Two peas in one proverbial pod!
Okay, it’s a simple math problem. The Republicans would have us all believe that the deficit issue is because of the American people. That’s right folks, you are the problem. You are really the problem, if you are a union member and you work for the government. You are not the problem, if you are a member of Congress or the head of some government entity because your position is so very necessary for the proper functioning of government. You caught me laughing again! You are so very “special” if you work for the military. You don’t have to worry about losing your job because they’ll never cut enough to matter. However, if you are a lowly Private in the military, it’ll be mostly talk about honor and bravery, less about money and benefits!
Rep. Dennis Kucinich says, “The geniuses on Wall Street decided that a certain amount of unemployment is necessary for the proper functioning of the economy.” You must ask yourself a question. Does your job fall under the category Dennis is talking about? If it does, beware! You could be next. So, I’m thinking what does this mean? It might explain why a friend of my son went in for a job interview thinking he was really competing for a job, when he really wasn’t. It turns out, they weren’t really hiring at all at that time. The business was just seeing what’s out there to hire. Of course that isn’t how the posting was listed. My son works for the company and was surprised to find out that they weren’t really hiring. So, why would the economy benefit from a certain amount of unemployment? Could it be that it makes people hungrier and willing to work for less? You know less money, less benefits and more hours for less. Who benefits under this scenario? Certainly not the American worker! Here is Dennis talking about the deficit and President Obama.
Dennis is right. If we get more jobs going out there, there will be a bigger tax base. Why have the politicians decided to focus on “contracting” government instead of focusing on job creation. James Carville had that catch phrase, “It’s the economy stupid!” Someone needs to be whispering these words into President Obama’s ears every day because for some reason, he hasn’t figured this out either. Instead of going to the Republican playbook of tax cuts for the wealthy and reducing spending to cut the deficit, President Obama should be focusing on JOBS!
The other night I caught a bit of a program on the History channel about our collapsing infrastructure. Here is just a taste of that program. It’s a nightmare. However, it’s not the Freddie Kruger kind where you watch it at the movies and know it’s not real. This is a real nightmare that could have a profound effect on our lives.
We all remember the bridge in Minnesota. Most of us know that the roads, bridges, sewer systems and many other structures in our states are failing. So when our infrastructure truly is at risk, what are the politicians doing? They are like Henny Penny screaming, “The sky is falling!” Of course, the sky they are talking about relates to the deficit and the hole we have dug ourselves into. They weren’t singing that tune back in December when they ushered in two more years of the Bush tax cuts and decreasing the amount we pay into social security by 2%. This is corruption at its core. There is a systematic effort here to destroy wages and benefits for the American workers while continuing to prop up business, banks and the super wealthy. If the politicians and their cohorts can do enough damage to the American workers wages and benefits, we might have enough unemployed that will be willing work for peanuts. Now, you might be wondering why this is important. I’m thinking that the cost of fuel is far too high to ship things. It only makes sense to produce things locally to save energy costs. However, the wages have to be low enough so that business can make the type of profits they really want. Those profits have to be big enough to be able to give out the big bonuses to the big bosses.
Now let’s get back to that equation, “Bush Tax Cuts + Wars = A Deficit Problem.” War is very profitable. One of the things that the politicians are really pushing for is PRIVATIZATION. They want to privatize everything from health care to education. They have already taken over our military. This is happening throughout our government. Tonight my sister asked me if I knew that while we have 50,000 troops in Iraq, did I know there are another 77,000 working with private companies. Of course these aren’t military. They are probably ex-military working for “for profit” companies that have been hired by the Department of Defense. Of course, the American tax payer is still footing the bill. Don’t be thinking we will be getting out of any of these wars too soon. They are far too profitable for private businesses that are invested in them.
So, where are President Obama and the Democrats in all of this? Our fearless leader is spending his time dangling carrot sticks at us at moments when he thinks we might be vulnerable. He was “unaware” that his mike was on and he was being recorded recently. He sure gave it to those Republicans in that private conversation, or so we have been led to believe. As we get closer to the election of 2012, he will probably look more like he’s actually in charge. So far in my book, he has looked like a wimp. This is all window dressing for the next election. My brother says he will win the election. I don’t know if he will or he won’t. However, I think it’s interesting that the Republicans and Democrats publicly sound so different, but when they get behind closed doors they both do everything they can to dismantle social programs, subsidize the rich with deep tax cuts and ignore the plight of the poor and they do it all on the backs of the middle class, or what’s left of the middle class. Is the problem in our country really all about the deficit? If it truly is about the deficit then what on earth were these two parties doing in December when they set us up with two more years of the Bush tax cut?
Here is another good piece from the Real News Network. It’s an interview with William Black and you should watch it through the end.
Think back to what Dennis said about this being a transfer of wealth. This is not about transferring wealth, like robbing the rich to give to the poor as in Robin Hood. It’s all about taking from the majority and giving to the wealthy. The government is giving tax breaks and tax cuts to the wealthy and they are also privatizing much in government and giving those no bid contracts to their buddies! There is a constant drumbeat that we have to get on board whatever those “brains” in Washington think we must do to fix the economy. Just remember those “brains” are listening to the geniuses on Wall Street! Remember William Black said, “Deficit hysteria has nothing to do with anything.”
