I sat at my desk on this beautiful morning in Miami, working on taxes, yes, on taxes, watching TV and waiting for President Obama to sign the HealthCare Bill into the law of the land. What else could I ask for, on this beautiful day? Therefore, I take a break from taxes to write for my blog.
Good morning, Mr. DeMint. Were you the one who screamed about how important it was for your Republican colleagues to stop President Obama from getting Healthcare relief through Congress? Were you the one who said that defeating President Obama was going to be his Waterloo and the Democratic Party’s defeat in the next elections? Mr. DeMint, have you changed your mind? You still have time.
Because you, Mr. DeMint, do not want to accept or to believe that our President means what he says: Hope and Change. You, and your colleagues, have been unwilling in your unbelief, to accept the reality of a person and a politician very different from what you are accustomed. Maybe, for the first time in your political life, you are seeing a President who has the intelligence, the ability and the will to offer serious Change to America. In addition, he has the American people’s support, which is exactly what you have lost, except for the Tea Partiers.
The Fox News choruses of eccentrics who pretend to define an America, which does not exist, are your most serious supporters. They will not be enough to help you implement your ideas and to continue exercising your inability to govern as a public servant. The people you pretend to serve are those who live enamored of “cowboy movies” and “masters of the universe” novels. People who are constantly afraid of the possibilities, while ignoring the realities of life. People who complain about taxes, government debt, budget deficits, and loss of personal freedom. People who are not willing to pay what it costs to live in a society that is the envy of the entire world.
They, the eccentrics in Fox News and Congress, are not the real Americans who strive unsuccessfully for an opportunity to find work, who see their relatives live in sickness or die without any relief from the institutions that are supposed to help them. Real Americans who retire from work after long careers paying taxes, and saving, not being able to afford the necessities of life. These eccentrics are not the people who first had Hope and believed in Change. The change that you and your followers could not and cannot see is happening now. It is Change we can believe in, and since there was not a Waterloo, why not come up with a different name? Maybe next time you could be successful, assuming you are on the winner’s side.
Have a good day, Mr. DeMint. It is a beautiful day in Miami today!
Now, back to finish my taxes.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Good Morning, Rep. Jim DeMint!
I sat at my desk on this beautiful morning in Miami, working on taxes, yes, on taxes, watching TV and waiting for President Obama to sign the HealthCare Bill into the law of the land. What else could I ask for on this beautiful day? Therefore, I take a break from taxes to write for my blog.
Good morning, Mr. DeMint. Were you the one who screamed about how important it was for your Republican colleagues to stop President Obama from getting Healthcare relief through Congress? Were you the one who said that defeating President Obama on Healthcare reform was going to be his Waterloo and the Democratic Party’s defeat in the next elections? Mr. DeMint, have you changed your mind? You still have time.
Because you, Mr. DeMint, do not want to accept or to believe that our President means what he says: Hope and Change. You, and your colleagues, have been unwilling in your unbelief, to accept the reality of a person and a politician very different from what you are accustomed. Maybe, for the first time in your political life, you are seeing a President who has the intelligence, the ability and the will to offer serious Change to America. In addition, he has the American people’s support, which is exactly what you have lost, except for the Tea Partiers.
The Fox News choruses of eccentrics who pretend to define an America, which does not exist, are your most serious supporters. They will not be enough to help you implement your ideas and to continue exercising your inability to govern as a public servant. The people you pretend to serve are those who live enamored of “cowboy movies” and “masters of the universe” novels. People who are constantly afraid of the possibilities, while ignoring the realities of life. People who complain about taxes, government debt, budget deficits, and loss of personal freedom. People who are not willing to pay what it costs to live in a society that is the envy of the entire world.
They, the eccentrics in Fox News and Congress, are not the real Americans who strive unsuccessfully for an opportunity to find work, who see their relatives live in sickness or die without any relief from the institutions that are supposed to help them. Real Americans who retire from work after long careers paying taxes, and saving, not being able to afford the necessities of life. These eccentrics are not the people who first had Hope and believed in Change. The change that you and your followers could not and cannot see is happening now. It is Change we can believe in, and since there was not a Waterloo, why not come up with a different name? Maybe next time you could be successful, assuming you are on the winner’s side.
Have a good day, Mr. DeMint. It is a beautiful day in Miami today!
Now, back to finish my taxes.
Good morning, Mr. DeMint. Were you the one who screamed about how important it was for your Republican colleagues to stop President Obama from getting Healthcare relief through Congress? Were you the one who said that defeating President Obama on Healthcare reform was going to be his Waterloo and the Democratic Party’s defeat in the next elections? Mr. DeMint, have you changed your mind? You still have time.
Because you, Mr. DeMint, do not want to accept or to believe that our President means what he says: Hope and Change. You, and your colleagues, have been unwilling in your unbelief, to accept the reality of a person and a politician very different from what you are accustomed. Maybe, for the first time in your political life, you are seeing a President who has the intelligence, the ability and the will to offer serious Change to America. In addition, he has the American people’s support, which is exactly what you have lost, except for the Tea Partiers.
The Fox News choruses of eccentrics who pretend to define an America, which does not exist, are your most serious supporters. They will not be enough to help you implement your ideas and to continue exercising your inability to govern as a public servant. The people you pretend to serve are those who live enamored of “cowboy movies” and “masters of the universe” novels. People who are constantly afraid of the possibilities, while ignoring the realities of life. People who complain about taxes, government debt, budget deficits, and loss of personal freedom. People who are not willing to pay what it costs to live in a society that is the envy of the entire world.
They, the eccentrics in Fox News and Congress, are not the real Americans who strive unsuccessfully for an opportunity to find work, who see their relatives live in sickness or die without any relief from the institutions that are supposed to help them. Real Americans who retire from work after long careers paying taxes, and saving, not being able to afford the necessities of life. These eccentrics are not the people who first had Hope and believed in Change. The change that you and your followers could not and cannot see is happening now. It is Change we can believe in, and since there was not a Waterloo, why not come up with a different name? Maybe next time you could be successful, assuming you are on the winner’s side.
Have a good day, Mr. DeMint. It is a beautiful day in Miami today!
Now, back to finish my taxes.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
It is Never too Early
When Joe Garcia ran for the senatorial seat of District 25 in 2008, I was working for President Obama’s Organizing for America in my District (Precinct 462). I live in Doral and there are very few Democrats in this area. However, if you get a good listing from the MDCDEC (Miami- Dade County Democratic Executive Committee), you can find Democrats and “undecided” voters without problem.
Very few people in Doral, if any, knew who Joe Garcia was during the President’s campaign, and I was one of the few who had a “Joe for Congress” sign on my front lawn. I went to Garcia’s campaign office on US 1, and asked for campaign materials, which they graciously gave me. I offered to help Joe’s campaign in my neighborhood as I went campaigning for Barak Obama, but there was absolutely no interest in the campaign’s office to do anything in Doral. Now we know the results of that election. Like the song says: “what could have been, never happened!”
Do we think that any Democratic candidate can win the District without winning Doral? I doubt it. In deciding if he wants to be a senator representing Democrats in this District (hopefully not another senator to join the Blue Dogs), Joe would do very well deciding if he is committed to do what it takes to win Doral. A few of us would be willing and more than happy to help oust Mario, or his Republican successor.
It may already be too late to start the work that is necessary to win Doral and to take the seat. However, it is certainly never too early. What do you say, Joe? I would rather be an Honorable Senator that another beaurocrat in the Energy Department. You know, a few senators in Washington stop much from happening and hopefully you would be a welcomed change.
February 23, 2010
Very few people in Doral, if any, knew who Joe Garcia was during the President’s campaign, and I was one of the few who had a “Joe for Congress” sign on my front lawn. I went to Garcia’s campaign office on US 1, and asked for campaign materials, which they graciously gave me. I offered to help Joe’s campaign in my neighborhood as I went campaigning for Barak Obama, but there was absolutely no interest in the campaign’s office to do anything in Doral. Now we know the results of that election. Like the song says: “what could have been, never happened!”
Do we think that any Democratic candidate can win the District without winning Doral? I doubt it. In deciding if he wants to be a senator representing Democrats in this District (hopefully not another senator to join the Blue Dogs), Joe would do very well deciding if he is committed to do what it takes to win Doral. A few of us would be willing and more than happy to help oust Mario, or his Republican successor.
It may already be too late to start the work that is necessary to win Doral and to take the seat. However, it is certainly never too early. What do you say, Joe? I would rather be an Honorable Senator that another beaurocrat in the Energy Department. You know, a few senators in Washington stop much from happening and hopefully you would be a welcomed change.
February 23, 2010
Massachusetts misinterpreted. Thinking out of the box.
Many different explanations have been given about the triumph of Senator Scott Brown in winning the Senate seat previously occupied by Ted Kennedy:
• The voters overwhelmingly rejected the healthcare liberal agenda
• It is time to stop this socialist administration from taking over the government of this country
• People want freedom, and independence, and they want to be able to exercise their right to make their own decisions without government interference
• Congressional seats do not belong to anybody: they belong to the people of the State
• The Federal Government should not interfere in matters better left to the States
• The radicals and their liberal agenda are a threat to our democracy and to our freedoms
• The liberals want to spread the wealth around giving it to those who do not work and getting it from those that produce and create businesses
Put on your thinking hat and consider this:
First, people, not only in Massachusetts, but everywhere else in the nation are fed up with the incumbents, both Republicans and Democrats, because of their incompetence and inability to think and solve real problems. A clear example of this incompetence is their inability to discuss intelligently the healthcare issue, in spite of the fact that it has been talked about for more than 50 years, and it was discussed in Congress for more than a year now. Many other examples could be mentioned here, but this incompetence is the same when discussing matters of education, energy, the role of government in society, church and state relationships, etc. All of these are issues of paramount importance to be critically analyzed if a modern society wants to progress.
Second, Massachusetts has a Health care system that covers 95% of the people and most of them are happy with what they have. What benefit do they get by signing up for a proposed bill that was rewritten in the Senate to make everybody happy except the people the reform bill was supposed to help? None! They voted against the wrong kind of reform (reform to keep lobbyist happy and to spread the pork around amongst the signers), not against smart legislation to change the way our healthcare system is bankrupting the country.
Third, and finally, just because you want to succeed a Kennedy, does not mean that you do not have to work hard and show intelligence. It does not mean that the voters owe you an appointment. You have to demonstrate that you deserve the position and that you will defend the gains they have already accomplished.
It makes sense to me.
February 20, 2010
• The voters overwhelmingly rejected the healthcare liberal agenda
• It is time to stop this socialist administration from taking over the government of this country
• People want freedom, and independence, and they want to be able to exercise their right to make their own decisions without government interference
• Congressional seats do not belong to anybody: they belong to the people of the State
• The Federal Government should not interfere in matters better left to the States
• The radicals and their liberal agenda are a threat to our democracy and to our freedoms
• The liberals want to spread the wealth around giving it to those who do not work and getting it from those that produce and create businesses
Put on your thinking hat and consider this:
First, people, not only in Massachusetts, but everywhere else in the nation are fed up with the incumbents, both Republicans and Democrats, because of their incompetence and inability to think and solve real problems. A clear example of this incompetence is their inability to discuss intelligently the healthcare issue, in spite of the fact that it has been talked about for more than 50 years, and it was discussed in Congress for more than a year now. Many other examples could be mentioned here, but this incompetence is the same when discussing matters of education, energy, the role of government in society, church and state relationships, etc. All of these are issues of paramount importance to be critically analyzed if a modern society wants to progress.
Second, Massachusetts has a Health care system that covers 95% of the people and most of them are happy with what they have. What benefit do they get by signing up for a proposed bill that was rewritten in the Senate to make everybody happy except the people the reform bill was supposed to help? None! They voted against the wrong kind of reform (reform to keep lobbyist happy and to spread the pork around amongst the signers), not against smart legislation to change the way our healthcare system is bankrupting the country.
Third, and finally, just because you want to succeed a Kennedy, does not mean that you do not have to work hard and show intelligence. It does not mean that the voters owe you an appointment. You have to demonstrate that you deserve the position and that you will defend the gains they have already accomplished.
It makes sense to me.
February 20, 2010
My conclusions from the meeting with the President.
If there was any doubt in my mind about the significance of Jim Demint’s (Senator, South Carolina) statement that he wants President Obama to fail, I had more than enough proof yesterday. To my knowledge, no Republican has clearly and publicly rejected that statement. It seems that most, if not all, Republicans agree with him. From watching yesterday’s meeting where the President invited the opposition (better said, the minority) to present their ideas about ways to solve the healthcare crisis, I have come to the following conclusions:
• Republican ideology is making the US Senate an obsolete and counterproductive institution, unnecessary in our democratic system. Senators are looking after their personal interests and the interests of those who financially support them, rather than working for the well-being of the Nation, or even their own constituencies.
• Republicans in the Senate, and in the House, do not want to achieve solutions to the problems our society faces, as long as our elected President is in power, or as long as he supports a proposed change.
• The minority party is using its constitutional right to dissent, to stop government from functioning and from doing its job of debating issues, and coming to conclusions in a timely manner. This abuse causes a failure to enact legislation necessary to solve society’s problems. The majority is allowing them to stop progress.
• The Senate was not designed to be a forum to express ideological differences amongst the members without resolution, nor to paralyze all legislative action, but to enact legislation useful and helpful to promote the economic well being of society. In this respect, those senators are not doing their job and should either resign from their elected positions, or be replaced by the voters.
• What we are seeing today is a minority that has no public mandate, is being obstructive and counterproductive, and is ruling a majority government. The majority party is not doing what it was elected to do. Do we really have a majority in congress?
• The threats, name-calling, abusive treatment, and misrepresentations, of the minority opposition can be allowed in our Democracy, as long as they neither paralyze government nor make institutions ineffective as to their intended purpose. When the latter is the case, it is time to respect the voice of the majority, which is 51%.
• The inability of our elected representatives to read (they could not read a 1200 page healthcare bill in one year), to think, to reason, and to make decisions is endangering our Democracy and destroying our sustainability as a prosperous economic system and a world-respected superpower.
The enemy of our Nation is not only outside the country but also within our own system. Let us try to be smart and get rid of it. There is no better place in the world to live than the United States of America. There is no better economic system invented so far, either. Let us be smart, diligent, willing and recognize that Democrats have the mandate.
Let us count the votes and see who the DINOS (Democrats in Name Only) in the Senate are. For one year, they blamed the lack of progress on a few Blue Dogs. They argued that four or five conservative senators were stalling legislative progress. Let us expose the Blue Dogs as the face of the now extinct Republican Party. Let the true Democrats move ahead with necessary Health Care Reform.
February 26, 2010
• Republican ideology is making the US Senate an obsolete and counterproductive institution, unnecessary in our democratic system. Senators are looking after their personal interests and the interests of those who financially support them, rather than working for the well-being of the Nation, or even their own constituencies.
• Republicans in the Senate, and in the House, do not want to achieve solutions to the problems our society faces, as long as our elected President is in power, or as long as he supports a proposed change.
• The minority party is using its constitutional right to dissent, to stop government from functioning and from doing its job of debating issues, and coming to conclusions in a timely manner. This abuse causes a failure to enact legislation necessary to solve society’s problems. The majority is allowing them to stop progress.
• The Senate was not designed to be a forum to express ideological differences amongst the members without resolution, nor to paralyze all legislative action, but to enact legislation useful and helpful to promote the economic well being of society. In this respect, those senators are not doing their job and should either resign from their elected positions, or be replaced by the voters.
• What we are seeing today is a minority that has no public mandate, is being obstructive and counterproductive, and is ruling a majority government. The majority party is not doing what it was elected to do. Do we really have a majority in congress?
• The threats, name-calling, abusive treatment, and misrepresentations, of the minority opposition can be allowed in our Democracy, as long as they neither paralyze government nor make institutions ineffective as to their intended purpose. When the latter is the case, it is time to respect the voice of the majority, which is 51%.
• The inability of our elected representatives to read (they could not read a 1200 page healthcare bill in one year), to think, to reason, and to make decisions is endangering our Democracy and destroying our sustainability as a prosperous economic system and a world-respected superpower.
The enemy of our Nation is not only outside the country but also within our own system. Let us try to be smart and get rid of it. There is no better place in the world to live than the United States of America. There is no better economic system invented so far, either. Let us be smart, diligent, willing and recognize that Democrats have the mandate.
Let us count the votes and see who the DINOS (Democrats in Name Only) in the Senate are. For one year, they blamed the lack of progress on a few Blue Dogs. They argued that four or five conservative senators were stalling legislative progress. Let us expose the Blue Dogs as the face of the now extinct Republican Party. Let the true Democrats move ahead with necessary Health Care Reform.
February 26, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
On Job Requirements
I am a retired corporate executive who spent about 30 years in corporate life. Administration and finance was my background and field of experience. I have an MBA from the University of Georgia, but I never went to school to prepare for a CPA degree. Because I did not have this professional credential, there were some positions during my career that were not open to me, even if I had the knowledge and experience to do the job. Now, let me go to my point.
One of the most vociferous spokesperson (Tancredo) of the right wing Tea Party movement suggested that we should have a literacy test before people are allowed to vote. I found myself in agreement with this man, perhaps for different reasons. He probably wanted to use this pre-requisite as a tool to keep some undesirable elements in society (in his view) from voting.
A test of qualifications is required for any job, except for the job to be a member of Congress. That lack of testing for our honorable representatives results in the shameful and unbelievable state of affairs observed when our representatives in Washington discuss and give opinions on matters about which they are ignorant. We have people in congress that never took a basic accounting, economics, or finance course. Even so, they are required to analyze, give opinions, and contribute to the creation of laws in an effort to keep our society from going bankrupt. We remain paralyzed going from crisis to crisis, because our honorable representatives are unprepared to understand what is happening in the world they are supposed to govern.
Why do we not require our members of Congress to pass a technical literacy test? Why? Why not? If we did, we would be assured that they have minimal qualifications to hold their jobs.
One of the most vociferous spokesperson (Tancredo) of the right wing Tea Party movement suggested that we should have a literacy test before people are allowed to vote. I found myself in agreement with this man, perhaps for different reasons. He probably wanted to use this pre-requisite as a tool to keep some undesirable elements in society (in his view) from voting.
A test of qualifications is required for any job, except for the job to be a member of Congress. That lack of testing for our honorable representatives results in the shameful and unbelievable state of affairs observed when our representatives in Washington discuss and give opinions on matters about which they are ignorant. We have people in congress that never took a basic accounting, economics, or finance course. Even so, they are required to analyze, give opinions, and contribute to the creation of laws in an effort to keep our society from going bankrupt. We remain paralyzed going from crisis to crisis, because our honorable representatives are unprepared to understand what is happening in the world they are supposed to govern.
Why do we not require our members of Congress to pass a technical literacy test? Why? Why not? If we did, we would be assured that they have minimal qualifications to hold their jobs.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
A New Chair, a New Chance
After a turbulent period in the direction and performance of the MDCDEC, we finally have a Chair who seems to be committed to have the party do what is necessary to fulfill the mission of the DEC. In general, the meeting last night was fairly organized, well attended, and surprisingly enough, leaders and attendees were able to speak without being rudely interrupted. We have long way to go, however.
Listening to the speakers, I could see that there are many members who want to participate and desire the best for the Party. Members that want to volunteer, candidates that want to be elected, leaders that want to do a good job and fulfill their respective obligations according to the position they hold, and many others, sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see what happens and if the new direction has any appeal for them to actively participate and contribute. Unless there is a real effort on the part of the leadership to listen to the membership, and acknowledge that they are listening, even when sometimes they may not agree with what they hear, this new administration and this new hope will go the way of previous efforts: nowhere.
To be a truly effective Organization, the MDCDEC needs to understand that to elect Democratic candidates to elective positions may be more a result of the DEC activities than a mission. There are many other activities we need to engage in, so that the result of electing our members becomes a real possibility. It is not just to elect candidates to public office. The objective of the DEC should be to help elect competent individuals who can express the democratic ideals of representative government convincingly and forcibly. Our candidates must be able show their unquestionable support for the ideas of economic prosperity for all, fair taxes for all, equal treatment under the law for everyone living in this country. Most of all, our candidates should be able to show their support for the idea that if you work hard and do your best, you will be successful in this country, because your efforts will not be blocked by anybody in power, for the wrong or for just personal reasons. These ideas when implemented, pave the way for a society with a strong middle class, and this strength provides the incentive to invest, it provides the purchasing power necessary to make the economy grow. The result is a higher standard of living for all people, and a more equitable society. We need to train our leaders as to the reason why they serve, and to educate our voters, as to whom they should vote for.
So now, members of the MDCDEC, it is the time to talk about a Vision for the party, commit to a Mission that embodies that Vision, and develop specific Strategies knowing exactly how, and when, those strategies will be implemented. Finally, we need to set up specific Goals and Objectives that can be quantitatively measured and evaluated in time, so that not all our efforts and activities will go to waste.
Now that we have a new office, and a new Chair, it is time for all of us to show a new ATTITUDE and a new way of THINKING. Will we be up for the task?
Listening to the speakers, I could see that there are many members who want to participate and desire the best for the Party. Members that want to volunteer, candidates that want to be elected, leaders that want to do a good job and fulfill their respective obligations according to the position they hold, and many others, sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see what happens and if the new direction has any appeal for them to actively participate and contribute. Unless there is a real effort on the part of the leadership to listen to the membership, and acknowledge that they are listening, even when sometimes they may not agree with what they hear, this new administration and this new hope will go the way of previous efforts: nowhere.
To be a truly effective Organization, the MDCDEC needs to understand that to elect Democratic candidates to elective positions may be more a result of the DEC activities than a mission. There are many other activities we need to engage in, so that the result of electing our members becomes a real possibility. It is not just to elect candidates to public office. The objective of the DEC should be to help elect competent individuals who can express the democratic ideals of representative government convincingly and forcibly. Our candidates must be able show their unquestionable support for the ideas of economic prosperity for all, fair taxes for all, equal treatment under the law for everyone living in this country. Most of all, our candidates should be able to show their support for the idea that if you work hard and do your best, you will be successful in this country, because your efforts will not be blocked by anybody in power, for the wrong or for just personal reasons. These ideas when implemented, pave the way for a society with a strong middle class, and this strength provides the incentive to invest, it provides the purchasing power necessary to make the economy grow. The result is a higher standard of living for all people, and a more equitable society. We need to train our leaders as to the reason why they serve, and to educate our voters, as to whom they should vote for.
So now, members of the MDCDEC, it is the time to talk about a Vision for the party, commit to a Mission that embodies that Vision, and develop specific Strategies knowing exactly how, and when, those strategies will be implemented. Finally, we need to set up specific Goals and Objectives that can be quantitatively measured and evaluated in time, so that not all our efforts and activities will go to waste.
Now that we have a new office, and a new Chair, it is time for all of us to show a new ATTITUDE and a new way of THINKING. Will we be up for the task?
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