A Contract for Americans (Redux)

An updated and fleshed-out version of my previous proposal.

Four years ago, I wanted to do something different when it came to political discussion. I wanted to be more positive. There was so much “NO!” going around and I noticed that there wasn’t a lot of talk about what people were actually in favor of.

Over time, I’ve noticed that there are a lot of individual issues that, when you poll Americans on them separately, you find out we agree a LOT more than people these days are led to believe. So I took a page out of the Republican’s book when they did their “Contract for America” in 1994 and decided to come up with my OWN “Contract”. I modified the title, a little, because I wanted to highlight that it was for Americans. More specifically, the people. And there I put 10 things that I’d like to see politicians sign their name to. 10 things that I thought individually could be boiled down into sound bites and 30-second spots. Each policy would part of a greater whole but would do it’s best to be “digestible” so that your eyes didn’t glaze over…

Cut to today… With all the gridlock in Washington and all the other gloom and doom that seems to permeate the atmosphere, I decided to dig out that old post and freshen it up a bit. This time, though, I was going to go into more detail in order to explain my reasons, show more examples, bring it up to date, etc. Because of that, I’m going to split it up into one post for each of the Contract’s major points.

If you didn’t see the original version or don’t want to click back to there, here’s a “Table of Contents” for what’s coming and I’ll activate links as I publish the individual posts:

  1. Taxes – Returning to What Worked.
  2. Medicare For All – Saving Money on Our Biggest Bill.
  3. Public University Education For All – Trade Schools Included.
  4. Infrastructure – The Job that Keeps Paying Off.
  5. Ending The Wars – Military Common Sense.
  6. Legalize Marijuana – Reforming Prison Policy.
  7. We’re Not Coming For Your Guns – Understanding the Second Amendment.
  8. Constitutional Amendment – Corporations ARE NOT People.
  9. Social Security Reform – For Your Economic Future.
  10. Living Wage – For Your Economic Present.
  11. Bonus Material – Items that have come up in the last few years.

Yes, this one goes to ’11’… Consider this a “0 of 11” post.

Insult me with “woke”.

It’s been a long time since I wrote anything here. So much to say and so much going on that it’s like a whirlwind that I can’t get my hands around.

But someone online came out with another attempt at an insult. One for which I’d already heard a good “comeback”. So I started to write something with that “comeback” and the words just started pouring out of me. That made me decide to want to put it here and expand on it…

They say “woke” because they can’t spell “compassionate” (or, for that matter, “empathic”, “sympathetic” or most words with more than two syllables)

They can’t even tell you what “woke” means because Fox News or OANN just told them to be mad at it. …just like CRT classes. Tucker Carlson tells them to be outraged at elementary schools teaching it when it was something that UNIVERSITIES were doing.

Now, if you want to talk about “Cancel Culture” going too far – yeah, that aspect of things is always troubling. This is nothing new. I mean, seriously, people early in my generation and certainly in my father’s generation would KILL people for drinking at the wrong water fountain and wanted to boycott Star Trek because of a scene where the plot had a white man being forced to kiss a black woman. Cancel Culture had people being blackballed from their careers for being SUSPECTED of being “Communist” just because they read liberal newspapers or had liberal ideas (like how everyone should have the right to vote).

But saying “woke” like it’s an insult? Go ahead…

  • Insult me for wanting everyone to have basic healthcare.
  • Insult me for wanting medical decisions to be between a doctor and a patient (which is no place for an insurance company clerk or politician).
  • Insult me for wanting everyone to have post-secondary education (be it college or trade school).
  • Insult me for wanting people to be allowed to marry whomever they choose.
  • Insult me for wanting a level playing field but stop accusing me of wanting equal outcomes.
  • Insult me for wanting past injustices rectified.
  • Insult me for wanting to keep our cops fighting CRIME – not being used for dozens of response job for which THEY ARE UNTRAINED.
  • Insult me for wanting us to stop being the most gunned-down nation in the industrialized world.
  • Insult me for understanding there are more religions in the world.
  • Insult me for knowing the history of mixing politics with religion.
  • Insult me for learning how racism’s effects are felt throughout generations.
  • Insult me for wanting my tax dollars to be spent on “We The People…”
  • Insult me for wanting a government “Of the People, by the People and FOR the People.”
  • Insult me for believing in democratic principles and that ALL CITIZENS should be allowed to vote.
  • Insult me for wanting to leave behind a world for my children that is better than the one left for me. One with cleaner air and water along with a climate that isn’t making me wear out my air conditioner.
  • Insult me for wanting to educate our children on our injustices from the past so that we might not repeat them in the future.
  • Insult me for DARING to acknowledge our flaws “in order to form a more perfect Union”.

Go ahead. Insult me. I have facts and history on my side. The book burners have never been on the good side of history. The religious purists have never been on the good side of history. The autocrats denying votes to the minorities have never been on the good side of history. The polluters have never been on the good side of history. Tyrants and their sycophants aren’t shown well in history.

#DonYouIgnorantRump – You are NOT a King!

“Then, I have an Article II, where I have to the right to do whatever I want as president” – President Donald Trump, July 23, 2019

Umm.. No, sir, you don’t.

I’m looking at the Constitution of the United States and it says no such thing. Here’s a refresher on the first few Articles…

Article I – “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.” That’s pretty clear. Laws are made by Congress. There are 10 Sections that talk about Congressional power and responsibilities.

Article II – “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America”. Now, this is what Trump is referring to… So let’s look at the Sections in this Article.

    Section 1 – This goes on to describe how the President is elected – the Electoral College and all that.
    Section 2 – This says the President is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. It also talks about how treaties are ratified.
    Section 3 – This says the President will give Congress a State of the Union.
    Section 4 – The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers can be removed from office by Impeachment.

That’s it. Just those four sections. Now, going forward…

Article III – This article talks about judicial power going to the Supreme Court.

Article IV – Here’s where each State has to respect the laws of all other States, how new States are admitted and that Congress makes the rules for Territories and “other Property belonging to the United States”.

Article V – This is how to amend the Constitution.

Article VI – The United States inherits all previous debts; The Constitution is the Supreme Law of the land and Senators and Representatives are to be bound by oath to uphold this Constitution.

Article VII – Ratification by 9 States means the Constitution takes effect.

That’s it. Those are all the Articles in the Constitution. After that, you have the Bill of Rights, which were the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution.

THERE IS NOTHING HERE SAYING THE PRESIDENT CAN DO WHATEVER HE WANTS!

#DonYouIgnorantRump – You have ‘no problem’ with a shutdown?

President Trump admits what most people already know. He doesn’t give a damn about people.

“If we don’t get border security after many, many years of talk within the United States, I would have no problem doing a shutdown,” — President Donald Trump, during a 7/30/2018 press conference.

You’d have no problem?  Probably not.  That’s probably true since much of your staff (especially the Secret Service) would then have to work without pay.  That’s no problem for you.  I found some numbers from the Project on Government Oversight.

Here’s how many people would be affected directly for his wall to address a problem that doesn’t exist and won’t work.

Then there’s 2 million federal employees (I’m one of them).  You’ll have no problem with them being out of work.  In fact, you’ll like it.  If you keep the government closed long enough, you can get some people to lose their houses due to not being able to pay the mortgage.  You’re on the record for *hoping* the real estate market tanks.  You called it “business”, you sociopathic narcissist.

Then there are 3.7 million contract workers.  Maybe you’ll care about them a LITTE because it means the checks to their employers, the businesses that bill the government 3 times what they pay the employee, won’t be contributing to their rather thick margins.  Oh, they’ll do accounting to show they “only” make an 5-8% profit, but that will include an awful lot of “overhead”.  I’ve seen the billing rates for people working at a government facility where the government pays for the office, the building, etc.  When someone is being paid less than $20/hr but his or her slot is being billed out at around $75/hr, you know there’s something fishy.

1.5 million Grant Employees.  You’ll have ‘no problem’ with them since they may or may not be unemployed (depending on how they get their funding – regular payments or lump-sum).

1.3 million Active Duty military.  You’ll have ‘no problem’ with them becuase essential personnel will have to work without pay – so you won’t even notice them gone.

492,000 Postal Employees.  The USPS is self-funded.  No tax dollars.  That means, at least for them, it will be business as usual.

Even so, that’s between 8 and 9 MILLION people affected – PLUS their families.

This doesn’t begin to talk about the “front-facing” effects.  Everything from people being turned away from national parks to Social Security recipients not getting their checks.

You’ve proven time and again you don’t care.  Why should now be any different?

#DonYouIgnorantRump – Don’t you know math?

Our President doesn’t know or can’t figure out what “majority” means – or he just likes blaming Democrats for everything.

Six hours ago, as I write this, we got the following from the President of the United States:

Your party has a majority in the Senate.

Your party has a majority in the House of Representatives.

You don’t need a single Democrat vote to get the border wall…

That wall – which Mexico was supposed to pay for, but now it will be the citizens of THIS country via an import tax, and we’ll be paying interest to China to build it.  That wall that was supposed to be built with American steel but will now probably be built with Chinese steel, as Trump has frequently done (even trying to hide that fact)..  That wall that was supposed to stop your ludicrous worry that someone could be on the other side of the wall from a cartel member (so wouldn’t the American be protected by your wall?).  (So you proposed a TRANSPARENT wall to keep people from being hit in the head with catapulted bags of drugs – which is what most people call ‘a fence’)

Don, you ignorant rump, you can’t even do math.

#DonYouIgnorantRump – You said *Obama* was going to attack Iran!

It’s no surprise that our President is tweeting in all caps just before midnight. But now he seems to be taking a page from the playbook he wrote and claimed it was Obama’s…

“America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars,”  – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

And the response from our President?

Seems to me I’ve heard Trump talking about an attack on Iran before…  When was it again?  Oh yeah….

Somehow, I don’t think the “mother of all peace” part of Rouhani’s statement made it into Trump’s consciousness.

So, in line with that last tweet, yes, Mr. President, I do remember what you said!  You were wrong then.  You are wrong now.  (And just as ignorant as usual)

Are you aware of our history with Iran?

Are you aware that, in 1953, Iran democratically elected a President, Mohammed Mossadegh, only to have the United States and the U.K. execute a coup d’etat to strengthen a monarch?   This isn’t conspiracy theory stuff – the CIA admits it!

The Shah would then go on to brutally rule his country with an autocratic fist.

We put him there, and the Iranians haven’t forgotten.  As his health got worse, he fled Iran (living in the Bahamas and Mexico) and we gave him ‘aid and comfort’ for his cancer.  The Iranians haven’t forgotten this, either.

And with your internet-influenced screaming, (reminiscent of a Yahoo comment section and NOT from what is SUPPOSED to be the Leader of the Free World) you’re looking EXACTLY like the straw man you built, complaining about Obama.

#DonYouIgnorantRump – Make up your mind! (Прими решение!)

The slings and arrows of outrageous ignorance keep coming faster – too fast for even short-form writing…

This one has to go in timeline form.  The ignorance, stupidity or whatever you want to call the source of the vacuous vacillations emanating from the President of the United States have been on overdrive for a week.  I originally started this short-form blog entry so I could get things out in a more timely manner – but Trump has seen my move and decided to turn up the Crap Fire-hose to ’11’!  I had to wait until my day off to get even THIS much down!

Friday July 13 – The Pre-Show

Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein announces that a grand jury returned indictments against 12 Russian intelligence officials, charging them with hacking into the DNC, DCCC and state election offices to influence the 2016 election.

Monday July 16 – The Shit Show

It starts off with Trump tweeting that it’s OUR fault for the bad relations with Russia.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1018738368753078273

I guess he forgot about the invasion and annexation of Crimea and the invasion of eastern Ukraine, support for bloodthirsty dictator Assad of Syria, poisoning people on UK soil….

Then, after spending 2 hours in a room, virtually alone, with Vladimir Putin (no others except for translators), the mouth backed up the incredulous words that the fingers had tapped out.  Here are some excerpts:

“I think we have both been foolish”  – President Trump, when asked whether he would hold Russia accountable for anything at all.

What happened to “America First”?

“Yes, I did.  Yes, I did.” – President Putin, when asked he had wanted Trump to win the election and if he ordered anyone to help bring that about.

Wow – he *admitted* it!

“My people came to me, Dan Coats, came to me and some others they said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it’s not Russia.  I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.” – President Trump when asked who to believe about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Umm..  Did you not hear the translation of Putin’s words?

“President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.” – President Trump

Putin also denied that Russian forces were in the Ukraine.  Or have you forgotten, Putin is ex-KGB?

“And what [Putin] did is an incredible offer; he offered to have the people working on the [Special Counsel investigation] come and work with their investigators with respect to the 12 [Russians who were under indictment in America]. I think that’s an incredible offer.” — President Trump.

He failed to mention that the Russians want access to former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul (because he was a critic of Putin) and Bill Browder, who is a UK citizen.  Trump was said to be considering the offer.  Since when did we start serving up our own citizens to foreign powers for exercising free speech? (Hint: Never) And when did we start serving up UK citizens?  Did they just forget that you’d have to go through Theresa May, the UK Prime Minister for that?

That night, the reviews were already coming in – so fast that Trump had to backup the bus that he’d just thrown the intelligence community under:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1018943446583668736

The reaction from Democrats was predictable.

Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer called Trump’s comments “thoughtless, dangerous, and weak.”  House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi wondered what Putin had on Trump:

Then things got REAL..  THE REPUBLICANS started speaking out against Trump!

Not just retiring Republicans like Paul Ryan saying Russia should be held accountable..   Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell came out swinging (“The Russians are not our friends. And I entirely believe the assessment of our intelligence community”).  Then Senators were lining up to condemn Trump!  John McCain, Ben Sassee, Bob Corker and Lindsey Graham, and many other lawmakers all got in on the act.

And let’s not forget the intelligence community.  Former CIA chief John Brennan said Trump’s performance was “nothing short of treasonous”.

Tuesday July 17 – The Walk-Back Attempt

“The sentence should’ve been, ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia,’ sort of a double negative.  I think that probably clarifies things pretty good by itself.” – President Donald Trump

Except that doesn’t explain all the other anti-American statements he made.

Oh, and he still believed Putin, saying the hacking “could be other people also”.  He didn’t retract his attack on the FBI and didn’t answer a question about whether he believed Putin or Dan Coats (Director of National Intelligence).

He tried deflecting the mounting criticism by, again, taking credit for something he didn’t do – increased defense spending by NATO

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1019218575691837443

I already covered the facts concerning the lies above.

Wednesday July 18 – Walking Back the Walk-Back

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1019376680572456960

That didn’t take long, did it?  Again with the gaslighting, Trump took to Twitter early to try and polish the turd that was Helsinki”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1019520574371123200

When asked if he believed Russia was still targeting the U.S. elections, Trump said “No”.  But that contradicts what Dan Coats said last week (“[Russia is the] most aggressive foreign actor, no question. And they continue their efforts to undermine our democracy.”) and, also, his tweet (above) from just 2 days prior.

Then Press Secretary Sanders tried to say that Trump said “No” to answering more questions, not the question about Russia – even though Trump went on to answer more questions.  I wonder who can possibly believe her anymore.

She also said the White House was considering letting Russia question, among others, a former ambassador – that ‘deal’ that Putin ‘offered’ back on Monday.  She said he (the President) wanted to work with “his team” to see if it was viable.

Thursday July 19 – Where Were We Now?  A Sequel?

Suddenly, the White House rejects that proposal.  Hmm…  Wonder why?  Maybe because the Senate, in surprisingly blinding speed and unanimity, approved a resolution warning Trump to NOT hand over U.S. officials to Putin – by a 98-0 vote!

But just when you thought that maybe some sense had returned to Washington, Trump invited Putin for another get together – this time to the White House this fall!

And, just for good measure, the effort from some Democrats to subpoena the interpreter who was with Trump during the private summit meeting was blocked by Devin Nunes.

Meanwhile, the Director of the FBI maintained that the Russians were still at it, as far as meddling in our elections go.  And, on the flip side, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said she HADN’T seen any evidence that the Russians tried to interfere for Trump, despite Putin’s comments.  She later had to “clarify” those comments saying it was for chaos “on both side”..  Sounds like Charlottesville all over again.

#DonYouIgnorantRump – Putin lied to you.

Putin tells Trump that there was no hacking, then tells Fox’s Chris Wallace that there was.

“I think we’ve all been foolish. I think we’re all to blame,”
…
“President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”

— President Trump on 1) the reason for tense US/Russian relations and 2) Putin’s response to allegations of election hacking.

Trump’s gaslighting knows no bounds.  He says that it’s the Mueller investigation that has driven a wedge between the U.S. and Russia.  Not the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea.  Not the invasion of eastern Ukraine when the people tried to ditch the Mocow-leaning President.  Not the hacking that Putin even admitted to.

Yes, that’s right.  Putin admitted to hacking the DNC emails.  He admitted it to Fox’s Chris Wallace.  His defense was that they (the Russians) didn’t alter the emails, to which Chris Wallace responded “So you stole real money, not counterfeit money?”.  I have to give credit where credit is due – a Fox News interviewer acting like a journalist is not something I expected.  When the propaganda arm of the administration turns against the administration, you know a line has been crossed.  We started to see it with the families being separated at the border and placing kids in “camps”.  Now there are several Fox News reporters speaking out against Trump and even members of Trump’s Party (and, make no mistake, it IS Trump’s Party).

Sure, all of our nation’s intelligence services know that the Russians hacked the election.  Trump’s defense?  That it was only “3 or 4”, despite the fact that the other agencies agree – they simply didn’t “sign the letter” as they weren’t directly investigating.  But, more telling, is that the Republican Party knows it – the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee came to that conclusion.

This should come as no surprise.  Trump showed his affinity for Putin during the campaign, telling a Russian agent that he’d drop sanctions.

Now, even Trump’s allies at Fox are criticizing him.  When Neil Cavuto calls Trump “disgusting”, you do a double-take to make sure you’re not dreaming.

If Trump loses Fox, who does he have?

#DonYouIgnorantRump – The EU is NOT our “foe”

The ‘author’ of “The Art of the Deal” can’t even quote trade numbers accurately.

“Now you wouldn’t think of the European Union, but they’re a foe.”
…
“No, I look at them all. Look, EU is very difficult. … In a trade sense, they’ve really taken advantage of us and many of those countries are in NATO and they weren’t paying their bills(.)”
— President Donald Trump in an interview aired on ‘Face the Nation’, Sunday, July 15, 2018

Don, you ignorant rump.  Are you THAT stupid and misinformed that you have to keep repeating lies?

He actually said that.

Of course, this is more of Trump’s usual gaslighting.  He exaggerates the trade deficit with the EU by some 50% by not including services that the EU buys from us.

I already covered that there are no NATO “bills” to be paid.

He constantly takes a page out of the Nazi playbook with this.  Many people attribute “Tell a lie often enough and it becomes the truth” to Goebbels but it’s actually an extension of the “Big Lie” as outline by Hitler in Mein Kampf.

Trump’s preoccupation with trade in goods contradicts his own White House economic report, which he signed and was released in February.

The United States’ economy has shifted “away from manufacturing and toward service provision industries” in recent decades, according the report. “Focusing only on the trade in goods alone ignores the United States’ comparative advantage in services.” — NY Times article on the above-referenced report.

Details on the lies Trump tells about trade can be found in this N. Y. Times article.

#DonYouIgnorantRump – Paying for NATO

The Commander in Chief of the most powerful military in the world has no clue how NATO works.

“Many countries (in NATO) owe us a tremendous amount of money for many years back, where they’re delinquent, as far as I’m concerned, because the United States has had to pay for them.”
— Donald Trump at a bilateral breakfast with NATO Secretary General Gens Stoltenberg

Don, you ignorant rump!

There is no “NATO kitty” that countries pay into except for a small ($5B) budget that handles some military and civilian expenses.

NATO is covered by the defense budget of each country.  Their forces are assigned to NATO positions.  I know this from working in the U.S. Air Force and seeing NATO postings available.

While it is true that only 5 countries are meeting the agreement to spend 2% of GDP or more on defense (note on DEFENSE, not “on NATO”), those being the United States, Greece, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Latvia, the rest of the countries have UNTIL 2024 to meet that goal!

That’s quite the scale of public ignorance from the Commander in Chief.

Note that he took credit for increased NATO spending – except that the agreement was from 2014 and, as stated before, allows countries to 2024.