is still a mess.  “Mission Accomplished” and “… last throes.” are now just so much pathetic pr.

 Bush and the other republican power mongers think they can invade the privacy of American citizens without judicial review, even though existing law allows for a wire tap to be in place up to three days before a warrant need be issued by a judge. The 4^th amendment to our Constitution states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”. Seems pretty clear to me.

 

 

Concerning Vernon Robinson's Mailer    May 22, 2006

 

    Disgusting. Vile. Slanderous. I refer to the mailer I received from the (dis)honorable Vernon Robinson. It is unworthy of direct response except to say that Brad Miller’s wife, Esther, has been on television three times in recent days to explain why she can’t have children. That a good woman should have to dredge up painful memories to answer Robinson’s pack of lies is absolutely beyond comprehension.

Even Republicans can’t stand Robinson’s tactics. In 2004, Jack Kemp withdrew his endorsement of Robinson due to his negative campaigning. This year, one of Robinson’s primary opponents, John Hendrix, became a Democrat because he was so disgusted with Robinson saying, “If that is where the Republican Party is going, I don’t want to have anything to do with it.”

   Robinson doesn’t even live in the 13^th district. He was born in New York and lives in Winston-Salem where he was on the city council. He was promptly booted from the council by his mostly republican constituents once they figured out what he was about.

   Brad Miller was born on a farm near Fayetteville, North Carolina and is a decent, caring, thoughtful man. He spends a lot of time out and about in the 13^th district (he actually lives here); I have seen him at Personality, Relay for Life, dedicating the post office, visiting schools, talking to all of us about our concerns and what we need to make our lives better. He would never sling the kind of filth that Robinson thinks passes for informed debate.

   I really hope the good citizens of Person Co. see Robinson for what he is - an example of all that is wrong with politics today. On the other hand, our Congressman Brad Miller is living proof that gentlemen willing to serve still exist.