Warning

Reading time 15 seconds
 
I just, close anyway, celebrated my 67th birthday. No, I’m not telling you this to get more prezzies, but to report a discovery I’ve made.

It happened so gradually I almost missed it. The force of gravity is increasing.

I noticed this morning as I climbed the stairs it was harder to make them than it used to be.True I had a larger coffee cup than usual, but I don’t think it enough more to make the difference.

There, you’ve been warned.

Hey, Tea Party, You’re Mad at the Wrong People

Reading time 20 seconds

You’ve got a right to be mad, things are a mess. The middle class is in big trouble and things are getting worse for us. But, you’re missing the real villains in all this - BIG Business. They are the guys that control Congress. They are the guys that make the rules. They are the guys bleeding the country dry. It’s not Congress that’s sending our jobs overseas. It’s not Congress that doesn’t pay it’s taxes. If you don’t know that then you aren’t paying attention and are just a distraction behind which BIG Business can continue to hide. Wake up.

Democrates-The New Invertebrates

Reading time 25 seconds

I’m still waiting for change I can believe in. I became a Democrat because I believed the Republicans were too BIG BUSSINESS at the expense of the middle class.

Like most of those raised in a military household, and serving in Vietnam myself, I was a Republican. That ended with Regan. But then I was living in California when he was governor, so I had an unfair advantage. I really thought that things were going to be different with President Obama, but I guess not. And talk about being disappointed in a Democratic Senate! The Republican minority is eating their lunch and I don’t see the Dems putting up much of a fight. Of course, a bunch is up for re-election. I guess that’s more important than doing the right thing, fighting the good fight, and going down scrapping. Looks like business as usual, just trying to keep their jobs.

I keep getting requests for money from the Dems, but I just say not to bother me until they grow a backbone.

Lower Taxes – Here’s How

Reading time 30 seconds

IT’s really simple. Over fifty per cent of Americans pay no taxes at all. None. Now a lot of those are folks who simply don’t make enough to pay taxes even when they take no exemptions and declare every dime. And a lot are folks who make plenty, but manage to keep it all. They have really smart accountants and people in high places to finesse the tax code in their favor.

The really big problem is that most U.S. corporations pay no taxes, although I guess they can afford to. They have really, really smart accountants and generously help write the tax laws affecting them, not to mention some creative accounting involving offshore banks.

Of course, BIG Oil gets billions in subsidies from the taxpayers whether they need them or not.

If the folks who can pay, but get out of paying paid, then our taxes would be lower. Right?

See, I said it was simple.

Throw the Bums Out?

Reading time 20 seconds

“Throw the bums out. I’m voting for an outsider, not one of those Washington insiders growing fat on the taxpayers.” Right.

Look, I’ve been following politics like it was the World Series for over forty years and I used to believe that too. Finally I realized that nobody who doesn’t know how Washington works stands a chance in the Congress. They get eaten alive.

Just be sure you hold whoever gets your vote accountable. Phone, write, and e-mail. They do listen. Don’t buy into the ‘throw the bums out philosophy’. Would you hire a guy to fix your car who didn’t know auto mechanics?

Say That Again, and Again, and Again

Certain wing nut parties seem to be obsessed with calling our President a Nazi. If that was true they wouldn’t be saying it twice. Most times when people make accusations like that they’re very poorly informed, that’s why they’re so afraid. Ignorance breeds fear like spoiling meat breeds maggots.

Most of us react, we don’t think. If something sounds right, well hey, must be true. The only problem with that is we’re all of us, a messy mixture of prejudices, emotional pain and unpleasant life experiences. We filter everything we see and hear through this messy mixture. Seeing the truth gets hard.

The conservatives exploit this distorted thinking by using a technique ironically learned from a Nazi by the name of Herman Goering, Hitler’s minister of propaganda.

Herman knew that if you took a bald faced lie and repeated it enough times folks would start to believe it’s true. So, if you say that the President is a Socialist, or not an American citizen, or he’ll raise your taxes, over and over and over, people start to believe it. Big advertising has been using this technique to sell us soap flakes for a long time.

And speaking of Socialism, we employ many Socialist programs here in the good old U.S.A. to advantage. Social Security, Medicare, public schools, fire departments, the military and police departments to name a few. So, there’re not all bad.

Try to do your own thinking, don’t let someone else push your buttons and get you to react the way they want you to.

Crazy Pills

I‘ve been watching with disbelief as the media reports we are about to hand back the keys to the bunch that nearly ran us over a cliff. What? Am I taking crazy pills? What sense does it make to reward the Republicans with a return to power because you don’t like the way the Democrats are trying to clean up the mess they made? Sure you may disagree with the present administration’s handling of this crisis, but come on, give me a break here. The Democrats inherited two totally unfunded wars, a massive debt, the loss of over 600 thousand jobs a month, and an economy on the brink of collapse. Do you really think things will get better if we go back to the policies that got us here in the first place?

If you don’t know the answer, ask a ten year old kid.

Please, please before you vote, or decide not to, do some research. Find out what’s really going on, don’t just lash out blindly. Oh, and what the heck does, “Take my country back.” mean? Exactly what country are they talking about, and did they ask me? Sounds like a bunch of folks trying to impose their lifestyle on the rest of us. Isn’t that what they’re whining about? And while I’m at it, the rest of us have freedom from religion as much as Christians have a right to freedom of religion. Right?

Just take a good look before you leap.