Welcome!

Anyone that's tried to read my recent blog postings and have noticed I haven't done anything in a while, be sure to check out my column over at Out in America. I usually have a new one there every other Friday.

Or you can go directly to my webpage (which does redirect you to the OIA page):

bookmark it as http://www.ohio-liberal.com.

Thanks and peaches!

Let's think about it!

This will be a short blurb. I was reading in Time about the whole Schiavo case and came across something that would be ironic if it weren't so blatantly hypocritical.

The same Republicans fighting to save Terri's "life" are the ones who want to limit liability lawsuits and cut benefits for Medicare participants right? Well, the only thing keeping Terri alive over the past 15 years was $700,000 won from a malpractice lawsuit and Medicare covering some of her benefits due to being disabled.

So those people who want to keep her alive should keep something in mind. When they get their way (when not if) they should realize Terri would have died years ago, because she would not have gotten the lawsuit money nor the benefits from Medicare.

Think about that one, Limbaugh.

the Blue Box Citizen
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Been awhile

Sorry it's been so long for me to post to this. I've been so busy with working and writing an aritcle for Out in America each week, I've slacked on this blog. Then I realized there were so many little(r) things happening out there that weren't long enough to discuss in my column that I should start to post here again.

So I'll try to do just that.

By the way, my newly acquired domain name is now http://www.ohio-liberal.com. I'm so excited to have that again! Well not that, but "that," that is a domain name.

Couldn't think of much else to talk about today, so I'll comment on a story about my uncle, Thomas Barton. You see, he used to work for MCI Worldcom before it exploded and went bankrupt.

He used to take calls and write letters for them, evening signing them. Then he quit in the mid-90's... but they continued to use his form letters and signature and send them along to an address that never returned correspondence, and a phone number that never called back with a reply.

Just another example of Big Business being stupid and corrupt, and they were finally caught with their pants down. You can find the story here. Apparently the Fox investigator, Mary Garofalo, doesn't believe he exists.

Oh well! :)

until next time,
the Blue Box Citizen
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Happy New Year!

So I'd like to say I purposely took some time off for the holiday... but I really didn't. First my power went out on the 23rd, as most of the people did in Central Ohio and further up north as well. Then my cable didn't come back until Monday. And laziness kicked in. So really it was no access to the Internet that kept me from blogging for only like 5 days.

I'll kick off the new year with just a few mentions. I'll try to link, but who knows if that'll happen, lol...

First off, I'd like for the Republicans and conservatives in the house to go to their dictionary and look up some entries: ethics, moral(ity) and values. Now I really don't think anyone other than me reads this, but it's nice to pretend. Have you found it? Now do you happen to see any pictures of George W? Cuz I doubt it.

The Grand Ole Party ran on those three words this election year like their lives depended on it. And they did, at least their political ones. They decided to change their rules back in 1984 that if a House Republican in leadership was at least indicted they would lose their spot. They decided they would have more ethics than the Democrats (who held the majority there until 1994) who had changed the rules when a leader was in trouble. Now that they're in power, and poor old DeLay is in trouble in Texas for being evil, they want to change the rules again. Nice.

The other thing is this adoption show, Who's Your Daddy? on the Fox network, primetime tonight. I'm having issues with this... mostly because people who wanna be on TV are going to get there anyways, so I don't feel they're being exploited. But do you have to make a game show out of getting back together with your biological parent(s)? I don't think so. I would feel better if this show appeared on FX or some other cable network. Allowing public airwaves for this sort of crap is just too much. Fox has obviously stepped over the line.

And I'm off! Mostly because I just got off work at 11 pm and work again at 11 am. Yikes!

As always,

he Blue Box Citizen
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Election 2004, Where Art Thou?

OK, so I know I'm a little behind on my Time and US News Weekly newsmagazines... I'm only a few weeks behind. Earlier this summer I was about 6 months behind. Which isn't too fun when everyone's writing about who will become the nominee, and you already know what happens on Election Day.

But I've noticed something, from both the Left and the Right in these weeklies. The Republicans gloat and the Democrats whine. My message to you all: you're both wrong... get over it!

To the Republicans:

You did not win a mandate. Thanks to the stupidity of the Electoral College, Mr. Bush won re-election by 119,000 votes in the state of Ohio. That's it. That, my dear sirs, is no mandate. Clinton had a mandate, Roosevelt had a mandate. Reagan clearly had a mandate. This is no mandate. And it is very sad.

You were running the re-election campaign of a sitting war President for god's sake! And it's an eternal war to boot. He had raised more money and spent more money than any political candidate, ever! Bush had the power of the Right Wing Conspiratorial Smear Machine, trying to do to Kerry what they did to McGovern in 1988. You had the benefit of an extended Democratic nomination process that tore the candidates on the left to bits. Bush could wait until September to start spending federal money while Kerry had to start in July.

You would like a mandate. But you do not have one. You won the popular vote, 51% to 48. You could have, and should have, done much much better.

To the Democrats:

You did better than anyone could ever have anticipated. You were up against a sitting war President and almost beat him, losing only by about 3% of the popular vote. You probably get the idea: everything I said up there, applies only in reverse down here.

A Republican majority has been set in quasi-stone. The good thing about this: people eventually get sick of one-party control, and the pendulum will swing the other way. Bush is trying to push through things that normally couldn't make it, especially the Social Security reform and permanent, rich-biased tax cuts.

But keep in mind the Senate. Republicans still do not have a 60-seat super majority, something they need to push over the opposition party. So keep that in mind: do not sit there and take it!

Well, that's pretty much all the scolding I've got for the two major parties. One last bit of advice for all those lefties out there: this is not the end.

Wrong Idea, Wrong Time... Again.

The next Biggest Thing in politics is Social Security reform. If you go all the way back to my first posting on here, you can see that I oppose privatizing Social Security. That's not altogether true. I do support that effort... however! I must qualify that statement. This is not the time, nor is this the way it should be done.

The problem with Social Security right now is cash flow, pure and simple. When this mandatory state insurance was first instituted, there were more working folks being taxed that retiring folks getting paid out of the insurance fund. So there was no problem.

However, we're getting to the point where all the Baby Boomers are retiring in droves... and that's a problem, because it's turned the cash flow 180 degrees. We now have more retiring, therefore drawing from the fund, than those working and paying into it.

Bush's plan is to let those working folks set aside a portion of the taxes they pay to the Social Security Administration into a personal account, where they can invest it in the stock market. Great idea... except for the fact that there would be even less money being paid into the SSA fund. So that means the government would have to borrow even more money!

Privatization should be done... eventually. But there are different ways it can be done. One was brought to popularity by former Vice President Al Gore. The famous "lockbox" scenario, where the Social Security funds are protected from being raided by other spending sprees in Congress. But shouldn't it be that way already?

The Supreme Court had ruled, a few years back, that you are not entitled to the money you put into the SSA fund. I don't think that's right either. If the government forces you to save your money while you're working, so you don't have to eat cat food when you get old, then you should get the money you put in, plus whatever low-yield interest you may have earned, based on the government bond the money would buy. That's kinda private. They could also, someday, allow the users to invest part of it into less conservative stock options or mutual funds. Kinda like a big ole 401k, which for the most part, do pretty well, especially when you look over a 10 year period.

The solution, for now, is to raise the taxes that put Social Security checks in the hands of old folks. You could also raise the qualifying retirement age ever so slightly. Both of these would be temporary alterations, which can be changed back to the way they were, once there is more balance in the retiring-to-working persons ratio.

At least Bush got something right. He's proposed, I believe, raising the taxes on the rich in order to help privatize the SSA funds... well at least he got something partly right!

In other news, they found some more missing ballots in Washington's gubernatorial race, again in liberal King County. Those could be the votes that tipped the race in favour of Democrat Christina Gregoire. But, naturally, Republicans don't like that. They don't want Rossi to lose legitimately... heaven forbid we count all the legal votes!! Apparently there is a Washington Court that sided with the Republicans that they shouldn't be counted. Democrats have, thankfully, appealled to a higher court. I'll be sure to keep you updated!

As always,

the Blue Box Citizen
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Bad Voting Practices

George Bush may want all eligible voters to vote, and all legal ballots cast to be counted... but that's not how all Republicans feel.

There are two stories I'll cover in this entry, so that's why I didn't link up the title. The first story is about the continuing saga of the fight for Washington's highest office, the governorship. The major party contenders were Republican Dino Rossi and Democrat Christine Gregoire. On November 2, Rossi was declared the winner, by a margin of 261 votes. Because the vote was so close, state law automatically triggered a recount... which dropped Rossi's lead to 42 votes. There were over 2.8 million votes cast, and it's decided by 42 votes? Of course there will be a recount!

So the Washington Democrats, with the help of the kindred spirits across the nation, paid for another recount. This time, the lead was bumped to 74 votes, Rossi still leading. The Democrats would like another recount. Which I don't think is a problem, considering the term doesn't start until next year anyways, and as long as the ones who want it are paying for it. But there has been a bump in the road for the Republicans.

Apparently some 561 absentee ballots were invalidated based on incorrect information. This was found out after a head Democrat in liberal King County found his name on the invalid list... and he knew his was not. After his, they found some more... and then they also found some 22 ballots that were just stuck somewhere, forgotten in the storage container of a voting machine. I guess what happened with the 500+ votes was that the county computers were messed up and not updated with the correct information. But the Republicans are suing to have those votes not counted! What?! We don't want legally cast votes cast because... well no one's sure right now why they don't want them counted. Other than it'll probably give Gregoire the lead needed to win the gubernatorial post.

What I truly want the Democrats and Republicans to take away from this mess is this: more than 63,000 votes were cast for the Libertarian candidate for Washington Governor. That means either side, by courting the rational ideas of libertarians and the Libertarian Party, could have won election easily. Keep that in mind next election.

In other news, the Republican Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court has thrown out a challenge by Democrats and the Massachusetts-based Alliance for Democracy because... it mentions his recent election. Apparently, he's citing the fact that there is no precedent or state law that allows for the combination of challenges. The lawsuit says more than 130,000 votes in 36 Ohio counties that were destined for the Kerry/Edwards ticket column ended up in the Bush/Cheney column. So instead of actually hearing the case, Moyer is throwing out the case based on the fact, pretty much, that he doesn't want to hear it. Odd.

So all you Iraqis out there that we "liberated," keep this in mind: democracy works, as long as the party in power suppresses the votes of those that are challenging said power. Oh wait, that's what Saddam Hussein did... woops...

Destroying a Moderate Republican

The only national face left in moderatism and liberal Republicanism has been destroyed. Congratulations, Karl Rove and his Neo-Con posse.

The most recent Republican scandal has (unfarirly) left Bush, his Administration and Alberto Gonzales (the vetting agent supposed to catch all the bad stuff before finalizing the nominee choice) virtually unscathed. Bernie Kerik was a no-name in the national scene before a few weeks back and will go back to living in solitude once again. But the person truly affected by this is Rudy Giuliani, the man who suggested Kerik to Bush for the Homeland Security nomination.

The man a lot of people are hoping will run for President in 2008 will be all but destroyed by this. It really kills his reputation, especially since he didn't have much going for him in the first place, except that he was in office when 9/11 ocurred. But this is extremely excellent for those who would like to see the Religious Right keep the power they've gained under Pres. Bush's Administration.

I could see myself voting for Giuliani. He's pretty much my kinda candidate. Only problem is, my candidates never seem to get anywhere, pushed out by the more extremists of their respective parties. Yes, this goes for the Democrats as well. Dean could have beat Bush; but that's another complaint. Bush killed McCain because of his religiousity. And Republicans such as Giuliani and New York Governor Pataki are too liberal because of their stances on the big no-no's: pro-choice and pro-gay. For shame the Republicans step into this century...

And this really isn't much of a conspiracy theory. It wouldn't take much for the big chief GOPers to get rid of moderates... they've been gunning for them in Congress, making sure it's more polarized than ever. We need more moderates, whether they be moderate Democrats or moderate Republicans. Because they actually reflect the values of America and the mainstream public.

But the vitriol put on by both hard-lefters and hard-righters makes it impossible for the middlers to make it. This therefore makes only extremists get into office, in ever growing pro-incumbent districts. This then pushes away the more moderate American voter, ensuring only the hard liners are left, pushing their extreme candidates. The ugly circle of politics.

There weren't any other good news stories, so sorry about that. Better luck next time, eh?

Your's,

Blue Box Citizen
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