SNAP CRITCISM AND POP – ULAR MYTH.

SNAP cuts today! Soon to be followed by much, much more cuts over the next two years!
Hey, GOP! Jesus said "Suffer the little children. . ." not "Make the little children suffer!"

No, the system isn't perfect -but show me the one that is. They should be looking for and eliminating [and in some cases prosecuting] cheaters, but they don't want that. They want to punish everyone by just cutting the program all together. They should verify people when they apply, Investigate others when the have cause, but thoroughly investigating everyone would probably cost more than it would save. I would rather a few cheaters get through than to deny someone in real need. Plus with  all of the financial abuses [wage inequity, investment scamming, unfair and exorbitant fees, corporate tax breaks and refunds for paying no taxes in the first place, and outright theft] committed against the people in this country by banks, wallstreet, corporations, and credit card companies, poor people getting food stamps doesn't even make my top ten list.

If even a tenth of the fake outrage and scorn that is heaped upon the the poor was directed at the corporate robberbarons that caused the financial collapse that cost the world trillions, it could make a real difference.

©  C.  Erich Dunne. november, twenty-thirteen.

THE TWENTY–NINTH DAY

I heard a very interesting and enlightening way of thinking about the effects of global climate change and why it is so important to act on it now.
Imagine a nice tranquil lake. One day a single lillypad appears on the lake. The next day there are two lilypads, the day after that, four. then on day five there are eight, and on day six there are sixteen and so on and so forth.

(day 8;128, day 9;256, day10;512...)

And they keep doubling every day. There is still plenty of room, so you hardly notice the problem.

(day13 =4,096, day14 =-8,192, day15 =16,384. . . )

Now, the lake will be completely full (you don't want that to happen, it will choke off and kill the lake!) on the 30th day.

(day19 =262,144, day20 =524,288, day21 =1,048,576. . . )
Assuming you will not notice a problem developing until the lake is at least half full, . .

(day24 =8,388,608, day25 =16,777,216, day26 =33,554,432, . . .)
Once the lake is half full, how many days will you have left to try to avert the disaster? On what day will the lake become half full?

(day 27 =67,108,864, day28 =134,217,728,. . . )
The answer; the lake will be half full on the twenty-ninth day!

(day 29 =268,435,456,. . . DAY 30 =536,870,912. )
A good example of how things can accumulate,how quickly it can overwhelm and get out of control. Just like the destruction of the environment, once it's obvious there is a problem it's too late to stop it. But if you look closely, you can see the warning signs before it is too late.

© C. Erich Dunne. . . . september, twenty-thirteen.

AIR FOIL

These profiteering corporate robber-barons who think people have no right to clean fresh water have given me an idea. If Neestle™ can extract million of gallons of Canadian water for free, then bottle it up and sell it back to them and around the world i should be able to do something similar. So to that end;
I hereby give public notice that from now forward, I now lay claim to all current and future mineral rights in the atmosphere of the planet Earth.
This means all of you free loading air breathers who have been inhaling my oxygen over they years had better start paying up! If you don't I'll drag your sorry leeching asses into court.
I think ten dollars (American) a day is a fair price to start but I reserve the right to increase rates as I see fit, Starting in January you overweight people will have to pay an additional two dollar 'Excessive heavy breathing' fee. This gives you three and a half months to lose weight if you do not wish to pay the additional charge.
I am prepared to forgive past air consumption and not level any charges of late payment fees for air already breathed.
I will be phasing in 'burning charges' in the next year. (Can't have a fire without oxygen you know.) these will include, trash and brush burning, fireplaces, cook outs, arson, and the use of internal combustion engines.
Failure to pay will result in heavy fines. addition delay will be penalized with to installation of a atmospheric blocking device ( Plastic bag pulled over head and secured around neck with a zip tie.) the device will only be removed after all charges and fees have been paid in full.

Thank your for your attention in this matter.

© C. Erich Dunne. . . .september, twenty-thirteen

FAIR AND BALANCED DIET

What a load. Fox "news" has gone from just being a joke to actually being dangerous. The rampant mischaracterization in this piece is astounding.
The one SNAP recipient they show is a supposed 'cheater' who they say 'feasts' on sushi and lobster. Not on what you get from Snap you don't. (and of course you use inflammatory rhetoric  like 'feasts'  and use the most expensive foods as examples to maximize the outrage for no good reason ).

In a news story about Republicans wanting to cut forty billion dollars from the food assistance program, this is the only side they show. The most despicable loser they can find (if they didn't make the whole thing up) to enrage tax payers into blaming the poor for our nations problems. Again. I thought John Roberts had some integrity but I was wrong.

So your fair and balanced reporters couldn't find one elderly retiree or disabled person to show the majority of the people who get assistance? Couldn't find one of the millions of low paid working single mothers who are trying to feed their children, huh? Or the family of a deployed soldier who had to give up their good paying job to serve their country? Not a single one huh? then they deliver this pack of lie to Congress just before the vote. The funny thing is their audience is mostly seniors and poor red state republicans who make up a large segment of SNAP recipients. Hold on, need to make a phone call. . .

Phone dialing. . .Phone ringing, . . .Phone ringing. . . Hello? Leg warehouse? Fox needs something to stand on. . Really? You have nothing? .. .Well, thanks anyway.

Sorry Fox, you have nothing to stand on.

If these people call themselves Christians one more time, I'll kick their asses.

(Stole the phone bit from "How I Met Your Mother.")

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/09/19/fox-runs-defense-for-gops-attack-on-food-stamp/195975

 

© C. Erich Dunne . . . . september, twenty-thirteen

THE UNIFORM LOAD.

Overheard people discussing where to get school uniforms. School uniforms; good thing they didn't try that shit when I was in school, they would have had to send me home every day.
Isn't it bad enough what schools are doing to these kids? making them all think alike and act the same? Now they have to look and dress in the same unimaginative manner.
What ever happened to individuality? What about independence, thinking for yourself, and the freedom of self expression?
Proponents of uniforms say that students dressing like they want is a distraction. Well I've got news for you Bubby, life is full of distractions -life is a distraction. The sooner they get use to dealing with distractions, the better off they will be.
These same types also complain about the "nanny-state", yet they are happy to teach children that they needn't think for themselves, the authority will tell them everything they need to know -even how to dress properly.
"They tried this school uniform stuff back in the 30's already. I know I've seen the films. It's hard to tell what's going on though, it's all in German." ~ George Carlin.
"when someone tells you there is no "I" in team, tell them 'but there is in individuality and independence!" ~ George Carlin (Again)


© C. Erich Dunne august,  twenty-thirteen.

“SNAP?!?!!” GOES THE WEASELS

'm really getting tired of of these attacks on the poor by the wealthy, who try to turn the middle class against them as a distraction so that the middleclasses won't notice what is being done to them by the rich.

   Don't get me wrong, no one likes a cheater, but there is no such thing as a perfect system and some will always take advantage of programs meant to help the truly needy.. Even if the fraud is ten to twenty %, are you going to punish the eighty to ninety % of the honestly needy recipients by shutting the program down? It stinks and is unfair true, but to thoroughly investigate everyone would cost you much more than you would save trying to eliminate fraud, so it is cheaper just to let some of it go and just catch the cheats you can.

   Most people on foodstamps are elderly, disabled or families with children. Not to mention that many more do have jobs or even two. They just work for companies that pay their employees so little that we have to subsidize their workforce, so deduct that from your Wal-Mart savings.  The average monthly benefit is around $130.00 per person, The idea that a bunch of lazy people are living better than you, eating steak and lobster every night is completely ludicrous. The same people who want to eliminate foodstamps also say the support the military. There is another group of SNAP recipients you hear very little about, and they are the families of deployed soldiers who gave up their good paying jobs to risk their lives and the futures of their families to serve our country for pennies a day.

   Most of the people I hear complaining about SNAP are conservative Christians talking about having to pay too much in taxes. To be fair, they probably are, but blame a ridiculously bloated military budget, corporate welfare, and overseas tax shelters, not the poor. I try to remind them of two things, 1. That as Christians everything they have belongs to God anyway, who commanded use to help the poor and take care of the old and the sick. And 2. A decent society does require some sacrifice, and if not for that decent and mostly safe society you wouldn't have a cushy job that allows you to earn a living in the first place. Just sayin'.

© C. Erich Dunne.  august twenty-thirteen.

MY ALIEN DAD CAN BEAT UP YOUR ALIEN DAD.

Spot the difference in these two scenarios.

Ted Cruz; Born on foreign soil to an alien father and citizen mother = Natural born citizen and true American patriot.
Barack Obama; Born on U.S. soil to an alien father and citizen Mother = Illegal alien and evil Muslim agent sent to destroy America.
Hmmm... what could the difference be?
If anything Cruz should be under more suspicion since his father is from a hostile enemy nation(Cuba) while Obama's father is from a friendly nation (Kenya)
Some of Cruz's supporters said they didn't consider Canada foreign soil. I suppose Hawaii is?
The balls it takes to make this argument in defense of Cruz, after six years of accusing Obama of being a foreigner, would need to be so massive  you would have to tote them around in front of you in a wheelbarrow.

© C. Erich Dunne august, twenty-thirteen.

‘ PART TIME ’ LOVERS

ANotHeR CrAZy iDea #119

  In the past few years Wall street has been enjoying new record highs on a regular basis, and corporations are now taking in profits at never before seen levels. Despite these facts the working class and poor are only getting poorer while the wealthy are increasing their net worth exponentially as more and more millionaires become billionaires. Even this is not enough for them, and in an effort to raise their profit margins ever higher, they are increasingly relying on a "part time" workforce. New hires are only for part time or temporary positions. The re-classifying of some existing employees, eliminating their benefits, cutting their hours, and laying off many others is now the current trend.

  Every day more people fail to qualify for benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, and paid time off simply because they are classified as Part time employees. Many of these "part time" employees actually end up working anywhere from 40 to 70 (And sometimes more) hours a week. But are denied the benefits they would have normally earned simply because those hours are divided up over two and sometime three different employers that they are forced to work for just to survive.

If these companies claim that they cannot afford to pay enough for their workers to earn a livable wage, isn't that very statement an admission that capitalism doesn't work? What, after all is in it for the common worker if not a chance to get ahead, or make some kind of decent life for themselves Are they suppose to just accept this kind of abuse? Be grateful for whatever scraps the wealthy decide to leave for them? This is where unions, government, and consumer spending power should work together to force these companies to adopt fair employment and wage practices. If they want to do business in this country then they have to start playing by the rules, including paying a fair share to support a decent society that allows them to earn those profits in the first place. They keep wanting to call this a Christian nation, it's time they started acting Christian.

  So to even out this inequity I think large corporations that try to skirt labor laws by primarily using a part time work force should pay into a common fund that would be used to finance benefits for people who work forty or more hours a week, just like any regular "full" time employee would earn. Why should Part time workers be punished for actually working longer hours than many full time workers do, simply because it is for more than one company? If you are lucky enough to have benefits, how many hours did you have to work to earn them this week?

   This country is suppose to be about rewarding hard work, not position.

©  C Erich Dunne   august, twenty-thirteen.

 

"The distance between the lifestyles of the haves and have nots is increasing daily and exponentially! This is a gross societal injustice and is what government SHOULD be about...the welfare of its people not a segment thereof!" ~ James Mentlow

TESTING MY PATIENCE

N C governor, Mayor McCheese is set to continue his policy of kicking anyone and everyone who is already down. He's about to sign into law mandatory drug testing for anyone applying for public assistance.  Why are they doing this? State after state has done this and ended up wasting much more money than they saved.  The governor of Florida was the first to introduce this nonsense, and as it turned out his brother was the owner of the testing company that was used. Arizona tested 87,000 applicants and had 1 positive test result. Florida tested 51,000 applicants  and had 21 positive test results. Over five million dollars of tax money was spent in just two states to deny 22 people welfare benefits. So that is the reason they made this law different, requiring the poor to pay for the test themselves.  But if they pass the screening they may be reimbursed.

What are they going to do if someone tests positive? help them get into rehab and get clean? Educate them on the dangers of addiction? Help them get a job? No, of course not; they will simply dump them from the the program, and how will that help anyone? And so what if someone is using drugs? Does that mean they are unworthy of help?  What about tobacco or alcohol? Why is it that conservatives are always looking for a reason to punish someone they don’t approve of? Well you can't blame them, they are only following their own religious guidelines, only help those who are clean, sober, and perfect.

All of this is simply another attempt to reinforce the myth that if anyone is in need it must be their own fault, and to blame the poor for their own condition. believing this serves to soothe the fears of the middle class, that as long as they are smart and personally responsible they could never end up poor themselves. As though all you have to do is choose to be personally responsible.  It keeps anyone from having to feel empathy for those less fortunate or guilty for not helping.  It also distracts them from noticing what the wealthy have been doing to them for the last three decades. So much for their love of  Constitutional standards when they hold everyone guilty until they can pay to prove themselves innocent.

Why don't we ever have drug tests for politicians? That I could support!

© C.  Erich  Dunne ; july, twenty-thirteen.

ROYAL PAIN

How many babies is Kate Middleton going to have? every time I check CNN she's walking out with another one! Amazingly the crowd reaction is always the same. How do they keep up their enthusiasm?

WIENER TAKES ALL

the wife of national embarrassment Anthony "the penis texter" Wiener made a statement yesterday trying to defend her husband and their marriage. At one point she stated that "our marriage has had it's ups and downs."
We know. He sent everyone pictures of the "ups".

BOY IN THE HOODIE

A guy walks into a bar. he pulls out a gun and shoots at his grandma who is drinking in the corner. He misses. Granma pulls out her gun and shoots back, she misses. The guy shoots his grandma dead and tells the police that because she shot at him, he feared for his life and shot her in self defense. he gets off Scot free.

Thought this was going to be a joke? Well it is -only the joke is on us. When did 'stand your ground' become 'chase them down' anyway? How the hell can you start a fight, and when that fight goes badly for you, you decide to shoot your way out of it and then claim self defense? Zimmerman shouldn't have been allowed to use the 'stand your ground' law, it should have applied to Martin; he was the innocent person minding his own business and doing absolutely nothing at all wrong. He was the one being stalked  and harassed by a gun toting maniac. Since the law says you only have to think someone is going to hurt you, I think that qualifies. Martin even did more than the law requires when he tried to get away from Zimmerman, who himself said Martina ran away from him. (he realized that didn't sound so good for a self defense case and changed it to 'skipping away' WTF?)

The most damning evidence against Zimmerman, beside the dead teenager's body- is his own words which he could not keep straight. Despite the fact that Hannity slow pitched leading questions, all but answering them for him for best defense results. When Hannity asked when he went for his gun Zimmerman actually said "At this point it wasn't MY GUN or HIS GUN, it was THE GUN." as if he wasn't responsible for bringing the gun into this. Like it was just THERE, flaoting in the air maybe and they both had an equal chance at it.  How were Zimmerman's lawyers allowed to say that Martin was NOT an unarmed teenager because he hit Zimmerman's head against the ground? Is the whole world a weapon? if so, we're all armed all the time.

The whole process favored Zimmerman from the beginning. They drug tested the murder victim, but not they guy who shot him? The police were more than happy to just take his word for the whole thing. It took six weeks for him to be arrested or charged with anything.

To add massive insult to injury, Zimmerman's lawyer said that the very idea of prosecuting his client was "disgusting". Then he said he it was sad (and for a second I thought he would slightly redeem himself by saying it was sad that someone had died, but no. . .) that "It took this long to get Zimmerman the justice he deserved." TOTAL DOUCHE.
One more symbol of just what they are Zimmerman said in his interview with Hannity that "He had NO REGRETS about what happened that night." That he didn't want to second guess God's plan. God's plan? God's plan was for him to kill an innocent unarmed teenager and get away with it?

And finally, the irony of ironies, in the 911 tape after accusing Martin of "looking suspicious" and "acting like he was on drugs"  just two among many wild assumptions. You can hear him get one thing right when he complains that "the bad guys always get away..."

© C. Erich Dunne  july twenty-thirteen

TRICK FOR CHEATS addendum

Democrats and liberals are so busy celebrating the victory they've already declared on social media sites, they haven't noticed that they are getting their asses kicked on the state and local levels. That's the tealibans new plan, change the nation one state at a time. Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina have already fallen. The first thing they do is redraw voting districts to ensure democrats are never in charge again. The fact that Scoot Walker survived his recall vote is proof enough of that. The only hope for this country is for a lot of conservative voters to wake up and realize the GOP is not on their side, that they don't care about their God, their religion, their values, or their future. All they want to do is dismantle the government so their wealthy masters can rule this country like kings.

SHARIA FLAW

ALEC must be hard at work again. Anytime you see state after state introducing extremely similar bills in rapid succession, you can bet ALEC is behind it.

This time around Tealiban politicians all across the nation are introducing into their various state houses legislation  banning Sharia law. Is this even necessary? Have I missed something, has there been a mad rush to pass Sharia in this country? Did we suddenly elect a majority extremist Muslim congress while I was taking a nap? Even if there were such a movement doesn't the Constitution already take care of this? I can't image there being very much in Sharia law that would pass Constitutional muster, or is the whole thing an exercise in religious intolerance; freedom of religion just so long as it's my religion?

It's just another distraction by conservative politicians who conjure up an imagined threat to pander to the fearful and the hateful, and delude their Tealiban followers into believing that they are doing something great to protect the country.  Just like when they keep proposing to make English the "official" language of the United States. Also when they mandate mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenses. Or confiscate the cars of d.u.i. drivers for education money, and last and definitely least, baggy pants laws.

All of those are examples of policies that sound like good ideas to the average idiot, but don't stand up to close scrutiny. I've covered Sharia already, so lets move on. English as the official language. English is the overwhelmingly dominate language in the United States. Almost all business and government function are conducted in English and that is not likely to change. The purpose of this law is to separate us from them. To make sure they know this is our country, and we don't tolerate differences, if they want to live here they're gonna have to be just like us. I always thought if this nation had an official language it should be along the lines of Sioux or Navajo -it was their country first.

Mandatory sentences sound good to the law and order (I like to see people mercilessly punished) crowd. Keeps those pussy bleeding heart judges from being too lenient. Until of course you realize you're going to have to let violent robbers, rapists and murders out of prison to make room for all the weed dealers. Plus I've never liked the whole idea of mandatory anything. You can never foresee all of the circumstances or consequences of your own actions much less anyone else's. Justice should be meted out by humane reason, not an exceptionless set in stone rule book. There can be no justice so long as rules are absolute.

School systems loved and pushed this one. People convicted of DWI, DUI's would have their vehicles confiscated and sold, the money going to schools. I imagine they thought they would be getting Mercedes', Lexus', and BMW's. Not realizing of course that anyone who could afford a nice car could therefore most likely afford a nice lawyer as well. And there is nothing easier for a nice lawyer to beat than a traffic offense especially when the cops are too busy with released violent criminals (see above) to spend all day in court for a traffic ticket. So all the schools got were twenty year old beaters that the owners didn't care about or couldn't afford regular car maintenance, much less even a bad lawyer. So the whole thing ended up costing them money. The rich got their cars back, the poor didn't. They couldn't sell the junkers they got and had to pay for their storage.

Baggy pants laws. This is more of a local issue, but every so often I hear another councilman proposing an ordinance to outlaw baggy or sagging pants. I'll admit nothing looks more retarded than some idiot with his pants below his ass walking around having to hold them up with one hand by the belt. (yes most of them I've seen do have belts, which they can't use and still be able to walk) Is this what we want our overworked police doing with their time instead of catching criminals? Is this what we want our overburdened courts dealing with all day? Fashion? This is America everyone has the right to dress however they like, Even if it is stupid as hell. If you don't believe me then you've never been to Wal-Mart.

Like i said, they propose policies that they know will sooth and calm the fearful, and appeal to the desires of  the hateful. It is nothing more than a distraction and waste of time and resources.

© C. Erich Dunne  july, twenty-thirteen.

TRICKS FOR CHEATS

Christians have a saying that goes; "The Devil's greatest trick is to convince people that he doesn't exist." Republicans have a trick of their own. They have convinced millions of people that the only voice they have, the only source of power and protection, their only means for justice and fairness, the institutions of government and the courts, is not only their greatest enemy, but an unprecedented threat to their future and their freedom.
They believe that getting rid of the government will make them freer. In fact, I believe the exact opposite is true. The power held by the government will not disappear with government, it will simply transfer to those that have the only other means for power; money. This means that decisions about labor, the environment, education, healthcare, and a whole host of other issue that will affect everyone will be made by the extremely wealthy and their corporations. Under this system average people will have no say in those decisions that will impact them the most. there will be no one to vote out of office for not representing you.
Litigation will not be an option either. By then the courts will be powerless to stand up for your rights. Under the guise of "tort reform" If they cannot take away your right to sue altogether, they will make it pointless to sue by severely limiting the amount of damages that you could collect, or the degree of responsibility corporations can be made to answer for.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a supposed non-profit which writes model legislation that promotes a corporate agenda for it's members nationwide. These model bills are voted on in secret at posh resorts with legislators and corporate executives having equal say. If agreed to they are then distributed and introduced into state governments across the country. ALEC also has a hit list of federal departments that it would like to see eliminated, including, but not limited to; the Departments of education, environmental protection, energy, commerce, labor, as well as the FBI and CIA. Their ultimate goal is to shrink government and it's power, and to privatize as many of it's functions as possible to maximize profit. Their greed is limitless, they desire is to own and rule everything unchallenged. Becoming the new lords of the land while the average citizen lives as a serf, working their lands and paying them tribute. They believe this outcome is their God given right.
We need these agencies and a strong federal government. It is far too easy for a corporation, some special interests, or even an extremely wealthy individual to control a smaller entity like a single state. Only by combining our voices and looking out for one another on a national basis can we stand up for ourselves and our future. Some things are too important to be operated for profit and have to be left to the public sector or democracy will truly be lost.

© C. Erich Dunne  june, twenty-thirteen.

UNITE THE STATES

Why should you want a strong central government?

It is entirely too easy for a corporation to control a single state,  the governor, state senators, and mayors of any state, especially poor ones will do whatever their corporate masters tell them to all in the name of bringing "jobs" to their state. Basically turning over the power of the state from elected official who are answerable to the voters, to unelected executives and possibly anonymous shareholders who are unremovable  and answer to no one.

Corporations have always seeked incentives and that is fair. But what has happened is that those incentives have grown to blackmail, ransoms, and extortion. Companies are now demanding (and getting) some if not all of the following;

Free land

Free infrastructure connections

Building costs paid for by the state

Moving expenses

Little to no taxation

Outright cash payments

All subsidized by the working class taxpayers who not only have to basically "buy" their own jobs, but end up financing the operations of the businesses they work for. Some estimates range from $10,000.00 to $200,000.00 in incentives traded for compensation of $20,000.00 to $40,000.00 per job provided. Since many of these companies don't have to file taxes, the states have no idea how much revenue they are actually giving up. But clearly in some cases it would be cheaper for the state to simply pay these workers to stay home.

There are even lobbying consultants who exist solely to get as much from states as they can, and they do a good job too. One of these consultants sued the company they were hired by for not pursuing even more incentives on the grounds it limited the consultants income by not being able to collect a percentage of the lost incentives.

And it never ends. Those companies keep coming back, threatening to move and take their jobs with them because they want this or that or got an offer from another state. A strong federal government can regulate (not a bad word) across state lines uniting them in a common interests and strengthening their bargaining position to prevent hem from being unfairly and unethically exploited

 

○ C. Erich Dunne  june, twenty thirteen.

PEOPLE SAY THE DUMBEST THINGS. . . .

I am amazed at what some people say;
"They can spy on me all they want, as long as they keep me safe."
Well, if they are spying on you, they're not keeping you safe, unless you're planning on killing yourself, then they might stop that But they probably won't
Why stop with spying then? How about A government agent to live in your house full time? He could ride with you to work, you could have lunch together, he could open all of your mail for you and sit next to you when you are online googling Kartrashian butt pictures. Better yet they could just lock you in a cage and throw away the key, then you would be as safe as possible

.
"As long as they keep me safe!" They can't keep you safe. Even if they could you're hundreds of times more likely to be killed by something else, including the law enforcement you're depending on to 'keep you safe' so why give up your privacy and freedoms on the odd and very low chance of being caught up in a terrorist attack?
"if you're not doing anything wrong, you've got nothing to worry about!"
This is the equivalent to saying "there is not one innocent person in prison." Here's a question, who decides if what you're doing is right or wrong?
And why doesn't that policy work both ways? If the government isn't doing anything wrong, why do they keep trying to prosecute all these whistle blowers? Unless you're trying to hide something? Come on, tell us -we'll keep you safe!

○ C. Erich Dunne  june, twenty thirteen.

ROAD TO FUTILITY

Conservatives wrapped up their "Road to the Majority" conference this week with keynote speaker- and hold on to your hats for this one!  ---SARAH PALIN!!!!    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

"People lied and the government spied.  People lied and Americans in Benghazi died."
~ Sarah Palin.
Ignoring the fact that her statement was a less than piss poor, half-assed re-writing of a twelve year old anti-Bush slogan (Bush lied; People Died.), and the fact that she couldn't support domestic spying enough when it was a republican policy, and that she never uttered a single word of protest when diplomatic staff were killed under the bush administration,  how could anyone applaud her ridiculous rhetoric that so hypocritically bashes what she once avidly supported? Not even she could possibly believe the insanity she was spewing.

How could they not see her for what she is? How could anyone fall for such obvious partisan lying? I know there are those on both sides who do it, but it's like the republicans aren't even trying to hide it, or just aren't imaginative enough to pull it off. What do they think this kind of duplicitousness could possibly gain them? Do they think people are that forgetful, or that stupid? Are people that stupid? From the amount of applause that she received, I would have to say "YES"

I can't tell you how infuriating it was to hear a room full of morons applaud and cheer her, but that fury was tempered by the hilarity of the fact that republicans believe that Sarah Palin of all people is their 'road to the majority'.


© C. Erich Dunne june, twenty thirteen.

NORTH MISSISSIPPI

North Carolina is now rocketing backward into the dark ages... I never wanted Mayor McCheese to win his bid for Governor, but when he did win I thought "Maybe it won't be so bad..." Boy was I wrong!
The NC Senate is currently re-writing the gun laws of this state. Right now, if you want to buy a hand gun you have to get a permit from your local sheriff, who does his own background check. Those checks and permits will be going away (and don't worry about the federal checks, they will get to those soon) along with many of the restrictions on where you can carry a handgun. When passed, you will be able to take your gun into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, schools, parades, and funeral processions. (guns and alcohol should be a fun mix -but parades i understand, lets get those roads cleared of that ridiculous slow traffic, plus those Shriners are nothing but a menace.)

This is why democrats have to be such hard asses about gun control, because they knew all along that despite all of the public proclamations by republicans they were never really serious about background checks. They said those things because at the time (just after Sandy Hook) they had to, due to public sentiment.  We all knew that they didn't mean it and would never follow through. All they want is to serve the interests of the nra, who along with gun manufacturers only care about selling as many guns as possible and they don't care to whom.

I've actually heard some conservatives say that asking a law abiding citizen to show identification would be too "burdensome."  You mean like when you buy cigarettes or alcohol?  Why is okay for one and not the other? Is it really such a burden to take out your wallet? You have to to pay for the damn thing anyway, and if you pay with anything other than cash they will probably make you show an ID anyway to prevent fraud against a bank or credit card company. So, I guess it's okay to ask for ID to save money, but not lives?

Every week almost I'm amazed by these republican controlled entities rolling back every good thing accomplished in the last sixty years. Soon we'll have the same laws and policies as Mississippi or Alabama, and look where that has gotten them for the last hundred years -NOWHERE.

© C. Erich Dunne june, twenty thirteen. 

I, NOBOT

I was watching some stupid show where the owner of a company pretends to be a lowly employee- you know- slumming it so he can "know" exactly how the rest of us feel. As if.  Like the knowledge that you don't have to do this low grade demeaning labor, and can go back to your mansion at any time you want doesn't color your perception just a bit.

   A show like that is only good for one or two seasons anyway, or for as many shows that they can tape before the first one airs, because after that, no one is going to be fooled.  No one will believe anyone is making a documentary about Tony and his first day at K-Mart.

  Anywho, this poor hourly schlep is working in a shipping warehouse, where his job is to package up products to ship out.  All these different items come down a conveyer, and he has make an appropriate sized box, put the item in it, fill it with packing materials, seal it up, and properly stick on the shipping label.  Every ninety seconds - or you're fired.. All the while his "co-workers" are muttering about he's just not going to "make it". So much for human dignity.  No person should ever work like a machine, nor should they be expected to. If you want a machine to do a job for you, then buy a machine.  Don't hire a minimum wage nothing and try to frighten a machines day of production out of him by threatening his job. If you have to wait another minute or two for your copy of "Big Jugs", (it's a book about pottery) so be it.

   Now don't get me wrong, when you are "on the clock" you should be working.  But no one can work every second of every hour it's just not possible. Plus these rules never seem to apply across the board, or to the board. Any supervisor, middlemanager, or boardmember feels entitled to stop working, chat, take a break (or many breaks), come in late, and leave early or just screw around all day- leaving the "rules" to be followed by the lowest waged nothings.  As if how much money you make determines how much humanity you are allowed.

   Why companies feel they have to rob their employees of their self-respect to get a days work out of them I'll never understand.  I believe they do this simply to make themselves feel like a big man, because they can force you to comply with a bunch or meaningless or arbitrary rules.  To actually tell your workers that they can be fired for sitting down, when half of their job is looking up things on a computer, has to be nothing but a power trip. Are you really going to fire a good hard working employee because he sat down once. I've known people that would. Crazy, stupid people mind you, but people non the less

SANFORD AND SIN

Mark "Appalachian Trail" Sanford won the Republican primary, setting up a run for Congress again. WTF? Are Republicans in love with losing? How does the party of morals nominate a man who cheated on his wife, went AWOL from his job as governor, and ignored his children on father's day to go be with his foreign mistress in a foreign country, and resigning in disgrace. This is the best person the party of morals could produce for this office? This guy?  Who demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt a complete lack of morals, common sense or good judgment? Was everyone else in the state busy?

This is what's wrong with this country. It's not gay marriage, which hurts no one. Or social programs that help the poor, the elderly, and the sick. It's that we keep electing morally bankrupt clowns simply because of name recognition, no matter how they got famous in the first place.

Plus he's running against the sister of Stephen Colbert. Colbert will eviscerate Sanford nightly on his show. I do see this guy standing a chance, just on moral grounds, of which he has none.

STATES’ BLIGHTS

This effects everyone who pays state or local taxes- please read.   It's time to cut out welfare. . . for corporations, billionaire owned sportsball franchises and studio financed blockbuster films.  You have probably never heard of G. Brint Ryan, but his job is to get as many tax dollars into the hands of corporations as he possibly can. He's very good at his job too, even going so far as to suing his own clients for lost income he could have earned had they  gone after incentives that for whatever reason they decided not to pursue.

    All of these for profit endeavours are able to make such outrageous deals because no governor wants be the one who ’lost jobs’ or ‘didn’t bring jobs.’  It’s come a long way since a few tax breaks would do the trick.  With every state willing to give up tax revenues for jobs the really competitive states had to sweeten the pot a little more. Soon companies wanted free land for their building sites, and they got it. The next logical step was to have infrastructure brought to their sites free of charge.  So roads, power grids, sewer systems, and emergency services began to be provided at the tax payers expense.  Not enough to sate corporate greed, now they demand free buildings  and of course moving expenses. With everything provided, all that was left was outright extortion demanding cash payments, under threat of moving elsewhere, pitting states against each other in bidding wars to see who can sell out their taxpaying middle class the fastest.

    Since most of these companies don’t have to pay taxes, they don’t need to report earnings making it almost impossible to tell exactly what states are giving up. In some cases it is estimated that states are giving up $100,000 in tax revenue per job created that only pays workers between $20 - $40,000.  Taxpayers are having to buy their own jobs. These corporate windfalls never make it down to the employees who live in the states that pay for them, they are kept at the top for executives and investors. States are paying more per job than the jobs could possibly create in tax revenue, it would be cheaper to pay workers to stay at home. If you tried to blackmail a state like this you would probably go to jail. They can’t tax the poor, they have nothing. Tax the rich and their corporations and they will simply move, so no going there.  That just leaves the working class to pay the taxes for everyone,

Sportsball franchises are another source of usury against the state.  The Charlotte city council failed to get General assembly support to raise taxes to help finance renovations at Panther's Bank of America stadium. But fear not, they will still get millions in tax revenues for the upgrades. As usual, they claim the money is needed to keep the team from relocating. Which is a lie, The Panthers aren't going anywhere, they couldn't get the kind of loyal fan support they enjoy here. Bank of America's name is scrawled all over the stadium, so let them pay for it.

   What really rips me is that people will complain loudly about the poor getting a sustenance from the government yet it seems that you can hardly find a anyone who is outraged that billionaire owned businesses and sportsball teams get huge sums of our tax dollars. I would rather buy every poor family in the state a brand new Mercedes Benz than give one dime to these sportsball teams or owners. They are effectively private clubs for the enjoyment of the upper middle and rich classes, priced out of reach of  average families.  To take a family of four to one of these sportsball competitions costs about as much as a three day weekend at a local beach, making it impractical for a few hours entertainment. Even then God forbid it isn't a sell-out because if it isn't, the game is blacked out from television –the most insulting part of it all, preventing them from even seeing an event that they are forced to subsidize.

    Movie studios have jumped on this American bandwagon of cash. New York City paid large sums of money to the makers of “Wall Street 2”.  Even though there was no chance of them going anywhere else. I mean really, are going to film a movie about Wall Street in Toronto? I don’t think so. There is no ‘trickle down here either. Extra money is considered just that –extra. It is kept by the studios, producers, and actors, nothing goes to the stagehands, electricians, caterers or wardrobe people.

HEALTHSCARE DEFLATE

    I can't believe that after the Affordable Healthcare Act was passed, then upheld on challenge by The Supreme Court, and Obama was re-elected running on the fact of this accomplishment, Republicans are still talking about repealing Obamacare. First of all, as the "Christian" party shouldn't they be happy that many more people will have access to healthcare? You know, all that "love thy neighbor" and "do unto others"... junk? Being as predictable as they are I feel I can go ahead and speak for them. I imagine they would say something like "Well, we would like that too, but this isn't the way to do it"  and then add the tried and true "we need to slow this down and study it carefully" and my favorite; "We need to repeal and replace Obamacare."  Knowing of course it would stop just with repealing and somehow never get around to the replacing. Surprise!

    What I say to that is; "Too damn bad!" It's not like this is something new.  unaffordable healthcare has been a known problem for at least sixty years, and they've refused to do anything about it. They have blocked, slowed, or sent it to committee to die a slow death every time it has come up. They have had decades to come up with their own plan to get coverage for the poor but have refused to do anything at all.

    So they have absolutely no right to complain when the people got tired of waiting and elected some one with a backbone who wasn't afraid so shove universal care down their obstructionist throats. They had their chance to do something, anything, and they blew it. So too little too late repugnantcans!

    They declare it won't work without trying it, or anything else for that matter. Here's a novel idea, since it has been passed, partially implemented, and upheld by the courts, How about we give it a chance and see what happens? I'm sure it isn't perfect but lets give it a year and see how it performs. Then at the end of a year we review it.  We keep what is working, and change what isn't working as well, then give it another year or two- and review it again, keeping even more of it while continuing to fix the rest. maybe in a few years we will have a really good plan. Almost anything would be better than the nothing you have offered.

THE PAPAL CHASE

  The election for the new Pope is set to start next Tuesday. This will be the third Papal selection that I can remember,  and all i can think of is "Are you sure you want to do that?"  The last guy just quit maybe you should try out being Pope free for a bit, see how you like it.  It's bad enough to have so many politicians trying to run your secular life but to hand over your relationship with the Almighty and subject yourself to the whims of some old guy who believes himself to be infallible seems to be, well, a fallacy..

   Of course the entire concept of organized religion has made little sense to me. To have layers of ranks and bureaucracy between you and your personal God- well only humans could screw up something so simple as how you commune with the creator. That's why I've always been an admirer of George Fox, founder of the Quaker movement (but not Quaker oats) His revolutionary concept was to have no authorities in the church at all. No Preacher or Pastors, no Deacons, no Bishops or Cardinals, and definitely no Pope.  The idea being that there was no one better qualified to define what form your relationship with God should take or be, than you yourself. That each of us is able to commune with God in our own way and in our own time, that we are all capable of hearing the voice of God in the still quiet moments of reflection. To that end Quaker worship consists of no sermons only quiet meditation.  However anyone is welcome to stand and say something if they feel compelled to, or have reached some sort of an epiphany.

   although this has begun to change in some communities with the addition of sermons, to which I say what's the point of being a Quaker in the first place if you're going to do things like every other church?

   The Quaker philosophy makes much more sense to me than the hierarchies of a regimented "organized" religion. Why anyone would turn to another human being for answers about God, who is capable of speaking for himself to any one of us at any time loses me completely. What can a Steven Furtick or Pope John Paul whatever tell me that God itself could not?  Sure someone can go to college, study the Bible or other religious books all their lives and be experts in the scriptures. But truth be told, I haven't much faith in the bible either. There are some great and profound things in those ancient pages but a lot of it seems to me to be just some people trying to tell other people how they should live, a kind of "God told me to tell you..." type of thing to get people who ordinarily wouldn't- to listen to them. Even more of it containing stories that simply defy belief from the very beginning.  And some clearly written by a people who at the time had no concept of the nature of the Earth, the solar system or of space. 

   Does it make sense that God would say, after interacting with us for centuries, "I'm going away now- but I'm going to pick out thousands of people to speak for me while I'm gone.  Most of these people will be social misfits and outcasts- people to whom you normally wouldn't give the time of day to. But now they will have dominion over you and how you live. Also, (and here is the good part) I'm not going to stop any other nut who may claim to speak for me but doesn't and is only trying to con you for their own personal gain. Now it will be up to you to figure out which one is which- but be careful- if you chose wrong you will have to burn in hell forever simply because you loved me (or thought you were loving me) the wrong way."

    I have often wondered about this, Can you sincerely love a God out of a fear of the consequence of the most painful and horrifying punishment man could imagine without it breeding even a hint of resentment? Are you a better person if you do right and sacrifice only because you are afraid of the alternative, rather than the belief that it is simply the right thing to do? Why would an intelligent, omnipotent God want your worship or love under such duress in the first place? Why wouldn't he want your love simply because it's what you wanted to do? Why want to be worshiped at all for that matter? To tell the truth, I've never been all that clear on what worshiping something even involved or meant. Why punish those who didn't love you when you could teach them instead? If the goal is to become better people, wouldn't learning a better way work more effectively  than torment?  Why not just let those who don't love you go their own way, without repercussions? Maybe separating yourself from God and the rest of humanity through negative behavior is its own punishment.

Maybe I'm nowhere near smart enough to begin to understand any of this but I assume we all have a conscience for a reason.

BENE – FIT TO BE TIED

   The radio station my alarm clock wakes me up to has a political show on Sunday morning. for the third week in a row they played our own newly minted North Carolina Governor, Charlotte's  ex-Mayor McCheese - Pat McCrory's first State of the State address.  And true to his Republican roots he has announced he's gutting unemployment benefits by 33% to repay the federal government. He also states that this money never would have borrowed by his administration to begin with.

   Really? Those benefits have kept people in their homes, paying their mortgages and utility bills. Without it there would have been many more families losing their homes. What would Bank of America do with 100,000 more repossessed foreclosed on homes? And with thousands of families no longer paying their Duke Energy or Piedmont  Natural Gas bills, those companies would no doubt be forced to enact even more lay offs and in turn forcing more families to apply for and depend on unemployment compensation. So how does not borrowing this money help exactly?

   I understand no one likes to borrow money, and I understand the need to pay it back. But that doesn't have to be done right now, in the midst of a recession when tax revenues are at their lowest and the number of families depending on this program are at their highest. Cutting benefits now will only prolong the recovery and the suffering of millions from years to possibly decades. Once someone has lost a home to foreclosure they may never be able to qualify for another mortgage. Borrow the money if you have to to keep these families viable. Once the economy starts to grow again, and people have gone back to work, Tax revenues will increase- then you can pay back the loan. It is not only the right thing to do economically, but I believe it is the moral thing to do.

   Doing anything less would be inviting economic disaster. Can McCrory really be that short sighted? Or is what I've always suspected actually true? That Republicans really do hate poor people, even the recently poor ex-middleclass.

FACTS & TRENDS OF TAX & SPEND

Is there in truth no beauty?
Please read this if you care about your investments/retirement. It's time to put the myths to bed.
From Forbes Magazine on the book "Bulls, Bears, and the Ballot box" By Bob Deitrick and Lew Goldfarb.

Personal disposable income has grown nearly 6 times more under Democratic presidents
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown 7 times more under Democratic presidents
Corporate profits have grown over 16% more per year under Democratic presidents (they actually declined under Republicans by an average of 4.53%/year)
Average annual compound return on the stock market has been 18 times greater under Democratic presidents (If you invested $100k for 40 years of Republican administrations you had $126k at the end, if you invested $100k for 40 years of Democrat administrations you had $3.9M at the end)
Republican presidents added 2.5 times more to the national debt than Democratic presidents
The two times the economy steered into the ditch (Great Depression and Great Recession) were during Republican, laissez faire administrations.

The book covers only Presidents Hoover through W. Bush.  But as we near this election I asked Mr. Goldfarb his view on the incumbent Democrat’s first 4 years.  His response:
“Obama at this time would rank on par with Reagan
Corporate profits have risen under Obama more than any other president
The stock market has soared 14.72%/year under Obama, second only to Clinton — which should be a big deal since 2/3 of people (not just the upper class) have a 401K or similar investment vehicle dependent upon corporate profits and stock market performance”
As to the challenging Republican party’s platform, Mr. Goldfarb commented:
“The platform is the inverse of what has actually worked to stimulate economic growth
The recommended platform tax policy is bad for velocity, and will stagnate the economy
Repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will have a negative economic impact because it will force non-wealthy individuals to spend a higher percentage of income on health care rather than expansionary products and services
Economic disaster happens in America when wealth is concentrated at the top, and we are at an all time high for wealth concentration. There is nothing in the platform which addresses this issue.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2012/10/10/want-a-better-economy-history-says-vote-democrat/

DISTRICT MINE

Don't like the color of your state?  Red state or blue, there's not much you can do about it now other than move.  I say now because the people in power have hashed out and fine tuned the redrawing of congressional districts to such a degree of precision That there is little chance from here on out of the political landscape changing in any meaningful way.

  This not only makes it easier for politicians to stay in office it promotes gridlock and elevates partisan uncooperativeness to extreme new levels.  It use to be that a politician had to placate the base of his party and lean just enough to the far right/left extremist to secure a primary victory while leaving himself wiggle room to dance back to the center for any chance at all in the general election.  Not anymore.  Most districts are so heavily skewed toward one party or the other that most general elections pose little risk to the incumbent.

  the real threat comes from the candidates own party.  They must now be very careful to act only as their party directs them, or there will be a price to pay.  If they are perceived as being soft on the opposing party or God forbid be seen as working with the enemy or not voting against anything proposed by them, their masters will back another candidate in the next primary where they will be portrayed as unpatriotic traitors, or worse yet - moderates. This accomplishes what Gingrich could not with his contract with America, forcing Congressmen to vote how the party tells them to without regard for what is best for their own districts or constituents. (Why would anyone vote for someone who only does as he is told? I would want a representative who thinks for themselves.)  Absolute gridlock ensues as politicians from both sides flee the negotiating table for fear that their next statement, action, or vote will be their last.

  The worse part of this is that it gives unprecedented powers to the political parties and leaving public policy to be decided by a very few unelected officials, robbing the voters of any real power or say about the direction of their futures.  The people are rapidly losing what little power they had.  This has happened to my state ahem..  North Carolina   .. which voted for Obama in '08, but in 2012 went blood red.  The republicans now have firm control of both houses and the Governorship, with the Democrats in such a small minority that we now effectively have a one party system with little hope of change.  True to Republican form, this week they are expected to vote to cut unemployment benefits. For you coastal residents, it's just a matter of time before those oil derricks go up all over the OBX. That will be a sad day.

SUB PAR

The Subway restaurant chain had a bit of a mini scandal a few weeks ago about the length of their "footlong" sandwiches. It seems that some of these sandwiches may have been a mere eleven to eleven and a half inches! For shame! How dare they rip us off by half an inch? why after only twenty-four customers, they have saved themselves a whole sandwich! Oh, my bad- twenty-three customers.

  Big freakin' deal! There is a lot to complain about at Subway, but this isn't it. First of all, let me remind you that a half an inch is about this [-----] big. Double that for for the full inch cheat and you still have nothing. And try to remember they gave the sandwich to you in a bag that is carried vertically, so even if it started its life a full twelve inches it would be folly To expect something as soft and pliable as bread to maintain any set length or not compress under it's own weight.

  Where they need to be investigated is in the disparity between the pictures on the menu board and what they try to pawn off on their consumers. The pictures show sandwiches stuffed with over an inch of meat (in this direction that inch means much more) but what you get is a head of lettuce stuffed between two pieces of bread with, if you are lucky- a tissue thin slice of deli meat. My brother asked his wife why she always gets the vegetable sub, she answered that they don't give you enough meat to taste anyway, why pay for it? They even spread (so to speak) this policy to the tuna as well. A six inch tuna sub used to get you three scoops of tuna, now? Just one then they try to spread it across the whole sandwich. Not cool.

  And what exactly is a "regular sub" ? They always advertise that "all" "regular” subs are five dollar footlongs, yet everything I order costs eight bucks.

  This year's SuperBowl featured a subway commercial congratulating their spokesjerk Jared for keeping the weight off he lost eating at Subway. Big deal, considering the amount of meat you get for your money I'm surprised he didn't starve to death.

THE WARS OF THE WORLD

A conservative friend of mine who shall remain nameless (Scott) Was telling me why he disapproved of social welfare programs "that they didn't work, that there are more poor than ever." Well setting aside for a moment that the population has doubled since WWII, I asked if the war on poverty should end because it isn't working, why does he still support the war on drugs, which is a much bigger failure, and hasn't helped anyone. We've spent billions, imprisoned millions and anyone can still get any drug they want, practically any time they want. There are more drug dealers and drug users than ever before. He replied That "It would be much worse if we did nothing." So why doesn't that apply to helping the poor? Wouldn't poverty be much worse if we did nothing there as well? I for one don't believe that the drug problem would be worse if we did nothing. I believe that the people who want to use drugs already do so, and those who don't, aren't going to start simply because it was now legal to do so. So what is the difference? I know conservative love rules and the assigning responsibility and blame. Could it be just about law enforcement? Maybe we should outlaw being poor? At least it would clear up the homeless problem putting them all in prison.

Another aspect of this phenomenon is the war on healthcare costs. This same friend was complaining that under the affordable care act, healthcare cost would go up due to the fact that more people would have access to medical treatment. Which led me to ask; "As a Christian, shouldn't you be happy more people will be getting healthcare? Aren't you suppose to love thy neighbor, more than thy checkbook?" ( chirp...chirp...chirp..) Why is it just Godless liberals fighting for universal medical coverage and an end to poverty? It certainly seems like conservatives are religious about the issues until it affects their bank accounts, then they forget that Jesus said to help the poor, heal the sick, and feed the hungry.

No where was this more obvious than on facebook. During the last election Republicans posted time and again about what would happen to THEIR money, THEIR taxes if God forbid Obama won re-election. My liberal friends and I were dismayed by this difference, as our concerns were about what would happen to the old, the sick, the poor if Romney were to win and gut social programs as promised? It seems to me that many conservative Christians have adopted a new Holy Trinity; consisting of unregulated Capitalism, blind Patriotism, and Jesus. In that order.

WAGES AGAINST THE OBSCENE

It’s hard to believe that there is anyone who would like to abolish the federal minimum wage law but it has been on corporate America’s wish list since it was created.  Being overwhelmingly pro business almost every candidate in the last Republican Presidential primary expressed a desire to do that very thing.  Think they have very little chance of accomplishing this little dream of theirs? 

Don’t write them off just yet because they’ve done it before.  Convincing millions of America’s poorest citizens that the only recourse or source of power that they truly have, the government, the courts, the unions are in actuality their greatest enemies.  Vilifying the EPA, OSHA, the SEC, the departments of labor and education are just a few of the planks in the Republican’s “small government” platform designed to weaken the power of the populace to the point where only money will have a voice in public policy. Allowing their friends and the corporations they own to do as they wish with no interference from the commoners. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the “red” states of the south.  These states are consistently at or near the bottom of almost all of the economic indicators of financial health. (at least they lead the nation in obesity and diabetes)   Lowest in education. Lowest in wages, opportunity, and standard of living.  These same states (most of which are so called ‘right to work’) do run high levels of distrust and anti government, union, and court sentiments toward the very organizations capable of leveling the playing field and giving them a voice in their own destinies.

Economics has never been my strongest subject, in fact it bores the crap out of me.  But when it is blatantly obvious, even I can see when it is time for a change.  The states that have continually voted Republican for decade after decade have seen little to no improvement in their conditions, yet they stick with the right who tell them that education is elitist, that worrying about the environment is crazy, and that what is good for the wealthy is best for them as well.  That anything even slightly resembling Social policy is totally un-American and completely evil. 

If only it weren’t for those other ‘pesky’ states, around New England and the northwest, many of which have instituted a state minimum wage in excess of the federal standard.  Almost all of these mostly “blue” states have a better standard of living than their southern counterparts.  So how can the Republicans continue to claim that a minimum wage is bad for the economy and businesses?  Easily, the same way  they have convinced them that all of their other resources were bad for them, by lying.

It’s just another example of the top 1% continuing assault on the middleclass and working poor that has gone unchecked in this country since the late seventies. The working classes has seen their wages creep up only slightly, remain stagnant, or in terms of actual buying power have declined in the last thirty years while executive and ceo compensation has skyrocketed by several hundred percent in the same time period.  This disparity is possible only because those at the top (who see their employees only as a financial burden) get to decide how profits are distributed, and more and more they are deciding that they want it all.

Despite the fact that the workers are the ones who make the products and perform the services for which consumers are willing to pay.  No customer would pay for what these managers and executives do so their compensation is taken from profits earned by the labor of others, by this definition, management is on public assistance.  Those at the bottom get the wages, and those at the top walk away with obscene levels of income.

  If you lived in a state that was controlled by one party for decades, and saw not the slightest improvements in that time, wouldn’t you try something new?  Not these guys, they are steeped in old timey- and in the Republican’s new Holy Trinity;  Unfettered Capitalism, Blind Patriotism, and Jesus.  In that order.

DELAY TACTICS

Their trouncing in the recent elections has the Republicans making the rumblings of possible compromise.  Right now they seem resigned to give up more than they ever thought they would on the current immigration reform negotiations, realizing they can no longer win with just the angry white vote.  Whatever the outcome I have no doubt that after they do compromise they will try to re-secure that base by blaming the Democrats for ramming through legislation without working with the right, the same thing they did about the Affordable Healthcare act.

To that I say- Sorry! You have no one to blame but yourselves.  These issues and many others have existed for decades while the people waited for solutions and the right paid only lip service to the problems we face, pretending to care while delaying and deflecting the issues until time ran out or the opposition simply gave up.  Time and again we heard this from the right;

“We know something needs to be done about healthcare costs/immigration/gun control/ budget deficits but lets take it slow, study the problem and do it right.”  Translation; Slow it down to a crawl/ pretend to work for a solution/ send it into committees for study until it dies a slow death/ declare you tried but the other side was unwilling to compromise and wait for that socialist Carter/ Clinton/ Obama to be removed from office.

That worked well for you in the past, but finally the people got tired of waiting.  They voted in candidates that would tackle tough issues, healthcare was passed, and stood up to court challenges despite your corporate sponsored Teabagger movement. Your promises to make Obama a one term President went unheeded, and now you are having to really work on immigration, congratulations, your polices have come home to roost.

Speaking of Republican Delays, our old friend Tom “the Hammer” Delay seems to be running out of time for his appeals of his Three year prison sentence.  Let’s all hope he starts serving sooner rather than later. That nickname should serve him well where he’s going.

NEWTOWN, OLD PROBLEM;

Last comment on gun control, because I don't believe anything meaningful or long lasting will come of this. Not as long as we love our "toys" more than we love our children. I am not anti gun, shooting things can be a lot of fun, but I am anti shooting seventy people in two minutes- so I don't necessarily trust my fellow neighbors with that ability either
The second amendment "gives" us the right to own firearms, but just because we have the right to something doesn't mean we have to exercise That right. maybe it's time to grow up and admit that we, as a people are not mature or responsible enough to wield that kind of power over one another, an voluntarily give up our guns for the greater good, and a better society. Yeah, that gave me a chuckle too. Barring that (HA HA) the arms that the founding fathers wrote about were single shot weapons which had to be reloaded after each and every firing. Maybe all guns should be of this type; break action, single shot that must be reloaded. I wonder how many mass shootings could have been pulled off with these limited firearms?
considering the damage guns can do they shouldn't be so easily obtained. every gun should have a waiting period, background check, a safety class, maybe even a medical / psych exam- I don't think this is too much to ask for if you want me to trust you with that kind of firepower.