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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Ruling Class To Unemployed, Sick, Homeless Americans: We Can't Afford To Help You.

It's already started. All the screaming and alarm, the fear-mongering designed to force people to crawl under the coffee table, tremble. No, not the terrorists. Debt. The national debt, individual debt. China, that bad old China, we owe them so much money, it's all their fault because they manipulated their currency. Nonetheless, folks, we're broke so we cannot afford:

National Healthcare
Education for our children
Police
Fire departments
Teachers
Jobs Programs
Social Security
Medicare
Unemployment Insurance
FDIC for failed banks
Courts
Parks
Food Inspection Programs
Job Safety Programs

What have I forgotten?

This is the mantra we can expect to hear for the next 3 years of the Obama administration. The Republicans are singing it, Obama is singing it, the Democrats in congress have already begun singing it. All the money's gone. They gave it to Wall Street to "save" the banks and prevent a financial collapse. They had no choice, they say with a straight face, no choice but to give billions of dollars of taxpayer money to the people on Wall Street who destroyed our economy. No choice but to take millions of dollars in kick-backs and bribes from those same criminals on Wall Street.


Look what a great job they've done, they tell us now, with a straight face. The Democrats have actually put on a silly back-patting celebration recently, claiming that because they gave hundreds of billions of dollars to Wall Street, they "saved" the nation. If they had not given hundreds of billions of dollars to Wall Street, they claim, we would have had serious economic problems. Well, Democrats, look around. I don't know about you, but everybody I know is having serious economic problems. Everybody except the criminals on Wall Street and the politicians they own.

Here's the question I have: what is the purpose of belonging to a nation, being a citizen, joining together, living together, combining our resources if not to create a better life for our own citizens? But none of our politicians are doing that. They act as if the only reason the U.S. exists is to militarily threaten, bomb, invade, attack, occupy all the other nations in the world. Give all the money to the military and to the corporations. Use our military to destroy and/or subdue the people of the world so that U.S. corporations can go into other countries and steal all their resources. Everything for the rich, nothing for the rest of us. That is how our government is run, like a pack of thugs, goons, punks, liars, criminals, thieves. Instead of "Land of the Brave Home of the Free" we should call it "Land of the Rich, Home of the Traitors." These politicians were elected by the citizens and have the sole duty to act in our best interests. They do not act in our best interests. They sell their office and they betray the people.

Yes, no question Bush and Cheney created the terrible problems we face. Although we should mention that the Democrats in Congress sat silently like cowards and did nothing to oppose Bush and Cheney. Some of them even enthusiastically endorsed and supported the illegal wars, the kidnapping, the torture, the murders. The Democrats are in power now, and instead of changing things (like they promised to do) they have ratified most of what Bush and Cheney did, have used their power to enrich themselves by soliciting bribes from corporations, are continuing the wars and starting new ones, and are doing nothing to help the people.

We're continuing wars, starting new wars in Pakistan, settling in for the permanent occupation of Iraq, escalating the war in Afghanistan, are in the process of taking over 7 military bases in Columbia to use to launch coups and/or military invasions of other countries throughout South America, just sponsored a coup in Honduras. Everything for the military, everything for empire, everything for corporate theft of overseas resources, everything to help the corporations create more slave-labor nations for their use, and nothing for the people.

That will be the explanation. President Obama, Senator Reid, all you Democrats, what are you going to do to help the citizens of this country, to create jobs, to provide affordable healthcare? Response: we cannot do anything because we must pay down the debt, and cannot afford anything for the people.

They're actually getting all puffed up about this ridiculous health care bill the Democrats have put together, acting like they're doing something for us. The Democrats in Congress keep saying they will "fight" to get this bill approved, but it's such a terrible fraud on the public. Most of the money goes to the health insurance industry, the doctors groups, hospitals, and drug dealers. The Democrats have already received hundreds of millions of dollars from the insurance industry, doctors, hospitals and drug dealers as bribes to make sure nothing is done by Congress to help the citizens.

For the majority of the population, out of the $800+ Billion in estimated costs, we get nothing. A few extremely poor people may get a clinic, but for the rest of us, there is nothing. No reduction in charges. Why can't we have national health care so that every citizen can go to the doctor and get treated, go to the dentist and get their teeth fixed, just as a matter of basic decency? I saw a doctor for 15 minutes in the emergency room and was billed $1200. People cannot afford to pay the unconscionable charges of the medical industry. But this bill by the Democrats does nothing to help the citizens, does nothing to reduce the charges. Thanks for nothing.

Unemployment, as shown by the animated map below, is increasing at an ominous rate. The unemployment rate reported by the Department of Labor does not give us the true story of the problems. They admit in their tables that when you include people who have been out of work so long that their unemployment benefits have expired, and include people who can only get part-time work even though they want full time, and cannot support themselves with part-time wages, then the actual national unemployment rate is about 17%. Other economists note that the Department of Labor also does not include all the self-employed people -- insurance sales, tax preparers, CPAs, lawyers -- who simply have no work. If they were also included, the actual unemployment might as 25% or more. Isn't it time to panic? Isn't it about time the government paid attention to the citizens of this country instead of spending all their time figuring out how to murder the citizens of other countries?

It's hard to read the map in the animation below, but the simple story it shows is that the darker the shading, the higher the unemployment. It has engulfed both coasts and is on the march towards middle America. Exactly when are the Democrats planning to do something to help us?

Nothing for the People. Everything for Wall Street. You know that song "It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas? I think we should change the lyrics to: "It's beginning to sound a lot like Clinton ....

Under the Clinton administration, the government passed "free" trade laws to allow U.S. corporations to take as many jobs as they want outside of this country, throwing millions of Americans out of work. Nobody should be surprised that the plan has succeeded. Thanks again, Bill. Barack Obama and the current Democrats in Congress have promised us that they would fix the problem, get us back to work, help the people. So far they've violated every single promise they've made. Do they really think people will vote for them again after this level of betrayal? I won't.

1 comment:

  1. The "two party" system seems to have a lock upon the elections of this nation for the foreseeable future. The myth of difference between these organisations is perpetuated by bogus "issues" whenever a diversion is needed, a la teabaggers, right to life, etc.
    The situation is at least as dangerous as it was before the Civil War, as the slave power threatened the destruction of the Union.
    There was real hostility between the parties back then, witness "Bully" Brooks attacking Sumner with a walking stick on the floor of the House.
    Todays solons are buddy-buddy out of camera range, spending endless hours with specious issues as the whole damned country collapses.
    Real health care? Forget about it. It would stop a lucrative kick back system and inhibit "free enterprise".
    Environmental degradation? Maybe it exists, maybe not, best to wait and see how best to manipulate public opinion and figure out a way to exploit the issue to financial advantage.
    Job loss? Why, this is a new era where the old manufacturing based economies inhibit a glorious one world economy, a certain uncomfortable transition period will be needed before the "invisible hand" makes everything right again.
    A great opportunity exists for third party action, if there were a free press and a literate public, third party threats might force some real reform upon the moribund arrangements now in place.
    Unfortunately, sixty years of teevee and consumer culture have made anything more complex than a five second slogan as unintelligable as a message in sanskrit.
    When I was young, I had all the answers, now I am at a loss as to how to even make myself heard.
    Good analysis,again.
    Don Smith

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