Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others.

As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor; let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own, and his children's liberty.

Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and Let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.

While ever a state of feeling, such as this, shall universally, or even, very generally prevail throughout the nation, vain will be every effort, and fruitless every attempt, to subvert our national freedom.


- Abraham Lincoln, January 27, 1838
  Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois

Monday, September 22, 2008

Kucinich: "Cash for Trash"

Great article in truthout.org; I noticed immediately that Kucinich was back in form, once again fighting for the rights of the citizens.

Seems he has company from the other side of the aisle as well -- from Republicans that remember what it means to be Republican:

Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), spoke out against a bailout, calling the current proposal "cash for trash," and proposing a distribution of the assets back to the taxpayers.

"Since the bailout will cost each and every American about $2,300, tomorrow I will offer legislation to create a United States Mutual Trust Fund, which will take control of $700 billion in stock assets, at market value and not higher, convert those assets to shares, and distribute $2,300 worth of shares to new individual savings accounts in the name of each and every American," Kucinich said in a statement.

And now... a voice from Indiana! I was a little surprised to see that it was Mike Pence (of 'Baghdad is like an Indiana market' notoriety. Yes - that Mike Pence.)

It appears that he is one of those old school Republicans:

Conservative Republican Representative Mike Pence of Indiana was the first to loudly oppose the bailout plan from within the Republican Party.

"The Administration's request amounts to the largest corporate bailout in American history. Congress should act, but should act in a way that protects the integrity of our free market and protects the American taxpayer from more debt and higher taxes," Pence said in a statement Saturday.

Pence makes his argument based on his belief in the Republican mantra of "free market" economics. "To have the freedom to succeed, we must preserve the freedom to fail. Any solution to our present crisis must preserve our essential economic freedom," Pence said.

Today, Mike Pence can say anything he likes about Indiana farmers markets. He stepped up to the plate and spoke sanity to greed.

Wall Street is taking advantage... of the fact that it is an election year and they have nearly all politicians that are running for re-election over a barrel: a financial barrel. As I have been musing, and at times angrily shouting, Wall Street buys politicians through campaign contributions. This is an election year. You can call this outright blackmail and not be out of line:

The rush to bail out financial institutions and the willingness to defend executive compensation comes as no surprise to campaign finance experts. Massie Ritsch, communications director for the money in politics watchdog group The Center for Responsive Politics, examines the effect of campaign contributions to politicians in Washington.

"Wall Street is one of the biggest campaign givers in American politics. When you combine donations from the finance, insurance and real estate sectors [all of which stand to gain from the bailout], they become the largest contributor, splitting roughly $311 million evenly between Republicans and Democrats," Ritsch said.

Wanna get something done? Buy everybody.

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