The work of some great men who envisioned a new form of government that represented all the people. It begins with a preamble.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
This idea won’t become law but it should.
By: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Monday, September 8, 2014
The founders of our country declared their independence from what they viewed as a tyrannical aristocracy in England. More than two centuries later, today’s tyrannical aristocracy is no longer a foreign power. It’s an American billionaire class which has unprecedented economic and political influence over all of our lives.
Unless we reduce skyrocketing wealth and income inequality, unless we end the ability of the super-rich to buy elections, the United States will be well on its way toward becoming an oligarchic form of society where almost all power rests with the billionaire class.
In the year 2014, the U.S. has by far the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth. This inequality is worse than at any time in our country’s history since 1928. Today, the top 1 percent owns about 37 percent of the total wealth in this country. The bottom 60 percent owns only 1.7 percent of our nation’s wealth.
At a time median family income is $5,000 less than it was in 1999, the net worth of the top 400 billionaires in this country has doubled over the past decade. The top 1 percent now owns more wealth than the bottom 90 percent of Americans and one family, the Walton family of Wal-Mart, owns more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of Americans.
In terms of income, the top 1 percent earns more than the bottom 50 percent. Since the Great Recession of 2008, 95 percent of all income gains in the U.S. have gone to the top 1 percent. While the rich have become even richer, more Americans are living in poverty than at any time in our nation’s history. Today, half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty – 22 percent – than any major country on earth.
More than a century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt recognized the danger of massive wealth and income inequality and what it meant to the economic and political well-being of the country. In addition to busting up the big trusts of his time, he fought for the creation of a progressive estate tax to reduce the enormous concentration of wealth that existed during the Gilded Age.
“The absence of effective state, and, especially, national, restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power,” the Republican president said. “The really big fortune, the swollen fortune, by the mere fact of its size acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind as well as in degree from what is passed by men of relatively small means. Therefore, I believe in … a graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion and increasing rapidly in amount with the size of the estate.”
Roosevelt spoke those words on Aug. 31, 1910. They are even more relevant today.
A progressive estate tax on multi-millionaires and billionaires is the fairest way to reduce wealth inequality, lower our $17 trillion national debt and raise the resources we need for investments in infrastructure, education and other neglected national priorities.
I will shortly introduce legislation that will:
• Call for a progressive estate tax rate structure so that the super wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. The tax rate for the value of an estate above $3.5 million and below $10 million would be 40 percent. The tax rate on the value of estates above $10 million and below $50 million would be 50 percent, and the tax rate on the value of estates above $50 million would be 55 percent.
• Include a billionaire’s surtax of 10 percent. This surtax on the value of estates worth more than $1 billion would currently apply to fewer than 500 of the wealthiest families in America worth more than $2 trillion.
• Close estate tax loopholes that have allowed the wealthy to avoid billions in estate taxes. Some of the wealthiest Americans in this country have exploited loopholes in the tax code to avoid paying an estimated $100 billion in estate taxes since 2000. My bill would close those loopholes.
• Exempt the first $3.5 million of an estate from federal taxation ($7 million for couples), the same exemption that existed in 2009. Under this legislation, 99.75 percent of Americans would not pay a penny in estate taxes.
This legislation would exempt more than 99.7 percent of Americans from paying any estate tax while ensuring that the wealthiest Americans in our country pay their fair share.
I agree with former Labor Secretary Robert Reich who wrote, in support of this legislation, that America “is creating an aristocracy of wealth populated by heirs who don’t have to work for a living yet have great influence over how the nation’s productive assets are deployed.” He is right in calling the proposal that I’ve laid out “a welcome step toward reversing this trend.” Let’s fight together to see that it is implemented.
Americans pride themselves in the fact that we are a caring and considerate people who try to bring our civilized ways to the rest of the world. We are particularly insistent on sustaining our freedom to defend everyone’s rights as defined in the first ten amendments to the constitution. Freedom of religion, freedom of press, freedom to bear arms, and freedom to hold demonstrations to express our views seem to be the most important.
In pursuing those freedoms we have also become a violent society. We have deteriorated to calling people names. After all, it’s a freedom. Using the F word is now so common place that few pay any attention. Weapon use has become so pervasive that it is estimated that there is one weapon for every person in the nation.
“Stand your ground” laws have enabled killers to avoid penalties for their actions. Is it any wonder that the police fear approaching a car that has been stopped for speeding or running a red light? After all the driver may have a weapon he might use against the officer.
Killing by civilians or police has also become so common place that few Americans are paying attention. Many have forgotten the Trayvon Martin killing. The week’s news is all about Michael Brown. It’s not the only violent item in the news. A California CHP officer was videotaped beating a homeless woman. Your neighborhood also has had its violent acts this past week.
The police have resorted to more weapons and apparel that makes them look like soldiers as they patrol the streets with vehicles that look like tanks in a war zone. Wait a minute, they are excess vehicles from war zones.
Violence has become our stock in trade. To keep track of my adult children and wife I have tracking devices on their smart phones. It’s not to watch their every move but to know that they are safe.
Politicians keep telling me this is a great country. What is so great having to fear for my life?
Read my addendum under comments posted on 8-22-2014.
On NPR this past Thursday there was a history professor talking about the fact that Missouri was a slave state and that has impacted the behavior of Whites ever since. I couldn’t believe what the man was saying. His justification of the behavior of White police in Ferguson, Missouri.
The governor of Missouri appeared on most of the Sunday morning TV talk shows. He wasn’t prepared to answer any questions. The word Obfuscation comes to mind. Following is the transcript from Meet the Press of his interview by Andrea Mitchell.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
I’m joined now by the governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon. Governor, thank you very much for being with us. Tell me, why has a full week elapsed, and we still do not know anything? The public wants answers to what happened between Michael Brown and the white officer who shot and killed him?
GOVERNOR JAY NIXON:
Well, it’s been a challenge week with the horrific death of Michael Brown, shot down in the streets of his home town and the appropriate energy and acts that everyone’s had around there. I think with the dual investigations going on right now with the justice department and with the local prosecutor, and I’m especially appreciative.
After talking to General Holder, I appreciated them sending in 40 additional F.B.I. agents to make sure that they’re moving to get a thorough investigation, to get justice here. And I appreciate their response and that energy to make sure that they get this right.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
But why is it taking so long? And you also have a county prosecutor who many say has a conflict of interest here, because he said that he disagrees strongly with your decisions in bringing the county police. He called it shameful, saying that that was in fact an illegal decision. So how is he the person that would be trusted by this very angry and eventful community to come with answers that are credible?
GOVERNOR JAY NIXON:
Well, he’s a seasoned prosecutor that has an opportunity to step up here and do his job. And also though, when you see a dual investigation going on, and the resources of the Justice Department, an F.B.I. agent’s out working in the community yet again yesterday, 40 additional officers, I think that having those dual investigations will help guarantee that this gets done in a timely fashion. That it’s done thoroughly, and that it gets justice.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Isn’t it more important to get answers, correct answers, and answers to the public? What of the timely investigation? What is taking so long about telling the people what happened to Michael Brown?
GOVERNOR JAY NIXON:
It’s been a week, and it’s a been a very long week. And late in the week, when we saw the additional militarization of the police response there and the security side, I had to take an unprecedented action, which was to replace and bring in our highway patrol to lead that. I think that that has made a big difference. You saw that first night, very much peace.
Second night, until late in night, there was peace. And last night, I think the vast majority of local citizens, the local elected officials and others called on me to put a curfew in place, so there’ll be guaranteed peace late last night. And of the thousands of protesters and the community members out there, I think they made a difference. In order to get justice, we need peace. Those are both intertwined here. And we look forward to keeping the peace and getting justice.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Well, governor, there was peace. There was peace on Thursday night after you appointed the county police to come in and take over. The state police, rather, their takeover from the county. But then the local police chief who released that video, what justifies releasing the video about the convenience store, while there’s still no details about what happened with the shooting itself? That is what caused everything to erupt again on Friday night and eventually led to the curfew having to be imposed.
GOVERNOR JAY NIXON:
Yeah, we and our security team and the highway patrol did not know that was going to be released. I don’t think the attorney general knew that. And quite frankly, we disagree deeply I think for two reasons. Number one, to attempt to in essence disparage the character of this victim, in the middle of a process like this is not right. It’s just not right. And secondarily, it did put the community and quite frankly the region and the nation on alert again. These are old wounds. These are deep wounds in these communities. And that action was not helpful.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Well, should the police chiefs, Chief Jackson then be fired or have to step down?
GOVERNOR JAY NIXON:
We’ve moved the highway patrol in to manage security. The Justice Department and the detectives in Saint Louis are doing the investigation. So he–
(OVERTALK)
ANDREA MITCHELL:
But he’s still, with all due respect governor, he’s still doing things, like releasing that video, without even reporting to the state police captain, Captain Johnson, who’s supposed to be in charge.
GOVERNOR JAY NIXON:
Yeah. Everyone can rest well assured that we’ve had very serious discussions about that action and how much we felt that it was not the right way to handle the victim’s family, which I had a chance to speak with. They were deeply troubled. And when you see your son gunned down in the street and then you see a police chief begin an attempt to attack his character.
That’s just not the way to operate. And we’ve made that clear to everyone. And our hope and expectation is that now that our folks are in charge of security, and we have these dual investigations going on, that, that bump is behind us, hopefully.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Well, governor–
GOVERNOR JAY NIXON:
But the wounds are very real.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Well, governor, I know that when you say that you were doing a lot of things behind the scenes, but why did it take you till Friday to get to Ferguson, what they call ground zero? And when did you first hear from the president about all this?
GOVERNOR JAY NIXON:
I’ve been involved all week. I’ve been having meetings and phone calls and meeting with local officials, been here a number of times. And once again, yesterday in the morning conference call with local officials have asked me to put a curfew in place, to make sure that we have safety as well as peace, so that this community could be safe.
So we’ve been here all week. I’ve been here most of the days. And I talked to the president in the middle part of the week. I talked to General Holder at some length later in the week, and I appreciate deeply, and actually that conversation, General Holder and the F.B.I. sending 40 additional F.B.I. officers in to make sure they’re getting a thorough but timely investigation here. And I think that’s helping.
ANDREA MITCHELL:
Thank you so much, Governor Nixon, from Missouri. While the events in Ferguson this week have certainly shocked the nation, focusing renewed attention on the nation’s disparity that still exists in our justice system. Our Kevin Tibbles takes a closer look at that situation.
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
Here are short biographies of all 56 signers of the Declaration. The first, largest, and most famous signature is that of John Hancock. Most were well educated. All were well off.
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
What will America look like if religious rights trump all other rights?
We now have three private enterprises contending that the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) is prohibiting the exercise of their religion. They are required by the ACA to provide birth control services to their employees and that is contrary to their religious beliefs. The lead challenger in the case is the Hobby Lobby corporation, a chain of 500 arts and crafts stores that has 13,000 employees. The company is privately owned meaning no one can buy shares in the business. Forbes magazine reports “Obama Administration Suffers A Drubbing In Hobby Lobby Arguments.”
The United States constitution first amendment starts with these words, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”
The arguments by the Hobby Lobby team and the government are contentious. We won’t know the Supreme Court decision for many months.
My problem is that many laws that have existed for generations could be opposed on religious grounds. Examples are Social Security taxes, welfare programs, when should the USA go to war, etc. In other words does every religious group have the right to decide what it considers acceptable behavior and participation in every passed law? Or to put this another way do religions have he right to nullify laws?
As explained in Wikipedia: Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972), is the case in which the United States Supreme Court found that Amish children could not be placed under compulsory education past 8th grade. The parents’ fundamental right to freedom of religion outweighed the state’s interest in educating its children. The case is often cited as a basis for parents’ right to educate their children outside of traditional private or public schools.
Jews want to keep their neighborhoods in the NYC metropolitan area and upstate New York exclusively for them. Using the Hobby Lobby contention that equal housing laws deny them right to practice their religion as dictated by religious beliefs they too would be allowed to keep their communities segregated.
Many religions permit discrimination against people of other faiths. Consequently refusal to serve gays, blacks, or any other group could be viewed as their religious right.
The consequence of a decision favoring the plaintiffs is that many of our civil laws would be deemed unenforceable. This nation would be no freer of religious tyranny than Muslim countries that place religious (Sharia) law above all other laws.
If the plaintiffs in this case prevail then the United States will cease to exist as a country that treats all people of all races, colors, and creeds equal rights. Religious law will prevail.
This translates to “Goodbye America.”
Do you remember the biblical story of the Jews who traveled from Cannan to Egypt? The Egyptians enslaved the Jews. There is a similarity in that story to the large numbers of Mexicans who have entered the United States. Americans believe that slavery is immoral. However, many Americans have no problem treating the illegal aliens as second class citizens even if they are given legal residency. Thus there has been little progress in resolving the illegal alien issue over the past decade.
I started writing about illegal (undocumented) aliens in the USA in November 2007. Since then no new legislation has been enacted. It was a hot topic then and still is today. When Hillary Clinton was running for president she opposed even the issuance of driver’s licenses to those here illegally.
Say what you want but we really want those people in the United States. They do so many of the jobs we prefer not to do. From cleaning toilets to making beds to working in food processing facilities, we simply do not want to perform those functions and hope to send our children to college so they too can avoid those menial tasks.
The GOP is standing in the way of creating even a path to second class residency. The Los Angeles Times had an on line article about licensing illegal alien drivers that included the fact that “The applicants may include people from rural villages who never obtained birth certificates as well as day laborers with no fixed address to prove California residency.”
I understand the feelings and fears of those who oppose any legal documentation for those entering the country illegally. They are here. They do the jobs we don’t want to do. As I asked in November 2007, How many of us are prepared for an uprising of the down trodden?
I now say it again, I Don’t Like Gay People. Apparently it needs repeating. My reason remains the same. Many of them feel the need to announce their sexual preferences openly and repeatedly. The most obvious display is their participation in gay or LGBT parades.
On an individual basis these people are mostly nice and well behaved. I have no reason to ask any one their sexual preference. I really don’t care. Their marriage will not effect my marriage one iota.
The question is why should anyone care? The answer is religious belief. Most religions frown on homosexuality. At least the orthodox do.
That view has provided the religious right with another campaign issue. Thus Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has another opportunity to campaign against Democrats and moderate Republicans. Perhaps because he realizes a legal challenge could soon strike down his state’s ban on marriage equality and that Republicans are generally losing the battle over equal marriage, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has introduced a bill “defending” states’ right to regulate marriage.
Is this a case of “state’s rights” or does he have a real opposition to gay marriage? Rawstory.com “Citing states’ rights, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has introduced an anti-gay marriage bill.” Tea Party basic view is reduce the power of the federal government. That leads to opposing all federal legislation. That would include far a field topics from gay marriage to drought aid.
The NRA is the vocal defender of the second amendment. That is OK with me. Their reticence to insist on prosecution of those who commit murder with guns is their undoing.
The latest is the retired policeman in Florida who killed another person in a theater because that man was texting on his smartphone. The former Tampa police captain has been jailed since he fatally shot the man and was denied bond on Friday.
America’s problem with guns is really an issue of crime. What we really need is swift justice!
There should be no delays in conducting trials. That too is in the constitution. The Speedy Trial Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy that right. The Clause protects the defendant from delay between the presentation of the indictment or similar charging instrument and the beginning of trial. It also ensures speedy justice to those who are injured.
Do a crime, get jail time. If we all really want justice for everyone, including the NRA, we should be pursuing criminals to mete out swift justice.
Sadly we have a slow moving court system that delays verdicts and the guilty are mildly punished. It’s a system that has sympathy for the criminals.
A man went to the movies with his wife. He sent a text message to the baby sitter. Now he is dead. Will the retired policeman be punished for murder? Like George Zimmerman will he be found innocent? This is not a Black and White confrontation. In a country where life is cheap and “stand your ground” laws are prominent I won’t be surprised if the killer is found innocent.
Has the War on Drugs been successful?
February 5, 2104 update: AP sources: Hoffman probe tip leads to 4 arrests/ This is society’s answer to drug addiction. http://my.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20140205/fde03f04-8509-4445-854d-892b43efc84a
Federal: On Dec. 31, 2012, there were 196,574 sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction. Of these, 99,426 were serving time for drug offenses
State: On Dec. 31, 2011, there were 1,341,797 sentenced prisoners under state jurisdiction. Of these, 222,738 were serving time for drug offenses, of whom 55,013 were merely convicted for possession.
See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Prisons_and_Drugs#sthash.Ru4trv9a.dpuf
Amount spent annually in the U.S. on the war on drugs: More than $51 Billion
Number of people arrested in 2012 in the U.S. on nonviolent drug charges: 1.55 million
Number of people arrested for a marijuana law violation in 2012: 749,825
Number of Americans incarcerated in 2011 in federal, state and local prisons and jails: 2,266,800 or 1 in every 99.1 adults, the highest incarceration rate in the world
See more at: http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics
The Los Angeles Times reports that more than 660,000 people used heroin in 2012. That is an increase of almost 100% since 2007. Usage has spread to the suburbs and is no longer an inner city problem.
Americans have not learned from history. The 18th amndment to the constitution banned manufacture and sale of alcohol in 1920. It was rescinded by the 21st amendment on December 5, 1933. During that period gangs prevailed in the big cities. The name Al Capone is still well-known.
The War on Drugs is a failure!
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