Now the chant is "Oh My God, beware of the Deficit"! Don't stop lobbying, get it out in the open by taxing it and using it for the benefit of all and not the select few. Tax corporate expenses that become mony spent to gain special access and consideration by Congress. Corporations despite the rights they have been given are not people. The expenses are not reasonable and necessary costs of doing business. Put a registration fee on lobbying firms and lobbyists based on their revenues and income. Tax gifts, donations, and contributions made to members of Congress by lobbyists. Define the term lobbyist so as to include any bundler of campain contributions who seek preferance through the act of bundling.
Lobbyists are "spending" 1.5 million on health care to get their Health Care "wants" to Congress. Access to money gives them an unfair advantage over me - my "voice" is too small to be heard. In return for cutting me out of the government law creation process at least reduce the debt I have to cover.
During the Bush adminstration there was never the same loud drum beat about the debt playing incessantly in the background. When was the Bush Adminstration ever told no to spending? How can democrats be so inept to not be able to move legislation with 72% of the public behind them. When were Republicans ever called on the games they played with spending like what they did for the war?
The difference between the two parties is their sense of "ownership of the truth". Republicans act like they own the truth about government, economics, race, etc. while Democrats just don't act that way.
I give up!!! The American Populace deserves no better than to go back to giving tax cuts to those who don't need them, providing social security to those who got theirs before they got out while bankrupting medicare as baby boomers start drawing on it, and giving lifetime health care to elected officals who are pocketing the 1.5 million dollars in gifts from lobbyists.
As a friend commented on me today - You may have challenged me to draw but I know I will win - unlike you I have nothing left to lose.
Read this book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. It talks about politicians who are being told they have been "chosen by God to lead". The author was on the Rachel Maddow show. Rachel was talking about the recent politicians in the news who are members of the "C Street Band". They live at a Christian (as in the Family) boading house on "C Street. The book is about a group who espouse a belief that "Godly, powerful rich men should get anything they want and they get to choose what they want to provide to those less favored". To put their belief about the way power should be wielded another way "more power to the powerful who have been chosen by God to be leaders with trickle down to others".
BOOK REVIEW: Checking in on a friend's brother at Ivenwald, a Washington-based fundamentalist group living communally in Arlington, Va., religion and journalism scholar Sharlet finds a sect whose members refer to Manhattan's Ground Zero as "the ruins of secularism"; intrigued, Sharlet accepts on a whim an invitation to stay at Ivenwald. He's shocked to find himself in the stronghold of a widespread "invisible" network, organized into cells much like Ivenwald, and populated by elite, politically ambitious fundamentalists; Sharlet is present when a leader tells a dozen men living there, "You guys are here to learn how to rule the world." As it turns out, the Family was established in 1935 to oppose FDR's New Deal and the spread of trade unions; since then, it has organized well-attended weekly prayer meetings for members of Congress and annual National Prayer Breakfasts attended by every president since Eisenhower. Further, the Family's international reach ("almost impossible to overstate") has "forged relationships between the U.S. government and some of the most oppressive regimes in the world." In the years since his first encounter, Sharlet has done extensive research, and his thorough account of the Family's life and times is a chilling expose.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Phrases like "group complexion" and "organizational fit" have become accepted. Yet they are ways that have been found to allow small minded people to maintain the comfort of their own cultural identity within a very small protective bubble. Without diversity groups and organizations cheat themselves because they do not expereince the whole range of human conditions & expereinces and the unique gifts bestowed by those events.
I am sick and tired of begging when accessing MY employment benefits and I am tired of big companies who pay top management so much that they can not afford to staff their consumer contact positions adequately. It's time to throw them all out of this country, they do not bring value to our daily activities they only feed on my wallet like the parasites they are. No economy has to be better than jumping through their hoops on a daily basis. Fix health care and break the control of the employer over the life of the employee.
Mine is Health Care! It's been awhile since I've interacted on this site and blog, and have hosted a community event. But with my discontentment with our health care system and how our government allows the pharmacutical and insurance companies to dictate how our doctors practice medicine, along with the medical system itself being one of the most closed minded and irresponsible business practices that ever exsisted, I had to jump on the opportunity when asked by the President to host a Community Health Care Reforum Meeting to get the nation on the same page and focused on changing things.
On Saturday, June 6, 2009 12:00 - 2:00pm in the city of Dania Beach I invite you to join me and a group of concerned citizens and residents who want to be informed of Obama's new health care reforum plans as well as, and equally as important, have an opportunity to be a part of the type of change that takes place!
I don't know yet the details of the agenda, but that is forth coming in the next week. As the information is received, it will be communicated to all who sign up. Visit the local events link for Dania Beach, to get the details and directions. This meeting is for anyone who wants to attend as Health Care reforum is a County & State issue and it's going to take the support of ALL the residents and communities in Florida. This is the FIRST kick-off gathering for communites ll over the country to get America focused, educated and ready to step up to make it happen! It's time to get to work! It's time to make it happen!
There are not that many people which we happen to call terrorists that have any concrete information that we want or need. Missions are carried out by what we call “terrorists, CIA agents, or our military.” Know that each person carrying out the mission in any of the groups I reference here are not privy to the information of each other. This my friends is where the torture issue breaks down and does not work. Why? We don’t know if Johns’s information is related to Sam’s or if he knows anything at all. These unknown factors make torture an act of trial and error. How on earth are we going to torture people on a trial and error basis? How can we move forward believing that this is an act of self-preservation of a nation? How can we involve ourselves in such grievous and heinous crimes against humans whether they are guilty or not, just because we are out to find the truth? How can we search for the truth employing our own men? Do you think our men will be the same after they torture someone? Do you know that these men that perform the torture are just as victims as the ones they are torturing? Why do we do this to our own?
How, please tell me how, can conservatives that are out there in search of preservation of life, as in the unborn child, risk the adult child’s mind by forcing them to torture others? How, can the conservatives who claim to have such fundamental truths to withhold do such atrocities to other human beings? How, can conservatives claim that life is to be honored and cherished and yet have such double standards for US citizens vs. the rest of the world? Why? I am appalled today and disgusted with this. I am furious that we are even discussing this. How can self-righteousness make us cruel? How? Two wrongs do not make a right! And worse of all when we don’t even know if we are taking our 6th degrees of separation terrorist cousin that grew up in the other side of the word and degrading his human nature to the point of total surrender! Yes, why don’t you conservatives ask McCain? Ask him why he does not agree with torture. Ask McCain why this practice has to be abolished. Ask McCain how he broke down. For what? If Sam is captured, do not fool yourselves, someone else will carry out his mission. There is always a plan B!
Cheney can talk, Rumsfeld can talk, and everyone out there Republican, Democrats, Independents can talk…. But the truth of the matter is that we hurt our own! Why? Why?
Has humanity gone bonkers? Today I am angry at this issue. Angry that we even have to discuss it!
Conservatives, do on to others… does not mean just us, it means humans… wake up people…. Wake up!
On November 28, 1897, Spain granted autonomy to Puerto Rico after the Independence Party’s coup of September 23, 1868, El Grito de Lares. General elections were held in March/July of 1898 and Puerto Rico's autonomous government began to function, but not for long.
BUCHANAN: “… We liberated Puerto Rico. We offered Puerto Rico the freedom to go independent, to go commonwealth, to go statehood.”
The Spanish American War broke out and on July 25, 1898 when Puerto Rico was invaded by the U.S. The Spanish forces retreated and on October 18, 1898 Puerto Rico's autonomous government was officially changed to an American military government. The Treaty of Paris was signed and it stated that Spain was to cede Puerto Rico, Guam and Philippines to the U.S. Under this treaty Cuba would become a protectorate of the U.S. The Foraker Act of 1900, changed Puerto Rico’s military government to a civil government.
The President of the U.S. appointed the governor, cabinet and delegates. Puerto Ricans were distressed after having been granted autonomy by Spain, it had now taken a step back to colonialism. On March 2, 1917 President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones Law. Granting Puerto Ricans American citizenship.
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Hardball, April 20, 2009 (guests Pat Buchanan and Lawrence O’Donnell)http://bit.ly/SyCk6
MATTHEWS: OK, let me ask you about—let‘s get to the facts here before we move on, a little history here. We have two veterans here of history…. What is the legitimate complaint by Latin America against the United States, Lawrence, because Pat says you‘ve got one. What is it? In terms of Latin America, where have we been bad? Where have we been bad. Let‘s hear the worst….
The double standards of the United States politics is what bothers and enfuriates Latin Americans as well as the rest of the world. The U.S. wants to have policies for their own protection and will not grant the same courtesy to other countries. Nuclear weapons, torture, invasion of other countries… etc.
The great historian, Pat Buchanan, was totally misinformed as to what he called the “liberation” of Puerto Rico from the Spanish, when the Spain had already given them the autonomy!
BUCHANAN: Sergeant Batista came to power, I believe, in 1932 under— ‘34, under the Good Neighbor” policy of FDR. He was in power to 1959. Is that our fault, or is it Cuba‘s fault that they can‘t get rid of dictators? Good heavens, there‘s been dictators all over that place. Juan Peron—that‘s all our fault? Blame America first because we did it all!
You indicate that Obama should not be fraternizing with dictators as Chavez but let me help you Pat with a bit of the history this since you seem to be a bit cloudy in this matter. The U.S. was fraternizing with dictators when they gave the green light and back-up to Battista to do as he pleased.
On April of 1933 U.S. Ambassador Benjamin Sumner Welles was sent to Cuba to mediate differences between the government and opposing political groups and he said to Battista, "I will lay down no specific terms; the matter of your government is a Cuban matter and it is for you to decide what you will do about it." To Batista, this was an invitation to rule. So on September 4, 1933 an uprising known as the "Revolt of the Sergeants," Batista took over the Cuban government and he emerged as self-appointed chief of the armed forces and a favored U.S. strong man.
From 34 to 40 Batista ran the country with puppet presidents and was a friend of the U.S. and the mafia until 1940 when defeated Grau San Martín in the first presidential election under a new Cuban constitution and U.S. trade relations increased. But in 1944 Grau San Martin was elected president Batista was forced to relinquish control.
On March 10 1952, 23 months before the upcoming elections (because he was sure to lose) Batista took over the government against elected Cuban president Carlos Prío Socorras. FYI: Also running in that election (for a different office) was a young, energetic lawyer named Fidel Castro. On March 27 Batista's government was formally recognized by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Note Pat Buchanan: Batista was acting as a dictator at this point because he did not get elected with total and full support from the U.S.
Batista opened the way for large-scale gambling in Havana, and he reorganized the Cuban state so that he and his political appointees could harvest the nation's riches. He announced that his government would match, dollar for dollar, any hotel investment over $1 million, which would include a casino license, and Lansky became the center of the entire Cuban gambling operation. Under Batista, Cuba became profitable for American business and organized crime making Havana the "Latin Las Vegas," a playground of choice for wealthy gamblers, and very little was said about democracy, or the rights of the average Cuban.
Let me be as clear as I can: for everyone person with healthcare, there is one person without it. Are you ready for your turn on that wheel, or are you ready to get down to business and demand equal access and quality healthcare for all Americans? Hmmm. . .
Every time we torture someone we open the door for someone to torture our kids. It is the universal law of karma. Besides this holistic interpretation of same, you can also say, "what you put out you will get back multipled (good or bad)!"
We cannot lose ourselves as citizens of USA and this world attempting to equate our actions with the people we named as "terrorists!"
We need to learn from them, we need to familiarize ourselves with their beliefs, as we would do with any child in our home that was experiencing difficulties relating to the rest of the family... with careful attention and an open mind. Tit for tat is not going to cut it... not at this moment in history. Our president is not perfect but he is attempting to rise above policies which come from a fear based center.
Never, never, never, never, let them see you sweat! Fear based attacks on people we do not understand, is just that, attacks without fundamental basic respect, seeking our commonalities rather than our differences, just as we do with our inner circle of friends and others around us.
Well, well, well, here is our brilliant president taking the floor guiding this country through the perils of our economy.
How unbelievably clear and precise is this president? How can someone who is out of work and sitting at home not feel the urge to get up and change his/her course, his direction, lift his/her spirits to find solutions in a battered economy and improve their personal circumstances after listening to our President? How proud I am of this man! His calm, precise, determination to make things happen, his thorough and complete understanding of how we got into this mess and how we are going to slowly creep out.
He clarifies complaints by many that the money is not trickling down to the common folks. He said that $1 of bank capital can be $10 of loans to family and businesses which would enable a “faster pace of economic growth.”
He explained why AIG had to be rescued and that we had to “provide support for AIG because the entire system as fragile as it is” would go down if AIG would go bankrupt. He said that we are starting to see some move in the right direction… small businesses jump in loan activity... encouraging but hard times are not over. 2009 will be difficult for the economy... they will be more foreclosures and loss of jobs and credit will not be flowing, and market will fluctuate. “You can continue to expect unrelenting effort from administration to fight on all fronts.” He continued to say that he is of the “firm believe that the next task beginning now is to make sure such a crisis never happens again.” The state of affairs of this country tis of thee has been carefully clarified. The solutions to the current conditions enumerated and explained and why this administration is taking such actions to effect change. “After we get the credit flowing, we cannot go back to a bubble and bust economy” that led us to this point with all the rules and regulations out the window. Having this said, our President and his administration propose the following set of NEW RULES:
1. NEW RULES FOR WALL STREET;2. NEW INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION MAKE WORK FORCE MORE SKILLED AND COMPETITIVE;3. NEW INVESTMENTS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY AND NEW JOBS AND NEW INDUSTRY;4. NEW HEALTH CARE; and5. NEW SAVING IN FEDERAL BUDGET THAT WILL BRING DOWN DEBT.YEAH! You go Barack! Your steadfast determination is admirable.
First I admit I'm a smoker. I made that choice many years ago to smoke. I made that choice like many people make unhealthy choices such as drinking or eating fatty foods, etc. There are lots of unhealthy things and in fact the world is just an unhealthy place in general. I don't personally care what people do since I am pro-choice when it comes to an individual deciding what they can live with, what they choose to live with. I don't and wouldn't walk up to a person eating McDonalds fatty food and telling them, "That's going to kill you." but I have had people feel that it is their right to walk up and tell me that about cigarettes (as if I didn't know that information and it isn't telecasted and plastered on the side of my cigarette pack). Maybe we should just put a warning lable on everything because everything is a hazard? Or maybe people should tend to their own nasty affairs and not give free advice as if it was their privilaged place and job. If everyone told everybody what they thought, what they should and shouldn't do there would be a world of offended people. Somehow society has planted the notion that it's okay to offend people who chose to smoke.
Now aside from that I am just going to throw this out as well. I do want and hope for universal health care BUT I have a bone to pick concerning the cigarette tax going to pay for other people's offsprings health care. What about people who NEVER have children, who make a conscious choice to not have them? Why should those people pay for someone elses choice or lack of choice in having children that they can't afford health care for? What about older adults who have grown adult children? Should they have to pay for someone elses childs health care? What bother's me is the inequity in the cigarette tax paying for someone elses child. What do smoker's get out of it. Forget social conscious since people are rude to smokers and lack the conscious to mind their business. Forget that everyone actually cares for every child because they don't.
There are plenty of unwanted children that people have spawned for multitudes of reasons. Plenty of churches support pro-life but NEVER support the unwed mothers financially over the years as they struggle financially to take care of the child. Society has no rules concerning how many babies people can randomly spawn and have the system pay out for them and believe me I have seen plenty of women in my area who know full well that by having that extra child they can raise their income through programs. You wanna talk about irresponsible behavior vs cigarette smoking. How is it that it's okay for people who cannot afford children to demand that society take care of their children rather than use BIRTH CONTROL. Every health department will hand out bag fulls of free condoms to those who can't afford them. I am offended that people can make the unhealthy choice of spawning babies like rabbits, who take no responsibility as to how they intend to pay for those children and it falls upon society to figure it out. I suggest that there should be a limit on how many children people can have based upon income and if they are currently recieving any type of government assistance for the current children they have they should be told that if they have more than those children that they will not recieve assistance for any further pregnancies.
I've heard the idea that raising cigarette tax may make people quit smoking. Well maybe if people knew that they weren't going to get further assistance for having extra babies they'd quit having them. I'm not so socially concerned that I am just dying to take care of other people's choice to have children that they cannot afford medical care for. Frankly I am offended when I made the personal choice to have ONE and only one child because I knew I couldn't afford more than that one but there were no rewards for that choice. Have you ever noticed that the right choices never reap reward? No one is paying for my bad habit, and I'm not asking for help to pay for it. I chose to smoke, I pay for those cigarettes and I know that I can die. In truth, there are moments that I am content to chose my poison I'm fine dying since I am going to die anyway. Even the job I have being a convenience store clerk puts me in danger of death from robbers who could shoot me down in a heartbeat. If I get in a car I could die. Realistically I'm headed that way and I personally don't care about the last ten years of my life since they will likely be a burden on society and my family since those years lack quality and generally demand a lot of health care.
Here's my question - What do I get out of paying that tax? As a person who no longer has any small children and won't have any small children, what is my gain? Don't give me the social goody two shoes talk because I frankly don't care about other people's children that they chose to have and chose to support. Oh and the notion that it will make people quit smoking is kind of inane because think about this, if they all quit smoking then where will the money come from to pay for all those children's health care. People should be thanking smokers for doing their part as American citizens and smoking their lungs out for all the little kiddies who don't have health care. We smokers should be recieving some kind of reward for doing our part and giving back or maybe when all the smokers quit the government will pick on your habit and make you pay out the ass to take care of someone elses problem child.
Last night when I was working in the store this belligerent jerk came in to purchase cigarettes. Thing was that what he asked for and what he demanded I give him were two different items. I tried to clarify what he was asking for and he just escilated and got more demanding. I didn't cow down to him because although my job requires that I serve customers etc. I do not have to take abusive behavior from customers and be treated like human refuse. So anyway, then the man tries to infer that because he looks latin american that I am being prejudicial. WHAT??? I was dumbfounded because first of all he didn't look latin american at all, in fact he looked like a very rednecky white guy with a tan from doing outdoor labor. Second, I was insulted by the fact that this moron would make a sweeping generalization that because I was white that I was prejudice at all. I was never raised to be prejudice and in truth have latin american family members. My integrity is important to me so because I have the value and ethical sense to not be prejudice I was highly bothered that he was smearing me with that lable. I really try to be nice to customers but there are times when I have after they left just wanted to scream and/or have raised an eyebrow of contempt for the person. I felt a little of both toward the man because it was obvious that he was the person with prejudicial behavior and he was also a person who appeared to be used to women cowing down to him. Maybe he was just what I called him once he walked out of my store and out of earshot which was a belligerent jerk. Beyond that my night was extremely busy but productive.
I am so enamored with President Obama and the strides he is making already. I have been watching CNN this afternoon and caught his recently broadcasted speech. He mentioned the new website that has been instituted to keep transparancy http://transparency.gov/ as a means to let the american public know what is happening in the government as well as states that have linked to the site. Honestly, he is such an intellegent man and a man of integrity! I'm bothered by the fact that people seem to forget that Bush dropped this whole thing of the bailout bomb right at the end of his term as though he was going to leave a hellish place for the next president elect. I know that what has been happening with AIG has a lot of people angry at the current governmental decisions but don't forget that the Bush administration knew far ahead that these companies were spiraling out of control. They knew a lot more than they admitted and they did nothing to stop the economic meltdown but actually spent more of americas money. So for those who want to point fingers at the new Obama administration turn the finger back around at the Bush admin because this stuff didn't just happen in a couple of months, it took all the years that Bush was in the whitehouse for our economy to fall apart and though he knew it was he and his admin did nothing about it while Bush consistantly veto'd many things that people tried to do to shore up our economy. I know though that President Obama, the admin working under him, the reps in washington will not let american's down. I believe that these historic steps that Obama is taking will change things for the best!
I just got off shift and ate a hot dog with everything. I was feeling especially after working all night but it's unusual for me to eat like this in the early morning hours. I caught a small clip on tv when I got home of President Obama saying something like, "American's don't have time to worry about AIG executives" and how we are so inundated with life that it isn't necessarily taking priority in our list of worries. How true! Though I strongly dislike what the higher ups in AIG did I have to say that most of the time my mind is on living and earning enough to live. In truth there are so many things that I am responsible for that I have to leave the problems with AIG up to the Government to deal with so I don't lose sight of my own efforts in my job. Tonight when I got on shift there was another strong note from the manager with tones of anger and I felt depressed. I know that my manager is under the strain of running the store and since the economy is bad that makes her job even harder and the pressure is on her. At the same time there is a part of me that has a desire to hear positive things, a word here or there praising the effort I put into the job rather than pointing out the one thing that was left unaccomplished. Too much negativity doesn't really get people motivated to do their job better or well. It just crushes a person and they may do things out of fear or whatever but they feel no pride in what they do and their energy drops due to the strain of aggressive pressures and a job centered on negativity. Studies have shown that negative feedback actually decreases productivity.
Inwardly I KNOW that I am doing an excellent job. I know that I have a very strong work ethic and that I take great care to complete my tasks and to do the well. Sometimes I do things that are not even in the list of things that are on my worksheet as tasks. If I see a need I take care of it without being told. So I guess this is why the negative environment and anger shunted on the people/shift I work is really making me frustrated. I can't make those I work with have the same ethic that I have. I can't make them work harder or faster. I can't make them do the things on the worksheet. Last night I actually ended up doing my tasks and then completing some of the other persons tasks because they weren't getting it done and it reflects back upon me anyway and the manager gets angry with everyone. I do love working and I do love my job but I don't love the negativity that is being generated of late. Although there have been a few other times and not to me personally but to a couple of other people the manager has said things bordering on abusive. I try to understand the pressure she is under but at the same time I want to say to her to please at least occasionally try to complement people when they do a job well. It would carry people a lot farther and I believe that productivity would increase.
As it stands now I hear many complaints from other employees and I see/hear of a massive amount of resentment and anger building. People aren't like work animals such as oxen. People need a certain amount of dignity, a certain amount of loyalty and comradery, they need to know that their efforts aren't in vain. When I got to work I got in and read the very pointed note to the two night shifts and literally felt squelched and in some ways as though nothing I do has worth or value, nothing I do is appreciated, etc. That's a bad way to start the shift. It really stunk and I just had to let it roll off my back and put my mind to the tasks that I had to do and just do my best regardless of the current environmental attitudes floating around the store. Work is kind of like a marriage. It can be a really good union when everyone is working together, when there is respect and mutual concern. It can be really bad when one person is dominating, controlling and angry a lot. Eventually the relation will fall out of love and someone will seek another love or they stay in the relationship miserable for the duration. Yeah, Obama is right. I really don't have time or energy to focus on a lot of things when my own life is complicated with work, family, bills, lack of money, lack of a car to drive and not enough income to get a car and worries about future things. I wondered recently after a family member died how I would afford my own funeral when I have no savings at all. There are no easy answers in life and if I do have anger at the executives of AIG I suppose it is knowing that they are gliding by with money to fix a multitude of issues while I can't even figure out how to make every end meet in my own life.
I should try and sleep now so I can't go back to work tonight with a fresh sense of purpose.
So I just got home from working overnight and thought I'd post since I'm trying to gear down before I go to sleep. I've been watching how angry people are over prices. Granted people never like pricing but they are especially touchy in the last months as the economy has taken it's downward spiral. I've been on food stamps before and can attest that they don't always go as far as anyone would like so I'm keenly aware how hard it is for people who come to the store and want their ebt cards to go farther than they generally do. It seems even more difficult for those few who had previously had good lives and good incomes to use them without some shame attached. I've lived simply for a long time so even though the economy effects me in some ways I'm already used to never quite having enough so in other ways it's just more of the same only a little harder to spread it out thinner. Everyone's hours have been cut back due to the economy but I am grateful anyway just to have my job and I appreciate that I do have it. Not too many months back I was bordering on homelessness as I looked frantically for a job and when I found it I have thrown myself fully into it and pray that my manager finds my efforts worth keeping me.
I don't complain about the hours I'm given and I don't demand specific days off. I may grouse privately when I'm away and sometimes at work the stress shows (my co-workers can see the visible shift from happy and relaxed to tense and sometimes worried). I worry about keeping my job, about making myself as necessary as possible, about whether my manager is pleased or displeased with my work. I stress sometimes when the workload is especially heavy and I'm tired and wonder if I can complete every task and if I don't complete them what it means. Work is work but right now most employers have the advantage because people are so desperate and I do know that some employers take advantage of their employees knowing that they are desperate enough to do anything to keep a job. Not saying my manager does this, but it is an observation in general. I do it to myself at times knowing that there are that many people standing in line that would gladly take my job. I'm stiff and sore and somewhat tired. I'm competing against people who are mostly younger than I am (almost fifty two). I mean, I still am in good enough shape and can do a lot, but I wish I were younger because the ware from physical labor takes its toll. How much does six gallons weigh anyway? My back is telling me that lifting boxes of six gallons feels like sixty this morning.
Anyway, I still do believe that Obama will succeed in turning things given time. Everything takes time but many American's don't have much patience and willingness to wait for anything. American's have been spoiled and have gotten to not knowing their wants from their needs. So I've drank my little glass of milk, snacked on a few goldfish crackers, and now I'm off to bed so I can get up and do it again tomorrow. Life seems endless some days, just endless and circular like I'm running in a little wheel like a hampster.
In the process of raising taxes on Cigarettes the government has likely single handedly put even more people out of work. The tobacco farmers, the truckers who ship it, the manufacturers, the reps who go to retail stores to set the displays, the retailers who rely upon the sales of cigarettes. All these people will find themselves displaced with nowhere to go if this stupid make up the loss by once again taxing cigarettes persists as the mode of fixing money problems in Washington. I'm somewhat amazed at the stupidity and well if they are going to start taxing unhealthy products there are plenty of them. Over and over it's been noted that Americans are among the fattests people worldwide and that obesity brings a myriad of health issues with it, but I don't see them raising taxes on fast foods and other unhealthy food products that will lead to high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes and other health issues and health care costs. I don't see them raising the taxes on alcohol which causes health problems as well as multiple car accidents causing injury or death as well as alcoholism which means health care costs. I don't see a lot of healthy looking representatives in Washington D.C. who look fit and lean. They look fat and as though their publicly paid for lunches at expensive restaruants that use highly fatty food products has worked a little too well. I don't think that American's should have to pay for any of their lunches by them pulling resources for "business meetings". They should have to pay their own way for their own lunches because why should I as an American have to pay for a Senator or Congressman to eat with unhealthy habits as they often do.
Oh come on, when does this kind of thing end and where does it end. We all know that the prohibition era didn't succeed but actually increased the volume of crime. I can tell you that the elevated cost in cigarettes will actually cause more crime in lower income areas as people will seek to obtain money to keep their habits. So this whole thing of how the Government planning to fix taxes for medical by raising the taxes on Cigarettes again has and will actually make more problems in the process. Stupidity seems to run rampant in D.C. once again. People will do their bad habits regardless but once you pick on one eventually someone will point out your bad habits as well and so the great game of equalizing will begin again. Which while we're on the subject of equality lets put religion in there as well. If one wants to be separated from the State then why try to envoke your beliefs upon those who do not believe, i.e. alcohol being sold later on Sunday's or not at all in some places on Sunday. There is no legal justification what so ever as to why Sunday morning is any different or has more potential for harm by purchasing alcohol at the same time as any other day. What happens on Sunday that doesn't happen any other day? Church! So the rest of the community that doesn't believe in Church or God are living under the inforced alcohol sales time that basically religious people have pushed for. Those same Churches that pay no taxes! Hey, how about we start getting a little back from the Churches who scream and shout for equal rights but don't pay into the system like every other community or individual or group.
What about the millions that go into paying for women with children. Women who don't and haven't used protection to keep from getting pregnant multiple times but will get money for their irresponsible behavioral habits. Why not limit the amount paid into these programs? Why not limit the amount of children that will be covered by programs such as these? Any responsible parent won't have more children than they can afford so why is society allowing women to have multiple pregnancies that they can't afford and paying for it? If people knew that they wouldn't get help they would likely use protection in order not to feel the burden of responsibility in paying for what they can't afford but if people think they are covered they will continue to perpetuate the same habit. I knew of a girl in my apartment complex who was a druggie that kept having children in order to get money and it happens a lot that way. I knew of some women who were working and on food stamps but they used all their excess money to go out with their boy friends to gamble on dog fights. Why is it that they seem to afford food but have money to pay in on an illegal dog fight? So when the Government charges working people more and more with taxes and yet lets people slide who abuse the system it makes me livid with hateful anger.
Okay, I know that there are valid situations where people do really need supplemental help but there should be limits set especially where some situations could be helped such as multiple pregnancies. Birth control is free at any clinic for the lower income groups, and the health department gives out free condoms to those who cannot afford them so there really isn't an excuse. See how it goes? There is no end to these kinds of thing and the Government needs to find better ways to fix the financial problems we have because it hasn't worked and it's not working. People in Washington D.C. is out of touch and they need to get out there and research. Not in the wealthy communities but in the middle and lower income communities to find out what problems are there and where they could be fixed. Wait, visit the wealthy communities too and find out what excess needs to be cut and tax them for once in their greedy lives like the rest of America. I'm working hard long hours and I resent more tax hikes seeing as my income is not more than about a thousand fifty monthly.
Good morning!
An item of interest appeared in today's Florida Times Union that I wanted to share with you. Columnist Ron Littlepage mentioned an organization in his article this morning that you might want to consider supporting. It is Florida Hometown Democracy. http://floridahometowndemocracy.com/
This group is working to put comprehensive land use planning decisions in the hands of voters. Instead of leaving it up to city council, it would be put on the ballot for citizens to determine whether changes would best serve their communities. Here is an excerpt from their website:
What does the Florida Hometown Democracy Petition say?
This amendment, if adopted, will give you, the Florida voter, the right to decide whether your city or county Comprehensive Land Use plan should be changed. Currently, city councils and county commissions make those decisions.
Why is this amendment needed?
Currently, it is just too easy for wealthy developers to obtain comprehensive plan amendments - all they have to do is persuade a majority of a city or county commission to grant a change. Because comprehensive plan amendments determine the destiny of a community for generations to come, it is vital that changes to a comprehensive plan truly reflect the concerns of the voters. This will be accomplished through the Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment.
****I wonder if this referendum could have spared Mayport Village all their recent turmoil with Jaxport. Residents of San Marco opposed to the proposed changes on Hendricks Avenue would surely like to vote on that issue.
I've been watching the unemployment happening in Florida and I am excessively concerned for the people who have lost jobs. What bothers me is how much the republican party is willing to stall on things that can help people. Maybe it's just me but one would wonder how they can try not to help people and believe that anyone would elect them as officials when their term is up and they want to do it again. I can't understand how they can not want to help people who are suffering terribly losing their life long homes or jobs that they've had for years. I've been holding my own and continuing to work and I feel blessed to have my job. I think there are things that could have less focus placed on them such as taxing cigarettes. That kind of issue is not priority in my opinion when there are things that are much more needful. Taxing cigarettes won't really make the economy that much more stable. Getting people working will, taxing the rich that have been not putting into the system will, things like this etc. I dunno but it seems that there are things that could be done which haven't been addressed yet, but the republican party is stalling and it makes me really angry considering that the eight years they held office is what put America in the position where it is today. *shakes head* This country is a sad country and if I were young I wouldn't want to bring a child into being right now seeing how bad things are.
I was so proud of him. I watched and heard him at the office via NBC6. It was really nice to hear the military band play for about half an hour prior to Barack coming out. I was happy for him and for our nation… that he is getting around and getting this country running! Love him and believe in him!
