I have been interested in politics since I cast my first vote when I was 18, which was in 1984. I just joined the Army that same year and embarked on a new life. Now, I am an adult, so now I had adult things to think about, like thinking for myself, being a man of my word, bills and the political process. Since then, I have watched every political debates rather I like the person or not. But a couple of years ago, I notice that education was used as a political promise in 98 percent of debates.
Why is that? Well, like I always do, I will tell you. Think about any politician, their main goal is to connect with all people from all walks of life. So they have to find something that will connect everyone together. So they promise to build better roads and bridges, but roads and bridges don’t resonate with all people, because some people don’t have cars.
So, they promise to cut taxes, but most tax cuts go to the rich and corporations and small businesses that make over a certain amount of money. So tax cuts, does not matter to the average person who is living paycheck to paycheck. So what can they promise that will connect all people? What does every American want for themselves as well as for their children? A good education..
Education connects every single person in this country. If you rich you can afford to get your education. If you are middle class, apply for a loan. If you are poor, there are federal programs that you can apply too. So no matter what economic status you are in, education is the key that connects all.
So what does the politician promise you, more money for schools, more money for scholarships, and more money for programs that will help you get an education? After years of promises, you would think that education would be a lot better shape than it is today. But if you want this to change, there is a catch; you have to vote for them, in order to have this education benefit put in place.
Now, you voted and your guy is in office; he is going over the budget and sees that there is a shortfall. There is not enough tax revenue coming in to support the promises he had made on the campaign trail. So now some programs have to get cut. What do you think is the first thing to get cut? You know it, education. The number one program promise and the number one program to be cut. Now education is being put back in the recyclable bind to be used as the next campaign promise.
Education, the promised that keeps on coming…
Make a comment and tell me what your thoughts are…..
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Is it Senator DeMint or Senator DeMented
Demented: Having or showing a very abnormal or sick state of mind. This pretty much sums up the Republic party. You have to be crazy or demented to vote against the stimulus Bill. There are people all across this country that is suffering, such as the elderly, the children, under-employed as well as the unemployed. But all of the House Republicans, and all but three Senate Republicans, had voted against this Bill. Well, what is their incentive to vote for it, they are employed? They are not affected by this economic downturn. They are not concerned about being voted out; they have the corporations behind them.
Mark my word, the Republicans who voted against this Bill will still benefit from it. They only voted against this Bill because the corporations that line their pockets did not want this Bill to pass. The Corporations wanted to capitalize on this situation as they always do. Remember in my blog “Introduction to South Carolina Politics”, I mention that your Democrat vote does count even when you don’t vote? Well here is what you get when you don’t vote. Senator Jim DeMint (R) who is South Carolina’s Jr. Senator or as I like to call him Senator DeMented.
When you become a Public Official, your job is to consider every single person when you make decisions that will affect your State, District, County or City. So why do Republicans always exclude people. Senator DeMented has stated how he feels about Gays, Lesbians’ and single mothers. For example, he stated that if you are a practicing Homosexual or a single mother you should not be allowed to teach in schools.
But this is how Republicans are, they get on their moral high ground and preach how being different is a sin. But these are the same people who shove family values in your face and then end up in a call girls black book. Senator DeMented may be against Gays and Lesbians, but his best friend Senator David Vitter (R) of Louisiana has admitted to using the DC Madam Call Girl Service. But yet these people get elected over and over again.
So how can we fight these type of hypocrites? We come together and vote them out of office. Once again, your vote does count… So get out there and vote.....
Make a comment and tell me what your thoughts are…..
Mark my word, the Republicans who voted against this Bill will still benefit from it. They only voted against this Bill because the corporations that line their pockets did not want this Bill to pass. The Corporations wanted to capitalize on this situation as they always do. Remember in my blog “Introduction to South Carolina Politics”, I mention that your Democrat vote does count even when you don’t vote? Well here is what you get when you don’t vote. Senator Jim DeMint (R) who is South Carolina’s Jr. Senator or as I like to call him Senator DeMented.
When you become a Public Official, your job is to consider every single person when you make decisions that will affect your State, District, County or City. So why do Republicans always exclude people. Senator DeMented has stated how he feels about Gays, Lesbians’ and single mothers. For example, he stated that if you are a practicing Homosexual or a single mother you should not be allowed to teach in schools.
But this is how Republicans are, they get on their moral high ground and preach how being different is a sin. But these are the same people who shove family values in your face and then end up in a call girls black book. Senator DeMented may be against Gays and Lesbians, but his best friend Senator David Vitter (R) of Louisiana has admitted to using the DC Madam Call Girl Service. But yet these people get elected over and over again.
So how can we fight these type of hypocrites? We come together and vote them out of office. Once again, your vote does count… So get out there and vote.....
Make a comment and tell me what your thoughts are…..
Friday, February 20, 2009
Corporate American the Master of Illusions
My father may his soul rest in peace, had told me when I was a kid, that Corporations run this Country. I remember my father and I had many conversations about how things were when he was a kid as compared to when I was a kid growing up in the 1970s. My father use to say that back in his time a man’s word was better than signing a contract. All you need was a hand shake and the deal was done. If you were a customer, who was not satisfied with the service or product, the store owner or the store manager would do everything in the world to make you happy.
Today, there are a lot more pissed of costumers than ever before and no one cares. There are consumers groups out there; some will help you, most don’t. Here is a fact for you, some consumers groups are subsidiaries of major corporations or are receiving funds from corporations. I bet you did not know that. Why is that? Corporations’ bottom line is to protect their bottom line. Why do you think they have so many lawyers on hand to fight cases?
No matter what you do in life, there is a Corporation that has their hand in it. For example, you want to buy a car. So you go to the car dealer ship with your down payment. You tell the salesman the type of car you are looking for within your budget. So what is the first thing that salesman say to you? Lets’ check your credit. That is the first step to notifying the Corporation (Credit Company). OK, now the Corporation tells the salesman, this customer is credit worthy. The salesman comes back to you as you set at his/her desk in anticipation on what they are going to tell you. Your credit is good. Yay!!!! But now, step two of notifying the corporation is coming up. Lets’ get you a loan. The salesman goes back into that room punch in your information to banks all over the country, and in some cases international banks.
The salesman comes back and tells you, that you have been approved for a loan. Yay!!!!! Now you all excited because you are on your way to getting a car that you need so bad. Now you are walking the lot, looking for the car that you have obsessed over. There it is!!!! Finally you see the one that you were looking for, and it has that new car smell. Now the corporation must be notified again. Before you can drive off that lot, you have to get car insurance, because this is “THE LAW” in every State. So you comply because this is “THE LAW”. Now, you are driving off the lot with your brand new car with the new car smell. Now I am going to break this car buying process down to you and show you how corporation protect their money. Being a Small Business Owner I going to show you this process, from a business point of view. Here we go;
1. Checking your credit:
This the first line of defense to protecting the corporation money. To see if you are capable of paying the corporation their money back. If you cannot passed this first line of defense it saves the corporation millions of dollars.
2. Getting the loan:
This is the second line of defense to protecting the corporation money. The banks (who are corporations) based their loans on your credit check. So if you have a strong credit history, they charge you a low percentage rate and if your credit is not that strong, they will charge you a higher percentage rate. But, what the banks don’t tell you is that, when you get a loan, the bank takes out an insurance policy on your loan which you are paying for.
So if you don’t pay them back, they just cash in the insurance policy that you are paying for in the first place. So this loan is protected when you make your payments and it is secured once again when you get car insurance, so the bank is saving and making money at the same time. So they agree to lend you money. If you really look at it, banks really don’t have money; they use your money to lend to you.
3. Car Insurance:
As stated earlier, you cannot drive off the lot without having insurance. What is insurance? It is an insurance policy that you pay for in the event that your car gets damage or totaled. This protects also protect the loan that you have on the car. So the bank (the corporation) can get their money back. Remember, the bottom line is what is important.
If you notice, there is nothing in there to protect the person driving the car. But I am not done yet. Here is where the Illusions come in at. The insurance company, tell you this to make you feel better. You need this amount of insurance to cover you in case you or any of your passengers get hurt or the other driver and their passengers are injured. Then they hit you with this phrase “So in case you get sued by the other driver, you will be protected”.
The reality is when you get hurt; the insurance companies don’t want to pay out the claim. So what is your next course of action, either you go to a consumer group or you get a lawyer to fight this case for you. But these cases drag out for years and the corporations are hoping to either break you financially or mentally until you settle for less. Either way, you lose.. It is a vicious cycle.
This is just a small example of how corporation have their hands in just about everything. Have you ever asked yourself, how did it get this way? Or how can we change this process. The reason why it is this way is because corporations pay millions of dollars to politicians’ campaigns, in turn to create bills that protect the corporations.
This is neither a Democrat nor a Republican issue; it is a “GREED” issue. Big businesses are in business to make money at the expense of the American public. In my course on How to Start a Business, I tell all my students this, “Anytime you put money before people, you will doom to fail every single time”. If you do not believe this, look at who we are bailing out now..
Make a comment and tell me what your thoughts are…..
Today, there are a lot more pissed of costumers than ever before and no one cares. There are consumers groups out there; some will help you, most don’t. Here is a fact for you, some consumers groups are subsidiaries of major corporations or are receiving funds from corporations. I bet you did not know that. Why is that? Corporations’ bottom line is to protect their bottom line. Why do you think they have so many lawyers on hand to fight cases?
No matter what you do in life, there is a Corporation that has their hand in it. For example, you want to buy a car. So you go to the car dealer ship with your down payment. You tell the salesman the type of car you are looking for within your budget. So what is the first thing that salesman say to you? Lets’ check your credit. That is the first step to notifying the Corporation (Credit Company). OK, now the Corporation tells the salesman, this customer is credit worthy. The salesman comes back to you as you set at his/her desk in anticipation on what they are going to tell you. Your credit is good. Yay!!!! But now, step two of notifying the corporation is coming up. Lets’ get you a loan. The salesman goes back into that room punch in your information to banks all over the country, and in some cases international banks.
The salesman comes back and tells you, that you have been approved for a loan. Yay!!!!! Now you all excited because you are on your way to getting a car that you need so bad. Now you are walking the lot, looking for the car that you have obsessed over. There it is!!!! Finally you see the one that you were looking for, and it has that new car smell. Now the corporation must be notified again. Before you can drive off that lot, you have to get car insurance, because this is “THE LAW” in every State. So you comply because this is “THE LAW”. Now, you are driving off the lot with your brand new car with the new car smell. Now I am going to break this car buying process down to you and show you how corporation protect their money. Being a Small Business Owner I going to show you this process, from a business point of view. Here we go;
1. Checking your credit:
This the first line of defense to protecting the corporation money. To see if you are capable of paying the corporation their money back. If you cannot passed this first line of defense it saves the corporation millions of dollars.
2. Getting the loan:
This is the second line of defense to protecting the corporation money. The banks (who are corporations) based their loans on your credit check. So if you have a strong credit history, they charge you a low percentage rate and if your credit is not that strong, they will charge you a higher percentage rate. But, what the banks don’t tell you is that, when you get a loan, the bank takes out an insurance policy on your loan which you are paying for.
So if you don’t pay them back, they just cash in the insurance policy that you are paying for in the first place. So this loan is protected when you make your payments and it is secured once again when you get car insurance, so the bank is saving and making money at the same time. So they agree to lend you money. If you really look at it, banks really don’t have money; they use your money to lend to you.
3. Car Insurance:
As stated earlier, you cannot drive off the lot without having insurance. What is insurance? It is an insurance policy that you pay for in the event that your car gets damage or totaled. This protects also protect the loan that you have on the car. So the bank (the corporation) can get their money back. Remember, the bottom line is what is important.
If you notice, there is nothing in there to protect the person driving the car. But I am not done yet. Here is where the Illusions come in at. The insurance company, tell you this to make you feel better. You need this amount of insurance to cover you in case you or any of your passengers get hurt or the other driver and their passengers are injured. Then they hit you with this phrase “So in case you get sued by the other driver, you will be protected”.
The reality is when you get hurt; the insurance companies don’t want to pay out the claim. So what is your next course of action, either you go to a consumer group or you get a lawyer to fight this case for you. But these cases drag out for years and the corporations are hoping to either break you financially or mentally until you settle for less. Either way, you lose.. It is a vicious cycle.
This is just a small example of how corporation have their hands in just about everything. Have you ever asked yourself, how did it get this way? Or how can we change this process. The reason why it is this way is because corporations pay millions of dollars to politicians’ campaigns, in turn to create bills that protect the corporations.
This is neither a Democrat nor a Republican issue; it is a “GREED” issue. Big businesses are in business to make money at the expense of the American public. In my course on How to Start a Business, I tell all my students this, “Anytime you put money before people, you will doom to fail every single time”. If you do not believe this, look at who we are bailing out now..
Make a comment and tell me what your thoughts are…..
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Republican Party v.s. Being a Racist
What is the difference between the Republican Party and a Racist? Thru out my life, I have had the pleasure of working with a lot of republicans and racists while I was stationed in the DC area. There are some nice republicans who don’t care about your political views as long as you have good character. Then you have the bad republicans who will not acknowledge you no matter what you do, just because you don’t share or abide by their Party rules.
Then there is the nice racist, who hates everyone who is black, but has that one black friend, just to say; I am not a racist, I have a friend who happens to be black. Then there is the bad racist, who hates every minority group out there and hates anyone who associates themselves with those groups and feels that they are the superior race.
So what is the difference you ask? Let us take a look.
1. The Republican Party does not like Gays/Lesbians. The Racist does not like Gays/Lesbians, Blacks or anyone who associates with them.
2. The Republican Party does not like poor people because they don’t contribute to their cause. The Racist look down on poor people. Their view is that all poor people are blacks that collect welfare checks and are too lazy to work and does not contribute to society.
3. The Republican Party excludes anyone who does not fall in line with their Christian values. The Racist exclude anyone who is not a pure blooded American.
4. The Republican Party preaches morals and family values, but will be the first one to hold a press conference with their wife and apologizing for having an adulterous affair. The Racist will fight a black man for dating a white woman, but that same racist will sneak around with an Asian woman.
5. The Republican Party will create tax cuts that will take care of their rich friends, while the middle class and the poor will pay for those tax cuts. The Racist will benefit from those tax cuts, charge you high prices for poor quality to make life better for their family and friends.
6. The Republican Party will cut funding for education and scholarships in the Democratic areas. The Racist will charge you a high interest rate for a college loan, and will tell you that this is the only way you can afford to go to college.
Now, can you tell the difference between the Republican Party and Being a Racist? I sure can.. In order to be the head of the Republican Party, you must be elected by those members. In order to be a Racist, you elect yourself.
Make a comment and tell me what your thoughts are…..
Then there is the nice racist, who hates everyone who is black, but has that one black friend, just to say; I am not a racist, I have a friend who happens to be black. Then there is the bad racist, who hates every minority group out there and hates anyone who associates themselves with those groups and feels that they are the superior race.
So what is the difference you ask? Let us take a look.
1. The Republican Party does not like Gays/Lesbians. The Racist does not like Gays/Lesbians, Blacks or anyone who associates with them.
2. The Republican Party does not like poor people because they don’t contribute to their cause. The Racist look down on poor people. Their view is that all poor people are blacks that collect welfare checks and are too lazy to work and does not contribute to society.
3. The Republican Party excludes anyone who does not fall in line with their Christian values. The Racist exclude anyone who is not a pure blooded American.
4. The Republican Party preaches morals and family values, but will be the first one to hold a press conference with their wife and apologizing for having an adulterous affair. The Racist will fight a black man for dating a white woman, but that same racist will sneak around with an Asian woman.
5. The Republican Party will create tax cuts that will take care of their rich friends, while the middle class and the poor will pay for those tax cuts. The Racist will benefit from those tax cuts, charge you high prices for poor quality to make life better for their family and friends.
6. The Republican Party will cut funding for education and scholarships in the Democratic areas. The Racist will charge you a high interest rate for a college loan, and will tell you that this is the only way you can afford to go to college.
Now, can you tell the difference between the Republican Party and Being a Racist? I sure can.. In order to be the head of the Republican Party, you must be elected by those members. In order to be a Racist, you elect yourself.
Make a comment and tell me what your thoughts are…..
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Introduction to South Carolina Politics
I was born in 1966 in New Jersey and I spent many of my summers in Mullins South Carolina as a kid during the 70s. The homes there were pretty much brand new as well as some of the parks. The roads were made out of dirt and there are several corner stores that were owned by people in the neighborhood. It is now 2009, those dirt roads are now paved, homes are somewhat ran down, corner stores are gone and yet the mentality of it black citizens remain the same as it did in the 1950s.
Why is that? As a kid growing up in the North, I see black people evolve one way are another. Either they get an education thru school or from the streets or have what they called a side hustle. Where are all the black businesses? Where is the black unity that I grew up with? But I noticed, as I was growing up and spending my summers here in South Carolina, that the mentality of most of the residents has stopped evolving. It is like slavery has never left.
Some black folks here still believe that all they can do is work in manufacturing plant or work in farming or whatever job that they can get that is owned by a prominent family. Ambitions seem to escape certain parts of South Carolina. Mentorship is pretty much non-existent. I spoke to a couple of teachers from various schools who taught grades 3 thru 6 and they told me that the schools are in ruins. Some schools have been built in the late 1800; some schools only have enough books to hand out to 12 students in a class with 45 students. The school library has books publish back in the 1960s and 3 out of 4 kids’ dropout of school.
There are areas in South Carolina that are stuck in time. From what I hear that those parts of South Carolina are called the places that time forgot. What is being done about this? I can tell you that nothing is being done. Because integrity is no longer, part of politics. These places that I mentioned are places I have seen as a little kid and revisited as an adult and nothing had changed.
Am I surprised? NO! These people pay their taxes, live by the law and yet no one is speaking for them. You think that Senator Lindsey Graham (R) or Senator Jim DeMint(R) are speaking for these people? NO! Are these Senators speaking for people who don’t have the money to contribute to their campaigns? NO! Are these Senators speaking for single mothers, Gay and Lesbians or even the middle class people? No!
Then who are they speaking for? Let’s see, well there is the well to do families, the influence, people who can afford to contribute to their campaigns, oh and I cannot forget the big corporations who are running this country. But the last I remember, whether you are a Democrat or Republican, once you win a seat as a Senator, you speak for the entire State as well as all Americans, at least I thought so.
So why can’t South Carolina get a Democrat voted into office? Here are some of my opinions; the Republicans for so many years have not funded the school systems in the democratic areas. Republicans by design divided people; for example, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The well to do schools are in heavy populated Republican areas and they scare people with religion or they use crime to strike fear in there well funded base.
But I cannot blame everything on the Republicans. I met a young man the other day and he said that he does not vote because his vote does not count. I asked this young man; are you register to vote? He replied yes. I asked what are you registered as. He said a Democrat. I said well, if I can prove to you that your vote count, will you vote for me as your U.S. Senator? He said yes.
I told him, if you and every other Democrat that think like you will vote for me, then your vote counts. If you don’t vote at all, your vote will count towards the Republicans, because the Republicans are counting on you, not to vote. Think about it, have you ever thought why the Political process is so confusing? It was designed to keep certain people out of the process. The more it is confusing to you, the more you stay away from it, the more they pass laws without your knowledge. So what do you do? You complain that these laws are not fair. You tell your friends, your family how these laws are bias towards the minorities.
So when it comes time to Vote, you get frustrated with all the long lines because the shortage of machines or your boss will not allow you the time off to vote. Have you ever notice, that most supervisors in Major companies are Republicans? They will not give you the time off to vote but they disappear when it is time for them to vote.
WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!! The Republicans don't have long lines when it comes to voting. They have an abundance of machines to choose from. So if you want CHANGE, get out and vote. Don’t just vote for the President, but vote for you local government too. Learn this process. Most of you watch football and you learn the rules of the game, but football is not going to affect your paycheck or cause you to lose your home.
So why not learn the political game and help yourself, your family, your friends, your community and your country and do your part. I am running for the U.S. Senate in 2010, and I’m doing my part, will you support me?
Why is that? As a kid growing up in the North, I see black people evolve one way are another. Either they get an education thru school or from the streets or have what they called a side hustle. Where are all the black businesses? Where is the black unity that I grew up with? But I noticed, as I was growing up and spending my summers here in South Carolina, that the mentality of most of the residents has stopped evolving. It is like slavery has never left.
Some black folks here still believe that all they can do is work in manufacturing plant or work in farming or whatever job that they can get that is owned by a prominent family. Ambitions seem to escape certain parts of South Carolina. Mentorship is pretty much non-existent. I spoke to a couple of teachers from various schools who taught grades 3 thru 6 and they told me that the schools are in ruins. Some schools have been built in the late 1800; some schools only have enough books to hand out to 12 students in a class with 45 students. The school library has books publish back in the 1960s and 3 out of 4 kids’ dropout of school.
There are areas in South Carolina that are stuck in time. From what I hear that those parts of South Carolina are called the places that time forgot. What is being done about this? I can tell you that nothing is being done. Because integrity is no longer, part of politics. These places that I mentioned are places I have seen as a little kid and revisited as an adult and nothing had changed.
Am I surprised? NO! These people pay their taxes, live by the law and yet no one is speaking for them. You think that Senator Lindsey Graham (R) or Senator Jim DeMint(R) are speaking for these people? NO! Are these Senators speaking for people who don’t have the money to contribute to their campaigns? NO! Are these Senators speaking for single mothers, Gay and Lesbians or even the middle class people? No!
Then who are they speaking for? Let’s see, well there is the well to do families, the influence, people who can afford to contribute to their campaigns, oh and I cannot forget the big corporations who are running this country. But the last I remember, whether you are a Democrat or Republican, once you win a seat as a Senator, you speak for the entire State as well as all Americans, at least I thought so.
So why can’t South Carolina get a Democrat voted into office? Here are some of my opinions; the Republicans for so many years have not funded the school systems in the democratic areas. Republicans by design divided people; for example, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The well to do schools are in heavy populated Republican areas and they scare people with religion or they use crime to strike fear in there well funded base.
But I cannot blame everything on the Republicans. I met a young man the other day and he said that he does not vote because his vote does not count. I asked this young man; are you register to vote? He replied yes. I asked what are you registered as. He said a Democrat. I said well, if I can prove to you that your vote count, will you vote for me as your U.S. Senator? He said yes.
I told him, if you and every other Democrat that think like you will vote for me, then your vote counts. If you don’t vote at all, your vote will count towards the Republicans, because the Republicans are counting on you, not to vote. Think about it, have you ever thought why the Political process is so confusing? It was designed to keep certain people out of the process. The more it is confusing to you, the more you stay away from it, the more they pass laws without your knowledge. So what do you do? You complain that these laws are not fair. You tell your friends, your family how these laws are bias towards the minorities.
So when it comes time to Vote, you get frustrated with all the long lines because the shortage of machines or your boss will not allow you the time off to vote. Have you ever notice, that most supervisors in Major companies are Republicans? They will not give you the time off to vote but they disappear when it is time for them to vote.
WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!! The Republicans don't have long lines when it comes to voting. They have an abundance of machines to choose from. So if you want CHANGE, get out and vote. Don’t just vote for the President, but vote for you local government too. Learn this process. Most of you watch football and you learn the rules of the game, but football is not going to affect your paycheck or cause you to lose your home.
So why not learn the political game and help yourself, your family, your friends, your community and your country and do your part. I am running for the U.S. Senate in 2010, and I’m doing my part, will you support me?
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