I would like to see the following enacted into law:

Any corporation receiving either direct monetary assistance or loan guarantees from the Federal Government shall be subject to the following restrictions:

No employee’s total annual compensation package, including any deferred compensation accruing, may exceed the salary of the President of the United States.

All “golden parachute” clauses in the contracts with current or former employees are immediately declared null and void.

The corporation may not loan money to employees or directors.

The corporation is forbidden to engage in any lobbying activities at any level of government, nor may it contribute financially to any organization which engages in lobbying.

I would also like this to apply to any corporation filing for bankruptcy protection. It is really disgusting to see corporate executives raking in millions of dollars while dumping their pension responsibilities on US taxpayers. Yes, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is us, and that’s who pays at least some of the pensions every time a company decides to dump its pension obligations via bankruptcy court.
Corporate welfare is not the free market at work, and We the People Have a right to expect something in return for our tax dollars, and the right to demand that no corporate executive claim to be worth more than our exective.

The July 15th primary election in Gwinnett County, Georgia showed up a problem with our country that no one seems to be talking about.  One of the questions on the ballot was “Are elected officials being held accountable for their actions?”  83% voted “No”.  Yet mere months after the Gwinnett County Commissioners commited Gwinnett taxpayers to thirty years of funding a stadium for the Atlanta Braves farm team, all the incumbents were voted back in.

Mike Beaudreau got 69% of the votes in the Replublican primary for his district, and the only Republican running for chairman who is not currently on the Commission got only 10% of the votes.

So who exactly do those voters think ought to hold the Commissioners responsible?

Are they waiting for God to strike them down with a lightning bolt?

Even though you can’t write in votes in a primary, you can still not cast a vote for those running unopposed.  Only about 10% of Republican voters did that in this election in Gwinnett.  The percentage was a bit higher on the Democrat side, but still not enough to get anyone’s attention.

If you’re not willing to vote out those who have shown they don’t represent you, how will you ever get actual representation?

I started out this year thinking that I might be able to actually vote FOR someone for President this year. Looks like that was wishful thinking…

John McCain had for years been one of the few Republicans to actually think for himself and not blindly follow Bush and his corporate sponsors. I had some concerns about the “hundred years” and “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” comments, but then the media likes to take statements out of context if they make good sound bites, and a dry sense of humor goes whooshing over their heads. But since securing the nomination, he is suddenly espousing continuing Bushisms like tax breaks for the rich at the expense of the middle class. He also failed to vote against the FISA Act which violates the basic liberties of all Americans by playing the “fear itself” excuse.

Barack Obama also looked promising, but went from promising a filibuster of any FISA bill that included telecom immunity to actually voting for it (see previous entry for his excuses for that flip-flop). It looks like any amount of time spent in Washington is enough to get you fully indoctrinated into the club.

The President takes an oath to uphold the Constitution. The FISA bill shows that neither Obama nor McCain can be counted on to follow through on that oath.

Which leaves us with Bob Barr. I like that he stands up for the Constitution. He actually seems to understand that every American is affected every day by loss of liberty to the increasing power of the federal bureaucracy. The Democrats and Republicans would both like you to believe that they can’t protect you from terrorists unless you make yourself totally vulnerable to them and their corporate sponsors.

I also agree with his stand against the US being the “World Police”, and that he would not repeat the gross stupidity of the invasion of Iraq.

However, he has a severe cerebral/rectal inversion on two subjects: the “Fair Tax” (brought to you by the same marketing department that brought you the “Patriot Act”) and the idea that global warming is just a fantasy dreamed up by people who want to ruin our economy (just for the hell of it, apparently).

There are in fact economic consequences to doing nothing, and costs being paid right now by people all over the world subjected to changing weather patterns.

Which leads me back to None Of The Above. Why?

Because there is no candidate who supports the interests of educated middle class Americans. In fact, the decline in our education system, the growth of fundamentalists, the growing gap between rich and poor, and the dumbing down of the press all indicate that those in power would prefer there not be an educated middle class.

Express your displeasure this year – let’s make “None of the Above” register on the election night news.

On June 30th I filed a comment on Barack Obama’s “Contact Us” form expressing my opposition to the FISA bill and disappointment with his “change” to supporting it.  The only response I got was emails soliciting campaign contributions.  These emails can be replied to via email. When the vote had been taken on the bill and I saw that he did in fact vote for it, I replied to one of the fund-raising emails expressing my displeasure and asking to be removed form the email list.

I then got and email in which Senator Obama uses the “fear itself” pitch to justify voting for big corporations and against the rights of citizens.  This email came form a “no-reply” address, so I am posting the whole email conversation here:

My original email:

So I don’t have a response yet on Obama’s support for a FISA bill that guts the Fourth Amendment search and seizure provisions, and this morning I read that he wants to gut the separation of church and state to buy the votes of the fundamentally ignorant.
Change, indeed!
Looks like I’ll be writing in “None of the above” again this year!”

The Obama camp justification email:

“Dear Friend,
Thank you for contacting us and sharing your strong feelings about this important issue.  Please find a statement from Senator Obama below.
We appreciate hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Obama for America

Given the grave threats that we face, our national security agencies must have the capability to gather intelligence and track down terrorists before they strike, while respecting the rule of law and the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. There is also little doubt that the Bush Administration, with the cooperation of major telecommunications companies, has abused that authority and undermined the Constitution by intercepting the communications of innocent Americans without their knowledge or the required court orders.

That is why last year I opposed the so-called Protect America Act, which expanded the surveillance powers of the government without sufficient independent oversight to protect the privacy and civil liberties of innocent Americans. I have also opposed the granting of retroactive immunity to those who were allegedly complicit in acts of illegal spying in the past.

After months of negotiation, the House passed a compromise that, while far from perfect, is a marked improvement over last year’s Protect America Act.  Under this compromise legislation, an important tool in the fight against terrorism will continue, but the President’s illegal program of warrantless surveillance will be over. It restores FISA and existing criminal wiretap statutes as the exclusive means to conduct surveillance – making it clear that the President cannot circumvent the law and disregard the civil liberties of the American people. It also firmly re-establishes basic judicial oversight over all domestic surveillance in the future.

It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I voted in the Senate three times to remove this provision so that we could seek full accountability for past offenses.  Unfortunately, these attempts were unsuccessful.  But this compromise guarantees a thorough review by the Inspectors General of our national security agencies to determine what took place in the past, and ensures that there will be accountability going forward. By demanding oversight and accountability, a grassroots movement of Americans has helped yield a bill that is far better than the Protect America Act.

It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay.  So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives – and the liberty – of the American people. ”

And what I think of that:

Not good enough.  Senator Obama pledged to filibuster any bill with immunity, and he caved.
How can we possibly claim to be exporting democracy and freedom while trashing them in our own country?
President Bush and his corporate sponsors have been the best recruiting ad bin Laden could have dreamed of, and by voting for the FISA bill Obama has thrown in with them.  This bill was in no way a compromise.
The President swears an oath to uphold the Constitution.  Bush apparently wrote a signing statement disavowing most of his oath, and by this vote Obama shows he would not uphold that oath as President either.”

Enjoy your Independence Day – it may be the last one without warrantless surveillance becoming the law of the land in spite of the Fourth Amendment.  A month ago, we had both major Presidential candidates pledging opposition to warrantless spying and immunity for telecoms who cooperate in doing it.

Now both Barack Obama and John McCain say they support the FISA Amaendments Act already passed by the House.  Obama has reneged on his pledge to filibuster any bill which included telecom immunity.   The Senate vote is scheduled for July 8.

This vote by the House and the support of the two people most likely to be our next President is especially scary in that they don’t even know exactly what they are granting immunity for.

McCain has made his name as being an independent thinker who didn’t bow to party ideas he disagreed with.  For years he has stated his opposition to Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy, yet he now supports making them permanent.

Obama has based his campaign on the theme of change and ranking the people’s interests above big business interests.

I don’t even like to wear flip flops, much less vote for them.  Looks like I’ll be writing in “None of the Above” again this November…