7M Californians had their rights stripped away today by activist 9th Circuit judges. As president I will work to protect marriage.

February 7, 2012 19:19:09 via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@RickSantorum

Rick Santorum

Only a religious zealot homophobe like Santorum could frame the restoration of rights to millions of people as taking rights away from someone else. Heterosexuals’ rights to marry have not changed one iota by this decision.

If you are concerned about Internet freedom, write your Congressmen. I just wrote both my Senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, and my “representative” in the House, Rob Woodall. Here’s what I said (with SOPA and PIPA exchanged depending on the recipient):

I do not have a form letter or an eloquent defense of why you shouldn’t support PIPA. But from what I have read about PIPA (and SOPA, in the house), it is bad news for web sites that support user-uploaded content. In an effort to stop “piracy” of content, it places an undue burden on site owners that will cripple and/or shut down many sites. I am not saying piracy is not a problem or that it doesn’t exist. It does. But this bill is not the way to solve it.

Please do not support it.

I don’t really think that sites like Reddit, “going dark” for a day or Google slapping a black box over its logo will have much effect. Millions of people writing their Congressmen should have an effect, though without millions of dollars for lobbying, it remains to be seen how much of an effect it will have.

01/18/2012 1:13 PM Update: I just received this response from Senator Isakson’s office.

Dear Mr. Gibson:

Thank you for contacting me regarding intellectual property theft.  I appreciate hearing from you and I appreciate the opportunity to respond.

S.968, the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property (PROTECT IP) Act of 2011, was introduced by Senator Leahy (D-VT) on May 12, 2011, and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  On May 26, 2011, it was reported out of Committee and is currently pending in the Senate.   The bill targets websites, particularly those registered outside of the United States, which are “dedicated to infringing activities.”  These rogue websites typically offer unauthorized downloading or streaming of copyrighted content or the sale of counterfeit goods including music, movies, and pharmaceutical drugs.

Websites targeted by this bill are foreign owned and outside the reach of U.S. laws despite the fact U.S. intellectual property is being infringed upon and U.S. consumers are the targets.  Rogue websites cost American workers jobs and cost businesses millions of dollars in lost revenue.  As online technology and commerce advances, we must see to it that injured parties have the ability to stop infringers from profiting from counterfeit products.  For example, a victim of infringement will have the authority to file a civil action against the owner or registrant of a rogue site.  If an order is granted by the court, third parties will be required to stop processing payments from the infringing sites, therefore, preventing infringers from collecting payments.  I will work to ensure that our laws our modernized to protect intellectual property, and will keep your thoughts on this bill in mind should it come before the Senate for a vote.

Thank you again for contacting me.  Please visit my webpage at http://isakson.senate.gov/for more information on the issues important to you and to sign up for my e-newsletter.

Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
United States Senator

01/20/2012 4:40 PM Update: Today I received an email from Saxby Chambliss’ office. Here it is. Notice the bold text, which I added for emphasis:

Dear Mr. Gibson:

Thank you for contacting me regarding S. 968, the “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (PROTECT IP),” and H.R. 3261, the ”Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).”  It is good to hear from you.

S. 968 was introduced on May 12, 2011, and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  On May 26, it was reported out of committee and placed on the general legislative calendar.  If enacted, S. 968 would amend federal copyright law to authorize the Attorney General to file civil action against violators of copyright infringement law.

H.R. 3261 was introduced on October 26, 2011, and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.  On December 16, it was considered before the full committee; however, the bill was not voted out for consideration by the full House.  If enacted, H.R. 3261 would authorize the Attorney General to seek a court order against a U.S.-directed foreign Internet site committing or facilitating online piracy.

On January 23, 2012, a procedural vote on S. 968 was scheduled in the Senate; however, Majority Leader Reid announced that this vote will be postponed in order to allow for modifications to the bill to be made.  Furthermore, House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith announced that further consideration of H.R. 3261 would be postponed indefinitely.

It was always clear that SOPA and PROTECT IP needed to be perfected, and that legitimate concerns needed to be addressed before these bills could move forward.  Given this and my constituents concerns, it was always my intention to oppose moving forward until concerns had been addressed.  With the majority leader’s decision to postpone the cloture vote on the PROTECT IP Act originally scheduled for January 24, I withdrew my co-sponsorship to await the resolution of the outstanding issues.

I believe that online theft is a serious issue, and that Congress needs to make certain that our laws adequately protect the interests of rights holders.  When $58 billion in economic output is lost to the U.S. economy annually due to copyright theft of movies, music, packaged software and video games, and about one-quarter of all internet traffic is copyright infringing, there is a real problem that needs to be addressed.  I have complete faith that we will be able to work out a compromise in the future that addresses this, while still promoting free and open access to the internet. Should a bill addressing this topic come before the full Senate for consideration, I will keep your thoughts in mind.

If you would like to receive timely email alerts regarding the latest congressional actions and my weekly e-newsletter, please sign up via my web site at: www.chambliss.senate.gov .  Please let me know whenever I may be of assistance.

The bold part is interesting because he claims that he knew both bills were flawed and that he “always intended” to oppose “moving forward” until they were fixed. Given that he was a co-sponsor of PIPA, I don’t really think he’s being honest here. It seems a bit odd to be a co-sponsor of something you think is flawed.

Still, he’s withdrawn himself as a co-sponsor now, which is a good thing.

For one, we overturn the horrible Citizens United case. Senator Sanders is introducing a Constitutional amendment, called the Saving American Democracy amendment, to do just that, stating in no uncertain terms that to be considered a “person,” a pulse is required. It would forbid corporations from being classed as “people” and from donating to any politician. It will never pass or be ratified, but at least he’s trying. You should watch this video of him explaining it on the floor of the Senate.

The second is public financing of elections. I used to think this was a horrible idea, but upon more level-headed reflection, it’s the only way to go. Michael Moore has a post today about this very thing. The worst example of the amount of money in elections was Meg Whitman, running for Congress in 2010, who spent $119 million of her own money. You can’t compete with that, unless you also have access to that sort of money. If elections were publicly funded, and everyone who runs for office has the same financial limitations placed upon them, the need for obscene amounts of cash to campaign goes away. Now, I don’t know how the determination would be made of who counts as a viable candidate, since we can’t very well fund everyone who says they want to run for office. That would have to be worked out later. But, just like Senator Sanders’ amendment, this will never happen.

Third, we have to stop the “revolving door” between the Congress and the lobby. In that same Michael Moore post, he mentions Senator Michael Bennett, a Democrat from Colorado, who has introduced something he calls a Plan for Washington Reform that would, among other things, place a lifetime ban on former Congressmen from becoming lobbyists. You have to read this! I just developed a man-crush on Senator Bennet as I was reading it. The things he proposes would fix so many problems in Washington. That means, of course, it has no chance of passing.

Oh, one more thing. Have you ever wondered what sort of financial distribution there is among our elected “representatives”? In other words, how many millionaires are there vs. how many average joes. Here’s a handy chart to answer that question.

Anyway, this wasn’t the most eloquent explanation, but that’s what I think needs to happen. Go read Michael Moore’s blog post, then watch Senator Sanders’ video, then read Senator Bennet’s proposal.

Anyway, you have to watch this. Once again, Jon Stewart shows what a toad Sean Hannity is. Be sure to watch both parts. Part 1 gives you background info on the situation. Part 2 is the skewering of Hannity. And it’s a beautiful thing.

Here’s part 2

A bit of the resolution reads

“The president is encouraged … to issue a proclamation calling upon citizens of all faiths to rediscover and apply the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Scripture which has profoundly influenced and shaped the United States and its great Democratic form of government, as well as its rich spiritual heritage, and which has unified, healed and strengthened its people for over 200 years.”

He wants “people of all faiths” to “rediscover” the Bible. I wonder how he would react if some other representative offered up a resolution calling upon Obama to declare 2010 the “Year of the Koran” and asked “citizens of all faiths to rediscover the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Koran.” I doubt he’d support that one. Yes, you could argue that the Bible did influence our founding fathers and that the Koran did not, but still. Calling on people of “all faiths” to read your holy book has a name. It’s called proselytizing.

What‽ How can this be? Barack “Jesus” Obama is proposing indefinite “preventive” detention for crimes people haven’t committed yet? I thought only Republicans were evil enough to come up with plans like that!

Obama proposes Indefinite Preventive Detention without trial – Behind Blue Eyes – Open Salon.

Today is tax day in the US. Like many others, I waited until the last possible moment to file and pay, because I knew I was going to get screwed. I electronically filed my taxes last night, but I will be mailing a big, fat check to the IRS today to cover the rest of what I owe. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I will be sending a big, fat check the IRS for what I can afford to pay of what I still owe. I will pay the rest next month. Here, then, are some random musings about tax day.

• We need tax reform. Either the Fair Tax or a flat tax. Either one would be preferable to what we have now.
• We need to abolish withholding and force everyone to either make quarterly estimated payments, or pay the full amount on April 15. People would suddenly realize how much they are getting screwed and would demand tax reform.
• If you ask someone, “How much did you have to pay in taxes this year?” and they respond with “Oh! I didn’t have to pay anything, I’m getting a refund!” you should immediately punch them in the face, because they are completely clueless about our tax system.
• These absurd “tea parties” that Republicans are throwing do nothing but make them look stupid. They won’t actually accomplish anything. Neither will mailing tea bags to your Congressmen.
• Our government is far too large, much larger than it is Constitutionally allowed to be. Massive program and spending cuts are needed to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
• “Progressive” tax systems, like what we have in the US, are not “progressive” at all. In fact, they are abusive to the high achievers. According to the Tax Foundation, the Top 1% of income earners, who account for 16.5% of income, pay 33.7% of the taxes. The bottom 50%, who account for 13.9% of income, pay only 3.6% of the taxes. How is that fair? It isn’t. Our tax system is designed to punish “the rich,” and it’s only going to get worse with Obama and friends in office.

Based on what we’re seeing with federal bailouts and calls for laws to limit executive compensation from Dear Leader, I don’t see things improving any time soon. In fact, I think it’s going to get a lot worse for “the rich” in this country. Obama and friends are fomenting class warfare like we’ve never seen before, enciting “working Americans” to hate “the rich.” That’s the typical Democrat line, but Obama’s charisma and his status as a hero to “working Americans” is giving his pronouncements about the “excesses” of “the rich” more power. Hang out on social networks like Twitter and Friendfeed and you’ll see that the pitchforks are already being sharpened.

I just found the Obama Inauguration Speech Generator through a link on Friendfeed. Basically it’s like Madlibs; you fill in adjectives, nouns, verbs, etc, and then those words get plugged into the story. Hilarity ensues. Or not. Mine turned out pretty good, I think.

Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech

My fellow Americans, today is a hopeful day. You have shown the world that “hope” is not just another word for “change”, and that “change” is not only something we can believe in again, but something we can actually affect.

Today we celebrate, but let there be no mistake – America faces torpid and flacid challenges like never before. Our economy is blatant. Americans can barely afford their mortgages, let alone have enough money left over for sheep. Our healthcare system is flagrant. If your finger is sick and you don’t have insurance, you might as well call a lawyer. And America’s image overseas is tarnished like a petshop Hummer. But pillaging together we can right this ship, and set a course for Alabama.

Finally, I must thank my illiterate family, my petulant campaign volunteers, but most of all, I want to thank The Evil, Wicked Rich for making this historic occasion possible. Of course, I must also thank you, President Bush, for years of indoctrinating the American people. Without your presidential efforts, none of this would have been possible.

Now go create your own.

A few months ago I heard that the august leaders of Gwinnett County, GA (where I live) had decided that we’re all too stupid to decide for ourselves who we want hauling our trash. In an effort to assist us with our daily lives, they decided that they would administer all trash hauling in unincorporated Gwinnett themselves, with every homeowner being forced to abandon their current haulers and use the one appointed to them by the county. Do you believe that crap?

I have received two bills from my new county-mandated hauler, which I haven’t paid yet. And I’m glad I haven’t paid them. In a moment of sanity, Judge Michael Clark has issued an injunction to stop the program, leaving the existing haulers in place until a formal hearing can be held. Two of the ousted haulers have alleged that the county overstepped its authority and that the contracts are illegal. Whatever the reason, this next step towards total government control of our lives has at least been delayed, if only for a little while. Every story I’ve read about this has called it the county’s “controversial” plan, yet I haven’t heard much about it on the local media. What I do know is that the county had no meetings or announcements about the plan before it was finalized. When something like this is done by government in secret, you know it’s bad news.