The Hijacking Of America

We're in the last few days before August 2nd – That day could very well be doomsday for America and many who depend on America for support and us being a strong nation.

That is the deadline for Washington D.C. Federal elected officials to raise the debt ceiling so that the United States can continue to pay their bills abroad and not go into default and lose its AA credit rating.

Problem is, is that nobody wants to raise the debt ceiling until a budget plan has been passed with it. President Obama and Democrats want large corporations and America's “Elite” - the top 1% (who owns 90% of the country's wealth) – to contribute more for revenue generation to offset the national debt, even if it's a little bit – anything would help. First it was to raise taxes on the Top 1%, then raising taxes was removed and replaced with making some tax reform and close some of the “loopholes” - special deductions that allow the wealthiest of multinational corporations and individuals to pay far less in taxes than what they're supposed to pay – in other words, have them actually PAY their taxes!

Republicans want major “reforms” in entitlement spending and reducing military spending. “Entitlement” spending means Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Unemployment Insurance – everything that the Middle and Working Classes depend on in order to survive on a day-to-day basis. Their view is that the “job creators” (those same multinational elite corporations in America/Top 1%) are slowly being “taxed to death” for contributing to these programs (employers match the deductions in your paycheck to the Federal Government through FICA and other deductions).

Both sides are at the proverbial “stalemate” - The President and Democrats don't want to touch entitlements and Republicans don't want to touch corporate loopholes in the tax code. Both sides won't come to an agreement without their side's “banner causes” being left alone. Therefore, nobody will sign off on any bill for raising the debt ceiling unless their causes are stripped from it and not touched. Thus, there is a more than fair chance that the August 2nd deadline will pass with no bill for raising the debt ceiling signed and the country will go into default and our credit rating will go in the crapper – along with the value of the American dollar and any chance of the United States coming out of the Great Recession. In fact, it could become The Great Depression – Part II!

And the kicker of this is, it's all being held up by a small band of “new Republicans” that got voted in by those TEA Party whackadoodles who don't care about anything else except cutting taxes and spending – of EVERYTHING! Seasoned Republicans want to deal with Democrats and come to a compromise which even the President wants to do. But those Republicans can't get enough of a vote for any compromise bill because of those TEA Pary Republicans. These TEA Partyers would rather see the country spiral into poverty and possibly become the largest third-world nation on the planet than come to a compromise!

Pardon my vulgar American English, but ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??!!! How is it that a small, fringe group of ONE political party that only has control of ONE house of our government can hijack and hold ransom the entire U.S. Government and its people?! We are so worried about Muslim terrorists, these TEA Party loonies are worse! They will financially destroy America to further their fundamental right-wing conservative agenda!!

Yes, let's let the people with ALL the money contribute NOTHING, but take everything from those that HAVE NOTHING?! That's fucking smart!! Ever heard of “can't take blood from a stone”? We the middle and working class are petrified from having all the life taken out of us, and they want to take more – so the elites of this country can continue to make incredible profits off our backs! We've seen our incomes drop, benefits reduced and savings accounts dry up, while the top 1% continue to get rich even in economic hard times! One of these corporate Vice Presidents makes more in a year than most of us will see in a lifetime of labor! Even if you got rid of ALL the loopholes these corporations and wealthy individuals make, it STILL won't hurt their bottom line! Especially wealthy individuals – they really make me laugh on how ridiculous they are bitching and moaning about the taxes they pay. Even without their loopholes and massive amounts of tax deductions they have, they would still have more money than they will EVER need to live a comfortable, lavish lifestyle!

But you can't tell these conservatives anything. They praise Ronald Reagan and his “trickle-down economics” theory – that theory that if you give everything to the elites, that it will turn into jobs and more wealth for those under them. In other words, the money would “trickle down” to the rest of us.

That's bullshit!! When has ANY tax breaks, deductions, and “corporate welfare” EVER given the rest of us more wealth? They extended the Bush Tax Cuts on the wealthiest Americans and corporations, and we're STILL losing jobs – but corporate CEO's, VP's, board members and stockholders are still making money as if it were just a minor recession while the rest of the country (the other 99%) are becoming homeless, jobless, and losing everything they've worked for all their lives!! But heaven forbid you ask the Top 1% to shoulder some of the burden. Oh no, that's not possible! That would be SOCIALIST!

They wouldn't even CONSIDER a “trickle-up economics” model – which is essentially what the Democrats are proposing. Leave entitlements alone (other than streamlining how these programs operate so they work more efficiently and thus cost less on the administrative end), get rid of all those corporate tax loopholes, and those at the bottom will spend the money they get on the products and services the corporations provide – thus, they'd make the money that they gave up by paying THEIR FAIR SHARE back! Ya see? Trickle-UP economics!

But as I said, they would look at it as socialism. Republicans have wanted to destroy these programs ever since their creation! Now they feel that they have a chance by holding the entire country and this Democratic administration hostage with the debt ceiling to get to their ultimate prize: the end of all social programs in America! Praise fucking capitalism and its Monarchist-style mentality!

Y'know, socialism doesn't seem so bad after all since giving up your freedom of speech and unbridled liberty means your country will weather any economic storm and you'll be guaranteed a home, food and healthcare until you die.

China is doing pretty good economically. I hear Cuba is nice! :/

Forget the '3-R's', Teach Capitalism!

I've come to the conclusion that our education system absolutely sucks!

It's not on that it sucks because kids are below the global averages in reading, writing, science and other such subjects, but it's because today's educational system doesn't prepare you whatsoever on how to be an American. And to be an American means to be a Capitalist.

What good is all that math, science, history, writing & reading, if you don't know how to monetize it? How can you take what you learned in the years of grade school and make a living out of it? You can't. That's something they definitely don't teach in High School is how to be a good capitalist, how to be an entrepreneur, how to be an industry force to net you the American Dream.

In days long gone (mainly after WWII), it was possible for someone to have anything from a mediocre job digging ditches or assembling things on an assembly line to working in a bank or in an office to get a home, a car, appliances, support a family of 4 or more, and be able to retire and enjoy one's “Golden Years”. That was the late 40's to around the 1960's.

That has all changed. Companies are outsourcing to foreign countries for cheap labor or are replacing humans with robotic machines. Recessions bring massive layoffs and, when the economy “recovers”, the jobs have been replaced leaving those that lost their jobs to find another career – to start over from scratch. There's no company loyalty and no employee loyalty for that matter. Benefits are cut or reduced, promised pensions are cut or eliminated, costs go up and wages stay stagnant – not able to keep up with an ever changing economic landscape. Housing is beyond the affordability of most Americans, and you can't even purchase a car without being stuck with a major bank loan.

Working for someone will net you nothing! The moment the economy goes bad, you lose pay, lose benefits, lose your retirement dreams or (worse yet), you lose your job and have to fight with millions of other people for only a couple thousand jobs that pay below what you need to live on. It's pathetic!

So what needs to be done is, our educational system needs to change the curriculum. What needs to be taught to America's youth is American Capitalism: Market trading, business management and marketing, and finance. Every High School graduate should come out with knowing how to buy and sell on the stock market, run a business, and manage money. What good is all the math you learn if you can't balance a business ledger or figure out how much money it will cost you to borrow $150,000 at 6.2% interest over a five-year period? Most kids don't know the difference between “gross” and “net” income until they take that first summer job. They don't even know how taxes impact their lives whatsoever or how laws affect their ability to make money.

And Republicans wonder why so many people want to keep government-funded social programs (the proverbial “Entitlement Programs”). It's because most Americans don't truly understand how to be capitalist. It's been drummed into our heads that we're “free” and a “democracy” and that we have “liberty and justice for all”, but what our society truly is, is capitalist.

All that so-called “freedom”, “democracy”, “liberty” and “justice” is only given to those that have money and power. The less money you have, the less power and therefore less freedom. “Democracy” is only for those that have the financing to influence policy in their favor. “Liberty and justice” is a luxury for the rich. Most of the people that are in prisons around the United States are poor to middle-class people – very few come from wealth, and most of those are ones locked-up because they had achieved said wealth through illegal means. Rich people usually avoid jail because they can afford the fancy lawyers to work much harder in their favor than some snot-nosed, rookie fresh out of a low-end law college that works as a court appointed attorney who either won't or can't do squat to help you.

So the way to avoid the pitfalls of America is to rise high enough above them that even when you fail, you're still way ahead of the game – such as becoming independently wealthy. Wealthy enough that you have “liquidatable assets” to get you money to survive on for when things go bad, and keep you floating until things get good again. It is this ability to prosper or be able to weather any social/financial storms that come along is what makes a good American capitalist. Something that the average American is never taught.

Perhaps it's because those at the top want to keep their “Billionaire Club” as a limited membership. If everyone were rich, then nobody would be rich.

Well, if that's the case, then why do they bitch so much when people want Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, Welfare, Unemployment Insurance, Public Healthcare, etc., etc.? Working for the top 1% doesn't give you the opportunities in this country as a successful entrepreneurial enterprise. Working for yourself is the only way to go, but unless you know what you're doing it'll be doomed to fail.

Therefore, I reiterate that Americans need to be educated on how to be true Americans – we need to learn how to be capitalists!!

Another Rant on Birthers - They Deserve It!

Y'know, this whole “Birther” thing is just getting to the ludicrous level. It was at ridiculous when it first came out, now that it's being dragged back into the media again is just plain insane, stupid, and why I continue to have no respect for the Republican Party and conservatives in general!

And what's worse is, it's being trumpeted by Donald Trump! I mean, the man is supposed to be a “leader” in real estate development, was smart enough to make millions in that trade regardless of what was, or is, thrown at him, and now is looking to run for the Presidency. And what does he choose to make his strongest platform? Questioning the legitimacy of Barack Obama's birth certificate. WTF?!!

To make things worse, more conservatives are jumping in on the “Birther-bandwagon”. Conservatives I have to deal with on a daily basis want Obama to produce his birth certificate, have it tested to see if it actually was made around the time of his birth (testing the age of the paper, type of paper, etc.) and so forth. Really?!!

Now, I got a CNN news blurb stating that Obama's long form birth certificate is being released. When the whole “Birther” crap first started, he had released a certificate of birth from the state of Hawaii, but that wasn't good enough for the Birthers – even when other Republicans said he was a U.S. Citizen, that still wasn't good enough. Now, he's getting out this “long-form” which I think is the hospital records of his birth to once again prove his citizenship.

Betcha the Birthers will STILL not believe it! They will find something wrong so they can cry “foul!” The thing about Birthers is that they absolutely despise Obama – not disagree, not dislike, not even hate, it is most definitely a despise of the man. They think he's a liar (duh, he's a politician! What politician tells the truth unless it's advantageous to them?!), but the depth of their distrust in him is so deep, that they think he's part of some great conspiracy to get a “Muslim sympathizer” in control of the U.S. Government so that the Middle East can take us over! Really? The nation of Islam knew that this little baby born Barack Hussein Obama would grow up to be President when he was born in the 1960's?! Wow! Then those Muslims must have been better than Nostradamus!

And that's at the heart of this Birther stuff. Birthers don't want him proved to be a U.S. Citizen, they want him proved to be a NON-U.S. Citizen! What they want is not Obama or someone else showing undeniable proof of him being born an American, they want Obama to come out and say, “Okay, you got me! I've been lying all this time. I was actually born in Kenya and grew up a Muslim, but wanted to be an American so badly, that I faked my Hawaiian birth and my Christianity! I will step down as President effective immediately with my most sincere apologies to the American people and the Constitution on which governs it!” THAT is the only thing that Birthers want – to be vindicated of all their conspiracy-theory insanity and proven right!! Short of that, the Birthers will keep preaching, “show us your birth certificate” even after Barack Obama has left office and died an old man!

Honestly, would Collin Powell had to have dealt with all this bulls**t if he ran and was elected President?! I think not! There's a reason why President Obama is going through all this crap and it ain't because of the color of his skin. It's because a) his father was a FORMER Muslim (became an Atheist), b) his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and c) he's a Liberal Democrat. THOSE are the real reasons why such “conspiracy theory nutcase” issues get such intense, serious consideration in the media – with emphasis on the first two items! If Obama had decided to call himself “Barry Dunham” - taking a more “American” first name and using his Mother's maiden surname, the BS about his birth certificate wouldn't get much credence.

Then the Republicans and their ilk would have nothing else to hammer Obama about except for REAL issues – like jobs, healthcare, taxes, energy, foreign policy – y'know, the kind of stuff that the majority of Americans actually give a crap about?!

Y'know something? Let those Birthers dominate the GOP landscape – it'll just help insure that Barack Obama gets re-elected come 2012! Works for me!