Tuesday, September 30, 2008

No bailout (yet)! Woo hooo!

Here’s the thing: I wrote to both of my Senators and my Congressman on Friday letting them know that I think this bailout plan sucks! Dean wrote to them both Friday and Monday. $700 billion given free and clear with no plans for reform or regulation? To quote my least favorite person on the planet, “I told them thanks, but no thanks.” Ugh! I really hate her and pretty much everything she stands for; but I digress…

I am so freakin happy that the bailout didn’t go through. I am sending my congressman a thank you letter today. I know the bill will pass eventually in some form or another, but I hope it includes some oversight and NO WALKAWAY PACKAGES (golden parachutes) for the damn executives who lead us straight on into this mess! I would like to see them tried criminally. Anyway, here’s an email from Michael Moore who captures my sentiments exactly:

________________________________

Friends,

Everyone said the bill would pass. The masters of the universe were already making celebratory dinner reservations at Manhattan's finest restaurants. Personal shoppers in Dallas and Atlanta were dispatched to do the early Christmas gifting. Mad Men of Chicago and Miami were popping corks and toasting each other long before the morning latte run.

But what they didn't know was that hundreds of thousands of Americans woke up yesterday morning and decided it was time for revolt. The politicians never saw it coming. Millions of phone calls and emails hit Congress so hard it was as if Marshall Dillon, Elliot Ness and Dog the Bounty Hunter had descended on D.C. to stop the looting and arrest the thieves.

The Corporate Crime of the Century was halted by a vote of 228 to 205. It was rare and historic; no one could remember a time when a bill supported by the president and the leadership of both parties went down in defeat. That just never happens.

A lot of people are wondering why the right wing of the Republican Party joined with the left wing of the Democratic Party in voting down the thievery. Forty percent of Democrats and two-thirds of Republicans voted against the bill.

Here's what happened:

The presidential race may still be close in the polls, but the Congressional races are pointing toward a landslide for the Democrats. Few dispute the prediction that the Republicans are in for a whoopin' on November 4th. Up to 30 Republican House seats could be lost in what would be a stunning repudiation of their agenda.

The Republican reps are so scared of losing their seats, when this "financial crisis" reared its head two weeks ago, they realized they had just been handed their one and only chance to separate themselves from Bush before the election, while doing something that would make them look like they were on the side of "the people."

Watching C-Span yesterday morning was one of the best comedy shows I'd seen in ages. There they were, one Republican after another who had backed the war and sunk the country into record debt, who had voted to kill every regulation that would have kept Wall Street in check -- there they were, now crying foul and standing up for the little guy! One after another, they stood at the microphone on the House floor and threw Bush under the bus, under the train (even though they had voted to kill off our nation's trains, too), heck, they would've thrown him under the rising waters of the Lower Ninth Ward if they could've conjured up another hurricane. You know how your dog acts when sprayed by a skunk? He howls and runs around trying to shake it off, rubbing and rolling himself on every piece of your carpet, trying to get rid of the stench. That's what it looked like on the Republican side of the aisle yesterday, and it was a sight to behold.

The 95 brave Dems who broke with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were the real heroes, just like those few who stood up and voted against the war in October of 2002. Watch the remarks from yesterday of Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Dennis Kucinich. They spoke the truth.

The Dems who voted for the giveaway did so mostly because they were scared by the threats of Wall Street, that if the rich didn't get their handout, the market would go nuts and then it's bye-bye stock-based pension and retirement funds.

And guess what? That's exactly what Wall Street did! The largest, single-day drop in the Dow in the history of the New York Stock exchange. The news anchors last night screamed it out: Americans just lost 1.2 trillion dollars in the stock market!! It's a financial Pearl Harbor! The sky is falling! Bird flu! Killer Bees!

Of course, sane people know that nobody "lost" anything yesterday, that stocks go up and down and this too shall pass because the rich will now buy low, hold, then sell off, then buy low again.

But for now, Wall Street and its propaganda arm (the networks and media it owns) will continue to try and scare the bejesus out of you. It will be harder to get a loan. Some people will lose their jobs. A weak nation of wimps won't last long under this torture. Or will we? Is this our line in the sand?

Here's my guess: The Democratic leadership in the House secretly hoped all along that this lousy bill would go down. With Bush's proposals shredded, the Dems knew they could then write their own bill that favors the average American, not the upper 10% who were hoping for another kegger of gold.

So the ball is in the Democrats' hands. The gun from Wall Street remains at their head. Before they make their next move, let me tell you what the media kept silent about while this bill was being debated:

1. The bailout bill had NO enforcement provisions for the so-called oversight group that was going to monitor Wall Street's spending of the $700 billion;

2. It had NO penalties, fines or imprisonment for any executive who might steal any of the people's money;

3. It did NOTHING to force banks and lenders to rewrite people's mortgages to avoid foreclosures -- this bill would not have stopped ONE foreclosure!;

4. It had NO teeth anywhere in the entire piece of legislation, using words like "suggested" when referring to the government being paid back for the bailout;

5. Over 200 economists wrote to Congress and said this bill might actually WORSEN the "financial crisis" and cause even MORE of a meltdown.

Put a fork in this slab of pork. It's over. Now it is time for our side to state very clearly the laws WE want passed. I will send you my proposals later today. We've bought ourselves less than 72 hours.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

__________________________

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I still feel like crap; but here's something interesting...

Here’s the thing: Dean never attends anything at my church. I’m very active at my church. I march in the Gay pride parade. I teach the 3 and 4 year old class. I lead the Monday night meditation group. I attend numerous classes. And I do lots of other things that I can’t remember now. Dean’s been to meditation one time. He occasionally attends Sunday services; but only if it’s a Sunday when I’m not teaching – which is rare. And he’s never, ever attended a class. So I told him last week that I was going to attend this class on sexuality at my church and asked him if he would attend. I fully expected him to say no. But he said, “ok.” That’s it. Ok. So I signed him right up and we’ll attend our first class tomorrow. I’m kinda nervous about having him there now. But it should make for good blog fodder. Here are the class details:

Our Whole Lives for Adults
First Unitarian Church of Dallas
5 Thursday Evenings
Sept. 25 - Oct. 23

Join us for a comprehensive exploration of human sexuality. Our Whole Lives (OWL) for Adults age 24 and up is not a "health class" that Ward & June Cleaver would recognize, but rather a frank and thorough look at all aspects of adult sexuality. This interactive program provides opportunity for discussion, honest Q & A, and even role play without vague meaning, coded language, or self-conscious snickers. This is the real thing for real adults.

The class curriculum honors sexuality as a valid expression of our complete lives. It helps participants clarify values, build fulfilling relationships, and understand the spiritual, emotional, and social aspects of sexuality and how these deeply held ideals impact feelings, sense of self-worth, and ability to build meaningful relationships. OWL also investigates how society reflects and is influenced by collective sexual values--especially related to issues of respect and justice.

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Monday, September 22, 2008

I feel like crap...

So here’s the thing: I feel like crap! I have been inflicted – yes, inflicted – with terrible allergies this fall. And it sucks! I love fall. It’s beautiful outside and I can’t bear to be out. My throat hurts. My nose runs. I can’t breathe. And I’m so tired it’s hard to stay awake throughout the day. Yes, I know I need to finish my Twilight obsession story. And I have much more to blog about as well. But for now all you get is this sorry excuse… I feel like crap!

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Thursday, September 4, 2008

Surprise! You're addicted.

So here’s the thing: I was really taken by surprise by my recent addiction. Reading. It’s not that I don’t read. I do. A lot. It’s just that since I started reading Stephenie Myers’ Twilight series I have trouble thinking about or doing anything else. I picked up the first novel in the teen series (I am sooo not a teen) last Tuesday at the Albuquerque airport just before I boarded the plane to come back home. As I mentioned earlier, I read a lot. But as it’s been summer and I’d had my fill of heavy reading for work, I’d been on a chick lit craze for the last few months. I had finished my last book on my inbound flight; so I was looking for something else to occupy my mind for the flight home. I had seen an interview with the author Stephanie Myers on “Sunday Morning on CBS” last month and when I walked into the book store, the first book in her series caught my eye. I had passed it over several times before in airport bookstores because I knew it was a teen series and it didn’t seem to hold any appeal for me. But this time I decided to take peek inside and see what all the fuss is about. Well, I opened Twilight to about the middle and started reading. Edward the 17 year old vampire was reluctantly and skillfully seducing Bella the 17 year old human girl. Doesn’t sound that appealing by my description, I know. But I was hooked. So, rather than be spotted reading this book so eagerly in plain sight, I decided to buy it and read it in the privacy of my plane seat. I felt only slightly embarrassed as I paid for the book, but also thrilled that I would soon be back in Bella and Edward’s company. I had upgraded my seat so I knew two things: One, most likely my seat mate wouldn’t bother me, and two, I would have plenty of free wine. So I drank my wine and devoured the book. I was about half-way through the book by the time I landed and had a hard time putting it down to deplane. Once I got home… (more on that next time)

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