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Wealthy Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country!

  • Posted on July 21, 2010 at 5:43 pm

What are you willing to do for your country?  We have been asked repeatedly to step up for our country.  During WWII people had to step up by going to war in a foreign land, women had to take on more manual labor, people were encouraged to buy bonds and restrictions were made on the consumption of goods.  My parents had many children.  To get shoes for their children, they would trade gas rationings with my aunt so they could buy shoes.  Today with so many people living as “expatriates”, I wonder what people are willing to do for their country.  The poor always give.  Often times they give because they see no other alternative.  This is why many join the military.  The economy is poor and they are struggling to find work.  However, we have a war economy, so they join some branch of the military.  It might not be their first choice but they may see it as their only alternative when the economy is poor and they are not wealthy.  As you read my take on things, please think about what you are willing to do for your country.

I have two political groups that are nipping at my heels trying to get me to contact my senators for their causes.  Both of these causes are worthy:  One is to save education jobs and Pell grants and the other is for the passage of a clean energy bill.  Both of these causes and their supporters are feeling the crunch because Congress will go into recess in August.  Now as a teacher I have the summer off but I always find it interesting that although Congress just had a big July 4th break they are now going to take all of August off.  For the pay they receive, I find this amazing.  I don’t think the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have that option.  Nor do most of the other government employees that work for all of our states.  If every government worker took August off, a lot wouldn’t get done.  However, senators and congress people are a completely different breed.  While they expect everyone and his brother to change with the times, they remain stuck in some centuries old concept that was based on “beating the heat”.  Is there any wonder that not much really gets done for the people in modern congressional sessions?

So it looks like Harry Reid is waiting until the last possible minute to bring up the climate bill.  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39677.html I don’t presume to understand the politics behind this but it seems to me that it will be brought up and voted down as there won’t be enough time to discuss it before the August recess.  On the other hand, if they get it done just before the recess they can talk about it in their campaign speeches.  It’s just so sad that these votes are so political and not handled in the best interest of our nation.  Whether it is voted up or down after the November election who knows who will control congress and what excuses they will give then for being a “do nothing” congress.  Thomas Friedman has an interesting take on the energy bill and it’s worth a read.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/opinion/21friedman.html?src=mv

The American Federation of Teachers is contacting the public to try in get some assistance on saving teachers jobs and Pell grant money.  I received this link.  http://action.aft.org/c/44/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=382

Unfortunately, I don’t know what the bill is.  I know that Senator Harkin had this bill in April and it seems to have gone no where.  http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-3206

Teachers are being cut all over the country.  I think these types of bills are temporary fixes to the problem.  Both of these issues, energy and teacher jobs,  would have better chances of passing  or in the case of the teacher problem being corrected, if three distinct things happened in my opinion.  If we withdrew our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, I think that would free up a considerable amount of money that has been pouring out of our country.  We should also let the Bush tax cuts for those making $250,000 or more run out.  I’m tired of the politicians that claim these wealthy people will hire less people if this happens.  It’s quite apparent that since these tax cuts were voted in there has been a constant bleeding of American jobs.  The truth is any politician that tries to convince anyone with a brain that those tax cuts some how “trickle down” to the American people should be voted out of office.  Finally, the social security cap should be lifted on people making over $250,000.

I am a pragmatist but I have always felt that we have to do everything that we can for the best interest of our country.  The poor have always given to their country with the sweat of their brow in labor and even their lives in war.  It is only patriotic to ask those that have so much to give a little more to help our country when times are tough.  The toil of the poor and their labor built this country.  The poor have always been asked to step up during challenging times.  We now need to ask the wealthy to do their part.  We know they are unlikely to give their children for war or even labor for that matter.  They can give their money to help fuel our economy so that all can prosper in this great country.  I challenge the people making over $250,000 to ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.

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Coffee or Tea? Neither Please!

  • Posted on March 13, 2010 at 4:14 pm

Coffee or Tea, what do you prefer today?  Today is the coming out party of the “Coffee Party”.  You know the anti “Tea Party” party.  I’m already tired of both of these parties.  Neither one has a clue what’s really going on across this country.  People are anxious but they aren’t looking for cutesy named parties like “Coffee or Tea”.  People are tired of being taken for granted and worrying about their jobs and health care.  Neither of the two major parties, Democratic and Republican, are meeting the needs of their constituents.  Both are working hard to garnish money from lobbyists and those lobbyists are not our neighbors.  This newly formed “Coffee” party has Obama’s fingers all over it from the association to Jim Webb to people that worked to elect Obama.  I, for one, am tired of being manipulated by any political party.  My best guess is these are the “Starbuck” lovers that are willing to pay $4.00 for a cup of coffee.  They are definitely out of my league and are probably what the right refers to as “latte” lovers.  Oh, well, these are just labels we bandy around.  I refuse to put a label on my frustration and distrust of this new movement or the Tea Party one as well.  The Republican Party was quick to get on board the funding of the Tea Party movement so that makes that party completely distrustful to me.  I can probably say the same for this new Coffee Party.  From my point of view I want to hear more politicians sounding like Rep. Patrick Kennedy from Rhode Island:

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/ID/220793&start=18530&end=18784

He isn’t running any more so maybe he decided he was free to say what he’s really thinking.  I don’t know but this is the fire for the people that I want to see in my representatives.

Here is a post by “Wonk the Vote” much worth reading about coffee, tea and FDR.  http://letthemlisten.wordpress.com/2010/03/13/coffee-summits-not-coffee-parties/

I really enjoyed reading about FDR and his discussion of a second bill of rights.

I want a party that represents the “workers” of America.  These are the people that keep this country moving from factory jobs, police, teachers, transportation, and healthcare to the guy that picks up your garbage.  These are the people we all know that are our neighbors.  They aren’t a CEO and they don’t work on Wall Street.  They aren’t a Washington politician and while they may own a “mom and pop” store.  They don’t own “Wal-Mart” and they certainly aren’t a movie star!  We are the forgotten in this country.  While we make up the largest share of voters we are woefully under represented in our government.  While the wealthy including the politicians, CEO’s, Wall Street and Hollywood try to manipulate us at every turn by showing us what a war should be on screen, or by telling us to buy those ridiculous light bulbs that don’t last six months let alone five years, to always telling us we are the “greatest” and hoping we still believe that lie or to manipulating us to grasp our little “nest egg.”  We are the greatest to them if we keep buying the same old garbage they keep selling.  It’s time all of us woke up and figured out that these people are only looking at their own best interests.  The politician wants to get reelected so he will tell us anything.  The movie star wants to make more money so they call us to action on everything from the environment to our values of patriotism.  They do this because they are part of the corporate owned media.  Wall Street just wants our money and they will play games with the market to get it.  Once you’re in that market they will shake a few out ever so often and it could be your retirement that’s lost!

We, the true Americans, need to wise up and see these people that garner so much respect in the media for what they truly are.  We have the Internet.  We don’t need to be told by some Joe Scarborough on MSNBC or Wolf Blitzer on CNN or any other media pundit what’s going on in this country.  We can see by getting online and also by talking to our neighbors.  Here in Sturgis we know our property values have gone down.  We know there are vacant homes in town.  We can see that funding in our state is getting pretty down right scary.  We know that everything from the police to schools to state services have been cut and yet we still see plenty of money for war and politics.  We see politicians whooping it up at the Whitehouse with parties and dignitaries and don’t forget about those constant calls from the two parties for money for their next campaigns.  We see money going to two wars and a potential third and no one says, “Whoa, wait a minute!  What about the American people?”  I hear this phrase in my head.  I heard it as a teacher from GW Bush and now I’m playing it over in my mind.  That is over and over, “Expect more and pay less!”  This is in reference to teachers and I am a teacher but it really is in reference to all American workers.  We can all expect to do more and get paid less if we continue to buy what the politicians and the wealth in this country are selling.  Hollywood, politicians, CEO’s will all live large while the rest of us tighten our belts, pray we don’t lose our jobs or health insurance and scrape by.

Now do I want coffee or tea?  Not exactly!  I want real representation and I’m not going to get it over a cup of coffee or tea.  The best I can do as an American worker is to keep putting my voice out there.  I’ll keep calling my congress people and hope they change and I’ll keep saying what I think!

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Sign the Kucinich Petition

  • Posted on March 2, 2010 at 8:14 pm

I just got a letter from Dennis Kucinich with this video attached.  Please sign the petition to end the Afghan war.  We need to take a stand on this.  He wants to force a vote on whether we stay in Afghan.  He wants to build a civic movement for peace and social justice in America.

You can sign the petition here:

http://kucinich.us/

This is the petition:

A Petition Requesting
the U.S. Congress
to Stop Funding Additional Troops
in Afghanistan.

Whereas, Congress has the responsibility to decide whether to go to war under Article I, Section 8; and

Whereas, it’s not up to the United States to be able to choose the government of other countries, and

Whereas, Congress has the responsibility to focus on conditions at home in America, addressing infrastructure, putting millions of Americans back to work, saving millions of people from foreclosure and helping 47 million people to receive health care; and

Whereas, Congress must knowledge public sentiment in our communities, where people are desperate for jobs, trying to protect their wage levels, worried about their investments, their savings, their security; now therefore,

I STRONGLY URGE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO VOTE AGAINST ANY  FUNDING FOR ADDITIONAL TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN AND THAT CURRENT FUNDING BE REASSESSED AND REDIRECT TO THE ECONOMIC NEEDS OF AMERICANS AT HOME.

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Health Care Reform

  • Posted on February 27, 2010 at 11:21 pm

Like everyone else I have a lot of concerns about health care reform.  I don’t trust either political party as both have been backed by the corporations.  In my own job as a teacher the health insurance cost has sky rocketed since September 11th, 2001.  We used to have MESSA Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance and it was considered the “Cadillac” of all plans.  After much negotiation we kept that plan for awhile and each teacher contributed about $2500 a year.  Eventually, it just got too expensive and we went to a Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO plan.  The cost for our school like any other business is astronomical.  Those in congress that don’t want to fix this system have their heads stuck in the proverbial sand.  In my opinion there is no way business can continue to sustain this cost.  I believe costs could be cut considerably with a single payer system.  If we all paid in with some kind of graduated plan, we would all share in the burden and perhaps we could focus negotiations on salary instead of insurance.  Sharing that burden across a wide spectrum of salaries should mean the best for the greater good of all.  I believe we must have healthy people to have a healthy nation.  No one wants to be next to that person in public that is coughing and wheezing because they can’t afford medical care.  Our country should and is better than this.  It is unconscionable that there are people that become so ill that they only get to the doctor as a last resort.  This is a moral indictment of our country and its lack of respect for its greatest resource, its people.  We hear all of the politicians that talk about the “greatest generation” and how noble they were and how lucky we are that they fought for our freedoms in WWII.  What about this generation?  Why can’t we as a country stand up and declare that this generation is great and in their greatness we will devote ourselves to solving the problems of this generation and fight for their jobs, health care and general well being?

I came across this great website that has a great deal of information about the issue of health care in our country.  It’s a non-partisan site and I highly recommend it for learning more about this issue.

http://www.kff.org/

If you move around the site you will find many areas of interests.  At this point you can find a side by side comparison of the different proposals in congress.

http://www.kff.org/healthreform/sidebyside.cfm

Here is a snippet from the section about the uninsured:

Key Details:
• Workers usually enroll in employer-sponsored health insurance if they are
eligible. Since the average annual cost of employer-sponsored family coverage in
2009 was $13,375, lower income workers cannot afford these plans without
sizable contributions from their employers.3
• Since 2000, the percentage of firms offering coverage has decreased from 69% to
60% and the percent of people with employer-sponsored insurance has also
decreased. Recent declines in employers offering coverage have had the greatest
impact on low-income employees.4
• The uninsured realize that health insurance is important but cannot find affordable
coverage. In a recent government survey, only 2% of adults said that one of the
reasons they are uninsured is because they do not need coverage.5
• About three-quarters of the uninsured are uninsured for more than one year.6 The
uninsured often remain without coverage because they do not have access to
employer-sponsored insurance.
Nonelderly Uninsured by
Family Work Status, 2008
Total = 45.7 million uninsured

Another thing I came across is the fact that more people as they become unemployed are qualifying for Medicaid so we are already paying for them.  As with everything it seems that the lower middle class are hurt the most, if you really consider them to be called middle class any more.  I can understand small businesses that cannot afford to figure out how to pay for health insurance.  If health insurance costs are getting to around $13000 for most companies how can a beginning company compete with this, or any company for that matter?

It is time for the government to close all of these loop holes for the insurance and pharmaceutical companies and reform health care for the benefit of all of us.  Politicians that seem to want to stall any effort to reform this system need to be voted out for the good of all.

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CEO Pay and the American Dream

  • Posted on February 23, 2010 at 7:21 pm

Gary Markstein from Cagle Blogs

http://cagle.msnbc.com/news/CEOSalaryCaps/1.asp

I came across an interesting website yesterday.  I was searching for information on the cost of congress.  I read some things but happened upon this site.  http://www.bls.gov/oes/2008/may/oes_nat.htm#b00-0000 What is interesting to me about this site is in the area of healthcare support workers.  Since there are so many people in the baby boom generation getting ready to retire I kind of think there will be plenty of jobs in the future in the area of health care workers.  You know the low paying type jobs where people are cleaning bed pans and taking care of the daily lives of our aging population.  Our young people looking for jobs have so much to look forward to if they are in food service or healthcare support.  Maybe one needs to be an air traffic controller instead.  Even though Reagan busted that union in the eighties it sure looks like that’s a job some might want with the high pay.  An ambulance driver makes less than a bus driver.  Wow, when your life is on the line, who are you going to call?  Sadly missing from this list are the CEO’s of the corporations which earn multitudes more than anything on this list.  They get paid the big bucks making sure we get paid the peanuts.

The AFL-CIO has data on their website about CEO pay.   http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/

Wouldn’t you like compensation like this?  http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/ceou/top100.cfm I really don’t feel I need that much money and wonder why these guys need that much?  Is there ever enough?  The CEO for Visa makes almost $18 million dollars.  Little people with credit card debt should be mad as hell while they scrape their money together to pay their bills.  Omnicare, they provide pharmaceuticals for seniors, at least that’s what the web said.  I see lots of insurance and health care companies making the big bucks for the CEO’s.  The talking heads and Republicans are so worried about socialism.  Socially, I find these CEO pays unacceptable!  If you really search through the data on the AFL-CIO site it is quite interesting.  They list everyone from A-Z.  Do you know where your money is going?  My guess would be probably to some of these guys.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/IH31Dj02.html

Here is a snippet from this article:

American opinion on CEO pay
In the United States, only 32% of the public currently supports an outright pay cap on executive earnings. But average Americans appear to be every bit as outraged over CEO pay excess as average Europeans. Indeed, 77% of Americans say corporate executives “earn too much”. Only 11% admire “those who run” America’s “largest companies” either “a great deal” or “quite a bit”.

CEO pay isn’t limited to being a problem just here in the United States of America.  It is obviously a problem world wide as the rich appear to be getting richer and the poor poorer.  The bottom forty percent of the people in our country own less than one percent of its wealth.  It may be time for a revolution.  http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/stratification/income&wealth.htm

If we can’t get Congress and the President to hear us, we may have to protest for the greater good of all the people.  I hear Republicans screaming about “Socialism” but if Capitalism is producing such a high discrepancy in the wealth distribution maybe we should consider more social type programs to even things out a bit.  It just isn’t right that it is getting harder and harder to earn a living wage in the U.S.A.  We all have heard since we were children about the “American Dream”.  You know the good job, white picket fence, nice house, nice car, healthy kids and the kids able to afford to go on to college.   And health care?  We never even had to hardly think about that.  My mom had fourteen children.  She used to spend about two weeks in the hospital.  Today all of that would be impossible!  All of the “American Dream” is in jeopardy at the current time for most of the American people.  There is a growing divide between those that “Have” and those that “Have not”.  I see it in my art classes.  Some students do a lot of traveling, have every toy you can imagine and some are just scraping by and hoping for some heating assistance for the winter months.  We need to shake up things in Washington D.C. before our communities all look like the war torn looking cities like Chicago and Detroit.  We must hold the Congress accountable for how they’re spending our money and who they are giving it to.  You know if they would have given that bail out money back to the people, I think the economy might have moved a bit.  They wanted to get money out in circulation.  The American people could have circulated that money a lot better than a band of bankers.  I’m sure they would have paid bills, bought vehicles, homes and everything else which would have stimulated this economy.  Congress in their infinite wisdom thinks we are too stupid to know what to do with our money.  Instead they kick it back to their friends and endorsers.  As a final note it will be interesting to see what Evan Bayh will do with his almost $14 million in campaign funds that he has left over.

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Dropping Like Flies

  • Posted on February 21, 2010 at 6:07 pm

Evan Bayh listening to the American people?

Is there something in the Washington D.C. water?  Why are all these congressmen deciding not to run?  Another one bites the dust with Evan Bayh from Indiana.  The talking heads keep telling us the so called reasons but are there more sinister motives.  Are some being pressured not to run much like the Lt. Governor Democratic nominee from Illinois, Scott Lee Cohen?  Oh, the shame of it all.  The people voted for him to be the nominee even with his scandalous past but the Dems in power will have none of it.  “One day you’re in and the next your out!” as Heidi Klum claims on Project Runway.   Evan Bayh gave an emotional speech that seemed honest.  It really seemed like he didn’t want to leave at all.  Maybe he’s getting ready to run for the White House or maybe he was forced out because of some hidden, secret scandal yet to be revealed.

Or maybe we should just take him at his word.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/opinion/21bayh.html?hp=&pagewanted=al

We all know that congress is dysfunctional.  It’s a given and we don’t label them a “do nothing” congress for nothing.   The two parties have run amok.  We used to at least feel like one of the two parties represented us, the little people.  Conservatives had the Republican Party and liberals had the Democratic Party.  Today it feels more and more like the two parties represent corporations and no one else.  Under George W. Bush the congress ran up the debt in unprecedented numbers.  Conservatives weren’t represented neither were the liberals but corporations were highly represented especially the ones that were profiting from these two wars we have been enmeshed in for years.  Have you noticed how the press portrays Barack Obama as a liberal and claim he’s moving to the left and so on?  This is just smoke and mirrors as much of the press is controlled by corporations.  This is to make those of us that are liberal feel like we got what we wanted.  How untrue all of this is as I find it amazing to note that the “change” from one party to the other has virtually gone unnoticed by most of us little people.  If I had fallen asleep after the 2008 election and just awaken it would seem as though GW was still president.  If I were voting right now I would vote for women because we are under represented and I would vote out most of the incumbents.  If you have spent the majority of your life campaigning you more than likely are out of touch with the American people any way.

Republicans feel a surge coming on.  They think that the American people want their type of rule.  How unquestioningly they miss the mark.  They fuel the Tea Party people thinking that it is the Republican Party that the Tea Party wants to emulate.  I find this all very doubtful.  It seems to be more of a Libertarian view or a left over fringe of the Ron Paul movement rather than the Republicans that have the hearts of the Tea Party movement.  Truthfully people in this country are fed up with both parties.  We don’t like the money involved in elections and the partisan way everything is seemingly decided.  That of course is just to fool us as both parties are really representing corporations.  The question is really which corporations back which party?   http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/index.php Anyone that has ever gone to Open Secrets usually comes away with their eyes open as to who is running our government and it isn’t “We the people!”  This next site is interesting for finding information in the news about corporations and politics.  http://www.corpwatch.org/index.php I contend that we should change the way we elect out politicians from the local sheriff to the highest office in the country, the President.  We should make elections meaningful again with much debate so we can truly see where these people stand on the issues.  We should bring back the League of Women Voters to organize the debates.  Now Presidential debates are negotiated between the two parties.  Forget about the parties.  Take them out of the picture and ask whatever the people want to know.  We should give equal television time to all of the candidates.  Independent candidates shouldn’t have different requirements than the two main parties when trying to get on the ballot.  In many states Independents have to jump through extra hoops to try and get on the ballot.

In the Michigan Presidential primary of 2008 when the people voted some of their votes ultimately were given to a candidate that they did not vote for on May 31st, 2008 when the Democratic Party rules committee met to decide what to do about the Michigan Primary.  When my sister called the Attorney General of the state of Michigan she was told that the Democratic Party could do what they wanted with those votes.  It’s like a club or a union.  They can decide things for us.  What I don’t understand is the fact that we, the taxpayers, paid for this “club” to have their primary.  I believe it cost our very “poor” state twenty million dollars to have that primary.  What a waste of tax payer money!  I would have to say whether Evan Bayh is talking truth to power or has been pushed out, much of what he has said is a known fact.  Congress doesn’t accomplish much these days but they do manage to irritate the hell out of the American people, the voters.  Let’s hope we stay mad as hell and remember these antics the next time we go to the polls.  Let’s start thinking about voting against the two party system and the money interests.  Let’s ignore the media and search for our own truth.  There are plenty of publications on the web that can better inform the public about what’s really going on.  So let’s all get educated and do what we can in our own communities to inform people about the corruption in Washington D.C. and even in our local communities and states.

Locally, there are two main issues that rise above most other issues.  The first is job security and the second is the education of our children.  We want our jobs to be secure with benefits and comfortable enough so we can raise our children and have something left for retirement and we want our children to have a life filled with opportunities that only a good education can provide.  Slowly but surely we are failing in these two main areas.  The federal government has abandoned us on both issues.  They have transported our jobs out of the country, killed unions to lower our wages and have tried everything they could do to destroy public education.  They are watering down the education system by slowly but surely sneaking money out to “charter” schools with far different requirements than public schools.  They have done a wonderful job of convincing the people that everything is wrong with our children’s education in a public school and it must all be changed from the bottom up.  We have lost our local control over our schools and our jobs.  Some might think the main issue is taxation but truthfully if you have a good job with benefits taxes aren’t as difficult to pay!  It’s time to fire the people that brought us to the brink of disaster and to a life of recession and depression.  The government has wasted our money, our resources and now they will lay waste to our children in endless fighting of endless wars.  We must dismiss them as surely they have abandoned us, the American people!

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