Greetings good people.
I want to start off this post by thanking all of you who have left comments here at the old corner. I deeply appreciate all of your comments. Yes, I said I like them all, even those that are negative.
You make me realize that I am not the only person who thinks along similar lines . Thank you, all of you good people for stopping by here.
What a country we live in, here in the USA in 2011. What a world, I could add. Of course much of why the world is today is due to the actions of America. Being the dominant country, at least militarily means that your actions go a very long way to shaping the rest of the world. And, man, aren't "we" shaping things? If only it was for the good of all people on this planet, then it could be a much better place for all of us.
As things stand, "our" actions are not making the world a better place, at least not for the working class and the poor folks. If you are among the top 2% of the richest, well, things are going quite nicely for you. This post is not about the richest people though. It is about how the working people and the poor are being affected by the USA and the government of this country.
Look around the world, how many wars is America involved in? Well, it isn't as easy to answer as you may think. Let's count them. Iraq, still an ongoing war no matter that some troops have been pulled from there. Afghanistan, still very much a hot war. Pakistan, still a drone war if not actual US "boots on the ground" war. Libya, still bombing that country along with NATO. Yemen, well, more drone warfare in that country. Somalia, more drones, so more war. Total so far, six. I have not added the "big" war yet, yes, I mean the "global war on terror". Of course Gobomber doesn't call it by that name. See, the "global war on terror" (GWOT) is what Shrubbie and "dead eye" Dick called their wars after 9/11. Gobomber prefers we call it something else. Beats me if I can remember just what he does call it now. "Kinetic military actions" pop to mind, but I believe that is what he is calling the Libya "war". Oh, stupid old me, "we" (as in the USA) are NOT at war in Libya. Nope, we are engaged in something other than war. Yes, US aircraft are bombing Libya. US cruise missiles are being fired at Libya. US munitions are being used against Libya by the US and our NATO partners. And yet, Gobomber says "we" are not at war with Libya. Well, getting bombed by a foreign military sure as hell sounds like war to this old combat vet. Of course I went to war in the Vietnam war and cannot compare that war to the current "action" in Libya. See, the world has changed since "my" war and what war is today is not necessarily what war "used" to be. Yeah, that sure seems like some sort of word game to me. How does that old saying go? "A rose by any other name........". Basically, what I am saying is that what the US is doing in Libya IS war. Gobomber and the idiot media can call it any name they choose, but it still comes down to the fact that NATO forces are bombing and killing people in Libya and I bet that the Libyans think what they are in now is war.
According to one report I read some months ago, we have covert operations going on in 60 countries. Yes, 60, and that may not be the true total. One report claimed the number was 75.
That will do for the foreign policy part of this post.
Back here in the USA things are not looking so great either. It seems that the elephant gang has declared war on the working class and the poor/disabled people of the country. That "party" is on an all out quest to gut every social program in the country, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Not only those programs, but they want to gut the rules that have kept the air and water relatively safe for us all.
Both political parties are looking out for the rich folks though. The tax cuts that Shrubbie got for the top 2% of the richest are being extended and may even be made permanent by this congress. The republicans want to eliminate the rules that control anything that does not make the rich even more rich. They oppose any regulations on the Wall Street banksters. They want to destroy all unions and even the minimum wage.
Now the fact that these cuts to the social programs is not surprising at all. No, what really gets me even more disgusted is that many of the democrats are willing to go along with the cuts. This is being done, so they claim, so that they will get the republicans to go along with raising the debt ceiling. This needs to be done by August 2nd or the government will be in default.
I am not an economist and never have claimed to be one, but from what I have learned over the past few weeks is that if the government does default it could be very bad for all of us working class and poor people.
None of this seems to bother the republicans though. They don't care about us working class folks. Why would they? We don't give them big campaign contributions, we don't have that sort of money to toss to some politician. Not that the democrats care much about the working class/poor folks either now days. Both wings of the war party are looking out for the rich folks. Why not? That IS where they get the money to keep running for office.
America is being turned into a third world country and it is being done by our own supposed "leaders". The working class and poor people have been sold down the river so that the top 2% of the very richest can amass even more wealth. The top 2% of the rich in America control 40% of ALL the wealth in this country. That group of people have seen their "share" of the wealth increase while the rest of us have had our income either fall or, at best, stay steady. This is not a healthy way for a country to be. The disparity in wealth is now even greater than it was during the great depression of the 1930's. It IS worse than it was in 1929 at the time of the great stock market crash that started that depression.
And just how do our "leaders" propose to get the country moving again? By extending the tax cuts for the very rich. By gutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. By gutting funds for the EPA and education.
The republican "plan" is for the rich to get ever richer and the working class and the poor people are going to pay for that. Yep, the republicans want the folks who can least afford even the basics to pay for the tax breaks that the rich "need" so that they can "create" new jobs for us all. Of course this is total crap. History shows us over and over that tax cuts for the rich and their corporations do NOT lead to more new jobs.
Even with that economic history, the republicans are holding the debt ceiling debate hostage to their demands that the rich get even more and the social programs be cut to pay for those tax cuts.
Gee, don't you all feel so lucky? Doesn't it give you a nice,warm feeling? Aren't you so happy that those wonderful folks, the republicans, want you to pay for the tax cuts to the rich? And, it gets "better". Yeah, the democrats look set to go along with the demands of the republicans. Do NOT expect Gobomber to say boo to them either. When has he ever shown any care at all for the working class? During his campaign, he said he would be with any picket line, any time. Well, has he ever shown up for any picket line? Has he been on the side of labor at any time since he took office? Have we ever seen Gobomber walking the picket lines with striking workers?
Of course not, and we never will. Like the majority of the politicians in America today, our president only supports/works for the richest of Americans and their corporations. The congress critters no longer care much about the working class and the poor people. Oh, they pay lip service to us and our needs, but at the end of the day, it is the rich who get their attention, any time, any place. The rest of us are seen as drags on the economy. We are just useless eaters who take up too much space. If we are not willing to work at menial jobs for less than minimum wage, we have no value to them.
I am very concerned about this "debate" on the debt ceiling. The articles I have read all say that if the government goes into default, things could get very bad here in the old USA. Just how bad, well, that seems to be the big unknown. The clowns in congress and Gobomber have until August 2nd to come to an agreement. The agreement they come to may not be very good for many of us though. Just how much will the democrats and Gobomber give away to the republicans and their rich backers? I think that that is what bothers me the most. How much will we, the people lose so that there is an agreement on raising the debt ceiling.
We are going through some very uncertain times folks. We have not seen the end of this, nor have we hit bottom yet from the financial crisis of 2008 and the bail out of the "too big to fail" gangsters.
I wish I could end this post on a positive note, but I don't see much positive just now. Hang on folks, we are in for one hell of a bumpy ride.
semper fi
