Holly crap, I just found a video of Hillary Clinton on Dave Letterman''s show, from like 2 days ago,

And when Dave asked how much money she raised for he campaign, she said 100 million dollars, and said it's not a good way to run campaigns, and we should we should go to public financing of campaigns!!! That's beautiful, she gets a giant gold star for that one.

Campaign financing is my biggest issue, if everyone got pissed off about that one thing and went out and changed it, we would be saved. seriously, the whole country would be saved, from the corruption and greed that led us to this point. no middle class, huge poverty, insecurity, devastated cities, and bridges falling into the Mississippi river. Public financing would do the most good for our country over time.

One thing letterman said, when they talked about the supreme court saying "money = free speech", essentially that means people who can't afford to contribute money to campaigns have less speech. That's key. Equal Influence. People united as a group should have a bigger voice, but as individuals we shouldn't have to pay for access. It's like a reverse of the poll tax, income based influence.

Anyway, here's the video... maybe I'm starting to see that dream ticket after all.



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And here's Barrack's speech from yesterday, this man speaks plainly and honestly. You can tell he's for real, he's not just saying what you want to hear. It's easy to see how he could unite the country around a progressive agenda. Obama will get the results by having public support. And his agenda is boldly progressive.



PS
The key for the Democratic party is to get people off the couch to vote. So many don't vote because they don't have faith in government. Restore that faith.
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Time to share voting stories,

I went to my polling place on Rhode Island at about 1:30, I go a little late so I can see how many people voted before me. I was voter #148 But the interesting thing is that about 120 of those voters were Democrats. I know I'm on the West Side, and there are more democrats around, but I thought that was an interesting contrast. Nationally far more Democratic voters are showing up to the polls. And I'm glad the democratic candidates are keeping the dialogue relatively civil, unlike the Republicans.

I like voting, I vote every year. Even when the 2 party candidates are lame, I proudly vote third party, and get great satisfaction from it. Voting third party is definitely not a wasted vote, especially in NYS which is not a swing state. I feel like my 3rd party vote means more than voting for some Democrat. and even if I do vote for a Democrat, I vote on the Working Families line.

Anyway this year, I voted in my first primary, and I dig it.

PS, my firefox spellcheck never heard of Rhode Island, WTF?

Obama, Clinton, and The Election

Why Vote:

This is the first time I'm voting in a primary. I have always been registered as a Green, but I switched to Democrat just for this primary election. The government has not been serving the people. We have been taken advantage of by those with power and money, and the government let it happen.

I'm tired of politicians who don't stand up and challenge the corrupt system in Washington. Many people are fed up and that's why we don't vote. The politicians don't represent us, they represent corporations and the people who fund their campaigns.

But in the end, they need our vote. We still hold that power over the government. Sometimes candidates aren't that different. It's usually down to two, which is not much of a choice for a democracy. But sometimes you get a candidate with vision, leadership and the will to rock the boat. I think there are big differences between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Why Obama

One thing about Obama, he gets young people out to vote in record numbers. We need to stop letting Washington run itself, and realize our power to determine our own future. Social Security, Healthcare, Student Loans, Job Security, the Environment, we have a lot of work to do. My generation is starting to realize that politics affects our lives, now we need to have the confidence to go and change politics.

On the Iraq War, Obama has been right from the beginning. In 2002, it was very unpopular to speak negatively about Bush, and despite the risk, Obama spoke publicly and candidly in opposition to the war. Solid judgment led him to speak out and put his career on the line to oppose a policy doomed to failure.

The problem with politicians, is that they have a hidden agenda. They are thinking of campaign contributions instead of doing what is right for the public. They think that deceiving the voters, and obeying wealthy corporate interests, will get them elected. Obama however, believes in honesty, democracy, and openness.

Obama relies more on voters and small donations, than he does on corporate contributions. He doesn't have to promise as many favors to his corporate connections. Clinton is part of the old system, the system that got us here. Sure nobody's perfect, and any democrat would be better than a republican, but I want this president to make real changes. Not just changes in policy, but changes in the Washington system of secrecy, power, and corruption.

My issues are Campaign Finance, the Electoral System, Inequality, Poverty, Diplomatic Foreign Policy, Healthcare, Political Corruption, crumbling cities and infrastructure, and our loss of community. I think these issues are best handled by a political outsider with confidence, vision, and a working class background, who can lead.

I liked a lot of the democratic candidates. Our election system forces us to narrow it down before we even get a chance to vote, and that's a problem. There are more than two types of people in this country. And we should be able to rank our choices so that there are no more 'spoiler' candidates who 'steal votes'. Here we are again with two, but if we vote for Obama now the decision in November will really mean something. And voter turnout will be record breaking.

If there is any election where you don't have a candidate you believe in, show up and vote third party as a protest. Voting third party is a strong statement, staying home is not.

I am a skeptic, who believes in Barack Obama, I think he is a good candidate who is very different than Clinton and the past 30 years of problems in this country. And I think it's so important to vote and participate, that I wrote this letter, and urging you to go out and participate.


Thanks



Here's Obama on the War, starting in 2002


more Obama Videos on YouTube

There was a primary in Michigan Yesterday. Republicans chose Romney, and Democrats chose Clinton. But unlike Romney who is fighting for his life to stay viable by winning something, Clinton had no serious opposition. For some reason Michigan doesn't get any electoral votes in the Democratic primary this year, so few of the other democrats bothered to get on the ballot. Kucinich got about 4% of the vote.

But mostly, this primary was Hillary vs 'Not Hillary'. And that actually made the results pretty interesting. Hillary won by 15%, meaning about 40% of people would rather vote for 'Nobody' than vote for Hillary.

According to this election and the exit polls Hillary's supporters are people who are over 45, uneducated, poor, white, and female. The biggest difference was among blacks 70% voted for anybody but Hillary, the next biggest difference was among people under 30.

You can read a brief analysis here
and see the exit polls here


If Hillary is the nominee, I am worried that we might end up with another Republican in the whitehouse. She will inspire the Republicans to come out and vote against her, and the Democrats won't bother voting at all.

The Democrats fail because they don't get people up off the couch. People don't vote because they don't see anyone worth supporting. They don't trust either of the 2 politicians in the presidential race. They don't think anything will change. Democrats and Republicans are part of the same corrupt system, and their campaign promises are a bunch of crap. So why bother to vote.

Democrats are supposed to be the party of the people, and the republicans are supposed to be the party of the wealthy. But the people don't vote, cause the democrats sound like republicans. And the republicans do vote, because they are protecting their assets. Meanwhile the candidates are just rephrasing the same BS and trying to be a better salesman to those ambiguous people who haven't made up their mind yet.

If a candidate stood up for the middle class, and spoke honestly, there would be no contest. We need someone honest and confident who can stand up for single-payer healthcare. And when someone shouts 'socialized medicine', tell them to take their HMO and shove it, because there's no such thing, and they are trying to scare you with bogymen.

Democrats usually try to steal voters from the republicans, by acting like republicans. The presidential race is usually a competition for the middle. Instead Democrats should inspire people to get off the couch, go to the voting booth, and demand to have their voices heard.

Clinton is not that candidate. If she gets the nomination, November will be too close to call, most Americans will stay home, and I will be voting for a third party again.

I'd like to see an Obama Edwards ticket, with Kucinich, Biden, and Dodd, as secretary of something in the cabinet.

I am excited by Obama. he gets young people to vote, and he gets record numbers of people out to the polls, and because he has that popular support he doesen't need to sell out to make money for his campaign as much as other people.

I'm a registered Democrat this year, and I will be voting in the primary on February 5th. This is my way of pretending we have a runoff election. Depending on the nomination, I might go back to being Green real quick.

I took a good look at my college loans yesterday. It kinda made me feel like a slave. Maybe not that extreme, but the Worker-Master relationship started to become apparent to me.

I pay $200 per month, I've paid about $6,000 so far, and I've only paid off $2,500 of my principal balance, which was only $27,000 to begin with, because I was part of the most generous government program I've seen for poor people like myself, EOP.

So let me get this straight, I'm paying double?!?! These assholes Own me.

There was no question in my mind about going to college, and living in Buffalo I'm glad I did. A lot of my friends have a high school diploma or less, and it is a real pain in the ass for them to find a job. My one friend went back to Boces for a trade, he's still only making $10 per hour, and he's driving all over the county in his own truck.

If you're in the lower middle class in this country, they basically grab onto your nuts and squeeze. Your part of the Worker class, and they Own you. Same for women, they're squeezing your nuts too.

Let's compare my situation to my fiance, who was born a little above my class. her parents could afford to pay her college in full, no loans. She went to a SUNY school with me, not too expensive, if you call $50,000 a bargain. But still, no loans, that means she can keep her money. I had to sell my body to start making more than $10 per hour.

Here's the kicker, She puts $200 into her retirement account each month. I take that same $200, and flush it down to toilet. Or to be more specific, I give it to my masters at the student loan company.

Meanwhile, you know what the government is trying to do with my retirement account? You know Social Security? They want to give it away to the same blood-sucking companies that are already squeezing my nuts. They're trying to convince me that Social security is going to run out, and all that money I already paid into the system since I started working at 15, belongs to them, not me.

Ironic, they call this the "Ownership Society" all I own is hand-me-down furniture and a bunch of electronics. but THEY own ME.

Here's a pleasant thought, I don't have health insurance either. I had Healthy NY, that super affordable government program which costs $270 per month, and is somehow tied to the SCHIP federal program which the Republicans refused to expand a couple months back. Yea, I had that for about 4 months, and I still had to pay $40 for a doctor to look in my ear and tell me to take claritin D. that probably would have cost about $80 without my budget ass Healthy NY.

No health insurance. That means I'm one broken arm away from being better off in jail. Isn't that a peachy little thought. Maybe that's why we have more violent crime than any other nation in the world, besides some of those that are in a state of civil war. People are so fucked, that jail doesen't seem much worse than 'freedom'.

Yes, America, this is what we have become. We have betrayed our country. FDR is rolling over in his grave.

You know... I didn't learn much in my social studies classes growing up. But there's one thing that sunk in, they told me this is a land of opportunity. You can't control what class you're born into, but if you're smart, and you work hard, you can have a good life, and maybe even become the president.

They also told me I'd be better off if I went to college. They didn't mention the fact that I'd be paying double, because I was born in the lower middle class.

What happened? When did we become a nation of Masters and Workers? This doesn't look like the America they told me about.

But this isn't about my story. This is the story of America. I don't even have credit card debt, and I have 4 times more savings than my mother. How many Americans have $2,000 in the bank, and are making minimum payments on over $10,000 worth of credit card debt?

You know that the top 1% of Americans own 40% of the wealth? and the bottom 80% of people own a pitiful 8%.
What the hell is going on here, and why aren't we more pissed off about it?

We have been fooled.

How long will it take for us to realize that they lied to us about opportunity, they lied about freedom, lied about equality, lied about fairness, lied about justice, and they lied about America being a society of upward mobility, withouth classes. They lied about the American Dream. They made us thankfull to live in the most just, fair and democratic society on earth. And it is all bullshit.

I'll tell you how we can get our country back. I hate leaving people pissed off, without a solution. That ultra rich 1% is buying more than just resort homes, helicopters and private islands.

They have bought our government. Our representatives care more about money, than they do about the public. Because it takes so much money to get elected, donations are more important than votes. Elections must be free and fair. When I say free, I mean no cash.

I don't care how we do it, but the bottom line is that money has corrupted our political system. That is the one issue that is more important than everything else. We are divided... global warming, war, security, national debt, health care, these are real issues. Why aren't politicians addressing them, when they talk about them in campaigns all the time? Because if they act, it will change the system, and the system is making some people a lot of money, they don't want change, they don't want uncertainty. Change won't hurt the economy, but it could hurt individuals who are making a lot of money in the current system. That's why we get such minor changes in policy, they're trying to appease us, and obey their masters, our masters.

Here's to having a debate about campaign finance in 2008, instead of flag burning.