http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com Recent Posts from Samm's Blog en-us 120 My father, who was born in 1924 and died nine years ago, often told me a story about a group of somber looking black-suited men who delivered foreclosure papers to his grandfather's farmhouse. The monthly mortgage payment was three dollars, and it was months overdue. Their belongings were packed up, tears were shed, and the farm was turned over to the bank. My father was five or six years ol Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:48:00 -0400 http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com/archives/jobs-bankruptcies-and-mental-recessions In all my years as a parent, a corporate executive, an activist or a candidate, I have never received a communication such as the one that arrived on Wednesday from State Representative Rick Kriseman. What's even more remarkable about being on the receiving end of a letter - which can only be described as "attacking" - is that I can't even recall one time where Representative Kriseman and I have Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:36:00 -0400 http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com/archives/judging-without-all-the-facts Looks like our tax dollars are going to be [bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/washington/14fannie.html?hp) the nation's two largest mortgage finance companies, as the debt bubble from speculation, greed, lack of regulation and Congressional oversight are grinding together in a perfect, and catastrophic, storm. [Robert Reich's blog](http://robertreich.b Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:54:00 -0400 http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com/archives/bank-failures-money-masters-and-empires Tragically, a Democratic led Congress voted to [give the President new warrant less eavesdropping powers](http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/) and a get out of jail free card to the telecommunications companies [who hooked up the National Security Agency](http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/att-whistleblow.html) to our private conversations. All lawsuits concerning the illegal invasion of privacy will now be discarded. The [ACLU](http://www.aclu.org/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:31:23 -0400 http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com/archives/can-you-hear-me-now Here's a [rough video](http://www.vimeo.com/1295224?pg=embed&sec=1295224) featuring Daniel Ellsberg - of [Pentagon Papers](http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/27/2131/) fame - in an interview where he describes FISA - the Federal Information and Surveillance Act. On [July 9th,](http://bp0.blogger.com/_MnYI3_FRbbQ/SHKa0OQgekI/AAAAAAAAA4c/Wvdc4Mvq80M/s1600-h/washpost1.bmp) there's going Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:34:50 -0400 http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com/archives/breaking-the-law-is-lawful This week, we are busy with a Q & A at the Old Historic Homeowners Association in St. Petersburg, a House Party in Dunedin, the Blueberry Patch "Sharevivel" in Gulfport, greeting folks at Quaker Steak and Lube and a three-way Democratic Debate in Pinellas Park. Here are the details. ##Today July 7th Homeowners and Blueberry Patch! 7:00 P.M. Samm speaks at the Old Historic Homeowners As Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:59:55 -0400 http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com/archives/three-way-democratic-debate-and-more We're getting ready to head out in a beautiful RV, thanks to Kelly and John, and we'll be greeting folks in Clearwater, St. Petersburg and end up in the Gulfport 4th of July parade this evening. July 4th has always been my favorite holiday, as it's about Freedom: to think, to create to be, to speak, to travel, to grow, to learn, to dissent, to criticize, to make mistakes, to understand, to s Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:00:00 -0400 http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com/archives/freedom-and-the-patriot Here's [the story](http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/article630094.ece) I am disheartened by Sen. McCain's reversal on offshore drilling and perplexed about Governor Crist's sudden sympathy for his cause. Using the pain of the consumer to push an agenda of environmental destruction and oil company profit is not an enlightened energy policy. It's business as usual. According to Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:24:49 -0400 http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com/archives/comment-on-drilling-and-mccain-and-crist Before we begin to look at the latest tactic of the Bush Administration, this presentation by John Pilger, a premiere documentarian and world truth teller, must be seen. It is called ["Propaganda as Journalism."](http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20082.htm) Patrick Cockburn’s June 5th [article](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/revealed-secret-plan-to-keep-iraq-under-us-control-840512.html) in The Independent revealed chilling details about Bush’s plans for Iraq via the implementation of a new status of forces agreement (SOFA). According to [Global Security,](www.globalsecurity.org) these agreements define the legal status of U.S pe Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:13:00 -0400 http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com/archives/a-time-for-truth-a-time-to-mourn Evidence of Guilt. Here's today's portion of [Democracy Now's](http://www.democracynow.org/2008/6/13/citing_iraq_war_renowned_attorney_vincent) interview with Vincent Bugliosi, a renowned attorney and successful prosecutor who has released his new book, ["The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder." ](http://www.prosecutionofbush.com/) The Interview is 21 minutes. His final words are "We cannot become a great Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:47:00 -0400 http://sammsimpsonforcongress.com/archives/guilt-and-greed-two-video-clips