The Death of Twinkies – Just the Facts!!!

11/18/12 - UPDATE: For an insiders look at what happened at Hostess, Inc CLICK HERE

Hostess is owned by a private equity firm that bled the profits out of the company for years. Top executives of Hostess paid themselves big fat paychecks and demanded the workers give up pay and benefits. Before you blame the workers (Unions) for the end of the Twinkies, look at the corporate mismanagement at the top of the corporate ladder first.

Unions are groups of organized employees.  Unions are a democratic and their leadership is elected by the membership. To blame something on the “Unions” you are simply referring to a group of workers whose majority believes in collective bargaining. CLICK HERE to see why Unions still matter!

Download a fact sheet on the strike from BCTGM: CLICK HERE

Read More on the subject:

Romney-Style Economics Behind Decline of Hostess, But Workers Are Paying the Price

Giving Thanks for Hostess Workers CLICK HERE

"It is my belief that unions help everyone. They not only make working conditions and compensation better for union workers – they make these aspects better for ALL workers. They help set the status quo for employers everywhere. If corporations really had their choice on a five-day work week, an eight-hour work day or child labor – you can bet your bootie everyone would be working a lot harder and longer for a lot less. It wasn’t just union workers who benefited from those battles. It was everyone". - 

By RAYNE'S WORLD

What happened to the Great Republicans?

Republicans like Dwight Eisenhower, Barry Goldwater and Bob Dole. They fought hard to win their political offices but never gloated once they won. When they lost an election they accepted the loss with dignity.

McCain and Romney bring shame to themselves and the Republican Party with their vengeful actions towards President Obama. All we hear from them is sour grapes and complaining. Romney in particular reminds me of a coyote, yipping like a baby in the faraway hills but afraid to show his face. Shameful, shameful, shameful.

READ MORE:

The sore losers club

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are already starting to channel the last guy who lost to Obama CLICK HERE

OR

McCain Misses Classified Briefing While Blasting White House

Senator John McCain is demanding answers on the Benghazi attack, but his office tells ABC News he missed a classified briefing on the subject because of a "scheduling error."

The classified briefing was held on Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee - of which Senator McCain is a member - and lasted three hours. It featured testimony by officials from the State Department, the Pentagon, the CIA and the National Counterterrorism Center.

During part of the briefing, McCain was holding a press conference demanding answers about the administration's handling of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on Step. 11 that killed four Americans, including US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. McCain called on Congress to launch Watergate-style hearings to get to the bottom of what happened.

Hurricane Sandy: Help Those in Need

The victims of Hurricane Sandy need your help now. There have been a number of charlatan groups collecting money for Sandy related disaster relief. Be careful who you donate money to.

The most effective way to get help to those victims of this terrible natural disaster is to contribute to the American Red Cross.

Here are ways to contribute:

Red Cross - Hurricane Sandy: Help Those in Need CLICK HERE TO HELP!!

OR

Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief… NOW!!!

Red Cross Will Help As Long As People Need Them: For more information CLICK HERE!

Hurricane Sandy Information CLICK HERE

The GOP Got Their Comeuppance this Election Cycle

I listened obsessively to the political analysts and commentators as they exposed their various theories on why Romney and the whole Republican Party took an electoral beating in 2012. If the truth was known, there are numerous reasons the Republicans got their comeuppance this election cycle. The leading republicans who publicly opposed abortion even in the case of rape or incest did not help the GOP at all. Making comments like a baby conceived by rape is a “gift from god” was unconscionable (Go get em Karen Hughes). In addition, Romney’s 47% comment, missing tax returns and Ryan’s medicare voucher program, encouraged large numbers of voters to think twice about what a Romney/Ryan America would look like.

We can’t ignore the significance of the Hispanic vote either. As you know Hispanics voted democratic in historic numbers. It is little wonder why. All the republicans who sought the GOP nomination (Romney in particular) did a fair share of immigrant bashing during the primaries. Romney talked about a plan whereby illegal immigrants would “self-deport”. Any rational analysis of the Romney immigration policy knew it was just red meat for republican primary voters and not a realistic plan. The republican pandering to the anti-immigrant crowd in the Republican Party was unacceptable to many Americans but was a particularly bitter pill for Hispanic Americans. However, Romney and the republican’s opposition to the Dream Act sealed the deal for most Hispanic voters.

The Dream Act would give children of unregistered immigrants a chance for citizenship if they receive a college degree or two years military service. This means that the military has a wider range of applicants to choose from. This act would also improve the economy in terms of the increase in the level of taxable income. It would also improve the level of school drop outs among the immigrant boosting a high literacy level and dropping the unemployment rates.

Romney’s opposition to the Dream Act was totally political. As a moderate to liberal Governor of Massachusetts, Romney supported policies consistent with the Dream Act. Then in a public flip flop, candidate Mitt opposes the Dream Act. I truly believe Romney’s opposition to the Dream Act was nothing more than a calculated move to out anti-immigrant his republican opponents. Well Mitt, congratulations, you won the republican nomination and at the same time lost the presidency as well as alienating Hispanic Americans from the GOP for decades to come.

As I said, there are numerous reasons the GOP took a drubbing in this election. However, GOP opposition to the Dream Act was an inexcusable exercise in political pandering at its worst. Has the GOP learned its lesson here? Time will tell.

Nate Beeler, Cagle Cartoons, The Columbus Dispatch

Politics is Life

“to disagree one doesn’t have to be disagreeable” 
― Barry Goldwater

We live in this great nation and have no choice but to be involved in politics. Whether you are active, well informed or apathetic you are involved. If you vote you are a voter, if you don’t you are a non-voter. If you have strong opinions, you are a “likely voter”, if you are registered to vote and don’t have strong opinions you are an “unlikely voter”.  It does not matter if you hate politics, love politics or like me have come to believe involvement in politics is a responsibility we all have, you are part of the system.

From my point of view, to not be an informed voter you have acquiesced to the other side. That is if you are a middle of the road or progressive, think all politicians are the same and don’t vote: you have become a tactic supporter of right-wing America. The converse of this is true as well.

I see this alienation of the voter to be part of the right-wing grand plan. If the Limbaughestas can keep you discouraged and apathetic, they have you right where they want you. If you continue to believe it does not matter who wins the presidency, the right has won.

Right Wing-Nut Gun Dealer won't sell to Patriotic America loving Obama voters.

As a second amendment respecting gun owning lefty, this blows my mind. Romney had a pro-gun control record and the NRA leadership wing-nuts supported him anyway. This is not about gun owners’ rights; this is about the extreme right-wing views of this particular gun dealer.

This Gun Dealer is an Anti-American Right-Wing Zealot and I would never step foot in his store.

To read the full article CLICK HERE!!

For Sportsman and other folks interested in gun owners’ rights, check out this group: The Union Sportsman Alliance!

Sign the Petition: Nobel Peace Prize for Malala Yousafzai

To sign the petition: CLICK HERE

Malala Yousafzai, a 14 years old girl from Swat valley of Pakistan is a symbol of hope, resistance, struggle, bravery and courage who refused to bow down in front of the militants to get education and women rights. She also kept on struggling for peace in her militancy hit hometown of Swat by Writing, and Speaking at every forum she could get. She came to prominence through a blog she wrote for the BBC, detailing her life under the Taliban regime and their attempts to take control of the valley. Yousafzai has since been nominated for several awards, including International Children's Peace Prize, and has won Pakistan's first National Peace Prize. She was threatened and pressurized and ultimately shot critically by extremist elements on Tuesday 09 October 2012 while returning from school along with two other girls. She was first treated in a Pakistani Military Hospital till her stabilized substantially to give enough room to take her abroad after which she was transferred to UK where currently under treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. This girl is a symbol of hope and courage for the whole world and she deserves the Nobel Peace prize for all that she has done and all that she has endured in the path of her struggle at such a tender age. 

 To sign the petition: CLICK HERE

Also: Tell Pakistan’s PM: keep Malala safe!
Send an urgent appeal to ensure Malala, and other brave women activists like her, receive the protection they need to carry out their work without fear of attack.
CLICK HERE TO SEND THE MESSAGE!!

Whites were a critically important part of the coalition that put Obama back into office.

I am getting a bit tired of hearing that Obama did not get a majority of the white vote. Obama received about 40% of the white vote. While not a majority: That is one hell of a lot of white people. Included in that number are large numbers of white men.

Of course, I would never underestimate the impact of the Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, LGBT Americans, Native American, Asian Americans and others voters who all voted for Obama in record numbers. But just as important as those demographics was the millions of white Americans who recognized that Obama was the best choice to lead our great nation over the next four years.

Simply put: Whites were a critically important part of the coalition that put Obama back into office.

After the election commentary….

Romney’s concession speech was gracious and I for one appreciated that. 

I fear on the republican side a blame game will now ensue. Many republican leaders are already throwing Romney under the bus claiming now “he was the wrong candidate”.  The republican leadership does not get it. The message has not been heard. Obama won because of his leadership and accomplishments. I not saying that there was no republican that could have beaten Obama, I know there were. But as I said before, that of the crop of republicans that sought the republican nomination this year, none of them stood any chance of beating Obama. If the truth was known, Romney probably was the republican’s best hope.

This is a great day for American exceptionalism. I remain proud of our President, and I know we all have a tough job ahead.

From reading my posts, folks may assume I am a blind supporter of the president. That is not true. I have many issues with our President that I will now take up with him.  Guantanamo bay, the war in Afghanistan, fracking, pipelines, union card check, excreta, excreta… Why you ask did I not address these issue during the campaign? That is easy, what Mr. Romney offered was much worse on every single issue of importance to progressives. Besides, the wing-nut-right was attacking the President on everything from his birth certificate to foreign policy. The election was a time for progressives to rally around our President. Let’s enjoy the victory for a few days. Then we will once again hold President Obama’s feet to the fire.

I’m calling it for Obama!

Now wait…. This conclusion has only been reached in the last hour. Most of the day yesterday I was convinced Romney would squeak out a victory over Obama today.  This was based mostly on my belief that whoever wins Ohio will win the presidential election. I won’t bore you with how I came to believe that Ohio is the key here, but I will explain why I have come to have faith Obama will carry Ohio and thus, the election.

First, I have poured over the polls and they look better to me then they had in the past. Second, the polls always sample likely voters at the exclusion of unlikely voters. What about these unlikely voters?  If you include a larger number of unlikely voters in the poll along with likely voters, Obama wins in a landslide. That is correct. All the political pundits know that the unlikely voters favor Obama by a large margin. Therefore, if a larger number of unlikely voters get out and vote, Obama wins. Look at the following table of recent polls in Ohio:

Simply put, unlikely voters have been under polled.  Why? First the Obama campaign’s goal of turning out unlikely voters in Ohio is bearing fruit. Polling districts across the state with high concentrations of unlikely voters are showing better than expected turnout.

So, I am calling this election for Obama. The key to this prediction is that there will be a higher than predicted turnout of “unlikely voters”. So, if you have not voted please do… Help prove me right!! Thanks for reading my post!

What you can do TODAY to help Re-Elect Our President!!

We can't afford to step back and hope others will make the difference. So once you vote today, keep going. Get on the phone, get online -- all day long, there will be something you can do to help. 

It's all right here: CLICK HERE!!!

Find out where your polling place is CLICK HERE!!

188 Fact-Checked Promises President Obama Has Kept

This not mine I got it from  Liberals Unit!!

Truth is often time stranger than fiction, yet in the realm of Tealandia – such distinctions are difficult at best.  Next time one of them tells you that Obama is a liar… the next time one of them tells you that he has done nothing for America since being elected.  Take this list of promised President Obama has kept and….. well, I bet you know what to do with it!

This list has all been fact-checked and, in fact, is an abbreviated version of the list of promises that President Obama has kept from  http://www.politifact.com/. Be sure to check out their website for the completely unabridged list of promises and see for yourself all the detail on each of these 188 promises.

1. Add another Space Shuttle flight
2. Allocate Homeland Security funding according to risk
3. Appoint a special adviser to the president on violence against women
4. Appoint a White House Coordinator for Nuclear Security
5. Appoint an American Indian policy adviser
6. Appoint an assistant to the president for science and technology policy
7. Appoint at least one Republican to the cabinet
8. Appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer
9. Ask people and businesses to conserve electricity
10. Assure that the Veterans Administration budget is prepared as ‘must-pass’ legislation
11. Attract more students to science and math
12. Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees
13. Begin removing combat brigades from Iraq
14. Bolster the military’s ability to speak different languages
15. Centralize ethics and lobbying information for voters
16. Champion the importance of arts education
17. Change standards for determining broadband access
18. Close the “doughnut hole” in Medicare prescription drug plan
19. Conduct robust research and development on future space missions
20. Consider “smart growth” in transportation funding
21. Create a best practices list for private businesses in accommodating workers with disabilities
22. Create a community college partnership program
23. Create a consumer-friendly credit card rating system
24. Create a ‘Green Vet Initiative’ to promote environmental jobs for veterans
25. Create a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score for mortgage comparisons
26. Create a military families advisory board
27. Create a national declassification center
28. Create a rapid response fund for emerging democracies
29. Create a real National Infrastructure Protection Plan
30. Create a Social Investment Fund Network
31. Create a White House Office on Urban Policy
32. Create an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes
33. Create an artist corps for schools
34. Create an international tax haven watch list
35. Create job training programs for clean technologies
36. Create new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud
37. Create new financial regulations
38. Create White House performance team and chief performance officer
39. Create youth service corps
40. Direct military leaders to end war in Iraq
41. Double federal spending for research on clean fuels
42. Eliminate the higher subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans
43. Enact tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
44. Encourage farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient
45. Encourage water-conservation efforts in the West
46. End the “Stop-loss” program of forcing troops to stay in service beyond their expected commitments
47. End the abuse of supplemental budgets for war
48. End the use of torture
49. Enhance earth mapping
50. Equalize tax breaks for driving and public transit
51. Establish a credit card bill of rights
52. Establish an Energy Partnership for the Americas
53. Establish an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information
54. Establish program to convert manufacturing centers into clean technology leaders
55. Establish ‘Promise Neighborhoods’ for areas of concentrated poverty
56. Establish school programs to highlight space and science achievements
57. Establish special crime programs for the New Orleans area
58. Expand access to places to hunt and fish
59. Expand eligibility for Medicaid
60. Expand eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
61. Expand federal bioforensics program for tracking biological weapons
62. Expand funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
63. Expand housing vouchers program for homeless veterans
64. Expand loan programs for small businesses
65. Expand Pell grants for low-income students
66. Expand public/private partnerships between schools and arts organizations
67. Expand teacher mentoring programs and provide incentives for more planning time
68. Expand the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers
69. Expand the Senior Corps volunteer program
70. Expand the Veterans Administration’s number of “centers of excellence” in specialty care
71. Expand Veterans Centers in rural areas
72. Explore whether International Space Station can operate after 2016
73. Extend and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch
74. Extend child tax credits and marriage-penalty fixes
75. Extend monitoring and verification provisions of the START I Treaty
76. Extend the Bush tax cuts for lower incomes
77. Extend the Bush tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 (couples) or $200,000 (single)
78. Extend unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
79. Fully fund federal contribution to the preservation of the Everglades
80. Fully fund the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
81. Fully fund the Veterans Administration
82. Fully fund the Violence Against Women Act
83. Fund a major expansion of AmeriCorps
84. Give a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administration
85. Give tax credits to those who need help to pay health premiums
86. Grant Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
87. Help states and localities address sprawl
88. If you don’t have insurance, or don’t like the insurance you have, you’ll be able to choose a new plan on a health insurance exchange
89. Implement “Women Owned Business” contracting program
90. Implement and fund proven health intervention programs
91. Improve climate change data records
92. Improve relations with Turkey, and its relations with Iraqi Kurds
93. Improve water quality
94. In non-competitive markets, force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care
95. Increase efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy
96. Increase funding for land-grant colleges
97. Increase funding for local emergency planning
98. Increase funding for national parks and forests
99. Increase funding for progams that conserve lands and habitat for select species such as the Osceola turkey
100. Increase funding for the Environmental Protection Agency
101. Increase funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund
102. Increase funding to expand community based prevention programs
103. Increase minority access to capital
104. Increase non-military aid to Afghanistan by $1 billion
105. Increase special operations forces and civil affairs
106. Increase spending to prepare for longer space missions
107. Increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps
108. Increase the Veterans Administration budget to recruit and retain more mental health professionals
109. Initiate a grant and training program for law enforcement to deter cyber crime
110. Invest in all types of alternative energy
111. Invest in public transportation
112. Launch a supportive services-housing program for veterans to prevent homelessness
113. Launch an international Add Value to Agriculture Initiative (AVTA)
114. Launch educational initiative for employers on tax benefits of hiring employees with disabilities
115. Make greater investment in advanced military air technology
116. Make military deployments predictable for troops and families
117. Make National Guard leader a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
118. Make U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts
119. More controlled burns to reduce wildfires
120. No permanent bases in Iraq
121. Open “America Houses” in Islamic cities around the globe
122. Open new consulates “in the tough and hopeless corners of the world”
123. Organize successful Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010
124. Partner to enhance the potential of the International Space Station
125. Promote cultural diplomacy
126. Promote innovative ways to reward good teachers
127. Promote more pre-school education
128. Protect American intellectual property abroad
129. Provide $30 billion over 10 years to Israel
130. Provide affordable, high-quality child care
131. Provide grants to early-career researchers
132. Provide grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
133. Pursue a wildfire management plan
134. Push for a college football playoff system
135. Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
136. Raise fuel economy standards
137. Raise the small business investment expensing limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009
138. Rebuild schools in New Orleans
139. Recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession
140. Reduce subsidies to private student lenders and protect student borrowers
141. Reform mandatory minimum sentences
142. Reform No Child Left Behind
143. Reform the patent system
144. Reinstate executive order to hire an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five years.
145. Release oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve
146. Release presidential records
147. Remove more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires
148. Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy
149. Reproductive health care will be “at the heart” of health care reform.
150. Require 10 percent renewable energy by 2012
151. Require Cabinet officials to host Internet town hall meetings
152. Require children to have health insurance coverage
153. Require economic justification for tax changes
154. Require health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care
155. Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions
156. Require large employers to contribute to a national health plan
157. Require more energy-efficient appliances
158. Require new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
159. Require states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption
160. Restore funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
161. Restore funding to the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
162. Reverse restrictions on stem cell research
163. Seek verifiable reductions in nuclear stockpiles
164. Send two additional brigades to Afghanistan
165. Set goals and timetables for implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act
166. Share enviromental technology with other countries
167. Sign a “universal” health care bill
168. Stand down nuclear forces to be reduced under the Moscow Treaty
169. Stop the development of new nuclear weapons
170. Strengthen and expand military exchange programs with other countries
171. Strengthen antitrust enforcement
172. Strengthen the levees in New Orleans
173. Support airline service in small towns
174. Support commercial access to space
175. Support funding and reform for Amtrak
176. Support high-speed rail
177. Support increased funding for the NEA
178. Support network neutrality on the Internet
179. Support regional innovation clusters
180. Use the International Space Station for fundamental biological and physical research
181. Use the private sector to improve spaceflight
182. Vigorously pursue hate crimes and civil rights abuses
183. We will kill bin Laden
184. Will seek more accommodations of bicycles and pedestrians
185. Work to build natural gas pipeline from Alaska
186. Work to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
187. Work toward deploying a global climate change research and monitoring system
188. Work with international allies on space station.