This presidential primary has witnessed droves of voters from both parties flocking to voting booths or caucuses to express their anger with the direction of this country. Many have called this a movement while others have seen this as the result of decades of neglect of the true interests of this country by entrenched Washington politicians bloated with payment from special interests.
In keeping with the law of unintended consequences, much more has been revealed to the average American this election cycle. Americans have seen the ridiculous dress and behavior of delegates at recent Presidential conventions. They erroneously thought the delegates were casting votes that reflected the will of the populace.
The publics’ desire for outside candidates, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, has forced the “establishment” of both parties to reach into their bag of heretofore more hidden dirty tricks to assure the will of the people would be denied in favor of the desire of the “establishment.” More shockingly, the establishment of both parties extends well beyond Washington into cities, counties and Congressional districts of each and every state.
Few establishment officials have ever earned a single vote for public office but hold the absolute power to select the delegates to “represent” the people at conventions. To insure the peoples’ choice will not prevail, each party has created a block of delegates called super delegates by the Democrats or at-large delegates by the Republicans. There are more of these delegates than represent actual voters. One of the at-large delegates, Howard County Republican Chairman Craig Dunn, appeared on C-Span on Monday.
One might remember Dunn from his infamous declaration to Politico: “If the race came down to Satan and Donald Trump, and I was the last vote, I might consider voting for Donald Trump.” One saw no such bravado in his C-Span appearance. While telling more untruths than “lyin’ Ted Cruz,” he tried to appear knowledgeable and fair.
He now says his is for Kasich whom he described as reasonable, fair and adult; and expressed a hope he could get to cast his vote for him. For all the virtues he believes Kasich has, Dunn failed to mention Kasich has fallen far short of votes already cast for other candidates who have subsequently honored the vote of the people and dropped out. Dunn also failed to mention Kasich left Congress after the Clinton impeachment debacle and went straight to work in a special office created for him by the infamous Lehman brothers. Lehman started the financial disaster that nearly took this country down in a single weekend.
According to Kasich’s tax records for that year, he took home a cool 1.4 million dollars while the rest of us lost our life savings. Oh, well, it was on to bigger and better things for him. He decided to join the Tea Party and become governor of Ohio. Ohio flourished under Kasich from the now questionable use of fracking. Oil prices have since collapsed and with it so has the Ohio economy.
Dunn shows the same poor judgment in being a Kasich supporter as his flippant comment to Politico reflected. For all of his half-truths and slippery answers, one thing was glaringly absent in Dunn’s presentation and defense of his vote as a Delegate At Large—the will of the many residents of Indiana who cast those pesky little things called votes.
[written by Marcia and Kent Blacklidge]
A "Man of God and Country" he is Not
The collusion between Ted Cruz and John Kasich to deny the will of the voters in Indiana is the final straw. For the life of me, I do not understand why anyone would support Cruz for President. Senator Ted Cruz is seriously character flawed. He is dishonest. Cruz supporters have gone blind to the facts. Let’s review them.
To begin, Ted Cruz duped Texas voters when he ran for the Senate. Right out of the gate he did not tell anyone he held dual citizenship in Canada and the United States. Then a requirement to make that run was to disclose certain financial facts. He did not. He wanted voters to think he was against Wall Street, so he did not disclose a nearly million dollar loan from Goldman Sachs, one of the worst of the Wall Street offenders. How was that loan possible? Seems that Heidi Cruz, Ted’s wife, is a long time investment banker with guess who: Goldman Sachs. Additionally, Cruz secured a line of credit from Citibank, another Wall Street giant. But he told none of this to the voters. He claimed he and Heidi had liquidated their personal savings to fund his campaign. He did not. He lied.
Cruz calls himself a lifetime evangelical Christian. This paints a picture of a person generous with donations to a church and charity. Not true. For a many year period, Cruz and wife donated less than one percent to charity and NONE to churches. Looks phony to me.
Cruz calls himself honest. Then came the dirty tricks pulled on Dr. Ben Carson and Marco Rubio. Politics as usual.
Cruz paints himself as an outsider when the question of Washington insiders is raised. More false stories are told. Cruz was educated at Princeton and Harvard, two of the most “insider” schools in the country. He clerked at the Supreme Court and practiced law — all East Coast. He worked for President George W. Bush as a domestic policy adviser and in the Department of Justice. He has never created one job nor managed a darned thing — including a hot dog stand. He is about as Washington an insider as they come; but he does not want you to know that. To win this election, with his self-professed “golden tongue”, he wants to fool you into believing he is an “outsider”.
Cruz is very similar to our current President when he, Obama, ran for President. Cruz has less than one term as a United States Senator, yet he declares he is the ideal, experienced candidate for the Presidency. And by the way, his colleagues in the US Senate do not like him at all. They know him well.
So, be duped if you are among the gullible. Ted Cruz refuses to bow to the will of the people. Millions of voters have already spoken, but like all other insider politicians, their voices fall on deaf ears. The most recent dishonest act: collusion. He reminds me of the Joker in the movie, Batman. A “man of God and country” Cruz is not.
Pesky Things
[Post written by Marcia Blacklidge]
Primary candidates have dominated news cycles since last June. Voters are fired up and turning out in record numbers. On May 3rd Hoosiers will finally get their chance to vote. There’s only one problem. Both parties would prefer to act untethered by those pesky things called votes.
Mainstream media have cashed in on voter involvement and eagerly promote the myth that votes count. Despite voting irregularities, dirty tricks, Super PACS, and those pesky things called votes; each party will nominate the candidate of its choice this summer.
Both party establishments still face a few hurdles. The Democrats have to quench the unexpected fire created by party regulars “feeling the burn.”
The Republican establishment is determined to “stop Trump.” Many want to do this even if it costs them the election or destroys the party. None of them like to discuss those pesky things that keep piling up for Trump called votes.
The “burn” and Hillary’s “security review” have disturbed many Democrats but Trump has driven establishment Republicans into hysteria. Rove and others are boldly calling for a “fresh face.” Ryan protests too much of his disinterest in the nomination while Romney’s just plain desperate to get it. To heck with those pesky things called votes!
Indiana’s Republican primary has grabbed the attention of the National Media, but for all the wrong reasons.
Indiana has 54 delegates. Becoming a Republican delegate is a steep climb. One must have filled out an application by March 15th and pledged to provide $2000 to participate. All Republican delegates will be selected before a single primary vote is cast.
Politico interviewed numerous party leaders and officials involved in the delegate selection process. Those interviewed displayed openly hostile anti-Trump attitudes.
“One of my criteria for filtering out candidates was whether or not they supported Trump,” said one district GOP leader.
“If Satan had the lead on him and was one delegate away from being nominated as our candidate, and Donald Trump was the alternative, I might vote for Donald Trump,” said Craig Dunn, a Kokomo resident and GOP leader hoping to represent Indiana’s 4th district. “I’ve always wanted to own a casino, but he couldn’t give me a casino and have me vote for him.”
Thank God for delegates who can’t be bribed.
“Donald Trump doesn’t represent what I want my party to represent,” said Tom John, chairman of Indiana’s 7th Congressional District. John is running for one of the 27 at large delegate slots. He declared the three delegates selected to represent the 7th Congressional District were unlikely to be Trump supporters.
John further reported that a grass roots effort had been launched to get Trump supporters to become 7th District delegates. Their effort produced a handful of applicants, but all were rejected.
The Indiana Republican Party claims to be the party working for Indiana. However, the fervor displayed against Trump by each of the party officials interviewed was shocking. Not a single official mentioned concern for those pesky things that will be tallied on May 3rd.
Clearly, the Indiana Republican Delegation is determined to vote for the candidate of their choice at the convention.
The citizens of Indiana shouldn’t have to pay for a primary negated by such blatant self-absorption. Let the delegates pick up the cost of collecting those pesky things called votes.
Brussels Siren
Just read a column about the wave of terror in Brussels, Paris, and San Bernardino. It made perfect sense. The terrorists were “home grown”, it seems. Nearly every one of them operated from within immigrant communities where they could swim out of sight of authorities.
“Crime historians tell us that nearly every nationality that has immigrated to America over the last 200 years in a large wave has brought with it a new organized crime network.”, the column said. We are seeing the large immigrant wave flood over Europe. We are allowing tens of thousands of Middle Eastern immigrants into the United States. They cannot possibly be assimilated to democratic values and existing culture in a rate equal to or greater than the numbers coming in. What happens with Islamists is a pool or community of foreigners provides a place for incubation of radicalism that flies under the radar of law enforcement.
For over 50 years, immigration policies in Europe and the United States have been filling these “enabling pools”. That needs to change. There was a time when US immigration policy allowed less than 100,000 people annually to migrate to this country. In 1931, the number was 97,000. In 1941, it was 52,000. In 1951, it was 205,000. It remained below 500,000 until 1978 when it was 590,000. With few fluctuations, the number has climbed to over one million annually where it hovers today. For many reasons, not the least of which is security, the population of this country needs to stabilize, not continue to grow. Population growth in the United States is fueled largely now by the number of immigrants allowed in.
We do not need to single out countries of origin, religions, or ethnic groups since that seems to offend some do-gooders; but we do need to put a stop to the growth of enabling pools for terrorists and criminals. The aim should be to halt all immigration possible. This will ensure that the number of immigrants arriving is small enough that all can be screened for security. In addition, the categories allowed in should be of immigrants most likely to arrive with the best chance of rapid assimilation. We should restrict immigration to spouses and minor children of immigrants already here, marriages and adoptions by US citizens, and workers with extraordinary skills.
We need to eliminate chain migration that brings in unending flows of distant relatives of an original immigrant. We need to eliminate the visa lottery that brings in people by raffle. We need to eliminate employment-based visas for workers who have skills that unemployed or underemployed Americans have. Concerning illegal immigration particularly, we need to enforce the law.
The USA and other countries, particularly the European Union countries, should concentrate on helping refugees find safe, healthy refuge in their home region.
Trump Movement
Bruce Haynes had it right in his analysis of the Trump “Movement” on RealClearPolitics.com. He said a populist rebellion has been brewing in the United States for the past 25 years as a “tsunami of economic and cultural globalism” swamped the white working class and took away their jobs and with it, their dignity.
He said, since 1979, the US has lost 7 million manufacturing jobs, many of them outsourced to China and Mexico thanks to trade agreements negotiated by elites in both parties. In 2008, Americans who lost homes, savings, and jobs to the Great Recession then had to watch as the Washington elites bailed out the same Wall Street banks that caused the meltdown. Believing that they have been “sold down the river”, middle-class voters in both parties have turned to populist outsiders, namely Trump and Sanders, to “drop an anvil on the system’s head the way one was dropped on theirs.”
And all the while the adverse, damaging trade deals were being made and companies were leaving the United States for lower wages, more lax [if any] environmental regulations, more favorable taxing, and more lax [if any] worker safety regulations; the southern US border has remained out of control which has allowed millions of illegal aliens into the country. It is no wonder there are now over 90 million US citizens now out of work or seriously under employed. It cannot continue if the country is to survive economically and socially.
It is time for the apple cart to be overturned. It is time for the Washington elites to be turned out. They have betrayed the people they are supposed to represent. There is a quiet revolution under foot.
Vermont in Your Kitchen
[Below is a letter to the Editor of the Wall Street Journal in response to an editorial in the WSJ on March 7th opposing the labeling of genetically engineered foods]
Editor….
The Vermont law requiring labeling of all foods containing genetically engineered ingredients goes into effect on July 1st this year. You oppose it. Your editorial on March 7th could have been written by the public relations department of any of the giant chemical/seed corporations. The problem is that it contains just plain false information.
You said, “No agricultural innovation has been more maligned than GMOs, though the technology has proven safe, reliable, affordable and good for the environment”. None of that is true. The technology has not been proven safe. It is haphazard, reckless, and risky. The techniques are crude and potentially very disruptive to native genomes with potentially catastrophic consequences to human health and the environment. To now, the primary reason for GE corn and soy (the major crops) has been to allow them to be massively dosed with glyphosate or other pesticides without killing the crop but killing all vegetation around it. Now glyphosate has been determined to be carcinogenic. Pesticide residues follow the crop to livestock and to the dinner table. Studies have shown serious health consequences to livestock fed genetically engineered feed. So, there are serious safety issues about the genetically engineered crops themselves and as a result of the pesticides found with them.
As a past daily newspaper publisher and as a genetic scientist, I am an adamant believer in the right of the public to know all that is involved in the raising and production of the food they put on their families tables. It is the right of people to make that decision. It is not the right of the chemical/seed companies and corporate farmers to make decisions about what to tell and what not to tell in secret.
Over 60 countries world wide made the decision to either ban or label genetically engineered foods. Several now are considering banning genetically engineered crops altogether. Of those who did adopt genetically engineered crops and used the pesticides designed for them, many are seeing very serious health issues in their populations, particularly among farm workers. I add that over 60 countries cannot be wrong.
The WSJ needs to do more homework. The bill now in the US Senate should never see the light of day. As you concluded… “let the consumers decide what to eat”. Vermont leads the way.
The Party's Over
[Below is a letter in response to an article by Peter Wehner, Senior Fellow at the Ethics & Public Policy Center, that appeared in the March 21st issue of Time magazine. Wehner bemoans the state of the Republican Party but states he will not vote for Donald J. Trump under any circumstances. I find that an absurd position and one that if followed by large numbers would guarantee a Clinton presidency. And disaster for the future of the United States of America.]
Peter…. At age 77, I, as well as you, have been around the block a few times. I am a life-long Republican and was the publisher of a Midwest daily newspaper for several years. The paper was owned by members of my family for nearly 100 years. Our editorial stance was that of moderate Republican.
I agree with much of what you wrote but not all. As far as I am concerned, the Republican Party and those elected under that umbrella not only became tone deaf to ordinary Americans, but have lined their own pockets in the process. The Republican dominated Congress has done worse than nothing. They have betrayed the people who put them there. In all, the Republican Party over many years has, in my humble opinion, morphed into a self-serving, egotistical, ideologue dragon to the detriment of common folks and the country. The dragon slayer is on site in the form of Donald J. Trump. It is time for the existing establishment Republican Party to be killed. Nothing less will work… and it is in full panic mode.
What disturbed me most about your article was the statement you will not vote for Trump under any circumstances. You would prefer a President Hillary Clinton. That, with certainty, would mean the demise of the United States of America in short order. We cannot and must not continue the present course if we want to survive. In my opinion, none of the other Republican candidates (Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich) are capable of turning the course. Rubio is a light weight, Cruz is a ideologue and the Pinocchio of the Party, and Kasich was a darling of Lehman Brothers and not trustworthy either. Then we have Uncle Bernie… enough said. And Hillary who is so entangled in emails and the Clinton Foundation and much worse self-serving activity and outright lies she is blatantly disqualified.
Donald Trump is a threat to those in power. Obviously, he threatens you, too. I, for one, am willing to cast my vote for Trump. I see him as the one hope for a better future for the USA. He may not succeed, but I am convinced he will do his damnedest in trying. It is going to take a Trump to offer the Republican Party a chance to remake itself into something again relevant.
Dear RNC by Anonymous
[I could not help passing this along to you……]
This letter was sent to 100% FED Up! by an anonymous author:
It doesn’t matter who you support for President in 2016. This letter will make you want to stand up and cheer for the 80 year old American who expresses what most of us are feeling right now. Enjoy…
Dear Representative,
From the time I was able to vote I voted Republican. I am 80 years old, and have a great deal of respect and influence with hundreds of senior ball players who also network with thousands of others around the country.
I received your questionnaire and request for money and strongly agree with every question, as I have since Obama was elected. Unfortunately the one question that was missing is “What have the Republicans done for the American people?” We gave you a majority in the House and Senate, yet you never listened to us. Now you want our money.
You should be more concerned about our votes, not our money. You are the establishment, which means all you want is to save your jobs and line your pockets… Well guess what? “It’s not going to happen” You shake in your boots when I tell you we’re giving our support to TRUMP and he hasn’t asked for a dime.
You might think we are fools because you feel Trump is on a self destruction course, but you need to look beyond Washington and listen to the masses. Nobody has achieved what he has, especially in the liberal state of New York.
You clearly don’t understand why the Trump movement is so strong, so I’d like to share with you an analogy to help explain the Trump phenomenon. By the way, it’s not just the Republicans who feel ignored and disrespected; there are plenty of Democrats and Independents who also feel let down by the Washington elite. You seem to have forgotten about “We The People” and who hired you to represent us.
So here it is, the best analogy I could come up with. Here is the reason so many Americans have boarded the Trump Train, and why your pleas to come back to the party who deserted us, is falling on deaf ears:
You’ve been on vacation for two weeks, you come home, and your basement is infested with raccoons. Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have overtaken your basement. You want them gone immediately…You call the city and four different exterminators, but nobody could handle the job. There is this one guy however, who guarantees you he will get rid of them, so you hire him. You don’t care if the guy smells, you don’t care if the guy swears, you don’t care how many times he’s been married, you don’t care if he was friends with liberals, you don’t care if he has plumber’s crack…you simply want those raccoons gone! You want your problem fixed! He’s the guy. He’s the best. Period.
Here’s why we want Trump: Yes he’s a bit of an ass, yes he’s an egomaniac, but we don’t care. The country is a mess because politicians have become too self-serving. The Republican Party is two-faced & gutless. Illegal aliens have been allowed to invade our nation. We want it all fixed! We don’t care that Trump is crude, we don’t care that he insults people, we don’t care that he had been friendly with Hillary, we don’t care that he has changed positions, we don’t care that he’s been married three times, we don’t care that he fights with Megan Kelly and Rosie O’Donnell, we don’t care that he doesn’t know the name of some Muslim terrorist.
This country is weak, bankrupt, our enemies are making fun of us, we are being invaded by illegal aliens and bringing tens of thousands of Muslim refugees to America, while leaving Christians behind to be persecuted. We are becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo and Hasid is part of a special group with special rights to the point where we don’t even recognize the country we were born and raised in; “AND WE JUST WANT IT FIXED” and Trump is the only guy who seems to understand what the people want.
We’re sick of politicians. We’re sick of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. We just want this thing fixed. Trump may not be a saint, but he isn’t beholden to lobbyist money and he doesn’t have political correctness restraining him. All we know is that he has been very successful, he’s an excellent negotiator, he has built a lot of things, and he’s also not a politician. He’s definitely not a cowardly politician. When he says he’ll fix it, we believe him because he is too much of an egotist to be proven wrong or looked at and called a liar.
Oh yeah…I forgot…we don’t care if the guy has bad hair either.
We just want those raccoons gone.
Out of your house.
NOW!
Nevadans: Choose Wisely
Nevadans have the opportunity to choose.
Deceit, manipulation, and lies have proved Ted Cruz to be nothing more than a commensurate Washington politician. He was educated in East Coast schools, practiced law in Washington DC, hid personal loans from Goldman Sachs and Citibank from Texas voters, and is not respected or liked by Senate peers. In short, he cannot be trusted.
Then there is Marco Rubio who claims more than any to have extensive foreign policy experience when that largely consists of sitting in a chair in a Senate committee room for briefings. He rarely showed up for votes in the Senate and has the worst voting record of any Senator. His prior experience consists of time in the Florida General Assembly. A lot of mouth and no action.
Both are less-than-one term Senators ala Barrack Obama. Neither has managed anything including a hot dog stand, so know little about business or economics.
Nevadans, please choose wisely.
Indiana HB1082
If you care about Indiana’s natural environment, pay attention.
The Tribune front page Associated Press article on February 16th reported on an Indiana Senate committee hearing about House Bill 1082. This bill passed the Indiana House with co-sponsorship by Representative Heath VanNatter and the “aye” vote of both him and Representative Mike Karickhoff, our local representatives. What are they thinking?
HB1082 strips the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) Environmental Rules Board (ERB) of the authority to make or enforce any environmental rules or standards more stringent than the corresponding regulation or standard established under federal law. In short, this says that VanNatter and Karickhoff trust the federal government more than Hoosiers to make the wisest decisions about Indiana environmental protection. They want the federal government to set both the floor and the ceiling on environmental regulations. In the past, the federal government has set only the floor. Under this bill, Hoosiers will not be able to address unique environmental issues with stronger regulations than elsewhere in the nation even if Hoosiers decide they are needed. Any stronger regulations would only be permitted under specific statute passed by the General Assembly. No immediate actions could be taken. The IDEM Environmental Rules Board would be in a straight jacket. One must wonder why.
The IDEM Environmental Rules Board, which makes environmental policy in Indiana, consists of 16 members including 11 appointed by the governor and 6 specifically defined ex officio members. The ERB came into existence on January 1, 2013, but did not meet until after the inauguration on January 14th of Governor Mike Pence. Under the legislation that established the ERB; the Indiana Air Pollution Control Board, Solid Waste Management Board, and the Water Pollution Control Board were all abolished. Shortly after Pence’s inauguration, he issued an executive order placing a moratorium on new regulations, and announced plans to initiate a process to review all existing regulations with the exception of federal mandates not subject to a waiver request, rules needed to reduce the cost or burden on job creation, and rules to address emergency health or safety concerns. Again, in short, he took action to prevent adoption of any more stringent environmental regulations. Now comes HB1082 which adds to limiting the authority of the ERB. Why?
The AP article tells why. Fred Mills, the director of governmental affairs for the Indiana Energy Association, is quoted as saying “This is not about what is happening today, this is about what could happen.” The article goes on to point out that IDEM’s leadership could be shuffled by a Democratic governor in the future who is “less inclined to give business a break”. So, here it is: control. The passage of HB1082 cements that control by making it a requirement that any regulation more stringent than federal regulation be approved by specific General Assembly statute. The concern is not about protection of our natural environment. Be clear, it is about political and corporate control.