Coral Springs / Parkland Democratic Club

The time goes by so fast, it is hard to keep up with when it is time to prepare for our meetings. Does anyone remember a short guy with a bad memory and no hair standing in front of our January meeting in the year 2009 telling the club that now that we have control of Congress and the presidency, the attacks are about to begin? Well, we sat back and waited for all the wonderful things to happen. Now as we watch, it looks like once again we are in trouble. Why we may ask? Well first of all, our president was, although very electable very naive. He erroneously believed that the Republicans would forgive the Democrats for their slaughter at the polls and work constructively with us to pass a new health care bill which if they did should have take a few month at most, would have benefited most Americans and acted as a check on the assault which the insurance companies have inflicted upon the populace for years. Instead, the Senate allowed a few to dictate our policy, which allowed the Republican propaganda machine take full advantage of a bad situation.

Why do we cater to someone like Joe Lieberman who is intentionally trying to destroy us? Why do we make ridiculous deals with the likes of Ben Nelson knowing that taking away a chairmanship could accomplish the same result? The original health plan, with a public option, or attaching it to Medicare would have been better received by the voters. If Harry Reid could not accomplish this, perhaps it is time to replace him.

How many times do you have to get the door slammed on your fingers before you realize that you must move your hand and get rid of the person slamming the door? Fact: The Republicans will not work with the Democrats no matter how much harm they cause the country. Fact: if we do not begin to understand fact #1 we will soon be back where we wer when Bush was president and they controlled both houses.

We promised the Nation we would pull out of Iraq. It is now time to start pulling out. The troop buildup in Afghanistan must be short. It the government there cannot control the situation then let the people elect one that can. There is supposedly less than two hundred Al Qaida operating officially in the country. If Bush didn’t allow Bin Laden to go free there wouldn’t be any. But the Republicans say we are no longer allowed to remind the country of this, so we don’t. Only they can tell the country of the terrible thing that we did. My feeling is that the most effective way of fighting the militants seems to be with the unmanned drones. Ending the wars will bring about a large reduction in the deficit. It is now time to care for our people.

Obama ran on change. He is trying to bring about change but our congress is allowing the minority party to keep it from accomplishing anything. This must change or we are in trouble.

Yes, that most vocal emissary from the religious right has again spoken. With the country of Haiti on the verge of collapse, no government in control, and an expected death rate of almost 200,000 that man who believes that god speaks to him has come up with the reason for the earthquake. Pat Robertson says that many years ago the Haitians made a pact with the devil the free themselves from French control. So now the Devil has brought his rath upon this impoverished people as if they don’t suffer enough. May I be so bold as to file his opinion next to the one he opined on 9/11 about God being angered by New York’s acceptance of its homosexual community.

Our speaker this month will be Commissioner Ilene Lieberman. She will discuss the census situation. Ilene has been a community activist, helping the citizens of Broward for as far back as I can remember. Keep in mind my long term memory is good. So, come, bring a friend and I’ll bring the refreshments.

We now have a Facebook page. Become a fan at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Coral-SpringsParkland-Democratic-Club/265447208462?ref=mf

Well, a new year is here, the festivities are over, and we can now get back to reality. There is something about the Thanksgiving Day to New Years day period that seem unreal even if you live in Florida and Santa is ringing a bell in red Bermuda shorts. Perhaps it the lights or the good spirit that people seem to be in or maybe it’s just the extra time off of work which, other than vacation we will not see again until May. Whatever the reason may be, the reality is ten years have passed since we all wondered if the world would come to an end as the year 2000 approached. We somehow survived that and we too shall survive the disappointment of the year long health care debacle that has consumed our congress due to the ruthlessness of the Republicans and the likes of Joe Lieberman and Nelson of Nebraska.

Why we still court the likes of these two is beyond belief. Why we caved into to these two and settled for a second rate health plan that if anything has emboldened the insurance bureaucracy more, is beyond belief. Why did we allow the Republican myth writers to control the thinking process of our voters? Why were our Democratic elected officials so afraid to vote for good legislation? The Public Option was not turning our health care system into a socialistic form of economy. It simply created an alternative to a fascist form of economics whereby a few companies controlled an entire industry creating a situation where the consumer had the option of getting screwed or having no insurance. Why were so many people happy to get screwed? Contrary to the popular thought we do not have the best medical system in the world. We actually are ranked in the thirties. Why do people come here from other countries for treatment? Because the universities are turning out brilliant doctors who can perform wonderful procedures which most insured people have to fight to get approval to obtain and usually don’t, while the heads of these insurance companies have annual incomes in the billions of dollars.

Yes, we have finally passed a healthcare bill that will help some people. The Republicans will continue to rip it apart, happy that their contributors are still happy. Joe Lieberman if he has any conscience will have to shave with a towel over his mirror. Nelson can go home and tell his constituency that, although I helped screw the national health care plan, I brought back money for the state and I can run again because the insurance industry will put lots of money in my pocket.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Attorney General investigated these people to see if they voted their conscience or if they were bribed to vote the way they voted. After all, they are representatives of the people, not the lobbyists. I have often said that the true way to good government is to allot a certain amount of running money per office and not allow any other funds to be spent to campaign. We would then have elected officials who would have to answer to the electorate instead of contributors.

Our speaker this month will be State Senator Jeremy Ring. I want to wish you all a healthy and prosperous New Year. I want to extend condolences to our Vice President Susan Pignato on the passing of her father. The meeting will be interesting as Senator Ring is right in the thick of the goings on in Tallassee. So come, bring a friend and I’ll bring the refreshments.