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Chuckle8 wrote: "I had what I thought was an interesting idea. The way the senate is represented is defined by the constitution and its amendments. However, the senate rules (e.g.. filibusters and cloture) are quite changeable. The senate rule for cloture is 60%. I think they should change that rule, so it only takes 60% of the population represented by senators to close debate."
It may be impossible to EVER reform the Senate to make it democratic except by a rules change where the vote of each Senator represents half of their state's population.
http://reinventing-america.blogspot.com/2010/02/reforming-anti-democrati...
Ryan is a disgusting hypocrite. The idle rich like hilton haven't worked a day in their life. They are the ones who feel entitled. They are lazy douches. Then we have heirs like the Koch Brothers who are doing their best to destroy America and our system of government. Ryan needs to be flushed.
Mark wrote: "uLTRAX, I meant the Senate and the EC. The same principle is behind both but the EC is undemocratic in that electors don't have to vote as the people they represent."
The EC is antidemocratic because it weighs the votes of some citizens more than others... and in 48 states it's winner take all... and in the end, it can install a candidate who was REJECTED by the People as president.
Can't see a reason why not. Need not say more than that.
Kend- if you do not have to pay taxes and your competition doe they will be put out of business as they have been. As far as blaming the government well who do you think the government is? How about a bunch of toadies bought by the Starbucks type corporations. Our legislators just vote for the laws their corporate masters tell them to vote for, which are written by corporate lobbyist. I do agree with you in that Starbucks coffee is pretty bad.
If find it enigmatic Thom that you make no mention what so ever to the possibility that geoengineering/chemtrails are playing in this whole global warming/climate change business. I thought you were 'INFORMED'? Maybe if the government would stop spraying chemicals into the atmosphere and allow the Earth to control the weather instead of man, we wouldn't be having this 'problem'. It figures that our government thinks that it's a good idea to poison the plants and animals of the planet in order to 'protect' the Earth from global warming. What a joke. Time to wake up Thom and report on this insidious program!!
Maybe I missed it in an earlier newsletter, but I haven't seen the article about businesses in the 1940s creating modern religious right.
To chuckle8 @34, so for things like that each senator could have as many votes as there are representatives in the respective state.
What did Senator Warren say in response to Jamie Dimon reaction to her criticism of the banks.... 'I'M GONNA RUN FOR PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES if Hillary miraculously bows out in the 2016 presidential run"? If Senator Warren really means all the things she seems to be so passionate about, she would seriously reconsider.
Senator Warren will regret her decision NOT to run in 2016 in the same way Teddy Roosevelt regretting not running for a third term in the early 1900s. Senator Warren will privately regret her decision regardless of Hillary or Jeb Bush. At best, Hillary will either cave in or triangulate on the issues; and at worse, prefers to side with the one percenters since Hillary herself is proud member of the .01percent that owns nearly 60% of all wealth generated in America (notwithstanding lows sales from her book tour of last year).
Geo. Starbucks didn't put mom and pop shops out of business their customers did. Starbucks offered better products so customers go there. If Starbucks only paid 8.6 million in taxes blame your government they make the rules not Starbucks. Personally I don't get Starbucks too expensive and fancy for a redneck like me.
(Ignoring the Liberal arrogance "people are too dumb" part of that statement...)
Ever wish the Democrats would just stop with the social issues already? How many red states are only red because of social issues, but could easily be turned blue if only the economic issues mattered.
Indiana, for example. There was a great opportunity this week for Democrats to pick up that state, by coming out and publically supporting the RFRA.
Calling people stupid/ignorant/backwoods/uncultured/etc.... That doesn't bring them to your side. That only ensures they will go to the polls to vote against you, even if they're voting against their economic interests.
Yes, Liberals can bask in their self-assessed "moral high ground" or think they are "on the right side of history" when it comes to gay marriage. And those married gay couples, like most of the rest of the country, can look forward to a life of debt, living paycheck to paycheck, and never being able to afford retirement.
Thanks, Liberals.
The East Indian Company of today is certainly Starbucks that over a 14 year period made 3 billion in profits and only paid 8.6 million in profits. Putting mom and pop coffee shops out of business. What is even more disgusting is that they get all kinds of corporate media free advertising discussing how wonderful Starbucks is because they want to discuss racism in their stores. How hippocratic can a corporation be. If they really cared about the American people they would pay taxes that would not be at a rate that has so many zeros after the decimal point of their rate of contribution.
PFNELKAK. I love that idea. I would certainly do something like that if I had it too.
With the technology today, to flood the mind with so much info., to distort the truth, to deceive 'WE THE PEOPLE', to see so many people hurting, & disease, & death, & crime, right at our fingertips, it's no wonder why people are changing the channel to see something they enjoy. And saying, "I can't do anything about it", and sitting back and watching their favorite programs or, if healthy and bucks, being able to do what they like. In the mean time, corps. are changing the laws to suck us dry of our contentment to eventually turn us into slaves.
Only some kind of major catastrophe will awaken us from our sleep, but then it might be to late.
Thom is surly helping to get out the info. needed to fight the misinformation bombarding our minds daily by corp. media. If you tell someone to read this book or that one, they just turn their head & roll their eyes. Thom has given us so much info. these past few months,
I'm one for putting fact sheets together, with references, on a given topic, preferably one page, with an eye catching title, to hand out or place on bulletin boards. Many small steps can make a giant leep. That personal contact is what is missing today. Facebook is another. Any other ideas?
What people don't seem to understand is that if common people made the kind of money they should be making, they wouldn't have to go to where things are sold dirt cheap in order to offord things. Cheap things mean cheap quality, not high quality things that a high quality pay check can afford. You can't "shop wherever you like" if there are no other places to shop." Small businesses can't afford to "have everything you need" because they can't compete with Wal-Mart's monopolizing everything. This is where the expression, "race to the bottom" comes from. "Cheap pay buying cheap goods."
On a side note, rather than his name being, "Dimon," it should be, "Demon." Pigs, pigs, pigs, all of them.
Most of the average citizens and voters in these United States do not understand that if they vote for the candidates that say they are pro-life or pro-gun or for moral religious beliefs they are voting for someone backed by industrial campaign funds and when those candidates are elected they will do whatever the industrialist backers like Jamie Diamond, the Koch brothers and others want them to do. Sure they will vote pro-life and pro-gun if anything pertaining to these issues come up but the industrialist backers don't care about these issues and are ok with their candidate running on these issues as long as they get elected so they can vote in legislation to help the industrialist with their economic issues without any regard as to how such legislation may hurt the average citizen. We need to talk about this problem with others to get the word out about this problem.
Kend -- Such one dimensional and short term thinking. Most of the suggested spending would be investing. The government, even in these times of being run by billionaires, has a 60% return on their investments. When the government does not spend, the deficits become small. There is a 100% correlation between small deficits and a crashing economy (or at least the Dow).
I had what I thought was an interesting idea. The way the senate is represented is defined by the constitution and its amendments. However, the senate rules (e.g.. filibusters and cloture) are quite changeable. The senate rule for cloture is 60%. I think they should change that rule, so it only takes 60% of the population represented by senators to close debate.
uLTRAX, I meant the Senate and the EC. The same principle is behind both but the EC is undemocratic in that electors don't have to vote as the people they represent.
Ok Marc fair enough. I just don't see what Walmart does that hurts anyone. Yes they sell a lot of crap but it is affordable for those who have less. I like Lowes or Home Depot. At least when I go there they probaly have what I need. No one has to go there. You can shop where ever you like.
Kend ~ How did you read that into what I said? What I meant to say was that Corporations go through cycles of running politics and running from politics. They always grow out of control and take over for a while. They always trash the economy because they are run by blind greed rather than altruistic principles. And, they always have to be reigned in and balled out by We the People. Currently, Corporations are running the show. They have been since 1981.
Thom is absolutely right in what he is saying about Corporate cycles. The only thing I differ with is the idea that We the People at this stage of the game have the clout and motivation to do what needs to be done. I think things are going to have to get worse before they get better. Thom is far more optimistic than I. I hope he is right and I am wrong; however, I'm not going to hold my breath.
Marc are you saying corporations don't have the power over politics that Thom and MSNBC say they have.
Actually, Corporatists have always periodically gotten the upper hand and messed up society for everyone else. When the situation gets dire enough, the people fight back and take back some semblance of control. The problem now is that things just haven't gotten bad enough yet.
Corporations don't always get there way. Just ask TransCanada its shareholders. Over six years and still no answer one way or the other. It doesn't get any more anti corporate then that.
Isn't that the definition of insanity...or proof the elections are rigged?