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While Congress Is On Recess, The Real Government Meets In Chicago.

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This weekend, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a meeting in Chicago. If you are still unfamiliar with ALEC, you are no doubt familiar with its legislation, such as Stand Your Ground laws, Arizona’s SB 1070 anti-immigration law, and the new wave of Voter ID laws designed to limit votes by minorities and the poor.

ALEC was created 40 years ago by a group of conservatives and large corporations. It was formed out of frustration with Congress; that it was too difficult to pass corporate-friendly laws at the national level. So corporations turned to state legislatures under the belief that they could more effectively change American politics state by state.

ALEC reached out to other large corporations for funding and to conservative legislators for influence and power. ALEC hired attorneys to draft “model” legislation that would benefit large corporations and the conservative cause. It charged conservative legislators a small membership fee and paid for them to attend ALEC meetings. At the meetings, ALEC handed members bills (up to 1,000/year) for them to sponsor during their legislative sessions, and many did so without even bothering to read the text.

For 38 years, all of this happened out of the sight of American citizens. No legislators talked about ALEC. No media covered the organization.

Then, in 2011, a few organizations began to shine a light on ALEC. The Center for Media and Democracy and The Nation created a project named ALEC Exposed. Moyers & Company broadcast the documentary United States of ALEC. And other groups got into the act, turning up the heat on sponsoring corporations. As a result, 49 corporations have been forced to disassociate themselves from ALEC and stop their funding.

ALEC is no longer operating below the radar and more people are discovering its impact on our democracy. As it gathered for its 40th anniversary session, thousands of union members, civil rights activists, environmentalists, and others have vowed to surround the auditorium and take to the streets to demonstrate.

The scrutiny has had an impact. Yet many of ALEC’s corporate sponsors are unphased. I have written to those with which I do business with no response. I’ve ended one long-standing business relationship as a result. I’m switching my insurance coverage from State Farm. And I plan to end relationships with any other ALEC sponsors. This is the only way we have to show our disdain for an organization that meets behind closed doors to shape laws that favor corporations over people.

Congressional lobbyists are bad. ALEC is worse. Both are undemocratic and un-American.

If you’d like to learn more and see a list of the corporations that sponsor ALEC, visit ALECWatch.org.

General…er…Sheriff Joe Goes To War.

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The original motto of most law enforcement organizations was “To Serve And Protect.” But, in recent years, the motto may as well be “To Harass And Intimidate.” Many purposefully engage in racial profiling (New York City even singles out African-Americans for its “Stop And Frisk” program). Many live outside the cities they serve. Most spend their days in cruisers only leaving them when they need to. All are heavily armed.

In the eyes of the citizens, particularly poor minorities, law enforcement officers have become the enemy; uniforms to be feared, or at least viewed with suspicion. And with the proliferation of guns, officers necessarily view citizens with suspicion. Their reaction is to treat citizens with polite arrogance. They pump out their chests, stand tall and strive to look as intimidating as possible.

Many officers have visually, physically and mentally detached themselves from their own communities. The neighborhood beat cop virtually no longer exists. The only time most cops are welcomed is when there’s a crisis.

Like most things, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona’s Maricopa County has taken this to an extreme. He encouraged his deputies to racially profile in order to round up illegal immigrants. He has harassed citizens with roadblocks seeking minor vehicle infractions in order to check immigration status. He has conducted neighborhood sweeps for illegal immigrants. He misspent millions of taxpayer dollars in order to purchase armored vehicles. He participated in TV episodes with dozens of his heavily armed storm troopers crashing down doors in the middle of the night to arrest non-violent criminals. He has armed a volunteer “posse” to patrol schools.

Now, following the murder of one of his detention officers, Arpaio has ordered all of his deputies and officers to carry AR-15 assault weapons at all times…even off-duty. What could possibly go wrong?

It doesn’t have to be this way. Law enforcement agencies could tone down their militaristic image. They could put away the military-style assault weapons and armored vehicles until they are actually needed. They could get out of their cruisers and get to know their fellow citizens. They could encourage everyday conversations and interactions with those in their communities. They could drop the attitude that everyone is a criminal. They could support reasonable gun regulations. They could reinstate the beat cops. And, most of all, they could focus less on military training than police work…work that includes building trust.

But don’t expect the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to do any of this anytime soon. Arpaio has an image to keep up…as America’s Toughest Sheriff.

Crocodile Tears And Denial For One Of The Prescott 19.

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The deaths of 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots in the Yarnell Fire became a national story about the sacrifice of first responders as they protect us from disaster. Firefighters, city officials, politicians, dignitaries and grateful citizens turned out to honor them at a large memorial service. Virtually the entire city of Prescott, AZ was covered in flags and signs. Flags across the state flew at half mast. And people across the nation have contributed to support the families left behind.

Unfortunately, for many of the Hotshots’ families the recognition and support ends there.

13 of the 19 were classified as part-time or seasonal workers. As a result, their families are not eligible for survivor benefits, life-insurance payments or continued health insurance benefits. Instead, they will receive a lump-sum payment of $328,000 from the Public Safety Officers’ Benefit Program and worker’s compensation which pays a maximum benefit of $2,792 a month.

That may seem generous. But it doesn’t go far when young wives are left to provide for children. Especially if their husbands, due to the nature of their jobs, were unlikely to be able to afford life insurance.

By contrast, families of the six full-time firefighters will receive average lump-sum payments of $470,000 and up to $100,000 annually for years to come. This raises numerous questions about the treatment of those we regard as heroes.

Although Andrew Ashcraft worked more than 40 hours a week, the City of Prescott classified him as a part-time worker. The reason is obvious: Part-time workers don’t have to be offered benefits. Ashcraft and the other 12 “part-time” Hotshots faced the same dangers as the full-time firefighters. They met the same fate. Yet their families do not qualify for survivor’s benefits from the pension, life insurance, accidental death and health insurance plans. They may not even qualify for Social Security benefits.

After mourning the loss of the Granite Mountain Hotshots; after basking in the limelight of the national attention and visits by a number of celebrities, the very conservative leadership of the City of Prescott responded to questions from Mrs. Ashcraft with an official (and officious) statement that was demeaning to her and her four children. She has threatened to sue, but she shouldn’t have to face such uncertainty in the aftermath of her loss. The City of Prescott should do the right thing and reclassify Andrew Ashcraft to reflect his actual (if not official) position as a full-time employee.

If only elected officials were as committed to doing the right thing as the Prescott 19, this wouldn’t be an issue.

The Moral Cost Of Food.

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This past week, a couple of announcements stood out to me. One was that scientists were having a taste test of their “test tube” burger…meat that was grown from stem cells. Two was the announcement that the world is pretty much “maxed out” when it comes to meat and dairy production.

These announcements happened to coincide with a party I attended in which we were served beef that had a name. The host had grown the steer from a calf; feeding it and caring for it as part of the family.

All of this caused me to reflect on how far we have come with regard to food production since I left the family farm.

When I left the farm in the 1960’s, most farm animals had not yet become a commodity. Cattle were still allowed to graze in pastures. Milk was a by-product of breeding cattle to replace and enlarge the herd. Hogs were given room to roam. Sheep became self-propelled lawnmowers that also provided wool once a year. And poultry were allowed to roam the homestead before being locked up each night to protect them from predators.

How things have changed!

Today, calves are scarcely weaned from their mothers before being crammed into a feedlot with feed troughs fed by automated augers. Dairy cattle are confined in enormous barns and bred for one thing – milk production. They are given hormones to increase production. Their calves are now a by-product of milk to be confined and sold as veal. Hogs are born into confinement and live out their short lives with little room to even turn around. Chickens destined to produce eggs are crammed into tiny cages stacked as much as eight high to more efficiently use available space. They have no room to stand up, let alone turn around and those on the bottom are covered in the feces from those above. And chickens raised for meat are crammed into large rooms with thousands of others.

All of this is the result of animals being raised by corporations rather than people. And as awful as these conditions seem, they’re actually pleasant when compared to their conveyor-style slaughter.

Our treatment of animals should be disturbing to any person with a half a heart and respect for the beings with which we share this planet. We may never all become vegetarians or vegans, but that doesn’t mean we have to treat animals as a commodity…an unfeeling slab of meat.

Native Americans and other indigenous cultures ate meat, but they treated the victims of their hunts with respect. We would be wise to do the same. Failure to do so should weigh heavily on our minds and souls. The simple act of reducing our intake of meat and dairy each week would have a large impact on the sustainability of our planet. It would improve our overall health. And if enough people purchased locally-grown, organic foods, it would have an impact on factory farms.

But don’t count on the food industry to improve conditions on its own. Very few corporations have a conscience.

How Would You Pay For Uninsured Healthcare?

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Conservatives in Arizona and other states are mouth-frothing mad over the expansion of Medicaid for those who can’t afford health insurance. They claim that it’s a matter of personal responsibility; that the current system is fine; that people should simply go without healthcare if they can’t afford it.

Hmmm…

The people saying that consist mostly of the Bible-thumping, church-going crowd. You know, the good “Christians” who claim to follow the guy who once said something like, “What you do unto the least of these, you do unto me.”

What these people don’t understand, in addition to the Bible they claim to study, is that even people without money deserve healthcare. In fact, our federal government came to that realization years ago. That’s why hospitals are mandated to treat those in need, even if they can’t afford to pay for the treatment. As a result, most of the working poor (people below or near the poverty line are already eligible for Medicaid) delay medical care as long as possible. When their conditions have reached a point where they are more difficult to treat, they go to the Emergency Room where treatment costs many times more than care at a doctor’s office.

Who pays for their treatment? The very people who are whining and bitching about expanding Medicaid to cover more of the working poor. As a result, the whiners pay considerably more than they would if everyone had health insurance…even government-paid health insurance.

So the question is this: How would you like to pay for your brothers’ and sisters’ healthcare? Through the efficiently-run Medicaid system? Or through the many times more expensive E.R.?

Recess Is The Appropriate Term For A Congressional Break.

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Exhausted by the 86 days members of the US House of Representatives have worked this year, the House is now taking a 5-week recess – a term that aptly describes the childish behavior of this Republican-controlled legislative body.

After all, Republican congressional representatives continue to throw a tantrum over Obamacare, having voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act 40 times.

By comparison, the current session of Congress has passed just 15 bills that have become law. Six of those were necessary to fix seriously flawed laws. Three were reauthorizations of previous laws. Two were disaster relief bills. One was an appropriations bill. And two were commemorative bills.

Whew! I’m exhausted just writing about it. No wonder they need a break for recess. After all, all work and no play…

And Congress is not through. When they come back to work September 9th, they will have to gut it out for another 39 days before the end of the year in order to claim their $174,000 salaries. Of course, there is additional compensation. How else would you find someone to take such an unrewarding job? Members of Congress are eligible for pensions (the average annual pension was $35,952 in 2006) and healthcare benefits, plus annual allowances for office expenses, staff, mail, and travel between their home districts and Washington, DC.

Interestingly, beginning in 2014, members of Congress will have to give up their executive healthcare plans. The only coverage available to them will be that offered through the Health Insurance Exchange created by Obamacare.

Could that be the real reason Republicans continue to vote to repeal Obamacare?

Families In Deep Doo-Doo.

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It seems that nearly every week, a new study is released that shows the growing income disparity in the United States. Recently, an Associated Press survey found that 80 percent of adults in the US face near-poverty and unemployment at some point in their lives. Another study by the International Human Rights Clinic at New York University’s School of Law found that 1 in 6 (50 million) Americans face food insecurity, including 17 million children.

Now, the medical journal Pediatrics has published a study measuring the psychological impact on mothers who are unable to afford diapers.

The study, “Diaper Need And Its Impact on Child Health,”  by a group of Yale researchers, found that 30 percent of mothers have struggled to pay for diapers and more than 8 percent of low-income mothers reuse soiled diapers! Not surprisingly, the researchers concluded that the lack of clean diapers “seriously affects maternal stress, child health, and child development.”

So, in the richest nation on Earth, a large percentage of our people can’t tend to the needs of either end of a baby!

We have millions who can’t afford the most basic necessities despite working full-time jobs. We have tens of thousands of homeless – many of them families and veterans. And, instead of passing laws to raise the minimum wage; instead of eliminating tax loopholes that encourage companies to ship manufacturing jobs overseas; instead of passing bills to help create jobs here at home; House Teapublicans plan to cut $40 billion from our food stamp programs over the next 10 years.

It will be difficult since the House has only 9 scheduled work days between now and the end of September, but I’m certain they’ll find a way.

Ummm…You Can’t Record What You Don’t See.

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Some members of Congress are now demanding that the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) release data for the number of migrants who are turned back before crossing the border illegally and the number who evaded the Border Patrol and thus were able to successfully enter the U.S. illegally.

Say what?

Am I the only one who sees the flaw in this logic? How exactly is the DHS to accurately determine that information? One might as well ask how many stars haven’t yet been discovered. Sure, we know how many UFO sightings have been reported, but how many didn’t we see? How many Sasquatches haven’t been seen?

DHS and the Border Patrol report the number of apprehensions by agents. In addition, ICE (Immigration and Customs Service) reports the number of deportations. But it’s extremely unlikely that they would be able to accurately track the number of migrants who are discouraged from crossing the border upon seeing Border Patrol agents. And it would be impossible to track the number of migrants who cross the border unseen by agents.

As for those spotted, but elude capture, it would be possible to cite a number. But many are likely captured by other agents and law enforcement personnel. So what is the purpose of collecting the data?

We now have more than 17,600 border patrol agents assigned to the 1,954 miles of border with Mexico. That’s more than 9 agents per mile! And the Senate Immigtation Reform bill calls for adding 20,000 more!

Apprehensions of illegal immigrants are at an all-time high. Deportations are at an all-time high. Illegal immigration is now at net zero. Yet, Congressional Teapublicans accuse former Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, of engaging in a cover-up for failing to report the number of “turn-backs” and the number of “got-aways.” They claim this information is needed in order to determine whether or not the border is secure before voting on Immigration Reform.

Here’s an idea. Since Congress spends less than 3 days a week at work, they have plenty of time to go to the border and collect the data themselves.

Mitt Romney Lies Again!

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I realize that Mitt’s aversion to the truth will come as no surprise to anyone, except his most rabid supporters. Throughout the 2012 election cycle, the former governor had more positions on any given issue than the Kama Sutra. He also continually manipulated data to make President Obama look bad and himself look better.

Indeed, it seems the only time Romney was recorded telling the truth was at a gathering of billionaires in Florida when a bartender famously recorded Mitt’s off-the-cuff remarks. During that speech, Romney stated, “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right? There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That…that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them… These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect… And so my job is not to worry about those people—I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

Those words were taken directly from the transcript. But that was then. This is now.

When the 2012 Republican presidential nominee was recently asked about his statement that 47 percent of Americans can’t be persuaded to take personal responsibility, Romney said, “Actually, I didn’t say that …That’s how it began to be perceived, and so I had to ultimately respond to the perception, because perception is reality.”

Who are you going to believe? Romney or your lying eyes and ears? The Romney of 2012? Or the Romney of 2013? Or the Romney of 2011? Or the Romney of 2010? Or the Romney of…well, you get the idea.

Race Or Economics?

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Following the acquittal of George Zimmerman and the ensuing discussion of race by President Obama, conservative race-baiters have gleefully blamed the victims. “It wasn’t Zimmerman’s fault. Trayvon Martin was a young, black thug high on marijuana who had it coming. There’s no race problem. The real problem is the black culture of dependency. Black people are violent…just look at black-on-black violence. Obama is playing the race card to distract people from his failures. Yadda, yadda, yadda…”

Yes, there has been a breakdown of the African-American family unit…just like the breakdown of the white family unit. More and more people are having children out of wedlock, and more married couples are getting divorced.

Still, the race-baiters have a point. According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 73 percent of African-American babies are born out of wedlock as compared to 29 percent of non-Hispanic white babies. On the surface, those numbers would seem to support racist loudmouths like Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. But if you delve deeper, you learn that 66 percent of Native American children and 53 percent of Hispanic children are born out of wedlock, while just 17 percent of Asian children are born outside of a traditional family.

Hmmmm…

That would seem to disprove the right wing talking point that the problem is a lack of Christian values. After all, Hispanics and African-Americans tend to be the most devout Christians of the lot, while Asians tend to represent other faiths, such as Buddhism and Hinduism.

So if the problem isn’t religion, what next?

Right wingers suggest that the issue is IQ. You may remember that Teapublicans recently seized upon a Heritage Foundation “study” that claimed Hispanics have lower IQ than whites. The “study” was the basis of a report that assimilating such low IQ people into the US would cost us trillions. Then some academics examined the “study” and found that its racist conclusions were completely fraudulent. Not only is there NOT a difference in IQ, the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) found that the Senate immigration bill would shrink the nation’s deficit by $897 billion over 20 years.

That leaves only one possible conclusion from the birth data…economics. The cultures with the highest percentage of single-parent households are the cultures that were systematically destroyed by the Euro-American concept of Manifest Destiny; that caucasians were destined to rule; that white people were superior to people of color; that people of color were incapable of taking care of themselves.

Using this despicable philosophy, whites enslaved blacks. Whites committed genocide on Native Americans, leaving them defeated, broken and poor. And whites have routinely discriminated against all other races, denying them the vote, good-paying jobs, safe neighborhoods, and respect. Such conditions have a negative impact on all races. For example, where there are large concentrations of impoverished white people, the percentage of white, unwed mothers dramatically increases, along with violence.

People of color didn’t choose to live in poverty. They didn’t choose to work at meaningless, minimum wage jobs. They didn’t choose to live in slums, poor barrios and on reservations. They didn’t choose to send their children to under-financed schools. They didn’t choose to have greedy gun dealers import weapons into their communities.

They didn’t choose these things anymore than Trayvon Martin chose to take on a gun-toting vigilante with nothing more than a bag of Skittles.