It's the Cans v. the Can'ts, The Will's v. the Won'ts.

The problem with the Occupy Wall Street protesters across the country is that they're all about problems. They're protesting about all sorts of things, but what's the use of protesting if you're not coming up with reasonable solutions and not every worn out scheme and idea of the failed left?

Instead of sitting on their butts in downtown Portland, why don't they go home and actually help someone, like check on their senior citizen neighbors and ask if they can help with yardwork or take them to the grocery store, etc? Why not sign up to volunteer for Meals on Wheels, CASA, volunteer at a school etc? There are those that complain, and those that do something about it instead. 

These protesters can't change themselves, for crying out loud. What gave them the idea they could change the world?

Occupy Portland: You've Met Them

You already know the people who call themselves "Occupy Portland":

• The co-worker who's always late for work. 
• The bicyclist who flipped you off after you honked your horn because you almost hit her while she blasted through a red light. 
• The waiter that ignored you for your entire dinner, but followed you outside to berate you because you didn't leave a tip.
• The roommate who never washes her own dishes and is always late with her share of the rent.
• The relative who is never on time for family functions.
• The "friend" who has never returned the book you loaned to him.
• The carpooler who never, ever chips in for gas or parking.
• The co-worker who never brings anything to the office potluck, but always first in line at lunchtime.
• The bus driver that kicks moms with their screaming babies off the bus.
• The high school student on the bus or light rail train that refuses to move his man-bag so the old lady can have a seat.
• People that still have John Kerry bumper stickers on their car. 
• Retired California Probation Officers.

For All You Protesters out there. . .

A local public defender gives advice to the "Occupy Portland" crowd in the Portland Mercury. Read the entire letter here. (What's Occupy Portland? See local coverage here.)

Read This Before You Protest: An Open Letter to Occupy Portland from a Public Defender

"Dear Occupy Portland:
I don’t disagree with many of your goals and aims. I think that the banks and large corporations and mortgage fraudsters that made a killing off the crash need a few less bailouts and a few more criminal charges to thin out their ranks. But I am nothing if not a realistic and practical person. I want you to temper your idealism and righteous rage with a nice slap of reality. So if, in fact, you gather enough people and present your version of Tahrir on the Willamette, things are going to get bad. And I want to give you a heads up about some things you may not have been thinking about."

Congressman Blumenauer sent me an unsolicited e-mail. Here's my reply.

Congressman Blumenauer,

Thank you for letting me know where you stand regarding the issue of health insurance reform. With all due respect, if you were truly interested in health care "reform", as you put it, you democrats could easily pass legislation RIGHT NOW to eliminate pre-existing condition qualifiers on health insurance. You could also pass legislation RIGHT NOW that would allow health insurance companies to compete across state lines without state insurance mandates.

Congress already could  have, with the stimulus, porkulus, TARP money etc. you democrats have already wasted, actually PURCHASED private health insurance policies for EVERY American for an entire year! And yet the democrats, who at this very moment have enough votes to pass anything they want without interference from Republicans, can't get ANYTHING passed. So don't blame Republicans for delay tactics or partisanship. As someone in the blogosphere said, right now Republicans couldn't delay or stop even a clown car.

Want to help small businesses? Forget about your sham health care takeover of the American economy. Instead, take your hands out of the pockets of small businesses and lower their taxes! You're stunned about skyrocketing health care premiums? I AM STUNNED about the democrat proposed tax increases and massive  future deficits in the TRILLIONS of dollars, which make the health care premium increases you mentioned look like chump change.

Congressman, YOUR democrat party and YOUR trillion dollar deficits are what's frightening. With all due respect, if you want to help small businesses in Oregon, vote to end the continued deficit spending of trillions of dollars that we don't have!!!! Remember, you work for us. We don't work for you.

Sincerely,

Robert Canfield

----

Congressman Earl Blumenauer wrote:

February 24, 2010

Dear Mr. Canfield:

In an effort to bridge the political gap and build momentum for comprehensive health insurance reform, President Obama will hold his health care summit tomorrow at the White House, which I'll be streaming live on my website http://blumenauer.house.gov. Tune in and watch at 7am Pacific.

As I've made clear over the last year, health insurance reform is too important not to pass. In the last few weeks, I've been stunned at the news accounts of skyrocketing premiums while the five largest health insurers are enjoying record profits. It's hard to reconcile the fact that 50% of Oregonians are delaying necessary medical care because they can't afford it, while the biggest insurance companies made a combined profit of $12.2 billion last year - a 56% increase from the previous year. This puts people's health at risk and hampers growth at a time when we're working to recover the economy. I recently spoke with small business owners, and they're struggling to hire people because they've been hit with rate hikes ranging from 20 to over 120 percent!

For the last year, I've been working to make sure the millions of Americans without health insurance get the coverage they deserve. This is something I won't give up on, and with the blueprint President Obama unveiled on Monday, it's clear he won't either.

Despite health care opponents calling to scrap the bills passed by the House and Senate, now is the time to push past partisanship, work together, and negotiate on legislation that will improve the lives of all Americans. I'll be watching tomorrow, hoping to see forward momentum rather than the delay tactics that have stalled action on health insurance reform.

Sincerely,
Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress