Welcome to the New Pennsylvania for Change! (We will eventually have a new name)

On February 17, way back in 2003, Patrick E. Tyler wrote in the New York Times “…there may still be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world public opinion.” This was, of course, the now famous statement made in reference to what was likely the largest, if not the FIRST, world-wide protest in our planet’s history. In that case protests were held on every continent in the world in opposition to the U.S. Government’s planned invasion of Iraq.

So, what of it, one might ask? What difference does public opinion really make when it comes to super-power policy? For example…

Largest anti-war demonstration EVER… and the U.S. still goes to war. 
People the world over protesting global climate change, countries meeting over and over again to come up with some kind of world standard on climate emissions that make sense, and the U.S. one of the planet’s two most egregious climate change enablers, (along now with China) largely ignores it and goes on with business as usual. 

People being arrested in growing numbers at Obama’s front door – not just “ordinary people” – but a growing number of celebs and local leaders. Yet Obama looks likely to give the Keystone Excel pipeline, now the most threatening development to boost global climate-change emissions past the point of no return, a go ahead anyway. (At press time this is still an open question… MAYBE we ARE having an impact eh?)

Innocent children, gunned down in a Connecticut suburb, a place synonymous with the American dream, a concept that evokes, ironically  ultimate security, the entire nation mourns, and yet the Senate and the House of REPRESENTATIVES still fails to enact a solution to gun violence in the United States of America.

Is it any surprise at all then why many lament, “Is this the change I voted for?” and “What good is resistance in the first place?” Why sacrifice when all one gets in the end is… the end of what there is to know as we now know it? At least… or worse … the end of the human species and all the other species we are dragging down with us.

Why resist? In the words of “The Borg”, the imaginary human/machine synthesis as portrayed on Star Trek TNG (and maybe a most apropos icon of 21st century Homo sapiens after all…) “Resistance is futile!”… It is, right? Is it?
Well, maybe, but….

Doesn’t the notion of “progress” leave a lot to be desired when time for the human species is actually running out? Doesn’t it? It begs the question. Does protest work? And if it does not, what SHOULD we do? Is it time to just accept the inevitable? Should we just let world history run it’s course and get as much out of things as we can before the end times are really upon us? That is if they aren’t already.

Well, I think we need to look at some examples of real victories achieved by organized grass-roots people like you and I. There are many, many examples of successful acts of social change throughout history.OK. Now, before I continue, I would like to settle one thing. 

Some argue that was then this is now and that the corporate take-over of our government has gone too far for anything like these victories for peace and justice to ever happen again… Well, maybe,,, maybe not.. THAT is what we are here to discuss. But first I want to give a few more examples of more recent success. Smaller and less far-reaching … but that may be how it get’s done in the big picture. THAT is how it has been done for most of time. Small, local victories, building one upon the other making change over time till enough momentum is built, and conditions are ripe, then the “BIG MOVEMENT PUSH” takes place. THAT may be what we need to work on now. Let’s get back to that later. First a couple of more recent examples of successful campaigns.

So first. let’s look at a recent campaign for health care rights in Vermont. This is a direct quote from the abstract of a report on the web site Health and Human Rights, An International Journal.

“In 2008, the Vermont Workers’ Center launched the “Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign,” a grassroots campaign to secure the creation of a universal health care system in Vermont. Campaign organizers used a human rights framework to mobilize thousands of voters in support of universal health care. In response to this extraordinary grassroots effort, the state legislature passed health care legislation that incorporates human rights principles into Vermont law and provides a framework for universal health care.” 

Here is the link: http://www.hhrjournal.org/2013/08/19/human-rights-from-the-grassroots-up-vermonts-campaign-for-universal-health-care/

OK… Here’s another:
“As of May 21, 2013, gay marriage has been legalized in 12 US states (CT, DE, IA, MA, MD, ME, MN, NH, NY, RI, VT, and WA) and the District of Columbia. Thirty-six states have gay marriage bans through either laws or constitutional amendments or both.”

Thirty six to go… OK .. a big lift, but just two years ago I think there was something like ZERO states with Gay marriage rights. So ha!

I think by now you get the drift…
But Wait you cry… those are local victories. How do we win against the monolithic state/corporate duopoly when it has soooo much power and the stakes are sooo much higher?

Big Oil and Natural Gas and coal interests will not simply give up without a fight, to nod to Frederick Douglas. Stopping the defense industry is the sacred cow. NO empire will give up its guns till the day it is over and by that time there may be nothing left for us to struggle for….

One of my political heroes was Allard Lowenstein who organized the Student Dump Johnson Movement in the 60’s. He was successful in getting President Johnson, arguably the most powerful person on the planet at that time, to refuse to run for a second term. No small potatoes that one. They said it couldn’t be done. Allard did it. True, there were other influences that helped Johnson to take his exit, The announcement of Bobby Kennedy that he would run, to name just one. But it was the Campaign that helped create the conditions that made a Kennedy run desirable and, I might argue, even possible.

Well…. another thing Allard Lowenstein inspires me for, is his is take on this issue… the issue of “should we could we”… His philosophy was pretty simple. He used to say, “Nothing is for certain. The only thing that is for certain is that you either win or you lose, so work as hard as you can to win.” Hard to argue with that. What other choice do we have? Oh yeah, we can just bide our time and go out in a delirium of hedonistic distraction… not for me thanks… that would make a mockery of our existence on this planet and in this world so whatever your world view, if… IF we are all connected, and I believe we are, and a close examination of science AND religion would attest to this, then we are here for a reason… simply to live. As Schopenhauer said, if nothing else., He wrote, “If life IS an accident then you have to say ‘Yea’ to it.”

If you are still with me then… what is to be done? Unite and fight like hell for the living. After all,,, what would Jesus do? (I just couldn’t resist.)
Let the dead bury the dead. Let’s choose to live. And if we choose to live, then we must fight back. But of course how we fight matters because if we go about winning any kind of power the same way as our oppressor does then our oppressor has already won because we become just like them. 

The ends do NOT justify the means anymore than the chicken came before the egg.. The ends and the means are the same thing, just as the variation always appears in the offspring first. 

That does not mean we do not struggle. Life IS a struggle, though not without its joy and wonder. The joy and wonder are what we struggle for and if all this be true then we dare not do this alone. Working together, as everyone know, works better. There IS strength in numbers.

This then is my case. And I will reinforce this on these pages whenever challenged. And I invite your challenges, because if I cannot defend my positions then they are in need of revision.

Here is the purpose, or mission of this blog. It is to initiate a POSITIVE discussion of social change with an eye toward survival of our species, and others and our culture, world-wide, and to head off the environmental and potential destructive war-making policies that threaten … almost …. everything.

It is to encourage discussion on how progressive forces, those whose intent it is to see progressive social change, from a non-violent basis, succeed for everyone.
Here I am not interested in power over others, whoever they are. I am interested in empowerment of everyone, which by definition means shared power. A balance of power, or, even better, redistributed power. You know the old saying. Power is like mustard. It’s best when spread around.

I am not interested in revenge or violent solutions, for when we take up the standard of violence our oppressor has already won. You cannot make change by being as corrupt as those who hold us down and expect to be pure when you have gained power. You will still be cleaning the same house.

And always remember that the slogan “Power comes out of the barrel of a gun” is meaningless when they have all the guns.

Let’s amend that to say most of the guns and the ones that count.Besides, violence is an end in itself. We cannot resist violence to bring about a peaceful, fair world by using violence. Not on the streets, or on the battlefields or behind the closed doors of our homes or anywhere else. This is an untenable position whichever way one looks at it.

That does not mean we do not defend ourselves and if we use violent means in the pursuit of our own defense or the defense of others, that is one thing. But defense is the basis for this. I study Aikido whose foundation is to hurt no one. It has been called “The Way of Peace”. In Aikido we “blend” with our attacker, the goal being to stop and re-direct the attack and protect both ourselves and the attacker to bring about a resolution and defuse the violence. Not unlike Gandhi’s Satyagraha, or Truth-force” one cannot obtain the truth by subduing the truth of your oppressor, one obtains truth by being open to your oppressor and one obtains peace and resolution by using the truth to help your oppressor change. A tall order and, in the real world, one that we may not be able to achieve every time, especially if we find ourselves fighting for our very lives, but we should attempt to, whenever possible, as a matter of… “policy”, if we wish to live up, even a little bit, to the ideals we strive for.

Thomas Merton said that there is no way to peace. PEACE IS THE WAY. And PEACE is more than the absence of conflict it IS the presence of justice. It is the ability for families to stay together and for hurt people to mend and for children to be safe and for women, (and men) to walk the streets safely.

But we will not win if we do not unite, for separate, we are weaker than we are together. 

In the 60’s we used to say that if each person next to us took part we would sooner or later have everyone taking part. Remember, if soldiers will not fight armies are powerless. 

What will this all mean? It will mean true alliances. What is one movements fight is every movements fight. What is one movement’s problem is every movements problem.

We must take up each others causes. we must truly share resources or we are bound to fail. And we must work locally and globally. It is true that if everyone grew their own food we would radically alter the entire structure of society. But if we do not maintain influence in the current system they will simple make growing our own food illegal and seize our right to grow it.

This struggle will proceed on many fronts and for many people simple survival is in question so we must, whenever possible, do what we can to support the struggles of those weakest and most at risk among us or we will be without mutual support when it is our turn. We ARE all in this together and we must begin to act that way if we expect anyone else to support the struggle that we deem our own main focus. And there will be something for everybody to do. We all bring our own unique skills and experience to the table.

Different strategies and tactics will have their place in the larger picture.An example: Voting…

Some contend that voting merely recognizes and legitimizes a corrupt system. I can see that point of view. But voting is one way to influence those already in power and to organize others and build relationships that will be important for other, more pertinent struggles. I vote strategically, even choosing not to vote and telling our constituents to stay home en-mass to make a statement in one city election. The statement was essential in this case as the campaign was about demonstrating the corruption of this very election. That coalition went on to replace the people in power the following election with allies that supported our cause in the first election.

That is not to say that we all put down our current campaigns and start from  scratch. If does behoove us to look at ways that we can support others in their struggles and combine, where possible, our campaigns to include others whose struggles are peripherally effected or whose success may embolden our own. The advance of conditions for teachers IS an advance for students IS an advance for parents IS an advance for families etc. add-infinitum.

Besides, fighting the fight is the right thing to do because it is. Another thing Allard used to say. “The question should be, is it worth doing, not can it be done.” So true. 

After all… isn’t it about time?

Let’s Stay Together…

Obama 2012

Who Gave Mitt Romney Money

Mitt Romney’s campaign received $1 million from a single donor through a now defunct PAC, Restore Our Future.  Who is this mysterious donor?

• Al-Quaeda?
• Saudi Prince?
• Middle East Dictator?
• Columbian Drug Lord?
• Mexican Drug Lord?
• Chinese PM?
• Taliban?
• Klu Klux Klan?
• White Supremest Nazi?
• Sovereign Nation Member?

Who is this bigoted person that IS AFRAID TO HAVE THEIR NAME DISCLOSED?  I know one thing for sure.  This person is a COWARD.

It could be anyone of the above mentioned people.  Does Romney pal around with terrorists?

Election Day – VOTE

This is crazy.  Life without taxes… A Tea Party Paradise

And then there is this…

From Jeff Seeman’s Diary

Let’s say that you’re a Teabagger and you want to get rid of taxes. I tell you it’s not possible, but you don’t listen to me. That’s cool.

So you win. Taxes are gone. No taxes in the USA. You win. The federal government and all the evils that go with it are gone forever.

Now let’s finish your scenario out, OK? Humor me.

You might think that with no taxes, you’ll make more money, right?

Wrong.

Let’s say that you make 40,000 dollars a year now. But your take home pay is only 30,000 dollars. Your employer knows that he doesn’t have to pay the federal government those nasty taxes anymore, but he also knows that you’ve been willing to come to work every day for a 30,000 dollar take-home amount. Guess who’s getting a pay decrease down to 30k a year? You are. The taxes are gone, did you really think that your employer wouldn’t choose to benefit from that first?

So now you make the same amount as before, but there’s no money going to social security anymore. The same amount of money you lived on before now has to get you beyond retirement.

Your 401k is gone too. The company that manages it has wiped the accounts dry. Who’s going to stop them from doing that now that the federal regulators have all been fired?

Perhaps you’d better start saving 10 percent of your paycheck for future retirement plans? Whoops, can’t do that. The FDIC doesn’t exist, so the banks have all been cleaned out. So have the accounts you used to have money in. Your consumer protections are gone, and the person nearest to the vault with a key is now racing towards Bermuda with sacks of your money.

We didn’t really want all those nasty regulations on the banks anyway, did we?

OK, so you can handle this. You don’t need help. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, right?

You’ll be OK, I’m sure of it. But your kids are hungry, so you’d better go to the store to get groceries. Be careful with the meat and the produce departments, though. Sometime last month, the farmer realized that his farm subsidies were gone and he’s gotta cut corners to survive, not to mention raising his prices. In the cutting of the corners, he stopped feeding his cattle clean food. Now those cows are all sick and their meat is packaged up nice for you to buy and feed to your kids.

There’s no FDA and no USDA to monitor the food your farmer provides to the grocery store, so you’re on your own.

Oh and by the way, the ground beef that will be in your digestive system soon just cost you double what it used to, if you’re lucky. Price controls have been dissolved altogether.

When your family gets sick from that tainted meat, you’ll have to rush them to the hospital. Pray that their illness has already been given a cure, because the Centers For Disease Control no longer can help your local hospital identify any viruses.

Also, don’t drink the water in your neighborhood anymore. The Environmental Protection Agency, as it turns out, was actually protecting the environment. You didn’t think Monsanto was going to stop chemical dumping in the streams and lakes of America on their own, did you?

On your way home from the hospital, drive slowly. The traffic lights no longer work because they were part of the local government control and there’s no more tax money left to operate the lights. This alone caused a lot of accidents, and most of the wreckage is left behind for you to drive around if you can. Ever noticed the people that sweep up the broken glass after even the most minor fender-benders? Guess what paid their salaries?

When you get home, pray it’s still there. Without police, what do you think the odds are that people just left it alone? Unless you left your husband/wife behind with a big gun 24/7, somebody’s coming in to take your stuff. And if they have a bigger gun, you just lost your husband and his 30k a year too.

Hopefully that house doesn’t catch fire too. No fire department. And even if there were friends willing to help put out the fire, where do you think they’re going to get the water to douse the flames? Those fire hydrants were not placed there by divine intervention.

Hopefully you prepared for all this by stockpiling on guns and assorted weaponry. Not like it’ll matter. There’s armies from about 2 dozen countries that either are ready to invade or already have. Who’s gonna stop them? Jimbo and his homemade militia? I’m sure the people in your neighborhood can fill in for the boys that used to be in our military, because you know….wolverines! I loved that film too. But let’s be honest….the Cubans and Russians were going to kick our ass, no matter how many high school football players Patrick Swayze can recruit.

Even if the world community takes pity on us and defends us from invading armies, it won’t take long for the airports to become havens of hysteria. Weapons on airplanes are easy as pie. The TSA that performs security checks at the gate…who do you think paid their salaries? They’re part of that massive government waste you’re so happy to be rid of. Maybe the federal marshalls on every plane will protect you….oh, wait. Never mind.

Aside from the easy pickings that terrorism will find in the skies, you won’t be safe on the ground either. Timothy McVeigh is about to be a happy memory compared to the chemical detonations that are possible now. The regulatory committees that monitored the sale and purchase of toxic materials are gone daddy gone.

So between the tainted meat, your pay cut, your 401k being wiped out, the hospitals being overrun by people who ate the same tainted meat, your house being an easy target, the threat of terrorism at all-time highs, and having to fight for your own survival on a hourly basis….don’t you think that maybe it’s better that you just shut up and pay your damn taxes?

Or are you willing to risk all that just because you once heard about a guy who was lazy and took 300 bucks a month in unemployment?

———————–

I don’t expect a response, but it felt good to write that.  Screw John Galt.

UPDATE – Thanks for the rec list.  I better fix all my typos.

UPDATE 2 – yes, I give you 110% freedom to republish my response, crib from it, whatever you wish.  What’s mine is yours.

A Vote For A Republican Means

What does a vote for a Republican mean in November?  Three things:

1. A vote for the interest of the wealthiest Americans at the expense of everyone else.
2. A vote for putting the power in the hands of a few wealthy fringe Republicans.
3. A vote for the politics of fear.

From Mitchell Bard:

There was a time when a principled Republican could fairly and accurately reply that he or she was voting for smaller government and lower taxes as a way of improving the fortunes of the middle class. (I personally disagree with that policy position, but it is a fair argument to make.)

But in the current Tea Party- and Beck-Palin-Limbaugh-dominated GOP, such an assertion is completely untenable. Recent news has shined a clear spotlight on exactly what the GOP is actually supporting. As I pointed out last month, odds are, the Republicans are not looking out for you.

Read the further details of the results from these three things here.

It is the wealthiest Americans that are supporting the Tea Party Republicans and other Republican candidates because they want to make America a third world country.

If you are proud to be an American, then you will vote for a Democrat on November 2, 2010.  This election is about saving the soul of our nation.  Let’s not give it to the wealthy.

I Want My Country Back

Yes, you heard me.  I want my country back… back from the Tea Party and the big corporations that financially support them.  I do NOT want my country to return to the Tea Party and Republican principles of:

• Repealing the Civil Rights Act because the central Government should not tell States how to treat American citizens.
• Eliminating the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.  Women should not be voting.  They don’t have time for politics because they need to be in the kitchen cooking and they should be waiting on their husbands.  The bible tells us that women are subservient to men.
• Returning to slave labor and sweat shop labor practices because businesses should be free to abuse their employees without Government interference.
• Dismantling Social Security because seniors should have planned better for their retirement.  Too bad and too sad if Wall Street bankers stole most of their IRA money.  Tough luck if the seniors worked at jobs that didn’t have a pension program or 401K program.  If these seniors worked for minimum wage, they still should have thought ahead even if it required providing less food and clothing for their children so that they would have that extra money to save for their retirement.  Some Republican candidates are claiming that Social Security is unconstitutional.
• Dismantling Medicare because health care is not a right, it is a privilege and the Tea Party does not approve of privileges except when it comes to their idols and themselves.  Besides, only the privileged deserve health care.
• Eliminating disability payments because people need to be more responsible and not get injured on the job.  This includes our military veterans.  They should stop whining because after all, they volunteered.
• Forcing Catholics, Jews and Muslims to commit sins by having to read and study the protestant bible in public schools.
• Allowing property owners to create toll roads.  People have a right to collect money from anyone that crosses their property line.  Good luck with getting to work on time and having any money left over from your paycheck after paying all the tolls.
• Supporting “Second Amendment” solutions as a means of conflict resolution.  This might also work as a method of population control.
• Returning to the glory days of lords and serfs.

I want my country back from hate mongers like Beck, Palin, Limbaugh, Malkin, Kristol, Bachmann, Rove, Cheney, and all the rest that appear on Fox News, the opinion network.  The goals for these people are to divide our country and to make piles of money while undereducated people do their dirty work for them.

I want my country back from racists such as Beck, Laura Schlesinger, the Tea Party and the Larouches.  These people are so upset because there is a black family living in, what they perceive as, the White(‘s only) House.

I want my country back from people that profit from the suffering of others (Beck, Palin and Limbaugh).

I want my country back from politicians that place Wall Street above and before Main Street, such as Pat Toomey, Tom Corbett, Jim Gerlach and all the other Republicans and Tea Party members.

Yes, I want my country back.  The one where everyone is treated with respect and  equality, the one where everyone receives good health care, the one where everyone receives a livable wage, and the one where everyone is free to practice their religious beliefs without interference from other religions.

I want back, the country that was progresing forward.  Not the one that is currently heading in Reverse.

The Republican Score Card

Learn where the Republicans stand on issues that effect all of us here.  You’ll want to read that link.

Even though 85% of Americans want the Government to keep their hands off of Social Security, the Republicans are looking forward to getting their greedy hands on our money and handing it over to their friends on Wall Street.  Remember, Wall Street stole our 401K money and how former President Bush immediately called for the Government to bail out his rich friends on Wall Street.  The TARP money, Wall Street bailout was President George W. Bush’s plan to save our economy.

One more thing, if the Bush tax breaks for the rich was meant to create jobs as the Republicans claim, then why was there a net loss in jobs during the Bush years?  If these tax breaks really created jobs, there wouldn’t be a 9.5% unemployment rate.

Republicans are like the street scammers with the walnut shells.  Always up to tricks to take your money and make themselves rich.

Social Security keeps 20 million Americans out of poverty.  If the Republicans get a hold of this money, 20 million more Americans will be living in the streets.  We cannot afford a Republican controlled Congress.  Vote Joe Sestak for Senate and Manan Trivedi for the PA 6th Congressional District.  Re-elect Patrick Murphy.  These Democrats got our back.  They are all veterans that served our nation with honor and put their lives on the line to protect Americans. They walk the walk and deserve to continue to fight for us in Washington DC.

Pay attention:  Pat Toomey supports oil drilling in Lake Erie.  Yes, Pennsylvania shores along Lake Erie can look like the oil covered beaches of Louisiana.

Gerlach, We Are Waiting To Hear From You

Press release from PA 6th Congressional District Candidate, Manan Trivedi…

Manan Trivedi to Rep. Gerlach: Do you have the courage?

MEDIA RELEASE

2.10.2010

Ed Niles, Campaign Manager

610-370-9489

READING, Pa – The following is a statement from 6th district Democratic candidate for congress, Manan Trivedi on the President Obama’s proposed health care summit and the refusal by House Republican Leadership to commit to attending.

“President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has offered to host a publicly televised health care summit to finally come with a solution for health care reform, and so far, Republican leaders in the House are unwilling to attend. I hear the Republicans in Washington clamoring about wanting an open and transparent process, and just when President Obama makes a bold and transformational gesture to meet their demands, they change their minds.”

“What I don’t hear is Congressman Gerlach standing up to his leaders in Washington and demanding they come to the table and solve our health care problem. What I don’t hear is Congressman Gerlach’s conviction to do what is right. And what I clearly don’t hear from Congressman Gerlach, is a public servant who is willing to listen to the public he is supposed to represent. Congressman Gerlach, do you have the courage to tell your leaders in Washington to meet with President Obama on television and fix our health care crisis?”

“As millions of people go without health care today, Gerlach and the Republicans in Washington who tell him what to do, play political games with American’s lives. As a physician, I have dealt first-hand with the harsh reality of those who are forced to go without health care. And when I am in Congress, I will never let an opportunity to improve our health care system slip by for the sake of political posturing.”

Manan Trivedi is a primary care physician, a former Lt. Commander in the Navy and an Iraq War veteran.

Website.

$482 Billion Deficit on Gerlach’s Watch

The below post was from the Bob Roggio campaign.  Other than that fact that Roggio is not running again, nothing else has changed regarding Gerlach’s history.  I added the updates.

Gerlach is a suit that lives off of taxpayer’s money and gives nothing back to his constituents.

$482 Billion Deficit on Gerlach’s Watch
Can Jim Gerlach disguise himself as a “Champion” for Change?

MALVERN, PA – On Monday(2008), President Bush predicted that the next President would inherit a record $482 billion deficit in 2009. According the New York Times, this staggering figure doesn’t even account for military costs in Iraq and Afghanistan, another economic stimulus package, or losses in tax revenues. [The New York Times, 7/30/08]. While Washington continues to spend billions of dollars a month in Iraq, give tax breaks to people making over $300 thousand a year, and subsidize the oil companies, Americans are contending with the rising price of gas, a stagnant economy, and soaring healthcare costs.

In a recent mail piece, the Gerlach campaign boldly states “Change Has a Champion…Congressman Jim Gerlach.” Jim Gerlach has had 6 (8) years to change the direction of our country, but rather than taking responsibility for championing the policies that have led us to this record deficit, he is now masquerading as a “Champion” for change.

“Jim Gerlach is misleading the voters of 6th District using convenient political jargon, but not having the record to support his claims,” said Roggio Campaign Manager Liz Conroy. “There is a real choice for change this year. There is a choice between giving tax cuts to people who make over 300 thousand dollars a year rather and solving our healthcare crisis. There is a choice between subsidizing the oil companies and keeping social security around for our Grandchildren. There is a choice between spending endlessly in Iraq and paying down the debt. Change is about new priorities, not empty rhetoric.”

Vote Check: Champion for Change?
Does a “Champion” for Change vote with George Bush 100% of the time on Iraq?

Gerlach Opposed Setting Benchmarks for Success in Iraq

In July 2005, Gerlach voted against a measure requiring President Bush to set public benchmarks for measuring U.S. progress in Iraq in areas such as defeating the insurgency, establishing democratic institutions and bringing U.S. troops home. Representative Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey), who made the motion, urged benchmarks “so we know exactly what we need to do to achieve success in Iraq. Up to this point, Congress has abdicated its responsibility on Iraq. The Republican leadership has provided the administration with a blank check when it comes to Iraq.” [Aberdeen American News, 7/24/05]. The motion failed 203-227. [HR 2601, Menendez motion, Vote #398, 7/20/05]

Gerlach Opposed Investigation into Contractor Spending in Iraq

In 2005, Gerlach voted against an amendment to provide $5 million to establish a select committee to investigate reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, including contracting procedures, protection against money laundering, and the allocation of contracts to foreign companies and small businesses. In October 2004, the International Advisory and Monitoring Board released an audit of the Bush Administration’s management of Iraqi oil proceeds and other funds in the Development Fund for Iraq. Problems found involved hundreds of millions of dollars, numerous sole source contracts and missing and nonexistent contract files. [Committee on Government Reform Minority Staff, http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov%5D The $5 million would have been transferred from Pentagon funds to the congressional budget. [Washington Post, 3/20/05]. The amendment failed 191-236. [HR 1268, Vote #72, 3/15/05]

Gerlach Opposed Accountability in Iraq

In 2007, Gerlach voted against requiring the president, by July 13, to submit to reports to Congress on the progress the Iraqi government has made in meeting political and military benchmarks. Within seven legislative days of receiving the reports, Congress would then have two votes on releasing the remaining $52.8 billion “fenced” funds – one on an amendment that would require the Defense Department to use the fenced funds solely to redeploy troops from Iraq, and a vote on a joint resolution releasing the funds to the Pentagon for ongoing operations in Iraq. [CQ House Action Reports, No. 110-5, 5/09/07] The bill passed 221-205. [HR 2206, Vote #333, 5/10/07]

REAL CHANGE: Bob Roggio’s priority is to bring the troops home from Iraq. He will work with the new President to achieve a responsible withdrawal and work to encourage the Iraqi Government to take responsibility for reconstruction.

Does a “Champion” for Change vote to weaken ethical restrictions on Congress?

Voted To Weaken House Ethics Rules

In 2005, Gerlach voted in favor of curtailing the ways ethics investigations can be launched. Republicans passed a package of House rules that required at least one Republican to agree before the ethics committee begins an inquiry. Former Ethics committee Chairman Joel Hefley (R-Colo.) broke with GOP leaders on the House floor, saying he thought the changes were a mistake since they were done without bipartisan discussion. The rules passed, 220-195. [HRes 5, Vote #6, 1/04/05]

Opposed Closing the Lucrative “Revolving Door” Between Lobbying & Lawmakers

In 2005, Gerlach voted against a measure to prohibit Members of the House from negotiating lucrative job deals that capitalized on their committee membership. The measure was rejected, 196-219. [HRes 5, Vote #5, 1/04/05]

Voted To Allow Lobbyists to Wine & Dine Congress

In 2003, Gerlach voted to weaken House ethics rules, pushing through language that would allow lobbyists to cater meals to members’ offices and let charities pay for lawmakers to travel and stay at golf resorts and other locales. The rules passed, 221-203. [HRes 5, Vote #4, 1/07/03]

REAL CHANGE: Bob Roggio believes that we must fight for an accountable and transparent government. We need to go further than restricting the number of years that public officials have to “cool off” before lobbying Congress. We need to curtail the influence of special interests in governance by demanding a lifetime ban on ex-lawmakers becoming registered lobbyists.

Does a “Champion” for Change take over $90,000 in campaign contributions from Big Oil, and vote to subsidize the oil and gas industry?

Gerlach Voted for Final Energy Bill that Gave Billions to Oil, Gas and Nuclear Industries

In 2005, Gerlach voted for the energy conference report that exempts oil and gas industries from some clean-water laws, streamlines permits for oil wells and power lines on public lands, and helps the hydropower industry appeal environmental restrictions. One obscure provision would repeal a Depression-era law that has prevented consolidation of public utilities, potentially transforming the nation’s electricity markets. It also includes an estimated $85 billion worth of subsidies and tax breaks for most forms of energy — including oil and gas, “clean coal,” ethanol, electricity, and solar and wind power. The bill included $2 billion for “risk insurance” in case new nuclear plants run into construction and licensing delays. And nuclear utilities will be eligible for taxpayer-backed loan guarantees of as much as 80 percent the cost of their plants. The bill passed, 275-156. [HR 6, Vote #445, 7/28/2005; Washington Post, 7/30/05; Passed 275-156; R 200-31; D 75-124; I 0-1]

Gerlach Voted Against Bill that Would Repeal Big Oil’s Tax Breaks

In 2007, Gerlach voted against H.R. 2776, a bill that would add energy derived from waves, tides, ocean currents, free flowing rivers, free flowing canals, and other marine sources to the list of qualified energy sources for the purpose of claiming renewable energy credits, unless diversionary structures such as dams or impoundments are used (Sec. 102). This bill also repeals the 9 percent tax deduction for income attributable to “the sale, exchange, or other disposition of oil, natural gas, or any primary product thereof” (Sec. 301). The House passed the bill 221-189. Republicans voted 9-178 (Vote # 835, 8/4/07). NOTE: This bill was appended to the end of an omnibus bill H.R. 3221, which passed the House 241-172 and Gerlach voted in favor of H.R. 3221. Republicans voted 26-163 (Vote # 832, 8/4/07).

For a Second Time, Gerlach Voted Against Bill that Would Repeal Big Oil’s Tax Breaks

In 2008, Gerlach voted against H.R. 5351, a bill that would extend tax credits for wind facilities, closed loop and open loop biomass facilities, geothermal and solar facilities, small irrigation power facilities, landfill gas facilities, trash combustion facilities, and hydropower facilities for three years (Sec. 101). The bill creates new “clean renewable energy” bonds and designates a $2 billion limit on those bonds, which would be allocated to qualified projects of public power providers and cooperative electric companies (Sec. 104). It also prevents tax deductions to major integrated oil companies for income resulting from the domestic production of oil and gas (Sec. 301). The bill passed the House 236-182. Republicans voted 17-174 (Vote # 84, 2/27/08).

REAL CHANGE: Bob Roggio has pledged to not accept ANY campaign contributions from the oil and gas industries.

More On That Midnight Pay Raise

From an email…

Friends of Congressman Tim HoldenContact:  570-429-0397

Statement from Congressman Tim Holden regarding PA Senator Dave Argall’s announcement:

Today’s announcement from Dave Argall should be very troubling to the constituents he currently represents as he was just entrusted less then a year ago with the Senate seat of the late Jimmy Rhoades.  Senator Rhoades was a colleague and friend of mine. He coached me in my early football years.  He and I worked closely together for the people we represented and we upheld the long tradition of bipartisanship which has served our constituents well over the years.

I am proud to share this same tradition of bipartisanship with other elected legislators throughout the 17^th Congressional District.  It is disturbing to me that Dave Argall has chosen to disregard this policy for his own personal gains, but now that he has made this choice, let’s take a close look at his legislative record.

While serving as a State Representative, Dave Argall voted to increase his own pension by 50%.

Then, while serving in a leadership position in the PA House, he wrote, signed and was responsible for rounding up the votes for the infamous midnight Pay Raise legislation.  That’s right, Dave Argall gave himself a 34% pay increase.  Let the record be clear, without Dave Argall, this bad legislation would never have seen the light of day, much less be passed into law.  It was Dave Argall, working closely with his colleague, the now indicted former Speaker of the House John Perzel, who made sure that the votes were there to pass this appalling pay increase.

At the same time he was lining his own pockets, Dave Argall routinely voted to increase taxes on his constituents and voted against funding health insurance programs for people who most needed the assistance.

One thing is for sure, Dave Argall is not a leader and he is not concerned about average working men and women.  Dave Argall has demonstrated time and time again he is only concerned with one thing…. Dave Argall.