TAX CUTS – NATIONAL PARKS – NAFTA – AND THE TRUMPELSTILTSKINS

As Forrest Gump once said “stupid is as stupid does” – problem is Trump is redefining the definition of stupid.

Take the proposed tax cut for instance, corporations will have their tax cut to fifteen percent as though this will somehow lead to a boom for the country when it is actually a ticking time bomb.

There are already so many tax loop holes for corporations they pay next to nothing and some nothing at all – has that stopped them from exporting jobs?

Absolutely not, and the reason isn’t taxation but cheap foreign labor with zero benefits, safety regulations, or accountability.

Additionally Trump and his ravening horde want to open up national parks and monuments to “development” i.e. raping the environment.

Well bring on it Swamp Thing as the protests, demonstrations, and judicial smack downs have been a drop in the bucket compared to what they will become.

The combined salaries of a married couple working for minimum wage in this land of plenty is right at or less than twenty four thousand a year , so on the surface this may look like a good deal for them, but that’s far from the reality when it comes to such a couple who won’t be able to afford healthcare or any kind of essential services for their children.

Try explaining that to the Trumpelstiltskins who predictably develop a case of narcolepsy when confronted with reality.

So in reality this “tax cut” for them is going to amount to a tax in itself if their child becomes sick or has to rely upon a school lunch program.

Trump, Republican politicians, and their agenda are the last gasping for breath of what has been an entrenched white privilege – they are desperate to maintain what they believe is their birthright and willing to go to any extreme and the major reason they have their head stuck up the ass of every corporation – a belief that wealth and wealth alone will forestall the inevitable.

In the midst of their denial they refuse to accept what their very eyes and ears tell them , that demographics are changing, that a growing number of white people and a new generation are rejecting the concept of privilege whether it be based on ethnicity, religion, or wealth – bad news for out of touch conservatives but good news for democracy.

NAFTA was the brainchild of Republicans, their response to corporate lobbyists, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that then president Clinton praised the legislation, said he would actively support and campaign for it – that it would lead to a boom in jobs.

Renegotiate NAFTA? Not a bad idea depending on the end result – even better if it is to remain intact with a cosmetic tweak or two is to levy a sufficient enough import duty on products made by American companies who have relocated overseas to make them bring jobs back to this country as the only workable solution.

If that were to be the case they’d probably attempt a coup d’etat.

But for such an import tariff to eventuate Republican pols would have to remove their head from their favorite place and come up for air – not likely to happen.

Politicians, Trump, and the wealthy enjoy a protective insulation the rest of us don’t, ultimately that is all they care about, and if and when the Trumpelstiltskins wake up they’re going to be shocked to find they aren’t in Kansas anymore.

BREXIT

Being an indigenous person I am an advocate for sovereignty, and that includes the sovereignty of a nation like Britain – the below is a copy paste of a comment made in the link that accompanies this blog.

“Why is everything I read about the Brexit so negative? The economy is ruined, the young people’s future as Europeans is at stake, the currency is devalued, trade is threatened, immigration is threatened, ….stop. Just stop and realize NOTHING is going to be different. What, all these countries are right now radioing the captains of cargo ships laden with jeans and walkmans and telling them “OMG TURN AROUND AND COME BACK!!” The future of Great Britain is NOT contingent upon membership in the EU. There are positives and negatives to staying, there are positives and negatives in leaving but the sky is NOT falling!”

The EU long ago overstepped it’s original intent and mandate, it has become an out of touch juggernaut attempting to regulate every aspect of member nations while pushing corporate interests.

It’s long been my belief that Una Merkel of Germany has attempted to position herself as the guiding force and her personal agendas seem to be to establish a Fourth Reich with monetary interests being the new weapon of choice.

An elected government is required to represent the will of the people, those who elected them and those who in theory they are obliged to serve, admittedly that has become something of a novel idea among democracies throughout the world, that is the litmus test.

Yet it is an idea that has gained traction beginning with the people of Iceland who took their government back amidst the same corporate elitist predictions of doom and gloom.

Obama played his part for corporate interests in the not so veiled threat that Britain would find themselves sitting in the back of the bus when it came to trade deals with the U.S. – a shameless and equally baseless attempt to influence the Brexit vote.

What will be interesting and reflective of the banking and corporate interests is the pound of punitive flesh they most surely will attempt to extract in an effort to keep other nations within the fold.

Iceland survived and is better off now than it was, I believe inspite of all the Wall Street, EU, and banking industries cries and howling that the sky is falling Britain will as well.

It will take a little time for the dust to settle and there will be bumps along the road, there will be threats and warnings of dire consequences, perhaps even manipulated events meant to coerce but it is about much more than towing the line – to paraphrase it is about “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”.

Not only do I agree with the expressed sentiment in the above quote that journalists if not nuts demonstrate a supermarket rag magazine approach when it comes to “filler” and creating news ……. as well as blocking it.

Too bad the people of this nation haven’t the fortitude to demand a referendum and exit the wage suppressing, job exporting “trade deal” known as NAFTA – but then that would be bad for corporate profits and Wall Street wouldn’t it?

Or would it? As such entities always find a way to profit just as they did during the bail out a few years ago in this country after driving it into a financial crisis.

The people of Britain have spoken, now it is time for them to not only hold the line but to hold the feet of elected politicians to the fire.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/5-ways-brexit-could-be-good-for-the-united-states-155328701.html

POVERTY CONSPIRACY

In the blog Redistribution of Wealth I made the following statement and have been asked what I meant by it – how does poverty qualify as a conspiracy?

“No what we need to do is continue to reward the abusers, continue to wave the flag, focus on issues like guns, and seek to insure that the poor will indeed always be among us.”
“We need to focus on every harebrained meme about conspiracies that comes down the pike rather than focus on what may be the biggest conspiracy of all – poverty as a vehicle for profit.”

I don’t believe it’s any kind of stretch to say a trade deal like NAFTA that has led to untold thousands of jobs being exported and the loss of that money being distributed among the working class in this country is conspiratorial in nature.

Nor do I believe it is any kind of stretch to say that the exportation of jobs and income directly impacts the minimum wage keeping people either in poverty or on the border line.

Trade agreements such as this are by design, and the impact of that design goes beyond increasing the wealth of one percenters and corporations – they know it and everyone else does or should as well.

It is that very knowledge on the part of those who fashion, support, and vote into legislation such trade agreements that makes them conspiratorial, and by extension poverty and subsistence level wages a conspiracy.

To facilitate all of this are credit, pay day loans, and rent to own, that encourages people to spend beyond their means often just to pay a utility bill or put food on the table and becomes a vehicle that allows people to indenture themselves, and fools to talk about the efficacy of trickle down economics and jobs are created by the wealthy.

For every “poverty” program there exists a company or government contractor that’s cashing in whether it be a supplier for school lunches or a “free clinic” that procures their supplies from the same companies as everyone else – in a sense it’s all privatized regardless of who is footing the bill, and it isn’t the government that’s picking up the tab it’s the privatization of the tax payer with the financial benefits going to a select few.

When expenditures exceed income the national debt rises – something like six or seven trillion additional dollars during the current administrations tenure.

Has poverty been mitigated, has the minimum wage increased to a livable level, have infrastructure issues been addressed, has the number of foodstamp or public assistance recipients declined?

No, they have in fact increased – so where has the money gone to? What has the war on poverty accomplished other than to maintain it and continue to warehouse people?

Well in part it’s gone into the excess of a billion dollars a day to fund conflicts in foreign countries – it’s gone to the loss of revenue generated by trade deals and taxes or import duties levied against imports of manufactured products in other countries by American countries.

It’s gone to subsidizing the sugar industry in the Dominican Republic for more than the market value of the sugar they produce – and that is one lone example among many.

It’s gone to manipulations of Wall Street and the Banking industry – so a conspiracy to embed and maintain poverty? Yeah, I’d say so.

An impoverished working class desperate to get by will accept whatever wage is offered, something novelist John Steinbeck addressed in his epic The Grapes of Wrath, something Caesar Chavez and the UFW understood and fought against.

An understanding that led to the creation of Unions and child labor laws that conservatives now do everything in their power to undermine – again, if it looks a conspiracy, walks like one, and talks like one, then it most assuredly is.

https://rezinate.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/redistribution-of-wealth/

TRANSATLANTIC TRADE INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP

 

To say that the Obama administrations legacy is one to celebrate rather than one of corporate patronage is the proverbial attempt to say there is little difference between GMOs and organic vegetables.

That isn’t to say a measure of good hasn’t been accomplished but rather it is examining the overall picture that places things in context.

A starting point could be the fact that the Obama campaign collected more super pac money than any other campaign in history – which by any metric translates to political indebtedness and cronyism.

A second consideration would be to look at the appointment of Goldman Sachs and former Wall Streeters to important positions in government – Payments on the accrued debt?

There is a long list of agendas and appointments that speak to a determined effort to steer the nation towards becoming a full blown and blatant corporatocracy.

Not least among these efforts is the promotion of TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership, that will have a more devastation impact than Nafta has.

The TTIP is singularly about globalization with corporations at the helm – it is about money, greed, control, and above all the power to steer the course of markets and nations.

It is about the continued disenfranchisement of the individual, national sovereignty, and anything even vaguely resembling the will of the people.

A Pandora’s box that once opened will release nothing but trouble and will in a number of ways further enslave the population of every nation signator.

TTIP isn’t about a “partnership” in the conventional sense, it’s about attempting to put lipstick on a pig and making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear that amounts to nothing more than a global criminal enterprise noted for crimes against the common good and humanity.

Protest never changes anything? Look at how TTIP has been derailed | Owen Jones | Opinion | The Guardian
www.theguardian.com

 

THE FAMILIAR COMFORT OF DYSFUNCTION

At least on the surface it seems like such an untenable position I’m hesitant it even address it, yet increasingly I’ve come to believe that inspite of the proclaimed indignation, anger, and general carping the majority of the electorate find a measure of comfort in the familiarity of current governmental and societal dysfunction.

That it’s better to stay with the pig in a poke than to actively pursue the change that is needed in this country.

If that is correct it speaks to two motivations, one being fear and the other complacency.

A fear that if the boat is rocked things will become worse or a complacency based on a belief that all is as it should be and both corporations and the government actually have our best interests at heart.

People want to believe, and often enough the mere desire to is sufficient to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the realities.

Politicians know this, for them it is axiomatic, and so they enage in a rheotric that facilitates this desire to believe, so much so I’ve actually heard individuals qualify this in saying they don’t take the campaign talking points as actually being what a politician will do or attempt to do.

That’s a wtf moment for me – you don’t actually believe them, which is to say you acknowledge or interpret that what they say are lies and yet will vote for them anyway?

Which in turn seems to substantiate the previously mentioned motivations – fear and or complacency. Seemingly untenable as I said but I’m hard pressed to think of a different explanation.

I suppose there could other possibilities like party allegiance come hell or high water or that casting a vote singularly on the grounds that a woman is running.

But in my estimation they too have a dysfunctional basis as gender in and of itself is far from being a qualification.

Change doesn’t occur overnight, especially when it comes to the political process.

It is incremental in nature – a path is chosen with x number of required steps.

Steps that would include the reinstatement of Glass Steagall and either a retooling of trade agreements like NAFTA that opened the gates to a tsunami of jobs and production leaving the country or the complete dismantling of it.

Medicare and SSI shouldn’t be attacked they should be fortified – when a conservative says the opposite ask them how many parents, grandparents, friends, or constituents do they have who have depend on both? Ask them if they’re willing to kick them under the bus?

If they don’t like a healthcare system that provides services to all regardless of income or ethnicity and say it’s all about family values and taking care of ones own ask them if they or everyday working people have the financial ability to do so?

When they go on about the evil of a tuition free college education ask them if they believe only the best and the brightest seek a higher education or have the ability to afford one?

I seriously doubt the rank and file conservative working class are any better off than others – they have to contend with the same oppressed wages, the same exportation or jobs, and the same financial uncertainties and burdens – yet the familiar comfort of dysfunction is acceptable as long as it’s wrapped in a layer of guns, immigration, ISIS, and the flag.

It’s like being offered the choice of losing an arm or leg, choosing one, and then chanting USA, USA, USA.

America, the land of political savants? I don’t think so, more of a naivete staggering in proportions.

EXTREMES AND “THE AMERICAN DREAM”

The history of humankind during any part of it’s progression has never been void of
contrasts – the most flagrant being that between the poor and the wealthy.

The American Dream was an ideal predicated on the middle class, the ability to in the least ascend the ladder from poverty to the comparative haven of financial stability, a dream threatened by the decline of the middle class and the upward flow of wealth, power, and influence to a minute percentage of the population and corporations.

Every advantage is given to this demographic, every trade agreement fashioned to facilitate a growing class separation, every tax code enacted with an eye to enhancing the position they hold.

To deviate from this abnormal norm is to be portrayed as an extremist, a radical, a threat to the very foundations of society, but what are the true extremes?

Is it extreme that minimum wages keep a person or family in poverty while corporate CEOs make ten of millions of dollars?

Is it an extreme that health related costs are higher in this country than elsewhere?

Is it an extreme that access to and the quality of education is predicated upon money?

Is it an extreme interpretation to claim anyone, any business, is too big to fail and therefore must be subsidized by taxpayers while government turns a blind prosecutorial eye to criminal activities?

Is it extreme to protest a system of inequity and injustice?

How extreme is it to export jobs and production so the wealthy can become even more wealthy?

How extreme is it that the highest court in the land rules that corporations have unfettered access to influence election outcomes with money, or elders on social security are denied a minimal cost of living increase?

If you believe such things are the stuff of dreams and opportunity then don’t vote for change, vote for more of the same, vote the party line and nothing else.

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/bernie-sanders-once-made-an-incredible-155604738.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy9_fsL6uS8

SYRIAN AND AMERICAN REALITIES

I

Inspite of what Obama had to say as recently as a few days before the bombings in Paris ISIS is not contained – that is at least unless he’s attempting to create a “new regime” when it comes to word definitions just as he did when it comes to the law.

Accepting Syrian refugees is the hot topic button now as it should be for a variety of reasons.

Among those reasons is the potential for terrorists to gain entry. I can’t say how likely that is but it seems an avenue to me while conservatives will play it up and liberals will play it down.

I’m completely in favor of any humanitarian effort to assist Syrian or any other refugees form the Middle East and with the number of states proclaiming they will not accept any it will become an exercise in state’s rights versus those of the federal government.

This is a tailor made issue for conservatives at what can only viewed as an opportune time for them with upcoming elections – and they’re going to make the most of it.

Realities will be sacrificed in the upcoming related discussion, both sides will go to extremes to justify their positions.

This president is so intent on finishing his term without a major event as to appear completely inept – it was only a few months ago he characterized ISIS as the jv squad, now just days ago he announced they were contained.

Contained? Far from it with a growing number of people joining their ranks and a global expansion of their ability to strike.

An ability that emboldens them to announce the U.S. will be targeted.

No ones wants more “boots on the ground” but if ISIS does strike the U.S. the outcry will be no different than it was after 911 and ground troops will be sent.

It seems to me a pre emptive effort is what is needed as America’s allies look to the U.S. to take a more active role – something more than funneling millions of dollars to programs to train and arm a countries population to fight and then announce the sum total was an active force of five and yes it wasn’t working.

A true multinational force has to be a part of that strategy – a force that will strike, strike hard with a devastating effect and not quit until it is over.

Obama can tap dance around in the hopes of not tainting the legacy he
is attempting to create as his presidency winds down but increasingly
events are going to demand something more.

Obama may be the so called Commander in Chief but he isn’t a military
strategists by any stretch of the imagination, and if he seeks the advice
of the military he may be well advised to actually listen to them and put
political considerations aside. He needs to listen to the voice of allies
as well.

A hard look is necessary when it comes to immigration – it hasn’t gone
well in Germany with the rival factions in refugee camps, rapes, various
crimes, and the political upheaval it’s caused.

There needs to be an comprehensive scrutiny of applicants and the immediate deportation of those who are involved in such activities.

Deportation? This country has never hesitated to deport Mafia members
or other law breakers so why should it be any different for other non
resident criminals?

If we are as a nation to take in refugees we need to do so in such a way that they don’t encounter the same violence they are fleeing from.

We need to assure they can make a decent living and lead a decent life,
not stack them in human warehousing complexes and consign them to a second rate life of public assistance and dependency.

Anything less is a feel good farce and a balance must be struck between
attending to the needs of refugees and those of this country who are
warehoused, marginalized, embedded in poverty, dependency, and struggle to overcome a lack of opportunity.

If money is an issue related to that then get real about making corporations and one percenters pony up rather than legislating tax laws and policies that offer loop hole after loop hole.

I don’t believe an entire nation of people can be condemned across the board due to the actions of religious extremists, those who argue that point if they are Christians must then condemn all Christians for the same reasons as Christianity has it’s own history of terrorism.

People have a reasonable expectation of and right to excellence in leadership, something that’s far from the case and will remain so until such a time they  will no longer accept anything less…. a nation in dire need of being saved from the drones and trolls of blind party allegiance, from cults of personality, and the unrelenting grasp of corporations.

As individuals we are held to account at our place of work, with credit finances, any form of debt, and general behavior – if a reason exists why it shouldn’t be the same for politicians and government then I’d like someone to enumerate them.

What is often overlooked when it comes to immigration is that it increases competition for jobs and effectively maintains a starvation level minimum wage.

The more people there are competing for available jobs the more it becomes an employers market – corporations love that.

A solution I believe is to redirect the “nation building” in other countries to this one – to create good paying jobs by bringing back manufacturing with an equitable minimum wage and public works projects under the aegis of reinstituted  programs like the WPA and CCC of the Depression era.

The creation of good paying jobs would reduce welfare roles, increase consumer demand which would then be met by increased production, and directly impact the economy in a positive way – not to mention empowering people.

Every time the issue of increasing the minimum wage arises conservatives fall all over themselves claiming it reduces jobs – that’s an outright lie that fails to be substantiated by any credible study or statistics and clearly demonstrates the only thing they give a damn about is serving their corporate one percenter sugar daddys.

On the other hand when it comes to immigration I don’t believe the liberal talking points are exactly completely above board, I believe there exists an understanding that it will increase their base and pay dividends during elections and they’ve got their own corporate interests who love low wages and a lack of benefits.

In the final analysis these things are the face of politics, balance and a
middle ground that addresses issues in a sane an equitable manner in as much as they can be doesn’t seem to be part of the equation and the result is the divisive mess this country finds itself it.

I believe major issues facing any nation should be put to a national referendum allowing the people access and a voice in the decision making process, if not then at least in my opinion it cannot be said to be truly representative of the will of the people.

If the repeal of Glass Steagall, NAFTA, or even recent Supreme Court decisions had been put to that test I seriously doubt the country wouldn’t be better off than it is.

The majority of Syrian refugees are women, children, and the elderly, whether this country or any country will turn their back on them will be a defining moment, but the needs of the impoverished and disenfranchised of a countries own cannot be overlooked if the word humanitarian is to be any part of the narrative.

DOUBLETHINK AND NEWSPEAK = DOUBLESPEAK

I’m a long time advocate for alternative energy, but at the same time I’ve always cautioned that people should be vigilant when it comes to anything that will impact or slow the level of profit utility companies make.

Corporate profits rely on dependency, their customers are dependent upon them and they intend to keep that way as long as they possibly can.

They can go on about concerns for the environment, their “green” efforts and all the rest of it but their priority is profit and that very dependency even if it means riding the fossil fuel horse until it collapses, until every river of any consequence is polluted and dammed, until every water spigot  spews ignitable gas from fracking and every home features damage from fracking generated earthquakes.

Rate hikes to connect to the grid, an inevitability, but how about a comparable increase in credit for the energy generated by solar and fed back into the system?

How about a consumer revolt for a change instead of merely griping and then settling into the groove?

How about putting public utility commissions and politicians on notice that they serve the public, not corporate interests, and if they don’t bear that in mind then they better take as much  money and perks from lobbyists as they can while they can because come next election they’re out of office.

Only the rich have solar? BS, take a look around middle class and lower middle class neighborhoods.

Solar and anything labeled green come with their own level of greed, manufacturers and suppliers are charging as much as they can get away with while praising and welcoming you to the green club.

It’s the same with anything ecofriendy, healthly, or comes with the moniker green from vitamin/nutrient suppliments to energy, organic food and anything else you can find in the green market place.

All the things that benefit people are price gouged, and that translates to effectively shutting out a huge number of people who could use them most.

So this is a “test” in California? It isn’t a test but a model for others to follow who will be ably abetted by every “public servant”  they own.

There are municipalities that have passed ordinances making it illegal to collect rain water falling on your property, they claim to own it.

Really? How about the sunshine that falls on your property, or the air you breathe on your property, they going to claim a proprietary right to that as well?

Sounds farfetched? Consider how farfetched claiming ownership of rainfall and making it illegal to collect it was in the immediate past.

The sleeping giant, the American electorate, watch out when they wake up – right, if the past is prologue the sleeping giant will continue to slumber making Rip Van Winkles twenty years of sleep look like a cat nap.

Will continue to elect dyed in the wool Washington insiders who in turn will continue to name corporate heads to cabinet positions and engage in the Orwellian Newspeak and Doublethink that is part and parcel of who they are.

According to a person I know, in the 80’s I believe it was, there was a movement on in California to enact no fault accident insurance, it was touted as consumer friendly, going to lower insurance costs for everyone and the public bought into it.

Needless to say in short order following passage there was a dramatic increase in rates.

The point being the minute corporations begin telling you it’s all good and you’re going to save money is the minute you should begin opposing whatever they’re pushing.

The same I think would apply to the majority of politicians, the minute they stand around pontificating and jingling the change in their pockets like a used car salesman telling you all about how good something will be for you then it’s time to begin asking them the hard questions and letting them know they will be held accountable.

Case in point, a classic – NAFTA – a bill whose sole intent was to increase corporate profits by allowing them to export manufacturing and jobs.

A Republican authored bill that then President Clinton went all out for to support promising it would immediately create a couple of hundred thousand jobs – but then Bill and wife Hillary have always been corporate stooges and the public should have know it was bs.

Another case in point – the repeal of Glass/Stegall that in effect gave the banking industry free rein and in no small part led to the economic fiasco just a few short years ago, and again a legislative wet dream of the Republicans that then President Clinton promoted as well.

Another example of this Orwellian Newspeak and Doublethink is Obama’s much ballyhooed trip to Alaska with all the available photo ops from posing for photos with indigenous people to a backdrop of breathtaking landscape as he goes on about the environment and responsibility to protect it – then to approve legislation for offshore deep drilling in the Beaufort Sea/Dutch Harbor waters, a catastrophe in the making with the predictable it’s good for the country, going to create jobs, reduce dependency, and no doubt translate in some unexplainable way to reducing the size of or staunching rate increases.

Now if it truly is about the environment and the public government would forego the corporate cronyism and begin an all out effort to convert to alternative energy – that isn’t going to happen because every penny of profit hasn’t been wrung from fossil fuels yet, and government is all about cronyism and the well affected transition from being representative to being a corporatocracy.

The national debt is something like eighteen trillion dollars – if it were never increased how long do you think it would take to pay that off? How many generations?

Eighteen trillion and counting – don’t rein in spending like ordinary people are compelled to do, no just keep raising the debt ceiling, keep printing more Monoply money, keep issuing bum checks, and keep kicking the can down the road until the entire house of cards collapses.

Unlike you the government doesn’t have to concern itself with debt for the above mentioned reasons – funny though isn’t it if you print up some bogus money, write a few bad checks, or don’t pay your bills you’ll wind up in jail or on the streets homeless with a cup trying to sell a few pencils.

Government is either a servant or a master, in that it is reflective of the electorate. Apparently the electorate decided at some point they wanted a master.

This isn’t all about corporate and governmental responsibility – it’s about the responsibility of people who absolutely aren’t willing to sacrifice any perceived comfort or essential.

Turn your thermostat down? Hell no, let someone else turn their’s down.

Cut back on fuel and energy consumption? Hell no, let someone else cut back.

Plant a little garden in the back yard or enlist neighbors in a communal garden? Hell no, I’m too busy multi tasking on Facebook, twitter, or whatever.

Go for energy efficient vehicles, devices, and appliances? Hell no, let others go for them.

People just as willing to kick the can down the road or leave it to others.

I sometimes think it would be in the best interests of all if corporations were nationalized,  became a public utility, the mere suggestion leading to an outcry by “patriots” in defense of democracy while they ignore the reality that the current version of democracy has become unrecognizable.

Nationalizing, bad idea? How about commonsense regulations and a proactive enforcement?

No, we can’t have that either as it wouldn’t be good for “bidness” and probably lead to multiple cases of spontaneous human combustion among the rank and file conservatives and their talking heads.

Am I on a rant? Hell yes, about time everybody began to.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-solar-net-metering-20150927-story.html

“It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it; consequently, the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning.”
George Orwell

Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.
George Orwell

“In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.”
George Orwell

IMMIGRATION REFORM

Immigration is one of those hot button topics, opinions vary from a complete amnesty to round’em all up and herd them back across the borders.

There’s a dynamic to this that makes just about any position a person elects to take onerous.

To begin with there are something like eleven million “illegal” immigrants in this country based on imaginary lines known as boundaries that have been drawn – the task of locating, detaining, and ultimately deporting them all would be monumental in both man hours and cost – a cost that would fall to taxpayers just as everything else does and probably run into the hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars.

I don’t believe anyone should be denied medical access based on citizenship, nor should a family go hungry, another aspect of the dynamic as the costs associated with that also fall to the taxpayer.

The Dems want to allow those who fall into the category of “illegals” the right to vote, which I am opposed to and can’t think of another country that allows this, but it’s a purely political strategy as the Dems see it as a way to increase their base and hopefully win elections.

That no doubt is a major reason why the Reps are opposed as they know that such a voting bloc would find little if anything they have to offer worth voting for.

Proposals are modified depending on which way the wind is blowing, nonetheless both sides of the political spectrum seem to agree that any approach taken must be predicated on securing the borders.

No country wants to accept the criminal element of another, a lesson if previously unknown driven home during the Carter administration when Cuba emptied it’s prisons sending them to America.

Granted among those prisoners were those guilty of little more than dissent, but also rapists, murderers, and drug dealers.

Border walls are now being built that in some way are reminiscent of the Berlin Wall to me, though the explanation is they are intended to keep people out rather than in. The fact that while they do keep people out they also keep people in  and was seen as efficacious by East Germany, sort of a side benefit.

Drones are also being used to patrol borders and that will surely evolve into a sky full of drones crisscrossing this nation as part of the domestic spying agenda.

In the end immigration is a thorny issue with opinions driven by a main stream corporate media that reflects either the conservative or liberal ideology of ownership and ultimately serves no other purpose than to stir the pot and advance said ideology.

I believe as a matter of necessity some form will be the way of it providing a “road” to citizenship.

But another reality of this dynamic is the economic one related to jobs, suppressed wages, and the undeniable truth that immigration floods the job market, creates competition for available positions, and keeps wages low as it becomes entirely an employer’s market.

The history of exploiting immigrants and “illegals” is well established, from the Irish to the Mexicans, the Chinese and Japanese, or any other ethnicity you can name, that hasn’t and isn’t going to change when a nations own working class is routinely exploited.

There are something like fifty million people on food stamps in this country, that is the direct result of an instilled poverty brought about by low wages, more applicants than positions, and the exportation of jobs to foreign workers supported by sweetheart legislation singularly designed to increase the profit margin of corporate gluttony.

If the immigration issue is to be addressed in meaningful fashion this exportation of jobs must also be part and parcel of the discussion – if not wages will remain stagnant and more families will fall through the cracks.

Regardless of a persons views on immigration it is what it is and will continue in some fashion, the approach can be either foolhardy, draconian, or reasoned.

I’m inclined to think that from a purely economic viewpoint a moratorium might not be a bad idea, a moratorium on future immigration that would allow the economy to stabilize and the inequity of wages earned to be rectified – in essence to address the very real needs of this countries own, to prioritize them over voting considerations and corporate profits.

America has enough poor as it is, it is both unjust and in fact cruel to expand that demographic under any pretense.

As nations the indigenous people of this country, this entire hemisphere, have been reduced to the immigrant status of exploitation and poverty, that doesn’t lend itself to a conviction that the approach taken to deal with immigration will be honorable one – what it should do though is to compel people to educate themselves, to become familiar with the nuances and ramifications, all of them, and set aside the flag waving frothing at the mouth and the myopia of devout partisanship to arrive at an informed and reasoned decision rather than allowing the media or politicians with agendas to steer them along.

And a final word – those flag waving , gun totin’, “patriots” would do well to remember they are the descendents of immigrants themselves, many of which were exploited and lived in poverty.

OBEDIENCE AND OCCUPY WALL STREET

Often times I am amazed at the alliances people make or the causes
they will or won’t support.

What escapes many of our own I think is as goes this country so go the nations-only with an increased impact. We rightfully rail about injustice and socio-economic status, and I think the last three odd years should have served as an impetus to launch an all out effort
to become self sustaining. The governmental teat is going to dry up regardless of who holds office.

Budget cuts, the loss of funding and programs will impact us along with other minorities, of which I consider those living at or below the poverty level will be included regardless of ethnicity.

So I favor this Wall Street occupation and am encouraged to see it grow along with others on a global level. October 15th has been designated as a day of global peaceful protest related to this economic chaos and what amounts to indentured servitude by the common people.

Now that it increases and the support of Unions and various “notables” has been pledged politicians find their voice-Liberals to attempt to claim some measure of solidarity and ownership, Conservatives to denounce and label it as terrorist activities.

Liberals Like Clinton who has the audacity to say the “American Dream” is under assault by the rich and the empowered Corporations- this from a man who boasted of the efficacy of the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act during his administration that effectively deregulated the Banking Industry-this from the man who spoke in glowing terms of
Nafta and gleefully signed it into law upon passage.

Nafta, which is responsible for the loss and exportation of hundreds of thousands, if
not millions of jobs overseas and as collateral damage served to lower or stagnate wages.

On the other side we have former President Bush jr who plunged this nation into an orgy of military adventurism and deficit spending to finance it and never met a Corporate head, Wall Street CEO, or Banker he didn’t love.

And now his acolytes like Perry, Bachmann, Romney, and the dim witted Tea Partiers who clutch at their breasts and reduce all things to their so called Christian and spiritual values while the party they represent seeks to rape every man, woman, and child in this country save for the aforementioned rich and powerful.

America needs a wake up call? For sure, as does the world-but we as indigenous people need one as well.

In that vein I offer for consideration the following quote sent to me this day attributed to  Howard Zinn- a well know activist, author, and  historian:

“Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience.
Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates
of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience.
Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face
of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty.
Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of
petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country.
That’s our problem.”
— Howard Zinn

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn