Indiana purges voters

Across Indiana, 481,235 registered voters were purged, or about 10 percent of the state's total.
That includes 28,887 in Lake County, 10,240 in Porter County, 9,425 in LaPorte County, 1,542 in Jasper County and 1,431 in Newton County, according to the secretary of state's office.
Heavily Democratic areas.

I went to see if I was still registered, so I went to the State of Indiana web site to verify my registration was active:


https://indianavoters.in.gov/PublicSite/Public/FT1/PublicLookupMain.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1


This is what I found:

Server Error in '/' Application.

---

This is worrisome. it is hard to trust Republican governance. They seem determined to pick their voters rather than the other way round.

A reality rant

I feel the need to slap some of you with some reality.... You know who you are... So strap in... I'm about to be seriously politically incorrect.

We don't need to take America back. No one stole it. It's right here... you're sitting in it.  Relax and SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Mexico isn't going to pay for the wall, and we're not going to deport millions of people and break up families. If you think either one of these options is a viable idea, you're not very smart.

We don't live in a straight up democracy. Technically we are a Federal Republic. But we are actually ruled by an oligarchy. If you don't know what that is, look it up. Reading will do you good. You should probably do more of it.

FoxNews,  is not "fair and balanced" or in any way unbiased.  CNN and MSNBC have an agenda, to maximize ratings.  I'll say that again... read more. Read newspapers (even online ones). Read lots of opinions and sources and then THINK! Form your own god damned opinion based on as many facts as your can brain can tolerate. Don't regurgitate the crap you hear on the radio.

About facts... there actually is a genuine difference between facts, opinions and propaganda. You should learn the difference. Hey, Think of it as another opportunity to further enhance your reading skills.

Science is real. Period. Not an opinion. We know things because of science. Don't be afraid of it. You have air conditioning computers and Facebook because of science. It's your friend.

Global warming or "climate change" as the intelligentsia call it IS REAL. Period. Anyone who tells you it's not real is epically ignorant and probably should not be dressing themselves or caring for children.

Racism exists. And you are probably a little racist and should work on that. Seriously I know I do.


American Christians are not in any way under attack. You are not being persecuted. You wield so much power in this country that politicians pretend to be Christian just so you will vote for them. No one is trying to take your bible away from you. The gay people are not destroying our families -- we don't need any help from them, thank you. We do a fine job of that by ourselves. So stop saying Christians are persecuted. It's patently false and insulting.

Poor people need help. If you're not helping them, but loudly complaining about how the government helps them with your money you are not a nice person, and should not consider yourself a Christian.

Be nice to the people who teach your children. Don't send them nasty emails or yell at them. Their job is 10,000 times harder than your fucking job. You are not a professional educator so just shut your mouth and be thankful someone is willing to teach your offspring.

You don't know what Common Core is. You think you do, but you don't unless you're a teacher. So stop complaining about math problem memes on Facebook. You can't do the math anyway.

ISIS is not an existential threat to the United States. We do not need to rebuild our military. Our military is the strongest, scariest, most badass killing machine the world has ever seen.  OUr military is bigger than the next seven largest economies... COMBINED! So stop being such a wussy and stop letting politicians and pundits scare you.

Guns do in fact kill people. That's what they are designed to do. If you feel you need a gun to protect yourself in America, you are probably just afraid of everyone that is not you; or maybe living in the wrong neighborhood and should move before you go out and buy a gun. There are like a million places to live where you won't need a gun, or even need to lock your doors.

If you do own a gun, then make sure you know how to fucking use it really, really, really well. Seriously... get some actual training from a profesional, not your friend with a bunker; because you still don't know how to record stuff with your DVR. Go to the gun range and shoot the thing a lot. Learn how to clean it properly and be able to disassemble it and reassemble it with your eyes closed. It's a freaking gun and it deserves that level of care, proficiency and respect. And for God's sake, keep it locked up and away from your kids.

If you are even a little bit unhinged or pissed off... you shouldn't have a gun.And the Founding Fathers would totally agree with me.

Stop being suspicious of American Muslims. The guy sitting next to you in the cubicle at work is probably more of a threat to you than any Muslim since he has to listen to your ignorant ranting day after day.

Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and all the rest are ENTERTAINERS! Stop getting your opinions from them, let alone anything resembling a fact, because they do not use any! (Here's where that reading thing can really be an advantage.)

Stop sharing Facebook memes that tell me to share or else Jesus won't bless me with a bucket full of cash. That's not how prayer works. And if you believe that is how prayer works, they you are not very smart and should just be quiet.

We are the God Damn United States of America, and we CAN afford to... house every homeless veteran, feed every child, and take in every refugee and still have money left over for pizza and beer!

Unless you can trace your family line back to someone who wore buckskins and could field strip a buffalo, you are a descendant of an immigrant. Shut the fuck up with the bullshit that immigrants are ruining our country. Such comments are simply laced with historical ignorance, latent racism and xenophobia, all wrapped with a fascist bow, so STOP IT!

There.....

Raise the minimum wage

Conservatives are always talking about “Liberty”… Bitching about “Freedom” But I truly believe they simply do not understand what the fuck they are talking about!

People aren't free when they have no agency or control over their life. They are not free if they are falling into poverty, or already living there. Working must translate into a better life for oneself and one's children, or what's the point of it all? It is not the American Dream to toil away day after day with nothing to show for it.

We must have more than sustenance wages to show for our efforts.

The importance of raising the minimum wage goes well beyond economics. It strikes to the core of our shared humanity.

A higher minimum wage means that parents will no longer have to hear one half of the country's political establishment, and their loudest pundits, degrading their work and calling them "takers." 

It means parents who work full time can come home in time to help with their kids homework, and maybe join the PTA.

 
It means less stress and anxiety in the lives of working people; more dignity, and the pride that comes along with having a job that provides more than the bare minimum.

Conservatives say they hate the welfare state. But they work very hard to make sure that the country is rife with jobs that don't pay enough to get by. If they don't want people to be dependent on government, they should make it possible for them to be dependent on themselves!

Fair wages mean stronger families and stronger communities Raising the minimum wage will mean more hope in American life, and give everyone a step up into the American Dream -- and isn't that the point, anyway?

Plutocratic States of America

After an unseemly series of maneuvers by Chief Justice Roberts expanded the case far beyond the issues presented, a five to four majority of Republican appointees held that unlimited cash “Donated” to elect political candidates is somehow "speech " protected from regulation by the First Amendment.

Stating openly in his dissent that "the Court changed the case so it could change the law," Justice Stevens warned: "A democracy cannot function effectively when voters believe laws are being bought and sold."

The post-Citizens United conduits for such barter, the Super PACs, funnel millions from the ultra-wealthy to support their human puppets -- a counterweight, one supposes, to the risky effects of letting ordinary people vote.

The ads spawned by this torrent of money now flood our airwaves: a prominent Democratic consultant estimates that his party's nominee must raise at least $1.5 billion to compete with the tidal wave unleashed by the Supreme Court. This spiraling financial arms race drives candidates away from voters in order to grovel before demanding would-be patrons in big-dollar "money primaries." And there is much groveling to be done. The 2012 campaign produced over $1 billion in soft money. 2016 will see a drastic increase. And not by the average voter…

In fact only 156 families have put $176 million on the electoral table.

As anyone with half a brain -- surely Chief Justice Roberts -- could foresee, this constitutionally coddled and pampered class is overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly right leaning.

With honorable exceptions, such people are characterized by vaulting self-esteem, and tend to perceive the national interest by looking in the mirror. And while support from rich donors does not, in itself, ensure victory, (Newt Gingritch) at the least it badly skews the discussion of policy and issues within the campaign as a whole. It hardly matters if these donors' desires preexist, or match with, the candidates' current positions -- though often the symmetry is so striking as to suggest an answer. This unwholesome symbiosis between plutocrats and their pets is epitomized by two of the most well fed, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

Take Cruz. As of July, pro-Cruz Super PACs had raised $38 million. $15 million came from just two people; Dan and Farris Wilkes, Texans who made billions through fracking. No surprise that they oppose regulation of pretty much anything which relates to oil and gas that might affect their bottom line.

Stranger still is their leadership of a tiny and socially conservative cult which holds that every word of the Bible as originally written is literally true. In a nifty double pander to his patrons, Cruz calls fracking a "providential blessing." And Cruz' program for the rest of us is manna for any fundamentalist fracker: barring the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases; adamant denial of climate science; disdain for reproductive rights and -- in direct response to the Court's approval of gay marriage -- subjecting justices to electoral review.

Then there is the combined $21 million from Robert Mercer, a hedge fund kingpin whose enterprise is under IRS investigation, and Toby Neugebauer, a Texas financier who fled the US for Puerto Rico after it erased the capital gains tax. A true American patriot…..

Cruz tax program? Abolish the IRS, enact a flat tax, and roll back the capital gains rate. Whatever his proposals might do to the country, no doubt President Cruz would strive to bring balm to this afflicted duo, liberating Mercer from the IRS while facilitating Neugebauer's repatriation.

Even so, for the experience and zest he brings to the role of rich man's avatar, Marco Rubio stands out. Here one starts with Norman Braman, who has pledged $10 million to help bring us President Rubio. Since Rubio entered Florida's legislature, Braman has funded his campaigns and subsidized his personal finances, employing Rubio and his wife and underwriting Rubio's stint as a college instructor. As a legislator, Rubio steered $85 million to Braman's favorite causes. And as a candidate for president, Rubio echoes Braman's adamant support for Benjamin Netanyahu, no matter what the issue. I am sure that Rubio’s adoption of Braman’s wants as his own, has NOTHING to do with that patronage…..

But even more adamant is the billionaire Rubio is courting most assiduously -- casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, by many multiples the biggest donor of soft money in 2012. Though Adelson has other requirements -- notably a bill to ban Internet gambling now sponsored by Rubio -- it is Israel which best illuminates Rubio's political permeability.

For Adelson is committed to investing a staggering amount in the candidate who best demonstrates absolute fealty to his hardline views. And they are not merely extreme -- they run counter to the most basic tenets of American policy with respect to Israel. An unbroken line of presidents -- all staunchly committed to Israel's security -- have supported the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state on the West Bank, home to several million Palestinians. This is no small matter. A half century of Israeli occupation has fed a festering anger which, now as before, threatens to explode in a cascade of violence which could destabilize an already dangerous region. American and Israeli national security experts believe that indefinite occupation will end in tragedy for all concerned: the collapse of the Palestinian Authority; a third intifada; the bloody intervention of more Israeli troops; and a radicalized populace bereft of hope and dotted with extremists.

But this is precisely what Adelson wants America to support: an Israeli appropriation of the West Bank and the ensuing subjugation of its people. As for the nuclear deal with Iran, Adelson would have the next president rip it up. His alternative? A pre-emptive American nuclear strike on the Iranian people. Seems legit….

This would be so much park-bench babbling but for Adelson's resolve to spend tens of millions to elect his chosen candidate. And so Republican aspirants flock to Las Vegas in the hope that winning the "Adelson primary" will make them our next president. But Rubio goes the extra thousand miles. As New York magazine quoted an Adelson intimate, every two weeks "Rubio calls and says 'Hey, did you see this speech? What do you think I should do about this issue?' It's impressive. Rubio is persistent." And now Rubio has backed away from the two-state solution, and pledged to hamstring the multinational nuclear pact with Iran.

Rubio's panders abound. But what marks this callow candidate -- and the shame ofCitizens United -- is his willingness to change his views on vital foreign policy issues to those of an ignorant and imperious donor.

Too many Republicans prefer bigots

Trump, and the other Republican candidates are playing the scapegoat game once again, this time with Muslims.

During the 2004 Bush campaign, gays and intellectuals were scapegoated, Gay marriage and abortion were held up as serious threats to the American way of life, and unless you voted for Bush, the terrorists gays and abortionists would win.

This is the same bullshit, just with more targeted racism.

Trump is not just capturing the discontent of Americans who are sick of D.C. He's stirring the hatred that lies just beneath the surface of so many of our communities. The kind of hatred that many people want to pretend does not exist. The kind of irrational hatred that inspired Dylann Roof in Charleston, South Carolina; Chris Harper-Mercer in Roseburg, Oregon; and Robert Dear in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In the past several months, Trump has called Mexican immigrants rapists and suggested building a wall akin to the Great Wall of China to keep them out of the United States.

In mid-November, he pronounced as fact completely made up statistics suggesting that most white people are killed by black people.

When a black protester was assaulted when disrupting one of his political rallies, he stated on national TV that "maybe he should have been roughed up."

Last month, he suggested a mandatory Muslim registry.

This week, he called for a "total and complete" ban on all Muslims entering the United States.

Words matter. Proposals matter. This man is ahead in every national poll. People are flocking to attend his events. People that cheer and applaud his racism enthusiastically!

If this is not proof positive that Republicans are frightened, ignorant bigots that need to be led like sheep, I do not know if there is proof enough to convince you.

Fat cats pay $45000 for a single Thanksgiving meal

The vast majority of working Americans haven’t seen a real raise in 35 years. 

Meanwhile, every year, their health care, education, insurance and household costs rise. Their employers eliminate pensions. And their kids struggle with rising college or technical school tuition and debt. 

Workers worry whether they will ever be able to pay the bills.

By contrast, on the other side of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the richest 1 percent are supersizing their feasts. For example, three families will spend $45,000 – each – for Marie Antoinette-style meals, gold flakes and all, at the Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York City. That’s up by $10,000 from the restaurant’s Thanksgiving fare for eight last year. It’s more, for one meal, than the average American worker earns in a year.

The Marie Antoinette $45,000 Thanksgiving includes two turkeys. Because when would one, 20-pound free-range, organically raised bird at $75 a pound ever be enough?

The 1 percent can spend $45,000 for a Thanksgiving supper because they’re gobbling up virtually all of the income from workers’ productivity increases. And now they’ve launched a new assault on workers. It’s a lawsuit called Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (CTA). The 1 percent hopes it will prevent public service workers like teachers from joining together to collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions.

The Marie Antoinette $45,000 Thanksgiving includes gravy made with Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, which goes for $4,900 a bottle. Because when would $9 worth of cooking sherry ever be good enough?

If the $45,000-Thanksgiving-dinner crew wins the case, they’ll go after private-sector labor organizations next. They do not intend to stop until there’s nothing left for the other 99%.

The Friedrichs case is about power. 

Individual workers don’t bargain for raises with gigantic multinational corporations and government agencies. 

They beg.

But when workers band together and seek raises as a group, they gain for themselves the power necessary to negotiate. A fact that is intolerable to 1 percenters. And that’s why they’re backing the Friedrichs case – to prevent workers from ever gaining that negotiating power.

Defending their right to collectively bargain are public service workers ­– the likes of firemen, teachers, social workers and public health nurses. The labor organizations these workers belong to try to ensure that they receive living wages and decent retirement benefits.

But just as importantly, public service workers also use their collective voice to negotiate in the public interest, including improving response times for paramedics and lowering social worker caseloads to allow adequate time to investigate child abuse allegations. 

Public school teachers, who spend an average of $500 a year out of their own pockets for classroom supplies, routinely bargain to secure the smaller class sizes that parents want, to protect the recess breaks that elementary students need and to preserve arts and music education.

Sigh... 88 Dems bow to pressure from uninformed voters.

Most dealerships are authorized to sell cars and make loans to finance the purchase. They send their customers' financial information to a bank, which then sends the dealer an appropriate interest rate for a borrower with that particular credit profile. But banks also permit dealers to "mark up" the interest rate on the loan to a higher level, and allow the dealership to pocket some of the additional charge.

That, of course, creates incentives for the dealer to charge people higher interest rates. But data dating back to the 1990's have shown that people of color are more likely to have their interest rates marked up than white borrowers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued regulatory guidance in 2013 instructing companies on how to cope with this phenomenon.

Since issuing the guidance, the CFPB has taken action against Honda and Ally Bank for overcharging borrowers of color, forcing them to return more than $100 million to their customers. This was apparently too much for banks and auto dealers to handle. They lobbied for a bill that would nullify the CFPB's regulatory move.

None of the opposition was enough to counter two interest groups that wield tremendous power on Capitol Hill. Not a single Republicans voted against the bill to curb the CFPB's enforcement of anti-discrimination law this week, while 88 Democrats voted in favor. The legislation cleared by a vote of 332 to 96.

The 88 House Democrats who voted to enable racial discrimination in the automobile market:

Pete Aguilar (Calif.)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.)
Brad Ashford (Neb.)
Joyce Beatty (Ohio)
Amerish Babulal "Ami" Bera (Calif.)
Don Beyer (Va.)
Sanford Dixon Bishop Jr. (Ga.)
Brendan Boyle (Pa.)
Robert Brady (Pa.)
Julia Brownley (Calif.)
Cheryl "Cheri" Bustos (Ill.)
Matt Cartwright (Pa.)
James "Jim" Clyburn (S.C.)
Gerald "Gerry" Connolly (Va.)
Jim Cooper (Tenn.)
James "Jim" Costa (Calif.)
Joseph "Joe" Courtney (Conn.)
Joseph Crowley (N.Y.)
Henry Cuellar (Texas)
John K. Delaney (Md.)
Suzan DelBene (Wash.)
Debbie Dingell (Mich.)
Mike Doyle (Pa.)
Tammy Duckworth (Ill.)
Elizabeth Esty (Conn.)
Bill Foster (Ill.)
Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii)
Ruben Gallego (Ariz.)
Gwen Graham (Fla.)
Alan Grayson (Fla.)
Eugene "Gene" Green (Texas)
Janice Hahn (Calif.)
Alcee L. Hastings (Fla.)
Dennis "Denny" Heck (Wash.)
Brian Higgins (N.Y.)
Rubén Hinojosa (Texas)
Jared Huffman (Calif.)
Steve Israel (N.Y.)
Marcy Kaptur (Ohio)
William "Bill" Keating (Mass.)
Dan Kildee (Mich.)
Derek Kilmer (Wash.)
Ron Kind (Wis.)
Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.)
Ann Kuster (N.H.)
Rick Larsen (Wash.)
Brenda Lawrence (Mich.)
Ted Lieu (Calif.)
Dan Lipinski (Ill.)
Dave Loebsack (Iowa)
Michelle Lujan Grisham (N.M.)
Ben Ray Lujan (N.M.)
Jim McDermott (Wash.)
Grace Meng (N.Y.)
Patrick Murphy (Fla.)
Rick Nolan (Minn.)
Donald Norcross (N.J.)
Beto O'Rourke (Texas)
Bill Pascrell (N.J.)
Ed Perlmutter (Colo.)
Scott Peters (Calif.)
Collin Peterson (Minn.)
Mike Quigley (Ind.)
Kathleen Rice (N.Y.)
Raul Ruiz (Calif.)
Tim Ryan (Ohio)
Loretta Sanchez (Calif.)
Adam Schiff (Calif.)
Kurt Schrader (Ore.)
David Scott (Ga.)
Terri Sewell (Ala.)
Brad Sherman (Calif.)
Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.)
Albio Sires (N.J.)
Louise Slaughter (N.Y.)
Adam Smith (Wash.)
Jackie Speier (Calif.)
Eric Swalwell (Calif.)
Mike Thompson (Calif.)
Dina Titus (Nev.)
Paul Tonko (N.Y.)
Norma Torres (Calif.)
Nikki Tsongas (Mass.)
Juan Vargas (Calif.)
Marc Veasey (Texas)
Filemon Vela (Texas)
Tim Walz (Neb.)
Peter Welch (Vt.)