Millennial Civics: Your Revolution Is Tuesday

An interesting article at the Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lorelei-kelly/millennial-civics-your-re_b_775156.html

Recently, while watching news about the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, followed by more reports from Arizona about one of the most radical, anti-person laws of the last 50 years, I wondered, “Where are the rational voices among the Republicans in Congress?” Rather than serious discussions about taking substantive measures to, once and for all, make America energy independent, protect the environment, and strengthen national security, the mantra persists: “Drill, baby, drill!”



That refrain, however, is far different from what voters – Democrats and Republicans – have been telling me over the last two weeks. Voters in Michigan’s 2nd Congressional District understand that the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the immigration debacle in Arizona have changed the calculus on energy and immigration policy. Many local leaders acknowledge that people see the oil spill, and the protests against Arizona's SB 1070, as pointing to an urgent need for practical reform. Here in West Michigan, we are already pursuing wind power projects for energy independence and environmental sustainability. Our farmers know that we need a fair system for temporary workers, so they can get their crops in from the fields and out to market. But Congress refuses to speed up the pace on energy and immigration reform. Why?



There are many answers, but certainly a chief obstacle is that pressure from the extreme right wing/Tea Party ideologues prevents ANY Republican from adopting a reasonable, rational position. Consider the once admirable career of John McCain. Previously the promoter of immigration reform, and someone who campaigned in the Michigan primary as a clean energy supporter, he has distanced himself from himself. His apprehensions concerning J.D. Hayworth's far right primary challenge have caused him to attempt to out-pander his opponent. This is the situation that rejects a reality in which the vast majority of voters see that America desperately needs a new and robust approach to resolving its challenges pertaining to energy and immigration. Instead, right wing ideologues prefer the path of expediency. The pattern repeats itself in primary after primary. Never mind the needs of the country.

It’s going to be up to the voters to, once more, call the bluff of those who prefer to distract with fear and simple slogans rather than courage, hope, and vision. Only then will the right wing ideologues understand that rather than “Drill, baby, drill!” the people want leaders who prefer to “Think, baby, think!”

SEC vs. Goldman Sachs

One could only watch in wonder as executives from Goldman Sachs appeared before a Senate committee on Tuesday, April 27, 2010. The shifty, smoke and mirrors doubletalk from Goldman representatives who dodged explaining their role in helping to plunder the national economy was its own testimonial that underscored the urgent need for reform of the financial system.

Inquiring Senators were appropriately outraged and blasted their displeasure regarding Goldman’s wrongdoing. Then the Senate voted to move ahead with financial reform. Democrats stood alone as the vote failed, 57 – 41. Neither the Republican Senators who voted against financial reform nor the Goldman executives who inflicted so much harm on the financial system seemed to have been negatively affected by the manufactured crisis.

Although Goldman executives allegedly conducted their “business” in a way that would get most people fired if not incarcerated, the only discomfort they have thus far endured is trying to explain how committing theft was actually providing a service to their clients. If events go as they often do when powerful financial interests have come to Capitol Hill for their obligatory scolding after yet another instance of corporate malfeasance, Goldman Sachs executives will endure their moment of bad press as the Congress talks itself into a circle of inaction.

Time will pass. A fresh news item will assume priority. Legislation will languish. Money will flow through Congressional corridors to ensure that such legislation finally dies. The American people will once again be left to stand alone in unemployment lines, queue up at food pantries, and find a way of coping as the ranks of teachers, fire personnel, police officers, and others are slashed.

Once more the weary American people will be left to wonder why their government cannot muster the will and courage to shield them from corporate predators that cause so much havoc and are then handsomely rewarded for their actions. Once again, laid off, struggling Americans will wonder why their elected officials seem more disposed to dither about providing some relief to voters while displaying amazing abilities of performance in meeting the needs of big contributors.

So, as Goldman Sachs executives danced their corporate shuffle on Tuesday, April 27, 2010, one couldn’t help being disgusted with this all too familiar scene and the even more familiar likelihood that Wall Street crooks were going to get away with mugging the public, again.

Fred L. Johnson III, Ph.D.

Arizona's new anti-immigrant legislation, Senate Bill 1070, recently signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer, requires members of law enforcement to seek proof of legal residency from anyone who may be a subject of "reasonable suspicion". But what exactly does this mean? Will law enforcement agents require documents from folks with Australian accents? How about those with Irish, German, or Norwegian accents? And how is "reasonable suspicion" being defined? It seems that those most likely to be deemed "reasonably" suspicious are people with brown skin, who speak Spanish, or appear to be of Hispanic descent.

This development is an outrage to anyone familiar with the South African apartheid system so many fought to dismantle. The tragedy is underscored by the fact that America's greatness is so closely tied to its multiethnic, immigrant heritage. This law also casts an ominous shadow back to a time before 1865 when free African Americans had to present papers validating their status. Knowing the history of these sorts of documentation requirements, Arizonans of Hispanic heritage are right to fear this erosion of their civil rights. Many prominent people, including the New York Times reporter mentioned in the link below, have correctly vowed to boycott Arizona. Until this unjust law is repealed, or opponents request a different approach, folks should take their tourist and convention business elsewhere.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/breathing-while-undocumented/?ref=opinion

While this law must be opposed, it must also be asked how it passed in the first place. Part of the answer surely lies with the inaction in Washington, combined with the hysteria fomented by xenophobic, fear-mongering lawmakers, candidates, and pundits. What's urgently needed is congressional and presidential leadership to pass, and implement, progressive immigration reform that's humane, strengthens America's borders, upholds the nation's laws, and modernizes the immigration process to streamline the path to citizenship.

We must honor our history as a nation of immigrants, by refusing to give in to the irrational fears of a loud, but small, group of politicians and citizens. Too often in the past, whether it be Irish and Italian Catholics in our eastern cities, or Chinese and Japanese immigrants on the West Coast, we have given in to these voices, to our profound dishonor. Not this time!

Fred L. Johnson, III

Very Disappointing...

Deja Vu anyone? The GOP minority in the Senate has decided that reforming our financial system isn't even worthy of debate on the floor of the Senate. With their 41 vote filibuster, they prevented the finance reform bill from getting a fair debate, and a vote. But this is not really so surprising. The only things they haven't filibustered since the President took office were Mr. Obama's cabinet appointments, and the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Perhaps if the Senate proposed peace and prosperity for all time, maybe we could get a vote on it? Then again, maybe not.

I support the President's call for reform.

With legislation to overhaul the financial system making progress on Capitol Hill, the progress in our country’s economic recovery is promising. The House passed its form of financial reform and the Senate is likely to begin debating its version next week. President Obama’s speech yesterday reflected the importance of holding Wall Street accountable for its greedy practices, which caused our economy so much strife. He said, “Some on Wall Street forgot that behind every dollar traded or leveraged, there is a family looking to buy a house, pay for an education, open a business or save for retirement. What happens here has real consequences across our country."

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As a father, worker, and educator, each one of those topics mentioned by the President hits home for me. I, like the rest of America, want to have confidence in our financial system. I want my students to know that they will be able to continue their education. I want my sons to know that their children will be able to attend college, and buy a house. I want my friends to know that their new business will stay open.

I support the President in his push for reform because America cannot afford another financial crisis. The tax payers should not have to bail out banks - or any business for that matter - that is failing because its leadership forgot what it was like to have a conscience. With more "say in pay", stockholders will have true input on executive pay and bonuses. A fund to “wind down” failing banks remove the burden of bailouts from the taxpayers.

This is legislation is not about "big government", as the GOP would have you believe. In fact, this legislation has significant support on Wall Street and, if anything, should be strengthened. When the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999, over sixty years of protected economic growth was placed at risk. There is no reason why we cannot return to that steady growth that America enjoyed, and took for granted, for so long. Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.

We saw the danger first hand in the fall of 2008. We will learn from our experience, and move forward as America has always done. With strong action by Congress, we will all feel safer about the economic future of our great country.

For a simplified breakdown of the reform bill, go here.

Wall Street Reform Is Needed Now!

Now that health care reform has been passed, it is time to take on the next big step in getting our country back on track. Reforming the securities and practices in place in our financial structure needs to happen now.

The “Wall Street reform” being discussed in the media is also known as H.R. 4173 in the House of Representatives and S. 3217 in the Senate. It will establish many things, the biggest being the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. We need these reforms to make mortgages, credit cards and bank loans transparent and understandable. We need to end the credit default swap agreements that caused the failure of AIG.

Ensuring that Wall Street doesn't drive the economy off a cliff again should be our number one priority, along with job creation. The Senate Finance Committee is moving legislation supported by the President which does the following:

1. Greatly increases bank capitalization requirements, to head off the need for any future bailouts.

2. Requires banks to pay into a fund which would be tapped in the event of future crises. This further prevents the risk of taxpayers being asked to bailout the big banks.

3. Forces the trading of derivatives, CDO's, and other arcane financial instruments into an open market. One of the great causes of the financial meltdown of 2008 was the fact that these deals were being done behind closed doors, which prevents investors from knowing the fair market price of these instruments.

4. Enhances enforcement powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and creates "say on pay" rules, to give shareholders greater control over executive pay.

5. Creates a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, under the auspices of the Federal Reserve. This provides for the oversight necessary to protect consumers from unfair and misleading financial products.

What is needed, in addition, is the reimposition of some form of the Glass-Steagall Act, which kept commercial and investment banking seperated. The repeal of this law, in 1999, is what led to the current situation of "too big to fail". Banks should not be too big to fail, and reinstituting this seperation is crucial to the long term safety of our financial system.

The American public cannot afford to allow these banks and investors to police themselves. They won’t. We need to stand up to the reckless practices that caused our financial system to collapse. The DOW broke 11,000 last week, but there has been no “trickle-down effect” (a common Republican philosophy) because the devastation to the system was so deep there are still no jobs. The GOP is denying that there is even a problem!

This is not about partisanship. This is not about the presidential election in 2012. This is about what is happening in our country at this very moment. It is about The United States of America and every citizen that has been affected by the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. It is time to end the madness. It is time to pass Wall Street Reform.

Approved by Fred Johnson for Congress

Grasping at straws

The GOP and Fox News have stumbled to a new low level of journalism. In their attempts to combat the START II Treaty and make President Obama look as though he doesn’t know what he’s doing, they threw former President Ronald Reagan under the “political bus”.

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Sarah Palin even went so far as to claim that former President Reagan never said he wanted to reduce America’s nuclear weapons cache.

As a historian, I feel as though I need to weigh in just a little bit on this topic. It was, if I recall correctly, former President Reagan that proposed START I, in which The United States and then Soviet Union would reduce their nuclear weapons stores by 1/3 of their holding at the time. That treaty took until 1991 to be signed into action and ten years to implement.

START II, signed this week by President Obama and President Medvedev has renewed the quest for a nuclear free world, set out by former President Reagan. The claims from the right wing are that it will leave America defenseless. Let’s think about this: START II requires that the guidelines set out are implemented and completed no later than 2017. That is seven years from now! It also leaves America and Russia with just over 1,500 nuclear warheads each. 1,500 nuclear warheads are still enough to scorch the Earth at least four times over!

This new legislation is key to the way our world continues to grow. In terms of defense, I believe that America will continue to be safe. We still remain the world’s only super-power, and one out of two of the largest nuclear weapons holders in the world. The GOP is grasping at anything they can to try to gather followers. First fear tactics and now completely inaccurate reporting. At this point, they need to be careful. A Fox News poll issued today shows that the IRS is more popular among Americans than the Tea Party.

Do not listen to the rhetoric set forth by Republicans.

START II, the new nuclear arms treaty

With great enthusiasm, President Obama joined Dmitri Medvedev in Prague yesterday to sign a new nuclear arms reduction agreement. This new agreement replaces the cold war era Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that expired on December fifth of last year.

START implemented the largest arms control in history and barred both Russia and The United States from deploying more than 6,000 warheads. START II, as it is coming to be known, calls for both sides to reduce the number of warheads held to 1,550; 75% lower than START I which was implemented in 1991. According to the treaty, the reduction must be completed by the end of 2017.

The signing of the treaty brings a sigh of relief on both sides as negotiations regarding the placement of missiles were becoming heated. Reports that the Obama administration was in talks with Romania and Bulgaria to deploy U.S. missiles in each country as part of the “missile shield” project made for a nervous Russia. Now that those plans have been retracted, the two sides can move forward.

Russia does however reserve the right to withdraw from the agreement if it feels threatened at any time by placement of missiles. The previous administration had planned to put ten ground based interceptor missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic along with a fixed radar station. Those plans have also been retracted by the Obama administration.

Though this event is not receiving as much press as it probably should be, I believe that it is a great moment in our history. Marking the most important nuclear legislation in nearly 20 years, START II is a sign that both of the cold war adversaries want to lead the way in the reduction of nuclear weapons across the world. A summit will be held April 12-13 in which 47 heads of state will gather to discuss the vulnerability of nuclear materials and ensure they do not fall into the hands of terrorists. It is a great step to continue the assurance that our country, and the world, will be safe from nuclear weapons.

Support is continuing to grow!

Yesterday I was able to meet with members of the United Food and Corporate Workers and answer questions regarding the Employee Free Choice Act that is now being considered in the U.S. Congress. I support this act because it simplifies the process of workers being able to form a union if their majority so chooses.

The amendment to the National Labor Relations Act accomplishes three major things: 1) It eliminates the need for an employer required vote if the majority of workers have already signed cards stating they want to unionize. 2) It requires employers to engage the union and reach a collective agreement within 90 days. If not, the negotiations are referred to mediation, speeding up the process. 3) The amendment increases penalties for employers that subject workers to detriment for participating in a union. I am proud to support this act and the workers’ rights that it protects.

I am also happy to acknowledge the endorsement of the Michigan LBGTA that I received yesterday. Thanks to the hard work of Adam Taylor, the Vice Chair of the Michigan Democratic LBGTA Caucus, we can partner in the fight for civil rights in Michigan. Discrimination is still prominent among employers and this cannot be allowed to continue.

The recent law suit filed by the Thomas More Law Center against the U.S. Attorney General to reject the Matthew Shepard Bill is raising great concern. The precedents set by the Elliott-Larsen Act support the anti-discriminatory legislation passed by the federal government. The implication in the TMLC law suit that the struggle for civil rights is “not real” is appalling. I am happy to support the efforts of the LBGTA.

I cannot stress enough the encouraging feeling in my campaign camp. Support continues to grow, word continues to spread, and soon we will have real representation in District 2.

Keep the special interests out!

The fight for Health Care Reform has been won. The battle for its implementation has begun. In the closing hours of the national debate, reports arose alleging that opposition protestors hurled racial and homophobic epithets at various members of Congress. Opposition elected officials, desperate to delay or derail health care reform, did their best to ensure that the insurance industry maintained its dominance in the lives of working families. Their resistance was strong, it was focused, and it was determined. Moving forward, we must be stronger and we must be more focused. We must meet and defeat every challenger, every doubter, every obstacle, and every distraction.

The fight for Michigan’s 2^nd District Congressional seat won’t be easy, but it can be won. And it must be won for a simple reason: there are those who would rather fight for the profits of powerful special interests instead of the needs and concerns of working families. I have been, and I will continue, fighting to ensure that working families don’t have their voices shouted down and their concerns shoved aside by the moneyed special interests.

Finish Health Care

It's time for the Congress to finally finish health care. Both houses have passed the bill. Democratic leadership needs to write up the few amendments needed to reconcile the budgetary aspects of the bill, and get on with it. Budget reconciliation is a fairly common procedure in the Senate (see COBRA, welfare reform, Medicare prescription drug benefit, S-CHIP, and the Bush tax cuts, to name a few) and it is high time they used this procedure to reconcile the two health insurance bills. Here is a video of Warren Buffett calling the current health care system a tape worm in the economy.

Clean Energy Now!

Given the fact that my four (or five, or six?) Republican opponents all engage in some level of climate change denial, I thought this column by former Vice President Gore is particularly timely. If we want to protect our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, stop transferring billions of dollars in national wealth to parts of the world that don't particularly like us, remain internationally competitive in the most productive jobs creation sector of the next few decades and, yes, protect the planet so that future generations can enjoy the quality of life we'd like to see for them, then we must take action on clean energy now.

I'm a Democrat Who's Running for Congress.

It's time to be candid. Supporters of the Fred Johnson for Congress campaign can be assured that from now until the election in November I will fight for this seat. In 2008, just about everyday I had to endure some disciple of conventional wisdom explaining why a Democrat couldn't win in Michigan's 2nd Congressional District. Well, it's the election of 2010 and the disciples of conventional wisdom are at it again.

In the election of 2010, I respectfully announce that I’ll be ignoring such so-called wisdom. And here's why: "conventional wisdom" is the same reasoning that warned Christopher Columbus to not cross the Atlantic in 1492. That wisdom insisted slavery would never end. It refused to believe that women would ever have the right to vote. Such “wisdom” insisted that human beings would never fly. It doubted President John F. Kennedy when he committed America to landing a man on the moon. That “wisdom” couldn't imagine that one day the United States would elect its first African American President.

I'm an historian. It's the subject that I've spent my life studying. So I know that the people who’ve made most of the major progressive breakthroughs in history were those who had the vision and courage to reject "conventional wisdom" In the election of 2010, I'll be moving forward with a vision of bold possibility for the good citizens of Michigan's 2nd Congressional District. The issues are too important, the challenges are too great, and the needs are too many and urgent to succumb to the stoop-shouldered timidity of conventional wisdom.

My name is Dr. Fred L. Johnson III, and I'm a Democrat who's running for Congress.

Senate Vote on Unemployment Benefits

Republican Senator Jim Bunning’s success in heaping more misery onto the lives of Americans who are struggling to make it through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression speaks for him and his Party. For him, this period of challenge is an exercise in political theater and an opportunity to inflict his mean-spirited actions onto people whose daily anxieties are of less concern to him than scoring ideological points. But then, Bunning’s not running for re-election so his taking one last devastating shot at America’s shrinking and much beleaguered middle class and working families is sadly consistent with a viewpoint that cared little to begin with.

Bunning, like so many in Congress on both sides of the aisle, is too distant from the grim realities confronting working families. While Americans daily examine their checking accounts, trying to find ways of making ends meet, Washington’s leadership muddles on through endless meetings, summits, panel discussions, studies, ad nauseam. And while they talk, thousands agonize through another day without a job. More are driven into bankruptcy due to health care costs. College students finally have to face the reality that their educations must be put on hold. And while more citizens fall further behind, Congress takes its time deciding on whether or not to act. This is unconscionable. Bunning’s gross act of assault upon working Americans compounds the crime of inaction.

For all of the differences currently existing between the Parties, many of Bunning’s Republican colleagues agreed with Democrats that extending unemployment benefits for millions was the right, economically best thing to do. And yet, one man has been allowed to drive another economic dagger into the hearts of America’s middle class. While this goes on, the bankers who precipitated the crisis spend the weekend in their spacious homes, toasting champagne to each other for having successfully suckered the nation into providing the corporate welfare that rewarded them for recklessness. This needs to change. This needs to end now. The Congress needs legislators who’ll stand up to the Bunning’s of the world and confront them with their scorched earth tactics. Congress needs legislators who’ll cast votes for the people and not special interests. Congress needs legislators who understand that layoffs, financial stress, and looming bankruptcy aren’t abstract theories but grim realities. My name is Dr. Fred L. Johnson III, and I’m running for Congress.