What If

Anyone paying any attention to me at all yesterday knows I am very upset about chained CPI and changing the income level at which the Bush tax cuts expire from $250K to $400K.  And I puzzled over that the whole day.  Why, suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere, is this being forced upon us?  MoveOn.org polled its members randomly and found that 97% of respondents would rather go over the "fiscal cliff" and pay higher taxes than cut the social safety net and increase the amount of income that would still enjoy the Bush tax cuts.  The President promised us during the campaign that he would work to restore a balanced economy and that the wealthy, who have benefited enormously over the last 12 years while the middle class have fallen toward poverty at an alarming rate, would have to pay higher taxes.  As soon as the election was over and attention turned to the looming "fiscal cliff" the promise of no cuts to the social safety net were forgotten, and the President was extending the Bush tax cuts on another $150K of income without the Republicans even asking publicly for either.  In fact, to the best of my knowledge, there was no negotiation at all in advance of these concessions.  It's as if this was the plan all along.

So what does all this mean?  Why would this be the plan?  Well, I do have a theory, and some life experiences that I think give me a window into how these things usually work.  I don't think I have the entire plan figured out, but I think I'm on the right track!  I'm asking you to believe that the business community has a plan to acquire your dollars at any cost to you, and that the government either can't or won't change that without our help.

What if "big business"calculated that going over the "fiscal cliff" will hurt their bottom lines because you will have less money to spend if your taxes go up?  That is true.  That really would happen.  So businesses would naturally turn to researchers in business schools to figure out how to go forward in a way that is true to the goal of maximizing profits.  And the business of business schools is to figure that out.  Even though an idealistic purpose of a business school would be to figure out how to create a vibrant, self-perpetuating business environment, that's not what they're doing, because the individual donors to the schools aren't generally interested in that.  The most influential donors are interested in enhancing their own personal wealth at as rapid a pace as possible.

So, if we assume my assertion about business and business schools is true, we have two things I think we could bet on and win that are effecting "fiscal cliff" negotiations:

1) Businesses will lose money and/or earn at a slower rate if we don't extend the Bush tax cuts for most taxpayers, and

2) There's a sweet spot in the balance between spending and taxing that provides optimal profits.

So, if you accept that both these things are true, and you still need dollars to run the government, where do you go?  You go to the same place we always go--you borrow against the future!  This is where chained CPI comes in.  You have a tax cut now because you are borrowing against your future social security benefits (whether you want to or not), and businesses aren't hurt by higher taxes and your decreased spending power in 2013.

The message I'm getting from the government is that they are going to protect the wealthy at all costs.  There is no chance in this deal of the middle class regaining any of the ground we've lost to the wealthy and corporations, and now they figured out a way to take even more, and get it faster!  I think the President may be getting some much needed infrastructure investment in the deal, but I think the price is too high.

Do you really want to spend your social security dollars now?  What are you going to have to do to be sure you have a choice?

I'd like to see a convincing, definitive analysis of the effects of going over the cliff relative to spending my future social security benefits for tax cuts now.  I believe going over the cliff is the best thing for the working class in the long run.

My Debate Advice to the President

My comments about the debate.

The President looked reactive and defensive.  This is completely unnecessary.  I want to see him step up to the podium and talk about the choice between continuing the failed economic policies of the past 30-40 years, or restoring us to a plan that creates equal opportunity for all--a plan that makes sure "shared sacrifice" starts with those who've sacrificed nothing while the rest of us have struggled.

I think both sides are equally matched when it comes to identifying the challenges we face.  Where the President has an edge is in delivering his message about how we are going to deal with those.  The President never needs to answer the other side--he only needs to make it clear that he is going to pursue policies that protect the middle class, because it is the middle class that makes this country strong.  Keeping the middle class strong, protecting our interest, will propel us into a bright economic future.  Everyone knows we must pay taxes to maintain a civilized society.  When the rich stop paying their fair share of taxes our system will fail. The President just needs to deliver "the vision."

Romney is not delivering a vision because the vision he has is "ugly" to most Americans, and the President's use of the phrase "secret plan" really hit home.

Every question the President is asked should simply direct him to the "positive" message that is most important to deliver in the context of the question.  Just give a brief "nod" to the question then move on to the positive message.

NDAA (Reddit Discussion)

Yesterday Reddit had an "Ask Me Anything" discussion with Chris Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg, and others here: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/10kggc/we_are_chris_hedges_daniel_ellsberg_other/.  I haven't reviewed it all yet but I thought this answer by Mr. Ellsberg to a question about NDAA very relevant.

"Mr. Ellsberg,
Given the tide of outrageous acts by the U.S. government, do you think change is even possible through existing public institutions?

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[+]ellsbergdPlantiff 241 points242 points243 points 18 hours ago (42 children)

[–]ellsbergdPlantiff 241 points242 points243 points 18 hours ago

(He's laughing that that.)
I'm going to act for the rest of my life as if as it's possible. Since it's so necessary. When you say "through public institutions," obviously it will take enormous pressure by citizens on those institutions to change the way they operate. Every non-violent tactic that was used to put a lid on the Vietnam war and eventually shorten it is needed now, and that certainly includes massive civil disobedience, but it also includes the full range of public education, including organizing, lobbying, even letter-writing to congress and even (though many dispair of this), electoral activity and voting. The notion that it makes no difference who is in office is, in my opinion, mistaken. There's no question that that the two parties are both corrupt and imperialist. But, one is even worse than the other.
Virtually every public institution has failed us gravely. Not only the executive, but the courts, congress, most of the media and most of the churches. Radical reform is needed, even to the point of non-violent revolution. There was most recently - I mean, eleven years ago - what amounted to an executive coup against the constitution and this has had the complicity of both parties in congress and the media. The prospects of climate change and the continued threat of nuclear war actually bode ill for the survival of the human species, but as I said, I am going to act, and I hope that others will act, as if there is a possibility of averting our extinction."

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Do Photographs Lie?

Take a look at this photograph.




Do you see a crowd of adoring Romney fans?  That's what you're supposed to see.  There were roughly 3000 people at this political picnic yesterday in Fancy Farm, Kentucky where Mitch McConnell spoke on behalf of Republicans.  There is not a single handmade "Romney" sign in this photo posted in multiple places on the Internet by the mainstream media.  And there isn't a single sign promoting Mitch McConnell either, but it's only fair to mention he's not up for re-election.  This photo of, roughly, 30 people shows about a dozen "Romney" signs.  (Notice the thinning at the margins too.)  This relatively small group of conservatives gathered to promote local conservative candidates.  Right before McConnell was to speak Andrew, the vice president of the Louisville Tea Party (Louisville is three and a half hours away) showed up with these professionally printed signs and handed them out.  I suspect Koch brothers money bought them, but Andrew assures me "his" group is not connected with the infamous greedy Koch brothers.

The real story about Fancy Farm is that it hosted many more liberals than conservatives, even though many of our higher level Democratic Party officials and electeds failed to show up for this event.  This is a much more accurate representation of the crowd at this picnic:



And this:

.

There were numerous videos made of the speakers by KET.  They set up their cameras before the event so that they were positioned to hide the unnatural look that might have resulted as they mostly panned only the Republican fourth of the crowd!

So my conclusion and answer to my own question is that an "un-doctored" photograph doesn't lie.  But someone sure as hell might try to use a cleverly posed and edited photograph to fool you!

Thank you Mama!

Socialism--it keeps coming up and people keep acting like it's a dirty word or something. You could start a great big fight right there on Twitter among supposed liberal allies just trying to define what it is. Most people agree it's how we've always lived; that having government services like the post office and public schools is a degree of socialism. Throw in some roads, bridges, parks, libraries, and public servants to create a basis from which restrained/regulated capitalism can flourish and you start to get what I think of when I think about socialism.

Then you have you're ideological purists at the other end of the spectrum who refuse to call it socialism as long as every industry isn't state-owned and state-run! Whatever! Does anybody really want to live in that world? I can't imagine it would be a satisfying existence for anyone.

I consider myself a socialist. My mother was a socialist, and my grandmother was a socialist. And I dare say that that is true of just about every matriarch of every family of everyone I know! Were the women in my family really so political that I would project that every mom in America is a socialist? Well no, they weren't political at all as far as I'm aware. (I suppose the dads of the world might have been doing similar things as the women in my world, but I just don't have firsthand knowledge of that. I mostly saw women at work and learned from them.)  But what they did in raising their families, how they taught us as children to treat each other at home and others in the greater world, smacked of socialism just as obviously as your nose protrudes from your face!

When we sat down to the dinner table to eat we all got the same food, and everyone got a fair share before anyone took extra. Every member of the family was expected to contribute to getting the chores done according to their ability.  Being an older child in a large family I did a lot of taking care of other children.  Sometimes I did get "more" for that reason, but I didn't always get more.  Most importantly, none got extra until everyone had enough!  And when we needed things like shoes, clothes, books, ice cream, and medical and dental care, whatever it was that we needed, we all got pretty much what we needed. We didn't get the same things--we each got what we needed! There was no difference in the quality of the food, clothing, and education provided for us and, all in all, it was a pretty fair system.

I don't think I need to explain where this is going. If a family was run on a plan anything like the unfettered capitalism the "big money" interests want then who would survive childhood. Why does it seem right that we emerge from the fold of the family to be thrown to the wolves in a "survival of the fittest" world? Do we suddenly cease to be human beings? Do we no longer deserve to exist in the kind of person-centered world our nurturers taught us to navigate? Socialism is a natural tendency of human beings. It's how we interact with family and friends. We live in a land of plenty. We don't need to struggle to feed people. We just need to get control of the greedy people. Hoarding wealth, just like hoarding cats, is a mental illness. We need to call people out for it, and get them some help. We need to establish a government of the people, by the people, and for all the people. How did we screw that up? A discussion for later!

Even Political Staffers Are Uninformed!

Recently I was calling state legislators to find out the position of each on the question of adopting an amendment to the constitution to overturn the Citizens United vs. FEC decision.  While I had them on the phone I asked about various issues.  I found that most (lack of actual data because it didn't occur to me to count) of the staff persons with whom I spoke were not familiar with the issues.  It was suggested by an acquaintance of mine that they were feigning ignorance on the topics, and simply avoiding discussions of representatives' positions.  I considered that as a possibility, but in most cases (again not adequately quantified) I needed to slow down and often spell for the staffer as they wrote down my questions and comments for the elected official they represented.  In many cases they attempted to relate my questions and statements to specific legislation in order to provide themselves a frame of reference from which to speak.  My conclusion from these discussions is that people, even those who work very closely with elected officials, are woefully uninformed on issues of the day.  If these folks are truly uninformed the general population could reasonably be expected to be mostly clueless!
Armed with only a fair amount of information while speaking on issues to the staff person of a well-known, longtime U.S. Senator, I was accused of being "the press" masquerading as a private citizen.  The staffer was having a very difficult time discussing the issue for which he is the Senator's spokesperson to constituents.  He informed me that he was terminating the discussion and, if I wanted a media statement, he would need to refer me elsewhere.  I am not now nor have I ever been "the media."

It's Our Move

The 1% has shown us who they are.  The climate is in crisis.   We don’t know and have no control of what is being put into our foods.   Our prisons are operating on a for-profit basis.   And the post office, an institution whose very founding is at the root of the success of our nation, is being undercut, putting many thousands out of work, including many veterans.   Teachers, firefighters, police, and other public sector workers are being laid off putting our children’s futures and the safety of our communities at risk.   The cost of education is being shifted entirely to the individual.   Healthcare costs, both public and private, are through the roof, and still, as a group, our life expectancy ranks 42^nd in the world.   Our infant mortality rate ranks worse than that of Cuba and Taiwan.   We have many other issues like predatory lending and home foreclosures.   I’ve just mentioned a few.

One day I looked around, and seeing all the problems I thought, “Somebody’s got to do something--we can’t let this continue!” And after a bit more looking around the answer was obvious--we have a huge problem, and it’s going to take a lot of effort by a lot of people to bring about necessary change.   I realized I was going to have to do more than write a check this time.   We all do.

I remember driving home from work in Southern Indiana on January 21^st, 2010 and hearing the news report on NPR saying that the Supreme Court had ruled in the Citizens United vs. FEC case allowing corporations to spend without limit in our elections.   I looked around as I came off the bridge and closed my sunroof--which I always opened in case the bridge collapsed and I needed to escape--and wondered why the streets weren’t full of people screaming like their hair was on fire!   Was everyone oblivious to what had just happened to us?   Did we still think we had representatives in government looking out for us?   Were we so steeped in the myth of American Exceptionalism that we didn’t think it possible for anyone to steal our own liberty and democracy from right beneath our noses?

Over the next several months things kept growing worse and worse all around me.   The developers in my only 40% complete subdivision declared bankruptcy and the already dilapidated conditions grew worse.   All over town foreclosure signs went up as families who had invested all they had were displaced from homes because, sometime in the fairly recent past, lenders stopped trying to protect themselves from loss by making sure people could afford the homes they were buying.   They had a new way to protect themselves.   They sold their risky investments to unsuspecting buyers--like the managers of your retirement accounts. So you lost money too while others were losing their homes.


I think it's past time to turn our attention specifically to getting money out of politics.   We should be petitioning the politicians at all levels of government in our communities to support an amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision.  It won’t be easy but we must get this done!   It is going to take all of us working together.   Their power is money.   Our power is in numbers--we need people power.  We must re-establish a government and system that works for all of us--not just the few at the top.  It's our move!

(Yes, I'm in the middle of a campaign, and this is an attempt to "lure" you into joining me in taking action!  But it doesn't matter which organization you choose to work with.  There are plenty of organizations working to overturn the Citizens United vs. FEC decision, or you can start your own!  I hope you decide to take part.  Like I said before, "We've lost in the money arena--we have to have people power to win!")

Are You Happy?

Most of the misery I've suffered in life has come from trying to fit someone else's ideal of what I "should" be.  In many ways I am much like everyone else, but in many ways I am different.  I have come to love my differences, and it is almost unbelievable how differently people act toward me, and react to me, since I have embraced those differences.  I have never been able to go along to get along.  I have to be true to myself to be happy.  I consider myself a "recluse."  (There was a time I would have used the word "outcast" instead!)  When I stopped trying to be something in particular and decided to just "be" my life became what I've always wanted.  When I embraced my differences they became strengths--strengths that still set me apart from others, but allow me to achieve things they often can't, or don't.  I am a leader in a national non-profit progressive organization, and I co-founded a local social organization.  People seek me out to simply appear at their social and political functions.  I'm not even sure what others see in me.  What I know I have is pride and self-confidence derived from devoting myself to the promotion of social and economic equality.  There are still people who don't like me, and don't agree with me, and that is okay.  As long as I am informed, as long as I am focused on doing what I truly believe is "right," I feel content.  It is far more important to my own happiness to meet the demands I make of myself, than to meet the approval of others. 

So stop being concerned about what others want.  Find your own list of requirements for you, and do your best to fulfill them.  That, I believe, is the key to a happy life!

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Are We the 99% Yet?

There have already been many attempts to get middle America to join with activists across the country engaged in calling for change.  (See http://the99spring.com/)  We recently had all-day trainings in non-violent direct action (NVDA) all over the country sponsored by more than 60 organizations.  The problem is in getting middle America to wake up and understand that they have a horse in this race.  There is historical precedent for what we are doing and history shows that true change may take as many as 20 years.  I worry that the government and the wealthy are too far ahead in taking away our rights, and establishing an environment that will make it impossible for a 'peoples' movement' to succeed without bloodshed.  In addition, the Occupy movement is more concerned with securing a place in history as agents of change than of actually uniting the 99% to be sure we have the power to create change!  (See http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/11442-the-99-bullshit-co-opting-the-movement.html .)
We must convince an extremely polarized populace that we are all, indeed, the same, and that the government is no longer engaged in protecting the interests of ordinary Americans.  If we cannot put aside the 'wedge issues' we are all doomed!

I Am Exactly What I Appear To Be!

According to some data I found I joined Twitter over a year ago , but I only really started using Twitter in July, I believe.  At that time I became aware of the "Occupy" movement and I wanted to follow their progress and promote their ideals.  I was very discouraged by things that were happening in my workplace that discriminated against the lowest paid workers in our business.  We all received letters from the employer saying that our out-of-pocket expenses for health insurance would be increasing at an average rate of $40/month because of the President's new health care law starting with the next pay period.

When I received the first check with the increased cost I found that my cost went up $1.29 for the 2 week pay period.  I checked with some of the minimum wage workers and was told they indeed had increases as high as $22.  We are not allowed to discuss such things openly, and no one is supposed to know what anyone else earns, but I know that those of us who earned the most in the facility all experienced the least impact from the increased cost for insurance.  I perceived this as a political maneuver by the corporation to turn this most vulnerable majority of workers against the President.  As a health care provider I am very much in favor of the Affordable Care Act because it brings far more people under the umbrella of affordable health care now, and will become even more inclusive over time.

I love the work I do.  I hate having a corporate employer.  There are government regulations that prevent me from doing this work as a self-employed person.  I could no longer continue to help this employer increase profits while cutting staff and increasing everyones' workloads.  So I quit my job, and I am living on my savings.  I did not quit working.  I am a volunteer for MoveOn.org, the OFA campaign, and multiple other progressive organizations.  I am appalled at the inequality of opportunity and wages that exist in this country.  I want everyone to have the opportunities that I have had and I am devoted, full-time, to making that happen.

I am exactly what I appear to be.  If you have ever had occasion to doubt that please unfollow me.  I will monitor that carefully and return the favor.  I believe I have been the victim of successful hacking attempts at least twice since July.  I don't deserve this kind of suspicion.  I can't do much with a computer that you couldn't easily teach the average 10 year old.  I know nothing about getting out of my computer and into anyone else's, and would never violate another person's privacy.  If I have something of yours it's because I favorited an Internet page--nothing more!  Please, if you want to talk, let's talk!

Listening to the Right and a Third Party Run

If I don't listen to opposing points of view, I don't have a very good argument to oppose them!  I am frequently annoyed by supposedly liberal TV media that allow unfounded, eroneous talking points to go unchallenged, but we, as liberals, need to know what propoganda is being spewed by the right wing.

I don't believe many moderates would vote for the Republicans who are currently in the running for president, but I do believe the political climate is ripe for a right-of-center entry to succeed.  I just hope that any such attempt would include Jeb Bush, and that it would jar the uninformed into taking action to make sure they exercise a well-informed choice!

About the ACA

I think the greatest obstacle surrounding the healthcare debate is that the Republicans continue to fan the flames of hysteria about the Affordable Care Act among no info/low info constituents.  Most don't know what the benefits are, and they believe the hype that it will crush our economy.  What we need is a national campaign to educate people about the real benefits of the Affordable Care Act.  I have written the Whitehouse a number of times asking for such a campaign!

Voter Suppresion (My Pessimism)

Written in response to an article by RJ Taylor-Hahn

RJ, I agree completely with your analysis of the attacks on voting rights.  It is true that our focus as 'liberals' is scattered among various issues, and I, personally, find attacks on voting rights the most challenging obstacle we face in the coming election!  With the current makeup of the FEC and the federal judiciary, I find myself at a loss as to how to combat this problem.  With voter suppression occurring at so many levels of government it is going to take an enormous push to change newly enacted legislation before the next election.  I admit I have been thinking that the most likely way voter suppression will be dealt with is a popular uprising after the election fails to bring changes that the majority demand.

WTF? GOP

Religious preferences of employers must not be imposed on the rights of individuals.  Our constitution guarantees us freedom from religous oppression.  Why is the GOP trying to pervert the intentions of the Founding Fathers?  Birth control is a personal decision that should be made by a woman in agreement with her physician.  Stop the GOP war on women's rights!

With Pen In Hand

I've been sitting here looking at this blog post page typing and deleting for an hour.  This way of writing still seems so foreign to me.  I thought it would become more natural after tweeting for so long, but it hasn't.  When I really feel like I have something to say I still reach for my notebook and pen.  I'm hoping to eliminate that step from my writing, but so far, it's just not working out.  When I do transcribe from the notebook to the computer I always change it a lot--it's not like I end up with the same thing I had on paper.  So I'm not sure why it matters so much.  I'm the kind of writer who covers the whole page in the notebook, with words squeezed in and up and down the margins.  There are lines and arrows drawn between clauses and phrases that I use as a guide to reorder my message to create the impact I want.  I use different colors of ink to highlight places where I think I may want to come back later and add or change something.   This prevents disruption of, what is to me, a compelling stream of ideas.  I actually feel excited thinking about that process.  Sadly, it's not a feeling that is replicated while typing on a keyboard.

Although I don't plan to make this searchable, if you happen to see it and have helpful ideas, I welcome your comments.