We The People

We the people

It should be all about, "We The People." SHOULDN'T IT!!!!

We the people, as part of this great nation, should have the same health care as Senators, Congressmen, and Presidents. Shouldn't we? And, we the people should pay for it, just like we do education, fire and police departments and many more things. Some say NO MORE TAXES, well if we weren't in Iraq and Afghanistan we could easily pay for health care for EVERYONE. Why should someone have to suffer through an illness just to die because they can't afford their meds or health insurance? Aren't we better than that? We are in the ME times, as no one seems to care about anyone but their own asses. Is that sad? We expect the police to keep us safe in our homes, yet we suffer in our homes because we don't have health insurance. WHY is that? Do we care so little about our brethren?

It amazes me that we vote people into office that only care about corporations and their bottom line, not we the people. The same party that put us were we are today was elected back into power in congress to do it to us all over again. Is that what we're become? They want to repeal the health care that was put into place. WHY? In my opinion it didn't do enough, as stated before I believe we should have the same coverage as Senators, Congressmen and Presidents! Doesn't that speak to Amendment 8, Cruel and Unusual Punishment?

I am so disappointed in our leaders and our citizenry for where we are. And, it is going to get a lot worse. As was stated in an article that I read today, our mess can't be cleaned up by 2012 and so both parties will run around blaming the other. How sad is that? And, that we will be gridlocked for some time to come. With congress not doing any more stimulus and several million will go off of unemployment. Obviously causing crime to rise even higher. How will people eat? There are NO jobs! And, the thought that one of these tea baggers could actually shut down the government altogether and cause a global financial crisis and collapse. I'm sure they'll be happy of their accomplishments then! We as a nation are very much as a whole in the center and the extremes on both sides has it's faults. W was even given a chance to finish what he started. However freakin horrible that was. Not now!

GOD HELP US ALL.... WE THE PEOPLE!!!!!

Obama's Report Card

Obama's Report Card

I haven't posted to this blog in over a year. I am today, before results are announced this evening of the mid term elections. The following is my opinion of the current administration. Keep this in mind as you read, I am disappointed in being a Democrat right now and wish there was another option. There isn't. Tea Party, REALLY, GIVE ME A BREAK.... Republican? lmao......... No new ideas, NOTHING.... Same old story......

I read something today that made so much sense. Of course this country doesn't do anything that makes sense. If it's not on Dancing with the Stars or American Idol, then it doesn't matter. But the article talked about how we are going to be in worse shape if as predicted the Republicans take the House of Representatives back. They haven't worked with the President the last two years and if in power will definitely not work with him. There will be nothing but gridlock. Which will be the worst thing in the world for our economic recovery. There will be no stimulus, and millions that are on unemployment will be cut off, which would drive the crime statistic up higher than they are. Obama has had two years and in my opinion he should have done what he promised. But, he has tried to be everything to everyone. Bad move if you ask me.

Let's look at a few areas:
1). Economy: Grade B. Why? In my opinion, he has done a reasonably good job, because he was given an economy on the brink of annihilation. W, was one of if not the worst president in the history of our young nation. Obama should have put people in place to go after the crimes he and his administration committed. PERIOD! He should be held accountable for what he did! Instead President Obama turned the other cheek. He instead choose to attack the economy like coming out of the great depression, roads, hospitals, and infrastructure. Now all of this will stop. Which could put us back into a tail spin. Down here in South Florida we are still feeling the effects of people not spending their money. I give him a B because this could haven been a whole lot worse.
2). Over Sight Grade B. Why? His laws helping to protect the people against banks and credit card companies was put in place and this will be in jeopardy as well, since the republicans are the political party that takes care of corporations over "we the people" and will try and roll back legislation protecting us.
3). Don't Ask Don't Tell Grade F. Why? Because he promised to over turn what is bigoted law. He has gone back and forth instead of coming out and putting a foot down and doing what he said he would.
4). ObamaCare Grade C- Why? Because he promised sweeping health care reform. He got something. As the richest nation (supposedly) on earth, every American deserves the same health care that Congressmen and women and the President get. We all put our pants on the same way, one leg at a time and should have the same access as the people we elect, when it comes to health care. I don't want to hear the stupid socialism arguments. If you believe that crap, then don't call the socialist fire department when your house catches on fire, or the socialist police department when someone breaks into your house. The ONLY people complaining should be the rich doctors, that are making WAY TO FREAKIN MUCH.....
5). Bush Tax Cuts for the RICH... Grade C.. Why? Because it could be much higher grade or a much lower one. He still has time to take are of this. The rich should be happy to pay more in down times. AND, they should. These cuts should be discontinued and given to the people that spend all of their pay checks on a week to week bases. That would assist in stimulating the economy.
6). The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Grade D... Why? Because we should be out of there by now. We've done ENOUGH, I personally see no difference in the handling of the military between w and Obama's strategies? UNACCEPTABLE....
7). Securing our boarders Grade F Why? Nothing has been done yet.
Just to name a few...........

I firmly believe he was the right person for the times. He isn't finished! However, he hasn't a fighting chance because he has tried to be every American's president. He was given a no-win situation when he took over, and in my opinion should have gone full force on all the issues he promised us he would do. Just do it, as you'll be judged one way or another. Now however, once the republicans take back over power of congress or at least partially, he has no chance of them working with him. I also FIRMLY believe that he was the right choice, i can't imagine where we'd be today if granpa had won the election!

I just wish there was a new party of bright ideas that mixed the good of both parties. A party closer to the middle and could unite a country. This in my opinion will never happen, because Americans are lazy. People fought and died for the right to be heard and allowed to vote, yet only 6-7% of young people will vote today and even in Ca. where legalizing marijuana is on the ballot only 12% of the young will vote! why? It is their future we are dealing with! If this was the Vietnam war time people were in the streets.... Now, we only see old white people at tea party events... omg, we as a nation really don't have a freakin clue......... nor do we care, unless of course it's the finals of American Idol..........

PEACE ON EARTH......

As long as we observe love for others and respect for their rights and
dignity in our daily lives, then whether we are learned or unlearned,
whether we believe in the Buddha or God, follow some religion or none
at all, as long as we have compassion for others and conduct ourselves
with restraint out of a sense of responsibility, there is no doubt we
will be happy.
Dalai Lama

A FB comment to a Cuz

OMG.... wow cuz, i didn't mean to stir up the issues. u can ready my blog
http://nuszpolitics.blogspot.com/ I haven't written anything since Feb. But, wrote almost daily prior to the election, to do all i personally could to elect Barack Obama. To address a few things. First, I am liberal by chose. I am middle of the road on some issues and right on one or two. However, that is what i believe a good democrat should be. I am personally pro life, but FIRMLY believe that a woman's health choices are between her and her doctor. The government has no place in that room. I think that the repubs only show that they care about the fetus and not after the child is born. Overturning Roe v Wade would not stop abortion. My opinion.
In relation to Acorn, my belief is that whether you are W, Tricky Dick, Martha Stewart, you or me. If you choose to break the law you should pay the price. If Acorn is guilty of anything, prove it and charge them. You and I both know that our great nation is not the fair one it was always supposed to be. Evidence, a pro football player kills a man with his car, is charged, convicted, and spend 28 days in jail. If it was me they'd throw away the key.
I don't read People, nor do I follow the propaganda machines from either side. I feel that I study the issues, and FIRMLY feel that the repub leadership over the last eight years has caused all of the financial irresponsibility that occur these days and I do not believe we will ever recover from their irresponsibility and lack of oversight. Back to the abortion issue for a sec. how can you or anyone preach about saving the fetuses yet don't have a problem with the millions of lives lost in an illegal war. Assuming you have no problem with wars.
Again, for the record, I am pro life, anti war, pro democracy, and a business owner struggling to keep my proverbial head above water. I also am not naive in the fact that many of the issues do not mix. I wouldn't be a democrat, if there was an alternative to being republican. Because being Independent is NOT a viable option at this point in our country. So, I hope that I have not pissed you off as this is not my intention. I FIRMLY believe that as Americans we do not debate, discuss, agree to disagree, or compromise. We can't continue to HATE, those that disagree with us. This has caused way too much strife in the world. I hope that you at least now believe that I know enough about the issues to debate fairly, and not just believe what I read, whether it be People or elsewhere!
Peace on Earth..

A letter to Mitch McConnell, Sent to his office 2/14/09

After the Nov. vote all across our land and the vote count that almost cost you your seat I am shocked that you and the Republicans are still trying the same old thing. Instead of giving your support in trying to get our economy going again, you choose to stand pat. I worked for you a long time ago when I was a student at UL, during government reorganization in Louisville and am now so disappointed that you have chosen to lead in such a fashion.
Godspeed,
John Nusz

Number of homeless students in South Florida soars

The number of children living in shelters and on the streets of South Florida continues to increase. For many of those kids, homelessness has rattled their worlds.
Shelter helps homeless teens in Fort Lauderdale Covenant House in Fort Lauderdale is one of the only shelters to provide for older teens and young adults.
Homeless student struggles to move ahead

Corey is eighteen and homeless. He is trying to turn his life around as he studies for a GED and learns to cut hair. Rescuing teens from Miami streets
StandupForKids is a group helping homeless and runaway teens lost in Miami's streets.


BY TRENTON DANIEL
tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com

In downtown Miami, dozens of elementary school children spill out of Overtown's largest homeless shelter for a ride to and from school.

In Homestead, a high school student hides her head beneath a hooded sweat shirt every time she walks into her temporary home -- mortified at having to live in a shelter -- while in a Pompano Beach shelter, an 8-year-old boy tries to adjust to his new surroundings.

And in Northwest Miami-Dade, a 12-year-old girl who lives in a wall-less outdoor fruit stand -- and bathes herself by spigot -- does her homework in a nearby flea market food court.

These are among the increasing number of South Florida homeless students -- children living in shelters, motels, cars, relatives' homes and on the streets because their parents lost their homes to foreclosures or evictions.

Miami-Dade leads the state in the number of homeless students at 2,382 -- more than enough to fill an entire school, according to state figures. That's an 8 percent jump in the number of homeless students from the 2006-2007 school year.

Broward experienced a slight drop in the number of homeless students with 1,642 identified last school year, compared to more than 1,200 students so far this year. But officials expect the number will be much higher.

''We're going to see around 3,000 students this year, I think, or certainly 2,500,'' said Dianne Sepielli, coordinator for Broward's homeless student program.

The increasing trend is mirrored statewide.

Records show the state has seen a sharp rise in recent years in the number of students identified by their districts as homeless, jumping to 34,375 last school year from 16,430 in 2003-2004. The student homeless figure for 2006-2007 was 30,878, compared to 29,545 in 2005-2006 and 28,805 in 2004-2005.

Administrators say the numbers could be much higher because not all students report they're homeless.

For many of these students, homelessness has rattled their worlds.

The shelter kids say they appreciate the roof above them. But they also concede they must contend with an alien environment rife with strict rules, tinderbox tempers and petty theft. Then there's the stigma of being without a home of one's own -- and, teenagers say, the fear of being outed and picked on.

''I don't want my friends to find out,'' said a 14-year-old who moved into an Overtown shelter last month after his father lost his truck driving job and then their Little Havana apartment. The eighth-grader at Jose de Diego Middle in Wynwood declined to give his name.

'If they knew, they'd laugh at me, like, `Ha ha, you live in a shelter' and, 'You don't have your own room,' 'You've got to share your own stuff.' Stuff like that.''

As for parents, they juggle the duties of clothing their children, getting them to school on time and meeting other basic needs. Some have managed to hang on to their jobs, but others must seek work in an economic climate that shows few signs of immediate relief.

''Depression just gets me everyday,'' said Wilson Santiago, 50, an unemployed truck driver living in a Pompano Beach homeless shelter with his 8-year-old. 'My son asks me what's wrong, and I don't answer. I tell him, `You're not an adult.' ''

One recent Friday afternoon, Santiago stood outside the front gate at the homeless shelter, waiting for his second-grader to return from Charles Drew Elementary. When the bus rumbled up, four children tumbled through the doors, followed by Mathew.

''For an 8-year-old guy, he copes with it very well,'' said Santiago, who bounced around from Economy Lodge to Hollywood shelter before landing in the Pompano center in early January. ``As long as he's got a roof over his head, he's fine.''

Like some two dozen children at the shelter, Mathew receives after-school tutoring in course work and FCAT preparation through several Broward teachers.

Mathew views his new accommodations with mixed feelings: He likes his bunk bed but the proximity of a log-sawing roommate wakes him at night.

''It's not a good place for me to try to sleep,'' Mathew said, flipping open and closed a Game Boy lid. ''He'' -- elbowing his father -- ``snores loud.''

The Pompano center has converted an unused storage building into a family dorm that holds up to six occupants, refurbished a courtyard playground and introduced parenting classes since last spring.

''That's when we started hearing about an influx of families,'' said James Whitworth, the Pompano Center director.

At one of Miami-Dade's largest shelters, the Community Partnership for Homeless in Overtown, elementary school children trickle in midafternoon, their thumbs hooked into their turtleshell-like backpacks as they pass through a metal detector. A security officer guards the entrance.

Madeleine Paige and her two children moved into Community Partnership for Homeless -- more commonly known as ''the HAC,'' an acronym for homeless assistance center -- after she lost her job as a crossing guard. Her rent got behind and the eviction notice came. She doubled up with her mother in Little Haiti -- until the landlord told her to leave lest her mom get the boot.

Then she and two of her children, 11 and 9, slept in their car one night and two nights at a motel.

''We had absolutely nowhere to go,'' Paige, 36, said.

One day she broke down.

Paige nixed her 11-year-old son James' after-school FCAT tutoring at his school,Orchard Villa Elementary in Model City. The reasons: the cost of gas and the inability to make car repairs.

''I had to cry this morning,'' said Paige, who recently put in for a temporary job with the U.S. Census Bureau. 'I had to tell him, `We are not in our own home.' That's the hardest it's ever been for me.''

For older students, homelessness comes with a burdensome secret that's best to hide.

''At first I was ashamed,'' said Nicole Ayala, 16, who spent four months living in a Homestead shelter last year. ``I didn't want to be there.''

Nicole covered her head with a sweat shirt hood when entering the shelter -- a place she resisted because of its rules, curfews and connotations.

Nicole is now pursuing her GED and staying with her parents in a Naranja apartment provided by Carrfour Supportive Housing, a nonprofit that specializes in getting those living on the streets into stable homes.

While some homeless students neglect their grades, others shine in the classroom.

At the Overtown shelter, where an after-school program helps keep students on track, 40 out of about 100 children who live there made honor rolls last spring semester, according to the center's marketing director.

Elsewhere, homeless students battle greater challenges.

Take a 12-year-old who sleeps at night with her mother on a thin mattress in an open fruit stand next to the indoor USA Flea Market on Northwest 79th Street and 27th Avenue. They store their clothes and shoes in cardboard boxes and use a spigot, soap and a towel to bathe.

Last semester the sixth-grader at Madison Middle in Northwest Miami-Dade received two As, three Bs and two Cs and has a 2.57 GPA, said Laura Peña, the homeless student liaison. Total number of absences: Three.

The 12-year-old, whose mother did not want her name published, doesn't fit the homeless stereotype in other ways. Dressed in a yellow Polo-style shirt, khaki pants and white bangle bracelets on a recent Friday, she carried herself with a maturity beyond her age. Her homelessness doesn't seem to bother her, but she doesn't exactly want to broadcast it, either.

''I wouldn't go to school if they found out,'' said the 12-year-old.

Her mother boasts the duo live a conventional life, sans four walls and sophisticated plumbing.

``We're living like normal people but without a home.''

When a family loses its home, school administrators try their best to keep students in their school of origin. Sending the child to a new school isolates the student from established friends and teachers, and it's important to maintain the school as a stable environment, they stress.

In Broward, most homeless students manage to stay in the same school.

Meanwhile, school administrators are working to accommodate students' needs. Peña has already handed out all her school supplies and book bags -- items that usually last until March. She also just transferred two tutors from a Salvation Army shelter to the Overtown shelter because of the abundance of children. And she's increased the number of parenting classes from once every three months to once a month.

Peña believes work is unlikely to slow down.

''It's probably going to get worse before it gets better,'' Peña said. ``I'm probably going to be busy for awhile.''

What are the Repubs doing now?

I wonder. 500,000 jobs lost in November, 500,000 in December, 600,000 in January. And the republicans want to continue doing the same thing they have been doing for the last eight years. Tax cuts, tax cuts and more tax cuts. I love a tax cut as much as the next. However, this approach is the reasoning we are where we are. You can't continue to spend more than you take in. So to take in more we need the wealthiest to pay more. They are the ones screwing us in the first place. Big business bonuses for institutions that we are bailing out. HELLO....... We need to move on the spending bill to get the middle class back on track and able to spend. This is going to be a long road. But the ones in power the last eight years are the cause of this. Yes, Clinton and Reagan have some eggs in the basket. You CAN NOT take away regulators and expect rich power hungry men to play by the rules. Deregulation has been a disaster. Maybe the stimulus package isn't the end all be all, HOWEVER, by continuing to fight over tax cuts isn't the answer. President Obama is trying to bring us together. Appointed three republicans to his cabinet, gone to republican caucuses five times in his first two weeks on the job. HELLO..... WE MUST TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT, NOW..... Otherwise, a depression will not be like the one in the twenty's. They didn't have the number of people or guns in society that are on the streets today. It will get crazy and wild. Something none of us want to see. So, call your senators, and congressional representative, TODAY. Tell them to get off their asses and quit being freakin stupid. Pass the stimulus NOW....
Peace on Earth............

''I hope he fails.'' -- Limbaugh

Please read the article below, as shown in the Miami Herald on Sunday. Then help shut up this fake American by turning him off is you might be one of the ones that listen to his BS. The time has come to shut down his hatred. The only way to do this is turn him off. Read below..... Thanks John Nusz

LEONARD PITTS JR. | COLUMNIST
Far-right Obama critics get a reply
BY LEONARD PITTS JR.
LPITTS@MIAMIHERALD.COM
''I hope he fails.'' -- Limbaugh

It is, of course, a calculated outrage.

Meaning, it was spewed by a clown in the media circus to kick a familiar sequence into motion: angry denunciation by bloggers, pundits and supporters of President Barack Obama (the ''he'' whose failure is hoped), followed by Rush Limbaugh refusing to retract a word, a courageous truth teller who will not be moved. And, trailing behind, like the folks with brooms trail the elephants in the circus parade, Limbaugh's devotees, complaining that their hero has been misquoted, misunderstood or otherwise mistreated. ``What Rush meant was . . . yadda yadda yadda.''

A calculated outrage.

And knowing this, knowing how frequently and adroitly media are manipulated by self-promoting media clowns who defame conservatism by calling themselves conservative, one is tempted to let the statement pass, to make its way unimpeded to the dustbin like so many other manufactured controversies. But occasionally, it's necessary to intercept one of them and hold it up to the light.

This is one of those times. Not because what Limbaugh said on his radio program a few days before the inauguration was an outrage -- outrage is the point, remember? -- but rather, because of what the thing he said says about him and his fellow clowns.

``I hope he fails.''

Do you ever say that about your president if you are an American who loves your country? Would you say it about George W. Bush, who was disastrous; about Bill Clinton, who was slimy; about Jimmy Carter, who was inept; about Richard Nixon, who was crooked? You may think he's going to fail, yes. You may warn he's going to fail, yes.

But do you ever hope he fails? Knowing his failure is the country's failure? Isn't that, well . . . disloyal?

The irony is that Limbaugh and the other clowns would have you believe they are bedrock defenders of this country, that they love it more than the rest of us, more than anything.

That's a lie. Limbaugh just told us so, emphatically.

It's not the country they love. It's the attention. The ideology, their perversion of conservatism, is but a means toward that end.

Yes, an observer might point out that it's counterproductive to give them attention while decrying their love of attention. But, as already noted, occasionally the clowns spew something that cannot, and ought not, be ignored.

Ideological division is nothing new to politics. But has ideology ever taken quite the seat of prominence it now enjoys? Have people ever been quite so prone to regard their ideological identity as more important than their national identity? The last 30 years are rare in that regard, if not unique.

``I hope he fails?!''

So that, what? The defamation of conservatism Limbaugh represents will stand vindicated? The Republicans will pick up a few seats in the midterm election? Limbaugh's ''side'' -- his word -- will score points?

A sense of mission

Is this only a game, then? No lives at stake, no future on the line, no planet in the balance? Just a game?

I hope he bricks this free throw.

I hope he fumbles that pass.

I hope he fails.

And to hell with the country.

The country doesn't matter. The ''side'' does. And Limbaugh's side seems angry in power and angry out. It's as if anger is all they really have.

Barack Obama was elected in large part on a promise to carry the nation past anger, past the notion that either party has a monopoly on wisdom, past the belief that ideology is identity. He was elected because people want a sense of mission that makes them feel like Americans again.

If he is successful, Limbaugh and the other clowns will face tough sledding in a radically different world. Small wonder he is so eager to strangle this presidency in its infancy. And need it even be said?

I hope he fails.