Corporate Corruption In Our Society

I have been sitting quietly reading editorials, sound off, and talk back columns in regards to the Ameren electrical rates. Frankly, I blame the Democrats and Republicans for this complete mess with the rates, but Ameren has it share of blame as well. Rates should have never been frozen for ten years. I am not employed by any utility nor do I like to pay for higher rates, but I could have better afforded it gradually instead of a 300% rate increase in which I had this month! Yes, 300% for an all electric home.

I sent email to voice my concern with Senator Haine and Rep. Baiser, but guess what, I was ever contacted. I can only assume since I told them both I held them and their fellow politicians responsible, that I struck a nerve. And now that the media has exposed the contributions they got from Ameren. It is important to recognize that corporations dominate our political system which is the root of many of our society and economic problems. Corporations corrupt the political system by making such donations to our politicians. Corporations have forced many families to poverish conditions, raising prices, polluting our environment, and out sourcing to other countries for cheap labor.

It is time for the American people to take note of all this corporate corruption to our society and environment. We must send a message to all levels of government, local, regional, state, and federal, NO MORE! It is time for citizens to change how we run the government, and the only way is to get involved.

I invite everyone 16 years old and up to join our cause and come to the Madison County Green Party meeting on Tuesday night, February 27 at 7 PM at the Religious Center of SIUE. I am working to help make some significant changes and the Green Party is just the party to help bring the government back to the people. Stand up and stop corporate domination in our society, and bring the control back to the people, for the people, and by the people! Feel free to call me at 1-866-752-3540, leave me a message and I will contact you personally.

February 14, 2007

Happy Valintines Day everyone. This is a day for all lovers, and maybe a day people who have disagreements to look at a way to resolve them especially parents with children. It is so sad to see parents separate and / or divorce with chidren, espcially young. I am experiencing this first hand as my grandchildren suffer through what I see as inmature parents. For the newlyweds and lovers to married soon, please make sure this is the right step. I was married for 29 years until my wife passed away. We had hard times, but we stuck with it. Today people are just a throw away society. If it doesn't come easy, throw it away.

February 9, 2007

Time to think about where we are in our life and careers. I myself have been with a world wide company for 27 years now soon to be 28 years in May. I hope my trek into the political arena will be succesful so I can retire from my current job and move into a new career.

So why am I talking about careers? It is a given fact that in today's world seldom will you see anyone dedicated to one company for as many years I have given. The younger generation today have no loyalty to their employers, but understanding how employers treat their employees is probably why. You will not find many companies today helping employees through tradegies in their personal life. Or will you find companies today make them feel like they are part of a family. Today most people are just a number to a company so they meet the bottom line forecast so shareholders are happy. Even the company I work for has drastically changed in the last 2 years. I feel very loyal to them even though I feel like they have withdrawn their "good feeling" as an employee. After my wife passed away nearly 4 years ago, if they had not given me the support, I am sure I would have been fired or I would have quit. They gave me the support to work through my issues which took nearly 3 years.

I would hope that as the younger generation grows older that they can learn to committ to long terms, perhaps move into upper and executive management where policies can be changed to make people feel like a team or family again. I know I have a small business and mainly hire contractors in my business, but I treat them like a team player, as if the team does not function well together, you will never win.

February 7, 2006

From reading the article in the Telegraph about the “State of the City” it sounds like kudos is in order for the mayor. I think it is great that the city has made progress in reducing crime by 24% in a ten year period and that we now have over $5M in reserve. However, there is still a lot that the city of Alton needs to do, such as bringing in new businesses that pay more than minimum wage. The reports indicated sales taxes were up, which is good, but look at the new businesses brought into Alton. To my knowledge none of these are highly skilled or paid positions.

Most of the article focused on traffic violations, the park facilities with the highlight being centered on the renovation of city hall. No doubt that city hall needed renovation, but the citizens of Alton are demanding more. Involving citizens in decisions needs to be a high priority instead of just listening to consultants present their data analysis. The consultants bring value as far as analyzing financial data and impact, but there is more to understand by analyzing the impact of any change that will affect the citizens. The only way to understand impact to the citizens is open the communications line both ways.

I have made challenges to citizens of Alton in the past few months, and now is the time for people to stand up and make Alton a better place to work and live. Even though the election for mayor and aldermen are 2 years away, now is the time to start looking for candidates that will listen to the citizens of Alton. With that said, I have decided to challenge people to meet with me and review my plan on improvements of Alton as I have decided to run for Mayor of Alton in 2009. This city needs to be run by a person with experience in financial funding and savings techniques, which I have under my belt. I have a long career with my employer, certified in business methodology to improve processes and save money. I am a small business owner in the city of Alton. Additionally I volunteer for the Alton Volunteer Emergency Corps for 7 years in which I have been Treasurer and been successful in keeping the organization in the black in most years. I am for the citizens for Alton; truly believe that the government needs to be brought to the people, not that the people need to come to the government. I will be holding meetings soon, and hope you can be there to learn more about my ideas for the future of this historic city. In the meantime, any comments or ideas can be sent to me via email to: jennings4mayor@sbcglobal.net.

My final thought is I want to pat our current mayor and aldermen on the back as they have made good strides with their efforts, but the city now needs a new infusion of leadership that have fresh ideas to continue the effort in place today. We need someone from the outside to bring those ideas to the people of this community which I feel I can supply. Thank you Mayor Sandidige for your community efforts in the last 10 years.

Green Party Meeting February 27

The next Green Party meeting for Madison County is set for Tuesday, February 27 @ 7 PM. It will be held at SIUE Religious Center. Directions from Alton are below. Please spread the word to get more folks to attend. If anyone wants to put up flyers, please contact me and I will supply them.

The agenda for that night will include the showing of the documentary called "Iraq for Sale", which is about how companies in the US are profitizing from the war and our government is doing nothing to stop it.

AGENDA:

7 pm - Meet and Greet for new people joining the group

7:30 PM - Green Party discussions - 10 core values

8 PM - Show the "Iraq for Sale" documentary - it is approximately 1 1/2 hours long. If you wish to leave when it starts, that is not a problem, but it is a very intriguing documentary.

Any questions, do not hesitate to contact me. Directions:

Take Route 3 to New Poag Road. Turn left. Follow New Poag to Bluff Road and turn Right. Turn left into the SIUE entrance across from the soccer fields and Korte Stadium. Turn right at the first stop sign on campus. At the next stop sign, turn left into the Visitor Lot (Lot B). It is a pay lot ($1.00 per hour). On the other side of the Visitor Lot, across from the entrance gate, is the Religious Center. It’s the building with the geodesic dome on top.

Green Party Meeting February 27

The next Green Party meeting for Madison County is set for Tuesday, February 27 @ 7 PM. It will be held at SIUE Religious Center. Directions from Alton are below. Please spread the word to get more folks to attend. If anyone wants to put up flyers, please contact me and I will supply them.

The agenda for that night will include the showing of the documentary called "Iraq for Sale", which is about how companies in the US are profitizing from the war and our government is doing nothing to stop it.

AGENDA:

7 pm - Meet and Greet for new people joining the group

7:30 PM - Green Party discussions - 10 core values

8 PM - Show the "Iraq for Sale" documentary - it is approximately 1 1/2 hours long. If you wish to leave when it starts, that is not a problem, but it is a very intriguing documentary.

Any questions, do not hesitate to contact me. Directions:

Take Route 3 to New Poag Road. Turn left. Follow New Poag to Bluff Road and turn Right. Turn left into the SIUE entrance across from the soccer fields and Korte Stadium. Turn right at the first stop sign on campus. At the next stop sign, turn left into the Visitor Lot (Lot B). It is a pay lot ($1.00 per hour). On the other side of the Visitor Lot, across from the entrance gate, is the Religious Center. It’s the building with the geodesic dome on top.

Punxsutawney Phil

GREAT NEWS! Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow. As the official National Groundhog, that means spring is on its way!