As a result of the Tea Party Republican’s obstructionism, several bills that could have bettered America have been killed.

Senate Democrats have introduced the ‘Buffet Rule,’ a bill that would require the top 1/10th of 1% of income earners to pay no less and 30% in federal income taxes; a rate similar to that paid by most of the remainder of American taxpayers.

On Tuesday, four East Haven, Connecticut police officers were arrested by the FBI on charges they had abused illegal immigrants and falsified reports in order to cover for injuries to those immigrants.

The State of Washington is poised to become the seventh state to boldly progress towards full equality by legalizing same sex marriage. Washington will likely soon follow the lead of states such as Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa, and the District of Columbia, after Washington Democratic Senator Mary Margaret Haugen, announced sheould be the 25th vote needed to pass the same sex marriage bill out of the Washington Senate.

The fact that America’s population is aging is no secret. Baby boomers are growing older and their reproduction rates haven’t kept pace with those of their parents. According to U.S. Census data, the average median age of Americans grew from 32 years in 1990 to 35 years in 2000 and it continues to grow.

I believe there is only one thing I can offer to this brave American hero and that is a humble thank you. Thank you for standing up for the vision of a world where everyone can enjoy the same rights and freedoms.

When force is necessary, it SHOULD be minimal, that is only to the degree necessary to gain compliance and restore order.

GOP Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum said recently in an interview with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren that he ‘has nothing against gay people.’ Really, Rick?

CNN is reporting that an NYPD officer was stabbed on New Years Eve night by an OWS protester as the officer attempted to arrest the protester. The incident reportedly occurred following the re-occupying of Zuccotti Park and the march that followed.

No region of the world or political issue has brought about such political angst and turmoil as the problems of Israel and the Palestinians.

At a time when uncertainty in the Middle East is the only thing that is certain, the United States stands prepared to provide the weaponry needed to wage the next major war.

The death penalty is clearly not a perfect method for exacting justice. So long as it is a human institution it will never be perfect and innocent men and women will inevitably become victims of it.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is heartbroken that Homeland Security took back any authority they had given his agency to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. On December 21, 2011, a right wing group calling themselves Southwest Border Sheriffs posted video on their site showing Arpaio questioning federal resolve and methodology in enforcing federal law.

Lately, I keep hearing rumblings from conservatives referencing the words ‘under God’ from the Pledge of Allegiance. It seems everyone is up in arms over the idea that these words (added in 1954, some sixty-two years after the first publishing of the pledge) are somehow being removed or overlooked.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona has spent his career seeking attention and notoriety. Sheriff Joe has given himself the title ‘Toughest Sheriff in America’ and he routinely preaches that the system shouldn’t ‘coddle’ prisoners. For nearly two decades he has housed inmates in his notorious “Tent City,” as a way of practicing what he preaches.