Guns, GUNS, then even more Guns!-will it ever change?

Even after all the horrific loss of lives by killers with guns -
the fact that the NRA has a stranglehold on politicians we will not have Gun Control til we have  Campaign Finance Reform...we must replace & vote out any politician that votes for their own personal gain and not for the welfare of ALL Americans!

Amendment II

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Nowhere does it state that the people have a right to an arsenal. Nor does it state that the government does not have the right to establish regulations.  I don't think the Founding Fathers could have ever imagined how this "freedom" would be used over 200 years later.

And did we not establish a Militia when we instituted  the National Guard?  So why would ordinary citizens need to be armed?   

Personally I am fed up with the NRA and their constant assault on the rest of us Americans  in denying us our

 “RIGHT TO LIFE AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS” 

all in their proclamation that they are protecting their 2^nd Amendment Rights to buy as a many guns... any kind of gun that they choose  with no restrictions putting the rest of us in fear…and yes, even terrorizing us by having these little staged events where they get to trot out their “weapons and say hey look at me…I am a coward, I have no balls or real courage, but I have a gun!  

We have  Police who are making videos showing people how to shoot politicians, 

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/24/right-wing-pennsylvania-police-chief-threatens-liberals-calls-for-armed-government-takeover-video/

And then his follower goes after the citizens who protest his actions

Man Opens Fire At Pennsylvania Town Meeting, At Least Three People Killed, Others Wounded

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/08/06/three-killed-in-pennsylvania-town-meeting-shooting/#ixzz2bmN6yJVg

The NRA scares me more today than the threat of Communism we were faced with as children in the 50’s….

or the nuclear bomb threat that taught us to take cover under our desks for protection….

WELL GUESS WHAT?  As a child my desk was not going to protect me from a nuclear attack, and it does not protect today’s children from crazed gunmen armed to the hilt with automatic weapons and what seems like unlimited rounds of ammunition.  

On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot twenty children and six adult staff members in a mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting

HAS THIS COUNTRY GONE START RAVING MAD!  I understand people who live in remote areas and farmers and ranchers  needing rifles for protection and sometimes in relation to the work they do…I do not understand someone in a city or town with police a few minutes away needing a gun to protect themselves.  Women have been assaulted even though they had guns… having a gun in your house while getting attacked while taking your garbage out is not going to offer a lot of protection…plus most people are not that willing to just take another persons’ life,…we BLINK! 

have you ever looked into the eyes of a stone cold killer?  Their eyes are dead like they have no soul...

 A bad person/criminal will not BLINK! BANG BANG you are dead and probably with your own weapon.  All a gun does is give a coward a false sense of bravado…in men they think  their teeny little weenies are bigger…but get out your rulers fellas, it is still the same size and you are still a coward.  And do these NRA types really and truly believe they stand a chance going against the UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES AND THE STATE NATIONAL GUARD AND ALL THE STATE AND LOCAL POLICE…

Why do you think that the military and police have to train their recruits "how to kill".... how not to BLINK! and become the victim.  How to know and identify a criminal from an innocent bystander?  

in case the NRA as not heard we ELECT our government by voting!

 You don’t get to wage war against your government just because you did not like that a Black Man was elected President.  

The 2nd Amendment needs to be amended (I would prefer "repealed" but I am trying to be reasonable in an unreasonable situation)  .  There needs to be a solution that reasonable people can arrive at.  This issue is driven by the NRA and weapons manufacturers...it is all about the Benjamins! And not the one named Franklin!

Campaign Finance Reform & Political Term Limits

WE NEED CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM, HONESTY & TERM LIMITS...

originally published September 2013...I am revisiting this as of 9/5/2019 

I HOPE THIS MESSAGE IS WORTH YOUR TIME AND IT IS WORTH YOUR TIME EXPLORING THE LINKS

...We desperately need to begin to work on these two key area of politics in America. We need to get Corporations Out of Politics.

The following are some thoughts I have...I would love feedback & suggestions because I feel I really need it, I don't have all the answers, but together maybe we can find some.

LIES, DECEIPT, FANTASY AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF POLITICIANS

The following question posed by a gentleman on twitter got me to thinking

Boyd Ingalls ‏@Brunothegrape1h

@N_Rode As long as we're entertaining fantasies, what about insisting that policy debates stay reality based. Is that too much to ask?

NO! it is not too much to ask. It should be a given. I have become so cynical about the ability of any politician, even my own party & who I voted for, to be truthful about anything, I find myself making decisions based who told the least offensive lies-and that is so wrong. The very least a person that wants the taxpayers to pay his/her wages should be is HONEST.  What business or corporation would hire a "liar" or someone who lives in a "fantasy world"? I suspect that if that company is not making movies or in the entertainment industry...the answer would be NONE. So why do we VOTE these people into office and pay them so well to lie to us, deceive us and not do what is best for US The citizens of America?

POLITICAL TERM LIMITS

Being a politician should not be a lifelong career.  It should be temporary employment at best.  A longer single term, (6 years sounds reasonable to me) would mean no need to ever spend time that should be spent solving the problems facing our country with campaigning.  It would mean a 40 hour work week, like most average Americans, that is 2,080 hours a year. Think what could be accomplished..  

Benefits paid for should be on par with what is required of other employers. 

Payment into a pension plan should be the same as other employers  have. So much is deducted at the employees choice as to percentage with a % match by the employer. 

Health Insurance should be provided the same as with other employers.  It would not hurt to have the politician to pay for a portion of the insurance coverage. A lot of companies and public institutions pay for individual employee coverage with the employee paying a portion of the family coverage.  I know that is the way it is done at the school district I retired as Bookkeeper from.

One term and they are gone from that position and they do not get to come back as a lobbyist.  The get to go apply for another job somewhere else.  Maybe then a healthy robust job market will become important.

Campaign Finance Reform

I know this is a biggie.  But we must stop the ability of corporations and the wealthy from being able to buy our politicians.  If an individual from Illinois want to represent Illinois as a Congressperson, then the funding for that persons campaign needs to come solely from the individual citizens  of  the area/district that person wants to represent. No outsiders (in other words keep it local) and no corporate contributors.  Campaign ads should only contain the face and voice of the person running for that position and they should only be funded by their campaign contributions.  The media needs to give candidates a set number of free ads for both candidates.  A series of debates should be scheduled & supported by the media to allow candidates to get their message out.  This would be a great way for the media to support our country.

DO AWAY WITH ALL PACS

REPEAT..."No Corporate Contributors"


Which brings me to this section....

It is mind boggling to try and keep up with all the companies we buy goods and products from...those that are ethical, those that are not.  It seems that we as taxpayers and consumers cannot count on companies to be honest, ethical and caring on their own. .  Why do these companies have the money to spend billions of dollars lobbying, and spending to buy politicians instead of doing the 'RIGHT THING" Invest in your workers, invest in your country, invest in the Earth.  Instead they choose to:

• Exploit their workers

Paying their employees a living wage with health insurance and vacation and sick day benefits and pension plan.  All of these perks are considered "cost of doing business " and will lower their tax rates.

• Hide their obscene profits in tax shelters to avoid supporting their country

Take the billions of dollars that are spent buying politicians and and invest it in your country.  Why not get your tax cuts at home rather than hiding your money in tax shelters in other countries? 

• Pollute the Earth

Energy efficient investments are also a cost of doing business and will lower your tax rate.  If companies keep raping the planet for obscene get rich quick profits and polluting the air, land and water, their families and future generations will suffer too. Mother Nature has a way of cleaning house.  I think that process is already beginning.  The lives lost to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes ...etc...

It is time that we begin to demand better from these companies.  It is time we insist that our politicians do what is best for America and not the bottom line of corporations.  This means changes in the tax codes and more vigorous funding of the budgets for the FDA and the EPA and OSHA! 

NONE OF THIS WILL HAPPEN IF WE DO NOT START WITH POLITICAL TERM LIMITS AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM- It all goes hand in hand in hand.