For the past few years, I've been bothered by the strong influence that corporations and their lobbyists have had in our political system. It seems that these corporations are able to spend large amounts of money to insure that only their voices are heard in the halls of government. While many Tea Party members are worried about an encroaching big government, I share with many progressives a different worry about the growing power of corporations over our politics and personal choices. So last Summer I decided to attend a rally to limit corporate lobbying and sponsorship of politicians in Washington D.C. and to advocate the public financing of elections in front of San Jose's City Hall. Along with this blog are photos I took of the event.

Lately I've been hearing a lot of people express disillusionment with voting, and I don't blame them. With all that we hear about gridlock in government, the bad economy and the extreme slow pace of change, it seems to a lot of people like voting doesn't make any difference. In spite of that, I do think voting matters. The Founding Fathers, the various women suffragists, civil rights workers, and the many activists risked their lives for our right to vote. I'm a Democrat, but I think Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Green Party members, everyone should go vote and express their opinions. I think if you're a true American, you'd want all American to vote, whether they agree with you or not.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal should step aside as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. Clear evidence exists that Blumenthal has engaged in a pattern of misrepresenting himself, and allowing others to misrepresent him, as a veteran who served in Viet Nam during the war.

Blumenthal points to other times when he has more clearly indicated that he served in the Marine Reserves during the war without implying that he was deployed into the combat zones of Viet Nam. Thus, Blumenthal argues, he simply “misspoke” on multiple occasions when he referred to his service in Viet Nam.

I don’t buy that he simply misspoke, and I don’t think it matters all that much if he did. Based upon primary results so far, this is not shaping up to be a good year for candidates or parties that aim for getting through one more election cycle with the same old approach.

I've written several posts in the past calling for Connecticut Senator, Chris Dodd, to resign given the ineffectiveness of his handling of the banking crisis. Now that he has indicated that he will be leaving after this term the leading Democratic candidate to replace him, Ct. Atty. General, Richard Blumenthal, has admitted that he "misspoke" about his record of military service. It seems that Dodd's senate seat is inherently toxic. That's not a comforting thought to this former resident of Connecticut. See the link for the full story.

I will admit that I don't know most of the facts. I didn't read the New York Times report and I didn't watch Blumenthal's press conference. All I really know is the information presented in the MSNBC story. If true, and I don't have any reason to believe otherwise, Mr. Blumenthal's explanation falls far short and he should remove himself from the Senate race.

I know. Criticizing a campaign mailer -- or maybe that should be spelled "campain maler"--is like picking the fruit hanging so low it's almost on the ground. But maybe you will allow a little venting.

I won't criticize the use of suggestive phrases instead of actual assertions ("Kansas values. Kansas commonsense.") Nor will I criticize the assertions that are only questionably relevant: "Five generations of Mann's [sic] have lived in the house his great-grandfather built." OK. But he lives more than 100 miles to the east.

But then we get these words: "Free market solutions for healthcare reform" and "protect Social Security and Medicare." Under the assumption that he is listing these things because he supports them, isn't there a problem here? Neither Social Security nor Medicare are "free market solutions," and that is their glory. We have learned from hundreds of years of experience now that free markets are greatly inventive, but without assistance they promote inequality. In fact, they promote so much inequality that those who can no longer sell their labor or intelligence on the free market would be left without the necessities of life.

So which do you want, Mr. Candidate, free market solutions or help for the elderly?

I want to be really honest with my fellow liberals and progressives. A true liberal is not going to win in South Carolina. There has to be a foundation built in order to get that done. Let's read on as I share with you Chad McGowan's stances on issues that matter to us and why he needs to be our next U.S. senator.

Ever since the special elections where Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, I've been disappointed and a bit angry at the results. As a Democrat, though, I have to admit that we Democrats have only ourselves to blame. Ever since conservative activists made a lot of noise at the town hall meetings in August, these conservatives have been able to control the terms of the debate. I think the anger that the conservative activists showed last August spooked the politicians who faced them and pushed them towards a more centrist path. Progressives have not been able to mount a strong and loud enough grassroots campaign to counter the tea party activists and pressure Congress to keep the public option.

Massachusetts voters sent a strong signal to Washington lawmakers Tuesday that they want results—and aren't seeing any. Not on health care reform, not on job creation and not on fixing the nation's economy.

Voters also sent another powerful message for Democrats: Ignore the working class at your peril.

Some 79 percent of voters polled on election night said the most important issue for them was electing a candidate who will strengthen the economy and create more jobs. Controlling health care costs was next on their list, with 54 percent citing that issue as the main determinant of their vote.

The poll, conducted by Hart Research Associates among 810 voters for the AFL-CIO on the night of the election, also found that although voters without a college degree favored Barack Obama by 21 percentage points in the 2008 election, Democratic candidate Martha Coakley lost that same group by a 20-point margin.

A mere 59 to 41 majority?

What's that old quip? "I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat."? Yeah, well, I'm feeling that way today. The defeat of Martha Coakley in Massachusetts is being played as a huge disaster not just for the Democratic majority but for the health care bill in particular. I say, "Bull hockey!"

After selling out to the private health care industry, notably the insurance companies and drug companies, the wimpy Democrats in Congress are blubbering and the tea-partying right wingers are celebrating.

Well, here's my take. Screw 'em.

A 59 to 41 majority counts. So does polling consistently showing that a clear majority of the American people want real health care reform, including at least a public option---not the compromised crapola passed by the Senate. So what to do now?

Axe the compromises with the Republican party of "We ain't gonna give you nothin' and you gotta give us plenty." Screw 'em. Re-write the bill with a single-payer system, and if the Republicans want to filibuster and shut down our government. Well, screw 'em. Let'em filibuster, run their mouths, and take the responsibility.

There is no better time than now. I'm betting I'm not the only one saying so. Get off your rear end and call your senators and representatives.

In what is a very sad day for the United States of America, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the right of free speech and can give unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns.

Mark today down in your calendar as a day that America changed forever, from one theoretically controlled by the will of the people to one controlled by corporations, both American and foreign owned.

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