In a World. . . where Republicans rule supreme.

Where Democrats don’t have much say in government and are left to sit on the sidelines and complain about what could have been.

 

A young man gets shot by someone who bought a gun and some ammo at recent gun show and robbed him of his cell phone and wallet. The hospital bill is in the tens of thousands of dollars, even though he was released that same day, because the Affordable Health Care Act was repealed and Medicare has been gutted to barely care for some of the necessities of senior citizens who cannot afford their own private medical insurance.

He goes home and fixes the same thing he eats every day—Ramen noodles. Sometimes, for a special occasion, he will add a few Ketchup packets he boosts from the fast food restaurant he started working at, ever since all the immigrants got deported, creating a vacuum in the economy and causing chain layoffs as companies lost people who could afford their products. Job choices are slim since many other college graduates have flooded the foodservice, hospitality, homecare and other menial job markets.

This bright, intelligent, 26 year old man is thinking it might not be too late to join the military, the only healthy industry left after the Republican dominated government cut all the “parasitic social services” in order to create tax breaks for the rich and reduce spending to balance the budget, not to mention motivate those people “addicted to government subsidies.” Balancing the budget was supposed to be the main goal, but with all the other problems with the economy and the new wars breaking out with the Russians, Chinese, Chechens, Iraqis, Syrians, Iranians, Afghans and those pesky Pakistanis. America understands it’s hard to think about the budget at times like these, so they will wait until times are better and they can afford to focus on such things. Until then they will support an ever growing military budget and still find room to blame our overspending on the few remaining social programs that are struggling for survival.

A woman he met at a party a few weeks ago comes to his home and informs him she’s pregnant, having lost any access to birth control services she previously used, and since abortion is outlawed, they must have the baby. They both struggle to figure out how they are going to be able to support their child, let alone each other.

The day is not a total loss as they are both invited to a going away party for two of the young woman’s gay friends who are leaving for Europe, where Gay relationships are not so harshly punished and they will even be able to get married and enjoy family benefits. They are both excited at the prospect of possibly scoring some food at the party, or at least a few beers.

At the party, the main discussion makes its way to the usual topic of late; life in America and how it changed so much in just a few years.

With his wallet gone, he’s without a license, so he won’t be able to vote in next week’s elections. Everyone at the party agrees they would vote for someone other than a Republican, except they keep producing these great video promos that play all the time and really convince everybody that things will get better and we, as a society, are returning to a better, more “pure” America, just like in the good ol’ days.

Everyone can hardly wait.

Congress– lead or get out of the way

Merriam Webster defines leadership as:

: a position as a leader of a group, organization, etc.

: the time when a person holds the position of leader

: the power or ability to lead other people

 Taken into the context of our US Congress today, we can see the definition to be true as a POSITION, meaning, they do hold that position, and the TIME, they are our leaders today, and the POWER, they do have to power to enact laws and to fix our societies problems. We elected them to do just that, so they do have the power to do so. The ABILITY is the only thing in question at the moment. So far this congress has been the most useless bunch of humans ever gathered at Washington to date. If they have the ability to lead, they are not proving it to anyone.

The definition goes on to say:

Full Definition of LEADERSHIP

:  the office or position of a leader
:  capacity to lead
:  leaders <the party leadership>

 

Here again we see the OFFICE or POSITION to be true. Our Congressmen are in a position of leadership by virtue of having been elected to that office by the people.

The CAPACITY to lead is baffling. I assume you cannot be a leader if you don’t have the capacity to lead, but with the lack of action calls this capacity into question. How can you prove a capacity if you don’t do anything?

Which gets us to the ACT or an INSTANCE of leading. Here we see our Congressmen are clearly striking out, failing to act on immigration for the umpteenth year in a row, failing to enact the DREAM Act even though half of the committee were Republicans and half were Democrats. You would have thought that if the committee could reach a consensus, they could have convinced their party to the merits of why they came up with the proposal they did. Instead, the Democrats voted for it to pass the Senate, but the Republicans refused to bring the bill to the floor and the lawmakers that were a part of the committee that created it were suddenly off the radar. Silent. It appeared they were in hiding.

The last definition only restates the name and doesn’t do anything to define the term beyond what the first one did.

So there we have it, by definition, Congress are leaders in name and position and potential power only. They have NOT shown any action that would define them as leaders in the true sense of the word.

And Democrats– Just because you presented the House with a bill, that doesn’t mean you can just sit back and say, “look, we gave them a bill and they are doing nothing with it. Waaaaaah!”  Where is your LEADERSHIP? Why aren’t you screaming bloody murder for all the hard work you put into the bill is going to waste? Why aren’t you putting pressure on the GOP to get off their asses and do something? Democrats may not be evil, but they sure are pathetic.

Leaders who do nothing. What kind of leadership is that?

Rick Perry– Immigration Zero

Texas Governor Rick Perry is sending the National Guard to help stop refugee children from reaching our borders.

So, let me get this straight, he’s using an army of 1000 National Guard troops to stop little children who are escaping drugs, gangs, exploitation and death, and sending them back to the horror they are escaping. And he’d like to rewrite a law that allows them to come here–a law approved and passed by a Republican president.

So this makes him a good person? How? What on earth could be going through is mind?

Would he like to stand there and slap every little kid in the face for even thinking about coming here and escaping death too?

How far can the Republican party sink?

And the Democrats. . .

Where are the screaming and energized politicians voicing their strong opposition, ridiculing them for such poor judgement? Silent too eh? With leaders like these, America is in a world of shit. What more can be said?

At least Nancy Pelocy has the cajones to stand up against this ugly threat.

The Republicans problem is not with immigrants, it is with themselves.

The Republicans have backed themselves into a corner on, not only the immigration debate, but in the electoral process as well. Each and every day more and more young voters, latino voters, asian voters, and more, turn 18 and become eligible to vote. Will they vote Republican? What possible reason would they have to do so?

The old white Republican voter base is dying and their replacements are not even close to the numbers they are losing. Without standing behind immigration reform that backs immigrants, small business and tech-startups, they are shrinking their popularity and their numbers, and will lose any hope of retaking the White House for decades to come.

It will be a long time before America forgets the way they treated immigrants, and women, the elderly and the poor. The stigma they have brought down upon themselves will last for many years, and because of that, America will be the poorer for it.

America needs a strong Republican party. America needs good values and a balanced government. Give anyone too much power, and they will become corrupt, selfish dictators.

America can’t afford to be ruled by fascists. We need a strong Republican party, just like we need a strong Democratic party. We need a balanced government, and because of this, Republicans need to stop trying to take over our government and focus on becoming a part of this great system we have built. If they don’t, they will alienate themselves from America and become hapless, angry voyeurs, who watch the parade of history go by, without ever having a float of their own.

How sad is that?

Obama: GOP scapegoat of the year

 Obama has just been voted “Scapegoat of the Year.”

Or at least he should be.

What would you do if you gave a speech at your company, and then people started calling for your termination?

  • Reverse your statements? Too late; that would make you look like a liar.
  • Blame someone else in the room? That would also remove possible supporters from your side as well, and if you’re about to lose your job, you need all the friends you can get.
  • Take the heat and defend your position, enlightening your detractors with all the reason and forethought you put into your speech? Pretty risky, what if it didn’t work?
  • Distract everyone by focusing on something bigger?
  1.      The war on Terror, that always worked for Bush(s). Nope, Obama has that one under control; it’s always best not give your adversary cudos.
  2.      Obamacare? Nope, the nation has had it with us complaining about that, not to mention it probably wouldn’t be prudent to bring up the reason we closed the government down and took a beating in our approval ratings.
  3.      Abortion? No, that will just further anger women.
  4.      Social Security? Ditto, for the elderly.
  5.      Foodstamps? Nope, we just took some money away from that for our budget deal. Best to keep a low profile on that one.
  6.      Taxes? Again, best not bring up the current resentment towards our wealthy constituents.
  7.      Blame the immigrants? That usually works. . .
  8.      Blame the competition? Even better! It insults no one in the room and reinforces allegiances against a common adversary.

Sound familiar?

That is the strategy Rep. Boehner used after he announced the GOP principles on immigration reform, and got a lot of flack. After their retreat in Maryland last week, many Republicans rejected the House leadership’s one-page “standards for immigration reform.” 

Others within the GOP said that, with trends going their way as midterm elections approach, it was a bad time to take on a number of contentious issues.

The conservative activist L. Brent Bozell called for the entire House Republican leadership to be replaced. His group, ForAmerica, blitzed the speaker’s office with thousands of phone calls to jam the lines and protest his stance on immigration this past wednesday.

Representative Raúl Labrador of Idaho, an early negotiator on the issue and now a fierce opponent, told the newspaper, The Hill, that an immigration push by Mr. Boehner this year “should cost him his speakership.”

So Boehner, thinking his goose is cooked, comes out a week after outlining the Republican principles for immigration reform and says:

“There’s widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws,”

and he further stated,

“ it’s going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes.”

Good one!

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, commented further about the whole Republican organization:

“That caucus he has is really unusual,”

Mr. Reid said of House Republicans.

“They went down and did this salute to how good they were last week at their retreat. They outlined principles of immigration. I guess today they decided they have no principles as it relates to immigration.”

That’s what happens when the opposition doesn’t appreciate getting blamed for your B.S.

Sen. Jeff Sessions- immigration zero

Sen. Jeff Sessions is this week’s immigration zero.

Senator Sessions is a Republican from Alabama, and he has organized a movement in opposition to the GOP leadership’s (short-lived) immigration efforts. This guy is working overtime to combat immigration reform. Clearly an immigration zero. We need less people like this in office and more people willing to take a stand and help fix our country’s problems. Immigration reform has been an issue for decades and too many politicians, like Sen. Jeff Sessions, have stood in the way of progress, keeping our nation in chaos and controversy.

 

The Republican gift that keeps on giving

Republicans refusing to discuss immigration reform is the gift that keeps on giving. The Wall street journal, a conservative publication itself, ripped the Republicans for promising an immigration compromise, and then promptly denying its even possible.

I don’t know what the fuss is all about. I’ve been saying the Republicans feign interest in immigration reform when they need to, but then retreat to ultra-conservative party lines when the rubber actually meets the road.

In standard Orwellian fashion, the Republicans have shot themselves in the foot again, this time not even waiting until the end of the term to announce that immigration reform will not happen this year. That shows America they planned to sit on this issue, no matter how much it divides the country, until they think they can get it done the way they want it to get done. The old Republican refusal to negotiate stands as true today as it ever has.

Gridlock in Congress? The Republicans may well try to blame the Democrats, but I don’t thing they’re fooling anyone. How can anyone buy the “we refuse to negotiate and it’s the Democrats fault” excuse? Do the Republicans really think we’re that stupid?

I try to be impartial about politics in general. I don’t really care one way or another about Democrats or Republicans–Neither of them can seem to get anything done. What I do care about is what is being said, who is saying it, and how does that affect my family, and millions of other Americans like me, when it comes to keeping us all together. If the Democrats, or Peace and Freedom party, or the Green party, or anyone else, were pulling all this refusal to fix this system crap, I’d be angry at them. It just so happens that the majority of the stalemate in Washington, at least when it comes to the immigration fiasco, has Republican fingerprints all over it.

 

Tell the Government what YOU want

Are you tired of having a few angry congressmen dictate to us what THEY want in the way of immigration legislation?  According to Reform Immigration for America these three members of congress  stand in the way of good immigration reform:

I would add Sen. Ted Cruz. He is loudly opposed to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and he is trying to convince fellow Republicans that they will do fine with Hispanics by voting against immigration reform.

Really? Does he get the paper? Does he even listen to what people are saying about him and his ultra-conservative views?

Tell the government what you want, and they had better get it right. Go over to Reform Immigration for America and send a quick email. Let these senators know they do NOT speak for you, and you do NOT support them. It’s about time we take back our government from the people who would do us harm by forcing their narrow-minded beliefs on us.

Steve King Advocate for no change

Steve KingSteve King has promised to vote no on any immigration bill that comes to the House of Representatives. He says he is also bringing a bunch of other Republicans with him.

Didn’t he learn anything from Mitt Romney’s defeat?

He says he has organized a small but growing number of conservatives who are committed to voting against any House immigration bill—no matter what it says—because they fear that the Senate will inevitably find a way to add “amnesty” to the equation.

King doesn’t tell us how many members he’s got on board. Some insiders say it’s somewhere between 20 and 70 members. Even at the low end of that range, it’s enough to prevent any Republican-led immigration bill from passing.

It is thinking like this that has perpetuated a dysfunctional immigration system for over fifty years.

This is one politician we don’t need next term.

John Boehner- Leader of Dysfunction

john boehnerAs Speaker of the House no one has more responsibility for the performance of this institution, and it has been noted that this has been the most impotent government in our history.

He has lead us to the brink of the “fiscal cliff” last year, and into a Government shut down this year because of his party’s desire to defund the Affordable Care act. We didn’t ask them to do that, they came up with that all on their own. Somebody needs to tell them we didn’t elect them to be dictators. This congress has not only been ineffectual, but downright harmful.

As far as immigration goes, for months he has said he will not bring the bill that passed through the Senate to the floor of the House of Representatives, stalling something that has been long in the making and heavily watered down by his own party. His refusal to participate in something that our country desperately needs is shameful.

Should he be allowed to do this all over again next term?