Saturday, April 23, 2016

BAOBAB

This poem about the Baobab tree was posted on yourdailypoem.com April 22 in recognition of Earth Day.




Ancient one, you have watched
over a hundred generations of my kind.
Your ugliness is softened only
by bird nests that hang like pendants,
and greening when the spring rains come.

You are an oasis in the desert.
You pocket water in hidden cavities
for thirsty travelers, who make
lemonade of the powder in your seeds
and drink it to calm their ailments.

You are the eternal shelter to all creatures.
This morning school children gathered
in your shade for lessons.
Tonight a leopard will stretch
across your loins and sleep.

- Edward Hujsak

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

DEAR SENATOR

Dear Mr. Hujsak:

Thank you for writing to express your support for the "Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2015" (S.198).  Your correspondence is important to me, and I welcome the opportunity to respond. 

As you may know, on January 20, 2015, I joined 11 of my Senate colleagues to cosponsor legislation authored by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), the "Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2015."  This bill would increase the required share of foreign ownership a corporation must have to move its tax headquarters overseas from the current 20 percent to 50 percent.  Furthermore, S.198 would mandate that merging companies continue to be treated as domestic companies for tax purposes if the management and control of the company remains in the U.S., or if a quarter of its employees, sales, or assets are still located in the U.S.  This legislation is currently awaiting consideration by the Senate Finance Committee, of which I am not a member.  Companion legislation (H.R.415) was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Sander Levin (D-MI).  

I share your concerns that Congress must do more to prevent companies from using tax loopholes to avoid paying their fair share of taxes and to help our economy by reviewing and simplifying the current tax code. The tax code, as it stands today, is enormously complex, with expensive deductions and loopholes that have been carved out over time by influential special interests.  The rate of corporate taxes as a share of the federal tax revenue has decreased from about 21 percent in the 1960s, to the current rate of 10 percent.  I support corporate tax reform that protects small businesses, supports job creation, and ensures that all corporations pay their fair share.  

Please know that I appreciate hearing of your support for the "Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2015," and I will keep your thoughts in mind should this bill or similar legislation come before the full Senate for consideration.

Again, thank you for writing.  If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841.  Best regards.

Sincerely yours,


  Dianne Feinstein
         United States Senator

Note: Senator Feinstein replies at length to letters about different issues. In contrast, Senator Boxer
seldom replies, and when she does, it is a banal letter telling how well she is doing her job.

Monday, April 18, 2016

ROSE MADNESS



Shades of red, from violet 
to crimson to pink.
Velvety petals curl
erotically in the sun. 
How could you know
you are so beautiful?
How could you know
your sharing
is a human delight?
How could I know if
the snip of your stem
brings anguish, or joy
at being abducted?
How could you know
your disrobing,
one petal at a time
are tears dropping?
For I feel now you have 
taken up my sorrows.
How could you know?

-e. hujsak

  

Thursday, April 14, 2016

EARTH

     I have spent half a lifetime, without much success, to pursuade poets and writers to write “Earth,”  and not “the earth.” One does not write “the mars,” or “the jupiter” or “the saturn.” Oddly enough, they frequently get it right in the expression: “What on Earth?” 
     Earth! Earth! Earth! Doubtless,  Goddess Earth would approve.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

LETTER TO BERNIE

Senator Bernie Sanders
1 Church St.
Burlington, VT 05401 

Dear Bernie:

Sometimes I wonder, am I wasting my money?
Isn’t it about time to turn up the heat? Get a little rough?
The Clintons used, dishonored and perverted the United States Presidency to get rich - forty some-odd million dollars worth.
Now it appears that Hillary Clinton has both surreptitiously and blatantly co-opted your line.
Example: Hillary says, “I will go after Wall Street!’
Seriously? Hillary Clinton IS Wall Street. She has family ties to Goldman Sachs. She takes quarter million dollar stipends for speeches to Wall Street. Those guys are smart. They don’t need her advice. This has all the earmarks of an ancient practice with the Pope - the buying of indulgences. The public should know what wisdom was imparted in those speeches. The media gives her a pass, standing to one side, somewhat bemused. 
Bill Clinton signed a bill  gutting Glass Steagall near the end of his administration, opening the gates to financial mischief that caused the near collapse of 2008 and a charge to taxpayers of $750 billion bailout money. Hillary says she will not reinstate Glass Steagall. Her citing Dodd Frank doesn’t do it. Not by a long shot.
If Hillary ends up winning, you can bet many Sanders supporters will swing to Trump, handing him the Presidency. So much hinges on whether or not you up the game.

Sincerely,


Edward Hujsak