So in the previous blog posted it was made clear that Glenn Beck denies that this is a political rally, and after reading more about what has gone on at the rally it seems as though Beck has attempted to turn the rally into a religious experience.
As the rally opened Beck told his supporters, "America today begins to turn back to God. For too long this country has wandered in darkness."
The event even included a pastor making a prayer offering while Beck continued to add references to God within his speech. This "Restoring Honor" rally seems more like "Restoring Religion."
The rally even included gospel music and the speeches sounded more like sermons. Beck says:
Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press
"It has nothing to do with this city or politics. It has everything to do with God Almighty."
Beck is a converted Mormon. He welcomed Evangelical leaders to speak - and the speakers were frequently interrupted with shouts of praise and "AMEN!"
Beck tried to make a point of saying not to mix politics and religion by suggesting, "We cannot mix those two, but we must give a voice to what God says we must do."
See, that is considered mixing the two - because the first Amendment gives the right to freedom of religion which means that not everyone believes in God.
He continues to say, "My message to you tonight [tonight? this speech was given at noon] is stand where He wants you to stand and trust in the Lord. If He tells you to do it, do it. If you can't figure it out, He will. Just do it."
The part of the event that was well received and respected by all was the honoring of the Veterans and the supporting of the troops - which was something all Americans regardless of political party or religion could appreciate.
The Tea Party movement is really getting out of hand. The Boston Tea Party was revolutionary and was an act against the British - this Tea Party movement is an act against its own country. The rally speaks of supporting troops overseas in the war, and it seems as though the troops are the only thing America can unanimously support. The Boston Tea Party was to help strengthen America - but this Tea Party makes a mockery by dividing America into another group and pinning Americans against one another, but more about the Tea Party in another post.
Do wealthy Americans discount the 99er movement or do they even know these 'Exhaustees' exist? What could it possibly hurt if the 99er Nation of nearly 5 million hurting Americans gets their desperately needed Tier 5? The wealthy members of Congress are all too familiar with the Americans who have exhausted their UI compensation, but only recently have they introduced legislation to address this issue.
As the November election draws near, it is unclear if Washington will address this legislation in September, let alone pass The Americans Want to Work Act.
With the Congress in recess until the middle of September, there is not much to report on the Tier 5 bill at present. Still the story of the moment is how the 99er Nation will be able to change the focus of Washington from their own reelections back to the Tier 5 bill before they reconvene. It will take continued, unrelenting pressure on the White House, the media and your Congressional leaders to get this accomplished.
In an interesting article titled Wealthy America’s Perspective on Tier 5 Unemployment Extension: ’99ers Can’t Hurt Us (published August 4, 2010), Michael Danielson lays out some excellent points. From the article: “The question that we all need to answer, then, is simple: how can we forcibly reconnect the rich to the society that they parasitically feed upon while making and spending their money overseas? Until that happens, the American economy isn’t ever going to improve, and no amount of Tier 5, 6, or 7 unemployment extensions is going to fix the long-term problems that the ’99ers and the other 30 million unemployed Americans are facing.”
“The Tier 5 unemployment extension means nothing to the wealthy, because the entire country means nothing to the wealthy. We know that politicians are dependent on the wealthy to stage campaigns, especially in a recession (when normal folk have nothing to donate). That means that politicians, in turn, have no real incentive to create a Tier 5 unemployment extension, either. The ’99ers — and the working class at large — are powerless on a deeper and more pervasive level than ever in American history.”
I strongly disagree with the assertion that we are powerless. After all, only a few months ago, the position of Washington lawmakers was: “there will not be Tier 5 legislation, period.” The 99er Nation’s hard work has paid off in the introduction of not one but two bills currently in Congress. (S 3706 and HR 6091) Now the battle begins to see to it that the Stabenow bill (S 3706) is extended to include all states then get the bill passed. Once that is done, it should sail through the House quickly then Obama can sign it into law. Sounds much easier than it really will be to accomplish.
The 99er issue, being sidelined in the media these days for more intriguing headlines (like the Mosque near ground Zero) it is easy to feel forgotten and unmotivated. The 99ers are urged to step up their efforts to a feverish pace, as the prize (even their very survival) is nearly at hand.
Continue to call, fax, email and participate in events for candidates courting your vote. Inundate the White House with calls demanding the President speak out on this issue to pressure Congress to pass The Americans Want to Work Act.
A complete list of legislator contact information can be found at: Jobless Unite http://joblessunite.yolasite.com/legislators-contact-list.php
WE NEED ALL AMERICANS concerned about this crisis to contact the White House Comments Line 202-456-1111 Comment line is only open 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday EST. Remind the President how the economy began to slip backwards again this past April and it is no coincidence that the bulk of the 99ers ran out of money by the end of March.
Passing a Tier 5 immediately will give the economy a huge shot in the arm as soon as it is passed. Using an average of $300.00 per week, multiplied by 5 million recipients, that will put 1.5 billion dollars into the hands of people who will spend it immediately. If the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) is correct that every $1 spent on UI benefits results in a stimulative effect of $1.93, that means nearly 3 billion dollars injected into the economy for each of the 20 weeks proposed for a Tier 5. That is a great deal of help for America's economy and may translate into a hero's welcome for Democrats in November. This would also make the question of whether or not wealthy Americans discount the 99er movement a moot point at best.
HR 6091 Tier 5 Bill for the 99ers - does not pass the laugh test. Then again, millions of unemployed Americans without UI payments going on 8 months (with no jobs in sight) is no laughing matter.
Earlier this month, Rep. Jim McDermott cosponsored legislation to create a 5th tier of Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) unemployment insurance (UI) benefits in states with high unemployment. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) and would add an additional 20 weeks of benefits for states with unemployment rates of 10 percent or higher.
“Right now, there are more long-term jobless Americans than we’ve ever had on record, and we can’t just let them all fall off a cliff,” Rep. McDermott said. “I don’t believe how we can cut and run from helping unemployed workers when there are five of them competing for every available job. You only have to hear from a few unemployed workers to know how hard they are looking for work and to feel their sheer sense of desperation. Are we really prepared to just stand by and watch them sink into abject poverty?”
The economy would have to create nearly 10 million new jobs to return to its pre-recession level, which would take about five years of consistent, month-after-month job growth. While the country has seen job growth in every month this year, the unemployment rate remains at almost 10 percent, and many economists predict that it will remain high for the foreseeable future. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office projects the unemployment rate to average 9.5% next year.
“The Bush administration and Congressional Republicans presided over the implosion of the housing market and world economic collapse, and handed us the worst economy in 70 years,” opined Rep. McDermott. “Ending assistance to the long-term unemployed will reduce consumer demand right at the point when the economy is struggling to get back on its feet. It will surely increase the number of homes going into foreclosure. And it will drive some individuals permanently out of the labor force. All of these outcomes will increase our nation’s budget deficit. But even worse, they will bring about a crippling deficit of hope for the future.”
With Stabenow's bill S. 3706, the Berkely bill's best use would be as a Tier 6 in addition to the Tier 5 legislation proposed by Stabenow. The 10% unemployment rate in the Berkely/McDermott bill would only cover 16 states plus the District of Columbia. That is completely insane, and not what America needs now.
What needs to happen to the Americans Want to Work Act is that it must be extended to cover all states (as written now it excludes 16 states from the 20 week extension). Then we need to add the Berkely - McDermott bill on top of that to give the states who are hurting the worst extra weeks, much like the Tiers 3 & 4 did last fall. This would make far more sense than the Berkely/McDermott bill alone. Only the 10% UI threshold seems way too high to be of real service to millions of hurting Americans.
Hopefully, while in the midst of the latest Tier of UI benefits, Congress can pass a real effective Get America Working Again bill, much the scale and scope that Roosevelt did in 1939. These are serious times indeed and we all really want to earn our own living, rather than to lobby heartless legislators every few months while the jobs creep back, a few thousand at a time.
Exactly who do the House members who introducing HR 6091 think the 99ers are? Most 99ers understand that Republicans taking the majority in the House and/or the Senate is a very bad idea. Ms Berkely blew her chance to help the 99ers weeks ago and chose not to take on "too hard of a fight", when there was still time to fight hard for legislation that would help the 99er Nation. She did not step up for millions of 99ers and they likely will not help her keep her seat in November. In fact, the smart money says 99ers will be working feverishly to oust her from Congress. This bill is nothing but another ploy to make it look like lawmakers are doing something to help America, while all they really are doing is trying to do is save their seats in November.
Instead of helping the 99er Nation, by introducing this legislation, it may well cost all 99ers more valuable time. Time they do not have. What part of unemployment being a national emergency do they not understand?
Let's say that the Senate passes the Stabenow bill, then sends it to the House. Will the House waste more precious weeks of 99er time trying to reconcile the McDermott/Berkely bill with S 3706? No thank you. We saw that on March 10, 2010, HR 4213 passed the Senate. The House did not act with any sense of urgency with their attempts to reconcile that bill with their own, waiting until the end of May to pass their version. This is not the time to squander more lives of 99er families by wasting precious time.
To date, most 99ers are struggling through their 8th month with no benefits. We all know the jobs are not out there, so what exactly are the long term unemployed to do? If you really care about the longest term unemployed in America and not just grandstanding, then either redo HR 6091 so that it can be a Tier 6 on top of the Stabenow Tier 5 or simply kill that bill.
In short, HR 6091 Tier 5 Bill for the 99ers - does not pass the Laugh Test. Only, there is nothing funny about millions of Americans forced into abject poverty, from which many may never again escape.
Everything Glenn Beck does is political, and this Fox News commentator is not fooling anyone with his attempts to disprove that there is any political involvement that ties into this rally.
Ironically this rally takes place on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech at the same location. Beck says that this rally will reclaim the civil rights movement.
The only "tea party" that deserves to go down in history is the Boston Tea Party, but the current Tea Party activists (Paul Revere is turning in his grave) wholeheartedly supports this rally.
Sarah Palin gave a speech to the 100,000 gathered around the Lincoln Memorial. She says, "We must restore America... Say what you want about me but I raised a combat vet. You can't take that away from me."
Beforehand she tweeted:
Reverend Jesse Jackson told CNN that Beck was mimicking Martin Luther King Jr. and "humiliating the tradition."
There is a nearby gathering with Reverend Al Sharpton planned to march to the sight of the future Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial.
TMZ reports Paril Hilton's defense will be that she "would not be caught dead" with cocaine in her purse, in an apparent reference to her 2007 Los Angeles arrest and her two arrests this year.
Hilton has retained Las Vegas defense attorney David Chesnoff, who TMZ describes as powerful, and who was instrumental in getting her out of jail without bail.
While it's not reported, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine the person driving the car Paris Hilton was in, was her boyfriend Cy Walts. TMZ earlier reported that the two boarded a private jet headed for Las Vegas that Friday.
David Chesnoff Partnered With Mayor of Las Vegas
According to Wikipedia, David Chesnoff, of the four-person law firm of Chesnoff & Schonfeld, was a law partner with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman; the two met in 1985.
Chesnoff has had a notable list of clients, including Vince Neil, Michael Jackson's family, Leonardo DiCaprio, David Copperfield, Shaquille O'Neal, Andre Agassi, Britney Spears, Mike Tyson, Martha Stewart, Jamie Foxx, Lindsay Lohan, Scott Weiland of the Stone Temple Pilots, Nate Dogg, Suge Knight, and now Paris Hilton.
Do not confuse this with the bill the State of New York has passed making buying cigarettes more expense than heroin which I am told sells on the streets of NY for eight dollars.
I have posted on many blogs and made a YouTube about how I believe the taxing of the American Indians economic racism and you can read my explainations about why below including economics 101: The Native American Indians do not have the economic opportunities Americans have because they are on the reservation as well as the question why should the American Indians be subject to a tax to close a massive budget deficit that they have nothing to do with and hasn't our government abused, exploited and greatly harmed the American Indians enough already.
Here is the link to The New York Post article "Indians' cig suit to drag" I came across which states, "A federal judge is delaying a decision on the Seneca Indian Nation's request for a restraining order to block NY from imposing steep new taxes sold on cigarettes sold on Indian Reservations." The NY Post reprinted this from AP.
You can read more on my blog www.suzannahbtroy.blogspot.com about how I write President Obama, read what I wrote him and see the YouTube I made calling the mayor and governor out on what I believe is economic racism. By the way, to date mayor Blooomberg has not apologized for his "cowboy -- Indian" comment which was not funny. Listen to my YouTube about what I have to say about Paterson and Albany clowns who have not yet balanced the massive budget deficit and again I ask why do the American Indians have to pay for what in my opinion an economic crisis do to corruption, stupidity and greed in State and City government. Watch the YouTube for more of my insights on this wrongful action by the governor and mayor Bloomberg. Here is my original posting which is important to check out as well.
As of this writing, "Paris Hilton Arrested" and "Restoring Honor" are dual Twitter Trends, with "Paris Hilton Arrested" first and "Restoring Honor" right after it. This is in the wake of Hilton's arrest for alleged possession of cocaine in Las Vegas.
That fact led to some really funny tweets, like this one:
Lord_Voldemort7 - "Paris Hilton arrested" & "Restoring Honor" are trending. So the world is finally restoring honor by arresting stupid people? About time. 7 minutes ago via web
Well, Paris did get out of jail and without posting bail according to TMZ.com, but the Twitteratti are being rightfully harsh on Paris. Hilton has been arrested three times in three different parts of the World - South Africa, France, and The U.S.A. - for drug possession. Here are more tweets:
glentickle - Paris Hilton arrested for coke. Great, now we can spend 6 months hearing how another stupid rich girl spent 3 days in jail. about 1 hour ago via Brizzly
emstarmusic - Paris Hilton arrested for possession of Cocaine .. allegedly she was seen entering Soulja Boy's hotel room after Kat Stacks left
lilduval - #believeduval paris hilton arrested for going to pickup soulja boy cocaine. smh
2 minutes ago via web
Paris Hilton's Las Vegas arrest for cocaine possession, coupled with the two other times this year that she was suspected of possessing marijuana, signal a return to her careless, freewheeling habits that eventually landed her in the slammer for 23-days in 2007 and for alcohol-related reckless driving, and caused a much watched release from jail:
Later that year on September 29, 2007, Paris Hilton appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman and to make up a show she was supposed to do earlier that year except that she was in jail in Los Angeles.
But, apparently perceiving that Paris had not fully learned her lesson, even though she cried in court and reportedly had a hard early set of days adjusting to what was a "traumatic" experience, Letterman put the heat on Paris:
In an interview that CBS On YouTube edited out 4 minutes of (and should not have) - the version above is the full discussion - Letterman asked her what it was like to be in jail and thwarted her attempts to change the subject. David said that Paris Hilton was in a position to give good advise to a lot of young people.
Also, Paris Hilton said she was going to get more involved in non-profit efforts and help people less fortunate than themselves. And by implication, Hilton was going to stop her substance-abuse habits.
Now, it's 2010, and Parid Hilton's back to her old ways, only worse, it seems. Earlier this year, Hilton was arrested in South Africa for suspected possession of marijuana, but the South African authorities dropped the charges after a friend confessed the pot was hers.
Just two weeks later, Hilton was jailed in France for having less than a gram of weed in her purse.
Why?
First, why does Paris do this? Second, why does she insist on having boyfriends who are nightclub owners? Do they supply her with the drugs she needs to get high?
Is Paris Hilton setting herself up for a 2007 replay? Can someone intervene and reengineer Paris Hilton's brain before it's too late?
Paris Hilton has all of the ingredients to be a more successful business woman. But she's not going to get there without a severe intervention on the part of people who really care.
Paris Hilton was arrested in Las Vegas for possession of cocaine just days after a screwed-up knife-wielding man tried to break into her home in Los Angeles, and just months after she was suspected of possession of drugs in South Africa and in France.
This time, Paris Hilton was booked into the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, according to Las Vegas police spokesman Marcus Martin via MSNBC.
The "friend" she was with is her boyfriend Cy Waits, who runs a set of Vegas nightclubs. On that same day, TMZ blogged that Hilton and Waltz boarded a private plane that TMZ speculated was headed for Las Vegas.
20-year-old 5 feet 7 inch, 240 pound, brown eyed and black haired Andrew Barrientos is armed, dangerous, and on the run after shooting a Fremont police officer who was trying to serve a search warrant at an East Oakland house at 2009 Auseon Ave, according to Oakland Police Spokesperson Jeff Thomason.
Fortunately, the unnamed Fremont Officers's injuries are not life threatening. He's being treated for a leg wound at Highland Hospital.
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums issued this statement:
Our hearts and prayers are with the Fremont police officer shot this afternoon, his loved ones, his fellow law enforcement officers and the City of Fremont family as they cope with this latest incident of senseless violence. On behalf of the Oakland community, I thank him for his law enforcement service and express my deep regret that this dedication has resulted in injury on our streets. I support Chief Batts and the men and women of the Oakland Police Department in pursuing every lead to bring the gunman to justice. The violence in Oakland must stop. Our collective well - being depends on it.
After the shooting of the Fremont Officer, Andrew Barrientos wasn't done. The young punk criminal tried to carjack one vehicle, failed, shot at the driver, then successfully carjacked a 1999 green Mazda outside a liquor store. The car has a California license plate No. 4MJE548.
Oakland Police closed off several blocks in search of Andrew Barrientos.
Even though the GOP has no vision for the good of America, the Democrats cannot seem to cash in on Republican bumbling. The high road taken by the Obama administration, to reach across the isle and work with GOP members, was met with a hearty slap in the face time and again over the past 18 months.
It seems the only thing Republicans can think about these days is extending the Bush era tax cuts. Will keeping these tax cuts in place really create jobs? Well they have had 10 years to test this theory and the answer is a resounding NO!
Lets look at ‘Plan B’ from the Republicans: repeal just about every piece of legislation passed to date during the Obama administration. What a waste of time. If there ever was a time in our history we needed true leadership, it is now.
The unemployment crisis is only deepening, growth of the economy is nearly flat, foreclosures are at an all time high and our leaders refuse to do anything to correct the situation.
With the Senate’s inability to get the business of America done, due to unprecedented filibustering, Obama’s hands are tied. People are angry and anger often works against the party in power at the ballot box.
The Democrats simply must educate the American voters about the truth of the matter of who is really to blame for the mess in America today. The four letter, one word answer: Bush.
The Obama administration has had an unending stream of emergency situations to deal since January 2009. Most of these are a direct result of the failed Bush policies, deregulation and 2 unfunded wars raging overseas. Meanwhile, the country has been falling apart, anger is mounting and most states are in severe financial trouble.
The flow of tax revenue, what states rely on to do business, has been choked off due to the foreclosure situation. We cannot ever hope to resolve the deficit problem unless the unemployment crisis is resolved. People have no money to spend, so our consumer based economy is crumbling. Those with the money and thus the power to help stop this downward spiral are holding on to trillions, in an attempt to make it look like the Democrats and President Obama are to blame.
I pray that Americans are smarter than the Republicans give us credit for in deciphering what is what, so those responsible for America’s economic woes don’t fool the voters into making an epic mistake this November. While Democrats cannot seem to cash in on Republican bumbling, perhaps the American voter will see through the GOP smoke screen and save our great country from disaster.
What's neat about Zennie62.com is that unlike other blogs, this is more of a forum for different points of view. The political bent is liberal, but that doesn't mean the libs here always agree. New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is one such example.
As one who's met Mayor Bloomberg, and read Suzannah's passionate blog post, there's no real evidence in the blog post that Mayor Mike is practicing a kind of economic racism against American Indians.
It also must be added that not every American Indian lives on a reservation. Yes, the media paints just such a picture, but the reality is American Indians are just as likely to be your neighbor, or doctor, or lawyer as anyone else in America.
Yes, there are huge economic problems that American Indians face. Yes, Indian casino economic development has been overplayed as a strategy. But economic racism is racism. It's is the act of shutting out a person from economic opportunity because of the color of their skin.
When this blogger was in New York City for the first TechCrunch Disrupt New York, Mayor Bloomberg took the courageous step of standing with American immigrants and to send a message to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer that New York welcomes immigrants, period.
That was a bold, in-your-face move, that won a fan in this blogger.
Suzannah lives in New York, I don't. Thus, she sees a different Mayor Bloomberg that what I see. But I've seen enough to comfortably says he's not racist. Mayor Bloomberg directly received me and was more than respectful and helpful and the same goes for his press staff as well.
Mayor Bloomberg may not be perfect, but he's not as bad as he's painted by any means.
