Time for a Victory Dance!

The 2012 election was largely a victory for us, since Obama won re-election and the lesser-evil party (aka the Democrats) regained control of the Senate (but unfortunately not the House).  As we have noted before, Obama has been our only hope for keeping America from falling completely into the plutocrats' (and kleptocrats') hands yet again.  We thank everyone, especially in swing states, who chose NOT to feed the vultures this time around.  And fie upon those who did!

Ballot initiative results were generally favorable this time around, especially as far as civil rights are concerned.  For example, three more states legalized same-sex marriage, and one state rejected a constitutional amendment banning it.  This is the first time any state has legalized gay marriage via a ballot initiative.  Perhaps direct democracy isn't so bad after all.

Also, it looks like "California dreaming" has finally become a reality.  Though not in California or even in Oregon, but rather in Colorado and Washington.  Those two states were the first to legalize cannabis for non-medical use since it was banned in the 1930s.  This is nothing short of historic and groundbreaking.  However, before you go and book that flight to Denver or Seattle, keep in mind that it still remains illegal at the federal level and the feds say they will still enforce the federal law for the time being. 

In other news, it looks like Puerto Rico wants to become the 51st state. We hope Congress and the President will agree to make it happen. Imagine if Puerto Rico actually was represented in Congress and the Electoral College, that could be a game-changer in the 2016 election. And the people there would be paying federal income taxes as a result of statehood, so federal revenues should increase. However, this is the fourth time that the island tried to change its status, so we don't know if this attempt will succeed.

Thanksgiving is coming up soon, and we clearly have a lot to be thankful for.  Power to the people!

Romney Is Digging His Own Grave

Looks like Mitt "the Twit" Romney has put his foot in his mouth yet again, this time by insulting nearly half of America, and even has the audacity to defend his remarks rather than apologize.  His secretly recorded comments basically say out loud what most Republicans only think in their heads:

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it -- that that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. ... These are people who pay no income tax. ... [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
 

This may very well be the quote that sinks Romney in the election this November (hopefully), and Obama is now ahead by 5 points in the polls.   But is what he said actually true?  It is technically true that 46.4% of Americans pay no federal income taxes in 2011.  But this does NOT mean that they pay no taxes at all, and it does NOT mean that they are freeloaders.  Just think state and local income taxes, FICA, sales taxes, excise taxes, property taxes, and the numerous hidden taxes built into the price of virtually everything they buy.  And it's not like most of them are particularly well-off financially; 4 out of 5 of these folks earn less than $30,000 per year.  The rest of his obnoxiously insulting quote is mere opinion rather than fact.  And he conveniently ignores the fact that 2/3 of large corporations paid zero or even negative income taxes, and quite a few millionaires and billionaires also paid zero income taxes.  Also, a disproportionate share of the 47% of Americans that pay no federal income taxes live in red (Republican) states, not blue (Democratic) states.  Romney is clearly entitled to his own opinions, but he is NOT entitled to his own facts.

Romney is clearly digging his own grave.  Time for the voters to push him in there on Election Day.

Don't Feed the Vultures!

The 2012 presidential election is fast approaching, and much to our chagrin there will be no chance for any third party candidates.  Though not an ideal candidate, only Obama has any sort of chance of beating Romney the Vulture Capitalist and Paul "Throw Granny Off a Cliff" Ryan.  Only Obama has any chance at all of stopping 1,000,000 Americans from receiving pink slips (due to Romney) and then facing a shredded or nonexistent social safety net (due to Ryan).  And if they do manage to find another job later on, they will then be kicked in the teeth with higher taxes (you read that right) while watching the richest 1% pay even less than they do now.  We simply cannot support that, period.  As a result, the TSAP has no choice but to endorse Obama this time, and thus we will NOT be running a candidate of our own.  It is such a dead heat in the polls that a vote for any progressive third-party candidate will effectively be a vote for Romney-Ryan, as much as we hate to admit it.  And not voting at all is like rolling over and playing dead just so the vultures can eat you alive.

So let's all shout it from the rooftops:  DON'T FEED THE VULTURES!!!  VOTE FOR OBAMA LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!!!  Because in many ways, it does.