I wish I Could Just Forget About it

Someone had said that I should just forget the "BS" referring to the political "BS" that I comment on a lot. It didn't and doesn't come from just one person or individual. Yes, I do make political commentary and link to articles a lot these days. But, I can't just sit back and not comment and not care. Not when that "BS" is causing stress and drama in my life and the lives of others just like me. As a matter of fact, I think that attitude has led us down the path to where we are today.

Complacency has been our problem for quite some time. The "you can't change it so why try" attitude. In the meantime, our country has been taken over by corporate interests and special interest. Just look at what is happening.

Health care reform, while we are closer and taking steps in the right direction, is not really going to be the reform we both need and a lot of us wanted. The majority of us knew what we wanted when we went to the polls and voted for our President over a year ago. He put it out there for us to hear and see. Health Care reform was job number one on his agenda. He laid out precisely what he wanted to accomplish and he quickly lit the fires under the Congress and Senate to accomplish just that. But, somewhere a long the way the majority became confused. But, who can blame them? They had the other side whispering sweet fear mongering rhetoric in their ears telling them that the government wants to kill granny, among many things. Those against health care reform, particularly the insurance industry and special interest, played on Americans' weaknesses; particularly our ignorance to world outside the borders of this country and the ways of Europe and even our neighboring Canada. They played on that ignorance by manipulating, twisting and out right lying about how health care is in other parts of the world. They even tapped into the older generations "fear" of this country suddenly becoming what Russia once was with talk of evil socialism and communism taking over this country. Ad nauseum. Never mind that that generation will soon be living off of "evil socialistic" policies.

It appears that the propaganda worked hook line and sinker as we now have less favorable feelings toward any health care reforms that Obama is, was and has been working to get passed. As a result we are left with a bill that, while taking very small baby steps in what I hope is the right direction, is NOT what we really needed nor voted for when we elected Obama. That is not really Obama's fault at all. Actually he has accomplished far more than any of his predecessors were able to , and he did it in such a short time. Yet, the bill we do get seems to have benefited the same interest we were all voting to put down a few notches and the ones that ultimately have caused a large portion of our problems with health care. The insurance companies are having a field day with this reform. Just look at how their stock has surged in the days following the announcement of a "compromise" of the Senate Bill. I do believe a majority of those in the Senate and the House were truly ready to pass reform that we need, only it wasn't the majority that we needed.
Public option and a medicare buy in was removed. I was all for the mandate, as long as their was a not for profit government option offered on the table. Now there isn't. Instead, we are all going to be forced to pay for private insurance. I've even read that the consumer protections were watered down in the bill in order to reach a "compromise" with those that were obstructing the bill. Republicans completely obstructed because not one would get behind the bill. And yes, there are obstructionist on the Democratic side, hence the "compromise" needed to get the 60 votes. So , yes, some in the Democratic party are also guilty of the same thing I chastise all Republicans about.

So, while we may have taken very small baby steps, it won't be enough. One up side is that we don't have to wait another 10 plus years before we make strides in health care reform again only because I do not think our screwed up system can sustain that much longer the way it is. Perhaps this reform will slow it down a bit. I see one of two things happening. The first, and worst case scenario, is that the system will get far worse before we wake the hell up and REALLY reform it and take it out of the hands of special interest whose only interest is lining their pockets. Or, this reform could further illuminate how right the left is about issues on the health care issue and loosen up the resistance to making the REAL and necessary changes we need to have going forward.

To my mom and all those that have told me "well you can't change it so why get youself upset".. yes, you are right. Alone, I can't change it. However, if everyone has that attitude we are only going further into the abyss and turning our country over to those that WILL change it but NOT for the better of the people, but rather the better of their pockets. So, what does that mean for me in the next four years.

Everyone wants to crucify this President for our problems, but let's face it. The last time we had a democrat in office we had a surplus, we were at a time of peace. We get Republicans at the helm and what do we have. Well, we've had tax breaks for teh wealthiest of Americans, without cutting government spending. Instead we've increased government spending with not one but two wars (one justified, the other only justified by what are now known as lies). We've had the government turn a blind eye to banks running amok, all int he name of "deregulation" and "smaller government" only to have those same banks screw the people in about three different ways.

So, to people who tell me to not worry about the " BS" and just focus on my family, man, I wish I could. But not having paid attention has caused me so many problems that it's making my life difficult and unable to enjoy my family. Why? Thanks to the recession our income has been cut by at least 50%, we've had to sell our house short or risk loosing it to foreclosure, I've lost my insurance due tot he inability to pay the ridiculous premiums and have ended up lapsing in coverage only to now fall under the infamous pre-existing condition clause which is basically trapping me in uninsured status for well over a year now. When I went to find a job in order to get medical coverage, can't find one because no one is hiring (as a matter of fact, they are all downsizing). Not to mention, all the above forced me to use some credit cards to get by now and then only to have my interest rates jacked up to nearly 30% (when I was about to lose my house) despite having paid MORE than the minimum balance AND on time during that time period. In the end I've been victimized by the banking industry, the crappy market all around, the insurance industry and the Credit Card industry. I can no longer sit back and take it up the ass from big business and corporate interest. We've become a corporate fascist nation and that trend needs to be reversed in a big way. I'm all for getting myself out of my messes, but it's impossible when you've got big industry and the laws that protect and award them at everyone else's expense.

I will, at least, try to forget my problems for the next week and try to enjoy the holidays with my family and my son. But , rest assured that on Jan 2 I will be back in full force trying to voice my opinions and be heard so that my life and those of people like me can improve and we can all once again enjoy our families without the economic stress of life.

Despite Republicans Best Efforst to Tank it - We are Finally Getting Health Care Reform!

GRR.. I'm just so aggravated I have to write a quick blog about it.

Let's put aside that asshole Lieberman, who I can't stand. Dumb dude proposes Medicare buy ins, then when the kills the public option (single handedly) and gets one of his own suggestions into the bill, he kills that too!

Now, we have a health care reform bill. Yeah, it's not perfect. I'm upset that we have no public option, however, it does go leaps and bounds in the right direction. We finally have , yes, ALL Democrats on board (or at least the 60 needed). That's right, no Republicans are on board. But um, they would be on board with NOTHING no matter WHAT came out of reform talks. Why? It's clear. Health care reform passing is something that will forever go down as a Democratic achievement. An important achievement that improves American life. The Republicans do not have much of anything lately to add to their achievements. Boo hoo for the Republican Party.

I can't even listen to their bullshit on the news. Talking about how this is such a horrible thing for America. Sorry, no .. it's a horrible thing for your pathetic whiny ass party of hypocrites!

You had your chance to do something about the issue when you were in control of the House, the Senate and the Oval Office. Of course, you did nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch. The only thing the Republican's would be happy with is a bill that does exactly that.. zip, zilch , nothing!

This may not be very mature of me at this point, but I say SUCK IT Republicans! SUCK IT!

I'm getting what I voted for!

Oh.. and the "decline" in the backing of the health care reform bill. Gee.. why is that? Because you do nothing but bad mouth, lie and confuse the American public with your horse nonsense!



Ah.. I vented and feel better.

Disclaimer: My frustration is with the Republican party as a whole, not necessarily some individual Republicans I may know in my life. I found out yesterday from my Mom that my Dad was a .. gulp.. registered Republican .. AHH!! the HORROR! But I can't imagine he would be in line with much of what the Republican party offers today. Boy, I wish I could have a conversation with him now about politics, now that I'm more politically aware and have opinions.

Am I Missing Something, Because I just Don't Understand It

Was at the local chamber of Commerce Christmas party this past week and ended up getting into somewhat of a political discussion with some people that I know. I serve on a local board with them (not for profit). I do like them, so I try to avoid political discussion as much as I possibly can.

One of the gentleman in particular and his wife are former hippies. So, I get the whole "government is bad" thing that they feel. After all, anti-government was at the heart of the hippie movement. I thought that "anti establishment" was too; ie: anti Corporatism. This particular person leans more toward the entire free market, small government movement. I'd say that he is probably a libertarian, but I think ultimately he's a Republican. Again, I like him and so I try to avoid conversations about it. I could tell his wife was too, but apparently I said something that made her blurt out "But he is a liar" when I was talking about our President. I like her too, so I just ignored it and let it roll off my back. That is really hard for me to do on subjects that I feel very passionate about. It's not so much that I feel passionate about Obama, but more that I'm so fed up with the bullshit, particularly from the Republican and conservative camps.

But here is what I don't understand. I can't remember exactly how the conversation went (it's been a few days) If I am remembering correctly I was trying to explain how, at one point, I was an independent listening to all political parties and what they had to say and explaining how and why the Republican party has lost my ear, probably forever. I was explaining how, socially, I always tend to lean left anyway and brought up the example of gay marriage and said something to the affect that I don't understand how or why gay marriage is such a hotbed issue. They should be able to be who they are etc. At this point one of the gentleman at the table (not the one I mention above) turns and says, "well yeah, that's what the Nazi's and Hitler thought too?"

What? Oh great. I found out this guy was one of those people I think are absolutely ridiculous comparing Obama to Hitler. He told me I dont' get it now, but I'll get the parallel.

Parallel? What parrallel? Um. Newsflash people. Hitler believed in a "pure race".. ie" a race where we are all the same. In this case he was referring to the "German" or "anglo saxon" race and in particular he did not like Jews. So much so that he exterminated them like bugs! So how, exactly, does that parallel with allowing people to be who they are, what they are and treated equally?

Oh man. I just don't get it. So, because Obama made it his mission of his administration to a) make sure that every American has access to health care b) Banks and Wall Street are regulated so that they don't screw the economy as they have and that we once again build up the middle class rather than allowing big business to squash them as they have, he's a Nazi?

What these men do not get (and the one lady) is that the pendulum has swung too far to the one side. Big Business is no better than the Big Government that they fear. In my opinion, big business is far more dangerous. Big business is KILLING the middle class in this country. The Republicans hide behind their mantra of "protecting the small business owner". It's complete and total bullshit! Small Businesses do not make enough income to benefit for the tax cuts that Bush gave out during his presidency to the wealthy. No small businesses were bailed out when Wall Street tanked. Small businesses do not have CEO's that make obscene amounts of money.

By the way, trickle down is complete farce. With all those tax cuts that they did get, did any of it "trickle" down? Hell no. Instead more jobs went overseas and the middle income workers salary has remained stagnant while the upper echelon have awarded themselves the benefits of more money from the tax cuts. Just look at the difference between pay of the executives at companies and it's regular employees.

They lived at a time when government was the big bad ugly machine they had to fight. However, we are now living in an age where Wall Street is the big bad and ugly monster that we have to fight against. I don't trust politicians either. I don't trust Republicans the most, but I don't entirely trust Democrats either. After all, they take money from the enemy and screw the people just as much as the Republicans do (like on the financial regulation bill that came out, with the weakened consumer protections). It just so happens that they did not do that as much in regards to the health care issue.

I'm grateful that Obama has unsurped some power from the lobbyists by eliminating them from certain positions within the government. It's about damned time. Now if the House and Senate would just follow suite!

And, all the talk about the "czars" that Obama is naming. As John Daly pointed out (love that show) the loud mouths bitching about it didn't have a problem with the "Czars" that Bush was appointing. Czars are NOT new and I believe was created under the Bush administration. Actually here is the clip. It's funny, enjoy!

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But, if any of you readers out there can explain how the line about allowing people to be who they are (and ultimately enjoy the same rights irregardless) equates to Hitler and Nazi like actions, please, I'd love to hear how you can draw that conclusion or parallel!

Oh. .and these same two guys wanted to also draw similarities between WWII and Afghanistan (making quips about informing the enemy of the date we'd leave in WWII and how well that would have gone over). I don't think they get the difference. It's so very obvious to me. This war we are in is NOT a war in the traditional sense. Our mission in Afghanistan, at this point, is to help the new government defend itself against the enemy we unsurped! Having a target date and time frame on accomplishing that is extremely important and if we do the job right, irreglardless of when we start to pull out our troops, the Afghan government will be able to keep fending off the Taliban. Whether we are there or not will not make the difference. Nor should we be there forever. Would they prefer that we continue to ignore our domestic issues and pour money into staying in Afghanistan for an undetermined period of time? Funny that the same group that complains about government spending is so willing to spend so much money on fighting a war on the other side of the world. Or, would they prefer we just leave now and allow the Taliban to overpower the Afghan government yet again putting us right back in the position we were in on 9/10/01? That would have erased everything we have accomplished to date.

I did also mention that , for all the hub bub about obama's spending, it pales in comparison to Bush. I didn't have the article on hand, but here it is http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/10/obama-grappling-with-fall_n_387121.html.

A forthcoming study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concludes that the $1.4 trillion annual deficit run by the government has little to do with current White House policies and much to do with George W. Bush's actions.

When you take those things into account -- in other words, if we hadn't enacted the tax cuts, had the wars, if we hadn't had the recession and needed the legislation to deal with those problems -- the deficits are much, much lower. And basically none of those represent Obama's policies. He didn't run saying he wanted to pass a stimulus to deal with the recession or that he wanted to continue the war in Iraq or escalate [to this extent] in Afghanistan. He inherited these issues once he took office."

So there it is folks. The deficit is NOT Obama's fault. Rather it is the fault of the previous administration. This recession ocurred during the REPUBLICAN Parties rein and control over the office of the President, the House and the Senate.

That being said, no party is perfect. One just so happens to be less imperfect than the other. And that's all I have to say about that , for now.

My Thoughts on the Decision to Send More Troops into Afghanistan

For the most part I have not yet been dissappointed in the President of the United States. Sure, some of his ideas have yet to pan out and work (I'm thinking job creations and the foreclosure prevention programs)but, at least he did something rather than just sit back and do nothing. The Republican party tends to do nothing on just about everything, in my opinion. Oh, accept declaring war etc. After all , two wars is the only real accomplishments Bush and the Republicans have made during their rein. In addition, we are , for the first time, on the brink of reforming our very screwed up health care system. Sure, the Republicans and the right are whining and quite loudly about ANY proposal that comes out of the Democratic House and Senate, but to me, they have NO credibility on the issue. Why, you might ask? It's simple. They did nothing, proposed nothing for well, eight years! If they were still in "control" there simply woudn't be any discussion of health care reform at all!

There are many reasons I voted for Obama. One of them is and was on the promise of ending the war in Iraq. I personally do not remember any promises made on the war in Afghanistan. What I do remember thinking is that perhaps the focus would be turned to the war we should have actually been fighting and finished with a long time ago. When I heard about him contemplating whether or not to send more troops to Afghanistan I was hoping that he would not. After all, we need to focus on more domestic issues. Since we gave all that money to Wall Street (and the right likes to use that as an excuse to block health care reform) I felt we really needed to just get out now before we spend even more money we don't have. And, I knew darned well the right would use the surge of troops in Afghanistan as more "proof" to why we should NOT be enacting major health care reform in the U.S.

I took in the information. I read (I didn't watch) the President's speech. I read articles and took in what was being said and spoken about on the news. I had a conversation with a good friend of mine who tends to be socially liberal, fiscally conservative and doesn't really identify with either political party ( I believe she is a Libertarian). In addition, she has a husband that is about to be deployed to, well probably Afghanistan. I spoke with her about how dissappointed I was, but how I thought hard, long and deep about the entire situation. In the end, while I wish we didn't have to do it, I ultimately believe that Obama made a tough decision but one that needed to be made and he made the right one. After all, turning our focus on Afghanistan will ultimately put an end to the war started (and focus taken off of) when those buildings went down on 9/11. If we left Afghanistan now, all we would be doing is repeating the mistakes made in the 80's that lead to the anger, hatred and resentment of the United States that ultimately lead to the rise of the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. If we walked away now we ultimately would be putting ourselves right back to where we started and where we were on 9/10/01. And, with an unfocused half assed "in" in Afghanistan what should take a few years would end up taking decades and costing us triple or more in both money and lives. Ultimately, even though her husband was going to be one that most likely would have to go, my friend pretty much agreed. Let's get in strong, get it done, then get the hell out. Obama listened to the people he is supposed to listen to.

What I found really interested and made me laugh was hearing stories in the media that the President was indecisive and showing his lack of experience in making the decision? WHAT? Huh? So, let me get this straight. If he makes a decision on the fly he is "cramming things down the American peoples throats" but, if he thoughtfully contemplates his choices and his decision he is "indecisive"? All I could do was roll my eyes. Really people. You (the right) are NEVER happy with ANYTHING ever are you? Ironically was not McCain all for sending more troops to Afghanistan?

But here's the difference people. Obama has a PLAN.. not an open ended, could go on forever "plan". To me, THAT is being a leader. Get in, get in strong, do what you want to do and set your goals and GET THE HELL OUT! But McCain says this is a bad thing? What would he have done? Send more troops in there, but keep them their for an undetermined period of time? Or would he have NOT sent them in at all? Keeping in mind that the decision to send more troops is very unpopular, you can't just do it and do it with no ending in sight. THAT would have been repeating the mistakes of the past administration. That would have been more of the same.

So, while the right and those opposed to Obama want to say that he is doing more of the same, I say NO ,he IS doing something different. He is cleaning up the mess that was left by the previous administration in Afghanistan and doing so with an actual plan and goal of getting out. That is why I elected Obama. And, I'm glad he took his time to make the decision. Makes me believe that he truly examined every option available to him.