My To-Do List for 2013 and Beyond

Here are some of the issues we need to work on in the New Year (actually starting right now):

Fight to preserve Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid without cuts.

Let Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest expire.

Overturn Citizens United; get Fair Elections passed in New York State

Keep working for Universal Single Payer Healthcare (Medicare for All)

Repeal DOMA and replace with Respect for Marriage Act.

Restore Glass-Steagall

Get a progressive elected Mayor in NYC in 2013, not a Mayor who crushes dissent and boasts that the NYPD is his private army.

Abolish the sections of the NDAA that endanger American civil liberties.

No TPP, which would have more devastating effects than NAFTA or CAFTA.

Oppose the ongoing War on Women.

Oppose workplace discrimination against LGBT people.

Kick the Teabaggers out of Congress, state and local government in 2014. We don't need "Blue Dogs" either.

Pass the Jobs Act, Jobs for Veterans, and rebuild the US infrastructure.

Raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage.

America Wins, Big Money Loses

I'm writing this on the morning of November 7, 2012. In the weeks approaching Election Day, I feared the worst. I was afraid I would wake up to "President-Elect Romney," and the destruction of so many vital social programs it didn't bear thinking about.

But that didn't happen. Despite a hurricane, despite blatant voter suppression, intimidation, and tampering, people came out and voted. They are the real heroes of this election. The woman who broke her leg but still voted, the woman who stopped to vote on the way to the hospital to deliver her baby, the man who took time to vote before going in for heart surgery, these are the heroes. So are the people who stayed in line for hours, determined not to be turned away. So are the volunteers who knocked on doors and made endless phone calls. Because of them, President Obama won a second term.

We showed the Tea Party that their ideas are out of the mainstream and they have been soundly rejected. Although Democrats did not take back the House, our Senate majority is stronger. Many Tea Party candidates are out on their keisters. Women, the LGBT community, Latinos, African-Americans, and other minorities fought back and won.

And we showed the billionaires who poured hundreds of millions of dollars into secretive superPACS and bogus 501(c)(4) nonprofits that they could not buy the White House. They ended up pretty much where they started, after pouring their money down a losing rathole. The Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson, Karl Rove, etc. must be feeling pretty stupid right now.

The people spoke and the people won. We will not be ruled by big money. Now we have time to overturn Citizens United before the megabucks dictators try again. Maybe they realize their gambit failed and won't try, but to make sure we must amend the Constitution and fight for fair election laws.

Voting is for humans. Corporations are not people, and money is not speech. We won, thank the Goddess. Tomorrow the work continues - but at least, many people are safer today for what the voters accomplished last night.

We Need a New Constitution

The USA needs a new constitution. The old one served us reasonably well and I would preserve many parts of it, but certainly not all.

First, the preamble. It ought to pretty much cover the waterfront, except that we seem to have forgotten what "provide for the general welfare" is supposed to mean. Therefore I would specifically state in a new preamble that the US is adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and will guarantee them to all within its borders.

Article I Section 4: Provides that Congress shall assemble at least once a year. Let's change this to require that they meet year round with federal holidays and 4 weeks paid vacation.

Article I Section 6: Says that the Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by law. The problem here is that they make the law and therefore vote themselves increases as they please. I would amend this to state that the Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their Services, to be fixed by public vote in the general election every 4 years. We are their boss. Does your boss let you decide your own salary? I bet not.

Here's a provision we need to return to rather than continuously extend: Article I Section 8 gives Congress the power to "promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." Note here, it says to the authors and inventors themselves, not to big corporations that buy up these copyrights and patents and then hold on to them for many years after the author or inventor is dead. Let's bring copyright and patent law back into compliance with this provision and reward the actual creator of the work, rather than companies that had nothing to do with it.

The same section gives Congress the power to raise and support armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer term than two years. I haven't gotten to the amendments yet but if that's not superceded, why aren't we following it?

Article I Section 9 states that "the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it." Here I would end the sentence after the word "suspended." This would make indefinite, secret detentions of American citizens on American soil unquestionably unconstitutional without any "public safety" exception: a slippery slope indeed!

I would do away with the electoral college and allow the President of the United States to be elected by a majority or plurality of the popular vote. (Article II Section 1).

Article III Section 3 defines treason as consisting only in levying war against them (the United States) or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. This appears to encompass only external treason. Perhaps acting in such a way as to undermine the USA's "mission statement" inclusive of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be considered treasonous as well.

Given that it has become obvious that the Supreme Court has become political in nature, the justices should be restricted to a one-time term (possibly 8 or 10 years). Right now Article III allows them to hold their offices during "good behavior." There is no explicit mechanism for removal of a justice by impeachment and this should be added.

Article IV, Section 3 provides for creation of new states, but there are no sanctions on a state that goes rogue and refuses to follow federal law and/or the Federal Constitution. I propose an additional paragraph in Article IV providing that in cases where a state's governing bodies willfully refuse to follow applicable federal law and/or the US Constitution, with the agreement of 2 of the 3 branches of federal government, that state's elected officials shall be removed from office and ineligible to run for future office, whereupon a special election for those offices will be held. If we are indeed a Union then State officials must obey federal law; they cannot simply choose to ignore it. Article VI confirms that federal law is the supreme law of the land.

Article VI states that no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. A word to the Dominionists: this is NOT a Christian nation! If possible I'd like to further reinforce this statement in a new, updated constitution.

Amendments:

Keep the First Amendment intact.

Eliminate the Second Amendment. A well regulated militia today does not depend on individuals keeping and bearing arms. The arms would be supplied by the military. Laws regulating the right to keep and bear arms are already in effect and should be strengthened. America does not need to lead the world in murders by gun.

Similarly, the Third Amendment is outmoded and can be eliminated. Replace these two with a 2nd Amendment reading: Congress shall make no law abridging the right or ability of any citizen to vote in any federal, state, or municipal election or referendum. (Thanks to my friend Bertram Miller for suggesting this one).

Amend Amendment 4 to make it explicitly clear that a person's effects include their emails, text messages, IM's and social media postings, all of which should require a warrant before search and seizure.

Amend the due process clause in Amendment 5 to read, "nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without JUDICIAL due process of law." Also make it clear that the clause allowing the government to take private property for public use may not be used to transfer private property to a different private individual or company.

Amendment VI: no change.

Amendment VII: Given today's prices, perhaps the threshold for requiring a jury trial should be raised! This has probably occurred by decision anyhow but why not make it explicit.

Amendment VIII: no change.

Amendments IX and X: rights retained by the people and the states: I'm not sure what we could do to head off the resurgence of "states rights" movements. Generally they seek to re-impose discriminatory laws on their people. Suggestions welcome.

Skipping to the 13th Amendment, keep this amendment in place since involuntary servitude continues to exist de facto within the US.

The 14th Amendment should be sufficient to enforce marriage equality for all US citizens but since it hasn't done so I favor an explicit amendment guaranteeing the right of all citizens to marry the consenting adult of their choice.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment might provide an avenue for ridding ourselves of Congress members who have engaged in rebellion against the US, since this isn't specifically defined.

Section 4 says that the US debt, authorized by law... shall not be questioned. If we have incurred greater debt then we have to raise the debt ceiling. Refusal to do so might be reasonably considered rebellion against the United States Constitution which Congress members swear to uphold.

Amendment 15: leave it in place even though Amendment 2 should cover this and all other attempts to disenfranchise the population.

Amendment 16: Maybe we should specify that there will be a progressive income tax. Other suggestions are welcome.

Amendment 17: No change.

Amendments 18 and 21 cancel each other out. Let's have an 18th Amendment legalizing the medical and recreational use of marijuana, allowing for similar restrictions on its use while driving, etc., as are imposed on alcoholic beverages.

Amendment 19: Again, the 2nd Amendment should eliminate the need for this but I would keep it on the books.

Amendment 20: leave as written

Amendment 22; leave as written

Amendment 23: leave as written

Amendment 24 prohibits poll taxes. While Amendment 2 should cover this issue I think it should remain in place and explicitly state that fees for identification documents recognized at the polls are also to be considered a poll tax and therefore identification documents that can only be obtained by paying a fee and waiting longer than 14 days must be prohibited.

Amendment 25: No change.

Amendment 26: No change (right to vote for 18 year olds).

Amendment 27 won't be necessary once the right to vote on Congressional salaries is taken away from Congress and given to the people.

New Amendments (note, for the most part I have followed the existing numeration but if we eliminate the old Amendments 2 and 3 the numbering will change accordingly:

Amendment 28: The Equal Rights Amendment: Section 1. Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

I would eliminate Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification, and replace it with, This amendment shall take effect immediately upon ratification.

Amendment 29: Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect immediately upon ratification.

Amendment 30: The right of all US citizens and residents to marry the consenting adult of their choice shall not be abridged by reason of sexual orientation and/or gender identity. No person legitimately married to a citizen of the United States shall be deported due to lack of legal residency documentation, and all persons legitimately married to a citizen of the United States shall be eligible to become US citizens upon fulfilling the standard requirements for naturalization as provided by law.

Amendment 31: Section 1 [A corporation is not a person and can be regulated]

The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only.

Artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law.

The privileges of artificial entities shall be determined by the People, through Federal, State, or local law, and shall not be construed to be inherent or inalienable.

Section 2 [Money is not speech and can be regulated]

Federal, State and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own contributions and expenditures, for the purpose of influencing in any way the election of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure.

Federal, State and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and expenditures be publicly disclosed.

The judiciary shall not construe the spending of money to influence elections to be speech under the First Amendment.

Section 3

Nothing contained in this amendment shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.

A Pat on the Head

There's a famous photo of a little African-American boy feeling President Obama's hair to see if it felt like his own. He agreed that it did. I love that photo for several reasons. I hope that little Jacob was thinking that he, too, could become President someday. Or maybe he just thought it was cool that his hair feels the same as the President's. I also love seeing that our President is humble enough to bend down and let a small boy touch his head. It shows that his ego doesn't get in the way, and also that he has a great way of relating to children.

The photo reminded me of a pat on the head that wasn't so "cool." When I was in fifth grade, the first African-American boy joined our class.

Many of us had never seen a black person before or at least hadn't been in close contact with a child. So, his classmates, probably including me, were intrigued by his kinky hair and sometimes walked up behind him to feel it.

Oscar objected angrily. I'm sure he felt singled out and humiliated for being different. Were we racist? I don't know. I was 9, younger than the others, but is that an excuse? Again, I don't know. I think we were just curious and meant no harm, but we caused harm anyhow. We invaded Oscar's personal space without his permission. All this happened in the classroom, so I'm wondering why the teacher didn't intervene.

As an adult, I can see that we did wrong even if it was unintentional. I hope all of us have learned and are more respectful of differences today. In any case, the photo of President Obama letting Jacob feel his hair stands out as a contrast and a positive mirror to our negative behavior all those years ago.

A Letter from Romney's Campaign

Some bozo in Romney's campaign appears to think I am a man named Nicholas. I tried, but they would not be disabused of this notion. That's okay, because those of us who have no intentions of voting for "Pinocchio" Romney should know what kind of lies they are passing around. I find this letter astonishing because the Romney campaign professes to be for the middle class, for education, and hard work. This from a man who loves firing people, isn't concerned about the very poor, and wants college students to fund their educations by borrowing money from their parents. This from a man who wanted to let the foreclosure crisis bottom out on its own and let the auto industry drop dead. So here it is, a letter full of lies:


Nicholas,

This election is about more than electing a president. We are choosing the kind of America we will live in today -- and the kind of America we will leave our children tomorrow.

Mitt Romney has a vision for America. It is an America driven by a growing middle class. An America that lets free enterprise work. An America where education, hard work, and living within our means are valued and rewarded.

And that's exactly what we can expect America to be under President Romney. As a trusted supporter, you deserve to be the first to see our latest TV ad outlining President Romney's agenda on day one.

Day One Video

While there's much to be done, there's simply no time to waste on approving the Keystone Pipeline, introducing tax cuts for job creators, and replacing Obamacare.

Many Americans have given up on this President, but they've never thought about giving up. Not on themselves. Not on each other. We can put these last few years of disappointment and decline behind us.

We can restore America's greatness -- beginning on day one with President Romney. So I ask for your support to help make that a reality.

Donate $10 today to help us turn America around and defeat Barack Obama and the liberal Democrats in November.

Thanks,

Matt Rhoades

My Mom, Rae Kraut 1916-1995

My mother was born in 1916 to Greek Jewish immigrants from the town of Janina. She was born in the U.S. though my eldest uncle was born in Greece and my eldest aunt was born on the ship en route to America (I shudder to imagine that childbirth scene).

Even though she was just a toddler in 1918 Mom remembered the maimed soldiers returning from World War I. For the rest of her life she disliked parades and got teary eyed when she heard a marching band.

When Mom was 13 the Great Depression hit. My grandfather was something of an aristocrat in Greece, but he invested in a florist business here and lost his business and his money when the crash came. Mom remembered not having a nickel for an Eskimo pie. She graduated high school while the country was still in the throes of the Depression, and tried to attend college. But her boss, just like the ones that are exploiting this second depression today, kept her overtime on a constant basis so that she missed her classes and had to drop out. Imagine if she'd been able to finish and become an accountant. She became a bookkeeper instead.

Her heart was always with the workers and she went out on strike in the 1930's. I'm proud to say Mom was a "union maid."

Mom married for the first time to a man named Jack Dash, and became a mother for the first time to my brother Sandy. Sadly, Jack had a rare circulatory disorder and passed away quite young. She remarried to my father, Lou Kraut, and they had me about a year later.

My birth was hard on Mom. I was six weeks premature and they kept me in an incubator for five weeks. When I was first born at 2.5 pounds a callous nurse told Mom, "You can have another baby," if I didn't make it. Mom became distraught and I hope that nurse was replaced!

Mom was loving and tough at the same time. She had strong principles and would not tolerate breaking them. Friends described her as an iron fist in a velvet glove because she would not back down on a matter of principle. She was a staunch Democrat and argued with my father when he voted for Mayor Lindsay on the Republican ticket. Mom voted for Lindsay but she would never vote Republican; instead she voted for him on the Liberal ticket to send him a message about the kind of mayor she wanted him to be.

I gave her a hard time during my adolescence in the late sixties and early seventies. She was critical of many things but agreed on politics and she marched with me at at least one anti-war march. She took my aunts and uncles to task for supporting Nixon.

Mom also had strong feelings about Israel and anti-semitism and she became Vice President of our building's B'nai B'rith chapter, in charge of the liaison to the Anti-Defamation League. She was nervous about speaking in public but when she had to, she spoke out.

Mom's four grandchildren from Sandy and one from me were her constant joy. Sadly, in her late sixties, she developed Parkinson's Disease and possibly Alzheimer's also. Finally we had to move her out of her Bronx apartment and into a nursing home in Brooklyn. She fought hard to get Russian Jews out of Russia and I told her in one of her more lucid moments that she was living among the people she helped to rescue.

The day she died, I went to visit her. I hadn't been there in about two weeks because I had a summer cold and anyone with an infectious disease was forbidden to visit. Finally I was better and I went to see her. She asked after the family and was reassured that everyone was well. Her eyes looked different and she said she couldn't see. Although I was in denial and told the nurses I wanted to arrange a birthday party for her (she would have been 79 nine days later), something told me I would not see her again, and I made sure to say, "I love you," before I left.

Mom valued education and pushed me to go not just to college but also to graduate school. She was fierce in her activism when she saw injustice. I have adopted her values (with some minor modifications) and owe a great deal to the teachings she gave me with her words and example.

I love you, Mom. Happy Mother's Day, wherever you are.

n

Letter to the Daily News About Police Commissioner Kelly

I am appalled at the recent editorial encouraging Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to run for Mayor of NYC. Under his watch, thousands of young men of color have been stopped and frisked without any reason to suspect them of wrongdoing. Kelly is also responsible for the anti-Muslim film that police officers watched. Also under his watch NYPD officers carried out unconstitutional spying on Muslims simply because of their religious affiliation, spying that went into areas of New Jersey where the NYPD has no jurisdiction.

Commissioner Kelly has not reined in his underlings from the vicious and brutal beatings and unwarranted arrests of thousands of peaceful demonstrators. In fact it is all too obvious that the orders to mistreat protesters have to be coming from above. Kelly is therefore responsible for the cruel treatment of Occupiers and other protesters and the violation of their 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th Amendment rights. He is head of the NYPD and the buck stops with him. He is in no way qualified to be Mayor of New York City. Stop any and all promoting of him for this office. The man shouldn't be elected dog catcher.

Kent State Memories

In May 1970 I was 15 years old and a junior at the Bronx High School of Science. I opposed the Vietnam War and went to demonstrations with my friends Janet and Susan on a regular basis.

When we heard about the shootings at Kent State the students exploded. I remember kids jumping out the first floor windows (just a few feet off the ground) at Science to leave school and go to the demonstrations. We all felt the bullets weren't just aimed at the 4 dead and 9 injured, but they were aimed at all of us. Everyone who opposed the war, everyone who wore a peace button, long hair, bell bottom jeans, we were all the target.

A demonstration was called in front of the Army-Navy recruiting station at Fordham Road and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Susan and I marched there with the other kids and we set up a picket line, circling the traffic island in front of the recruiting station. After a while we got hungry and left our school books on the traffic island while we went to a nearby park to eat lunch. In those days you could do that without worrying that someone would steal your stuff!

When we got back, we were stopped by members of the Tactical Police Force, the riot squad, or as we knew them, the boys in the baby blue helmets. Today's riot squads wear black helmets and are practically encased in armor. Baby blue helmets were prettier but we still knew these men were not your friendly neighborhood cops.

They refused to let us back into the demonstration. We told them we just wanted to get our books back. "Then you should have gone to school today," one of them sneered. Finally they agreed to let Susan retrieve all our books but kept me as a hostage to ensure that she didn't rejoin the picket line. This was, of course, a violation of our rights, but we were in no position to argue. There were no legal observers, just high school kids marching in a circle and chanting. The TPF could have done anything they wanted. As I stood there waiting for Susan to come back with my books, one TPF turned to another and remarked, "Think we'll get to crack any heads today?"

I was terrified, praying for Susan to come back quickly! When she did get back, we knew it was useless to try to get back into the march, so we went home.

I wouldn't be surprised if those boys in baby blue helmets were the daddies of some of the most abusive cops attacking Occupiers today.

Catching Up to 2012!

It's hard to believe I let this blog go by the wayside for almost exactly two years. I'll have to blame some of it on Facebook and Twitter, which take up altogether too much of my time. There's no way I can catch up two years in one or two blog posts but here are the bare bones.

Bruce found four jobs after his initial layoff from National Envelope. He also worked for the Census in 2010, beginning shortly after I put up my last 2010 post. Now he's been laid off again. This time he's within about 20 months of early retirement, so while we hope he finds work, it's not the complete disaster it was three years ago.


Jason has his Associate's degree from Borough of Manhattan Community College. He's out of school at the moment and looking for work. It's not exactly easy in today's insane economy.

I found a part time job with health benefits in July 2010. I'd been writing grant proposals for Youth Pride Chorus since October 2009 on a very part time basis, and in the summer of 2010 their Development Associate quit to become a student teacher. Now I raise funds for Youth Pride Chorus and the New York City Gay Men's Chorus. Can I say, "I love my job!" Because I do.

Last summer I started up a small home business making pinback buttons. We named it Celestial Buttons (after my name, of course, no angels involved). We sell political and other buttons, with a distinctly left leaning flavor. I'm a leftie, after all. We also would like to do children's parties where kids can create their own design and we'll make it into a customized button. Here's the link: www.celestialbuttons.com.

That's where we are professionally. Our free time activities have changed as well. Two years ago we were both on the board and deeply involved in the Brooklyn Humanist Community. Over time the group evolved away from any interest in action and preferred to remain a social group in nature. In its place we have joined another small group, Politics for a Human Community, which has its own meetup at www.meetup.com/NYC-PHC. and a Facebook page as well. Bruce and I have gotten involved with several other groups as well.

I'm still dedicated to the causes I listed in 2009, with the addition of getting corporate money out of politics. Citizens United was a horrible, wrongheaded decision allowing the wealthiest people and corporations to buy politicians and buy our elections, and we have to overturn it. So we are working on that as well.

It's good to be back.