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Mitt and Mini Mitt

  • Posted on August 14, 2012 at 7:37 pm

( Justin Sullivan / Getty Images ) Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) speaks as Mitt Romney looks on during a campaign rally at the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, N.C.

By now, everyone knows that Mitt Romney has made his VP choice.  I have had a few days to digest this information and really feel that Mitt just picked himself in many ways.  Not that Ryan had the same life as Mitt but Ryan looks a lot like any one of Mitt’s sons.  I saw the two of them on stage together wearing similar shirts.  It reminded me of an image I can remember of my many brothers lined up in their white shirts and dark pants, except for the pattern on the candidate’s shirts.  The image of Representative Ryan is that of an all-American family, much like Mitt’s image.  However, the family that currently resides in the Whitehouse is just as all-American as Mitt’s family except for the ingrained image White America has of themselves.  In many ways, the image Mitt portrays is a message he continually sends out when he refers to President Obama as not sharing your values.  This ad is a message about values that I personally find repugnant.

http://youtu.be/IMv28sYQzCY

I personally believe in a separation of church and state.  I do not believe President Obama has declared a war on religion.  However, the image and message are clear.  If you are white, the president does not share your religious values.  He probably wasn’t even born in this country and he probably isn’t a Christian.

Therefore, we have the two religious candidates that share our collective values, a Mormon and a right wing Catholic.  I’m not sure that those protesting nuns agree with Representative Ryan on his vision for the poor, so maybe they too are un-American because they don’t share these exact values.

http://youtu.be/nWulhADvzBg

We are not all the same.  The beauty of our country is the fact that we are a melting pot of people, cultures, and ideas.  I believe our greatest strength is the diversity of our people.  With our diversity we are able to develop and create new ideas and stimulate thinking beyond the cookie cutter mode of one size fits all.  We are not a cookie cutter nation where the religious right owns our brains.  We can and must think for ourselves.

As an educator, I am appalled to be inundated with narrow-minded thinking that implies we are all of the same values…one size religion for everyone.  How many times are we going to be told that we are a “Christian” nation?  In our country, we are able to be what we want to be whether it involves religion or it doesn’t.  No one has to buy into any of this nonsense.  It’s like a subtle brain washing.  I always thought that religion was a personal matter between a person and their God.  I have never looked to a politician for my values and I doubt I ever will.   When I think of most politicians and how they got where they are I certainly don’t think of religion.  It’s backroom deals and money that talks.  You scratch my back and I’ll scratch your back.  We largely don’t have control over whom we get to vote for because it’s the money that gets them where they are.  It isn’t God and it isn’t love of country.  This is the same old crap they roll out every year to get the masses on board for the next big thing (You know tax cuts for the wealthy and shared sacrifice for everyone else).  They put up something about how religious they are and stupid sheep follow them.  Take your blinders off and see these people for what they really are.

Mitt Romney was a man born with a silver spoon in his mouth.  He used his own religion to get out of fighting in the Vietnam War.  He has five sons that will never go to battle for anyone except a hostile takeover of some company.  He had a “cushy” gig in France where he tried to convert French Catholics to the Mormon Church.  I think he converted two.  While he was there, he had a car accident that I would like to know more about than I’m currently reading on the web.  He is wealthy beyond our imaginations and he won’t let us know about his taxes because it’s none of our business.  He has a lot of money outside of this country and we are supposed to believe that is a patriotic thing to do.

Then there is Representative Ryan who cannot wait to dig in and dismantle the social programs created by FDR.  Here is a man that lived on the safety net of Social Security and Pell Grants but wants to deny them for the future citizens of this country.  He wants more breaks for the wealthy and less for the poor and middle class.  He believes in the same old trickle down bullshit the Republicans have been spewing for years.

I don’t see the pick of Ryan as being that big of a stretch for Mitt.  They both are really after the same things.  With these guys, the rich get richer and the poor look for the scraps left by the rich.  Social programs and social justice, those things we were taught in church when we were kids are just some left wing Commie plot that we should avoid.  In their world, they are self-made men and the rest of the world better get in line and pull up their bootstraps.

Last night I was talking to my son and he told me he watched “The Dictator”.  Now I am not a Sacha Cohen fan but Josh wanted me to watch the dictator’s speech on Youtube, so I did.  What can we learn from this?  Where is our democracy?  I will leave you with the dictator’s speech, as it is a parody filled with truth!

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The War on the American People

  • Posted on April 8, 2011 at 1:52 am

I heard Speaker Boehner say today that we are involved in three wars.  A thought immediately crossed my mind.  I thought there is a fourth war.  There is a war on the American people.  Legislation that is being crafted today is nothing but a war on the American people and life as we have known it.

I’m reading the book on France Perkins, “The Woman Behind The New Deal” by Kirstin Downey, and I came to the beginning of a chapter that really shook me up because it could have easily been written about today.  Here is that paragraph from page 197 of my paperback book:

By the time the Roosevelt administration came to power, the labor movement had disintegrated, with union membership falling to 5 percent of the workforce.  The American Federation of Labor had more than 4 million members in 1919 but fewer than 2 million in 1933.  Companies in the 1920s had set out to break the unions, and succeeded.  As joblessness mounted, the remaining workers faced falling wages and lengthened work hours.  Union leaders had to fight the insurmountable combination of implacable employers, a receding economy, and hostile courts.  Many lost hope.

So, let’s get back to that war that I’m talking about.  After WWII our country blossomed.  The GI bill allowed many people to go to college that would not otherwise have been able to go.  This was an investment in our country and something had to be done because there wouldn’t be jobs for everyone after the war anyway.  A lot happened to develop and improve industry in our country.  Through education many people were able to elevate their lives and gain that “American Dream”.  Today, all of that American Dream stuff is being assaulted.  The average American has a difficult time with normal life today because there are many things happening that make it difficult financially, from the cost of gas to wages to the cost of health care.

We are fighting in the Middle East and our focus, energy and money seem to all be put over there, not here.  The programs that helped get the “commoners” to the top are being systematically dismantled so there is no room for that American Dream.

The politicians have been using mind control on us for years.  I cannot repeat how many times I’ve heard how inept the government is at running anything.  The answer for these career politicians is to privatize everything they can get their hands on.  You might be thinking why they want to privatize everything.  I can give you one very good reason.  Many of the people we elect for Congress are super wealthy.  They own or are invested in many corporations.  These are the same corporations that will be running those private companies that will be running everything from Medicare, Medicaid and who knows what else to education.  http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/index.php

So, I asked my sister the other night who owns the Milwaukee Bucks?  I had been to the Open Secrets page I’m sharing with you and I thought who owns the Bucks as they are listed on the site first.  It’s Senator Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat.  Now, he may be a good guy.  I don’t really know.  I just know that it doesn’t seem to matter if they are Republicans or Democrats, many of them are just what I’m going to label “Richicrats”, you know the aristocrat, wealthy, people of our country.  They certainly aren’t you and me!

We have been told that private industry can make things cheaper because they have to compete for the job, unlike the government.  I find this interesting especially when you think about all of the no bid contracts that were happening in Iraq with private industry.  A lot of our military spending is on private corporations like Kellogg Brown and Root or Halliburton.  What is amazing is how much the military spending has increased in the last ten or so years.  http://armscontrolcenter.org/policy/securityspending/articles/fy11_growth_since_2001/

The only true “sacred cow” is the military, even though we spend a lot more money than any other nation.  http://armscontrolcenter.org/policy/securityspending/articles/US_vs_Global/

We sit back in fear and so we keep spending on that military.  We have been programmed that we must fight them over there, so we don’t have to fight them here.  We say, “Whatever it takes!” to keep us safe.  We can lose our liberty, our freedoms and now our way of life but hey, don’t you feel safe?

Many programs, formerly labeled sacred cows, are being dismantled by the government elite in the name of “saving our country”.  We have to “share the sacrifice”.  We have been told this and how is it being done?  Systematically, over a period of many years unions have taken a big hit.  Business went over seas and yep, it was the unions fault because after all they wanted too much money, so they had to go.  The private sector unions were hit first and now of course the public sector unions have to go.  This was a big first part of the plan.  Health care is another problem.  Business cannot pay for health care.  It costs too much.  What can we do about that?  Single payer might be a fair option but no, we have health care which is set up to continue to feed the “for profit” insurance industry.  This certainly does nothing for the rest of us.  What does Rep. Ryan want to do?  We’ll call it something else, like a shared sacrifice, which sounds so patriotic, but really it is dismantling Medicare and Medicaid and giving more money “vouchers” to the American people so they can “purchase” health insurance from yep, you got it, private insurance companies that are for profit.  Public education has been a bastion of our society.  I cannot even imagine our country without a good public education system.  So, over the last several years we have been told how bad education is in the United States.  What I find really interesting about this is how closely this talk aligns with the beginning of NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND.  If I was a cynical person, I might be thinking that NCLB was a smokescreen for the beginning of the dismantling of public education as we know it.  That couldn’t possibly be.  Could it?  Now, think about college education and how outrageously expensive it is to go to college today.  Our kids are stuck with an ungodly amount of debt if they go to school.  They end up being slaves to a system because they have to work to pay back their school loans.  They take whatever job they can get so they aren’t in default of their school loans.  What does Congress do about this?  They take away Pell grants and put many of those loans our kids are getting in the hands of for profit companies.  Our kids can’t get enough government loans, so they go the other route and they pay dearly.

Now the Republicans are hitting everything from the WIC program to Planned Parenthood.  Who might use these programs?  I know it won’t be any of them or their children because they don’t need them.  My friend at Modern School has put up a good post showing where all that money is going that he got from the Center for American progress.  I will be posting it here.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/02/tax_breaks_infographic.html

Yes, let’s hit the most vulnerable Americans because they don’t have the power to fight back and hey, if they’re homeless, they won’t be voting anyway!  These greedy politicians have done a good job of getting us to look at our neighbors with an eye of scrutiny.  We see those lazy bums living near us that just don’t want to work.  We’ve been told that they just want to live off the government.  They’re useless.  They need to learn how to “pull themselves up by the bootstraps, stop whining and get to work” because after all we did!  I’m laughing as I’m writing this because if anyone has a problem with welfare it is the corporations that get the real welfare like bank bailouts and tax breaks beyond the scope of anything the little guy next door is ever going to get.  We have been told that the “job creators” have to be pampered or they will take their jobs somewhere else.  Guess what?  We pamper those job creators and they still take those jobs somewhere else.

This is the real war.  It’s an all out assault on the American people.  If you are lucky enough to have a secure job, you may think I’m a nut.  However, if you have ever had to think before you paid a bill because you’re not sure you can afford to pay it right now, or you have a kid in college, or you have a health emergency, think about what I’ve written.  So, here we are left with no hope.  We always thought if we got a good education, we could go far in this country.  Some still can, but it usually is based on who they know, not necessarily what they know.

However, there is one thing really interesting about all of this.  In my mind, I see wages falling and gas prices going up which could mean that manufacturing might be able to happen in this country again.  If the companies can get us down to where we are just happy to have a job, even if it pays peanuts, it might be more affordable for them to do business here.  After all, the cost of oil and gas is kind of restrictive for shipping costs.  We are being turned into a nation of cheap labor.  Instead of China joining us and growing their middle class, we are becoming a nation of the wealthy and everyone else.  Don’t worry about those factory jobs.  They’re probably coming back.  They just might be paying peanuts and you might have to get a couple of more jobs to pay for your home and utilities.  Don’t worry because your kids can always help out.    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/31/maine-republicans-seek-to-loosen-child-labor-laws/

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Class Warfare

  • Posted on March 15, 2011 at 8:11 pm

When I was a kid one of my many brothers would climb up on our huge Maple tree and throw sticks and stones down on anyone that tried to claim his roost in HIS tree.  I mention this here today because it’s a good analogy for Republican politicians and their huge attempts at limiting the power of the poor and the middle class.  The buzzword is “reform”.  However, the reform is ONLY about limiting the power and ability of the poor and the middle class.  There is no mention of any kind of reform that really will have an effect on the wealthy or upper classes.  These reforms can be anything from workers’ rights to health care to even the judicial system.  The tort reform we always hear them talk about is set up to limit the ability of the disenfranchised to make a claim against anyone above their stature, which would be most people and corporations.  The Republicans have tried for years to limit the amount that can be received in a lawsuit for inadequate health care claiming that this is the reason health insurance costs so much.  I noticed the steep change in the cost of health insurance right after September 11th 2001.  Do you really think it had something to do with the changes in our health care providers or was it something to do with the drop in revenue the insurance companies felt from investments that tanked after that time?  Just remember that the health insurance industry is a for “profit” industry.  They exist to make a profit.  There may be some like Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, my company, which are supposed to be non-profit.  However, they still pay their CEO a huge compensation. http://blogpublic.lib.msu.edu/index.php/2008/05/19/are-blue-cross-blue-shield-of-michigan-o?blog=5

Republicans like to claim that it’s all about personal responsibility and the need for people to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and of course that they, themselves, never had a helping hand.  We all know that is ludicrous because so many of them have been groomed for the positions and posts that they currently hold.  Sometimes it’s not what you know but who you know that gets you to the top of that tree.  Most of us sitting under the branches of that proverbial Maple tree are lucky enough if we can get a small perch we can claim as our own.  However, those at the top aren’t very willing to share their perch because they feel a sense of indignation that anyone would want to claim what is rightfully “their” perch.  They earned it!  They are the self satisfied, bloated, corrupt individuals we all know that don’t care about what is in the best interest of the common good of all the people.  It’s what is in “their” best interest that really matters.  By golly they clawed their way to the top and you better too.  However, once they get to the top they work very hard at taking all of the supporting branches away that helped them get to the top.  You know those things like low interest student loans, Pell grants, public education, and any aid programs like heating assistance for the poor.

Many people have talked about class warfare for years.  The Republicans have accused Democrats of creating this warfare to get votes.  That part might be true because Democrats always talk about these things around election time.  However, neither party has done enough of what they could to elevate our society so that everyone can get a little branch on that tree.  True class warfare is really happening right now and it is being instigated by Republican politics.  We have been pressured into believing that we all have to “share” in some kind of sacrifice for the good of the country.  We have been living way beyond our means and we must pay the piper what is due.

No one has really pointed out something that I can see so clearly.  Most of us people sitting under the Maple tree don’t use much resources of any kind in our country.  Most of us are not flying off in our private jet wasting tons of fuel.  Most of us haven’t been to a government created airport in the last month.  We might fly once in awhile for a family vacation but we aren’t the ones using that airport like it’s our own home base.  However, we are paying for it.  Most of us aren’t living in gigantic houses sucking up our natural resources with our rich and famous lifestyles.  Most of us live quite conservatively by shutting off our lights and dialing down our furnace in the winter and up in the summer months.  Most of us pay our bills and do everything we can to not declare bankruptcy.  However, for the rich and famous, it can be done any time they get in a tight pinch.  The rest of us will pay for it because the banking industry will get their money back one way or another.  That famous rich guy will eventually think he should run for the presidency because he knows how to run a business, so how about doing the same with our country.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

In my opinion the great leveler in society is a good education.  If you have a good education, you can go far in life.  You may not become a millionaire sitting at the top of that proverbial Maple tree but more than likely you will be able to create a decent life for you and your family.  The true key to solving poverty is in education.  The statistics here from my state are interesting.  As the education level goes up the poverty level goes down.  That makes a lot of sense, so why do all of these new Republican governors seem to want to take away from education to pay for their tax breaks for the corporations?  It just doesn’t make any sense to me.

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-state=st&-context=st&-qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_S1701&-ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&-tree_id=309&-redoLog=true&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=04000US26&-format=&-_lang=en

You can check your own state levels at these next two websites:  http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STGeoSearchByListServlet?ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&state=st&qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_S1701&_lang=en&_ts=317767762496

http://www.justneighbors.net/poverty-facts-your-neighborhood-who-my-neighbor

43 million people are below the poverty line in this country.  If you head on over here you will find some fascinating things to read but it won’t be surprising to most of you.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient

The Gini coefficient is a mathematical equation that basically shows the disparity between the income of the rich and the poor.  The closer the number is to zero, the more equal things are.  The closer the number is to 100, the more unequal things tend to be.  In 1929, you know during the times of the stock market fall and the beginning of the great depression the estimated number for the United States was 45.  We had a period after World War II when this number declined considerably.  This was a time when the middle class was really built and unions were a big part of that.  Since around 1980 we have gone back in decline with numbers as high as 46.9.  Most of us know there has been a change in who has more money and who has less.  This site just makes you think about things.  The rich just keep on getting richer and the poor keep trying to figure out how to strap those gold laced boots on to get to the top of that proverbial tree.

I always wonder why the wealthy seem to always want more.  They are already at the top of the tree, so you would think they wouldn’t mind letting some of that wealth trickle on down like Reagan assured us it was supposed to.  However, it turns out most millionaires don’t feel wealthy.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110314005921/en/Fidelity%C2%AE-Survey-Finds-Millionaires%E2%80%99-Outlook-Economy-Highest

I want all of you to stop laughing.  I know you are because it really is unbelievable.  Even those workers at Ford are sharing in the profits these days.  That would sound great if they hadn’t already given up so much.  The real slap in the face for Ford workers is that CEO pay!  Just check this article out.  The rich get richer and the rest of us get whatever happens to land our way and we thankfully take it!

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/03/mulally-bill-ford-share-fords-profts-big-time/1

Finally, here is more information that those Bush tax cuts really aren’t all their purported to be.  It turns out if you are in the top 10%, you probably did all right.  The rest of us, not so much!  This has the gap in income tax and it’s a great site to really research.

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=106

Unfortunately, we do have class warfare in this country.  The politicians take care of the corporations and the wealthy with the many tax loopholes and tax incentive plans while the rest of us are left to “share a sacrifice”, whatever the hell that means.  What it really means is that we will get less and the rich will continue to get whatever they want and need built off the backs of the middle class and dare I say the poor.  Those of us in the 90% are the ones that prop up everyone else.  We do our jobs whether it is teaching children, policing the world, scanning goods at the airport so the wealthy can continue to feel safe, or assisting them in their pursuit of more wealth.  We are factory workers, nannies, waiters and bus boys but the one thing we all have in common is proportionately we are greatly under paid, over worked and abused by a system that asks for continual sacrifice from us when the rich are expected to just get richer!

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2011 What Goes Up, Must Come Down Eventually

  • Posted on January 4, 2011 at 7:40 pm

President "Republican Lite" Obama Making Nice With Senator Boehner and Representative Canter, Republican Hatchet Men

You may still be on that holiday high, hung over from the good eats and drinks.  However, it’s time to sober everyone up with the reality that is coming.  You may be feeling pretty fine right now because your tax cut was saved.  Oh, well, you gave in on that tax cut deal for the wealthy thing because well, you got yours!  Of course we all know that the status quo is unsustainable for Republicans, unless they’re talking about tax cuts for the wealthy.  So, you might be wondering what I could possibly be worried about.  The answer is, plenty!  As the tax cuts may be giving many people a bit of sugar high right now, those same people will soon be feeling that sugar candy low you get when that sugar rush is gone!

First of all you need to understand that the Republicans feel they can make the most gains by making life as difficult as possible for the Democrats.  The Republicans are putting forth a new rule that will make it harder to raise the debt ceiling, something they didn’t mind doing under the Bush administration as I recall.  http://thehill.com/homenews/house/134799-new-gop-rules-will-make-it-tougher-for-house-to-raise-debt-ceiling

Furthermore, now that the Republicans got that big tax cut they wanted they are ready to take a hammer to everything else because after all, we are broke.  Just listen to Senator Boehner talking about our country being broke and then turning around and pushing for the massive tax cut for the WEALTHY! What a trooper!

That means there is only one way to go and that’s with cuts and I don’t mean tax cuts.  We know they are not going to “raise” taxes as they have pushed through the continuation of the Bush tax cuts, even for the wealthy.  So just what is discretionary spending any way?  Part of the discretionary spending is the defense but we all know that it will not be cut and in fact is going to see a budgetary increase in 2011.  That leaves all of the other types of special programs like education and of course that pesky money that goes back to individual states.  The states are already hurting and they are probably going to hurt even more!  You can read about the discretionary spending in the articles I site and also in the letter sent to the President by the Republicans in 2009. With extending the Bush tax cuts both parties have intentionally painted themselves into a corner.  They are going to have to find a way to get out of the room without messing up the paint.  It’s not going to happen because once again both parties are going to lay all the ugliness at the feet of the American people.  Instead of having the wealthy top two percent step up and do more to help this country, we can all expect that the middle class and the poor will once again absorb these burdens.

In 2009 the head Republicans, Senator John Boehner and Representative Eric Cantor sent President Obama a letter.  In it they outlined the cuts they wanted to make to reduce the deficit.  These Republicans look at any change to the Bush tax cuts as being a tax increase unless of course it betters the wealthy.  We all know that they upped the death tax to favor the very rich!  Even though the Bush tax cuts were set to expire and the country would go back to the previous tax code, it is now looked at as being a substantial increase in taxes if they were allowed to expire.  It’s really fascinating when you start getting into the mindset of how the Republicans really think about these issues.  Much of what they want to do is to push everything back to the states.  Of course this has been going on for years already and many states are in a heap of trouble but if you read things through carefully, it is exactly what these guys want to do.  They want to eliminate many programs.  I think this 2009 letter is a big hint as to what the political fights will be coming down the road in 2011.  Remember the budget is only good until March 4th.  So, what can we expect?  http://republicanleader.house.gov/UploadedFiles/06-04-09_Savings_Proposals_For_President.pdf

This is something everyone should read as it is a real eye opener.  There are many programs in education they want to cut or eliminate completely, even my own “art education” gets the whack!  So much of what they want to do they deem in their infinite wisdom as not a “federal” role.

In regards to the issue of Social Security I think this is interesting.  This is directly from About.com.  http://useconomy.about.com/od/fiscalpolicy/p/Mandatory.htm

The first Baby-Boomer turned 62 in 2008, becoming eligible to retire on Social Security benefits. By 2025, those aged 65+ will comprise 20% of the population. As Boomers leave the work-force and apply for benefits, three things happen:

  1. The percentage of the labor force under 55 stagnates, providing less payroll taxes to fund Social Security.
  2. GDP growth declines remains flat thanks to fewer workers.
  3. By 2040, the Social Security Trust Fund goes bankrupt.

Choices for FY 2012 and Beyond:

As a result, the U.S. Federal Budget in 2012 and beyond will have to choose among the lesser of three evils, none of which are good for the economy:

  1. Devote more of the budget to pay Social Security benefits. However, to maintain current benefits, the federal budget will have to increase to 25% of GDP by 2045.
  2. To fund this increased budget, taxes would have to increase, further slowing the economy.
  3. Decrease the benefit amount paid to retirees. This is the most likely scenario. This would force able-bodied Boomers to continue working. Those who couldn’t work would provide a further drain on the economy.

What I find as the interesting part is the fact that both parties are aware of this and they still decided to reduce the payroll taxes recently.  It makes me wonder if they want to cause a catastrophic failure so they can say, “I told you so.”  I guess the idea is we pay 2% less into Social Security and that will leave us more money to spend on junk to stimulate the economy.  What kills me is what I just read over at About.com.  About claims we will have to choose amongst the lesser of three evils, so why did we make it worse by partially defunding Social Security?  Maybe greater minds than mind can answer that question.  Of course my suspicious mind makes me think that we are being set up for failure so that once again we will accept less. We will accept less in benefits when we retire and we will work longer to get to retirement.  Life is over as most of us have figured for our retirements.  The state of Michigan already is taxing me higher by making me pay more into my retirement without any additional benefit.  I’m sure the Federal government is getting ready to do the same.

There is an agenda out their folks.  It seems like all the things that were created under FDR, which were sacred cows at one time, are now going to be fodder for the Republicans and our Republican “lite” President to dismantle.  Politicians that might have fought this have been systematically taken out.  Two come to my mind that won’t be back after the New Year, Representative Alan Grayson and Senator Russ Feingold.  I mean if Democrats had to go, why couldn’t it have been more of those Blue Dogs?

http://useconomy.about.com/od/fiscalpolicy/p/Budget_Spending.htm

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Obama and the Puppet Masters

  • Posted on December 6, 2010 at 7:59 pm

Obama and the Puppet Masters

I’m not a cartoonist but this is how I feel tonight.  Just click on it.  All of you Obots that voted for this disaster of a President better wake up!  I know you wanted anyone but Bush, but you gave us a clone of Bush.  Obama has kept every policy that Bush had going.  We are stuck in two wars and nobody cares about the poor and the middle class.  We are in debt up to our eye balls and the cuts will soon be coming.  It’s going to hurt but don’t worry wealthy people, it won’t hurt you!  Social Security is going to get a make over for sure but unlike “Ugly Betty” who is secretly a beautiful girl, it will be UGLY!

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Delusional Politics

  • Posted on November 28, 2010 at 1:28 pm

Foxy Loxy, ever the politician!

I’ve been busy working on the two courses I’m taking, so I haven’t been able to spend any time on my blog and whatever is on my mind has had to wait.  However, this morning I caught David Stockman, Reagan’s budget director, on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS show.  I know I’m supposed to be cleaning my house, but I’m not highly motivated to do so.  David made me think about “Chicken Little”.  You know the “sky is falling” Chicken Little.  What’s interesting about David Stockman is the fact that it was his policy choices as Reagan’s budget director that probably helped push us down the road to doom and gloom.

Like a born again Christian David has seen the light.  Now we have to change our ways and repent.  He is frustrated with the Republicans pushing those tax cuts and he seems to be even more frustrated by our current leader, President Obama’s lack of fight on this issue.  He says we can’t wait two more years by kicking this tax cut issue down the road.  We are on the road to “Armageddon” according to David.  He wants those tax cuts for the top 2% to just run out and not be extended.  He also wants budget cuts in defense spending and he mentioned Social Security.  He thinks we need strong leadership at this time and we aren’t getting it.  I’ve heard David many times recently and he is given a lot of “talk” time on this issue.  Here is David in his own words:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkQXWw3jL_w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKkdlnwajf8&feature=related

Since I was thinking about Chicken Little I decided to look up the cartoon on You Tube.  I am so glad I did.  As a kid I don’t remember all of the political under tones of Chicken Little.  If you haven’t watched this cartoon, do so.  It is hilarious because it is very political.

Foxy Loxy is a fox that wants to get into a well protected chicken coop.  He has to find a way in so he can get his dinner.  He decides to consult a psychology book for this endeavor.  Cocky Locky is the head rooster and he is the leader of all these chickens.  He’s well respected and everyone looks up to him.  Chicken Little is a feather brain, playboy.  Hennie Penny is the supreme gossiper.  With all of these characters Foxy Loxy manages to use psychology to trick them.  The funny part is the four things he uses are pretty much like the way political campaigns are run.

Here are the four things Foxy Loxy read that helped him get into the heads of the MASSES!

1)      To Influence the masses, aim first at the least intelligent.  (Oh my head is already spinning considering the last election!)

2)      If you tell them a lie, don’t tell a little one, tell them a big one!  (There are too many to mention here.  What is the truth any more?)

3)      Undermine the faith of the masses in their leader!  (Well, by now we all know that Obama is a SOCIALIST!)

4)      By the use of flattery insignificant people can be made to look upon themselves as born leaders!  (Strangely enough I could put both Obama and Palin in this category.)

Now you have to watch the cartoon but think about politics as you’re watching it!  The video cannot be embedded so you must click on the link to watch it!

Chicken Little

Now that you’ve had a good laugh, we must get serious.  We all know that our country is going to hell in a hand basket.  It’s pretty obvious that we aren’t making much any more.  We buy lots of junk from China and too many people are UNEMPLOYED!  Obviously, those tax cuts didn’t do much good for our economy.  President Bush wanted us to spend money after September 11th.  That’s the way we could be patriotic!  Perhaps we did that but during that time, we didn’t pay for these two wars and now we are having some buyer’s remorse.

Anyone that has had to tighten their financial belt knows that something has to give.  That give should come from the top 2%.  That 98% pays for a lot more than even they realize.  The wealthy get by with small taxes really in proportion to what they make.  In our state governments the 98% are continually paying “fees” that we don’t actually think about as being “taxes”.  We have fees for different licenses that we get from hunting to teaching, to substitute teaching, to automobile, even fishing.  Most of you could probably think of a lot more.  We have to pay fees continually to do just about anything that you can think of from selling our homes to buying our cars.  Those fees are nothing, no big deal, for the wealthy but they can be a hardship for the 98%.  That 98% often times has to even dish out money for special clothes for work like hard boots, and even t-shirts.  None of this is figured in to the cost of their taxes.  Here in Michigan we even have “driver responsibility fees” and those can be devastating for low income drivers.  Those fees aren’t just for drinking and driving either so don’t start thinking they deserve what they get.  Those fees are very high and often times people end up not being able to pay them and pay for their auto insurance.  The point I’m trying to make is don’t feel sorry for the wealthy 2%.  The 98% pay far more than most of them can afford in so many other fees from sales taxes to everything else I have mentioned.

Here's John giving the "thumbs up" and looking so much like Foxy Loxy!

Congress needs to let the tax cuts for the 2% expire for the good of our country.  President Obama needs to lead.  So far in my humble opinion he hasn’t lead anything.  We, as a people, are looking for leadership.  How else can you explain the Tea Party?  We want strong leadership or we will be taken over by the likes of Foxy Loxy, who will tell us some big lie and we will be too stupid to understand the truth!  In the end Chicken Little is too stupid to see the truth and he, being the feather brain that he was, leads the other chickens to their ruin.  We must not fall for the Foxy Loxy types.  Foxy Loxy reminds me of John Boehner.  They both have that same sinister smile and I know John is more interested in his golf game than the 98%.  John wants to sell us all on this tax cut for the 2% but don’t fall for it.  He’s as cunning just like Foxy Loxy and doesn’t deserve loyalty from the 98%.

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Wealthy Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country!

  • Posted on July 21, 2010 at 5:43 pm

What are you willing to do for your country?  We have been asked repeatedly to step up for our country.  During WWII people had to step up by going to war in a foreign land, women had to take on more manual labor, people were encouraged to buy bonds and restrictions were made on the consumption of goods.  My parents had many children.  To get shoes for their children, they would trade gas rationings with my aunt so they could buy shoes.  Today with so many people living as “expatriates”, I wonder what people are willing to do for their country.  The poor always give.  Often times they give because they see no other alternative.  This is why many join the military.  The economy is poor and they are struggling to find work.  However, we have a war economy, so they join some branch of the military.  It might not be their first choice but they may see it as their only alternative when the economy is poor and they are not wealthy.  As you read my take on things, please think about what you are willing to do for your country.

I have two political groups that are nipping at my heels trying to get me to contact my senators for their causes.  Both of these causes are worthy:  One is to save education jobs and Pell grants and the other is for the passage of a clean energy bill.  Both of these causes and their supporters are feeling the crunch because Congress will go into recess in August.  Now as a teacher I have the summer off but I always find it interesting that although Congress just had a big July 4th break they are now going to take all of August off.  For the pay they receive, I find this amazing.  I don’t think the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have that option.  Nor do most of the other government employees that work for all of our states.  If every government worker took August off, a lot wouldn’t get done.  However, senators and congress people are a completely different breed.  While they expect everyone and his brother to change with the times, they remain stuck in some centuries old concept that was based on “beating the heat”.  Is there any wonder that not much really gets done for the people in modern congressional sessions?

So it looks like Harry Reid is waiting until the last possible minute to bring up the climate bill.  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39677.html I don’t presume to understand the politics behind this but it seems to me that it will be brought up and voted down as there won’t be enough time to discuss it before the August recess.  On the other hand, if they get it done just before the recess they can talk about it in their campaign speeches.  It’s just so sad that these votes are so political and not handled in the best interest of our nation.  Whether it is voted up or down after the November election who knows who will control congress and what excuses they will give then for being a “do nothing” congress.  Thomas Friedman has an interesting take on the energy bill and it’s worth a read.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/opinion/21friedman.html?src=mv

The American Federation of Teachers is contacting the public to try in get some assistance on saving teachers jobs and Pell grant money.  I received this link.  http://action.aft.org/c/44/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=382

Unfortunately, I don’t know what the bill is.  I know that Senator Harkin had this bill in April and it seems to have gone no where.  http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-3206

Teachers are being cut all over the country.  I think these types of bills are temporary fixes to the problem.  Both of these issues, energy and teacher jobs,  would have better chances of passing  or in the case of the teacher problem being corrected, if three distinct things happened in my opinion.  If we withdrew our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, I think that would free up a considerable amount of money that has been pouring out of our country.  We should also let the Bush tax cuts for those making $250,000 or more run out.  I’m tired of the politicians that claim these wealthy people will hire less people if this happens.  It’s quite apparent that since these tax cuts were voted in there has been a constant bleeding of American jobs.  The truth is any politician that tries to convince anyone with a brain that those tax cuts some how “trickle down” to the American people should be voted out of office.  Finally, the social security cap should be lifted on people making over $250,000.

I am a pragmatist but I have always felt that we have to do everything that we can for the best interest of our country.  The poor have always given to their country with the sweat of their brow in labor and even their lives in war.  It is only patriotic to ask those that have so much to give a little more to help our country when times are tough.  The toil of the poor and their labor built this country.  The poor have always been asked to step up during challenging times.  We now need to ask the wealthy to do their part.  We know they are unlikely to give their children for war or even labor for that matter.  They can give their money to help fuel our economy so that all can prosper in this great country.  I challenge the people making over $250,000 to ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.

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