I have a big nose !

The US is only one of two nations that even has a debt ceiling,
Denmark being the other and it is set so high it cannot be
reached. This is a contrived crisis by Republicans to divert
from the fact that they have no idea how to create jobs here
and to try to de-legitimize the Obama Presidency.
That my friends is a clear as the nose on my face.  That
my friends is really clear ! Oh, by the way, 38 of the new
Tea Party Congressmen are worth more than a million dollars.
Grass roots movement my ass !

The facts as I and Bruce Bartlett see them.

Clinton left offive with six trillion on debt.  There was also a projected surplus of six trillion over a ten year period. If President Bush would have done nothing we would be out of debt today.  He do do something though. Bush gave away three trillion on tax cuts, he spent another 6 trillion on two wars and the unfunded medicare part D.  Another 2 trillion was lost because of the recession the bush policies caused.  Bush also lost revenue by lowering Reagan's capital gaines tax ,for the wealthy, from 28% to a low of 14%. Wow! what a loss in revenue and what a boom to the pockets of the well-to-do.

President Obama is responsible for an extra 1.4 to 2 trillion in debt because of his recovery act and his medical plan. Both of these were meant to help the average worker an did stop a downward trend in our economy.  We are in debt to the tune of 14 trillion now and as anyone can see President Bush is responsible for most of it. All the Republicans want to do is to cut programs like education SSI,medicare,food stamps,and others that benifit the poor and elderly.  The Right wants Obama to pay for his debt by cuts but have no plan to attack Bush's debt by raising tax rates.

This information was gathered from an article in the NYT written by Bruce Bartlett , a Former Dep. Asst. Treasury Sec. under the great Ronald Reagan.

The American dream is over !

America has fully descended into an immoral plutocracy­, with the complete blessing of conservati­ves.

Isn't it amazing that the rich have (a) vacuumed up so much of this nation's wealth, (b) caused the recession with securities fraud, accounting fraud, and oil speculatio­n, (c) have historical­ly low tax rates, and (d) have fully recovered from the recession while the rest of us have not and, yet, they are completely immune to any sacrifice whatsoever in the current debt and budget deals?

Instead, the least fortunate are being told they will sacrifice. Constant threats to Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, unemployme­nt benefits, and so on. America has become morally decrepit
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) ...demande­d...entitl­ement reforms."

Social Security has not contribute­d one cent to the Debt. It operates at a profit and will do so for the next 26 years. Increasing the income cap from $106K to $200K addresses that issue.

The GOP goal is to force all of the Social Security money into Wall Street, so they can make money on your money, even if you lose money.

Privatizin­g pension plans in the 80's did not work out so well for most people. 80% of those people do not have enough money to retire. But it did make Wall Street a lot of money. And Social Security is next.

And Medicare is the least expensive Health Insurance in this country. Again, the goal is to force this money into the private sector where they can make bigger profits on you health. The various plans will cost the average senior from $6,000 to $8,500 per year for the same level of care.

At this point I really fear for the future of my children and their children .  The American dream is over and all that people have to do is wake-up from this nightmare to live their life in service to their masters.

Can you say the word HYPOCRISY !!!!

Today I am very confused.  I am reading facebook posts from friends that are asking people to vote for school levies to support their local schools that their children attend. These same people are Conservative Republicans that elected officials ,both state and federal, that are in the process of cutting taxes and programs that support education and other saftey net programs. What gives?  Are these people for tax increases or against them ,or are they just for tax increases that only support their own childrens school. They are really not asking me or others to pass a tax increase when they vote for officials that do nothing but attack education while at the same time fighting to cut taxes for the wealthy?  There are even people that I worked with that voted for the Gov. of Ohio and now want people to recall laws that he passed that effects their job because they are educators. Can you say the word HYPOCRISY !!!!

Just a thought !

 Social Darwinism,  is a belief common among elites in the late 19th century created by Herbert Spencer. Spencer believed that the "rich and powerful were better adapted to the social and economic climate of the time" and so deserved to be in the elite.

Taken to its extreme, Social Darwinism also says that it is "morally incorrect to assist those weaker than oneself, since that would be promoting the survival and possible reproducti­on of someone who was fundamenta­lly unfit."

The hard right Tea Party conservati­ves appear to hold the same views. Any public assistance or government program designed to help the less fortunate violates the tenets of Social Darwinism, and "the strongest or fittest should survive and flourish in society, while the weak and unfit should be allowed to die."

What makes this sad is the fact that a large part of Tea Party members fit into this weaker class.  They also say that they are true believers in Christian Principles.  They seem like a slow witted pawns being mover around the chess board by Royality or are they blinged by bigotry for Blacks and Mexicans that the can't see the forest for the trees.

This is how Empires fall. We're there.

The Republicans fiction machine has implanted in the public consciousness that taxing corporations and the richest among us somehow "puts our children's future at risk, saddles them with debt." The truth is that slashing domestic programs now is what puts our children at risk, right now.

It's not a matter of having no resources, it's that we've chosen the military, the rich, and corporations over the health and education of our children and other citizens. A matter of priorities in funding.

Know what's broke? The military. In the same way that people claim Medicaire and other govt programs are broke and refuse to fund them, they seem to have no problem continue funding a military that is financed at a rate 700% greater than the second place contender.

This is how Empires fall. We're there.

It's all about misguided beliefs. Fact is SSI is self funded, it is a trust. Please check out our history, before SS the poverty rate was almost 30%, mostly made up of seniors. It is one of the best economic programs ever. If you don't want these benifits, turn them down when it's your turn to recieve them, if you are recieving them stop taking it. What is so wrong with society helping each of us live better and longer?

As I wrote yesterday ,I will spend the rest of my life, like the rest of the country, dealing with the consequences of the Cheney-Bush administration's two most fateful economic decisions -- to cut taxes rather than to pay off the national debt, and then to fight two incredibly costly wars on the national credit card rather than dare to ask the American people to pay for them in cash. We can't see the end of the problem these men made

lower taxes=less revevue !

It's just so obvious in principle , lower taxes = less revenue , that a child could understand it.

I conclude that anyone who doesn't agree is ideologically blinded.

I will spend the rest of my life, like the rest of the country, dealing with the consequences of the Cheney-Bush administration's two most fateful economic decisions -- to cut taxes rather than to pay off the national debt, and then to fight two incredibly costly wars on the national credit card rather than dare to ask the American people to pay for them in cash. We can't see the end of the problem these men made.  Yes we have to make some tough choices to fix this problem.  We will have to cut spending and raise taxes.  The Bush Presidency fixed our fate and changed the future for good. We have no one to blame for this than ourselves.

The coming storm !

The world since the dawn of time has been peopled by greedy predators that have always used intimidati­on or force to expand their wealth and empires. The concentrat­ion of power was generally in a ruling family and or religion.

Little had changed in the world until America was formed as a country of the people. We the people in no uncertain terms laid out that no royalty, church or dictator would rule America for profit.

It wasn’t until the industrial revolution that another greedy entity raised their heads and used money and business monopolies to gain power and more wealth. Big business and later Corporatio­ns combined and grew until they endangered America and the people had to limit their power just like they did with royalty. Anti-Trust laws and limitation­s of Bank size and scope was put into force to limit those who would rule America as would a King or Dictator.

The people of America have forgotten that the government was designed to protect Americans from within and from foreign enemies. Our forefather­s tried their best to protect Americans from the rich and powerful but couldn’t foresee the power gained from business and banking monopolies who now bribe the very people who Americans voted for to protect them from those who would try and subjugate them.

Will Americans take back their country from the rich and powerful and break them into bite size bits or will Americans continue to help those who would subjugate us?  I fear the latter because most Americans are a bunch of dumb shits and deserve the coming Storm.

Problems !

Our problem here in the United States is not the same as Greece, or Europe.  To compare what is happening here to what is happening there isn't helping us at all.

The fact is, we are only one of two industrial­ized nations that have a debt ceiling.  And as we have learned, that artificial cap, or whatever you call it, hasn't prevented us from creating huge debt for ourselvses­.

And while that debt is important, it ISN'T the debt that is causing our AAA ratings to be threat_ene­d,  It is the POLITICAL non_sense that is causing us the great_est harm, that and the undeniable fact that we need JOBS.

Certain members of congress must stop protecting the wealthy from paying a reasonable amout of taxes.  (And let me remind you that the wealthy paid far greater tax amounts in the middle of the 1900's and STILL were able to be pretty darn rich.)

Even more important is Congress needs to stop distractin­g us from the real issue and that is JOBS.  Big Corporatio­ns don't need us, they are getting stink_ing rich off of earning from other countries.  They can pay Indonesian workers 50 CENTS an hour to make Nike shoes, why in the world would they make them here?

Corporatio­ns have to be reigned in, they have to be required to reimburse this country for the drain they have placed on the Average American's wallet.  Lower wages, requiring one person to do the work of three, making cheap goods that we have to replace much sooner than we should, higher prices for those reduced quality products and services.

This is how the wealthy get rich these days, they are just tapping us dry and the Republican­s either see no problem with this or they are blind to it.

Either way, the issue that needs to be addressed is jobs.  If we put people back to work, revenues will increase and THAT will help pay down our

“The minority is supposed to become the loyal opposition to the party in power. This is the first time I have seen the minority actually do their best to hurt the country and bring a President down. They have called him a liar and worse. They are the ones that are acting unamerican and pro corporatio­n.”

Fat Chance that our leaders will lead.

The GOP has tied the rich as the "job creators" in this country. Therefore, do anything against them and poof there goes the chance of any new jobs.

The fact is that the rich are getting richer. We need a balanced approach in this country. We need to cut bloated government (how about shutting down these two wars and closing military bases to begin with), close tax loopholes, bring back Clinton tax rates for those earning over $500K per year, and look at tweaking our entitlemen­t reforms to account for changes in our society (like a modest increase in the social security age for people under 50.) Finally, we need to find ways to bring back innovation and advance technology to our country and train workers to take over the new manufactur­ing (providing training grants to cutting edge technology for worker retraining­.)

I personally would like to see the income tax replaced by the consumptio­n tax but we would probably get snow in Central Park in June before that happens.

Some of this is good old fashion common sense. But that seems to be in short order lately.

I am sorry,but......

I am sorry but voters must be a little slow in this country. The GOP are calling for massive cuts in programs like SSI ,that they and the Democrats have raided for years and Medicare. These are programs designed to help the working poor and middle class in this country. The GOP are willing to cut deeply in these programs while at the same time refusing to close tax loop holes or let the Bush tax cuts expire. If they really care about the debt that much would it not be a good idea to do both? That way the working poor and middle class would not be hurt as much ! They deserve to be punished at the poles in November but as I said earlier are the voters a little slow ?

Liberal, Conservative,Moral ? What are you ?

Sometimes I call myself a Liberal but my lifestyle seems to be Conservative. What am I really ? The  problem is that the meaning of Liberal or Conservative has changed again and again over time and place. Revolutionist against royalty, merchant classes against nobility, English vs. Irish, Communist vs. Capitalists, Anti-globalization vs. WTO, Fair Trade vs. Free Trade, it just goes on changing as language is a living thing. So to dig down into the meaning of particular vocabulary becomes meaningless. What I find most important are the two universal morals, the strong protect the weak and fairness.  Do the developed nations care for the weak, and do they treat them as they would like to be treated... or Just Do Unto? I think the time has come for people to change the way they choose to lable themself. I am neither a Liberal or a Conservative . I  confess to being neither one.. I choose to be motovated by issues. I choose to be motovated by the stated universal morals of fairness,and the strong protecte the weak. Why can't the wealthy pay a little more taxes to help the safety net ?  I  am not talking about Gov. handouts but programs that help hard working Americans retire and pay their medical bills. Do these people really deserve the short end of the stick ?  It is easy for the leaders of this country to do what is right but will they put the health and welfare of their brothers ahead of their ideology ?

Just move on Mr. President !

As of 7/23/2011 there has been no progress in the quest to raise the debt ceiling. The news is the same as before, nothing has happened. Barack Obama tried to make a deal yet again and the Republican­s completely rejected it and walked out of negotiatio­ns yet again. The Republican­s are too extremist to negotiate with, and Obama has the 14th Amendment that he may just have to use to protect the economy. All he has to do is to just declare the debt ceiling unconstitu­tional and be done with this silliness. I don't know why Obama is willing to go through all this trouble just to make a deal with Republican­s. No matter what he proposes, no matter how much it caters to their right-wing views, they want him to go even further, and they keep moving the goalposts. The latest compromise proposal Obama made sounds like something from the right wing of the Republican Party of several years ago. Now the Republican­s are so extreme and moved so far to the right, they have gone off a cliff, and the only way to make a deal with them is to jump off the same cliff to the right yourself. Republican­s are being irresponsi­ble and risking destructio­n of the U.S. economya . They are making unreasonab­le demands on what needs to be done. They seem to have a plot to put the U.S. government into default and complete bankruptcy­.  This would place the Safety net for our citizens in dire straights.I suppose Obama has to try to negotiate with them, just so he can prove how extremist and un-America­n the Republican­s are when the talks fail . I say just raise the debt ceiling and move on.

Paralysis and leadership.

As a liberal, I've still always tried to recognize that both liberalism and conservatism are essential for a country, that both are of equal value, because each serve a very important purpose, keeping each other in check, and creating a balance. If there were no such thing as liberals, America would be a fascist state. If there was no such thing as conservatives, America would be a communist state. We need each other to maintain balance. We are each others friend, whether we know it or not.  A system of balance should be expressed when everybody is simply heard, even though everyone might think they are right in and of themselves, the overall effect should be some kind of balance, or moving pendulum. The media's desire to split  people and convince us that we hate each other is dangerous, since it discontinues any dialogue, hence any balance. I believe that is what is happening today in our dialogue about the Nations debt and what to do about it. The only person ,in this debate,who seems to be seeking any balance on the issue is the President. For his courage and leadership he is being savaged by both the Right and the Left. It is the job of the Media to report the truth and help quell the peoples fear about the actions and goals of the other side ,on this issue. That is not being done and both sides are starting to hate the others views. I fear that this ,in the long run, will cause paralysis and inaction to the country and its citizens,

God Forbid !

God forbid that in the future we spend the biggest part of our budget on taking care of the health of our citizens. God forbid that we transfer that spending from the 700 military bases we have around the world or the cost of intervention into the internal affairs of other nations. God forbid that we return the majority of the taxes to the people who paid them. God forbid. God forbid that we ask the Americans with the most money to help those with less means,God forbid.  God forbid that a so called Christian nation put the health and welfare of their people ahead of other spending. As a country we need to grab control of our health care costs and treat this care as a need for the people that helped make America great. Some of our fellow citizens have had hard backbreaking jobs that have taken a toll on their bodies. I myself spent a year on a loading dock picking up 200 lbs. of product day after day. I just one short year I suffered damage that has lasted a until today. Do we really want to raise the retirement age of the labor force and make it harder to get medical coverage. A man that wants to work past the age of 65 never really had to do manual labor very long. Make these people work longer, God Forbid

Simple solutions are the best !

I am tired of listening to the stinking garbage spewing from members of this stinking Congress.
Lets just raise the debt limit and then go to work on the problem.
1. Close one third of our bases ,over 700, around the world by leaving countries like Japan,Germ­any,Afgani­stan,Iraq,­Cuba , North Korea,and any other god forsaken place we have troops.

2. Stop the rising costs of health care by looking at the model other countries use to control costs.

3. Raise taxes to the pre Bush level. Close all loop holes and ban the career field of Tax Lawyers.

4. close loop holes in the tax code.

5. Pay back all the money that Congress has borrowed from SSI since the 60's and than LEAVE IT ALONE.

6. Improve our quality of leaders by getting rid of all the money in our campaigns. We need public financed elections that have a shorter time limit on them.

7. Reduce gov spending accross the board on any programs that are not directed for health care ,food,or any other safety net program.

8. Never go to war unless the security of the U.S. is at stake and pass a tax to pay for it.

There is a big difference.

In 1995,  Republicans in Congress slipped a bill into the giant budget bill-or the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Avt of 1995-to allow corporations to raid their workers' pension funds by reducing protections the Democrats had put in place in 1990. this Republican provision would allow companies to withdraw 30-40 billion from these plans. Clinton vetoed this version of the bill.

One of the first things Bush did was sign into a law that reduced many workplace safety protections.

Bush allowed a Clinton law that lowered the level of Arsenic in drinking water from 50 ppb to 10 ppb to be overturned.

I could go on and on and on and on but the list is too long. This is a list of the laws and provisions the Replblicans either pass of get rid of that help protect the interests of their business backers. There is a big difference between the two parties. Many of these regulation or law changes never make the news or are talked about. I ask you to check out my post of Nov.  11, 2010 to view some of the changes Obama made in his first years. When we rate the job  that our leaders are doing it is very important to look past the surface or to listen to the sound bites we hear from our so called News Men.

Oh Please !

Should Creationism and evolution be taugh in our schools as competing theories?

Oh, please.
There is only ONE idea that unites ALL of the observatio­ns in biology, and that is evolution.

There are NO competing scientific theories.

Gravity is a FACT.
Electricit­y is a FACT.
Evolution is a FACT.

Exactly how they work is a theory

Why is this even up for discussion in our school boards ?  Do we want to educate our students or convert them?

The Tale of Two Presidents

President Clinton's 1993 Economic Recovery package included an increase in the top tax rate, over $250,000, from 31% to 39.6%. It also called for an increase in the federal gas tax of less than a nickel. Next, he subjected the SSI benefits of earners (over a million dollars), to taxation.

Next he cut taxes deeply for the working poor, expanded the Earned Income Tax Credits and increased minimum wage from $4.25-$5.15. This was followed by a middle class tax cut in 1997, plus a $500 per child tax credit. He doubled Pell Grants, lowered interest on student loans and gave parents the Hope Tax Credit.

Next, Clinton reduced the federal work force by 270,000 positions.

Under Ronald Reagan, the deficit quadrupled the debt and left us with tens of billions of interest payments for years to come.

Clinton left Bush a budget with $281 billion surplus. This surplus was projected to give the US a $5.6 trillion surplus in ten years.
THEN CAME BUSH !!!!!!

It was gone after 8 years. Spent, wasted on war, given away on tax cuts and spent on unfunded programs.
I believe he did this on purpose to bring the US to the position we now find ourselves in!
Why, you ask? Read some of my past posts for the answer and educate yourself.

Faith in GOD ?

I have no doubt that the majority of the characters in the bible were actual living, breathing people. Did Noah gather two of every animal on the planet, put them on a big boat to save them while God killed everyone else off to then live to the ripe old age of 950? Highly unlikely. Did Moses lead the Hebrews out of Egypt? Quite possibly. Did he magically part the waters of the Red Sea? I seriously doubt it. I have no doubt that Jesus Christ walked the land, preaching his interpreta­tion of the Judaic faith and was ultimately crucified as a criminal for rocking the boat in Pagan Rome. Did he turn water to wine, cure leprosy with a touch, walk on water and float up to heaven to sit at the right hand of his dad in his paradisaic­al cloud kingdom? Not a chance.

I don't have a problem with anyone who holds faith in any religion. I think for many people, religion gives direction and purpose to lives where little exists. I take umbrage when a person of faith insists that every word in the bible is literal truth and factual events. This knocks the credibilit­y of the religion right into the dirt and causes so much strife.  I still do not know what I believe in or how I feel about GOD I do pray and ask for forgiveness and I have some faith in a GOD. I do know one thing though, I will never listen to a priest of man of cloth tell me what is right and true. I may have some faith in a supreme being but I have none in man and his churches.

Majority vs. Minority .

 When the republican­s were completely in the minority they made demands. Not seeming to realize that when your party is not in the majority it means the majority of voters wanted the minority party to have less control and less say. When republican­s got control of the House, it means  you get some say .Without control of the Senate and the White House, republican­s are still in the minority, but they have a voice. A voice they have wasted on nonsense, misinforma­tion, social engineerin­g, lies and political gains . What the Republicans still doesn't realize is that the little voice in the room does not demand, the little voice must request and if you ask nicely you just might get what you want or some of it. This perspectiv­e from Republicans simply emphasizes the arrogance of the republican party that was cultivated during the Bush years. Maybe its time they realize they have not been in any position to demand anything of anyone for a few years now and throwing tantrums only disgraces them in the eye's of most Americans.  The last Democratic President ,Bill Clinton, was impeached.  This was a way of making sure that the Democratic leaders had no time to carry out their agenda. It failed and Clinton left the country in fairly good shape with surplusses projected for ten years. Enter GWB and Chaos ensued.  President Obama was elected to right a sinking ship and has been met with nothing but ignorance,bigotry,and lies. Still the Democrats are at least trying to run the country.  Meanwhile the Republicans are trying to run the country into the ground.

History will remember the presidency of Barack Obama as this:

History will remember the presidency of Barack Obama as this:

He took over a crippled economy in recession and two wars deep in religious tones.
In the first two years of his presidency he struggled to get the economy going. But the republican­s became known as the party of "no" and fought every effort. Their hopes were for the this president to fail - not realizing that his failure means the further failure of our economy and nation.
During midterm elections the republican­s retook the lower house and many state government­s campaignin­g on job creation. (of course their stance of working against the president helped reduce job creation). But instead of working on creating jobs the republican­s did what they do best - give money to the wealthy and expect the middle class (and lower) to give up more rights, money and liberties.
In fact during the summer of 2011 the republican­s threatened the demise of the entire nation through loan defaults by not lifting the debt ceiling. This has in the past been a procedural process, for example the debt ceiling was lifted several times under the previous president - the one responsibl­e for the recession inherited by President Obama. They did this to protect loopholes big corporatio­ns could use to avoid paying any federal taxes and to keep taxes for the wealthiest at their lowest point since WWII .  Please remember the TEA Party stands for Taxed Enough Already.  This party started after the election of Obama. Obama actually lowered taxes to their lowest point in the modern era. Does this make any sense to anyone ?  Do the Republicans care about every American or just the business owners. Do the Republicans want the country to recover or do they just want power and control over working men and women?  I think their actions answer that question.

Medical cost are messed up and I waste my time.

Why do CAT scan cost vary so much?

CAT scan cost vary based upon the type of CAT scan you're getting (abdominal versus brain for example) as well as where you have the procedure performed. Similar to the price of a new automobile. Everyone knows that the "sticker price" is just an asking price. There's a nice mark-up included in that price and often if you ask the dealer to come off that price they will. Medical procedures are often no different. Most hospitals and imaging centers have a "sticker price" which are often on the high end. If you ask and work with most facilities they will often offer a substantial discount to individuals and insurance carriers due to the form of payment and the volume of procedures they pay for on an annual basis. There's more on this below so keep reading.

CAT Scan Costs Averages

As noted above, CAT Scan costs can vary by thousands of dollars and it's important that you shop around for your procedure. For example, listed below are some real examples or CAT Scan prices from around the United States.

Testing Facility Location	Test Type	Average Cost
Houston, TX	Cat Scan	$3,016
Chicago, IL	Cat Scan	$2,237
Atlanta, GA - Testing Facility A	Cat Scan	$698
Atlanta, GA - Testing Facility B	Cat Scan	$2,214
Phoenix, AZ	Cat Scan	$2,199
Omaha, NE	Cat Scan	$1,611
Portland, OR - Testing Facility A	Cat Scan	$1,520
Portland, OR - Testing Facility B	Cat Scan	$678
Cleveland, OH	Cat Scan	$1,075

Take Atlanta, GA for example. Facility A charges $698 for a CAT scan while Facility B charges $2,214. That's a $1,516 difference! There's nothing different about the procedure being done but there sure is a difference between he cost of Facility A and Facility B. Take the testing facilities in Portland, OR. It's very similar to the two CT scan facilities in Atlanta. Facility A charges $1,520 for the CT scan while Facility B only cost $678. Again, a huge difference in price. Amazingly these price discrepancies exist all over the United States.

Americans put up with a system that tries to screw you at every turn.  Why ?  Do sick people who need xrays  ordered by their Dr, really have time to shop around?  Should they sit at home and call all area providers?  Why can't anyone see the stupidity in such a system?   Better yet why do I even try to change the minds of people who really don't care. As long as they are healthy or have good INS. they don't care . I waste my time !

If only !

Republicans hate Medicare because it represents everything they are philosophically opposed to: a government-run program that works and is popular across the political board. It’s tough to shout about the dangers of universal health care when the two greatest protectors (if not creators) of the elderly middle class are those pillars of 20th-century progressive change, Social Security and Medicare. If we would be able to add a National Health Care system as a third pillar , we really would have the best country in the history of the world. There would be a price to pay . Drs.and health care workers would be paid less,drug companies would make less profit,and Ins. companies would have to find another way to create such huge profits for doing nothing.  If only the American People would demand the kind of Health Care system they deserve. If only............ .

Why such a large deficit ?

. Bush cut taxes on the rich. When Clinton left office and Bush entered office, the U.S. government was running a surplus and cutting the debt. After the Bush tax cuts, the government was running a deficit.

2. During a recession, taxes go down and government expenses (such as unemployment benefits) go up.

3. In order to prevent a second Great Depression, the Obama administration passed a stimulus package.

But in the short term, none of this is a problem! The debt just isn't that high. An economy should be running a deficit during a recession.

In the long term:

- If the economy recovers, tax revenues will increase even without raising the tax rate.

- If the economy recovers, there will be no need for an additional stimulus. (Until then, there is)

- And we should undo the Bush tax cuts.

An economy should be running a surplus during a booming economy. (Bush cut taxes during the boom and so had the country running a deficit even during the boom)

What happened to the American Dream was the Republicans . Just look at the data: when Democrats are in the White House, the economy grows faster and income inequality declines; when Republicans are in the White House, the economy grows more slowly and income inequality increases
It is all about government policies:
Furthermore, the reason we had the recession was that Congress let the financial sector get away without regulation
One reason for this was that Wall Street bribed Congress
Just to add insult to injury, Congress also passed subsidies and tax breaks for corporations moving production to other countries.
It doesn't have to be this way. Other countries have much lower income inequality and higher standards of living.

Remember Spartacus !!

The Republican leaders have just announced that the, so called, Grand bargain on the debt limit is not going to happen at this time..They point to the Presidents Stimulus bill as being a failure.What they fell to mention when talking about the stimulus was 40% was tax cuts which they insisted on before signing off. Said they are serious about deficit reduction and take $2 Trillion off the table to help oil companies and Yacht Builders keep their subsidy, unbelievab­le. Why is HELP called a SUBSIDY for oil companies and Yacht Builders, but when it come to HELP for seniors it is called ENTITLEMEN­ts.

People forget than under the great Ronald Reagan the debt doubled , while under Clinton the debt was lowered and the budget was ballanced.  At the end of his term the country was looking at surplusses for years to come !  Under Bush 43 the debt was tripled.  Then the shit hit the fan. He passed Medicare part D as an unfunded program.  He started two costly wars while at the same time cutting taxes!!!!!! CHARGT IT, CHARGE EVERYTHING !  The Republican leaders that now are worried about the Debt smiled and went along with him, as did the Democrats.

I fear that the main aim of the Republicans ,all along, was to plunge the country deep in debt in order to use this debt as a way to attack and eliminate SSI and Medicare, programs they always hated.

Business owners do not care if workers have money taken out for retirement and health care. They just hate laws that require them to match this money. Do we really want workers to return to the pre SSI and Medicare days ?  Medicare was started because Seniors were dying early because they could not afford care.  This happened in the 50's and 60's when it cost $5 to see a Dr.

Sometimes I get tired of trying to tell people about the history of workers in this country. I remember how bad it was when I started Teaching. I even worked in many unsafe conditions in the shops and loading docks that employed me. I sti  suffer some health problems contracted when I was young. Oh well ,when the wealth revolt they bring tax cuts and take advantage of their workers. When workers revolt they bring blood.  Look at History. Remember SPARTACUS  !!!!!!

Give to the poor and needy .

You know Jesus would not approve of the conservati­ve agenda that the republican­s are promoting.

“If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus is just as selfish as we are or we've got to acknowledg­­e that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition.­­.. and then admit that we just don't want to do it." (S. Colbert(

Even Bill O'Reilly thinks Jesus is liberal...­­listen to the exchange between Bernie Goldberg and Bill-O

Bernie Goldberg said, "We need to build a beautiful granite and bronze monument in our nation's capital to honor the rich!"

Goldberg has nothing against poor or middle class people, but "try to imagine an America without rich people!"

O'Reilly countered by quoting Matthew 19:24 from the Bible: "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

Goldberg shot back: "I don't care what the bible says on the matter! Jesus probably would be, except for one or two issues, a liberal democrat today

I sometimes wonder how my fellow Christian friends can spew so much hate at the sick and poor while at the same time help promote the agenda of the wealthy.  WWJRD ?  I think I know. I know many kind and good Christians who practice their religion each and every day.  None of them, though, are wealthy. The wealthy I know just wear their religion on their sleeves and tote their bibles along and pray in public a lot. They only care about how they look to others. Real Christians have no need to show others their good deeds. I have always had more respect for common people who do the best they can than those that amass objects and wealth.

Jesus can teach us many things but accumulating wealth,property and toys are not among his lessons

Amen

Randon thoughts during the day.

The top 10% pay 70% of the income tax... but they make over 85% of all income to begin with. The top 50% rake in almost 100% of all the income that is dished out in this country. That bottom 51% make less than 1% of the income to be had. How do you pay significan­t income tax on income that doesn't even make the pie chart? And how can the middle pay more? When you look at the percentage of income taken in compared with the amount of income tax taken out, there is a distinct disparity.

Republican­s talk about "the poor" like they're a non-entity­. They are children, senior citizens, disabled people that make up the vast majority of "the poor". And Republican­s would rather take away from THEM, something that in some cases like medicaid, is literally the difference between life and death, rather than make billionair­es pay one more dime in taxes!!! Their greed and lack of compassion is simply stunning and REPREHENSI­BLE.

Listen up poor people out there, how dare you have $50. bucks left over at the end of the month after you've paid all your bills and bought hamburger and mac and cheese to feed your family. If you were a good patriotic citizen you'd be falling all over yourself to give the money to the gov't. Those rich people need that money to keep their mansions nice and pay the hired help, how do you expect Mrs. Gotrocks to look good if she has to pay more in taxes, do you think she can polish her fingernail­s herself or fix her own hair, hah, how selfish of you to make her pay more taxes. Mr. Gotrocks need that money to pay green fees at the country club, do you expect him to play on a public course, heaven forbid, how embarrassi­ng would that be.
So poor folks, just fork the money over and save the rich from embarrassm­ent

Blood Lible and Christians.

This is a religion that never helped its adherents to be moral. No wonder they have done these.

- Inquisitio­n in Spain and Goa
- Crusades
- Ethnic cleansing of American Indians
- SIavery
- Lynchings
- The Anti Chinese league of the Americas
- Jim Crowe
- The HoIocaust. Read the antisemiti­c rantings of Martin Luther the founder of the Protestant movement that was the impetus for the Holocaust.
- Separate churches for blacks and whites in the bible belt.
- BIood Iibel. Read in Wikipedia about this.. OMG! What eviI!
- It is stillm going on today. People are scared to admit that they are not believers .  I worked in a school system where we prayed at the start of each year. In order to keep your job you had to keep the faith,at leats outwordly.  I always marvel at men and woman who run for office that have to make the point of ther religious values and how they take their cues from GOD. Never could a politician stand up and say that he or she was not sure of their beliefs in a creator.  Sometimes I wonder If Religion is still a hin derence to prefress.

It is a fact that religion has obstructed medical advances for years. They were against autopsy ,in it infancy, transplants,and other general surgeries.  Now a lot of churches are against research on stem cells. I often wonder if our world would have progressed farther without religion of if we would have lagged behind ?

My 4th. of July Barf !

I have read the Declaration of Independence today in detail and would like to point out, and comment, on a line I find rather repugnant and sad. 


He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

This line was written by Thomas Jefferson about deeds that he feels that the King of England is guilty of.  The way we treated the Indians seems to me to be much worse than the way King George treated the colonists.
Sad to say this but we continued to treat them bad for years and denied them any rights under our new Constitution.  The same holds true for the slaves of this new nation. When I hear politicians blabbering about how great our founding fathers were I want to barf. Sometimes I think people never actually take the time to read either document.  Mant people do not know that most ammendments ,from no. 13 through  19 were adopted to correct large sections of Article one of the Constitution.

CEO pay raises !

So top CEO's get huge pay raises over the past two years while so many of their former employees are out of work. Meanwhile the extended unemployme­nt checks are now a thing of the past. And their employees who do still have jobs haven't had raises and are falling farther and farther behind.

Yet when President Obama suggests that the millionair­es and billionair­es should contribute a little more in taxes to the general welfare of the country, we hear screams from the Republican­s that taxes are bad. The only acceptable way to balance the budget according to them is by slashing benefits that might help the less fortunate. But the people at the top who created the problem earn ever more millions and pay ever lower taxes.

“Power,weal­th,the high court,Cong­ress,regul­ations,the­y are in control of it all. In the future Presidenti­al hopefuls will have to interview with them to get the money and permission to run. The average American has let this happen while we watch reality TV and argue about gays,guns,­god and climate change. Boy are they smart and boy are most of us stupid.”

Georgia needs immigrants to do the work Americans won't.

If you want to see what happens when immigrants are forced out of community en masse, check out this video.

After Arizona drove away immigrants­, the same REPUBLICAN­S who forced them out,  begged them to come back, no joke.

It turns out that in a state full of 85 year old retirees who watch "Matlock" all day, there aren't exactly a lot of people willing to do backbreaki­ng work in 110 degree heat for minimum wage.

Be careful what you ask for Georgia.  You just might get it!

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=es3hq0XM-­cw

Inhofe is a danger to our future.

I have stated this before, but it bears repeating. Climate change denial has nothing to do with science and everything to do with right wing ideology. If man made global warming is true, by implicatio­­n there would be higher taxes and greater government regulation of industry. It would also mean that them tree-huggi­­ng libertards are right.

That is why the deniers are so adamant about the subject. It threatens their belief system, and that is what they are defending. Facts do not matter. As a result they cherry pick data from wherever they can find to "disprove" it. They and ignore valid scientific data simply because it conflicts with their political agenda. They would rather see the world literally go to blazes than pay higher taxes.

As educated Americans,do we really want to bet our childrens future on people that want to deny thw facts ?
I think not. If they are right,and man is not causing climate change ,we are, at the least, harming our environment . We need to protect our air,water,and soil for generations to come.