After spending the last couple months hearing the GOP cry that there needs to be investigations into many of the Obama administrations programs it makes me wonder where these same people where just a few years earlier. I believe that the Government needs to be held accountable, but is it to much to ask for fairness and integrity? Below is a long list of things that could have and should have been investigated under the last republican president, but because the oversight was also done by republicans not much was done in congress and of course it wasn’t covered by the right wing media propaganda networks.
The first thing that should have gotten a real investigation was Sept. 11th 2001, not if the government was behind it but just the true facts of what really happened. The worst attack on American soil and the two most powerful men in the country never had to explain what they knew, when they knew or if it should have been prevented. They did testify before for the 9/11 report but it was a total media blackout, they where not under oath, there where no notes and the investigators could not talk to the media. Since that horrible attack we have learned that there where over a dozen warning that it would happen, including one given directly to the president entitled “Bin Laden set to attack in United States” all of which where ignored. Less money was spent on this investigation then on the sex life of Bill Clinton, and at least Clinton had to testify on the record.
After 9/11 the media refused to cover any negative stories about George Bush, this media blackout made it so most Americans didn’t hear of Margie Schoedinger, a Texan who accused Mr. Bush of rape and other sexual crimes in 2002. This story go no coverage except for a small local newspaper, in September of 2003 the young women allegedly killed herself, putting a convenient end to the story. Did Bush commit this crime, we will never know now and like many things the media covered it all up.
Not one but two people arrested for funding terrorists and aiding Bin Laden where linked to Grover Norquist one of Karl Roves good friends. Yes that Grover, the never tax anyone pledge guy, he is linked to Alamoudi and Sami Al-Arian and some people believe that it’s because of their connections to Mr. Norquist and the white house that they didn’t get prosecuted right away. It wasn’t until John Loftus had made his attention clear to go after these to men for funding terrorists that the white house took action. Why was the action on these 2 men not taken earlier, was it because of their connections in Washington? We won’t know because again it wasn’t investigated.
Torture, you can argue on both sides if the Bush administration broke the law by their treatments of prisoners, what you can not defend is their breaking of the law by destroying the evidence. Even after being told not to destroy video tapes of the torture they went ahead and did it anyway, breaking an order by the court and destroying the evidence. This coming after the announcement that the administration destroyed emails that by law should be kept as a matter of record. We will never know because like the other laws that where broken, this also was never investigated by the congress, or any other government organization and not covered much on the news.
This just follows a large history of scandals and doesn’t even mention the illegal outing of a CIA agent, The invasion of Iraq, putting children in prison without a lawyer or family member because they where labeled terrorists, illegal phone hacking and many, many more. Why didn’t the media cover this? It wasn’t because of 9/11 since he had many scandals as Gov. of Texas that the media never covered including insider trading, he knowingly perjured himself in an investigation and when he was caught stopped the investigation and fired the investigator.
The media ignored all these stories, maybe if they did their job we would never have went into Iraq, and if the stories are true about President Bush being offered Bin Laden by Afghanistan after the Sept.11th attack we wouldn’t be in that war either. It appears the media only really puts time into covering democratic “scandals” like Bill Clinton or Anthony Weiner while ignoring republican scandals like all the Bush/Cheney or even David Vitter. If for some reason the media covers one of the republican scandals they are blown off as “liberal” media trying to destroy a republican. The liberal media lie that they have managed to make mainstream has helped them avoid any scrutiny and allowed them to do as they please with no worries about payback. Until politicians are held accountable by the people in their own party or the public, nothing will change and we will continue to be led by thieves, liars and outright criminals.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Over Regulated
There is one party in Washington DC whose regulations are helping to destroy this once great country, and of course I’m talking about the Republicans. This party who is calling for the repeal of regulations that stop the corporations from destroying our air and water, and allowing them to become so big that if they fail the whole country will collapse yet they love to regulate the lives of average Americans.
The GOP wants less taxes and less regulation so that companies can do what they choose with their money, even if it means risking the health of children. After all the more money the companies can keep the more money they can spend on the politicians that write their rules. While the party that wants most companies to spend their money as they choose they don’t think that the post office should be run that way. A law passed by the republicans and signed into law by President George Bush forces the post office to fund their retirement for the next 75 years. This costs the USPS at least 5 billion dollars a year and forces them to run a deficit instead of making a profit. The only good reason that they would do this is so they could say that the post office is losing money and then try to sell it off and have it run by private companies like Fed Ex and UPS. They believe that the Gov. shouldn’t be involved in any business and will do anything they can to prove that, even if it means costing millions of people jobs to prove it. If this regulation is needed then why didn’t they demand it for every company in the United States and not just the post office?
While they want to let the corporations and Wall Street run free they have no problem regulating the lives of people. Since winning big in 2010 they have passed many anti-abortion laws at both the state and federal level of government, laws that will make abortion almost illegal and in the latest law even put the health of the mother at risk to save the fetus. Abortion law was settled years ago but the religious right will not allow them to put the issue to bed. The irony is the pro life party is also in favor of the death penalty and against helping the poor and needy. They will fight tooth and nail to protect a fetus but after your born, your on your own.
A small provision that was tacked onto the defense spending bill in 2006, this was done so that online gambling would become impossible to do and was added to the defense bill so if the Democrats voted against it the GOP could cry “they don’t support our troops”. It’s our money but they have a problem of how we spend it, if I work 80 hours a week and wanted to sit down and spend 20.00 playing poker online that should be my choice.
The GOP even makes its way into our bedrooms, even though they could not stop the military and President Barack Obama from ending DADT they are still doing everything they can to prevent gay people from leading normal lives. From wanting a constitutional amendment making it illegal for gay people to get married to not wanting them to serve in the military the republican party thinks it’s fine to discriminate against gay and lesbian people. Coming from the group who fought to keep slaves and tried all they could to prevent civil rights it’s not a surprise the GOP has gotten a reputation of being the party of rich white men. All you need to know about their thoughts on these issues is listen to Jim DeMint who said “sexually active single women and gays cannot teach because their morals don’t follow Old Testament regulations”
The GOP always cries that the government should not get between you and your doctor, anyone remember Terry Schiavo? When her husband wanted to pull the plug the republicans tried to use pass laws so he couldn’t, if that’s not the gov. between you and your doctor nothing is. They have no problem with a fat cat sitting in a million dollar office telling your doctor that you can not have the surgery you need because it will effect his ability to buy a new boat. More Americans die from the decisions of health care providers each year then killed by terrorists but it’s legal.
Politicians are corrupt, as long as oil, coal and health care companies give them billions of dollars they will continue to put the American people health, happiness and freedoms second. To the republican party it’s ok for Exxon to spill millions of barrels of oil, killing thousands of animals and putting thousands of peoples lives at risk, as long as Johnny can not marry Joe, or 12 year Jenny can not abort the fetus she got after being raped uncle or father. In America those who have the money make the rules and until the rest of us wake up and fight back we will have to live with them.
I for one don’t care if two girls get married and I don’t even care about the debt, I would rather leave my children a world where they could go outside and play or drink a glass of water without getting sick. Am I for deregulation? DAMN RIGHT I AM, but for the deregulation of people lives not of the companies who are raping the environment for profits or putting the nation at risk with their banking schemes.
The GOP wants less taxes and less regulation so that companies can do what they choose with their money, even if it means risking the health of children. After all the more money the companies can keep the more money they can spend on the politicians that write their rules. While the party that wants most companies to spend their money as they choose they don’t think that the post office should be run that way. A law passed by the republicans and signed into law by President George Bush forces the post office to fund their retirement for the next 75 years. This costs the USPS at least 5 billion dollars a year and forces them to run a deficit instead of making a profit. The only good reason that they would do this is so they could say that the post office is losing money and then try to sell it off and have it run by private companies like Fed Ex and UPS. They believe that the Gov. shouldn’t be involved in any business and will do anything they can to prove that, even if it means costing millions of people jobs to prove it. If this regulation is needed then why didn’t they demand it for every company in the United States and not just the post office?
While they want to let the corporations and Wall Street run free they have no problem regulating the lives of people. Since winning big in 2010 they have passed many anti-abortion laws at both the state and federal level of government, laws that will make abortion almost illegal and in the latest law even put the health of the mother at risk to save the fetus. Abortion law was settled years ago but the religious right will not allow them to put the issue to bed. The irony is the pro life party is also in favor of the death penalty and against helping the poor and needy. They will fight tooth and nail to protect a fetus but after your born, your on your own.
A small provision that was tacked onto the defense spending bill in 2006, this was done so that online gambling would become impossible to do and was added to the defense bill so if the Democrats voted against it the GOP could cry “they don’t support our troops”. It’s our money but they have a problem of how we spend it, if I work 80 hours a week and wanted to sit down and spend 20.00 playing poker online that should be my choice.
The GOP even makes its way into our bedrooms, even though they could not stop the military and President Barack Obama from ending DADT they are still doing everything they can to prevent gay people from leading normal lives. From wanting a constitutional amendment making it illegal for gay people to get married to not wanting them to serve in the military the republican party thinks it’s fine to discriminate against gay and lesbian people. Coming from the group who fought to keep slaves and tried all they could to prevent civil rights it’s not a surprise the GOP has gotten a reputation of being the party of rich white men. All you need to know about their thoughts on these issues is listen to Jim DeMint who said “sexually active single women and gays cannot teach because their morals don’t follow Old Testament regulations”
The GOP always cries that the government should not get between you and your doctor, anyone remember Terry Schiavo? When her husband wanted to pull the plug the republicans tried to use pass laws so he couldn’t, if that’s not the gov. between you and your doctor nothing is. They have no problem with a fat cat sitting in a million dollar office telling your doctor that you can not have the surgery you need because it will effect his ability to buy a new boat. More Americans die from the decisions of health care providers each year then killed by terrorists but it’s legal.
Politicians are corrupt, as long as oil, coal and health care companies give them billions of dollars they will continue to put the American people health, happiness and freedoms second. To the republican party it’s ok for Exxon to spill millions of barrels of oil, killing thousands of animals and putting thousands of peoples lives at risk, as long as Johnny can not marry Joe, or 12 year Jenny can not abort the fetus she got after being raped uncle or father. In America those who have the money make the rules and until the rest of us wake up and fight back we will have to live with them.
I for one don’t care if two girls get married and I don’t even care about the debt, I would rather leave my children a world where they could go outside and play or drink a glass of water without getting sick. Am I for deregulation? DAMN RIGHT I AM, but for the deregulation of people lives not of the companies who are raping the environment for profits or putting the nation at risk with their banking schemes.
Friday, October 21, 2011
GOP Greatest Lies
There are many lies that are told by the political parties, while many are exposed right away as lies there are a few that have caught on and keep getting repeated over and over. This is just my take on a few of the big lies the GOP keeps telling but never get called on them.
1. TAXES - Can not tax the “job creators” because a poor person never created any jobs. Poor people don’t create jobs? Tell that to Sam Walton, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs all of them started with very little and became some of the richest most influential men in America. In fact it can be argued they hired more people when they where poor then they have after they became rich, after their companies took off they did more outsourcing and laying off American workers. The small business creates jobs is another lie used to keep taxes from being raised, most small businesses only hire when they lose an employee, new businesses create jobs. The final tax lie is that we have the highest corporate tax in the world, on paper yes but most companies don’t pay close to that and some of the biggest companies like Exxon, Bank of America and GE not only pay no taxes but get money from the government.
2. Trickle Down Economics - Made famous in the 1980’s by Ronald Reagan, it is still the GOP main belief today. The theory is that if you allow rich people to keep more of their money they will use it to give raises, benefits to their employees and everyone will make profits. It is this theory which George Bush called “voodoo economics” that have created huge debts while allowing the rich to get richer and the rest of us to get poorer. Since the inception of this policy we have went from a nuclear family to one where both parents have to work and still have trouble surviving. The middle class has seen their wages drop while the costs of food, insurance and everything else has risen for the last 30 years and after the 30 year experiment I think it’s pretty well proven that trickle down doesn’t work and leads to greater wealth disparity then ever before.
3. Regulation esp. of Wall Street is costing jobs - The best example of this is the Glass Steagall act which was put in place after the great depression and worked to keep America from collapse for over 50 years. It was repealed in 1999 under president Bill Clinton and speaker of the house Newt Gingrich and it took less then 8 years after the removal for a great recession to hit and bring us the term “to big to fail” banks. It is because of lack of regulation we have giant oil spills, large outbreaks of food poisoning, and banking collapses that will destroy the world financial institutions. Yes regulations do cost money and do costs jobs but in the long run they save lives and money.
4. The Liberal Media - this is the same “liberal” media who didn’t ask any questions after 9/11, didn’t question why America was committing a trillion dollars and tens of thousands of lives to Iraq by allowing George Bush to link Saddam Hussein to 9/11 and WMD. They didn’t demand an investigation into the outing of a CIA agent, a major felony bordering on treason or any other scandals that could have been investigated. The news media is owned by large corporations and are in business to make money, they don’t cover any real stories that might offend anyone. The media is not liberal it’s capitalist, if it makes them money they would support anyone.
5. We have the greatest health care in the world - YES IF YOU ARE RICH, for the rest of us the health care system is not even close to being good let alone great. We spend more then any other country and have more sick people, lower life expectancy and horrible infant mortality rates. If you are lucky enough to have good health insurance then you might thing our system is great, if you get dumped by the insurance companies when you get sick or they just flat out refuse to cover you then the system is not so great. More Americans die each year from the decisions of health companies then die at the hands of terrorists, yet we spend trillions to fight the terrorists and give handouts to the health insurance companies. If I poison someone I got to jail or get the electric chair, if a health company CEO denies life saving surgery or treatment to help his bottom line he is a “capitalist” and good business man. The fact that in America we use people health to make money is sick and just wrong, countries like Canada may not have better doctors or hospitals then America but at least they don’t have 40K people a year die because they don’t have access to them.
I’m sure I missed more but those are the 5 off of the top of my head, I could have went with the Tea party being grass roots even though it was founded by the Koch brothers and Fox News but that is to obvious and doesn’t seem as important as the 5 above. Notice a pattern in the five I listed? They all benefit the rich at the expense of the hard working Americans who built this country.
1. TAXES - Can not tax the “job creators” because a poor person never created any jobs. Poor people don’t create jobs? Tell that to Sam Walton, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs all of them started with very little and became some of the richest most influential men in America. In fact it can be argued they hired more people when they where poor then they have after they became rich, after their companies took off they did more outsourcing and laying off American workers. The small business creates jobs is another lie used to keep taxes from being raised, most small businesses only hire when they lose an employee, new businesses create jobs. The final tax lie is that we have the highest corporate tax in the world, on paper yes but most companies don’t pay close to that and some of the biggest companies like Exxon, Bank of America and GE not only pay no taxes but get money from the government.
2. Trickle Down Economics - Made famous in the 1980’s by Ronald Reagan, it is still the GOP main belief today. The theory is that if you allow rich people to keep more of their money they will use it to give raises, benefits to their employees and everyone will make profits. It is this theory which George Bush called “voodoo economics” that have created huge debts while allowing the rich to get richer and the rest of us to get poorer. Since the inception of this policy we have went from a nuclear family to one where both parents have to work and still have trouble surviving. The middle class has seen their wages drop while the costs of food, insurance and everything else has risen for the last 30 years and after the 30 year experiment I think it’s pretty well proven that trickle down doesn’t work and leads to greater wealth disparity then ever before.
3. Regulation esp. of Wall Street is costing jobs - The best example of this is the Glass Steagall act which was put in place after the great depression and worked to keep America from collapse for over 50 years. It was repealed in 1999 under president Bill Clinton and speaker of the house Newt Gingrich and it took less then 8 years after the removal for a great recession to hit and bring us the term “to big to fail” banks. It is because of lack of regulation we have giant oil spills, large outbreaks of food poisoning, and banking collapses that will destroy the world financial institutions. Yes regulations do cost money and do costs jobs but in the long run they save lives and money.
4. The Liberal Media - this is the same “liberal” media who didn’t ask any questions after 9/11, didn’t question why America was committing a trillion dollars and tens of thousands of lives to Iraq by allowing George Bush to link Saddam Hussein to 9/11 and WMD. They didn’t demand an investigation into the outing of a CIA agent, a major felony bordering on treason or any other scandals that could have been investigated. The news media is owned by large corporations and are in business to make money, they don’t cover any real stories that might offend anyone. The media is not liberal it’s capitalist, if it makes them money they would support anyone.
5. We have the greatest health care in the world - YES IF YOU ARE RICH, for the rest of us the health care system is not even close to being good let alone great. We spend more then any other country and have more sick people, lower life expectancy and horrible infant mortality rates. If you are lucky enough to have good health insurance then you might thing our system is great, if you get dumped by the insurance companies when you get sick or they just flat out refuse to cover you then the system is not so great. More Americans die each year from the decisions of health companies then die at the hands of terrorists, yet we spend trillions to fight the terrorists and give handouts to the health insurance companies. If I poison someone I got to jail or get the electric chair, if a health company CEO denies life saving surgery or treatment to help his bottom line he is a “capitalist” and good business man. The fact that in America we use people health to make money is sick and just wrong, countries like Canada may not have better doctors or hospitals then America but at least they don’t have 40K people a year die because they don’t have access to them.
I’m sure I missed more but those are the 5 off of the top of my head, I could have went with the Tea party being grass roots even though it was founded by the Koch brothers and Fox News but that is to obvious and doesn’t seem as important as the 5 above. Notice a pattern in the five I listed? They all benefit the rich at the expense of the hard working Americans who built this country.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Made In America?
Remember when things used to be Made in America? Today it is almost impossible to find anything that was truly made in the United States. Since the republicans under Ronald Reagan sold our government to the highest bidder we have been outsourcing out jobs and our souls. Whenever we hit a recession there was always something to pull us out, we built cars, computers or anything to put people back to work. Today even the great Ford Mustang is not made in America, in fact Honda is more made in America then Ford or General Motors.
Since 1981 the only thing America has produced is huge debt, and money. Thanks in large part to Al Gore, no he didn’t say he created the internet but he did have a huge role in making it what it is today. Without the internet we wouldn’t have had the great growth we had in the 1990’s, which made more people rich then ever before. The internet and the stock market are the only things making new millionaires besides the lottery, so when I hear right wingers say that hard work will make you rich it makes me laugh.
Steve Jobs was a great innovator when it came to electronics, to bad he didn’t produce them here in America, even when Halliburton got rich off the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan they packed up and left. The last 30 the income of the hard working Americans have dropped while the people who are rich keep getting richer and in a lot of cases they don’t really produce anything. In 2008 the CEOs of major banks helped crash the economy with their high stakes gambling, and when they lost the federal government bailed them out. Did anyone lose their jobs or go to prison for their actions? No and not only didn’t they suffer, but most of them walked away with over 10 million dollars in bonus money for their actions.
The recent CEO of HP was fired after less then one year running the company, and while he was a horrible CEO he walked away with over 10Million in bonus money. The system is set up so that people are not only rewarded when they succeed but are also rewarded when they fail, only problem is when they fail they walk away with millions while people living paycheck to paycheck lose their jobs, homes and sometimes lives.
A large part of the blame goes to the government, not because they caused the downfall of the American industries but because they allowed it to happen. The system now allows large amounts of money by people like the Koch family and now thanks to the supreme court even companies outside America can pump billions into our elections. Thanks to these bought politicians they made it cheaper for companies to send our jobs overseas then keep them here in this great country. Why would anyone spend 10 to 20 dollars an hour on an American worker when they can spend 1 or 2 dollars a day on Chinese workers and ship things back here with no fees.
If you take away the internet boom of the 1990’s we would really be in a 30 year recession with high unemployment. We may have become a third world country by now and we are slowly on our way to becoming one still. Right now 2 of the biggest money makers in this country either destroy the earth by drilling and spilling millions of gallons of or by letting people to die by denying much needed healthcare.
I dream of the day where Americans make things again, where people can go to a factory and make enough money to put food on the table for their family, or go to a hospital and not be afraid they will get bad news and have to decide between losing their home or staying alive. Until we stop allowing these big companies to buy off politicians to pass the laws they want I’m afraid we will continue to decline. The Occupy movement gives me hope but unless they can all come together with a clear message I fear they will fade away as fast as they started.
my demands should be simple
1. Term limits for ALL politicians so that they don’t have to spend every hour of every day trying to raise money and make promises to the rich and powerful
2. Make it cheaper for companies to make things in America, either by fair trade agreements or by charging higher taxes if most of their stuff in made outside our borders.
3. Get the money out of elections, either with public financing where every American pays 10.00 a month to pay for the elections or where the politicians can only accept 1,000.00 max from anyone with no outside money.
4. Fair tax system, one where there are no deductions that allow companies like GE, Exxon, Bank of America to not pay any taxes and in some cases get huge tax returns. One that makes sure that the millionaires pay higher percentage then their employees.
5. Single payer healthcare system, one that curbs costs on service and medicine and would keep 40K people a year from dying because of their lack of insurance. Our government pays more money for insurance and covers less people then any other country in the world.
Since 1981 the only thing America has produced is huge debt, and money. Thanks in large part to Al Gore, no he didn’t say he created the internet but he did have a huge role in making it what it is today. Without the internet we wouldn’t have had the great growth we had in the 1990’s, which made more people rich then ever before. The internet and the stock market are the only things making new millionaires besides the lottery, so when I hear right wingers say that hard work will make you rich it makes me laugh.
Steve Jobs was a great innovator when it came to electronics, to bad he didn’t produce them here in America, even when Halliburton got rich off the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan they packed up and left. The last 30 the income of the hard working Americans have dropped while the people who are rich keep getting richer and in a lot of cases they don’t really produce anything. In 2008 the CEOs of major banks helped crash the economy with their high stakes gambling, and when they lost the federal government bailed them out. Did anyone lose their jobs or go to prison for their actions? No and not only didn’t they suffer, but most of them walked away with over 10 million dollars in bonus money for their actions.
The recent CEO of HP was fired after less then one year running the company, and while he was a horrible CEO he walked away with over 10Million in bonus money. The system is set up so that people are not only rewarded when they succeed but are also rewarded when they fail, only problem is when they fail they walk away with millions while people living paycheck to paycheck lose their jobs, homes and sometimes lives.
A large part of the blame goes to the government, not because they caused the downfall of the American industries but because they allowed it to happen. The system now allows large amounts of money by people like the Koch family and now thanks to the supreme court even companies outside America can pump billions into our elections. Thanks to these bought politicians they made it cheaper for companies to send our jobs overseas then keep them here in this great country. Why would anyone spend 10 to 20 dollars an hour on an American worker when they can spend 1 or 2 dollars a day on Chinese workers and ship things back here with no fees.
If you take away the internet boom of the 1990’s we would really be in a 30 year recession with high unemployment. We may have become a third world country by now and we are slowly on our way to becoming one still. Right now 2 of the biggest money makers in this country either destroy the earth by drilling and spilling millions of gallons of or by letting people to die by denying much needed healthcare.
I dream of the day where Americans make things again, where people can go to a factory and make enough money to put food on the table for their family, or go to a hospital and not be afraid they will get bad news and have to decide between losing their home or staying alive. Until we stop allowing these big companies to buy off politicians to pass the laws they want I’m afraid we will continue to decline. The Occupy movement gives me hope but unless they can all come together with a clear message I fear they will fade away as fast as they started.
my demands should be simple
1. Term limits for ALL politicians so that they don’t have to spend every hour of every day trying to raise money and make promises to the rich and powerful
2. Make it cheaper for companies to make things in America, either by fair trade agreements or by charging higher taxes if most of their stuff in made outside our borders.
3. Get the money out of elections, either with public financing where every American pays 10.00 a month to pay for the elections or where the politicians can only accept 1,000.00 max from anyone with no outside money.
4. Fair tax system, one where there are no deductions that allow companies like GE, Exxon, Bank of America to not pay any taxes and in some cases get huge tax returns. One that makes sure that the millionaires pay higher percentage then their employees.
5. Single payer healthcare system, one that curbs costs on service and medicine and would keep 40K people a year from dying because of their lack of insurance. Our government pays more money for insurance and covers less people then any other country in the world.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Bill O'reilly and Fox News a dangerous combination
Watching the O’reilly factor of Fox News, he has finally crossed the line. He has told so many lies and made up so many facts that even he doesn’t know when he’s lying. On last nights show we saw a hint of racism, an outright lie and several right wing talking points.
It started with Mr. O’reilly claiming that the people on Wall Street are there to promote socialism and that the movement was started by George Soros and the many unions who are now supporting it. From the people I’ve seen and talked to who support the movement, they are there wanting equality and fairness and not socialism. They just want a fair playing field, one where rich people pay their fair share of taxes and are held accountable for their actions. The rich and powerful own the politicians in Washington DC and have used their money and influence to rewrite the tax codes and get billions of dollars in handouts. Fox seems to have a problem with socialism when it helps the poor but are all for it when it helps the big oil companies or Wall Street Bankers.
Then he talked about the crash of 2008 and the only person he blamed was an African American who was in charge of one of the Wall Street banks, he ignored Dick Fuld and others who did the same trading. Then he told his guests that no laws where broken on Wall Street leading up to the collapse, even though several things have come to light since then. The banks had many fraudulent loans, and several thousand robo signed loans. We don’t know how many laws where broken and by who since there really has never been a true investigation of the Wall Street CEOs. To pick out one of the few African American bankers and ambush him, blaming him for the crash is not only wrong but just another sign of Mr. O’reillys hatred towards minorities.
The final straw came when he got on the subject of poverty in America, he claimed it is not bad and that the majority of people who are living below the poverty level are only doing so because they have a drug problem and choose drugs over work. He said that 15% of people live in poverty but 9% of the population has a substance abuse problem, leading his viewers to believe that with his math only 6% of people are poor. Even if it was true 6% of the population living in poverty is both wrong and immoral for one of the richest nations in the world. I guess in his mind that only poor people do drugs, even though testing in Florida has proven that the drug abuse rate is lower among poor people then the general population. Only 2% of people who lived below the poverty level and needed assistance tested positive for drugs, far below the 9% average. Again, like with the racist comments, this is a pattern for Mr. O’reilly, he has always said that people choose to be homeless and that homeless vets don’t exist.
I would like to think that Mr. O’reilly is just spouting right wing talking points, like all the other shows on his network, but have a feeling he believes these things. This was just one half of one show on Oct. 11th 2011, this doesn’t even mention his previous statements. He claims to be a fighter against sexual predators but has said that sometimes young girls are asking for it and he himself has been sued for being a predator himself. The worst case against this hypocrite is when after years of calling an abortion doctor a baby killer and saying he needed to be stopped, someone took a gun and stopped the man.
Even with the death of Dr. Tiller “the baby killer” Fox News and this host never learned and still continue their hate filled dialogue. It would be funny if so many people didn’t take them serious and live off their every word. Bill O’reilly is a hypocrite at best and a dangerous person at worst, I think he is just someone who will say anything for money no matter who it hurts. I just hope no one else has to die before these “journalists” realize that their words matter.
It started with Mr. O’reilly claiming that the people on Wall Street are there to promote socialism and that the movement was started by George Soros and the many unions who are now supporting it. From the people I’ve seen and talked to who support the movement, they are there wanting equality and fairness and not socialism. They just want a fair playing field, one where rich people pay their fair share of taxes and are held accountable for their actions. The rich and powerful own the politicians in Washington DC and have used their money and influence to rewrite the tax codes and get billions of dollars in handouts. Fox seems to have a problem with socialism when it helps the poor but are all for it when it helps the big oil companies or Wall Street Bankers.
Then he talked about the crash of 2008 and the only person he blamed was an African American who was in charge of one of the Wall Street banks, he ignored Dick Fuld and others who did the same trading. Then he told his guests that no laws where broken on Wall Street leading up to the collapse, even though several things have come to light since then. The banks had many fraudulent loans, and several thousand robo signed loans. We don’t know how many laws where broken and by who since there really has never been a true investigation of the Wall Street CEOs. To pick out one of the few African American bankers and ambush him, blaming him for the crash is not only wrong but just another sign of Mr. O’reillys hatred towards minorities.
The final straw came when he got on the subject of poverty in America, he claimed it is not bad and that the majority of people who are living below the poverty level are only doing so because they have a drug problem and choose drugs over work. He said that 15% of people live in poverty but 9% of the population has a substance abuse problem, leading his viewers to believe that with his math only 6% of people are poor. Even if it was true 6% of the population living in poverty is both wrong and immoral for one of the richest nations in the world. I guess in his mind that only poor people do drugs, even though testing in Florida has proven that the drug abuse rate is lower among poor people then the general population. Only 2% of people who lived below the poverty level and needed assistance tested positive for drugs, far below the 9% average. Again, like with the racist comments, this is a pattern for Mr. O’reilly, he has always said that people choose to be homeless and that homeless vets don’t exist.
I would like to think that Mr. O’reilly is just spouting right wing talking points, like all the other shows on his network, but have a feeling he believes these things. This was just one half of one show on Oct. 11th 2011, this doesn’t even mention his previous statements. He claims to be a fighter against sexual predators but has said that sometimes young girls are asking for it and he himself has been sued for being a predator himself. The worst case against this hypocrite is when after years of calling an abortion doctor a baby killer and saying he needed to be stopped, someone took a gun and stopped the man.
Even with the death of Dr. Tiller “the baby killer” Fox News and this host never learned and still continue their hate filled dialogue. It would be funny if so many people didn’t take them serious and live off their every word. Bill O’reilly is a hypocrite at best and a dangerous person at worst, I think he is just someone who will say anything for money no matter who it hurts. I just hope no one else has to die before these “journalists” realize that their words matter.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Note to - Occupy Wall Street
#OccupyWallStreet has become a movement all over the country, the heart of which is in NYC. It is a grass roots movement made up of people fed up with the current system which allows America to be run by large corporations and Wall Street while nothing in done to help the rest of us. This is a great movement and can make a change, but as soon as it starts to catch on the rich and powerful will do everything they can to stop it.
First we will see massive arrests, done in the hopes of breaking up the crowd and frightening people to stop protesting, if this doesn’t work then they will move on to the next step. The corporate owned media will start to slander the protesters, calling them names and spreading lies about them. This will be done with the help of right wing media sites like Fox News who fear they may start to lose power on the country.
The stories will start out that it is a movement bought and paid for by left wing groups and unions, they will bring out the big guns and have Bill O’reilly, Sean Hannity and other talking heads do all they can to spread this lie. The GOP candidates will start to weigh in against the movement, calling these people jobless, hippies, socialists and saying they are trying to destroy capitalism.
The final step will be the “news” media and right wing politicians saying that these protests won’t stay peaceful and will break down into violence, and that’s what they want. After spreading the violence lies for a while, they will hire people to join the group and get active, ending in violence. They will cause trouble and do damage in hopes of getting the rest of the crowd to join in, if they do then the powerful will use this to squash the movement and discredit it. If you see someone trying to start violence or get the crowd into that mode PLEASE stop them or report them, don’t allow them to write your narrative.
The rich and powerful will use every tool they have to try and silence the people, they are a minority and this is the uprising they feared, DO NOT allow them to use you to discredit the protests. This is a grass roots movement that the unions support, not a union backed movement and don’t let the media portray it that way. Unlike the tea party who is backed by billionaires to help them keep their stranglehold on this country Occupy Wall Street is a movement of the people, by the people, for the people.
There are people all over the country who support you and while we can not be there in person maybe someone should open a post office box so the other 99% of us can send things you need like blankets, water, food or anything else you may need. There are millions who support you and would be glad to help out to keep things going. If the president can not bring change we the people will.
First we will see massive arrests, done in the hopes of breaking up the crowd and frightening people to stop protesting, if this doesn’t work then they will move on to the next step. The corporate owned media will start to slander the protesters, calling them names and spreading lies about them. This will be done with the help of right wing media sites like Fox News who fear they may start to lose power on the country.
The stories will start out that it is a movement bought and paid for by left wing groups and unions, they will bring out the big guns and have Bill O’reilly, Sean Hannity and other talking heads do all they can to spread this lie. The GOP candidates will start to weigh in against the movement, calling these people jobless, hippies, socialists and saying they are trying to destroy capitalism.
The final step will be the “news” media and right wing politicians saying that these protests won’t stay peaceful and will break down into violence, and that’s what they want. After spreading the violence lies for a while, they will hire people to join the group and get active, ending in violence. They will cause trouble and do damage in hopes of getting the rest of the crowd to join in, if they do then the powerful will use this to squash the movement and discredit it. If you see someone trying to start violence or get the crowd into that mode PLEASE stop them or report them, don’t allow them to write your narrative.
The rich and powerful will use every tool they have to try and silence the people, they are a minority and this is the uprising they feared, DO NOT allow them to use you to discredit the protests. This is a grass roots movement that the unions support, not a union backed movement and don’t let the media portray it that way. Unlike the tea party who is backed by billionaires to help them keep their stranglehold on this country Occupy Wall Street is a movement of the people, by the people, for the people.
There are people all over the country who support you and while we can not be there in person maybe someone should open a post office box so the other 99% of us can send things you need like blankets, water, food or anything else you may need. There are millions who support you and would be glad to help out to keep things going. If the president can not bring change we the people will.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
My Occupy Wall Street
While I don’t have the means to get to New York city or any of the other cities holding and Occupy protest I am there in spirit and support the cause. I keep hearing the news point out there is no message or exact reason why people are protesting, and even one network mocks the event. I think one of the great things is that there is no leaders, no corporate backing like the Tea Party and no single message. While most people don’t get the fact that these protesters aren’t right winger or left winger but just people who have had enough and they don’t realize that is the majority of the country.
While I can not be there, just thought I would share what the protest would mean to me. What would I want to see come out of this?
1. EQUALITY - The rich who get that way by starting a business and hiring Americans are one of the things that make this country great, the ones who get rich by being born with the right last name or lucking into a job on wall street are a different story. These rich people used to pay over 70% of their income in taxes and still have a really good life, they did what was right for the country not what made them richer. In the 80’s they had their taxes cut in half and then begin to write their own tax codes, why should you get a tax break for buying a jet or 3rd home when the rest of us don’t get one for buying our kids cloths or putting food on the table? It’s time to do away with all tax breaks, you don’t have to raise the rates just make them pay what they are supposed to. If you are born into a poor family then it’s almost impossible to get ahead, you can go to college but when you graduate you’re already 50-100K in debt with no insurance or hopes for the future.
2. JUSTICE - When the great depression hit we saw bankers, wall street managers and others who helped cause it either go to jail or jump out of windows. When the great recession hit in 2008 no one went to prison for their crimes and the ones who jumped out the windows landed softly because of their golden parachutes. If I pull a scam and steal 20.00 from an elderly person it’s off to jail for me, if Goldman Sachs sells them a shady mortgage and steals their life savings and leaves them homeless it’s just business. Mitt Romney said corporations are people, then it’s about time that laws apply to them and heads start to roll.
3. ENVIROMENT - I keep hearing the political parties say that we can not leave crushing debt on our children and grand children, even though when each party is in charge “debts don’t matter” as both Reagan and Dick Cheney pointed out. These same people have no problem leaving air we can not breath or water we can not drink for their children and grand children. Crushing debt won’t rally matter much when we are fighting wars over clean water and spending all our time in the hospital from the dirty air we are breathing. Maybe debts do matter, but to me my kids health would always come first.
4. HEALTH CARE - We pay more then any other country in the world and have one of the worst health care systems, and the solution is to put more people into free market insurance. These companies number one job is to make money and they have testified before congress that they knowing let people die to help their bottom line. This is murder plain and simple, to allow someone to die so you get a better bonus and you should be in prison not in charge of making life or death decisions. Until we take the free market out of health care, like every other civilized society has done, then it will be about profits and not about you or me. I like the idea of a doctor making the decision on my health, not some fat cat whose next check depends on if he can do everything to prevent me from getting an expensive surgery to save my life. If you expand Medicare for all then costs will come down because we can move to a real health care system, not the for profit Sick Care we currently have.
5. MONEY IN POLITICS - Right now the candidates who raise the most money win 94% of their elections, this means they have to whore themselves out to big business and wealthy people, who they will owe favors to. Speaker of the House John Boehner once handed out checks from the tobacco company on the floor of congress the same time they where voting on tobacco legislation, so of course the people who received the checks voted with the tobacco companies over the health of their own people. As long as politicians are allowed to sell their souls and prostitute themselves out then there will always be corruption and no one will represent the American people. The solutions to this are simple GET THE MONEY OUT - If every American puts in 20.00 we can have a public financed campaign and by putting in term limits then politicians can worry more about America then keeping their own jobs.
Again those are just why I would be with the people on Wall Street, others have different reasons and that’s what’s great about the movement. It’s fluid and not just about one thing or another but it’s everyday people who want real change in the way things are done for this country and all the benefits that are received by the top 1% which are paid for in sweat, blood a
While I can not be there, just thought I would share what the protest would mean to me. What would I want to see come out of this?
1. EQUALITY - The rich who get that way by starting a business and hiring Americans are one of the things that make this country great, the ones who get rich by being born with the right last name or lucking into a job on wall street are a different story. These rich people used to pay over 70% of their income in taxes and still have a really good life, they did what was right for the country not what made them richer. In the 80’s they had their taxes cut in half and then begin to write their own tax codes, why should you get a tax break for buying a jet or 3rd home when the rest of us don’t get one for buying our kids cloths or putting food on the table? It’s time to do away with all tax breaks, you don’t have to raise the rates just make them pay what they are supposed to. If you are born into a poor family then it’s almost impossible to get ahead, you can go to college but when you graduate you’re already 50-100K in debt with no insurance or hopes for the future.
2. JUSTICE - When the great depression hit we saw bankers, wall street managers and others who helped cause it either go to jail or jump out of windows. When the great recession hit in 2008 no one went to prison for their crimes and the ones who jumped out the windows landed softly because of their golden parachutes. If I pull a scam and steal 20.00 from an elderly person it’s off to jail for me, if Goldman Sachs sells them a shady mortgage and steals their life savings and leaves them homeless it’s just business. Mitt Romney said corporations are people, then it’s about time that laws apply to them and heads start to roll.
3. ENVIROMENT - I keep hearing the political parties say that we can not leave crushing debt on our children and grand children, even though when each party is in charge “debts don’t matter” as both Reagan and Dick Cheney pointed out. These same people have no problem leaving air we can not breath or water we can not drink for their children and grand children. Crushing debt won’t rally matter much when we are fighting wars over clean water and spending all our time in the hospital from the dirty air we are breathing. Maybe debts do matter, but to me my kids health would always come first.
4. HEALTH CARE - We pay more then any other country in the world and have one of the worst health care systems, and the solution is to put more people into free market insurance. These companies number one job is to make money and they have testified before congress that they knowing let people die to help their bottom line. This is murder plain and simple, to allow someone to die so you get a better bonus and you should be in prison not in charge of making life or death decisions. Until we take the free market out of health care, like every other civilized society has done, then it will be about profits and not about you or me. I like the idea of a doctor making the decision on my health, not some fat cat whose next check depends on if he can do everything to prevent me from getting an expensive surgery to save my life. If you expand Medicare for all then costs will come down because we can move to a real health care system, not the for profit Sick Care we currently have.
5. MONEY IN POLITICS - Right now the candidates who raise the most money win 94% of their elections, this means they have to whore themselves out to big business and wealthy people, who they will owe favors to. Speaker of the House John Boehner once handed out checks from the tobacco company on the floor of congress the same time they where voting on tobacco legislation, so of course the people who received the checks voted with the tobacco companies over the health of their own people. As long as politicians are allowed to sell their souls and prostitute themselves out then there will always be corruption and no one will represent the American people. The solutions to this are simple GET THE MONEY OUT - If every American puts in 20.00 we can have a public financed campaign and by putting in term limits then politicians can worry more about America then keeping their own jobs.
Again those are just why I would be with the people on Wall Street, others have different reasons and that’s what’s great about the movement. It’s fluid and not just about one thing or another but it’s everyday people who want real change in the way things are done for this country and all the benefits that are received by the top 1% which are paid for in sweat, blood a
Monday, October 3, 2011
Health Care
For the last three years we have heard all kinds of debates about health care reform in the United States. It has been called Obamacare, Socialized medicine, death panels and the only other option is a free market solution. All these are just talking points and no one is getting to the real root of the problem, we have the most expensive health care system in the world with the worst results. That is only partially true, we do have the worst results, but that’s because we don’t have a health care system.
What we have in America is not a health care system, it’s a sick care system. We have some of the best doctors and medicines in the free world, yet we don’t live as long as they do in other countries and our infant mortality rate is 50% higher then other civilized countries. What are the other countries doing right that we are doing wrong? Our government spends more money on health care then countries like Canada, Japan, United Kingdom and most other countries. The difference is these countries have a universal health care system while our government only insures seniors and the poor.
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain told the story about how he was diagnosed with cancer and treated, he said if we had universal health care he would be dead. That lie would be funny if it wasn’t sad that people have to make that choice every day in America. How many people ignore the symptoms because they lack insurance, wait till it’s to late and then go to the ER to find out they have cancer. After they find out that they have cancer, like Mr. Cain did, they will have to decide if they want to get treated. To someone like Mr. Cain who is rich and has great insurance that is an easy question to answer, to someone who lacks insurance they have to decide between getting treatment knowing that it will cost them their home and leave their family in debt. If this story happened in Canada or any other civilized country they could have seen a doctor when they first started feeling sick and been diagnosed early.
The big lies told by people who oppose universal health care is that it’s to expensive and lead to rationing. The rationing is the easiest to explain, right now you get right in to see a doctor because millions of Americans are not allowed in that line to see the same doctor. Is it really important that you get your care today and not have to wait one extra day if it means that 100’s of lives can be saved? The biggest lie about price is easy to prove wrong. Right now health care is almost 16% of all costs in America, it is much higher then any other country in the world and the US government already spends more money to cover a small percentage of the population then countries that cover every citizen.
When you cover every person with insurance it allows you to have a true health care system and do away with the sick care system. Diseases will be caught early and can be treated for a fraction of the price it will cost for end of life care. Right now the people who are lucky enough to have health insurance are paying for the millions who do not, if someone without insurance goes to the ER for treatment someone has to pay. If everyone is covered the costs of healthcare will immediately drop and the country can start moving toward preventive health.
What keeps us from moving in this direction? Money
Health care companies make record profits off the health of people, they can decide to let you die if it’s best for their bottom line. Former heads of insurance companies have even testified before congress that they deny coverage, knowing that the person will die, just to save some money and get a better bonus. Over 40K people die each year from health insurance decisions or lacking health insurance, that’s 10x more Americans then killed by terrorists each year. Why is it ok for an insurance company to kill someone to save money, but if a citizen kills someone it’s illegal? The answer is money, the health companies can spend millions of dollars to buy off politicians to allow them to keep their system in place. Politicians accept this blood money with open arms because they have the best health care in the free world and don’t have to ever worry about going millions in debt from getting sick.
Until we take money out of the equation things will never change, America is the only civilized country in the world that people have to choose between staying alive or the future of their family. We spend more and get worse results then countries with universal health care. I for one have no problem waiting an extra day or week to see a doctor if it means a mother will get to spend more time with her children, or a child will grow up and not have to worry about staying at a job they hate because it offers insurance. Our system makes us slaves to the big insurance companies and they get to decide who lives and who dies and not company should have that power. Making money off of the health of another human being is the lowest thing anyone can do and any insurance company that allowed a person to die to help their bottom line and increase their bonus. If corporations are people then they should be put in prison and given the death penalty, as should all the politicians who accepted their blood money to allow these terrorists to stay in business.
What we have in America is not a health care system, it’s a sick care system. We have some of the best doctors and medicines in the free world, yet we don’t live as long as they do in other countries and our infant mortality rate is 50% higher then other civilized countries. What are the other countries doing right that we are doing wrong? Our government spends more money on health care then countries like Canada, Japan, United Kingdom and most other countries. The difference is these countries have a universal health care system while our government only insures seniors and the poor.
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain told the story about how he was diagnosed with cancer and treated, he said if we had universal health care he would be dead. That lie would be funny if it wasn’t sad that people have to make that choice every day in America. How many people ignore the symptoms because they lack insurance, wait till it’s to late and then go to the ER to find out they have cancer. After they find out that they have cancer, like Mr. Cain did, they will have to decide if they want to get treated. To someone like Mr. Cain who is rich and has great insurance that is an easy question to answer, to someone who lacks insurance they have to decide between getting treatment knowing that it will cost them their home and leave their family in debt. If this story happened in Canada or any other civilized country they could have seen a doctor when they first started feeling sick and been diagnosed early.
The big lies told by people who oppose universal health care is that it’s to expensive and lead to rationing. The rationing is the easiest to explain, right now you get right in to see a doctor because millions of Americans are not allowed in that line to see the same doctor. Is it really important that you get your care today and not have to wait one extra day if it means that 100’s of lives can be saved? The biggest lie about price is easy to prove wrong. Right now health care is almost 16% of all costs in America, it is much higher then any other country in the world and the US government already spends more money to cover a small percentage of the population then countries that cover every citizen.
When you cover every person with insurance it allows you to have a true health care system and do away with the sick care system. Diseases will be caught early and can be treated for a fraction of the price it will cost for end of life care. Right now the people who are lucky enough to have health insurance are paying for the millions who do not, if someone without insurance goes to the ER for treatment someone has to pay. If everyone is covered the costs of healthcare will immediately drop and the country can start moving toward preventive health.
What keeps us from moving in this direction? Money
Health care companies make record profits off the health of people, they can decide to let you die if it’s best for their bottom line. Former heads of insurance companies have even testified before congress that they deny coverage, knowing that the person will die, just to save some money and get a better bonus. Over 40K people die each year from health insurance decisions or lacking health insurance, that’s 10x more Americans then killed by terrorists each year. Why is it ok for an insurance company to kill someone to save money, but if a citizen kills someone it’s illegal? The answer is money, the health companies can spend millions of dollars to buy off politicians to allow them to keep their system in place. Politicians accept this blood money with open arms because they have the best health care in the free world and don’t have to ever worry about going millions in debt from getting sick.
Until we take money out of the equation things will never change, America is the only civilized country in the world that people have to choose between staying alive or the future of their family. We spend more and get worse results then countries with universal health care. I for one have no problem waiting an extra day or week to see a doctor if it means a mother will get to spend more time with her children, or a child will grow up and not have to worry about staying at a job they hate because it offers insurance. Our system makes us slaves to the big insurance companies and they get to decide who lives and who dies and not company should have that power. Making money off of the health of another human being is the lowest thing anyone can do and any insurance company that allowed a person to die to help their bottom line and increase their bonus. If corporations are people then they should be put in prison and given the death penalty, as should all the politicians who accepted their blood money to allow these terrorists to stay in business.
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