2012 the Year of the Decider

One candidate calls himself a businessman who has lived in the real business world. He understands the economy because of this and will be a better choice for president because he’s a decider. Can some one please inform this candidate that he doesn’t understand how Government works? There are a group of elected officials called the congress who decide on financing the government not the economy. They call this a budget, which comes out of a budget committee then voted on by a majority of congress in both houses. Only if a majority in both houses passes this budget bill will you get the opportunity to decide by signing it into law or veto it and send it back for revisions. Capitalist don’t fear the president and his policies they fear the Congress and Senate for their lack of legislation. The problem any President has and will always have begun in the 1975 rules changes made by the senate. Any legislature to pass after a filibuster requires a three fifths vote of the senate or 60 votes out of 100 also know as a supermajority.

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No Tax Cuts without Representation

Who will pay? The poor and the middle class will pay. How you ask? Money given to the poor and middle class get spent in the economy creating demand for products and services. They buy food clothing and needed services the necessities to provide for a family not a dime will go into savings. Money given to the wealthy if not spent on luxuries goes directly into their trusts, savings, and ultimately their investments creating no demand for products and services, but does generate fees and commissions for Wall Street. The billions of dollars going to the poor and middle class stimulate economic activity that eventually go to the rich and wealthy in the form of dividends and capital gains, while the billions going to the rich and wealthy increase their wealth even more. It’s a loose loose situation for the poor and middle class. Why? Since our representatives in Washington refuse to have the rich and wealthy pay for their fare share the poor and middle class will pay eventually through increased taxes and cuts in entitlement programs targeted by bi-partisan Democrats and a majority of Republicans. This bill has set the precedent connecting Social Security to the national debt for the first time in our history even though Social Security is the only solvent entitlement program in the Government Budget a 2.6 Trillion Dollar Surplus which pays for itself and those bi-partisan Democrats and Republicans want to raid this trust to again transfer more money to the rich and wealthy. They couldn’t do it by privatizing so they will raid it by connecting it to our deficit budget. 

It has been reported that the 2010 midterms raised 4 billion dollars from donors. Senators and Congressman received 4 billion dollars to get elected. A majority came from the Wealthy and Corporations run by the Wealthy. These donors consider their contributions as an investment because they can’t take a tax deduction. How do you get a return on your investment of a campaign donation? You get an extension of the Bush tax cuts Plus. What is the return? If you just include the Estate Tax and Capital Gains and Dividend savings of 121 billion dollars that’s a return of 3025% over two years to simplify the numbers if you invest 1 thousand dollars for two years your return would be $30,250 dollars after two years. In Washington money talks louder than votes. 

The odds are stacked against the poor and middle class Americans. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Corporations are People under our constitution giving them same rights as you and I. Washington has been taken over by Corporate American, Foreign Influence and Special Interests through our Elected Representatives. We no longer have a representative government. We have a ruling class. This Bill proves that.

Crocodile Tears

OK I’ll be the first insensitive to call these teary eyed Republicans out. John Boehner during an interview became overwhelmed with the fact that his grandchildren would have to pay the debts our government is creating with our current spending policies. Here’s a Republican who has been in office for over 16 years who participated in the deregulation of Wall Street, who voted in all the tax cuts for the rich, who voted for two wars costing 1.2 trillion dollars, and who has no compassion for the lower and middle classes. Suddenly gets a jolt of consciousness and is worried about his grandchildren. Not our grandchildren. Let me just ease your pain ladies and gentleman, Congressman Boehner’s grandchildren are set for life, they probably have all their education paid for and very big trusts waiting them.

Mitch McConnell in the senate yesterday got choked up when saying goodbye to Senator Judd Gregg of Republican NH. He too has been in the congress for over 16 years who also participated in the deregulation of Wall Street, who voted in all the tax cuts for the rich, who voted for two wars costing 1.2 trillion dollars, and who has no compassion for the lower and middle classes.

Have these two ever seen a homeless family of four living in the woods eating one meal a day provided by charitable middle class Americans. Where is their compassion for the unemployed who have worked years to achieve success only to find them selves out of work because their legislators decided that war, oil and tax cuts to the rich are more important than the lives of the people they supposedly represent?

One commentator said it right last night. Listen to what they say rather than the image they want to project. Our society depends too much on images rather than, to use the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “the content of their character”.

The Great Con Job

If you’re wondering why there is pessimism and suffering in America you only need to look at what the Republican Administrations had perpetrated from 2000 to 2008. Most citizens have lost their faith in the systems provided to us
by our forefathers which guaranteed every American an opportunity to succeed.

Our Electoral Process was manipulated in the 2000 elections. Our presidency was decided by the Supreme Court. This was preceded by a purposeful deregulation of the financial services industry in 1999 with the Gramm, Leach, Bliley Act all of these sponsors were Republican and President Clinton could not veto the bill because the Republicans had a two thirds margin to override his veto.  In 2001 the World Trade Center attack shook America at its foundation which went unrecognized by the Republican Administration at the time to change our priorities as a nation. The propaganda machine of government utilizing our legislators who were controlled by corporate influence provided the media with constant erroneous information to accomplish one objective. Create a diversion in the day to day lives of all Americans in order to transfer the wealth of a nation to the top two percent wealth holders in the United States. While all Americans specifically Joe Middle Class were focused on the nine eleven tragedy and two wars fabricated by the Bush Administration Wall Street and Corporate America were reaping the rewards of the great con.

A picture is worth a thousand words:

Beginning in 1995 until 2007 republicans held a majority in both houses of congress except for the Senate in 107^th congress
2001-2003 when it was split 50/50.  Reference:   http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774721.html

Make no mistake when history is written the George W. Bush Dick Cheney Presidency will go down in history as the worst or at least one of the worst presidencies in the history of the United States.

It is now two years later into the Obama Administration with Republicans attributing our economic disaster to President Obama and the democratic controlled congress. If you listen intelligently to Mitch McConnell and John Boehner you wonder how they were elected and whom do they represent. All of their rhetoric borders on lies and nonsense. Their logic defies
rationality.  An example of this creative logic is the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans in the United States.
Their argument is that a continued deficit creating tax cuts to the top 2% will create jobs in a recessionary economy. These tax cuts which originally contributed to the deficits and the recession will stimulate jobs growth. The Bush era tax
cuts created 1 million jobs until the election of Obama six months into Obama’s term June 2009 all of those jobs were lost. In affect the Bush era tax cuts lost jobs.

The Lame Duck Is Miserable

 

The dust has settled on a devastating defeat on November 2, 2010. The anti acids are soothing but the reality still plagues us mentally. Billions were spent on campaigns for change from either party yet the rhetoric remains the same. In January Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives and have a good size minority in the Senate with two Independents. Over the last two years the Democratic control of both houses looked for compromise and bipartisan participation to accomplish a sustained growth in the economy, the beginnings of a health care reformation, and a constitutional idea to protect the common good of the nation by once again including the middle class. On all fronts current statistics are indicating progress in all of these areas. The economy is growing, initial unemployment claims are down, and more people are getting health care.

Now the winning party has begun to once again attack the accomplishments of the past two years with the same rhetoric and demand bi partisanship one day and look to repeal everything that has provided a path to success the next. They believe that they have a mandate from the people because of the election results. NOT, they are being challenged to continue what needs
to be fixed. Fiscal responsibility has been their campaign by those who put us in this mess in the first place from 2001 to 2008. The deficits need to be attacked. Not by going back to the Bush tax cuts for the rich and add an additional 700 billion to the deficit. The so called bipartisan committee formed by president Obama is attacking Pentagon spending, proposed? 100 billion cut, Social Security, Medicare, entitlements and tax cuts to the middle class, does this sound familiar? The people who bear the burden currently the middle class and who have suffered the most by the Bush induced misery are being asked
to sacrifice again for the sake of the country and of course to fill the coffers of the top 2%. Here’s the new misery index the percent of Republicans in the House of Representatives (55.6%) and Senate (47%) added to the percent unemployed (9.6%) equals 112.2%  now that’s a fever that needs medication.

If anything gets done over the next two years it will certainly be a miracle. I hope President Obama has his VETO pen ready.

 

To the best of Geithner’s and Paulson’s recollection

Treasury Secretary Geithner and former Secretary Paulson’s testimony today at the AIG House oversight committee hearing has disclosed nothing new. Geithner continues to dodge questions related to his knowledge and his assistants’ knowledge related to AIG counterparty relationships and their associations with Government Officials such as Henry Paulson and his assistants who previously worked for Goldman Sachs. Specific questions related to counterparty settlements of 2.5 billion of U.S. Taxpayer Dollars to Goldman Sachs, and 16.5 Billion Taxpayer Dollars to a Foreign National Bank the top two recipients. The web of financial transaction connected many of the financial institution who received billion of T.A.R.P. tax dollars was the reason for rescuing AIG. Geithner’s rationale behind their decision was to prevent a financial catastrophe or meltdown of the US financial systems. Paulson’s rationale similar to Geithner’s was First AIG was too big to fail. That’s sounds familiar. Second, AIG was seriously unregulated. The wolves were guarding the Hen House. Third, AIG could not go into bankruptcy successfully. This was because its failure would affect other financial institutions. The bottom line was the U.S. Taxpayer had to make Goldman and other institutions both domestic and international whole by paying off AIG liabilities to those institutions that had political leverage through our government officials. Of course Paulson denies any role in the decisions being made to help make Goldman whole. The continued excuse is that the future of our economy was at risk. Not really knowing what the results would have been if AIG failed. The scare tactics used over and over again during the Bush/Chaney years to justify two wars carried over into this debacle used by Paulson, Geithner and Bernake. We wonder why the public doesn’t trust Government.

The New Civil War

No matter what side of the fence you stand on you must admit that over the last 48 years each presidential election has become a Civil War. A civil war is a war between organized groups to take control of a nation or region, or to change government policies as partially defined by Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war#Further_definitions . I believe it should be expanded to include, change with or without military conflict.

 

Does the United Sates have a civil war every 4 to 8 years? Since 1960 I believe our country’s political census would suggest that we have been divided 50-50 in our political ideologies. Although the Republican party of Lincoln freed the slaves, the Republican party of today is attempting to once again to bring back slavery in their attempt to destroy unions and organization’s who support workers rights. Contrary to goals of the Republican Party, the Democratic Party is attempting to reestablish our constitutional rights as described in the Bill of Rights ensuring freedom of speech, and the pursuit of happiness which includes the access to an equal education, work opportunity, and affordable healthcare.

 

Our forefathers when writing the Constitution and Bill of Rights were inspired by the fact that their countries of origin did not provide those rights endeared to all people all of the time. The United States at times in it’s history has backslide making policies which resemble those injustices we originally tried to do away with and not have to experience ever again. 

 

Some of the arguments you will hear from Republican supporters is that all people have the same opportunities, they want you to believe that there is no discrimination against those who they perceive to be different then they are. A pure example of this is the political rhetoric displayed during the 2008 election. Their actions put their political goals ahead of people, which still continue even after the election. Another example is the stimulus package developed by the Democratic Party and amended by Republicans. Although, the spending objectives were not met 100% they all voted against the stimulus except for three Republicans. The only reason they voted against the stimulus was for those constituent’s who are the extreme right base of the party. There are Republican’s who understand and know that the no vote was a political vote for 2010 elections and not substantiated by any real objection to the intent of the stimulus.  For those who say nay, and who believe they can dissect the stimulus bill and point out its failures is unrealistic and delusional. This bills objective will not be accomplished until all of its components are executed 100%.

 

The Republican Party continues to use fear tactics to keep hold of their followers. They try to portray Democrats as socialist’s even communist’s, they portray Democrats as big spenders, and baby killers. These stigma, are lies just to incite the Republican base and form a negative impression of good Americans who have just as much rights as they do. Their Biggest Mouth Rush Limbaugh is a reminder of the sensational overtones voiced during the mid thirties and early forties in Germany. If anyone believes that Limbaugh has any real unifying agenda they too are just as delusional as he. His chest pounding and un-American rhetoric continues to appeal to those who choose to be less tolerant of others differences and the use of charismatic oration, and propagandaborder on totalitarian and dictatorial agendas. Republicans must be very wary of their association with Rush Limbaugh he may become the poster child for their downfall in a true Democracy.

 

The Republicans promise fiscal responsibility, although the facts don’t lie, from 1994 to 2000 the Republicans controlled the Senate & House under a Democratic President where the support of the Administration was a bi-partisan majority. They amassed a budget surplus under Bill Clinton a Democrat, only to be squandered in the next six years by a House and Senate controlled by the extremist right wing ideology of the Republican Party under the Presidency of George W. Bush. Republicans won the 2000 and 2004 elections by fear. America First, Family and Abortion were their platforms which elected them. In the mean time they were transferring wealth from the middle class to the rich, becoming opportunists over 9/11 by planning an invasion of the nation of Iraq to manipulate the price of oil and spend billions on a war in Iraq with no bid contracts to the special interests associated with Washington. Their campaign for right to life focused on the unborn but not the living who sacrificed their lives in Iraq.  There is plenty of blame to go around for this injustice on both sides, but the remaining fact is that the President and his congress lead our nation. George W. Bush and his congresses failed miserably in leadership and direction for our nation.  

 

The new civil war is more than just differences of ideologies. It has become a separation of social stratus and the manipulation of individual emotional attitudes by a media controlled by competing forces in pursuit of the control of our political orientation’s, our nation, its wealth and remaining natural resources through the election process. Also, this control is influenced by external forces because of the mismanagement of our nation’s finances and international trading policies. The economics of the 80’s 90’s and the new millennium were based on leverage and credit. The house of cards have fallen, a renewed economic approach for a solid foundation in our economy is required if we are to survive this internal war. The great minds of this nation once provided the inspiration, and ideas based in humanitarian objectives not dollars and cents alone. The bottom line should be less important than the contribution to society any idea may bring. If Republicans and Democrats can truly promote unity in our nation and not separation we will succeed, if they don’t we are doomed to failure like all great nation in the past.      

 

    

Republicans should be angered by their lack of representation

Hernando County Republicans should begin to support their Democratic counterparts. It has become apparent that republican politicians don’t care about you. The Stimulus package was passed by 246 Democrats and ZERO out of 183 Republicans in the Congress, you must be proud of your Rep Ginny Brown Waite who voted against creating jobs locally for the construction industry, or educational support to keep teachers in their jobs, increased unemployment compensation, and a 65% subsidy for Cobra Health Insurance, and the beginning of the long awaited energy independence to support alternative energy sources which are part of this bill. Please don’t confuse Brown Waite’s political rhetoric utilizing the term pork, hopefully not referring to her Republican constituents who will be the recipients of this bills intent and who re- elected her, as pork. In the Senate 57 Democrat’s and 3 wise Republicans, 2 from Maine and one from Pennsylvania rose to this bi-partisan occasion without political agendas for the 2010 election year. There were 36 Senate Republicans who voted against this bill including John McCain. Here is a message to registered Republican’s who are currently receiving unemployment, you should not have a short memory in 2010, remember it was Democrats who were looking out for your interest in 2009.