The Platinum Award for having one’s head planted firmly up one’s ass goes to Republican Congressman Todd Akin of Missouri. He does a DIS-service to his party and his nation by insisting the taxpayers of the United States spend $485 million dollars for an unwanted piece of equipment for the military.

For four years, the Pentagon has been trying to get rid of this program. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would urge President Obama to veto any bill that extends the competitive engine program.

Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said this piece of equiment "is an unnecessary luxury we simply cannot afford, especially in our current fiscal condition."

The Problem for Everyone Else

Congressman Akin and his cohorts in crime on the House Armed Services Committee added this $485 million boondoggle to the Defense Spending Bill. Now, exactly how many members of Congress do you suppose will vote against defense spending? I can see it now: Republicans bash Democrats and President Obama for being soft on defending our nation. (more below)

The committee also decided to give a no-bid contract to Pratt and Whitney, a United Technologies Corporation unit, providing them with a ten-year monopoly on the airplane engine market. Being the good guys and gals that they truly must be, they also decided to give the Pentagon thirty F/A 18 Super Hornet fighter plans, eight more than they wanted.

In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if I got enough awards to go around ’cause there seems to be a whole lot of folks in the House of Not-Really-Representing-Citizens who have their heads firmly stuffed deep. So, with that said, here are YOUR Congressmen and Congresswomen:

House Armed Services Committee Members

Sixty-one members of the House of Representatives on one committee? Reckon there’s any back scratching going on there? With Republican Akin and the Democratic committee chairman both from the Show Me state of Missouri, should it be any wonder this would be the Show Me the Money Committee?

I mean, in other action taken by the committee, they made plans to spend $10.3 BILLION for ballistic missile defenses, which is $361.6 million more than requested by President Obama. But Rhode Island Congressman Langevin explained that the extra funds would strengthen our defenses against "the most immediate threats from nations such as Iran and North Korea." What immediate threat is he talking about? Can either of those countries launch a missile capable of reaching the United States? I think he just read the headlines in the newspaper and found a couple of countries he could throw in as a justification for overfunding the President’s request. Boy, it’s a good thing Australia didn’t invade Antartica!

Oh, the committee did come up with one money-saving idea. Rather than funding the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System with the requested $352 million, they cut out $300 million. One of the functions of the NPOESS is to provide information to the military about weather conditions so they’ll know whether or not to fly those planes they don’t want.

The NPOESS website says, "The NPOESS will circle the Earth approximately once every 100 minutes. [It] will be able to monitor the entire planet and provide data for long-range weather and climate forecasts. The data gathered by the NPOESS will aid in reducing the potential loss of human life and property by allowing more efficient disaster planning and response to severe weather conditions such as tornadoes and floods. Military users will benefit from the NPOESS as well, tactically and strategically. The NPOESS will permit the military to capitalize on favorable weather conditions or avoid harsh weather conditions that could hinder maneuverability."

Then, again, I guess ocean-monitoring is not on anyone’s agenda. After all, what could possibly happen out in the ocean that could affect the citizens of the United States?

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas. Keep up with Arkansas Elections 2010.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

January 21, 2010 is a day that just might live in infamy, to use Pres. Franklin Roosevelt’s words, and may become as important in American history as the day to which he referred: December 7, 1941. The United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, effectively changed America’s type of government from a Republic to an Aristocracy.

It really should come as no surprise to those who follow politics and governing on a regular basis. America has been headed in this direction for quite some time, and the Supreme Court has played a part, especially since 2000 when they chose the President of the United States. For those who didn’t pay attention in Civics class, an aristocracy is a government run by the wealthiest people.

The significance of the January 21 ruling in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission is that corporations now have the same free speech rights as an American citizen and that those rights include being able to make unlimited campaign contributions for both candidates and issues.

As pointed out in a previous article, Americans are a diverse people who have been forced into two economic classes: those with lots of money, and those with little or no money. Those with little money reared their heads in the 2008 Presidential Election with hundreds of thousands contributing both money and time to help Barack Obama win the presidency. Corporations were limited by campaign finance laws from squashing "the people" – but, now – the limit is gone.

How SCOTUS Voted

SCOTUS, for those who don’t know, stands for Supreme Court of the United States. Four justices voted on the side of the big corporations: Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy. Four justices voted on the side of the people: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Bryer and John Paul Stephens. Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the corporations.

If ever there was solid evidence what the Supreme Court decision to make George W. Bush president in 2000 did to America, this is it. Imagine two appointees by the candidate who got the most votes that year, Al Gore, instead of those two Bushies. The decision on January 21 would probably never have happened. Aristocracy might have been held in check a little longer. It’s time to turn America back to the people, and that’s exactly what The American Beer Party is all about.

If ever there was a reason to elect moderate Democrats and Independents, and to keep Republicans away from the presidency for as long as possible, yesterday’s display of party politics on the Supreme Court is it.

What Others Are Saying

Justice John Paul Stephens, in his dissent, said, "The court’s ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions around the nation."

Eric Lotke, Research Director at the Campaign for America’s Future, said, "Today’s decision, Citizens United v. FEC, comes down decisively on the corporate side. It gives advertisers more power than voters, and tilts the balance of power even farther towards wealthy and corporate interests. The newly composed conservative court upset decades of precedent and settled expectations." Click here to read what else he said.

Miles Mogulescu, entertainment attorney, writer, and political activist, wrote, "in a radical act of judicial activism, five Supreme Court Justices overthrew 103 years of American statutory and judicial law going back to the Presidency of Teddy Roosevelt by ruling that corporations have the Constitutional right to make unlimited campaign contributions. This is in effect a bloodless judicial coup which turns the American government over to the biggest corporate interests, to the degree that hadn’t happened already." Click here to read what else he said.

Jason Linkins, writing for the Huffington Post, said, "In one swoop, the court did away with nearly everything in federal campaign finance law, allowing corporations free reign to inject as much money as they jolly well please into federal campaigns." He, in fact, was much more animated in his article, invoking the F-word to describe "concise way of capturing today’s Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission." Click here to read what else he said.

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC likened the ruling to the Dred Scott decision of long, long ago and said, in fact, the January 21 decision put Chief Justice John Roberts in First Place as the worst Chief Justice in history. Click here to read what else he said.

Republican Response to Supreme Court Ruling

As you might imagine, not everyone was displeased with unlimited corporate campaign contributions. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader, said that the court had restored proper rights to corporations. House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio called the decision "a big win for the First Amendment. Let the American people decide how much money is enough."

"I am pleased that the Supreme Court has acted to protect the Constitution’s First Amendment rights of free speech and association," said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "These are the bedrock principles that underpin our system of governance and strengthen our democracy."

The President Responds

"With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans. This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington – while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates. That’s why I am instructing my Administration to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue. We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision. The public interest requires nothing less."

We can only hope.

Learn more about The American Beer Party Movement.

Click here to read American Beer Party – Marriage Equality.

Click here to read about The American Beer Party.