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.