Fractured Opposition

For a few months, I have been wrestling with the 'how', of presenting a solid opposition to the current administration.  What I have been seeing is many groups and many individuals attempting to push back on trump.  Some of the groups are larger than others, but none have the name recognition on a national scale to rally all of the dispirit groups that we now have into one coordinated force.  Our efforts are being diluted and minimized by not speaking with one voice.

What we currently have reminds me of Monty Python's "The Life of Brian".  There is a scene where Brian is selling concessions (dried ears and noses, lol) at The Colosseum during a gladiator match.  Different resistance groups are meeting in the stands with similar names.  Although they all had the same goals, they remained separate and fought over who was the true resistance group, or the better.  Later in the movie, two of the groups break into the emperors palace and defeat each others actions, simply because of the disorganization.  Sound familiar?

I'm certainly not that unifying force and I don't believe that any of the groups I've run into are either.  I'm not in love with the Democratic party.  I believe, though, that until some other entity comes to the fore, the Democratic party is what we have to work with.

There is someone that definitely has clout, but that doesn't mean that he will or wants to step up.  This morning I got an email from my niece.  It was a message from Warren Buffett.  The light went off in my head.  Here was someone that has the clout to gather together all of, or at least most of the pieces.

His note and what he has requested of Americans seems to indicate that he wants to be involved with the level of visibility necessary, but is it a one time shot or will he continue to be politically active in this way.   Certainly he has been politically active, but this is a grass roots  involvement.  Below, please see Mr. Buffett's call to action.  I have already emailed it to you, my readers, but I am placing it in the text of this post so my thoughts are fleshed out.

Warren Buffett said send this to 20 people. You are my 20. Please keep this going to your 20.

The BUFFETT Rule Let's see if these idiots understand what people pressure is all about. Salary of retired US Presidents .. . . . .. . . . . .. . $180,000 FOR LIFE. Salary of House/Senate members .. . . . .. . . . $174,000 FOR LIFE. This is stupid Salary of Speaker of the House .. . . . .. . . . . $223,500 FOR LIFE. This is really stupid Salary of Majority / Minority Leaders . . .. . . . . $193,400 FOR LIFE. Stupid Average Salary of a teacher . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. .$40,065 Average Salary of a deployed Soldier . . .. . . .. $38,000 Here’s where the cuts should be made! Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling: "I could end the deficit in five minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election". The 26th Amendment ( granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds ) took only three months and eight days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 - before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land - all because of public pressure. Warren Buffett is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around. Congressional Reform Act of 2017 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman / woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office. 2. Congress (past, present, & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose. 3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do. 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. 5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people. 6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 3/1/17. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and go back to work. If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people, then it will only take three days for most people in the U.S. to receive the message. It's time! THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS! If you agree, pass it on.

You know.......I don't care how we fix Congress, as long we fix it.  There are obviously other issues that need to be 'fixed' and we need a notional platform with name recognition and clout to get traction on all fronts.

With that in mind, I searched for possible ways to contact Warren Buffett so I could write him a letter.  Although it has not been the case throughout my life, I have become quite the letter writer recently.  I was pleased to find the followiing site:

http://www.wikihow.com/Contact-Warren-Buffett

The site had very good information.  Rather than re-print the entire site, I will just present a few of the suggestions on the site:

1

Write him a letter. The only mailing address available to the public is the address of his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. He is the company's chairman, president, and CEO.
Mail your letter to:

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
3555 Farnam Street
Suite 1440
Omaha, NE 68131

Address Warren Buffett in the greeting of your actual letter. He will not open the letter directly, but staff members who may open and read your letter first will at least know that you intend to reach Mr. Buffett directly.

4

Know what to write. The only way you might have your letter read and replied to is if you write an investment proposal that meets all the investment criteria set by Warren Buffett in his annual letter to shareholders.

You can find the letter to shareholders here:http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html
While the acquisition criteria can change from year to year, often times, business representatives must adhere to the following standards when they write:

The acquisition must be a large purchase.
The business must have demonstrated consistent earning power.
The business must earn good returns on equity with little to no debt.
The management must already be in place.
The business must be simple.
The proposal must come with an offering price

I was impressed with this information.  It seems to me that Mr. Buffett is a transparent person who is trying to be accessible rather than making communication with him difficult.  I am heartened and encouraged and therefore will be writing him a letter which i will share with all of you tomorrow.