Government Needs Reform that Benefits the People Not Corporations

News report on Exxon Mobil oil spill

This is an excerpt from an email published by SumOfUs.org in reference to the massive oil spill from the Keystone XL pipe line that the conservatives have fought for so diligently

ExxonMobil is controlling the no-fly zone over the spill site that the federal government put in place to keep news helicopters from capturing images of the disaster. ExxonMobil is being so secretive because it wants people to believe that pipelines like this are perfectly safe and pose no threat to people or the planet. But this catastrophe in Arkansas foreshadows a future reality for anyone who lives along the thousands of miles of pipeline being considered for approval by the U.S. government.

Right now, ExxonMobil and other oil companies are lobbying furiously for the Keystone XL, a massive pipeline stretching across the North America that will transport enough toxic tar to be "game over" for the planet. If approved, the Keystone XL will be carrying even more of the same hard-to-clean-up toxic crude that spilled in Arkansas.

The last thing ExxonMobil and its ilk want is to tell us the truth about its dirty business while legislators are making such a high-stakes decision on the Keystone XL. It knows that if we can use this spill in Arkansas to show the world the reality of these pipelines, we may be able to stop the Keystone XL in its tracks. And it is especially vulnerable to public pressure right now, since images of backyards covered in its tar sands crude are leaking out and going viral on Facebook.

Tell ExxonMobil to release all the information it has on the massive pipeline spill.

Together, we can expose the reality for people in the path of the crude spill, help show the public that the pipelines that ExxonMobil and other major companies haven't started construction on yet are unsafe too, and hopefully stop future pipelines in their tracks entirely.

Thanks for all you do,
Angus, Kaytee, and the team at SumOfUs.org

Government reform?

• We are still waiting for this to happen.

Will we ever see any government reform in our life time?

• There are grave doubts about this ever happening.

Can the rampant Greed be overcome? Can we rid our government of Greed? Will Corporate America finally take over completely?

• I am afraid the answers to these questions are yet to be revealed.

The two party system. Is it working for the people?

There is little to no doubt that the US government in its present form is a gross failure with no chance of survival without some radical reform.

Bouncing back and forth between Democrats and Republicans and accomplishing nothing certainly is not the solution.

The parties are spending so much time fighting each other that neither accomplishes anything at all.

The rich just keep getting richer, the poor keeps getting poorer, and the greed runs rampant, bleeding the system dry.

And we continue with business as usual as if nothing is happening.

Let's look at a few of the problems that need correction:

Problem 1: The failure of the American people to get involved in government issues.

On the liberal side - education is key to progress.

On the conservative side - education is a bane to its agenda.

If more people are educated in politics they will surely see that our government in its current state is a government for the rich, by the rich. Greed is the basic motivating factor in this country.

Problem 2: Misguided party loyalty by the sheep mentality of its members.

Liberals have little cohesion and goals are fragmented. Education, health care and welfare issues are paramount and desired for 'all' of the people, but without strong leaders with conviction in our government this cohesion will never be established.

Conservatives down play education, welfare issues and health care reform but for truly inappropriate reasons. In their view it is a bane to the religious and the rich, and seen only as obstacles toward their goals of greed, avarice, wealth and power.

Without proper education, starting in our school systems with the grossly evident lack of a curriculum that teaches political views without biases, there is little hope of any real changes in this system.

Problem 3: Ignorance seems to be the greatest force stopping change.

As long as each party expects and promotes 'blind faith' by their party members the corrupt will continue to infiltrate the governmental process.

Blind faith to either party does not equate to quality candidates. The opposite is probably more true. Blind faith allows unqualified people to end up in positions that effect everyone.

Problem 4: Elected officials that serve the agendas of those that paid their way to Washington.

No money should be allowed to be accepted from business entities or religious groups, who each have their own agendas and one as corrupt at the other. Reversing the SCOTUS's erroneous conclusion that corporations are the same as people. Such ignorance and insanity by the highest court in our nation is inexcusable.

Negative campaign ads should be banned.

Lies and innuendos should be banned.

Public ads by religious groups and by big business, should be banned.They are both biased and twisted and totally self serving.

Free and equal time should be allotted by the media for public access for government candidates to voice their agendas.

Political pundits should be banned from beating the candidate's agendas to death and confusing the public by all their inane rhetoric.

All government candidates should be required by law to take an intelligence test, and a mental exam to keep the crazies out of Washington. (this one is probably the most important of all)

Problem 5: Too much Greed by government officials.

The only effective way to stop this is to stop political contributions from individual companies, and religious entities. These only represent themselves, not the American public.

Problem 6: Stop the on going condemnation and ridicule of the current elected officials.

When either party wins an election that election should be over until 6 months before the next one is due.

Constant campaigning against the other party while they are in office is not only repugnant, but serves no purpose. It is totally counter productive.

The losing party spends all its time campaigning for the next election instead of tending to the business at hand. This only leads to nothing getting done at all.

Problem 7: STOP already with the 'sex scandals'.

No-one really gives a damn about who is doing what to who anymore. Unless a government official is a child molester, rapist or spousal abuser, please keep their sex lives out of the media.

Problem 8: STOP with the sexual orientation thing.

No-one cares who is gay or straight anymore and this is not a government issue.

Hell, it is not even a religious issue, except in the small mindedness of the religious zealots, and even at that, it really has no bearing on ability, intelligence or governmental issues at all.

The government and religious idiots need to stay out of the bedrooms of others. The 'sins' are only in the dirty little minds of those that yell the loudest. And i, for one, have little or no interest in the opinions of these bigots.

So, please, go home to your respective bedrooms, pleasure yourselves any way you like, and stop worrying about someone else's sex life.

Problem 9: Unregulated business practices.

These three words have destroyed this economic system.

Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely. When one large entity (like AIG, et al) is 'too big to fail' it should be a wake up call for government to re-instate some regulatory limits on the size any corporation is allowed to reach.

Without limits the door is wide open for corruption, exploitation and our good friend , Mr. Greed, to enter.

Problem 10:the Government protecting big business and promoting greed and avarice.

This recent oil spill in Arkansas will cost the inhabitants of this town millions of dollars to move out of their community destroyed by greed.

Free enterprise is only free for the wealthy and powerful. If there were 100 or 1,000 smaller independent parts that comprised one evil empire like AIG this system would never have failed.

There are way too many AIG's and their lust for power and personal greed, to ever continue to sustain itself indefinitely.

So, FREE ENTERPRISE is NOT a good thing people. We knew this back in the 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's. That was why monopolies were broken up in the first place, to prevent this very thing that is happening today.

Capitalism should/could be the solution to our dilemma today. Capitalism was designed to create a fair and equitable commodities market through diversity and competition that would keep prices low and stable. But when too much freedom was given to corporations to let their greed and lust for power take hold, things took a turn for the worse. Greed and lust for power led to giant corporations who took their monopolies to the current heights of destruction both on the economy and the poor and middle classes.

And yet, nothing was learned at all from past mistakes, otherwise this economy would not be collapsing today.

The 'tea party' movement wants to take back the government, but from who? The people? The liberals? And do what with it? Give it back to the very people who caused this mess in the first place? Greedy corporations and shady politicians who sell America down the drain to the highest bidder.

Stupid is, as stupid does.

by: d.william 09/23/10