Allen Thompson, deputy president of the National Teachers Union (Natu), was last week reported as saying “there will no Matric exams written this year in South Africa. We have decided to use the Matric exams as a lever if the government does not come forward with a better offer.”

Some schools included propagandistic letters from trade unions in notices sent to parents and guardians on Friday, informing them about the strike and leaving it up to them to decide if they want to send their children to school today. Others schools encouraged pupils to stay at home.

Judged against the background of Thompson’s threat, it strikes as cynical that some of the trade unions in their contribution to these notices claim that they refrained from using the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup as a lever in their negotiations with the government. These claims are also made apparently without any sense of irony that teachers, unlike other workers, could follow the World Cup at their leisure, courtesy of an extended winter school holiday.

Pupils and their parents and guardians were yesterday instructed by the national and provincial Education departments that they should attend school today, even if there was no supervision available. They were expected to keep themselves occupied with all sorts of self-teaching activities, including completing newspaper crossword puzzles.

Safety concerns

In light of regular reports about discipline problems at many schools, the approach by the Education departments has left many parents uneasy and even concerned for the safety and well-being of their children.

There was further cause for concern that things may turn ugly at some schools with the National Professional Teacher’s Organisation of South Africa’s (Naptosa’s) president Ezrah Ramasehla urging his members to consider various options, including sit-ins and pickets at school. Such action ran the risk of confrontation between parents – many of whom are unemployed or find it difficult to make ends meet themselves – and teachers.

In an apparent acknowledgment of the dangers involved, it was reported that among others the police would be on standby.

The strike comes at a most inopportune time – at the end of a long weekend, barely three weeks after the extended World Cup holiday, when schools are not fully back in rhythm and little more than two months before Matrics have to begin their all-important final exam.

Synchronizing negotiations and budget

The present unsavoury situation of the teachers’ strike, being but a part of wider public service labour action, graphically illustrates the problems presented by the fact that the negotiation process and the government’s budgeting processes are completely out of kilter with one another. At least on that front there may be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

Announcing the government’s “final” salary offer on Thursday last week, Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi said it would provide “a bridge” to a more far-reaching negotiation process that would be synchronized with the State’s Budget cycle.

The latest would cost more than the R23 billion that had been budgeted for salary increases for the period, but Baloyi refused to be drawn on the new cost, saying only that the government would need to reprioritise other expenditure.

He said there was a need to bring the present negotiations to an urgent close, as it would be necessary to open the next round before November if there were to be any chance of aligning the bargaining processes with the finalisation of the Budget for 2011/12.

Baloyi committed to a range of historical challenges being addressed during this next round, including:

* A review of government remuneration policy;
* The synchronization of salary negotiations with the Budget cycle;
* A return to April as the implementation month for salary adjustments;
* The building of sustainable negotiation capacity;
* The introduction of a multi-term focus in salary negotiations; and
* Further dialogue on housing support for public servants.

“We are willing to address the outstanding issues, including housing, in the second phase,” he said during a briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

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The first six months of the current year, Arroyo’s administration spent more than what it has collected in terms of revenue resulting to an increased deficit to P196.7B. Of the targeted revenue collection, the shortage was P23.8 B. The expenditure exceeded by P45.1B.

The national budget for 2010 is 1.54 trillion pesos. What remains in the budget appropriated for 2010 is barely 100 billion pesos which is only 6.5% of the total budget. He said that this is the only figure left for the next six months of his administration.

Where did the funds go? He asked. President Noynoy discussed that the previous administration funded P200 M for Calamity Fund. While the fund is too small, and the typoon and flood season have just started, 70% or 1.4 billion pesos has already been spent.

The budget allotment for Pampanga province of P108M, P105 went to only one district. The fund was released during the month of election, seven months after the typhoons Ondoy and Peping hit the country. Whereas the Province of Pangasinan that was directly hit by typhoon Peping only received P5M for the damaged caused not by Peping but by typhoon Cosme which occurred in 2008.

Further, he added that the fund has been exhausted for the damaged caused from last year’s typhoons. “What will happen if typhoons hit the country tomorrow? The future will suffer for the excesses of the past,” he added.

President Noynoy went further, same thing happened to the funds in MWSS, another government agency (Manila Waterworks Sewerage System). Very recently, people were lined just to get water. In spite of this, the “good” leaders of MWSS rewarded themselves when in fact their retired employees have not received their retirement fees yet.

In 2009, the total payroll of MWSS was P51.4M. But this is not the only benefit; there were additional allowances and benefits that reached up to P160.1M. In other words, the leaders received P211.5M last year, out of which only 24% represents the salary, 76% were additional benefits which they only approved.

An ordinary worker receives 13th month pay plus cash gifts only. At MWSS, it reached to an equivalent of more than 30th month pay including all the bonuses and allowances they got.

Worst even is the anomaly on the earnings of the Board of Trustees. He said: “Let us take a look at the allowances they are receiving:

A mere seat in the Board of Trustees at Board Committee meeting, one is entitled to receive P14, 000 already. It could reach P98, 000 monthly aside from the yearly grocery incentive of P80, 000. The benefits do not end there; there is a mid-year bonus, productivity bonus, anniversary bonus, year-end bonus and financial assistance with Christmas bonus and additional Christmas package. Each of these is worth P98, 000.

The sum total will reach P2.5 M annually for every member of the Board aside from free luxury car, technical assistance and loan accommodation. All these they accorded to themselves despite their retirees have not received their pensions yet.

La Mesa Watershed did not escape their greediness, instead of planting trees around the area for steady supply of water; houses were built for the top ranking officials of the said agency.”

President Noynoy said that “they will not eventually be ousted from office because they belong to the Midnight Appointees of former President Gloria Arroyo.” However, he will have to make investigation regarding this issue and “If they still possess even a little of self-worth, they should voluntarily resign from office,” the President added.

Regarding the infrastructure program of the government, DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) pointed out 246 priority safety projects that will be funded by the Motor Vehicle Users charge. It will need a budget appropriation of P425M.

What were funded were 28 projects only. 218 projects were not only considered but were replaced with 70 projects not within the plans. The requested budget of P425M went up to P480M for the projects which benefitted only few beneficiaries. The projects were useless and not well-deliberated upon, they just came out from nowhere.

Five days before the end of Arroyo’s term as President, she ordered the release of P3.5 B for the rehabilitation of those affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. The amount was supposed to be for 86 projects. President said that 18 of these projects worth P981M were discovered by his men and barred because it was found that even before the release of the Special Allotment Release Order, contracts have already been executed.

President Noynoy also discussed what had happened in NAPOCOR (National Power Corporation). From 2001 to 2004, the government under Gloria Arroyo forced the said agency to sell power supply at a loss to avoid an alleged high price for consumers but he added that the real reason was to raise funds for the forthcoming election then.

Because of this, in 2004, the debt of NAPOCOR reached its maximum limit that forced the national government to shoulder the P200B debt. The people were made to believe that they were benefited by the move however; it is the consumer that shoulders the burden of paying the said debt. The decision was founded on wrong politics and not in accordance with the people’s needs.

Same thing happened at MRT (Metro Rail Transit), he further discussed. The operator was forced to maintain low transportation fare resulting to losses and eventual purchase of MRT by Land Bank and Development Bank of the Philippines. With the government’s failure to uphold the guarantee given to the operator that they can recover the cost, people money was switched over for a losing business.

Regarding the funds of NFA (National Food Authority), in 2004, 117,000 metric tons was the shortage in rice supply of the Philippines. The NFA bought 900,000 metric tons. However you compute it, still the over importation was seven times more than the shortage. In 2007, 589,000 metric tons was the supply shortage, they bought 1.827 million metric tons. Again, there was excessive importation.

The sad part is that the rice were made to rot in warehouses. This also happened in 2008 when people were lining up for hours under the scorching sun just to buy a kilo or two of NFA rice.

“Is this not a crime to allow the rice to rot despite the reality that 4M Filipinos are deprived of three-square meals a day?” he asked.

The disgusting result is NFA’s debt reached P171.6B this May. The wastage could have funded the following:

1. Judiciary budget of P12.7B for 2010.

2. Conditional Transfers for 2011 of P29.6B

3. Classrooms at P130B

“These kind of governmental processes are exceptionally displeasing,” remarked the President, summing up the anomalies that he and his men brought to light during his first State of the Nation Address.

As he continued his speech, he further reiterated that his leadership marks the end of extravagance and unbeneficial use of government funds. Out of keeping projects will be bumped off and implement a zero-based approach on the budget. By next month they will come up with a budget that acknowledges real problems and focuses on the possible rightful solutions.

“These are but a few of the uncovered problems facing the nation. Here are some of the steps that are being considered”, he further hashed out.

There was a case of an owner of a pawnshop who could purchase a car worth P26M, who can afford to buy a Lamborghini but cannot however pay taxes. The appropriate charges were already filed in court. Every week, cases are being filed against smugglers and tax evaders.

For extralegal killings, 50% are up for resolutions. The other half will be earnestly pursued and that they will not rest until justice has been attained. All perpetrators of injustices have to be punished.

The Truth Commission to be headed by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide who has recently finished his term in the International Court of Justice has been created. This commission will be responsible to uncover the truth of the alleged anomalies that occurred during the past seven years. Within the week, President Noynoy will sign the very first order creating the Truth Commission.

If the answer to injustices is judgment of conviction, the answer to budget deficit is modern and creative ways to resolve the perennial problems. We have great deal of indigences, from education, infrastructure, health, military and police, etc. The budget is not enough to respond to all these demands, he further discussed.

He continued saying, “no matter how great is the burden to respond to these problems, I am inspired because many are showing interest for change and trust in the Philippines.”

The solution will be: Public-Private Partnerships. Even if there is no contract yet being executed, he added, he can say that this is effective and will be fruitful. There are already interested parties to construct an expressway from Manila, that will pass through Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya to the end of Cagayan Valley without the government spending even a peso, he said.

According to him, in the military service, we have 36,000 nautical miles but, we only have 30 ships that were acquired during the time of MacArthur. There was a proposition to rent the headquarters of Navy in Roxas Boulevard and Naval Station in Fort Bonifacio.

The proponent will shoulder the cost of transferring the Navy Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo and immediately give the government USD100M aside from an additional share in the earnings of the businesses that will be integrated at the rented area. In short, the government will earn without spending.

There are other offers from local as well as foreign businesses to help augment the needs of the people.

From these public-private partnerships, the economy will flourish and every Filipino will be benefited and can provide aid to other sectors. To help promote tourism, infrastructure can be constructed. In agriculture, grains terminals, refrigeration facilities will also be constructed with good road networks and post-harvest facilities.

With the help of the private sector, the food supply chain can be in order, so instead of importing, we can dream of supplying food to the international market. If the suggested railway system is realized, prices of goods will go down, much cheaper, speedier, more convenient and more so, travelers can avoid “Kotong” cops and extortion from rebel groups.

Just a reminder, he said:”Foremost in our platform is the creation of more jobs and jobs come from a growing industry. Industry will only flourish if we can only make it clean, speedier and convenient in the processing for those who wanted to put up businesses.

He promised to speed up the process of projects under the Build-Operate-Transfer. With the help of the sectors of government and the citizens, the processing period will be reduced to six months when before, it takes years if not a decade.

He inspired the people that the time has come when we need not choose between security and future of our children. Once the public-private ownership is realized, it can fund social services in accordance with the platform of government, particularly in education from the 10 years to the global standard of 12 years.

Further he said that the future is good. He will push for the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, where a bill will not be passed not until the source of funding is identified. There were bills that have been passed into law but due to insufficiency of budget allotment, they were not implemented.

He further reiterated that we should not allow another NBN-ZTE scandal. He asked help from the legislators to help amend the low on procurement. And the need for an Anti-Trust Law that will provide opportunity to small and medium scale enterprises to participate in the growth of the economy.

Also, he asked for the passage of the Whistleblower’s Bill to prevent fear and silence of material witnesses and strengthened the Witness Protection Program.

Regarding the situation in Mindanao, President Noynoy said his views on the issue remain unchanged, that the mistakes of the past must not be committed again and be aware that the past peace processes is undoubtedly tinted with political color and not solely for public interest and welfare.

About the CPP-NPA-NDF he asked: “Are you ready to lay concrete suggestion instead of criticisms?” “If peace is all you want, are you ready to an extensive cease fire? “Let us talk. It is hard to talk when the air is filled with gun powders. I am calling on you; let us not allow putting to waste this very good opportunity to meet under the same political desire, he added.

In addition, he said, peace and order is the foundation of progress. Continuous fighting is continuously tying us to poverty. Let us realize that this is the time to sacrifice and this sacrifice will serve as our investment for our future. Associated with our rights and freedom is our duty to our people and country.

In closing, he ask the media to watch their own line to upheld the principle of their profession, fair and truthful reporting. He also asked the people to watch at their elected officials and move from criticizing to participating in the affairs of the government and be a part of the solution.

He summated that it is God and the people that brought him to where he now stands. The mandate is cogent evidence that the people are still hoping for a change. “The situation is really different. Now is to dream again. Let us proceed to the realization of our dreams,” he closes.

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The notion of the Bush tax cuts was the idea of trickle down economics. By giving the wealthy bigger chunks of their income, the government believed they would give them more capital to launch businesses. These investments would then spur the creation of new jobs, helping the economy grow. In a country that prides the small businesses, this is a big benefit as more wealthy means more business creation.

However, the trouble is, this tax doesn’t quite work with the effectiveness you would think. As recent news stories have shown that the Fortune 500 have over one trillion dollars in reserves, the concern is not a lack of funds, instead, it is a lack of interested purchasers. Demand is low, so is a reduced tax on the wealthy going to increase demand?

Not likely. When you study the marginal propensity to consume (or the percent of every dollar you earn which you spend), the wealthier you get the less likely you are to spend money. Think, if a person has millions of dollars, they are in no rush to spend that extra money. However, if you are living paycheck to paycheck as the poorer people are, as soon as you give them money, it will go straight into the economy, thereby increasing businesses demand.

As such, increasing demand for businesses is more about giving money to the lower classes. Lack of funds is not stopping businesses from growing, and so giving them better tax cuts will not help the economy.

Martin Fister is an active product blogger, writing for web sites including nook vs kindle and haynes furniture. In his spare time, Martin also pursues his interests in the music industry as a journalist.

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It is run under a one-party rule, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). No real challenge to the LDP was able to sustain itself despite the decrease in its popularity since the economic inactivity in l990s and corruption scandals.

For decades, Japan has not experience a change in political administration. Japan is a democracy without a competition. One may wonder how this could be possible when democracy is founded on competition. A Tokyo-based political analyst, Minoru Morita said that for a long period of time, the major media have been serving at the LDP’s discretion. And that is one of the secrets of its long-term rule.

The condition of the Japanese press seems to be, at first sight, analog to that established in the West. There are major daily newspapers with huge bulk of people reading at least one newspaper every day. The degree of reporting is adept. Dissemination of news is vigorous not only through newspapers but also the television and the internet.

There are only five national newspaper which accounts for half of the country’s total circulation, Asahi Shim bun, the Mainichi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Sankei Shimbun and the Yomiuri Shimbun.

A scrutiny of the contents, however, reveals a uniformity of editorial style among these newspapers. It is hard if not impossible to characterize one or another as representing a specific political attitude as one can find in New York Times’ liberal standpoint and in conservative editorial page of Wall Street Journal.

When compared with the press in other leading industrial countries in the world, Japan is so remarkably different in media. This is primarily due to the deluging control of the Liberal Democratic Party over the mainstream media with the Kisha clubs system as its mouthpiece.

The first three decades of the 20th century, the press was controlled through self-censorship. Obnoxious events, no matter how significant received no attention if they could adversely affect the interest of the ruling party. The development of communist party was also a forbidden subject.

Access to information of Japan’s mainstream media is under the monopoly of the ill-refute Kisha (reporters) club systems. These clubs are attached to the government’s major institutions including the police. Foreign press, freelance journalists and magazines find it difficult to get access to important information. However, there were significant scandals uncovered by journalists working outside the system despite difficulties.

There was a sharp contrast between the reports of the outside press and those of the major newspapers. The major newspapers reported differently from those covered and reported by Japanese magazines. The major papers allowed themselves to be manipulated by the ruling LDP.

Japanese press does not lead but follow. This is one of the most serious issues in Japanese journalism – failure to keep those in power accountable. They cover the scandal only after it has already been uncovered.

Japan’s press system lacks independence. Its manipulation of the press does not only weaken democracy but also subverts press freedom globally.

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And then we had the coalition, which almost immediately began to show us a completely different way to govern. We have long talked about the destructive effect of target setting in any business or administration and one of the first things we heard was that the police forces have been told to ignore their old performance targets and instead, get on with policing the nation.

We now hear that targets in the National Health Service are also being dismantled and expect very shortly to hear that teachers have been told to stop filling in forms and get on with educating our children. How bonkers is that system? We have to close our schools to allow teachers to fill in the paperwork to prove how well they are educating our children.

The regional development boards which have cost the taxpayer millions and never had any effect except to use that money to prove that they too were being effective, are also being dismantled. We came across a document called “The LGA (Local Government) Briefing – Summary of Coalition Agreement.” We were stunned at the elegance and simplicity of their approach which seems to be, if it is not adding value then stop spending money on it.

The target savings for the public service budget are 40%. The opposition parties were very quick to lay into the coalition deriding their declared ambition as impossible and therefore foolhardy to even attempt, and yet what we are seeing in the change in the way that they are going about the business of government makes it look as if they will succeed massively and no party will be able to govern effectively again unless they behave in the same way.

We have left behind the directive style of government, where those in power decide what they think is best for the electorate then spend our money trying to force us to accept what they think we should have or how they think that we should behave. In business this is the management style that has proved so destructive and an increasingly expensive waste of resources.

Today we seem to have a government that is behaving in a significantly different way. First they listen to what the electorate want, then they try to give it to us. That sounds expensive until you realise that a lot of the expense incurred by the previous government was in forcing through legislation that we neither needed nor wanted.

Unfortunately there are still many managers who believe that this old style of management is the only way to manage. For them we hope that the example of this new inclusive, supportive, devolved government will allow them to see how destructive their own behaviour really is.

Nick Clegg, as deputy PM, has set up a website to find out what the public believe to be useless pieces of legislation, the usual suspects are the smoking ban, the hunting ban and the various other attempts of the last administration to tell the public how to live their lives. Apart from the person who wanted the law of gravity repealed because it discriminated against fat people, this approach is brilliant. We tried to get on the Deputy PM’s site but after the story was on the news it was inundated. Give it a try, it sounds as if they are trying to listen. Yourfreedom.hmg.gov.uk

There is a man called John Seddon, an author and acerbic critic of the way that the public purse was being managed. This month he wrote from a loftier perspective than we:

“I listened to Andrew Stunnel, a minister for communities and local government (CLG) in the new coalition, speaking at a conference two weeks ago. He made it absolutely clear: there will be no specifications coming down from the centre. I asked him, for clarification, that this really would mean getting rid of those roles, he said yes. I read Eric Pickles’ article in the Local Government Chronicle, he is the minister in charge at CLG; he said the same. Last week I met Greg Clark, another minister at CLG and he too was unequivocal.

The regime is over. No longer will children in Whitehall dream up their dumb ideas on how to design, manage and measure public services; no longer will they tell local public service managers what to do and send the Audit Commission in to bully people in to compliance. The message from the ministers is crystal clear: they want leaders of local public services to get on with it. Responsibility has been put in the right place. We should rejoice. “

Thank You John, Indeed we should!

Peter A Hunter.
Author-Breaking the Mould
http://www.breakingthemould.co.uk

If you have ever experienced or learned something which you then knew was instinctively right – you will never have forgotten it. Peter Hunter learned something years ago which, regrettably, most of us have still yet to learn. When we do – once we have understood the simplicity of his book ‘Breaking the Mould’ – it will transform our lives forever! Vic Baxter � Business Workout.

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1959-1960: Following Fidel Castro’s overthrow of the dictatorial Batista administration, a host of people, including children and women, welcomed the arrival of guerrillas, but they turned the Island — about the size of Tennessee– into a place of repression. On the other side, Raúl Castro had been hand-picked by his brother, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, as the second leader of the Cuban Revolution. In the meantime, in the early years of the new regime, up to 3,200 Cubans had been slaughtered by Fidel Castro and his family. On the economic side, Castro nationalized all U.S. businesses (without compensation). In fact, these events marked the beginning of one the world’s worst undemocratic governments. Toward the end of 1960, Washington imposed an embargo on Cuba.

1960-1980: As a consequence of the totalitarian policies, over one million Cubans had fled to America (chiefly Florida), Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Spain and Italy.

1960-1982: Inspired by the People’s Republic of China, Albania and other Communist tyrannies, Cuba’s undemocratic state had decimated the country’s tourism industry.

1960-2007: In one of Fidel Castro’s many dictatorial reforms, hemade his sister-in-law, Vilma Espín, President of the Federation of Cuban Women –a key organization on Cuba. Espín, Raúl Castro’s wife, was leader of the feminist organization until her abrupt death on June 18, 2007.However in time, she, a former Marxist guerrilla, was known as the “First Lady of the Cuban Revolution”. Over the decades of the Soviet Empire, she had strong links with radical feminist movements from Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

1960-2010: World-famous dancer and choreographer Alicia Alonso Martínez became one of the key women, alongside Haydée Santamaria Cuadrado, Vilma Espín Guillois, Celia Sánchez Manduley and Mireya Luis Hernández, in the Cuban Revolution. Since then, she used her fame and prestige to clean up the Island’s bad image. By the early 60s, Fidel Castro gave Alonso $200,000 to set up the Cuban National Ballet. From then on, the Ballet Nationalbecame an open door for Cuban influence in the Third World and Europe.

1961: The Island’s history took sudden turn in this year as the provisional rule declared the country a Marxist stateand began a close relationship with the Kremlin -the USSR was one of the first states to recognize Cuba’s tyranny–and their allies, including the German Democratic Republic (GDR), North Korea and Czechoslovakia. From then on, Moscow played a key role in the Cuban Revolution. Nonetheless, after Cuba became a pro-Soviet dictatorship,the political relationship between the States and the Island worsened. On January 3, 1961, the tensions between both governments came to a head as America severed diplomatic ties with the rule of Cuba.

1962: The Republic of Cuba was suspended from the Organization of American States (OAS), which was founded on April 30 1948 in Bogotá (Colombia), over its dictatorial rule.

1962- 1990: Unlike many Marxist states in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, including Ethiopia (the world’s poorest nation), Guinea, Laos and Cambodia (Asia’s poorest country), the Island’s human development, from employment and energy to education, culture and public health, was subsidized by the Kremlin (which was supplanted by Venezuela since 2000). For example,most of Cuba’s young people –chiefly members of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC)– attend schools, universities and institutions in Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Poland and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Moreover, a number of cultural delegations went to Asia, Latin America and Europe. In 1984, the Caribbean team, led by Alicia Alonso, visited five former Soviet republics (Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan). On the other side, around 90% of the military budget was financed from the USSR and other Communist states. These were some of the reasons why Cuba did not have financial problems -different from several Latin societies. During the Cold War, the massive Soviet aid gave Cuba a political influence in the Third World disproportionate to its size and economy.

1964-1990: Castro’s dictatorial rule, headed by its diplomat Isidoro Malmierca (the Cuban ambassador to the United Nations), allowed the USSR to direct its foreign policy.The Kremlin used Fidel Castro to expand its geopolitical influence in the Third World, chiefly in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

1967: Soviet Union’s Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin went to Cuba.

1970s Fidel Castro & Mengistu Haile Mariam

1970-1975: The totalitarian Communist state had cooperative ties with Peru’s dictator Juan Velasco Alvarado. Over that time, Raúl Castro, the Island’s second most powerful leader, trip to Lima.

1971-1973: After Salvador Allende’s win in the Presidential elections, the Cuban administration had shown a deep interest in cooperation with Chile. Upon the winning the Chilean election, Allende became the world’s only freely elected Marxist Head of State. Later on, in 1971, surprisingly, Fidel Castro embarked on a three-week tour of Chile.

1972-1990: The Republic Socialist of Cuba was home to the largest Soviet community outside Europe and the USSR.

1975-1991: With the help of 50,000 Cuban troops, the African country of Angola, led by José Eduardo dos Santos, moved into the Soviet orbit.

1977: The Cuban dictatorship sent a delegation, led by Sergio del Valle, to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

1978-1989: Under its pro-Soviet policy, Castro’s dictatorial rule sent over 20,000 troops to the Republic Marxist of Ethiopia – an African nation with 90% of the population living under the abject poverty– to support the dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam, who led Ethiopia to one of the worst genocides in history. Over that time, Cuba’s troops carried out repressive measures against the Eritreans and Ethiopians.

1979: With the support of the Soviet bloc (from Bulgaria to East Germany), as well as anti-American states, Havana – the nation’s capital city– hosted the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit. Cuba’s satrap Fidel Castro was elected President. This international event was part of the Communist dictatorship’s strategy to win new allies in the Third World, including terrorist states.

1980s The pro-Castro Lobby

1980: To improve dictatorship’s image abroad, damaged by human rights abusesand pro-Soviet military projects in sub-Saharan Africa, the undemocratic rule sent a person -a Russian-trained astronaut– to space. Along with Alberto Juantorena ( 1976 Olympic champion), Alicia Alonso and Alejo Carpentier (author), Cuba’s cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo was one of the “special ambassadors” of the Cuban tyranny.

1981: On the world stage, the Castro regime established strong links with roguegovernments such as Libya, Iran and the DPR of Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or North Korea). By contrast, Cuba’s ties with many Latin American democracies worsened, including Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Peru.

1982-2008: Under the influence of the “pro- Castro lobby” in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), nine natural and cultural sites on the Island were declared wonders of the world- the Old Havana and its Fortifications (1982), the Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios (1988), San Pedro de la Roca Castle (1997), the Desembarco del Granma National Park (1999), the Viñales Valley (1999), the Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South East of Cuba (2000), the Alejandro de Humbolt National Park (2001), the Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos (2005) and the Historic Centre of Camaguey (2008). Curiously Cuba holds more world heritage sites than Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya and South Africa.

1984: Due to its political and financial dependency with the rule of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR), the totalitarian Communist state refused to send over 200 Cuban champs and officials to the 23rd Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, CA. Therefore, many champs lost the chance to compete in the Games, which included Javier Sotomayor (track & field) and Mireya Luis (volleyball) as well as Olympic gold medal winners Maria Caridad Colón (athletics) and Teófilo Stevenson (boxing).

1985: In its efforts to improve the country’s economy, tourism became one of government’s top priorities. Nonetheless, poor international image -among the world’s oldest tyrannies, together with the Stalinist state of North Korea-have caused great harm to the Island’s tourism industry.

1986-1992: Although many Socialist governments, from Czechoslovakia and Mongolia to the People’s Republic of China recognized to Seoul,the Cuban tyranny continued to reject South Korea’s sovereignty.

1988: After a year of speculations, the Cuban contingent did not participate in the Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea.

1990s Cuba — The World’s Worst Olympic Country

1991: Upon the ending of the Soviet Empire, the Caribbean Island, with few natural resources, had transformed itself from a middle-income country to one of the poorest countries on the American mainland.

1992: Cuba’s exile Eduardo Díaz Betancourt was executed by tyranny, despite worldwide appeals for clemency.

1992: Jorge Esquivel, the most outstanding dancer and choreographer in the Cuban Revolution, sought political asylum in Italy. This defection was a serious setback to the Cuban National Ballet. At the 1982 International Ballet Competition in Havana, Esquivel, one of the world’s six best dancers, made his choreographer debut. In the 70s and 80s, he was partner of Alicia Alonso.

1993: Despite Cubaannually budgeted over $ 100 million for the promotion of Olympic sport, which represents 3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -one of the highest in the developing world, sport had a big problem: there were massive defections. During the 17th Central American and Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico, the Island boasted the infamous distinction of being “one of the world’s worst Olympic nations”, alongside Burma and Libya, as a host of Olympian athletes and coaches, including softball players and swimmers, refused to return to their impoverished country.

1993 Against all odds, Alina Fernández Revuelta, Fidel Castro’s daughter, fled to Europe.

1994-2010: The Cuban regime lost four important allies in sub-Saharan Africa: Angola (resource-rich nation), Benin, Equatorial Guinea (oil-rich country) and Namibia (uranium-rich country).

1995: The Island boasted one of the highest suicide rates on the planet.

1995-2010: Unlike the Republic Socialist of Vietnam, the Island, with an economy heavily dependent on tourism, has had one of the worst-performing economies in the developing world. The nation’s economy had long been handicapped by its primitive political system. Since the breakup of the Soviet Empire in the early 1990s, a lot of workers, from nurses to teachers, have been forced by the lack of job opportunities to work in Latin America and Spain. With the exception of Haiti, Cuba’s citizens are the poorest on the Caribbean region. On the other hand, important sporting and economical agreements between Havana and Latin America republics have strengthened ties between the Cuban dictatorship and Latin democracies.

1998: In an attempt to mollify its critics, the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II was allowed to visit the Island for the first time.

1999: At the Pan American Games in Winnipeg (Canada), the country’s Olympic delegation picked up several medals, but unwelcomed publicity came when Cuba’s athlete Javier Sotomayor Sanabria, one of the Island’s most respected icons since 1959, lost his Pan American gold medal in the men’s high jump after testing positive for a drug. Meanwhile, Fidel Castro did not accept the results.

2000s The Hereditary Dictatorship of the Castros

2000: Castro’s regime established close ties with the government of Hugo Chavez, Head of State of Venezuela.Due to his admiration for Fidel Castro, Chavez provided heavy economic aid and became a supplier of oil to Cuba. Meanwhile, Aleksandr Lukashenko, dictator of Belarus, went to Havana.

2003: While Cuba’s tyrant Fidel Castro -perhaps inspired by Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, Idi Amin Dada and other satraps of the Third World– expressed his desire to become Presidentfor life,the State Security Departament’s increased activity against the opposition groups as itarrested 75 prominent human rights activists, who participated in the Project Varela. They were named “Prisoners of Conscience” by Amnesty International. In response to the rule of Cuba’s human rights abuses, European Union (EU) imposed restrictive measures on Cuba.

2005-2010: In tribute to the “Ladies in White”, the European Union bestowed upon them the 2005 Sakharov Prize for Freedom. This award was hailed as a victory for the Island ’s pro-democratic groups. The pro-democratic organization “Ladies in White” became a world symbol of the struggle against tyranny and repression. They are one the greatest signs of hope for the new Cuba. In beginning 2008, they were threatened and attacked by paramilitaries forces.

2008: Because of its poor health, amid many speculations, Fidel Castro stepped down as Head of State and leader of the Cuban Revolution. Subsequently he was replaced by his younger brother Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz, becoming the seventh Marxist leader of a Latin American country, after Fidel Castro (1960-2008), Allende (Chile, 1971-1973), Forbes Burnham (Guyana,1970-1980), Michael Manley (Jamaica, 1972-1980), Maurice Bishop (Grenada, 1979-1983) and Daniel Ortega Saavedra (Nicaragua, 1985-1990). Raul’s succession was long-anticipated. Nonetheless, the new President, Prime Minister between 1976 and 2008,did not make major changes to the Island’s political system.

2009-2010: Under the tutelage of the hereditary dictatorship of the Castro family, there were up to 225 prisoners of conscience. Nonetheless, not much was known about the total number of political prisoners.

2010: Aware that several Cuban athletes want to escape from the Island, the country’s new dictator Raúl Castro, through the Cuban Olympic Committee (COC), declined to send Olympian athletes, coaches and officials to the Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayaguez (Puerto Rico). The Island’s sport during the past 20 years has been hit by a host of defections.

Alejandro Guevara Onofre: Freelance writer. Alejandro is author of a host of articles/essays about over 220 countries and dependencies (and American States as well), from ecology, history, tourism and national heroes to Olympic sports, foreign relations, and wildlife. In addition, he has published some books on women’s rights, among them “History of the Women in America” and “Famous Americans”

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So it goes with the Federal budget deficit and our skyrocketing national debt.. If we cannot fix our fiscal situation, nothing else matters. Much like the heart, if the financial foundation of our country is destroyed, then nothing else has any importance. You cannot even talk about global warming, a national energy program, improving public schools, fighting drug addiction, defending the country, helping out the needy, creating and maintaining job growth and economic growth, nothing else. If the heart goes, it does not matter how strong your legs are or how much air your lungs can pump. Much like the heart, sound fiscal policy makes everything else possible.

The severity of our fiscal distress was recently brought to mind again while reading the May 31, 2010 issue of Business Week magazine. In a short blurb, Business Week asserted that total U.S. debt, as of May 26, was $12.996 TRILLION. Given that we are now past that date, I think it is safe to assume we have broken through the $13 TRILLION threshold. What does this mean:

- At $13 TRILLION, the average U.S. household is on the hook for about $113,000 worth of government debt. Since the government does not create wealth, it can only confiscate wealth from its citizens, at some point we are all responsible for paying down this debt.
- At $13 TRILLION, every man, woman, and child in the country is responsible for about $42,000. Thus, a family of four is on the hook for about $168,000.
- The Obama administration’s ten year budget plan calls for another $8 TRILLION or so in debt to be accumulated by the Federal government, boosting each household’s debt burden to about $175,000 if nothing is done to change the trend.
- Last summer, Forbes magazine ran an article where they estimated the total wealth of the 400 richest Americans. As an illustrative example of how big the Federal debt is, assume that the Federal government confiscated the total wealth of these 400 Americans. Their total wealth, not their income, so this confiscation would be a one time shot. The total wealth that could be confiscated was estimated by Forbes in the article to be far less than $3 TRILLION. Thus, soaking and bankrupting the rich will not come close to paying down this skyrocketing debt, every U.S. living and to be born in the foreseeable future, is responsible for a large part of this $13 TRILLION.
- From a freedom perspective, you cannot live in a free country if the political class and the government in that country burden you with such debt. By running up such a huge deficit, a deficit that we will all have to pay down or suffer the consequences of default, we lose our freedom to spend our wealth on what we want to spend it on. We cannot send our kids to a better school, start our own business, retire when we want to, help out a charity or blow it all in Las Vegas.

Give the dire situation of our county’s heart and future, what has the political class been keeping themselves busy with in the past year or so:

- Congresswoman Anna Eshoo of California and her staff were busy working on legislation to Federally regulate the sound volume on television commercials. Never mind that TV watchers can mute the sound, change the channel, leave the room to get something to eat, fast forward on their DVR machines, or just ignore the TV for 60 seconds. Why work on soaring deficits (and other major national problems) when the TV commercial sound volume issue is so pressing?
- Congressman Jim Moran and his staff were busy investigating whether male dysfunction television commercials should be banned. I did not know this was so important either. As with Ms. Eshoo, let’s ignore real budget and financial issues facing America and work on E.D. commercials.
- Congressman Thaddeus McCotter and his staff were busy working on legislation to provide up to $300 a month in income tax deductions so that the unemployed do not have to put their pets up for adoption. Maybe if his staff and he were working on how to get America working again, which would increase tax revenue to pay down the deficit, there would be no need for this ridiculous program that would never be able to be tracked and would be rife with fraud.
- Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye’s and his staff have been busy helping a bank in Hawaii get bailout money from the FDIC after the FDIC determined the bank was not worth saving. Turns out that the Senator had invested heavily in the bank and stood to lose a load of money unless the bank was saved by the American taxpayer.
- Ex-Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana was busy getting convicted of taking bribes and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. You may recall that Mr. Jefferson was caught with frozen bribe money in his home freezer.
- Also, Congressman Randy Cunningham was busy getting sentenced to eight years in prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes, Congressman Bill Ney was busy getting sentenced to two and a half years in prison for taking bribes, Congressman James Traficant was busy getting sentenced to seven years in prison for taking bribes, and the majority of ex-Governors of Illinois were either busy serving prison time, have served prison time, or may soon face prison time.
- 60% of the Congressional members sitting on the House Armed Services Committee were busy receiving campaign contributions from the very companies that they had previously earmarked pork barrel budget money for.
- Congressman Charles Rangel of New York was busy being investigated for a number of ethics violations including, but not limited to, non-declaration of rental income, certain assets, and other income.
- Fifty Republican Congressmen and women were developing legislation to replace Ulysses S. Grant’s picture on the $50 bill with Ronald Reagan’s picture. Given that all U.S, currency will soon be worthless unless the national debt is brought under control, this seems like a pretty useless endeavor.
- Every member of Congress has been busy in the development of the over 11,000 wasteful earmarks and pork barrel spending programs, in the latest Federal budget, for their home states and districts, the vast majority of which are nothing more than re-election badges for incumbents and all of which exacerbate the huge government deficit.

Thus, rather than solving the one major problem on which all else depends, many members of the political class chose to work problems that would probably not even make America’s top 50 concerns (TV commercials and doggie deductions), were busy taking bribes and/or serving time for taking bribes, or were busy diverting taxpayer money to their own personal benefit. Getting back to the Snoopy and Peanuts analogy, these politicians are busy putting earmuffs on cold ears and or tightening up their scarves while the body is in the middle of a massive coronary.

That is why it is critical to vote out all incumbents in November and place into office a new breed of politician that realizes what the major issues are facing this country, with fiscal soundness being the most critical. We need new representatives that can take unselfish, bold action to fix and address those issues. Listen to Snoopy, fix the heart first and then everything else is possible.

Our new book, “Love My Country, Loathe My Government – Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom and Destroying The American Political Class” is now available at http://www.loathemygovernment.com and online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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1) The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is responsible for overseeing the integrity of the accounting processes and accuracy of public companies’ financials. They were obviously asleep at the wheel when many of Wall Street’s largest financial firms, rapidly and without warning, either went bankrupt or dove into deep financial stress at the onset of the greatest financial collapse in this country since the Great Depression. How did this economic and financial fiasco occur with almost no advance warning by the SEC? A possible answer was published in an April 23, 2010 Associated Press article which reported on the findings of an SEC Inspector General analysis. The analysis found that more than two and half dozen SEC employees were found to have used their government issued computers to search the Internet for pornography during the time they should have been hard at work protecting the interests of Americans who invest in public companies. As examples of their findings, one SEC attorney spent up to eight hours a day downloading pornography, burning his findings to CDs and DVD discs once his hard drive filled up with the pornographic material. An SEC accountant was blocked over 16,000 times in one month (or about 800 times a day, 10 times an hour) from visiting pornographic websites yet he was able to eventually collect a collection of pornographic material on his government computer by using a method to bypass the SEC filters. Seventeen of the pornography seekers at the SEC were considered “senior level” employees, earning salaries up to $222,000 a year. These government employees were obviously too busy to help protect the interests of the American investors, people who lost untold billions of dollars as a result of the financial crisis that the SEC staff never saw coming.

2) In January of this year, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a report that concluded the $150 billion that the Federal government had spent on the Head Start program since 1965 has no long lasting benefits to the children that had been enrolled in the program. Another analysis, this one conducted by the Heritage Foundation found similar results: “Head Start has little to no effect on cognitive, socio-emotional, health, and parenting outcomes of children participating in the program.” Thus, rather than delivering the benefits that Head Start is supposed to deliver, we are left with an annual multi billion set of early education government programs that are little more than a government subsidized baby sitting service.

3) In the April 26, 2010 issue of Newweek magazine, an article by Dan Stockman exposed the fact that the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is not doing a lot of protecting, at least relative to the Clean Air Act. According to research done by Mr. Stockman, his analysis of the EPA’s public database of enforcement records showed that on a national basis, more than 750 companies have been in continuous violation of clean air laws since 2007. Included in these 750 companies were over two hundred companies defined as high priority because of the severity of their offenses. What good is having a law and identifying offenders if there are no consequences or changes in behavior? Not very helpful.

4) In the April 9, 2010 issue of The Week magazine, there was a short article about how shoddy the work at the Energy Department is relative to classifying products as deserving of a high energy saving appliance rating within the EnergyStar program. A company who gets an EnergyStar rating can market the energy efficiency of their product, as approved by the government, and theoretically sell more products and/or sell them at a higher price. Consumers look for the EnergyStar designation with the assumption being that these are good deals from a cost of energy perspective. One problem though. The article reported on a sting operation by Federal regulators that sent bogus designs to the people running the EnergyStar testing program. These bogus products included a gasoline powered alarm clock (certainly not a very efficient way to tell time) and a feather duster attached to a space heater that had been called an “air filter” by the regulators. Unfortunately, both of these bogus products and most of the others were awarded the EnergyStar status by the Energy Department. Obviously, the Energy Department is not here to help you distinguish energy efficient products from those that are not if these somewhat outrageous fake products can pass the current energy efficiency standards in the inspection process.

5) Most people probably know that Toyota has been having a spate of safety problems with it’s cars over the past few months, with accusations that these safety problems have resulted in traffic fatalities. What most people do not know, as reported in the March 1, 2010 issue of Businessweek, the government had opened, and shortly thereafter closed, eight inquiries into the problem with Toyota products, starting back in 2003. In all eight cases they found no significant problems and closed all probes with no action taken. It was not until the past year or so that the government finally recognized that maybe there is a problem and Toyota was finally forced to take remedial action on its vehicles. The article points out the fact that the two government interface executives at Toyota used to work for the very government agency responsible for automobile safety, implying that the government might have gone easy on their former co-workers. Given that upwards of a hundred Americans may have died as a result of faulty Toyota products, it does not look like the government is helping anyone here either.

6) Several years ago the government belatedly pulled a series of imported toy products from China off of the shelf because the products were made using lead based materials that could seriously hurt a child if the the child put a toy in their mouths and the lead entered their systems. While the good news is the government safety organization finally got the products off of the shelves, it would have been much better if they had never entered the country in the first place, Even worse, according to a May 20, 2010 Associated Press article, the overseas producers simply replaced their lead laced products with cadmium laced products which are just as dangerous. One would have thought the government would have been a little more alert to these types of products since they had just gone through the lead based experience. Alas, they were no better the second time around as the cadmium products came ashore.

7) A May 17, 2010 Associated Press article reported on the many oversights and incompetence of Federal employees of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Federal agency, the agency responsible for overseeing the safety of oil rigs in the Gulf Of Mexico. According to the article and an internal report, not as many inspections were done as required, many MMS employees received hunting and fishing vacations along with other gifts from the same companies they were supposed to keep in line from a safety perspective, some MMS employees were inspecting oil rigs of companies at the same time they were in negotiations for employment by those companies, and some MMS employees admitted being addicted to illegal drugs while being responsible for safety inspections and compliance. These Federal employees were obviously little help in preventing the devastating Gulf oil spill.

The Department Of Homeland Security has certainly not been helpful. This past December, a would be terrorist traveled from Somalia to the skies over Detroit and would have blown up the airliner he was in if his underwear bomb had not malfunctioned. In the spring, another would be terrorist almost blew up a car bomb on the streets of Time Square which failed to explode only because of a defective bomb. Unknown numbers of illegal aliens and drugs, and who knows what else, continue to flood over our southern border with Mexico. Are we feeling secure yet?

9) In a related non-helpful effort, an article in the June 11, 2010 issue of The Week magazine recalled a resolution from the House of Representatives in 1986. At that time, the House demanded that the Pentagon seal our borders within 45 days against illegal drugs. Looks like they missed that deadline.

10) The No Children Left Behind legislation from the Bush administration has proven to be unsuccessful in raising the lower than expected learning levels of American children relative to the education of children in many other countries. Thus, nothing has changed since the Reagan administration issued its scathing report on American public schools in 1982, “A Nation At Risk.” Thus, the American political class and its government processes have been unhelpful for at least twenty eight years in raising education standards and output of the country.

11) On the foreign affairs front, government and the political class have not been very helpful either. Two renegade countries, North Korea and Iran, with economies and populations that are just a small fraction the size of the United States, will both soon have the ability and intention of creating and stockpiling nuclear weapons. Unstable leadership in these countries is not a long term formula for safety and security.

12) In the face of all of these failures, what have the politicians been working on during the past year that might eventually help all of us live a better life? A California Congresswoman and her staff worked on legislation that would establish Federal regulations for the sound volume of television commercials, another Congressman was working on legislation that would prevent male dysfunction commercials from airing on television, another Congressman and his staff worked on legislation to give pet owners a tax deduction in these hard economic times, and many Washington politicians were involved in the debate on how to get a national college football playoff system in place. How many of these items would fall in the top 20 issues facing most Americans today? Probably not many. Politicians spend time on these small, insignificant issues while the big issues of public education, energy policy, leaky borders, high health care costs, skyrocketing national debt levels, and high unemployment continue to grow unabated.

13) Finally, the biggest and most widespread non-help in the past sixty years was obviously related to the financial crash and economic downturn of the past few years. Numerous government agencies were absolutely no help in foreseeing and managing the housing and banking crisis that caused the so-called “Great Recession.” These Federal government entities include Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, SEC, Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, House of Representatives housing and banking committees, Senate housing and banking committees, the FDIC, the FHA, the Bush administration, the Obama administration, and any number of other unhelpful government organizations. If these agencies and politicians could not see this great, historic economic crisis coming until it was way too late to do anything, what makes us think they have any chance in successfully managing the smaller, more subtle aspects of the economy?

Did we leave anyone out? We need to get over the myth that government is somehow an efficient and effective ally in our lives. The above examples should be proof of that. Many Americans still think that once a law is passed or a program established that the battle is over and everything will be great: government workers and agencies taking care of things in a super efficient manner at a reasonable cost. Given the above list of incompetencies and the record, sky high national debt levels we have, we are getting the worst of all possible combinations – high cost, low quality.

We need to start a long term, systematic downsizing of government in order to reduce our national debt and get government smaller and more focused on just the important, major issues of our times, which does not include the sound volume of television commercials. The logic is if the political class and government agencies have less to worry about, they may actually get good at a few things rather than being incompetent in a wide range of things. It makes no sense to continue to support a government bureaucracy when all we get is the low performance or non-performance described above. Drastically downsize and focus, that is what must be done to get us out of the high cost/low quality zone into the low cost/high quality zone. Then, and only then, might the myth “I’m from the government and I am here to help you” actually become a reality again.

Our new book, “Love My Country, Loathe My Government – Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom and Destroying The American Political Class” is now available at http://www.loathemygovernment.com and online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Visit our blog at http://www.loathemygovernment.blogspot.com for our nealry daily dialog on American freedom.

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In the interest of full disclosure, I have been active in conservative politics in Tennessee pretty heavily for the last 10 years. While I saw some familiar faces in the crowd, most of them were either new faces or people I had seen around town but never at a political event, much less a protest. Contrary to what you may have heard, many of them were Democrats, and most of them were older -say 40 and above. These are people who had never really called a congressman before. As they became more and more concerned about the issues I mention here, they called their congressman. Many for the first time. They were shocked at the reception they received. They really thought they would get to speak with the congressman. They really thought they would get an answer. Of course, they got the totally normal double speak and evasion. They called people they knew vaguely locally, like a mayor or county executive. They called their neighbors and urged them to call the congressman. They checked back with them and found out all these people received the same run around they got.

For the first time in their lives, they actually asked a politicians for something… And mostly, they came away unconvinced not only that their congressman had listened, but also that he really cared. The anger and fear they feel is about the double speak and the evasion they received. They naively thought they could make a difference right away. They were shocked that their congressman was actually VERY concerned about what the leadership in Washington thought. These people thought they were the boss, and for the first time, they questioned whether their government really cared what they thought. Whether they even mattered. It is through that lens that you understand the anger and sense of betrayal many of them feel.

Read away!

Town Hall Eyewitness

I attended a Lincoln Davis Town hall meeting Thursday evening, August 22 of 2009 in Crossville Tn. Lincoln Davis is a member of the House of Representatives, Tennessee’s 4th congressional district.

When we arrived at the venue, over 400 people had already been seated, and the doors were locked and guarded by the Police Force. Affable, apologetic when appropriate and always firm, they really were roving diplomats that spoke highly not just of “training” but common sense and respect for the citizens. Enough cannot be said of how well they handled this situation!

Over the course of the next two hours, as people began to exit, the police would allow replacements so eventually everyone was both allowed to enter, and to step up to a floor mike and speak their mind. I missed Rep. Lincoln’s opening remarks but the gist was that he was here to listen, and he would reserve comment until the end. Or course, the “end” ended up being about 4 hours after the start. All in all, I would guess 1000 people came and went over those four hours. At 5:00 the official starting time, I counted over 400 waiting outside, and the police confirming over 400 inside. An easy 200 left and were replaced in the line outside before everyone finally got in.

There was a lot of anger and a lot of fear. The fear has been characterized as a fear of the health care plan… That was not what I saw. What I saw was a group of people who for the first time in their adult life, feared their government was out of their control.

At the end of it all, Rep. Davis came out on the stage, remarked on his humble beginnings, born at home etc. etc. and how far medicine has come. He told a story about someone being diagnosed with breast cancer and having their insurance canceled, and insisted there must be health care reform. On the other hand, he listed several things he would NOT vote for if they were covered by the bill:

Public funding of abortion.
Illegal immigrant coverage.
Euthanasia – As if someone would propose such an amendment!
And probably a couple more along those lines.

So he answered none of the questions with ANY specificity. Every questionable accounting dodge, why no specific illegal immigrant coverage amendment, every question you can logically think of had been asked. Many brought with them specific page numbers and direct quotes for all their assertions. They spoke loudly and boldly, but many thanked Rep Davis for previous conservative votes. They spoke in the frustrated tones, many times, of people who feel sure they are going to be ignored.

In an act of pure political theatre, Rep. Lincoln held up his card for the congressional voting machine. “Nancy Pelosi does not control my vote” he trumpeted!

Last year, Lincoln Davis voted the party line 92% of the time… A far cry from the feelings of his district. But he knows (or thinks he does) how to play the game and walk the line. His re-election race will be one of the test cases next year. This series of town halls are the beginning of that campaign.

How has he done?

He is extremely smooth in his presentation, maybe too smooth. But he hits all the right notes, and rings all the right bells. The real test comes in his votes FROM HERE. The voters might give him a pass on past sins…

But he ignores these town hall protesters and votes against their wishes, and I believe he will lose his seat…

The question is, Does he?

DSHolman is a small business owner living in rural America. An active participant in local and state level conservative politics, he feels strongly that someone must ask the relevant questions and that they have a right to expect relevant answers from their political representatives.

You can find more of his “town hall memories” in his commonsense conservative blog.

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This state led is so many categories and was a state to be truly proud of, where we find ourselves in comparison to so many other states is discouraging yet because we are still quite fortunate, rich in people talent and resources and we remain a mighty influence.

I haven’t focused on the political world in years now because it’s so easy to get trapped into focusing attention on all that doesn’t work rather than what does, on what doesn’t feel good rather than what does. I learned years ago what it takes to get things to work and expand in the direction that is most desirable. And that is to see what is wanted and what would call forth relief and happiness and joy and then do all that I can to be present to those feelings. This of course would be to avoid going down the path of any thoughts which makes one feel ‘negative’ feelings and emotions. Guess I’ll make re-registering something to do again.

I mean if one side of the population is being encouraged to fight the other, we will incrementally, term by term find ourselves enjoying life less and less. We should be advancing incrementally. Heck, children should be excited about going to school. That where they develop their feelings of worth and confidence in themselves. That is the foundation of living a wonderful life, a happy and joyful experience of living. Why would we subject our children to develop an emotional downer for so many years thinking it would not impact the rest of their lives and their children, is a mind boggling question?

He knows jobs create state revenue and advances economic growth. It’s not one side or the other; it’s an honest ability to bring sides together in the interest of everyone. He’s not beholden to any force who wants their way and no other. That’s why he’s effective. The advancing societies in the world have taken the lead on many fronts and he is quite aware we can take that lead back. I walked down the streets of Pasadena with this man when he was campaigning for the President. He was courageous and he had respect for every citizen he came across shaking hands with everyone.

The fact that Governor Jerry Brown is running again tells me the people of California collectively, regardless of party affiliation are more interested in its government delivering on its promise more than going with the old thought of sticking to what Party Leaders through their media moguls want us to believe. People just want to have a leader with knowledge, courage and the respect of all Californians, no matter the party, no matter who they might be. It would be nice to have, perhaps a Tim Carpenter, write a book about Governor Jerry Brown so the younger generation could get to better know him.

I’m sure there are ways in which his opponents can contribute to the betterment of California, but hands down this gentleman is a gift of wisdom to us all. Good luck to us all. Well I’d feel happier easier knowing there was a bit more evidence in government and in the citizenry if a wise and steadfast politician of the people was inaugurated once again. So I’ll bask in the feelings of happiness and joy knowing the possibility now exists. Thank you Governor Jerry Brown.

Leon Michael Cautillo, Author/Instructor

‘Vision to Reality’ is powerfully designed for people of all ages to make the distinction between the greater self and the identity self. The purpose is to enable you to know yourself as your higher self knows you. This simple but powerful and fun program allows you to release the barriers to experiencing your desires just in the process of life itself.
To learn more about this life altering program please visit http://www.insightsforworkability.com

Come visit In Our Time and read ‘A Global Vision’. If you enjoy the poster please consider purchasing it for display. You are invited to discover more about the magnificent and great possibility for mankind. Here you can find what there is to focus on that lifts the world and all its people to greater levels of happiness and joy. http://www.inourtime.com

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