The second letter spells it out. Voter ID laws, other tactics serve to restrict democracy http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/01/06/1941485/letters-to-the-editor.html#disqus_thread

Voter ID laws, other tacticsserve to restrict democracy 1/6/12

A recent article noted that “more than a dozen mostly Republican-controlled states have approved new voting laws that include requiring government-approved photo ID to register or vote; shortening early voting periods and curtailing voter registration efforts by third-party groups like the League of Women Voters.”

Supporters say the laws protect against voter fraud, but studies show that voter fraud is negligible.

The new laws suppress voting by minorities, elderly and young people, all of whom often vote for Democrats.   Read More »

I see it's been over a year since I last posted anything. I guess the silencing agenda is working wondrously!

When I first heard Congresswoman Bachmann spout off one of her many completely wrong on the facts statements I thought, “OK she’ll be a one term congresswoman and then she’ll fade away.” Well we know how wrong I was on that. I have been reading more on her career and candidacy for president and quite frankly I’m worried. Unlike Sarah Palin, Michelle never met a lame stream camera she didn’t like. This may be a larger part of the reason she did so well in the recent Iowa GOP poll. Like Palin there are people who don’t care if she’s wrong on the facts. Why, because they want to live in a world where her facts are true. However we know how to deal Michelle Bachmann and her supporters.   Read More »

 

Today, I am excited to announce the launch of our redesigned website at www.AsherForWisconsin.com. I hope you will take a moment to explore our new website and tell me what me what you think.

Last Friday, I filed with the State of Wisconsin to form an exploratory committee to consider running for Governor. The people of Wisconsin don’t have a voice in Madison. Special interest money controls the discussion. We need the voices of hard working families and workers like you to make Wisconsin stronger. That is why I am launching my new website today and asking you to present your ideas for a stronger Wisconsin.

You can share your ideas at www.asherforwisconsin.com/ideas and tell me what you think needs to be done to make Wisconsin better.

While I look forward to sharing my views on the issues as I explore a candidacy for Governor of this great state, I will make one commitment to you today. I will be a leader that you can trust and count on — no matter how difficult the task may be. I want to hear from you. I want to know your thoughts and ideas. Please connect with me on Twitter and Facebook to start having conversation about where our state is headed.

Thank you for your support,

Asher Heimermann

Prepare For A Bright Future

P.S. Can you jump-start the exploratory committee by donating $5 or $10? I need your support to lay a foundation to Take Wisconsin Back! Your donation of any amount at this critical stage is vital and helps build the necessary infrastructure to consider a run for Governor. Go to http://www.asherforwisconsin.com/donate to make your contribution.

Well this year's hearings on Maryland's medical marijuana bills HB 291 and SB 308 have concluded. To say these bills are on life support is optimistic. But hey, a little optimism goes a long way. There is still activity outside the hearing process to try to work out something. I will of course keep readers up to date on anything that comes out of those discussions.

I want to thank Del. Morhaim and Sen. Brinkley for championing this issue in our state. I also want to tell everyone, that despite my opposition to their approach on cultivation and distribution these two gentlemen have treated me and all proponents of personal cultivation with the utmost respect. I thank them and their staffs for the kindness they have personally shown me.

The big news coming out of these hearings has been the change in position by Governor O'Malley and the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). The governor sent the Secretarty of DHMH Joshua Sharfstein to convey this to the committees. This spurred the following response from yours truly in the Baltimore Sun:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-medical-marijuana-20110302,0,3781625.story   Read More »

Link

Republican­s tend to admit they are acting against working people because their unions tend to support Democrats.

Implicit in this argument is the notion that Democrats only support collective bargaining­, because of the political benefit they get from union members.

In reality, Democrats' support for collective bargaining comes from a moral value system that Republican­s just do not share.

Democrats tend to believe that workers have universal rights, and they should be protected from the potential abuses of those who would employ them.

The support of collective bargaining comes out of this moral foundation - and that's where Republican­s and Democrats differ.

Now, the same can be said for Republican­s: their opposition to worker's rights comes from a moral value system as well, its just a *different­* one.

And that's good because we *should* have competing value systems in a free society; however, the outcome of this particular moral conflict will have a significan­t effect on the 2012 elections.

The outcome of this conflict will determine whether the American public believes that working and middle class families caused our deficits, or if the rich people at the top did.

If I was a betting person, I'd throw my lot in with the working and middle class - by sheer number, our representa­tive will at the ballot box is formidable­.

And its the same with events across the middle east - let them inspire working America to rediscover our majority!

Link

Tim Pawlenty calls working and middle class Americans "greedy" - while he does his best to make sure Bank of America and other big corporatio­ns PAY ZERO in Federal taxes.

Hey Tim, us hard working Americans who don't live off of campaign donations know a thing or two about *greed* and let me tell you what it looks like: Anti-worki­ng class politician­s like you, who allow working Americans to lose their wages and homes, while you pander to and protect those who PAY NOTHING IN TAXES.

We pay 1/3 of our income, but the biggest corporatio­ns pay ZERO. How is that greed, Mr. Pawlenty? I dare you to explain it, but I know you won't.

You have unleashed the lion with this union-bust­ing trickery; a movement has been unleashed to make the rich PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE. The working class has sacrificed enough already!

Unions are vital to protect workers. That's especially true in this era where the rich own a greater share of the wealth than at any time since the Great Depression (as Robert Reich pointed out). Also, unemployment and underemployment are high, the stock market has recovered, and corporations have lots of cash but aren't doing much hiring.

Still, we can reform unions to keep protecting workers but reduce or eliminate some aspects that cause many average Americans to dislike unions.

What do you think of these ideas for union reform? http://www.npr.org/2011/02/26/134087838/former-d-c-schools-chief-aims-to-put-studentsfirst

The Republicans successfully pit non-union workers against workers. Republicans want to keep tax breaks for millionaires who don't pay their own share, then damage unions to weaken the Democratic party.

Also, the fewer unionized jobs with good benefits and living wages there are, the less big corporations have to pay their workers, because workers have fewer alternatives. It's a strategy to divide and conquer workers before we realize what's happening.   Read More »

After their stunned silence during the Egypt uprisings, a frightened Al Qaeda released their first statement on the revolution, warning *against* democracy.

I love how the Egypt and other uprisings are such a smack-down of Al Qaeda. These protesters are showing that they don't need terrorists to bring change; On the contrary, they are proving that the tried and true method of nonviolent protest is the most powerful weapon a people can have. AQ was silent as these uprisings spread, and now they come out with a weak statement on the wrong side of history in their own supposed backyard. If indeed, the uprisings continue to spread across the Middle East and Africa, they will go further to defeat AQ than any of our wars so far.

It will be interesting to see how far this spreads - and you can't help but notice the similar question being asked in the middle east (though on a much larger and dramatic scale); but it makes you wonder if our own "silent majority" is being awakened and inspired by events across the middle east.

On the other hand, sometimes it takes a threat Gov. Walker's, to unite the working and middle class. Statistically speaking, liberals outnumber conservatives. Yet it seems ever since the election of '08, liberals have been fragmented and lackadaisical... and in the meantime, the Tea Party captured the attention of the media, for its rambunctious theatrics.

Yet a CBS News poll found that 84% of self-identified tea partiers say their movement reflects the beliefs of most Americans - but overall Americans disagree:only 25% say their beliefs are reflected in the Tea Party, while 36% say they are not. cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20002529-503544.html

Somehow, liberals and progressives took off their shoes after the election of Barack Obama - maybe some being misguided and thinking we could just sit back and let the president do all the work.

I have often wondered if Obama and Democrats on some level *need* a strong Republican opposition, for them to become the fighting Dems I love. So far, what I see is working and middle class families outnumbering Tea Partiers 1000 to 1.

Tea partiers, and media outlets take note: *this* is what a true majority looks like.

Abe has been quoted as saying something to the effect of, "The ballot is stronger than the bullet." Wise words

http://quotes.dictionary.com/the_ballot_is_stronger_than_the_bullet

"the Republican-controlled House passed sweeping legislation early Saturday to cut $61 billion from hundreds of federal programs and shelter coal companies, oil refiners and farmers from new government regulations."

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/19/133893233/house-votes-for-sweeping-cuts-to-domestic-programs

Check out the special comment video opposing violence.

http://my.democrats.org/page/community/members

Republican nominees are being chosen by these people.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/02/15/133782676/obama-not-u-s-born-say-51-of-gop-primary-voters-poll

We hear a lot from the Tea Party, about how their identity as gun owners is so important, and how they fear Democrats will take away their rights to guns; as a result, we see a lot of gun imagery and gun-themed campaigns in our politics today. People have even shown up at the president's speeches carrying loaded weapons.

While some say there is not much we can do to quell this violent trend in our politics, I disagree. I believe the violence we are experiencing today is a result of a dangerous equating of 2nd Amendment rights to 1st Amendment rights.

This misunderstanding of our constitutional rights is pushed by politicians in the Tea Party, and the folks that follow them.

So to all you people who believe you right to bear arms is somehow the same as political freedom, I'm hear to tell you its not: the people who were massacred in Arizona were exercising their *1st* Amendment rights of "peaceful assembly."

The Constituti­on treats your right to express yourself and air your grievances *very* differentl­y than your right to bear arms. The Constituti­on specifical­ly states that political expression and airing of grievances must be "peaceful.­"

Even when referring to the people's right to replace the government­, the Constitution refers to your right to "petition" a.k.a. your right to VOTE, not your right to armed insurrecti­on.

So all this talk about your freedom to express your gun-loving self needs to be put in context of the Constituti­on: you have a right to own firearms, but you have no right to bring those arms to political events - such actions are chilling to free speech, and act as an intimidati­on toward those who would disagree with you.

There is no place for the language of gun play, and the use of violent imagery, or the brandishin­g of weapons in our politics. I urge my fellow democrats to encourage, and to support an effort to ban guns from political events.

I am willing to bet the Supreme Court will eventually rule on such a separation­. Owning a gun has nothing to do with free speech, and our Constitution says so.

Here's how they're doing it in 15 simple but very effective steps. If this analysis is off-target, please comment on how it could be revised to be on target in your opinion.

1. Republicans (especially the Bush administration) weaken regulation to the point where it fails to prevent a major financial crisis and environmental disaster (BP oil leak), and fails to ensure adequate planning and resources to respond to an environmental disaster (e.g., allow a response plan for a well in the Gulf of Mexico that includes contacting a dead expert and mentions species like walrus that live in cold climates).

2. Republicans successfully blame Democrats for not fixing the economy. (In addition, don't take partial responsibility for us not stopping the oil spill sooner).

3. Instead of admitting that under-regulation helped cause the financial crisis, Reppublicans advocate less regulation to make it easier for businesses to make profits. Don't tell voters that this will weaken protections for consumers, investors, and responsible companies that will not have regulation to provide a level playing field. Republicans advocate less regulation whether the economy is doing well or not, so claims that regulation hurts the economy are suspect. When the economy did well under Bill Clinton, for example, we had significant regulation.

4. Republicans build voter support for low taxes by claiming   Read More »

Many voters blame Democrats for our weak economy.

After eight years of the Bush administration, regulations were weak. Weak regulation failed to prevent creditors from lending money to debtors who could not afford to pay their debt (unless things went very well). Things didn't go very well. The financial crisis happened.

Bottom line: the financial crisis was caused mainly by irresponsible borrowing and lending, permitted by weak regulation.

The financial crisis started before Democrats came to power in 2008. The crisis took years to develop. It will take years to fix. Democrats tried to improve it faster with stimulus funding to increase consumer and business confidence, but Republicans have prevented more stimulus (even though many economists call for it).

Part of the problem is that some companies had become too big to fail. Too big to fail is too big.

According to Wikipedia, "Antitrust laws are intended to encourage   Read More »

There's an article in the huffingtonpost today that talks about the how Republicans try to have it both ways when attacking government health insurance, while simultaneously defending Medicare.

It's an good piece I suggest reading, because it points to a deep contradiction in Republican ideology. In the article, Sharron Angle is quoted criticizing the health insurance reforms enacted by Democrats.

Republicans like Angle cynically state the solution to health reform is "simple." I am so sick of hearing that ridiculous talking point. How naive you must be to think that health insurance reform will magically happen if we just have faith in the oh-so-great "free market."

Y'mean that great free market that inflated real estate values, traded toxic derivatives, and made rich creeps richer while bankrupting our nation? That free market that allowed insurers to jack your rates and discriminate against people with preexisting conditions, while making billions of dollars profit? The one that inflated gas prices and collected billions Americans lost jobs?

If we are to believe the conservative dogma about the oh-so-great and magical free market, we are to understand that health insurance companies would reinvest their profits in new jobs and better services. That Wall St. would put those profits from selling grandma's house back into our economy. That Meg Whitman would hire American workers at a decent wage.

But that doesn't happen does it? No, Ms. Angle the problem is not too much government intervention in the free market, it is a free market gone wild.

We have seen direct evidence of the complete failure of deregulation and unrestrained greed, in the 8 years of Republican rule our country endured.

Democrats have turned us in a new direction. We can either go forward, or we can return to the same failed policies that bankrupted us in the first place.

Democrats make country stronger
Published: 12:04 a.m., Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Letter to the Times Union Editor:

Your editorial, "Where is GOP's plan for jobs?" noted that Republicans oppose President Barack Obama's plan to create more jobs but have no substantive alternative economic plan.

Republicans have a plan. They advocate weakening regulation even more, and helping the rich get even richer.   Read More »