Category: GOP / DEM

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I broke the rules of Dinner parties

Yep,

Over the weekend I spoke of… Horror of Horrors !

Politics!

Thankfully it was at the end of the party not the beginning…

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Several guests were talking about the food labeling proposition that’s been getting a lot of air play here in California.

The gist of the proposition is that genetically modified foods should be labeled. But then the proposition goes on to exclude some foods and require labeling on others even if there “might” be a component used in the food that was derived from a genetically modified source.

I’m against this proposition, and my reasoning is simple. Either you identify ALL genetically modified foods or don’t bother. No exceptions, no exclusions, mandate an all or nothing approach.

In my mind, It’s probably not a bad idea to give the consumer a choice to eat genetically modified foods or not, you can do that with labeling. 

Sacramento in my opinion, was going to use the proposition to create another new administrative nightmare that would have been a “California Only” thing.

In the process they’d create another revenue stream for the politicians to waste. Oh and of course… they’d have created the potential for food shortages similar to gas shortages and obscene pricing, because the food in the OTHER 48 states wouldn’t be compatible with the regulations imposed by California.

Then they asked about the presidential choices. In my head there were warning klaxons… Even a guest appearance by the Lost in Space robot, “Danger Will Robinson! Danger!”

I plowed ahead… 

At this late date I’m still unsure which way I’m going to vote on the presidency. 

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I don’t think President Obama is the way… and at the same time I really don’t have great feelings for Governor Romney.

My reasoning is this, President Obama is today and honestly I believe has been a lame duck during his entire Presidency. With Congress refusing at every turn to work with him, he’s not been nearly as effective as he could have been. Even his good ideas for the country get no traction because no matter what, Congress is going to fight about it. 

The other liberal Democratic guests at the party swarmed me like sharks. I was amazed. They wouldn’t let me finish a sentence.

These otherwise intelligent people, were so incensed that not only did the conversation stop, it degenerated to a level just above name calling.

WOW!

I thought the Republican Conservatives were the ones that frothed at the mouth and refused to hear dissenting opinions!

Obviously I’m living in the past. 

I thought that decorum and politeness dictated that you at least listened to someone else’s opinion and let them finish their statement. I try to do this and while I am passionate about some things I really try to hear the other side.

Apparently, that’s not the way Americans work today. 

If you disagree… You’re to shout the other party down! That way you don’t have to be confused by the logic of a well reasoned argument against your preconceived beliefs.

One of these same people (Again, intelligent, well educated, older people) said the following which still has me reeling.

“I’d rather have another four years of a stalled economy with Obama, than a working economy under Romney.“

WHAT?!?!?!?!

I suppose that’s easy to say if you’re already retired.

But that’s a really bad idea if you’re one of the people who still needs to work.

That kind of thinking really disturbs me. 

 It’s also indicative of the partisan politics that has crippled Washington and our ability as a people to control our politicians.

The thing that people seem to have forgotten is that we and our politicians, need to think outside ourselves.

We should be thinking about what is best for our nation, not our party, not our ethnicity, not the GLBT people with one blue eye and one green eye.

We all need to step back and act in the best interests of all Americans. 

That may mean some of those Americans won’t have their special interests seen to immediately. And that’s the price you pay for the relative freedoms we have in this country.

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Do you think the Tuskegee Airmen were thinking about how unequally they were being treated in the armed forces and the nation when they fought in World War II?

Sure they were, BUT They were Men enough and American enough to realize that sometimes the bigger picture really is more important!

At a time when Black people had to sit at the back of the bus, and there were White Only restrooms and water fountains. These MEN stepped up put those issues aside and fought to protect this country. I can only assume that THEY saw the potential in our nation.

I’m totally in favor of the repeal of DOMA, I’m also in favor of allowing same sex marriage. I don’t think that Same Sex marriage should be a new law, I think it should be a simple enforcement of the logic of equality and freedom that we’re already supposed to have.

I believe that Independent civilian investigations should happen in Washington to determine just how deep the corruption goes and to start proceedings to root out the influence corporate America has on national politics. 

Am I willing to STOP the country until these things happen?

HELL NO!

Because that would lead to untold numbers of people being out of work, and with those people being out of work their children conceivably go hungry, they default on their homes and become a big drag on an economy that’s already stumbling. 

And in my opinion… taking any action that stops the economy, is unethical, and immoral. 

Of course the guests circling me like sharks weren’t at all interested in my reasoning.

Nor were they interested in this thought.

If Romney is elected and the economy improves, we have anecdotal proof that the country is in fact controlled by large corporations.

We also know which politicians are the puppets of those corporations because they would be the very same group that fought to make President Obamas policies fail.

Which gives We The People viable targets.

Over the next four years, We The People must vote those politicians out of office.

We The People must demand accountability and investigations into potential corruption within our government up to and including impeachment of any and all officials tainted by corporate special interest and control.

This will not be a simple process, nor will it be a quick one. But it is a necessary process if we want a government that is Of and For the people again.

Of course… the alternative is to do nothing.

Which means that thePresidential election has lost all meaning.

If the election process continues to be essentially a 50% / 50% split, that means that neither candidate or party is offering anything the people can rally behind. 

How long can any country survive with it’s political process in neutral?

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Buckle up for 4 more years of Obama Bashing and pissing contests

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Romney may be going down in flames…

Not because he said anything wrong…

Well ok, approximately 46% of our population don’t pay taxes and he said 47%. And he should have been more precise… Federal Taxes… 

Romney isn’t being destroyed because of imprecision. He’s being destroyed for telling the truth.

If you do the math, one way or another 46% of our population isn’t paying federal taxes. Guess what? They’re NOT breaking the law. 

A large percentage of them are retired folks, remember the baby boomers??? Well they’re still retiring!

Social Security by definition makes them dependent on the government. It should be remembered that Social Security is technically a term life insurance policy that they have paid into all of their working lives.

Yes, they’re dependent on the government to dispense their money. But NO SSI doesn’t represent an “Entitlement” program. The SSI recipients don’t pay Federal Taxes, nor should they.

Then there are the working poor, they make money, but usually don’t make enough to cross the Federal Tax threshold. Not only don’t they pay taxes… They shouldn’t pay taxes!

Mixed in there somewhere are the perpetual victims, we all know they exist why deny it?

There are always people in any society for whom nothing you do to ease their burden is ever enough. These people are 100% dependent on the government. And they don’t pay taxes either.

So Romney was right and wrong. The problem is that what he said and the way he said it, sounded bad. 

He’s absolutely right that 46% of America is in all likelihood not going to vote for him.  It wouldn’t be in their best interests because they’re as afraid of him cutting social services, as the Republicans are of President Obama expanding social services.

Romney, rather than wasting time trying to convince the hard sells is making a conscious choice to focus on those folks that can swing the election his way.

President Obama is doing the same thing. He’s not bothering to focus on the hardline Republicans. The President is rightly concentrating on those swing voters whose votes will carry him to a win in this election.

So why is it right for one candidate and wrong for the other one? It’s not. Each candidate must ignore those people who won’t carry them to victory and do only what is going to insure them winning.

The truth notwithstanding it’s likely that Romney will loose because of media spin and the choice of the American People to believe exactly what they’re told on TV. I wouldn’t mind our candidates winning or losing based on facts and truth.

No doubt, we all remember the poisonous vitriol the media hurled (rightly so, in many cases.) at former President Bush.

The same venom is being heard time and again regarding Republicans in general, even when they’re agreeing with their Democratic counterparts.

One can get a full measure by simply listening to the difference in reports covering the Tea Party and Occupy (what ever this week). The former are portrayed as nut jobs the latter are spun as victims. I view them as two sides of the same coin. (Another blog post entirely to justify that statement.)

I cringe to think the office of the President of the United States hinges on who makes the best commercial or who the media likes versus the choice being made by informed voters.

Obviously I took a wrong turn because I’m living in a Kardashian / Snookie world.

If you happen to see a door to a real world, please give me a call…

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Romneys Headaches

You almost have Ap mitt romney leaked tapes dm 120918 wblogto feel sorry for the guy.

I also find the timing of the release of this videos  very interesting… Now the media is picking up on the comments and blowing them way out of proportion. 

I don’t necessarily agree with the guy on all points but I sure as hell believe that he’s entitled to say stuff privately without being recorded and having those recordings posted all over the internet.

Thus far he’s said that “47% of the population is going to vote for Obama because they’re dependent on government.” 

You know that’s probably about right 47% of the population is going to vote for Obama without a doubt…

Just look at the 2008 election,

52.9% of the voters voted for Obama, 45.7% of voters voted for McCain. That’s actually a pretty close split between the Democratic and Republican parties.

If you go back to 2004 Bush 50.7% Kerry 48.3%

2000 election 47.9% Bush, 48.4% Gore… Yes! That’s not a typo! That’s what Wikipedia says…

Bush won because of the electoral college. By sheer votes of The People, Al Gore should have been President.

This opens a whole other discussion about the electoral college and why I think it should be disbanded.

However that discussion will have to wait.

The point I’m making here is that the past 3 Presidential elections have been won or lost by a pretty narrow percentage of the peoples vote. The 2008 election had the highest voter turn out of the previous 3 Presidential elections 63% No matter what you may think of President Obama, you have to admit that his candidacy energized the voter base, and that’s a good thing.

Romney is in trouble for saying it, and then qualifying his 47% comment with the following;

“… who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.”

I don’t agree about the no income tax part… But in general I think he’s making a valid observation. I have personal knowledge of a specific group of people in this country who perceive themselves as victims and entitled all the time no matter what!

The people who are dependent on government, NO MATTER THE REASON will vote for President Obama.

It’s obviously in their best interest.

Romney is right, there is nothing he can do or say that will win these people over, short of becoming a democrat and making the same promises the democratic party does.

Why is this such a big deal?

For god sake we have a candidate that spoke the truth as he sees it.  He’s taking the heat and he’s not backing down from his position.

Isn’t that what we want? Leadership?

We don’t have to hang on the Presidents every word, we don’t’ have to agree with every position, We need a President that speaks his mind, has conviction, and who is strong enough not to wither in the heat of battle.

We do need a President that when faced with facts that contradict his opinion is capable of gracefully accepting the new information, incorporating then new data and moving forward.

The problem is, so many of the entrenched politicians in Washington and in the various state government for that matter are fat, dumb and happy. They’re safely ensconced in the halls of power and know it’s not in their best interest to rock the boat, so they don’t. Business as usual in Washington is the way of things.

In this election we need not only a President who is a LEADER we also need politicians in Washington to be leaders. If our politicians aren’t going to lead, then they need to follow. A strong President who’s direct and upfront might be just what we need to make Washington work for a change.

I loved this comment from Jim Messina, Obama for America campaign manager,  “It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation.”

I seem to recall that in 2008 Election President Obama disdainfully dismissed the “Flyover States” however I can’t find the reference now so I could be incorrect.

We all have our likes, dislikes, opinions and preconceived notions.

Saying that half the country isn’t going to vote for you is not writing those people off. It’s a statement of opinion and doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve written this people off. In fact, it could mean that you’re going to be more sensitive to their situation. Although I don’t think we haven’t seen too much of that kind of thinking about the “Flyover States” from the Obama administration.

Romney is also taking heat about comments that he made about Palestine

He’s quoted as saying Palestine is “committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel and are uninterested in peace.”

Again… from the observable evidence… this is a true statement.

After all, you don’t keep randomly lobbing RPGs and other explosives into residential neighborhoods if you’re really interested in peace.

Lets give the guy credit where credit is due. 

He’s demonstrating the kind of leadership that a President should, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the statements. At least Romney has a set of balls.

Anybody heard about the new digs Obama is, or has purchased in Hawaii? I thought he & Michelle were going to move back to their Chicago digs after his term in office. After all Chicago is a gun free crime free paradise.

Yeah a little snarky but It’s my blog…

 

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While I’m not meaning to defend the wealthy… I have to ask.

Lately, there have been tonFeng shui wealths of politicians and Über Liberals doing a lot of talking about the Wealthy.

I really don’t get it on a number of levels.

1) Why is it wrong to single out certain Other groups for special treatment or discussion but not the wealthy?

2) Why do politicians or the general populace think it’s OK to levy higher taxes on this small group?  (Sounds like discrimination to me. You’d never get away with it if instead of wealthy you said Muslims, or Mexicans. )

3) What happened to that concept of “Equally distributing the burden“? Why is it apparently OK to force the wealthy to pay more?

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Don’t get me wrong, the wealthy have done nothing to warrant my love or concern. Like most Americans I’ve suffered, and continue to suffer at their hands.

Here are some examples the Politicians and Occupy Whatever cite. You’ll get no argument from me about the abuses. Although most politicians avoid the H1B1 issue. Democratic politicians usually won’t comment on Offshoring but some Republicans and the Teaparty will.

Offshoring / Downsizing / H1B1 Abuses (It’s bullshit to import someone from India or offshore when you’ve got unemployed American workers with the same training and who speak, read, write the language well & who understand the culture. The ONLY difference between the H1B1 Visa worker / Offshore workers, and the American worker is that the H1B1 worker will work like a slave, kiss ass, suck cock, and generally do ANYTHING to bolster his bosses ego to stay in this country or keep their jobs. Including but not limited to implementing “Solutions” that are wrong on their face, just because they’re too scared of deportation or being fired to point out that the proposed “Solution” isn’t going to work. I can’t count how many millions I’ve personally seen wasted this way)

Oil prices (Lets be real here… The wind blowing from the West doesn’t justify a speculative panic that drives up crude prices.)

Banking abuses / Bad Mortgages / Housing implosion

Pension / 401k devaluation

However, as abusive of the system and people as the wealthy are, (THIS INCLUDES HOLLYWOOD ACTORS AND The KARDASHIANS), it’s still no reason to single them out for special taxation.

Let’s look at the pure math of the situation.

If I make $95,000 and I pay 20% in taxes then I pay $19,000

If a wealthy person makes $250,000 and pays 20% in taxes they pay $50,000 

SO obviously the wealthy are already paying more into the system.

Isn’t it unfair to say the wealthy have to pay 40%? Isn’t that just pure greed on the part of the politicians?

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I know that the poor would pitch a bitch fit if THEY were called upon to pay higher taxes. This would be especially true if someone constructed a case that went something like this.

The poor are more of a burden on the society. They require more government services, offices, and assistance. The poor also require a disproportionate level of emergency medical care per capita. Therefore the tax on all people below the poverty line will be 25% in an effort to cover their disproportionate burden on the society at large.

Of course you could make the same case for the elderly paying higher taxes too.

Can you even imagine? There’d be riots in the streets. The elderly from the old folks homes would be tossing molotov cocktails from their motorized chairs and golf carts.

“Harold… Harold… stop the cart! I just tossed my catheter bag at that Bentley! We’ve got to go back those things are $15 a piece.”

“Aww screw it Betty just hang the hose at the side of the cart, you can piss on Beverly Hills as we head back to the home! Now throw the burning bottle at the Kardashian house!”

We see the obvious wrongness of disproportionately taxing the poor or the elderly.

Why is it that we choose not to see that same unfairness in disproportionately taxing the wealthy? (I could however get behind a “SPECIAL” tax on the big mouths in the entertainment industry.)

There are those that would rightly point out, the wealthy often use all kinds of tricks to avoid paying their full measure of taxes.

While this is entirely true, I have to ask how many of us look for those same exact loopholes and deductions? The difference is the wealthy simply have better accountants and lawyers.

I’ve long wanted a simple flat tax. I think that would stop the wealthy, politicians, industry, & everyone else from playing games.

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Here’s my wish list for tax reform.

15% flat tax across the board right off the top for everyone! No exceptions!

No more IRS filing, No more April 15th, No more IRS at all.

I’ve thought that if we eliminated the IRS and stopped changing tax laws yearly the country could save a fortune in office supplies alone. We’d also save money because Congress wouldn’t be debating new tax codes and would get on with other business.

There would of course be corporations who might require additional assistance calculating their tax burden but I suspect that the Government Accounting Office could handle those audits.

If you’re unemployed, you get to raid your 401k or pension with NO penalties and tax free. Raiding your retirement is NEVER a good idea, but if it keeps you from becoming a burden or loosing your house you shouldn’t be penalized for doing it.

We should make sure that our Government felt the pinch of a poor economy just as keenly as the people.

Since the politicians salaries are funded from tax dollars, their salaries should be indexed to the GDP, Government Debt, and Stock Market.

As it is now, they get paid either way. Why not change their pay structure to give them some incentive?

Make it something like As the GDP and stock markets fall, and Debt increases the salaries for our politicians decline proportionately. Hopefully something like that would focus our politicians attention on actually tending to the country instead of grandstanding and not working together.

If you wrote the equation as simply as possible you could have the politicians seeing their salaries increase and decrease directly coupled to the financial heartbeat of the country.

It’s possible that the politicians could even see negative cash-flow, meaning that in addition to the FLAT tax they and everyone else pay, politicians could conceivably have to write a check and pay for the privilege of really crappy governance.

I bet, we’d see fewer dishonest politicians and more that were genuinely interested in the country doing well under this kind of pay schedule.

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I know that my wish list will never be fulfilled. I also realize that some of my ideas aren’t possible and are too simplistic.

I do think that every single one of us, rich, poor, or middle class realizes it’s time for some serious changes to the way our government collects and uses money.

I don’t think that setting a special tax rate for a specific group of people is the right or fair way to go.

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Where’s MY Obama Money?

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Couldn’t help myself.

When President Obama was first elected there was this little lady being interviewed on television, she was talking about all the good things that were going to happen for her since Obama was elected. One of the things she kept talking about was how she was going to get a new cell phone and a better apartment ’cause of Obama Money that would be coming to her.

When she was asked where that money actually came from she said she didn’t care, ’cause it was Obama money and Obama was going to make everything alright for her.

Myself and 300 coworkers layoffs were a direct result of President Obama and Congress having a pissing contest in late 2010 and early 2011.

Clearly BOTH sides forget that they are there to represent the PEOPLE not partisan interests.

Here we are in the election cycle again. The only thing that has changed, especially for people like me is that our unemployment is running out, we’re paying obscene prices for COBRA coverage ($600) a month and despite the media spin… things are improving at a snails pace.

WHERES MY OBAMACARE?

Guess what?

As usual, since I’m an American worker that has scrabbled and climbed to the middle class, contributed to the economy, paid my bills, didn’t use my house as a piggy bank, and have been responsible for myself and my shit.

I’m actually NOT ELIGIBLE for Obamacare… and won’t be until long after I’m destitute, homeless, masturbating under a bridge, and a burden on society. Which will happen a lot sooner than later paying out COBRA.

In general even in my 50s I don’t use $7200 of medical care per year. I’m extremely thankful for this. So why am I paying $600 a month to maintain COBRA? An even more interesting question is why does the Obama system make it illegal to not pay for insurance?

Between prescriptions, the occasional MD, Dentist, and Optometrist visit I’d say that if I were paying cash maybe I’d spend $3500 per year.

This is EXACTLY why so many employed folks CHOOSE to forego insurance. I went without insurance for YEARS… I paid out of pocket for services rendered…

And you know what???

Because it was a simple cash transaction I got pretty steep discounts and the same or better care BECAUSE the insurance companies weren’t involved. During those times… the Doc would say you need an antibiotic and hand me a bag full of physician samples. Great! no pharmacy bill.

I’ve been in an emergency room exactly once in my life. That was because I had a broken bone. I’ve been to urgent care twice. If there’s any way I can see my Doctor, I’ll call him drive to his office and wait. I’d rather have him look at me than some stranger anyway. 

So folks not having insurance are taking a risk but they do that every fucking day just driving on the freeways, especially now!

7 grand in my yearly budget would be a whole lot better than paying for coverage that I’m not fully utilizing. I’d imagine that the average American family could do a lot with 7K per year.

7 grand is 4 months of unemployment. Honestly, I’d rather have the cash.

So tell me again why we’re all paying so much?

OH Yeah! it’s to cover all the people who have no insurance, low incomes, and who regularly clog emergency rooms with non-emergency situations because they KNOW they will be seen by a doctor even if they refuse to pay their bill.

The disparity isn’t stacked in favor of the rich and middle class it’s stacked in favor of the poor.

So now here comes Obamacare <insert imperial fanfare here>. It does nothing for me. Insurance costs won’t be lower. My care will probably be degraded, and I’ll most likely end up paying out of packet to see the Doctor I want to see instead of some non-english speaking supposed doctor with whom I have nothing in common and whose instructions for my care, I can’t understand anyway.

The thing that annoys me probably most… is this wonderful debacle will put the country in even more debt and effectively lower the quality of care for everyone. Because after all mediocrity and socialism walk hand in hand don’t they?

I don’t shop a K-Mart for… well anything. I’ll be damned if I’m going to be forced into a K-Mart situation in health care. “We can do that required brain surgery for $500, but for $1500 we’ll sterilize the instruments.”

The liberal elite can’t understand why the middle class is pissed off!

It’s easier for them to call us selfish, and greedy rather than to take all their supposed intellect and actually understand the position they’re placing us in.