Well..this one came to mind with just a tiny little article in one of the newspapers I read every morning that passed on the fact that taxes, for both individuals and business, are at their lowest level in more than 60 years. If you’ve been here before, you heard me talk about this topic, but not in this context….the context of Obama going to the Chamber of Commerce and promising them lower taxes and less regulation if they will just start to hire more people with the over 2 trillion dollars in retained profits that they now hold; a figure that is higher than any time in recorded history. How did they make so much profit if their taxes are too high? My question is, “who pays for the infrastructure, education of the workforce, and other things necessary for business to thrive if they don’t pay their fair share of the tax burden? Guess who? You and me….
I understand that this trip to the Chamber was a political calculation to look like there was no stone unturned in creating jobs, but to go to these thieves with his hat in his hand and say “pretty please” to get them do do the right thing for the country that made them successful is just wrong…business owes it to the people of America who bought the roads they use to transport their goods, who bought the education that gives them good workers, who bought the military that protects them every day, and who gave them the profits they so jealously hoard….to dismiss this debt while passing responsibility on to individual Americans is morally reprehensible…geez…
Well…in reading all of the press about the events in Egypt, one thought just came to me…these people are protesting the theftocracy that has been running their country for the last 50 years and the media is all gung-ho about covering it…but, the question that immediately popped into my head was “why not here?” When it has been determined that it is noble to fight against the entrenched power and the cronyism that has stolen so much from the Egyptians, I see a parallel to what is going on in the US right now and the media just ignores it; and our politicians call it capitalism. The rich, connected and business are doing exactly the same thing here that has gone on in Egypt for the past 50 years…maybe in a more subtle way….if it is so noble for the Egyptians to fight, why are we that fight for the same thing here in the US called socialists, communists, or worse…un-American? Is it different here that the wholly owned subsidiary of business, the Republican Party, works every day to take away from the middle class and give more to the rich and business when the ruling party in Egypt does the same thing? Show me the difference between Egypt and us.
We need our own Tahrir Square where business and the thieves that run them are called out, where the workers that built this country are given the voice that has been silenced by money and power…until that time we are just a more developed Egypt…waiting for the smoldering embers to become a flame…geez….
Well…was really bored last night after being in for 3 days so I thought I’d go out and watch part of the Wings game…oh, no G last night since she was a little under the weather and I do miss her…but, it was nice to have a little cash so I could go out and have a couple…the Wings won and I won 21 bucks at Keno which almost paid the tab and tip…only out 4 bucks for the night so that was fun. Had to go out since the Wings were on Versus…and only stayed for about half of the game…the new season of “Top Gear” started on BBC American and the show makes me laugh so much I couldn’t miss it. Needless to say…I feel okay today since I was good when I got home but my damn back is acting up again and I’m having trouble sleeping with the pain coming and going all night. I know, I could take some ibuprofen…but I just forgot…I am getting old after all. Not much to do today…have to to the taxes and send out some resumes…and of course, out to Ada for pool later….no snow today but it is going to be cold and I am getting tired of it…where the hell is our January thaw? Okay…I know it’s Feb but that’s no excuse…going back to the couch now to watch the last two episodes of “Californication”…I have been up since five….more later…
Well…finally found a trend that has re-started the fires of outrage somewhat and it should do the same for anyone who believes there should still be a middle class here in America. This latest attack on the workers here in the US is led by the repub governors that were elected in the last election and who have made it an unstated, but nonetheless all too real purpose of their administrations to break the public sector unions. As a financial realist as opposed to an agenda driven repub, I too understand that there are costs in many of the states that are unsustainable…but this is not an act of god as the repubs would have you believe but is a direct result of the misguided (or I should say planned) repub bowing at the altar of tax cuts to ensure that they ‘starve the beast” since they don’t believe there is a need for government at all. The spurious numbers they use to support their contentions that slashing the pay here in Michigan is that public sector wages have gone up in the last 10 years while in the private sector, wages have been stagnant or falling. I think their logic is flawed but consistent with their overall goals; to destroy all unions and the one bright spot for the middle class in an environment where the richest have seen their compensation double in the same time period. So, why no cry that these folks are overpaid and should give back to the states where they reside? To ask middle class folks to give back when the rich are given tax breaks at the expense of you and I is morally reprehensible but goes to the agenda of the repubs….they will never be happy until the rich have it all and the rest of us are left to feed off the scraps that fall from their tables….
All of us should just say stop…let’s expose this agenda and start working together to ensure that you, I, and our children only share in the sacrifice to get this country moving again…not make all of it…geez…
Well…not much of a day yesterday…just couldn’t get that interested in the super bowl and with GB winning, the Lions can say they beat the SB champs…a small consolation but a consolation…and I was wrong in my prediction of the winner….the Steelers just looked like crap and gave the game to the Pack..oh, well…no money on it for me so no big deal. I just couldn’t get into the 6 hours of pregame nonsense so I watched movies instead…and just took it easy most of the day…have made progress in the battle against cobwebs and I still have a clean microwave so the small victories are the ones I’ll have to celebrate. Still love the Roku…but I think I’ll need to just keep it shut off or only music to get some things done…not much to do today…I was good last night so I feel good this morning and might even be able to accomplish a few things. I will promise that I’ll have some political stuff out today…and maybe some other ones, too…but I’m not sure what those will be just yet. You’ll just have to come back to see…today could be a day of creativity…who knows? More later….
Well….running late this morning….have been up since dark, though, so there really is no reason for it other than I forgot….another shut out for the Wings last night and I just can’t understand those guys…I think it’s the feb slump that they go through every year…at least I hope it is. Didn’t do a whole lot yesterday…did make the pork loin roast and it came out so good….I even had two whole pieces…those of you out there that know me know how unusual that is…still having a hard time eating enough, it seems as though I’m stuck on about a 1,000 cal a day and I know that is not a good thing for me….I felt guilty about eating such a big meal so the rest of the day I had an apple…no real dreams since I got up early and they normally come in the hours between 5 and 7….I did get quite a bit of cleaning done in my kitchen and I’m no longer scared of using my microwave…I think it had it’s own ecosystem going in there….not much to do today..going to continue the cleaning later but right now it’s to the couch for the newspaper and some coffee…more later…
Well….a nice day yesterday and it was good to see T for lunch…didn’t do much else the rest of the day except clean and watch a couple of movies…the Wings played like crap last night so I am a little disappointed about that but there is another game tonight to watch and there is always hope they will do better…well…there is always hope I will better, too, but that never pans out….I did have weird dreams again last night but it was in a place that I’ve never seen and with people I didn’t know so I don’t know what to take away from it….I guess just enjoy it…that damn cold or flu or whatever I have is still hanging on and I’m not sure what to make of it…I had one like this last year that lasted a month but I hope that won’t be the case. Cooking….hmmmm….going to make a pork loin roast today with roasted potatoes and carrots…possibly some broccoli, too since I have some fresh that is going to go bad if I don’t use it today and veggies are good for you, right? I think I’ll save the homemade pizza for tomorrow…or maybe roast a whole chicken…79 cents a pound a FF…can’t pass that up….so, not much to do today…you already know about the cooking and there will be some cleaning involved….need to get to the kitchen at some point since I have only been cleaning around the edges….it’s time for papers and coffee so I’m going to do that right now…more later…
Well….if you’ve read the papers or turned on the tv lately, you’ve no doubt seen the increasing deification of Ronald Reagan that has surrounded the 100th anniversary of his birth. You would think this guy was the second coming the way his legacy is being scrubbed and polished by the right as they bow to the altar of tax cuts. There is only one thing that this mediocre at best president should be remembered for and that was his fervent belief in tax cuts for the rich and the whole trickle-down economic voodoo that has been foist upon the country by the repubs ever since. The one thing these idiots don’t want anyone to remember is that those tax cuts that exploded the deficit in the 80′s never resulted in any additional growth in jobs or standard of living for the vast majority of Americans; exactly the same thing we saw with the Bush tax cuts…no job growth and an exploding deficit that the repubs now say is a bad thing when, up to the last year or so, they chanted the mantra that “deficits don’t matter” only to change their tune when the dems took the White House. I hope you remember that this whole tax cut nonsense was based on theories by the disgraced economist Arthur Laffer….and his “Laffer Curve” that proposed that cutting taxes would increase revenue….never happened and yet the repubs are still clinging to those old, thoroughly discredited ideas and trying the same thing again expecting different results.
So, let’s stop this nonsense that he was one of the best presidents in history…best for his party, maybe, but for the vast majority of Americans he was and still is a failure. One note of disclosure here…I voted for this guy…now I cringe at that thought.
Well…a fun night out with G last night but had a small argument on whether tornados can travel along hilly or mountainous terrain…yep, pretty weird but it was nice to get out again….weird dreams again, too…could not find my place since the normal way into the lot was blocked by large orange dogs…when I came in another way all of the numbers and colors of the buildings were wrong. I know…it’s pretty scary in my head at times. Not much to do today…have lunch with T and that will be cool since I haven’t seen her in a few weeks and, I overdid it last night, so back here to just veg the rest of the day. I will have a few more today….well…maybe….not sure right now…
Well…just had a thought and I may have shared it before but I’m going to get this down again since I think it’s an important one. Did you notice that while the repubs are always screaming about “activist” judges and courts, it is the first place they turn when they don’t get their way? And, they always make sure that their lawsuits will get heard by judges that can be relied upon to tread the repub line when they are supposed to follow the law and precedent. This crap started with Bush V. Gore and continues to this day with the healthcare law that most of the people in this country don’t want repealed. But, the repubs want to undue the will of the people for their corporate masters, as always….I think they should be sued for malfeasance in office and have them have to pay damages to you and me…