Paid time off

So the government is back up, or whatever?  I don’t know if it really makes a big difference. All I do know is that all the Senators took two weeks off, lots of people lost money or paychecks, but the Senators don’t have to worry about anything because they will still get paid.  There is an inherent problem with the political system in the country, and we are finally starting to see it break down.  In my humble and not so educated opinion, comes down to two things.

The average income in the United States is $47,000 a year.  The average salary for a United States Senator is $147,000 a year, not including the free paid vacation they just got, or all the other fringe benefits and tax write offs.  What this does is immediately sent the Senators apart from the everyday common man. They are paid at a level that puts them out of touch with the very people they are supposed to be representing. Why are they trusted to vote on issues that would pertain to the citizens, when they are held about those citizens?

Also, most Senators are lifelong politicians.  The reason democracy worked when our founding fathers started this country, is because they were truly politicians for the people.  They were merchants, businessmen, lawyers long before they built this country, and they maintained those jobs while they were in office. When they weren’t voting on taxes, or who’s face to put on a coin, they were out there with the common man.  They’re economic policies had a direct effect on their pocket books, so they made the smart choice. Most politicians now are just that, career politicians. It’s their only source of income, so they become more worried about keeping their seat then doing what is right. The PAC‘s and the lobbyist become more important.  Of course, the easiest way to overcome this would simply be to vote these people out of office, but considering less than half the eligible voters in this country actually go to the polls on Election Day, that is not going to happen anytime soon.  

So I say we hit them where it hurts.  We remind these people who they really are to begin with, servants of the people, and we do that by lowering their annual average salary.  We bring them down to a level that will keep them in a mindset congruent to that of the common man.   By lowering the pay scale we eliminate the desire of privileged rich career politicians, and we open up some seating for people that actually want to serve their country, people more desired to give then to take. We keep them closer to the people that they supposed be representing and weforce them to consider holding other jobs beside public office to supplement their income.  We remind them that this job is a service to the people, and not the Senators retirement fund.

And to anyone who thinks that this will open up the Senate to people less “educated” or politically savvy enough to do the job, I would like to remind you of the idiots we have in there already.  

Chuck Winder (R-ID): ”I would hope that when a woman goes in to a physician with a rape issue, that physician will indeed ask her about perhaps her marriage, was this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage or was it truly caused by a rape. I assume that’s part of the counseling that goes on.” - March 2012

Rick Santorum: “I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created — in the sense of rape — but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you… rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.” - January, 2012

Mitt Romney: “I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I love.” – January 2012

Mitt Romney: “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.” — January 2012

Roger Rivard (R-WI):  ”Some girls rape easy.” – October 2012

Mitt Romney: “I went to a number of women’s groups and said ‘Can you help us find folks?’ and they brought us whole binders full of women.” —October, 2012

Richard Mourdock (R-IN):”I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” – October 2012

Todd Akin (R-MO): “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways of shutting that whole thing down” - mid 2012 Senate Campaign

Romney: “As president, I will create 12 million new jobs.” —Second presidential debate

Romney: “Government does not create jobs. Government does not create jobs.” — 45 minutes later (Oct. 16, 2012)

Open letter to the Obamacare Haters

Dear Crazy Ass Conservatives (aka. White Republicans),

​Obamacare is not the sign of the Apocalypse! I know you think it is because you have to do something that a Black man “says” you have to do (how does it feel?), but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.  Week 2 of the Government shutdown and Obamacare, and everyone has officially lost their mind. There are conservatives claiming that this is the worst thing to every happen in the history of the United States.  So the fact that black people used to be bought and sold like property wasn’t that bad? Jim Crow Laws, Separate but Equal, World War II, those were all okay?  Clearly you’re completely ignored every history book in the history of history books. Those were just a “sign of the times”, right?  I know some people are trying to say that having to sign up for Obamacare is like the registration reference in the book of Revelations, but then WHAT THE F$%K WAS SOCIAL SECURITY?  That was the national registration system where everyone is given a number, and that shits been around for over 80 years. There was a woman claiming that she did “biblical research” on Obamacare and found some interesting things. Really, a 2000 year old book talks about free healthcare? How have you not been committed yet? Another group of people are claiming that the Supreme Court actually ruled it UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and that Obama passed it anyways.  Don’t’ you think if this was true, Scalia would have shit himself screaming so loud? He still believes in ghost.  He’s the most uptight conservative, waiting-to-repel-Roe-v-Wade-son-of-a-bitch on the bench. Don’t you think he would have said something?

It’s real simple, the people that are bitching the most about Obamacare are the ones that were making a ton of money off of insurance claims when it was in the hands of private companies, or it’s the people that have never been turned down or denied medical coverage because of wealth, or a pre-existing condition. You want to bitch and complain and say that people that don’t work are getting free health care, but what about the people that do work, but still can’t afford it.  My wife has a genetic mutation in the BRCA1 gene, which means she’s almost guaranteed to get breast cancer in her life.  Considering every woman in her family, aside from one sister, has already had it, we know it is coming.  This can be considered a pre-existing condition under certain medical plans and life insurance policies. Under the Obama plan, it cannot (I’ve checked). Because of this I say “F*&K it, let’s ride this bitch out”. I don’t care who’s getting my money, as long as I know she can get the treatment she needs when the time comes.  And before you naysayers come back saying she won’t, or there are loopholes, figure out exactly where it says that in the plan, and show it to me.  You can generalize all you want, but without facts, it’s kind of like going to war without any proof.  Oh wait, you’ve done that one before, but it still wasn’t the sign of the Apocalypse, or the end of our government.

Thanks

Richard Estrada