Washblog

Are you suffering from EDS: Eternal Damnation Syndrome

Folks, have you been saved? Have you accepted Jesus as your personal savior?

Accepting Jesus as your personal savior is an important moment in the life of God's children. As the late Reverend Jerry Falwell told us, "if you are not a born again Christian you are a failure as a human being."

If you fail as a human being you will miss out on the eternal reward that is part of God's plan for you. Worse, you will be eternally unforgiven and left to the dungeons of Satan who shows no mercy.

Friends, until you come to understand God's patriarchal order of things, you will remain festered with the EDS infections. As America's premier televangelist Pat Robertson has declared solemnly,

Over the course of the past couple of weeks we've been talking about how the War On Social Security was about to get under way and what happens when countries choose to privatize their systems.

Today we take on another bite-sized chunk of economic analysis: how can you get to a situation where Social Security is financially stable for the next 75 years?

We'll describe some proposals that are out there--but the big focus of this conversation will be to look at one change that, all by itself, could not only solve the entire funding problem, but could actually allow us to lower the Social Security tax rate, immediately, and still achieve fiscal balance.

"Well, if that's such a bright idea" you might ask, "why haven't we adopted it already?"

That's a great question--and after you hear the proposal, you may well have explanations of your own.

So if you've been following my work lately, you know that there is a renewed effort underway to change Social Security, and that the fight officially began just this very morning.

Now what's supposed to happen is that a television ad buy sponsored by a Wall Street billionaire is supposed to get you enthused about cutting your own Social Security benefits in the future; this is the tip of a "disinformation iceberg" that is trying to get you to act, right now, because if you don't you will never, ever, ever, ever, see a single dime of Social Security when you get older.

I was on a "let's talk strategy" conference call today that laid out some ideas for the "next steps"; we'll be talking about that call over the next couple of stories...but for today, we're going to talk about something you can do that will bring the message right to your favorite Member of Congress.

eschew:  -verb (used with object) ... to abstain or keep away from; shun; avoid: ... to eschew evil.

I know  ... I know ... recently I have declared myself to have become an eschewer of political activism.

However ... in view of recent catastrophic failures on the part of the two biggie parties alongside the success of the Joe Pesci third or "tea" party contenders ... my upcoming retirement in 2011 may very well devolve to a case of "you gotta eat and I gotta eat."

So come  08/31/11 when I stop mumbling excuses for the state and federal welfare system, things for my wife and me will be what passes for Medicare and VA benefits for me and nothing for my beautiful sweetheart until she finally grows old and reaches SS eligibility. My out of pocket COBRA expense for Lietta looks to be about half my state retirement.

So I'm going to need another source of income and if history is any sign of future trends, the refusal of Americans to buy the quality printed or downloaded literature of the sharpest intellectual knife in the Bay Center drawer leaves me no choice.

It is my job to bring to you not just the news that took place, but the news that has yet to happen.

Today, that's exactly what we have.

There is a war coming to try to change Social Security from a social safety net to a "revenue stream" for certain corporate interests, and that war is set to begin Tuesday morning, according to information that was provided to me yesterday afternoon.

Follow along, and you'll be both forewarned and forearmed.

We now know the outcome, more or less, of the Washington State US Senate race--and it looks like it's going to be Patty Murray, D-(Actual No-Kidding Progressive), over Dino Rossi, R-(Guy Who Will Be Running Again For Something As Soon As He Can).

Murray managed to win in a State that is far more "purple" than you might think, in a vote-by-mail election that guarantees at least a few days of uncertainty.

You have to do some unusual math to figure out how these elections will go, and we're going to walk through how this race got called by NBC just a couple hours ago.

With the election over, it's time to move on to new things, and the folks at the Campaign for America's Future have asked me to do some writing about Social Security, which sounds like some big fun, so here we are.

We're going to start with some reasonably simple stuff today, just to get your feet wet; by the time we get a few stories down the road there will be some complicated economic analysis to work through--but let's begin today by looking a bit south.

Those who support privatizing Social Security in this country often point to Chile as an example we could follow, and that seems like a good place to get the conversation going...so set your personal WayBack Machine to Santiago, May, 1981, and let's see what we can learn.

Talk about dirty low down.  The Washington Senate Republicans have no legitimate grounds to criticize Senator Rodney Tom (D-48, Bellevue), so they dropped a lie-infested mailer into the district too late for the traditional press to have time to react.  The ad equates Tom's support of LGBT equality with being anti-woman.  This is laughable.  Sen. Tom has been a solid supporter of women's rights and reproductive freedom.

Sen. Tom was a member of the republican party until about 4 years ago, but crossed the aisle because of the GOP's unrelenting gay bashing.  

Take a look as the tripe the Senate Republicans have spewed out.  I'm thinking it's so over the top that it'll backfire.  The voters of the 48th legislative district aren't stupid.

End No-foult divorce.
Repeal Custody rights.
No more community property.

Rodney Tom has an agenda.
He recently revealed he wants to abolish women's legal protections for child custody, community property and support.

It's been a few days now since we began a conversation that addresses the issue of how frustrated some number of LBGT voters are with the Democratic Party this cycle; this because they find themselves either frustrated at the lack of progress on the civil rights issues that matter to them, or because they see both the Democratic and Republican Parties as unreliable partners in the struggle to assure equal rights for all.

In an effort to practice some actual journalism, I assembled a version of an online "focus group" at The Bilerico Project ("daily adventures in LBGTQ"), with the goal of gathering some opinions on this subject in the actual words of those frustrated voters.

Part One of this story focused on "stating the problem", and today we'll take on Part Two: in this environment, with Election Day staring us in the face, what is an LBGT voter to do?

As before, there are a variety of opinions, including a very informative comment I was able to obtain from a genuine Member of Congress, Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania's 8th District, and that means until the very end you won't hear much from me, except to help "set the stage" for the comments that follow.

Stories begat other stories, or at least they do for me; this two-part conversation came from a comment that was made after I posted a story suggesting that voting matters this time, especially if you don't want environmental disasters like the recent Hungarian "toxic lake" that burst from its containment and polluted the Danube River happening in your neighborhood.  

Long story short, we are going to be moving on to ask what, for some, is a more fundamental question: if you're an LBGT voter, and the Democratic Party hasn't, to put it charitably, "been all they could be" when it comes to issues like repealing "don't ask, don't tell" or the Federal Defense of Marriage Act...what should you do?

Now normally I would be the one trying to develop an answer to the question, but instead, we're going to be posing the question to a group of experts, and we'll be letting them give the answers.

And just because you, The Valued Reader, deserve the extra effort, for Part Two we've trying to get you a "Special Bonus Expert" to add some input to the conversation: a Democratic Member of Congress who represents a large LBGT community.  

On failed American leadership

I don't know why of the few who know me so many believe I am still a card-carrying defender of all things Democrat. Perhaps it's because I've found so little positive to say about any Republicans or Tea Baggers so you won't find an endorsement of mine for either of those parties.

However, neither have I endorsed any Democrats whose tired old campaign tactics reflect (I suspect more than most of the Democratic leadership realize) how tired and unimaginative their election campaigns come across.

In the 3rd District, Denny Heck's campaign and fund-raising methods are principal examples. Heck is no old man but his campaign comes across like he has modeled himself on Dino Rossi, whose campaign is so generic Rossi could run for Sen or Rep in any number of states and change absolutely nothing in the ad's he runs here (except for Murray's name and picture.)

Miami, Florida, September 13, 2018 (FNS)--Facing pressure from voters to "do something" following the disaster caused by the privatization of Social Security, the White House today announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is awarding a $2 billion contract to the Halliburton Company for the purchase of 22,000 "cardboard condos" that will be installed in public parks around the Miami area in an effort to alleviate the problem of homelessness among the impoverished elderly.

"Having homeless senior citizens drag their appliance boxes all over the city reduces the community's aesthetic appeal and leads to complaints", said Halliburton spokesman Tendei Furlough. "The new modular design, combined with our ability to print attractive images on the outside of the boxes, guarantees both increased protection from winter weather and fewer complaints from affected neighborhoods."

FEMA's Director of Emergency Housing Resources Spike Fromula agreed: "We thought we had a real problem with homelessness in a number of our major cities after the Social Security safety net collapsed...but now, we think...well, we think we have a way to wrap the problem up in a neat little package."

It is about a week before early voting begins for a bunch of us around the country, and that means this may be one of the last times I have to convince you that, frustrated progressive or not, you better get your butt to a ballot box or a mail-in envelope this November, because it really does matter.

Now I could give you a bunch of "what ifs" to make my point, or I could remind you how we spent all summer watching oil gush into the Gulf, and how that came to be...but, instead, it's "Even More Current Event Day", and we're going to visit Hungary for a extremely real-world reminder of what can go wrong when the environmental cops are considered just too much of a burden by the environmental robbers--and if today's story doesn't scare you to death, I don't know what will.

It ain't Texas, but we will surely visit a Red River Valley...and you surely won't like what you're gonna see.

Dover, Delaware (FNS)--Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell shocked the crowd at a Delaware political breakfast meeting when she announced that she has changed her thinking about masturbation following a weekend bathtub "incident".

Spike Fromula, O'Donnell's press secretary, explained to the press gaggle today that O'Donnell now realizes that it is possible to "masturbate without lust in your heart" after Saturday night's revelatory event, which Fromula described as a "slip and fall episode".

"It wasn't exactly `The Passion of the Showerhead'" said Fromula, in a reference to her former work as a marketing consultant to the Mel Gibson movie of a similar name, "but there is no doubt that her thinking on the issue has evolved".

Kathya Alexander, Justice Works! new Executive Director served as Resident Manager and later Vice President of the Board of A Woman's Place in Champaign Illinois, one of the first domestic violence shelters ever opened in the country, if not the first.  She worked directly with women as a counselor at the Eastside Domestic Violence Program in Bellevue. She was Director of Student Life of Parkland College in Illinois, which had over 10,000 students.  She served as Employment Director at The Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle.  She was most recently Manager of Rainier Valley Cultural Center.
L: Lea Zengage, Founder and Executive Director of Justice Works!  R: Kathya Alexander, Justice Works! new Executive Director		I met with Kathya Alexander and Lea Zengage at Justice Works! (JW!) headquarters and Gift and Thrift shop on Rainier Avenue in Seattle.  Kathya had just accepted the position of Executive Director of this grassroots criminal justice reform organization. Lea, after nearly a decade as Executive Director, is stepping down.  The two women will work together for several months for a smooth transition.  Lea will stay with Justice Works! as an organizer. It's a milestone for the organization.  Lea has served without pay since JW! was founded in 2001 under the name, Justice Passage.  Kathya, a founding member of JW!, will be paid.  The shift to new leadership - and the paid staff position are signs of the organization's growth.