My Letter to the President: No Cuts to Social Security!

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama,

First, I want you to know that I worked for your campaigns in 2008 and 2012. I met with members of the Sheepshead Bay Organizing for America Team weekly and made innumerable phone calls on your behalf. Naturally, I voted for you in both elections.

My husband was laid off in July 2009 and your actions were a great help to us. Because COBRA was divided between employer and employee, we were able to afford COBRA on my husband’s unemployment benefits. This would not have been the case if we had to pay the full 102%. We were also able to continue our son on the health benefit plan even though he was turning 20 years old.

Although my husband sought and found five jobs, including working for the Census in 2010, none of them lasted. The job climate today has been terribly eroded due to corporations simply refusing to give employees full time jobs with benefits any more. So, he was unable to continue building up his Social Security benefits over the past 4 years as he would have had his original company not gone bankrupt and closed the plant where he worked.

Now, however, you have included chained CPI in your proposed budget, which is clearly a cut to Social Security. That is a direct break in your promise to your base, that you would not allow cuts to Social Security. Medicare cuts are included in that budget as well. I am less clear whether they are direct cuts to beneficiaries. But the chained CPI will directly affect and harm today’s and future seniors as well as veterans who have become disabled fighting for our country.

Some are saying this was a bargaining chip, and lo and behold, the Republicans rejected it out of hand because it doesn’t cut enough! But is anyone, including you, pointing out that Social Security has no effect whatever on the deficit? Why harm us so that the Republicans might (doubtful) accept revenue increases on the 1% they so abjectly serve?

Mr. President, I am tired of the Republicans creating one financial crisis after another. They deserve no concessions. It is time to stop negotiating with terrorists and it will never be time to offer to cut Social Security and Medicare in order to appease them. It is time to fight for a jobs bill, to fight for repairing our pitifully outdated and rickety infrastructure, and it is time to fight to repeal the sequester, which is already harming millions of Americans.

I do not have your back on this. Take Social Security cuts and any Medicare cuts that affect beneficiaries out of your budgets, Sir. This is not what we voted for, not why I gave my Tuesday nights up for during the months leading up to your election and re-election. Please stand tall as you did during the campaign and protect the American people from the Republican terrorists.

Sincerely,



Celeste Leibowitz

Activist Saturday

Yesterday Bruce and I went to two events: "Money-Out, Voters-In," and afterwards, to the memorial for Aaron Swartz at Cooper Union.

At "Money Out, Voters-In" we heard a number of inspiring speakers. Mark Green pointed out that politicians must hear more from voters than from donors. He stated that this was what happened when the Watergate scandal broke. Rev. James Forbes, Pastor Emeritus at Riverside Church, said that voter suppression is an offense before God. He pointed out that buying an election is the sin of simony and is a moral and spiritual defect of the perpetrators. When one commits simony, his money perishes with him. (We can only hope this applies to the brothers Koch).

Jeff Clements of Free Speech for the People pointed out that the effort to secure fair elections without corporate money is a fight for our national soul. We need a 28th amendment overturning Citizens United so that the people, not the 1% or the big corporations make the rules for fair and free elections. Citizens United actually makes it illegal to try and level the playing field. It is most definitely a wrongheaded decision that will destroy our democracy.

In 2012, 159 people contributed 60% of the SuperPAC money, and 32 people contributed as much as all donors to both presidential elections. On local levels, companies buy seats on city councils and people who live in those communities lose the ability to govern them. This is a bipartisan issue: we must win our power back. So far 11 states have voted for the 28th Amendment.

Bill Samuels pointed out that we must get angrier if we are going to bring about this change and have campaign finance reform. In New York State, in the past 2 years only 1% of political contributions were under $1,000.

Susan Lerner of Common Cause pointed out that corporate money in elections is stopping us from having affordable housing in NYC and may bring in fracking. We must pass the fair elections law.

After the initial speakers, a musical interlude, and a comedy routine, we separated into groups for 3 teach ins. Bruce went to the teach in on getting the 28th amendment passed. I attended one about expanding the vote: bringing early voting to New York. Apparently there is already a bill in the state assembly and even the state senate is showing interest.

Because we wanted to attend the memorial for Aaron Swartz, we skipped the Corporate Wedding that was to take place at 26 Wall Street. I understand the bride was wearing a gown made of dollar bills. I hope I can find a photo of that!

The Aaron Swartz memorial was packed. Almost every seat in the Cooper Union Great Hall was taken. The place is full of history: Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglas, and many other historical figures have spoken there.

The memorial was hosted by Ben Wikler, a friend and ally of Aaron. Pete Seeger's songs played while photos of Aaron flashed on three screens. Pete Seeger could not attend but sent his grandson to read a statement honoring Aaron for his work to make this a better world for all.

The big takeaway, besides learning about Aaron and his accomplishments (for which he did not take much credit), was that we must hold the DA who made his life hell accountable for his relentless and cruel prosecution of Aaron, whose crimes were victimless. We must dismantle the (in)justice system that has the highest rate of incarceration, and of all the people in prison all over the world, holds 25% of them behind bars. We must dedicate ourselves to making the world a better place, as he did.

Aaron could have been wealthy, in fact he was independently wealthy, but he lived an austere life in a tiny apartment. Nothing he did was about himself or about making money. He believed strongly in the commons and he asked himself constantly which of his projects would do the most good; then he pursued those projects. He led the fight against SOPA and got so many signatures that the internet censorship bill was defeated. He believed that information and knowledge must be available to everyone, for free.

His quote: "With enough of us, around the world, we'll not just send a strong message opposing the privatization of knowledge - we'll make it a thing of the past."

Aaron Swartz was no saint in the traditional sense, but his fervor to work for the common good and use technology for a better world, his refusal to think first of himself, marks him as one of the great men of our time. I feel for his parents, his partner, his friends, whose grief is a personal one. I also feel for the rest of us, who would have benefited greatly from his genius and his altruism (rational altruism, as one of the speakers named it). We have lost a great mind and a great soul, and I feel for Aaron himself, hounded to the point where he saw no alternative but the end of a rope.

For the rest of us, life goes on, with, I hope, a rededication to the ideals that made us activists and made those who never even met Aaron show up at Cooper Union yesterday.

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