"Reader Contribution"

The following came from a reader:

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Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in five minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election."

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only three months and eight days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 - before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven took one year or less to become the law of the land - all because of public pressure.

"Congressional Reform Act of 2011"

1. No Tenure / No Pension.

   A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

   All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make these contracts with Congressmen/women.

   Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive this message. Don't you think it's time?
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[I hope you read that carefully. Congress DOES pay into Social Security now but this is referring to their taxpayer funded pensions. Those pensions DO have qualifications but this suggests they be completely dropped.]

Just sayin' ...

Let us know what you think in the "Comments."

"WHAT are We Thinking?"

I actually wrote an issue of this newsletter last week - then, I didn't send it. It was just TOO mean. I was reacting, I guess, to all the meanness I was actually writing about.

I'm sure you've heard how people in the audience at one of the Republican debates supported allowing people without medical insurance to die rather than be treated. And, not one person standing on that stage disagreed with it.

Then, we have the folks who booed a gay soldier who asked a question right after "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was shut down. Those Republican bozos just stood there and let that go, too!

Remember all Ronald Reagan's rhetoric about a "trickle down" effect? He claimed if we take care of the people at top financially, it will trickle down to the workers. Well, we see how that's worked out.

What does seem to trickle down, though, is meanness. Monkey see- monkey do. Considering the way our government officials behave, it's no wonder bullying is the favorite pastime of way too many children.

I can't even blame this one on politicians 100%. It's done in the media. Our newscasters used to report the news. Today, they fight among themselves.

And, those are the ones who still claim to report the news. Others make millions of dollars a year just being jackasses about everyone on the other side of their own political fence. Truth is considered persona non grata at those microphones.

And, the people eat it up!

Meanness is a moneymaker. We have "Mean Girls," "Pretty Little Liars," etc. on television. Meanness is being glorified. And, let's not forget the freakin' "Vampire Diaries!"

What the hell? How entertaining is it when some kid bullies another kid into suicide? And, WHY does it keep happening? Where does it end?

If you've read me for longer than a year, you know I believe what we give comes back to us. That's a universal law. What we put out there, always comes back! It probably won't come back from the same source - but it will come back! Why don't we get it?

Not only does the good we do - or give - come back, the negative comes back, too. It's been clearly shown to us as a country, yet we continue to refuse to learn the lesson.

How many people did the USA kill and maim in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Yet, 10 years later, we're still whining about our payback - commonly referred to as "9/11."

So, what did we do? We invaded yet another country - that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11 - tore hell out of it and killed more innocent people, not to mention over twice as many of our own as were killed on 9/11. And, all for the monetary profit of a few!

Now, those few apparently don't mind killing even more people in their own country. Exactly when was it decided the U.S. government shouldn't help its own citizens? Do you think this is what our forefathers had in mind?

We have over 16.4 million poor children in this country. You can inflate the stated unemployment rate by over 100% when you count all the folks whose unemployment insurance has run out, those who have given up looking for work. or those who are working a few hours a week for minimum wage - or less!

More than 120 school districts in 20 states now use four-day weeks. Sure. Let's cut education. The dumber people are the easier they are to lead around by the nose.

And none of this can be fixed. These are just the sacrifices people are expected to make so the rich can keep their tax cuts!

And, they want to accuse Obama of "class warfare?" What the hell do they think they've been doing for the past 11 years?

It isn't only the USA. Both the economic and political climates around the world are going down the toilet. I honestly don't know if we're to blame - or where the buck stops.

As an Aside ... When I sent this issue to The Nitpicker for proof-reading, he commented that maybe I shouldn't compare 9/11 to what we did in Japan.

I know, in the USA, we tend to think 9/11 was a unique event. However, this comes from our self-involvement. It's easy to distance ourselves from those we kill in other countries - and even get very self-righteous about it. Then, we are incredibly offended when someone does it to us. And, we've only had a tiny taste of what we've dished out.

I know that may be an unpopular opinion. But, so be it. I'm not known for shrinking from the truth. And, I even believe we often take the attitude of it being okay for us to kill, but not for "them" because that's the only way we can stand ourselves.

Strangely enough, the ones most likely to take that stance are usually the very ones I'd like to ask, "What would Jesus say?"

The Good News is ...

People are fed up. Protests are surging around the world. People seem to have caught on that dirty politics is to blame for the majority of our problems on this planet.

Read Full Article

On September 17th, 5,000 Americans descended on the financial district of lower Manhattan, and proceeded to walk towards the "financial Gomorrah" of the nation. They vowed to "occupy Wall Street" and "bring justice to the bankers."

This is a PEACEFUL demonstration!

I'll wager you didn't hear a word about this, at first! It was pretty much banned from the media. I only found out because I read the UK's "The Guardian." It took well over a week before information started coming out about it in the USA.

Read Full Article

Then, of course, I started watching our media for information. At first, nada. Not one damn thing. Even Huffington Post only published a tiny blurb, fairly well hidden. (I predict, like all companies that get too big, HuffPost will soon be useless.)

The demonstrators have yet to attract the numbers they need. But, that would be due to lack of publicity. It's on the blogs, but you've seen little to nothing in the mainstream media.

Now, the worm has turned. Not only have they managed to include some big names to attract more people, the New York City Transit Union has now joined them!

Read Full Article

We can only hope this continues to grow and do some good! If you'd like to stay current on what's happening there, here's their URL:

Occupy Wall Street

Just sayin' ...

Let us know what you think in the "Comments."

SOURCES:

New York Times
TheGuardian UPI.com Occupy Wall Street