May you encounter this person today and often. They DO exist outside of today’s Thursday Thought quote, and I’m grateful for them.
Tag Archive for interest
An Exciting Discovery (Cartoon)
Enjoy all the interesting things you’re learning during this stay-at-home period.
Who is “Buying” that Law?
Wonder about the status of a bill in Congress or who’s paying to push it through? Go to www.MapLight.com. There you’ll find out about bills in the news recently and read a snippet of what they’re about. Click on the “Interest Groups” or “Companies” tab to see a chart of contributors and amounts they’ve paid. The “Contributions” page lets you find out how much a particular group has contributed to a specific legislator.
There’s a wealth of information on this website. It’s one all voters should take a look at, especially before the elections.
Pay Up and Keep Paying
Ever been tempted to get a payday loan? It’s so easy…and so dangerous. As Credo points out, “The dirty secret of the payday lending industry is that there is no money in people repaying their loans on time. The key to the whole profit-making engine that makes lenders’ Wall Street backers rich is tricking people into taking out one loan and then locking them into months or years of debt. Charging hidden fees and demanding sky-high interest rates, payday lenders are little more than legal loan sharks.“
Too many people, vulnerable because of low-paying jobs, a sudden medical or auto expense, and a hundred other situations, fall into this trap. And it’s legal.
Read more about this at Credo Action. If you think the Consumer Protection Agency should crack down on payday lenders, use Credo’s webpage to send them a strong message telling them just that.
New Political Party Worth Considering
Tired of the Democrats, Republicans, and other political parties, including the semi-Republican Tea Party? About a year ago I proposed an alternative, and today–National Coffee Day–is the perfect time to propose it again.
Join our Coffee Party. We’ll offer alert, robust candidates who have never bean influenced by special-interest drips, intelligent men and women who let an idea percolate before making a decision. In fact, Juan Valdez, an excellent example, heads our Board.
We’ll energize American politics and fill all American’s empty cups with hope. We’ll stop trouble before it begins to brew.
So, wake up, Dear Reader, and join our grande Coffee Party today. You know you won’t be able to sleep until you do.
OK If Lobbyists Write Our Laws?
Interest groups are writing our laws. It surprised me to learn that a Capitol Tracking study of CA bills introduced during the 2011-12 session found that 27% were written by interest groups. Lawmakers simply added their names to them, and thy’re not required to acknowledge who actually wrote the bill. The bills that the governor signed into law during that time–60% were sponsored by interest groups and 30% by legislators. That means that lobbyists–non-elected individuals–are essentially making our laws.
In defense of our elected officials, term limits ensures that most are new to the job. It takes much of their terms of office to learn a little about a lot of issues and a lot about a few issues. Then they’re out of a job and new people take over. They have to depend on someone, then, to advise them. That’s the lobbyist’s task, and we can only hope that our best interest is being put forward along with whatever it is that the lobbyist is promoting.
Are you happy with the laws being proposed and passed? In January,Senator David Vitter (R-LA) introduced a Constitutional amendment to impose term limits on Congress. If you think that all Californians are getting fair treatment and protections under our system, support Vitter’s proposal. If not, let your discomfort with the idea be known to your Congress-member right now.