While walking down the street one day a Corrupt Senator (that may be redundant) was tragically hit by a car and died.
 
His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.
 
"Welcome to heaven," says St.. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the Senator.
 
"Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from the higher ups. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."
 
"Really? I’ve made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the Senator.

"I’m sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course.

In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the
expense of the people.
 
They played a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and the finest champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who is having a good time dancing and telling jokes.

They are all having such a good time that before the Senator realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises.

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens in heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him, "Now it’s time to visit heaven…”

So, 24 hours passed with the Senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time
and before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you’ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The Senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell…

Now the doors of the elevator open and he’s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls to the ground.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulders.

"I don’t understand," stammers the Senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there’s just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil smiles at him and says,
 
"Yesterday we were campaigning,

Today, you voted.."

 
Vote wisely on
November 6, 2012

Today hundreds of websites — including Wikipedia, reddit, BoingBoing, FreePress.net and SavetheInternet.com — have gone dark. They’re protesting the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), bills in the House and Senate that could open the door to widespread Internet censorship.¹

Thousands of supporters of the open Internet will soon rally in New York and San Francisco to urge their senators to stand up and oppose this legislation.

Together we’re putting the brakes on the Hollywood-fueled momentum of these bills. But they’re not dead yet — and the Senate is voting on PIPA next week.

Pick up the phone and urge your senators to vote "no" on the Protect IP Act. We’ve created a new site that lists where every senator stands on PIPA and provides a simple script to help you make the call.

Last week the White House said it would not support any legislation that "reduces freedom of expression" or "undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet."² Today even Google altered its valuable homepage to black out its logo and include a note protesting SOPA and PIPA. And millions of Internet users have taken action to tell Congress that any bills that compromise our ability to speak freely online must be rejected.

Now it’s time to start lighting up the phones on Capitol Hill before the Senate votes next week.

Call your senators and tell them: Vote "no" on the Protect IP Act.

Let’s bury these bills.

Josh Levy
Internet Campaign Director
Free Press Action Fund
SavetheInternet.com

P.S. To learn more about the blackout and the growing open Internet movement, read the piece by Free Press’ Tim Karr today in the Huffington Post: "Why We Go Black": http://act2.freepress.net/go/8201?akid=3212.9932713.xDRF5b&t=6

1. Check out the full list of blackout participants here: http://act2.freepress.net/go/8178?akid=3212.9932713.xDRF5b&t=8.
2. Victoria Espinel, Aneesh Chopra and Howard Schmidt, "Combating Online Piracy While Protecting an Open and Innovative Internet": http://act2.freepress.net/go/8177?akid=3212.9932713.xDRF5b&t=10

Egberto Willies is a Self-employed software Developer/Engineer & Political Activist who lives in Kingwood, TX and is the author of the book, As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom and founder of the Coffee Party 2.0 program Americans for Racial Equality & Economic Justice

Join me on Politics Done Right. We will have an interesting program. This is an election year and there is a lot happening. Coffee Party USA is forming alliances with other groups that share some of our core values. This will allow us to leverage our membership to accomplish more. Most importantly it will give us a voice in the many growing movements that promises to change America.

This week we will continue our discussion about our participation un Occupy The Courts. We will speak to Coffee Party’s own Diane Owens on what they are doing in Austin, TX. I am sure Diane will have other subjects relative to Local Coffee Party chapters as well.

Jonathan Greenberg will be on to discuss the official launching of BeYourGovernment.org from Washington DC and/or New York. He will detail his compelling concept of having regular American citizens run for office irrespective of party but abiding by the spirit of our coffee party tenets of corporate money out of politics.

Are you interested in running for office? Do you know someone interested in running for office? Coffee Party’s own Jeanne van den Hurk will tell us about running for Congress in South Carolina using the BeYourGovernent.org platform. She will detail the importance of us all getting politically engaged and electorally engaged.

Please call into the show at (646) 929-2495 or listen to the show at LISTEN HERE, Check out Annabel excellent blog post below.

My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom Hardcopy: http://amzn.to/dt72c7 Kindle: http://amzn.to/lUFQCV Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies

Overheard on CNN.com: Dissecting political success of Romney, Paul

Mitt Romney and other GOP candidates received passionate evaluations from CNN.com readers after New Hampshire.

January 11th, 2012 02:44 PM ET

Editor’s note: This post is part of the Overheard on CNN.com series, a regular feature that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community.

"What’s going to be hilarious is when the defeated pretend to endorse the candidate they just got done slandering."
– Austinstar

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney remains in the spotlight as the GOP front-runner after winning the New Hampshire primary. With 95% of precincts reporting, Romney received nearly 40% of the vote in Tuesday’s balloting. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas picked up 23%, and former Utah Gov.  Jon Huntsman garnered 17%.

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My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom Hardcopy: http://amzn.to/dt72c7 Kindle: http://amzn.to/lUFQCV Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies

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Romney received a lot of criticism from readers – among them liberals, independents and Republicans who didn’t vote for the politician. Still, a selection of some readers’ remarks illustrates not only why Romney has been successful so far in this unusual GOP race but also why Paul has made a strong showing as well.

If you have thoughts on New Hampshire’s outcome, be sure to share these views on video at CNN iReport as well as in the comments area below.

GOP race moves south after Romney wins New Hampshire

People who spoke in favor of Romney often talked about change.

Florida425: "I voted for President Obama last election, but I will be voting for Romney this time around. President Obama has had time to turn things around, and I haven’t seen enough to re-elect him. Go Mitt!"

A few readers said backing Romney represents support for moderate policies within the Republican Party.

CincyIndep: "A Romney win is a rejection of the tea party’s extremism. They’ve done everything they can to get rid of him and the rest of the Republican Party and independents keep him in there. It’s a battle for the Republican Party’s soul, and the moderates are winning. Our country has had just about enough of the tea party (and far-left) extremism. Let no group in our society rule us all of the time."

Some assessments were more lukewarm.

rsmnr: "At least this is not such a scary prospect like Michele Bachmann or Herman Cain or Rick Perry."

Samilcar: "Romney is the Republican John Kerry."

Others said that a Romney win doesn’t say much.

No9: "Willard Romney, the least offensive of a very offensive bunch. Nice way to pick a candidate. … This should be fun."

agent13: "Hi, I’m Mitt Romney and I’m the least offensive candidate."

Some commenters strongly opposed Romney, saying he was less than an ideal candidate.

gofigure063: "Does Romney even realize the only reason he is moving forward is because the GOP pick is not exactly the best?"

Liberals2012: "I wouldn’t even let the GOP pick a fresh banana for me."

One reader said the current political environment does not work in favor of the GOP.

kgbpazan: "The core problem for GOP challengers is that they cannot be respectable Republicans because, as (New York Times columnist Paul) Krugman pointed out, Obama has that position occupied. They are forced to move so far to the right that they render themselves inherently absurd."

Some Romney critics have characterized him as a "flip-flopper," and many commenters referred to his evolving positions on issues over the years.

yooobetcha: "Is this the same Romney that was pro-choice before he ran for president? … Romney has flip-flopped so many times, he should be debating himself."

A few readers criticized Romney’s speech after his primary win, but many said they liked it quite a bit.

rawpimple: "Actually loved that speech by Romney! He has won over this independent! Made the mistake of voting for Obama last time. I will not make the same mistake twice. The independents will decide this election. Hopefully, they all will follow suit!"

CNN iReporter Egberto Willies of Kingwood, Texas, called the speech brilliant but disagreed on one point, saying he didn’t want to see past economic principles come back. He also said income and wealth disparity is worse than it used to be.

"If America will be so gullible to decide, let us give supply-side economics a try again," Willies said. "After all, 30 years of this has given us income and wealth disparity. The numbers are out there. Mitt Romney is promising us the same medicine again."

Overheard on CNN.com: Dissecting political success of Romney, Paul – This Just In – CNN.com Blogs

Americans need leaders who understand the challenges they face and want to fight for them. Here’s the deal about Mitt Romney’s win in New Hampshire: the richest 1% loved him, but the closer voters got to the average American income, the worse he did — and he lost with voters making anything less. It’s no wonder. He made a fortune on Wall Street laying people off, thinks "corporations are people," and wants more tax giveaways for the richest 1% at the expense of everyone else. The more regular Americans get to know Romney, the less they feel he’s on their side.

SOME SAY:

"It’s time for a president who understands how the economy works."

• Here’s what Romney understands: how to make wealthy people wealthier by laying off American workers, giving trust fund millionaires more tax giveaways, and letting Wall Street get away with abusing the rules.
• Let’s be clear on who Mitt Romney’s really fighting for: Mitt Romney — and the rest of the 1%. And if you’re not one of the 1%, he’d say you’re on your own.
• Our economy works best when we value working families, everyone plays by the rules, and everyone pays their fair share.
  

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• The closer you get to the average American’s income the worse Romney did. According to New Hampshire primary exit polls, he won 51% of voters who make over $200k, 45% of who make $100-$200k, 35% of who make $50-100k, 32% who make $30-50k and he lost voters who make under $30k to Ron Paul.
• New Hampshire has the 10th highest median income in the U.S.
• Mitt Romney raked in millions on Wall Street by firing workers and flipping companies for large profits.
• The Romney Rule says millionaires should get to pay lower taxes than middle-class workers, even though millionaires are raking in record higher incomes while paying historically low income tax rates. In contrast, earnings for middle-class Americans actually fell over the past decade.
• His economic plan would make middle-class families with children pay MORE taxes while providing a $6 trillion windfall overwhelmingly benefiting the wealthiest 1%.
• Mitt Romney has said he’s "middle class," even though his net worth is estimated to be as high as $250 million. He has also said —
  • "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."
  • "I’m also unemployed."
  • "There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip."
  • "I’m not looking to put money in people’s pockets."
  • "I’ll tell you what, ten-thousand bucks? $10,000 bet?"
  • "Corporations are people."
  • "…don’t try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom."
    

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    My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom Hardcopy: http://amzn.to/dt72c7 Kindle: http://amzn.to/lUFQCV Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies

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Guest post written by Patsy Morrison

One of my resolutions for this year is to make sure that our family spends more time together. Our oldest child is going to be going off to college soon and I want to make sure that she never looks back and realizes that we never spent enough time together as a family. So I’m going to make sure that we plan some more fun things to do together.

I went online to see if I could find some ideas. I was thinking of taking everyone winter camping because we’ve never done that before. When I was online looking up those ideas, I ran across the website debtcounseling.bankrupt.com. After I looked through it a little bit I decided to use them. I’m in debt and could use some help so I think that I’m going to talk to them and figure out my options.

I told everyone about my plan for us to go family camping and I think that we’re really going to have a lot of fun. We’re all really enthusiastic about the upcoming triip!

Paul Krugman in the New York times article Bain, Barack and Jobs lays it out well. While it is true that we were in a free fall when President Obama walked into office, those job losses were not because of any of his policies.

That said, Obama’s job creation though anemic because of the intransigence of a Republican Congress and Blue Dog Democrats who prevented a right size stimulus, looks nothing like the Republican narrative of his job creation prowess. The chart is self explaining.

What is important was stated clearly by Krugman. Are you creating jobs if the jobs on your watch were effected by purchasing another company or at the expense of job losses by your competitor? ABSOLUTELY NOT! For Romney, any job creation he claims is likely a zero sum gain. Based on the job pilfering he did at Bain I would wager that he is likely a net job destructor, but coming to a deterministic value is rather dubious.

So when you are listening to anyone talk about Romney’s business experience or job creation claims, make sure to set the record straight immediately. Do not allow a false narrative to metastasize. That is how those that have destroyed our economy were successful in taking back Congress. Creating a false state of reality.

My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom Hardcopy: http://amzn.to/dt72c7 Kindle: http://amzn.to/lUFQCV Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies

Bain, Barack and Jobs

By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: January 5, 2012

America’s recovery from recession has been so slow that it mostly doesn’t seem like a recovery at all, especially on the jobs front. So, in a better world, President Obama would face a challenger offering a serious critique of his job-creation policies, and proposing a serious alternative. Instead, he’ll almost surely face Mitt Romney.

Mr. Romney claims that Mr. Obama has been a job destroyer, while he was a job-creating businessman. For example, he told Fox News: “This is a president who lost more jobs during his tenure than any president since Hoover. This is two million jobs that he lost as president.” He went on to declare, of his time at the private equity firm Bain Capital, “I’m very happy in my former life; we helped create over 100,000 new jobs.”

But his claims about the Obama record border on dishonesty, and his claims about his own record are well across that border.

Start with the Obama record. It’s true that 1.9 million fewer Americans have jobs now than when Mr. Obama took office. But the president inherited an economy in free fall, and can’t be held responsible for job losses during his first few months, before any of his own policies had time to take effect. So how much of that Obama job loss took place in, say, the first half of 2009?

The answer is: more than all of it. The economy lost 3.1 million jobs between January 2009 and June 2009 and has since gained 1.2 million jobs. That’s not enough, but it’s nothing like Mr. Romney’s portrait of job destruction.

Incidentally, the previous administration’s claims of job growth always started not from Inauguration Day but from August 2003, when Bush-era employment hit its low point. By that standard, Mr. Obama could say that he has created 2.5 million jobs since February 2010.

So Mr. Romney’s claims about the Obama job record aren’t literally false, but they are deeply misleading. Still, the real fun comes when we look at what Mr. Romney says about himself. Where does that claim of creating 100,000 jobs come from?

Well, Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post got an answer from the Romney campaign. It’s the sum of job gains at three companies that Mr. Romney “helped to start or grow”: Staples, The Sports Authority and Domino’s.

Mr. Kessler immediately pointed out two problems with this tally. It’s “based on current employment figures, not the period when Romney worked at Bain,” and it “does not include job losses from other companies with which Bain Capital was involved.” Either problem, by itself, makes nonsense of the whole claim.

…CONTINUED

Bain, Barack and Jobs – NYTimes.com