Alabama

House Republicans Hold Back On Disaster Relief And Emergency Preparedness, Insist On Budget Cuts

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The House Republican leadership. led by Eric Cantor, Majority Leader, is insisting that there be budget cuts to match any increase in spending on disaster relief and emergency preparedness.

This outrage is being perpetrated as the Midwest and the South face the most daunting natural disasters we have ever seen in just the past few months!

The onslaught of hundreds of tornadoes in the past two months, including the most disastrous in Alabama and Missouri, along with the flood crisis faced along the Mississippi River all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico, is a national emergency of massive proportions!

When a natural disaster occurs, reaction by first responders, police, firefighters, and paramedics should be unlimited without any consideration of budget costs!

If government cannot provide aid to the needy and the desperate in a time of trauma, then what good is government at all? It is NOT the job of government solely to defend the nation from outside attack and internal man made threats to our national security. It is ALSO to come to the aid of the needy, the poor, and the disadvantaged when a natural disaster occurs, without forcing budget cuts to match the disaster’s costs!

The truth is that there is no way around the fact that tax INCREASES will be necessary, whether the American people want them or not. It is government’s job to do what is “necessary and proper”, for the “common defense and general welfare”, Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, the “elastic clause”!

The Republican Party is showing its true colors in so many ways, but particularly in “blackmailing” the Democrats to force cuts in the midst of a national emergency! How despicable and disgraceful!

Time For Barack Obama To Utilize Executive Order To Stop Deportations Of Young Immigrant Children Victims Of Failure To Pass DREAM Act!

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It is long overdue for President Obama to halt deportations of young immigrant children facing deportation from the only country they know, since the DREAM Act, designed to allow them to become citizens through miltary service or college graduation, has not been passed by Congress due to strong nativist sentiments!

These young people were brought here through no fault of their own, by parents who were trying to better their lives. Many are being forced from the country now, to go back to a nation they have no memory of, and in many cases, have no relatives to return to.

These young people have broken no laws, and just want to work toward citizenship through serving in the military, or attending college, so that they can contribute to the future of America.

The use of the executive order is not something new, and this President has already been bold in many ways, so instead of talking about immigration reform, it is essential that the President now take action to stop this violation of human rights!

Executive orders to promote the end of oppression and denial of human rights is part of the long tradition of American history, as witness the following:

1. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s establishment of the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression in 1935.
3. Harry Truman’s promotion of integration of Washington, DC and of the military in 1948.
4. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s intervention in the Little Rock School Desegregation crisis in 1957.
5. John F. Kennedy’s promoting affirmative action in employment by government contractors in 1961, along with his interventions in Mississippi in 1962 and Alabama in 1963 with the National Guard.
6. Lyndon B. Johnson’s promotion of Equal Employment Opportunity in federal employment in 1965.

So, Mr. President, it is time for immediate action on immigrant children!

Natural Disasters Overwhelming America In 2011: Reminders Of The Dust Storms Of The 1930s And Mississippi River Flood Of 1927

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America seems to have been besieged by natural disasters this year, not that it is unique to 2011, but between the horrible tornadoes that hit Alabama and numerous other states in April, and the emerging Mississippi River Flood affecting many states right now, it reminds one of the natural disasters of the 1920s and 1930s!

In 1927, we witnessed the worst Mississippi River Floods ever, at least to now, with the possibility that we might see a worst disaster in the making as the author writes!

Back then, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, the winning candidate the following year for President, gained a great reputation for his efforts to help those in distress, even though he seemed inept to deal with the Great Depression which followed.

And on this day in 1934, a massive storm sent millions of tons of topsoil from the Great Plains eastward, affecting New York City, Boston, and Atlanta. This was the time of the Dust Bowl, which sent many farmers from the Great Plains out west to California and other western states in desperation.

Franklin D. Roosevelt took action to deal with the Dust Bowl, with federal regulation of conditions of growing crops and helping farmers in other programs under the Agricultural Adjustment Administration.

With recognition that hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires can also do tremendous destruction, and have in the recent past in this country, it makes trying to cut the deficit in the budget and deal with the national debt all that much more challenging!

The Multi Tasking President In His Prime: One Week In Barack Obama’s Presidency

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Everyone knows that the American Presidency is a tremendous burden, with the occupant of the Oval Office having to deal with so many issues and problems at the same time, that he MUST be able to multi task with great skill.

So is the case of Barack Obama, who in one week, did the following:

1. Had Hawaii issue his official Certificate of Live Birth to silence his critics, which now have dropped dramatically, according to public opinion polls.

2. Toured Alabama and other states that were victims of the worst tornado destruction in decades, and was praised for the quick federal response to the natural disaster, as compared to Hurricane Katrina uncer President George W. Bush

3. Traveled to Florida to witness the Space Shuttle launch, which was unfortunately delayed, but also to visit Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wounded in an assassination attempt in January, who was there to witness her husband, Mark Kelly, the captain of the shuttle crew, begin the space mission.

4. Performed great standup comedy at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, including teasing of Donald Trump, who has been bad mouthing Obama for the past month, including on the “birther” controversy.

5. All of that week, and even earlier, Obama was planning the raid on the compound in Pakistan to eliminate the Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, the most daring action by a President in many decades!

And in the past week since, Obama has also visited the site of Ground Zero and commiserated with the families of victims of the World Trade Center, and also visited the Navy SEALS who were engaged in the most delicate operation possible, the attack on the Bin Laden compound and retrieval of the body of Bin Laden after he was killed.

This period of the last week of April and first week of May, a two week period, will go down in history as one of the most momentous periods in the history of the nation!

Correction! Arizona In 2011 Is Both Mississippi And South Carolina!

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The author has already labeled Arizona, with its anti immigration legislation targeted at Latinos and Hispanics, as the equivalent of Mississippi in its treatment of African Americans in the 1960s.

Now, Arizona must also be compared to South Carolina, with its threat of nullification of federal laws and the Constitution, which went on from the 1830s with John C. Calhoun, all the way up to Fort Sumter and the Civil War in 1861!

It is extremely ironic that just as we are about to commemorate the tragedy of the Civil War’s beginning on April 12, we now have the Arizona State Senate passing legislation declaring the power to nullify federal laws and the US Constitution if they do not like what is being done!

This idea of defiance was supposed to be settled by the Civil War prosecution by Abraham Lincoln, and also supposed to be resolved by US National Guard intervention in Arkansas in 1957 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and in Mississippi and Alabama in 1962 and 1963 by President John F. Kennedy!

Now, however, State Senator Russell Pearce of the Arizona legislature is promoting defiance of the federal government, not only on immigration matters and the health care law, but also on anything else that he and his followers believe is unconstitutional!

Apparently, they have learned nothing from history, and the reality that only the Supreme Court can declare actions of the executive and legislative branches unconstitutional!

To advocate anything else is TREASON, subject to prosecution by the federal government if action is actually taken, and if need be, Presidential control of the state National Guard to enforce federal laws and federal court decisions, just as in the South in the 1950s and 1960s!

Anyone living in Arizona should be ashamed of what their government leaders are advocating, a path that would lead to chaos and lawlessness and abuse of power by state outlaws, and it might be necessary at some point to enforce federal law by intervention by Federal authorities!

Hopefully, before we get into that kind of crisis, cooler heads will prevail, as states may not defy the US Constitution and be allowed to get away with it!

This is a warning to Governor Jan Brewer, State Senator Russell Pearce, and other radical right wingers: Shape up or else suffer the consequences of disobedience of constitutional law!

150th Anniversary Of Jefferson Davis Inauguration As President Of The Confederacy Celebrated In Montgomery, Alabama

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This past weekend, the 150th Anniversary of the inauguration of Jefferson Davis as President of the Confederacy was celebrated in Montgomery, Alabama.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans organized the event, and several hundred attended.

No mention of slavery was found in the proceedings, only that the North had subjugated the South, and that the war was over tariffs, taxes, and states rights.

The War For Southern Independence was invoked as the appropriate name for the war, rather than the Civil War.

This kind of managed event will, unfortunately, still be prevalent over the next four years, as the re-enactments of Civil War battles and events will be constantly celebrated, instead of being seen as a great human tragedy.

The regionalism that still exists is very powerful, and the scars left from the Civil War continue to be an issue today in a different way.

It used to be the Republican Party who was hated and despised in the South, but now the Republicans have become dominant in the South, and it is the Democratic Party which is now seen as the “enemy” of the Southern heritage.

So a complete switch around has occurred, and one wonders what those who fought and died for the Union would think if they came back today and saw how politics have changed in the South!

Another Outrage From Arizona State Government: Banning Of Mexican American Studies Program While Retaining Asian American, African American And Native American Studies Programs! :(

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Arizona is indeed becoming the new Mississippi or Alabama, gaining the horrible reputation both of those states gained in the civil rights era of the 1960s.

The new Attorney General of Arizona, Tom Horne, who used to be the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state, has banned the Mexican American Studies program in the high schools of Tucson, while continuing to allow Asian American, African American, and Native American Studies programs to continue.

This is adding to the image of Arizona, which is now the DEATH PANELS state, cutting $1.2 million from the budget of Medicaid, and therefore preventing 96 transplant patients of all kinds of organs from getting necessary surgery, and two patients already passing away, while it would be easy to find that small amount if Governor Jan Brewer really cared about life! 🙁

This ethnic discrimination is being appealed, and the decision of the attorney general, enforcement of a law he originated as education administrator, should be reversed as also illegal conflict of interest by the man who claims to enforce the law, and then shows totally outrageous prejudice on the level of Bull Connor, Birmingham Police Chief in the 1960s, or Governor George Wallace of Alabama!

A case on this issue may have to be brought to the Supreme Court eventually, as now we have demonstration of a new racism against Mexican Americans, as we had in the past against other groups. This issue, along with the new Arizona law, on checking for illegal status of anyone who looks Hispanic, is in the worst traditions of racism and hatred that we would like to think had already passed into history, but sadly is alive and well! 🙁

Rick Barber, GOP Congressional Candidate In Alabama, A Total Embarrassment! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

This has been an unusual year, what with all of the Tea Party Movement activities, and the candidacies of such luminaries as Rand Paul in Kentucky, Sharron Angle in Nevada, and others! 🙁

But it is possible that the author has just witnessed the absolutely worst, looniest candidate who could be imagined to exist in the “real” world! 🙁

I am referring to the interview, just a short time ago on Chris Matthews’ show on MSNBC, of Republican Congressional candidate Rick Barber in the 2nd District race in Alabama, who is facing a runoff for the GOP nomination! 🙁

Barber has been calling for revolution against the national government, and utilizing the Founding Fathers (in the form of actors) in his campaign commercials! 🙁

He agreed to an interview with Matthews, and advocated getting rid of the 16th Amendment (Income Tax), and promoting instead a national sales tax of 23 percent! 🙁

Barber came across as totally asinine, stupid, moronic, dense, irrational, and any other insulting adjective one could conjure up! 🙁

He makes Rand Paul and Sharron Angle look like geniuses, and yet as a Congressional candidate in Alabama, which has become very GOP oriented, he has a good shot at being elected to the House, replacing a Democrat, and joining such luminaries as Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Steve King of Iowa, and other nutcakes who embarrass themselves and the House of Representatives every time they utter a statement to the media or on the floor of the chamber! 🙁

Why is it that in a country of 300 plus million people, that we cannot get intelligent, sensible people in the Republican party to run for public office? These loony candidates and office holders do a great injustice to the historic traditions and reputation of the Republican party! 🙁

The GOP, now 156 years old, deserves far better than it is receiving, as a major political party which has traditions to honor and respect! 🙁

The Senate And Senatorial Privilege Gone Amuck!

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Senator Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, has just used the power of senatorial privilege to put a hold on Obama nominees for various positions, and also on legislation for financial regulation, because he is angry that the new Obama budget proposal will cause loss of programs that benefit his home state.

Shelby is not the first senator to do this, but the practice that allows individuals senators to put a “hold” on nominees or legislation is an outrage that must be reformed. It creates stalemate and deadlock in the Senate, and along with the threat of filibusters to bottle up action and prevent what the majority wants, sometimes as many as 59 wish, is simply making the Senate look like a dinosaur which fails to represent the will of the American people!

Wnile the Senate was designed to apply the “brakes” to the sometimes rushed actions of the House of Representatives, it has become a body which has lost a lot of its luster as the greatest legislative body in the world! The nation deserves to expect more from the Senate and its members! Everyone has the right to their views, but not as individuals or as a minority to stifle democracy and the will of the majority!