I believe

I am a centralist lesbian who is liberal in social views and fiscally conservative.

I believe that if you work hard, you can achieve the American Dream.  

I believe that we were lied to at the start of the War In Iraq and I believe that now we're in a huge mess over there that will end up causing more terrorism in the world.  

I believe that the huge tax cuts for the rich and corporations, that started until Ronald Reagan in the 1980's, proved to be ultimately bad for our economy.  I believe that we need to make our borders tighter and work on keeping out both illegal immigrants and legal ones.  In this economic crisis, we can't afford foreign workers to take the few jobs available for American workers.

I believe that without the unions, we would all be working six days a week, without healthcare and without vacations.  

I believe that large companies only care about their bottom line and not the people that work for them.  I believe that without high tariffs and high taxes on companies that close American plants to move them overseas, we will remain in this recession and it will only get worse, not better.

I believe that people who only watch Fox News are missing half the story.

I believe that people who only watch MSNBC are missing half the story.

I believe that we could be a better nation if we all just spent more time watching what happens in Washington and our state legislatures and less time watching the train wreck that is Lindsey Lohan's life and stop paying attention to Sarah Palin.

Speaking of Sarah Palin, I believe she is a "big deal" because the media tells us that she is.  She sells papers, so the couple of million followers she has, appears to be greater.  Fox News having no one else pretty puts her on and the rest of the media goes wild.  I believe her fifteen minutes of fame are up and her base will let her down in November when the tea party Republicans run against mostly centralist democrats.

I believe that the majority of the country are centralists and if they vote in an election, the polarizing ends will lose.  I, also, believe that a lot of people in this nation don't know what a centralist is.

I believe that if we don't educate our children in technology and science at a young age, we will remain 4th for technology and probably fall farther still.  We need to educate our people or we will lose this country and no one will have to fire a shot.

I believe that the First Amendment still is and always will be the most important Amendment.  I don't believe that the Second Amendment really means it is okay for the average person to wear a side arm.  I don't believe that it makes us any safer.

Speaking of Amendments, I believe that if you asked anyone on the street to name the ten that makes up the Bill of Rights, most people probably couldn't name more than five.  (I could only name 9 a few days ago.) 

I believe that the NRA is one of the worse organizations in this nation.  I was a member back in the 80's, so I should know.  Any organization that supports armor piercing bullets really only cares about their own agenda and not what is best for the nation.

I believe that if we keep listening to the fringe wingnuts on the right and left, we will fight ourselves into oblivion.

I believe that people who believe the world will end in 2012 need to be pitied. We've had a lot of end times and they haven't happened yet.

I believe that gay people should have the right to marry whomever they want and the country will not collapse.

I believe that people should have the right to make their own decisions about end of life decisions.  I don't believe anyone has the right to tell them what the decision should be.  I believe that when I'm old, in pain and become incontinent, that I will want to be put down.   I believe that it is too bad doctors can't just give you a shot, like we do with animals.

I believe that God loves me, but He doesn't give a rat's ass about who is president and, He certainly doesn't give a damn about this country.

Speaking of God, I believe that one nation under God was only added to the pledge in the 1950's to combat the godless communists.  I believe that it doesn't matter to most Americans that it is there or not. I believe that if you don't want to say it, you shouldn't have to say it.  I, also, love to tell right-wing Christians that it should be removed, just to watch those veins pop out of their neck and their faces to turn red.  I believe that I can be a little shit every once in a while.

I believe that we waste a lot of money on our nation's drug war.  I believe we should legalize pot and, possibly, legalize cocaine.  I believe that would cause the drug lords south of the border to financially collapse.  I believe it would cause Americans who weren't good for much anyone to do themselves in (the coke users).  I believe we could tax the hell out of these drugs and pay for healthcare.

Speaking of taxes, I believe that President Obama should allow the tax cuts for the rich to expire next year.  I'm not that rich, so they won't affect me and they won't affect most Americans.

I believe that we have a lot of problems in this country and they won't be solved overnight.  We have a long way to go and we need to work together.

But, despite our differences and our problems, I believe that we still live in the greatest country on earth.

And, I believe I'd like to hear what you believe.  That's what the comments section is for.

H.R.1024 - Uniting American Families Act of 2009

H.R. 1024 - Uniting American Families Act of 2009 - is languishing in the House.  The poor bill is just sitting there in the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.


We need to work together, fellow citizens, to get it out.


Here's the deal: There are literally thousands of American citizens who are separated from their life partners because they can't sponsor them to become American citizens or even to receive their green cards.  Does that even make sense?  A company can obtain a green card for someone to have a "highly skilled" job that takes the job away from a U.S. citizen, but life long partners cannot keep their families together.  It is a disgrace that we allow this to happen.


So, here's what I want you to do.  I want you to send a letter to Congressperson and ask them to address this situation.  There's an organization who is working on grassroot efforts called Change.  They have a letter posted on the site that you can use if you don't know what to write.  


Let's all join together and make a difference!

Arizona's Immigration Law Part II

It isn't often that I change my mind about something. It happens even less often that I make a turn around in such a short period of time.

I just found some new information that in fact the AZ immigration law doesn't give police officers the right to stop someone because they think he's an illegal immigrant. They have to have pulled the person over for some other reason, like a traffic violation.

To me, that makes all the difference.

I see no harm in asking to see id -- police do that all the time.

God Bless

The Rise of Hate Groups

Here's something that might surprise you, since 2000 our nation's hate groups have grown by 54% (according to a CNN article). How could we have possibly let this happened? These maligned groups are supposed to be in decline. We're supposed to be banning together, not breaking apart by allowing these groups to exist within our ranks.
The article made it sound like the election of President Obama shoulders much of the blame, along with our hard economic times, but I think it is more than that. For a brief shining moment after 9/11, we joined together as one nation. Since that moment ended, we have been disagreeing and infighting. Is it any wonder that in an environment such as that, that hate groups are allowed to flourish and grow?

God Bless

St. Bridget Hispanic Ministry

I'll make this simple. Follow the below steps.

1. Read the article on CNN.com.
2. Get out your checkbook.
3. Write out a check to:St. Bridget Hispanic Ministry
4. Put said check in an envelope.
5. Address envelope to:
   St. Bridget Hispanic Ministry
   PO Box 369
   Postville, IA 52162
6. Put envelope in the Mail.
7. Go to sleep tonight knowing you've done something good for someone else.
8. Have pleasant dreams.

God Bless

PS. Any amount is a help, even if all you can spare is $5.00 -- it's something.

Oh, side note to anyone who is sending money to Focus on the Family -- send it to St. Bridget, you'll do more good.

Another column of some random thoughts -- including gas prices...

As the gas prices continue to rise, I heard a rumor that the federal government was considering a $1.00 per gallon tax. Now, the other thing I know about this is that I overheard someone saying it. Whether it is true or not, that I can't say. But, it got me to thinking about stuff...

#1. I don't think using corn as an additive to gasoline is such a grand idea. All it is going to do is drive up the price of corn. Which will drive up the price of pork and beef because a lot of farmers feed their livestock corn.

#2. Has any of our government officials thought that if we are having difficulties coming up with the money to pay for the gas to get to work that this will slow the tourist trade? Every single year for as long as I can remember, Cheryl and I take a vacation to Door County. We buy some wine, some cheese and other trinkets. We always shop for a Sarah's Angel and I try to find a new dragon for my collection. We stay in a hotel and we spend quite a lot of money. No one in Door County is going to be out of business because we can't make the trip this year -- we who live fairly simply can't find extra money in the budget to put aside for vacation. But, the good folks in Door County will certainly be in trouble if even 10% of their regular tourists can't make the trip.

#3. We keep hearing about how illegal immigration is bringing this country to its knees, but since I work with a lot of contractors -- 90% of whom are legal immigrants, I can't help but wonder if the Visas that bring the high tech foreigners to this country is helping us. While I don't believe that the illegal immigrant who works as a bus boy is taking a job an American wants, I'm pretty sure the high tech legal immigrant is. Maybe, he or she isn't taking a job right now, but as long as a company can higher an immigrant for less than an American, it will. Also, if we don't invest in the education of our young people, we're going to suffer on the global market. Now, I happen to prefer 95% of the foreign staff with whom I work over my American counterparts. Also, I want people who want to be here to come here -- I'm the descendant of immigrants, but I think it's time to reconsider just how many HB-1 (I think that's the correct number) Visas we give out every year. We need to ensure that Americans are being trained for the jobs that the foreigners are doing.

#4. Now, having said my piece with #3, here's my next thought... When someone comes into this country on a work Visa, they are pretty much stuck at that company until they get a Visa/green card on their own. If they switch companies, they have to start the whole process over, which I think pretty much stinks. What if you accept a job, get here and discover that the company isn't doing what it promised to do? We're basically trapping these people in positions and I think we should work on this to make sure they aren't trapped in bad jobs or with bad companies.

#5. Now, having said #4, my other thought is we really do need to secure our borders to make America a safer place, but I don't think a fence across the border in Mexico is the place to start.

#6. Healthcare -- totally different track -- I think we need to hold companies responsible for the healthcare they provide (sell) to their employees. We need to require companies to report how many of their employees have health insurance through them, how many have health insurance via their spouse and how many are covered by the state. Companies who have employees covered by state plans or no insurance at all, should be taxed an amount equal to the cost the state spends on that specific employee -- the more employees covered, the lower the costs. Also, let's not let them get away with that crappy catastophe insurance. These people might as well not have any insurance at all.

Those are just some thoughts off the Top of My Head. I might expand on them some other time or I might not. We'll see.

God Bless

Immigration

We've heard a lot about immigration these days. It's on the front page of the paper, top story on the news and the Presidential candidates are all discussing it. President Bush is calling for his way to be passed -- it is stalled in the Senate.

Sometimes, I wonder just what a big deal this is. Why is it that we only worry about illegal immigrants once every twenty years or so? Why aren't we spending as much time on lowering our national debt as we pay lip service to immigration?

Lou Dobbs put this much better than I can regarding what to do about illegals, but basically, he said:

• Secure our borders -- say we're going to secure them and back it up with the money and manpower to do so.
• Make those who hire illegals pay for the crime. Add in stiffer penalities for those employers that hire illegals
• Enforce the existing immigration laws. We all ready have many laws in place, but no one actually enforces them.

I think Lou Dobbs is right on the money. This is a smart man and I wish he -- or someone very much like him -- would run for President.

But, that'll probably never happen. People talk about making tough choices all the time, but they usually think someone else should be making them.

God Bless

Taking the high road...

The only thing I knew about Representative Keith Ellison was that he the first Muslim ever elected to Congress. That was yesterday.

Now, I've read a CNN article and I believe that he is a man of integrity.

Here's the background, Representative Goode is all up in arms about Representative Ellison wanting to use a Qu'ran when being sworn into Congress. Further, Goode has been making all kinds of remarks about how we don't need more Muslims in this country and equating electing Ellison to supporting illegal immigration.

Representative Ellison has refused to call Goode a bigot. He has even gone as far as to say he looks forward to meeting Goode and he hopes Goode would take the time to learn about the Muslim religion. Ellison wants to find some common ground.

What a stand up guy. He's right. We need to find common ground.

And, what does Goode have to say?

"I wish more people would take a stand and stand up for the principles on which this country was founded."

Excuse me? Our country was founded on the principles that we would have the freedom of religion. Representative Goode, you are not standing up for the principles on which our country stands. You are standing upon the hollow ground of those who are scared -- scared of people of a different religion, scared of those of a different race, scared of those of a different sexual orientation.

America, my America, is a melting pot of races, backgrounds and religions. America has the best of all countries because we strive for togetherness and tolerance.

I so hope, Representative Goode, that in the spirit of giving, especially in this season of Advent, that you can see your way clear to meeting with Representative Ellison. As Sam Hutson once said, "A Nation divided against itself cannot stand." We need to unite our country as we never have before. We are fighting a Civil War without firing a shot and we certainly cannot have Representatives slinging arrows before they even meet.

I give credit to Representative Ellison for not lowering himself to the name calling that no one would blame him for if he did. I beg Representative Goode to take a step back and do the same.

MerryChristmas & God Bless!

I wasn't going to say anything...

But what in the H E double hockey sticks is wrong with Republican Rep. Virgil Goode? Who in the world does he think he is? I don't really give a rat's butt if a representative is sworn into congress holding a Bible or the Qu'ran. Big whoop! However; Representative Goode seems to think that Muslim lawmakers are somehow responsible for our illegal immigration issues. I'd like to know how since the first Muslim representative was just elected.

Goode is racist and he's the worst kind of racist, as he is a man of power and he doesn't see just how wrong he is...

He said (and I'm quoting from the CNN article):

"I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped."

Really? And, just what are our values and beliefs that are traditional to the US? I seem to recall that slavery used to be a tradition and value we held. Jim Crow laws were a tradition and value that we held. Being against interracial marriages was a tradition and value. Are those the traditions and values to which we will hold? Isn't religious freedom a tradition and value we hold in this country? I thought it was.

But, apparently, Representative Goode, along with many of his Republican buddies, have forgotten that 1) this country was built by immigrants and 2) Religious freedom was the whole reason the pilgrims landed here in the first place.

Added note: Goode mentions that we will have more Muslims if we do not stem immigration, but what he failed to note is that Representative Ellison is a convert to Islam and NOT a Muslim immigrant. Just wanted to point that out.

God Bless and Merry Christmas!