How do you eat an Elephant?

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

Simple but effective! So what is the best way to eat this elephant that is the U.S. deficit?

I find it interesting how brazen a few of our legislative friends are about defending more tax cuts for the rich in this debate. If you get a chance you should watch Michele Bachmann's interview on Good Morning America. When asked about recent polling that shows 72% of Americans favor a tax hike for people making over $250k per year, first she says this is not really how American's feel, and then goes on to say.... well... "It's just not enough."

She also says taking all of the profits from Fortune 500 companies isn't enough, and taking all of the assets of U.S. billionaires isn't enough. My response to Ms. Bachmann.... No Shit Sherlock! I don't think anyone expects the deficit to be resolved in one fell swoop; but wouldn't this be a bite out of the elephant?

I'm no math wiz but don't hundreds of billions of dollars eventually add up to a trillion dollars? Does she think we're stupid? Just like her colleague Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming's esteemed member of the U.S. House of Representatives, here we have yet another member of congress trying to sell us on the idea that it is better to cut Medicare than to raise taxes on the wealthy. Do you believe her? Does this make sense to you?

Here's an interesting group of folks, these 45 millionaires sent a letter to President Obama asking him to allow the Bush Era Tax Cuts to expire. They call themselves "The Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength." Many have called this group a bunch of idiots, but I ask you, who would you rather have making decisions about the deficit; millionaires who want an even bigger tax cut for themselves or millionaires who want to pay their fair share? Seems like a no brainer to me!

Jeran

Cynthia Lummis Responds

I hope everyone had a chance to read Saturday's paper. In particular Cynthia Lummis' piece on the opinion page titled "We must now confront America's debt crisis." I want to dissect a few of her comments and I'd love to hear what you think about them as well. First thing that caught my eye;

• "if Washington continues the status quo, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, the backbone of Medicare coverage, will go broke by 2020.."  Mrs. Lummis you are the Washington status quo! I find it very amusing that use "Washington status quo" in such a negative way! Do you want us to ignore the fact that you've been a politician for over 30 years?

• "the President's answer to Medicare's exploding costs is to launch partisan attack, propose to raise our taxes..." Actually no, he didn't propose to raise "our" taxes. In fact the only taxes he wants to raise are on people who make more than $250k per year. People like you with large incomes and people with net-worths in the 10's of millions of dollars. Why did you omit this very important fact? Painting the Presidents plan as one that aims to raise taxes on all Americans is misleading, in fact it's a down right lie!

• I'm glad Rep. Lummis opened up the fact that proposing these drastic changes could subject her up to "cowardly political attacks" and she went on to say exposing her strategy to cut Medicare is nothing but a "scare tactic." Well I'm sorry Mrs Lummis but I think dismantling Medicare is a scary thing! Especially when there are so many other options on the table. Options that you refuse to talk about!

• In conclusion she basically said  that questioning her strategies were nothing but "dishonest discussions (that would) pander to their 2012 election-year hopes." Well.... you're right about one thing I hope we can find someone with more common sense and more practical solutions to the deficit rather than the extreme measures you're proposing. 

Can you please explain to me why you've chosen to reduce the deficit by cutting these social programs and why are you so adamant about the rich and super wealthy getting another tax break? Common sense would seem to dictate that this is not the time to give the super rich a tax cut. Recent polling  shows over 70% of Americans agree with me.

Look, I'm not saying that balancing the budget and cutting the deficit is going to be easy. I know it's going to be hard and I know as Americans we are going to have to make sacrifices. But before we gut Medicare and Medicaid, lets at  least look at the wealthiest individuals in this country, and also look at asking our biggest businesses in America to pay their fair share, rather than giving them more tax cuts and subsidies.

This week we will hear from big oil companies regarding their quarterly profits. The profit reports are estimated to be "record breaking!" Your budget plan would also give them a tax break????? WHY???? I just don't understand your logic here!!! Can someone please explain to me why this makes sense for America?

Very frustrated,

Jeran

An open letter to state legislators in Tennessee

( A letter responding to this insanity, known as the Tennessee "Don't Say Gay Bill.")

Do you think that by pretending we don't exist you can make us go away?

We are coming! We are coming like the stars! We are coming with a message of love, tolerance, understanding and acceptance! We are coming with future city council members and mayors. We are coming with future state and federal legislators, and we are coming with future presidents.

You can not make my voice go away! You can't take away my blog, you can't take away my facebook page, you can't take away my boyfriend, and you can't take away my friends and family whom all love me unconditionally!  In fact you have made me stronger! You have made my voice louder and I will continue to shout!

I don't understand the hate you have in your heart! I can assure you that refusing to allow your schools to talk about people like me will force good people to live a lie.  You will spread a message of ignorance and bigotry. Some of your citizens may even feel so desperate and isolated that they will take their own lives.

You may win this battle and you may win a few more battles along the way, but I promise you with every fiber of my being that we will win this war!!

Sincerely,
Jeran Artery
Activist and Advocate

Here is the bill.  Meet Senator Stacey Campfield who introduced it on the senate side; and this is Rep.Bill Dunn who has introduced it on the house side. These links contain all of their contact information. Feel free to drop them a note!

Cynthia Lummis votes to take away your Medicare!

Well it’s tax time. How’d you do last year? I just filed mine, last minute of course, but at least it’s done for another year. Speaking of money this seems like a perfect time to blog about the deficit. The debate in Washington of course is "How do we tackle the $14 trillion dollar deficit?"

A new Washington post poll today revealed that over 70% of Americans think we should raise taxes on the rich.  The latest statistics show the wealthiest 400 Americans earn about $350 million dollars per year. By the way, the highest tax bracket for individuals is 35%. Would you be surprised to find that these 400 wealthy individuals averaged paying roughly a 17% income tax?

Tax rates are at historic lows. Did you know that back in the 50's and 60's it was possible for people to be in a 91 or 92% tax bracket?  Even as recent as 1980 people could find themselves in a 70% tax bracket.  So what is a fair tax rate for people to pay that earn $350 million per year? I think most would say 92% is to high, but is 17% to low? I think it is!! 

And speaking of Washington and wealthy individuals, our Representative Cynthia Lummis, has a net worth just shy of $50 million according to 2009 statistics. Interestingly her idea of trimming the deficit is to give people like herself a tax break and cut out Medicare completely. In fact that’s exactly what she voted to do last week!

Does that represent you? Does that sound like something Wyoming voters would stand for? Cutting benefits to millions of seniors and giving yourself a tax break doesn’t sound like anything but hypocritical to me!

I hope everyone saw former Republican Senator Alan Simpson on TV last week talking about the ultimate sin in politics, hypocrisy! Friends I hope you can see through this double standard that Cynthia Lummis is touting from her Washington pulpit. We can find better ways to eliminate the deficit. Cutting these programs shouldn't even be an option!

I want to know what you think. Do we cut Medicare, gut Medicaid and give the rich a tax break or do we raise taxes on corporations and the super rich? Like so many Americans I have paid my fair share of taxes for years and years. Now with this record deficit we need to re-examine what is a fair share and who needs to pay less and who needs to pay more. 

Seniors I think you should be outraged! I’m outraged! This is not what Wyoming is about.

If you agree with me please share this blog on your facebook page and help me spread the word.  This is unacceptable for America and Wyoming! Cynthia Lummis needs to be held accountable for voting to take away Medicare!

Jeran

Skinny Jeans

So.... I got on the scale this morning and freaked out a little bit! I've heard of the "new relationship 20" but didn't think it would happen to me.  Last summer I hit my goal weight after several years of exercising, eating right, and trying to live a healthier lifestyle.

Lately I've been more lax about exercising, haven't watched my diet like I should, (Landon could live on chicken fingers and french fries, and often does, I don't know how the little shit stays so skinny!) and didn't really notice anything until I stepped into my favorite jeans and went..... "oh my!"

This morning the scale showed I was up about 15 pounds from where I was last August. I don't thinks it's terribly noticeable, but here's how I feel;

Hi Ho Hi Ho, back to the gym I go! Back to healthy eating. Back to getting strong again. I've come to accept that I'm never going to have a body like this;

But that's ok. I know where my body is comfortable and even if I don't look like this, at least I feel like it most of the time.

So the next time you see me feel free to ask how the little weight loss thing is going! I'm big on accountability and if I know my friends are watching, I'll be more motivated.

Jeran

Got your pink on?

Today is “Day of Pink” a friend over at UW told me about it. Here’s what it's about, “a day against bullying, discrimination and homophobia in schools and communities. Everyone is invited to celebrate diversity by wearing a pink shirt and by organizing activities in their workplaces, organizations, communities and schools.”

I’m all in! Of course every day we celebrate diversity at my house :)

Speaking of pink here’s the hubbub of the day;

This is J Crew’s president Jenna Lyons painting her sons toenails pink. This was featured in the new J Crew Catalog with a caption that reads “Lucky for me I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon.”

Now we have a public outcry that J Crew is trying to turn Americas’ kids gay! Dr. Keith Ablow of Fox News stated, “Yeah, well, it may be fun and games now, Jenna, but at least put some money aside for psychotherapy for the kid-and maybe a little for others who'll be affected by your "innocent" pleasure.”

Dr Ablow, I’ve got some very bad news for you! If wearing pink makes you gay or means you need psychotherapy here are a few people that need immediate attention;

Commentator Erin Brown of the right-leaning Media Research Center went so far as to call the ad "blatant propaganda celebrating transgendered children."  She also accused J. Crew of exploiting Lyons' son for its liberal agenda.

Really??   Here’s what psychiatrist Jack Drescher told ABC news;

“Most research on gender identity and sexual orientation concludes that neither is a choice. Nor can they be shaped by a parent's wishes.”

Drescher, who wrote the 2010 paper, "Queer Diagnoses," which was published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, serves on the American Psychiatric Association's committee that is addressing sexual and gender identity disorder for the DSM-V. DSM-V is psychiatry's encyclopedia of behavioral diagnoses.

"I can say with 100 percent certainty that a mother painting her children's toe nails pink does not cause transgenderism or homosexuality or anything else that people who are social conservatives would worry about," he said.

Personally I love this picture and I see it as nothing more than a very special moment between a mother and her son. This will not turn the child gay or transgendered, just like forcing me to play sports in junior and high school didn’t make me turn out straight. Sorry Dad! I love you anyway and I know you love me too.

Jeran

Step right up... Get your tickets now!!

Here’s an interesting group that may actually give WyWatch a run for its money as far as preaching a message of hate and intolerance; let me introduce you to the Minnesota Family Council. I took this from their website;

       Who We Are
Minnesota Family Council (MFC) is a non-partisan, grassroots, Christian organization dedicated to strengthening the family – the bedrock of society – by advancing foundational biblical principles in churches, the media, government, and the public square throughout the state of Minnesota.  We mobilize Christians to transform Minnesota’s culture so that it cherishes life, affirms religious liberty, and preserves marriage and the family.

Mmmmm…. Sounds tasty! Yes Please! May I have some!

This obviously doesn’t sound like my kind of group, but it does sound eerily familiar to what all our friends at WyWatch are about.

Here are a couple of statements from the leadership at MFC, “LGTB youth commit suicide because they live an unhealthy lifestyle.” This little morsel is from Tom Prichard MFC’s president. He went on to say Gay Straight Alliances are “sad and harmful to students as they promote homosexuality.” And he wrapped up his brilliant comments by saying, Matthew Shepard’s murder wasn’t a hate crime, and that his death “served an important ideological purpose for homosexual activists.”

This group sends its members to the Minnesota Capital to lobby against anti bullying bills. They claim that anti bullying legislation is promoting a homosexual agenda in America’s schools. They actually blame supporters of gay rights for school bullying saying that they “are the ones that are contributing to an atmosphere that can even increase bullying as more kids get into this kind of lifestyle” and that “homosexual behavior is one of the most hazardous behaviors that kids could get into and start practicing.”

The MFC’s Barb Anderson told anti-gay activist Peter Labarbera that “the greatest threat to our freedom and to the health and well-being of our children is from this radical homosexual agenda which is just so pervasive” and that she considers it “a badge of honor to be called a hate group.”

These kind of intolerant radicals scare me. Here again we have a group promoting hate and doing it in the name of Jesus Christ. I always want to ask them “Is Jesus going to judge me for loving, or is he going to judge you for hating?”

Anyway, they are having their annual dinner in May and guess who the two keynote speakers are going to be; none other than Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann, two probable presidential candidates in 2012. The two are speaking on “vigorously defending our God-given freedoms in our communities, schools, at the Capitol and the ballot box.” They hope to “rediscover god and the vital role of faith and family in our American freedoms.”

Where can I get my tickets?? Who wants to join me? What an impressive day in American politics!

Jeran

Taking the high road!

Three years ago, before I came out to everyone, I had confided in a few very close friends and family members about what I was going to do. One of my closest friends, or so I thought at the time, said “Personally I have no problem with it, just don’t hit on my husband.” Obviously she thought because I was gay I was attracted to anyone that had a penis. I wanted to say, “don’t worry I’m not into fat, old perverts like you are,” but I didn’t. Instead I replied, “That won’t be a problem.”

I don’t know why that conversation bugged me so badly, but it still does. I was reminded of it yesterday when I sent them a note of “you’re in my thoughts,” because I know they are going through a rough patch in their personal lives. Sometimes it’s difficult to take the high road.

This morning I got a “forward” email from a family member. I’ve seen dozens of these.  This was a power point slide show on liberal vs. conservative. The email went on and on about how liberals are a bunch of girly men that don’t want to work but rather take away from successful people and give to the lazy. You know, I’ve seen so many of these they don’t even hardly faze me anymore.

This one did however, since it came from a family member who knows how liberal my viewpoints are, and also knows how hard I’ve worked for issues that I’m passionate about. I had also just bought them tickets to come see my play. I didn’t get a thank you note, phone call, or text. I guess this was their way of saying thank you. Again…. I did nothing, and I’ll be pleasant the next time we cross paths at a family function. I always try and remember you can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family.

Recently the whole “birth certificate” thing has come up again about President Obama. Due in large part to the rantings of Mr. combover himself Donald Trump. Many are asking, “Why doesn’t Obama just show the damn thing to shut these critics up?” Again, taking the high road is not easy.

I have no doubt Obama could produce his birth certificate if he choose to do so, and I admire his taking the high road. For me it would be so tempting to crank it out and call my opponents a bunch of ill informed, ignorant, hypocrites; but sometimes you give your opponents a soap box and enough rope and watch them hang themselves.

It’s hard for me to keep my mouth shut, especially as someone who is extremely opinionated and loves to debate. However sometimes the best thing we can do is to follow Grandma’s advice and remember, “If you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all!”

Jeran

Get a Job!!

Every once in awhile you need to take a short little break from life and recharge your batteries. Maintaining your sanity is important, some would argue I lost mine years ago, but I’ve found taking short little get away trips every once in awhile does a great deal to restoring my peace of mind.

Friday Landon and I went to Denver to celebrate our six month anniversary. I wanted to take a day and do a whole lot of nothin! I enjoyed not worrying about work or politics but rather focusing on good food and yummy wine. One of my personal mottos is “Life’s too short to drink bad wine!”

So I was excited to come back with a clear head and pick up the last few days newspapers and see what I had missed. One very bright spot was a feature about my friend Joanne Kennedy’s new book “Cowboy Fever.” I can’t wait to read it, and I wish Joanne tremendous success with this book as well as the other romance novels she is currently working on. Joanne is one of the kindest, sweetest, compassionate persons that I know, and if anyone deserves a great degree of success it is most definitely her!

I was also extremely excited to see the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s lead story today calling out five Republican house members on being a bunch of hypocrites! These five members voted against Cathy Connolly’s bill that would have brought over $38 million dollars of federal money into the state for unemployment; $24 million for more than 4,500 workers and another $14.2 million going for training the unemployed and helping them to find jobs. WY lawmakers said “no thanks” by a 34-25 vote.

They said they viewed it as a disincentive to WY workers in finding new jobs.  “We’re not doing people much of a favor by keeping them on a welfare check for any length of time.” Thank you Rep. John Eklund Jr. of Cheyenne for helping send this message to a bunch of worthless, lazy bums who are obviously only out to milk the system for a few bucks. We need to ignore the fact that we have just experienced the worst economic cycle since the great depression, and tell our unemployed citizens to quit being a bunch of cry babies!

Oh, I almost forgot, a little side note… these five representatives along with Governor Mead accepted almost $2 million dollars in federal subsidies personally over the last few years. Representatives John Eklund Jr, R-Cheyenne, Hans Hunt, R-Newcastle, Lorriane Quarberg, R-Thermopolis, Mark Semlek, R-Moorcroft, Matt Teeters, R-Lingle were cited as the worst offenders.  Matt Teeters representing my home town was the worst, his farm/ranch operation collected over $989,000 since 1995. I don’t care who you are, that is a lot of money!

My point is these folks are a bunch of hypocrites! What’s good enough for me is not necessarily good enough for my constituents! I’ll take the money because it’s for my farm and you can’t have any because you need to find a job! This kind of crap makes me livid, and I hope it makes your blood boil as well! This is very similar to Rep. Lisa Shepperson going on the Rachel Maddow show and saying keep the government out of our personal lives, but only to the extent that effects me personally. She was talking about defeating an intrusive abortion bill, but turned around a few days later and voted in favor of HB74 and bringing the government into our bedrooms.

We have got to remember these names and hold these folks accountable for their actions! This is not ok! These double standards have got to stop! We can’t forget what these folks are doing to Wyoming. I don’t think they have any of our best interests at heart!

Jeran