Without a meter that appears above the candidates’ heads when they speak, with an arrow moving from LIE to TRUTH and back, what are we to do? (I do wish, instead of debates, we could hook them up to lie detectors and ask them questions about their motives and plans. Wouldn’t that be great? The candidates alone in quiet rooms, attached to lie detectors, with cameras and microphones for us to see and hear, as we phone in our questions?) Oh–I’ve digressed.

1)      One thing we can do is use our common sense. When candidates say they will do A or B if elected, it’s a misrepresentation. Alone they are powerless; there must be consensus to forward bills to the President’s and Governors’ desks. Everything depends on the party in control of the legislatures. We are all familiar with, and sick of, the deadlocks in state houses and in Washington, D.C.

2)      Why the deadlocks? While we may never know what’s really going on in lawmakers’ high-powered meetings, we can at the very least, whether we want to or not, stay informed. The internet makes research much easier now than it was in years past.

Have you heard of a man named Grover Norquist?  He’s the president of Americans for Tax Reform and created the Taxpayer Protection Pledge in 1986. I recently saw him on 60 Minutes. He said he influences our elected Republican officials in this way: He approaches candidates and tells them if they really mean ‘No New Taxes,’ they need to take an oath and sign his pledge. If they do, ‘big money’ comes their way and they are certain to be elected (because of the influence on us of advertisements). If representatives renege on their pledge, ‘big money’ assures they are not re-elected.

From Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform: “On the state level, 13 governors and 1249 state legislators have taken the pledge.”

From The Fiscal Times: “To date, 238 House members, 41 Senators, and about 1300 state legislators have signed the pledge to never, ever raise taxes. The fact that a whopping 95 percent of all Republican congressmen have signed it – plus all four of the existing GOP presidential candidates – is a point of pride for him.”

The bottom line is, with Grover Norquist overriding Republicans in state and federal legislatures, there can be no consensus, no cooperation, no true governing, no taxes to reduce the deficit (never, apparently, on the wealthy or corporations, who pay a far smaller percentage of their income in taxes than do middle-income-Americans).

The wealthy are in charge of us and they are protecting themselves. From the Tax Policy Center, read about Mitt Romney’s Tax Plan.

And, did you know the National Defense Authorization Act became effective in 2012? Its focus is anti-terrorism, but according to Forbes some of the provisions could apply to Americans. Forbes says the act could be used to detain Americans without being charged or given a trial. Shouldn’t we be aware of these things?

3)      We must register to vote before the deadline passes and then we must vote to remove from office those who will not cooperate with the whole on behalf of all of us. We’re still the Americans—they’re still our employees. We must call or write to our representatives, insisting on cooperation and common sense solutions to straighten out the messes we Americans have allowed. Apathy is the worst thing that has happened to us because we’re no longer a democracy; we’re an oligarchy–rule by the wealthy. Let’s join the Occupy Movement and peacefully protest before our travel is restricted and curfews are put in place. Don’t think so? Read this: ‘Big brother’ lamp posts can hear, see and bark ‘Obey!’ at you

Professor Gar Alperovitz is insightful in: America Beyond Capitalism.

A new Public Citizen report details how deregulating the financial derivatives market contributed to the financial crash and warns lawmakers – who are considering deregulating the derivatives market again – about the consequences of doing so: https://www.freespeech.org/text/ignoring-historys-lessons-yet-again

The future may seem hopeless, but it’s not. It’s not! The future is up to us.

I rarely write about political issues because it’s not me. I’d rather write about people who make a positive difference in Tucson, about acceptance, compassion and unity. But I find myself nearly speechless at what was reported this evening on Tucson’s KVOA TV: The Arizona House just okayed a bill with a contraception exemption—meaning that any employer (not just religious institutions) with religious objections doesn’t have to provide coverage for birth control methods through the employers’ health insurance plans.

Would employers be required to define their objections? Would managers be required to confess to employees refused the coverage how they don’t—honest!–use any birth control methods themselves? Would employers be willing to give significant raises to employees refused this insurance coverage due to the unending increase in the numbers of children per no-birth-control-employee households? And how about that maternity leave? Would employers be willing to allow two-three months paid leave every year for the next new child? Or, is the legislature just trying to stop Arizonans from having sex if they don’t want more children?

This potential bill also apparently comes from the house with a clause stating that if an employee says that she uses birth control pills for health reasons other than contraception, she must provide copies of her medical records to her employer. What?! This very scary bill moves on to the Arizona senate tomorrow.

IT IS NOW TIME TO WRITE TO YOUR STATE SENATOR so that women’s reproductive decisions are not once again controlled by the government or wealthy corporations mostly run by men. I am stunned that Republican party representatives, who have stood so staunchly against abortion want to pass a law that will cause hundreds, if not thousands more abortions, because young women would not have access to birth control pills if the government or their employer said no. Even though these women are paying for their health insurance as a part of their salary package, plus the expensive monthly payment that is separate from salary.

Perhaps, to be just, and of course, also for religious reasons, employers will stop men from having insurance-access to Viagra and its sister drugs, which were created solely for sexual pleasure. Why should men have this coverage when women’s access to contraceptives is denied? Will YOU or someone in your family be affected by what the legislature tries to limit next?

Will this same legislature take back its decisions to decrease aid to the unemployed and poverty-stricken, since so many more children of mothers who didn’t have access to birth control and decided not to have abortions, would be born into poverty? An increase in aid should be written into the same law that denies women access to birth control. When men stop telling young women, “Come on, baby, I love you. If you love me, you’ll do it. Come on, baby. You’re so fine, I can’t resist you,” and when they stop abandoning the children they co-created, THEN bring this subject up.

It is time to write to your state senator. If you don’t know who your state senator is, click on: http://2001.azredistricting.org/ and in the column on the left, near the bottom, enter your address and zip code. A map appears showing your address; the district numbers for your federal and state representatives appear in the upper left corner of the page. Once you know your district, go to: http://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp to find the name of your state senator. I found mine and I’m writing him right now.