Nina! Nina! Nina!

Nina! Nina! Nina!

by C.A. Matthews

Nina! Nina! Nina!

The chant is infectious. The roar of the crowd is deafening. To hear Nina Turner speak in person is electrifying. You just know you're going to hear the truth and it will set you free whenever you're in the presence of one of the progressive movement's most gifted orators.

I remember the first time we caught up with the former Ohio state senator on the campaign trail. It was early 2016. Nina Turner was the "opener" to Bernie Sanders at a Sanders rally at Baldwin-Wallace University, just south of Cleveland proper. It was a cold winter's day, but well worth the trip. Still a relative newcomer to the national progressive scene, Nina's straight talk and heartfelt inspiration mobilized the troops for Bernie that day.

We were fortunate to hear Nina introduce Bernie again--and all because we made that first trek in the dark and cold to Cleveland. After the Baldwin-Wallace rally, I was fortunate enough to get down to the floor to shake Nina's hand and chat with her for a minute.

 "Nina, you've gotta get Bernie to come to Toledo for a rally!" I shouted over the noise of the crowd. 

"You're right. We need to support our brothers and sisters in western Ohio," she replied. 

Meeting Nina Turner at Baldwin-Wallace University

Sure enough, within a few weeks' time--and with less than 24 hours notice--a Bernie rally was scheduled to take place in Toledo. Along with Bernie and Nina, we also heard from Congresswomen Tulsi Gabbard and Marcy Kaptur, among others. Sort of a "grand slam" of  political celebrities, you could say. 

Without Nina Turner's ever-present support and superb oratory skills, Bernie probably wouldn't have made it as far as he did before the DNC pulled the rug out from under him in the latter half of the 2016 primary season when their chosen candidate was slipping in the polls. It truly was a crime when the DNC leadership refused to allow Nina on stage to introduce Bernie at the nomination convention in Philadelphia. A knife in the back would have been kinder, in my opinion.

To say I'm a "big Nina Turner fan" is an understatement. Even after Bernie Sanders called it quits in 2016, I still harbored much respect and affection for Nina. I've kept up with her work as the first president of Our Revolution, and secretly hoped she would run for a statewide office (like governor) so I could vote for her. Finally, she's taking the plunge--only she's running for US Congress from Ohio 11th district (eastern side of Cleveland to the Akron area). Alas, I live in Ohio's 9th congressional district across the state. So close and yet so far!

While I'm excited to see Nina Turner running for Congress--as she will be a much needed progressive voice there--I won't lie to you. I'm very disappointed to see her running in the Democratic Party primary. Didn't she learn anything about the dirty Dem's duplicity during her time with Bernie Sanders' two presidential campaigns? The Democratic Party leadership have already provided obvious clues that they've chosen their candidate (Shontel Brown) to replace Rep. Marcia Fudge, who will be stepping down to serve in the Biden administration. And after Nina recently spoke at the virtual (online) convention for the Movement for a People's Party, the DNC isn't going to be happy about her openly siding with a new progressive party.

Oh, Nina! Nina! Nina! I feel like crying out. Why can't you run as an independent, a Green, the first big name under the People's Party banner or a Party for Socialism and Liberation candidate instead? Anything except one of those not-to-be-trusted Dems.

The next couple of months will be decisive. Nina will know for certain who all she'll be up against in the Democratic Party primary before too long. Biden will be installed as the next paid-off puppet of the oligarchy in D.C. on January 20. The People's Party has formed officially and been registered in its first state (Maine) and is working hard to do the same in many others. The Green Party US is mopping up after the bloodbath of ballot banishing in several states (including Ohio) and congratulating the many Greens who beat the odds and were successfully elected to local offices. Progressives and their organizations are in a state of flux presently. All is not lost, but things do need improvement.

By the time the special election to replace Rep. Fudge's vacated seat rolls around this spring, we should know more about the lay of the land. Nina could have changed her mind about running in the Democratic Party primary at that point. We'll see. My fingers are crossed that she'll win whatever primary she enters and then the special election and then be seated in Congress. After all, that's where Senator Bernie Sanders first entered the national stage--and just look how far he's come. 

I hope that one day soon we'll be able to call our favorite truth-teller, "President Nina Turner." And we'll be chanting joyfully together once more: Nina! Nina! Nina!

Related Links:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/09/nina-turner-files-run-congress-ohio

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/henrygomez/nina-turner-congress-ohio-11

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/12/national-democratic-party-complicated-iowas-caucus-efforts-dnc/6509514002/

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Tell Congress NOT to cut endometriosis funding!

Sign now with a click

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairman Leahy, Chairwoman Lowey, and Ranking Member Granger: As advocacy organizations and individuals that understand firsthand the pain and hardship endured by those living with endometriosis, we urge you to support the requests led by Representatives Finkenauer and González-Colón along with Senators Romney and Warren to prioritize funding for endometriosis research in the upcoming fiscal year. Specifically, we ask that you increase funding for the National Institute of Health National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to at least the levels included in the House-passed bill as well as include report language that lists endometriosis as an eligible condition under the Department of Defense Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP). Endometriosis affects about one in ten women, can cause intense pain, and is a leading cause of infertility. Despite its prevalence and health impacts, too little funding has been dedicated toward better understanding, diagnosing, and treating this condition. Many women who live with endometriosis go for years, seeing multiple doctors and even spending thousands of dollars, before they can get a diagnosis and treatment. Women with endometriosis lose an average of six hours of productivity per week at work and the condition is estimated to cost over $78 billion annually in healthcare expenditures and lost productivity. Medical research is the key to finding better ways to diagnose and treat this common and life-altering condition. Specifically, we request: Inclusion of endometriosis as eligible for funding under the DOD PRMRP in FY 2021. We are concerned by the report put forth by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which does not include endometriosis among the condition eligible under the PRMRP. Endometriosis was included in both FY 2018 and FY 2020, and this opportunity for investment in endometriosis research through the PRMRP must remain available. When research funding is low or inconsistent for a medical condition, it is difficult to attract researchers to specialize in that condition or apply for related research grants and we respectfully ask that you reinstate endometriosis as an eligible condition for FY 2021. The highest possible funding level for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in final FY2021 appropriations legislation to ensure that resources are available to double funding for endometriosis research from the FY 2019 level and increase funding for endometriosis for $26 million. We appreciate efforts in both the House and Senate to increase funding for NICHD in FY2021 and ask that the highest possible increase be preserved in the final legislation. Over 6 million people in the United States are living with endometriosis and our members know firsthand how endometriosis affects the lives of these women and their loved ones. The critical issues that face women with endometriosis need to be addressed and require quick, decisive action to increase research and awareness. As such, we ask that you provide increased funding better to diagnose and treat this condition.

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Visit petition page

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In a stunning recently-leaked video, Joe Biden is heard telling civil rights leaders that they should be satisfied with his rhetorical acknowledgment and expect nothing more. Biden screams at them saying that he will not be using his executive powers to stand up for the Black community that worked hard to elect him — or any other working-class community. This is a huge development because progressives had rested what little hope they had for Biden on the possibility of executive orders — hopes that Biden just smashed as he said he would only be undoing Trump orders. Adding insult to injury, Biden nominated dairy industry lobbyist and former Obama Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, to head the department again. "Vilsack is a rerun of pro-corporate policies that continue to drive rural communities away from the Democratic Party," said The Intercept. Biden and Harris are determined to convince you that their cabinet of lobbyists "looks like America." The first Latino Secretary of Health and Human Services, the first woman to run the Treasury, the first all-female communications team, the youngest national security advisor in decades. But what difference does it make if your family's poverty, hunger and homelessness are imposed by a Black, Latino or White person? We already have a Republican Party. What actually is the point of the Democratic Party?

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If confirmed, Vilsack will face one of the worst American hunger crises since the Great Depression, with a surge in food prices, COVID-19 cases, unemployment, and food lines running for miles. Instead of using his Obama-era experience to help minority-owned or small farms, Vilsack has used the intervening years to lobby for the corporate American Farm Bureau Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, where he is currently the CEO. The USDA has been almost exclusively led by white men and has systematically discriminated against Black farmers by giving them less federal aid than White farmers.

Vilsack's nomination also risks the loss of one or both of the Senate seats in Georgia's special runoff election because of depressed turnout. He is loathed by progressives in the state for his ouster of civil rights leader Shirley Sherrod while heading Georgia's USDA department of rural development. Vilsack fired her after a deceptively-edited video on Breitbart said she was racist.

This administration is shaping up to be a mash-up of the Obama, Geroge W. Bush, and Clinton administrations. The only difference is they've all had more time to deepen their corruption as corporate lobbyists in the private sector. If it sounds like the country is moving backward, it's because it is. And the Peoples Party is going to turn that around.

Join our National Call this Thursday at 8:30 pm ET with special guest Thomas Frank, the author of Listen, Liberal and The People, No. We will also be joined by Scientists for a People's Party Coordinator, Johanna Heureaux-Torres, who will discuss actions to support Steven Donziger, the lawyer who helped win a historic Amazon clean-up deal against Chevron and now faces six months in jail. It will be our last National Call of the year and we will ring in the holidays with a celebration of everything our movement has accomplished this year! 

In Solidarity,

Carol Ehrle
Media and Messaging Coordinator
Movement for a People's Party

2020 – The Year That Will Shape the Future of the Democratic Party

Our guest blogger shares his well-researched reasoning on why he supports the senator from Vermont. What do you say about The Independent Reformist's insights on the future of the Democratic Party? Is it a "make or break" year for them if they don't nominate Bernie Sanders? For the US as a whole if Bernie isn't allowed to run for the White House?
  

2020 – The Year That Will Shape the Future of the Democratic Party: Why I Support Bernie Sanders
by The Independent Reformist

https://bernnoticepolitics.wordpress.com/2020/02/05/2020-the-year-that-will-shape-the-future-of-the-democratic-party-why-i-support-bernie-sanders/

Let me preface this article by stating a couple of things for the sake of clarity:

1. I have no intention of slandering or disrespecting other candidates or their voter base. I believe it is counter-productive and a good way to alienate those whom you may potentially bring to your side in the general election.
2. I understand that some may support different candidates. That is your right and I respect it. That said, please note that this is my opinion and I hope that you will at least consider what is being said in a fair and honest manner, regardless of where your allegiance lie afterwards.

With this out of the way, I would like to outline the reasons why I support Sanders in 2020, as I did in 2016.

I think that the summation of the campaign slogan “Not Me, Us!” encapsulates why I am a Sanders voter. I am voting for a future that is comparatively of less consequence to me than it is to younger voters. With that being said, we must think beyond our own individuality and consider the countless others who are not in our shoes.

Income Inequality & College Debt

It is hard enough to try to get ahead in this world. We all have to work to put food on the table, and ensure that basic needs are met. Now imagine trying to get a start in life where most jobs that pay a decent wage require a college degree.  Sure, you can get a scholarship, if you make the cut for the limited scholarships available. If you don’t, then you have to take out a loan.

The common answer from older voters is “Well, I had to do it too,” but have you considered that the cost for a college education has skyrocketed—even when compared to the cost of living?

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:College_tuition

Just to get a decent start in life, the current generation has to take on debt that has inflated 2.5 times the value of a home and basic cost of living between 1978 to 2010. This effectively puts them in a massive hole that they will need to work their way out of.

To make matters worse, according to an article written by Abigail Hess from CNBC:

As 2019 comes to a close, for many doing a review of their finances, the decade will likely be defined by student debt.

Today, some 44 million Americans collectively hold nearly $1.6 trillion in student debt. Given that there are approximately 242 million Americans over the age of 18, that means that roughly 18% of American adults are paying off student loans.

These rates are even higher among young people. According to the Federal Reserve, over half of young adults who went to college in 2018 took on debt.

At the end of 2009, Americans held roughly $772 billion in student loans. By the end of 2019, that total had spiked to nearly $1.6 trillion — that’s an increase of roughly 107%.

Reference: Student debt increased by 107 this decade, Federal Reserve data shows – by Abigail Hess – https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/30/student-debt-totals-increased-by-107percent-this-decade.html

To make matters worse, they are still looking at an income rate that has largely been stagnant since the 1970s. Yet the top 5 percent of earners income has gone up dramatically in comparison. In light of all of these facts, how can we expect them to simply accept things as they are? Better yet, why do we as a society continue to accept it?

Reference: CBPP – https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/a-guide-to-statistics-on-historical-trends-in-income-inequality

Also as a result of the bad trade deals like NAFTA, the American manufacturing base, especially in the Midwest (Rust Belt) is virtually non-existent. Automation is also eating into low skilled and redundant work, so the pool of jobs is getting smaller. As direct result, the pool of competitors for jobs rises and the employers can pay employees less.

In summary, if the young average worker has to spend a good chunk of their lifetime working out of debt because of college loans, they are already going to have less disposable income. If there is no upward mobility in wages as cost of living increases, they have even less. How can an economy not be stagnant when the working class has no disposable income (if they even have an income) to buy products? This matters because the consumer, not the business person, is the gas that fuels the economy.

The $15 an hour minimum wage that Sanders dragged into the mainstream is a start. There still have to be opportunities, and they need to have real relief from crushing loan debt. The only solutions, other than “We can’t do that,” has come from Senators Sanders and Warren and Andrew Yang. Sanders' goal, in my opinion is more ambitious where it forgives college loan debt and makes state run colleges and universities tuition free. The latter alleviates the burden on future generations.

Include Senator Sanders federal jobs initiative and you have more of a pool of opportunities for workers. It will have the additional impact of decreasing the pool of employees which can force private industry to offer more competitive wages for talent.

The Future of Humanity is at Stake

The worst effects of climate change are still to come, but half measures will get us nowhere. If we don’t take serious action, we could leave future generations a planet that is hostile to human life. Being in the pockets of the fossil fuel lobby via campaign donations risks watering down efforts to aggressively change to more sustainable energy.

Reference: https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/

Our effects on our ecosystem is no longer debatable. There is scientific consensus that humanity’s effect on the ecosystem is measurable and evident.

The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is extremely likely (greater than 95 percent probability) to be the result of human activity since the mid-20^th century and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to millennia.¹

Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. This body of data, collected over many years, reveals the signals of a changing climate.

The heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases was demonstrated in the mid-19th century.² Their ability to affect the transfer of infrared energy through the atmosphere is the scientific basis of many instruments flown by NASA. There is no question that increased levels of greenhouse gases must cause the Earth to warm in response.

Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that the Earth’s climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. Ancient evidence can also be found in tree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks. This ancient, or paleoclimate, evidence reveals that current warming is occurring roughly ten times faster than the average rate of ice-age-recovery warming.³

Reference: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

The role of adults in society is to try guide the next generation in a manner that gives them a chance at a better future than the previous generations had. We also owe them and subsequent generations a habitable world that they can pass on to their progeny. This isn’t just an United States thing. This is an “all of humanity” thing. It’s global.

Just one campaign cycle ago, Senator Sanders declared the top threat to national security being climate change. At the time, many laughed. Now in 2020 more people are parroting the line. Once again showing Senator Sanders was out front, before most of the rest of our leaders in Washington D.C.

The time for half-measures is over. If we are to be good custodians of our world, and the future of humanity we must be serious about climate change. I believe that Sanders is as serious about combating climate change as they come.

Racial and Social Justice

It is easy to look at the current field and note that they are all white people. The News media certainly reminds us enough. What it doesn’t mention is that Senator Sanders is Jewish. Both of his father's parents were lost in the Holocaust.

He is not the kind of person to go out of his way to bring it up, but when asked about it in a 2016 CNN interview the exchange went as follows:

Sanders could be the first Jewish U.S. president ever elected, though he has repeatedly described himself as a secular Jew without strong ties to organized religion. 

Jewish political activists, historians and pollsters have said Sanders’ minority faith has also been overlooked because the national attitude toward Jews has evolved to the point where there’s no stigma attached to the religion or culture. 

Sanders’ comments on his Judaism were in response to CNN’s Anderson Cooper asking him if he is intentionally keeping his Judaism in the background , after an audience member asked Sanders whether he believed God to be relevant, to which Sanders responded, “yes.” 

Reference: CNN Politics, Bernie Sanders: ‘My fathers family was wiped out by Hitler in the Holocaust’ by Daniella Diaz

https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/07/politics/democratic-debate-jewish-bernie-sanders-cnn-flint-michigan/index.html

Understanding these facts can help understand why Bernie took the stand that he did during the civil rights movement. It’s easier to relate to other ethnic groups and marginalized communities when you are a descendant of a marginalized community yourself.

Without going into all of the details in this article (which is lengthy enough), I will reference a Mother Jones article about Sanders in the Civil Rights Era.

During Sanders’ first year in Chicago, a group of apartment-hunting white and black students had discovered that off-campus buildings owned by the university were refusing to rent to black students, in violation of the school’s policies. CORE organized a 15-day sit-in at the administration building, which Sanders helped lead. (James Farmer, who co-founded CORE and had been a Freedom Rider with Lewis, came to the University of Chicago that winter to praise the activists’ work.) The protest ended when George Beadle, the university’s president, agreed to form a commission to study the school’s housing policies... He continued his activism with CORE and SNCC. In August of 1963, not long after returning to Chicago from the March on Washington, Sanders was charged with resisting arrest after protesting segregation at a school on the city’s South Side. He was later fined $25, according to the Chicago Tribune:

Reference: Mother Jones, “Here’s What Bernie Sanders Actually Did in the Civil Rights Movement” by Tim Murphy
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/02/bernie-sanders-core-university-chicago/

He has also taken a stand for LGBTQ rights in the 1970s. Politifact referenced Chuck Todd’s comment about Senator Sanders stance as follows:

Chuck Todd, the host of NBC’s Meet the Press, focused on same-sex marriage during an interview with Clinton on Sept. 27, 2015.
“Bernie Sanders has been where you are on these issues,” Todd said. “Bernie Sanders was there when it came to marriage 20 years ago. Do you think one of the reasons he’s doing well right now is some progressives think, ‘Well, you know what? He was there when it wasn’t popular.’”

Todd said Sanders was “there” on same-sex marriage 20 years ago, but we found evidence pointing back even further.
In the early 1970s, Sanders ran for governor of Vermont under the banner of the Liberty Union party, a coalition of leftist groups. The party platform called for making taxes tougher on corporations and lighter on families, an end to the Vietnam War and a number of measures to get government out of people’s private lives.

“The Liberty Union believe that there are entirely too many laws that regulate human behavior,” Sanders wrote in an open letter. “Let us abolish all laws which attempt to impose a particular brand of morality or ‘right’ on people. Let’s abolish all laws dealing with abortion, drugs, sexual behavior (adultery, homosexuality, etc.).”

Reference: Politifact, “NBC’s Chuck Todd: Bernie Sanders was there on same-sex marriage 20 years ago” by Jon Greenberg – https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/sep/29/chuck-todd/nbcs-chuck-todd-bernie-sanders-there-same-sex-marr/

There is a reference to the original letter, but unfortunately it is a broken link. However, the same platform can be found here:

Reference: The New Republic, https://newrepublic.com/article/122005/he-was-presidential-candidate-bernie-sanders-was-radical

Some might argue that he didn’t perfectly meet the modern bar. Perhaps so. But there are many who were around in that era who didn’t even meet his bar.  I think a fan made video sums it up nicely, using the speech given by Killer Mike:

Video by GoodNightProductions – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikgh4JbAWUU

I would rather have someone who at least will honestly take a stand when times are hard, than someone who only says the right things when it is convenient or politically expedient.

A Candidate Who Means What He Says and Says What He Means

I often say that “You can’t possibly mean what you say, if you don’t say precisely what you mean.” Words have meaning, and how you use them have consequences. We currently live in a time where “Doublespeak” is the norm. Where being duplicitous is completely expected, especially when it comes to politics.

There was a time where speaking openly and honestly was refreshing and welcomed. Yet our jaded sensibilities have allowed us to give up of honesty. You can look at what Senator Sanders says and compare it to his track record in life and politics to find he is remarkably consistent. He has stood for these policies for decades, most notably in the decades when it was not popular, and he was one of the lone voices in the wilderness.

When Bernie said, “We need to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour,” in 2016 everyone in the establishment said we can’t do it. Now it’s mainstream. When Bernie said, “We need to have Medicare for all,” in 2016, the establishment said that’s crazy. Now it’s mainstream. When Bernie said, “I am going to run on a grassroots funded campaign without big donors,” in 2016 the media said it would never work. Now he is a fundraising juggernaut rivaled only by Trump and Bloomberg, but the difference is Bernie is running solely on small dollar contributions from working class people like us.

I could continue on with health care and the need to bring the Democratic Party back to FDR principles. I could go on about how the power brokers in the party have ignored the Midwest until election time and then forgets them just as quickly. I can talk about how the Flint Water Crisis still needs resolution, and how the DNC hasn’t addressed it outside of campaign talking points, but this article is quite long enough. The bottom line is we need and frankly deserve a leader who works for us!

Make no mistake, he’s not perfect. No one is. But when compared to the numerous other candidates his rhetoric and actions, few (if any) have been more consistent than Senator Sanders. It’s easy to say something when things are popular. It’s easy to fight for something when everyone, including entrenched power is on your side. The true mettle of a person is measured when they take a stand when an idea is well outside of the mainstream.

I stand with the candidate who fights for the the alienated, the discriminated and the decimated. Say what you will, but in my opinion that is Senator Bernie Sanders. Unbossed. Unbought. Unbroken.

References:

Image, Not Me Us Rally picture, by Mark Dixon – https://www.flickr.com/photos/9602574@N02/25300155296

Image, College Tuition vs Home Prices vs CPI – Wikicommons – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:College_tuition

Student debt increased by 107 this decade, Federal Reserve data shows – by Abigail Hess – https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/30/student-debt-totals-increased-by-107percent-this-decade.html

Image Graph Real Family Income between 1947 and 2018, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities – https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/a-guide-to-statistics-on-historical-trends-in-income-inequality

Image, Temperature Anomaly Common Baseline 1951-2019,  NASA – https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/

Climate change references,  NASA, Global Clmate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet – https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

CNN Politics, Bernie Sanders: ‘My fathers family was wiped out by Hitler in the Holocaust’ by Daniella Diaz – https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/07/politics/democratic-debate-jewish-bernie-sanders-cnn-flint-michigan/index.html

Mother Jones, “Here’s What Bernie Sanders Actually Did in the Civil Rights Movement” by Tim Murphy https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/02/bernie-sanders-core-university-chicago/

Politifact, “NBC’s Chuck Todd: Bernie Sanders was there on same-sex marriage 20 years ago” by Jon Greenberg – https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/sep/29/chuck-todd/nbcs-chuck-todd-bernie-sanders-there-same-sex-marr/

Image, “A Letter from Bernie Sanders”, The New Republic, “Bernie Sanders Was Just Another hippie Rummaging Through My Mom’s Fridge” by Chelsea G. Summers – https://newrepublic.com/article/122005/he-was-presidential-candidate-bernie-sanders-was-radical

Video by: GoodNightProductions, Bernie Sanders Ad (Killer Mike Speech) The Time is Now – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikgh4JbAWUU

Image, Bernie Sanders, Wikimedia Commons by Gage Skidmore – – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bernie_Sanders_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg

The Independent Reformist

This blog is primarily about, but not limited to politics. What makes this blog different is that I bear no loyalty to either party, and I am willing to listen to, and consider the merits of differing viewpoints. I will share my opinions on what I see in our world based on an idea that politics is not solely about what happens on Capitol Hill. It is about what happens in our lives, everyday. There will be moments where what I say may infuriate you because it goes against everything you believe. There will also be moments where we can agree and be on a similar page. That's healthy, and we should embrace that idea. The ultimate end I hope that this blog will achieve is to foster discussion about how politics affect our lives, and how to address the concerns we have about numerous issues. It's equally important that if makes us all consider how our decisions at the voting booth, or our apathy for participating in the political process at all influences the actions that our elected leaders take. It is my opinion that it is not enough to simply blame the system, we as a society must also accept our share of the blame for allowing things to get so far out of control. View all posts by The Independent Reformist