THE REAL MANDATE

President Barack Obama and Congress, remember November's election was not a mandate from the American people, it was merely a message from Fox News and a handful of propaganda puppet talk show hosts of the right sent via disgruntled and misinformed tea baggers, who represent a very small portion of the American population.
I believe that if you were to hear a mandate from the American public it may be as follows:
Bring our troops home, not only from the Mideast but from around the globe with the exception of the strategically placed bases that are absolutely necessary for monitoring our safety.
Stop foreign aid except for disasters, starvation and needed medical supplies and make that aid contingent on verification of delivery to those in need.
Do not extend tax cuts to the very rich. Past practice shows that it does not result in meaningful increased employment.
Do not touch Social Security or Medicare. As a matter of fact, Social Security contributions should not be used for any other expenditures.
Reign in those who practice out-of-control capitalism.Wall Street and the banks both demonstrated that they cannot operate outside the parameters of deregulation.
Do not give input to the energy companies in our energy policies. It is only self-serving on their part and hinders our ability to achieve energy independence.
Restructure our trade policies and return our jobs while eliminating our massive trade deficits.
Campaign reform is a must. The American people have the right to know who are bribing our politicians. Campaign ads need to be held to some standard of honesty and decency, and term limits have become a must. Career politicians spend their incumbent term running for their next term and not doing the public service.
It is time to start representing the American people, who in my opinion are not far from revolution. The American people are tired of getting fleeced by corporations, banks, Wall Street and politicians.
I am sure that I will draw criticism from the tea bag crowd, but I feel that only two types of people can be adverse to these changes: the crooks who have been profiting from status quo and the sado-masochists who seek to punish the disenfrachised Americans who support this country but have no meaningful representation.
Joe Scalise