Obama Still Seen As Conduit to Progress

PR Log (Press Release) – Jan 28, 2010 – Just as Moses led the children of Israel out of bondage thousands of years ago; just as Franklin D. Roosevelt led the American people out of a Great Depression; just as John F. Kennedy delivered the United States from a nuclear war of obliteration with the Soviet Union; just as Ronald Reagan led the German people to unification; Barack Obama seems destined to delivery the American people from the clutches of free-wielding constitutional-stompers as they prepare to run the final leg of the economic race between the “haves” and the “have nots” during a time of the highest income inequality ever experienced in this country, which went full throttle after the S&L crisis twenty years ago.

The word is “jobs” — living wage jobs; that is the hope, at least.

The 2008 Presidential Election Handbook and Commentary: The Connection to Hope takes a look at the Department of Labor Employment Trends of this decade as reported on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). It highlights Bill Moyer’s PBS NOW: America and Jobs and David Brancaccio’s PBS NOW: Inequality of Wage Earners in America.

According to Chapter 6, Who Controls America?, “Over half of Fortune 500 companies have moved jobs offshore, including famous names from many fields: Oracle, Dell, HSBC, Delta Air Lines, Novartis, J.P. Morgan Chase, Hewlett-Packard, American Express, and British Airways.” The worst that was expected has now been compounded by the current recession. Corporations used the recession as a cover to move millions of jobs overseas in management, accounting, office operations, computer technology, art design, life sciences, architecture, and legal. In some cases, they packed and moved the whole office. That is in stark contrast to the Kennedy’s "War On Poverty,” years when the economy was vibrant and anyone who wanted a job had one. People were being hired on the spot and trained on the job at top wages — Americans were prosperous and happy. The Kennedy policies were executed so robustly that their benefits were realized for almost two decades—then came the residue of Nixon. The author of The Connection to Hope, Linda E. Schexnayder, describes this recession as “the dawning of middle-class insecurity.

In his State of the Union Address last night, President Obama claimed the creation of two million jobs through the Recovery Act during his first year in office. Two millions jobs sustained or created in one year is a beginning; 14,000,000 more are needed.

Fifty-three percent of the American people pledged their cooperation to the President in the 2008 Presidential Campaign. "I’m asking you to believe, not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington…I’m asking you to believe in yours," was President Obama’s request. The challenge was accepted. A majority of Americans chose unity over division. So the failure of the President would not be his alone; it would be the failure of all—responsibility is mutual.

After eight years of gross mismanagement in our national government, did any American in partnership think the economy, healthcare and the environment would be revamped in one year? Scott Brown is an aberration of Massachusetts voters.

The 2008 Presidential Election Handbook and Commentary: The Connection to Hope is available at www.healthylivingusa.com/theconnectiontohope and www.amazon.com.

Obama Theme Book, The Connection to Hope, Attacks Unconstitutionality of USA PATRIOT Act

PR Log (Press Release) – Jan 25, 2010 – Eight years after its initial passage, the USA PATRIOT Act faces yet another opponent. Chapter 5 of The 2008 Presidential Election Handbook and Commentary: The Connection to Hope attacks the unconstitutionality of the Act, and calls on Congress to repeal it or make final constitutional adjustments to every section in violation. The majority of the author’s 443 tweets, last count, on Twitter.com under the name, skyhighhopes, make reference to Chapter 5 of the book and quote the congressional record of remorseful congressmen, who were trying to curtail sneak-and-peek searches by eliminating funding for section 213 of the Act. The book challenges American citizens of goodwill to prompt changes. After reviewing a few web pages of the publisher’s website, www.healthylivingusa.com, one might even say that a crusade has been launched against PATRIOT.

The USA PATRIOT Act was passed in 2001 by the 107th Congress and signed by the 43rd President of the United States on October 26, just 45 days after 9/11. The constitutional breaches were obvious then, but most of them had sunset clauses. Congress reauthorized PATRIOT in 2005 and 2006, extending some of those sunset clauses and making others permanent. Several federal courts have already ruled many provisions of the Act unconstitutional.

On October 20, 2009, H.R. 3584, cited as “USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009,” was introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Conyers of Michigan and supported by Nadler of New York, Cohen of Tennessee, Harman of California, Jackson-Lee of Texas, Holt of New Jersey, Honda of California, Michaud of Maine, Pingree of Maine, Schakowsky of Illinois, and Johnson of Georgia. It was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Financial Services.

According to a summary written by the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan arm of the Library of Congress, USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009 would amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to revise requirements relating to roving electronic surveillance, production of records for counterterrorism investigations, and use of pen registers and trap and trace devices (devices for recording incoming and outgoing telephone numbers). It extends through December 31, 2013, provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act authorizing: (1) roving electronic surveillance; and (2) orders for the production of records for counterterrorism investigations—extending audit requirements relating to orders for tangible things, pen registers and trap and trace devices, the use of national security letters, and amending the federal criminal code to reduce the period -- from 30 to 7 days -- for giving notice to the target of a search warrant in a criminal investigation.

The summary further states that the National Security Letter Reform Act of 2009 extends through December 31, 2013, the authority for issuance of national security letters, modifies the standard for issuing national security letters to require a separate writing -- documenting specific and articulable facts -- showing reasonable grounds to believe that the information sought pertains to a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power, and requires notice to a recipient of a national security letter of the right of judicial review of any nondisclosure requirement. The Act sets forth procedures for judicial review of a national security letter nondisclosure order, requires the Attorney General to authorize use of any information obtained from a national security letter in a criminal investigation, and to establish minimization and destruction procedures for information obtained from a national security letter that is no longer of interest in an authorized investigation.

In committee, the bill was recommended to the full House for consideration and placed on the calendar of business, the order in which legislation is considered and voted on, but health care has taken precedence. Every bill must be approved by both Houses of Congress then merged into one before it can be signed by the President. Sometimes the text of one bill is incorporated into another bill, and in those cases the original bill would appear to be abandoned. So even if the bill is passed successfully, the process could take a while.

In spite of the forward motion of the bill in the 111th Congress, the author of The Connection to Hope seems doubtful that any corrective version of the Act would restore civil liberties and nullify constitutional breaches that have existed for eight years.

Any loyal American could very well ask, “Is time on the side of the American people if this process of correction is prolonged?” and “What is the agenda of the proponents of the Act.?”

The 2008 Presidential Election Handbook and Commentary: The Connection to Hope is available at www.healthylivingusa.com/theconnectiontohope, www.amazon.com, and your local bookstore.

New Book On Obama Conciliatory But Critical of National Governance

PR Log (Press Release) – Jan 22, 2010 – Healthy Living USA Publishing Division Nevada announces the release of a new book, The 2008 Presidential Election Handbook and Commentary: The Connection to Hope (The Connection to Hope), to accentuate two of the five areas of healthy living as outlined in their mission statement—social and financial health through “politics of life.” The author, Linda E. Schexnayder, uses a pixelated photo of President Obama on the cover in shadowy blue, symbolizing a president of all true-blue Americans, a subtitle in the book. She unfolds the history of national governance, an America in trouble today, and the America of the future.

Refreshing symbolism runs throughout The Connection to Hope with unique poetry from the author’s collection of inspirational poems entitled, The Poetry of the Heart Collection. Striking titles such as “Sunflower,” written for 9/11, Iraq War, and Afghanistan War victims jerks at the heart in a moment of realization. “Snowflake,” written for victims of abuse, impacts the soul to eject pain, sorrow, and guilt prompted by the experience.

Though a picture of Obama is on the cover of the 316-page paperback, the author seems to be focused on the average American pulling himself up by the bootstraps and making his life better on a level playing field made so by the national government thru laws and policies of economic and environmental advantage across the spectrum of American life.

Pride, responsibility of American citizenship and oneness of purpose threads the book from beginning to end. Upstarts, local economic development, and daily participation in the “politics of life” are encouraged by the author to jumpstart the economy and personal wealth. The Connection to Hope is about the American people’s ability to run their own country according to the Constitution. As a handbook, the author includes the directory of the 111th Congress to facilitate contact with congressional representatives, the Constitution of the United States of America for easy reference, and patriotic songs of the nation and the military—“Off we go into the wild blue yonder,” “Eternal Father strong to save,” “Then it’s HI! Hi! Hey! The Army’s on its way,” “From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli” could conjure up memories long forgotten and stories to be told for history’s sake. Anyone needing assistance with flag etiquette can get that too.

Quotes of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy — Chapter 8, The Party of Kennedy — and the Bible are invoked by the author throughout the book to inspire and encourage readers to political action as a lifestyle, rather than every four years. She strongly denounces anger, bias, name-calling, and spin as means of shaping the national agenda. The National Debt, joblessness, federal trade deficits, and the USA PATRIOT Act are covered ever so delicately.

One could be pleasantly surprised when reading Chapter 16, the last chapter—written on the lighter side, which admonishes citizens to be prepared if or when invited to the White House, how to contact the president to offer opinions and/or suggestions, and how to get greetings from the president to loved ones on special occasions. The author even offers suggestions to the president on how to restore the economy from the local level up rather than from the national level down. This is a “feel good” political book, if such a thing is possible, that could leave you with a new perspective of American politics—that is the goal. The author doesn’t present herself as an expert of American politics or history, but as an American exercising her 1st Amendment rights. Clearly much research has gone into the writing of the book. It’s inspiring, informative and thought-provoking to say the least! Expect emotions to rise in crescendos without warning.

The publisher offers the “National Citizens-Response Ranking” on its website, www.healthylivingusa.com/The2008PresidentialElectionHandbookAndCommentaryTheConnectionToHope to rank American citizens according to their knowledge of the United States Constitution and their participation in the “politics of life.” Results of the 10-question test and a score sheet are returned to examinees by email.

According to the author, who is CEO of Healthy Living USA Publishing Division Nevada, delegate to the 2008 Nevada State Democratic Convention, and an educator, she began writing the book in 2007 as cathartic therapy to minimize an emotional experience encountered at the Nevada Clark County Library District in 2004 that was secretly mandated by the USA PATRIOT Act -- ruled unconstitutional recently by a federal court. As she continued her book research, other factors of national governance became alarming—the manner in which members of the legislative and executive branches ignored the mandates of the people, the assaults on the Constitution with impunity by national leaders, and the lack of response from a fearful and passive people whose hearts had become indifferent, hopeless and paralyzed; unable to govern themselves.

The 2008 President Election Handbook and Commentary: The Connection to Hope is available online at www.healthylivingusa.com/theconnectiontohope and www.amazon.com or you may get it at your local bookstore.