Which Values Guide Your Politics?

Which Values Guide Your Politics? Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

… Have I tried to walk in his shoes? ....

We all have a set of values that guide our lives.  For me this are my top values:

• Compassion
• Honesty
• Love
• Transparency

No, I frequently don’t pull it off, I let Blame and Judgment side track me.  In his case, I am using the Biblical use of the word Judgement, where I focus on the other person and their worthiness to receive my approval.  Both of these actions/emotions focus on the shortcomings of someone else instead of shining the light on my own strengths and weaknesses.  I want to see the good in others and realize that if I can to walk in their shoes, live their life from childhood, I might be very much like them. Judging them without walking a mile in their moccasins is not consistent with my value of compassion.

I often find people’s political positions are in direct opposition to their personal values, or that is how it looks to me.  Most religions teach that they are their brother’s keeper.  But, as a nation we obviously don’t carry that thought into our political decisions … witness the 750,000 homeless people or the 400,000 mentally ill people in jail or the 30 million or so people without healthcare.  I think instead, our politics blame these groups for not taking care of themselves.  It is their fault they are homeless (and mentally ill) in the first place.  They are not my brother and I am not their keeper.  Is that just my imagination that our values change when we apply them in a political context?

Do we only apply our values when we see someone as one of US versus one of THEM.  Is that the difference?  Let’s say that someone is consciously (or not) prejudiced against African Americans.  When he sees an African American do something stupid, he might say something like what do you expect from them.  When he sees a white person do something stupid his response might be more along the line this line:  that guy is a dumbass.  The reason the individual is singled out in one case and the group is singled out in the other case is the US and THEM mindset.  I belong to the superior US group and they belong to the inferior THEM group.  

When we worry about the poor people swindling the welfare system we have decided the POOR is part of THEM, not US the honest people (that fudge our income tax a little or have some unreported income).  When we worry about THEM wasting our taxes, we are much less likely to think of the WHITE contractors that make billions of dollars on their work in the middle east as mercenaries.  Why because they are one of US.

When I look at my own values above (Compassion, Honest, Love, and Transparency), I try to find a political candidate that embodies those values in the way they conduct their personal lives and their political decisions.  The closest person to embody my values is Bernie Sanders.  The Republicans lack compassion from my viewpoint on a wide range of issues (health care, immigrants and their families, wealth inequality, high interest college loans, being their brother’s keeper, bombs versus negotiation,  etc.).  Hillary does not give me the warm and fuzzy on honest, or compassion for that matter.  I like Rubio when he proposed a common sense immigration policy a few years ago, but the Rubio campaigning for President I hardly recognize.  Obama the intellect, doesn’t do it for me, but Obama that sang Amazing Grace does ring true to my value of compassion.

However, I recognize people may be using other values to pick their political candidates.  So, I am curious, what values do you use in your political decisions?

what value guides your opinion

Eye in the Sky, 1984

Eye in the Sky, 1984 Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

… created in Iraq ....

Imagine, someone just kidnapped your child out of your backyard.  Someone saw a truck leaving the area.  The police are called.  They activate the “Eye in the Sky” System.  A plane flying 2 miles overhead, taking snapshots every one second and then downloading to a computer in the clouds looks at your house at the approximate time of the abduction.   The cameras see the entire town.

Police see a man enter your back yard and snatch your child.  The Eye in the Sky scans both forward and backward in time and follows his truck and found it left from a local hotel 20 minutes ago.  Police are sent there as they continue to scan back in time.  He spent the night at the hotel and cameras show he entered the city from the north, out of the range of the Eye in the Sky.  

In the forward time scan, the Eye Catches up to the truck leaving the northern part of the city along the same path he arrived the day before.  Police dispatch helicopters to catch up with the man before he leaves the surveillance circle.  The man is caught, the child is saved.

This is not science fiction, it is 2015 and it is 1984

The system was originally developed in Iraq to track down the person(s) that left roadside bombs for our soldiers. It has been tested in Dayton, Ohio and Iraq.  Originally, it was done by keeping a plane in the sky, but in the future the price will come down as drones do the same job.  In Iraq after the explosion, they could follow the bad guy to his house both in time forward (future) and time backward (history) scans.  Yea, it worked.  The soldier was dead perhaps, but the buy guy was caught.

Got a high crime area --- put the camera(s) on a tall pole or building

Yep, the same concept works, but since the cameras are lower, you can get a good picture of the bad guy.  High crime areas are cleaned up one at a time.

Yes, the Technology for 1984 is Here

When George wrote 1984 the technology to actually create a big brother state did not exist.  It does now and as the cloud becomes more powerful and drones are mass produced, it will become affordable.  And yes, infrared cameras can be used at night time.

So, do you want the kidnapper who just took your daughter caught even if it means that big brother can see that you snuck off to your neighbors house for some mid-night shenanigans?

which of your values apply to 1984...

What Obamacare has meant to my family.

What Obamacare has meant to my family. Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

… pre-existing condition ....

Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare !!!  Yea … thank you those that care about the weak in our society.   This note is just a big thank you for what Obamacare has meant to my family.   A little background …

When my daughter got very sick with mould, it was right after Obamacare had raised the age a child could stay on the parent’s insurance from 24 years old to 26 years old.  Before Obamacare she would not have been able to get any insurance because of pre-existing conditions which included the mould, asthma, allergies, anxiety, etc.  

I was very familiar with pre-existing conditions from my wife who got cancer in the pre-Obama world.  I had lost my health insurance when I got laid off from a job.  I got a high deductible health insurance policy for minimum coverage in between jobs. Well, it paid most of the expenses when Julie got cancer, but a few hundred thousand came out of my now-depleted retirement.  Of course, with her pre-existing conditions, there were not a lot of options.

So, when my daughter got sick, it was right after I got married and I had good insurance from my wife’s University of Delaware policy.  Obamacare made it possible to add my daughter to our policy and get her medical treatment.  So good, we were saved my Obamacare.

Now my daughter is in Florida and should be on Medicaid but she is in a State that is fighting Obamacare at the expense of poor people in the state.  But, I am able to help her get insurance through Obamacare, which would not be possible without the new rules under Obamacare.  I wish Florida (and Texas) cared about all the uninsured in their state instead of their obsession of fighting Obama in helping the weak in our society.  (I’m one of those people that believe in being my brother’s keeper, but that’s just me, not the conservatives in Texas and Florida.)  

I am also thankful that mental health care has to be offered with medical insurance under Obamacare and there can not be a lifetime cap on coverage.  It is amazing how fast the caps are used up.  And, I see that rate of increase of the cost of health care was smaller this year .. and no, the insurance companies are still doing quite well, thanks for your concern.

Of course, there is a lot of improvements needed in Obamacare … yes, I have struggled with the website and I am disappointed in how some information about the policies online were very hard to find.  But, there are 16 million people that now have healthcare that used to go to the emergency room.  But, there are still lots of people in Texas and Florida that need our help.  There are 750,000 homeless people that need health care.  And there are 400,000 mentally ill that only get it when they are in jail.  These people and many others still need basic health care in our society.   Let’s work together and improve Obamacare and healthcare for the weak in this country.  

  

I'm an Eisenhower Republican and a Bernie Sanders Democrat

The Confederate Flag and Compassion

Wwha

Confederate Flag and Compassion Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

… hurting people ....

My mom was a simple but wise woman.  When I was about ten, we had this conversation.  She told me to not use words that hurt people.  I asked her how would I know.  She said just ask people if what you are saying offends them or hurts them.  If it does, don’t do it.  She was talking about the word “colored” at the time.  She told me that she didn’t think it was the right word anymore, but she wasn’t sure what would be the nicest word. My mom didn’t use the word compassion, but I believe it guided much of her actions.

Hate comes in a lot of forms.  Sometimes it is blatant and violent like a gun.  Sometimes it is word.  Sometimes it is a flag.  And, my mom would say, it is not so much what the word or flag means to the one holding it, but to the one you are saying it to or showing it to.  The confederate flag has become a hateful symbol to many people.  I think I will take my mom’s advice and not own one or display one.  That would be against the values I was taught and that I believe.

which of your values guides you in this case?

By the way, my mom died more than a decade ago when she was 92. As a child, she met someone who had fought in the civil war. She told me in amazement, "he still had a lot of hate".

Pope Francis make global warming a moral issue!!!

Pope Francis Gets it Right Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

… global warming, environmental destruction ....

I have read that we are in the sixth most destructive period in the history of the world in that more species are being destroyed..  For example, when meteorites fell and wiped out the dinosaurs.   Pretty amazing what us humans can do when we put our minds to it.  What makes me sick at my stomach is that my great grand children will probably never see lions, elephants, rhinos, tigers, etc.  Of course, they will probably never see me either.

Our gods as individuals has become having stuff, our moral compass as a country has become the GNP.  Consideration of not only what happens next quarter, but generations from now should guide our actions.  No matter how much we argue about how much fossil fuels exists in the ground, they are a finite resource that is being consumed much faster than it is being created.  And, whether it is 10 generations or 100 generations before it is gone, we are stewards of that resource and of all the species that live on this planet.  I also believe we are the stewards of humanity and the protectors of the weak on this planet.  But, that’s just my beliefs.  And, that doesn’t mean I think being a good steward is bombing the shit out of all those that we deem to be the bad guys. I’m more of the school of kindness and leading by example.  I know, I’m probably in the wrong country to be thinking that way. How we spend our money more or less clarifies how we think.  

If we are to err on the issue of global warming, let us do it in a way that our children and our children’s children get the benefit of the doubt.  If there is a little pain today and it turns out we didn’t need to be so careful, then ok compared to us being indifferent and our children of the future suffering.

But, Pope Francis just came out and said that human activity is the primary cause of global warming.  Now I tend to believe environmental scientists and not second guess them.  There is a lot of data to go through, calculations to be made, and theories to be formulated and tested.  I assume on average they are as honest as I am and as smart and much better educated on global environmental issues.  I am sure there are some politics involved and that not all they predict will happen.   I would put myself in the ranks of a good scientist, but it is out of my field.   

But, it is not completely on trust.  I see how we make decisions on this planet, how it is centered around making money and only superficially about helping the weak whether it is poor people or elephants dying because people want their ivory tusks.  Short term thinking dominates because we have too much confidence in capitalism magically optimizing all our values.  

So, Pope Francis comes along and makes environmental stewardship a moral issue.  Now, the number of things the Pope and I agree on is a very short list.  But, on this issue I think he got it right.

 

Doesn't Putin Understand We are the Good Guys?

Doesn't Putin Understand We are the Good Guys? Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

… put yourself in China or Russia’s Shoes ....

This year Russia is building 40 modern intercontinental nuclear weapons to penetrate our missile defenses and deploying two state of the art early warning radar systems along its Western and Eastern border.  Why in the world would they spend that kind of money when they are in a major recession caused in part by low oil prices.

Surely, they can’t be threatened by our $640 billion dollars in military spending.  After all, we are the good guys  only use our weapons as a last resort after all negotiations and diplomatic means have failed.  Surely they know that?  

Surely Russia could not be upset because we are planning/discussing placing U.S. heavy army equipment in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland?  Surely, they know this is just to maintain the peace and it is not a first step in putting our missiles in those countries … Surely they understand the difference between us putting weapons on their borders and Russia putting nuclear missiles in Cuba!

And surely Russia knows that the elections in Crimea voting to be annexed by Russia were not valid.  Of course, they know we would have organized a real election with the United Nations to see if the people in Crimea wanted to join Russia and then we would have gladly let them join Russia, after all we do value democracy above all else in America.

What is it about us that makes China and Russia uneasy?  Why would they both be increasing their military budget?  Why can’t they understand that we spend so much on military to maintain peace in the world?  After all, have they not observed our nation building efforts in Iraq?  Our drones in Yemen to maintain a stable government there?  And what about our peacekeeping efforts in Palestine?  We are always fair and impartial, can’t they see that?  Don’t they understand our drones in Pakistan are to kill the bad guys, surely they can’t be listening the Pakistanians who think the U.S. are the terrorists.  Nonsense.

So, this guy Putin is just bad news.  A deranged man flexing his muscles.  He should understand that we do not spend all that money on the military to control the world.  We are just here to help.  You would think America is always itching for a fight if you listened to Putin.  He’s crazy when he says that we are pushing him into a nuclear war. What is he talking about?

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter ....

America did not turn out like I hoped back when I was a kid.  I always thought the bad guys would do us in if we didn't hang tough.  I can remember seeing Eisenhower on tv.   I saw him as a great war hero that had beaten the Germans almost by himself.  (We didn't talk much about the enormous sacrifice Russia made.)  Then there was Kennedy standing up to that shoe pounding Russian.  We practiced in grade school hiding under our desk, like that would help in a nuclear war. And then there was the evil Castro.  There was always someone to be afraid of ... always someone to justify building a bigger military.

The bad guys were always on the outside.  Move to modern times and there was the terrorists.  Someone else to be afraid of ... Even those evil black people marching on Washington and rioting in the street, they were to be feared.  And Mohammed Ali was supposed to be the bad guy when he refused to go to Vietnam (except I always liked him ... more than that, he was a hero to me).  Perhaps he was the first one to start a small crack in my view of the establishment.

I have to admit, I never saw it coming.  I wonder if the Romans saw it coming.  I never remember when our god in America became owning more stuff than the Jone's.  But, one day, there it was, our god was owning stuff.  Soon we stood for little more than our GNP. We became great at making money.  Everything became about money, our gods became the rich.  We started forming the American dream around them.  We started making all the rules work for the rich, because one day, we do were going to be gods.

And now, 40 years later, I live in the world where our gods are the rich and I see the world we have created.  While the rest of the world has become more compassionate, caring for their weak, we have made America the best place in the world for the rich, one of the worse places in the civilized world for the poor.  

Since we equate rich with being all powerful, we squander our resources in trying to control the world, in physical wars, in propaganda, in wars against black people that do drugs, in hate against the Muslim nations/religion, in beating down the Palestinians (via our proxy) and in punishing immigrants because they broke the law (we are completely innocent).   We have become so petty.  We have become so poor, not only in wealth, but in spirit. We think we are brave because we kick ass on the battlefield. 

But bravery is about doing the right thing for those that are weaker than us. This nation has begun to fill up with the homeless, the helpless, the hopeless, the unemployed, the fatherless, those buried by school loans, those unable to go to college or trade school, those unable to get help with drug abuse, and those looking for their first break. Our country is drowning in wealth, the rich have never, ever been richer.  The poor have never been so many, or so poor. I am talking about America.  Poverty is improving in the rest of the world, especially China.

Martin Luther said our lives start to end the day we become silent about things that matter.  That applies to countries as well as people. In every case we have chosen our battles over protecting our wealth, over oil.  And it is not about protecting the American people and assuring them that they have energy ... we put a tariff on cheap ethanol coming from Brazil of $0.75 a liter.... we are protecting the rich who own and sell the oil from the Middle East. WE All KNOW IT and we LAUGH ABOUT IT.  But, its not about oil or wealth, its about selling our soul, its about the end of our lives as Americans that stand for more than money.

This is not the America I dreamed of ... I dreamed of a compassionate America that took care of its own.  I know, there is a little bit of Hippy in me, love and peace and all that good stuff.  But, that is okay, it is the stuff that matters to me and it is what keeps the blogs rolling out ... one day I will find those that see the world as I do and hope for an America that is about more than owning stuff.

What does the most decorated marine in history say about war?

What does the most decorated Marine in history say about War? Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

… Our Military Expanded into More Countries Under Obama ....

We now have troops stationed in more than 150 countries in the world.  We have been in war most of my life time with only small pauses to catch our breath.  We are currently bombing in Iraq and sending drones into Pakistan and Yemen.  The Military Industrial Complex and the rich people in this country are doing well.  All they need to do is to scrap off a few percent of the 500 plus billion that comes through their doors, after all, our enemies are spending together almost $200 million.

Eisenhower said that if you are not careful on how far you go with defense that you destroy from within what you are trying to protect.  I think we have long since gone past what is reasonable with our defense.  Our leaders instill fear in us and appeal to our vanity when they tell us “if we don’t stop them (ISIS today) then they will soon come after us”.   

First, our fear.  When did we become so afraid.  We Americans have always killed more Americans than anyone else.  We kill 10,000 a year with guns, in their best year the bad terrorists only killed 3000.  Compare our civil war to WWII.  We are the best at killing Americans.  Why are we not worked into a frenzy over gang killings in America.  Because there is no money in that fear.  But, look at the military equipment everyone is using in the Middle East, most of it came from us.  Lots of $$$.  And second, they appeal to our vanity, if we don’t stop them, no one can.  We are the only superpower the story goes.  Which is great if we were fighting a conventional war, the kind that does not exist anymore.  Even a conflict with Russia would not look like a conventional war.  Tanks and ground troops against a sophisticated enemy is as outdated as horses in World War II.  

The tough part is not blowing a tank or a humvee to smithereens , we can do that with aircraft or our drones, but guess what, so can a few dozen other countries in the world.  The Saudi’s have the fourth largest army in the world.  The hard part of this war is when the bad guys shoot out of the windows of buildings and torture and enslave the native populations! How is it that our military machine has an advantage over the Saudi’s or Turkey or Israel or half of Europe.  Most of them are armed by us, even ISIS is indirectly armed by us.  It is only our vanity that makes us believe we are not only the best at killing the bad guys, but that we are the only ones that can kill the bad guys in a battle more like the shootout at the O.K. Corral.  Why, because there is a lot of money to be made on the backs of Americans if we in our fear believe we are the only ones that can save the world.  

Smedley Butler, a big bad tough marine, said we are being duped.  His message is that war makes the rich elite a lot of money, which also buys them a lot of power these days since they can buy elections.  He thought our military defense should ONLY defend our borders.  Which brings us back to Obama increasing the number of foreign military bases in the world to over 150.  

If we were driven by compassion instead of fear, where would we focus our energies?  What would America look like if we could focus on something other than our fears and our endless wars?

How We Treat the Mentally Ill In America .... Do we care enough to do better?

Police Beat a Mentally Ill Person or Perhaps a Person High on Meth?

Salinas California.  Police allegedly beat up a mentally ill person.  Police says he was trying to push his mom into the street.  The mom doesn't agree.  Video only catches the part where the police are beating the crap out of him as he rolls around on the street.  Even after about four cops are holding him down, notice that one cop keeps beating his legs.   It is also obvious that the man is resisting arrest and although down on the ground, not helpless.  Police say he grabbed a taser from them and was on "meth".  So, I am not sure this is a good example of how the police handle mentally ill people or someone on drugs.  It would be nice to get the whole story ... but that is probably not going to happen.

 

So, I look for another video from the same police department and found this one ... I am not sure why six police officers can't put the cuffs on this one dude and why they keep hitting and fazering him. I don't know if he is on drugs or mentally ill, but he is obviously not quite with the program.  So, are police properly trained to handle the mentally ill or those on drugs?  This can't be the best they can do.

Guess where the biggest mental health hospital is in the world?

Cook County Jail in Chicago ... At Cook County Jail, an estimated one in three inmates has some form of mental illness. At least 400,000 inmates currently behind bars

in the United States suffer from some type of mental illness—a population larger than the cities of Cleveland, New Orleans, or St. Louis—according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI estimates that between 25 and 40 percent of all mentally ill Americans will be jailed or incarcerated at some point in their lives.

Homeless People, 750,000 of Them ... Most are Mentally Ill

Well, the mentally ill that are not in the jail are on the street ...pushing their shopping carts, trying to find food and in the winter trying not to freeze to death.  

Irony We Only Give Meds to Mentally While in Jail 

While in some jails the mentally ill receive some treatment because of a Supreme court ruling saying it's inhumane not to treat them while in jail.  Because of having their meds they improve and are set free. But, once back on the streets with no ways to get their meds they do without or turn to street drugs and they act out again.  As Gomer Pile used to say, "Surprise, Surprise".

So the Supreme Court ruled it is inhumane not to treat the mentally ill while they are in jail.  Doesn't it follow that it is inhumane not to treat the mentally ill when they are on the streets after getting kicked out of jail?  Duh?  Do we even need the Supreme court to tell us this?

Most  public clinics are hopelessly backlogged and underfunded. Without their meds, the mentally ill are doomed .... they act out and get arrested, see video at the top of this blog.  Yep, that's the full circle, and yes that is America's compassionate plan for caring for the mentally ill.

Let's summarize:

1. Our first plan is to leave the mentally ill on the streets.  Some survive, some die.

2. When the mentally act out, we beat them up and throw them in jail.

3. In jail, we give them meds and therapy.  When they get better, we throw them out with no meds, see 1) above, repeat, repeat.

That's American Compassion!!! ... and why again do we think we are exceptional?  How should we be caring for the mentally ill?  Should our nation offer health care/mental care to all of its citizens, or should we just stick with the current plan of letting them roam the streets?

Bribes Nix Compassion in Texas

Wwha

Bribery Nixes Compassion in Texas Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

What do you think of when you think of Texas?  Cowboys, the Alamo?  How about big oil and bribes (it's alright they are legal).   I grew up in Texas when Eisenhower, a Republican, was in office.  What a damn wise man.  We need his spirit to rise up and lead us.

Tesla is not allowed to sell its cars in Texas.  

Tesler only sells its cars via the Internet straight from the factory or customer store (think Apple stores) to the consumer.  No middleman.  Well, if you live in Texas, that is not allowed.  Big business stopped that and said that tesla must sell through dealerships.  Yep, you guessed it dealerships contributed to the campaigns of the governor and other key legislatures. Isn’t this the modern, legal bribe?

So the people of Texas are denied access to clean technology, the environment suffers, and Republicans continue to claim to be supportive of free market.  More like a free market for bribery.

… the poor don’t count in Texas ....

Denton Citizens not allowed to ban fracking inside their city.

Big bigness came in and told residences they were not allowed to ban fracking in their city, next to schools or anywhere else.  Big business, via the Railroad commission would tell the citizens where it was safe to have fracking.  Banning fracking was banned … Big oil contributes a lot to the governor’s campaign … modern bribery?

Medical Treatment via Skype Restricted (Teladoc)

Rural Texans thought they had found a way to get basic medical care by talking to a doctor via a Skype-like app and then getting basic prescriptions by the doctor on the other end and/or told their condition was serious enough to make the journey into the big city to see a doctor/clinic or similar.  But, established Big Business said that was not safe (they were going to lose some profits perhaps) and the practice has been severely restricted in Texas.  Most other states are okay with it.  Can you imagine telling a cowboy he’s not allowed to talk to a doctor over his phone?

A Modern Bribe is defined as a Campaign Contribution.

No Federal Money Accepted for Health Care

When Obamacare came in, the plan was to help people above a certain income level get health care.  Good that happened.  But there was a gap between those that qualified for medicare (the really poor) and low income people (that just needed some help).  This intermediate group was supposed to get healthcare because the federal government was to give the states additional money to raise the upper limit of medicare to reach up to the lower limit of Obama-care.  In Texas, that was millions of people and billions of dollars.  

Meanwhile there is a law that public hospitals must help sick or injured people that come to the emergency rooms.  However, the federal program that helps hospitals pay for the uninsured patients that show up in ER is expiring…. since the new plan, called Obamacare covers those people … or, better stated that was the plan.

But thanks to the governor of Texas, all these funds were rejected since they were determined to fight Obama-care and resist supporting it.  Of course, guess who is suffering.  Yea, the poor people without healthcare and the State is now looking at huge budget shortfalls as hospitals start losing money treating all the uninsured people.  Currently, due to the brilliance and lack of compassion of Greg Abbott, the governor, 25% of the uninsured for the entire nation live in Texas.  So thanks to Big Government, Texans have the highest uninsured rate in the nation, more people are not getting health care in Texas than anywhere else in the nation --- and it is fixing (that’s Texan) to get a lot worse.   The Governor is proud of the misery he is creating.  He showed Obama his state is not going to be pushed around and he is willing to let people die to prove it. I don’t think the word compassion exists in Texas.

So is this the Texas I grew up in?

Republicans say they believe in Free Markets … but, Tesla and Teladoc disprove that lame theory.  Republicans say they believe in local control, local democracy.  Denton more or less disproves that silly assertion.  

What do the Republicans in Texas believe in.  They believe if you contribute enough to their campaign then you get what you want (Denton, Tesla and Teladoc).  And with the largest amount of uninsured in the nation, they show they don’t have a lot of compassion for their people that can’t cough up a substantial bribe.  Big business and Big Oil win in Texas every time.

In Texas the new bribe is a large campaign contribution.  Is this the America we want to live in?  How do we change it?