Dominating the news this past week, are several important issues. Although, I’ll be the first to admit that some of the news stories can be a little dull and uninteresting, they still are important issues that we would do well to pay attention to. Why?

Because, although all politics may be local, what happens on a national level, sooner or later, will also touch our everyday lives; or those of people we care about. Unfortunately, research shows that most Americans seem to be unengaged in the political process, until a specific issue touches them in a personal way. By then, it usually is too late to do anything about it.



It’s Only Money!

Multi-billionaire Warren Buffet decided that he would leave what could amount to over 30 billion dollars, yes, that’s billion, to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Talk about generosity!

Essentially what happened is that Buffet decided that Gates and his wife would do a better job of distributing his wealth through their foundation than anyone else could.

The agreement calls for Gates and his wife to get approximately $1.5 billion dollars per year, but stipulates that the whole $1.5 billion be spent within that one year period of time. The money will be used to combat things such as world hunger, diseases like AIDS, and other humanitarian efforts.

And in return, Buffet asked for absolutely nothing; although he was offered and accepted, a seat on the foundation’s board. In fact, the foundation will not even have any reference to Buffet’s name.

That’s what I call a noble act of kindness!



But can he walk the walk?

In the U.S. Senate, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid from Nevada, has vowed to block the recently voted on obscene congressional pay raise until the minimum wage is increased. He can talk the talk; now let’s see if he can walk the walk. I doubt it…



Could it happen?

According to a news report on electronic voting, New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, a single person could swing an election by manipulating electronic voting machines.

Part of the problem, according to the report, is that fewer than half the states require a paper trail of recorded votes. It would take a person with the technological know-how and access to the voting machine’s software to manipulate the results.

Don’t know if the machines used here in Lubbock County, produce a paper record…but it might be a

good idea if they did.



Treason or Trickery by the “Bush-istas”

Representative Peter King, R-New York, is ready to charge The New York Times with treason. In an ridiculous political rant, King is quoted as saying that "I am asking the Attorney General to begin an investigation and prosecution of the New York Times -- the reporters, the editors and the publisher,…We're at war, and for the Times to release information about secret operations and methods is treasonous." King claims the newspaper violated the Espionage Act, and that the paper was, “pompous, arrogant, and more concerned about a left-wing elitist agenda than it is about the security of the American people."

Once again, Republicans are using the same old, “we’re at war” excuse and pretense to get away with whatever they want to justify. The fact of the matter is that this country’s constitution protects the freedom of the press, during war and during peace time; that is if we are ever lucky enough to see peace again on our lifetime. Judging by the way the Bush administration is handling things, we’ll be lucky just to be fighting 2 wars at the same time; Iraq and Afghanistan; although; Iran still remains a volatile situation and the North Koreas are intent on declaring their “in your face” opposition to the Bush administration.

Just take note of Bush and Cheney’s comments on the Times situation: Bush “for people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it, does great harm to the United States of America." Cheney: "Some of the press, in particular the New York Times, have made the job of defending against further terrorist attacks more difficult by insisting on publishing detailed information about vital national security programs." Bush’s Press secretary Tony Snow went even further, suggesting the New York Times had undermined Americans' "right to live."

Americans right to live? What in the heck does that mean? No one, especially The Times, has undermined my right to live; have they yours? Just another example of Republican “scare them to death mumbo jumbo” to justify their unlawful wiretapping and wire transfer “eavesdropping”

The scary part is that Republicans from Bush and Cheney on down to our own Congressman Randy Neugebauer, have latched on to the belief that the attack on this country on September 11, has given the administration a blank check to do whatever they well please; even if it

means breaking the law.

Whatever happened to the great political foundations that this country was founded on; like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and protection of civil rights?



Blaze of “Old Glory”

By a vote of 66-34, just one vote short of passage, the Senate failed to pass legislation which would have made it illegal for any person to desecrate the U.S. flag. The amendment to the constitution, had it passed in the Senate would have then been sent to the states for ratification. Thirty eight states would have to have ratified the amendment within a 7 year period in order for the amendment to become the 28th amendment to the constitution.



Protecting our Right to Vote

Before 1965, a large segment of minority voters in this country literally had to pay or meet other ridiculous criteria, (example: in the south, affecting mostly black voters, if your father had not voted, you were not eligible to vote either; in Texas it was a poll tax) in order to be able to vote. In 2006, by delaying the renewal of the Voting Rights Act, the law which remedied many of those politically and racist motivated tactics, the Republican Party may be hoping for a trip back to the future.

And once again, Hispanic and black voters, will for the most part, be the ones disenfranchised; maybe not by being deprived of the right to vote, but intimidated into not voting.

With the 2004 general elections right around the corner, and the 2008 presidential elections in sight, the delay by the Republican controlled congress is threatening to eliminate the act all together. If that happens, requirements such as providing bilingual ballots or making language translators available would be a thing of the past.

The intent is clear; first they use issues like immigration reform and border security to make sure that mostly Hispanic immigrants who have crossed here without documentation never get a pathway to citizenship so they can vote. Second; they use tactics such as delaying the passage of this landmark legislation to ensure their hold on the control of congress and everything else that goes with it.



Thomas Paine, the great American writer, once wrote that “the right to vote is the primary right by which other rights are protected”. How will we make sure this right and privilege will not be diluted by a few Republicans;

intent on challenging Hispanic and black voters every step of the way to the ballot box?

The answer may lie in our ability to empower ourselves with information and then make sure we are not intimidated from stepping into that voting booth.

Email: acruztsc@aol.com