very interesting elections!

Well yesterday we had some very interesting elections across the country which have been part of a trend in politics: anti-incumbent, pro "outsider" sentiment.

Obama and the Democrats rode this wave of "bringing CHANGE to Washington" to power two years ago and unfortunately did not change enough so they are now the incumbents ready to lose.

So we have more progressive Democrats beating out the "Republican Light" Democrats (which makes me immensely happy to see) in the primaries and Tea Party backed conservatives beating out incumbent Republicans.

In yesterday's election the Democrat backed by Obama lost (shows you how his leading from the middle sits with Democrats) as did the Republican backed by the Republican establishment.

This of course will have the effect of moving each party away from the middle, further polarizing our government which could make congress less effective but it will also have an interesting effect: it will give voters in the middle more difficult choice.

Of course my personal bias comes in here. I would hope that thoughtful fence sitters will listen to progressives and realize they have well thought out positions that support American Jobs, security, education, environment, economy, etc. Progressives are the real Democrats as opposed to the corporate puppets that so many Democrats have become (Obama included).

The Tea Party and far right, on the other hand, are pushing for more of what has gotten everyone so upset at the government: less regulation making fuck ups like Enron, Goldman Sachs, Massey Energy, and BP even more likely to kill people and ruin our economy and environment as well as "less taxes" which translates to less taxes for the rich and corporations all of whom have enjoyed such a reduction of their taxes in the past 30 years that it has made our government insolvent - unable to pay its bills and requiring it to go into debt and cut vital social programs which actually help our economy and nation by educating people and taking care of people when they need help so they can get back on their feet. 3/4 of corporations, according to Forbes Magazine, do not pay any taxes in the US and this includes corporations like Exxon Mobile who made the largest profit in human history at over $40 Billion (I think in one quarter) and payed no US taxes according to Forbes. While pay for CEOs and the very weathly has skyrocketted in the past few decades their tax rate is one third of what it was for most of our nation's history.

The classic quote from a Tea Party candidate for the California Senate "I am going to lower taxes and fix the public schools". Sorry but anyone who knows California and the plight of public education in the state know how ridiculous this sounds.

Another dangerous and crazy platform of the Tea Partiers: Global Warming is a myth. Deregulate they say. What we need is more CO2, "Drill Baby Drill" you know the deal.

Of course the Tea Party also has a very racist element. Check out their party platforms and speeches and it is full of hate of minorities and immigrants. They also want less government across the board, which of course is code for "let the corporations get away unregulated" but of course the Tea Party crowd either sees themselves in that corporate elite or they are being tricked by clever marketing (or both). This last point is critical. The government needs to regulate big business. If they don't we see what happens everyday. BP kills people and devastates the economy and environment (two months before the accident, letters were sent by whistle blowers warning of BPs lack of adherence to safety regulations to the government outfit that was supposed to enforce those laws. Massey Energy commits 47 safety violations in month leading up to its deadly coal mining disaster. AIG, Goldman Sachs, and the rest of the Too Rich To Fail go unregulated and not only wreck havoc on our economy but now they have put Greece in the tank and Euro on the brink of collapse. Of course as AIG is now being propped up by our tax payer money so if Greece really goes down so does the US economy once again.

So bottom line. Progressives beating (or even almost beating) the likes of Blanche Lincon who didn't even vote with the Democrats on key issues: great news!!!

Tea Party candidates beating Republicans. Well intersting, hopeful, and scary. Hopeful because perhaps this splintering of the Republican party will help Democrats. (not all Republicans will vote for a Sarah Palin style candidate I hope) But scary because if these corporate shills get into power they will further undermine our Democracy.

BP, three strikes you're out!

OK so BP had an accident. It killed people. It is devastating the lives and livelihood of countless people and wrecking havoc on the environment.

BP has recently lobbied heavily against stronger safety standards.

BP has been on probation and fined for many safety violations.

BP plead guilty to felony conduct in its lack of following safety regulations that led to a deadly explosion at a Texas refinery.

BP was found guilty in its lack of up keep of its Alaskan pipeline that led to an oil spill in fragile Arctic habitat.

Now the supreme court has said corporations are people. If people commit felonies they go to prison. If they get out on parole and violate their parole they go back to prison. If you are a repeat offender you go to prison for a long time. In California we call it "three strikes, you're out". The third strike could be smoking a joint.

If someone commits a crime that kills people they can get the death penalty.

If corporations are people they should be able to get the death penalty when they kill people. Or at least go to prison for a long time.

Instead corporations pay fines which amount to a slap on the wrist. These corporations make billions and pay millions.

The same supreme court that said corporations are people drastically reduced the payout that Exxon had to pay for the Valdez spill.

Lobbying has created a situation where as of now BP will not have to pay more than something like 700 million in damages for the current spill. Which may make Obama's promise that BP will pay ring a bit hollow.

Corporations like BP and Massey energy who continue to break safety laws and and up killing people should be out of business. Period. Give them the death penalty.

As a side note I would like to thank BP for doing what environmentalists have tried to do but failed: prevent future offshore oil drilling in California! Swarzenager had supported future oil drilling but now that he saw the BP spill he withdrew his support and said "never in COLLIEEFOURNIA".

for details of BP's crimes go here:

OSHA: Ongoing Safety Violations at BP's US Refineries Endanger Employees' Lives

and a short video I just saw with a similar view point:

Corporate Bombs Demand Justice Too