The Washington Post recently ran an article citing a study published in the British Medical journal the Lancet stating "half of U.S. adults will be obese by 2030." The study was part of a larger academic view exploring the trend of International obesity, Europe and North America being two cases. The finding only supports the initiative delivered by the First Lady Michelle Obama on behalf of President Obama; the creation of a Federal Task force on obesity.
The Obama Administration boldly took the initiative in fighting a debilitating social and medical paroxysm. The Presidential Memorandum establishing the Obesity Task Force was signed on February 09, 2010. The report describes a dismal reality of the United States Public Health
"Nearly one third of children in America are overweight or obese -- a rate that has tripled in adolescents and more than doubled in younger children since 1980. One third of all individuals born in the year 2000 or later will eventually suffer from diabetes over the course of their lifetime, while too many others will face chronic obesity-related health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma. "
Of course the Radical Right, those Conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists who despise our President, ridicule what they see as an invasion of their liberty. These pessimistic expositors, promote their corporate patrons propaganda. The "junk food" cartels in the fast food, soda, desserts industries are terrified that an American public conscious of its dietary habits could develop, leading to a society actively pursuing a healthy lifestyle. In fact Phillip Morris (Tobacco) founded the Center for Consumer Freedom which runs the conservative website and .pdf The Obesity Myth. The site champions a theory that the Obesity Epidemic, is in fact a myth. Industries like gambling, beef, beer, tobacco feel the same impending doom towards a physically fit President who cares deeply for his nations' welfare.
There is a tragic fate to the rhetoric of liberty when uttered in defense of the Radical Rights conservative principles. The C.C.F and politicians who support, even champion its cause, claim a government infringing on American individual liberties. The irony is that these same conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalist's stand for anti- individual liberty ideologies such as Islamaphobia, anti- homosexual marriage, anti- immigration, anti- civil rights, anti- poverty and middle class.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Conservative Covetousness
The various Democratic election committee's have out raised their Republican opponents, by twenty four million dollars this year. Most pundits are attributing the Democrat's stellar performance to the fundraising abilities of our President Barack Obama. This despite the fact that the Democratic National Convention cancelled ten fundraising events during the height of the Debt Ceiling Hostage Situation. Naturally, Republicans concede the advantage of a Democrat in the White House as the reason for the success of the Liberal party.
The jealousy that omits from the pores of conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists, towards President Obama and his party is putrid. I had an opportunity to see President Obama first hand while he was campaigning back in 2008, he has a charisma that transcends classes, ethnicity's, sexes, even political parties. It is this natural gift to represent the conglomeration of human experiences that defines America, in which Barack Obama magnificently represents. This malleable public persona is what the new generation of Americans are in need of. The old, stale, conservative Reagen-esq image is offensive to the average American pallet, when looking towards an elected official.
Of course their are the minority in the conservative GOP and fundamentalist Tea Party, who whish to maintain the status quo of an age old America. These organizations promote individuals like Palin, Perry, Rommney, Bachman, Rubio, who believe the poor need to pay more taxes in order to offset our growing defecit. They attempt to drown out the national appall at corporate loopholes and capital gains luxuries. In fact, the latest Conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalist approach is to go after the tens of millions of dollars not taxed from the lowest rung of the American socioeconomic stratum, while ignoring the hundreds of billions of dollars corporations and the top %1 of Americans never have to pay (see: The Gilded Millennium).
At a time when out nation is gripped by economic turmoil, caused by entrenched self-interest groups like the Conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists, it is necessary to look towards a strong leader. President Washington, President Lincoln, President F.D. Roosevelt, President Kennedy and President Obama all faced conservative opponents, hell bent on maintaining the status quo at all costs. These American National Heroes stood in the face of aggressive fundamentalists and said "Yes, we can CHANGE FOR THE BETTER." They understood life as a progression towards greatness, not an existence in which the dead are worshipped above the living. These men championed Progressive ideals that took America to greater heights, despite foes who cared only for their patrons, royal and corporate.
The jealousy that omits from the pores of conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists, towards President Obama and his party is putrid. I had an opportunity to see President Obama first hand while he was campaigning back in 2008, he has a charisma that transcends classes, ethnicity's, sexes, even political parties. It is this natural gift to represent the conglomeration of human experiences that defines America, in which Barack Obama magnificently represents. This malleable public persona is what the new generation of Americans are in need of. The old, stale, conservative Reagen-esq image is offensive to the average American pallet, when looking towards an elected official.
Of course their are the minority in the conservative GOP and fundamentalist Tea Party, who whish to maintain the status quo of an age old America. These organizations promote individuals like Palin, Perry, Rommney, Bachman, Rubio, who believe the poor need to pay more taxes in order to offset our growing defecit. They attempt to drown out the national appall at corporate loopholes and capital gains luxuries. In fact, the latest Conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalist approach is to go after the tens of millions of dollars not taxed from the lowest rung of the American socioeconomic stratum, while ignoring the hundreds of billions of dollars corporations and the top %1 of Americans never have to pay (see: The Gilded Millennium).
At a time when out nation is gripped by economic turmoil, caused by entrenched self-interest groups like the Conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists, it is necessary to look towards a strong leader. President Washington, President Lincoln, President F.D. Roosevelt, President Kennedy and President Obama all faced conservative opponents, hell bent on maintaining the status quo at all costs. These American National Heroes stood in the face of aggressive fundamentalists and said "Yes, we can CHANGE FOR THE BETTER." They understood life as a progression towards greatness, not an existence in which the dead are worshipped above the living. These men championed Progressive ideals that took America to greater heights, despite foes who cared only for their patrons, royal and corporate.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Our Economy Under Attack from the Radical Right
The onslaught of the American economy and the fragile Republic that stands as its protector, continues at the hands of the conservative GOP and Fundamentalist Tea Party ideologues. James Bovarn, a vocal libertarian, has taken every chance to deride the administrations support of public works and federal welfare support this year under The Wall Street Journal's banner. This past June, Bovarn wrote a piece slamming Federal and State highway programs that employ millions of Americans, favoring Big Private Enterprise to handle the projects. Several weeks later he published a piece lambasting Federal Food Aid programs. Certainly the millions of unemployed appreciate the Administration's continued support of food assistance. Now Bovard is targeting the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Bovarn's timely assault on our welfare institutions should come as little surprise considering its the Wall Street journal commissioning his work. These are the corporate handlers who support the conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalist that have held our economy hostage for years (see: Entitlements or a Federal Republic).
It is not just conservative pundits, the conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists are actively slandering our economies strength, our nations welfare, and our collective hope. Coburn, the senator from Oklahoma, recently stood in a town hall meeting in his home state deriding the Administrations policies that favor only African Americans. Coburn even launched into a tirade demanding where medicare is in the constitution? At 63 and as an attack dog for the corporations that fund conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalist's, his retirement is payed for by Wall Street. For the millions of elderly Americans not willing to sell their soul for political exposure, rely on federal welfare programs like Medicade, Medicare, and Social Security.
Approval ratings flux, where President Obama is at, he really can only improve things. At the same time, a new conservative President, hell bent on resuming the Bush Administrations destruction of our economy would spell disaster for all Americans. The AFL-CIO is well aware of the effort put forth by our nation's commander-in-chief, on the behalf of the American worker, tossing their hat in support of his 2012 Re Election bid. It will not take long for the rest of America to realize the good being done by the Democrats in power and the havoc being wrought by the conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists who only wish to sow dissension.
It is not just conservative pundits, the conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists are actively slandering our economies strength, our nations welfare, and our collective hope. Coburn, the senator from Oklahoma, recently stood in a town hall meeting in his home state deriding the Administrations policies that favor only African Americans. Coburn even launched into a tirade demanding where medicare is in the constitution? At 63 and as an attack dog for the corporations that fund conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalist's, his retirement is payed for by Wall Street. For the millions of elderly Americans not willing to sell their soul for political exposure, rely on federal welfare programs like Medicade, Medicare, and Social Security.
Approval ratings flux, where President Obama is at, he really can only improve things. At the same time, a new conservative President, hell bent on resuming the Bush Administrations destruction of our economy would spell disaster for all Americans. The AFL-CIO is well aware of the effort put forth by our nation's commander-in-chief, on the behalf of the American worker, tossing their hat in support of his 2012 Re Election bid. It will not take long for the rest of America to realize the good being done by the Democrats in power and the havoc being wrought by the conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists who only wish to sow dissension.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
President Obama, Cool Like the Other Side of the Pillow
A few Tea Party activist recently confronted President Obama in front of live television cameras about Vice-President Biden's comments regarding the Radical Right. The video itself is an excellent example of why we voted Barrak Obama into office as the 44th President of the United States. The intellect and wit he naturally exhibits is showboated upon two irate Radical Righters intent on catching the President off guard. Accosting him for Vice President Biden referring to the Tea Party congressional members holding our economy hostage for their corporate benefactors, as terrorists. The President calmly corrects the Fundamentalists with the truth, the Tea Party congress persons were "acting" like terrorists. Of all the political spin that Republican and Democrat opponents utilize, this should be simple enough for the Tea Party ideologues to understand. It is funny how these conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists preach civility, yet offer little hope to those within our society who need the most civility. President Obamas performance in the face of dissenters should draw pride from any political junkie, it is an honor to be represented by a statesmen and philosopher once more.
The Gilded Millennium
A payroll tax cut for workers and the extension of unemployment benefits. These are reasonable measures to take in order to strengthen the American worker, the backbone of the American economy. The President has pushed for these issues well before the debt ceiling debate reached crisis proportions, but has been stonewalled by corporate backed conservative GOP and Fundamentalist Tea Party ideologues. The new deadlines for millions of unemployed sits at December 31 when current plan ends, a complete disaster if congress does not take action.
Now corporate heads are beginning to demand accountability from their elected officials. Warren Buffet wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times decrying the nature of patron politics played by conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists. Buffett spelled out the situation:
"While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors."
Bufett blasts an unfair tax system in which middle class workers pay 30-40% taxes while he skates by barely paying a 17.4% rate. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz urged fellow CEO's to cease political contributions while Washington is bogged down by infighting, preventing the resurgance of American enterprise for all its citizens. Schultz called for CEO's to do more to create jobs for the American economy.
As President Obama makes his way across the nation for his town hall tour, make your way out to thank our president in this time of political hostilities. The president is well aware of what he is fighting for, our beloved nation and the strength of our economy. He reiterated his stance yesterday in Minnesota and Iowa:
“[There are] two contrasting visions that are going to be presented in the next year-and-a-half,” Obama told about 500 supporters in rural Iowa against the backdrop of a red barn. “I’m on a side that says we live within our means … and invest in jobs. The other side says we are going to make sure those who have benefited the most will pay the least. That’s their vision, [to] dismantle Medicare and turn it into a voucher system."
In the end, it is the middle class and poor who suffer while the rich only accumulate more capital. Don Peck recently wrote " Can the Middle Class Be Saved? " in the August 2011 issue of Atlantic Monthly. Mr. Peck cites a new term used by business analysts at Citigroup to describe the American economy and its trickle down motion, Plutonomy. A hybrid of plutocracy and oligarchy, it is noted when "economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few." Moreover, Mr. Peck quotes Alan Binder former vice chairman of the the Federal Reserve noting the American economy could loose 22 - 29% of all jobs to outsourcing in the next couple of decades. Our only hope is the ability of President Obama to fight the the political patronage and nepotism of the conservative GOP and the Tea Party Fundamentalists. As of now the American electorate has allowed for the creation of a Gilded Millennium in which America is divided into two distinct economic groups: the rich and the rest.
Now corporate heads are beginning to demand accountability from their elected officials. Warren Buffet wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times decrying the nature of patron politics played by conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists. Buffett spelled out the situation:
"While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors."
Bufett blasts an unfair tax system in which middle class workers pay 30-40% taxes while he skates by barely paying a 17.4% rate. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz urged fellow CEO's to cease political contributions while Washington is bogged down by infighting, preventing the resurgance of American enterprise for all its citizens. Schultz called for CEO's to do more to create jobs for the American economy.
As President Obama makes his way across the nation for his town hall tour, make your way out to thank our president in this time of political hostilities. The president is well aware of what he is fighting for, our beloved nation and the strength of our economy. He reiterated his stance yesterday in Minnesota and Iowa:
“[There are] two contrasting visions that are going to be presented in the next year-and-a-half,” Obama told about 500 supporters in rural Iowa against the backdrop of a red barn. “I’m on a side that says we live within our means … and invest in jobs. The other side says we are going to make sure those who have benefited the most will pay the least. That’s their vision, [to] dismantle Medicare and turn it into a voucher system."
In the end, it is the middle class and poor who suffer while the rich only accumulate more capital. Don Peck recently wrote " Can the Middle Class Be Saved? " in the August 2011 issue of Atlantic Monthly. Mr. Peck cites a new term used by business analysts at Citigroup to describe the American economy and its trickle down motion, Plutonomy. A hybrid of plutocracy and oligarchy, it is noted when "economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few." Moreover, Mr. Peck quotes Alan Binder former vice chairman of the the Federal Reserve noting the American economy could loose 22 - 29% of all jobs to outsourcing in the next couple of decades. Our only hope is the ability of President Obama to fight the the political patronage and nepotism of the conservative GOP and the Tea Party Fundamentalists. As of now the American electorate has allowed for the creation of a Gilded Millennium in which America is divided into two distinct economic groups: the rich and the rest.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
We reap what the Bush Administration did not sow
A recent Gallup Poll has conservative pundits salivating at the glands like a Pavlovian test dog in a Thomas Pynchon novel. According to a Gallup.com poll over the weekend, President Obama's job approval rating has fallen to 39%, the first time it has hit under 40% during his presidency. The key word is "job", just before "approval rating", where most conservative GOP and Fundamentalist Tea Party ideologue's missunderstand. Perhaps a walk down memory lane, hand in hand with old President G.W. will refresh their memories.
First, let us remind ourselves of a poll undertaken by Gallup just over a year ago in which respondents were asked who to place the blame for the failing economy: former President G.W. Bush or current President Obama? President Obama enjoyed a 51% notch in those who viewed him not responsible for our faultering economy, while a majority, 71% believed President G.W. was to blame for the economies course. President Bush's poor showing is not to be under estimated. With the exception of brief moments of respite in the 9/11 Attacks and the initial Invasion of Iraq, Pres. G.W. Bush faced overwhelming crticism, especially in the sacred area of "job approval rating."
Of course the joke was on the American tax payer and the future middle class generations that will bare the blunt of Republican deficit spending. The first chart shows President Clinton's balanced budget approach, much in the manner of how President Obama hoped to control our growing deficit. President Clinton had the nation on course to acheive an actual budget surplus for well over a decade. The idea is to increase government revenue, while compromising on taxes with the conservative Radical Right. It was the Bush Administration and his conservative GOP deficit spending that drove our national debt to astronomical proportions, as illustrated in the second chart.
First, let us remind ourselves of a poll undertaken by Gallup just over a year ago in which respondents were asked who to place the blame for the failing economy: former President G.W. Bush or current President Obama? President Obama enjoyed a 51% notch in those who viewed him not responsible for our faultering economy, while a majority, 71% believed President G.W. was to blame for the economies course. President Bush's poor showing is not to be under estimated. With the exception of brief moments of respite in the 9/11 Attacks and the initial Invasion of Iraq, Pres. G.W. Bush faced overwhelming crticism, especially in the sacred area of "job approval rating."
The economy continues to stall, while conservative GOP and Fundamentalist Tea Party ideologues accuse the president of treason and undermine the economic stability of our nation; the people grow restive. The Gallup.com poll also reported a gradual trend favoring Democrat candidates in registered voter preference for 2012 elections. Moreover, the same poll shows an alarming trend for Tea Party Fundamentalists who are becoming a political nuisance. The time is ripe for President Obama to maintain an aggresive domestic policy, creating jobs, bolstering the economy in order to ride the wave of public support for our beloved Progressive Administration.
A Modern Red Scare
"Proverbs for paranoids 3, if they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers" - Gravity's Rainbow
When Norman Podhoretz refers to the President of the United States as a "genuine product of the political culture...of leftists in the early 1960s" you can, immedietly, safely assume that the gentleman is no longer attempting to accurately describe American history (see: Historical Revisionism and denial). It is a common conservative GOP, Tea Party Fundamentalist approach to slandering Mr. President and his political party collectively. The conservative idea is to label every opponent "Red", I know this seems almost an anachronism considering every presidential election shows an electoral map half painted red for the very same conservatives.
The McArthy hysteria is another chapter in American history in which mob rule, unjustly determines the direction of American political discourse. Slavery, the Jim Crow era, and the ever growing anti-Civil Rights sentiment that has pervaded the GOP and the Republican party; respectively, are examples of putsch(es) on the part of a radical minority at every stage of the United States development.
It then, should come as no surprise to further read the emotional rantings of Podhoretz as he declares the spread of "communist ancestors" ideology of the 1930's infiltrating "metastatically to the universities, the mainstream media, the mainline churches, and the entertainment industry." These words are the act of fear-mongering, trumping charges of treason towards our nations commander-in-chief. A consistent patter in the American social fabric, that of the Radical Right fabricating and distorting the truth in order to undermine the strength and function of our United States national government.
When does the True Red Scare unfold? When does the day occur when America opens its eyes to the dastardly intentions of the Red, conservative GOP, and Tea Party Fundamentalist? When does the hour strike, when the American electorate says "good bye" to the corporate sponsored, conservative status quo completely out of touch with its nations rapidly evolving demographic? I say that day has already arrived, and that the clock rang loud and clear on January 20th, 2009. We voted for change and prosperity, progress and humanity in 2009. Now we must continue this pursuit of truth for the sake of our past and future generations in 2012.
In all fairness, to better understand the conservative ideology of Mcarthyism read "Blacklisted By History" about Sen. Mcarthy, Ann Coulter is on the cover stating the book is the biggest thing since the bible. Again, the conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalism that is at the forefront of the 2012 elections and at the heart of our congressional stymie, stands as the True Red Scare.
When Norman Podhoretz refers to the President of the United States as a "genuine product of the political culture...of leftists in the early 1960s" you can, immedietly, safely assume that the gentleman is no longer attempting to accurately describe American history (see: Historical Revisionism and denial). It is a common conservative GOP, Tea Party Fundamentalist approach to slandering Mr. President and his political party collectively. The conservative idea is to label every opponent "Red", I know this seems almost an anachronism considering every presidential election shows an electoral map half painted red for the very same conservatives.
The McArthy hysteria is another chapter in American history in which mob rule, unjustly determines the direction of American political discourse. Slavery, the Jim Crow era, and the ever growing anti-Civil Rights sentiment that has pervaded the GOP and the Republican party; respectively, are examples of putsch(es) on the part of a radical minority at every stage of the United States development.
It then, should come as no surprise to further read the emotional rantings of Podhoretz as he declares the spread of "communist ancestors" ideology of the 1930's infiltrating "metastatically to the universities, the mainstream media, the mainline churches, and the entertainment industry." These words are the act of fear-mongering, trumping charges of treason towards our nations commander-in-chief. A consistent patter in the American social fabric, that of the Radical Right fabricating and distorting the truth in order to undermine the strength and function of our United States national government.
When does the True Red Scare unfold? When does the day occur when America opens its eyes to the dastardly intentions of the Red, conservative GOP, and Tea Party Fundamentalist? When does the hour strike, when the American electorate says "good bye" to the corporate sponsored, conservative status quo completely out of touch with its nations rapidly evolving demographic? I say that day has already arrived, and that the clock rang loud and clear on January 20th, 2009. We voted for change and prosperity, progress and humanity in 2009. Now we must continue this pursuit of truth for the sake of our past and future generations in 2012.
In all fairness, to better understand the conservative ideology of Mcarthyism read "Blacklisted By History" about Sen. Mcarthy, Ann Coulter is on the cover stating the book is the biggest thing since the bible. Again, the conservative GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalism that is at the forefront of the 2012 elections and at the heart of our congressional stymie, stands as the True Red Scare.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
A Realpolitik Only the Republican Can Love
There is a stench engulfing our nations capital, conservative hypocrisy. You see many liberals feel that President Obama has played a very conservative hand in his first of two terms as President of the United States. Not to be labeled soft on crime, the Obama Administration has failed to decriminalize marijuana, toughened federal statues on immigration, bent over backwards to accommodate Tea Party fundamentalists on the debt ceiling issue, and continues his predecessors "War on Drugs" (i.e. War on Latin America.)
The recent Project Gunnrunner scandal is a shining example of how irrational GOP, and Tea Party Fundamentalists demand conservative action's from the Obama Administration. Unfortunately, once the administration appeases the unprogressive ideologues, it is immediately harangued by opponents. Attorney General Eric Holder has come under direct fire from Republican Allen West from Florida and ironically the National Rifle Association for his post overseeing Project Gunnrunner.
The most disheartning issue surrounding the scandal is the idea that the A.T.F. a federal agency would willfully allow for weapons to fall into criminal hands in order to further their case against the alleged criminal organizations. It would seem that that Fundamentalist Tea Party and GOP'ers who harp on this rally cry have forgotten the basic approach modern law enforcement takes to circumnavigate entrapment laws and continue to overcrowed our prison systems. From controlled crack cocaine buys, to prostitution stings, from poseing as hit men, to actually infiltrating criminal organizations and taking part in their nefarious activity. This act willfully supporting criminal activity in pursuit of criminals is known as forward leaning or preventative prosecution. Petra Bartosiewicz in the recent August 2011 issue of Harpers Magazine "To Catch a Terrorist: The FBI Hunts the Enemy Within" and highlights how pervasive this form of jurisprudence has become in our legal system.
Of course, no Republican or Tea Party Fundamentalist would dare note how this instance pales in comparisson to the actions of their beloved neo-conservative patriarch Ronald Reagen and his Iran-Contra Coverup. Via foreign bank accounts, false companies, and "criminal" arms dealers the Reagen Administration sold weapons and rockets to our enemy Iran. Treason was the name of the game for the Republican Administration as it sought power by any means necessary, essentially embracing profits over patriotism like any commercial enterprise should. In fact a common mantra formed from the Right Wing Administrations support of dirty wars and apolitical trickery "the ends justify the means."
As the Obama Administration continues to lead the country towards a better tomorrow. It is reassuring to see Mr. President stand by his staff in this volitile era of political mud slinging. The administrations opponenets do not care for truth or justice, for them political points are to be attained at all cost in order to protect the entrenched status quo resilliant to needed change.
The recent Project Gunnrunner scandal is a shining example of how irrational GOP, and Tea Party Fundamentalists demand conservative action's from the Obama Administration. Unfortunately, once the administration appeases the unprogressive ideologues, it is immediately harangued by opponents. Attorney General Eric Holder has come under direct fire from Republican Allen West from Florida and ironically the National Rifle Association for his post overseeing Project Gunnrunner.
The most disheartning issue surrounding the scandal is the idea that the A.T.F. a federal agency would willfully allow for weapons to fall into criminal hands in order to further their case against the alleged criminal organizations. It would seem that that Fundamentalist Tea Party and GOP'ers who harp on this rally cry have forgotten the basic approach modern law enforcement takes to circumnavigate entrapment laws and continue to overcrowed our prison systems. From controlled crack cocaine buys, to prostitution stings, from poseing as hit men, to actually infiltrating criminal organizations and taking part in their nefarious activity. This act willfully supporting criminal activity in pursuit of criminals is known as forward leaning or preventative prosecution. Petra Bartosiewicz in the recent August 2011 issue of Harpers Magazine "To Catch a Terrorist: The FBI Hunts the Enemy Within" and highlights how pervasive this form of jurisprudence has become in our legal system.
Of course, no Republican or Tea Party Fundamentalist would dare note how this instance pales in comparisson to the actions of their beloved neo-conservative patriarch Ronald Reagen and his Iran-Contra Coverup. Via foreign bank accounts, false companies, and "criminal" arms dealers the Reagen Administration sold weapons and rockets to our enemy Iran. Treason was the name of the game for the Republican Administration as it sought power by any means necessary, essentially embracing profits over patriotism like any commercial enterprise should. In fact a common mantra formed from the Right Wing Administrations support of dirty wars and apolitical trickery "the ends justify the means."
As the Obama Administration continues to lead the country towards a better tomorrow. It is reassuring to see Mr. President stand by his staff in this volitile era of political mud slinging. The administrations opponenets do not care for truth or justice, for them political points are to be attained at all cost in order to protect the entrenched status quo resilliant to needed change.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Entitlements or a Federal Republic
As the extension to the Bush Era Tax Cuts draws to an end nearing the 2012 Presidential Elections and coinciding with the Great Debt Ceiling Compromise; the rhetoric for government funded social welfare programs will continue to heat up. Top Republican, Conservative presidential contenders like Michele Bachman, Rick Perry, and Mitt Romney continue to lambaste what they refer to as out dated programs of "entitlements."
Conservatives fault our overgrowing debt centered economy that must support "lazy" Americans reliant on government hand outs. Social Security, Medicare, Medicade, Food Stamps, Houseing Subsidies, Veterans Benefits, Veterans Hospitals, University Grants and Student Loans all face the ire of GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists acting as the mouth piece for Big Business threatened by a leader willing to make the decisions necessary for the betterment of our growing Democracy.
I am alluding to President Obama's ability to begin taxing the wealthy, which would be an unprecedented turn from the previous forty year class war. Conservative ideologues have sacrificed the common citizens welfare (note: we can refer to corporations as Super Citizens), for decades shifting a tax code that once inordinately taxed the wealthy and now places its burden on the middle and lower classes.
The truth is a bitter pill, in fact it is the wealthy who are the greatest government welfare recipients in our economy. The ability to declare capital gains, to move U.S. dollars to offshore tax havens, to navigate corporate loopholes in which billion dollar industries all pay a yearly net tax of $0. Citizens for Tax Justice estimated less than a 18% percent of most large corporations revenue go to taxes as of 2011.
Raymond Johnson, the 26 year old breast cancer patient who has been denied coverage over a heavily restricted medicare program, stands as a tragic example of the GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists goal to alienate a large portion of United States citizenry. Mr. Johnson, a tradesman earns $9 an hour on a job that employed for barely 30 hours a week. His story is a common narrative in an economy facing hostile actors who wish to only share the great American Dream with their own next door neighbors, congregation members, and family. It is a sad show of ignorance, the hoards of Tea Party-ites marching in unison, demanding rights for themselves under the guise of state rights, and state sovereignty while claiming to be patriots of our ferderal republic. The GOP and the Tea Party sponsor political philosophy grounded on patron politics and patrimonialism. Fortunately for America, we still have four more years of our beloved President Barack Obama.
Conservatives fault our overgrowing debt centered economy that must support "lazy" Americans reliant on government hand outs. Social Security, Medicare, Medicade, Food Stamps, Houseing Subsidies, Veterans Benefits, Veterans Hospitals, University Grants and Student Loans all face the ire of GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists acting as the mouth piece for Big Business threatened by a leader willing to make the decisions necessary for the betterment of our growing Democracy.
I am alluding to President Obama's ability to begin taxing the wealthy, which would be an unprecedented turn from the previous forty year class war. Conservative ideologues have sacrificed the common citizens welfare (note: we can refer to corporations as Super Citizens), for decades shifting a tax code that once inordinately taxed the wealthy and now places its burden on the middle and lower classes.
The truth is a bitter pill, in fact it is the wealthy who are the greatest government welfare recipients in our economy. The ability to declare capital gains, to move U.S. dollars to offshore tax havens, to navigate corporate loopholes in which billion dollar industries all pay a yearly net tax of $0. Citizens for Tax Justice estimated less than a 18% percent of most large corporations revenue go to taxes as of 2011.
Raymond Johnson, the 26 year old breast cancer patient who has been denied coverage over a heavily restricted medicare program, stands as a tragic example of the GOP and Tea Party Fundamentalists goal to alienate a large portion of United States citizenry. Mr. Johnson, a tradesman earns $9 an hour on a job that employed for barely 30 hours a week. His story is a common narrative in an economy facing hostile actors who wish to only share the great American Dream with their own next door neighbors, congregation members, and family. It is a sad show of ignorance, the hoards of Tea Party-ites marching in unison, demanding rights for themselves under the guise of state rights, and state sovereignty while claiming to be patriots of our ferderal republic. The GOP and the Tea Party sponsor political philosophy grounded on patron politics and patrimonialism. Fortunately for America, we still have four more years of our beloved President Barack Obama.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Executions and Terrorism
There is an irony in the nature of the American political arena, we briefly explored this awkward juxtaposition of Evangelical Christianity and the support of the death penalty. President Obama has walked this very fine line between life and death, between executioner and the accused. Kudos to Nicholas Schmidale for his piece "Getting Bin Laden" in the August 08, 2011 edition of the New Yorker. Schmidale details an compelling account of a Commander-In-Chief over seeing a prominent military operation design to effectively neutralize the enemy.
The task was established from the very beginning, Bin Laden had been marked for dead and this was his final night. There is a small but important difference between President Obama's and say, Gov. Rick Perry's comparative oversight of the purpose of state sanctioned execution. President Obama was enforcing the will of much of the world in removing an active executive in several prominent terrorist organization. These hostile organizations were responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives around the world over the last two decades. Gov. Perry, the GOP, and the Tea Party support and condone a justice system that actively pursues the capital elicited from enforcing criminal codes and maintaining prison populations. Conservatives prefer keeping the criminals, criminals, as opposed to offering legitimate methods of reform in order to turn a massively alienated segment of the American population, into productive citizenry.
Just ask Gov. Perry about Cameron Todd Willingham? Mr. Willingham was the unfortunate man executed despite an overwhelming burden of proof towards his innocence, that Gov. Perry had little problem ignoring. Conservative ideology, especially its fundamental brethren, embrace a vindictive, bloodthirsty form of jurisprudence. Thankfully the United States has true leaders, like President Obama, who can take the necessary steps to ensure that justice is served and innocence is given yet another day to flourish in an unforgiving world.
The task was established from the very beginning, Bin Laden had been marked for dead and this was his final night. There is a small but important difference between President Obama's and say, Gov. Rick Perry's comparative oversight of the purpose of state sanctioned execution. President Obama was enforcing the will of much of the world in removing an active executive in several prominent terrorist organization. These hostile organizations were responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives around the world over the last two decades. Gov. Perry, the GOP, and the Tea Party support and condone a justice system that actively pursues the capital elicited from enforcing criminal codes and maintaining prison populations. Conservatives prefer keeping the criminals, criminals, as opposed to offering legitimate methods of reform in order to turn a massively alienated segment of the American population, into productive citizenry.
Just ask Gov. Perry about Cameron Todd Willingham? Mr. Willingham was the unfortunate man executed despite an overwhelming burden of proof towards his innocence, that Gov. Perry had little problem ignoring. Conservative ideology, especially its fundamental brethren, embrace a vindictive, bloodthirsty form of jurisprudence. Thankfully the United States has true leaders, like President Obama, who can take the necessary steps to ensure that justice is served and innocence is given yet another day to flourish in an unforgiving world.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
President Obama, challenged by Rick Perry?
Ask Cameron Todd Willingham, the father of three daughters murdered in an arson attack in which he would be wrongly tried, sentenced, and executed for, about governors Perry's Christan faith. President George W. Bush signed off on 152 executions as the former governor of Texas, a cute number compared to Governor Rick Perry's 225 and counting as Chief Executive in the Lone Star state. The two "devout" Christians had little trouble casting the first stone, an ironic sentiment considering killing (be it murder or state execution, after all Christ was killed by a Roman state) is in the "Top 10" of all time evangelical sins.
The number of attendees at Gov. Perry's event has ranged from 22,000 by Christan Science Monitor, to a robust 30,000 plus by the New York Times and Politico. One must assume, the thousands in attendance at least support Perry in whatever decision he inevitably makes towards the death penalty, if not outright cry for televised executions. It seems counter intuitive to my evangelical Christan upbringing to fathom sanctioning death by the state, knowing as a Christian the lessons of forgiveness and mercy I adored in my youth.
Now I see the name of Christ stymieing programs that assist the poor, the meek, those who need benevolent forces the most. Perry and the rest of the GOP and Tea Party establishment refer to welfare programs as "entitlements", yet lambaste Democrats who dare attempt to tax the rich, the wealthy, corporate oligarchs. These pharisees protect their own constituencies, and rarely see past the innocence of their corporate patrons. Perhaps, soon Perry will feel the Holy Spirit and return to his Democratic roots (yes, Perry endorsed Al Gore in his 1988 Democratic presidential bid). In 2012 the Bush era tax cuts will finally end, certainly President Obama will have compromised enough with fundamentalist who care for their own interests, and perhaps Perry could hold a national day of prayer for redeeming social welfare programs (see: sin tax).
The number of attendees at Gov. Perry's event has ranged from 22,000 by Christan Science Monitor, to a robust 30,000 plus by the New York Times and Politico. One must assume, the thousands in attendance at least support Perry in whatever decision he inevitably makes towards the death penalty, if not outright cry for televised executions. It seems counter intuitive to my evangelical Christan upbringing to fathom sanctioning death by the state, knowing as a Christian the lessons of forgiveness and mercy I adored in my youth.
Now I see the name of Christ stymieing programs that assist the poor, the meek, those who need benevolent forces the most. Perry and the rest of the GOP and Tea Party establishment refer to welfare programs as "entitlements", yet lambaste Democrats who dare attempt to tax the rich, the wealthy, corporate oligarchs. These pharisees protect their own constituencies, and rarely see past the innocence of their corporate patrons. Perhaps, soon Perry will feel the Holy Spirit and return to his Democratic roots (yes, Perry endorsed Al Gore in his 1988 Democratic presidential bid). In 2012 the Bush era tax cuts will finally end, certainly President Obama will have compromised enough with fundamentalist who care for their own interests, and perhaps Perry could hold a national day of prayer for redeeming social welfare programs (see: sin tax).
Saturday, August 6, 2011
The President Plays Non-Partisan and S&P still Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating
"Over the past weeks and months the President repeatedly called for substantial deficit reduction through both long-term entitlement changes and revenues through tax reform, with additional measures to spark jobs and strengthen our recovery," U.S. Press Secretary, Jay Carney .
Demint and Boehner recently called for President Obama to axe Tresurey Secretary Tim Geithner over the decision of S&P to downgrade the United States credit rating from a AAA to an AA+. The rhetoric runs the usual narrative, the GOP accusing the Obama administration of holding on to "entitlement programs" and restricting private enterprise from creating new jobs. Unfortunately the facts show a President far to willing to compromise. Most liberals are pulling their collective hair out over the Presidents unwillingness to call out the stubborn Tea Party fundamentalists, who have arguably been holding the government hostage for a very small portion of the United States population.
Perhaps President Obama is practicing the ideal form of pragmatism championed by William James and John Dewey the Presidents fellow Chicagoan; or maybe he is embracing the realpolitik that defined a once mighty conservative GOP party. Through the mud slinging, most of America is well aware of the inability of our current congressional leaders to get the job done. Perhaps much of the fault lies in the Tea Party and GOP's recent fad in swearing (false?) oaths before a, thankfully, merciful god. Many of the oaths simply reaffirm the fundamentalist conservative ideology that embody the oath takers, creating an orgy of religious and political fervor.
The arguably neo-conservative Francis Fukuyama wrote "But of all the ways to make distinctions between people and classes, inequality of taxation is the most pernicious and most apt to add isolation to inequality. Tax exemption was the most hated of all privileges." Fukuyama was writing of pre-French Revolution societies from China to the Middle East to Europe. Taxation is a practice as old as capitalism, if not its progenitor. Yet ironically, it is the GOP and the Tea Party that demand the class war in revoking nearly all taxes for corporations and the upper 5-10% of society. The idea that pumping capital into those who not only have the means for their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren, can only last in a society that is demanding an evolution in its approach to government economics.
In the end, the GOP and specifically the Tea Party congress men and women who jeered for the United States to default, understood the risk. The millions of Americans that would suffer from the collapse of "entitlement programs" at the behest of a default in the national economy, would simply cower further to the corporate oligarchs that finance our semi-public elections. Those congress persons who jeered, would be fine within their small homogeneous districts. (see: gerrymandering)
In the end, the International Business Times had the best point "The biggest mistake, or the factor that most contributed to S&P's downgrade of the U.S. Government was the 2001 Bush Income Tax Cut. The $1.35 trillion tax cut -- a tax cut that many economists and policy professionals felt was not necessary from a stimulus standpoint, given that the U.S. economy was already recovering from the mini 2001 recession -- instantaneously turned a U.S. Government budget surplus into a budget deficit. You read correctly: President Bill Clinton, D-Ark., in fiscal 2001 -- the Clinton administration's last fiscal year -- was the last president to run a budget surplus: the Clinton administration notched a $127.3 billion surplus in fiscal 2001 -- the fourth consecutive year of surpluses. "
Hopefully the next round of Presidential and the following midterm elections, will give way to another opportunity for America's growth under strong Democratic leadership
Demint and Boehner recently called for President Obama to axe Tresurey Secretary Tim Geithner over the decision of S&P to downgrade the United States credit rating from a AAA to an AA+. The rhetoric runs the usual narrative, the GOP accusing the Obama administration of holding on to "entitlement programs" and restricting private enterprise from creating new jobs. Unfortunately the facts show a President far to willing to compromise. Most liberals are pulling their collective hair out over the Presidents unwillingness to call out the stubborn Tea Party fundamentalists, who have arguably been holding the government hostage for a very small portion of the United States population.
Perhaps President Obama is practicing the ideal form of pragmatism championed by William James and John Dewey the Presidents fellow Chicagoan; or maybe he is embracing the realpolitik that defined a once mighty conservative GOP party. Through the mud slinging, most of America is well aware of the inability of our current congressional leaders to get the job done. Perhaps much of the fault lies in the Tea Party and GOP's recent fad in swearing (false?) oaths before a, thankfully, merciful god. Many of the oaths simply reaffirm the fundamentalist conservative ideology that embody the oath takers, creating an orgy of religious and political fervor.
The arguably neo-conservative Francis Fukuyama wrote "But of all the ways to make distinctions between people and classes, inequality of taxation is the most pernicious and most apt to add isolation to inequality. Tax exemption was the most hated of all privileges." Fukuyama was writing of pre-French Revolution societies from China to the Middle East to Europe. Taxation is a practice as old as capitalism, if not its progenitor. Yet ironically, it is the GOP and the Tea Party that demand the class war in revoking nearly all taxes for corporations and the upper 5-10% of society. The idea that pumping capital into those who not only have the means for their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren, can only last in a society that is demanding an evolution in its approach to government economics.
In the end, the GOP and specifically the Tea Party congress men and women who jeered for the United States to default, understood the risk. The millions of Americans that would suffer from the collapse of "entitlement programs" at the behest of a default in the national economy, would simply cower further to the corporate oligarchs that finance our semi-public elections. Those congress persons who jeered, would be fine within their small homogeneous districts. (see: gerrymandering)
In the end, the International Business Times had the best point "The biggest mistake, or the factor that most contributed to S&P's downgrade of the U.S. Government was the 2001 Bush Income Tax Cut. The $1.35 trillion tax cut -- a tax cut that many economists and policy professionals felt was not necessary from a stimulus standpoint, given that the U.S. economy was already recovering from the mini 2001 recession -- instantaneously turned a U.S. Government budget surplus into a budget deficit. You read correctly: President Bill Clinton, D-Ark., in fiscal 2001 -- the Clinton administration's last fiscal year -- was the last president to run a budget surplus: the Clinton administration notched a $127.3 billion surplus in fiscal 2001 -- the fourth consecutive year of surpluses. "
Hopefully the next round of Presidential and the following midterm elections, will give way to another opportunity for America's growth under strong Democratic leadership
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