Most if not all have by now heard about the landmark ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court on campaign finance law.  How this leaves any semblance of the idea that democracy will not be ruled by the financial puppet strings controlled by the wealthiest individuals and now, the wealthiest, most powerful corporations.  The only thing left, the only dividing line, the last test of common sense and honesty is the individual vote of the American public. 

Decenting Justice, John Paul Stevens said, "At bottom, the Court's opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self-government since the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt. It is a strange time to repudiate that common sense. While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics." 

God help us all!

It is that simple and true, when it comes down to brass tacks the Republican platform is to support big business profits and let the individual fend for themselves.  No matter how it is spun that is the bottom line.  It doesn't take a genius to see it throughout recent political history but there are legions that rationalize and through dissonance make themselves believe otherwise, to their own detriment!

After years of proving that tax cuts to the wealthy, little or no regulation, trickle-down economics doesn't work (look what it brought us to, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression) they still won't acknowledge it!  Look at the recent vote for House bill, H.R.4173.  Not a single Republican voted for the bill.  A bill that contains regulatory constraints on financial companies.  Ohhhh, that would be so bad to make the richest people, the richest companies in the world have more ethical restraint, be bound by laws that protect the public from their predatory and reckless practices.  That would be bad, wouldn't it Republicans and those that rationalize the truth.

I have much to say about the financial crisis and what caused or helped cause the ongoing crisis.  Please read this and related stories that include many of the current (and then current) players in the financial fiasco!

Read this link: Brooksley Born

and this link: more about Ms. Born

Our new weekly post highlighting what we think is the biggest joke from the previous week.

This week Rep. Bohner talks about the Republican health plan, which is really as he points out in a TV interview, "8 or 9 ideas" by the Republican party that will become an actual bill.  Wow, it has only taken 5 months (let alone the last 40 years since Medicare was enacted) to come up with a list of 8 or 9 bullet points!  Good job Mr. Bohner and the Republican party!  This weeks joke of the week.