I have had several disappointments lately, starting with the knowledge the President and the Democrats had the chance to face down the Republicans and the Tea Party using the 14th Ammendment to end the debt ceiling crisis. Yes, I understand the President's desire to work with both sides of the aisle, but it's time to wake up and realize the other side doesn't WANT to work with him on anything - and progressives are starting to become disillusioned with the direction things are going.
My second disappointment is the misinformation that is still floating around in the community about what is, has and could happen because of the deal struck, and the downgrading of the nation's credit rating. Sadly, too many are willing to let talking mutton heads like Limbaugh figure out their understanding of what's happening. I NEVER found Limbaugh to be anything but a rude, arrogant SOB who was more willing to fuel the fires of hatred than to try to actually make the country better.
My delight in the President and congressional leaders finally lifting DADT in the military has been dampened by hearing current enlistees talk about the violence and disruption they anticipate as the number of gays increases - have they not listened to people who served with gays in combat situations that noted there was no disruption of morale, that the gay members performed their duties admirably and well in keeping with mililtary protocol? When we will pull our collective heads out of the sand and realize gays and been among us all the time, and didn't do all the horrible things religious bigots keep telling us they will?
I've also had to transfer employment due to the financial crunch the country is caught in, and saw my pay drop yet again! From a corporation that is reporting sizeable profits, but continues to try to push out full time workers in favor of part-timers that don't get benefits. The business community needs to take off their own rose-colored glasses and smell the coffee, or this country could be in for another wave of union organizing and strikes that will really open a can of worms we don't need.
These are indeed tough times! May we all wake up, and start to work together for the betterment of all humankind! That is the ONLY way we are going to stop some of this nastiness that is so prevalent in government anymore!
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Monday, August 8, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Surprise, surprise!
Mitt Romney can't tell the truth as he runs for the White House! Looking at news this morning, there is an article entitled, "FACT CHECK: Romney miscasts economy in GOP debut." What a surprise! The GOP hasn't been able to tell the truth about the economy or their plans to fix it - just keep repeating the same broken record they have for years, and still some people buy it?!
Time to wake up, people!
Time to wake up, people!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Republican Two-Face in Spades
During the last 2 years (and similar periods in the past of my voting life), the Republicans haven't ceased to blame Democrats for all the ills they perceived in government in America. Now, with Republicans holding the strength they do, they are NOW saying they can't be held responsible for the ills that may come from their extreme stands. Tonight, as I listened to Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, as a Democrat pointed out that the Republicans had blocked effort after effort to help the ailing economy, the Republican guest responded by saying extreme stands were necessary, and the no one could hold Republicans accountable for the ills that could come from those stands. So, apparently for the Republicans, what is good for the goose is NOT good for the gander. Hmm! I wonder how the elections of 2012 might appear if the Republicans get their way over the next 2 years, and even the pundits are raising this concern.
The conversation was about raising the national debt ceiling, and, yes, that is a major concern to us all, especially in these trouble economic times - but perhaps we should look first at the multinational corporations and their percentage of profit, their multimillion dollar salaries for CEOs and directors, their lack of tax dollars paid to the government and their efforts NOT to pay benefits, NOT to care for their workers. Perhaps we should be looking at the amount paid to congressional leaders who are already millionaires. Perhaps we should listen to someone like Steve Forbes, and his proposal for a flat tax - no deductions, not exceptions. Everyone pays 10% of income as federal taxes. Think about how the corporations would start pumping millions into the national treasury, how the multi-millionaires and billionaires would start pumping dollars into the treasury currently being support and carried on the backs of the most heavily taxed group in America - the working class!
Who has been responsible for more harm to this picture? Republican benefits for the richest of the rich in America - at the expense of the working stiffs of this country. Democrats have raised taxes, yes, and through those paid down national debt on more than one occasion, They have provided services to Americans that Republicans don't want offered to those who pay their salaries.
Perhaps it's time to adopt my father's attitude late in his voting life - not voting for an incumbent, so the channels of influence and graft in Washington can't become ingrained. Oh, I realize we have some who go to Washington looking to get in on that system as soon as possible, so they can become part of the rich elite of the nation, but if enough elections went this way, perhaps congressional representatives would start to remember they are there to represent our interests, not to get rich.
Anger is there and expressed on the right, but it is there on the left as well. We need to stop being the quiet progressives, and start raising our voices to counter the right - understanding when we do that we may encounter those rightists who are willing to use violence to quiet our voices. There is no reasonable argument against this nation not doing better for its citizens in light of how much many other industrialized nations are doing for their citizens. We simply are becoming the story line of many science fiction stories of a future where corporations control life.
Think about it, raise your voice, and be proudly progressive!
The conversation was about raising the national debt ceiling, and, yes, that is a major concern to us all, especially in these trouble economic times - but perhaps we should look first at the multinational corporations and their percentage of profit, their multimillion dollar salaries for CEOs and directors, their lack of tax dollars paid to the government and their efforts NOT to pay benefits, NOT to care for their workers. Perhaps we should be looking at the amount paid to congressional leaders who are already millionaires. Perhaps we should listen to someone like Steve Forbes, and his proposal for a flat tax - no deductions, not exceptions. Everyone pays 10% of income as federal taxes. Think about how the corporations would start pumping millions into the national treasury, how the multi-millionaires and billionaires would start pumping dollars into the treasury currently being support and carried on the backs of the most heavily taxed group in America - the working class!
Who has been responsible for more harm to this picture? Republican benefits for the richest of the rich in America - at the expense of the working stiffs of this country. Democrats have raised taxes, yes, and through those paid down national debt on more than one occasion, They have provided services to Americans that Republicans don't want offered to those who pay their salaries.
Perhaps it's time to adopt my father's attitude late in his voting life - not voting for an incumbent, so the channels of influence and graft in Washington can't become ingrained. Oh, I realize we have some who go to Washington looking to get in on that system as soon as possible, so they can become part of the rich elite of the nation, but if enough elections went this way, perhaps congressional representatives would start to remember they are there to represent our interests, not to get rich.
Anger is there and expressed on the right, but it is there on the left as well. We need to stop being the quiet progressives, and start raising our voices to counter the right - understanding when we do that we may encounter those rightists who are willing to use violence to quiet our voices. There is no reasonable argument against this nation not doing better for its citizens in light of how much many other industrialized nations are doing for their citizens. We simply are becoming the story line of many science fiction stories of a future where corporations control life.
Think about it, raise your voice, and be proudly progressive!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
True Colors
I don't think any progressive or honest person was surprised when the Republicans went into stall mode as Congress got ready to get back to work after the mid-term elections. That party has shown itself in recent years to be long on rhetoric and very, very short on truly wanting to work for the betterment of this nation. They are willing to send us into wars based on trumped up information, but unwilling to work with the current president to end that war, claiming he is weakening our nation in the world. They claim to want to help working Americans by extending cuts, but even the very rich in this country understand that the time has come for the rich to pay taxes, instead of getting breaks the common worker can never match! Who in their right mind thinks it is fair, right or good for the country when the topmost of the wealthy pay a lower rate of tax than the middle income people who carry the nation on their taxes and work? Yet that is just what the Republicans want to do!
I remember when Steve Forbes ran for President and wanted to initiate a flat tax of 10 percent on everyone, no exemptions. Many decried that thought, but perhaps Mr. Forbes indeed had it right. If everyone simply had 10 percent of their earnings given over as their tax, it would simplify the mad tax scramble every year, and the government would have more money to work with,, because the rich and the corporations would also be chipping in to support the nation's efforts to encourage economic growth and erase the deficits that were created by the Republican president and control of Congress which preceded the current administration. Democrats have been charged with reducing and removing the deficit the last two times they have controlled Congress, and occupied the White House - while the Republicans have taken a healthy economy and trashed it! And still they portray themselves as "fiscal conservatives.?"
Time to wake up, folks, and smell the real garbage in Washington and in the states! Let's look for and elect fiscally responsible people, and let the Republicans and Tea Party cool their heels until they understand the difference between calling oneself a fiscal conservative and acting like one needs to do all possible to line one's own pockets at the expense of anyone you can put below you.
I remember when Steve Forbes ran for President and wanted to initiate a flat tax of 10 percent on everyone, no exemptions. Many decried that thought, but perhaps Mr. Forbes indeed had it right. If everyone simply had 10 percent of their earnings given over as their tax, it would simplify the mad tax scramble every year, and the government would have more money to work with,, because the rich and the corporations would also be chipping in to support the nation's efforts to encourage economic growth and erase the deficits that were created by the Republican president and control of Congress which preceded the current administration. Democrats have been charged with reducing and removing the deficit the last two times they have controlled Congress, and occupied the White House - while the Republicans have taken a healthy economy and trashed it! And still they portray themselves as "fiscal conservatives.?"
Time to wake up, folks, and smell the real garbage in Washington and in the states! Let's look for and elect fiscally responsible people, and let the Republicans and Tea Party cool their heels until they understand the difference between calling oneself a fiscal conservative and acting like one needs to do all possible to line one's own pockets at the expense of anyone you can put below you.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Cut the Deficit?!
I was just reading a news story about the anticipated results of negotiations on extending the Bush Tax Cuts. An eye-opening line was that if the Republican desire - a permanent extension of the tax cuts to those earning $250,000+ - the result will be a cost of $700 billion over the next ten years. I truly hope that if this permanent extension should happen, progressives and others will remember that little statistic, and bring it up regularly in the 2012 campaign for President of our country.
I am amazed at the short memory of people when applied to the national deficit. Bush Sr. helped continue Reagan's big spending and left a huge deficit when defeated for the presidency by Clinton, who, over eight years, reduced that deficit, in fact, as I recall, erased it. When "W" took office, the deficit burgeoned more and more. After his eight years, we were in deep trouble - but for some strange reason, the Democrats got the blame. Our president took office, with the economy in the tank, and got Republican support for bailouts, but then they turned on him, blaming him for the horrible condition of the economy.
Reality bites, and I'm hoping it will bite those who put us in this mess and then played the blame game! It is time to hold people accountable for their public posturing and their actual performance.
I am amazed at the short memory of people when applied to the national deficit. Bush Sr. helped continue Reagan's big spending and left a huge deficit when defeated for the presidency by Clinton, who, over eight years, reduced that deficit, in fact, as I recall, erased it. When "W" took office, the deficit burgeoned more and more. After his eight years, we were in deep trouble - but for some strange reason, the Democrats got the blame. Our president took office, with the economy in the tank, and got Republican support for bailouts, but then they turned on him, blaming him for the horrible condition of the economy.
Reality bites, and I'm hoping it will bite those who put us in this mess and then played the blame game! It is time to hold people accountable for their public posturing and their actual performance.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Deficit Reduction Plans?!
This morning I was listening to the hosts of Morning Joe and was struck by the information about the panel considering reducing the national debt. The proposals are radical in the extreme, drawing criticism from several sources. One says the plan throws the nation's seniors to dogs, under the bus - choose your metaphor. The hosts talked about the amazing proposal to rewrite the tax code so there are no exemptions, one commenting that the current code certainly needed amending given that heads of "small businesses" that are actually national corporations, and pay a lower rate of taxation than a plumber. There was nothing but incredulity in the tone of his comments.
I find myself in complete agreement. A proposal that the retirement age be raised, yet again, because is has been raised again. That proposal isn't particularly surprising, and is probably consistent with the realities of our age. I personally don't think I'll be retired much before the age of 70, simply because the two crashes of the stock market since I started a retirement account have devastated the nest egg I thought I had set aside to take care of my wife and I in our senior years.
How do I feel about such plans, well, it's a mixed feeling. Some of my feeling is that shock at the amount lost to us, by a system that should have helped protect out investment. Some is a feeling that this is simply more of what we have seen in recent years. I'm dismayed to have become so skeptical of our elected officials, but there it is! Anybody else feeling the same way?
Angry, writing, and planning to write again.
I find myself in complete agreement. A proposal that the retirement age be raised, yet again, because is has been raised again. That proposal isn't particularly surprising, and is probably consistent with the realities of our age. I personally don't think I'll be retired much before the age of 70, simply because the two crashes of the stock market since I started a retirement account have devastated the nest egg I thought I had set aside to take care of my wife and I in our senior years.
How do I feel about such plans, well, it's a mixed feeling. Some of my feeling is that shock at the amount lost to us, by a system that should have helped protect out investment. Some is a feeling that this is simply more of what we have seen in recent years. I'm dismayed to have become so skeptical of our elected officials, but there it is! Anybody else feeling the same way?
Angry, writing, and planning to write again.
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