Social Security, Medicare, and our social safety net programs are the price of capitalism's inequities.
Kismet: As soon as Harry Reid wimped out and gave up on filibuster reform, the Republicans threatened to filibuster in order to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 'Democrat' is becoming a synonym for “never learns.”
Pocket Change: Lost in all the gnashing of teeth in Washington, the US has already cut nearly $1.5 trillion from the budget deficit (and from the budget), much of it from the defense budget. And taxes, there's another $500 million. Plus projected interest savings. So, what about turning down the 'sky is falling' rhetoric a tad?
Family Ties: Nearly 15% of people in their 40s and 50s are supporting at least one parent and one child.
Sequel: The drought of 2012 was so popular all over the country that a 2013 edition seems likely, over half the US. Winter wheat is suffering and spring plantings will be harmed. Unsung, but very serious in the longer term, is the death of hundreds of thousands of trees in the Midwest due to the drought. Ask a Texan, they lost 300 million.
Early Warning System: The US military is now 'involved' in 35 African countries. It's not just the oil, Africa has lots of natural resources.
Your Tax Dollars At Play: The Republicans, in the mid-2000s, put unprecedented and unrealistic budgetary requirements on the Postal Service (in order to drive it out of business and privatize mail delivery). They required the USPS pay today for the retirement health benefits of people who haven't even been hired yet. Of the $16 billion 2012 shortfall, $11 billion was due to this ridiculous requirement. Don't worry, the politicians are going to 'fix' it – the way Fido got 'fixed'.
Long Story Short: No austerity program anywhere in the world, not even Latvia, has restored a national economy. Would someone tell the Republicans?
Recess!The law suits have begun, seeking to gut the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under cover of the Appellate ruling that Presidential recess appointments were unconstitutional. This tussle will go on for quite some time, as more and more lawyers find clients who can afford to see how far they can push it.
The Enemy: A sense of proportion.
Usual Suspects: Americans will be shocked to learn that there isn’t a Social Security crisis. Almost makes you wonder why the Republicans keep trying to privatize... Oh.
Circular Reasoning: Barclay's, needing rescue by outsiders, lent Qatar the money Qatar used to rescue Barclay's. Don't try this at home, these guys are professionals.
Food For Thought: The richest 400 Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million of us put together. Just the 6 Walmart heirs have more worth than the bottom 33 million American families combined. Why would we even talk about raising taxes on the poor?
Here's The Plan: Republican strategist Mike McKenna says that the Republicans, rather than taking on Obama head-on (where they have been losing of late) must “do a little more sniper action.”
Porn O'Graph: Steady as she goes.
The Parting Shot:
3 comments:
good news about climate change -
from zen master thich nhat hanh - mother earth will recover, albeit in her own time scale
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/zen-master-thich-nhat-hanh-love-climate-change
SEQUEL - I can vouch for the drought, the woods around my house are full of dead trees. A major Ice Storm event contributed to the death toll, trees damaged with major limb loss have not been able to recover. Probably in excess of 10% of the adult trees are dead.
I can't believe that anyone thought Harry Reid would really try to reform the senate. TBTB are never going to let the senate work, too much $$$ going around in the background.
Re "Kismet": The political theater we watch sorta' reminds me of the good cop/bad cop interrogation game. One is your friend trying to protect your interests from the nasty one, then they switch roles. Americans never seem to learn - we fall for this every election cycle.
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