December 1, 2011

Step away from the Mall

More then one in five American children will go hungry tonight.

Visit Share our Strenght to learn more

Here's some more good news for the holidya season. One in seven Americans is on food stamps. And almost 45% of all American housholds strugle to make ends meet. That means not having enoght money to cover housing, food, health care and other basic needs.

Meanwhile, the idiots in congress have no plan for moving any of the tax burden onto the wealthy. Our precious one percent is getting fatter each and every day. They should soon make some good eatin' for our hungry kids.

November 8, 2011

The piggies in Washington are totally disconnected

Congress and the American people — time to fire up the barbie.

Here's the latest bit of insanity that keeps my blood pressure up in the stratosphere. It seems that the net worth of Congress is now worth 25% more than just two years ago. That means that these lunatics, who control your life, don't have a clue of what it really means to have to earn a living. Their hands are as soft as their heads. But where is all of this money coming from you might ask. Why the lhe lobbyists of course, who look after congress very, very well. Gas, oil and the insurance industries are just the tip of a deceitful iceberg of payola.

So don't expect the oinkers in Washington to tax the rich. They are going to go after the entitlement programs and education and health benefits and unions and anything that smacks of fairness.

Oh, and here's one more disturbing fact. There are now 45 million Americans living in poverty.

But there is hope. We can still afford charcoal. And what's more American that a good old fashioned barbecue.

August 30, 2011

In praise of a real human being

Larry Powell, Fresno School Superintendent, Takes $800,000 Pay Cut

Some people give back to their community. Then there's Fresno County School Superintendent Larry Powell, who's really giving back. As in $800,000 – what would have been his compensation for the next three years.

Until his term expires in 2015, Powell will run 325 schools and 35 school districts with 195,000 students, all for less than a starting California teacher earns.

"How much do we need to keep accumulating?" asks Powell, 63. "There's no reason for me to keep stockpiling money."

Powell's generosity is more than just a gesture in a region with some of the nation's highest rates of unemployment. As he prepares for retirement, he wants to ensure that his pet projects survive California budget cuts. And the man who started his career as a high school civics teacher, who has made anti-bullying his mission, hopes his act of generosity will help restore faith in the government he once taught students to respect.

"A part of me has chaffed at what they did in Bell," Powell said, recalling the corrupt Southern California city officials who secretly boosted their salaries by hundreds of thousands of dollars. "It's hard to believe that someone in the public trust would do that to the public. My wife and I asked ourselves `What can we do that might restore confidence in government?'"

Powell's answer? Ask his board to allow him to return $288,241 in salary and benefits for the next three and a half years of his term. He technically retired, then agreed to be hired back to work for $31,000 a year – $10,000 less than a first-year teacher – and with no benefits.

"I thought it was so very generous on his part," said school board member Sally Tannenbaum. "We get to keep him, but at a much lower rate."

His move was so low-key, his manner so unassuming, that it took four days after the school board meeting for word of his act to get out to the community. There were no press releases or self-congratulatory pats on the back.

He is the kind of person we always hope we we might be.

August 27, 2011

They're helping...honest.

Chevron boosts local economies by 21 billion?

One of the latest Chevron ads boasts that they have pumped 21 BILLION dollars into local economies. As they say in the ads, We agree. But only if you consider that by them putting their money into the bank is boosting the economy. After all, it's not their fault then if the banks don't lend cash out to help entpreneurs and new home buyers.

They're Chevron. They won't lie. They just don't tell the truth.

June 29, 2011

Shared Sacrifice

Moi give up anything?

Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed a fair compromise for any debt limit deal and I urge everyone to embrace it. He has called for "Shared Sacrifice": For every dollar cut in investments for the public, a dollar must be raised from ending tax breaks for the wealthy. Considering that the deficit is largely because of the Bush tax cuts and Wall Street's excesses, this is a more than fair deal. Anything less than a one-to-one ratio of spending cuts to tax hikes on the wealthy fails the "Shared Sacrifice" test and should be rejected. Tell your elected officials that you will be watching how they vote on this issue.

BTW...A full 72% of adults approve of increasing federal taxes on households making more than $250,000 starting in 2013, according to the April 22 New York Times/CBS News poll.

Can you believe it, fifty-five percent of Republicans want the tax hike, along with 74% of independents and 83% of Democrats.

March 24, 2011

The Republican Mantra spins out of control.

Robert Reich lists the "Five Big Lies".

Eric Cantor (GOP House Majority Leader) recently spoke on behalf of the wealthy at Stanford's Hoover Institute. The speech was the same old bullshit the Republican party has been spewing from their blow holes since Ronald Reagan was in power.

But Robert Reich has the real lowdown on what was said.

Lie #1: Deficit cuts create jobs.
Not true. Less government spending reduces overall demand, which in turn means fewer workers are needed.

Lie #2: Tax cuts for the rich create jobs.
Again, not true. Historically we've all seen how well trickle-down economics worked....for the rich. The rest of us simply got trickled on. David Stockman, Ronald Reagan's budget director who originally proposed this policy, has recently come out against it realizing how unjust and economically harmful it was.

Also, remember that Ronald Reagan cut the marginal tax rate on the highest-income tax bracket from 70% to 28%. And after George W. Bush cut taxes on the rich, far fewer jobs were created than after Bill Clinton raised them in the 1990s.

Lie #3: Corporate tax cuts create jobs.
Outrageous! To quote Mr. Reich, "American corporations don't need tax cuts. They're sitting on over $1.5 trillion of cash right now. They won't invest it in additional capacity or jobs because they don't see enough customers out there with enough money in their pockets to buy what the additional capacity would produce".

And now that the Supreme Court has declared that a corporation is to be considered as an individual, when it comes to political contributions (“No sufficient governmental interest justifies limits on the political speech of nonprofit or for-profit corporations.”), we can expect Republicans in Congress to introduce a lot more legislation to cut corporate taxes.

Lie #4: Wage and Benefit cuts create jobs.
So now we have less to spend, and what we do earn has to be spent on health benefits, the costs of which are rising all the time.

We're supposed to believe that business owners will hire more people because they have more money to spread around. That's not how it works in my neighborhood. We're told to do our work more efficiently with less. And those employees that retire are seldom replaced. Their duties are reassigned to the remaining staff.

Lie #5: Regulations kill jobs.
This is simply an attempt to defund regulatory agencies. You know, the ones that make your work place safer, the water you drink clean, and food you eat free of contamination.

Finally, Eric Cantor said, "The American people are tightening their belts, and Washington should too."

From where I stand, all I can see are rich sons of bitches loosening their belts after feeding on the poor and disadvantaged of this country. The only thing they're tightening is the screws to the American tax payer, while they get all the breaks.

Note: Robert Reich is an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. He served in three national administrations, including that of Presidents Ford, Carter, and as Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton, from 1993 to 1997. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Oxford University and Yale Law School, he has been considered one of America's foremost political economists.

December 4, 2010

Put the pot on simmer.

Mitch McConnell should be boiled in his own pudding.

The outright greed of the republicans and their hatred of President Obama was never more evident than yesterday when they refused to pass a bill that would have kept the tax breaks for the middle class, but excluded the rich.

They have had these tax breaks for ten years and things have only gotten worse and worse fo the average American. Mitch McConnell's response this is, "Imagine how much worse things would have been without the tax breaks.".

Once again the republican party exemplifies the collective scum of this planet. Scum that are running and ruining our country. And Mitch McConnell is at the head of these modern day Scrooges.

Getting the rich to pay more taxes is not going to change their lives in any way, shape, or form. They can buy anything they want whenever they want it. That is the very definition of being rich.

There can be no compromise with the rich. We can only eat them.

November 9, 2010

For Veteran's Day

This works for me. A way big thank you to Denzel Washngton.

Don't know whether you heard about this but Denzel Washington and his family visited the troops at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, Texas, (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers who have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the United States, especially burn victims.  There are some buildings there called Fisher Houses.  The Fisher House is a Hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the Hospital.  BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost filled most of the time.

While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses.  He asked how much one of them would cost to build.  He took his check book out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot.

Would that I had the money and the character to do the same.

September 26, 2010

"We Who Prospered Should Pay Tax"...Linda McGigney

Put down your knives and forks for a minute, there is hope.

Linda McGibney, a Supervising Producer and Writer for the show "Stargate Universe" on the SyFy Channel, has some great things to say about the repsonsibility of the wealthy in this country to help the rest of us.

The following is a response to a comentary by Ben Stein "Maybe when the economy recovers, raising my taxes makes sense, but for now, it's just punishment, and I can't figure out what for."

"All I have to say is, Ben Stein is wrong.

I am an American. I am in the highest tax bracket. I also work in entertainment - which is what Mr. Stein does as well.

I am fine with the tax increase. I think it patriotic that I am taxed in this way. I want to help my country.

I believe the fact that I can have a job this year, and hopefully every year to come, is a privilege.

Ben Stein: Raising My Taxes Is a Punishment

Mr. Stein, there are Americans who qualify for this tax increase under the proposed plan who don't feel "punished" by it. We feel it is our duty in hard times to help the rest of America.

And I am not talking about charity; this isn't charity. We both give to charity, of our own choosing. Mr. Stein probably gives more than me.

This is about being a grown-up and accepting the fact that we made money during the bogus up-tick in the economy. We prospered. So did others in our ranks. A LOT.

Can I say A LOT one more time?

Now, it's time to help the rest of America.

I don't care how many dogs and cats you adopt, how many people you give a paycheck to, or how many dollars you make.

If Ben Stein believes this tax increase is a punishment, then he is out of touch with the average person.

I suppose he thinks he's beyond sharing his good fortune with the rest of the Americans who are suffering financially. Or he just doesn't care about them.

Being an American is understanding you are lucky to be so. And you and I, Mr. Stein, are extremely lucky to be paid for a subjective asset: Our talent.

I have always understood that the "haves" were greedy. This is the first time I've heard one of them express it out loud so openly.

I am a "have." I am willing to pay this tax increase. I'm not going to whine about it. I won't feel punished. I will understand it's the cost of doing business.

It is worth sacrificing because our country needs some of us to sacrifice . . . the some of us who can.

And, Mr. Stein, we are not suffering."

Holy Crap! Somebody with money finally gets it and has the gumption to say so.

Could this be a tipping point in our country's development toward a more responsible additude?

July 29, 2010

I've run out of fingers and toes.

There are just too many hypocritical heartless idiots to count.

It used to be that I could open the paper, or turn on the tube and there would be some politician or rich son-of-a-bitch (I know, redundant) doing something incredibly stupid and insensitive to the American public. But at least there was a time frame to the story. It would remain the top story for weeks, even months.

This is no longer the case. It sems that every day some rich idiot has outdone the greedy bastard from the day before. I can't keep up and I'm losing interest in doing so. Maybe that's their plan. Inundate us with so much culpability on their part that we just tune it all out.

Don't believe me? The latest salvo from the wealthy concerns the end of the Bush tax cuts for the top three percent of Amerians at the end of this year. Guess what? The rich are against it. They still believe in trickle down economics. Actually, they believe in keeping as much of their money as possible and screwing the rest of us.

And how out of touch are they with their struggling unemployed fellow Americans who could really use a litle extra cash to help pay the rent or by food?

On the 16th of this month Orrin Hatch said, "You know, we should not be giving cash to people who basically are just going to go blow it on drugs."

If we are willing to put up with this kind of insensitivity, we deserve all we get, or, rather, don't get.

I need a drink.

March 20, 2010

The Obama Effect.

Ranting only raises my blood pressure.

It's spring, and I'm feeling mellow. The rich will get richer. The poor will be poorer for it.

If you want to reaffirm the truth that there is an incredible amount of money out there to waste on things, just pick up a copy of Architectural Digest or Veranda magazine. I'm not against having money. I like having a comfortable bed and clean cloths. I just find it disgusting that there are people in our government that haven't a clue as to what it's like to be on the bottom rung of the economic ladder in a capitalistic society.

So how do these bums keep their jobs? Easy. By telling people that they're fighting for their rights, lower taxes, less government, more stuff. What I guess I'm looking for is a little justice. Maybe we should have a government policy against no-bid contracts. Maybe we should NOT be hiring mercenaries to fight our wars.

But then, what is the war mind set of the average member of congress as seen by an average mug like me?

"War? You bet." (thump chest for emphasis). "I'm a patriot!"

Maybe if these guys weren't standing of the floor of congress dressed in Armani and Ferragamo it would sound a little more sincere.

Meanwhile some poor kid in detroit or philadelphia has had enough, and is beginning to listen to the words of some crazy jihadist that sounds real good to him right about now.

I'm just saying there has to be a better way to spread the word of hope in America. If we can't make kids believe it who live here, how are we ever going to convince some kid living in a bombed out village in Afghanistan? And make no mistake. The leaders in Afghanistan and other foreign governments are just as much about keeping their phony baloney jobs as our politicians are here. They just use theorcracy to push their own brand of Jingoism.

If you listen closely, you can hear the same crap is coming out of the mouths of members of our own congress. It just sounds better when you wear an American flag lapel pin.

And why aren't you wearing one?

It's been a year.

Democrates shoot themselves in both feet....again!

Once again the wealthy republicans move one more step to the right and the wallflower democrates just want somebody to ask them to dance.

In Massachuesetts today, the people elected a centerfold to the Senate. A pretty boy with a pickup who is opposed to universal health care. Hey, they already have it in his state, so who gives a crap about the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, the democrates can't muster enough courage to even present a health care bill with the support of just 51 senators. They seem to feel so inadequate for the task at hand that to vote on a bill with less than a fillibuster proof majority of 60 is a waste of time.

Which leaves us with the poor president of theis mess. Forced to stand in front of the full body of congress and bite his tounge evevrytime he thinks about the fact that these are career politicians who feel their job is "their job".

I wonder if Barack would just like to let go and tell this band of crooks that they are, really, no really, "Public Servants".

"How dare he" they would grumble.After all, they know what poor is. They drive through it every day on the way to the capital building.

More rants to come.

July 24, 2009

It's been a while.

Wake Up Bovine Brains!

The insurnace and pharma companys are taking every dime you've got, and giving you mediocre coverge and overly expensive medications in return. And the sad fact is that you will continue to take it and take it and take it, totally unconcerned that you are only one paycheck away from having the electric hammer that is poised over your head, crack your skull open like the watermelon it is.

In other words, get off your ass and get mad! Turn off “Dancing with the American Idle” and get involved. This country is in BIG trouble and needs your help.

Your elected officials are a dead from the neck up lot who will maintain the status quo and change the way business is done in Washington ONLY if you make them. So make them change the healthcare system to work for you.

Your kids, my kids are going to drown in this healthcare mess unless we do somehting about it. I'm not ready to give up on what we can do here. I don't want to leave America to the greedy. But it's time for you to do something too, and I mean NOW.

Do you really want to be remembered as the American generation of lazy ass sons of bitchs who let it all slip away?

It's time you stopped measuring your dick by the car you drive or the watch you wear, and started acting like an adult.

More rants to come.

November 4, 2008

THANK YOU AMERICA!!

and Sarah....
thanks, but no thanks.

Face Facts! americans do NOT live in a democracy.

Our lives are run by the rich. It's their world. We’re just living in it.

There was a time when there was at least an attempt to create the appearance that with wealth and power came responsibility. But now, even that illusion is gone.

You have only to look at the present occupant of the Whitehouse to understand how truly corrupt we have let our government become under the influence of the all-mighty dollar. George Bush is merely symptomatic of the undercurrent that pervades the wealthiest class in America. Or, as George has called them, "the haves, and have more."

These people are addicted to money, and they will step over your burning corpse to get more. Need an example? How about a useless war with IRAQ that was never about anything but a desire for more, more oil, more money, more power.

I could spend hours enumerating the abuses and downright criminal actions of this administration; but it really does not matter what party is in office. The upshot is this — you are totally screwed if you are not part of the top one percent of American money.

We are living in a culture motivated by greed. There are no patriots in the boardroom. It's all about the Benjamins. American corporations buy their way into the government by way of K Street, and then move, what can't be sheltered, off-shore to avoid taxes and save on paying a decent wage to the American worker.

It's time you realize that these people do not even want to share the road or even the same sidewalk with you. They just want you to clean up after them, then have you go away.

So what can you do about it? Not much. For the simple reason that the vast majority of the people in this country are really, really, stupid; which goes along way towards explaining why things are the way they are. You can never change the rich. You can only eat them.

As long as greed can keep fear in your heart, you cannot change the world.

OFF The MENU

There are a select few who have wealth and a strong sense of social responsiblility. We must preserve this endangered species.

Denzel Washington
Linda McGibney
Bill and Melinda Gates

Click here to nominate an individual for protection. And lets hope the list grows.

FREE bumper Sticker
The word is getting out. Bumper stickers have been spotted all over the country, in California, New York, Florida and even Hawaii!

Click here to get your FREE 9 "x3" bumper sticker. Let the world know that you’ve had enough and it’s time to say so.

Best Quote ever that tells the truth.

"See, now I'm thinking, maybe it means you're the evil man, and I'm the righteous man, and Mr. 9 millimeter here, he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or, it could mean you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is, you're the weak, and I'm the tyranny of evil men...."

Jules Winnfield