The "I" in independent

There are those who argue that not belonging to either American political party is important.

This certainly may be true for the rational and busy voter who has no appetite for exhausting crude primary battles and prefers his or her choice in November to be whittled down to two by political junkies.

For the candidate, not knowing where you fit in or where you stand, or worse not able to play well with others might be a sign of something other than "independence."

Recently many of us received word that one unenrolled candidate was enthusiastically endorsing the other unenrolled and uncommitted-on-the-issues candidate for US Senate before anyone else even got on the ballot. Not a knee-jerk endorsement, perhaps, but clearly an uninformed one by one spoiler to the potential next.

I'm not suggesting this was a back room deal. I'll leave that to the Twitterers.

Some of us like being on teams and the challenge of working with others towards a common purpose for the common good. We recognize that all communities are interdependent including the chambers of the US Congress. That one party is having an identity crisis is not an invitation to give up the two-party system in the United States -- a system that has nurtured the leader of the free world -- but rather a call for true leaders to fix it.

Freedom of Choice in 2012

"Religious freedom" for employers affiliated with churches to discriminate in healthcare coverage between birth control and Viagra is not the real issue underlying the fake GOP hysteria over contraception. What motivated Mitch McConnell to declare a cultural war and inspired Senator Snowe to flip-flop on women's rights and join Tea Partier Marco Rubio in sponsoring the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 is raw unadulterated political power and the 2012 elections.

The righteous indignation expressed by the Republican Party posing as "the Church" this week nationally coincided with an effort in the Maine Senate to protect lawmakers from the deluge of church-generated anti-abortion mailings that are overwhelming the publicly-funded staff.

Maine State Senators were given a choice whether to continue receiving duplicative fire and brimstone letters arriving daily in boxes and piling up until public employees distribute them, or not. The photocopied tirades harangue lawmakers to act according to scripture as interpreted by an evangelical sect that takes advantage of bulk-mail rates for non-profits.

Some churches are feeding Maine's poor children and housing homeless veterans. Others want unlimited freedom to influence politics at a discounted rate, but reject on "religious freedom" grounds that politics should influence church businesses that provide programs and services to the general public. Thanks to the First Amendment we can choose between churches, and churches can choose between candidates.

Senator Snowe was for "basic fairness ...in how we treat and view women's reproductive health care versus every other health care need that is addressed through prescription drug coverage" before she was against it.

Your choice in 2012.

We have the tools to fix America.

I am running for the United States Senate because I know we have choices as a country, and I will vote to help the people who elect me, not the elite group of special interests that are running things now. We have the tools needed to change the course of America, and we need people who have the political courage to use them. I am not afraid to stand up for fairness and families. I will create jobs here in the United States by investing in desperately needed public infrastructure. I will protect seniors and strengthen Social Security and Medicare, not weaken it. I will reward veterans, not abandon them. I will hold Wall Street accountable to avoid another economic collapse, and regulate the polluters of our environment. I will reform our tax laws so everyone pays their fair share, and work tirelessly to remove the corrupt influence of unlimited corporate money on our democracy.

Washington is not working for middle-class American families, and the United States Senate in particular is completely out of touch with the challenges ordinary people face today. Exorbitant health care and energy costs, unemployment and poverty are critical issues that are not being addressed by our government. Unfair tax laws that favor the super wealthy, the corrupt influence of big corporations on our democracy, the deregulation of Wall Street and the weakening of the labor movement have shipped jobs over seas and left millions of families without hope or opportunity.

This election will present voters with a stark choice -- return the same millionaire Washington insider to the U.S. Senate for what would be her 33rd consecutive year in Congress -- or elect a new generation of leadership who believes government belongs to and should be working for the people and the common good.

Does Maine want a career Republican politician who enjoys the lifestyle of the 1% making choices that further the interest of corporations, or a progressive working mother who will cast votes in the interest of future generations?

Progressives Teach You to Swim

If you are drowning in 12 feet of water, a moderate Republican will throw you six feet of rope.

One in five Maine children are hungry and living in poverty, family budgets are crushed under the weight of exorbitant healthcare and energy costs, and too many people can't find a decent job. The American middle class is drowning and all we see and hear in the media is the spectacle of ridiculously wealthy men who have contributed nothing to the common good tell us why they should be president. Crazy right-wingers in the Congress are so busy trying to dismantle the social safety net, gut and "investigate" programs for women and kids that they don't have time to balance the budget.

None of them can be trusted to throw us a life line in Maine. Self-interest and greed is shockingly the agenda for all those afflicted with Potomac Fever, and the silence of our United States Senators in the face of their GOP caucus is deafening.

For over thirty years Washington has created vast income inequality. The insiders have stacked the deck in favor of corporations, and have failed the children and grandchildren of the greatest generation.

Members of Congress use their position of public trust to become career politicians and K Street lobbyists. Any of them who have been in DC and voted to deregulate Wall Street, corrupt the tax code and invite corporate interests in to the chambers of the U.S. Capital is responsible.

It is time for bold ideas and a progressive agenda. We need public financing of elections, everyone to pay their fair share of taxes, and investment in and celebration of goods made in America.  We must protect public spaces that enable community-building. We can and should amend the U.S. Constitution to prevent a corporate coup d'etat. Our Supreme Court can and should be increased to dilute the power of the sitting right-wing element under the spell of the economy of influence. Healthcare must be reformed. Education, research and protecting the environment must move up the list of American priorities.

Equal opportunities to succeed must be offered by a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

If you are drowning in 12 feet of water, a progressive will teach you to swim. And that's what will make the difference for the future of this country.

I Have a Dream of Economic Justice

Olympia Snowe has spent the last 33 years in Washington. That’s 33 years -- and counting -- that have made her one of the wealthiest people in America.

Lately, that wealth has been showing up in votes that put profits before people.

When Snowe voted against the Senate jobs bill in October, she identified only one provision of the bill she disagreed with: the surcharge on taxpayers who earn more than $1 million in adjusted gross income.

According to a study by Citizens for Tax Justice, only one-tenth of one percent of Maine taxpayers would be affected by the surcharge — about 375 people.

The legislation would have created 2 million new jobs and cut taxes for virtually all Maine taxpayers. While her constituents struggle to survive the bleakest economic conditions in generations, a small segment of Mainers -- 375 -- have a senator on their side.

Did she vote against a small tax increase for only 375 Mainers because she is one of us?

Or one of them?

According to the Media Matters Action Network, Snowe’s estimated net worth -- between $12.6 million and $44.7 million -- makes her the 10th richest member of the Senate, a millionaire's club in itself.

But she makes only $174,000 a year as a U.S. senator. Though Snowe's most recent official financial disclosure form does not list specific income for her husband, John McKernan, it does indicate two income sources that make them millionaires.

McKernan serves as chairman of the board of directors of Education Management Corporation.

Education Management's corporate filings describe a "McKernan Agreement" under which he is paid an annual salary of $330,000, plus a target bonus of $412,500. McKernan is also a member of the board of directors of BorgWarner, which paid him $328,000 in cash and stock awards in 2010, and he serves on the board of directors of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Snowe's vote against the jobs bill is thus much easier to understand, since Snowe and her husband are among those fortunate few.

Everyone knows we need to change the dynamic in Washington to protect the many against the privileges of the few, to unleash the middle class and create a broad-based economic recovery.

But we can't keep sending the same people over and over again and expect a different outcome.

We need a senator who is one of the people.

A member of the middle class who wants to reduce taxes on middle-class families and keep alive the American Dream. Someone who believes everyone deserves an equal opportunity to succeed.

Someone who demands those who have reaped the biggest rewards pay their fair share to the nation that nourished that wealth.

Olympia Snowe never will.

I already have.

2012 U.S. Senate Race: What would Einstein do?

Will 2012 be the year America gets its groove back, or are we going to send the same people to Washington that we have been sending for decades and hope things will change?

Against all odds I am considering running for the U.S. Senate against Olympia Snowe,  who has been in Washington D.C. since 1979 and is now one of the wealthiest U.S. Senators in America.

Am I crazy? I want America to educate our children, protect our seniors, reward our veterans and keep people healthy and safe. I want corporations and wealthy people to pay their fair share of taxes, and I know that corporations are not people. I want a senator who will stand up for ordinary people and speak loudly for economic justice.

Not since George Mitchell have we had a Democratic Senator in Washington fighting for the middle class and taking a stand for good people struggling to find and keep jobs, put food on their table and protect their families. The Republican Party is out of touch with the challenges American families are faced with, and quickly becoming more and more extremist and obstructionist. Gridlock in Washington is robbing a generation.

I would love to hear from you -- the People I wish to serve. Are you ready for change in Washington? Are you willing to fight for it? I hope so.

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We are the 100%

What my wealthy father the businessman has in common with my poor grandmother the factory worker now living in a nursing home is this: they both long for their family and mourn missed opportunities for closeness with their children when the holiday season rolls around.

The fad of separating people by their wealth is effective at drawing attention to income disparity, but not helpful to our collective soul. What makes for a good slogan doesn’t tell the full story.

We all yearn for a better world for our children, and because of hard work or worry about the lack of work we miss so much of what they bring to the table -- joy, optimism, imagination and wonder.

Before long they are grown and working. And we miss them more.

America’s fix will involve more than a super committee, super PAC or superman. The greatness of our country is reflected by the values we teach our kids. It’s time to get back to basics while we forge ahead. We’re all alone together.