Community Roundtable

President Obama announced in January that a deal was reached to halt Iran’s nuclear program.  He also announced that a separate negotiation had been reached on a decades old debt dispute; that $400 million in frozen assets would be returned, plus $1.7 billion interest, which was way less than Iran was seeking.  (The Shah paid the U.S. millions of dollars for weaponry that was never delivered, as he was deposed by the 1979 Islamic Revolution.  In 1981 the 2 countries agreed the international tribunal, The Hague, would settle the legal claim.)  Our president agreed to settle this old score in order to halt their nuclear capabilities.  A 3rd negotiation was for the release of 4 Americans; the New York Times stated, “all three issues came together in a carefully choreographed push that many hoped would set the stage for the constructive relations between the two nations; the administration withheld the payment to ensure that Iran didn’t renege on its promise to free the detainees”, which was strong, smart diplomacy!   Our president said, “We do not pay ransom.  We didn’t here and we won’t in the future!”  Anyone using this situation for political gain, instilling in the minds of terrorists that we do pay ransoms — puts all Americans at risk!   (It is, however, NOT against our law IF a president decided to pay a ransom!)

People of integrity and good sense need to speak up Loud and Clear, NOW!  Stop the insanity!  Stop the incessant LIES, the inflammatory, offensive untruths about one’s opponents!  Stop aiding and abetting a thoroughly disgusting and pathologically unfit candidate, who DAILY spews more venom, nonsense, inciting violence and attacking nearly every ethnic group in the country!  What must this disgraceful candidate do to utterly disqualify himself from the highest office in our land?!  The GOP are entirely spineless!  Those remaining are running out of whitewash, excuses, time and respect!  All those who have endorsed Trump need TO GO — and take their blathering buffoon with them!  Their standard has fallen and is mired in the muck!  It’s irretrievable!!  Decent people are fast-fleeing the tent and the exodus includes lifers like George Will, Senator Jeff Flake, Michael Bloomberg — the list swells!  Kick Fox Propaganda station off the air and replace it with an education program teaching “Civics for Dummies”!  Require an IQ test at the polls.  When a right-winger like Charles Krauthammer crosses over to the Light — you’re done!  Fold up your raggedy, dirty-tricks tent and GO!!  Or just vote for Trump and kick-start Armageddon!  Whatever!

Most people say that Virginia Senator Tim Kaine is a principled, passionate, decent guy.  I say that — in addition to speaking fluent Espanol, he plays a mean harmonica, and like Hillary — he has True Grit!  He took on the tobacco industry in his tobacco-growing state and he stood up to the gun-lobby and still won his election!  He is a champion for social justice, as is Hillary; and they will work together on criminal justice and immigration reforms, shoring up eroding infrastructures, strengthening civil rights and veteran’s care,  improve the current healthcare system and work toward a new paradigm in education.  They are both against the TPP, as it now stands, though Kaine voted for the Trade Promotion Authority bill that allowed Obama to negotiate on the Trans Pacific Partnership deal; there’s a difference folks!   Obama asked Congress, in 2014, for Authority for Use of Military Force against ISIS, but still the House and Senate are not “able to agree on language that both authorizes and constrains the war against ISIS”.  (They’d rather it appear that Obama is the non-actor).  Hillary and Kaine support updating the AUMF and “having Congress express its resolve to back our military and win this fight”!  Like I said:  True Grit!   VOTE BLUE!!

Not much!  It’s a good thing for the GOP party though that Trump has shown he’s capable of accepting ANY logical advice.  Pence is an ultra-conservative and embraces the party platform:  fewer regulations for big corporations (which equates to more polluted air and water and deforestation), cutting taxes on the uber-rich, relying on fossil-fuels, shunning green energy sources, pro-Fracking, pro-War, cutting social services and Medicare, privatizing Social Security and Veterans-care, repealing universal health-care coverage, limiting voting and civil rights, denying climate change, obstructing progress, promoting inequality, spending millions on bogus investigations, inciting witch-hunts, anti-education, anti-unions, anti-freedoms, anti-Choice, anti-Truth and Integrity, pro-animosity — promoting outrageous LIES against their opposition!  Pence should “be down” with all that!     I’ve watched four evenings of the GOP convention and I’ve heard very little Pro-Trump (aside from his wife and offspring); it’s been a MEGA HATE-FEST focused on Hillary Clinton, and perpetuating blatant lies against her (and the Democrats)!   Don’t  vote out of spite! GOP — House of Lies — Uniting through Hate!  ********************************* Men, I appeal to you ALL — to think about YOUR mother, YOUR wife, sweetheart, daughters, sisters, nieces, cousins, friends, grandchildren, sons, brothers, father –what do you want – available for THEM – in this country?    Is all this Hate-talk, division and disrespect worth it?!  Do we really want to go backward in this country to an uglier time?!  I think NOT!

Just another GOP Witch Hunt!  Another Clinton investigation where they can find NOTHING prosecution-worthy!  FBI Director James Comey’s remarks about Hillary having been extremely careless with her Secretary of State email account were intended to continue the exaggerated controversy meant to damage Hillary’s image in her run for presidency — as the GOP knows what a formidable candidate she is!   The GOP is willing to do ANYTHING to put one of their nincompoops in office.   Like the DOJ is going to set precedent charging Hillary for mishandling emails?!  LUDICROUS!  For all you who are so outraged by Hillary’s “mishandling” of her emails — where is your outrage for the 22 million emails deleted by Karl Rove from the private server installed in the Bush White House?   What of the 5 million or so “LOST” emails (in 2007 alone) of Dubya and Cheney ?   What of Condi Rice’s and Colin Powell’s emails, which were requested but not turned over to the FBI?   Ye Hypocrites!  “Straining at gnats and swallowing camels!”   Just like the 8 Benghazi investigations that cost the taxpayers over $7 million — all they’ve got is innuendo, accusations and GOP animus!  IT’S ALL THEY’VE GOT!!   Besides Drumpf!

WHAT IF an epidemic in our nation were taking the lives of 30 people a day — 8 of which were children?  We would look to our state and federal governments to mobilize immediate assistance and legislation to protect us!  WHAT IF terrorists were killing 30 people daily?  Whether foreign or home-grown … murderers ARE terrorists!!   Democrats in the House were joined by some 20 Senators on Wednesday — in a Sit-In on the House floor — trying to force a vote on some gun-control bills (which were defeated in the U.S. Senate).  They were demanding that the Speaker of the House at least ALLOW A VOTE on strengthening universal background checks for gun-show and online gun sales and “No-Fly No-Buy” and enhanced oversight legislation, which around 90 percent of Americans WANT passed and enforced!  WE THE PEOPLE WANT LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS — FREE FROM CONSTANT LOSS AND GRIEF; the Orlando shooting was 1 of 43 shootings in the U.S. on 6/12/16.  The 2nd amendment was enacted when flintlock muskets were in use and took a minute or so to load one lead ball, and we NEEDED local, well-regulated militias.  Now each state has one — it’s called the National Guard, and federally — The Department of Defense.

Trish Forsyth Voss for 6/24/16 Community Roundtable response for The Register-Mail newspaper, Galesburg, IL.

Yes, I think it should apply to salaried workers as well.  Illinois law not only requires employers to pay its workers at least $8.245 per hour, but also “time and a half” for all hours worked after the first 40 hours in a given week.  There is also the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is federal law, that requires that covered employees be paid time and a half for work over 40 hours a week, and also protects employees from retaliation, such as being demoted or fired, for asking about or suing for lost wages.  Federal and state overtime laws applied to the majority of employees, but excluded some Executive, administrative and professional employees, sales people, mechanics, and workers in agricultural fields.   Private employers cannot offer workers “comp time” in place of overtime wages or require workers to perform tasks “off the clock” to get around paying them their due.   It is considered wage theft for employers to not comply with these laws, and employees can sue their employers without fear of retaliation says the Chicago Overtime Law Center, who can be contacted by phone at 312-869-4095 for a free and confidential consultation; they represent clients in state and federal court.

It’s all grandstanding, coercion and political posturing!  Last week after the first HB580 override motion failed and Governor Ruiner walked away from the bargaining table, 7 Republican representatives (Hammond, Davidsmeyer, Moffitt, Brown, Bryant, Bourne and Jimenez) “sent a letter to the governor and to AFSCME urging both parties to renew negotiating to reach a settlement”.  May 31 was the final legislative deadline to override the governor’s veto of HB580 by a simple majority; the vote fell 3 short, with NOT ONE of those 7 voting to support the override motion, thereby backing up Rauner’s deleterious efforts to hold us all hostage to his Scott Walker wannabe agenda!  So their letter was just a ploy to appear to care about state employees and constituents all the while prolonging the impasse that damages us all.  The billionaire governor is for the rich getting richer and plundering the state, our workers and our unions, pensions, health insurance and workman compensation benefits, etc. to accomplish that goal, and the Republicans will aid the vulture-capitalist in his vain quest against the populace and our social programs — like education!

Trish Forsyth Voss,  Community Roundtable forum for 6/3/16 The Register-Mail newspaper, Galesburg, IL.

Hillary is the presumptive nominee; Hillary will get the nomination; Hillary will be the next president of The United States!  For now Bernie Sanders supporters want to see their candidate compete in the next several states and feel their voices are heard, but Cruz and Kasich supporters probably felt the same way.  The experts say that Bernie cannot win the number of delegates that he needs to secure the nomination, and I feel he is holding the Democratic party hostage to his ideation and his ego, but those Sanders supporters that will vote for Hillary in the general election want Sanders to drag Hillary as far to the Left as possible, which he fully intends on doing!  The problem I have is with the radical remnant of “Bernie or Bust” followers, that threaten to throw their votes to Trump if they can’t get their way; they have no commitment to the Democratic party, they would just as soon see it all go up in smoke… to see and feel the Bern!   They are vociferous about feeling that Bernie is getting ripped off; that the system is rigged, and they’re now — acting out like those nasty Trump fans!  The real danger lies in the acrimony that Sanders (who has yet to release his income taxes) instills in his followers against Hillary.  While some prominent Republicans are saying that they will vote for Hillary over Trump, the “Bernie-bots” have drunk the Kool-Aid, gone off the reservation, and would embrace the vile Trumpeteer, all in the name of their sacred “BS” REVOLUTION!!        *************  Remember the old movie:  Weekend at Bernie’s…  Where his friends are dragging his cold, dead corpse from party to party because they cannot accept that he is DEAD!  That seems to correlate to this scenario exactly!

Trish Forsyth Voss