C'mon...You Can Trust Us

I don't think there's any doubt that Americans have little, if any faith, in Washington. We all sense it. It's almost like it's this big secret that everyone is in on. We know they're lying. They know we know they're lying, and we know they know that we know they're lying to us. Last year academics confirmed what we intuitively already knew, that the America of our youth; the America of our history books was gone. We couldn't quite pinpoint when it happened, but we knew that it had vanished. These same academics confirmed that America is now an oligarchy. What had been created "of the people, by the people, and for the people" was now a government which served the interests of basically the top 5%, which controls the overwhelming wealth of this country, but it was the top 1% which called the shots in Washington. What was in their interests was Washington's marching orders. The debates, speeches, and all the political one-up-man-ship is basically political theater, complete with manufactured crises, staged indignation, and poll induced sound bites, with the real fights being over turf and any remaining crumbs.

This March, a new study from Gallup seemed to hit home. The poll, which is from the week of March 5th, reported the government in Washington is the nation's number one problem at 18%, with the economy at 11%, and unemployment at 10%. Also making the list was illegal immigration and healthcare at 7% and terrorism and education tied at 6%. ISIS came in at 4%, which also tied with poverty/homelessness, national security, foreign policy, and race relations. Now think about that for just a moment. Of all that's happening in world---in Iraq or Syria, or the Crimea, or the riots in places like Ferguson, the lackluster economy, and climate change (which didn't even rank), Americans were more concerned about the dismal performance of Washington.

Part of this may relate back to America's transition from a democratic republic to an oligarchy, the widening income gap along with the disappearance of the Middle Class and accompanying decline of unions, the burden of Obamacare or illegal immigration. But I think it is also the longstanding frustration with both political parties and their monopoly on elections thanks to gerrymandering which all but guarantees the election of whichever political party controls that district, and the Citizens United misruling by the not so supreme Supreme Court which said corporations were more effectively more "human" than you or I and certainly had more rights when it came to financial input into elections which it erroneously defined as "free speech".

It's therefore, not too surprising that only 31% of those surveyed were happy with the current direction of the country (with 69% thinking we headed in the wrong direction), and yet Washington keeps chugging down the wrong track at full tilt. In the same vein, a slightly older Pew Research report from February 2014 indicated that only 24% of people trusted the government, or conversely, 76% didn't trust the government; almost mirroring the later Gallup poll.

What I found of particular note was that the last time the American People trusted the government in any significant degree was during the last year of the Kennedy Administration and early Johnson Presidency peaked at 77%, which is interesting given the events at the end of the Kennedy Administration (Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and then passage of the Civil Rights Act under Johnson). Even by January 1967, near the height of the Vietnam War, trust in US Government stood at 67%. Even with Watergate and Nixon's resignation, trust in Washington remained at 53%. However, by the time of Jimmy Carter, the Iranian hostage crisis and the subsequent botched rescue attempt, the oil crisis and flagging economy, the public's trust of the government dropped to a dismal 26%. In March, 1994 under Bill Clinton, trust in Washington dropped to 20% (bear in mind that trust in Washington is not the same a public approval of a given president). It wasn't until November 2001, under George W. Bush that we even came close to approaching a majority with 49%. From that point on, it's been all downhill.

Writing a weekly political blog, I came across another article which I thought was not only interesting from my perspective, but also ties into the public's distrust of Washington, and that's the public's distrust of corporate media. A Pew Research Report said that 19% of those polled get their news from sources they didn't trust, be it cable news, a news magazine, or news website. 26% self identified as conservative and 25% as mostly conservative. 14% of those who identified themselves as liberal said they didn't trust the source of their news, while 16% of those who leaned liberal made the statement. Finally, 78% said that trusted the source(s) they got news their news from. In short, those who leaned Right or were solidly conservative were least likely to trust their news source(s). This is consistent with most conservatives not trusting the corporate media--labeling it as biased whereas most liberals seems to generally accept what they're being told (silly lackeys). The source most trusted by conservatives was (naturally) Fox News while liberals were more diverse, with 15% favoring CNN, 13% NPR, 12% MSNBC, and 10% following the New York Times. Interestingly, 39% of the respondents reported neither trusting nor distrusting their news source(s), meaning perhaps that they took what they hear or read with a grain of salt and crosschecked the information with other sources.

Finally, a Gallup poll from September 17, 2014 indicated that overall, 60% said they didn't believe the corporate media was "fully accurate" or "fair". Only 40% said that had a "fair amount" or greater trust in the accuracy or fairness of what they heard or read. 44% thought the media was "too liberal" compared to 19% which thought the media was "too conservative" with 34% reporting that the media's political balance was about right. So what does all this mean? I think that ultimately it means that we've lost faith in our traditional institutions, in this case, Washington and the news media. Most individuals reported confidence in their local governments and moderate trust in their State governments, so the closer to the individual the higher the level of trust. Perhaps that's not too surprising since the Founding Fathers intended for government to be as close to the people as possible with less and less power and control the further away government got. While the media is supposed to be unbiased and report the "just the facts", the key fact is that news is a business with advertisers and owners who have their own political agendas. It's a sad fact, but just 6 companies own 90% of the media. These companies control billions in revenue. That means the remaining 10% comes from independent and alternative new sites such as RT which is State sponsored or blogs like this one which has little in the way of a budget. The end result is that we have to search harder to find what passes for the truth, but it is out there. It requires us to be proactive and think outside the box. My wife sometimes laughs at me because I refuse to watch pre-game or post-games shows just as I won't watch pre and post political news reports. The reason is that I don't want or need an interpreter or filter with their own slant telling me what I'm going to see or hear and then what I just saw or heard. I can think for myself. I am fully capable of understanding whatever it is I'm listening to or watching.

Lastly, I think people need to question those in who are supposed to represent us often and sometimes loudly, and we should never ever except pat answers or refusals to fully answer our questions. I think the polling results reflect our frustration, maybe even our apathy, but we need to equally find ways to reflect our refusal to continue to accept things as they are. And it's the media's jobs to report the facts simply and objectively. I think we are fully capable of making our own informed decisions. That's one reason I routinely recommend people ignore the political "endorsements" of newspapers. It's not their job the manipulate the public's opinions and ultimately their votes. Just tell us where a given candidate stands on a issue. We can do the rest. So there you have it. Never blindly trust government or the media and always question often and loudly if necessary.




Americans Name Government No. 1 Problem
http://www.gallup.com/poll/181946/americans-name-government-no-problem.aspx?utm_source=Politics&utm_medium=newsfeed&utm_campaign=tiles


Public Trust in Government
http://www.people-press.org/2014/11/13/public-trust-in-government/

19% say they get their news for a source they distrust
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/10/24/19-say-they-get-news-from-a-source-they-distrust/

Gallup: 60% of Americans Don't Trust the News Media
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/gallup-60-americans-dont-trust-news-media

Graphic: How Just 6 Corporations own 90% of the Media
http://www.storyleak.com/graphic-6-corporations-own-90-percent-of-media/

Tyranny and Television

It seems that we're increasing, as Americans, attempting to embrace the past rather than the future or even the present. There was a time when we looked to the future in our home lives (The Jetsons, Star Trek) and in our public lives (NASA, World's Fair, sound barriers, moon landings, etc). Nostalgia television is more popular than when most of these shows aired originally. Now, it seems we're lost. We stuck living our lives vicariously through other people's lives (so-called "reality" TV); various talk shows where we watch "celebrities" babbling out their opinions on various, sometimes trivial or useless issues that are none of our business to begin with (and in doing so, implicitly inferring what we should think too) instead of us coming to our own opinions; or watching complete strangers airing their dirty laundry while we ogle, incite, and judge; idiotic "court" TV like divorce court, small claims court, or whose-the-daddy court, and so on. Basically shows about people who've made some really stupid decisions or asses out of themselves while we set back and amuse ourselves at their expense. Look at Saturday morning lineup for kids. What a bunch of junk. At least we had cartoons and shows which made sense, and where the production quality was pretty decent. We wouldn't have wasted ten minutes on any of these shows today. What happened?

Have we dumbed down not just the quality of our kid's education but network television too? Here's a thought. Grab a schoolbook---math grammar, science, history from, say, 1955, from any ole high school, and compare it to one today. Which one is more difficult? The answer should be obvious, and they didn't have calculators or computers. Yeah, we may have access to more information but that's useful only if we know what we're looking for, and what to do with it once we have it, and that goes back to what kids aren't taught today which are critical thinking skills. Some would call it common sense. Kids graduating today from high school can barely spell. Most are on an eighth grade reading level. Their math skills aren't much better, and forget about history, science, and geography. American students tend to rank near the bottom when compared to other countries.

In a 2013 international academic test, the PISA, US students scored below average in math and science and slightly above average in reading while most of the Asian countries scored at the top (with China coming in on top). Germany ranked 12th while the US was 28th, just behind tiny Denmark and just ahead of Spain. Countries like Estonia, Vietnam, Ireland, Finland scored higher than America. Poland came in 9th place, so I guess they're now sitting around telling jokes about us for a change. And while poor countries and poor students scored poorly as expected, money didn't seem to make much difference. Countries which spent less per student didn't necessarily do worse than countries which spent more per student as the result showed. The key results seem to have been better early preparatory time, better trained teachers, adaptability to the student's ability, and, oh yeah, discipline.

Maybe that's why everyone wants a college degree these days. Not because of the higher education and more developed knowledge and thinking skills, but a BA or BS degree will generally get you something equivalent to a high school degree from the 1950's. And another thing, not every kid needs to go to college. Yeah, it's great for certain individuals, especially those pursuing certain disciplines like economics, English, or engineering, but for others, they would be better off pursuing a career in the trades, and there is nothing wrong with a "blue collar" degree. First off, most of fields in the trades are in high demand. We need carpenters, welders, electricians, plumbers, and the like. Secondly, they pay well. Damn well. In many cases, an experienced plumber or electrician can earn more than a lot of individuals with BA or BS degrees (or in some cases, more than some with a Masters degree) and they can do it in less time and way cheaper (imagine 1/3 of the school debt and same or better earning potential).

Perhaps there's a stigma in this country against those in the trades. Not so in other countries, especially Germany. Germany has a highly developed to track educational system which directs students either into the trades or into university based on ongoing academic and aptitude tests as well as personal interest. Germany also has one the world's best developed apprenticeship programs in the world whereby students spend part of the day working on theory and the rest of the day doing hands on work, often at the sites of potential employers. The result is one the most successful academic system in the world, as well as maintaining the most powerful economic engine in Europe, and third overall in the world. German students, by the way, tend to rank near the top academically, regardless of which track they're on.

Back to television, how many shows are actually intellectually stimulating? Most are nothing more than commonplace formula based writing with names or genders, or (occasionally) the professions differing, but little more. Most of this can barely hold the attention of the average 10 year old (perhaps that's why they spend so much time with the faces buried in their IPods). Most of today's television shows leaves us in a mental stupor. How much real "news" are we really getting and how much is just so much tripe? It's a wonder we all don't walk around with a glazed look in our eyes and drool dripping down our chins. Is this then what we've become? Has our educational system so dumbed us down that today's "opiate", to borrow from Marx, is designed to perpetuate the process?

Of course, the best way to control a population is to keep them occupied and uneducated. Is that not, perhaps, what's actually going on here? Are we intentionally being kept busy with, as the Roman's would say, "bread and circuses"? Most of us are so overworked; so overwhelmed with the day's events; so concerned with just keeping the job we have, that all we want to do is come home and turn on the "boob tube" or "idiot box" as we used to call it, stick some food in our mouth and "tune in and turn off". After all, if we're so exhausted from the day's work; so fearful of our job being off shored or losing our insurance or pension or 401k; and we feel so powerless by what we're seeing or reading in the corporate news, that all we want to do is be mind numbed until we blissfully fall asleep in our recliners or couches, what does government or corporations have to fear from its citizens? And if a government doesn't fear its citizens, then its citizens will soon come to fear their government. Sounds like control to me, albeit a subtle and somewhat indirect form of control, but control nevertheless. What do you think?

I wish I could say that I was the first to think of this, but I'm not. It's been said a thousand different times in a thousand different ways since time immemorial. However, I think the very best expression of this idea was said by one of History's most evil tyrants, France's Maximilien Robespierre. Robespierre was the one of the leaders---perhaps the single greatest leader---of France's Great Revolution. He started off with good intentions as most tyrants do---freedom, liberty, and brotherhood and the end of a bloated and corrupt monarchy. He is remembered as the originator of the "Great Terror" which took thousands of lives (along with the assistance of the crooked grin of "Monsieur Guillotine") and precursor of the rise of Napoleon, whose reign claimed the lives of millions. It's from Robespierre, we are warned that, "(t)he secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant". With polls showing an 85% disapproval rating of Congress---a near consistent rating for the last several years and lower than head lice and cockroaches I should add with my own smirk---most countries would be sweating bullets (take that anyway you want) if their disapproval rating gets above 15%, I have to ask: what will it be America? What will you chose to do?


US scores stagnant, other nations pass by us in latest international test
http://edsource.org/2013/u-s-scores-stagnant-other-nations-pass-by-in-latest-international-comparison/52052#.VBOlEZtAKzU

Top US students fare poorly in international PISA test scores
http://educationbythenumbers.org/content/top-us-students-fare-poorly-international-pisa-test-scores-shanghai-tops-world-finland-slips_693/

Congress somewhere below cockroaches, traffic jams and Nickelback in America's esteem
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/01/congress-somewhere-below-cockroaches-traffic-jams-and-nickleback-in-americans-esteem.html

Congress Interrupted

The November elections are over. The new members of Congress have been sworn in, and despite our staggering economic and social problems, Congress has adjourned itself. Why? Well, apparently no one had the foresight to remove it from the agenda. Of course, I guess we shouldn't be surprised. The previous 113th Congress has the dubious distinction of being perhaps the worse Congress in US history (and that's saying something), so why expect any different from this one? In fact, the US Congress now has an approval rating of just 8%. Think about that. That means 92% of Americans think Congress stinks at doing its job. To put it another way, voters think more highly of lice, cockroaches, lint, and toe fungus than they do of the men and women of the United States Congress. Wow.

Well, first off, the so-call "financial cliff" was of Washington's making. Secondly, like most Washington's self inflicted problems, it wasn't "solved". It was simply kicked down the proverbial road for another 60 days. What it did accomplish, however, was return Social Security rates to 6.9%, which effectively raised everyone's taxes. The average worker will see (or more correctly "won't see") about $1000.00 annually missing from their paychecks. They also managed, in their busy and often heated (and childish) "negotiations " to find time to slip in some prime cut political pork for their buddies on Wall Street.

Congress inserted approximately one dozen new tax loopholes for their corporate masters which will cost the American Public billions of extra tax dollars over the next year. Congress not surprising choose not to call this graft for what it was, but decided on a slightly less criminal sounding "tax extenders". One the biggest tax extenders allows businesses who lend money(even to themselves) and earn interest overseas to defer US taxes (currently set at 35%) on that income indefinitely. Now, the acknowledged intent is to promote business expansion and improvement, as well as to make additional investments, it provides an incentive to export and/or maintain more jobs overseas rather than to invest that income in jobs and material here in America, and all the while, to avoid paying taxes on the earned income. The estimated costs to US Taxpayers runs into the billions of dollars. I guess Santa Claus had one more delivery to make.

So, you may be wondering just how many US companies engage active-financing. Must be a lot huh? Well, interestingly enough, no. Only about 20. But more importantly, they have their own lobbying coalition, the Active-Finance Working. The coalition retained the lobbying firm Elmendorf Ryan, owned by former Democratic staffer Steve Elmendorf. You may interested to know that all eight of their lobbyists are former congressional aides. According to a Huffington Post article, "Fiscal Cliff Deal Sneaked In Wall Street Gifts..." written on 1/2/13, many of these aides have close ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Montana). I want to reemphasis that this lobbying firm, which is engaged in helping businesses avoid taxes is staffed by Democrats just in case any of you still labor under the fantasy that there is difference between "pro-business" Republicans and "pro-working class" Democrats. There is only one political party, the Corporate Party, which just so happens to have two branches so that voters get to enjoy the illusion of choice. Still, it's a shame the American Taxpayer doesn't have a lobbying firm looking after their financial interest.

Obviously, we still face the expense of "Obamacare", which will lead to reduction of hours, layoffs, and increased costs to offset the additional taxes (you didn't expect businesses to absorb the costs did you?). We still are yet to face illegal immigration, which both parties have been putting off or outright ignoring for a decade or more. Of course Obama has all but gutted any attempt at enforcement and has pushed through a modified version of his co-called "Dream Act" which allows children of illegal immigrates to remain in the country. Of course, don't think this was done out of some grand altruism. It was political pure and simple. Obama is hoping these children will repay him by registering Democrat and/or supporting his various initiatives. With approximately 12 million (or more) illegals now living in the US, and more coming everyday in the hopes of getting in on some type of amnesty, the new registration could all but end the GOP as a viable alternative to liberal politics. Of course, the Republican Party has been doing a pretty good job of that all by themselves with their focus on social rather than economic or foreign policy issues.

The GOP has an almost insurmountable hole to climb out off when it comes to women, blue collar workers, and minorities like Asians, blacks, and Hispanics (who, by the way,are considered generally conservative). The Republicans appear to even be losing their one foothold among Hispanics---the Cuban-Americans, who have traditionally voted Republican since John Kennedy's botched 1961 Pay of Pigs invasion. Now, the grandchildren and great grandchildren, at odds with the GOP over social issues, are now registering Democrat or Independent (but voting Democrat).

There are a host of other pressing issues such as raising the debt ceiling so we can borrow more from China to pay our bills, increased energy dependence on the Middle East, the rise of militant Islam, more extreme climate change and costly natural disasters, decline in available fresh water and productive farmland, our declining educational system or falling standard of living just to name a few if Congress doesn't like any of the other unfolding disasters previously mentioned. Right now, however, the public's attention is being redirected from the failing economy by Vice President Biden's "task force" to limit the 2nd Amendment in the name of reigning in violence. About all he'll curtail is the time and trouble crooks will face in robbing us, not to mention chipping away at the Constitution. Of course, living in their armed gated communities, I'm sure Congress and rich elites will have nothing to worry about.

What we desperately need in American and frankly, around the world, are not more" bought and paid for" politicians with their empty promises, but true independent statesmen and women who are dedicated to improving the quality of life for everyone while safeguarding the planet for our grandchildren and their children. That means ending partisan politics and corporate control over our economies and governments. The trouble with kicking cans down the road is that so or later, there's too many cans and not enough road. Folks, we are there.




Congressional Elections: Most Members Returning Despite Low Approval Rating
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/congressional-elections_n_2063510.html


Fiscal Cliff Deal Sneaked In Wall Street Gifts
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/02/fiscal-cliff-wall-street_n_2397933.html