Act on gun legislation. I have a 900 word text as below -------- Dear Senator: Hope you had a great recess and enjoyed time off with your family this summer. With congress back from recess, I am sure there are many high priority legislative affairs that you need to take care of. Nothing should be more important than gun legislation. Why? Because this legislation has the potential to positively impact the lives of millions of Americans. I am very deeply concerned about the increase in frequency of mass shootings. From schools, malls, retail stores, restaurants, work place, to even our own front porch (yes I repeat front porch – look at Chicago), nothing can be deemed safe anymore. We are not talking about a war torn zone in the third world or Middle East. This is America where everyone has his or her rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. It is a national shame that in the greatest country on earth “we the people” have to run normal errands with fear of mass shooting hanging over our heads. As a parent of a five year old who got into school system this year, I am deeply worried about the safety of kids. I am not alone. Talking to other parents in our neighborhood seems like most of them has this concern at the back of their mind. It is something that keeps people awake at night. Deeply living in partisan bubbles, lawmakers exhibit gross insensitiveness about the issue. This is not about scoring points over your political opponents for god’s sake. It is about the future of this country. It is about the kids and grandkids of yours as well as mine. It is as much your personal problem as it is mine. Nobody is immune to this violence. As I always ask, why does a simple common sense solution (that is required to be addressed with empathy) always get so complicated with lawmakers in Washington DC? Even worse, empathy often lies on the wrong side. Pardon my lengthy letter. I request esteemed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to work together on war footing to address loopholes. I request to consider a comprehensive option that include the following: 1. Support to pass red flag laws. It is an important tool in the arsenal to get gun out of hands of wrong people. 2. I understand HR 1112 bill is passed in house. It is a good start, but not adequate. As NPR reports, “The background check does not apply to transfers between close relatives. A firearm could also be loaned to someone using it at a shooting range or for the purposes of hunting and trapping, unless there is a reason to suspect the gun will be used in a crime or the person receiving the gun is prohibited from possessing the gun under state or federal law” (Source: https://www.npr.org/2019/02/27/698512397/house-passes-most-significant-gun-bill-in-2-decades) 3. Instead of taking up the above bill on senate and passing it as-is, build upon it and address the limitations of this bill. Make it bound for transfers between close relatives. Have people check for FOID or equivalent license before loaning them at shooting ranges. Hold the loaner responsible if they end up floating the law (Enforcement should be no different than implications of handing out tobacco or alcohol to people under 18). Pass a strengthened version of HR 1112 in both House and Senate. 4. Place a ban on all semi-automatic weapons and handguns. Define the term “semi-automatic” without ambiguity. It could be something that doesn’t fire more than one a round, or something that doesn’t outgun lowest level law-enforcement uses in the country. Just come up with what makes sense and define it accordingly. There is no necessity for people to have military grade weapons on street. There is no reason to outgun law enforcement. Even law enforcement veterans agree. “Thomas, a 27-year veteran of the Cincinnati Police Department, said he had to worry as an officer that, with a 15-round clip and one in chamber of his pistol, criminals would outgun him. “My little nine-millimeter would be useless against an AR- 15,” he said, referring to his standard-issue handgun and a high-powered rifle that has proved popular among mass killers” (Source: https://beta.washingtonpost.com/national/as-mass-shootings-rise-experts-say-high-capacity-magazines-should-be-thefocus/2019/08/18/d016fa66-bfa3-11e9-a5c6- 1e74f7ec4a93_story.html?fbclid=IwAR3r0qIC0BYwTFIIACBrfRNgOvDsh5Ank9W63ZzcPnFq71jBAkq2tQgt15U ) 5. Implement a time bound gun buy-back program. Make buy-back mandatory for semi-automatic weapons. Incentivize people who voluntarily participate in buybacks. Australia and Brazil are few countries that attempted this approach with decent success (Check references section at the end of the letter). 6. Implement licensing for gun ownership on lines of how it is done with DMV. Gun ownership is as much a right as automobile ownership. While we have oversights for automobile ownership, there are none for guns. There is no reason why rules shouldn’t be the same here. Make every gun ow...

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo's 75 million dollars in proposed cuts to the popular and much needed medicaid program CDPA isn't just misguided, it's also a dangerous attack on many oppressed communities. The following are 10 reasons why it is urgent and vital that all New York Senators and Representatives speak out against the cuts. 1.) Attack on freedom and independence. Cuomo's plan to charge CDPA agencies (aka: FI's or Fiscal Intermediaries) a monthly fee per client, will force agencies to give the boot to many New Yorkers already using the program, and reject new applicants, as the CDPA agencies won't be able to afford the monthly fees to stay in business otherwise. Shouldn't all New Yorkers have the same access to this medicaid program instead of a chosen few? As a result, people will be forced to use Traditional Services, which means a higher number of disabled and elderly people being shipped off against their will into nursing homes and institutions, where care is a dehumanizing assembly line and there is a higher risk of abuse. As it is, traditional agencies often have problems covering the approved hours and meeting the needs of disabled and/or elderly New Yorkers, and now there will be an even greater demand. 2.) Attack on workers. Why is Cuomo so bent on destroying jobs? He gave billionaire Elon Musk of Tesla 750 million dollars to create 750 jobs, and yet if he gets his way, he could destroy the CDPA program which creates over 100,000 jobs for the state of New York. 3.) Attack on privacy. Shouldn't all New Yorkers have a say in who comes into their homes? One of the many unique benefits of the CDPA is that disabled and elderly New Yorkers are empowered to do the hiring, so they can choose who comes into their homes, who assists them with personal and intimate things like bathing, getting dressed and eating. Shouldn't New Yorkers be the ones who decides who touches their body? Who they rely on for meals? 4.) Attack on immigrants & employment opportunities. One of the major demographics working in the healthcare industry as a PCA (or Personal Care Attendant) are immigrants. In some cases, such as NYC, a worker has the opportunity to make more money with CDPA than traditional services up to 17 dollars an hour. There has been cases where some traditional agencies will take advantage of immigrant workers and tell them that they can't make a better wage than what the agency is paying them, which is not always the case. Furthermore, with CDPA, the worker and client can meet up and decide if they are compatible, whereas with traditional services, an agency will send a worker out for a job, even if they do not speak the same language as the client, which puts both parties in harm's way. Lastly, by attacking the CDPA program, Cuomo is going after job opportunities for people who are just starting out in this country, and want to support themselves and their families with proper and gainful employment. 5.) Attack on the poor, disabled and the elderly. While Cuomo's justice agenda is making some much needed social justice changes for New York, we can not ignore that his budget cuts are nothing more than attacks on the poor, disabled and elderly communities. He claims there isn't enough money to fund certain programs, meanwhile miraculously finding money for corporations. And now he's going after medicaid programs such as the CDPA, which empowers people to stay in their homes and their chosen community. We are New Yorkers too. Where is our justice? 6.) Attack on safety. A disabled person with autism, a survivor of a stroke, a person with multiple sclerosis, a person with cancer, all have very different needs to keep them safe and in an environment where they can thrive and lead a full life at home. In many cases, disabled and/or elderly people also rely on home services, so they can go to work. With CDPA, New Yorkers are empowered to hire people who can give them the individualized care that they need, not just a PCA who is a total stranger that happens to be available for the shift, but has no experience caring for someone with said needs, which can result in injury and further demise of health. 7.) Attack on New York families. With CDPA a person can hire a friend/family member which not only gives them the care they need with someone they are comfortable with, but won't be a financial strain as the family member or friend will be getting compensated for their work. And let's not forget that if a elderly and/or disabled person is unable to do their own hiring, a family member can be made a representative, thus giving the family more say in their loved one's care. 8.) Attacks on LGBTQ+ people (and other oppressed demographics who may face social discrimination) When you're gay, disabled and in need of home services (as an example), having the option to hire (and fire) someone, means not having to deal with homophobia from your PCAs. Being in a situation where you are reliant on the...

Henry McMaster, Alan Wilson, SCDHEC, SCED, SC House, and SC Senate, Please exercise all of the power and influence accessible to you to stop the spread of COVID 19 by mandating CDC guidelines for all South Carolina citizens, especially for our children and young adults in public K-12 institutions. Specifically, and most urgently, by repealing Proviso 1.108, and more broadly by mandating masks and encouraging vaccinations as noble and necessary measures urgently needed for the greater good of South Carolinians. Laws often impede individual freedoms when those laws protect others. I don’t envy your position right now, and I really mean that. I also watch in astonishment as you continually relinquish any power and influence you have to stop the spread of COVID 19 in South Carolina, and instead delegate the responsibility to the constituents you are charged with leading. Who will protect us? In South Carolina we have one of the highest infection rates per capita in the world, so it seems like a good time to reexamine our mitigation protocols. Instead, you say, “The answer is vaccination,” and revoke authority of our schools to invoke recommended safety protocols. A large swath of our population here in SC refuses to be vaccinated despite you standing at your podium saying it’s the answer. I’m at a loss for why our SC government isn’t fighting with everything they/you have to mitigate the risk, and why in some ways you seem to be actively fighting against it. If you can’t issue mask mandates, why do you actively fight against them, and who CAN issue mask mandates? I watch in horror as our children and their teachers are falling ill and dying. Every day when I’m exposed to hundreds of people at work, I wonder when it will be safe to visit my mom again. Every time I go to my local grocery store I worry after having been exposed to largely mask-less shoppers. I avoid other shops because that would expose me to unnecessary risk of COVID 19. I don’t eat out anymore. I’m skipping a group hike this morning because the delta variant spreads outside. I know I’m unlikely to die since I’m vaccinated, but my bar is higher than I-won’t-die. My bar is, “Am I doing every reasonable thing I can to stop the spread of COVID 19, and keep my loved ones safe?” While I’m not a spokesperson for all vaccinated people, I can tell you this vaccinated person desperately wants us to consider raising our collective bar. I don’t mind making sacrifices to keep my fellow humans safe. I very much mind sacrificing while our state leaders recklessly shift the responsibility to constituents – a strategy that has proven itself ineffective. I don't think the view from where I'm standing is much different from anyone else right now. Just in the past week, three people I know are grieving the loss of a mother, a son, and a mother-in-law – all to COVID. Five people in a neighboring household are down with COVID. Another person just got back to work after 5 weeks of severe COVID. He survived. His son did not. A few weeks ago, we lost two coworkers on the same day due to COVID. My young, adult, vaccinated daughter is still recovering from a breakthrough infection she got from a vaccinated friend. It’s been two weeks and her fever is broken, but she still struggles with loss of taste and smell and is now suffering debilitating nerve pain cause by COVID. She has been out of work at her minimum wage job with no sick pay. My social media newsfeeds are filled with death every single day. It’s all very traumatic. We have a lot of laws that impede our freedoms when public safety would be at risk. If you’re saying that you can’t impede personal freedoms to mitigate the spread of COVID 19, then how can you make, and enforce, drunk driving laws? Or speeding, or any other traffic laws? How can you have laws that prevent people from shooting guns in residential areas? How can schools send kids home who have a fever? Or head lice? Or for wearing a tank top? How can you disallow kids driving on the road before they’re licensed because parents deemed their kids as responsible and mature enough to do so? How can you stand behind all the laws that promote public safety and stand in the way of mitigation efforts for the worst threat to public safety we’ve seen in our lifetime?

This is a petition to the American people & to all people of all walks of life all over the world; It is a request to UNITE together to build a SAFE, NON-GMO FOOD SUPPLY by taking the E2B CHALLENGE, which is just 3, simple steps: EDUCATE, BOYCOTT, & BAN GMO's! (1 "e" & 2 "b's"=E2B) 1. E=EDUCATE Yourself & Others about GMO's. 2. B=BOYCOTT GMO's: Join the Boycott & Don't Buy GMO's. 3. B=BAN: Take Effective Action To BAN GMO's. Examples of Ways To Achieve This: 1. Educate: By reading studies about the dangers of GMO's at responsible technology.org; By putting up a sign on your vehicle: Boycott GMO's!; By hosting a "DINNER & a DOCUMENTARY" potluck dinner with friends & family, coworkers, members of your church, temple, mosque, etc. 2. Boycott: Learn the top 5 GMO's & what products are blended with GMO's so you can avoid them (I.e. Like buying organic corn when you can. No corn will be labeled GMO. Since almost all corn is GMO-you have to assume it IS GMO & buy organic or non-GMO corn!; By downloading an app that tells you what products contain GMO's. (Also, look for the orange butterfly on the label & the words, "Project Non-GMO verified." We know the boycott is working because once food companies achieve non-GMO certification, their sales soar substantially!) 3. Ban: Call your representatives; Call & ask high power food & environmental lawyers to wage lawsuits against the pharmaceutical-chemical manufacturer-biotech company, Monsanto, (bought by Bayer, in a Bayer-Monsanto merger giving them the combined total monopoly power of owning 1/3 of all the world's seed supply!!!) & products containing GMO's, as well as lawsuits against companies & government agencies who spray the carcinogen-RoundUp & sell GMO's, etc. Understanding The Dangers Of GMO's/GE's: Toxic-Chemical-Poisoned GMO's: Most all GMO's are sprayed with RoundUp, which is loaded with the carcinogenic glyphosate, which means they are a much higher risk to human, "critter," & environmental health than ever imagined before. When people eat GMO's, they are not only ingesting GMO's, but the herbicide RoundUp & all the chemicals it contains including glyphosate. (As well as all the other chemicals sprayed on food, including pesticides, fungicides, artificial fertilizers, & soil conditioners.) Anyone for a Big Mick Burger with a side of fries & glyphosate? Mutating GMO's: Although studies have linked GMO's to cancer, infertility, liver damage, ADD, autism, dysbiosis, & other diseases, there are even more serious, widespread dangers present. GMO's are a mutated gene, they are mutating organisms in themselves, & they may cause mutations in other organisms/species. (Many of them are also transgenetic, such as injecting a spider gene into corn. An insect & a vegetable? Such a merger is utterly unnatural & could never occur in nature!) In fact, the number of mutations are endless-there are billions & gazillions of mutations possible! Although GMO's have already been proven unsafe, their mutating & spreading properties are yet more reasons why they are so intensely dangerous. They keep on changing-they "shape-shift" endlessly! Unlike a contained, nonliving pollutant like a ball of lead that falls to the bottom of the ocean & stays put in one place forever, GMO's are a living, breathing, deadly pollutant that, once unleashed, can't be stopped. EVER! GMO crop "seeds" & mutated genes spread out of the fields like a virus, traveling by wind, insects, plants, or the animal kingdom, & infiltrate other species. For example, GMO's could mutate into a new virus or bacteria that could cause the extinction of humanity. Bee Extinction: They, & the chemicals sprayed on them, are contributing to causing the extinction of the bees- who, as you know, pollinate most of our food. According to Albert Einstein, if the bees go extinct, the human race will go extinct in 4 years. If the bees die-we die! However, Monsanto has developed robobees-robot bees that I'm sure they plan to sell to us for a pretty penny once we're starving because of GMO's! Will they save us? Unknown. But robobees won't save the bees-only we can do that. It must be noted that there seems to be a conflict of interest-a corporation is killing off the bees with their GMO's & chemicals-all the while preparing to sell us robot bee replacements at what will probably be an enormous cost! The Dangers of Monocropping: Many of us have read about the genetic problems caused in heirs to the throne of royalty because of inbreeding as families sought to keep their royal family blood line "pure" & free of "commoners." Or about the suffering of German Shepards with hip problems due to inbreeding. Well, we have already lost 94% of our seed varieties, according to research supplied in the film, "Seed: The Untold Story." Some of this is due to Monsanto buying up our seed, altering it, & patenting it. In addition, when farmers began growing GMO seed, they stopped buying a variety of seeds & stopped saving their s...

To President Obama and the Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives: Before we commit to a limited, “support" troop reinvasion of Iraq, can we please hit the pause button and consider non-military options? Yes, ISIS, a brutal offshoot of al-Qaeda that stretches from the Mediterranean in northwest Syria to the Persian Gulf in southeast Iraq, needs to be stopped. The questions are how and by whom. The U.S. has many options. Will you exhaust them all before you send our men and women back into battle? Please consider the following 7 points to stop ISIS peacefully: 1. Consider all the steps between doing nothing and dropping bombs. The world witnessed a miraculous example of successful diplomacy last summer: It was considered a “done deal” that Washington would unleash limited bombing on the outskirts of Damascus to punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons. Then a seemingly off-the-cuff remark by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry set in motion a diplomatic solution that resulted in Assad turning over his stash of chemical weapons, thereby successfully ridding the world of one of the last major caches of chemical weapons – and avoiding more casualties on America’s conscience. Disarming proved to be much more successful “punishment” than bombing. We realize this tactic worked because Obama’s threat to bomb Syria was perceived as real. Could this tactic work again? Or are you planning to reoccupy Iraq? We implore you to employ non-military options first. 2. Stop considering Syria and Iraq in separate vacuums; a regional viewpoint is necessary. For example, the regimes of Syria’s Assad and neighboring Iraq’s Nouri al-Maliki (who has just retained political power by being named vice-president) are allied. They share a common opposition to ISIS. Yet, the U.S. funds the Iraqi government while also funding fighters who oppose the Syrian government, ignoring that some of those opposition fighters affiliate with ISIS and spill from Syria into Iraq. Thus, American tax dollars support opposition fighters trying to undo a government supported by American tax dollars! 3. Stop justifying military funding, arming and intervention in Syria or Iraq by referencing human rights abuses. Yes, it’s excruciating to view photos of hundreds of children gassed to death and not want to punish, but the larger truth is every side in Syria and Iraq are engaged in human rights abuses. Adding more troops, guns or military money does not suddenly make governments, soldiers or insurgents more humane. 4. Work regionally to cut off supply routes of weapons. Fewer weapons means less fighting and fewer casualties – and fewer generations of traumatized children raised to believe violence is the only option. Syrian rebels’ weapons flow through Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq. The U.S. should be a leader in negotiating a regional effort to stem this flow of weapons; instead it provides weapons to Syrian fighters assuming they won’t land in ISIS fighters’ arms. 5. Dry up the black market for crude oil and gas. After benefitting from oil and gas takeovers in eastern Syria, ISIS has seized oil facilities in Mosul and Kirkuk and is selling the Iraqi crude at a deep discount on the global black market, raising $3 million/day and making it the wealthiest terrorist organization on the planet. It’s estimated they could make $1 billion/year. 6. Engage the United Nations. The U.S. is about to assume the presidency of the U.N. Security Council. ISIS creates an unusual opportunity for opposing factions to work together: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Gulf States and the U.S. and its western allies all see ISIS as a security threat. On Sept 24, the Security Council will consider a U.S. proposal to “prevent and suppress” the recruitment and travel of foreign fighters to join terrorist groups. It is estimated that 12,000 rebels from 74 countries have joined extremist groups in Iraq and Syria. While stemming the flow of fighters is a good step, it is open to abuse. And it’s a bit like the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike. Better to engage the U.N. in pressuring countries to stop arms movement and black market oil purchases. Uniting opponents to ISIS is a unique opportunity to get these countries to suspend their proxy wars. 7. Stop doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. Iraq didn’t have any terrorist groups until after the U.S. invasion. Al-Qaeda bubbled up in 2004. If 100,000 U.S. troops couldn’t wipe out al-Qaeda in Iraq, why do we think we can now without another full-scale war? Targeted precision strikes lead to political instability and the perpetuation of extremism. Are these suggestions more complicated? More time-consuming? More challenging? Yes. But they are far less destructive for Iraqi, Syrian and American children forced to grow up assaulted by war. Thank you for your consideration.

dear sir or vag, regarding health care and insurance: RAPE. if the statute of limitations for something as trivial as sex is being abolished, i take issue with not being able to prosecute loney hutchins for what he did to me over an 8-9 month period in 1997-1998. i had been involuntarily confined at mr. loney fred hutchins' quack-rehab establishment called "21st century living services" in gallatin, tennessee. this was back in 1997-1998, when i was 22-23, i was told at age 40 that too much time had passed for anyone to bring him to justice, so now i am on a quest to prevent my ordeal from happening to anyone else. my ordeal is documented at loneyhutchins.com and 21stcenturylivingservices.com, in case you are interested, but i am writing because i feel that insurance companies would save a ton of money if they would keep in contact with their clients. if prudential insurance would have cared enough about where their money was going, they would have contacted me at least once a month when i was loney hutchins' bitch. yes, i was his bitch, he treated me with much contempt and malice. that's water under the bridge, but if prudential insurance would have contacted me to make sure things were okay, well, they would have learned that their money was being wasted. they would have learned that i was being held against my will at a place that was making me miserable every day, and they would have stopped their funding. it is IMPERATIVE for insurance companies to contact the clients who are in someone else's care, just to ask if things are okay. prudential insurance probably would have saved at least $50,000 if they took the time to contact me while i was being held against my will at 21st century living services. oh, i called the police to save me, but the gallatin police listened to my captor (loney hutchins) and not to me. i was not mandated by anyone to be there, but it took a suicide-attempt to get out. A SUICIDE-ATTEMPT. if prudential insurance would have contacted me just once in the 8-9 months i was there, they would have stopped funding and loney hutchins would have had to let me go. AND I WOULD NOT HAVE ENDANGERED MY LIFE. this is a petition to raise awareness. in 1997, loney hutchins made me - a naive 22 year-old - sign a contract to be in his program for 6 months, EVEN BEFORE I KNEW WHAT HIS PROGRAM OFFERED. when i called the police, and after they were talking with loney hutchins, they told me that they couldn't do anything to get me out of the dysfunctional rehab-home BECAUSE i signed a contract. again, i will state that if prudential insurance would have contacted me to ask about my condition, i would have been free without question. instead, let me detail just what i went through. 1) i stayed at the quack-rehab for 6 months of boredom, purposelessness and misery, 2) i was threatened of being sent to a mental-institution if i didn't sign another 6-month contract, 3) i made a few escapes, the last one prompting loney to have bars put over the outside of my window, 4) i cut my wrist, 5) i was sent to a hospital to get sewn up, 6) i was sent to a group-home for depression, 7) i escaped from that group-home ("he doesn't wanna be here," is what the administrator said to police - i wish loney hutchins would have given me up when he realized the same thing), 8) i was sent back to loney's, 9) i threatened to cut my wrist again, 10) i was sent to a depression-ward at "tennessee christian medical center" and i was there for more than a month, 11) loney finally agreed to let me out of the second 6-month contract i signed, 12) the hospital put me on a plane to new jersey so my dad could drive me to "austen riggs" in connecticut, 13) i hopped a flight back to nashville on the layover, 14) i got an apartment in nashville. now, if loney hutchins would have accepted and respected the fact that i didn't want to be in his "care," or if prudential insurance would have contacted me to talk to me WHILE i was in loney hutchins' "care," i would have not been put through the ordeal i was put through. this is a petition for people to DEMAND that insurance companies start following-up on the patients who are in someone else's care. this is NOT a petition to bring attention to the bullies known as loney fred hutchins and phyllis joan blasdel hutchins, and this is NOT a petition to bring attention to 21st century living services or the crime of "involuntary confinement". dylan terreri, i [email protected] www.loneyhutchins.com www.21stcenturylivingservices.com

THE SIX ECONOMIC PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED NERA WILL ADDRESS: 1) Uncertainty in the long-term solvency of Social Security and 2) Uncertainty in the long-term solvency of Medicare due to the "short-circuit" in FICA revenue; 3) The increasing national deficit and 4) The reduction in well-paying living wage middle class jobs; 5) Stagnant or declining educational standards insufficient to properly equip the next generation with the skill sets required to meet future economic requirements, all of which are resulting in: 6) The "watering down" of the American Standard of Living to a global substandard as opposed to the elevation of the global standard to the American benchmark. AT THE CORE OF THE SOLUTION: NERA - THE NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT RECOVERY ACT: Properly implemented, the NERA bill we the signers of this petition propose to our respective congressmen will rectify these problems by providing another tool (in addition to the prime interest rate) to the FED for making the cost of products or services originating overseas fall within a "free trade" window of their cost to produce or provide domestically. Indirectly, the increased domestic employment will address Social Security and Medicare worries through the increased FICA revenue that will be realized as the result of NERA. Directly, resolving the deficit, providing education needs for the next generation as well as supplementing Medicare and Social Security when needed would be provided by the direct revenue stemming from NERA. NERA is good for business as well, especially small ones, as they are less likely to be driven out by subsidized or cheap labor overseas. NERA represents an engineering approach solution. The key is to implement NERA impartially using strict economic rules and without political favoritism or influence, why it is suggested that the FED (or a similar independent entity that can be monitored but not controlled) be used for NERA administration. THE NEED FOR NERA: Via FICA both Social Security and Medicare are funded by payroll deductions on the domestic working class, the philosophy being the current working generation supports the needs of the prior one. Exporting jobs without compensating by some means for the FICA revenue lost "short-circuits" this well-designed mechanism as fewer jobs means fewer income streams for FICA to deduct from and less FICA revenue, resulting in the Social Security and Medicare solvency concerns. This decreased domestic income stream also exacerbates the deficit and educational issues as well, requiring an ever smaller "upper class" to devote ever more revenue to meet these needs. Ultimately democracy itself becomes compromised as politicians begin to pay more attention to a "financial aristocracy" and less attention to securing the welfare of the general populace. The middle class then is effectively eliminated. One idea often discussed is to supplement the FICA funds lost by switching from those who work to those who consume with a value added tax. But with fewer domestic living wage jobs this becomes ineffective, due to a decreasing average tax base value. NERA though works by giving another tool to the FED, allowing it to impartially impose actively monitored surcharges on items produced outside this country to keep them within a "free market trading range" window of what it would cost to produce the same items domestically. ADMINISTERING NERA: NERA must be administered without regards to politics using raw economic laws. THIS IS PRO-LABOR LEGISLATION, think of it mechanically as like a flywheel governor on the free trade process to keep it from spinning out-of-control: o Exclude foreign companies which choose to locate here, hire our work force and abide by our labor laws. o DO NOT exclude domestic companies which export labor overseas then seek to bring products produced there back here to sell. o The increased FICA revenue will then take care of the Social Security and Medicare solvency concerns. Use the direct revenue to improve education for the next generation (e.g. restore the "High" in high school) and then to pay down the deficit ONLY, NO OTHER SPENDING UNTIL THESE SHORTFALLS ARE TAKEN CARE OF AND WE ARE BACK ON A SURPLUS FOOTING. Effectively then we "tax away" any advantages of foreign subsidies, "dumping" and using cheaper overseas labor thereby keeping our domestic businesses from being overwhelmed. Any surplus direct revenue resulting from NERA must go straight to lower the deficit and to improve education standards for the next generation, NOTHING ELSE. Thus we keep our economy from being "watered down" to the lowest global denominator. This is the effective way for our government to unilaterally handle this problem. Since we only establish free trade "windows" note that domestic companies still have to compete within those windows, surviving ideally on quality of product and service as they should but the playing fie...

Millionaire lobbyist and President and CEO of not for profit, Phipps Houses Group, Adam Weinstein has waged a relentless harassment attack on a tenant. As a result of the Tenant’s complaints he was forced to spend thousands of dollars replacing vents in two of his buildings. After Tenant began to experience Weinstein’s harassment, Tenant wrote to HUD Secretary, Shaun Donovan informing Donovan of Weinstein’s victimization. Tenant also asked Donovan to relocate the family to another HUD building. Donovan responded by completely dismissing and ignoring the Tenant’s letters. Why is HUD Secretary, Shaun Donovan, is so dismissive of Weinstein’s harassment when Weinstein is receiveing millions in government monies under the guise of helping the needy? Clearly, Adam Weinstein’s victimization of the Tenant has been executed with the blessings of HUD Secretary, Shaun Donovan. After Tenant complained to HUD about Weinstein’s repeated refusal to remove health hazardous conditions, he has repeatedly served Tenant with letters that are completely fabricated. The letters distort and twist the facts. In one letter the facts are distorted to make the Tenant appear difficult and uncooperative by not giving Phipps access to apartment to fix the problem. However, evidence proofs that Phipps Houses Group never gave the tenant proper notice. What makes this particular letter from Phipps Houses so disturbing is that Phipps was the one who broke the law because landlords, Weinstein/Phipps Houses Group, is required to give tenant a week’s notice to fix that “type” of problem. In addition to falsely accusing the tenant of not providing Phipps access to the apartment to make repairs, as per lease agreement – a legal document, the letter quotes a specific law. The law they quote pertains to something urgently immediate such as a fire or leak. Since the tenant has lived in the apartment there has never been an immediate urgency such as a fire, leak or flood. Recently, the Tenant informed Phipps Houses Group that Tenant’s rent needed to be adjusted because UI benefits had been exhausted. The Tenant provided Phipps with the required financial documentation. Instead of providing the Tenant with the paperwork needed to reduce the rent they served the tenant with a Late Payment 10 Days Notice. Phipps did this knowing that the tenant not only paid rent but had actually over paid rent because Phipps intentionally denied the Tenant with papers/documents they are required to give Tenant to make the rent reduction. After Tenant received Ten Days Notice (that was forwarded to their attorney) Tenant wrote Adam Weinstein a letter stating the specific day and time that Tenant provided Phipps with the financial documentation. Within minutes of Adam Weinstein receiving this certified letter a Phipps representative contacted the tenant; safe to assume Phipps thought Tenant did not have proof of providing them with the financial documentation. During separate phone conversations between Tenant and this specific Phipps representative, tenant was intentionally misguided and misinformed, by not providing Tenant with needed information. Although Tenant is on a limited budget, due to Weinstein’s determination to illegally evict Tenant, Tenant is forced to spend money sending certified letters addressing his harassment and buying USPS money orders and using certified mail to pay for rent. It is these USPS money orders and certified mail that proof tenant has always paid rent on a timely basis (with the exception of Hurricane Sandy). Adam Weinstein/Phipps Houses Group has consistently used unethical practices that include but are not limited to the following: 1. Misusing consent forms that tenant had previously signed to obtain information that they should NOT be requesting and that does not apply to the tenancy. 2. Phipps illegally entered Tenant’s apartment without Tenant’s knowledge or consent. 3. Property Manager attempted to take pictures of the apartment without Tenant’s knowledge or consent. 4. Tenant was manipulated into signing completely blank and un-notarized affidavits that Tenant had ALRADY given Phipps. Tenant had already filled out/completed all of the documents that included affidavits, had them notarized, signed, and dated, and sent it them via certified mail. Upon advise tenant requested that Phipps give the tenant back all of the blank and un-notarized documents that included affidavits, that tenant was manipulated into signing by the Phipps employee. At first tenant was denied this request. However, the tenant was then told tenant could have them. Although tenant had made it clear that tenant just wanted the blank documents that included affidavits that she was forced to sign, Phipps gave tenant the form that tenant had specifically gone to sign (FORM hud-50059). Why would tenant request the form back, when the tenant went to the Property Management Office specifically to sign it in order to get the rent reduced? 5. When tenant...

Public Banking Conference: June 2-4, 2013 – Trillions in taxpayer surpluses returned Posted on May 18, 2013 by Carl Herman Public Banking Institute is having our 2013 conference in San Rafael (Northern California) on June 2, 3, 4 to publicly present solutions in banking and money worth tens of trillions of dollars to Americans. You literally have nothing more valuable to attend to (registration info here, including for only Sunday evening; Monday evening is free). Among public banking’s available benefits: State budget deficits end as state-owned banks create at-cost credit. The US has only one state with increasing budget surpluses: the only one with a state-owned bank. State taxes are entirely paid with ~5% public mortgages and credit. Trillions in taxpayer surpluses are returned from documented government CAFRs (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) as at-cost credit replaces rainy-day funds. Truth in banking opens debt-free money: US national debt is ended forever, and we have full employment for the best infrastructure we can imagine (documentation here, here, here). Truth in banking and money can open truth everywhere: unlawful US wars can end, poverty can end, trillions of more dollars returned in the broader economy, and even truth from corporate media. Trillions in taxpayer surpluses are returned: California’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) shows ~$100 billion in surplus taxpayer accounts that dwarf the $16 billion budget deficit. California also has ~$500 billion in claimed “investments” for pension costs. But the state received only $1 billion net from $500 billion “invested” (one-fifth of one percent) while Wall Street investors received over $2 billion in fees. The entire state has ~14,000 different government entities with CAFR taxpayer surplus totals conservatively data-sampled at the game-changing sum of $8 trillion ($650,000 surplus assets per California household). The idea of a state budget deficit in light of this sum is tragic-comic! Importantly and related to CAFR trillions hidden in plain sight, remember that McKinsey’s former Chief Economist James Henry documents from similar public documents that $21 to $32 trillion are held in off-shore tax havens. These assets were transferred there by the same “masters” who tell the 99% that there somehow is no money to fund infrastructure: we must accept overcrowded schools, crumbling roads, and watch vulnerable human beings suffer and die from poverty. Of course, when we have useful work to be done, available resources and labor, and are told by the same “masters” that what is missing to connect them is green paper, this becomes a helpful public lesson in critical thinking and civic competence. Please remember also that because infrastructure investment returns more economic output than the cost of investment, the results are full employment, the best infrastructure we can imagine, and falling prices. So, while it would be helpful to reclaim these trillions, we don’t need them when we create public money and credit at our command. We would only need to reclaim them from those who acquired these trillions through criminal fraud. And I recommend Truth & Reconciliation for those criminals among our 1%. In context of the above bullet points: Florida economist and Governor candidate Farid Khavari documents that 2% mortgages, 6% credit cards, and 3-4% commercial and vehicle loans would replace all state taxes. A floating interest rate could also cover state budget deficits. Monetary reform creates debt-free money to directly pay for public goods and services. Because infrastructure returns more economic benefits than costs, we have astounding triple benefits: government could become employer of last resort for infrastructure investment (creating full employment), falling prices because economic output increases more than infrastructure investment cost, and the best infrastructure we can imagine. Creating debt-free money is certainly another tool to end state budget deficits (documentation here, here, here). Being on a roll for Truth also frees other money: unlawful US wars can end, poverty can end that also increases productivity, and trillions of more dollars returned in the broader economy from other areas of parasitic oligarchic behaviors “covered” from public understanding by corporate media. Each of the bullet-point topics will have its own article to explain in detail within the context of public banking, along with an open letter to economics teachers/professors, and a final call to the public for their action. Those links will be added at my hub articles at Washington’s Blog and Examiner.com as I complete them. Posted in General | 15 Comments

We need our Congress and President to enact the following election reforms: 1) Open Ballot Access. We propose that ballot access requirements should be the same for every candidate, irrespective of party affiliation. Historically, third party candidates have a harder time getting on the ballot than Democrats and Republicans. Open ballot access means that no matter what party a candidate represents, he/she has to do the same things to get on the ballot. This shall also apply to initiatives and referenda, and to primary elections. 2) Holiday Voting. We propose that Election Day should be a national holiday. This way every voter should be able to vote easily and won't have to worry about missing work and/or transportation issues. Early Voting should be universal. 3) Paper Trail. We propose that ALL ballots must either be on paper or otherwise subject to physical re-count. It is too easy for votes to be miscalculated without any reliable recourse for reasonable challenges and/or recounts if there is no paper trail. Too many voting machines in use do not meet this standard. If voting machines are used, each vote must produce a physical paper footprint subject to recount. 4) Verify Identity Without Disenfranchisement. We propose that when each voter casts a ballot, poll workers and/or voting machines will take a digital photo of him/her to associate with that person as is standard practice at ATM machines. No photo will be taken of ballots, only of voters. This way, if there is any voter impersonation, it will be easy to apprehend and convict violators to the full extent of the law. As such, all voter photo ID laws will be abolished. Voters who cannot have their photos taken due to verified religious reasons, can be exempted. 5) Honest Open Debates. We propose that to end the current monopoly of the debates by Democrats and Republicans all debates must include third, fourth, and fifth parties. 6) Expanded Debates. We propose that to end the charade of one individual being up to the task of managing America, that the debates be expanded to include a minimum of three Cabinet officials to be announced in advance, and generally to include the Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of State. America is too complicated to elect one person who then picks their buddies and carries out a “winner take all” purge of the Congress and the Executive. Candidates should be required to name their Cabinet in advance and also post a planned budget, with Cabinet designees participating in Cabinet-level debates. 7) Instant Run-Off. We propose that to ensure the election of a winner elected by a majority, that the instant run-off concept be adopted for all national and state elections. Instead of just picking one candidate per office, voters would rank their choices with a "1" by their first choice, "2" for their second choice, etc. If no candidate has a majority of first choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and his/her votes are distributed to the voters next choice. This continues until a candidate is chosen with the highest voter priority. This process avoids split votes, the need to vote strategically for candidates who are not your first choice and reduces the effectiveness of negative campaigning. 8) Tightly-Drawn Districts. We propose that we end the corrupt practice of gerrymandering, replacing it with compact computer drawn districts determined by independent non-partisan commissions. They shall be prohibited from drawing districts to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. 9) Full Public Funding of Diverse Candidates. We propose to eliminate all federal and corporate financing of campaigns, and all political action committees, that instead all state and national campaigns be only publicly funded. 10) No Legislation Without Consultation. We propose to eliminate special interest dominance of the legislative process, and to end the practice of passing legislation such as the Patriot Act without its actually being read, and to end all earmarks, that all legislation without exception be published on line in Wiki format, with an easy to understand one-page summary, one week prior to its coming to a vote, to include explicit geospatial pointers for all "earmarks" each of which must be publicly announced and offered for amendment to the voters in the relevant district at least one week prior to the passage of national, state, or county legislation affecting them. Similarly, no public privileges should be granted to any corporation or other entity without full public consultation and public polling or balloting. 11) Constitutional Amendment. In addition to all of the above enacted as an interim law, we propose to work toward a Constitutional Amendment that places Electoral Reform outside the power of the government; abolish Citizens United; abolish the Electoral College; and re-enfranchise convicts who complete their sentences. Created by Robert Steele and J...