Tonight as I sit at home sick, I was lucky enough to get a phone call giving me the opportunity to listen in on a town hall for Omaha Republican Mayoral Candidate Dave Nabity. I was so excited as I had never been on a political conference call before. At first, I was really impressed. He is well spoken, seemingly reasonable, very personable (something the previous republican Presidential candidate lacked), and very knowledgeable about the city. He spoke plainly about issues facing the city such as the sewer and roads, the restaurant tax, and the horrible crime problem.
As a progressive Democrat, I was actually surprised how well I was following his ideals. I was actually halfway to committing to vote for Mr. Nabity. Then, I got to ask a question. My question was while Community Policing, jobs programs for at risk kids (that don't include janitorial jobs), and other problem oriented policing (as his website states) are great ideas, did Mr. Nabity have any plans for criminal background checks for guns or for any mental health community outreach? Mr. Nabity stated that I had a great question, but he wasn't really into gun control. He thought it was safer to have an 'armed citizenry' under the conceal and carry law to safeguard against situations like those in Newtown, CT. He then stated that he didn't know enough about the mental health aspect to this question and he would have to do more research.
As a citizen of Omaha, a city which has seen mass shootings in the past, almost daily individual shootings, thefts, and armed robberies, I just don't think it's reasonable to rely on a group of 'armed good guys' out there. I just think it would make more sense to keep guns out of the hands of the 'bad guys' in the first place. But, I guess that's just me. I will be doing some research on the democratic Mayoral candidates. Hopefully they'll be more on my wavelength.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Friday, November 2, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
VOTE
Things that make me angry:
Knowing that so little of my friends and family vote.
When people try to make me feel badly about paying attention to politics and the news.
When I'm looked at as 'less fun' because I can explain what's going on in the world.
When someone who doesn't read or clearly has no idea what they're talking about cannot admit that they are wrong or change their views with new information.
Some say that we shouldn't vote because nothing ever changes. They also say that one side isn't better than the other because they're all liars and crooks. I say that there is one thing more damaging to us than all of this divisiveness and that is complacency. I can guarantee you that if everyone took the time to pay attention, to understand, to communicate, and then to VOTE, this world would be a much better place. We would change things from the bottom-up instead of being controlled from the top-down. Elections matter. Isn't that what having a democracy is really all about?
Knowing that so little of my friends and family vote.
When people try to make me feel badly about paying attention to politics and the news.
When I'm looked at as 'less fun' because I can explain what's going on in the world.
When someone who doesn't read or clearly has no idea what they're talking about cannot admit that they are wrong or change their views with new information.
Some say that we shouldn't vote because nothing ever changes. They also say that one side isn't better than the other because they're all liars and crooks. I say that there is one thing more damaging to us than all of this divisiveness and that is complacency. I can guarantee you that if everyone took the time to pay attention, to understand, to communicate, and then to VOTE, this world would be a much better place. We would change things from the bottom-up instead of being controlled from the top-down. Elections matter. Isn't that what having a democracy is really all about?
Thursday, June 7, 2012
An Open Letter to the Republican Congress
Dear Congress,
I was just informed that you'd like to take the summer off. I have just a couple issues with this and wanted to take the time to address that with you. First, you've said in the past that teachers do not deserve the pay they get because they get time off in the summer. I'd like to know why it is okay for you to make several times the amount that teachers make as well as getting the same time off.
Second, how do you expect to put the American people back to work when you are in fact, not working? I don't think it's possible. What happened to having the 'dignity of work'?
Third, I work for a corporation and if I decided to take the summer off when I was scheduled to work, my boss would say two words to me. "You're Fired." You seem to be in love with corporate America but still want the same cushy government benefits that you vilify public workers for having. I guess it's okay if you're a republican? I wonder how you would react if someone tried to take those benefits away from you? Hopefully your bosses (the American people) will say those same two words to you in November. Thank you for your time as I know it is very valuable.
No Love,
Jill
I was just informed that you'd like to take the summer off. I have just a couple issues with this and wanted to take the time to address that with you. First, you've said in the past that teachers do not deserve the pay they get because they get time off in the summer. I'd like to know why it is okay for you to make several times the amount that teachers make as well as getting the same time off.
Second, how do you expect to put the American people back to work when you are in fact, not working? I don't think it's possible. What happened to having the 'dignity of work'?
Third, I work for a corporation and if I decided to take the summer off when I was scheduled to work, my boss would say two words to me. "You're Fired." You seem to be in love with corporate America but still want the same cushy government benefits that you vilify public workers for having. I guess it's okay if you're a republican? I wonder how you would react if someone tried to take those benefits away from you? Hopefully your bosses (the American people) will say those same two words to you in November. Thank you for your time as I know it is very valuable.
No Love,
Jill
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Different is not Bad
I have been seeing and hearing a lot of 'Speak English or get the hell out of my country" sentiments lately and I would like to comment on that.
I would like to remind everyone that this land we live on was not yours to begin with. Remember that whole slaughter thing we started? 'Whites' were the original immigrants and not all them spoke English either. (Polish, Czech, Russian, French, etc.) While immigration reform is certainly a political issue and rightly so, it is also a human issue and that's what I'll be focusing on here. "Go back to the shit hole country you came from" is something you are not just posting on a website, it is something you are saying about a PERSON. PEOPLE speak Spanish and other languages. PEOPLE take the jobs you won't take. ASSUMING that just because someone speaks another language they are here illegally is just ignorant. My advice to anyone who uses this kind of rhetoric or language is get it together and stop being such a bigot! How can we ever unite as a country and deal with the real issues (income inequality, corporate/political corruption, the military/prison industrial complexes, etc.) if we are constantly being divided? We are all PEOPLE and we have more power as a whole than we ever will apart.
I would like to remind everyone that this land we live on was not yours to begin with. Remember that whole slaughter thing we started? 'Whites' were the original immigrants and not all them spoke English either. (Polish, Czech, Russian, French, etc.) While immigration reform is certainly a political issue and rightly so, it is also a human issue and that's what I'll be focusing on here. "Go back to the shit hole country you came from" is something you are not just posting on a website, it is something you are saying about a PERSON. PEOPLE speak Spanish and other languages. PEOPLE take the jobs you won't take. ASSUMING that just because someone speaks another language they are here illegally is just ignorant. My advice to anyone who uses this kind of rhetoric or language is get it together and stop being such a bigot! How can we ever unite as a country and deal with the real issues (income inequality, corporate/political corruption, the military/prison industrial complexes, etc.) if we are constantly being divided? We are all PEOPLE and we have more power as a whole than we ever will apart.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
A Question for Mitt Romney
Recently on the Jay Leno Show, Mitt Romney said that people with pre existing conditions should not be able to get insurance coverage if they have not been consistently covered. But that if they have had coverage consistently through other carriers, they should not be denied coverage. Jay did a good job of following up on that statement, but no one asked this question. If the Affordable Care Act allows a child to remain on their parent's insurance until the age of 26 and then required them to have coverage going forward through the individual mandate, wouldn't this solve the problem of a person not being insured until they were sick? Wouldn't this mean that a person should conceivably be covered for their whole life? Wouldn't that solve Mitt's 'hypothetical problem'? But I guess that's a 'gotchya' question so it can't be asked to Mitt directly.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Regulation is Not a Four Letter Word
I had a thought today. If the tea partiers and republicans hate regulation so much, why are they in love with the constitution? Isn't that kind of the ultimate regulation? And then I realized that because the Constitution regulates the government, that's why they're okay with it. Here is the lesson: Some regulation is good and serves a purpose. The Constitution protects citizens against illegal search and seizures, ensures us a right to counsel, and also a right to assemble peaceably and protest injustices. In short, the Constitution protects its people and that's what the aim of business regulation is. Not to destroy jobs, but to protect its people. The EPA regulates industry so that we can have clean air and water. The SEC regulates financial transactions and Wall Street so that they can't crash the economy again and continue to take advantage of the poor. Here's an example of the differences:
When the Tea Party assembled to object to government action, with weapons, the government allowed them to do this because they have the right to protest, and unfortunately, to carry arms. These are constitutionally protected rights. When the Occupy Wall Street protesters object to continued corporate greed that has recently crashed our economy, the Wall Street workers menacingly toasted them with Champagne and watched while they were arrested for practicing their rights. Yes, it was the police that carted away the protesters, but think about all of the corporate money in politics right now and why it might be in their interest to make this go away. It really makes you think who is really controlling this country. When you have 'lets cut spending' republicans protecting oil company subsidies and tax breaks for corporate jet owners, you have to ask yourself, "What's in it for them?" Money, that's what.
When you allow an entity to do whatever they want, that's exactly what they are going to do. They are not going to do the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing or because they care about the 99%. They only care about themselves. The corporate standard operating procedure in this country for years has been to squeeze the benefits from the bottom so that they rise to the top like a tube of toothpaste. This consistent action has resulted in taking advantage of people, violating rights, ripping people off, and literally making this world a worse place with no end in sight.
The reason why they are doing this is because WE LET THEM! WE vote in the people who are in the pocket of the 1% and are in some cases PART of the 1%. The protesters have it right. What is going on is WRONG and it needs to be changed. Pointing out the hypocrisies is the first way to start this and it is starting to sink in.
I'm not wrong. If you take a minute to think about it on your own instead of listening to a talking point constructed by a lobbyist, you'll get it too.
When the Tea Party assembled to object to government action, with weapons, the government allowed them to do this because they have the right to protest, and unfortunately, to carry arms. These are constitutionally protected rights. When the Occupy Wall Street protesters object to continued corporate greed that has recently crashed our economy, the Wall Street workers menacingly toasted them with Champagne and watched while they were arrested for practicing their rights. Yes, it was the police that carted away the protesters, but think about all of the corporate money in politics right now and why it might be in their interest to make this go away. It really makes you think who is really controlling this country. When you have 'lets cut spending' republicans protecting oil company subsidies and tax breaks for corporate jet owners, you have to ask yourself, "What's in it for them?" Money, that's what.
When you allow an entity to do whatever they want, that's exactly what they are going to do. They are not going to do the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing or because they care about the 99%. They only care about themselves. The corporate standard operating procedure in this country for years has been to squeeze the benefits from the bottom so that they rise to the top like a tube of toothpaste. This consistent action has resulted in taking advantage of people, violating rights, ripping people off, and literally making this world a worse place with no end in sight.
The reason why they are doing this is because WE LET THEM! WE vote in the people who are in the pocket of the 1% and are in some cases PART of the 1%. The protesters have it right. What is going on is WRONG and it needs to be changed. Pointing out the hypocrisies is the first way to start this and it is starting to sink in.
I'm not wrong. If you take a minute to think about it on your own instead of listening to a talking point constructed by a lobbyist, you'll get it too.
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