The New Republican Solution. Tax The Poor!

    Just when I think I have heard the stupidest solutions to our economy, some fool steps up and reminds me that we can sink even lower. Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, actually stood on the Senate floor yesterday and advocated the idea that we should look to the poor and working poor in order to solve our problems. He talked about the top 1% pays 38% of the taxes. What he fails to mention is that top elite group may pay a large amount of our total taxes, but they make so much money and yet their proportionate share is very small. In other words they still have huge amounts of money left over after paying taxes. So "snake oil" salesman, Mr. Hatch decided that the poor need to make up the difference and pay more in taxes.
    The working poor in this country are people that go out to work every day. They may even work two jobs to make ends meet, but because of low wages they are never able to get ahead. Think about this for a moment. People work full time jobs, but live below the poverty level. How is this possible? To find the answer, just look at the profit sheet of the large corporations in America. How do they keep profits so high? They pay Americans 8 to 12 dollars an hour. They ship jobs overseas, where the rate is even lower. They keep profits high by breaking the backs of average people and paying them less then a living wage. Then they pay off the politicians that give them a special tax break and behold enormous profits. Big bonuses for the upper management. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
    Now this would not be such a large problem except that they are selling the idea that we need to reduce the tax burden on the wealthiest and then they will create jobs. They tell us these jobs are well paying. They tell us that we are over regulating and over taxing the. "job creators" and this is the problem we face. To this I say, "BS".  For fifty plus years we have been drinking that Koolaid. For fifty plus years they have cut taxes, deregulate and reduced regulations, that were supposed to then trickle down to the average American and we would all have prosperity. How has this worked out for us? The disparity between the rich and the poor has widened to the greatest level in history. They have convinced middle class Americans that our neighbors are the problem. They have convinced middle class Americans that unions are the problem. They have convinced middle class Americans that higher taxes on wealthy and corporations are the problem. They have convinced middle class Americans that they should lower their expectations, so the richest can enjoy a better life and that soon this money will flow back to us. This is nothing more then the fleecing of middle class Americans.
    What can we do? For openers we can start educating ourselves. We can start looking beyond the one liners and see the facts. We have to get America back to work and by back to work, I mean with good paying jobs. Jobs that pay 15 to 20 dollars an hour and more. Jobs that provide benefits. Jobs that allow the middle class to expand and grow. Jobs that will allow the poor to move up in the economy of America and become part of the solution instead of, part of the problem. Jobs that rebuild America and modernize our country. It is time we start thinking about how to better ourselves. I guarantee that corporate America is more then happy if we continue with the direction we are going. They will continue to reap big profits and the middle class will continue to shrink. They laugh at the inability of Americans to work together for the improvement of all.
    We can start to turn the conversation from them to us. Start by sending this blog to everyone you know. Talk to your neighbors, fellow workers, church members, family and anyone else that you associate with. Move articles like this one to everyone. Take up the task to help educate those around you. Call out our political leaders and ask them, why they support special interests instead of working for you. Call out our corporate leaders and ask why are they sending American jobs to other countries and why are they finding ways to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Call out the people around you and ask, why are the settling for less then what they deserve. Once again I am asking you to send this to others you know and get them moving.
    Corporate America and the wealthy elite rely on one premise. The American people have to continue buying their propaganda. Once we realize that this is all smoke and mirrors, they are out of business. They have brainwashed us into believing that what is best for them is best for us. It is not! Anyone, who knows me, knows that I am an optimist. I believe the best days are still in front of America. I know that given the choice Americans will meet the challenge and do the right thing. At this point in our history we need leadership more then anything else. We need to have a direction and a vision for us to strive toward. Unfortunately at this point in our history it is the one thing we are lacking. We then have to provide it for ourselves. We have to have that vision and direction so we can move forward. We cannot wait for our so called leaders, Republican or Democrats, we have to lead. So my advise my fellow Americans, is simple and direct. Start leading. It begins with you. Remember one voice can change the world. Be that voice.      

Joan Says If You Don't Agree With Me Shutup!

   I saw some statements on Face Book yesterday through a friend and of course I responded with my opinion. After a couple of back and forth statements, I invited the group to also come onto this blog and have more discussion. The lady that had started, with her own wrong statements, then blocked me from further responses. She stated that since I disagreed with her, I was blind and she did not want any left wing advertisements on her face book.
    Well Joan if you have the nerve, our if any of the other people involved want to hear a different opinion, here it is. You are the greatest threat to our Constitution. Ignorance and a closed mind. You feel that the only way to address a difference is to shut people up. I happen to feel that the only way we can solve our differences is to allow them to have a voice, even if we disagree. Oh wait isn't that a foundation to our Constitution. She not only accused me of being blind but also anyone that would dare to not follow her logic.  My friend and the publisher of SOG Oracle, Jon, wrote last week about the movement to fire Pat Buchanan from MSNBC. He stated very well the point that we all have a Constitutional right to speak and that even if we strongly disagree we should not silence them. I feel the same way about Rush, Glen, Sarah, Michelle, etc. They have a right and I should not try and silence them and neither should you. The first Amendment to the Constitution gives us this right. Too many times when people disagree with someone they try and shut them off. Why? Are they afraid they may find an area they can agree on? Are they afraid they may learn something, they didn't know before? Oh, perish the thought. We may learn something from someone and actually expand our knowledge. Well Joan you made it clear that Democrats are on the same level as street vermin, but you know what. I would rather live with that vermin then live in a country run by bigoted, small minded, uneducated people like you. Stay in your own little world, but while you remain ignorant, the rest of us will learn from each other. While you and your type regress, the rest of us will move forward. There is no doubt that in my mind the greatest threat to the American Constitution is people like you.

Congressman Joe Walsh Republican from Illinois should resign NOW!!!

    Tea Party favorite Joe Walsh from Illinois is violating a federal parental support law and needs to resign from Congress. A few months ago many people, including myself, stated that Rep Anthony Weiner from N.Y. should resign over the lies he stated when he was caught up in an online photo scandal. Weiner stepped down amid harsh rhetoric from all sides. He had lost the trust of the people.
    Joe Walsh has not only violated the trust of the people, he has broken the same federal laws he is supposed to uphold. Walsh is being sued for back child support in the amount of  $117,000. Of course right on schedule, his Tea Party supporters are claiming this is nothing more than a political attack. Let me see if I have this correct. A Congressman sends pictures of himself in his under ware to an adult. Does not break any laws and is hounded into resigning. Another Congressman fails to pay child support and violates federal law and yet it is nothing more then a political attack. Walsh is nothing more then a sleazy, deadbeat Dad. he cares more about himself then the children he fathered. He is a law breaker and we do not need people like him in the halls of Congress.  Where is the Republican outrage over this? Where is the Tea Party outrage over this?  I understand that we have an economic crisis at this time, however last week Congressman Wu, a Democrat, from Oregon resigned because he had made unwanted sexual advances. The difference in both cases are that the two that resigned were Democrats and Walsh is a Republican. When I stated, Weiner must resign, I noted that when Republicans were entangled in scandals, they were permitted to stay on for longer periods of time and this is unfair. I am stating emphatically, Joe Walsh is a criminal, both legally and morally and the time to resign is now.   
     

What Are We Leaving To Our Children and Grandchildren? NOTHING!

I am constantly hearing politicians state that we are leaving our children and grandchildren an enormous debt to deal with. They really don't care about future generations, they only care about the wealth and power they can accumulate for themselves. What we are leaving for the next group of Americans is, a once proud and great country, that has been destroyed and brought to it's knees by greed corruption and the inability to accomplish something that will benefit all Americans. The, "me", generation is leaving, an uneducated society, an infrastructure that is collapsing around us, corporations that do not make anything of value, prevalent greed, pollution, an inability to think, an attitude of defeatism, no sense of national pride, debt and, maybe worse of all, no leadership and direction on how to accomplish the big things we need, in order to regain our place in the world's economies.  We sit and wring our collective hands, just as our leaders do, waiting for someone else to devise a solution. While we sit, China is fast becoming the dominate force around the world. We are losing the economic war and instead of attacking the source of this war, we fight between each other. The communists in China are accomplishing what the Soviet Union failed to do and they are doing it with our help. Yes, we are helping with our money, but more importantly we are helping them by forgetting how to accomplish anything. We have spent months arguing about whether we should pay for the money we have spent, instead of focusing on solutions to create good paying jobs. Raise the God Damn debt ceiling and then let's start putting America back to work.
  Start by doing to China the same thing they do to us. Make it too expensive for companies to build in China and export to America. Give incentives to companies, who manufacture here and sell it at a decent profit, as long as they use American workers and pay them good wages and benefits. We could help these companies, by having health care that is not tied to our jobs. This would decrease the cost of benefits. Look at all trade agreements and if it does not benefit the American worker, we do not honor it. Give workers a real and fair opportunity to join unions and have collective bargaining. Give power and a voice back to workers, not to the corporations, that make huge profits off of our sweat and sacrifices. Look at regulation and make common sense approaches, to clean air and water. Make the regulations fit the industry and work for the good of American people, not to create loopholes for payoffs and corruption.
   We have to start campaign finance reform that will get the corruption out of our political process. No more private money, period. We could have public money and each candidate will get the same amount to run for an office. They can learn to live within their means and budget money based in this way. If you are elected or work for a politician, you will not be able to work for lobbyist. We need people to lobby for a particular point of view, however, we need the loudest voice for the average American. For too long our voices have been the silent ones.
    Tax reform will also have to be addressed. NO MORE LOOPHOLES!!!!! We should first eliminate the loopholes for everyone. Corporations and individuals. Then leave rates where they are for the time being and use the money, explicitly for paying off the national debt. Once the debt is paid off we will, first, build a surplus, then look at scaling back rates, however we will always leave a little something for savings.
    The only changes to Social Security is to eliminate the cut off point for high wage earners. If you receive a paycheck you will pay SS tax on the entire amount you make per year. If we have to, in order to preserve future generation's Social Security, we will have small increases to our payroll taxes for this purpose. Remember once we pay off the debt taxes will go down, so this will be offset. I do not want to hear about taxing and spending, this is for average Americans. We can adjust the age to receive benefits as the life expectancy increases, however we will keep in mind what type of work someone does before we move their retirement ages back. If you are like me and spent most of your time in an office, and are in good health, the age can be pushed back a couple of years. If on the other hand, you worked as a coal miner that age can be brought forward. See, common sense and fairness. It would work.
   We will look at education and infrastructure. We will examine our schools and start the process of changing them from a test taking environment to a place of learning. We will show our children and young people how to think and develop, instead of teaching for some achievement test. From early learning straight through college or technical school, we will spend what ever we need to once again become the highest educated people on the planet. we will leave no stone unturned until this is accomplished and maintained.
   We need to place people in jobs that rebuild our roads, electrical grids, high speed rail, mass transit, schools, bridges, dams, energy systems and every other infrastructure project we can think of. We need to rebuild America. This will provide high paying jobs that will provide higher tax revenues, that will create more jobs to supply the new homes, cars, furniture, appliances, electronics and all other items we need for modern life.  
   What are the alternatives? We could continue this downward trend until we become an after thought in the world. We can abdicate our position to China and acknowledge that Communism is the way to lead. We can become a third world nation and look for handouts from other countries. You decide. This is my vision and it only scratches the surface of ideas I have. What is your vision. In the days to come I will talk about ways we can work to change our visions to reality. Until then, get pissed off about our current direction and decide to work toward a new and better America for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.

Economic Terrorists

I have only one thing to say about the Tea Party members in Congress. They are the equivalent of economic terrorists. They have demanded that either everything goes the way they want or they will drive the entire country off the cliff and dash it on the rocky coast below. They are standing by as our 401k's shrink. The jobs they promised are not appearing because THEY have placed such uncertainty on the businesses of America. The spectre of a collapsing American economy has not made them rethink their position. It is their way or chaos. Simply put if we default the interest rate will increase and we will then owe several trillion dollars more in debt. The very thing they say they will fight, debt, we increase because of their stupidity. Remember the "cold war". Everyone decided that if their was mutual destruction, nobody would pull the trigger. Well guess what the Tea Party folks are more then willing to pull that trigger and set off the destruction of the country they pretend to love.  While the Tea Party is out to destroy America the Republicans are the willing accomplices. They voted to have a law that will only allow tax increases if a two thirds majority votes to do so. On the other hand they can cut spending on programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid with only a fifty percent majority. This should tell you all you need to know about the Republicans and Tea Party. They will protect the millionaires and billionaires, Oh I am sorry according to the people on the right, they are job creators. They will cut from middle class Americans, oh wait again, we are the entitlement people. We feel that we should get all this money from Social Security, even though we have paid into it for 40 or 50 years. What should happen is every member of Congress, who voted for this piece of garbage bill, should resign. There is no longer a pretense by the right, about who they support. They have sold out the American people  to the highest bidder. That bidder is the wealthy elite. We should make note of who voted for this bill tonight and make sure they never get elected to another office in this country. Are they economic terrorist? Absolutely!

Brace Yourself The New Revolution Is Coming.

Just to be clear, I am not some wild, eyed socialistic, crazed lunatic. At least I don't think I am, but let me also be clear that a new revolution is coming and it is coming far quicker then most people believe. The widening gulf between the haves and the have nots, will lead to social unrest. The elite and corporate leaders, the members of Congress, and even the President, should understand that while they play the fiddle, America is burning. Fifty plus years and the average worker has lost ground, while the wealthy have made huge gains. A free and Democratic society cannot be supported by a few aristocrats. The strength in our America lies in the ability for average people to have and obtain a higher standard of living. In America today that is not possible.
I watched with amazement as people stood up in Middle Eastern countries and demanded fairness. Fairness in economic standings. The average person, no matter which country they are from, wants the opportunity to work hard and to be paid a fair, living wage, for their effort. They know when the deck is stacked against them and cannot abide by the fact that people at the top accumulate vast amounts of wealth and do not pay a fair portion of taxes and more importantly, do not create jobs and growth opportunities for others. The average person wants their children to have a better life then they had themselves. They know this can only be achieved by education. Again they see how the elite have those education opportunities for their children, while the average child is denied. How long do you think we can stand by and watch as our country is swallowed by greed and indifference? How long can the average person watch as corporations continue to rake in huge profits and yet they create no jobs and what jobs they do create are either overseas or lower paying? How long can we watch our, so called leaders, hand out money for corporate welfare, while they tell us we are a drain on the economy, when we demand to receive our small Social Security checks, which we have contributed to. How long can we sit on the sidelines and observe the stripping of all wealth from the average person to shift it to the wealthiest people.
The answer is not for long. Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, a Democrat and former national security advisor to president Carter, stated that the social unrest will expand as people seek resolution to our economic problems. Joe Scarborough of "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, a conservative, former Republican, lawmaker agrees that we must address the social issues that are coming forward because of the disparity in wealth. A new Pew Study, states that we now have the greatest gap between the wealthiest and the poorest in the history of our nation. All of this points to one thing. People will take to the streets in order to get some sense of fairness. It happened in the Middle East, it happened in Europe and it will happen here in the United States. We fought before to lift the yolk of oppression, and make no mistake about it, we have become an oppressed society again. The answer is to find fair and honest solutions that will create opportunities to every American citizen. To ignore this, in the way that the Republicans, the Tea Party members, the elite, the corporation and to some extent the Democrats, will lead to chaos and the demise of America. Wake up Americans. Get off your asses and tell, not ask, your Congress and President and leaders to make the American way of life a reality again. To do nothing will lead to revolution and destruction. I would hope that we would come together and make peaceful solutions, but I am willing to what I have to in order to secure the rights and freedoms of all Americans. The choice is ours.

Why I Hate Tea Partiers, Republicans, Corporations and Elite.

Every person has some of their own self interest in mind as they go about their daily living, but the Tea Party members and politicians, the Conservative Republicans, corporate leaders and the wealthy elite has nothing but their own interest in mind as they look at federal problems. No where do they understand or care about the effect of their mindless chant, "no taxes", on the people of this country. When asked about Social Security and Medicare the seniors in the Tea Party movement say , no way on touching theses programs. Corporations cry about health care costs, but disappeared when it came time to have a national program. They are sitting on over two trillion dollars in cash and yet hiring Americans and paying them a living wage is not in their vocabulary. The elite sit on their piles of money and complain about the market reaction to problems, but scream if we talk about a modest increase in their taxes, to pay down the debt. The Republicans take pledges to never raise taxes and stand by this even if it makes no sense to do so. As if a politician never promises one thing to get elected and does something else after they are in office. All of the above I disagree with these groups on, but this is not why I hate them. I hate them because of what they are doing to real people.
     During the last election all the talk was about, jobs. Well, where are the jobs? We have attacks on women's rights. We have attacks on gays. We have attacks on teachers. We have attacks on unions, that represent average American workers. We have attacks on the social programs that make the difference of whether people live with dignity or they die in despair. The list goes on, but nowhere are there any new, well paying jobs, so people can go to work, hold their heads up high and have some small slice of the American dream.
     The poverty level for families increased from 9.3% in 2000 to 9.7% now. Children in poverty went from 15.6% to 18.5%. For Black and Hispanic children the rate is over 30%. These are real people that are suffering and yet we argue between ourselves about saving corporate welfare and act as if that is more important then education. The poverty levels will continue to increase unless we reverse the process and start investing in the people of America. We have let the companies and the elite have a free ride for far to long. We have to get serious about changing our social safety net for the rich. That is right we have to eliminate the safety net for the most elite among us, the wealthy. They have fed off the average American for over fifty years and it is pay back time. The people that say the tax increase will keep companies from creating jobs have it backwards. We have to increase taxes and use it to create jobs. The federal government must start and build rapid train systems, linking the entire country. They must place mass transit systems in every city. Our bridges and roads are falling apart and need to be updated. Our electrical grid is antiquated and is in need of serious modernization. Our water delivery pipes, sewers and clean water plants need repairs and updates. We need to find, develop and build new, clean and safe energy systems. All of this HAS to be started and funded by the Federal Government. The private companies need to get on board and help, but this has to be driven by government. The alternative is that we will become a follower, behind China and other industrial countries. We will become a second rate nation. We will become more dependent on government. If people made living wages and paid their fair share of taxes, we would go back to a strong middle class, driven economy. This is what made us the envy of the rest of the world.
    This is why I hate the groups I mentioned above. They are narrow minded. They are not educated on the economy. They are self interested. They are driving America to it's death. They have to become aware that it is an entire country that is at stake here, not just them. We are in this fight together. We have to stop blaming the average American for the current financial mess. They have to realize that the problem is at the top and the changes have to come from the top. My friend Jon R. on his entertaining and informative blog, "The SOG Oracle" wrote an enlightening post the other day. I invite each of you to link onto the blog and read it. For the tea parties, the elite, the corporation, and the conservative republicans I have this warning. I will not give in. I and many more like me will continue to speak out until people learn to understand that you are the ones that have to change. The American people are weary, but,  just when you think they are done, they will rise up and demand and fight for all that is fair and right. So be prepared, we are just getting started, we are coming after you. We will turn out at the polls and vote for leaders until they finally fight for us. We will win and take back America, for all of us, not just for a select few.  So BEWARE.  Here we come!