Beth's Everything Blog

Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

Talk about courage: President Obama showed the nation he  has plenty of it when he rejected the application of TransCanada to build a pipeline right through the middle of the United States.

He knew the GOP would howl. He understood the oil companies  like B.P. would cry foul and threaten huge political fall-out (remember it was due to poor regulations that B.P. was allowed to build a slapdash well in the gulf.)

GOP candidate Mitt Romney  said, “It shows a President who once again has put politics ahead of sound policy,” Really? How about instead it showed a President who puts the welfare of the people ahead of politics.

My bet is that the folks in Montana are grateful for President Obama’s courage. Last year, one of the Keystone Exxon/Mobile pipelines broke under the Yellowstone River spilling 40,000 gallons into the water before it could be sealed. (See Discovery Magazine’s Jan/Feb 2012 article) By June of 2011, the first Keystone Pipeline, only a year old, had sprung 12 leaks spilling 2100 gallons of icky crude in my home state of Kansas, and in North Dakota, a Keystone Pipeline fitting broke spewing  a 60 foot geyser of 21,000 gallons of crude oil into the air.

Don’t forget that the proposed pipeline would go right over the Ogallala Aquifer, the shallow underground  water reserve upon which eight states from South Dakota to Texas depend to irrigate their crops.

What convinced President Obama to take this gutsy action? It happened because naturalists have organized, 350.org worked hard and is becoming better known, the Sierra Clubs are doing their job and because thousands of people like you and me stood up said, “Mr. President, You can do this. We’ve got your back.”

Only eight days into the new year, and already we are knee deep in the politics of choosing the next president. It’s a dirty business, full of partial truths, innuendos, and out and out lies. My stomach turns over when I read the vitriolic comments on the internet. It seems few can have reasonable discussions without name calling, even the so-called intellectuals. Very tiresome. Worse still, it’s only the beginning. Somehow we must slog through the muck until November.

At least we can be grateful that the Iowa caucuses are over. In a state of some 3,000,000 people, 91 % of whom are Caucasian, less than 150,000 or maybe 4 % of the population voted, 25% for Mitt and 25% for Rick, who is, politically speaking,  far right of the far right.

And speaking of Iowa, did you read that some farmers are selling their Iowa farmland for as high as $13,000 an acre? Iowa farmers are the state’s new millionaires because corn and soybean prices have gone through the roof. A farmland  bubble or will it last?

Just to start you thinking, here are a few things that have happened under President Obama administration: *Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources, *Vaccination programs have been expanded, *We now have a State Children’s Health Insurance Program that covers health care for 4 million more children,  and *Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research.

On my new Wildlife calendar this year is a picture of a polar bear with her young cub who’s chances of survival are less than 40% and decreasing because the arctic ice is melting faster each year. Polar bears do not hibernate like brown bears so they are forced to swim longer and longer distances to find food.

One last thought. As I write this, the outdoor temperature is 60 degrees. Louie and I jumped at the chance to take advantage of the strange but great walking weather. The park was full of little people. Louie loves those children and you could almost see him smile as he sat patiently letting their tiny, little fingers poke and pet him.

We Americans ‘sort of ‘ got what we wanted. The senate passed (89 to 10) an extension of a cut to the Social Security payroll tax, albeit only a two-month extension, and jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, though only a for a few months.

But . . . Republicans attached a rider speeding up the  process for the construction of Keystone Pipeline XL.

President Obama says it will be okay though because the approval process  for the legislation carries a tight deadline which will ease his ability to stop the project more quickly. (?) What we need to do now is write/call The President and beg that he stop the “dirty, dangerous, oil pipeline proposal [which] would bring corrosive oil from Canada through America’s Heartland. It would be devastating to our air, our water and our climate,” says The National Sierra Club.

In the meantime, grab your warm coat and your binoculars and join 60,000 other Americans in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. It’s fun and you might just be able to save the birds, our habitat and humanity. Go to Count Date Search to find out a place closest to you.

According to the National Audubon Society, the count takes place within “Count Circles,” which focus on specific geographical areas. Each circle is led by a Count Compiler. Therefore, if you are a beginning birder, you will be able to join a group that includes at least one experienced birdwatcher. In addition, if your home is within the boundaries of a Count Circle, then you can stay home and report the birds that visit your feeder once you have arranged to do so with the Count Compiler. There is a $5 fee to participate in the CBC for all field participants aged 19 or older. Please see our frequently asked questions to learn more. If you have never been on a CBC before your first step is to locate and contact your local Count Compiler to find out how you can volunteer.

Chickadees in decline

Is it right for one man to have so much power in the United States that he can control elections? We seem to have such a man in Grover Norquist. He is a 55 year old Harvard graduate who worked for Ronald Reagan and originated something called, “The Pledge.” Politicians  who take The Pledge promise that they will never, under any circumstances, vote to raise taxes on anyone. Two hundred and seventy nine (279)Republicans, all sitting members of congress,  have taken this pledge.

Norquist heads up an organization called Americans for Tax Reform, a groups whose ‘not for profit’ status makes it possible for them to conceal their funding sources.

So what is it that gives Grover Norquist and his group so much power? If you are a politician running for office and you violate your pledge, he and his wealthy backers will end your career by financially supporting your opponent and/or by causing voter retaliation of your constituents.

Consider that Mr. Norquist has lobbied Congress for communication laws  and The Keystone Pipeline which would transport crude oil with all its inherent dangers,  from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada through the center of the United States to the Gulf of Texas. Both communications and oil are very powerful and wealthy  interest groups.

I find it hard to envision an America without Social Security, Medicare, welfare assistance, and unemployment assistance. So does Alan Simpson, a former Republican Senator and co-chair of The Deficit  Commission which failed to decrease our national deficit by even one cent.

Senator Simpson has been quoted as saying our country is in such dire circumstances that taxes are inevitable.  He went on to say, “It’s hard to imagine what more House Republicans could learn from conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist after they’ve already embraced his hyper-partisanship and his protection of tax breaks for Big Oil and billionaires, at the expense of Medicare and causing a payroll tax increase.”

Simpson (18 years a United States Senator from Wyoming) stated that Grover Norquist advocates “no taxes under any situation even if the country goes to Hell.”

Let’s be clear. I’m not advocating blindly raising taxes but it is hard to justify irresponsible tax breaks for the big oil companies and the mega-rich. Maybe it’s time for congress to quit acting like a bunch of clickish, bratty high school kids. Get to know one another. Have drinks and dinner together. Seek to form friendships across party lines. Do what we thought we elected you to do. WORK THIS OUT!

Hang on to your hats, folks. The legal fight of the century is about to begin.

As early as March of next year, the Supreme Court will hear arguments as to the legality of the part of the Affordable Care Act which requires all individuals to buy health insurance.  Congress voted for the law. Three state courts have already upheld it but on August 12, 2011, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal in Atlanta struck down the individual insurance mandate which requires everyone to buy health insurance, as beyond Congress’ constitutional authority under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

This is what Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the constitution says: The Congress shall have Power To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.

Section 1501 of the Health Bill requires that “all U.S. citizens, with certain exceptions, maintain a minimum level of health insurance coverage for each month beginning in 2014. The failure to comply with Section 1501, results in a penalty reflected in the person’s annual federal tax return.”

While the 11th. Circuit Court voted against this one requirement, it upheld the rest of the health care law which includes one million more young Americans having health insurance, inability of insurance companies to turn away people with  pre-existing conditions or charging them more, and Medicaid expansion which will include health care for 16 million more people.

Here’s what the administration says: 1. The act not only requires everyone to buy health insurance but that insurance companies must make it affordable to everyone even if they have a pre-existing condition. 2.The law is clearly and absolutely constitutional.

The opposition argues: 1.That congress has usurped the power of the states. 2. That congress lacks the power to compel people to buy health insurance. 3. That the law is unconstitutional.

The Court has set aside an unprecedented 5 1/2 hours to hear arguments and here’s why. There are other issues they will be asked to decide: Whether the entire law must fail because its centerpiece — the individual mandate — is unconstitutional. Whether states can be forced by the federal government to expand their share of Medicaid costs and administration, with the risk of losing that funding if they refuse. Whether state employees can receive a federally mandated level of health insurance coverage.

The Health-Care Law is unquestionably President Obama’s signature legislative achievement.

On the other hand, the decision of the nine, appointed for life justices, could define Chief Justice John Robert’s court.

The overriding question is, who really runs the country, Congress or The Supreme Court?