The NRA - This Gun Organization For Hire.

Many years ago, there were a series of novels written about a private detective named Mike Hammer. One of the more famous of these novels was entitled. "This Gun For Hire." Now we have "This Gun Organization For Hire", as the NRA has, and is, selling out to the highest bidder, that being the gun manufacturers. They perpetrate this chicanery on the American public, by spreading rumors that the government wants to take your guns away, thereby working the gun nuts into a frothy frenzy. Of course this is nonsense, but as we learned from Hitler, The "Big Lie" as a propaganda tool can be quite effective.

The NRA tells the gun nuts that, "We have your back." Not so, as the NRA owes only one allegiance. They are in the hip pockets of gun manufacturers and both these manufacturers and the NRA have but one goal. Sell, guns, guns, and more guns. Of course if you're one who wants to buy guns, guns and more guns, then the NRA is your cup of tea.

School children and theater goers alike are slaughtered in huge numbers by crazed gunman with weapons that fire a number of bullets in just a few seconds. The NRA's response to this is to put even more guns in schools wielded by armed guards, which is tantamount to trying to fight a fire by pouring gasoline on it. Then they duck behind the dubiously worded Second Amendment by saying law abiding citizens have a right to buy and keep all types of guns. Here is a recent quote by the NRA.

"Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation," the NRA said in a statement. "Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy."

This is one of the stupidest statements I have ever heard and is consistent with another big lie the NRA delights in spreading. It goes something like this. According to the NRA, there are crooks and bad people, and there are good people. The crooks and bad people shouldn't have guns, but many do, and the good people should have guns to protect us from the bad people with guns. Black and white, with no gray, and everyone placed into a neat little box of good or bad. That is pure folly, as over 60 percent of gun violence in this nation is perpetrated by people with no prior criminal record. In other words they are US!

On the opposite side of the coin, here is what Henry Blodget from the Daily Ticker had to say.

"The Second Amendment was written 220 years ago when 3.9 million people lived in America and the most powerful guns available were single-shot flint-lock muskets. Even if you ignore the "well-regulated state militia" clause in the Amendment language, it is reasonable to wonder whether the "Framers" had today's commonly available modern assault weaponry in mind. (Also, the Constitution is occasionally modified when it becomes outdated and/or inappropriate. Slaves were legal in those days, too.)"

Of course, criminals are guilty of much of the gun violence, but the shooter in the theater in Aurora, Colorado had no prior criminal record. The shooter in the Sandy Hook school killings had no prior criminal record. Over 60 percent of the people who injure or kill someone with a gun have no prior criminal record. All of these people are part of the "law abiding citizens" the NRA says would suffer by new and stricter gun laws.

The NRA says we need to put more emphasis on mental health. Obviously we do, but not at the expense of having the gun nuts and their lobby run roughshod over the interests of the American people.

To drive my cars, I need to be licensed, and so do the cars. Yes, people with cars kill and injure people, but not with nearly the same intent of deadly mayhem as do people with guns. Is it too much to ask that we control, and license guns and the people who own them, as we do cars and the people who drive them?

Yes, people in this country have a right to own guns. I may not entirely agree with all of that right (there is the "well regulated militia" aspect), but it is the law and I respect the law. But with rights comes responsibility, and that responsibility needs to be spelled out in an ironclad way by new and tougher gun laws and (the only area in which I have ever agreed with the NRA) more vigorous enforcement of the current gun laws. It is a felony to lie on a background check, but few are prosecuted. That should stop.

We are a nation of laws. We are a nation of rights. We are a nation of responsibility. It will take a strong dose of all three to even begin to reduce the gun violence in our country.

Is it time? No, unfortunately, it's way past time!

Pity The Poor Republicans

As is keeping with my policies, I never post a new blog entry unless I feel I have something worthwhile to say. Posting daily or even weekly is not something for which I have ambition.

I did not post a new entry during the final months of the presidential campaign, as news articles and blog posts were in an over needed abundance. However, now that the results are in and President Obama has been re-elected, there is much to be said about the Republicans and their own post election in-fighting, whining and gnashing of teeth.

The Republican party is made up of many different factions, some conservative, some V-E-R-Y conservative, and some moderate. Perhaps the title of this blog entry should have read, "Pity The Poor Moderate Conservatives", as that wing of the Republican Party has been silenced almost completely by the in-your-face hard line conservatives. And where exactly did this Tea Party/Religious Right stand put the Republican Party? As Mr. Rogers might say, "Can you say on the outside looking in?" Mitt Romney lost big time by over one hundred electoral college votes, and the Tea Party, which was originally formed to help elect conservative candidates, had just the opposite effect.

The Republicans pinned their election strategy on the white male voter and true to their predictions they won that vote. I'm a white male voter who did not vote their way, but the majority did. The rest of the very diversified American public, however, did not see it that way, feeling the Republicans, in both actions and intent did not represent their best interests.

The white male is no longer the dominant element in our society, and that is what progress is all about. We are a stronger nation because of our diversity. The old guard Republicans don't like that fact, but not liking it and clinging to outdated precepts won't change it. The Republicans were yesterday's news in today's election.

The Tea Party wants to return the country to the good ole' days, when in fact, the good ole' days weren't all that good or fair to a large segment of the population. Women, blacks, gays, and other minorities were persona non grata in those days which the Tea Party wants to throw us all back into.

Added to this right wing folly are reports that some far right Tea Party (that may be a redundant phrase) types are circulating petitions to formally request that their states secede from the United States. Of course, these efforts are futile as even most right wing Republicans, not to mention Democrats, will see that these feeble efforts are quashed.  Still, it does show the warped mentality of some of the more super fringe elements of the Republican/Conservative movement.

And we shouldn't forget the 3,000 pound elephant in the room that no one in the Republican party will mention, and that is racism. There are many rednecks (and also some white necks) in our nation who are bigots and the thought of a black man being president sends them into a frothy mouth frenzy of panic.  I have absolutely no sympathy for these buffoons, as their prejudiced opinions have no relevance in modern times. They are a living example of a square peg in a round hole.

Finally, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's running mate, is not very adept at hiding his agenda, which wants to get rid of Social Security and Medicare. He sees both programs as socialism, instead of a fair government taking care of its senior citizens, both financially and health wise. Sadly, many Republicans agree with him. Meanwhile, the Tea Party arm of the party wants to roll back much of the social progress our nation has made over the past decades. This in spite of the fact that, in this past election, four states approved gay marriage, and two approved the recreational use of marijuana. Times change, attitudes change, demographics change, but the Republican powers stick to their same old tired line of protecting the super wealthy and big business at the cost of everything else, including the rank and file citizen. The mind boggling fact with all this is that the Republican leaders are still scratching their collective head and wondering why they didn't win, which is sort of like the guys at the slaughter house wondering why the steers didn't vote for them.

As a Democrat, I probably should be applauding the fact that the Republicans, even after their stinging defeat, still do not have a clue. Trouble is, I don't. We need two functioning political parties, if for nothing else to keep each other in balance. Instead, we have the party of "NO" trying to put roadblocks, at every turn, in front of a president and party who are trying to make things better for our citizens. It's disgusting.

I have no advice for the Republicans, as they are much like the alcoholic or chronic over eater, in that only they can fix the problem. While there is no danger of my becoming a Republican, I would feel much more kindly towards them if they would right their ship, try to understand the changing mood and makeup of our nation, join the rest of us in the twenty first century, and work towards the betterment of our country. If they want to be taken seriously in a future general election, they need to tell the Tea Party/Religious Right/Wealthy fat cats to stuff it. As the old saying goes, "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is a strong sign of stupidity."

Amen to that, brother!

We will now pass the collection plate and take up a collection to aid our poor misguided Republicans.  I'll contribute a penny. Perhaps the likeness of Abe Lincoln will be a start in showing them where they went so terribly wrong!

Keeping "Social" in Social Security

The Republicans, in their zeal to reshape our country into the image in which they think it should be, have targeted a number of "Whipping Boy" issues. These include environmental protection, planned parenthood, Medicare, no new taxes (or even keeping some of the existing ones), and Social Security. Each of these needs protecting, particularly Medicare and Social Security.

Every American Citizen with a regular job pays a portion of their wags into funds set aside for Social Security and Medicare. These funds in turn support monthly payments to older and/or disabled citizens in the form of a monthly check. The people receiving these checks have, in turn, paid into the Medicare and Social security funds for decades during their working years. If a person who is receiving a Social Security check also is still working, they pay additional  monthly amounts into these two funds.

I know many of you are saying, "I already know this, so why are you telling it to me?"  I am mentioning it because the Republicans are making a concentrated effort to greatly weaken Social Security or eliminate it all together. Consider what Presidential candidate Rick Perry recently said.  Yes I know, Perry is not anywhere close to being the brightest bulb in the light fixture (didn't we just get rid of a president from Texas with a similar comprehension problem?), but his words do reflect the thinking of a great many Republicans. He said: "Social Security is a Ponzi scheme for these young people. The idea that they're working and paying into Social Security today, that the current program is going to be there for them, is a lie. ... It is a monstrous lie on this generation, and we can't do that to them."

I will hate myself in the morning for saying this, but in spite of his ridiculous words, he is correct about one thing. The current Social Security program will not be there long term unless a few basic changes are made. More about that in a moment.

All retirement age generation have used Social Security to cushion the fact of not having a regular working man or woman's income anymore. For some it is their only income, while for others it is a needed supplement to their pension or investment income. For all but the very wealthy, it fills a vital need in a retired person's quality of life.

History shows us that the Republicans have always hated Social Security, dragging their feet on this issue as far back as when it was first voted into existence. To them it is socialism, and to a degree they are right, in that one generation funds the retirement of an older generation and then, in turn, some future, younger generation funds their retirement, and so on. While this is not socialism in the strictest since, it does contain elements of that philosophy. In spite of the Republican rhetoric to the contrary, partial socialism for the good of great segments of the population is not bad, nor evil.  Remember, it is called "Social" Security

History has many yardsticks by which to judge a particular civilization. One of those yardsticks is how well they provide for their people. Does a government simply discarded the sick and the elderly, or do they offer programs and system that assist the financial burdens of these groups? Social security and Medicare are the right thing for a country to do. No other justification is necessary.

Now, as for the increased funding that Social Security will require....there is a very simple way to boost the reserves of this program, and that is to collect the Social Security tax on all wages of all US citizens. Currently, that tax is only withheld from the first $106,800 of a person's yearly earnings. There are certainly other ways to make the wealthy pay their fair share of the expenses of running our country, but increasing the Social Security withholding to cover all wages is a good start.

Finally, consider what Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders had to stay on the subject In an op-ed piece, that has been published in many U.S. newspapers, Sanders wrote, "As corporations over the last 30 years destroyed the retirement dreams of millions of older workers by eliminating defined-benefit pension plans, Social Security was there paying full benefits. When Wall Street greed and recklessness caused working people to lose billions in retirement savings, Social Security was there paying full benefits.

"Despite its success, Social Security faces an unprecedented attack from Wall Street, the Republican Party and a few Democrats. If the American people are not prepared to fight back, the dismantling of Social Security could begin in the very near future," Sanders writes.

How do we fight back? How do we protect Social Security? What can we do? It's a process of several steps, the first being returning the House of Representatives to the control of the Democratic party, for as long as the Republicans rule in that governing body (with their Tea Party influenced nonsense) the threat of an attack on Social Security, as well as other citizen safety nets will continue.

Please don't misinterpret what I am saying to mean that the Democratic party is perfect, as they are far from being that. However, they clearly represent the best hope for continuing proven programs that benefit the average American citizen. And after all, isn't that what a government is supposed to do?

An Anarchist By Any Other Name.......

Most people when asked to describe an anarchist would offer something like, "It's a person who wants to abolish government at all costs, and where any cost justifies the means." Some definitions may differ slightly but that's the general idea. The "any cost" that most anarchists use is wanton violence and destruction. Burning buildings, attacking people, and in general creating as much mayhem as possible.

That was then....this is now!

To be sure, the old style anarchist, described above, still exist, as the recent senseless riots in Great Britain suggest, where anarchists, mixed with common criminals, who are only there to steal, destroy parts of London, and other towns. However, a more deadly form of anarchist has now reared it's ugly head, mainly in the United States. They don't burn buildings, they don't physically attack people and they present themselves as upright citizens trying to help their country. Never-the-less, they pose a deadly threat to our nation.

Who are these people? They are the ones who either ignore or don't realize what a debt ceiling really is (it allows our country to pay the interest on current debts, and is not a check for new spending). They were willing to see the country default on it's financial obligations (for the first time) and go down the tubes to prove a point that government is too big and must be cut down....way down.

Make no mistake. This group has clout, far more than an anarchist with a home-made bomb. They have sent people to the highest governing body of our country, the Senate and the Congress. This group is known as the Tea Party.

At first we dismissed these people as ignorant rubes who had little idea as to what went on in the real world. That was our mistake. Even though they represent only a small percentage of the American population, they grew in power and numbers and sent lawmakers to Washington who had one single agenda. These people were not sent there to make laws, but to destroy many of the old laws which protect our citizens; to weaken and destroy our current form of Government, and to throw many of our less fortunate citizens under the bus. They want to destroy the social safety nets which have taken many decades to build. Social Security? Wreck it. Medicare? Cripple It. Fair union wages? Get rid of them. Pure and simple, folks, this is anarchy wearing a different cheap suit, and trying to look respectable. They firmly fit the description of anarchists because they are bent on destroying our current form of government. This political form of anarchy is far more destructive than the violence of traditional anarchists.

By and large tea bagger members are the vastly uninformed following leaders who are financed by some well heeled special interest groups. They don't think, they react. They don't lead, they follow. They swallow half truths (or no truth at all) and believe what they want to believe, and not the facts, or the truth. Since the majority of Tea Party member are not wealthy, they seem much like a man in a tree with a saw working to bring down the very limb on which he sits. They ignore the fact that the tax load for most wealthy Americans is too small, while complaining that their tax load is too large. They raise their fist at meeting against adequate health care for all, when many of them are the beneficiaries of that same health care. They are quick to quote that government should be by the people, while short changing the important fact that it is also for the people. I won't even get into the "God is on our side" drivel many of them spread, as that is best discussed at another time.

They want to see government chopped down at the knees, and to hell with the fallout of human suffering this would bring about. They are the direct cause of the credit rating of the United States being lowered, as Republican and Democratic leaders, and the president had agreed in fact on a much larger debt reduction, coupled with a modest raise in revenue, before the flapping of mouths from House tea party members scuttled it all.

If I sound like I have no respect for the Tea Party, it's because I don't. Ignorance at any level should never be rewarded with kind words or even with indifference. Ignorance should always be fought with truth and reason.

The Tea Party won't listen to the truth or to reason, but just maybe they will have to listen to our votes next year.

The War On The People.

If you still have doubts about the Republican controlled House of Representatives favoring big business over the welfare of the people (in this case the citizens of the United States), consider the following two articles from yesterday's  paper.

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON —

House Republicans said Wednesday that a new government agency designed to protect consumers from problems with mortgages, credit cards and other lenders has too much power. They also criticized it for participating in a federal-state effort to force mortgage servicers to change the way they foreclose on troubled homeowners.

The bureau is chiefly designed to give consumers simplified information about financial products and protect them from unfair practices. Priorities Warren (Editors note: The chief of the new bureau) considers important include regulating mortgages, credit cards and non-bank financial companies like mortgage brokers, payday lenders and private providers of student loans.

GOP lawmakers also challenged the bureau's role in a push by federal agencies and the 50 state attorneys general to force five large U.S. banks to agree to make it easier for struggling homeowners to avoid foreclosure and rework their mortgages.

And then there is this:

By Kathleen Hennessey

Tribune Washington bureau

WASHINGTON — A House committee on Tuesday advanced a bill that would block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gases, boosting a top Republican priority and aiming a blow at the Obama administration and states that favor tougher environmental regulations.

The bill was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a largely party-line vote. Republicans argued that action by the EPA, coming after Congress failed to pass a climate and global-warming bill, would impose burdensome and unnecessary rules on industry.

Democrats cast the measure, called the "Energy Tax Prevention Act," as a skirmish in an ongoing GOP war on the science of global warming. The bill is unlikely to win significant support in the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority.

The Republicans would like to weaken the environmental protections we enjoy, while at the same time allowing credit card companies, banks, payday lenders and the like continue to gouge the public with unjust and sometimes illegal practices.

I particularly liked the phrase where the Republicans say "would impose burdensome and unnecessary rules on industry."  Would one of those rules be about not killing some of us with their toxic waste?

Some days, I don't have to write this blog, as the Republicans all but write it for me.

More later............................

The Taking Of America

In the 2010 elections, the Republicans won the House of Representatives, made gains in the Senate (but are still not in control) and elected a number of state governors.  This was in part fueled by people's dissatisfaction with the economy and jobless statistics, and also in large part, by the lies and distortions spread by the Tea Party.  However, history is what it is and those people came into office.

The Republicans saw this as their chance to change the political landscape and direction of our country with sweeping neo-conservative changes.  They set about to do this with a coordinated effort by the House of Representatives and Republican controlled states.  The current poster boy of these efforts is Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin. 

Through Walker's efforts and possibly illegal actions (yet to be determined in court) by that State's Republicans, the state workers (300,000 of them) were stripped of their collective bargaining rights.  Fifty years of progress was wiped away in thirty minutes.  That there will be a long lasting backlash to Wisconsin Republicans for their actions is not in question, as that is assured, and while I support the state workers in Wisconsin in their fight to win back their collective bargaining rights, there is far more at stake here for all of us, regardless of the state in which we live.  If you are a union worker, state or private, if you are on Social Security and/or Medicare (or soon will be), if you want clean air and a safe environment now, and in the future, if you are not a union worker, but enjoy certain safeguards guaranteed by the federal or state governments, if you want a country that puts the well being of it's citizens ahead of all else, you should be gravely concerned.  The reason for this concern is that the neo-conservatives now in power want to change all this.  They care about the rights of big business, not the worker's rights.  To this end, they want to do away with, or severely cripple all unions, public and private.  They are willing to sacrifice our environment in the name of business profits.  They want to dilute and, if possible, eliminate Social Security and Medicare.  Most of all, they want to cripple the people who support the Democratic Party, so as to insure Republican domination for decades to come.  They want to reshape our country in a way that serves, the wealthy, and big business  (particularly, oil, insurance, and banks).  They want to strip away many of the governmental restrictions that protect people like you and your family, and they want to take us back in time to when the average citizen was thrown a few crumbs, but had little say in how our country was run.

They want to cut needed programs in education, the arts, help for the disadvantaged, and in many other social areas in our nation.  They abhor the thought of new taxes, even though there are obvious areas where they are needed.

Consider this:  The Republicans will continue the protected tax structure of the wealthy, while not raising the Social Security payments to it's recipients.  They will not consider collecting the Social Security and Medicare tax on any incomes above $106,800 per year, again giving the wealthy a free ride.  They will not consider reducing the subsidies that oil companies and other selected businesses receive.  Yet, by taking these actions, our national debt would all but disappear in less than a decade.  Our citizens expect certain safeguards which have been in place for many years to continue, but instead of raising the above mentioned revenue, the Republicans prefer to try and balance the budget on the backs of the working class and retired citizens in this country.  What's wrong with this picture?  I say again, we have three weapons to fight their taking of America,  We have our voices, our votes, and our contributions to just causes.  It will take all three to put these charlatans out of office and return our country the fair and just nation it was and should be again.

We'll talk later....................

And It Gets Even Crazier

I just received the following from moveon.org, and thought it worth passing on.

"Our progress is under attack.

Their majority is not even a day old, but House Republicans are already getting ready to pass a bill to repeal health reform.

Instead of focusing on the future, they want to put insurance companies back in charge of our health care. To go back to the days when these companies could deny coverage to children based on pre-existing conditions, cancel coverage when people would get sick, or limit the care you could receive -- even when you needed more. When seniors would be forced to choose between paying their mortgage and paying for their prescription drugs, simply because they landed in the "donut hole" in coverage."

And now my own take on the subject.

The Tea Party screamed to all who would listen that they want to repeal the new health care law. Many mainstream Republican lawmakers are jumping on this bandwagon, as well. Just exactly what would repeal of this bill mean? For starters, thirty two million Americans (among them many single parent families and children) who now have access to health care thanks to the bill would loose that access. Patients who can now not be denied coverage by insurance companies for pre-existing conditions could again be denied. Prior to the new health care reform being passed, one out of every seven people who applied for individual health care plans were turned down by insurance carries due to pre existing conditions. The new health care law removes insurance company caps as to how much medical compensation a patient may receive for catastrophic illnesses. Those caps would be reinstated. Free screenings for cancer would also go away. These and many other advantages would be done away with and replaced with........well, fact is they would be replaced with nothing, as no elected Tea Party politician has come forth with any new health care plans, other than the same old "Let the private sector handle it," which by the way, is one of the main reasons health care was in such sad shape to begin with, as Insurance companies have committed the equivalent of armed robbery on the American public for decades. Other entities have contributed to the poor condition of our nation's health care, but the insurance companies lead the pack.

The Republicans have been in Power in The House for just three days, yet already, they want to tear down instead of building.  Ever watch a building come down, or watch one being built? Tearing down takes a wrecking ball, but building takes a good plan and skill.  The Republicans talk about reducing the deficit, but want to repeal the new health care law, which by estimates of the non partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will increase the federal deficit by hundreds of billions. Add to this their push that the wealthy be allowed to keep their generous tax cuts (which will add still another seven to nine hundred billion to the deficit) and it is obvious that while protecting big business and the wealthy, the Republicans give only lip service to actually reducing the deficit.  They want everyone to surrender  a bite for the common cause as long as that bite doesn't come out of their sandwich.  Some deficit reduction crew they turned out to be.