Sixty-five is the magic number. I have a Medicare card. Yes. I have been without insurance for 17 years. I consider insurance companies another form of organized crime. Therefore, I have refused to give them any of my money. I have paid for my medical needs, which included a major surgery and the spin-off from a broken back, and I am way ahead of the economic game.
There are those who are attempting to cut back on "entitlements." Certainly, I believe our health-care needs can be provided with simple, basic, good medicine, without all the expensive toys. MRIs and CAT scans have their place but not with the frequency they are currently used.
I am one of the 99 percent. I have paid into Medicare for forty-seven years, and I will continue to pay into it. If the government had put a lock on Medicare and Social Security revenues, as President Clinton suggested, our nation's finances would have a different complexion.
The last President Bush drained our nation's funds into the pockets of the wealthy and gave them tax deductions galore. In the name of "terrorism," this president began two wars and created a staggering national debt, in the neighborhood of $14-to-17 trillion.
Now the wealthy 1 percent want to keep their "entitlements," lower taxes, and cut Social Security benefits. I hope everyone realizes that $4.6 trillion of the national debt is owed to Social Security.
I support the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. It is time to level the playing field, and I celebrate being 65 and having Medicare.
Showing posts with label Republicans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Republicans. Show all posts
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
PALIN AND BACHMANN
Poorly informed,
Irrational,
Flapping mouths,
Embarrassment to their gender,
On a bright note,
They'll fragment the 2012 Republican ticket,
However,
Recalcitrant congressional members of that tribe,
Have already thoroughly pissed in their Wheaties,
In this case,
Not the breakfast of champions
Addendum: This piece was originally written about Sarah Palin, but the Tea Partiers have expanded their stable of equally odious candidates.
Irrational,
Flapping mouths,
Embarrassment to their gender,
On a bright note,
They'll fragment the 2012 Republican ticket,
However,
Recalcitrant congressional members of that tribe,
Have already thoroughly pissed in their Wheaties,
In this case,
Not the breakfast of champions
Addendum: This piece was originally written about Sarah Palin, but the Tea Partiers have expanded their stable of equally odious candidates.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
HEADED TOWARD NASHVILLE
Gaylords have bastardized the Opry,
Just like my home state.
Plastered their name all over the place,
Like they owned us,
They do own a lot of Oklahoma stock,
Including the newspaper.
Stinks before the fish hit it,
Republican rag,
Feeds you lies,
While they steal you blind,
Something's real wrong,
With a family needing that much money.
Just like my home state.
Plastered their name all over the place,
Like they owned us,
They do own a lot of Oklahoma stock,
Including the newspaper.
Stinks before the fish hit it,
Republican rag,
Feeds you lies,
While they steal you blind,
Something's real wrong,
With a family needing that much money.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
GRAFT OR LOBBYING, IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE?
General Electric, the nation's largest corporation, has a "giant tax department" and employs former IRS and Treasury Department officials and former members of Congressional tax-writing committees. Of course, these "employees" have knowledge on many levels and very powerful political connections. Then you add to this mix, millions of dollars for "lobbying," and what do you have? Tax loopholes to G.E.'s advantage.(1)
Since 2002, G.E. has eliminated a fifth of its U.S. workforce and moved the jobs overseas. During that time, G.E.'s offshore profits have risen from $15 billion to $92 billion, with no tax paid on funds kept "offshore."(2)
In 2010, G.E. made $14.2 billion in world-wide profits, but its tax bill was zero. In fact, G.E. claimed $3.2 billion in tax credits, which leaves the average American worker to shoulder the nation's tax burden.(3)
With Wall Street's shenanigans and high U.S. unemployment over the last two years, Americans have lost jobs, homes, savings and sometimes their lives.
When a U.S. citizen purchases items in Target, Walmart, Hobby Lobby or any large U.S. corporate chain, over 90% of the goods are manufactured abroad, usually in Asia or the Middle East, occasionally in South America or Africa.
These manufactured goods are then shipped to the U.S., at an enormous environmental cost, and priced to undercut goods manufactured in the U.S. A hefty carbon tax on products manufactured abroad would help the environment, level the economic playing field and increase U.S.employment.
Eliminating tax loopholes for corporations, would enormously increase Federal tax revenues and fund education and other social services.
G.E. employs "former" political insiders of the IRS, Treasury Department and Congressional tax-writing committees and stacks the deck in its and other corporations favor. Then, you add millions in "lobbying." It sounds like graft to me.
Notes 1-3: New York Times, 3/25/11, A-1,A17.
Since 2002, G.E. has eliminated a fifth of its U.S. workforce and moved the jobs overseas. During that time, G.E.'s offshore profits have risen from $15 billion to $92 billion, with no tax paid on funds kept "offshore."(2)
In 2010, G.E. made $14.2 billion in world-wide profits, but its tax bill was zero. In fact, G.E. claimed $3.2 billion in tax credits, which leaves the average American worker to shoulder the nation's tax burden.(3)
With Wall Street's shenanigans and high U.S. unemployment over the last two years, Americans have lost jobs, homes, savings and sometimes their lives.
When a U.S. citizen purchases items in Target, Walmart, Hobby Lobby or any large U.S. corporate chain, over 90% of the goods are manufactured abroad, usually in Asia or the Middle East, occasionally in South America or Africa.
These manufactured goods are then shipped to the U.S., at an enormous environmental cost, and priced to undercut goods manufactured in the U.S. A hefty carbon tax on products manufactured abroad would help the environment, level the economic playing field and increase U.S.employment.
Eliminating tax loopholes for corporations, would enormously increase Federal tax revenues and fund education and other social services.
G.E. employs "former" political insiders of the IRS, Treasury Department and Congressional tax-writing committees and stacks the deck in its and other corporations favor. Then, you add millions in "lobbying." It sounds like graft to me.
Notes 1-3: New York Times, 3/25/11, A-1,A17.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
PLUTOCRACY
In the United States, we do not have a democracy. We have a plutocracy. Like marionettes, we are controlled by a few very wealthy families and the government officals they influence and/or purchase.
Individuals addicted to money and power have been labeled "triple-A self-aggrandizers" by archaeologist Brian Hayden. Hayden describes triple-As as arrogant, aggressive, acquisitive, alarming and ambitious about getting their way.1
A professor at British Columbia's Simon Fraser University, Hayden realized the rich and the powerful, the triple-As, bent laws, exploited neighbors and seized every little advantage.2
Hayden concluded that "triple-A self-agrandizers have created the world as we know it. But in their other lives as pirates, these same people have caused 90% of the world's problems." In their greed, they "ruin the lives of others, erode society and culture and degrade the environment."3
America's history is rife with triple-As. Economics professor, Robert Heilbroner, stated that America's 19th century robber barons used "deception, violence, kidnapping and extraordinary dishonesty to gain economic power and industrial supremacy. Robber barons bore such names as Astor, Carnegie, Ford, Morgan, Rockefeller and Vanderbilt.
Former President George W. Bush is fourth generation wealth created from the sale of munitions and oil dating back to World War I. As CIA director, vice president and president, one of George H.W. Bush's priorities was U.S. weapons trade and secret arms deals with Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the moujahedeen of Afghanistan. The Bushes' oil interests are heavily invested in the Middle East.
In 1991, as George H.W. Bush's Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney orchestrated the bombing of Iraq in Operation Desert Storm. Many believe this action was aimed at securing U.S. oil interests in the Persian Gulf.
In 1995, Chaney became CEO of the Halliburton Company. After leaving that position, Cheney continued to own shares in the conglomerate and its financial interests in the Balkans, Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea.
In 2005, the U.S. Justice Department made allegations that Halliburton unlawfully received special treatment for work contracts, often no-bid contracts, in Iraq, Kuwait and the Balkans. An example of such favoritism includes Halliburton's $18 billion worth of contracts in Iraq, $7 billion of which went into the building of oil-infrastructures. I doubt that the run-of-the-mill American taxpayer received much benefit from the latter $7 billion.
In 2000, Cheney also sat on the board of Lockheed Martin, the world's largest military contractor and the world's largest arms exporter. No doubt, Cheney had less than altruistic motives for being on the Lockheed board.
No matter the cost in human lives and the viability of the environment and the planet, oil and war are big bucks for the world's triple-A self-aggrandizers.
We have seen the Democratic Clinton administration's federal surplus dissolve into the Republican George W. Bush administration's multi-trillion dollar deficits. To achieve this deficit, Bush gave himself and his cronies tax cuts, engaged the United States in two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, and deregulated banks, Wall Street and other businesses, which resulted in "The Recession" of 2008.
Now, with ultimate gall, these same Republicans, who supported George W. and Cheney, are bouncing up and down about our nation's debt, which they created, and are demanding huge cuts in the federal budget, especially targeting health care, education, Social Security, Medicare and the needs of lower income mothers and children.
On the state level, these Republicans are on a rampage to destroy the collective bargaining power of state unions and to squeeze the middle class into non-existence.
Where do these people get off? Do they have a conscience? Apparently, they do not. Such are the triple-As and the plutocratic governments they spawn.
1. Smithsonian, Blame the Rich, 12/07, 102-109.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
Individuals addicted to money and power have been labeled "triple-A self-aggrandizers" by archaeologist Brian Hayden. Hayden describes triple-As as arrogant, aggressive, acquisitive, alarming and ambitious about getting their way.1
A professor at British Columbia's Simon Fraser University, Hayden realized the rich and the powerful, the triple-As, bent laws, exploited neighbors and seized every little advantage.2
Hayden concluded that "triple-A self-agrandizers have created the world as we know it. But in their other lives as pirates, these same people have caused 90% of the world's problems." In their greed, they "ruin the lives of others, erode society and culture and degrade the environment."3
America's history is rife with triple-As. Economics professor, Robert Heilbroner, stated that America's 19th century robber barons used "deception, violence, kidnapping and extraordinary dishonesty to gain economic power and industrial supremacy. Robber barons bore such names as Astor, Carnegie, Ford, Morgan, Rockefeller and Vanderbilt.
Former President George W. Bush is fourth generation wealth created from the sale of munitions and oil dating back to World War I. As CIA director, vice president and president, one of George H.W. Bush's priorities was U.S. weapons trade and secret arms deals with Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the moujahedeen of Afghanistan. The Bushes' oil interests are heavily invested in the Middle East.
In 1991, as George H.W. Bush's Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney orchestrated the bombing of Iraq in Operation Desert Storm. Many believe this action was aimed at securing U.S. oil interests in the Persian Gulf.
In 1995, Chaney became CEO of the Halliburton Company. After leaving that position, Cheney continued to own shares in the conglomerate and its financial interests in the Balkans, Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea.
In 2005, the U.S. Justice Department made allegations that Halliburton unlawfully received special treatment for work contracts, often no-bid contracts, in Iraq, Kuwait and the Balkans. An example of such favoritism includes Halliburton's $18 billion worth of contracts in Iraq, $7 billion of which went into the building of oil-infrastructures. I doubt that the run-of-the-mill American taxpayer received much benefit from the latter $7 billion.
In 2000, Cheney also sat on the board of Lockheed Martin, the world's largest military contractor and the world's largest arms exporter. No doubt, Cheney had less than altruistic motives for being on the Lockheed board.
No matter the cost in human lives and the viability of the environment and the planet, oil and war are big bucks for the world's triple-A self-aggrandizers.
We have seen the Democratic Clinton administration's federal surplus dissolve into the Republican George W. Bush administration's multi-trillion dollar deficits. To achieve this deficit, Bush gave himself and his cronies tax cuts, engaged the United States in two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, and deregulated banks, Wall Street and other businesses, which resulted in "The Recession" of 2008.
Now, with ultimate gall, these same Republicans, who supported George W. and Cheney, are bouncing up and down about our nation's debt, which they created, and are demanding huge cuts in the federal budget, especially targeting health care, education, Social Security, Medicare and the needs of lower income mothers and children.
On the state level, these Republicans are on a rampage to destroy the collective bargaining power of state unions and to squeeze the middle class into non-existence.
Where do these people get off? Do they have a conscience? Apparently, they do not. Such are the triple-As and the plutocratic governments they spawn.
1. Smithsonian, Blame the Rich, 12/07, 102-109.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
CONNECT THE DOTS
An infinite number of children's coloring books contain pages in which the child is challenged to connect the numbered dots, with a picture emerging. Unfortunately, the dots of America's coloring book aren't numbered.
Dot: On January 21st of 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, by a 5-4 majority, that corporations, unions and ideological groups could spend as much money as they liked on political advertisements.
Dot: With enormous amounts of money, pomp, pageantry and tea parties, the November 2010 elections ushered in a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and many new Republican governors.
Dot: In the waning days of 2010, Republicans, subsidized by the wealthiest of Americans, threatened to bring the U.S. Government to a halt, if the latter group did not receive a 2-year extension of their Bush tax cuts, which decreased the annual U.S. tax revenues by $130 billion.
Dot: Currently, the top 1% of all income receipients in the United States receive 23 1/2% of all income generated in the U.S., which is more than the total income of the bottom 50% of American wage earners. Also, the wealthiest 0.1% of U.S. citizens recieve 12 cents of every dollar of income generated in the U.S. In regard to this wealthiest 0.1-1%, I purposefully did not use the word "earn," which in my mind implies labor.
Dot: Today, the Republican-dominated Legislatures and the Republican governors of Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio are attempting to pass bills to eliminate the collective bargaining power of their state's unions.
Dot: Regarding the above legislation,, Steve Kriesberg, of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a major public-sector union, said "This is about trying to abolish the unions, pure and simple."1
Dot: Thousands of pro-union protestors are marching on the respective capitols, of the above states. Labor experts say the bills are the largest assault on collective bargaining in "recent memory" and strike "at the very heart of an American labor movement that is already deeply atrophied."2 B. Patrick Bauer, the minority speaker of the Indiana House of Representative, said, "The union legislation ... has been one of many 'wrongful bills' that would 'rip the heart out of the middle class.'"3
I am beginning to see a picture. How about you?
1. The Economist, The Wisconsin Way, 2/19/11.
2. The New York Times, After Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana Face Union Fight, 2/23/11, A1,A2.
3. The New York Times, More Standoffs and Protests, Plus a Prank Call, 2/24/11, A20.
Dot: On January 21st of 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, by a 5-4 majority, that corporations, unions and ideological groups could spend as much money as they liked on political advertisements.
Dot: With enormous amounts of money, pomp, pageantry and tea parties, the November 2010 elections ushered in a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and many new Republican governors.
Dot: In the waning days of 2010, Republicans, subsidized by the wealthiest of Americans, threatened to bring the U.S. Government to a halt, if the latter group did not receive a 2-year extension of their Bush tax cuts, which decreased the annual U.S. tax revenues by $130 billion.
Dot: Currently, the top 1% of all income receipients in the United States receive 23 1/2% of all income generated in the U.S., which is more than the total income of the bottom 50% of American wage earners. Also, the wealthiest 0.1% of U.S. citizens recieve 12 cents of every dollar of income generated in the U.S. In regard to this wealthiest 0.1-1%, I purposefully did not use the word "earn," which in my mind implies labor.
Dot: Today, the Republican-dominated Legislatures and the Republican governors of Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio are attempting to pass bills to eliminate the collective bargaining power of their state's unions.
Dot: Regarding the above legislation,, Steve Kriesberg, of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a major public-sector union, said "This is about trying to abolish the unions, pure and simple."1
Dot: Thousands of pro-union protestors are marching on the respective capitols, of the above states. Labor experts say the bills are the largest assault on collective bargaining in "recent memory" and strike "at the very heart of an American labor movement that is already deeply atrophied."2 B. Patrick Bauer, the minority speaker of the Indiana House of Representative, said, "The union legislation ... has been one of many 'wrongful bills' that would 'rip the heart out of the middle class.'"3
I am beginning to see a picture. How about you?
1. The Economist, The Wisconsin Way, 2/19/11.
2. The New York Times, After Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana Face Union Fight, 2/23/11, A1,A2.
3. The New York Times, More Standoffs and Protests, Plus a Prank Call, 2/24/11, A20.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
SHEEP
The United States Government is not about democracy. It is about the financial "elite" increasing their wealth and controlling what goes on in our country and the world at large.
In the waning days of 2010, the Republican Party threatened to grind the U.S.Government to a halt unless the wealthiest of our nation received a two year extension of the Bush tax cuts, which decreased federal tax revenues by $130 billion a year. And, estate taxes were held to 0% for the first $5 million inherited and to 35% thereafter. Do you know how many Americans will benefit by that move? I am sure it won't be those of us who work for a living.
Now, the Republicans are performing high drama around decreasing the federal budget and the federal deficit by cutting spending on education, health, Social Security, Medicare and hungry children. These budget cuts will constitute a huge loss for working people but will have a negligible impact on the wealthy.
Meanwhile, the sacred cow of the defense budget goes unscathed. The U.S. spends 6 times more for "defense" than China and almost more than the rest of the world, combined. Cut this budget by half and there would be plenty of money to fund desperately needed social programs at home. But of course, the military-industrial complex would lose revenue, which means financial loss to the wealthiest 1-2%.
To add insult to injury, where the Pentagon spends its budget, about $700 billion a year, cannot
be audited or explained. So, we taxpayers don't know where or for what the government spends these unaccounted for billions. That kind of accounting system for me or you wouldn't fly when the IRS comes to call.
Then, we look at foreign aid. How many billions does the U.S. annually spend on despots in power, all in the name of "stability?" Please note, stability is not defined as democracy, equality or freedom for the country's citizens.
"Stability" in Egypt and Bahrain translated into protecting U.S. oil interests, maintaining control of the Suez Canal and paying rent for the "home" of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Visible to the public eye, Egypt receives $1.5 billion in foreign aid a year, with Bahrain receiving $1.3 billion.
Wake up Americans. Turn off your televisions, video games, cell phones and any other electronic gadget you're plugged into. Get your brains out of hock. In the names of "national security" and "defense," a large % of our tax dollars disappear abroad and into the pockets of the wealthy. We're being fleeced.
In the waning days of 2010, the Republican Party threatened to grind the U.S.Government to a halt unless the wealthiest of our nation received a two year extension of the Bush tax cuts, which decreased federal tax revenues by $130 billion a year. And, estate taxes were held to 0% for the first $5 million inherited and to 35% thereafter. Do you know how many Americans will benefit by that move? I am sure it won't be those of us who work for a living.
Now, the Republicans are performing high drama around decreasing the federal budget and the federal deficit by cutting spending on education, health, Social Security, Medicare and hungry children. These budget cuts will constitute a huge loss for working people but will have a negligible impact on the wealthy.
Meanwhile, the sacred cow of the defense budget goes unscathed. The U.S. spends 6 times more for "defense" than China and almost more than the rest of the world, combined. Cut this budget by half and there would be plenty of money to fund desperately needed social programs at home. But of course, the military-industrial complex would lose revenue, which means financial loss to the wealthiest 1-2%.
To add insult to injury, where the Pentagon spends its budget, about $700 billion a year, cannot
be audited or explained. So, we taxpayers don't know where or for what the government spends these unaccounted for billions. That kind of accounting system for me or you wouldn't fly when the IRS comes to call.
Then, we look at foreign aid. How many billions does the U.S. annually spend on despots in power, all in the name of "stability?" Please note, stability is not defined as democracy, equality or freedom for the country's citizens.
"Stability" in Egypt and Bahrain translated into protecting U.S. oil interests, maintaining control of the Suez Canal and paying rent for the "home" of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Visible to the public eye, Egypt receives $1.5 billion in foreign aid a year, with Bahrain receiving $1.3 billion.
Wake up Americans. Turn off your televisions, video games, cell phones and any other electronic gadget you're plugged into. Get your brains out of hock. In the names of "national security" and "defense," a large % of our tax dollars disappear abroad and into the pockets of the wealthy. We're being fleeced.
Monday, July 6, 2009
EMBARRASSED AND DISAPPOINTED
I am embarrassed and disappointed by many of the citizens of my home state, Oklahoma. They continue to wrap themselves in the American flag and spout "American values," along with God, mom and apple pie. Of course those values do not include "freedom of religion," "liberty and justice for all" and "give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
Unfortunately, I recall, all too vividly, the recent presidential campaign's red-meat slinging, Christian right-winged speeches of Sarah Palin. To add insult to injury, 65 percent of our state voted for her and her side-kick, McCain. At least there was the 35 percent, myself included, who cast their votes for our intelligent, forward-thinking, current president, Barack Obama.
To top it off, our state's primary newspaper is a Republican propaganda rag, in all its ignorant and rabid glory. It rarely contains anything of positive merit on our current administration and its heroic efforts to retrieve our nation from the brink of economic disaster.
Instead, I was horrified to see on yesterday morning's front page that a city in our state is proudly hosting a visit by the disgraced, former president, George W. Bush. God help us. Send him back to Texas, with his chain saw in tow, and leave us alone. In eight years, he managed to dismantle our nation and drain its wealth into his and his cronies' pockets, that 0.1-to-1.0 percent of our nation's populace.
You might note, I did not say our "nation's elite." There is nothing elite about greed, corruption and theft. Those behaviors issue from the lowest of the low, the ever-present Robber Barons. Unlike Madoff, they have yet to receive their somewhat just due. (Madoff got off easy.) However, they have polluted and drained their pond so sufficiently that they are beginning to be exposed in all their devious machinations.
Despite my disappointment and embarrassment with the persistent behaviors and attitudes of many in my home state, I am now very proud to be an American. For the first time in my life, 62 years worth, I see hope for health, harmony, prosperity and peace for all the world's beautifully diverse peoples.
So, I will continue to recycle our state's newspaper, which I only receive for news of local events, and read more enlightened national publications, which I will also recycle. I will also work at changing my attitude toward my state's 65 percent. Because, bless their hearts, they don't know any better.
Unfortunately, I recall, all too vividly, the recent presidential campaign's red-meat slinging, Christian right-winged speeches of Sarah Palin. To add insult to injury, 65 percent of our state voted for her and her side-kick, McCain. At least there was the 35 percent, myself included, who cast their votes for our intelligent, forward-thinking, current president, Barack Obama.
To top it off, our state's primary newspaper is a Republican propaganda rag, in all its ignorant and rabid glory. It rarely contains anything of positive merit on our current administration and its heroic efforts to retrieve our nation from the brink of economic disaster.
Instead, I was horrified to see on yesterday morning's front page that a city in our state is proudly hosting a visit by the disgraced, former president, George W. Bush. God help us. Send him back to Texas, with his chain saw in tow, and leave us alone. In eight years, he managed to dismantle our nation and drain its wealth into his and his cronies' pockets, that 0.1-to-1.0 percent of our nation's populace.
You might note, I did not say our "nation's elite." There is nothing elite about greed, corruption and theft. Those behaviors issue from the lowest of the low, the ever-present Robber Barons. Unlike Madoff, they have yet to receive their somewhat just due. (Madoff got off easy.) However, they have polluted and drained their pond so sufficiently that they are beginning to be exposed in all their devious machinations.
Despite my disappointment and embarrassment with the persistent behaviors and attitudes of many in my home state, I am now very proud to be an American. For the first time in my life, 62 years worth, I see hope for health, harmony, prosperity and peace for all the world's beautifully diverse peoples.
So, I will continue to recycle our state's newspaper, which I only receive for news of local events, and read more enlightened national publications, which I will also recycle. I will also work at changing my attitude toward my state's 65 percent. Because, bless their hearts, they don't know any better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)