One Year and counting. . .
One year ago today, Obama took the oath of office. Where are we now? Unfortunately, not as far as those who voted for change wanted to be!
The point of this blog is to speak truth to power; whoever is in power. I voted for change. I supported change. I donated to change. I worked for change. Where is the change?
It’s not here yet!
Wall Street still hands out billions of dollars in bonuses and is not any more regulated than it was a year ago, though it is talked about.
Health care reform is not yet available to “We The People,” though it has progressed without Republican support and further than under any Republican administration. It is also structured NOT to increase the deficit, unlike the Republican Part D Medicare plan that gave prescription drugs to the elderly and wasn’t paid for!
Jobs are still being lost, though at a much slower rate than when the Republicans were in control and doing nothing about it.
The economy is very bad, because we are suffering from a collapsed “Housing Bubble” created by Republican policies. What has Obama done? In a bi-partisan way, he gave tax breaks (that don’t work) to the wealthy, (because that is what the Republicans said was needed) along with funds to create “Shovel Ready” projects to get the economy going again. It is a two year plan. We are nearing the end of the first year. How many Republicans voted for the Stimulus? None!
And yet, with all this evidence of Republican Obstructionism, Republican “Do-Nothing” philosophy, Republicans looking out for the corporations and the Wealthy instead of the “Working Man,” I am upset with Obama!
Democrats have a 60 vote majority in the Senate and a substantial majority in the House (Which is not where the problem is) and we can’t get anything done for the People. Bush got things done for the Wealthy!
Bush got all of his Tax Breaks for the wealthy done in 2003 (in the first year of his Presidency) and in 2005, and the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (cutting money from Medi-Cade) passed with a 51 vote majority in the Senate through a process called Reconciliation!
Why hasn’t Obama and the Dems done that? I want change NOW!!!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Two Philosophies, Democrats Vs. Republicans; a perspective. . .
You can take the time to look up the philosophies of each major party. You will find many explanations and after you read enough, you will get the gist of their ideals; their platform. Specific issues are described as planks in that platform.
For example, one of the planks in the Republican Party platform is the elimination of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. This plank is not listed in their philosophy, but it exists in their goals to take this nation back to what they believe it should be; self-sufficiency.
A similar plank exists in the Democratic Party platform with the exact opposite goal; to establish a one-payer, or more easily described, Universal Health Care system in addition to Social Security, and Medicare.
In the simplest terms, the difference is “every man for himself” vs. “all for one and one for all.” Put another way, “the means justify the end” vs. “the end justifies the means.” (More on this one later) This blog perspective is not about the values of those two philosophies, but the way in which they are argued to the public.
Simply put, Republicans lie to their constituency to defeat a bill. Democrats try to explain the bill to gain support. It is more difficult to talk with and gain support from people who have been lied to than people who are well informed. When lied to, when misled about the goal, people with a false understanding get riled up. Fox News listeners certainly fall into this category, with 72% of them believing that Obama’s Health Care goal is to 1) Take health care from grandma and give it to illegal aliens, 2) Make the government pay for abortions, 3) Have “death panels” to deny care to old people, 4) Establish health care rationing, 5) Have Government bureaucrats between you and your doctor, and finally, 6) It is a government take-over of the health care system.
All of those are LIES! If you are one of those who believe any or all of those lies, then you probably get your news from Fox, Rush Limbaugh, McConnell or Boehner. They lie to you! They are lying to you. They will continue to lie to you. That is their justification of means to an end. Their desire, their end, is to defeat Health Care reform; in any shape, any form, any style. They SAY they want health care reform, but everything they do says otherwise.
What do the Democrats do? Democrats continue to bargain, deal, debate, and compromise to get a bill. Democrats adjust, back off, back off, and back off trying to get Republican support. No matter what the Democrats come up with, Public Option, Co-ops or even eliminate the Public Option; the Republicans are just saying NO. The only thing Republicans want, (their means to an end), is a requirement for everyone to buy health insurance from For-Profit health insurance companies. What a gift to the health insurance companies. It is similar to the gift they gave the pharmaceuticals with their Medicare Part D. It was a requirement to pay for your own drugs once you exhausted the benefit and reached the donut hole. Remember that?
Remember what I said earlier, about being informed vs. being lied to? Well, those who are well informed out number those who are lied to. We, the well informed, call our representatives, our Senators and are actively working for a Universal Health Care plan. There may be a counter in that work and calling, but we have a substantial advantage. We out number you! We vote, as you do, but when the votes are counted, well, it’s pretty simple; we out number you!
Representatives and Senators want to be re-elected. They need votes to do that. If the Congress does not pass the kind of Health Care reform we want, they will be voted out of office; and they know that!
We WILL get what we want; without lying, without yelling at town hall meetings, without carrying loaded guns to those meetings as a means of intimidation, and without preventing others from being able to speak at those meetings. Our means justify the end; we will have a health care program that serves “We the People” and not corporate profits.
In a way, I feel sorry for you, the uninformed. It will take a complete implementation of the program, your use of it and finally, you fondness of it before you realize what we, the informed, have provided for you. Then you can say, similar to what you say now, “I don’t want no stickin’ government run program and keep your hands of my health care!”
That’s As I See it. . . .
You can take the time to look up the philosophies of each major party. You will find many explanations and after you read enough, you will get the gist of their ideals; their platform. Specific issues are described as planks in that platform.
For example, one of the planks in the Republican Party platform is the elimination of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. This plank is not listed in their philosophy, but it exists in their goals to take this nation back to what they believe it should be; self-sufficiency.
A similar plank exists in the Democratic Party platform with the exact opposite goal; to establish a one-payer, or more easily described, Universal Health Care system in addition to Social Security, and Medicare.
In the simplest terms, the difference is “every man for himself” vs. “all for one and one for all.” Put another way, “the means justify the end” vs. “the end justifies the means.” (More on this one later) This blog perspective is not about the values of those two philosophies, but the way in which they are argued to the public.
Simply put, Republicans lie to their constituency to defeat a bill. Democrats try to explain the bill to gain support. It is more difficult to talk with and gain support from people who have been lied to than people who are well informed. When lied to, when misled about the goal, people with a false understanding get riled up. Fox News listeners certainly fall into this category, with 72% of them believing that Obama’s Health Care goal is to 1) Take health care from grandma and give it to illegal aliens, 2) Make the government pay for abortions, 3) Have “death panels” to deny care to old people, 4) Establish health care rationing, 5) Have Government bureaucrats between you and your doctor, and finally, 6) It is a government take-over of the health care system.
All of those are LIES! If you are one of those who believe any or all of those lies, then you probably get your news from Fox, Rush Limbaugh, McConnell or Boehner. They lie to you! They are lying to you. They will continue to lie to you. That is their justification of means to an end. Their desire, their end, is to defeat Health Care reform; in any shape, any form, any style. They SAY they want health care reform, but everything they do says otherwise.
What do the Democrats do? Democrats continue to bargain, deal, debate, and compromise to get a bill. Democrats adjust, back off, back off, and back off trying to get Republican support. No matter what the Democrats come up with, Public Option, Co-ops or even eliminate the Public Option; the Republicans are just saying NO. The only thing Republicans want, (their means to an end), is a requirement for everyone to buy health insurance from For-Profit health insurance companies. What a gift to the health insurance companies. It is similar to the gift they gave the pharmaceuticals with their Medicare Part D. It was a requirement to pay for your own drugs once you exhausted the benefit and reached the donut hole. Remember that?
Remember what I said earlier, about being informed vs. being lied to? Well, those who are well informed out number those who are lied to. We, the well informed, call our representatives, our Senators and are actively working for a Universal Health Care plan. There may be a counter in that work and calling, but we have a substantial advantage. We out number you! We vote, as you do, but when the votes are counted, well, it’s pretty simple; we out number you!
Representatives and Senators want to be re-elected. They need votes to do that. If the Congress does not pass the kind of Health Care reform we want, they will be voted out of office; and they know that!
We WILL get what we want; without lying, without yelling at town hall meetings, without carrying loaded guns to those meetings as a means of intimidation, and without preventing others from being able to speak at those meetings. Our means justify the end; we will have a health care program that serves “We the People” and not corporate profits.
In a way, I feel sorry for you, the uninformed. It will take a complete implementation of the program, your use of it and finally, you fondness of it before you realize what we, the informed, have provided for you. Then you can say, similar to what you say now, “I don’t want no stickin’ government run program and keep your hands of my health care!”
That’s As I See it. . . .
Monday, August 17, 2009
When voters hand you a Mandate; USE IT!
The House of Representatives is under Democratic Party control by a wide margin. That margin began in the election of ’06 and continued in ’08, rejecting the Republican Party philosophies and control. We the People were fed up with Bush and all of his cronies.
The Senate got a bare majority of Democrats in ’06 by a margin of 51 to 49. That, admittedly, included two Independents, Sanders and Lieberman. Sanders votes solidly with the Democrats, but Lieberman can go either way. That tenuous grasp of control of the Senate could and would transfer to the Republicans when and if Lieberman voted with the Republicans, giving a 50/50 vote and letting the Vice President (Cheney as the President of the Senate) cast the deciding vote.
I explain all of that because I want you to remember what it was like in Congress when the Republicans had complete control. Bush wanted tax cuts for the wealthy; he got it. Bush wanted “No child left behind;” he got it. Bush wanted supplemental bills to fund his war in Iraq; he got it. Virtually every Republican voted for what the president wanted and some Democrats voted with him as well.
Now what do we see? Every; that is worth repeating; EVERY Republican votes against Obama. Republicans demand “Bi-partisanship.” But we know what that means. Just look at their performance when they were in charge. If Democrats didn’t agree and follow, they were called Obstructionists. When the democrats threatened the filibuster, the majority leader threatened the nuclear option of removing the filibuster with a simple majority vote removing the filibuster rule.
Remember that!
Because what I advocate now is for my Representative and my two Senators to do what We the People want. End the tax cuts for the rich to help stop the deficit. Put in a Universal Health Care system that doesn’t rob someone of their home and a life’s worth of work just because they got sick. END Corporate control of my country!
I am fed up with Democrats continuing to seek bi-partisan decisions and attempting to get Republican support. Apparently, THEY DON’T GET IT! Republicans will not cooperate with Democrats. Republicans do not want “Bi-Partisanship” unless it is done their way. Republicans are the true obstructionists, just saying “NO” to everything.
But we don’t need their support!
We have control of the Congress. JUST DO IT! Give us, give “We the People,” what we want; what we voted you into office to get, and what this country needs. Take control of our country away from corporations and give it back to us!
If it doesn’t happen, many Democrats will find themselves voted out of office in the next election.
- - -
Now, a personal note. . .
This blog is not an outlet for religious freaks to bark their philosophy. They have every right to believe the way they do, practice their religion the way they do and to preach about their beliefs the way they do. I will just not allow it on this blog.
There is a separation of religion and government in my country. “We the People” ARE the government. This blog is about how “We the People” can use secular means to make this country fulfill the promise; a government of, for, and by the people.
If what you want is a theocracy, a government based on religious principles (even though you deny it), then live in Iran, Iraq, or Taliban controlled Afghanistan. These are places where religious based thoughts are being worked out. If you prefer a more peaceful example, try Indonesia. It is a religious based, secular government with such stringent rules that there is no freedom of choice. Do the research.
I served in the military, representing what I believe is a wonderful country and defending the rights we hold dear. Did you? I defend everyone’s rights, whether I agree with what you believe or not. I will fight for you to maintain your rights. But remember this my little inexperienced, ill-informed, radical preacher: I will fight just as hard and to the death to prevent you from taking those rights from others!
Now, go away.
That’s As I See it. . . .
The House of Representatives is under Democratic Party control by a wide margin. That margin began in the election of ’06 and continued in ’08, rejecting the Republican Party philosophies and control. We the People were fed up with Bush and all of his cronies.
The Senate got a bare majority of Democrats in ’06 by a margin of 51 to 49. That, admittedly, included two Independents, Sanders and Lieberman. Sanders votes solidly with the Democrats, but Lieberman can go either way. That tenuous grasp of control of the Senate could and would transfer to the Republicans when and if Lieberman voted with the Republicans, giving a 50/50 vote and letting the Vice President (Cheney as the President of the Senate) cast the deciding vote.
I explain all of that because I want you to remember what it was like in Congress when the Republicans had complete control. Bush wanted tax cuts for the wealthy; he got it. Bush wanted “No child left behind;” he got it. Bush wanted supplemental bills to fund his war in Iraq; he got it. Virtually every Republican voted for what the president wanted and some Democrats voted with him as well.
Now what do we see? Every; that is worth repeating; EVERY Republican votes against Obama. Republicans demand “Bi-partisanship.” But we know what that means. Just look at their performance when they were in charge. If Democrats didn’t agree and follow, they were called Obstructionists. When the democrats threatened the filibuster, the majority leader threatened the nuclear option of removing the filibuster with a simple majority vote removing the filibuster rule.
Remember that!
Because what I advocate now is for my Representative and my two Senators to do what We the People want. End the tax cuts for the rich to help stop the deficit. Put in a Universal Health Care system that doesn’t rob someone of their home and a life’s worth of work just because they got sick. END Corporate control of my country!
I am fed up with Democrats continuing to seek bi-partisan decisions and attempting to get Republican support. Apparently, THEY DON’T GET IT! Republicans will not cooperate with Democrats. Republicans do not want “Bi-Partisanship” unless it is done their way. Republicans are the true obstructionists, just saying “NO” to everything.
But we don’t need their support!
We have control of the Congress. JUST DO IT! Give us, give “We the People,” what we want; what we voted you into office to get, and what this country needs. Take control of our country away from corporations and give it back to us!
If it doesn’t happen, many Democrats will find themselves voted out of office in the next election.
- - -
Now, a personal note. . .
This blog is not an outlet for religious freaks to bark their philosophy. They have every right to believe the way they do, practice their religion the way they do and to preach about their beliefs the way they do. I will just not allow it on this blog.
There is a separation of religion and government in my country. “We the People” ARE the government. This blog is about how “We the People” can use secular means to make this country fulfill the promise; a government of, for, and by the people.
If what you want is a theocracy, a government based on religious principles (even though you deny it), then live in Iran, Iraq, or Taliban controlled Afghanistan. These are places where religious based thoughts are being worked out. If you prefer a more peaceful example, try Indonesia. It is a religious based, secular government with such stringent rules that there is no freedom of choice. Do the research.
I served in the military, representing what I believe is a wonderful country and defending the rights we hold dear. Did you? I defend everyone’s rights, whether I agree with what you believe or not. I will fight for you to maintain your rights. But remember this my little inexperienced, ill-informed, radical preacher: I will fight just as hard and to the death to prevent you from taking those rights from others!
Now, go away.
That’s As I See it. . . .
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
“Change” Or government as usual?
It’s been quite a respite. I have suffered personally from this economic disaster created by conservative, Republican philosophies. (Ever notice that previous staunch Republicans are now saying they are actually more Libertarian? It was also difficult to find anyone who voted for Nixon after he was disgraced. Before that disgrace, it was hard to find anyone who wasn’t a Nixon supporter.)
I want to pursue my team-of-horses metaphor. The team is now loaded with left leaning, people oriented horses and they are starting to pull the coach toward the center. The Democrats have passed a Recovery Act, pulling us away from the edge of another Republican caused Depression. Republicans can only unanimously vote against it, criticize it and then partake of it by exploiting the advantages to their states that “they” have somehow secured. All without giving credit to the recovery act which is funding that very same project.
As the team makes its way back to some sort of center path through the wilderness of the future, pushing to be progressive with their choices, they discover that some on their team do not want the same things. There are three divisions in our team: Republicans, Democrats and Blue Dogs.
Dogs chase cars and, in our case, coaches. They run along side and bark and bite at the heels of those trying to move the cause ahead. It slows down, stalls and could even stop altogether if some of those horses don’t gather their courage and continue despite the barking and heel biting. Why does this happen? Didn’t “We the People” have our say, vote in Democratic Party control of government and expect things to improve?
Yes, we did. Each one of us, a majority of us, cast our vote for “Change.” Having done that, we sit and we wait and we watch. We may have changed the control of the government by party, but we haven’t yet defeated the influence of money: money that flows for example, in a volume of 1.4 Million Dollars a day to defeat Health Care Reform. Where does that money come from?
Answer: the Health Care industry, the Republican Party and their sub, sub, sub groups they fund. Is that the simple answer? No, because there’s another question. Why are the some of “We the People” so alarmed and scared? Why can’t “We the People” have a discussion at Town Hall meetings all across the country?
Money from special interest groups, the health care and pharmaceutical industries, groups and societies whose funding leads back to the Republican Party, those same special interest groups and health and pharmaceutical industries, pay for commercials that misinform and excite some of We the People. Then, a whole network, Fox News (news in name only) incites and misinforms. Talk radio incites and misinforms with constant references to fascism. Those misinformed and those deliberating misinforming are the dogs biting at the wheels and horses hoofs, trying to stop our coach and our progress. They call it free speech and hide behind that right.
Political contributions cause second thoughts in blue dog Democrats and almost all Republicans. Each politician in office has to run for office every two or six years. That easy money is hard to resist and difficult to disagree with what it represents.
So, instead of Congress investigating the crimes committed by the last administration, instead of reform of the Financial Banking industry that caused a near financial collapse and another Great Depression, instead of passing a Health Care Reform Act that stops insurance companies from denying pre-existing conditions and putting profits before people, (Pay or Die!) instead of pursuing CHANGE that would help “We the People,” we have a government controlled by special interests, industry and money!
This is not what I voted for.
That’s As I See it. . . .
It’s been quite a respite. I have suffered personally from this economic disaster created by conservative, Republican philosophies. (Ever notice that previous staunch Republicans are now saying they are actually more Libertarian? It was also difficult to find anyone who voted for Nixon after he was disgraced. Before that disgrace, it was hard to find anyone who wasn’t a Nixon supporter.)
I want to pursue my team-of-horses metaphor. The team is now loaded with left leaning, people oriented horses and they are starting to pull the coach toward the center. The Democrats have passed a Recovery Act, pulling us away from the edge of another Republican caused Depression. Republicans can only unanimously vote against it, criticize it and then partake of it by exploiting the advantages to their states that “they” have somehow secured. All without giving credit to the recovery act which is funding that very same project.
As the team makes its way back to some sort of center path through the wilderness of the future, pushing to be progressive with their choices, they discover that some on their team do not want the same things. There are three divisions in our team: Republicans, Democrats and Blue Dogs.
Dogs chase cars and, in our case, coaches. They run along side and bark and bite at the heels of those trying to move the cause ahead. It slows down, stalls and could even stop altogether if some of those horses don’t gather their courage and continue despite the barking and heel biting. Why does this happen? Didn’t “We the People” have our say, vote in Democratic Party control of government and expect things to improve?
Yes, we did. Each one of us, a majority of us, cast our vote for “Change.” Having done that, we sit and we wait and we watch. We may have changed the control of the government by party, but we haven’t yet defeated the influence of money: money that flows for example, in a volume of 1.4 Million Dollars a day to defeat Health Care Reform. Where does that money come from?
Answer: the Health Care industry, the Republican Party and their sub, sub, sub groups they fund. Is that the simple answer? No, because there’s another question. Why are the some of “We the People” so alarmed and scared? Why can’t “We the People” have a discussion at Town Hall meetings all across the country?
Money from special interest groups, the health care and pharmaceutical industries, groups and societies whose funding leads back to the Republican Party, those same special interest groups and health and pharmaceutical industries, pay for commercials that misinform and excite some of We the People. Then, a whole network, Fox News (news in name only) incites and misinforms. Talk radio incites and misinforms with constant references to fascism. Those misinformed and those deliberating misinforming are the dogs biting at the wheels and horses hoofs, trying to stop our coach and our progress. They call it free speech and hide behind that right.
Political contributions cause second thoughts in blue dog Democrats and almost all Republicans. Each politician in office has to run for office every two or six years. That easy money is hard to resist and difficult to disagree with what it represents.
So, instead of Congress investigating the crimes committed by the last administration, instead of reform of the Financial Banking industry that caused a near financial collapse and another Great Depression, instead of passing a Health Care Reform Act that stops insurance companies from denying pre-existing conditions and putting profits before people, (Pay or Die!) instead of pursuing CHANGE that would help “We the People,” we have a government controlled by special interests, industry and money!
This is not what I voted for.
That’s As I See it. . . .
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Left v Right on my Team of Horses . . .
In my last blog, I likened Bi-partisanship to a team of horses all pulling the same load in the same direction. That would be ideal. The challenge, however, is that neither side of the team (left v right) really wants to pull in the compromised direction. Each side wants to pull the load in their chosen, partisan direction.
The result is that the “coach” ends up traveling in a zigzag fashion as one side gains strength over the other and pulls in their direction. Then the other side gains strength, and on it goes. This zigzag pattern pulls us eventually through time to where we are now.
In the last cycle, (a very long Zig) the right side pulled us far to the right starting all the way back to Reagan. The left at first worked with the new direction, compromising and assisting. But as it got more and more radical, the left worked diligently to prevent the worst of such philosophy. The coach is now so deeply off the path of Bi-partisanship that the whole country is hurting, mired in debt, moving slowly and passengers are unsure of the way back.
Some of the things the left was able to prevent were the elimination of the Estate tax, the elimination of the Capital Gains tax and decreasing the Corporate tax. I think I heard an audible gasp through my computer. Yes, I AM serious! Think about it for a moment. Not with the partisan mind warping done by the right in the last twenty-nine years but with your rational brain.
How many readers of this blog are actually susceptible to any of those three taxes? I don’t know anyone wealthy enough to pay an Estate tax. I don’t know any leaders of industry that would pay a corporate tax. Since the middle class has decreased so dramatically under the influence of the right, there are not many left in the middle class that worry about a Capitol Gains tax.
Yet, these are the three taxes that the radical right propose to get us out of this mire and yet apply only to the very wealthy. Newt Gingrich said, “And we have three big things. First, we have zero capital gains. We eliminate the capital gains tax, which is the same as China and Singapore. Second, we go to the Irish corporate tax level, which is 12 and half percent. And third, we make permanent eliminating the death tax, so that small businesses and family-owned businesses aren’t threatened by the IRS when somebody passes away. Let me mention briefly on capital gains, cause it’s a new, bold idea.”
A “Bold new idea?” I don’t think so! It’s the same old strategy they have been using since Reagan. Notice how he calls an Estate tax a “Death Tax?” It’s the right’s way of sound-bite diplomacy to convince the public to vote against their own best interest. By calling it a death tax, it makes it sound unfair and unreasonable. In actuality, the Estate tax affects a very few who have exceeding wealth. Anyone wealthy enough to pay Estate taxes have enough lawyers and advisers to be able to protect their best interests and preserve their wealth. You and I don’t have that access and we don’t pay that tax.
The rights only answer to a sound-bite, created-for-media unfairness is to eliminate it. There are other ways to make things fair. If the level at which the Estate Tax kicks in is too low, then adjust the level with an inflationary calculation. Don’t eliminate the tax.
Will the right’s solutions get us out of the mess they created? NO! It’s what got us here! There will be more on this later.
That’s As I See it . . .
In my last blog, I likened Bi-partisanship to a team of horses all pulling the same load in the same direction. That would be ideal. The challenge, however, is that neither side of the team (left v right) really wants to pull in the compromised direction. Each side wants to pull the load in their chosen, partisan direction.
The result is that the “coach” ends up traveling in a zigzag fashion as one side gains strength over the other and pulls in their direction. Then the other side gains strength, and on it goes. This zigzag pattern pulls us eventually through time to where we are now.
In the last cycle, (a very long Zig) the right side pulled us far to the right starting all the way back to Reagan. The left at first worked with the new direction, compromising and assisting. But as it got more and more radical, the left worked diligently to prevent the worst of such philosophy. The coach is now so deeply off the path of Bi-partisanship that the whole country is hurting, mired in debt, moving slowly and passengers are unsure of the way back.
Some of the things the left was able to prevent were the elimination of the Estate tax, the elimination of the Capital Gains tax and decreasing the Corporate tax. I think I heard an audible gasp through my computer. Yes, I AM serious! Think about it for a moment. Not with the partisan mind warping done by the right in the last twenty-nine years but with your rational brain.
How many readers of this blog are actually susceptible to any of those three taxes? I don’t know anyone wealthy enough to pay an Estate tax. I don’t know any leaders of industry that would pay a corporate tax. Since the middle class has decreased so dramatically under the influence of the right, there are not many left in the middle class that worry about a Capitol Gains tax.
Yet, these are the three taxes that the radical right propose to get us out of this mire and yet apply only to the very wealthy. Newt Gingrich said, “And we have three big things. First, we have zero capital gains. We eliminate the capital gains tax, which is the same as China and Singapore. Second, we go to the Irish corporate tax level, which is 12 and half percent. And third, we make permanent eliminating the death tax, so that small businesses and family-owned businesses aren’t threatened by the IRS when somebody passes away. Let me mention briefly on capital gains, cause it’s a new, bold idea.”
A “Bold new idea?” I don’t think so! It’s the same old strategy they have been using since Reagan. Notice how he calls an Estate tax a “Death Tax?” It’s the right’s way of sound-bite diplomacy to convince the public to vote against their own best interest. By calling it a death tax, it makes it sound unfair and unreasonable. In actuality, the Estate tax affects a very few who have exceeding wealth. Anyone wealthy enough to pay Estate taxes have enough lawyers and advisers to be able to protect their best interests and preserve their wealth. You and I don’t have that access and we don’t pay that tax.
The rights only answer to a sound-bite, created-for-media unfairness is to eliminate it. There are other ways to make things fair. If the level at which the Estate Tax kicks in is too low, then adjust the level with an inflationary calculation. Don’t eliminate the tax.
Will the right’s solutions get us out of the mess they created? NO! It’s what got us here! There will be more on this later.
That’s As I See it . . .
Saturday, February 14, 2009
TEAM OF HORSES OR TUG OF WAR?
I think a fair analogy to make about Bi-partisanship and Partisanship would be to imagine a team of horses. You can imagine the Liberal/Progressive/Democratic horses on the left side of the team and the Conservative/Republican horses on the right side of the team. Let’s imagine them pulling a stagecoach like I used to watch in old TV westerns. That would be Bi-partisanship. Yes, we have different points of view but we are pulling in the same direction for the good of the stagecoach. We work together for a common destination, each member putting in effort.
Now picture a group summer picnic with its potato salads, chips, burgers and dogs and for entertainment, a tug of war game. After everyone has had a fill of the salad, grilled burgers or hot dogs, the game begins. In this type of game it becomes about winning. The goal is to defeat your opponent, or the other “team” in this case of tug of war. I can picture the teams struggling with all their might, straining on the rope to pull the other team to their side and thereby win the match. They sometimes make it interesting by putting a mud hole to pull the opponent into.
Which type of game do you want our Congress to play? I want the team of horses, pulling our country toward a goal of prosperity for all. Obama has been fulfilling a campaign promise to try and make Washington more functional, to make a cabinet of both Republicans and Democrats. He has been attempting to do that and at present has two Republicans there. He has reached out his hand of cooperation. He has traveled to the Congress to meet with Republicans and get their ideas. He invited conservative pundits to the White House for drinks to get their views and impress upon them the importance to this country of Bi-partisanship and with what result?
That hand of friendship and Bi-partisanship has been slapped, ignored, ridiculed and even insulted by those “tug of war” Republicans. Still, Obama has not given up. I believe he will continue with his extended hand diplomacy, but perhaps with a bit more discretion. What will be the result of the continued Republican stubbornness?
We the People should be watching this interplay very closely. Our future and the future of this country are at stake. If Republicans continue their lock-step opposition to efforts at making this country sound, they will continue to loose elections. If We the People don’t pay attention, they may win this Tug-of-War! And then what will happen to our nation?
I can see that symbolic team of horses now; the horses on the right keep pulling right to lead the team. The horses on the left keep countering the pull and pulling forward. The left horses only recently became successful because there are now more of them. But it hasn’t changed the tactics of the horses on the right. Those horses keep playing tug of war, even when it is in their benefit to pull as a team.
Democrats aren’t innocent in this game. Democrats, I believe, have been trying to get Bi-partisanship but have been conditioned into a tug of war by Republicans. I hope We the People are watching this and vote accordingly. We need a team in Congress expressing valid yet different points of view. We don’t need to continue this Tug-of-War Politics that has been happening for the last 16 years.
That's As I See It . . .
I think a fair analogy to make about Bi-partisanship and Partisanship would be to imagine a team of horses. You can imagine the Liberal/Progressive/Democratic horses on the left side of the team and the Conservative/Republican horses on the right side of the team. Let’s imagine them pulling a stagecoach like I used to watch in old TV westerns. That would be Bi-partisanship. Yes, we have different points of view but we are pulling in the same direction for the good of the stagecoach. We work together for a common destination, each member putting in effort.
Now picture a group summer picnic with its potato salads, chips, burgers and dogs and for entertainment, a tug of war game. After everyone has had a fill of the salad, grilled burgers or hot dogs, the game begins. In this type of game it becomes about winning. The goal is to defeat your opponent, or the other “team” in this case of tug of war. I can picture the teams struggling with all their might, straining on the rope to pull the other team to their side and thereby win the match. They sometimes make it interesting by putting a mud hole to pull the opponent into.
Which type of game do you want our Congress to play? I want the team of horses, pulling our country toward a goal of prosperity for all. Obama has been fulfilling a campaign promise to try and make Washington more functional, to make a cabinet of both Republicans and Democrats. He has been attempting to do that and at present has two Republicans there. He has reached out his hand of cooperation. He has traveled to the Congress to meet with Republicans and get their ideas. He invited conservative pundits to the White House for drinks to get their views and impress upon them the importance to this country of Bi-partisanship and with what result?
That hand of friendship and Bi-partisanship has been slapped, ignored, ridiculed and even insulted by those “tug of war” Republicans. Still, Obama has not given up. I believe he will continue with his extended hand diplomacy, but perhaps with a bit more discretion. What will be the result of the continued Republican stubbornness?
We the People should be watching this interplay very closely. Our future and the future of this country are at stake. If Republicans continue their lock-step opposition to efforts at making this country sound, they will continue to loose elections. If We the People don’t pay attention, they may win this Tug-of-War! And then what will happen to our nation?
I can see that symbolic team of horses now; the horses on the right keep pulling right to lead the team. The horses on the left keep countering the pull and pulling forward. The left horses only recently became successful because there are now more of them. But it hasn’t changed the tactics of the horses on the right. Those horses keep playing tug of war, even when it is in their benefit to pull as a team.
Democrats aren’t innocent in this game. Democrats, I believe, have been trying to get Bi-partisanship but have been conditioned into a tug of war by Republicans. I hope We the People are watching this and vote accordingly. We need a team in Congress expressing valid yet different points of view. We don’t need to continue this Tug-of-War Politics that has been happening for the last 16 years.
That's As I See It . . .
Friday, January 30, 2009
I Disagree with our New President. . .
It didn’t take long before I found something to disagree with. It has always been my intention with this blog to be a discerning blogger, unafraid to voice disagreement with whom ever is in charge.
Obama’s recent efforts at reaching out to the Republicans are commendable. At first my belief was to just discount them and get done what We-the-People want. Republicans and their Conservative philosophy have been running this country for eight years. Look where it has gotten us. (Truthfully, the Conservatives have been running this country since Reagan, 1980; but that’s a different blog).
What is interesting to me is how the Republicans now say they have a plan for stimulating the country that will produce twice as many jobs and cost half as much. They, of course, announce this after the bill goes through the House and have not revealed any details of their “plan.” Their “plan” is merely a continuation of “Tax Cuts” that have not worked. Let’s see now . . , What was that definition of insanity? Oh yeah; keep doing the same failed task and expect different results!
Simply put, the Republicans are just being Obstructionists. With their lips they say they want Obama to succeed and with their efforts they are trying to make the country fail. “In confusion there is opportunity for wealth”. And Conservatives want opportunity to continue. I truly believe they want this country divided into the extremely wealthy and the extremely impoverished.
The Conservative, Republican strategy will fail. Since We-the-People have expressed our desire for the Congress to get something done and move this country forward, Obama has made an effort to “reach across the aisle” to get Republican support for an American Recovery Project. Republicans hold to their hardcore beliefs and slap that hand. When this country begins to recover, (and it will), what will Republicans say then? Watch how they jump on the bandwagon, forget their obstructionists ways and make it sound like they were always working for the country’s benefit.
I admire Obama for his efforts although I wish he had not removed some of the details from the recovery bill that he did. The People will realize that he is doing what he promised and is making honest effort to help the country. Republicans will be seen to be the obstructionists they are! But that is not what I disagree with Obama about. I voted for his judgment, his careful consideration of solutions and his ability to bring people together. So I choose to trust that judgment and let him do it his way.
What I disagree with Obama about is the Super Bowl. I will be backing the Arizona Cardinals!
And that;s As I See It. . .
It didn’t take long before I found something to disagree with. It has always been my intention with this blog to be a discerning blogger, unafraid to voice disagreement with whom ever is in charge.
Obama’s recent efforts at reaching out to the Republicans are commendable. At first my belief was to just discount them and get done what We-the-People want. Republicans and their Conservative philosophy have been running this country for eight years. Look where it has gotten us. (Truthfully, the Conservatives have been running this country since Reagan, 1980; but that’s a different blog).
What is interesting to me is how the Republicans now say they have a plan for stimulating the country that will produce twice as many jobs and cost half as much. They, of course, announce this after the bill goes through the House and have not revealed any details of their “plan.” Their “plan” is merely a continuation of “Tax Cuts” that have not worked. Let’s see now . . , What was that definition of insanity? Oh yeah; keep doing the same failed task and expect different results!
Simply put, the Republicans are just being Obstructionists. With their lips they say they want Obama to succeed and with their efforts they are trying to make the country fail. “In confusion there is opportunity for wealth”. And Conservatives want opportunity to continue. I truly believe they want this country divided into the extremely wealthy and the extremely impoverished.
The Conservative, Republican strategy will fail. Since We-the-People have expressed our desire for the Congress to get something done and move this country forward, Obama has made an effort to “reach across the aisle” to get Republican support for an American Recovery Project. Republicans hold to their hardcore beliefs and slap that hand. When this country begins to recover, (and it will), what will Republicans say then? Watch how they jump on the bandwagon, forget their obstructionists ways and make it sound like they were always working for the country’s benefit.
I admire Obama for his efforts although I wish he had not removed some of the details from the recovery bill that he did. The People will realize that he is doing what he promised and is making honest effort to help the country. Republicans will be seen to be the obstructionists they are! But that is not what I disagree with Obama about. I voted for his judgment, his careful consideration of solutions and his ability to bring people together. So I choose to trust that judgment and let him do it his way.
What I disagree with Obama about is the Super Bowl. I will be backing the Arizona Cardinals!
And that;s As I See It. . .
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