Tag Archives: Politics

Better Off?

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Question:  “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

Answer: YES, Mr. ROMNEY, AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE ARE BETTER OFF THAN WE WERE FOUR YEARS AGO!

Four years ago, we were looking into the abyss. Four years ago, Wall Street and the banks were trembling. Four years ago, the American automobile industry was on the eve of destruction. Every job associated with the auto industry was about to go away. Forever. Four years ago, we were fighting two wars. No end in sight. Or was it three wars? It’s hard to remember. Four years seems like a long time. Hard to remember what it was like. It’s like a nightmare that we woke up from. A catastrophic plane crash that we walked away from. YES, the truth is, we are better off.

— John

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Darkness in India, Drought in America; You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

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The power grid in India failed this week, leaving half the population of the world’s largest democracy without electric power.

Half the counties in America have been declared drought disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Half of India in the dark, half of America in drought. Makes you wonder: Where is the tipping point? How much failure can a country endure?

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Five Warning Signs of Continuing Economic Collapse

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It’s not Armageddon. But it’s not economic recovery. We’re not all going to live happily ever after.

The Statue of Liberty front shot, on Liberty I...

We’ll not be returning to the status quo ante 2006. That’s gone forever. The assumption of endless growth and prosperity is over in America. The American Dream of the past half-century is cooked.

What about more jobs, jobs, jobs for American workers, like the politicians pretend they believe? They can’t deliver it. Not going to happen. Glimmers of recovery here and there, maybe; but it will be the exception, not the rule.

Reindustrialization of America? Maybe a little bit, but new industry won’t need factories filled with unskilled workers. Or any kind of workers. Automation, robotization, computerization. All signs point to fewer jobs, not more jobs.

The promise of more jobs and economic recovery is a lie, or at least a mirage. I have to believe that many knowledgeable people in high places are aware of the truth. But they dare not say it out loud. Too many Americans are still in denial.

In order for people to accept the loss of the endless growth and prosperity model, they have to be able to replace it with a substitute. Leaders of government and business have not been able to come up with a substitute. They don’t know what to do except dissemble, and hope for a miracle.

The signs of continuing collapse in the near term and medium term are all around. Here are five of the most important warning signs, Continue reading →

‘Responsibility’ is Key to World Economic Crisis

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Is the present generation willing to accept the simple responsibility of paying its bills?

Or will we refuse to pay? That’s what it all comes down to, isn’t it?

The Roberts decision upholding the Affordable Care Act turned the spotlight on RESPONSIBILITY.  The effect of the High Court decision is to require that people of means take responsibility for buying their own health insurance. Some view that as an unreasonable request.

The decision also leaves a central question open to debate. Will society accept responsibility for the health care costs of the poor? The High Court’s position on Medicaid essentially requires each state to decide whether it will accept responsibility for its poor citizens. (A related question is: Can individuals act responsibly to preserve their own health?)

On the world economic stage, the crisis in Europe also spotlights responsibility.

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Supreme Court Health Care Decision Divides The States

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Fascinating complexity in the decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts upholding the Affordable Care Act!

English: President George W. Bush announces fr...

President George W. Bush, a Republican, announces his nomination of John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

First of all, Justice Roberts, a conservative Republican appointee, voted with the High Court’s “liberal” justices to create the 5-4 majority upholding the law. Republicans and conservatives across the U.S. hysterically called him a “traitor.”  Wait. Isn’t a patriot’s first loyalty to the United States of America, not to any political party?

The frightening possibility is that some partisans no longer see loyalty to the U.S. as a patriot’s first loyalty. It’s possible that some of the more extreme Tea Party loyalists have already seceded from the United States in their own troubled minds.

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John Roberts Is Man Of The Hour

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Official 2005 photo of Chief Justice John G. R...

Official 2005 photo of Chief Justice John G. Roberts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Supreme Court decision today on the Affordable Care Act, AKA “Obamacare,” shocked my system. It was the first jolt of optimism about the future of America that I’d felt in months. And I hadn’t expected to have any reaction at all.

Chief Justice John Roberts is the man of the hour. With one stroke he won for himself a place in American history.

I can’t claim full understanding of the High Court’s ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act. My gut reaction is it changes everything. It goes far beyond the legal issues at hand. This ruling might be the turning point that saves the American system.

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Mitt Romney and WaWa: “Amazing”

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Mitt Romney’s reaction to WaWa is, in his own words, “Amazing!” The part about WaWa is near the beginning of this three-minute video, and especially at the end. You have to endure a fascinating anecdote about a dentist and government bureaucracy in between, but it’s  worth it.

Mitt Romney appears to be a very knowledgeable CEO in the high-finance business, owner of many mansions and cars, a man who loves dogs and so on.   Continue reading →

President Obama’s Deportation Reprieve For Children Without A Country

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Thank God!  Finally, a hand reached out in humanity and compassion to innocent young people!  It’s limited compassion, but it’s a step toward forgiveness of young people persecuted for doing nothing wrong except being the children of their parents.

President Barack Obama is announcing today a reprieve for 800,000 children of immigrant parents. No deportation for two years, for those who qualify.

The hand of compassion the President offers by executive order is temporary. A two-year reprieve. The young people will continue to live in anxiety about the future. And they will carry a sorrowful burden of worry about their parents and grandparents. The two-year reprieve offers no “path to citizenship.” Not for the children, and certainly not for the adults. These young people remain children without a country.

What will be the backlash? Will Americans demand that parents and grandparents be deported as a sacrifice for the lives of their children? Is President Obama sacrificing his presidency? Can Republicans tolerate a little compassion?

The irony is that these children of hard-working immigrants can play a critical role in the future strength and greatness of the United States.

— John Hayden

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“The Water Is Being Stolen”

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“We so often hear that the world is running out of water. People are dying from lack of water. Rivers are dewatered from lack of water. Because of this we need to take shorter showers. See the disconnect? Because I take showers, I’m responsible for drawing down aquifers? Well, no. More than 90 percent of the water used by humans is used by agriculture and industry. The remaining 10 percent is split between municipalities and actual living breathing individual humans. Collectively, municipal golf courses use as much water as municipal human beings. People (both human people and fish people) aren’t dying because the world is running out of water. They’re dying because the water is being stolen.”

— from “Forget Shorter Showers: Why personal change does not equal political change,” by Derrick Jensen in “Onion” Magazine. Profound and eye-opening! To read the full article, click here.

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‘Staggering Irrationality’ In American Politics

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“At a time of unprecedented polarization in America, we need a more convincing explanation for the staggering irrationality of our politics. Especially since we’re now split not just over what we ought to do politically but also over what we consider to be true.“

So says science writer Chris Mooney in a recent Washington Post article. He attributes the “staggering irrationality” to psychological differences in the way liberals and conservatives respond to reality. He points in particular to two differences in personality traits.   Continue reading →