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Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Congress Approval Rating lower from Republicans than Democrats

Gallup just reported that 16% of Democrats approve of what Congress is doing, while only 13% of Republicans approve. Gallup also point out that the poll is reversed from the typical situation where members of the party in control usually report a higher approval.  So, since the Republicans are in control of both the House and the Senate, that Republican voters would think better of congress than the Democrats.
Is it any wonder that Donald Trump, an "outsider" who does not completely follow the right-wing agenda is getting so much traction among the Republican voters?  Republican voters are more angry with Congress than Democrats, so possibly that is pushing them to vote for a presidential candidate who is not part of the "establishment."
I think part of the problem is that the Republicans seem to take such hard stands on so many "hot button" issues that they alienate multiple demographic groups.  They could lose one or two groups, but their hard stance on so many issues has made many of those members very unhappy.
Some of those groups:

  • Health Insurance -- Republicans have continually voted to kill "Obamacare" and have said multiple times that they will come up with an alternative program to replace it.  But they have NEVER come up with a real, comprehensive and feasible program to replace it.  How many Americans know or have a relative who is benefiting from that program?  
  • Gay Marriage -- Republicans have fought Gay marriage by every method possible, using legislation, lawsuits and intimidation.  Obviously, they have turned off most gays.  Since almost everyone has gay friends or relatives, how many of us would vote against Republicans if only because of their long-standing fight against gays? 
  • The Environment -- Republicans have been proud of their continual fight against any protection of the environment, and have generally voted against all laws to protect the environment and maintain adequate funding for EPA.  Because of that, most strong environmentalists have voted Democratic and the Republican party has given up on them.  However, now they have clearly lost a 20 year battle against global warming mitigation.  The majority of the US population lives in coastal regions that will be severely affected by rising oceans, and the midwest is already being hammered by the global warming caused tornados.  How many of those additional citizens will worry about that, and be turned off from voting Republican because of it?
  • Immigration -- Our Republican congress has been unable to come up with any sort of plan for resolving the illegal immigration problem.  The lack of progress has clearly angered all recent immigrant families.  The "wall" between Mexico and the US is purely symbolic.  With the modern drones, electronics, and the huge Border Patrol staff, I doubt if it would make any difference.  We need clear policies!  The H1B and H2B policies are, in many ways, worse. 
  • Abortion -- Right-wingers claim that life begins at conception, so any abortion is murder.  Their theology for this claim is rather weak, and was not a real teaching of Christ.  However, they want to force their religion onto all US citizens by banning abortion.  It is similar to Muslim countries forcing women to wear chadors or not drive, even if they don't believe in the religion.  One of the world's greatest problems is overpopulation.  Another problem is unwanted, unloved children.  How many citizens have been turned off from voting Republican because of this bizarre platform.
  • Guns -- Republicans have generally refused to pass even minor restrictions on guns and gun ownership.  It is very hard for me to understand how they can rationalize a belief that all life is sacred with the concept that everyone should carry a gun.  Christ would have never carried a gun, knife, or sword, but how can that policy relate Christians with NRA policies?  With so many murders, gun injuries, accidental shootings and police shootings in the US, it would seem that almost everyone would have a family member or neighbor who has been affected by gun violence.  How many of them would be turned off from voting Republican?  

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Social and Charity Organization Managers get greedy as organizaitons grow

I received a card today in USPS mail  from "Helppetshelters.com" that said that the Humane Society (HSUS) was spending more money on its own pension plan than it does to help pet shelters.   --I have no other information.   The mailer was apparently sponsored by Rick Berman's Center for Organizational Research and Education (CORE), which has been called "a PR front" for fighting against environmental causes. So the information in the mailer and website could be strongly biased.   I was always a small-time contributor to HSUS and thought they were a worthwhile cause.  I'm very surprised, and saddened that another nationwide charity organization has succumbed to the greed that so many other large organizations seem to also.   This follows news that the Wounded Warrior Project was doing similar things--collecting immense amounts of money, and then spending it on the paid employees with somewhat lavish salaries, benefits and parties--leaving a small percentage for the actual wounded veterans.

I can understand how organizations made up of many volunteers can eventually decide that they need to hire a small professional staff to provide continuity and help the organization achieve its goals.  However somehow, the management and staff of those organizations lose sight of the mission, and try to make them profit centers.  However, it takes a very strong board of volunteers to supervise organizations like that and keep control on salaries of CEOs, top level staff and their associated expenses and benefits.

I've suspected that the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America also got hijacked by their paid professionals, and the right-wingers who want to proselytize children into believing their perverted forms of Christianity.  They, also, were very good organizations with many volunteers, but now are just a shell of what they could have been.