REPUBS ARE - H Y P O C R I T E S

Hate mongering:

While claiming to pray for civility in America the GOP loves to stoke the fires of hate. In order to divide and conquer America they have gone back to their tried and tested tactic of pointing to scape goats to blame them for whatever is wrong in our lives or the country. With the current racist in charge immigrants are the goat du jour even though the jerk in the White House hired them by the hundreds to work in his putrid country clubs.

Yuletide:

The party of family values – NOT – is always talking about a war on Christmas. But while there is not any such thing as a war on the holy holiday nor has there ever been such a war in America, they are the ones that constantly go against the teachings of the religion most closely associated with Christmas! If anyone debases the spirit of the season it is the repugnant Repub party!

Puppet:

The current flag bearer of the Repub Party famously called Hillary Clinton a puppet after she pointed out how the man-child was doing the bidding of Putin. It has now become clear that the misogynist’s mouth may have been moving and his arms waving but the strings were definitely being controlled in Moscow.

Others:

Republican constantly point to the others claiming they are doing illegal things. But whenever they do it seems they are the ones perpetrating the evil deed. Their constant claim that Dems are committing voter fraud was laughably contradicted when the documented case of voter fraud in a North Carolina congressional race came to light this past November. How come no Repub yelled and screamed about it? Could it be because the fraud was perpetrated by Repubs on behalf of a Repub candidate?

Climate change:

Repubs claim to care about our lives and the lives of our children but refuse to do anything about fossil fuels ruining the environment. It does not take a PhD to figure this one out, THEY ARE PAID BY THE FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY TO DENY GLOBAL WARMING EXISTS. Of course, they don’t care since most of them are old white guys who will be dead before the Earth kills the rest of us.

Red Lining:

Since they are a minority party in America redistricting or gerrymandering is the only way Repubs can get elected. Then they keep control over areas where the constituents would normally vote for Democratic candidates by tweaking the districts even further as needed. They say they are doing it to keep things fair. Even the courts, which have been stacked by the GOP have disagreed and told them to re-map the areas more correctly. We shall see if they comply.

Infidelity:

The most notable members of the GOP have cheated on their then current wives constantly and so many end up with 2 or 3 wives in the long run. I’m talking about you Newt, and you Rudy, and of course you dt! Many Repub voters have fallen for the ‘Family Values’ bull shit and therefore think that Dems are out to kill the family and abort every child they can. But most Dems in the public eye seem to raise wonderful families with just one husband and wife in the picture, such as the Obama family.  GOP = Family values, my ass!

Taxes:

Ever since the days of the GOP God Reagan Repubs have been telling Americans the lie of trickle down economics and the reason so-called job creators must be given tax breaks. They also claim they are giving the middle-class huge tax breaks. It’s funny how after 50 years of tax breaks from the GOP the Middle-Class has almost been taxed out of existence! After viewing what the Repub Party has been doing to nearly 98% of the country their catch phrase should be altered to Tinkle Down!

Environment:

Many Presidents in the past helped create the wonderful system of National Parks. In fact after becoming president in 1901, Republican Teddy Roosevelt used his authority to protect wildlife and public lands. He started the US Forest Svc, 150 national forests, 51 bird reserves, 4 national game preserves, 5 national parks & 18 national monuments totaling around 230 million acres of public land!  These treasures are continually under attack by the GOP as wastes of money when it is actually the GOP that is a waste of money. So in order to get rid of the wonderful places they insidiously change regulations to allow oil drilling in them or pipelines to go through them or just plain defunding them.

Social Services:

Many years ago the Repub party created the fear of Socialism among the citizens of America. They made the word synonymous with all things that are bad and anti-Democratic. Then they pivoted to vilify all things that help society but naturally cost tax dollars. And since they would rather keep those tax dollars for themselves and their wealthy donors, they used false statistics to show our huge national debt was cause by these social safety nets. The final straw came when they gave those donors and themselves an indefensible humongous tax break that caused the National Debt to soar past $21 TRILLION!! The phony fiscally conservative GOP who claimed they cared about the rising cost of government is now campaigning to do away with Social Security and Medicare in order to pay down the National Debt and fix the catastrophe they caused!

Put all the above together and ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Repub Party: HYPOCRITES!

GOVERNMENT GOES BOTH WAYS!

Seniors and those in need of assistance were recently informed that the annual Cost Of Living Adjustment, COLA will not go into effect this year. That means that anyone collecting Social Security will not get the tiny raise in benefits they have been getting at the start of next year.

The reason COLA will not take effect according to the government is, simply put there has been no inflation and therefore no need to for increased payments.

But at the same time Medicare premiums paid monthly by many of the same people not getting a COLA on their Social Security will rise by as much as 53% next year or from $104 to $159.30!

The reason given by the Republican controlled House of Representatives (remind me just exactly who do they represent?) is rising healthcare costs.

Those two statements are obviously at odds with each other but neither the first time nor the last time anomalies such as these will be used against the middle class.

On Long Island the energy industry friend Long Island Power Authority, LIPA is allowing and about to implement a rate hike of 9% over the next three years.

They claim this is necessary due to a shortfall in the budget caused by a drop in sales tax revenue.

By the way the reason the sales tax revenue is down is because Long Islanders cannot afford to buy as much as in previous years due to lower incomes and rising costs.

The American Association of Retired Persons, AARP says LIPA is using ‘fuzzy math’ to make their case.

All the arguments used by those in power sound legitimate when taken by themselves but when put together start to smell of lies, greed and corruption.

In college logic courses they teach syllogisms which are generally two or three statements put together that sound logical but will cause the listener or reader to pause and think, wait what?

For example:

The American buffalo is a vanishing animal.

That animal is an American buffalo.

Therefore it is vanishing!

Or one of my favorites:

News of Russian aggression is no news.

And since No News is Good News,

News of Russian aggression is good news!

Business owners started using the double standard tactic a while ago too.

They claim no raises will be given because business is down and the economy is terrible.  They also moan about the increased costs in health care as reasons for dumping more of the costs on the individual.

So the worker gets less money in his/her paycheck but has to use the less money to pay for higher healthcare costs etc.

But what costs are going up?  Surely they’re not salary related since no business is giving raises so what is causing this?

Could it just be general inflation?

No, that cannot be because inflation is so low that those on Social Security will not be getting a COLA!

The bottom line is if you can figure out two sides to any financial story and you want to feed the information to the public use them both but make sure the middle class gets the short straw!

We Don't Play by Your Rules Here!

If we continue on the current path of radical partisanship where one side totally blocks any social progress that would help the vast majority of citizens in the country then we may be looking at the end of the experiment known as America!
Billy Joel paired a catchy tune with a list of key moments in our history entitled We Didn't Start the Fire.
I offer new words and ask you to use his song's tune and beat and decide how long we can continue before something gives?

We don’t play by your rules here

So we have no worries

No sir, no real worries

We keep ourselves in power

In our ivory tower

While the masses cower

No healthcare, End Medicare, If you die we don’t care

Union busting, filibustering, We do those best

Tax breaks for the filthy rich, Tell ya folks life is a bitch

We help only those who pay, And dump on the rest

Block the vote of those we hate, In your red or your blue State

Making all the rules is great, We control our future fate

We don’t play by your rules here

So we have no worries

No sir, no real worries

We keep ourselves in power

In our ivory tower

While the masses cower

Climate change is not a hoax, Leaders in DC are jokes

Fossil fuels can’t be your friend, They’ll cause the world’s end

Gun control is just a must, But can’t even be discussed

Instead let’s block women’s rights, How the hell do they sleep at night?

We don’t play by your rules here

So we have no worries

No sir, no real worries

We keep ourselves in power

In our ivory tower

While the masses cower

Bankers never paid their debt, Voters better not forget

On one thing we'll surely bet, Regulations keep us safe

Asking kids to go to war, Don’t tell them what they’re fighting for

Returning damaged forever more, Their plight we ignore

Think once for the other guy, Help him out do not ask why

There but for the grace you know, We will surely some day go

We don’t play by your rules here

So we have no worries

No sir, no real worries

We keep ourselves in power

In our ivory tower

While the masses cower

There are no silly fools here

So we have no worries

no sir, no real worries

And we will stay in office as our terms go on and on and on and on and on....

Sipmle Social Security Solutions for Solving Solvency

Medicare premiums will most likely be going up for those in higher earnings brackets.  Basically the idea is those who can afford to pay a bit more for the services provided under the system should do so.

I have mixed emotions on this but mostly favor it since this country is after all the UNITED States of America and we must all hang together or, as Ben Franklin hinted we shall surely hang separately.

But lumping Medicare and its possible future monetary woes with the Social Security administration’s possible future shortfalls is unfair and disingenuous. And using the one word unfair definition of entitlement is just plain wrong.

Medicare is a program designed to help the aging with incumbent increased medical costs and it has worked well for decades.

It is a sort of gift we give ourselves as we age and the rug should not be pulled out from those in need just because lawmakers in DC have squandered funds elsewhere.

These elected officials allowed our tax payer dollars to be thrown into black holes such as two illegal immoral and unwarranted wars.

Then they handed over vast fortunes of our money without any strings attached to financial institutions that had gambled with and lost THEIR money!

So after those wonderful events America has nothing to show for a decade of governmental stupidity except tens of thousands of dead or disabled soldiers and millions of out of work or underpaid citizens.

This while an ever increasing ruling class comprised of the wealthiest people in the country, including many from the same financial institutions we had to bail out control the conversation in Congress!

But while these attacks continue what can we do to ensure the future solvency of Social Security.

This wonderful program can easily survive without any changes at all but could be even more secure with just a few tiny tweaks that would be painless to nearly everyone.

But with or without these fixes the right wing of the Republican Party, which is arguably a wholly owned subsidiary of the top 1% earning class of America, will continue to claim the entire program is headed for bankruptcy.

In one real sense their lies are comedic since that same right wing group has hated Social Security since inception and would love for it to be doomed to bankruptcy.  After all the more people who become and remain poor the wealthier they can feel by comparison.

I hereby submit for your approval five easy pieces to stop future worries about Social Security.

1. Get rid of the income ceiling for social security deductions.
1. This most egregious slap in the face of the lower wage earners must go
2. The small amount taken from paychecks should not hurt those in the higher brackets
3. Current salary limit of $113,700 means wealthy earners essentially get a raise for being wealthy!
4. We are one nation etc. and should all pull our weight.
2. No one should be allowed or forced to take Social Security payments if they are still working and earning above a certain income level.
1. More and more people are working into their 80s and many are earning nice money thank you.
2. States should set the earning limits

                     i. Those who reside in New York or California are faced with much higher costs of living than those in States such as Arkansas etc.

                     ii. COL adjustments should be reviewed yearly so as to alter fair amounts.

3. Social Security should be considered as income.
1. The income must be reported on tax returns even after retirement
2. Social Security income added to investment income should be taxed as ordinary income for all recipients
4. In the off chance an individual does not wish to collect his or her social security payment they should be allowed to decline it
1. The amount of the payment they are entitled to (yes, entitled!) should be used as a charitable deduction on their tax return
2. Money not paid out to entitled recipients must remain in the Social Security coffers to offset future needs
5. People who continue to work past the age of 70 do not receive an increase in their retirement payouts from Social Security BUT
1. The Social Security payroll deduction should continue regardless of age or salary
2. The amount of the payroll deduction for workers past age 70 may be reduced by an amount set by the State in which the worker resides.

                                        i. However Federal limits will apply.

All laws and programs in America are constantly reviewed for current relevancy and Social Security should not be exempt from such scrutiny.
However simply because the very wealthy do not take advantage of a program or need to is no reason to end or vilify it!
If we as a nation start forgetting about the elderly or the poor or the needy we are heading down a dangerous path.
Which group will be next on the chopping block?

What's in a Name? PLENTY!

I was actually hoping to give this, or some form of this a s a speech in front of an AARP group but sadly the meeting for this forum was during the morning hours of a weekday.  I work during the week and could not possibly get away so here are the thoughts that I was hoping to share with other AARP members.

We have allowed certain groups of people and politicians to define and basically ruin some good words.

One such word is Liberal.

If one has guests over and is liberal serving food and drink it is generally considered a good thing. It is certainly a nice thing to do for guests and it will be appreciated and even reciprocated should the circumstances be reversed. AT least one would hope.

Liberal tends to mean being open and caring enough for the needs of others as to try and make sure they are taken care of. And some times we may put ourselves out a little to ensure this is done.

I don’t believe it would be very nice if you were conservative with your meal should you have guests over for a dinner party, do you?

So why is the word so bad?

Why is the act so bad?

Why have we allowed a small group of greedy, selfish people to define a word that symbolizes helping others as bad?

If they don’t wish to be nice then that’s their prerogative.

We are only on this Earth for a short period of time so why look to hurt others? Why make stepping on others’ rights for personal gain your main goal?

The world would be a far better place if more people acted in a liberal manner than a conservative way.

Another word that has been usurped by a small radical group of selfish people is “Entitlement.” And not just entitlement but by simple extrapolation all forms of the word ‘entitled.’

Suppose you had some extra cash. I realize in the current economic climate that might be a stretch but allow me an indulgence.

Say you placed that money in one of our formerly bailed out banks expecting an exorbitant 0.3% interest rate.

After a year or so you decided to withdraw that money.

Would you be ‘entitled’ to do so?

OF COURSE, IT’S YOUR MONEY!

Well what do you think Social Security is?

IT’S YOUR MONEY TOO!
Every paycheck you receive during your working life has a Social Security deduction removed before you get the cash!  You know it, conservatives know it, everyone knows it!
So why should you not have it coming to you when you retire?

So the conservatives are correct, Social Security is an entitlement.
And you are entitled to it, period!

Medicare is the same type of entitlement with the same result!

For a long time now I have been arguing that we must stop allowing a few disgruntled people to define our lives and the issues of our time by naming and then vilifying them.

And if I may go off on a slight tangent the group of people who call themselves Pro Choice argue for a woman’s right to make that most awful of decisions concerning the life of her unborn child.
That fetus may be the result of incest or a rape and the conflict that would arise in the mind of the suffering woman would be mind boggling.

But for some reason the group opposing her anguish who, by their very nature admittedly have no dog in the hunt will infer that the "Pro Choice" people are against life by naming their group, “Pro Life!”

I would argue that the “Choice” people do in fact offer women and their spouses a choice in dealing with this terrible scenario while the other side does not and should therefore be renamed, “No Choice!”

So what’s in a name?

It turns out there is quite a lot in a name!

And we must not allow others to name us or our group or our lives. We decide what we wish to be called and we are allowed to be damned proud of the name we choose.

I am a Liberal who believes in Pro Choice and I love the fact that America is such a forward thinking nation as to have wonderful entitlements for all its citizens!

Balance the Budget!

Balance the Budget or ‘BtB’ sounds like the acronym for Business to Business, a term used when one going concern sells its wares to another for eventual final mark-up and sale to the end consumer.

But this BtB leaves out all the middle men and silly end product or service thingies and makes the consumer PAY FOR NOTHING!

Literally!

You will get nothing but you will pay!

Let’s face it when politicians, and especially the so-called fiscally responsible yet hypocritically phony Republicans say they wish to balance the budget what they are really saying is screw the poor and middle classes.

Now some may feel that I am merely using hyperbole (I use words like hyperbole to confuse the likes of Sarah Palin and her friends who’ve never seen the inside of a book.)

But when I say the Republicans are out to get the middle class just look at the facts.

Tax cuts for people who do not need tax cuts, aka the filthy rich is about to cause a record and unsustainable increase in the deficit.

If the deficit rises too far in order to keep the Nation afloat we will have to float loans at dangerously high interest levels and borrow money from wonderfully friendly places like China.

And this will merely kick the can down the road to our children and their children.

As a result of this strategy cuts in services become necessary.

And on whose backs will those cuts fall?

Well we've just given the wealthy a tax gift or rather continued the gift from 'W' so they won’t be involved.  And that leaves, uh, er, um who exactly?

Well by process of elimination we’re about to eliminate the middle class.

But first we must appease that group of eunuchs with a ‘Trojan Horse’ type of gift in the form of a tiny tax cut of their own.

When you are making $50,000 per year a 3% tax cut is nice but it won’t get you a new car.

However 3% for one of those wonderful hedge fund managers who took in over one billion dollars last year and add so much to society allows them to buy a dealership and have enough left over for a nice year long vacation.

Of course the extra walking around money for these pillars of mankind might allow them to hire one or two workers but at minimum wage only and possibly just part time.  After all there is always that ‘uncertainty’ thing hanging around in the future somewhere.

Next we lower the Social Security payroll deduction from 6.2 % to 4.2%.  This means the average worker, assuming he or she is still employed will receive an extra pittance in their post deduction take home pay pocket.

But before you go out and book the Plaza for your next affair you should know that our leaders have just removed millions of dollars from an already hurting fund meant to cushion our ‘golden years.’

In other words they are starting to chip away at that most socialistic program of all, Social Security.

And who will be hurt most when Social Security is gone, the wealthy?

Give me a break!

I happen to love the guy but does anyone think Warren Buffet will be relying on his Social Security payments to get him through his retirement?

Next on the agenda for the new majority in the House but thankfully not the Senate will be the dismantling of another program meant to help the eunuchs in the middle class, health care reform.

Why should the wealthy corporations have to take care of the little guy?  After all the more money they spend on those ragamuffins the less bribe dollars there are to go around from “K Street.”

So what’s the solution?

Should we just forget about the budget?

No indeed!

Balancing the budget is a good thing.  And it’s been done before, under Democratic Presidents with the help of a Congress that had the greater good in mind.

Unfortunately these days the only thing these hypocrites have on their minds is who will be in charge after the next election and then the one after that.

The heat of summer had not yet passed and all we heard on the news was who is running for President in 2012!

So as far as our government is concerned damn the middle class, full speed ahead.

Perhaps it is time for the little people to understand what is going on in DC and the board rooms of the corporations that own that town.

Perhaps WE should start threatening second amendment rights!

Of course that's just as absurd a notion now as it was when that idiot from Nevada first said it but...

When the government does not listen or worse, does not care about WE THE PEOPLE it may be time for WE THE PEOPLE to speak a little louder!

This Tan Man is Priceless!

According to House Republican leader John Boehner, “… the Democrats refuse to acknowledge the challenges faced by Social Security in coming years.”

This obviously false statement of the facts is a continuing mantra of the ‘Party of No.’

Unfortunately however it is a key part of their as yet unstated legislative agenda.  That agenda is to be revealed some time in September or when they can finally figure out exactly what it is.

Mr. Boehner goes on to repeat another one of the Republicans’ intelligent sounding but brainless sound bite, “It’s time to have an adult discussion about the future of this critical program.”

Hey Johnny we’re all ready for that discussion so why don’t you run along and find some adults for us to speak with!

The Speaker and his party have acted like children ever since losing the Presidency and the majority in Congress.  They seem to place their fingers in their ears and moan and groan about how they cannot get their way while making sure no one else does either.

This controlled controlling tantrum has weighed heavily on the citizens of this country and especially on those who are not considered to be Republican supporters, namely anyone earning less than a quarter of a million dollars per year.

For the party that represents people who do not need nor ever will miss Social Security if it goes away shouldn’t they leave the discussion about saving it to the grown ups?

Smell Test For The Party of No

The Republicans claim themselves to be the party of smaller government, fiscal responsibility, and fewer regulations.  But what exactly do they mean by that?

By smaller government do they mean less Senators and representatives in Congress or less intrusion in the daily lives of the citizenry of America?

If by smaller they wish to have less personnel in Congress I am on their side.  Toward that end I would like to offer a few names to be removed from the role call, the first being John Boehner.  I would continue with Mitch McConnell and Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan and let’s not forget that staunch supporter and would-be poster child for the “brain is a terrible thing to waste” campaign, Michelle Bachmann.  (For the sake of time I stop here but so many others are deserving of the honor.)

Alas the self-serving Party of No does not mean fewer individuals mucking up government and handing over our futures to their friends in big business.  They infer rather to want less day to day intrusion into the lives of the average Jane and Joe.

On the face of it it sounds okay, right?  So let's examine what they mean.

Less intrusion such as:

Forcing pregnant women to bring their babies to full term and give birth even if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest;

Allowing large corporations control of the airways so that advertisements inundate us with their choices to lead the country;

Changing the Constitution of the United States of America so that amendments only allow their kind of people the rights of citizenship;

Not allowing loving couples the right to marry and achieve the American dream based solely on teachings from the Bible.

But at least they will be fiscally responsible with our tax dollars, right?  I mean they have always said they are so it must be true!

We know that if they get back in control of Congress our country will face a bright future and the budget will be balanced and all will be well in the World.

Elect Republicans and Kumbaya will become a nationwide reality.

Fiscally responsible as in:

Keep the Bush tax cuts going for the wealthiest of America and thereby increasing the national deficit by around one trillion dollars;

Stop helping the poor and middle class with handouts such as unemployment insurance payments even though they may have worked for years paying taxes to fill the coffers;

Do not allocate funds for victims of rape and incest who carried to full term but instead offer family counseling;

Privatize, or whatever name is currently being used to describe the turning over of Social Security to the businessmen on Wall Street as a way to kill two birds with one stone;

Dump all other so-called entitlements such as Medicare since they cost so much and the wealthy really don’t need that kind of help;

Repeal the health care reform bill quickly since it will cost way too much money even though it appears to be ‘budget neutral’ in the long run.

The Republican Party actually deserves the moniker of “NO.”

They act as if they are the parents and we the children.  They don’t wish to spoil us by allowing us to have too many nice things that cost them money.  But they have no problem going out with the other parents and spending like there's no tomorrow. And while they do they blame the children for costing too much!

But still the economy is in the dumps so perhaps they deserve another chance.  Maybe they will finally get their act together and do the right thing.

It could happen, right?

Well let's take a look at the past to see how wonderfully responsible the Republicans have been while in control of the Government to get a glimpse of what to expect when they are in control of the National debt. 

Here is a full report analyzing the Bush tax cuts and their affect on America.

I pulled these two paragraphs out in case you find yourself too ill to read the entire piece:

"Yet conservatives continue to argue for another round of permanent tax cuts similar to those of the Bush administration. Even if all of the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire as scheduled, the projected cost of the Bush tax cuts to the federal budget over the next ten years is $3.9 trillion, an average of 1.4 percent of the country’s total economic activity (GDP) per year. Those asking for more permanent tax cuts continue to justify the cost, claiming tax cuts create jobs.

SOURCE: AP/Ron EdmondsPres. Bush signs $1.35 trillion tax cuton June 7, 2001, at the White Housein front of his fellow greedy gigglingRepublican 'puppets of the wealthy.'

But their analysis ignores what actually happened during the economic cycle that began in March 2001 and ended in December of 2007—which almost exactly coincides with the Bush presidency and the implementation of the Bush tax cuts. This period registered the weakest jobs and income growth in the post-war period. Overall monthly job growth was the worst of any cycle since at least February 1945,
and household income growth was negative for the first
cycle since tracking began in 1967. Women reversed employment gains of previous cycles. And for African Americans, the worst job growth on record was matched by an unprecedented increase in poverty."

And the final piece of the Republican mantra to examine is their promise to impose fewer regulations.

Most Americans hear the word regulations and sense a form of claustrophobia.  They feel there will be more rules they must follow that will restrict their daily lives.  But the main objective of rules or laws is to protect the lawful from the unlawful and devious or criminal types of the world.

There are laws against all sorts of things and yet crime still occurs.  Criminals use loopholes in the law all the time in an attempt to literally get away with murder.

So too do the unscrupulous among us who gain at our expense.  Whenever a new crime is found and committed regulations are proposed to stop its propagation.  Vigilance is needed.

The recent economic tsunami was caused by just such a bunch of unregulated criminals who got away with murder in the form of billions and billions of our dollars and millions and millions of our jobs.

These are the people to whom the Republicans are speaking when they promise to stop any new stricter regulations or taxes.

Elect them and, read my lips – no new regulations! 

If the Republicans run Congress the economy will be run into the ground and the wealthy will continue to run amok.

I guess in order to pass the smell test standard for “truth in advertising” the Republican Party needs to infuse three little words into their talking points of Fiscal Responsibility – Fewer Regulations – Smaller Government.

“For the wealthy!”