We Can Fix America’s Corrupt Political System

We Can Fix America’s Corrupt Political System 

Just about any person you talk to today feels that our government is corrupt. That’s right, the most powerful nation on earth is eat up with corruption. More and more Americans feel our democracy is completely broken.

If you have half a brain, it's obvious why? Lobbyist write our laws. Politicians are bought and paid for corruption touches every single issue in our governance. 


What is sad is that huge segments of people in America have disenfranchised themselves from the political process thinking there's nothing we can do about it. [corruption]

This thinking is one of the biggest cancers we have in our American democracy today! When you put this corruption under the microscope it's not that politicians are breaking the laws, in fact, there are no laws in place for them to break. There are some exceptions but not many or enough. 

Right Now, Corruption Is Legal in America

This factoid is something we can fix. For example, right now it's perfectly legal for "special interest groups" to hand over humongous checks to members of Congress who regulate and write laws. There is nothing to stop these members of Congress from passing laws that favor these groups even if said laws are a detriment to our society. 

Often, we see these same politicians accepting comfy jobs with these lobbying firms. This example is just one in a million we could use. 

We Must Make Corruption Illegal!

That's why the House of Public Discourse supports the "American Anti-Corruption Act." 

The American Anti-Corruption Act (commonly referred to as the "AACA" or "Anti-Corruption Act") is a piece of model legislation designed to limit the influence of money in American politics by overhauling lobbying, transparency, and campaign finance laws. ... Stopping political bribery by overhauling lobbying and ethics laws. [Wikipedia]

The "AACA" introduces a stringent set of ethical standards. For example, if you're a senator on the Banking Committee you can't take money or gifts from banking lobbyist. 

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Also, the "AACA" mandates full transparency so " We the People" know exactly who is paying what to whom. The "AACA" changes how elections are funded. The "AACA" achieves these things without taking away anyone's right to free speech. The bi-partisan constitutional scholars who authored this act wrote it in a way to withstand any legal scrutiny.

What About Citizens United?

While a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United would help corral those shadowy groups like "Americans for Freedom and Jobs and More Freedom." It would not fix any of the previously-mentioned problems. We could overturn Citizens United tomorrow and bribery, extortion, conflicts of interest, all of it would still be legal.

However, this corruption does pose an opportunity for those of us who desire to see it end. We can solve these problems with one comprehensive law. Which begs the question, but how?

How do we get such a law passed? Asking Congress to do so would be like asking a " Fox to put a lock on the Henhouse." However, not all is a loss here. We can go around Congress by using the " Ballot Initiative Process." This process allows citizens to pass laws ourselves. No politicians required. All we must do is gather enough signatures that would put the "AACA" up for a public vote and we can start fixing this out of control corrupt system we know as American Democracy.

Here's the Plan

We need a law and our research here in the House of Public Discourse finds the "American Anti-Corruption Act" a great comprehensive and common sense law to put up for a vote.
We need to bring all Progressives, Independents, and Conservatives together and get organized for this endeavor which in fact is one of the few political issues in modern politics that has bi-partisan appeal among the electorate. This is the only way to combat both the Global and National Oligarchs that control our two-party system in the present. For example, in 2014 both the " Tea-Party," and "Progressives" teamed up to pass the first anti-corruption act. In November 2014, a bipartisan coalition of Represent.Us members in Tallahassee, Florida, put America’s first municipal Anti-Corruption Act on the ballot – and they won. Since then, voters have passed initiatives for sweeping anti-corruption reforms in more than a dozen cities and states across America. In 2016, for the first time ever, comprehensive statewide anti-corruption legislation passed in South Dakota. [See Source]

Using the Ballot Initiative process Represent.us proclaims there are some 22,000 cities across the country that we could pass locally tailored anti-corruption legislation. We have always felt here in the House of Public Discourse that solid positive change within our political system always starts from the local level.

By starting from the local levels our efforts affect the communities we live in by protecting our schools, healthcare, resources, environment, and jobs from being sold out to special interest. Local politics matter! Also, starting at the local level builds momentum for passing legislation at the state level. 

State Acts not only would clean up statewide corruption it would change how elections are funded. In doing so, "We the People" get clean politicians, not one's like in the present who are in the hip pocket of special interest groups. State Acts would affect federal candidates as well. Once these state laws are passed we can truly "drain the swamp," by sending a new wave of clean politicians to Washington. 

By taking this fight against corruption to the local and state levels we can win this struggle against political corruption from the outside. And, once we have elected these fair-minded ethical politicians on the federal level we can then pass the "AACA" at the federal level.

Some may say this is a loss cause that it's pie in the sky thinking and isn't practical.  Our response here in the House of Public Discourse to these claims is quite simple.

• Was it pie in the sky for a band of thirteen colonies with no standing army to win a war against the strongest military power of its time?
• Was it thought practical that slavery would be abolished?
• Or, that woman and blacks would be allowed to vote.
• Was it unpragmatic to think that Same Sex Marriage would be a reality in American society?
• How many people said there would never be a person of color in the White House?

Corruption of Influence - The History of Campaign Finance

Written By: Johnny Hill

Jared Fogle’s Foundation Caught Playing Games With the Obesity Epidemic!

Jared Fogel

Not only, has Jared Fogle turned out to be a major disappointment as a spokesperson for Subway. He’s now facing allegations of fraud. According to several credible news sources, Fogle’s Foundation set up to assist in battling this Childhood obesity epidemic took in millions and gave out doodle- squat.

There are no two ways around this issue. The Jared Fogle Foundation is a massive fraud. Charity Watch President Daniel Borochoff in a report filed by USA Today stated:

“As with a lot of celebrities, the charity appears to be more about image-enhancement than charitable deeds.”

 In terms of distributing grants USA Today, who looked into this issue found the Jared Fogle Foundation issued a total of zero grants to schools fighting against this childhood obesity epidemic. The Tax records associated with the Foundation show that between 2009 to 2013 most of the money went to the Foundation Director, and the rest is lost in ” la la land” somewhere.

Also, it bears mentioning that the Director of the Foundation was busted months ago on Child-Pornography charges as well.What the facts are showing is these guys both Fogle and his Director are interested in children in a sexual manner. They set up a Charity that puts them near children but do nothing to help the children. The only thing their efforts do is put them in the immediacy of children.

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Jared Fogle Mr. Clean Subway spokesman guy has turned out to be one sick individual. Fogle, who seemed like an interesting guy with an interesting personal story of weight-loss, and to a certain degree became a ” Pop-Culture.” icon. However, in reality he is a put on a fake. In the case of Fogle, he wrapped himself around one of the major healthcare problems in America obesity all the while being a crook and child molester to boot.

And, You Wonder Why People Are Leary Of Giving To Charities?

It’s these type stories that embed themselves in people minds. The crookedness and the sheer lack of Morality. The actions by Fogle goes deeper than just his actions. It affects all those who are trying to be of service who are ethical. This indecency does affect the overall fight against the obesity epidemic in our country. The majority of Americans no matter their political persuasion to coin a phrase ” have had it up to here.” with these types of violations of the public trust.

These type actions simply dampen people’s ability to trust period. Jared Fogle is worth some 15 million dollars as a result of gaining the public’s trust. You can bet that is why Subway had him front and center as their spokesperson. Once again, we see the sin of greed being the motivation here. Based on the evidence this Foundation was nothing more than a front set up to make Fogle more money. What it looks like is that Fogle’s Director, who was not worth 15 million dollars and the one who pocketed large sums of cash, was not to assist Fogle’s fight against the obesity epidemic in America. But, instead, help him acquire child porn and children to molest. Sad.

Former Jared Foundation Director and Jared Fogle remained in contact after child porn charges

America The Land Of Inequality

There is no denying that America has become a nation of inequality. The $64,000 question is "how do you constrain capitalism from doing stupid things that are not in the public interest?[Robert Reich] In practice we have a set of rules and regulations to check these rogue factions in our community. However, our democracy has been corrupted, and these rules and regulations are being discarded or not enforced. If the corruption by the excesses of the American Capitalist is the cause of this malfeasance then the first thing we must do is get big money out of our politics.

Robert Reich On Inequality For All

On the issue of inequality in America, there is much confusion. Most people of the right-wing persuasion blame the poor. On the other hand, people on the left want to blame the rich. There is a lot of blame going around. According to well-respected economist Robert Reich, "people are not looking at the actual structure of the economy as its evolving." "They're not looking how we need to change the organization of the economy." America is the most unequal of all advanced societies in the world. Our research found many misconceptions floating around out in the public sphere. Many believe the economy is some natural force that can't be changed. In short, we all are slaves to the immutable economy. However, when you " peel back the onion," the economy is a set of rules and regulations.

Our economy is not a state of nature. 

Robert Reich

There are rules regarding property and liability, anti-trust laws, bankruptcy, subsidies, and taxes for various things. These are the rules and guidelines for the game we call the economy. These rules determine the outcome of the game. In a democracy, if you don't like the rules of the game you can create a conscientious and change the rules. If we had a democracy, that was working as envisioned by our founding fathers[See Source]  The rules for the game of economy can be difficult to explain in writing. To get a clear understanding, one must refer to the experts. Our source Robert Reich book " Beyond Outrage," does an excellent job of explaining these rules in writing. American economist has some hard questions to answer. Why does the United States have an unequal distribution of income and wealth by far than any other civilized country? And it's surging! Reich's metric for answering this question is to evaluate the earnings of the people at the top[1%] compared to the earnings of a typical worker[47%] which represents the middle.

Wealth Inequality in America

In Today's America, 400 of the nation's richest people have more wealth than half the population of the United States.

According to our source, which looked at IRS data stretching back to 1913 the beginning of the progressive income tax wealth inequality reached an all-time high in 2012. What was apparent from our research here in the House of Public Discourse America's economic growth has consistently been going to a small group of people at the top.[See Source] 

The Wealth Inequality In America Is Startling To Say The Least!

This inequality is tearing at the fabric of America. In the first three years, of the recovery from the recession brought on by the financial collapse of 2008, the top one percent of Americans took home 95% of the income gains. Amazing! In the past, as the economy grew so did everyone else. Ronald Reagan and his God-awful trickle down economics saw an end to this equitable formula and what we got in return was a nation in debt and growing now surging wealth inequality. Regular Americans knew this as shared prosperity. Along came the Republicans in the 1980's with these so-called family Christian values 'War on Drugs,' 'War on Women,' and "War on the Poor" calling this shared prosperity socialism. Hell, Eisenhower a Republican was president during most of this time of shared prosperity and We The People did not consider him a socialist, We did not think him abnormal. 

In the years of shared prosperity our nation's economy doubled. Moreover, everybody's income increased as well. Even, Americans in the bottom 5% percent did better. Then here comes Ronald Reagan and the extreme radicalization of the Christian Right,and  the "slobbering at the mouth," Capitalist Elect.  The 1980's changed the historical relationship of shared prosperity between economic growth and the growth in productivity and wages. Over the last three decades, most of the wealth and most of the new wealth has gone straight to the top.  Income gains went to the top and people in the middle, the median worker, the median wage stagnated.

How Do We Fix It?

To the point, a strong and vibrant labor movement needs to be orchestrated and based on our research here at the House of Public Discourse could be the " wonder drug" for lack of a term. 

Drawing on a myriad of evidence  as in our nation's past a re invigoration of equitable labor practices would go a long way in achieving an equal society.  The research bears it out clearly. Almost all health and social problems that disproportionately affect poor and middle class are greater in societies with higher levels of inequality. The widening income gap as mentioned earlier seems to be a direct result of the " War on Unions" and the lack of a strong and consistent labor movement in America. Another factor is the dwindling democratic constraints on the top 1% income earners. One of the conclusions we came to here in the House of Public Discourse is to implement practical limitations by extending democracy to our economic institutions.  Our study found equal societies gain greater equality by redistribution. We need a fundamental approach to reducing inequality in America. Our exhaustive research on the issue of " America The Land of Inequality," found that the weakening of the labor movement over the last quarter of the 20th Century has severely impacted the ability of working people to influence their standard of living and overall quality of life. 

One of the House of Public Discourse primary points of advocacy is to recreate a healthy, active labor movement in America. We achieve this with both political and social influence that will enable the old labor movement to regather itself and fight for a fairer more sustainable future for our country.

Read The Main Source for This Article Here

Racism Alive And Well In Southern States (Video)

Obamacare + Obstruction X Threats of Impreachment= Racism

The answer to this equation is often the understood but not spoken reason for much gridlock in our government today. Upon my reference, I came across an article, Yes, The South Really Is Different — And It’s Because Of Race. Personally, race has no geographical boundaries in my view. However, the point is well taken that in the South, racist tactics meet little to no resistance such as in gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the very common racial profiling. 

Republicans Have Attacked Civil Rights Legislation, Implemented Questionable Voter ID Laws, with  Regressive Voting Rights Laws  Under Federal Review.

The list could go on, and the pushback is starting to rear its ugly head. With all the rigor and rhetoric of the past weeks, we heard many dogs whistle words coming from the politicians, pundits and citizens; words like "obstruction, ransom, hostage," and phrases like ‘Domestic Terrorist.” There have been many people who feel the actions of the principles on the right were, in fact, seditious. Well, that is a gray area, but one thing this episode did reveal is that the practice of institutionalizing racism is alive and well in the South.

What is Institutionalize racism?  The Urban Dictionary defines it as, “the process of purposely discriminating against particular groups of people through the use of biased laws or practices.” 

 Even though the main purpose of the last government shutdown may have been Obamacare, the underlying issue to all the obstruction and gridlock that led to the shutdown was in fact the fight over the overall regressive policies and practices of the radically right controlled Republican Party; which really were nothing more than prime examples of institutionalized racism. Obamacare is a racial slur given to name what is, in fact, the Affordable Care Act. Yes, it's true that individuals host their set of racist feelings that are, in fact, indigenous to oneself. However, one would be remiss not to recognize the role that institutional racism has played in American History and American Culture. Racism in this country would not have thrived if not for institutionalized racism.

Examples of Institutionalized Racism

• Slavery In The United States- [No Commentary Needed] Civil War ring a bell?
• Racism In Medicine- In a report posted by Mike LaCon/flickr.com he stated that Racism has influenced U.S. health care in the past and continues to do so today. “The most shameful chapters in American history involve the U.S. government funding studies that allowed poor black men in Alabama to succumb to syphilis or Guatemalan prison inmates, mental health patients and soldiers to be afflicted with the disease and other sexually transmitted infections.”
• Racial profiling- People are profiled every single day in this country based on the way they look. People of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent report being routinely profiled at the nation’s airports. In New York City,  Black and Latino men have been unfairly targeted by that city's  "stop and frisk policy.”
• Voting Rights legislation- With the Supreme Court's affirmation that certain aspects of the Voting Rights were no longer relative, there has been an onslaught of voting legislation ram-rodded through.  The Republicans help state governments to make it harder for minorities to vote and use other mechanisms that  purge the rolls of valid voters,  and limit time and access to vote.
• Church Sunday- Racism and segregation can be witnessed in no finer fashion than on Church Sunday.  Even though there have been more inter-racial Church congregations spring up across the country,  most Churches remain segregated and in fairness,  what seems to be by choice. The United Methodist Church and the Southern Baptist formally apologized for their support of Jim Crow laws and other racist practices in recent years as well. Despite their efforts to diversify, overall church congregations remain mostly segregated up until this day.

With the actions of the Republican Party and the Libertarian and Tea Party, all radical elements

within those parties are freely exercising  institutional racism by using the politics of nullification;  the doctrine which holds that the states, singly or in concert, can defy federal actions by declaring them invalid or just ignoring them Don’t expect to see any real change any time soon. In fact, we are seeing emboldened politicians with gerrymandered “safe zones” using nullification to voice the anti-government passions and hate for Obamacare, a fully legally enacted law. We have seen both overt and covert actions to curtail voting, repeal legislation and in the case of President Obama, delegitimize his presidency. 

There Is A Strong Sectional Stronghold of Institutional Racism In  The South

This reality is an understatement. The force of change brings about fear and suspicion to Southern people. Government is seen as an intrusive force with invasive intentions to do harm to individual and community. However, when you look at all unbiased reports, the Southern States garner the most benefits from the “Big Government,” they so rail on about.

To put this all in perspective, a little history lesson is in order. In practical, these radicalized elements within the Republican party are not  new free radicals, they are old radicals nothing more than the old Dixiecrat. The George Wallace Crowd is a group that housed the KKK and other white supremacists within the then Democratic party. You know, the ones who left the party and the Republican Party had no problem embracing when the Democrats adopted both the New Deal of FDR and later the Civil Rights legislation of 1964, which enacted the Voting Rights Acts of 1965.

All of this culminated in a Southern Strategy which is in full force and unlike anytime in history entirely exposed itself since the election of one Barack Obama, the first person of color to the White House and with a foreign name at that. On her nightly show, Rachel Maddow does an excellent job of explaining how this institutionalize racist mechanism has been used for years in the South and moreover, how they won elections using it.

Now that there has been an unveiling of just how some of these racist tactics can be harmful to the overall common good of our citizens, the people are getting a clear view of how right-wing politics is holding back states like North Carolina and Texas and Florida.

Now that there has been a turn on the lights moment when the American people can clearly see how obstruction, voter suppression, and how institutionalized racism has directly caused a government shutdown and legislative gridlock, and the result has been the Republican Party getting the lowest approval rating ever recorded by any political party ever, we can maybe just possibly effect change in the South one voter at a time.

The Repackaging Of The Fascist Playbook

Just like Joseph Goebbels, who headed the Nazi propaganda machine, present day pundits like Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and politicians like Ron Paul are making the same claims today as did Goebbels in Nazi Germany.


There seems to be a growing reality concerning the Libertarian and Tea Party movements in this country and can best be summed up in a phrase, “conspiracy nut balls.” While claiming to be all about freedom and liberty, any fair evaluation of their agenda tells a much deeper and darker story. These groups seem to stay up nights trying to erode our civil right to live a quality life. Moreover, their platform would have us barely existing, languishing in debt. They have been successful in many regions of this nation, through their highly funded media echo chambers, at taking away many of our social protections and denying the American people the social justice We The People have fought so hard for over the years.

For example, politicians like former Texas Senator Ron Paul and his son Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky), backed by special interest groups funded by the likes of the Koch Brothers, have executed a media campaign to distort and diminish public support for fair social safety net programs. Their delusional anti-government claims of socialism, among others, have deceived and scared and convinced droves of people into believing their government is out to get them and is something much less than  "of, by, and for the people.”

We The People Are The Government.

Not just the wealthy, perfectly healthy, spoiled easy-come trust fund successful entrepreneurs. The Tea Party and Libertarian movements in this country amount to nothing more than Social Darwinism. Their agenda is plutocracy. They demonize government as evil. They demonize groups of citizens with the intent to divide and conquer. All in all, this is nothing more than the repackaging of the Fascist playbook. Just like we saw in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. With unconstitutional overreach by the Judicial branch, which upheld the claim money as free speech and corporate person-hood, we have seen this type behavior before from the Anarcho-Capitalist Corporatism of Nazi Germany. 

In these modern times, we see advocates and pundits like Ron Paul, Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Lou Dobbs put on their Joseph Goebbels mask spewing all sorts of conspiracy propaganda lies against all types of groups and minorities. All  these people are doing is propagating the desires of the wealthiest people in our country and the world like the Koch Brothers. These reckless capitalist want nothing more than to have all forms of regulation out of their midst. Just like the Nazi, they disdain the chronically ill, poor, disabled and out of work Americans. They embrace voter suppression laws for they know their leverage goes up if the voter turnouts are low. Disabled, welfare poor people are nothing more than parasites that should do nothing more than fend for themselves.

In today’s society, the Nazi propaganda takes the form from the pamphlets of old to conspiracy websites, radio talk shows, cable news and now social media Facebook pages. Just like in Nazi Germany, in the 1930’s and 40’s, we see the demoralization of vast segments of our citizenry. The Tea Party crowd, as well as the so-called Libertarians, have blamed people’s economic despair on everything but their failed austerity policies. Groups like liberals, socialist, immigrants, freemasons, minorities have all been targeted.

The Tea Party, GOP and the Libertarians know their agenda is a minority viewpoint. Just like in Germany, they understand they have no shot of gaining influence in a unified America. They understand that their only chance of getting their platform in practice is to cause a polarization of the American people. By using prejudice and institutional racism as their weapons, they have attempted and with much success to split this country into small groups just like the Nazi did in WWII Europe.

We The People must realize that this massively funded propaganda attack has a purpose.

Who stands to benefit from this propaganda? Is it the middle-class? Is it the moderate and working poor? No, it’s the corporations and the elitist who need We The People out of their business so they can run their enterprise to the detriment of our environment, our workforce, all in the name of capitalism and the free markets. This is not a classroom theory this is history repeating itself.  The right-wing, the Libertarians, the Tea Party are using Social Darwinism to demonize and separate groups for the purpose of demonizing them as threats to our country,our culture, our society as threats to our free markets and democracy. It’s scapegoating 101. Just like the Nazi Party, these radical modern-day organizations have waged a war against equality of the person. They don’t want free healthcare for all. They don’t want a good free public education to survive. They have cut programs to the poor, sick, veterans of wars, taxed the middle class while giving huge tax breaks to the upper one percent. These are not theories they are facts. Moreover, they have ostracized groups who have tried to help these segments of our population. Calling them socialists, communists, and have turned the word "liberals" into a pejorative. Name calling is their forte  which they have made into a science.

Don’t Be Swindled By The Hype

Many fell prey to this rhetoric just as many have bought into it hook, line and sinker today in America. Hitler needed suckers as do the Koch Brothers and what better way than to revisit the tactics of a madman who for a time had all of Europe at his feet. They need people to do lots of hard work for cheap and shunned the unions and have fought against the massive inequality that has come to pass in present day America. Matter of fact, it was Unions and Organized labor that were the biggest enemies to the Nazis and  to the Ron Paul’s of this present day. Organized labor demanded fair pay and safe working conditions and other worker benefits. The Tea Party and Libertarians require no minimum wage, no regulation and desire a desperate under-educated demoralized worker.

All the mindless sheep followers of the Tea Party and Libertarians are, is the Aryan Nazis of yesteryear. The Koch Brothers, and others like them, with their Americans for Prosperity, Citizens United, Cato Institute, all born from the John Birch Society genre, have systematically distorted the real facts, and replaced them with lies for decades now.

They abolish the truth by attacking it. They claim it's one big government scheme to take your rights away. Then they create a false reality. Then they tell you what you hear in traditional historical mainstream media and other educational sources is propaganda. The old ” bait and switch.” It's ” Big Brother,” coming to get you. Conspiracy, to hide the truth, planned lies to confuse and deceive us all.

There has been a game-plan with a playbook for decades, now.

This game-plan and subsequent playbook, are their way of brainwashing people, to incite paranoid suspicion, and cause people to lose faith in traditional scientifically well-established academia. Their goal is to get you to question long-held views and realities, all of which have been drawn from easily verifiable accurate authorities in news, science and history.

The Tea Party and Libertarians are anti-intellectuals.

Hitler hated mainstream established knowledge, science, publicly funded schools and institutes of higher learning. He claimed they were bastions of Liberals, Communists, Zionists, and Socialists. Hitler ruled the German people with speeches of hate and lies that these groups were spies trying to deceive the real Aryan German. 

The Tea Party and their Libertarian counterparts have a similar hatred of historical record and facts. They highly question reality and facts. Scientists question reality by using inductive reasoning. But the Tea Party and Libertarians use deductive reasoning. This type of argument is surely not intellectual nor science in any manner. These organizations run on gut feelings based on misguided indoctrination, false assumptions, and faith in preconceived notions no matter their validity or not.

In Nazi Germany, the cost of higher education became so expensive that attendance at these colleges and universities fell some 50%.

One of the bigger topics, in present day America, is the high cost and the coinciding debt that is associated with getting a good education today. What better way to brainwash people with conspiracies, than to keep people dumb and too poor  to be able to get an affordable public education. Then hammer away in their Koch Brothers media echo chambers that getting a great education from public schools and universities is not needed cause there nothing more than enclaves of Socialism.

In this writer's viewpoint, the real conspiracy is the far-right's push against getting a college education and anti-intellectualism. Just last election cycle we saw this from radical presidential candidate Rick Santorum a Tea Party type of guy.

Just like Joseph Goebbels, who headed the Nazi propaganda machine, present day pundits like Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and politicians like Ron Paul are making the same claims today as did Goebbels did in Nazi Germany. They claim that the two-party system is broken and, in fact, a scam. They even claim that traditional Republicans are not far-right enough for them and that all Democrats are nothing more than liberal socialists. Just like the Nazis, they hate any government-run or funded anything (except the military, of course).

The Tea Party and Libertarians hate government, they claim the IRS, welfare, regulations, taxes and the Federal Reserve and Keynesian economics are nothing more than socialist, communist plots. Fear-mongering is their order of the day and the base of their playbook. This is where all claims by these radical far-right groups of valuing freedom of speech, freedom of expression, equality and other liberties they defend and fight for fall apart when put under a close study. When you inductively and rationally examine their ideology, economics, and theories, you find a huge disconnect with what these do in practice.

In fact, in most cases, they inhibit and weaken and destroy these very liberties and freedoms. In this year there will be much debate on which direction America should take and this writer would suggest examining the issues to look at your motivations and why you think as you do and make an honest evaluation as to how you came to that view and most importantly participate because there are factions who do not want you to and are spending huge sums of money to discourage you from doing so. What we are seeing in practice  from the Tea Party, Libertarians, and the radical far-right Koch Brothers funded think tanks, is the repackaging of the Fascist playbook.

Domestic Terror: The Deadliest Game!

With the big emphasis being on counterterrorism, since 9/11, what has gone unnoticed  has been the rising number of events amounting to Domestic Terrorism done in the same time frame.
People who commit "acts against the state," and draw their inspiration from U.S. inspired ideologies and movements have killed American citizens and damaged property across the country. The Department of Justice [DOJ] and the FBI do not officially list domestic terrorist organizations but have them listed as a "threats" category.  Crimes in the name of ideologies supporting animal rights, environmental rights, anarchism, white supremacy, anti-government ideas, black separatism, and anti-abortion beliefs were all labeled as " threats to public safety.[See Source]

Domestic Terror Groups Are On The Rise In America.

All too often, we hear in America just how awful Jihadi terrorism is and very little is made of the rising events of domestic terrorism and the horror they invoke as well. What's disheartening, these events are on the rise with no end in sight. In the last decade, there has been a steady increase in hate groups across America. There are your usual players the "Klan", and Neo-Nazis organizations. However, spectacularly where the biggest rise came from was the so-called " Patriot Movement." There have been two-dozen incidents of Domestic Terrorism since 9/11, and there appears to be growth in the anti-government extremist activity according to several watchdog groups. 

A large number of these new-age domestic terrorists use non-traditional tactics, suicide bombings or airplane hijackings, which are old-school to these modern-day terrorists. Needless to say, they have been engaged in vandalism, trespassing, and 'Tax Fraud," for example.  Much like the Jihadists, Domestic Terrorists are Internet savvy and use the source as a base for operations. 

Many domestic terrorists rely on the concept of leaderless resistance. This involves two levels of activity. On an operational level, militant, underground, ideologically motivated cells or individuals engage in illegal activity without any participation in or direction from an organization that maintains traditional leadership positions and membership rosters. On another level, the above-ground public face (the “political wing”) of a domestic terrorist movement may focus on propaganda and the dissemination of ideology—engaging in protected speech[See Source] 

Is terrorism becoming just another form of politics? 

One of the main issues we have in combating domestic terrorism is one of a proper definition. Different federal agencies use different criteria to define or describe Domestic Terrorism. Our research also found no real clear data showing just how many incidents have occurred or how many plots have been foiled. Also, there seems to be poor inter-agency communication regarding intelligence gathering with no set standard in place. This intercommunication goes to the state and local areas as well.  You cannot get a precise, comprehensive, and public answer as to why from the government.

The FBI generally relies on two fundamental sources to define domestic terrorism. First, the Code of Federal Regulations characterizes “terrorism” as including “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”6 Second, 18 U.S.C. Section 2331(5) more narrowly defines “domestic terrorism” and differentiates it from international terrorism and other criminal activity.7 This definition comes from Section 802 of the USA PATRIOT Act (P.L. 107-52). According to 18 U.S.C. Section 2331(5), domestic terrorism occurs primarily within U.S. territorial jurisdiction, and domestic terrorism involves (A) ... acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be intended— (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.... [See Source]

  In fact, the Bureau’s practical, shorthand definition of domestic terrorism is “Americans attacking Americans based on U.S.-based
extremist ideologies.

What is confusing is the term "U.S. based ideologies."  The FBI 's definition seems to be straightforward. However, a closer evaluation of many so-called domestic terrorist organizations reveal they have international roots. In addition, they still have active followings abroad.  There is ambiguity on how these incidents are handled, categorized, and reported.

 Decades Upon Decades of  Endless Struggle. 

As the fight against racism took shape in America, the forces of injustice became brutal. This brutality enacted a heavy toll on " life and limb." This struggle continues to this day. The well-published murders of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, MS, is but just one of many examples of this brutality.

Since 9/11, there have been more American deaths by Domestic Terrorists than Islamic Extremists. 

Anti-Government sentiment is on the rise and rebellion is in the air. The important thing to remember is that acts of domestic terror are not new to the American culture, but the fact they are on the rise is troubling. What we are seeing is the "Christian Right, Return To Its Racist Past."  

1995--Ex-Military turned Domestic Terrorist Timothy McVeigh= Oklahoma City Bombing

This truck bomb attack by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols killed 168 people on April 19, 1995, – the deadliest domestic-based terrorist attack in US history and, indeed, the deadliest act of terrorism in U.S. History,  before the September 11, 2001 attacks.  It inspired improvements to United States federal building security.[See Source]

      

1996--Ex- Army Explosive Specialist turned Domestic Terrorist Eric Rudolph= Centennial Olympic Park Bombing

The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a terrorist bombing on July 27, 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, during the 1996 Summer Olympics, the first of four committed by Eric Robert Rudolph, former explosives expert for the United States Army. Two people died, and 111 were injured.

There Were Zero Muslims Terror Attacks In U.S., In 2012.

 

Prof. Charles Kurzman
UNC School of Sociology 

“Counter-terrorism policies have involved surveillance — not just of Muslim-Americans, but of all Americans and the fear of terrorism has justified intrusions on American privacy and civil liberties all over the internet and other aspects of our lives. I think the implications here are not just for how we treat a religious minority in the U.S., but also how we treat the rights & liberties of everyone.” [See Source]

 Since the 9/11 terror attacks, 33 Americans have been killed by Islamic Terrorists, during that same time frame, 180,000  people were murdered in America. What is more shocking and more troubling is the 66 Americans killed by " Mass Shootings, " which is twice the number who died at the hands of Islamic Terrorists.

 Right-Wing Extremism Is More Of A Threat To Public Safety Than Al Quaeda. 

Common Sense tells us we must have some system in place to detect those who would do harm to the public safety. Most sensible Americans agree that a fair percentage of our tax revenue should go towards this purpose for the common good. And there have been success stories of foiled attempts.

Terrorist incidents from American Muslims is on the decline for the third straight year. After an uptick in 2009, there were 18 plots in 2011 involving 21 U.S. Muslims. And it’s not just violent plots: Fewer Muslim-Americans are getting indicted for money laundering, material support for terrorism, and lying to investigators. There were 27 people indicted on those terror-support charges in 2010, eight in 2011 and six in 2012. [See Source]

 You would think the conservatives in America would be performing " ring-around-the-roses," however, factions within their party are screaming " Big Brother," at the Obama Administration. With the anti-government fear  being what it is today, there have been many groups to organize and more or less radicalize themselves. Right-Wing Extremists are not just racist and hate groups. they also include the people with the mindset that rejects federal authority. The so-called Tea Party-Patriot Movement is a good example. The data is indisputable. Right-Wing Extremism is fueling Domestic Terrorism in America.

 We The People must demand our government to stop ignoring home-grown terrorist organizations. If protecting someone's personal freedoms to be a domestic terrorist endangers the overall public safety, we must apply the common good and wants to override such injurious activity.  Of course, your right-wing gun nuts are going to scream governmental overreach. In the meantime, some whacked-out ex-military holy warrior is going to get in his mind to go "Save America" and shoot up the foreigner's place of  worship. Case In Point:

Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting

Wade Michael Page

On August 5, 2012, Wade Michael Page fatally shot six people and wounded four others in a mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Page was an American white supremacist and United States Army veteran from Cudahy, Wisconsin. All of the dead were members of the Sikh faith.[See Source]

You hear this hate garbage all over right-wing radio, and the internet is ablaze with anti-government revolution in the air narratives.  Evidently some people take the message to heart and we have dead people to prove it. 


Domestic Terror, the deadliest game that more and more Americans seem eager to play. Extremism is the fuel that ignites this fire. One study found that most law enforcement personnel equate extremism with terrorism. Bottomline is there is a " lack of uniformity" in the way domestic terrorist activities are litigated in America. By using the term, 'Extremist' allows prosecutors, policymakers, and investigators the mobility to discuss terror-like activity without labeling it as " Terrorism." We will cover just "What Is an Extremist" in our next edition[ Read: Personality Traits Of The Right Wing Extremist]

These Type Groups Are Everywhere!

The United States Of Koch, And Why It's Wrong For America

Recently the infamous Koch Brothers held their annual " Who Wants To Be President," convention in Palm Springs, California. It's  a gathering of the  who's who of Millionaires and Billionaires in America. The primary focus of the conference is to decide who will be the Koch Brothers' " puppet on a string" for the  upcoming 2016 Presidential race. ABC's Jonathan Karl moderated the discussion between the prospective presidential hopefuls.

The overall narrative of the event is to schmooze the Koch Brothers for their money. 

This activity is not how our democracy should work. This activity is how our democracy has been corrupted.  It's well  known that the Koch's have a political infrastructure across the United States that buys politicians and uses this leverage to manipulate public policy. It was reported in the New York Times that the Koch's will be spending more money on the 2016 election than both parties  [See Article] What's sad is that many who follow politics will not be shocked by this information.

What Would Our Founding Fathers Think About The Koch Brothers?

Read Jefferson To Kercheval Here


Jefferson To Kercheval
Source: Library of Congress

  

"Those seeking profits where they are given total freedom will not be the ones to trust to keep the government pure and our rights secure." [Thomas Jefferson]

There is a long history in America of those seeking to amass vast fortunes as being the source of corruption in our governance.  One must take into account the year this correspondence was written.  In 1816 England, there was no such thing as a middle class. You had a minuscule percentage who were rich and a large group of working people that constituted the working poor. Yes, there were a few people who were doctors, lawyers, and shop owners that made up a minor middle class, but for the most part in England you had no middle-class influence whatsoever. Sounds like America today?

One of Jefferson's main points in this letter was that by keeping the people undereducated and poor, it abated them from calling their oppressive oligarchy government into account for these inequalities. We see this taking shape in America today. In the Republican Party and its Tea-Party and Libertarian factions, there is a "go fend for yourselves" attitude. Jefferson made reference to the abusive state of man against man, and we see this being played out daily in our news feed.  To the point, Jefferson and the rest of the founding fathers would be turning over in their graves. The modern-day Republicans, the ones with any intellect, are still misguided and follow the flawed philosophy of Thomas Hobbes.[See Source] In Jefferson's letter to Kercheval, he [Jefferson] was explicit in his disagreement with Hobbes. 
 

Thomas Jefferson To James Madison 1785 Letter Concerning Equality In America [See Letter]

Thomas Jefferson

"Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from taxation below a certain point and to tax the higher portions of the property in geometrical progression as they rise. " 

 One of Jefferson's main points even back in 1826 in a letter to William B Giles was that America was already moving towards an Aristocracy.

Jefferson, an old man at the time, pointed out that some in the John Adams wing [Federalist] looked to a single and splendid government of an Aristocracy, founded upon banking, corporations, under the guise and cloak of their favorite branches of manufacturing, commerce, and navigation. The modern-day examples would be the oil barons, defense industry, and Wall Street, riding and ruling over the plundered plowman and the everyday people of this nation. If the overgrown wealth of an individual, for example Father Koch,  who helped start the John Birch Society, is to be deemed dangerous to the state, is the best corrective measure  the law of equal inheritance to all in equal degree? An inheritance tax.

The United States of Koch, And Why Is It Wrong For America?

 Everyone has heard of the Koch Brothers, even a casual observer of politics, right? Wrong! A George Washington University poll conducted in 2014 found that 52% of likely voters have never heard of the Koch Brothers. [See Source] This fact does not surprise this writer. 70% of the American people don't take part in the political process so keeping up with politics is not the order of the day for most Americans.  What is upsetting is that these people haven't a clue how these two brothers have a daily impact on their lives. The Koch Brothers have more wealth [100 Billion combined] than the bottom 40% of Americans put together. What is now Koch Industries Inc, began as Wood River Oil and Refining Co in 1940. Based in Wichita, Kansas, Koch Industries is one of the largest corporations in America. They have many subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading, and investments. The Brothers own 84% percent of Koch Industries, a massive company and conglomerate with investments in oil, fertilizer, electronics components, and even toilet paper. The firm employs over 50k people in the U.S. and 100k worldwide.[See Source]

See: How you support the Koch Brothers (even if you don’t know it)

So the next time you go to the bathroom to do your business you very well could be wiping your butt with the Koch Brothers. Many questions come to this writer's mind concerning the Koch Brothers. Why don't they just go on making their billions? Why do they feel the need to inject themselves into our government at such an overwhelming level? Is it the power? Do they feel with this wealth they have accumulated they have the right to lord it over us mere minions of society? Most people involved in politics know the importance of Television ads during an election cycle. Even though there is some debate on the topic, many Americans base their choice on a candidate by these ads. An example of this would be Jesse Ventura, ex-wrestler who won the Minnesota Governor's race based mainly on his award-winning Televisions ads. Undoubtedly, Television ads play a significant role in a political election. 

Low and Behold, Here Comes Citizen United!

The Supreme Court decision in 2010 to allow unfettered amounts of dark money into our political process has enabled the Koch Brothers to be like a " kid in a candy store." It has allowed the Koch's and other Billionaires like them to set up they're own political mechanism separate from the political parties. They [Koch Brothers] started providing massive sums of money directly to a candidate of their choice and creating their media campaigns  to sway public opinion toward their views. In the 2014 election cycle, " Americans For Prosperity," a Koch Brothers political front group, aired more than 17,000 broadcast TV ads, compared with only 2,100 aired by Republican Party groups. What this reveals to us is the overall influence these brothers had in the 2014 Mid-Term Election. Under Citizens United, the Koch Brothers, Super-Pacs, and Corporations can lie because they are not held to any standard. They can bold-faced lie on a Television Ad without any recompense.

Scott Walker Gov.(R-WI)

Even though most Americans disapprove of the Citizens United decision, our elected politicians refuse to overturn it with legislation. If we are going to have this unlimited amount of money allowed into the political process it's the position of the House of Public Discourse, we must have full disclosure. We[The House] suggest this should be the responsibility of the person running for public office. We The People need to know just whose hip-pocket these candidates are in. In jest, we need these candidates walking around in NASCAR suits wearing the logos of just who is sponsoring their campaigns. 

However, the way the system of things is set up now the Koch Brothers can spend millions to billions on a political election. They don't  have to be honest or accurate; they can just simply spatter the right-wing media echo chamber with untruthful propaganda. We have the " Roberts Court" to thank for this most unhealthy addition to our political process.