First, I would like to thank anyone of you who haven't read anything of mine before and allow me to give you a brief introduction. I am a college educated male who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. That shouldn't bring me a lot of praise or cause anyone to anticipate my having largely liberal ideas. Arizona has a reputation of being a conservative state. The fact that most of the people who call themselves liberals here only do lip service to the ideals of what some are calling the Liberal thinking now. I am really anxious to debunk some of the reputation and let you know that there are some of us here who have always hated being classified with people who lie and cheat and do anything they can to win office in order to supposedly make the ends justify the means. I don't know how I could explain what I have grown up with and been through any better than just to tell you, I hated it. When I was young, I decided my mother was a radical crazy person. I didn't know how she kept coming up with these ideas that made me turn and look at her and want to scream, "What did you say? Oh, come on! You can't believe that? Who told you that hogwash?" And she would invariably do the same thing, her eyes would avert first left, then right, then up. I could see from her expression that she couldn't remember exactly who and I knew what the answer would be every time: "They say...", I used to say that if I ever caught who "they" are, I was going to beat them to death. Tonight I am having to recant that. I would have to beat certain members of the Republican Party to death. Now, we all know, if we remember anything about World War II, that there was a man named Joseph Goebels, who said, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will believe you." He was Adolph Hitler's propaganda minister. I have learned the names of the ones who lead the charge for what Ross Perot called 'the republican dirty tricks people'. I won't capitalize most of that because I am afraid people would think I respect them. Let me tell you, since my mother died, I have gotten a double dose of Good Old Fashioned Joseph Goebels type literature. No wonder my mother was so crazy. She was brainwashed litterally. That is the word that describes having your mind manipulated so frequently that eventually you have to break down. Her father was a Republican but I am sure if he were alive today he would be ashamed of them. Sadly, he died when I was about six years old.
When my grandmother died he lost his will to live. But, let me tell you the kind of guy he was. He found out one of my aunts, his daughter, had eloped with some guy who didn't respect her. This guy drove them to a small town where she got sick. He thought she might have some serious problem, and he was so concerned about it, he drove off and left her there. She called my grandfather, apologised and asked him to come get her. He drove the family car there, then he found the hospital and found out what her bill was, and then he set about finding money through working around the clock washing dishes, the kind of work one could find anywhere at that time, until he made enough to pay her bill. Then he collected her, paid her bill, drove to the nearest county courthouse to have the marriage anulled, and then told her never to mention it again. One of her daughters, my cousin, didn't even know about the incident until her mother was already passed away and my cousin and her siblings were amazed at a family reunion while they (my cousins) were in their fifties. Let's say, we all found out about it at once.
One thing he was was honest and hard working. He never took government assistance for anything. He grew his own vegetables and raised eleven children on his garden vegetables and some chicken when they could afford it. I can tell you for sure that he would have been really angry about Watergate. I know for a fact that he would have been cussing about the VietNam War and he would have especially been angry about the lies they have been spreading lately. But, since he died, my mom didn't realise that the principles of the Republican Party died with people like him. The old guard Republicans didn't like federal government regulations but they also didn't believe in unethical behavior. Republicans like my grandfather were like the moral compass and the heart and guts of the Republican Party and our country. I know he wouldn't have approved of the Keating Five Scandal and wouldn't have voted for anyone involved in something like that again. Deep down he was a Texan who most people considered archaic with old antique principles but he was as honest as the day is long. He wasn't there to tell my mother when the Republican Party went over to the dark side. He would have thrown a fit and never stopped talking about it when he found out an election was fixed. He would have been really angry when he found out that some of the Watergate conspirators disappeared when the indictments were being handed out and never faced prosecution. He probably would have driven to D.C. to stand outside the gate of the white house and cussed at them when he found out about the W.M.D.s. She didn't get any advice from him when she needed it to see what was happening as it was obvious to most of the rest of the country that corruption and dishonesty was infecting something he thought was the stronger, more decent, right way to go in politics.Instead, she has been receiving mail at least three times a week that is of a nature like this fake survey they used to try to send a message while they were pretending to ask questions.Tonight I went to pick up the mail and there was a letter which had the return address of: "2009 OBAMA AGENDA SURVEY, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE, 310 FIRST STREET, SE, WASHINGTON, DC 20003. It also included CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT (and then in a rectangular box) Arizona - 03" and it was addressed to "Citizen Household" and then my mother's address. This letter came in a yellow envelope with some printed on bars and then with a large arrow after the words "QUESTIONAIRE ENCLOSED FOR" and the arrow was pointing at her address. Then in very official looking bold text it said, "[b]DO NOT DESTROY[/b]". When I opened the letter, the letter head was from Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, Chairman. The date said, Monday Morning, so they even figured on the day of the week and the type of mood someone is in on Monday, for instance, still run ragged from the weekend.The first paragraph started out with the greeting, "Dear Friend", to which I immediately thought, this is either John Mccain OR it reminds me of the Soviet Union when the cold war was on. They started every official document to the public or otherwise with the greeting, "Dear Comrade", and to me it doesn't mean much different. If I don't even know you, where do you come off calling me your friend? This sent up red flags for me since I remember Henry David Thoreau's quote, "When you see a man coming towards you with the obvious attention of doing you good, ...run for your life!" You know 'the good old buddy routine', you hear it every time you come out of the convenience store. "Hi friend, Say, buddy, (either Sir or Maam can be substituted here) can you spare some money (and if he was honest, "...so I can wash down the rest of the food I have already barfed on my t-shirt? I really need a drink bad! You can tell from looking at me I haven't been sober in weeks, at least. I can't stand people like you, but I will say anything if it means I might get a handout." But, in actuallity...) I really need to get downtown bad, I need some bus money and I haven't eaten for three days." It is like the lousiest con job you have ever seen but when a guy sobers up, puts on a suit, gets in front of a news camera and makes this same plea, we have a inbred tendency to at least, "want to" believe him. The first two whole pages were like Richard Steele trying to whine and beg anyone who might still believe him to "not turn your back on your conservative party" or "conservative principles". It was sad like he was begging after being told he already lost something. That is the part that I didn't understand until I read the "survey". This is what it said:1. Do you agee with Barack Obama's budget plan that will lead to a $23.1 trillion dollar deficit over the next ten years? (This was some of what Obama's speech to congress was about, you could see John McCain laughing and waving on each point, as if to take credit for it and say, "See what happens when you didn't let me be president?") You notice they didn't come right out and SAY this lie, they asked if you agreed with it, as if it was already a fact. That is called a logical fallicy.2. Do you belive the federal government has gone too far in bailing out failing banks, insurance companies, and the auto industry? (We only helped the auto manufacturers who wanted to revise their whole method of operation. AND... The bailout of the banks and A.I.G. happened on George Bush's watch with McCain taking time out of his debates with Obama to come help push it across in congress.
3. Do you support amnesty for illegal immigrants? (Another insinuation, neither does president Obama and when he said he didn't want illegals to benefit from the health care plan, Joe Wilson called him a liar. Wilson apologised for his behavior but never recanted that Obama was lying. This is why he made that public outburst, it made this propaganda sound realistic.)
4. Should English be the official language of the United States? (Where did this come from? What an insane accusation and they entitled it, "The Obama Agenda", like the liars they are.)
5. Are you in favor of granting retroactive Social Security eligibility to illegal immigrants who gain U.S. Citizenship? (No, and no one else does either so why did you ask this if you weren't trying to say it was part of his agenda.)
6. Are you in favor of the expanded welfare benefits unlimited eligibility (no time, education or work requirements) that Democrats in Congress are pushing to pass? (Another one that has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE HEALTH CARE BILL. This entire thing is a smoke screen to stall and make us keep paying more for health care which lines their rich "fat cat carpet bagger" pockets.)
7. Do you believe that Barack Obama's nominees for federal courts should be immediately and unquestionably approved for their lifetime appointments by the U.S. Senate? (That is the present system that your party has installed. Why ask now, you put it into law? Why are you implying Obama has something to do with the nomination procedures? He is simply doing his job, nominating someone he feels secure with. What is the big deal? Who insinuated you couldn't speak your mind, you have been doing just that ever since her nomination. The constitutional wording is that supreme court justices, "...are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" (majority vote) of the Senate. Once appointed, Justices effectively have life tenure, serving "during good Behaviour", which terminates only upon death, resignation, retirement, or conviction on impeachment." If you don't like her, then don't vote for her.)
8. Do you believe that the best way to increase the quality and efffectiveness of public education in the U.S. is to rapidly expand federal funding while elimiating performance standards and acountability? (No, why? Who said that was in anyone's agenda? Must be the same person who decided we were going to have "death squads" to eliminate funding for older citizens and pull the plug on grandma. That is more Republican propaganda. This was addressed by EVERYONE from the president to members of congress. That was another false accusation.)
9. Do you support the creation of a national health insurance plan that would be administered by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.? (Are you complaining about having to hold the insurance companies responsible for government imposed ethical standards again? We have laws now concerning health care that allow the insurance companies to charge us whatever they want. I would prefer bureacrats in Washington, D.C., LIKE YOU FOR INSTANCE, MR. STEELE, TO BE RESPONSIBLE TO ME, instead of you trying to sluff the responsibility off on me to fight with greedy insurance companies, YEAH! Why? Isn't that your job? Or, are you afraid you will have to do something in Washington, D.C. besides wear a suit and make up smear campaign surveys like this one? The day you come up with a proposal that helps the working class, I will apologise for what I just said.)
10. Do you believe that the quality and availability of healthcare will increase if the federal government dictates pricing to doctors and hospitals? (I am so glad you asked ME that question, Mr. Steele, as I am a medical claims biller and processor. You screwed up when you asked me that question. The fact is, and I find it hard to believe that you don't know this, that we already do have guidelines set up and used on a national level. Although most of the nation's uses what is referred to as the California Relative Value Study, most states use one that they have developed, as well. How that works is that if it is too high for one, the other might be more reasonable. The comparisons can be extremely different in some cases, which would mean that is there was ONE EXCELLENTLY NATIONWIDE relative value study for all insurance companies, we would alleviate overbilling and the surprise that can occur if you go out of state. For instance if you are in a state that has a depressed economy or seasonal economy, you can travel on vacation, for instance, and have an accident or have you or one of your children get sick in another state and be charged San Francisco, California prices for your family which lives on an Arkansas budget. A national relative value study would be one that would be fare across the board in every state. Some would come up slightly and others would have to come down drastically.)
11. Are you confident that new medicines and medical treatments will continue to be developed if the federal government controls prescription drug prices and sets profit margins for research and pharmaceutical companies? (You answered your own question. We are now living in the age of what we imagined in the sixties to be better living through chemistry, but do we have cures? Medical science hasn't cured anything since polio. We actually have more diseases than we did forty years ago because we haven't found cures. Are you insinuating that the present system is finding cures? When did you hear of a hospital calling the national news to announce their discovery of a cure for cancer? We have some treatments out there that are not what the doctor can make the most money from. I am talking about physicians and hospitals that know somethings that can cure some types of cancer but they wouldn't provide the huge income to the pharmacy or chemical companies. We don't have a cure for the common cold, but think about how much medicine we wouldn't need if we did. One would get a cold, get the cure, and never have to deal with it again. The Obama plan includes preventitive health care, which the health care providers don't like, because we would be needing them only about 1/3 of the time we do now. If we kept in shape, didn't do things that were dangerous, unhealthy, and fattening, we would all have to go the doctor about one fifth of the time for preventitive checkups and about ten percent of the time we spend now for non-well visits.)
12. Are you in favor of creating a government-funded "Citizen Volunteer Corps" that would pay young people to do work now done by churches and charities, earning Corps Members he same pay and benefits given to military veterans? (This one is easy. Who do you expect to see out doing the same work from the churches and charities? Old people with walkers and canes? No, the church and charity volunteers now are mostly young people and some are ex military. What does this have to do with health care? Most of this supposed survey is about myths and propaganda and most of them are about the REPUBLICAN AGENDA and issues that have absolutely nothing to do with the Obama health care reform plan.)
13. Are you in favor of reinstituting the military draft, as Democrats in congress have proposed? (Once again this has NOTHING to do with health care reform and I bet it is also a lie, everything else here was. Tell me what part of any legislation that wants to reinstate the draft? Wasn't that in 2003 that two Democrats tried to enact a bill to reinstate the military draft? AND, once again, what on earth has that to do with Obama's health care reform?)
14. Do you believe that the federal government should allow the unionization of Department of Homeland Security employees who serve in positions critical to the safety and security of our nation? (What planet are you on? Once again, this shows how well organised your complaint against Obama's health plan is. You want it for yourselves, but not for us. What does that say? You are asking about Homeland Security since you really don't have anything to say about Obama health reform, so why don't you find someone else to go bother with your stupid junk mail?)
15. Do you support Democrats drive to eliminate workers' right to a private ballot when considering unionization of their place of employment? (Who said that? When was is the Democrats that were against unions and the middle class? Let's see, for the record, Democrats like Ted Kenedy did more for working class Americans that ANY ten Republicans that I can find record of. What is this? We are supposed to be talking about the Obama Agenda for health plan. Or at least Obama's Agenda as you expressed it. Now, you keep talking about dead legislation and each time from a couple Democrats from several years ago that never passed and hasn't been reintroduced again since you didn't really have 15 legitimate complaints or even ONE legitimate survey question on any of these. And, more to the point, NONE OF IT had anything to do with Obama's Agenda.)One parting note, at the end of this piece of **** propaganda, was the final piece of Republican Agenda, that at the core of the whole phoney survey was the most important part. Now they are begging for money again. I may have read your junk mail, but if you think I am going to do anything more than humiate you with it, then you must have lost your mind. Why would anyone send you money when you obviously couldn't come right out and ask for it. You had to mask the "begging for dollars" campaign that you do weekly while levering cash out of naiive old people like my mother. You are sad. Your campaign request says that you need to rebuild and refocus your party. When did you ever focus on a plan instead of attacking the Democrats? Your party held the majority vote last and used it to help themselves not other Republicans. When will you learn?So, Mr. Steele, I want to thank you for two things, the first thing I wish to thank you for is the way you naiively keep lying about our president in public. You actually think you are hurting him by lying, you might remember how well that worked for your party during the election, and lastly, for informing me right on the outside of the envelope to not destroy this important farce of a survey, since I almost threw it directly in the recycle bin. Now I get to ridicule you all over the internet for your part in this and later I will put your fake survey which was actually a campaign finance request that you were too embarrassed to ask for money for, since the election is long over and you aren't running for anything now. But I promise later tonight to put it to good use, I might need some toilet paper.
When President Obama addressed congress last concerning the amount of (what was to me) obvious attempts to cause him problems, you could see John McCain laughing and waving at him as if to say, "See, there you go, you wanted the job, now you deal with this! HaHa! His childish waving and laughing was what we can expect from the Bush/Rove type liars and what I realise is present in Arizona. Every Arizonan I speak to, (and I live here, grew up in the same school district with Cindy Hensley, John McCain's present wife, when she was in grammar school and high school) has a story to tell about one of either Senator Kyle or Representitive Shaddeg. The story is always how these men helped someone with their personal life by using their influence and authority in the way it was intended, to help the state's citizens when some government Bureaucracy was trying to do something wrong to that person. Sometimes it has to do with people who aren't doing their job properly, sometimes it is some new person trying to read the rules that congress wrote incorrectly. I.E. one state law in Arizona was written to say, "...if the prospective clients expenses excede their income, then, they are inelligible for help." It was a typo, obviously. If someone's expenses did NOT excede their income, why would they need help? It also tells them to throw away a person's documents when they are given to them for recording after making copies. Tell me why you would throw away someone's birth certificate, car registration, etc. It was meant to say, when a person gets a letter from an authority or landlord to verify that they have a residence, then, don't let them use the same letter twice. Some new people in the state DES office have thrown away legal documents belonging to the client since they are not smart enough not to ask if it doesn't make sense.
I am not going to go into my extent of knowledge of the laws concerning family assistance but they are legislated and written poorly and then given the discretion of the control freaks in offices here who may or may not be a person who thinks their job is to deny everyone they possibly can for help. Some of those people think if you happened to have a car nicer than theirs, it is up to you to eat your car if you lose your job, since their own car buying choice is greatly lacking. Some laws are left up to interpretation. In some D.E.S. offices there is blatant racial discrimination. There are minorities running the offices who believe that all white people are somehow able to find some rich uncle who will give them millions if they lose their job so they don't need help. If a white person goes into some of those offices they aren't asked what they want, they are told to take a number and sit down. After waiting half a day to get their number called, they go to the window and find out they could have just asked for an application and been given it, but the rude people at the desk like treating them like second class citizens. That is Arizona. We have the worst job statistics since anyone who is selling education here lists it as a job, then they say, "Oh, well, if you want that job, let me sign you up for our school and maybe you can then find a job like that on your own." They say we have jobs when we don't because some jobs won't hire but one kind of people. I tried to do farm labor. The MYTH that only Mexican Illegal Aliens want those jobs is a complete lie. The farm bosses who hire won't hire you if you aren't an illegal alien since they can get away with cheating those people over and over by stealing their pay. You or I would go to the police, the small claims court, or the state labor department, but, illegals can't do that. That is why they are the only ones they will hire. Just let's say, this is part of what they call the new global economy. It entails the new form of American Slave Labor.
Health care needs to be taken care of but John McCain and his leg dragger crew are fast at work making themselves into the anchor connected to whatever legislation the president needs t send up the channel for things running smoothely. They think it is funny that they stall legislation to act like a three year old. We should be standing on his front lawn next time he does that and asking him who he thinks he is. The tea party people are a fabrication developed by some people who say that they "report news" but are owned by the same propagandists who also owns and operates Al Jazeera English which is the other Fair and Balanced fake news show which supports Islam. If you don't think Fox News and Al Jazeera are the same thing, then look at their articles and see if they don't all go the same way. Al Jazeera uses the terms "fair and balanced" and "the axis of evil". Does that sound familiar?
The same liars who fed you all that previous baloney are in charge of both stations. If you don't find that scary then, you aren't paying attention. Some day the people who hurt the non-wealthy of our planet will be recognised but probably not in this decade, since there are so many American Liars who are bound and determined to ruin the United States for selfish political reasons, just so they can say they "won". When we are completely bankrupt, having to make concessions to Red China, the communists who we already owe money to, then, they can say, "See, we made Obama fail." Just like the same people who advised George Bush to ruin our economy, are the same ones in charge of the teaparty revolt, it would seem that most people would wise up, but so much for common sense.
Right now there is a movement afoot in our country started by some supposedly above board Ivy League types who are staunch Republicans in sheeps clothing. They run a few websites. One of them has to do with petitions. On that website they don't tell you exactly who they are but spout a lot of rhetoric about freedom and causing goverment to be more accountable for laws being passed without the legislators reading them. The website doesn't explain their hidden agenda. They want your email address to use as proof that they have support for their petitions. If you give it to them it is counted as support for their causes, without being specific about the majority of their causes. They say they are for individual freedom. and that what they want to do is downsize government, supposedly. Obviously, they realize "deregulation" screaming from people like G.W. Bush and John McCain has stymied their ability to brainwash the average American. They can't get any more people who are strangers to listen to deregulation propaganda by saying "We are for deregulation and downsizing government (so the rich and powerful can rob you)". They are actually sending out emails asking people to support a "freedom movement" then after they have secured your email address they send you an email stating their REAL purpose. They are right wing, supply side economics, deregulation of business ethics laws, and support the Republican Party propagandists. They are supporting failed policies at a higher level while calling themselves a bunch of nice guys who wish to Downsize DC for the common good. Their main website and movement is DownsizeDC.org . If you mistakenly give them your email address they will use it on their petition as if you agree with their policies and right on their home page is a count of how many email addresses that they call "members" who have joined during "this month" of "this year". After first getting email addresses through deceptive advertising asking if you would like to "slow down" congress so that the house and senate will be forced to read the bills. They claim to be for freedom, but it seems like they want the special interests to be free to do whatever they want. When I see people asking to be free from any form of ethical standards and wanting to skip accounting for their own actions, I see a criminal. That is what most felons say when they are caught, "I didn't do it" or even more, "I didn't do anything the government or the people who work for them don't do on a much larger scale." Why else would you wish to skip checks and balances? So the money falls through the cracks into some rich criminal's pockets. This is what I see as being the true meaning of "Trickle Down".
Take Care,
Steve the carpenter
Something has changed On YouTube there are websites that are nothing short of complete propaganda. Who is responsible for this? It is like Karl Rove unchained. It comes down to being conspiracy theorists, although without the benefit of any evidence. I went on what someone entitled, if you can imagine, the Barack Obama deception site It makes my skin crawl. The author went on for a good ten minutes without seeming to take a moment to breathe. To add credibility he showed video news clips of George Bush with all the oil barons and middle eastern financiers all of whom have been part of the Bush Family partners for ages. Then he shows a clip of President Obama as if that tied them all together. Whoever this is, is the biggest conspiracy theorist I have ever listened to, Come to think of it, I guess it isn't any worse than the ones who tried to suggest that a Windows computer gliche in the timer on most PC's was going to cause water to stop flowing, crops to die, livestock to vanish, and all manner of electrical device that was someone connected to any kind of computer was going to cease existing and we would be left without electricity, traffic lights, gasoline, etc. Of course those of you who remember Y2K and the paranoia it caused among "non-thinking" people, can remember the embarrassment of those who actually went out and bought amunition, batteries, non-perishable food supplies, and the stores sold out of bottled water.
First words as he started were, "For over a century, the anglo saxon establishment had worked to bring the world to this point." Little hint here with a question. The anglo saxon establishment would be who exactly? The picture was of King Abdullah of Arabia, I don't think he is included in the Anglo Saxon establishment, do you? And he is an oil-rich saudi, NOT a banker. It was so stupid that its laughable. Most of the supposed World bankers were actually members of the press. Mike Wallace of 60 minutes fame was there. It was a press conferrence. Does this guy really think we can't see? He made a fillibuster speech at the end based on his "sunspot" theory that was debunked in the 1970's. It was bad enough the guy looked like John McCain's much older uncle, but then he couldn't look straight into the camera. Please tell me we don't have many more of these guys to contend with. I typed the sentence, "Sunspots cause weather changes." lI came back with the first article entitled, "Climate myths: Global warming is down to the Sun, not humans ". So, once again a whole article based on a stupid theory which was proved WRONG a long time ago.
Steve The Carpenter
My opinions about changes I think we need are pretty plain if you read my blog description. I am a college graduate and have enough experience with watching our past white house administrations to see all these things as problems.
I have been displaced from one career to another in the job market that keeps changing constantly. I have had to start over repeatedly. I, as a carpenter this time, have to compete with illegal aliens who do cheap substandard work too swiftly to act like they care about quality.
Barack Obama speaks of changes but I don't see how this is possible with the present apathy in our country. This is why:
People like my mother still listen to the pollyanna blitherings of those who don't wish to admit that we are having problems andshe lives in her own little world, not seeing anything that is really happening since she hasn't had to work or even look for a job for over 60 yrs. She won't even listen to any news report that intimates anything else. But, she votes. Never for change and always 4 her party. I never will understand.
If the guy driving the bus runs it into a lake, I am going to kick a window out and save myself - not 'stay the course' by sitting in my seat and waiting for him to drive us back out.
Please let me know your opinion. Thanks!
