What is Wrong With You?

What is wrong with you?  Really, what is wrong?

How can you constantly fall for the same ploys?

Government is too big, incompetent, and bad.  But you collect your Medicare benefits, and Social Security checks with no complaint, buy your excessive prescriptions, to treat what mostly are obesity related ills.  Eat like pigs, and condemn poor children who need food stamps.

Tell racist stupid jokes, to friends who have mixed race backgrounds, and wonder why they hate you?

Make believe that global warming is not real, while Hurricane Sandy, grown to a monster by the ingredients of a warming planet, drown your grandchildren.

Make believe that drill baby drill will provide enough gas, blame the President for high prices, while driving your RV to your comfortable Elks parking lot, at 6 miles to a gallon.  Using the money you are saving on prescription drugs, thanks to the Affordable Care Act (that you hate) to buy that gas.

Hating the President, because you call him a "socialist" but really because he his black, while you coddle your  half black grandchild.

Choosing to vote for a man who has never told the American people the truth, who changes his position at every campaign stop, who actually made his fortune crippling the American economy, by outsourcing the job you lost.

Voting down tax increase for schools.  Being so stupid, you buy the crap that tax replacements, for former crazy tax cuts, are actually tax increases.

Living about two days in the past.  Refusing to even look at what George W. Bush did to this country.

Then, when schools have to close, say you "don't give a shit since I don't have kids in school anymore", and actually believe it.

Be a veteran, but vote against veteran's benefits for new vets, and call them parasites.

And finally, fly the flag everyday, and night, rain and shine, proclaim that you support the troops, while you refuse to pay for the two wars that we have been in the past ten years.

What is wrong with you?

War on Women is Not Exactly Finished

Mitt Romney was very adroit in calming women's concerns in the first Presidential Debate.  Contrary to the Republican Party's radical platform,  that outlaws abortion in ALL cases; that calls for the outlawing of abortion throughout the land, that seeks to reduce health care to women dramatically women were lulled into a false sense of security by the Bain salesman.

Romney said he was against Abortion except in cases of rape or incest,  that he was almost disinterested in overturning Roe vs Wade, and took a "trust me, I'm actually a moderate" point of view.

And apparently it worked.  Along with his assurances that he had "reached across the aisle" in Massachusetts (he vetoed almost 1000 bills), which was a flat out lie, women and many others took a deep breath, and decided that his promises on the economy (also lies), were enough to gain their vote.

So the polls swung.  Suddenly what looked like a run away for Obama became very close.  Women particularly, gave Romney the benefit of the doubt mainly because the economy has not rebounded enough.

Of course, this happened while the unemployment rate dropped, housing starts improved, and the public's  confidence in the economy rose.

But the "war on women" that Democrats had so loudly proclaimed;  that message began to fizzle.

Even the Claude Aiken truth speak, when he said that a  legitimate rape should not deserve an abortion, began to fade.

Then the nut case from Indiana spoke.  Again, he spoke exactly what the Republican platform and the vast majority of Tea Party members, and Christian Conservatives believe, that rape and incest should NOT be a mitigating factor in a woman getting an abortion in the Republican world of government reproductive control.

The Indiana Senator candidate basically said that God promoted keeping a rape induced baby.  So, he was for government forbidding abortions even in cases of rape (legitimate or not).

And Romney, flushed out again, through a spokesman,  "denounced" the statement, while running an ad in Indiana promoting the candidate's election.

Once again, it is "now you see it, now you don't".  Where does this guy really stand?

I will give you  a clue.  He is being supported by millions from hard right wing plutocrats, who hide behind "Citizens United" to give billions anonymously, against democrats from Senate to local school boards.

If anyone thinks for one minute, that Romney as President will stand up to these fat cats, they are living in dream land.


And, if any woman believes for one minute that Romney will stand up against right wing conservative Christians anti-abortion radicals, they are living in dream land.

Look, women of America, the Republican Party has a platform that is anti-women, anti-choice and anti-freedom.  You can accept the snake oil for what it is, a huge con, to get your vote, then take control over your body because "God wills it".

And who, my fellow Christian friends,  can claim they really know what God intends or thinks?  Who in the heck do they think they are?

The War on Women is not Finished.  Don't be fooled.  If Romney wins, things will change dramatically, especially for women!

I Really Wonder

I really wonder about my fellow citizens.  We are locked in one of the most important elections in the nation's history and don't seem to get it.

In many states voter ID laws are being either overturned, or stayed until after the election.  Voter fraud is happening all right, by those who are yelling fraud the loudest; Republicans.   The latest was a Republican elections official who was caught throwing democratic registration away!   Real American Patriotism there, cheat to win?!

Voters are still "undecided" after billions of dollars of persuasion, three debates and endless speeches.

The Republican candidate for President makes a comment that Syria needs Iran as its pathway to the sea, completely ignoring geography.  No Americans noticed because most Americans know nothing about geography.

In California, an initiative to provide revenue to a deficit ridden budget, which could save education, is in real trouble.  This will mean huge mid-year cuts, but many voters still hold to the folly that "the state has more money".

Governor Romney blithely promises to cut taxes by 20%, raise defense spending by a like amount, AND balance the budget...and most Americans seem to be believing him!

The same old snake oil, "voodoo economics" is being peddled in California and in the nation.  And if you believe recent polls, Americans are buying it.

This is just five years after the economy melted down; after the worst loss of wealth by the middle class EVER!  We all suffered the realization that Wall Street money manipulators have defrauded people out of billions.

And, one of  their own, Mitt Romney Bain Capital manipulator,  is running for President and may win.

There was a classic movie, that was made in the Great Depression.  It was the first mass movie produced in color.  It was called the "Wizard of Oz".

The natives of Oz, were following a wizard, who was no wizard at all, but a fraud; but they followed him anyway; blindly.  He sold himself as a wizard who could cure all ills while doing nothing of the sort, and people still believed him.  They believed  him blindly.

I really wonder if Americans can ever shake themselves and wake up to the fraud of the Republican Tea Party who caused the deficit with two wars, homeland security and Medicare benefits, that were not paid for, and passed a huge tax cut; pivoted and blamed the next President for the damage; and are getting away with it.

That is the part that makes me really wonder if Americans have a clue.

Money money money

As the Presidential race tightens, and Congressional Races lean toward the Republicans, we begin to ask why?  Why did one relatively poor debate performance swing the race (at least in the polls) so radically to Romney?

Why is Warren now losing to Brown.  How in the world can one explain the mess in Missouri.

It is money dear friends.   Citizens United is having its intended effect.

It is not easy to "follow the money", but it still can be done.

The Presidential race is mostly even, though Romney is pouring millions into battleground states.  The number of donors on the Republican side is small compared to the Democratic side.

That is because most donors for the Democrats are like me, five bucks here, five bucks there.

On the Republican side is is $100,000 here and $100,000 there.

After awhile that is real money.  And real influence.

Elections can be bought.  Enough money pours out so much propaganda, plus Fox News and 90% of talk radio being owned by conservatives, that the progressive side does not have a chance.

Most people do not read, or study history very much.  Most are too busy trying to scratch out a living to do much research...they depend on the T.V. and radio for their information.

And that media is saturated by the far right.

So, propaganda is winning; it usually does.

Read Germany 1932 to 1945 if you want to see what results.

We are doomed.

FDR

This weekend I watched a long documentary on Franklin D. Roosevelt.  I was struck by how the language and issues were so similar, between the Republicans of the time, and Roosevelt.

For the first time in American history, the Federal Government got directly involved in the economy under Roosevelt.  In a every sense, the foundation of our modern post-industrial capitalism was created by Roosevelt and his experimentation filled New Deal.

For most of American history, charity for the poor was considered an area for private and church donations.  The Great Depression changed that, no amount of charity could deal with 50% unemployment.

People were afraid, they were hungry, and free market capitalism seemed to be totally inadequate to deal with the suffering.

Roosevelt changed all that.  He kick-started the federal government into massive spending programs in an attempt to ease the suffering of millions, and to insure that the boom and bust cycle of capitalism could be regulated.

This, of course, started the great debate we are still in today.  Conservatives, most rich ones, of the thirties literally grew to hate Roosevelt as a "traitor to his class", as the President broadened the New Deal to massively aid the "have nots".

And it worked.  The Depression may not have been cured by the New Deal, but its effects were greatly mitigated.

As it turned out, the Great Depression was a world wide phenomenon, and it took WWII to shake the world out of it; at the cost of over 50 million dead.

The boom and bust cycles of capitalism were greatly tamed by the New Deal.  In the 2000s, George W. Bush, greatly de-regulated Wall Street and the financial markets, and plunged the nation into a financial crisis nearly as bad as the Great Depression.

What we see now, is a massive, I hope last ditch, effort by rich conservatives, to once again roll back New Deal regulations of the economy; in a self interest attempt to fix the game and drive their wealth even higher.

The rich have got richer in the last 30 years, the gap between haves and have-nots has exploded.

Meanwhile, thanks to Fox News and conservative propaganda, many members of the middle class are actually on the rich conservatives side, caught up in a false ideological argument, that actually is a cynical rich man's con to fool them into giving their blind support.

It is almost sickening to listen to them.  They puppet the rich conservative talking points, that have been fed them for hours by Fox and Rush, not aware that NONE of these talking points help them at all.

In a real sense they are like pretend rich men, acting like they are standing for economic liberty, while the rich continues to push them farther down into poverty.

It has got so bad, that many members of the middle class, are actually falling in line with attacks on Medicare and Social Security, when most of them are, or will be, dependent for their future health and welfare on those New Deal (and Great Society) programs.

In short, they decry the very programs that will keep them well as seniors, and pay their bills.

FDR changed the nation forever, and forever the rich have hated him.  Today, the visceral hatred of President Obama is reminiscent of that same loathing.

The amazing thing, is the wealth, especially the super rich, have benefitted massively under the New Deal (that saved their capitalistic and unfair system).  The rich are richer today than ever before compared to everyone else.

So, today the battle is between the New Deal, that succeeded, and everyday provides security and assistance to millions, and the rich, who literally want it all;  and the 47% , as Romney famously said, do not matter.

The debate cannot be lost this time around, just as it could not be lost the last time.  The future of this country depends on it.

Are We Waking Up?

The latest polls, of Americans over 50, show a shift to President Obama.  The biggest reason is the Ryan/Romney (I put Romney second because Ryan is the protagonist with Medicare), have taken dead aim at "reforming" Medicare.

The Ryan proposals, that Romney is predictably running away from, call to basically give vouchers to all Medicare prospects under 55, when they become eligible.  Also, the eligible age will go to 67.  These vouchers will in no way be enough to buy insurance.

Any person with any familiarity with insurance, will immediately wonder how 67 year old people will do in the "free health insurance market" with a paltry voucher?

People who are 67 or over have a host of maladies.  Right now, most seniors without Medicare who are  67 have no chance of even purchasing health insurance because of pre-existing conditions.  People over 67 are VERY expensive to insure.

That is why we got Medicare in the first place!

Meanwhile, Ryan's "Plan" (actually a scheme to destroy Medicare),  benignly (?) allows everyone over 55 when  his plan goes into effect, can keep the "defined benefit" Medicare plan.  So, let's just play this out.

Let's say Romney is elected and can  somehow get this "reform"  passed.  All those over 55 would be guaranteed the Medicare we now have, which means they all have insurance.  All those under 55 have a voucher waiting for them when they reach 67.  I assume they keep paying into the fund, but get a voucher to go get private insurance.  In 12 years, the 55 something has Medicare at 65 and has a "single payer" insurance with all the benefits of Medicare today (I assume).  In 12 years the 54 something is 66 and is planning on getting a voucher.  For at least thirty years, you will have a mix of elderly people, about 1/2 who have single payer insurance, 1/2 and growing who have to go out to the private insurance vultures to purchase insurance.

Have you heard of pool regarding insurance rates?   This will be a disaster.  You need a huge pool of people to bring the risk down of an insurance group.  And 67 year old people (and older) are a horrible risk pool.  All of them will be getting sick, cancer rates double the younger population, high blood pressure; etc, AND 1/2 of the pool will have the single payer Medicare program.

So, small pool, huge rates!

For almost 40 years, until all the traditional Medicare people die off, the pool of seniors to "shop" for individual insurance will result in premiums that will be staggering.

The ONLY way insurance companies can even insure this group, and Ryan's bright idea forces them to, is to pass the cost along to younger customers; the 40, 30 and 20 somethings.

The potential for huge increases in health insurance premiums is 100%.

It won't work.  It is ridiculous.

We do need to reform Medicare.  We need to crack down on fraud and abuse.  We need, perhaps, to raise some deductibles on wealthy Medicare recipients.  We might even need to increase the tax that drives the program.

That's right, we may have to pay a little more, to keep the program solvent.  Oh God, I just said the tax word...Romney will immediately protect his tax returns.

Any of these more sensible ideas are superior to the sheer insanity of the Ryan plan.

And seniors, like me who just turned 65, are beginning to think this through, and realize it for the madness that it is.

And Romney, who foolishly put Ryan on his ticket, is suffering in the polls big time.

The Only Thing To Fear

In 1945 the United States led the United Nations to defeat one of the worst evils the world had ever seen.     We recently visited Italy, marveled at the accomplishments of the Renaisance, the history, the art, the civilization.

However, Italy and Germany murdered millions during World War II.

And what was the engine of this destruction?   What caused these very civilized, Christian nations to turn into engines of evil?

Fascism.  Propaganda. Fear.

I have read several letters to the editor recently warning  that America is at risk, that our freedoms are in danger, that our freedom of religion is threatened,  fear, fear, fear.  And by implication, hate, hate, hate.

I ask those writers to go to a quiet place, and list the real, actual threats that  REALLY threatens them.  And, please turn off Fox News, right wing hit piece radio, and Rush is right.  Just let it get real quiet, and list the real, actual limits on your liberty that threaten you so much.  Make a list of all the times evil government, or President Obama has REALLY threatened you.  I mean real threat, threatened imprisonment, violence, loss of doing what you really want to do.  I will bet, your list is very short if you find a quiet place and turn off the propaganda machine.

Fascism is a socio-political illness.  It is fed by fear, stereotypes and lies.  Joseph Goebbles famously said, "If you are going to tell a lie to the masses, tell big lies".   The disease of fascism  feeds on fear, on telling big lies.  And, it is works through blind, unquestioning fear, to motivate people to do horrible things.  

When we get afraid, we do things we never would do, people in Italy and Germany killed, jailed, and attacked their supposed enemies. The Jews were supposedly responsible for the loss of WWI (Italy actually fought on the Allied Side), the Great Depression, everything wrong in the world.

And through it all, at first anyway, there was no REAL  threat at all.  People were motivated to kill their neighbors, imprison millons, because they were propagandized into fear, and responded with deadly force.

So, take a minute and think about all this before you go off on liberals, or the President, or those who supposedly are stealing your freedom.

You are getting worked by propaganda that is demonizing your fellow citizens, using fear everyday to manipulate your into the deadly trap of destructive fascism.

My father's generation fought, and sacrificed beyond belief  to destroy the fascist destroyers.    It was not easy.  It killed almost 75 million people.

Be not afraid, the only thing we really have to fear is fear itself.  That, and the propaganda manipulators, are our true enemies.