Category: Politics

What has happened to this country…

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Class Warfare

“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

– Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

“The American Dream has been under assault for 30 years,” says former President Bill Clinton.

Dateline 13-Sep-2011 (AP):

The Census Bureau reports the number of Americans in poverty jumped to 15.1 percent in 2010, a 27-year high.

About 46.2 million people, or nearly 1 in 6, were in poverty. That’s up from 43.6 million, or 14.3 percent, in 2009. It was the highest level since 1983.

The number of people lacking health insurance increased to 49.9 million, a new high after revisions were made to 2009 figures. Losses were due mostly to working-age Americans who lost employer-provided insurance in the weak economy.

Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans — nearly 1 in 2 — have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.

The latest census data depict a middle class that’s shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government’s safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families.

From Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income

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Where have all our freedoms gone?

WHERE HAVE ALL THE LEADERS GONE
With deepest, deepest apologies to Pete Seeger

Where have all the children gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the children gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the children gone?
Grown to cynics every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?

Where have all the cynics gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the cynics gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the cynics gone?
Ran for office every one Continue reading “Where have all our freedoms gone?”

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How Much Do You REALLY Love That New iPhone?

Another sad account of Foxconn and Apple and the high human cost of your iPhone: iEmpire: Apple’s Sordid Business Practices Are Even Worse Than You Think

Someone please tell what is right about unfettered capitalism be practiced globally with US in the lead.

Here is a link to a Forbes article listing the top 400 richest people in America. Number 400 has a net worth of $1 billion. Number 1 on the list, Bill Gates, has a worth of 59 billion. Six of the folks on this list made their wealth from Wal*Mart. Steve Jobs is number 39 with a paltry $7 billion. Michael Dell is number 18 with a worth of $15 billion.

Go to the top of the list and find the “source” heading. Click on Continue reading “How Much Do You REALLY Love That New iPhone?”

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The Dying Middle Class

I do not know a lot about BusinessInsider.com, but it does not strike as a progressive or liberal leaning web site.  Their stated view is that of business, and business in this country is definitely not in the liberal camp. All that makes it even more interesting that they would run the following article: 30 Statistics That Show The Middle Class Is Dying Right In Front Of Our Eyes

A couple quotes from the article to titillate your curiosity.

“Every single day, more Americans fall out of the middle class and into poverty  In fact, more Americans fell into poverty last year than has ever been recorded before. The number of middle class jobs and middle class neighborhoods continues to decline at a staggering pace.””

“Today, only 55.3 percent of all Americans between the ages of 16 and 29 have jobs.”

IMHO, the Occupy Wall Street movement has it right.  As long as the wealth gap grows the problem will continue. As long as corporations control our government and politicians it is not going to get any better.  The sad part is that so many Americans have bought in to the rhetoric of Libertarians, the Tea Party, etc.   As long as we continue to buy the proposition that any tax is bad, the rich will continue to be under taxed and the diminishing middle class will carry the burden.  As long as we continue with the myth of rugged individualism in this country will we not do the things we need to do to have a sane society.   As long as we continue to support businesses that have marched our jobs overseas, the headlong rush to all of us fighting over jobs flipping burgers will go on.  At some point we need to dig our collective heads out of our asses and fight back.  I wish I was hopefully that we will.

Sigh…

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Congress is doing something right?!?!?!?

I just signed a petition to show my support for a new bill in Congress that would actually would actually help turn our economy around by ending the wars, raising taxes on millionaires, creating 5 million jobs in just two years, and more.

It’s up to us to stand with the few brave members of Congress who are willing to push for the “unrealistic” ideas that would actually create solutions and force anyone who stands in the way to explain themselves — or get out of the way.

Can you join me in showing your support at the link below?  Link removed – 2011 article

 

Thanks!

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Wal-Mart Could Easily Pay $12 an Hour

I referenced this same article in a previous blog, but I think it is important enough to pull out by itself.

“Raising the pay of Wal-Mart’s U.S. workers to a minimum of $12 an hour would lift many out of poverty, reduce their reliance on public assistance, and cost the average consumer, at most, $12.49 a year.

That’s the conclusion of a new study published by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.  The study is primarily concerned with the question of how raising Wal-Mart’s wages would affect poor families, including both those who work at its stores and those who shop at them.  The benefits to poor families, the study concludes, would far exceed the costs. “

Read the whole article at Wal-Mart Could Easily Pay $12 an Hour

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So Wrong…

“Despite the jobless epidemic, U.S. companies are tripping over themselves to fill high paying job openings with workers from overseas. Companies, lead by Microsoft and IBM, have already maxed out their allotment of 65,000 H-1B visas. Indeed, it appears U.S. companies have set a three-year record in how quickly they reached the cap for H-1B workers.”

From this article:  Despite High Unemployment, U.S. Companies Are Hiring From Overseas At Record Pace

These supposed American companies prefer to hire foreign nationals when unemployment runs epidemic in this country.  They play all sort of games to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. (U.S. Tech Companies Could Double Overseas Cash By 2013: Moody’s). Long ago they have moved their spending on education overseas because they felt that they get “more bang for the buck” (Microsoft To Invest $1.7B In India).

We have made it such a financial burden on our young folks to get the education necessary to compete for these types of jobs it is sinful.  I have worked in IT for several companies including 3 or 4 Fortune 500 companies.  I’ve yet to see one invest significantly in training its American workforce.  Either you know it when you are hired, or you learn it on your own.  The alternative is to watch as they flood the offices with young Indian programmers.

I’m not sure that these ‘American” companies are not doing more harm to common US citizen than all the terrorist Cheney and Bush ever dreamed about.  The law as reinforced by the Supreme Court decision (Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit) desires to treat the legal construction, corporations, as persons.  If they are persons and citizens of this nation they are treasonous, undermining the very fabric of our society.

It is so wrong… and our politicians let them get away with it.  So wrong…

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You Must Believe Me

After all the allegations of sexual improprieties and an affair Herman Cain’s presidential bid is in a bit of a pickle.  Herman Cain is flying back to Atlanta to have a “face to face” with wife.  The result of the discussion, he said, will help him to the decision to soldier on or call it a day.  For some reason during the meeting I just picture the song, You Must Believe Me, from Curtis Mayfield& The Impressions playing in the background.

You Must Believe Me Lyrics

You must believe me
No matter what the people might say
You must believe me
Darling it just didn’t happen that way
No, no it just didn’t happen that way
Continue reading “You Must Believe Me”

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99% or 1%

Like trite old saying, if you have to ask…it is a good bet you are not a 1%.
This is a little tool found on the Wall Street Journal site.

“The calculator above shows where your income stands on the wide range of the 99%. An annual salary above $506,000 puts you in the top 1%, while you need to make less than $2,500 a year to be in the bottom 1%. Where do you stand?”

 What Percentage are you in?

It can be argued that household wealth would be a better gauge than household income, but this does give a sense.

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Smoking Gun Aimed at OWS

A lobbying group, Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford, put out a memo to one of their clients, the American Bankers Association about “constructing a negative narrative about Occupy Wall Street”.  I’m not sure it is really a smoking gun as most of this falls into the realm of “common knowledge”.  I do think that most folks believe this is how our sick system really works.  It is, however, very scary to see this in print.

From an article on CommonDreams.org gleaned from MSNBC:

 According to the memo, if Democrats embrace OWS, “This would mean more than just short-term political discomfort for Wall Street. … It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.” Continue reading “Smoking Gun Aimed at OWS”