Most everyone has made up their mind for better or worse, on the conduct of the Tea Party, and the OWS groups. I fear mostly for the worse. Having been to Occupy Wall St. I personally saw how most of the media focused on the sensational and the titillating, and not on a more complete and honest, account of the situation. At OWS I was involved in an intelligent and informed conversation with a group of people, when one man started to get very animated and loud, the camera's swooped in (and so did the police). They didn't care when a banker was talking with a group of protesters about the financial system and what might really be done to fix it. They only cared about CONFLICT (fringe groups have figured that out and are now fully exploiting it). The same was true for the Tea Party (remember the guy with the gun, or the spitting on congressmen). Not that bad behavior doesn't occur,(and there are some crazies in both movements) I just think it blocks our view of the bigger picture(you can't see the forest for the trees). But media distortions are only part of what's wrong. There has to be an evolution. Both movements risk being hijacked by their radicals. We, have to bring to fruition what they started.
In a way they are just brothers from another mother. Both the Tea Party and OWS believe that, the "bank bailouts" were a bad thing, and banks allowed to grow "Too Big Too Fail", as well as, a government bought and paid for, are some of the problem with our current form of capitalism. (Reality check: Had we let the banks fail, not only would you have no place to cash your check, your employer would have no place to draw your check from, those banks and your money would be gone.) That doesn't mean both groups are wrong going forward. It just means we had little choice in the matter at the time. They both want change in Washington. The kind of change is where the road forks, and we are left standing.
NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET. Or can it.
We the average citizen, the folks who just want a fair shake at the American Dream. You remember the American Dream. That's the dream where you have the opportunity to: get a good education, get a good job(hopefully doing something you love). The get an honest days pay, for an honest days work, that gives you enough money to: buy a home, enjoy vacations with family, save for our kids education, and save for our retirement dream. But where is that dream today? It's becoming lost in a cacophony of BULLSHIT, that's become SO political, it's keeping us from attaining those dreams. We have to take this moment, and say enough with the rhetoric, and the ideology, just fix the damn thing.(see Simpson-Boles plan)
While conservatives rail against the dirty OWS mobs, and their supporters (pick a group/person conservatives don't like). I give little credence to their whining. The same way I don't care that the Koch brothers (David and Charles Koch flouted U.S. laws by selling millions of dollars worth of oil equipment to the world's leading supporter of global terrorism - IRAN) support the tea party. It's not about them. It's about us. It's a good thing when Americans begin to pay attention to how their government really operates.(and that's what the Tea Party and OWS should be focused on accomplishing) Most politicians hate that. They like it when we fight amongst ourselves (see wedge issues) or simply ignore what they do(who's going to win DWTS). So let's stop doing that.
FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF
Go to www.govtrack.us, or www.c-span.org, or POTUS on XM-Sirius, and see what congress and President are up to. If only for a quick review. Don't get sound bites, get sound information (that would make a great bumper sticker...jk). You learn who the liar's are, who's playing politics, and who's really trying to get things done. So when YOUR elected official tells you what he thinks you want to hear. You can give him an informed answer that he may NOT want to hear.
Let's find things we can agree on and start fixing those problems before the whole shithouse goes up in flames(by that I mean China takes over everything). As an example I think most people would agree with the need for a free market and government not picking winners and losers. But when a company or organization gets the government to change a law (or worse they just write the law) to give them an unfair advantage isn't that also picking winners and losers. Let's fix both of those problems. Also I think most people understand the TRUE problem in Washington is Campaign Money, and Lobbyists (not conservative and liberal). We have to make our representatives change the rules that give lobbyists an unfair advantage over the average citizen. (I mean getting your grievance addressed is one thing, paying for a congressman to go to Hawaii to address that grievance is another.) And we have to do something about campaign finance. Like give each parties presidential nominee free TV time and $300 million dollars each for the campaign. If they spend that money wisely it might be a good indicator of how they will manage the federal budget once elected. Just a few things I think we all agree on. And let's stop calling the Tea Party, tea baggers, and OWS, dirty parasites. Call them what they are, Americans taking a stand. Isn't that what are country is supposed to be about. If the people of 1776 were like the people complaining about these movements today, we might still be under British rule.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
What Has Happened To The Republican Party
First of all, let me state that I am loyal to neither party, or person. I respect good leadership. And both we the electorate, as well as the Republican and Democratic (I use proper english) parties are culpable for our current problems. That having been said, today I have to speak on the incredible lack of skilled, qualified, and competent people running for President on the republican side. Lets look past the so-called straight talking, joke telling, family values surface and see if any of their simple solutions for complex problems work, not just in theory, but in practice. Lets take a better look at the top 4 candidates.
First we must dismiss and never speak of the ones who don't have any chance, I call them the UN-Electables. So good-by Rick S., Michele, Jon (he is reasonably qualified, but he's unelectable as a republican) Gary, Fred, Andy, Buddy, Ron (he's consistent, consistently crazy, and his supporters are like bizarro world liberals) Tom, Matt, Vern, and Jimmy (although I agree "the rent is just too damn high") There much better. So we'll start at the bottom and work are way up, based on my ranking.
4. Rick Perry: I call him Bush lite. What has he really done. Unemployment in Texas in Jan. 2001 was 4.3% Sept. 2011 it was at 8.5% and most of the new jobs involved the military, in large part due to the war. Now that the wars are coming to an end, and cuts are coming to the pentagon that number is almost sure to go up. Where Texas ranks today.
ON EDUCATION
43rd in High School Graduation Rate
31st in Percent of Adults with at Least a Bachelor’s Degree
33rd in Average Salary of Public School Teachers
HEALTH and WELL-BEING
1st in Percent of Uninsured Children
1st in Percent of Population Uninsured
4th in Percent of Children Living in Poverty
4th in Percent Living Below Federal Poverty Level
ENVIRONMENT
1st in Amount of Toxic Chemicals Released into Water
1st in Amount of Recognized Cancer-Causing Carcinogens Released into Air
1st in Amount of Hazardous Waste Generated
5th Amount of Toxic Chemicals Released into Air
WORKFORCE
38th in Average Hourly Earnings of Production Workers on Manufacturing Payrolls
41st in Percent of Workforce that are Members of a Union
50th in Workers' Compensation Coverage
Plus he has trouble thinking and speaking at the same time. I see no benefit in him becoming President, just more of the same, and we’ve had 10 plus years of that.
3. Newt Gingrich: Former Speaker of the House, Thought of as a (fundamentally) intelligent person. Kinda fails the family values test. If you don’t already know he’s been married 3 times. He divorced his 1st wife to marry the woman he was having an affair with, while his wife was in the hospital. Funny thing he divorced his 2nd wife to marry, wait for it... a woman he was having an affair with notice a pattern. So you would think he would be a non-starter for social conservatives.
But he did help engineer the “Contract with America” in 1994. It brought the republicans to power, in the house, for the first time in 40 years. He was speaker when during the good old days of balanced budgets, but he really can’t take too much credit, because of a little thing called PAYGO which was part of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990. Paygo was a budget rule requiring that, relative to current law, any tax cuts or entitlement and other mandatory spending increases must be paid for by a tax increase or a cut in mandatory spending. The legislation must be paid for over two time periods: 1) the period of the current year, the budget year and the ensuing four fiscal years, and 2) the period of the current year, the budget year and the ensuing nine fiscal years. So they really had no choice. He is also blamed for shutting down the government in 1995-1996 when President Clinton called his bluff by vetoing a spending bill that cut funding for Medicare, education, the environment, and public health. He later helped to impeach the President, while having an affair at the same time (multi-tasker). Mr. Gingrich’s national approval rating was 45% (look familiar) in April 1998. He resigned in 1999. Remember the “simple solutions for complex problems” I mentioned earlier, His ideas look good at first glance but when you really flesh them out... Here’s an easy example. His 527 organization ‘American Solutions for Winning the Future’ came up with “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less". Sounds good until you realize it takes years for a well-site to begin producing, if it ever does, and that oil is sold on the world market, not in a U.S. only market. Drill here, doesn’t mean, stays here. And as long as there is OPEC, and speculators, we will never control of the price of oil. He’s also been writing semi-historical works of fiction. Which also sounds like his plans to govern our nation.
2. Herman Cain: 5 women can’t all be lying. But Mr. Cain sure is.(see my post from Fact Check.org) I know politicians can be prone to stretching the truth, but Mr. Cain reminds us over and over again that he is not a politician. He did however serve as deputy chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, worked for the Bob Dole campaign in 1996, and ran for president in 2000. As well as senator in 2004. He also has experience in Washington, working for the National Restaurant Association. Here are some of the things he lobbied for during his tenure, indoor smoking, lower minimum wages, less safe workplaces, and higher blood alcohol levels for drunk driving., His 9-9-9 plan sounds good at first (again, “simple solutions for complex problems”) But ask yourself what is your effective tax rate now, if it’s less than 9% your taxes are going up. If it’s more than 9% you get a tax cut, except you now have to add a 9% sales tax on top of your current state sales tax i.e. Michigan’s sales tax is 6%. 6% + 9% = 15% nice. Economists who have reviewed his plan say it won’t bring in enough revenue either. Also I think he might be a sociopath, just my opinion. Moving on.
That leaves us with 1. Mitt Romney Really?!
Are these guys the best the party has? What is wrong with the party of Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Reagan. Those men had strong beliefs and ideals long before becoming president. It wasn’t something they changed or hid to play the game to get elected. The “base” of the day wasn’t something they had to acquiesce to or else. Lincoln helped to free the slaves. What % of republicans are black today. Roosevelt set aside 1000's of acres of American land, to be preserved for all future generations. How many republicans support keeping it that way. They seem to think they are the only generation that deserve to use it (drill here, drill now, that means national parks as well). Eisenhower ended an unpopular war and served when the top tax rate was 90%. Reagan raised taxes (11 times) fixed Social Security, and gave amnesty to illegal immigrants. If any of these men were running as an incumbent today, with those same achievements on their resume, they would be called RINO’s Republican In Name Only. Today a republican candidate can’t even whisper about raising revenue (nee’ tax increase). They have signed a pledge (only Jon Huntsman refused to sign any pledge) with Grover Nordquist (a close friend and associate of Jack Abramoff) saying they wouldn’t increase taxes no matter what. Is he the only American who matters to them?! How about pledging to do what’s right to fix our economy no matter who’s idea it is. If it solves the problem then do it. Start by listening to Mr. Simpson, Mr. Bowles, Mr. Domenici, and Dr. Rivlin. Pick the person who really has a vision. Stop picking the person with the dumbest idea, just because it makes a good sound bite. One that only runs on a few select hot button issues. i.e. Gays, abortion, immigration. Or the one you could have a drink with (think about it, the next time you look around a bar). Pick better leaders. A leader is one who influences or leads others. Right now republicans are letting the wrong people lead. Their letting the narrowest thinkers run the party. These guys aren’t leading. Their following consultants, polls, and money. I always hear republicans say that like the democrats they are all about a big tent. If that’s true, then right now, there is a velvet rope around it and you have to be one of the chosen to be allowed in.
First we must dismiss and never speak of the ones who don't have any chance, I call them the UN-Electables. So good-by Rick S., Michele, Jon (he is reasonably qualified, but he's unelectable as a republican) Gary, Fred, Andy, Buddy, Ron (he's consistent, consistently crazy, and his supporters are like bizarro world liberals) Tom, Matt, Vern, and Jimmy (although I agree "the rent is just too damn high") There much better. So we'll start at the bottom and work are way up, based on my ranking.
4. Rick Perry: I call him Bush lite. What has he really done. Unemployment in Texas in Jan. 2001 was 4.3% Sept. 2011 it was at 8.5% and most of the new jobs involved the military, in large part due to the war. Now that the wars are coming to an end, and cuts are coming to the pentagon that number is almost sure to go up. Where Texas ranks today.
ON EDUCATION
43rd in High School Graduation Rate
31st in Percent of Adults with at Least a Bachelor’s Degree
33rd in Average Salary of Public School Teachers
HEALTH and WELL-BEING
1st in Percent of Uninsured Children
1st in Percent of Population Uninsured
4th in Percent of Children Living in Poverty
4th in Percent Living Below Federal Poverty Level
ENVIRONMENT
1st in Amount of Toxic Chemicals Released into Water
1st in Amount of Recognized Cancer-Causing Carcinogens Released into Air
1st in Amount of Hazardous Waste Generated
5th Amount of Toxic Chemicals Released into Air
WORKFORCE
38th in Average Hourly Earnings of Production Workers on Manufacturing Payrolls
41st in Percent of Workforce that are Members of a Union
50th in Workers' Compensation Coverage
Plus he has trouble thinking and speaking at the same time. I see no benefit in him becoming President, just more of the same, and we’ve had 10 plus years of that.
3. Newt Gingrich: Former Speaker of the House, Thought of as a (fundamentally) intelligent person. Kinda fails the family values test. If you don’t already know he’s been married 3 times. He divorced his 1st wife to marry the woman he was having an affair with, while his wife was in the hospital. Funny thing he divorced his 2nd wife to marry, wait for it... a woman he was having an affair with notice a pattern. So you would think he would be a non-starter for social conservatives.
But he did help engineer the “Contract with America” in 1994. It brought the republicans to power, in the house, for the first time in 40 years. He was speaker when during the good old days of balanced budgets, but he really can’t take too much credit, because of a little thing called PAYGO which was part of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990. Paygo was a budget rule requiring that, relative to current law, any tax cuts or entitlement and other mandatory spending increases must be paid for by a tax increase or a cut in mandatory spending. The legislation must be paid for over two time periods: 1) the period of the current year, the budget year and the ensuing four fiscal years, and 2) the period of the current year, the budget year and the ensuing nine fiscal years. So they really had no choice. He is also blamed for shutting down the government in 1995-1996 when President Clinton called his bluff by vetoing a spending bill that cut funding for Medicare, education, the environment, and public health. He later helped to impeach the President, while having an affair at the same time (multi-tasker). Mr. Gingrich’s national approval rating was 45% (look familiar) in April 1998. He resigned in 1999. Remember the “simple solutions for complex problems” I mentioned earlier, His ideas look good at first glance but when you really flesh them out... Here’s an easy example. His 527 organization ‘American Solutions for Winning the Future’ came up with “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less". Sounds good until you realize it takes years for a well-site to begin producing, if it ever does, and that oil is sold on the world market, not in a U.S. only market. Drill here, doesn’t mean, stays here. And as long as there is OPEC, and speculators, we will never control of the price of oil. He’s also been writing semi-historical works of fiction. Which also sounds like his plans to govern our nation.
2. Herman Cain: 5 women can’t all be lying. But Mr. Cain sure is.(see my post from Fact Check.org) I know politicians can be prone to stretching the truth, but Mr. Cain reminds us over and over again that he is not a politician. He did however serve as deputy chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, worked for the Bob Dole campaign in 1996, and ran for president in 2000. As well as senator in 2004. He also has experience in Washington, working for the National Restaurant Association. Here are some of the things he lobbied for during his tenure, indoor smoking, lower minimum wages, less safe workplaces, and higher blood alcohol levels for drunk driving., His 9-9-9 plan sounds good at first (again, “simple solutions for complex problems”) But ask yourself what is your effective tax rate now, if it’s less than 9% your taxes are going up. If it’s more than 9% you get a tax cut, except you now have to add a 9% sales tax on top of your current state sales tax i.e. Michigan’s sales tax is 6%. 6% + 9% = 15% nice. Economists who have reviewed his plan say it won’t bring in enough revenue either. Also I think he might be a sociopath, just my opinion. Moving on.
That leaves us with 1. Mitt Romney Really?!
Are these guys the best the party has? What is wrong with the party of Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Reagan. Those men had strong beliefs and ideals long before becoming president. It wasn’t something they changed or hid to play the game to get elected. The “base” of the day wasn’t something they had to acquiesce to or else. Lincoln helped to free the slaves. What % of republicans are black today. Roosevelt set aside 1000's of acres of American land, to be preserved for all future generations. How many republicans support keeping it that way. They seem to think they are the only generation that deserve to use it (drill here, drill now, that means national parks as well). Eisenhower ended an unpopular war and served when the top tax rate was 90%. Reagan raised taxes (11 times) fixed Social Security, and gave amnesty to illegal immigrants. If any of these men were running as an incumbent today, with those same achievements on their resume, they would be called RINO’s Republican In Name Only. Today a republican candidate can’t even whisper about raising revenue (nee’ tax increase). They have signed a pledge (only Jon Huntsman refused to sign any pledge) with Grover Nordquist (a close friend and associate of Jack Abramoff) saying they wouldn’t increase taxes no matter what. Is he the only American who matters to them?! How about pledging to do what’s right to fix our economy no matter who’s idea it is. If it solves the problem then do it. Start by listening to Mr. Simpson, Mr. Bowles, Mr. Domenici, and Dr. Rivlin. Pick the person who really has a vision. Stop picking the person with the dumbest idea, just because it makes a good sound bite. One that only runs on a few select hot button issues. i.e. Gays, abortion, immigration. Or the one you could have a drink with (think about it, the next time you look around a bar). Pick better leaders. A leader is one who influences or leads others. Right now republicans are letting the wrong people lead. Their letting the narrowest thinkers run the party. These guys aren’t leading. Their following consultants, polls, and money. I always hear republicans say that like the democrats they are all about a big tent. If that’s true, then right now, there is a velvet rope around it and you have to be one of the chosen to be allowed in.
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