There is Only ONE Oklahoma! Kick-off Saturday Night at 6 p.m

Game day tents for tailgating were being set up all around campus this afternoon in preparation for the University of Oklahoma versus Louisiana Monroe game tomorrow.  This afternoon OU released the background video to 'There is Only ONE Oklahoma" opening video.  Our field is painted and ready to go and our team is most likely watching a movie right now.  Traffic has already picked up in Norman this afternoon and evening.  Tomorrow the road my street comes off will have much more traffic with I-35 under construction in Norman to redo our bridges and make more sense on how you get on and off the interstate.

Countdown started on the first day of practice and culiminates tomorrow night at 6 p.m.,  August 31, when the 2013 season kicks off.  It is now time for football to come back to Owen Field when the Sooners take on Louisiana Monroe.


Last year my brother and I were in El Paso for the opening game when it was so hot they didn't start the game until 8:30 MDT and it was still hot.  Best tailgating food we have ever had and was all free from the local businesses putting on a huge tailgate for the first time to individual tailgaters wanted us to sample their food and drinks.  It was AWESOME the way the people of El Paso treated us as fans.

Today OU released this video to show some of the behind the scenes of entrance video that changes every year. Looking forward to watching it tomorrow night at the stadium as they have put some new things into the video as the video people have experimented.  

This is our 17th year of OU football since being transferred here after Kelly AFB Depot was being closed by the BRAC.  We got here two years before Head Coach Bob Stoops and why we could get season tickets cheap in those days -- now not so cheap.   We also share the fact that the Stoops Family comes from Ohio and so do I and two of my children.  When we lived in SoCal Bob Stoops came out to the Rose Bowl with the Iowa Hawkeyes when they played in the Rose Bowl.  Who would have thought we would be living in the same town all these years later in the heart of Oklahoma football, Norman, and Bob Stoops would be beginning his 15th season as the Head Coach of the Oklahoma Sooners.  

On game day Saturdays you know where you will be find us -- at Owen Field losing our voices.  More then once I have gotten up on a Sunday morning with a hoarse voice.  First time was when we beat #1 Nebraska in 2000 to take #1 and never look back all the way to the Orange Bowl and National Championship.  

Boomer Sooner!

President Obama Spoke for All Americans in Hornoring the 50th Anniversary of Dr. King's March on Washington

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.  (Dr. Martin Luther King, 28 August, 1963, from his speech at the Lincoln Memorial)

This speech by President Obama at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday honoring the 50th Anniversary of Dr. King's March on Washington where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech makes me proud of the vote I cast as a Republican for Barack Obama for President on November 6th, 2012.  He truly is a man of all the people in this Country no matter what the hard right has to say which includes most Republican members of Congress.

Not one Republican member of the Congress showed up to the event yesterday even though they all received invitations from the organizing group who also asked Republican Congressional leadership to talk at the event.  The new black South Carolina Senator Scott's office had the audacity to say he didn't receive an invite, then it was lost in the mail, but the real reason is that no Republicans showed up and he refused to attend for IMO fear of the hard right constituents.  That's sad out of a Party that talks about a restart with the minority community when they won't even attend the 50th Anniversary March on Washington by Dr. King and thousands of Americans across the Country.

Shame on Congressional Republicans.  GOP doesn't need to ask for my vote in November 2014 because my vote goes to the people who truly stand for "We the People" meaning every last person no matter race or nationality or gender.

This speech by President Obama sent chills up my spine when he talks about We the People are marching.  He has my full support!


Watch: President Obama's speech from the Lincoln Memorial

50 Years of American Heroes

Valerie Jarrett

August 28, 2013 

07:52 PM EDT 

Read his full remarks 

Fifty years ago, the heroic voice of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. rang out across our capital, our country, and the world, and called on us to become the more perfect union he believed we were destined to be. A country which endows every man, woman and child with unalienable rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  

These are words which we repeat so often, that their depth and relevance today can easily be missed. 

Any nation which pledges to honor its citizen’s right to “life” should enact and protect laws which ensure high quality and affordable access to the doctors, treatment, and preventative care we need to live full and healthy lives.   

Any country committed to defending “liberty” should protect our fundamental right as Americans; the right to vote. Our liberty is dependent upon free and inclusive elections, and our ability to peacefully hold our leaders accountable, while directing the course of our country. Dr. King was the first to tell us that the “arc of the moral universe is long, but that it bends toward justice.” President Obama went further today, to remind us all that "the arc of the moral universe may bend toward justice, but it doesn't bend on its own." 

The right to “pursue happiness” is most secure when we put the education of all of our children, the growth of our economy, the health of our businesses, the creation of jobs, and the stability of our markets ahead of self-interest, and political posturing. Every American deserves to feel the pride of a hard-earned paycheck, and the opportunity to achieve their dreams, regardless of who they are, or the zip code of their birth. 

As we reflect on the tremendous progress made over the past half-century, we honor those brave leaders who paved the way, and upon whose shoulders we all stand, by recognizing our responsibility to undertake the immense job still at hand. This is a time to reaffirm our commitment to the ideals on which America was founded, and to help ensure this country continues to “rise up,” as Dr. King declared 50 years ago, and “live out the true meaning of its creed.”  

As President Obama traced the steps of giants today, let us also remember the extraordinary things accomplished by the countless ordinary people, who President Obama often calls America’s “quiet heroes.” They are our parents and grandparents; our coworkers, classmates, and neighbors. They are the men and women in this country who have rolled up their sleeves, and laced up their work boots every day over the past five decades to move this country forward. Some who marched – others who simply took the early shift, year after year, so they would be home in time to cook dinner for their families before heading to a second job. Let us remember the many who have faced down violence, despair, and incredible odds, just to give their children a chance at a better life, and our country the chance to live up to its full potential.  

Today we salute the heroes who inspired us 50 years ago, and we honor the millions more whose blood, sweat, and divine strength have served to define our nation. We honor them with our reverence, and our willingness to sacrifice for the greater good, and march on.  We honor them with our urgent action to deliver all Americans the rights and opportunities they deserve.    

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."  (Martin Luther King Jr., 16 April 1963, Birmingham, AL)

This picture of President Barack and Michelle Obama from in front of the statute of Abraham Lincoln shows how far we have come as a Nation - we cannot retreat now but must move forward to ensure that all people have the same rights including the Right to Vote without suppression.  Not all Republicans support the hard right voter suppression laws being passed and are starting to speak out like General Colin Powell and Cong James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) who believes the Voting Rights Act portion the SCOTUS threw out was wrong and needs rewritten to make sure all have an equal right to vote.   As Head of the House Judiciary, he intends to get the job done in rewriting the law and getting it passed and signed by the President.  The big question is whether GOP leadership will allow his bill to come for a vote.   It is up to all of us to make sure our elected Representatives know we want the Voting Rights Act fully restored and fully implemented.

God Bless this President who is standing tall in the face of chaos created by Congressional Republicans with their hard right stances and refusal to compromise in order not to see the President win a fight.   The 'my way or no way' hard right is going to find out when they return to DC after their boondoggle for five weeks that this President is in no mood for their antics.  As time has passed, we have witnessed this President grow in the job.  Am proud to say that I stand with President Obama on the debt ceiling and budget fights against the shenanigans on the hard right of the House and Senate who do not have the best interests of the American people and this Country at Heart.

Time to move American forward by passing a new Voting Rights Act,  Immigration, Gun Registration, a budget, and most importantly the increase in the debt ceiling without any strings attached.  The American people deserve no less!

Is Water a Right or a Commodity? Rand Paul and Nestle CEO Say it is Not a Right!

On November 27, 2002, water was official recognized as a Human Right not a Commodity by the United Nations

Right then it should have been a settled issue but not to the likes of Rand Paul and the former CEO and now Chairman of Nestle headquartered in Switzerland who do not believe it is a human right.  Guess they cannot comprehend what the United Nations said in Nov 2002:

Water is a Human Right, not a Commodity 

"The human right to drinking water is fundamental to life and health. Sufficient and safe drinking water is a precondition for the realization of human rights." — United Nations 'General Comment' on the Right to Water. 

On November 27, 2002, water was formally recognized as a human right for the first time when the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted the ‘General Comment’ on the right to water, and described the State’s legal responsibility in fulfilling that right. 

"The simple fact is, this model of privatization doesn’t work. You cannot marry the profit motive to something like water or air which people need to survive. We have to take this notion of fresh water out of the market place and say that it belongs to the earth, it belongs to all species, it belongs to future generations, and no one has the right to commodify it for personal gain. 

We believe that water is a lifeline and we should have an international convention that declares water as a fundamental human right and that everyone on earth should have the right to enough to live on." 

— Maude Barlow, CBC Interview, March 2004

That seems clear to me that the United Nations has declared water a Human Right for every member nation.  Note to Rand Paul -- the United States is a member of the United Nations and one of the five countries, United States, United Kingdom, China, France, and Russia,  with veto power in the Security Council.  Is Rand Paul's head so high in the clouds that he cannot see the forest for the trees or is the fact that his father, Ron Paul, doesn't recognize the United Nations along with their hard right supporters?  Whatever the reason, Rand Paul made a fool of himself again which seems to happen when he speaks to any group.

Rand Paul has made some mind boggling statements and this one is no different. The Kentucky Republican gave a speech which was followed by a Q&A with medical students at the University of Louisville. 

Paul was asked whether health care is a commodity or not. 

National Review reports, “There’s a philosophic debate which often gets me in trouble, you know, on whether health care’s a right or not,” Paul, in a red tie, white button-down shirt, and khakis, tells the students from the stage. “I think we as physicians have an obligation. As Christians, we have an obligation. . . . I really believe that, and it’s a deep-held belief,” he says of helping others.” 

First off, not everyone is a Christian. This is not a Christian nation, but one with various held beliefs. 

Paul then asked  rhetorically, if students have a right to food and water. “As humans, yeah, we do have an obligation to give people water, to give people food, to give people health care,” Paul muses. “But it’s not a right because once you conscript people and say, ‘Oh, it’s a right,’ then really you’re in charge, it’s servitude, you’re in charge of me and I’m supposed to do whatever you tell me to do. . . . It really shouldn’t be seen that way.” 

That sounds familiar. 

“Access to water is not your right. Believing you have a right to water – is an extreme belief. Water is a raw material and a “foodstuff” that should be privatized and commercialized.” 

That quote is from the Nestles corporation.

Was shaking my head at Rand Paul who is planning to run for President in 2016 thinking he doesn't have a clue on a lot of issues.  How could someone in politics have missed the UN statement on water? More importantly why should any corporation be allowed to buy water rights which leads us to why should gas companies be allowed to use fracking to extract natural gas which contaminates our water or the Koch Bros allowed to discharge pollution in our streams like their Georgia Pacific paper mills are doing especially the one in Arkansas that is releasing pollution which eventually flows into the Ouachita River and pollutes the water downstream that flows into LA.

Not only are corporations buying up water rights to sell us the over priced water bottles, but are also polluting our rivers, streams, ground water, and acquifers.  When do the American people wake up to what is happening and throw out the hard right from Congress who is trying to tie the hands of the EPA to keep them from investigating the polluting of our clean water.   We have a right to clean water and shouldn't have water rights sold to a foreign entity or polluted by people in this Country.

The Chairman of Nestle should be best friends with the Koch Bros with his ideas that water should be a commodity so bottled water companies could make more profits using water that should belong to the people not a corporation.

See the translated video at Firedog Lake from from Chairman Peter Brabeck from Nestle Headquarters in Switzerland discussing his views on water and other issues.  Brabeck believes water should be a commodity not a right so Nestle can make more money.  Below is the take-away from this video:

Peter Brabeck, the Chairman of Nestle Group, has a theory about how the world should work regarding access to water and he would like to share his theory (of not sharing).
Brabeck is not a fan of nature, at least not as it is understood today. Saying man can now provide “balance to nature.” Brabeck disparages the “organic movement” and those opposing genetically modified food saying he prefers the American system which, he hnclaims, has not produced a single case of illness. Brabeck may be omitting or may genuinely not know that no one in the US could document such a case of illness, even if it occurred, because GM food is not labeled in America. Brabeck suggests Europeans should cast aside their organic inclinations and adopt the American system. 

Brabeck then goes on to offer his view of water, calling it the “most important raw material” in the world. Brabeck disagrees with unnamed non-governmental organizations (NGOs) about water being a human right instead saying he agrees with those who want water to be assigned a market value and therefore managed by private interests. It’s worth noting that if his plan were adopted his company would have even more opportunities in the water market. 

Brabeck even attacks the 35 hour work week as being antiquated because, as he sees it, it was proposed to create more jobs due to a finite amount of labor. This of course is not why the 35 hour work week was created (it was created to give people a break from work) nonetheless Brabeck continues with his theory saying more jobs in the future will require more work and so the 35 hour work week should be done away with. 

The cancer of Neoliberalism that has ravaged this planet and its people the last 30 years is rarely so well exposed and articulated. Brabeck isn’t alone. The corporate sector is lusting after the water commons with full force desperate for more, more, more, profits. The planet and the people on it are just raw material, slaves on the plantation, to produce their products and subsidize their parasitic lifestyles. And once the planet is used up? Well, who cares? There will be enough resources left to build a gated community or two for them and their spawn to survive and thrive on.

Will someone please tell me why a company that is headquartered in Switzerland is allowed to purchase water rights in the United States?  Hershey, who IMHO makes much better chocolate then Nestle, is headquartered in Hershey, PA.  The American chocolate company, Hershey, is in the business of making chocolate not trying to sell us bottled watered plus chocolate.  Remember that the next time you get hungry for a piece of chocolate - Buy American made Hershey not foreign owned Nestle with an American presence whose Chairman believes water is a commodity not a right!   Boycott Nestle water as well as their chocolate!

Obama Stands Firm on No Negotiating on Debt Ceiling While Hard Right GOP House Plays Games

The modern day Republican party stands for economic uncertainty, chaos, refusal to pay its own bills, and radical nihilism. Not exactly big tent.  (Sarah Jones, Politicususa.com)

How is Speaker Boehner going to handle all the rhetoric he and other GOP have been spewing during their five-week recess about they are not going to cave on the debt ceiling unless Obamacare is defunded.  Are they that stupid?  Sure looks like they think they can back the President into a corner but it is going to backfire major league on Republicans as the vast majority of Americans are waking up to the fact the House Republicans along with some Republican hard right Senators are the reason our economy hasn't taken off as fast as it should have.  Most of us are in no mood for GOP games in September after their 5-week boondoggle with very few Town Halls.

A chaotic fall awaits Capitol Hill when lawmakers return to Washington in two weeks and face imminent fiscal deadlines to avoid sending the economy into a tailspin. 

The spotlight is on Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), who faces perhaps his toughest test yet as he tries to talk rebellious House Republicans out of risking a government shutdown or worse. Instead he’s floating a potentially riskier strategy: pass a short-term funding resolution, preserve sequestration and take the debt ceiling hostage to goals like unwinding Obamacare and cutting spending. 

On Oct. 1, funding for the federal government will expire. And later this fall, the U.S. will default on its obligations unless Congress raises the borrowing limit, or debt ceiling. Averting these two cliffs will be one of the more daunting tasks facing a wildly dysfunctional Congress and a fractured Republican Party. 

“It reinforces all the reasons why I thought it was a good time to retire at the beginning of the year,” former Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH), a friend and ally of Boehner, told TPM in a recent interview. “Because it looks like deja vu all over again. The same fights, the same cast of characters and the same unwillingness to find common ground.

When LaTourette announced his early retirement he did not hide the fact that it is almost impossible to get things done in the Congress unlike 25 years ago when he came into office.  The different IMHO is the Tea Party and shift to the hard right of the GOP with their no compromising attitude.  Thought this summed it up best:

"The Tea Party Republican Majority now has a sign outside their meeting room-- no moderates allowed," Jesse Ferguson spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a statement. 

A Democrat said it but I have heard the same thing from Republicans with the takeover by the Tea Party in the House that all they want to do is obstruct and only work for their base not their whole district like Congressman have in the past.  This is the most partisan group of malcontents I have witnessed in the House over the years.  Not sure Boehner can control them after they have been back in their districts listening to their hard right supporters.

This interview with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is one of the best I have viewed about the debt ceiling and sequestion effects on the budget.  We are lucky to have Lew as our Treasury Secretary IMHO:

”Treasure Secretary Jack Lew was on CNBC Tuesday where he reiterated that not only will the President not negotiate over raising the debt limit, but, we do not need another self-inflicted wound (courtesy of the GOP). 

“I will reiterate. The President made clear he is not negotiating. Since ’1789,' every congress has acted to pay the bills of the United States. This Congress needs to do the same. What we need in our economy is certainty. We don’t need another self-inflicted wound.” 

CNBC’s John Harwood talked to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Tuesday, August 27th:

Just yesterday the Speaker was threatening a “whale of a fight” over raising the debt ceiling. With consumer confidence heading toward a five year high, Boehner threatened to crash the economy if Republicans don’t get to rule as if they won 2012.  

The Republican leader told a Boise lunch crowd, “But I’ll say this: It may be unfair but what I’m trying to do here is to leverage the political process to produce more change than what it would produce if left to its own devices. We’re going to have a whale of a fight."

(snip) 

The President also made sure the public knew that Congress tells him what to spend, and Congress is in charge of paying those bills (raising the debt ceiling): 

“This is a matter of Congress authorizes spending. They order me to spend. They tell me, you need to fund our Defense Department at such- and-such a level, you need to send out Social Security checks, you need to make sure that you are paying to care for our veterans. They lay all this out for me, and — because they have the spending power. And so I am required by law to go ahead and pay these bills. Separately, they also have to authorize a raising of the debt ceiling in order to make sure that those bills are paid. And so what Congress can’t do is tell me to spend X and then say, “But we’re not going to give you the authority to go ahead and pay the bills.” 

Very impressed with Treasury Secretary Lew and his explanations on the debt ceiling and making a deal on Sequestration and the budget.   Lew might be the most articulate Treasury Secretary we have had in years.  He laid out everything very succinctly and understandable to everyone.  He refused to take the bait on the Fed Chairman saying that decision is in the White House.  Gives me a lot of confidence we are on the right track.   Now if only the GOP would get their act together and throw out the Koch Bros Tea Party, they could negotiate in good faith to get this Country moving forward.  My reason for that statement comes from moderate Cong Sensenbrenner, R-WI, on the Voting Rights Act:

Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner is vowing to reverse the recent Supreme Court ruling that made them possible. 

“The first thing we have to do is take the monkey wrench that the court threw in it, out of the Voting Rights Act, and then use that monkey wrench to be able to fix it so that it is alive, well, constitutional and impervious to another challenge that will be filed by the usual suspects,” Sensenbrenner said Monday at an RNC event held to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington. 

Sensenbrenner is a longtime advocate of the Voting Rights Act. As chair of the House Judiciary Committee when the law was reviewed in 2006, the Wisconsin legislator oversaw extensive deliberations which ultimately affirmed the VRA’s continuing necessity–and resulted in a 25-year reauthorization. So when the Supreme Court effectively gutted the VRA in June by voiding the requirement for certain states to get federal “preclearance” before changing their voting laws, Sensenbrenner was displeased. 

“Voter discrimination still exists,” he wrote in a June op-ed for USA Today, “and our progress toward equality should not be mistaken for a victory.”

Is it possible that someone like Sensenbrenner could be encouraged to join with other more moderate Republicans in the House (what few are left) along with Democrats to make sure the debt ceiling is passed.  Only need 18 to go with the Democrats to pass the debt ceiling increase with no strings.  If Republicans refuse to negotiate and compromise on the debt ceiling, they will bare the blame for the downgrade of American credit.  Even one of the GOP's budget guru's, Steve Bell, agrees:

The Republican government shutdown isn’t going to be blamed on the President.
Steve Bell, a longtime Senate Republican budget expert now at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told Talking Points Memo that Republicans are fooling themselves if they think that they can get the public to blame the President for a government shutdown.
“If Republican leaders are going to be all tied up again with the debt ceiling and government showdowns, that really is a big negative. We went through this with Clinton. I was in the room when we did this. And it isn’t going to be blamed on the President.”

“In the Republican caucus, there are significant internal divisions,” Bell said. “The House gets most of the attention because it’s pretty melodramatic. But the Senate Republican caucus is absolutely just as tough.”

When the Congress returns to town after their five week recess, the House has nine working days left according to their schedule to get continuing resolutions passed along with a debt ceiling increase. How they could have left town with this hanging is beyond me.  Most of the appropriation bills on how much money can be spent has not been passed so the American people are stuck once again with no timely budget and appropriations bills passed.  The House for several years blamed the Senate for not passing a budget but now that the Senate passed it in the Spring, the House has refused to name any people to a Joint Committee to iron out the differences.

Today's House run by Republicans is the worst in history with the most rhetoric and lies.  All they care about is voting to overturn Obamacare which was found Constitutional by the Supreme Court and is not on the table for any negotiation.  Time to send the GOP House to the unemployment line along with their Tea Party affiliation and staffs.  The GOP House's so-called Hastert rule where you have to have a majority of GOP support to bring up a bill is no way to run the House and is hurting the Country.  As long as their wealthy donors are happy, they don't seem to care about the average American so it is time we decided to elect people who care for all Americans not just the wealthy.

Colin Powell: Voting Restrictions 'Are Going to Backfire' on Republicans'

"These kind of procedures that are being put in place to slow the process down and make it likely that fewer Hispanics and African Americans might vote, I think, are going to backfire, because these people are going to come out and do what they have to do in order to vote, and I encourage that," he said.  (General Powell, 25 Aug 2013)

Is the following quote from General Powell what some of the hard right want to go back to today when a black could not eat at certain restaurants?

"In my lifetime, over a long career in public life, you know, I've been refused access to restaurants where I couldn't eat, even though I just came back from Vietnam: 'We can't give you a hamburger, come back some other time,'" Powell recalled. "And I did, right after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, I went right back to that same place and got my hamburger, and they were more than happy to serve me now. It removed a cross from their back, but we're not there yet. We're not there yet. And so we've got to keep working on it."

I get incensed when I realize that this happened to members of military who had been fighting in Vietnam but also to the average minority that just wanted something to eat.  I see some of that same mentality rising from the Republican Party today with their comments against minorities and wanting an all white preferably male party.   The GOP of today has basically thrown out their old base who believed in civil rights and we are all equal to cater to the John Birchers, Libertarians, Tea Party, social conservatives, and religious right who seem to have the idea that their "my way or no way" applies to the rest of us. The day I was asked last year why I was still a Republican because of what I was writing against Romney and other GOP candidates was the day I had to ask myself the same question.

President Reagan always said if you agree with a candidate 80% of the time, he is your candidate. Discovered in 2012 that I agreed with President Obama more than 80% of the time and am having a hard time thinking of anything I agreed with Romney on in 2012.  By Reagan's own standards I supported Obama and the Democrats.  Watching General Powell who I admire greatly talk about voter suppression, I know my choice was sound because the GOP of today are the ones behind the voter suppression.

"[H]ere's what I say to my Republican friends: The country is becoming more diverse," Powell told Bob Schieffer on CBS' "Face the Nation." "You say you want to reach out, you say you want to have a new message. You say you want to see if you can bring some of these voters to the Republican side. This is not the way to do it." 

"The way to do it is to make it easier for them to vote and then give them something to vote for that they can believe in," Powell added. 

In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling that struck down a key portion of the Voting Rights Act, Republicans in states like North Carolina, Florida and Texas have sought voter restrictions that critics, including Powell, say will disproportionately hurt minorities at the polls. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed legislation earlier this month that requires voter identification, rolls back early voting hours and ends a state-supported voter registration drive. Powell condemned that particular law at an event in Raleigh last week. 

Powell pointed out that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud, the very premise of the identification statutes. "You need a photo ID. Well, you didn't need a photo ID for decades before," Powell said. "Is it really necessary now? And they claim that there's widespread abuse and voter fraud, but nothing documents, nothing substantiates that. There isn't widespread abuse." Powell predicted that such measures will blow up in Republicans' faces.

Chris Matthew's program shows how the GOP is trying to suppress voting by minorities.  Would also throw in seniors, women, college students for starters.   When you break it down, it shows the GOP of today only cares about white males being able to vote along with white women who hang on to their every word and cannot think for themselves.  Please take the time to view this video and see how Republicans want to suppress the vote in order to win.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell condemned North Carolina's new voting laws on Wednesday, telling a Raleigh audience that he believes the restrictions unfairly target minority voters and will ultimately hurt the Republican Party. 

Speaking at the CEO Forum, where Gov. Pat McCrory was in the audience, Powell said he believed the legislation would make it more difficult for all individuals to vote. 

"I want to see policies that encourage every American to vote, not make it more difficult to vote," he said, according to the News & Observer. "It immediately turns off a voting block the Republican Party needs... These kinds of actions do not build on the base. It just turns people away." 

McCrory, a Republican, signed the voting bill into law earlier this month. In addition to requiring voter ID at the polls, the new law also reduces the time allowed for early voting, ends an annual state-sponsored voter registration drive and stops a pre-registration program for minors. The measure also scales back campaign donor disclosure regulations for "dark money groups," also known as 501(c)(4)s. 

During his speech, Powell pushed back on the idea, which McCrory has cited, that voter ID laws curb voter fraud. 

"You can say what you like, but there is no voter fraud," Powell said. "How can it be widespread and undetected?" 

He continued, "What it really says to the minority voters is ... 'We really are sort-of punishing you.'"  

...In January, he urged Republicans to stop trying to implement such measures.

“Should we really have gone after reducing the turnout of voters in those places where we thought it would make a difference? The Republican Party should be a party that says, ‘We want everybody to vote,’ and make it easier to vote and give them a reason to vote for the party, [whereas] not to find ways to keep them from voting at all,” Powell said during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." 

In an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" that same month, Powell said the GOP had a "dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the party." 

"What do I mean by that?," he said. "What I mean by that is they still sort of look down on minorities." 

General Powell nails the GOP rhetoric of today which has no substance - Republicans are going to regret their attacks on voting rights of the American people as minorities and women I predict will swamp the white male vote of the GOP.  No way a pollster can get a handle on 2014 as too many of the GOP base have declared they will no longer support the GOP but will support Democrats in 2014/2016.  We made a difference in 2012 and are out to make a bigger difference in 2014.

Going back in time, found this interview from General Powell last fall talking about how he speaks to President Obama often.  Thought his endorsement of the President was as true today as when he said it. General Powell's comments on Mitt Romney last fall matched my opinions on Romney's inability to articulate his views as who knows where Romney stands.  Still don't today.

General Powell also blames Congress for the problems we have today.  Wish General Powell would run for President as I would work 24/7 for the man.  When he found out he had been lied to on WMD's in Iraq, he didn't hide but came out and told what happened leading up to the claim.  Cheney/Rumsfeld used Colin Powell to spread their lies on WMDs but in the end neither one of them are well respected while General Powell is still respected today.  This video says it all!  Best interview that I have seen in a long time - down to earth and honest from General Colin Powell even though it is from last fall.

Check a Charity's Status Before You Give - List of America's 50 Worst Charities

If a Charity says they are not non-profit and your contribution is not tax deductible, you might want to run as fast as you can from that group. 

Since I had been contacted by the American Association of State Troopers, #9, on the list of Worst Charities, decided it was time to see if someone had a list and sure enough I found the list of the 50 worst charities.  These people should be ashamed to be taking money from innocent people who think they are helping fund a real charity for first responders.

Took my envelop from this group and marked, "Return to Sender -- did research - refuse to donate - DON'T CALL!!!  The very idea that these groups feel they have a right to scam people makes me furious at the OK Attorney General today.  Our last Attorney General sued them but now they are back to calling people once again in OK.  Our Attorney General does have plenty of time to go after Obamacare.  People wonder why I am supporting only Democrats now -- not really too difficult to comprehend that they care about individual people and the Republicans care about what their wealthy donors tell them to care about like repealing Obamacare.

Read this list of worst charities before donating one more dime.  There is also a link in the article to check out charities.  Don't donate a dime until you find out if the charity is legit and what they do with their money.  First indication should be if they are non-profit which means you can take the donation off your income tax.  State Troopers are for profit which was a clear warning bell someone is not quite right.

Check before you donate is something we all need to remember:

TUE AUG 20, 2013 AT 03:50 PM PDTAmerica's 50 Worst Charitiesby
Leslie Salzillo

When it comes to making donations, many of us have felt some angst in deciding where our money can do the most good. We often hear stories of 'charities' that are less than...  charitable. In a recent report by Adrienne Hill on NPR's Marketplace, Americans give more to charities, per capita, than any other developed country. In 2011, we gave $200 billion dollars. 

Tampa Bay Times compiled a list of the Top 50 worst charities. Many names of the worst charities are very similar to legitimate charities. For instance, the number one worst charity, Kids Wish Network, sounds much too similar to, Make A Wish Foundation a legitimate respected organization, where donations go to helping very sick children see one of their dreams come true. With the Kids Wish Network, only 2.5% the $127.8 million they raised, went to direct cash aid. So where did the other millions go? $109 million of it went to paying solicitors to raise the money. 

According to Kendall Taggart, of The Center For Investigating Reporting, many charities exist pretty much to pad the pockets and salaries of their founders. Often the value of goods that are shipped overseas cannot be verified. And then there are charitable goods shipped domestically that are outright insults to the recipients. One cancer victim in Knoxville, Tennessee, reached out to Cancer Fund of American to help with medical costs. He received a package containing paper cups, napkins and plates, along with children's toys, you know, things that help a cancer patient pay for medical costs. The patient's wife was so disgusted, she threw the entire package away. 

Thankfully, there are a few reputable organizations online that can help us search charities to differentiate the good from the unscrupulous. 

Here are the 50 of the worst charities, with the first being the worst. They are ranked by how much they raise, how much goes to pay the fund-raising solicitors, and how much goes to the actual charity. The title link above the list, will bring you to a page with an interactive chart and  more information about charities in general. 

America's 50 Worst Charities1.  Kids Wish Network
2.  Cancer Fund of America
3.  Children's Wish Foundation International
4.  American Breast Cancer Foundation
5.  Firefighters Charitable Foundation
6.  Breast Cancer Relief Foundation
7.  International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO
8.  National Veterans Service Fund
9.  American Association of State Troopers
10.Children's Cancer Fund of America
11. Children's Cancer Recovery Foundation
12. Youth Development Fund
13. Committee For Missing Children
14. Association for Firefighters and Paramedics
15. Project Cure (Bradenton, FL)
16. National Caregiving Foundation
17. Operation Lookout National Center for Missing Youth
18. United States Deputy Sheriffs' Association
19. Vietnow National Headquarters
20. Police Protective Fund
21. National Cancer Coalition
22. Woman To Woman Breast Cancer Foundation
23. American Foundation For Disabled Children
24. The Veterans Fund
25. Heart Support of America
26. Veterans Assistance Foundation
27. Children's Charity Fund
28. Wishing Well Foundation USA
29. Defeat Diabetes Found
30. Disabled Police Officers of America Inc
31. National Police Defense Foundation
32. American Association of the Deaf & Blin
33. Reserve Police Officers Association
34. Optimal Medical Foundation
35. Disabled Police and Sheriffs Foundation
36. Disabled Police Officers Counseling Center
37. Children's Leukemia Research Association
38. United Breast Cancer Foundation
39. Shiloh International Ministries
40. Circle of Friends For American Veterans
41. Find the Children
42. Survivors and Victims Empowered
43. Firefighters Assistance Fund
44. Caring for Our Children Foundation
45. National Narcotic Officers Associations Coalition
46. American Foundation for Children With AIDS
47. Our American Veterans
48. Roger Wyburn-Mason & Jack M Blount Foundation For Eradication of Rheumatoid  Disease
49. Firefighters Burn Fund
50. Hope Cancer Fund 

One of the most disturbing aspects of this list, is that the names of most of these pseudo charities are designed to pull the heartstrings of donors who think their money is going to help very sick children, women with breast cancer, veterans... when very little, if any is actually going to those in need. Makes me want to scream out their names on the highest mountain. I'll have to settle with posting them here, as the best way to deal with this problem, is to become informed and ask charities questions like, "How much of my donation is actually going to this cause?." I'm grateful to all those who have taken the time to compile this information, which helps many of us to discern where, and where not, to place our donations. 

Here are some reputable charity online navigators: 

Charity NavigatorCharityWatchGiveWell 

For full story and audio: MarketPlaceSources: Tampa Bay Times, Kendall Taggart/Center For Investigative Reporting, Adrienne Hill/NPR

The story has it right that so many of these charities sound like legitimate ones when they are there to make their founders wealthier.  I told a good friend these are probably Republican run today the way they don't care about people.

Have a great weekend and remember to check out a charity at the links above to make sure they are legitimate and your money is used to help the people it is intended to help!

  

Republicans Hold Town Halls Lying About Obamacare -- OFA Sets the Record Straight

Make no mistake: The other side is spending millions on TV and advertising designed explicitly to mislead Americans. When one of these ads got fact-checked by an independent organization, the group behind it didn't flinch. They just bought more air time.  OFA Email

Received the following email from OFA.  Since they get fact checked over and over again you can bet that their information can be counted on to be right.  They are countering the millions being spent by Koch Bros to put out untrue information on Obamacare along with the Heritage Foundation tour of former hard right Senator Jim DeMint who is holding TownHalls lying about Obamacare.  When the Koch Bros chose Jim DeMint to head Heritage they picked someone in their image willing to spend

millions of dollars on a campaign of lies -- this time on Obamacare.

Since Republicans made the Affordable Healthcare Act political, how can Heritage get involved since they are non-profit or is this more of the Republicans sponsored by the Koch Brothers don't have to follow rules?  Seems to be contagious in the Republican Party.

Heritage even sponsors polling now trying to convince everyone that the American people don't like Obamacare by going into 11 Congressional Districts and doing push polling.  MSNBC was dumb enough to run results of a poll out of a Heritage group that is from the Koch Bros who own Heritage. 

The MSM is missing the boat day in and day out as they report talking points instead of doing investigative journalism that a lot of us have been complaining for a long time.   That's what happens when big business buys up the media – non-bias gets tossed out the window and they become fronts for their owners and what they want reported in many cases.  Like the days of Watergate when the print media did the investigative journalism, today it is still print and now websites that will investigate before reporting the news.  Broadcast for the most part is pretty biased.

There are some journalists I have to wonder if they ever took a college class in Ethics like a lot of Fox News.  Now CNN is following along in the footsteps of Fox News. Makes you wonder when this sloppy journalism is going to end where journalists take sides and report lies and spin for facts.  Think by and large the younger journalists are much better and quicker to make sure they have more then one source.

The graph below in the OFA email is devastating to the right but since the hard right in Louisiana blames Obama equally with Bush for Hurricane Katrina, would say there is an intelligence gap with a lack of ability to reason on the hard right.  Not sure they could understand the graph and definitely could not comprehend what it says as they have to be told what to think.  I have seen it up close and personal which makes me shake my head how they can believe some of the things they are told. 

Sharon -- 

Guess how some members of Congress are spending their August vacation: 

They're touring the country, going state by state and district by district to convince people that Obamacare isn't working -- never mind the benefits that millions of families are already feeling. 

After trying and failing to repeal the law (40 times!), they're starting to get desperate. 

OFA's Truth  Team is here to set the record straight. 

Fight back against the cynical opponents of Obamacare by sharing some truth about how Obamacare is already helping folks all across the country -- here's a perfect graphic to get started:

 

They're trying to take health care awayfrom millions of Americans -- and they're doing it by fudging the truth. 

Make no mistake: The other side is spending millions on TV and advertising designed explicitly to mislead Americans. 

When one of these ads got fact-checked by an independent organization, the group behind it didn't flinch. They just bought more air time.

The next fight is already on the horizon:  Some of these representatives are the same folks pledging not to pass any budget as long as it continues to fund Obamacare.

They'd even go as far as to shut down the government if they don't get their way. That's right -- if we don't jettison a law that passed three years ago so millions of Americans could get affordable care, some members of Congress want to take their ball and go home.

We know the American people are smarter than this -- so it's our job to make sure that they have the facts.

One of the oddest things of this whole fight Republicans picked on Obamacare is that it is essentially the same healthcare program they introduced in the 90's for healthcare but now that the Democrats have passed Obamacare, they don't like it because it doesn't have a GOP name on it -- they had a chance to be part of making a difference but Republicans in Congress were afraid of their new Tea Party base going into 2010 so they refused to work together.

Speaker John Boehner may go down in history as the worst Speaker ever with the House being the worst House ever.  Republicans deserve the title of 'worst ever' when it comes to Congress.  They are systematically destroying the Republican Party as a viable party and they don't care which is even more astonishing.  Could it be this was the Libertarian Plan of the Koch Brothers all along to destroy the Republican Party so they could have their hard right Libertarian Party as a major player.  Most Americans don't like the hard right and their wanting a theocracy.  What happened to the Republican Party standing for our Republic?  Did they forget what men and women have fought for over the years to keep our freedoms which the Republican Party of today wants to take away from women and minorities.

Time to vote the hard right GOP out of office in November 2014.  A good start would be voting Democrats into Governorships in Virginia and New Jersey in November 2013.

Republican Party Chair having a Bad Week as GOP Strategist Endorses Dem McAuliffe in VA and More Republicans Leave the Party

Anti-government libertarians aren’t saving the Republican Party. They’re destroying it, and setting the stage for years of Democratic victories to come.  (Jason Easley, Politicususa)

Can we hear applause for Boyd Marcus, GOP Strategist, who finally had it with VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) who is running for Virginia Governor.  Cuccinelli is so hard right that I have a hard believing he is running for Governor.  If he won, I would recommend that women move out of Virginia ASAP.  He is not honest as he has the same ethical problems of taking big donor money as current Virginia Governor McDonnell and his wife, but Cuccinelli is running full speed ahead on a hard right agenda ticket.  When he speaks, I cringe and feel like we have been transported back in time to where women had no say in anything.  How did he become Attorney General with such a hard right agenda?  

Republican Heads Explode as GOP Strategist Endorses Democrat Terry McAuliffeBy: Sarah JonesAug. 20th, 2013 

Imagine a Republican who has advised Virginia Republicans for over 30 years saying, “Terry is the clear choice for mainstream conservatives.” Those words came from Boyd Marcus in a statement released Tuesday. Cue the Republican heads exploding. 

Boyd Marcus, who is a prominent Republican strategist currently serving as an adviser to Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) of Virginia, endorsed Democrat Terry McAuliffe for the Virginia gubernatorial election over scandal-adjacent extremist and national joke state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R). 

Mr. Marcus will be advising McAuliffe for the remainder of the election. In a statement released by the McAuliffe campaign, Boyd Marcus said: 

“I’ve never before supported any Democrat, but this election Terry is the clear choice for mainstream conservatives. I am excited to work with him to grow the already-long list of prominent Republican leaders who are supporting his campaign. Virginia is facing tremendous economic headwinds and we need a governor who is going to work with both parties.”

The Richmond Times Dispatch noted that Boyd is not alone. Other Republicans backing the Democrat, Terry McAuliffe, “include former Northern Virginia legislators John Chichester, Vincent F. Callahan, Jim Dillard and Russ Potts.” 

Boyd has a long record of serving Republicans, including serving as Eric Cantor’s Chief-of-Staff. 

When Southern Republicans have to go the Democrat for a “mainstream” fiscal conservative, you know there’s trouble in the GOP. Cuccinelli was warned by Republican donors to put a sock in the extremism, but he was too busy accusing Planned Parenthood of being racists to listen. He also insisted on sharing his fear of oral sex with the world. The business community called him out on his failure to be mainstream, as Republican women fled his ticket. Now this.   

Excerpt:  Read More at Politicususa

I know what it is like not to have worked for or supported a Democrat over the years.  In 2012 I finally had it with the religious right and social conservatives along with the Tea Party who had taken the Party hard right, signed up for Republicans for Obama and then supported Democrat candidates.  At the time I didn't realize how bad it was for the Republican Party but after watching them since 2010, I am shocked at some of their statements against minorities, women, teachers, first responders, veterans, senior citizens, the poor, college students, and the list keeps growing.  They want to have a Republican Party of white males and only females allowed must think like them and be subservient to anything the white male wants.  Women are there to have babies and raise a family while the male makes all the decisions.  Guess they want the dark ages to return.

Fortunately, more and more Republicans are waking up to the hard right Republican Party and don't like what they see.  They are willing to help Democrats win to oust the Tea Party from office along with social and religious right conservatives.  Today's anti-science GOP, has done a lot of us in as we realize they have gone so far hard right there is no way they can return to a common sense party so we are looking for a new home for politics.  Suffice to say right now the Democrats have our full support in 2014.

Chad Brown reflects my feelings on the Republican Party.  He comes from the largest county in the State of Iowa, always been a Republican, and now has resigned and re-registered as an independent as the GOP is dysfunctional and he is tired of enabling them as they refuse to listen.  My complaint in the GOP is they have lost all common sense as they have gone hard right and are listening to the people who want an all white male GOP - women are to be seen and not heard in their vision for the GOP.  It is shocking how they can find any woman to defend the attacks on women.  This week failed California candidate Carly Fiorina stepped up to the plate for the GOP talking about women having their rights taken away is  good thing:  

Carly Fiorina is one of the Republican Party’s few female standard bearers and so she keeps getting booked on TV to sell Republicanism. On ABC’s This Week today, she pretended that the Republican Party is really not-so-extreme on women’s issues and thus, you single ladies should vote Republican. 

Naturally this involved much moving of the goal posts in trying to pass off Rick Perry’s (R-TX) anti-women legislation as not extreme — thereby totally missing the point and ignoring the real issue, or as Republicans say, “Winning.” 

Fiorina ended up actually arguing that there are only five countries in the world that give women freedom and authority over their bodies so why should we consider Republicans extreme for not wanting to be one of them?

How can any intelligent woman go on TV and make such a ludicrous statement basically saying as women we should be happy with the GOP having authority over our bodies.  What century is she living in because it is sure not the 21st century.  Does she even believe women should have the right to vote? Makes me want to throw up to read such nonsense out of a Republican women.   Next time someone asks why I refuse to support Republicans after being an activist all these years, I am using Fiorina as an example of stupidity that has invaded the GOP of today.

These are only a few of the Republicans making the news who have had it with the GOP, but how many more even if they don't re-register will refuse to vote for the hard right GOP of today?  I think the number is climbing daily with the dumb statements we keep hearing out of elected Republican officials and some of their candidates.  If you are a moderate or center right, you want no part of today's GOP who are at war with almost all groups but white males.

Polk County GOP co-chairman resigns citing ‘disappointment’ with Republican Party 

By Ruth Tam, Published: August 20 at 2:25 pm E-mail the writer 

Chad Brown, the co-chairmain of the Polk County (Iowa) Republican Party has resigned and changed his party affiliation to “Independent” citing what he observed as the GOP’s contention and dysfunction. 

Brown, 34, had been party co-chairman since March. In his resignation letter, published by the Des Moines Register, he expressed disappointment with the Republican Party at the  national, statewide and county level. 

Polk mentioned the “contentious” 2012 Polk County GOP Convention.
“I was upset by what happened at the conventions, and I entered into the arena with the intent to help fix the problems,” he said. “However, I think this level of dysfunction is not going to be fixed any time soon.” 

Excerpt:  Read More at the Washington Post

Heard this week from a source that the US Chamber of Commerce was fed up with the Koch Bros and their Tea Party with their hard right ideas on how to run Government through fostering chaos. Wondered when that was going to happen because Republicans have been blocking money for infrastructure which the Chamber pushes along with jobs.  They threw in with the Koch Bros groups on the Tea Party in 2010 and are now suffering buyer's remorse.  About time they woke up that today's Republican Party doesn't resemble the Republican Party of the Reagan era.

This Republican Party believes in little to no Government and giving their wealthy donors all the tax breaks while not caring if regular people eat or have jobs.  This is not the Chamber I knew and looks like they are finally waking up to the chaos they help bring us in Washington DC -- they are not happy. Welcome to the Club as a lot of us are beginning to despise today's Republican Party puppets of the Koch Bros starting with the RNC Chair Priebus.

Business Tries to Tame Tea-Party Conservatives It Helped ElectGridlock, shutdown threats, and default are on the table this fall as weapons in the spending wars
By Jill LawrenceAugust 19, 2013 | 9:21 a.m. 

The nonpartisan National Small Business Association added a new question this summer to its survey of more than 1,100 small-business owners, and it vaulted immediately to the top of the group's To Do list for Congress and the Obama administration. "The No. 1 thing small businesses want policymakers to do is end the partisan gridlock and work together," the NSBA found. 

Good luck with that. 

As Washington heads toward an autumn of fiscal deadlines, government-shutdown threats, and the specter of default, the business community is reaping the whirlwind. Dozens of House and Senate conservatives, many of them tea-party populists, have been elected since 2010 with help from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, and other business interests. 

Now these same lawmakers—described by one business lobbyist as "economic fundamentalists" for their aversion to compromise—are a chief reason for holdups and breakdowns on bills that traditionally are bipartisan, as well as on big issues where deals may be within reach. All of which puts the business sector in an interesting squeeze: fighting many Obama policies tooth and nail, but also bemused and in some cases frustrated by the way some presumed congressional allies are handling their jobs. 

"You don't really know what they're going to do or why," says NSBA President Todd McCracken, a 20-year Washington veteran. "It used to be there were not many rewards for obstruction. Now there are no consequences." 

'Susan Eckerly, senior vice president of federal public policy at the NFIB, says House Speaker John Boehner "has his hands full" with some 60 rebellious tea-party Republicans. "They are really bucking Boehner," she says. "It's going to be really hard for him to control them. That's a new phenomenon in Congress." And not one her group could do much about, if it came to the point of wanting to do something. Some of the tea-party lawmakers are NFIB members, Eckerly says, and incumbents win automatic support for reelection if they score 70 percent or better in NFIB vote ratings. 

For businesses, the stakes amid all this disruption are enormous. They are keenly interested in tax reform and immigration reform. They would like to see more federal spending on infrastructure and less on entitlements, and less federal regulation across the board. They don't like brinkmanship on budget and debt issues, or the more routine dysfunction that has stalled transportation and agriculture legislation important to both parties and much of the private sector. And as most business groups have made crystal clear, they really, really don't like the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. 

Yet there is little to no business support for the latest tea-party-driven crusade to block any funding bill that includes money for the health care law, even if it means the government would shut down when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, calls that "not the politically astute thing to do." Bill Miller, senior vice president in charge of outreach to Congress and the administration at the policy-oriented Business Roundtable, says his group considers that strategy unrealistic and is now focused on trying to shape ACA regulations.   

Excerpt:  Read More at The National Journal 

Libertarians come into the Republican Party, help destroy it, and now are fleeing in Maine and other places because the party is too liberal.  If the Republican Party of today went any more far right they would drop off the earth, but these clowns in Maine think they are too liberal?  Scary how far right they must be especially with one of them being on the Republican National Committee.  Having a food fight over not being hard right enough makes my head swim and realize there is no way I could have remained a member of the Republican Party.  Knew the Ron Paul people someday were going to get fed up and leave and looks like it is starting.  Who is going to be left standing as they already have run off the center right and moderate Republicans like a lot of us?

7 Maine Republican Officials Resign From The GOP Because John Boehner is a CowardBy: Jason Easley, Aug. 20th, 2013
Seven Maine officials have resigned from the Republican Party after writing a scathing letter where they condemned John Boehner for cowardly leadership.
According to the Portland Press Herald: 

One of Maine’s three voting members of the Republican National Committee and six other members of the Maine State Republican Committee have resigned and left the party, lambasting Gov. Paul LePage, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans for abandoning what they said are key principles for libertarians and conservatives.

…
They criticized Republican state lawmakers for supporting a budget containing tax increases, charged Boehner with “cowardly leadership” and said recent decisions by the LePage administration show that “the Republican Party has lost its way.” 

“(We) can no longer allow ourselves to be called nor enrolled as Republicans; we can no longer associate ourselves with a political party that goes out of its way to continually restrict our freedoms and liberties as well as reaching deeper and deeper into our wallets,” reads the letter, signed by Maine Republican National Committeeman Mark Willis and 11 others. “We instead choose the path that focuses on ways to help our fellow Mainers outside of party politics.” 

Their main gripe is that the Republican Party, John Boehner, and the state party are all too liberal. At this point it is important to point out that these seven Republicans are dissatisfied with a party that has in the last few months alone tried to abolish overtime pay, gut the food stamp program, and disqualify people from food stamps if they own a car. This is also a political party that is actively encouraging the uninsured not to sign up for health insurance. 

Apparently, trying to starve the poor and voting to deny 30 million Americans healthcare 40 times is too liberal for these seven former Republicans who are so fed up that they had to walk away. It is ironic that Boehner would be accused of cowardly leadership, when it has been his constant caving to the tea party that has made the House completely irrelevant. The issue isn’t Boehner’s cowardly leadership, but that he is letting the tea party run the House of Representatives.   

Excerpt:  Read More at Politicususa

GOP is having a bad week with the Town Halls and all the dumb comments coming out and now the business organizations like the Chamber are not happy with the GOP or the Koch Bros and their Tea Party people who are some of the worst members of Congress many of us have seen.  Maybe we should send Priebus bottles of Excedrin because he is going to need it with the Koch Bros controlling him and the GOP going even harder right with more chaos and obstruction?

President Obama has finally had it with Republicans Wanting Debt Ceiling Held Hostage to Defund Obamacare

A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they’ll somehow be sticking it to me.  But they’d just be sticking it to you.  (President Obama)

This is the most disgusting part of the Republicans attack on the Affordable Healthcare Act (AHA). Some Republican members of Congress are lying to their constituents which is flat out wrong but then integrity and GOP can no longer should be used in the same sentence.  Those same constituents they are lying to are being hurt in States like Oklahoma where they refused the exchanges and millions of dollars.  Many of the constituents believe what they are told by Republicans and refuse to question anything as they have become convinced Republicans won't lie even when it is put right in front of their faces.  Is the dumbing down of the Republican Party in full operation mode by the Koch Bros?

Great to see President Obama finally go after the Republican attacks on the Affordable Healthcare Act after the GOP run House voted for the 40th time to overturn Obamacare knowing full well that it was another vote that meant nothing except to their base.  Some Freshman were clamoring they needed a vote to end Obamacare before the 5-week recess so they could go back to their district and tell voters they voted against it.  Wasting our tax dollars to show they voted on something that is DOA tells you how the GOP base of today processes what they are told.  It seems today's GOP base will swallow anything the Republicans tell them if it is anti-Obama.  Really stupid if they swallow the GOP can overturn Obamacare with a House vote.  From President's Obama's Weekly Address:

Many Members of Congress, in both parties, are working hard to inform their constituents about these benefits, protections, and affordable plans.  But there’s also a group of Republicans in Congress working hard to confuse people, and making empty promises that they’ll either shut down the health care law, or, if they don’t get their way, they’ll shut down the government.  (my bold)

Think about that.  They’re actually having a debate between hurting Americans who will no longer be denied affordable care just because they’ve been sick – and harming the economy and millions of Americans in the process.  And many Republicans are more concerned with how badly this debate will hurt them politically than they are with how badly it’ll hurt the country. 

A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they’ll somehow be sticking it to me.  But they’d just be sticking it to you.  

Some even say that if you call their office with questions about the law, they’ll refuse to help.  Call me old-fashioned – but that’s lousy constituent service.  And it’s not what you deserve. 

Your health insurance isn’t something to play politics with.  Our economy isn’t something to play politics with.  This isn’t a game.  This is about the economic security of millions of families. 

See, in the states where governors and legislatures and insurers are working together to implement this law properly – states like California, New York, Colorado and Maryland – competition and consumer choice are actually making insurance affordable.  

Today's bought and paid for Republicans continue to play games with the American people as they attack AHA, jobs, economy, healthcare, social security, medicare, SNAP Program, women's rights, minority rights and the list goes on as they do what they are told by their wealthy donors like the Koch Bros.  People like Boehner and Cantor could care less about you and me and how we are faring during their obstructionism and sequestration.  They get paid regardless and never had to take a day off every other week to save money as Federal Employees had to do in the Executive Branch as Congress controls the purse strings of the Government.

Instead the GOP House is taking 239 days off in 2013 and holding a few Town Halls during a 5-week recess because they are so tired after barely working.  Just imagine how tired the House will be after working a whole 126 days this year.  How many members of Congress are making trips overseas to interfere in foreign policy on our nickle?

Despicable bunch of Republicans in the House that their main aim is to defund Affordable Healthcare Act.  It is already saving people money in states that are not headed by a bunch of hard headed Koch/ALEC puppets who refused to implement the exchanges and thus cost their states millions and millions of dollars.

President Obama has finally had it with the "Repeal Obamacare Republican Members of the Congress" threatening to hold the debt ceiling hostage until they get their way:

WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama said we are on the way to fully implementing the Affordable Care Act and helping millions of Americans. Unfortunately, a group of Republicans in Congress are working to confuse people and are even suggesting they will shut down the government if they cannot shut down the health care law. Health insurance isn’t something to play politics with, and the President will keep working to make sure the law works as it’s supposed to, and he encourages everyone to visit HealthCare.gov to find out more about the law and how to sign up.

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Weekly AddressThe White HouseAugust 17, 2013 

Hi, everybody.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been visiting with Americans across the country to talk about what we need to do to secure a better bargain for the middle class.
We need to rebuild an economy that rewards hard work and responsibility; an economy built firmly on the cornerstones of middle-class life.  Good jobs.  A good education.  A home of your own.  A secure retirement.  And quality, affordable health care that’s there when you need it. 

Right now, we’re well on our way to fully implementing the Affordable Care Act.  And in the next few months, we’ll reach a couple milestones with real meaning for millions of Americans. 

If you’re one of the 85% of Americans who already have insurance, you’ve already got new benefits and protections under this law that you didn’t before.  Free checkups, mammograms, and contraceptive care.  Discounted prescription medicine on Medicare.  

The fact you can stay on your parents’ plan until you turn 26.  And much, much more.  And it’s okay if you’re not a fan of the Affordable Care Act – you can take advantage of these things anyway. 

If you don’t have insurance, beginning on October 1st, private plans will actually compete for your business.  You can comparison shop in an online marketplace, just like you would for cell phone plans or plane tickets.  You may be eligible for new tax credits to help you afford the plan that’s right for you.  And if you’re in the up to half of all Americans who’ve been sick or have a preexisting condition, this law means that beginning January 1st, insurance companies have to cover you – and they can’t use your medical history to charge you more than anybody else.  

You can find out more about the law, and how to sign up to buy your own coverage right now at HealthCare.gov.  Tell your friends and neighbors without insurance about it, too.  And tell your kids that there’s a new, easy way to buy affordable plans specifically tailored to young people. 

Excerpt:  See WhiteHouse.gov for full transcript of speech

Heritage Foundation's head, Jim DeMint, plans to host Town Halls across the Country to defund AHA which goes against the non profit tax status of Heritage but that hasn't stopped any Republicans from moving ahead with their agenda as rules/laws don't apply to them in today's world.  Talking point papers for Republican members of Congress to use were prepared by Heritage and Groundswell plus the Koch brothers are investing millions into ads with misinformation and lies about AHA as they try to keep it from being implemented but it is an abject failure. Groundswell was outed several weeks ago:

Mother Jones’ David Corn details a behind-the-scenes conservative messaging push: “Believing they are losing the messaging war with progressives, a group of prominent conservatives in Washington—including the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and journalists from Breitbart News and the Washington Examiner—has been meeting privately since early this year to concoct talking points, coordinate messaging, and hatch plans for "a 30 front war seeking to fundamentally transform the nation," according to documents obtained by Mother Jones. 

Dubbed Groundswell, this coalition convenes weekly in the offices of Judicial Watch, the conservative legal watchdog group. During these hush-hush sessions and through a Google group, the members of Groundswell—including aides to congressional Republicans—cook up battle plans for their ongoing fights against the Obama administration, congressional Democrats, progressive outfits, and the Republican establishment and "clueless" GOP congressional leaders. They devise strategies for killing immigration reform, hyping the Benghazi controversy, and countering the impression that the GOP exploits racism. And the Groundswell gang is mounting a behind-the-scenes organized effort to eradicate the outsize influence of GOP über-strategist/pundit Karl Rove within Republican and conservative ranks.”

At least we know why so many appointees of Obama were being held up -- Republicans hoped to bring the Obama Administration to a grinding halt which didn't happen.  Thank you Senator McCain for stepping forward to get some of these people who had been appointed confirmed.

Now a group of Senators want to hold the Country hostage on the debt ceiling in exchange for ending Obamacare which is not going to happen.  Voters need to think twice about a group that would hold the Credit Rating of the United States hostage to get their way.  They all need voted out of office when they are up for reelection because they just broke their oath.  Senator Rubio doesn't listen to his own state but to former Senator DeMint from Heritage:

(Jul 30) WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) – Senator Marco Rubio’s plan to shut down the government if Congress doesn’t defund the Affordable Care Act is going up in smoke in the nation’s capital. 

Senator Rubio, along with Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, signed on to a letter that said no government funding should be passed, including raising the debt limit, unless the ACA, also known as Obamacare, was defunded completely. 

Rubio has written editorials for conservative media outlets touting his plan, but it appears a growing number of Senators are not ready to shut down the government. The plan has opened a schism between the more conservative tea party members and establishment Republicans.

Rubio hardened his stance in an interview at The Blaze:

(Aug 5)  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is taking a hard stance in the fight to defund President Barack Obama’s landmark health care law. In fact, he says he is willing to fight to the bitter end to derail “Obamacare,” regardless of the consequences. 

“There has to be some issue at which we say, ‘look, this is the issue where we draw the line’,” Rubio said on Mark Levin’s radio show Monday. “I mean, we understand about all the other things but there’s an issue where you’ve got to draw a line in the sand and say, this is it. I mean, on this issue we’re willing to fight no matter what the consequences, politically or otherwise.” 

“If that issue is not Obamacare, I can’t understand what issue it would be,” he added. “And that’s the point I tried to make. Of all the issues out there, if there was one issue that, I think, we should be willing to go to the limit on, this is it.” 

Looks like Rubio is putting his plan to run for President over what is good for the people of this Country by trying to hold the debt ceiling hostage to defund Obamacare.  He is not listening to the people of South Florida today.  What about all those senior citizens who are going to be benefit with the AHA on prescriptions, etc.  Rubio is making sure that he will not be reelected as Senator if my phone call this morning was any indication.  Long time Republicans in Florida are as mad as long time Republicans across the Country at these bunch of jerks from the Tea Party in the Senate and House who do as they are told like little puppets.  Koch's control Heritage and DeMint along with the Tea Party who control many of the GOP in Congress.

Sad situation for America and only one solution - vote the GOP out of all leadership and then we can move the Country forward.