Shame on You, Washington Politicians

My America is land of the free and home of the brave. But this is only in theory. The actual truth is that the bravest folk in our great nation are those who think, read, who are of the middle and lower classes have no insurance or jobs and tend to be in the military. Yes this is the back bone of our great nation and all of the rest seem to be holding on milking other for their ride.

Take for example our politicians. All I can say is “shame on you.” You cannot do the work of the people and tend to only do what is best for your wealthy associates regardless of party affiliation for the simple truth in policy, action, and money there is no distinction between any politicians in Washington. Last I heard Obama was just as bellicose as Dick Cheney and has dropped more bombs from drones than Donald Rumsfeld ever did.

What if any, additional evidence do we need to see that our political system is completely broken? These super committee fools couldn’t even come up with at least $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts over the next decade in a two month period. Meanwhile back at the ranch, the U.S. national debt has passed the $15 trillion dollar mark and we are facing trillion dollar deficits – can you say national financial disaster. Now we are going to have automatically triggered budget cuts of $1.2 trillion in starting in 2013. And we will have to wait and see because mathematically, we may not have even this many in cuts since they include almost $170 million in savings projected to occur as a function of reduced interest cost on our national debt.

Yep folks, shame on them, they are too weak, ductile and fleecy to roll up their sleeves and do some actual work. They are not brave enough to do what needs to be done and should be ashamed since our men and women fighting over seas in wars they did not ask for are the epitome of bravery.

But what can we expect, my America is a nation that gives a single mother more time in federal prison for lying on her food stamp application than anyone involved in the Wall Street mortgage fraud, sub-prime lending or complex paper schemes that help produce Americas and the worlds debt based conundrums. Last week, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate sentenced Anita McLemore, 47, the mother of two teenage children, to three years in prison. The mother of two pleaded guilty in July to one count of submitting a false claim to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Temporary Assistance and Food Stamps program.

Ms. McLemore, received $4,367 in benefits. This in comparison to six defendants in two related mortgage fraud cases involving fraudulent loans totaling about $5.8 million received sentences ranging from house arrest to 30 months in prison. In addition to the three-year sentence, Wingate fined McLemore $250 and placed her on supervised release for three years after serving her sentence.

These fools obviously do not get it, from Obama to the Congress, they do not have a clue; they cannot see that as a nation, there is a very good chance that we will suffer another major credit downgrade on U.S. debt. And if this happens, a large proportion of the financial transactions that occur worldwide would not be able to happen if that takes place. No one with the exception of Ron Paul (this is a must see video of Dr. Paul in 11/19/11). He would end the Federal Reserve and starts issuing debt-free money, and move to cut our budget deficits. All these folks on TV want to do is fix a broken system, without out acknowledging that it became broke in 1913, prior to the passage of the Federal Reserve Act, the national debt was only about $2.9 billion.

We are in the last days of the Euro and the Union possibly and we are no better as a nation. According to U.S. Representative Betty Sutton, America has lost an average of 15 manufacturing facilities a day over the last 10 years and last year alone, as a nation we lost an average of 23 manufacturing facilities a day . Data reported by the Economic Policy Institute, notes that our economy loses more than 9000 jobs for every $1 billion of goods that are imported from overseas.

And what do we have to show for it? A dysfunctional Supper Committee, a dysfunctional Congress and a dysfunction White House Administration. I am sorry but shame on all of you Washington, DC politicians. We are suffering, we see the problems, but you don’t and will not listen to us. But why should they? The average net worth for a member of Congress is now approximately 3.8 million dollars and more than 50 percent of the members of the U.S. Congress are millionaires.

Americas REAL 2 party system

I have come to the conclusion that there are just two parties in America – Wall Street and Washington government. And as such, they are vying like two wrestlers for the world championship belt of complete economic control and domination. I mean unlike us, they are elitist that really want to run the world, I saw this with the bailout. But it has been made clearer with the proposed Health care debate.

It is apparent that Obama nor the members of the House have no clue of what they are talking about with respect to health care reform or even to what is in the bill that has been proposed on behalf of the current administration - even the President himself. From what I have read and heard, none of the talking heads on the media or the political class have no inkling of understanding regarding the nature and extent of the problem.

There is no real focus on the evaluation of how insurance companies make their money. This essential if they attempt to solve the most basic health care concerns of average Americans. Truth be told, we really don’t need any government healthcare. Instead, we need more regulation, both with respect to how insurance bodies operate, redacting the negative impact of capitated health care. And the FDA and drug pricing and development issues. Medicaid, Medicare and social security is broke and it is hard for me to believe that the government or Wall Street have the metal let alone intellectual prowess to run 1/7th of our economy.

See, the way insurance companies work, is by spreading risk. On one end, they have the capacity to add new individuals to purchase new policies and on the other, they can just refuse to insure, or drop people because they feel they are two expensive (usually the elderly, the poor, minorities or folks with Diabetes, Cancer of AIDS). If this as well as the fact that MBAs instead of Physicians and scientist run health care is not discussed, it is no way to get any change instituted. Thus I can see why may expect that the government, if they ran health care, would be no Different than Wall street; they too would ration health care, as they do now, when folks are elderly and most likely in the last years of their life as is the practice now.

Congressmen, who took millions from these Wall Street banks, are the same ones who are asked to solve, develop and vote on issues of health care reform. Real reform would be to regulate what is already out there and institute practical changes that actually focus on the individual instead of the bottom line and profit margin. Neither politicians nor Wall Street will ever look at this from a profit versus non-profit perspective because doing such would be pragmatic. The reality is that insurance companies are run by Wall Street via hedge funds and the government by tax payers who are hedged upon. When long ago, health care operated very cost effectively when run at the state level by not for profit health care vehicles controlled by physicians.

I’m certain we all have heard directly from our physicians words that make no sense. I mean doctors will tell you if you ask, that what “treatment that you may get, will be based on what the insurance company will say.” This is the American way. I feel the debate should be reframed. First for folks to talk about health care reform or even universal health care and they are insured is disingenuous and merely show and tell time. Especially politicians who will have their health care paid by folk like me for the rest of their life. Health care way better than what I or any one who reads this would get.

So don’t get excited if we don’t change again. For the real American two party system involve Wall Street and Washington Government. And we can’t regulate either.

Monkey in the middle

I have repeated on inordinate occasions that I see no difference between democrats or the GOP. In my defense, I have asked for proof with regards to policy, affect and impact on problem solving and/or saying what they do. To this date no one has accepted this challenge and those that do tend to assert America is a democracy when I ask, as opposed to KNOWING it is a republic.

Now, as the typical Washington inside machine operates, it reared its selfish and good old folk head again. The U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama was appointed by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to the former attorney general of Illinois Roland Burris. When Jones got to Washington, The Senate good old boys told folk he was not accepted (his credentials were not in order). He was refused entry to the Senate based on them citing Article 1, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution, which states "Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members."

In two words – bull shit. This is purely political, blocking the appointment of one man because they dislike the other. And I tell ya if as many black folks who followed Beyoncee would follow this the same way, these folk in Washington would have a lot of noise back home in their districts. I was optimistic that Obama meant what he said, and would do accordingly. But I am slowly becoming disillusioned. He spoke of change, and not having the “good old boy” network of “Washington Insiders” in his administration – yet he does. I won’t even get on the usual talk of tax reduction, war ending and other stuff that all democrats and republicans chant like some Taoist mantra.

The situation with Burris is ridiculous and shows us how theatrical politic inside the beltway are. If I know the signature from the Illinois Secretary of State is not required but rather ceremonial, then they should too. Blagojevich legally appointed Burris to the seat vacated by President-Elect Obama. Now I don’t really give a care about Senate appointee Jones one way or the other, but I do care about the right of the Illinois citizenry. That's some of the dumbist shit I done seen in recent times. I mean they give more attention to this than the economy, the decline of the dollar, a non-existant manufacturing base, despots like the former NASDAQ Chairman (Madoff) or education.

As it stands, seems as if the Senate is reminiscent of a bunch of kids on the little rascals refusing another kid into the he man woman hatters club, or not letting a kid play with them because he friends with another kid they don’t like. Go pick on the kid you don’t like, Senator Burris aint done nothing wrong and should not be treated as if he is the governor. That man is 71 years old and you holding the ball over his head, and passing the buck like he a monkey in the middle.

Point of order: told yawl I could write a post about Beyoncee.

Rearranging the furniture

Want to start out by saying, told you it wouldn’t work. The bail out that it is. Jobs still being loss, home values are still falling, and stocks too. Check the Hang Seng, the Nikkei, and the UK FTSE if you still more concerned about Jennifer Hudson New Album or Beverly Hill Chihuahua. France's economy, the second largest of the 15 countries sharing the euro, reported they were in an economic recession for the first time in 15 years. Germany's Hypo Real Estate may be the next major world bank to fail. The Munich-based bank is a conglomerate which contains DEPFA Bank, Hypo Pfandbrief Bank International and Hypo Public Finance Bank. Reports from Germany suggest that the bank needs 20 billion euros by the end of next week just to stay solvent. Even emerging markets, where it used to be safe are taking a hit. The two bills we just past are merely topical and shows how short sited our political leadership is in general. They seem to only see wall street, and not the world, let alone the street or the back road in this issue.

What the fuck does bicycle paths, tax breaks for race-track owners, for rum imported from Puerto Rico, or Hollywood film and television production companies have to do with the economy or bailing out Wall Street? The 451-page Senate bailout bill, called H.R. 1424 has dozens of tax breaks for companies. Some of the specific pork dollar values include: a $100 million tax break to benefit auto racetrack owners; $2 million tax benefit for makers of wooden arrows for children; and $192 million in rebates on excise taxes for the Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum industry.

I know its just me, but I never saw what these political bills, let alone 700 billion dollars (which will likely be 900 billion - a trillion) can do for the national or the global economy. Throwing money away has never been the solution for anything. They are still throwing them at bad assets. Banks all around the world are failing. These folk so myopic and ill-informed that they aint even see the chance that asset markets would possibly close one day, especially given that lenders were the one who distressed the value of the paper they held. Its cool if u got loot, or capital, but most folk now days have less than 5% capital, or liquidity on hand compared to back in the day when folks had at least one dollar for every dollar loaned.

Federal policies created this, no matter what folks say, for with out them, folk who could not afford to buy a house with zero down would have never got them – and the truth is the banks and financial institutions lobbied for these changes.

But yawl don’t hear me though. Lets look at the world around us. The Turkish government issued new Turkish lira banknotes and this past Friday. This recapitalized of its banking system included tighter regulation under a $10 billion IMF-backed lending. And we finna have a new currency standard in a few for I wont be surprised if the dollar will be 60 cents to the Euro by the endo of the year.

All I am saying is that stability of the dollar is paramount in any economic solution to this current mess; I see a secular decline in credit just as what happened in Japan. My consternation is that neither McCain nor Obama is addressing this.

We really have not had a loss in capital across this great nation, that is not the issue, but we have not had any gain in capital - that is the problem. To solve this conundrum means we have to gain more capital. Tell me how we do this Jones, fuck the dumb shit, we are thinking and breathing Americans and I say we at least deserve that. You cant take money from the private sector (as the government is doing when they take over and bail out banks) and give it back to the same said private sector. To me that is just like rearanging the furniture in your house. The 700 billion wont do jack, businesses on wall street or in the stock market dont make money unless people spend money or have money. Shold have gave it to the common person. Add to that we only have fiat money, no money of real value, in the 1930s we had real money which was on the Gold standard, and after the early 70s, no longer is our money based on the gold standard. We just print money and throw money at the problem as if it is the answer. All our politicians are doing is stopping the bleeding so the patient don’t die, or worse, just re-arranging the furniture in the house. vote

Once upon an Oligarchy

Point of order: Been jamming that Hill St. (saint) Soul, love that cut Pieces, check it, cop that.

As many of you know, i'm forever calling folks out, even myself. I often use terms of endearment such as fk boy, or bitch azz to suppurate these thoughts into manageable constructs. Today I will use another term that I was familiarized with while growing up in Memphis – weak azz bitch. Now before I start, I want to say that this direct objectified gerund is neither race nor gender specific, and tends to be best exemplifying of collective acts that can be perpetrated by individulas or groups, for example the congress - especially the democratic members.

I have always been curious how folks can always say one thing and do another. Like the child that says they don’t want to go outside, but cries when you don’t let them out, or the woman that says she doesn’t want to be with a certain man, but wants him after he has removed himself from her life, or as I have mentioned in the prior paragraph, a congress person who says they disagree with a certain policy yet supports it via vote.

Although unlike most of us, who just get a day off for the fourth of July weekend the Senate went home yesterday for the Fourth of July holiday without doing jack to deal with the pressing economic conundrums facing regular folk like us. All though the folk on both side of the aisle say they gone handle theirs, from my vantage point, they appear to act more like a gaggle of weak azz bitches.

Not only did the housing rescue bill could not proffer any love via a test vote, they also could not approve an electronic surveillance legislation to prevent physicians who accept Medicare (H.R. 6331: Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008) from getting hit with a large percent pay cut. I mean it was passed in the house but filibustered in the Senate.

The only thing that these folks were able to do, I mean by a skunk measure (zero opposition votes) was the passing of a bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that also increases benefits for veterans.

I think the last measure was a good thing. However, it just strikes me as strange that all these democrats voted for this bill, but will likely go back home on the stump, to their districts and talk about how much money we wasting on this war effort. Talking about being two faced and slimy. I mean, it would be disingenuous for me, if I was a poly (many) trickster to say I disagree with all the loot going for the war effort as well as how it is being spent, but yet at the same time vote for the measure. The legislation, passed by a vote of 268-155, with Democrats logging 80 votes with republicans. I won’t call any name this time, but you can find who voted for what here. But that’s why I feel that this republic, for which it stands, seems to be more like an oligarchy each day – u know, “a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes” – namely staying in office and getting paid.

ps: good look SkoolBoi and Gemni girl for stopping by the shop this weekend. Also Ensayn Reality and marcelle ward for the shout outs.

500 billion and 4 what

Yo, this may be my last semi-serious post until ex post facto Christmas. I mean, I will post one Friday before my birthday on the 22 of December but that will be merely shameless self-promotion. Been spending the most of the past two days trying to disect the 3500 plus pages of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill approved by the House yesterday. They tell me that it weighs 35 lbs but I wouldn't know since I have been reading it online.

I am not counting all of the pork, or earmarks inserted into the bill, just looking for the outrageous stuff they use my tax dollars for. But I have been told hat there are about 9,000 with about 115 worth about $117 million. This tells met that the majority of the members of both Houses aint even read the bill to know what they spending my loot on. And frankly that pisses me off.

I did see that Senator Hillary Clinton took care of some of her folks. One of the recipients was the National Center on Education and the Economy for 2.6 million bills, which is to be awarded within 30 days of enactment of the measure. These folks have contributed heavily to her campaign. The organization is run by Marc Tucker, a long time Clinton supporter. That is a lot of lot for a $4,600.00 campaign donation, which happens to be the maximum. The bill also included a 3.5 percent raise for members of both Houses (excuse me white-collar federal employees).

Other items I saw included $201,000 used to “clean and green” vacant land in Philadelphia to one million for “Bush Creek Beautification.” It also allocates 600,000 for Christopher Columbus fellowship foundation what ever that is. But most of the Earmarks are what they call ‘Air-Dropped’ Earmarks' - about 300 of them, meaning that they were added at the last minute s if they were dropped out of thin air.

I'm not quite finish yet, I mean its some real boring shit to read and I don't have government-speak down tight yet. But best believe if your folk find something else, i'm gone let yawl know.

will the real terrorist please stand up

In a few years from now, I may not be able or worse, imprisoned or executed for writing some of the things or expressing my personal views, I the manner I desire on such topics. In particular if Senate Bill S.1959 has its way. S. 1959 A bill to establish the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism, and for other purposes. The billed has just passed in the house (H.R. 1955) and now is headed to the Senate. To add another stupid pet trick to the mix, the bill only targets United States citizens and make continuous use of basic Constitutional protections it targets in an effort to fight supposedly home grown terrorism.

The general purview for such a law is scary for two reason, first it is buttressed on the assumption that since 9/11, America is less safe (been the same to me all my as a man of color). The second is that the wording is unclear and vague at best. Based on the way it reads, this act could be easily used to label anyone or group that has strong critisim of the government. For example, in section 899a, “violent radicalization” is stated to “means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change.” In the same section, Ideologically based violence ” is defined as “the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs.

Now I may be wrong, but are they saying “thought crimes” in the Orwellian sense, or as they put it, “Planned use” can be looked as an act of terror? Would my thoughts if perceived as hostile to a selected administration and being against our war efforts, posted on the Internet via my blog be considered as acts of terror?

I say yes. In section 899b, finding (3), it is written that “The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens.”

The bill is supposed to be an amendment to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and in the house, was sponsored by Rep. Jane Harmon (D-CA) -in picture. If you asked me, she should be the poster girl for what a homegrown terrorist looks like. For anyone who attempts to restrict my personal liberties under the guise of fear and paranoia, is the real terrorist – so stand up lil momma.

y i gotta pay

To start off with, I just want to say that if you want to make some loot, a person needs to get an office on K street in DC and start to lobbying. Not lobbying for anyone but rather for big business like defense contractors. This past Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted to support a plan proffered by members of the Senate from Mississippi to give Northrop Grumman $200 - 500 million for hurricane-related losses that its insurers are unwilling to pay. Gruman owns the Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, which was severly damaged during last years hurricane season. This support will be provided over and before support supposedly for hurricane relief funding.

In essence, US taxpayers wil have to foot the bill for losses that should be borne by insurers of the huge defense contractor the way i see it and stand by the little man and woman.

Thanks to Folks the Likes of Trent Lott and Bob Helm, a former Senate Budget Committee staff member and Pentagon appointee, it seems that the interest of Northrop is more important than the thousands of people still waiting to rebuild their homes and lives in the devistated region of the gulf. So what if the NG shipyard had huge costs not covered by insurance due to Hurricane Katrina, that is no reason to place a huge defense contractor ahead of the other Hurricane victims. The Seneate is not vgoting to help them with the problems they are having with thier insurance companies so why do they care so much about NG?

Northrop Grumman is a defense contractor that specializes in building ships for the Navy, managed will get this loot to cover what congress defines as “disruption costs” due to Hurricane Katrina. The concern is that Northrop Grumman's insurance company will cover these very costs.

I wish congress would bail me out of my losses at the ticket of $500 million in so-called ‘emergency’ bailout loot on my pockets behalf. Add that to the fact`that Northrop Grumman has had a 25% increase in its stock price since Katrina, what the congess is saying is that governement is supposed to cover a company's business costs for contracting delays and still have to pay for the products that they have ordered from them - stupid.

This is just another mindless reflection of fiscal foolishness that appears to say that defense shipbuilders are more important than the true Hurricane Katrina sufferers.

Only One

It was once sung that “one is the loneliest number.” This is namely a consequence of the mathematical singularity of the number itself as well as our consistent western belief orientation that promotes the self and the individual more so than the collective.

Over the past year, we as a notation have been focusing on the collective. Whether it is related to collective responsibility of Americans protecting themselves from future terrorist attacks or in the simple form of supporting our troops in Iraq, politicians in particular keep singing these mantra’s in an effort to secure support and finalize their base constituency during this election year.

In the universe there is but one Sun and at the end of each sporting season there are but single champions in Hockey, basketball, baseball and football. But this focus on the single and first unit figure after zero is not a constant as is The Natural Logarithmic Base, e or Planck constant . No indeed in politics, it normally represents a sign of elitism.

I have come to find out that the members of both the House and Senate seem to be disingenuous war mongers. For starters, since the recent war began, there has been a constant banter of support for our troops by these so-called representatives of the people. However, of all the members of these bodies, only one has a child serving voluntarily in the current war effort. There are 535 members of the U.S. House and Senate, only one has a child or grandchild serving in the military. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., has a son in the Army who is serving in Afghanistan.

Making this worse is the observation that neither George Bush nor John Kerry has children serving in this war, yet they always talk about serving the nation. Maybe this is why every politician seems to be so supportive of the war. But it is reasonable to assert that if more members of the House and Senate had children in the military serving their country, they would be less likely to vote in sustain of this occupation.