Democrats (and a sweet-ass recipe)

Caveat: the aim of this post is to bring to light some aspects of the Democrats' campaign that may contradict values Democratic supporters hold. We all know that Republicans are invertebrates, so I won't spend much (if any) time writing about them. Some of the Democratic party's followers seem to think that their party is superior and free from corruption. Voting between the two corporate parties is not a good vs. evil issue. Voting for the "lesser of two evils" is not sufficient justification.

I heard this on Democracy Now last night. The website has a transcript. I am paraphrasing.

Recently, information regarding Barack Obama, known for his pro-environmental stances, was published in The New York Times. Initially pushing a bill that would require nuclear plants to disclose radioactive releases, Obama backed down after extensive lobbying by the nuclear industry, including Exelon, an Illinois based nuclear energy company that was one of Obama's largest donors.

During Hillary Clinton's six-years on Wal-Mart's board of directors, she did not once speak out against its intensive anti-unionization campaign.

The Democrats also will not adopt a very popular form of health care, universal single payer health care. This is at the expense of the citizens of America, since it is withheld from mainstream debate by not being adopted in either of the two corporate parties' platforms.

This also looks bad for the Democratic candidates, since a large percentage of Americans want universal single payer health care. Why wouldn't the Democrats add it to their platform? There are multiple reasons, but of the most immediate, the one that merits the most attention is corporate funding. Both Barack and Hillary (as well as Republicans) have received substantial funding from the health care industry.

Barack's economic advisers are center-right economists. They tend to apply free market economics to social issues. As if they will be solved that way.

Clinton has slightly lefter economic advisers, though they are definitely in the center.

Neither of the Democratic candidates are going to be receiving advising that is economically pro-regulatory.


Well, that's it. Almost.

Try this recipe, it worked well:

INGREDIENTS

* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
* 1 teaspoon dried chipotle
* 1 teaspoon chili powder
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
*
* 2 small zucchinis, julienned
* 2 medium small yellow squash, julienned
* 1 large onion, sliced
* 1 green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
* 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 (8.75 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
* 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained


DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl combine olive oil, vinegar, chipotle, chili powder, garlic salt, salt, pepper and sugar. To the marinade add the zucchini, yellow squash, onion, green pepper and red pepper. Marinate vegetables in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, but not more than 24 hours.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the vegetables and saute until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the corn and beans; increase the heat to high for 5 minutes, to brown vegetables.

You'll probably want some (vegan) fajitas.

It is a variation of this recipe.