When I post on this bog I try to have new material on a new topic. There is nothing more aggravating than reading a re-hash of a blogger's last post. Typically I try to watch the full news cycle, get frustrated with a topic, and develop a comprehensive post to address the issue from my perspective. I start this post in this manner because the topic of this blog is the same as the last. Nothing has changed and the Occupy Wall Street movement has disjointedly been arguing what I have been saying for some time now. The imbalance of wealth in our country is unhealthy, unfair, and unsustainable. We have all seen the charts and graphs of income and asset disparity in the past 30 years. It is no secret that the rich have gotten grossly rich and the poor are bordering on Third World status. There are hundreds of thousands of people all around the world who are fed up and protesting in the streets. The problems that have come about due to the immense economic imbalance are so vast and permeate literally every aspect of societies world wide that the protesters' message can be vague and too broad for the news to accommodate. Instead, the news puts its own interpretation on the sit-ins, usually asserting that the protests are about lack of jobs. Rather, what we are seeing is the people rising up against the established norms of capitalism in a global marketplace.
Last week on 60 Minutes they interviewed the Obama appointed CEO of General Electric, Jeffrey Immelt. Immelt has turned around GE and made them profitable after the company was on the verge of bankruptcy a couple years ago. Immelt proudly told 60 Minutes that GE has moved from 10% of its business being done overseas to 60%. He touted the company's massive expansion into Brazil and toured factories GE has established in Latin America, arguing that producing the goods in Brazil instead of the US makes the company more competitive in the marketplace by lowering costs. 60 Minutes also toured a factory in the US with Immelt, employing about 250 Americans at 13-17 dollars an hour. Asked about why the pay was so low for a high-tech, high education job like building turbine engines, Immelt admitted that at 13 an hour they received 50,000 applications, so the company would have no reason to pay more when they can get labor at such a low rate. This is indicative of the problem in the structure of Capitalism.
The world has gotten smaller. We now live with computers in our hands, able to access the entirety of human knowledge in an instant. Machines have become cheaper and more efficient than most laborers. None of this is anything new. Developing technology has always reduced the need for labor and opened up new marketplaces which require a new workforce. However, as the world has grown smaller and transportation of goods and technology has become instantaneous, the labor force has also become global. Telemarketers in India, shoe companies in the Philippines, car companies in Mexico, and the like is a transition we have all witnessed over the past 30 years. Corporations will always move to the best option for their bottom line, after all, it is their legal obligation to make as much profit as possible for their stockholders. The only way a corporation will expand in the US is if there is economic incentive to do so. This is Capitalism.
The question for the government becomes how to encourage that incentive. Certainly we have the labor force ready to go. People here are still more educated than those in Brazil, China, and India. Consumerism, while down for the past 5 years, is still stronger here than anywhere else in the world, and most importantly, there is no place on Earth where the desire to consume is greater than in the United States. However, with the ease of transportation of goods, free trade, and the increased globalization of corporations, there is no reason to produce products in a place with relatively high labor costs, massive legal exposure, and outlandish medical costs when a simple trip to China can alleviate all those issues. The only people who lose are the American people, as capitalism only recognizes profit and is blind to national identity.
As the unemployment numbers remain high the labor force is forced to take lower wages and fewer benefits. We have passed the point where this becomes problematic for the society to which we are accustomed. About half of working people contribute nothing to the Federal coffers through income tax as they make too little to pay in. These people have seen no wage increase in over 30 years while the prices of commodities has more than tripled in that time. This translates into people working to afford food, clothing, shelter, and a means to get to and from work. There is no expendable income to purchase a new refrigerator from GE. Without expendable income the greatest consumers the world has ever known are unable to do what we do best, buy.
The system as we have it today is completely upside down. The goal of the government in relation to the marketplace should be to encourage consumption across the board in order to grow the economy through demand. No corporation is going to build a new facility because they have lots of money and nothing to do with it, they will only produce what is needed to fulfill demand. In a country where states are co-dependent on each other for success and the borders are sealed by nothing more than signs that say "Now Leaving New York" and "Welcome to Connecticut" there is a vital need for a stronger Federal government. The separation of states has produced things like sales tax and other regressive taxes on goods that directly target the consumer base. Of course, Federal taxes on consumables are just as bad for the economy. When a person making 25,000 a year (like one of Immelt's new hires) they are being disproportionately penalized for most of what they buy. That is to say, the 3 dollar tax per month on their phone bill is a much greater proportion of their income than the same tax is on Mr. Immelt himself. Yes, they may be paying the same amount for the same service, so it seems fair, but in proportion to their income, the tax is imbalanced. The same goes for all sales taxes, gas taxes, and the like, all the way down to registering your car at the DMV. We all know the cost of goods is relative to how much money we each have. A night out at The Olive Garden to some is slumming it, to others is an unattainable dream they hope to satisfy once a year on their anniversary. However, as we persist in penalizing every dollar spent instead of focusing simply on the dollars earned, we end up in the current situation of losing half of the consumer base.
My outlook is that the country desperately needs two paths to correct itself. First, we need a massive national project. Something that gets a million people or more working on one specific thing we can look back on and feel accomplished about. I believe a nationwide irrigation project would be brilliant. We know the storms and floods are going to keep coming, and if channels of water into Texas don't get Rick Perry's support, then he really does think the rapture is coming soon. Second, we need to broaden Federal responsibilities so states don't have to have sales taxes and do not privatize every aspect of government. When private companies take over garbage collection, prisons, fire fighting, etcetera it costs the consumer more and is once again disproportionately targeting those who have the least money to spare. A broader Federal system can eliminate sales taxes altogether, putting more money in the pockets of those who need it most. As the bottom half of the country has more money, they will purchase more goods and services. No, they might not be standing in line at Morton's Steakhouse, but I bet there would be a wait at Outback.
The mobilization of the American consumer will drive demand so vastly that jobs will have to be created to satisfy the needs of the extra 100 million people added to the purchasing class. As the system becomes more centralized it can become more simple as well. Eliminating deductions altogether would be more in line with true capitalist principals, as nothing would be encouraged by tax incentives. Only reinvesting into a business or paying a higher wage to employees would allow the business to take less profit and avoid higher taxes.
To me these solutions seem quite obvious. Lower taxes and penalties on the most amount of people to encourage consumerism, and the people at the top will create more jobs in order to satisfy demand. Unfortunately, the silly idea of supply side economics has permeated our schools and political system for so long that people don't realize it only works on a global scale. Of course GE will build factories in Brazil if we don't require them to pay any taxes here in the US. We should not be surprised or discouraged at that, we need to have corporations that are global. But if the people here in the US have to compete one to one with third world countries, 99% of us will be living in one soon.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The More the Wearier
Much time has passed since my last post. In the interim many thoughts have passed through, paragraphs have been drafted, but no substance has emerged. The world has seen a devastating earthquake in Japan, tornadoes that stay on the ground, relentless flooding, and Jeter’s 3000th hit since I last ejaculated my opinions in this format. While my absence has been a product of many things, laziness not the least of them, I pen this blog only when I feel I have something important and well versed to contribute. Certainly there are many who spew every thought that enters their minds onto the computer screen loving the sound of their own key strokes, opinion after opinion flowing freely into the never-ending internet space, their position on the Kardashians being just as viable as their interpretation of the global marketplace. I try to keep the self-love at a relative minimum, so I will not speak on every topic that hits the news. But I digress, having more pressing matters on my mind.
There is a general malaise amongst the American people during this economic recovery. People are bored with the idea of bringing back the economy and have become more involved in their own comfort than in contributing to the whole. Of course there are many reasons for this, not the least of which is the lack of leadership by our President, but the most of which is the lack of real opportunity or upward mobility. The years since Bush have ticked by. Many people have returned to work or come to the realization that they will not find the kind of work they once had. The country has settled into the idea that 8% unemployment is a goal and the norm has shifted from the 5-6% we had experienced previously. Taxes have not been changed in any real way, and spending has come down dramatically for non-defense discretionary projects, which is the real measure of how much the government is investing in the people. Of course, the Limbaughs of the world say that as more and more people have entered the food stamp roles and unemployment benefits have been extended, we are closer to socialism than ever before. I tend to agree.
The United States operates as a controlled capitalist economy. There are certain rules and regulations that halter the progress of pure capitalism, but we are among the most liberal of countries in that regard. Much of the genius of the system is that we have relatively low tax rates as compared to the rest of the world. This freedom of cash that we as citizens enjoy makes for a heavy consumer based economy. The main reason we use 25% of the world’s resources with only 5% of the world’s population is that we consume at a rate the world has never seen before. Heck, we buy so much stuff we can build the economies of China and India simultaneously by exporting production of the goods we desire. If there are any doubts in your mind about how much Americans consume, just go to any Wal-Mart at 3am and bear witness. This New World where the streets are paved with gold has been attracting people far and wide for centuries with the promise that through hard work, dedication, and creativity anyone can have whatever their heart desires. That dream has been dead for some time now. We fill bubbles to remind us of what it was supposed to be. Savings and Loan bubbles, tech bubbles, dot com and real estate bubbles, to name a few, are how we have fabricated previously non-existent capital so we could find a way to get all those things we wanted, but had not earned. No way would the United States ever stop growing, bigger, fatter, more consumption constantly. Even if we have to fudge the numbers, we will find a way to eat the whole pie. Having all you could ever need and most of everything you ever want is, after all, what makes this country great. But our consumption has shifted dramatically and is the biggest indicator of our decline.
For the past 30 years the theory has been to give money to the “job producers” at the top and resist at all costs government interference in the marketplace. The theory being, as we all know, if the people at the top have lots of money, they will build things that create jobs for all the little people. This has not worked in our country since we entered the Global Marketplace. Businesses have found cheaper labor than the American people can provide, and corporations always move to the most economically effective position. What we have seen instead is the shift of wealth almost entirely to the top echelons of society and businesses adapting to the new model. No longer are stores geared to accommodating as many people as they can and moving the most units. Instead they are designed specifically to entice that certain cadre of people, be they from the US, Russia, or Dubai, to buy their products even though they are grossly overpriced for their utility. Of course, there have always been high and low quality items and all those in between, but they used to be obtainable by a much larger percentage of the population, depending on how they chose to spend their money. While it is true that not everyone could ever go to a 3 star restaurant every night, there was a time when they could save up and go for a special occasion, just once. Now, for too many, there is no hope of that.
The issue has become, most importantly, that while the price of goods has skyrocketed, wages have not moved. Jobs have changed from long term careers into performance based races to the biggest money grab before being dismissed. People have been making so little for so long they are complaining that teachers make more than them. Unions have been totally decimated as well because corporations do not have the public good as a priority. One look at the NFL and NBA lockouts will show that. Truly, the owners do not mind if there is no season, their profits will go up and they know eventually the guy with the biggest bank roll can last the longest. Screw what is right or what is better for the sport or society, the main objective is to have more money. How much? More. And the bottom line is the bottom line. The decisions in a capitalist society are always made by the bottom line. No heart, no emotion, just numbers. Business is business.
The main driver of our economy is consumerism. The only way to recover a capitalist society is to encourage more people to consume more products. Quite simply, the richest people cannot alone consume enough to support the entire system. With the cost of commodities continuing to rise, people’s consumption of leisure goods is way down. Too many people are only able to afford food clothing and shelter for us to continue to consume the non-essentials which keep our economy going. An individual corporation is never going to see increasing wages as a benefit to its bottom line, unless there are tax incentives for employee pay, and disincentives for disproportionate profits. If we do not create a platform where the great majority of the people are keeping, spending, and recirculating the wealth of this country, people will become disinterested in working, learning, and dreaming. The nation will continue spiraling into an abyss of servitude to those top echelon people from around the world, which will result in malaise, revolt, crime, and eventually, socialist policies, assuming democracy remains intact. In order to avoid that fate, corporations need to see themselves as intertwined entities, reliant upon each other for their survival. Reliant, that is, on the employees of one corporation being paid enough to buy the products of another, and visa versa. It is incumbent upon us now to encourage this co-dependent mentality amongst ourselves and promote it from within. The idea that people are protesting teachers wages while their own bosses make billions is absurd. Instead, we need to form more unions with reasonable demands for job stability and wage increases, eliminate policies that target consumerism such as sales tax and taxes on specific products, eliminate deductions on income tax which only top earners can utilize anyway, target directly the profits and dividends of businesses to encourage them to recirculate their money by increasing wages and reinvesting capital, and double the minimum wage.
We live in the richest country in the history of the planet. We got there by looking at the neighbors and striving to have a bigger TV, boat, car, or what have you. Not enough of us live next to the Kardashians to be able to envy them. Our neighbors have been Foreclosed.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Mine, All Mine!
There is a huge disparity between the classes that not everyone recognizes, and it is worse than most imagine. In the discussion of class most people think rich, poor, middle, but it's not quite that simple these days. Pundits and politicians talk about the "Middle Class" making somewhere between 75 and 125k a year. They talk about the upper class as starting at 250k and speak little more of it. No one addresses the poor, that doesn't get ratings, no one likes to talk about the poor. The reality "on the ground" as it were, is the averages are heavily weighted. These days the American economy is like an NFL contract. Totally performance based, no security, and workers can and do get fired constantly with no need for explanation. More and more states are now becoming "right to work" states, meaning "right to fire" to employers. Jobs that used to have salaries and benefits have turned themselves in to commission based or freelance positions. The business community will tell you this is the only way they can hire Americans and still be competitive in the global market place. There has been no movement in the real wages of 95 percent of Americans for 30 years! That is not to say the standard of living has not changed, it certainly has. People are able to buy more things, move more units off the shelves, as prices for technology and goods have come down over time. This placation has kept the American people silent, because for most of us, as long as we can buy a few things at Walmart every couple weeks, we see ourselves as blessed, well-off, or at least doing better than that sorry family in aisle 26.
The reality is that there has never been greater distance between the people and the ownership class (not that they aren't people too). The reason we are seeing disagreement in Wisconsin is people look at 50k plus benefits as a job they could never get in the private work force. Our leaders and our news outlets all tell us our country is broke over and over. We are thankful for the opportunity to work for the 30k that most jobs pay, just so we don't fall into the ranks of the unemployed, where we would be totally forgotten in the abyss of American poverty (about 15 percent of the country, by the way). What needs to be focused on is the highest levels of our society and the distance they are creating between themselves and the people. That distance has become unhealthy and one way or the other will be reduced one way or the other if the polarization continues this way.
It is this author's contention that Communism is a bad system of government, and I don't think I will have much of a problem saying that. Well, the father of the brand, Karl Marx, argued the need for Communism would come about naturally through unbridled Capitalism. Marx postulated that as companies swallow each other, keep wages low and profits high, and eventually get so big they are supporting an irreplaceable pillar in the economy, the corporations would gradually become the government. This transition could be made peacefully or through revolt, but eventually there would be a great even-ing out of wealth. The United States has, for the past 30 years, been allowing corporations to do whatever they like in the name of greater profitability, justified by the theory that as our companies do better, so does our populous. But we are out of balance. We are at a point now where the ownership class has to have some fear of being toppled. It cannot be too much of a jump for the argument to be switched away from teachers and police and onto the people themselves. Soon enough someone will say, "maybe it's not that they get too much, but instead that the corporation I work for should pay me more and give me better benefits (especially if I have to work 50 weeks a year, 40 plus hours a week)." I just don't see arguing against public employees as having legs politically.
Last week Fox told me something interesting--of course my interpretation was different than theirs, but it was their fact. Whenever Fox has a fact it's global news. Of the top 10 political contributors in the country, 3 were unions, and they overwhelmingly supported the Democrats. The other 7 contributors were individuals. They are all Republicans. If there was ever a better display of economic disparity, a better gauge of what interests each party holds, there is nothing better than that. The Democrats, as problematic as they are, use most of their time supporting working people, unions, the poor, minorities, etc. Basically 99 percent of the country. The Republicans represent the other side. Most all their money comes from super rich people who, through manipulation of social issues and easy labels for their theories (ie. trickle-down) are able to convince half the country to vote against their own interests. Let's be clear about how far "the people" are from that other side. The average American household makes about 38k a year. There are about 11,000 families in the US making over $5.5 million a year. That translates into over 100k a week. The top 400 income earners took home an average of $89 million last year. About $243,000 a day. Translation, the richest people make in a day what the average American makes in 7 years. Those top end people alone hold over 40 percent of the entire nation's wealth. Obviously the ownership class will always have more, as well they should. There must be reward for accomplishment. That reward, and greed for it, is what drives innovation, entrepreneurship, and is at the core of personal liberty. However, in order to avoid uprising and to maintain social order, the people need to share in the accomplishment of the country. Saudi Arabia decides to spread the wealth of the nation by writing a check. European countries give away health care, have shortened work weeks, extended vacations, and subsidized higher education, among other things. These benefits are always paid for by the rich, usually through taxes. The working class is typically left alone. The price of owning the world is that you have to keep all the ants happy.
Obama now is faced with a difficult situation in Wisconsin. He has to show he is standing up for unions without opening the door to allowing federal employees to collectively bargain. He also cannot be seen as interfering with state affairs or the Republicans will paint him as a dictator--hey, he is from Kenya, remember? Adjusting the tax code to have levels beyond 250k is a decent first step, but does nothing for labor. What will help labor is to finally put an end to the disgusting money grab that takes place at the top end of corporations at the expense of giving salaries, bonuses, and benefits to employees. The health care plan was a good first step, but what will make more of a difference is raising the minimum wage. Without drastic steps heavily weighted toward the working class, we run the risk of falling into chaos. Oddly, it is through injection of Socialist principles into our Capitalist structure that will protect the country from eventual Communism.
The reality is that there has never been greater distance between the people and the ownership class (not that they aren't people too). The reason we are seeing disagreement in Wisconsin is people look at 50k plus benefits as a job they could never get in the private work force. Our leaders and our news outlets all tell us our country is broke over and over. We are thankful for the opportunity to work for the 30k that most jobs pay, just so we don't fall into the ranks of the unemployed, where we would be totally forgotten in the abyss of American poverty (about 15 percent of the country, by the way). What needs to be focused on is the highest levels of our society and the distance they are creating between themselves and the people. That distance has become unhealthy and one way or the other will be reduced one way or the other if the polarization continues this way.
It is this author's contention that Communism is a bad system of government, and I don't think I will have much of a problem saying that. Well, the father of the brand, Karl Marx, argued the need for Communism would come about naturally through unbridled Capitalism. Marx postulated that as companies swallow each other, keep wages low and profits high, and eventually get so big they are supporting an irreplaceable pillar in the economy, the corporations would gradually become the government. This transition could be made peacefully or through revolt, but eventually there would be a great even-ing out of wealth. The United States has, for the past 30 years, been allowing corporations to do whatever they like in the name of greater profitability, justified by the theory that as our companies do better, so does our populous. But we are out of balance. We are at a point now where the ownership class has to have some fear of being toppled. It cannot be too much of a jump for the argument to be switched away from teachers and police and onto the people themselves. Soon enough someone will say, "maybe it's not that they get too much, but instead that the corporation I work for should pay me more and give me better benefits (especially if I have to work 50 weeks a year, 40 plus hours a week)." I just don't see arguing against public employees as having legs politically.
Last week Fox told me something interesting--of course my interpretation was different than theirs, but it was their fact. Whenever Fox has a fact it's global news. Of the top 10 political contributors in the country, 3 were unions, and they overwhelmingly supported the Democrats. The other 7 contributors were individuals. They are all Republicans. If there was ever a better display of economic disparity, a better gauge of what interests each party holds, there is nothing better than that. The Democrats, as problematic as they are, use most of their time supporting working people, unions, the poor, minorities, etc. Basically 99 percent of the country. The Republicans represent the other side. Most all their money comes from super rich people who, through manipulation of social issues and easy labels for their theories (ie. trickle-down) are able to convince half the country to vote against their own interests. Let's be clear about how far "the people" are from that other side. The average American household makes about 38k a year. There are about 11,000 families in the US making over $5.5 million a year. That translates into over 100k a week. The top 400 income earners took home an average of $89 million last year. About $243,000 a day. Translation, the richest people make in a day what the average American makes in 7 years. Those top end people alone hold over 40 percent of the entire nation's wealth. Obviously the ownership class will always have more, as well they should. There must be reward for accomplishment. That reward, and greed for it, is what drives innovation, entrepreneurship, and is at the core of personal liberty. However, in order to avoid uprising and to maintain social order, the people need to share in the accomplishment of the country. Saudi Arabia decides to spread the wealth of the nation by writing a check. European countries give away health care, have shortened work weeks, extended vacations, and subsidized higher education, among other things. These benefits are always paid for by the rich, usually through taxes. The working class is typically left alone. The price of owning the world is that you have to keep all the ants happy.
Obama now is faced with a difficult situation in Wisconsin. He has to show he is standing up for unions without opening the door to allowing federal employees to collectively bargain. He also cannot be seen as interfering with state affairs or the Republicans will paint him as a dictator--hey, he is from Kenya, remember? Adjusting the tax code to have levels beyond 250k is a decent first step, but does nothing for labor. What will help labor is to finally put an end to the disgusting money grab that takes place at the top end of corporations at the expense of giving salaries, bonuses, and benefits to employees. The health care plan was a good first step, but what will make more of a difference is raising the minimum wage. Without drastic steps heavily weighted toward the working class, we run the risk of falling into chaos. Oddly, it is through injection of Socialist principles into our Capitalist structure that will protect the country from eventual Communism.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Eyes on the Prize
Just as the deficit has become a topic where only the spending can be discusses, labor has become an issue where only entitlements have been discussed--salaries, benefits, right to organize, etc. I would argue that part of this change is due to the left not having new ideas and benefits they want to extend to workers, so there is no counter-balance. However, the majority purpose for the switch toward defending the ownership class is due to Fox having a stable, consistent, and constant message for the country. It doesn't matter what you say, as long as you keep saying it and saying it loud, people will listen. The left doesn't need Olberman--he's no different than Maddow, and not as impassioned as Ed--but for that he speaks in lofty language, making people feel the left is arrogant and haughty.
Fox is genius. They have pundits like O'Reilly and Beck, then they splash in "news guys" who are outrageously biased themselves (you can tell just from their facial reactions). Beck says something, O'Reilly reports on Beck, the news guys start their segment with, "its all in the news today that..." and spew whatever crap Beck started off with. Then they throw on the hottest news team on the planet. Those women, airbrushed and plastic-ed up for HDTV, never a hair out of place, find a way to be empathetic to the ruling class and think arguments for the working class are silly or disgusting. Just watch Megyn Kelly for one day, you will see how stark the comparison is just in her expressions depending to whom she is speaking (woohoo! Didn't end that with a preposition!). One of the most important aspects of the Ailes machine is the kick to commercial. Every Fox anchor does it, they are crafty professionals to say the least. In an effort to bring equal time to a segment they allowed to be dominated by their Republican colleague, they will finally let the opposition speak for about 20-30 seconds--an eternity in the news industry these days. The opposition is heard and ready for reply, but the anchor will throw a lasting dig, something to cut the entire argument in half--well, if you want Communism in this country and are ok will murdering babies, I guess we just disagree...We'll be right back and when we return the panel will join me to demonize the last guy's comments even more. Cut to commercial, sell gold, insurance, and medicine. Back to Fox, Beck reviews the news he helped create, taking an even more drastically right position, and round and round it goes. Bill O'Reilly is now looked at as the most balanced person on Fox. Someone explain that to me right after you explain the tides to Bill.
Fox is genius. They have pundits like O'Reilly and Beck, then they splash in "news guys" who are outrageously biased themselves (you can tell just from their facial reactions). Beck says something, O'Reilly reports on Beck, the news guys start their segment with, "its all in the news today that..." and spew whatever crap Beck started off with. Then they throw on the hottest news team on the planet. Those women, airbrushed and plastic-ed up for HDTV, never a hair out of place, find a way to be empathetic to the ruling class and think arguments for the working class are silly or disgusting. Just watch Megyn Kelly for one day, you will see how stark the comparison is just in her expressions depending to whom she is speaking (woohoo! Didn't end that with a preposition!). One of the most important aspects of the Ailes machine is the kick to commercial. Every Fox anchor does it, they are crafty professionals to say the least. In an effort to bring equal time to a segment they allowed to be dominated by their Republican colleague, they will finally let the opposition speak for about 20-30 seconds--an eternity in the news industry these days. The opposition is heard and ready for reply, but the anchor will throw a lasting dig, something to cut the entire argument in half--well, if you want Communism in this country and are ok will murdering babies, I guess we just disagree...We'll be right back and when we return the panel will join me to demonize the last guy's comments even more. Cut to commercial, sell gold, insurance, and medicine. Back to Fox, Beck reviews the news he helped create, taking an even more drastically right position, and round and round it goes. Bill O'Reilly is now looked at as the most balanced person on Fox. Someone explain that to me right after you explain the tides to Bill.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Calling the Shots
I was did the whole cycle this weekend, as usual. That is to say, my TVs are in a continuous stream of Fox, MSNBC, and CNN and I make sure to catch Maher and Meet the Press to balance it out. When I say balance it out so many may think both are liberal and with MSNBC and CNN, why do I need more liberal bias for my opinion? Well, because Fox is on message when MSNBC is on Lockup. Fox is selling small government and gold when CNN has Piers Morgan delving into the deep insights of the Kardashians. Fox is warning us of the Muslim Brotherhood's inevitable infiltration of the Egyptian revolution. The are setting the stage, the agenda.
Bill O'Reilly the other night had a Democrat and a Republican on to discus the budget. Bill prefaced the interview with a diatribe about the nanny state and how everyone expects the government to take care of them, warning of a Grecian downfall. I forget who was being interviewed, but remember that it was a pale, balding Democrat set far away from Mr. O'Reilly, sandwiching a gorgeous blond woman with a perfect smile who was almost holding hands with the host. To his credit, and almost as a set up, the Democrat started talking about raising the revenue in the country with increased taxes. That was brought up just in time for the beautiful blond to blurb that taxes dont bring up revenue, Bill agreed, then kicked to commercial. Upon return (I switched away, but couldn't bring myself to care why Bob Barker was on CNN), Mr. O'Reilly had a wonderful posture on the subject. Allowing the uneasy Democrat to make his point again about how taxes at the upper level need adjustment, Bill cut him off. The topic is the budget. Not taxes. Budget means how much money the country spends, so all it addresses is how much money the government can cut to reduce the deficit. The idea that the country might take in revenue was a different conversation for a different day. I recalled at that moment how Bill Maher mentioned that the top 400 income earners in this country made as much as the bottom 100 million earners last year. That's what I mean by balancing it out.
Meet the Press started with David Gregory telling the country that the discussion it was having was about spending cuts. That would be the topic, the Republicans set the topic, he even admitted, and the hour would be committed from that point on to which budget cuts were better than the other. Obama adding to the defense budget and cutting the non-military discretionary budget (basically everything he has control over) was not enough for the Republicans, and he should have known it wouldn't be. With a majority in the Senate and huge approval ratings for a very popular President, much is being conceded to the Right.
A TEA Party woman was arguing on Fox that the teachers in Wisconsin are getting too many benefits. Her argument was that as a small business owner she did not have the ability to collectively bargain for better health care rates and pays about $800 a month for her family of four. My head almost explodes as I recognize the irony that the organization she is speaking from was formed in response to a government program that would create competition and greater equality in health care, especially for small business. Fox then flips to a gorgeous woman mentioning that state employees get benefits and pay they would not otherwise get in the private sector. Host agrees without question, cut to commercial. Beautiful.
The rebellions in the Middle East are not about human rights. They have little to do with foreign policy or freedom. The true cause of the revolts is the cost of food. Many are starving, others have to devote their entire income to feeding their families. The people look up and see their leaders experiencing the most lavish of lifestyles while they perish. This is not the first time we have seen the Proletariat raise up, nor will it be the last. What we need to see in our own country is that our ruling class is not the politicians. The status quo is not ruined by one party or another. Instead, it is the removal of the upper class from the discussion. The ruling class in our society are the billionaires and corporations whose opinions and agendas are put at the forefront of the discussion of our national situation instead of our much more serious issues of energy dependence, education, health care, poverty, and infrastructure.
"We have to live within our means," is the new mantra on Fox these days. Remember, the budget is only what we spend, not what we take it, that has been made clear. Those words make people scared. The people at the lower levels of the income structure already feel they are living within their means. So do those in the middle and even upper middle classes. When politicians and pundits say, "live within our means," they instill a general fear in the majority of people that there will have to be some sort of cutting back in their lives. I am waiting for someone to argue "means." There are an awful lot of people in this country making and holding a whole lot of money. They have been for 30 years, reaping essentially all the benefit of the Conservative policies of the past 30 years. This has gone on without much resistance as the standard of living in this country has accelerated greatly over the same period, mostly due to cheap foreign labor and technological innovations.
Soon though, if the trend of stepping on every single worker and eliminating their right to assemble continues, if the national guard is called in in Wisconsin, if the government continues to try to fund itself on a equal plane as if this country has no socio-economic tiers, if we keep allowing the channel with the most consistent message spouted by the most beautiful people call the shots, we are in for a greater fall than Egypt. With enough downward pressure, those TEA Party people will stop arguing that government employees do have the right to have better benefits, and start arguing that they deserve those benefits as well and those people who are living the dream while they clean their sheets are going to have to pay for it. How far do we have to go until this revolution? It is my hope we never get there and correct ourselves before collapse, but one thing is for sure: you had better not have Americans going hungry.
Bill O'Reilly the other night had a Democrat and a Republican on to discus the budget. Bill prefaced the interview with a diatribe about the nanny state and how everyone expects the government to take care of them, warning of a Grecian downfall. I forget who was being interviewed, but remember that it was a pale, balding Democrat set far away from Mr. O'Reilly, sandwiching a gorgeous blond woman with a perfect smile who was almost holding hands with the host. To his credit, and almost as a set up, the Democrat started talking about raising the revenue in the country with increased taxes. That was brought up just in time for the beautiful blond to blurb that taxes dont bring up revenue, Bill agreed, then kicked to commercial. Upon return (I switched away, but couldn't bring myself to care why Bob Barker was on CNN), Mr. O'Reilly had a wonderful posture on the subject. Allowing the uneasy Democrat to make his point again about how taxes at the upper level need adjustment, Bill cut him off. The topic is the budget. Not taxes. Budget means how much money the country spends, so all it addresses is how much money the government can cut to reduce the deficit. The idea that the country might take in revenue was a different conversation for a different day. I recalled at that moment how Bill Maher mentioned that the top 400 income earners in this country made as much as the bottom 100 million earners last year. That's what I mean by balancing it out.
Meet the Press started with David Gregory telling the country that the discussion it was having was about spending cuts. That would be the topic, the Republicans set the topic, he even admitted, and the hour would be committed from that point on to which budget cuts were better than the other. Obama adding to the defense budget and cutting the non-military discretionary budget (basically everything he has control over) was not enough for the Republicans, and he should have known it wouldn't be. With a majority in the Senate and huge approval ratings for a very popular President, much is being conceded to the Right.
A TEA Party woman was arguing on Fox that the teachers in Wisconsin are getting too many benefits. Her argument was that as a small business owner she did not have the ability to collectively bargain for better health care rates and pays about $800 a month for her family of four. My head almost explodes as I recognize the irony that the organization she is speaking from was formed in response to a government program that would create competition and greater equality in health care, especially for small business. Fox then flips to a gorgeous woman mentioning that state employees get benefits and pay they would not otherwise get in the private sector. Host agrees without question, cut to commercial. Beautiful.
The rebellions in the Middle East are not about human rights. They have little to do with foreign policy or freedom. The true cause of the revolts is the cost of food. Many are starving, others have to devote their entire income to feeding their families. The people look up and see their leaders experiencing the most lavish of lifestyles while they perish. This is not the first time we have seen the Proletariat raise up, nor will it be the last. What we need to see in our own country is that our ruling class is not the politicians. The status quo is not ruined by one party or another. Instead, it is the removal of the upper class from the discussion. The ruling class in our society are the billionaires and corporations whose opinions and agendas are put at the forefront of the discussion of our national situation instead of our much more serious issues of energy dependence, education, health care, poverty, and infrastructure.
"We have to live within our means," is the new mantra on Fox these days. Remember, the budget is only what we spend, not what we take it, that has been made clear. Those words make people scared. The people at the lower levels of the income structure already feel they are living within their means. So do those in the middle and even upper middle classes. When politicians and pundits say, "live within our means," they instill a general fear in the majority of people that there will have to be some sort of cutting back in their lives. I am waiting for someone to argue "means." There are an awful lot of people in this country making and holding a whole lot of money. They have been for 30 years, reaping essentially all the benefit of the Conservative policies of the past 30 years. This has gone on without much resistance as the standard of living in this country has accelerated greatly over the same period, mostly due to cheap foreign labor and technological innovations.
Soon though, if the trend of stepping on every single worker and eliminating their right to assemble continues, if the national guard is called in in Wisconsin, if the government continues to try to fund itself on a equal plane as if this country has no socio-economic tiers, if we keep allowing the channel with the most consistent message spouted by the most beautiful people call the shots, we are in for a greater fall than Egypt. With enough downward pressure, those TEA Party people will stop arguing that government employees do have the right to have better benefits, and start arguing that they deserve those benefits as well and those people who are living the dream while they clean their sheets are going to have to pay for it. How far do we have to go until this revolution? It is my hope we never get there and correct ourselves before collapse, but one thing is for sure: you had better not have Americans going hungry.
Friday, February 18, 2011
No Taxes, No Spending, No Service
They said they would, and now you have to deal with it. The Republican Party is shrewd. They get in office and spend money they don't have. They lose an election, then run again on fiscal responsibility. Well, the things they cut when they get back in are not the same things they spend money on. In fact, they raise alarms about debts they created which may or may not be things to panic about, then cut all the programs that actually help the economy in favor of tax cuts that do nothing. We are seeing this play out in Wisconsin right now.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly state employees, have been protesting inside and out of their capitol. They are fighting what would amount to about a 7 percent decrease in their wages (13 percent net decrease if you consider the loss in benefits) brought about by the desire to balance the state budget. Now, it is important to realize, Wisconsin is not the only state in the spending slashing mood, and it is also not a poor state. In fact, the average wage earner in Wisconsin makes about $3100 more per year than the average American. The problem is that there just is not enough money coming in to the state coffers to pay for the things the people have come to expect. This seems like a simple idea, and it is. The solution is to either get more money coming in or reduce the amount of money going out. Now, cutting programs such as helium storage or studies on wild boars and whatnot are easy. Usually they are a few million bucks here and there that were pork-barreled in to get a bill through at an earlier date. Nowadays, though, there just aren't those programs around to cut. Nowadays, we are down to teachers, fire fighters, police, infrastructure projects, and the like. The things government provides that people forget are government while they are railing against all government (oddly those people usually have an American flag on them somewhere, despite hating everything the government has ever done other than lower taxes).
So now the other side is protesting. No more TEA Party rallies needed, the Republicans won, so they just have to put crazy back in the bag for another few years. Cut off some heating assistance for the poorest of the poor, eliminate some scholarships, and the Republicans will appease those people long enough to get them to vote on their side again next time. The real cuts, though, go to the core of the American way of life. Fewer teachers, furloughing state officials, taking away benefits from fire fighters and the like. The Republicans have framed the argument so well, saying they have no option but to cut. The only other way would be to tax, and that can't happen, the people don't want that. And the Republicans are right. The state budgets are in dire straits. Budgets do need to be brought to more manageable levels and should not be running deficits. And if Republicans were to raise taxes, the entire premise of their party would dissolve. Unfortunately for them, public funds are spent on the masses. Money that goes to schools effects most people in the state. Police, fire fighters, nurses, Planned Parenthood, construction projects, etc. all have direct effect on the masses. And the masses are coming out. Too bad they forgot to on the day it mattered back in early November.
My hope in all this is that the teachers don't go back to work. It would be a pleasure to see fires burn entire neighborhoods and riots rage without police presence. People, especially those in the midwest, need a little taste of anarchy to remind them what tax dollars really pay for. Wisconsin is one of many states that has seen disproportionate growth at the top and stagnation at the bottom (read Pulling Apart: Wisconsin's Growing Income Inequality on cows.org). The lowest income earners have gone from about 18,700 to about 20,100 during the past 30 years, whereas the top tier has gone from about 88,800 to 120,400 during the same period. The growth, just like the rest of the country, has been concentrated at the top with no management of that disparity. Because there are always more people at the bottom than the top, the disparity has to be balanced with increased taxes on the top percentile in order to continue to educate, fund, and sustain order.
People need to recognize there is a difference between wasteful spending and spending in general and that taxes are not something that just comes out of their paycheck and disappears into the mist. It seems the American people have been placated and coddled so much they have forgotten what exactly taxes pay for. Maybe a prolonged strike will remind them. Hopefully it goes long enough that the kids can't graduate this year for lack of school days. Maybe that will be enough of a wake-up call for people to get it. Watching the Democrats in that state flee in order to prevent a quorum is so appropriate after the 4 years of the same thing by the Republicans in the US Senate. The people of Wisconsin are lucky their representatives have enough concern for their state to stand up even when the electorate did not do so for them. One thing about the Republicans though, they did think this through. With all these cuts they are going to force though, they are definitely going to need all those guns.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly state employees, have been protesting inside and out of their capitol. They are fighting what would amount to about a 7 percent decrease in their wages (13 percent net decrease if you consider the loss in benefits) brought about by the desire to balance the state budget. Now, it is important to realize, Wisconsin is not the only state in the spending slashing mood, and it is also not a poor state. In fact, the average wage earner in Wisconsin makes about $3100 more per year than the average American. The problem is that there just is not enough money coming in to the state coffers to pay for the things the people have come to expect. This seems like a simple idea, and it is. The solution is to either get more money coming in or reduce the amount of money going out. Now, cutting programs such as helium storage or studies on wild boars and whatnot are easy. Usually they are a few million bucks here and there that were pork-barreled in to get a bill through at an earlier date. Nowadays, though, there just aren't those programs around to cut. Nowadays, we are down to teachers, fire fighters, police, infrastructure projects, and the like. The things government provides that people forget are government while they are railing against all government (oddly those people usually have an American flag on them somewhere, despite hating everything the government has ever done other than lower taxes).
So now the other side is protesting. No more TEA Party rallies needed, the Republicans won, so they just have to put crazy back in the bag for another few years. Cut off some heating assistance for the poorest of the poor, eliminate some scholarships, and the Republicans will appease those people long enough to get them to vote on their side again next time. The real cuts, though, go to the core of the American way of life. Fewer teachers, furloughing state officials, taking away benefits from fire fighters and the like. The Republicans have framed the argument so well, saying they have no option but to cut. The only other way would be to tax, and that can't happen, the people don't want that. And the Republicans are right. The state budgets are in dire straits. Budgets do need to be brought to more manageable levels and should not be running deficits. And if Republicans were to raise taxes, the entire premise of their party would dissolve. Unfortunately for them, public funds are spent on the masses. Money that goes to schools effects most people in the state. Police, fire fighters, nurses, Planned Parenthood, construction projects, etc. all have direct effect on the masses. And the masses are coming out. Too bad they forgot to on the day it mattered back in early November.
My hope in all this is that the teachers don't go back to work. It would be a pleasure to see fires burn entire neighborhoods and riots rage without police presence. People, especially those in the midwest, need a little taste of anarchy to remind them what tax dollars really pay for. Wisconsin is one of many states that has seen disproportionate growth at the top and stagnation at the bottom (read Pulling Apart: Wisconsin's Growing Income Inequality on cows.org). The lowest income earners have gone from about 18,700 to about 20,100 during the past 30 years, whereas the top tier has gone from about 88,800 to 120,400 during the same period. The growth, just like the rest of the country, has been concentrated at the top with no management of that disparity. Because there are always more people at the bottom than the top, the disparity has to be balanced with increased taxes on the top percentile in order to continue to educate, fund, and sustain order.
People need to recognize there is a difference between wasteful spending and spending in general and that taxes are not something that just comes out of their paycheck and disappears into the mist. It seems the American people have been placated and coddled so much they have forgotten what exactly taxes pay for. Maybe a prolonged strike will remind them. Hopefully it goes long enough that the kids can't graduate this year for lack of school days. Maybe that will be enough of a wake-up call for people to get it. Watching the Democrats in that state flee in order to prevent a quorum is so appropriate after the 4 years of the same thing by the Republicans in the US Senate. The people of Wisconsin are lucky their representatives have enough concern for their state to stand up even when the electorate did not do so for them. One thing about the Republicans though, they did think this through. With all these cuts they are going to force though, they are definitely going to need all those guns.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Super Bowl Bailout
Yesterday I heard the people who missed the Super Bowl due to faulty seats are suing the NFL for 5 Million dollars. The NFL has already offered a three times refund on their tickets as well as a free trip and tickets to the next Super Bowl. Now, I admit, it sucks to get booted from an event, I can only imagine it being a Super Bowl. The Cowboys and the NFL were bound to do something to fix the issue, and they did. What they didn't bank on was the culture of the United States. We are both a greedy and desperate people.
We are the marketing and advertising guinea pigs of the world. Constantly being flashed images of the next thing "you just have to have." Not only are ads everywhere, but celebrity is splashed in our faces every day as well. Seeing so many people on yachts with a helicopter makes a yacht without a helicopter just seem primitive. I mean, whose yacht doesn't have a helicopter? Only losers. Now, I'm not saying anything new here in mentioning that the US is big consumer engine that is driven by greed and fed by savvy marketing. In fact, having all that choice and freedom to buy everything the world has to offer is the new great promise of America. Yeah, sure, freedom of religion and assembly too, but who uses those? It's the ability to but mangoes during winter in North Dakota that people truly relish. Americans are greedy, and for good reason, the opportunity to be greedy is glamorized and presented to us on a daily basis. The problem is not the greed, it's the desperation.
The top 1 percent of the country has 42 percent of the wealth in the country. Their net worth is greater than the total of the bottom 90 percent. Upward mobility has essentially ended as well, the President not withstanding. What this creates is a desperate nation. One that would be rallying on the streets of DC like so many in Cairo, were we not dumbed down, over saturated with entertainment, and provided a decent standard of living on the pittance thrown at us by the elite classes. Of course, every penny of what Americans make need to be spent in order to have a decent lifestyle, and anything left over will be squandered at the altar of those advertising guys...you gotta admit, they are great at getting us to buy stuff. So what is the dream of it all? Wal-Mart. McDonald's. Coka-Cola. NFL. Hopefully an American can have a slip and fall at a big store, spill a drink on their lap, find a finger in a can, or even get kicked out of the Super Bowl. It's the American lotto, baby! The American dream has become one that is based on getting paid absurd amounts of money for something minor that a corporation "did to you." Now, the inclination is to blame the whiners. Blame the people trying to get money they don't really deserve, why are they trying to game the system? But the reality is that we need to examine the root cause.
The glamorized, advertised image of success in this country has gotten so far away from what any American can even hope to attain on their own that ripping open the Golden Ticket is the only way we as a people see to succeed. When one man works for 20k a year and another makes 300 Million a MONTH, there is a disparity that the former can never even fathom closing. The only way is to either win the lottery or hit the jackpot...a big fat law suit. That greed coupled with desperation is on display right now as people grab for a little taste of the good life. Let's not forget, Jerry Jones has a 400 Million dollar television. I say give it to them. Let a few more people in those gates, don't worry, 5 Million won't keep them there long. And it certainly wont get them a yacht with a helicopter.
We are the marketing and advertising guinea pigs of the world. Constantly being flashed images of the next thing "you just have to have." Not only are ads everywhere, but celebrity is splashed in our faces every day as well. Seeing so many people on yachts with a helicopter makes a yacht without a helicopter just seem primitive. I mean, whose yacht doesn't have a helicopter? Only losers. Now, I'm not saying anything new here in mentioning that the US is big consumer engine that is driven by greed and fed by savvy marketing. In fact, having all that choice and freedom to buy everything the world has to offer is the new great promise of America. Yeah, sure, freedom of religion and assembly too, but who uses those? It's the ability to but mangoes during winter in North Dakota that people truly relish. Americans are greedy, and for good reason, the opportunity to be greedy is glamorized and presented to us on a daily basis. The problem is not the greed, it's the desperation.
The top 1 percent of the country has 42 percent of the wealth in the country. Their net worth is greater than the total of the bottom 90 percent. Upward mobility has essentially ended as well, the President not withstanding. What this creates is a desperate nation. One that would be rallying on the streets of DC like so many in Cairo, were we not dumbed down, over saturated with entertainment, and provided a decent standard of living on the pittance thrown at us by the elite classes. Of course, every penny of what Americans make need to be spent in order to have a decent lifestyle, and anything left over will be squandered at the altar of those advertising guys...you gotta admit, they are great at getting us to buy stuff. So what is the dream of it all? Wal-Mart. McDonald's. Coka-Cola. NFL. Hopefully an American can have a slip and fall at a big store, spill a drink on their lap, find a finger in a can, or even get kicked out of the Super Bowl. It's the American lotto, baby! The American dream has become one that is based on getting paid absurd amounts of money for something minor that a corporation "did to you." Now, the inclination is to blame the whiners. Blame the people trying to get money they don't really deserve, why are they trying to game the system? But the reality is that we need to examine the root cause.
The glamorized, advertised image of success in this country has gotten so far away from what any American can even hope to attain on their own that ripping open the Golden Ticket is the only way we as a people see to succeed. When one man works for 20k a year and another makes 300 Million a MONTH, there is a disparity that the former can never even fathom closing. The only way is to either win the lottery or hit the jackpot...a big fat law suit. That greed coupled with desperation is on display right now as people grab for a little taste of the good life. Let's not forget, Jerry Jones has a 400 Million dollar television. I say give it to them. Let a few more people in those gates, don't worry, 5 Million won't keep them there long. And it certainly wont get them a yacht with a helicopter.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Sex, Guns, and Habanera
I was watching Megyn Kelly the other day and she was, as usual, condemming someone. It's ok when she does it, though, because she's in Carson Daly's old studio, so she's obviously hip, and she is supremely attractive, so we should all try to be more like her, duh. Anyway, she was talking about how awful abortion is and how it shouldn't be paid for, not even a penny, by taxpayers. Obviously she has never made a mistake in her life, mostly because she is a good Christian woman, of course. Obama had called abortion a "right to be used sparingly," or something like that, and Megyn (she even spells it kinda hot) said, "what other rights should be used sparingly?" "No, really, can you name another right we have in the Constitution that should be used sparingly? No." This, nostrils flaring, veins cracking the make-up, was her impassioned argument. Well, I was not the guest on the show that particular day, so I will reply here...the right to bear arms.
It's amazing to me how the same people who defend gun rights are so religious. What about "Thou shalt not kill," is vague? What else do guns do than kill--and if you are going to say they protect you, aren't you supposed to "turn the other cheek?" Everyone turns to the second amendment and says it's our right to have guns as Americans. True, but why aren't priests and nuns packing? Go figure, it's as if they believe in an afterlife. Does the freedom to "bear arms" mean I can have a nuke? No. How about a Gatling gun? A bazooka? Is there ever a reason for an individual to have anything other than a simple handgun or rifle? Not really, unless they are trying to mount an assault.
Maybe the best part of living in the United States is that we can buy more of what we want than the rest of the world, because satisfying our needs is relatively inexpensive. However, when we are purchasing a weapon, we should instead be concerning ourselves with if we need it. The idea that I can go to Walmart and purchase a gun just as easily as a Playstation and the registration process is about the same for both is pretty silly and people should recognize that. How is it that I have to see a doctor to get penicillin, but a gun a can get without a note? Please just stop saying that guns are great for everyone to have and in the same breath praise the Guy who told you not to kill anything. Oh, that goes for the death penalty too. Pick a side, folks.
Beyond that note, let's look at the politics of the AZ shooting. 2012 is going to Obama, that's clear just from listening to him speak. Every time anyone does, they listen and he makes sense. That is a whole lot more than any Republican can say right now. In 2016 the GOP, if it can get over its inherent racism (tough task), will put up Marco Rubio for President. As a Cuban, he will be able to codify the Hispanic vote, even though his policies will screw over the community, but that's beside the point. The only response the Dems will have is Giffords. Yeah, that's right, a pretty blond woman from a red state who is sympathetic to the Hispanic community, AND got shot in the head. Get Richardson behind her, maybe even as a VP, and they have a good story. If Rubio gets in and does just one thing for the Hispanics, the Republicans will own the Hispanic vote for 20 years or more. Can't let that happen, for the sake of the Hispanic community and the country. Get well soon, Gabby, you got a lot of work to do!
It's amazing to me how the same people who defend gun rights are so religious. What about "Thou shalt not kill," is vague? What else do guns do than kill--and if you are going to say they protect you, aren't you supposed to "turn the other cheek?" Everyone turns to the second amendment and says it's our right to have guns as Americans. True, but why aren't priests and nuns packing? Go figure, it's as if they believe in an afterlife. Does the freedom to "bear arms" mean I can have a nuke? No. How about a Gatling gun? A bazooka? Is there ever a reason for an individual to have anything other than a simple handgun or rifle? Not really, unless they are trying to mount an assault.
Maybe the best part of living in the United States is that we can buy more of what we want than the rest of the world, because satisfying our needs is relatively inexpensive. However, when we are purchasing a weapon, we should instead be concerning ourselves with if we need it. The idea that I can go to Walmart and purchase a gun just as easily as a Playstation and the registration process is about the same for both is pretty silly and people should recognize that. How is it that I have to see a doctor to get penicillin, but a gun a can get without a note? Please just stop saying that guns are great for everyone to have and in the same breath praise the Guy who told you not to kill anything. Oh, that goes for the death penalty too. Pick a side, folks.
Beyond that note, let's look at the politics of the AZ shooting. 2012 is going to Obama, that's clear just from listening to him speak. Every time anyone does, they listen and he makes sense. That is a whole lot more than any Republican can say right now. In 2016 the GOP, if it can get over its inherent racism (tough task), will put up Marco Rubio for President. As a Cuban, he will be able to codify the Hispanic vote, even though his policies will screw over the community, but that's beside the point. The only response the Dems will have is Giffords. Yeah, that's right, a pretty blond woman from a red state who is sympathetic to the Hispanic community, AND got shot in the head. Get Richardson behind her, maybe even as a VP, and they have a good story. If Rubio gets in and does just one thing for the Hispanics, the Republicans will own the Hispanic vote for 20 years or more. Can't let that happen, for the sake of the Hispanic community and the country. Get well soon, Gabby, you got a lot of work to do!
Just a Little to the Right...OK More...More...
The Republicans have flanked the country with the swiftness and skill of Patton. Through doing things like shouting out during last year's State of the Union, setting up a network full of beautiful people with attention seeking graphics and appealing visuals, and developing the Tea Party to appease the 70% of Republicans who are retarded gun-toters who will vote against their own interests because they think Jesus invented bullets. Damn, they have a Democratic President who wants to cut spending all the time, and they still call him a Socialist. Because of the Tea Party, the Republicans can own 2/3 or the news cycle by pretending they are different parties. Meanwhile consistent losers like "I Eat Too Much Candy" Crowly sit on CNN and promise that Republicans will be out of office if they dont perform. Wrong. After the gerrymandering and the Citizens United decision, there will be very little losing on the Republican side. As long as they keep the public dumb and behave incompetently, they stay in power. What a joke.
I could have heard the same State of the Union from Bush, but the Republicans (who stay on their lofty perch by having the Tea Party do their dirty work) will skew this as the most liberal event since Lilith Fair (that's a Lesbian rock concert, for the old folks). But honestly, if you can look that Bachmann and think there is sanity on the red side of the isle, you are more delusional than those who insist the world is 6000 years old. Anyone who doesnt have HBO, go back somehow and watch Rachael Maddow on Bill Maher Jan 21. Fantastic. Wish Obama wasnt castrated the first 3 weeks of his presidency. Fuckin Donkeys. Hee Haw!
I could have heard the same State of the Union from Bush, but the Republicans (who stay on their lofty perch by having the Tea Party do their dirty work) will skew this as the most liberal event since Lilith Fair (that's a Lesbian rock concert, for the old folks). But honestly, if you can look that Bachmann and think there is sanity on the red side of the isle, you are more delusional than those who insist the world is 6000 years old. Anyone who doesnt have HBO, go back somehow and watch Rachael Maddow on Bill Maher Jan 21. Fantastic. Wish Obama wasnt castrated the first 3 weeks of his presidency. Fuckin Donkeys. Hee Haw!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Undercover Pimp
What Fox is doing--and make no mistake, Roger Ailes and Rush ARE the Republican party, they set the agenda daily--on the abortion issue right now is disgusting. To try to siphon away the pennies tossed at Planned Parenthood which give the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country decent care is just disturbingly foul. They are wrapping it up in this ACORN-esque tape with nurses giving abortion advice to a so called pimp. Cleverly, they are not showing the tapes but for small clips. Well, for those of us (me) who keep the news on 24/7, you can piece it together. In reality, its a guy going in there, getting abortion advice, then saying the girls are prostitutes, then mentioning some are underage. The nurses give them basic procedures to follow to get the abortion, such as..."we don't take their information down" (the doctor does that). Also, "you don't have to be their parent to bring them in," (just their guardian). And in a separate tape, there is a nurse helping someone get an abortion when the discussion indicates the patient was impregnated through incest. The nurse says they are discreet in those situations and can get around the parental waiver in those situations (is there another way?). They are using this to say that Planned Parenthood is dealing in sex trafficking. Awful. More and more every day these people make me want to throw up. How much is enough for them? At this point they are going after such low-level programs with such tiny price tags, blaming these things for the deficit, just to laugh at the poor people squirming under their boots. There are not people in the world hoping one day they can get an abortion in a shitty clinic deep in the ghetto. These programs have been set up so we dont descend into chaos. When is Obama going to get some Weiner (D-NY) in him and start yelling...I mean YELLING at these disgusting people for their awful, horrible attacks on the ants they see from their ivory tower?
On the AZ shooting, January 10, 2011
Watching Meet the Press after the assassination attempt of an AZ representative, the first major assassination attempt that I can recall--too young for Reagan. What strikes me is how similar the debate is to every other issue that goes poorly for the Republicans. This kid, writing about how police have no Constitutional authority, is obviously a product of the Tea Party and radical right movement. Most upsetting is the way the coverage of him is being treated. This should be a condemnation of media outlets which give equal legitimacy to things like the Tea Party as they do honorable and intelligent people. This kid who shot up a Safeway has never known a world without cell phones, internet, or war. Imagine being 10 years old when 9/11 hit, family stocking up with more and more guns, living close to the border that everyone is telling you terrorists and rapists are crossing daily.
With the complete disregard society has treated its youngest over the past 10 years, such displays of attention seeking an statement making will only increase, I fear. The need for self-expression, the grab for glorified fame, and the celebrity of the Virginia Tech and Columbine shooters is too appealing to pass up for misguided, mishandled youth who realize their voices will never be heard, they will not receive their 15 minutes of fame as promised. The same type of criminal rebellion the country saw in the early 80s is on its way now, but so much more potent as their acts will be magnified by the very media and attitudes that supplied the feeling of being ignored and marginalized.
The worst part of this discussion though, is the belief the right has put forward and the left has conceded too, that there are crazies on both sides. Both sides are guilty, there are extremists on the left and right. What a joke. Throwing blood on a fur coat, protesting whaling ships, and living in tree houses to protect forests are far different expressions than assassinations and blowing up government buildings (Tim McVeigh, OKC).
The left needs to get aggressive on this. Point out that the violence is being perpetrated exclusively by the right and make the connection of these actions to the amount of fear and hate mongering in the Party. There is a consequence to scaring people on a daily basis and giving everyone guns. If everyone sings Kumbaya and holds hands at a vigil, though, the real responsibility of catalyzing this hatred and distrust will once again dissipate and the lesson will again pass unlearned.
This outburst is just the tip of the iceberg that political commentary 24/7 with equal respect given to both sides regardless of factual information is producing. Us lefties need to emphasize that it is ALWAYS the right doing crazy things. There would never be a concern about a hippie shooting Sarah Palin, deserved as it may be. There would not be a need for extra Secret Service around a President who was against gay marriage. The racists, the gun-slingers, the people who dragged James Earl behind a pick-up in Texas a few years ago--these are not liberals and it should be pointed out.
I am sick of the two groups being equal when its advantageous to be for the right, and the left is demonized when the shoe is on the other foot. It's the same as comparing Charlie Rangle's corruption (what amounted to just tens of thousands of dollars over a 30+ year career), to John Ensign, Larry Craig, or Duke Cunningham who perpetrated some of the most ridiculous scams of all time on their constituents. These things are not the same. Having your brother appointed to a post is very different than flying to Argentina to pursue a mistress on state funds.
If we keep treating these indiscretions as equal to each other just because they are both bad things, we put ourselves in a position where rape and jaywalking deserve the same condemnation. Ugh. So frustrating, I cant even think of a proper way to sum this up and tie it together with a witty remark. Sigh.
And the one guy who should be whacked never will be. Glenn Beck. Not a single hippie with a rifle?
Mark
With the complete disregard society has treated its youngest over the past 10 years, such displays of attention seeking an statement making will only increase, I fear. The need for self-expression, the grab for glorified fame, and the celebrity of the Virginia Tech and Columbine shooters is too appealing to pass up for misguided, mishandled youth who realize their voices will never be heard, they will not receive their 15 minutes of fame as promised. The same type of criminal rebellion the country saw in the early 80s is on its way now, but so much more potent as their acts will be magnified by the very media and attitudes that supplied the feeling of being ignored and marginalized.
The worst part of this discussion though, is the belief the right has put forward and the left has conceded too, that there are crazies on both sides. Both sides are guilty, there are extremists on the left and right. What a joke. Throwing blood on a fur coat, protesting whaling ships, and living in tree houses to protect forests are far different expressions than assassinations and blowing up government buildings (Tim McVeigh, OKC).
The left needs to get aggressive on this. Point out that the violence is being perpetrated exclusively by the right and make the connection of these actions to the amount of fear and hate mongering in the Party. There is a consequence to scaring people on a daily basis and giving everyone guns. If everyone sings Kumbaya and holds hands at a vigil, though, the real responsibility of catalyzing this hatred and distrust will once again dissipate and the lesson will again pass unlearned.
This outburst is just the tip of the iceberg that political commentary 24/7 with equal respect given to both sides regardless of factual information is producing. Us lefties need to emphasize that it is ALWAYS the right doing crazy things. There would never be a concern about a hippie shooting Sarah Palin, deserved as it may be. There would not be a need for extra Secret Service around a President who was against gay marriage. The racists, the gun-slingers, the people who dragged James Earl behind a pick-up in Texas a few years ago--these are not liberals and it should be pointed out.
I am sick of the two groups being equal when its advantageous to be for the right, and the left is demonized when the shoe is on the other foot. It's the same as comparing Charlie Rangle's corruption (what amounted to just tens of thousands of dollars over a 30+ year career), to John Ensign, Larry Craig, or Duke Cunningham who perpetrated some of the most ridiculous scams of all time on their constituents. These things are not the same. Having your brother appointed to a post is very different than flying to Argentina to pursue a mistress on state funds.
If we keep treating these indiscretions as equal to each other just because they are both bad things, we put ourselves in a position where rape and jaywalking deserve the same condemnation. Ugh. So frustrating, I cant even think of a proper way to sum this up and tie it together with a witty remark. Sigh.
And the one guy who should be whacked never will be. Glenn Beck. Not a single hippie with a rifle?
Mark
The Alpha
This effort has come about from thousands of emails tossed about between my family and I. Aunts and uncles, dad and siblings have all been throwing their opinions at each other in witty banter for years now. Not one for technology (I went without a cell phone for a year and a half just because I didn't want to be bothered), I usually sit the fights out until everyone has their say, left and right, and believe me, my family has both. When everyone has finished with their friendly, over-educated discussion, I hit "Reply All" and start going off.
This exchange was working just fine for me, and still is. However, when I see people like Eugene Robinson or Judge Napolitano on TV, it makes me want to scream as their input only scratches the surface of the true arguments. The fact that people like that influence our culture and politics is shameful. Oh, and I'm a big lefty, so maybe AOL will HuffPo me and let me retire without ever making a dime! (The answer, Rupert, is yes, I will sell out, but it will cost you a whole lot more).
If there are any questions in regards to any of my posts, bring 'em, I'll reply.
Rudy
This exchange was working just fine for me, and still is. However, when I see people like Eugene Robinson or Judge Napolitano on TV, it makes me want to scream as their input only scratches the surface of the true arguments. The fact that people like that influence our culture and politics is shameful. Oh, and I'm a big lefty, so maybe AOL will HuffPo me and let me retire without ever making a dime! (The answer, Rupert, is yes, I will sell out, but it will cost you a whole lot more).
If there are any questions in regards to any of my posts, bring 'em, I'll reply.
Rudy
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