It's Time For Americans to Flex Their Political Muscle

The government shutdown of 2013 costs us, the American Taxpayer, around $24 billion dollars. The ongoing fiasco with the Obamacare website, which had years to be checked out, has costs taxpayers $1 billion dollars since the October 1st rollout. That's more than Microsoft or Apple has spent on their recent media platforms. Rather than take responsibility, the White House is trying to shift the blame to the contractors on retainer (yes, on retainer, at a rate of $1 million dollars per day). The contractors cite constant changes and a lack of opportunity to "test drive" the site before it went live. The bottom line is that it doesn't work and the meter is still running, and let's not forget, the overwhelming majority of Americans opposed Obamacare from the get go. The Supreme Court even had to change their reading of the bill into a tax...a tax....in order to implement it.

Let's also not forget that we were repeatedly promised by Obama there would be no taxes associated with this bill; there would be no additional costs associated with this bill; nothing would change; we could even keep our existing insurance. But that's not what's happening is it? Employers are dropping their insurance coverage. Many are cutting back on hours, and some are even laying people off. Premiums are proving so high that many can't afford even the cheapest coverage. Those under 30, the financial backbone of Obamacare, are finding that it makes more sense to pay the monthly fine.

The Department of Defense is considering an $8 million change over in the covers (dress hats) for the US Marines. They want to go from a pattern which has been effect since the 1920's and has given the Marine Corps its unique and distinguished look into a "unisex" form similar to what the Women Marines are currently wearing. And here's the kicker, no one wants it. No one even asked for it. Marines polled hate it. One senior Marine Commander even pointed that they are having trouble acquiring bullets, and yet they are considering spending $8 billion to change hats? The next move by the Obama Adminstration is expected to be amnesty for the 11 to 13 million illegal immigrants now living in the US; something else no body wants. Are you detecting a pattern yet?

Now we hear that the US Government has been spying on our closest allies, and not just on their official communications. Americans have been repeatedly lied to as to the scope of domestic surveillance. Apparently, the NSA has been tapping in on the private emails and cell phone conversations of America's friends (the spying on Germany's Angela Merkel has been going on since 2002) too. This has set off a worldwide fire storm of condemnation. Brazil, Germany, and France, among others, are planning on introducing a proposal at the United Nations, aimed at limiting the electronic invasion of an individual's privacy. Although the resolution will be nonbinding, it will register as another global hand smacking of the Obama Administration. Meanwhile, we're watching our allies taking a second look at us in terms of support. Many are starting to seriously question Americas commitments in the Middle East and Asia, as well as in other parts of the world. China has stepped up and publically called for an end of "Pax Americana".

In the announcement, China has suggested that not only Asia, but the West as well begin considering new alliances and economic relationships; perhaps even replacing the US Dollar as the "go to" global currency with the Chinese Yuan or a combination of currencies (China is the largest holder of US debt--$1.28 trillion in US Treasuries and $3.5 trillion in US dollar dominated assets).
What's going on here? Where's the leadership...in either party? The answer is an uncomfortable, "not present". All we have are poll-driven primadonnas; all jockeying to get in the most media face time and sound bites. What is needed are non-partisan statesmen who are willing to put the needs of the average working man and women above personal and political ambition. However, the American political system doesn't seem capable of producing those kind of individuals. Not that they aren't out there, they are. They're usually found in schools or volunteering in some community organization. However, the system has been rigged through gerrymanding by a diarchy and near unlimited corporate financing. The media, which once served as the public's watchdog, now produces infotainment rather than true news. They're just as driven by ratings as Washington's political hacks are.

Until we can put America back on the right track (assuming that's even still possible), we need to renew our push for term limits. Barring that, we need to vote for challengers so that no incumbents feels so secure that they can ignore the will of the American People. It's time for Americans to flex their political muscle.

Obama wants Marines to wear 'girly' hats
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/24/obama-wants-marines-to-wear-girly-hats/

Brazil, Germany Drafting UN Anti-Spying Resolution To General Assembly
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/26/un-anti-spying-resolution_n_4165470.html

US Allies In Middle East From Saudi Arabia to Israel Frustrated
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/26/us-allies-middle-east_n_4165164.html?ref=topbar

China Says Debt Debacle Is the End of Pax Americana
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-15/china-says-debt-debacle-is-the-end-of-pax-americana.html

China Calls for World to Be "De-Americanized"
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/513431/20131013/china-debt-ceiling-shutdown-xinhua-de-emericanised.htm

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

2012: A Look Back

As 2012 closes and as 2013 dawns, I find myself reflecting back on some of the more poignant stories of the year. After all, our past is often a guide to our future. So, let's take a brief stroll and look at a year that was.

2012 was marked as a year of change. We had the revolutions for democracy throughout the Middle East. Egypt, Libya, and Syria started a massive movements to end their totalitarian dictatorships. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets and protested for weeks. Some of the protests were peaceful, while others degenerated into Civil War. But , here's the puzzlement. If , as in Egypt's case, this was a revolt for freedom, then how did Morsi, a member of the rightwing theocratic Muslim Brotherhood get elected? This is not a pro-democracy, but pro-Islamic oriented government; the exact opposite of what the Egyptian wanted.

Morsi, after promising to support religious diversity and support democracy, declared himself virtual dictator, with more power and authority than the former president, Hosni Mubarak. Then after back off, and again promising to support the concept of democracy, proposed a new constitution essentially wiping out freedom for many Egyptians, especially the Christian minority and women. Again, tens of thousands of angry Egyptians took to the street in protest. It was so bad, Morsi and his Cabinet hide behind palace walls and called in the army to protect them.

But despite two votes, the Sharia oriented constitution is ratified. How is that possible? Well, it shouldn't be. There's no way Morsi should have ever been elected in the first place. Secondly, Egyptians, angry at the outcome make a tactical mistake. In protest, they decided to stay home and not vote, thinking that would make a difference. Stupid mistake. In doing so, with only a 34% turnout, Morsi got his supporters to the polls and pass the constitution they wanted, not the one the Egyptian people wanted. Morsi used every terroristic threat he could, including "rape gangs" to keep women at home and men there to protect them (not unlike what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq previously, and is now happening in India). By the way, by staying at home, Egyptian women may lose their right to vote, and with it, just about every other basic human right.

The Egyptians have to learn that democracy means voting no matter the threat, and it's not just voting, it's who counts the votes the matter. That's the only way Egyptians will rise out of their poverty and backwardness to become a great power again. The same can be said of Libya and Syria, not to mention Iran and practically the rest of the Middle East.

Speaking of Libya, another highlight of the year was the Obama Administration's blunder at Benghazi. Here we had a terrorist attack on a US Embassy resulting in a dead ambassador and three aides. The ambassador had been communicating for weeks about the changing situation in the area, but Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of the State and various government agencies ignored the warnings. Even with the assault underway (including a nearby CIA station), Washington refused to authorize any type of military relief, up to and including relieving US Commander, General Carter Ham, of duty when he said he was moving ahead with relief efforts (Defense Secretary Leon Panetta refused to authorize relief efforts. General Ham, head of military command for the region, advised a second time that he was prepared and going forward. Panetta, within 30 seconds, relieved him of command). Despite the overwhelming evidence, the White House continued to deny this was anything but an ad hoc attack by a random group. Even now, the "blame game" continues. Washington must be a very warm place with all the covering up going on.

In America, Barak Obama was re-elected to a second term despite a full on assault by Conservatives, a failing US economy and foreign policy. For years, the Right had been waging a not-so-covert attack on Obama's character, birth, and his alleged "plans" to turn America into a "socialist" gulag. Yet, all the Republican Party could muster was a uber-rich white dude with no charisma and poor communication skills who couldn't even begin to relate to the average American. There was no realistic plans put forward; no attempt to reach out to an increasingly diverse electorate. Was Romney really the best the GOP could do? Seriously? The result was a narrow victory for Obama. The secondary result was to show how of touch the Republican Party was from ordinary Americans. Like with Egypt, I am perplexed at how what was a seemingly forgone conclusion turned into a continuation of the status quo. Reminds me of an old mafia fixed boxing match.

The Tea Party too showed its weakness. After being formed as a "back to basics" political movement, it's become infested with much of the right wing nutterry that has all but destroyed the viability of the GOP as a national party. While there's little hope for the future of the Republican Party in its present form, the question is whether the Tea Party can reinvent itself into what it once was and carry the banner of the traditional Conservatism. Meanwhile, the Occupy movements have turned into a "tempest in a teapot" to borrow a line from Shakespeare. While there's much to legitimately protest, without organization and a plan of action, it will waste its energy like a storm at sea. With the two key groups for change having thus been nullified, the status quo can carry on without further interference.

Sadly, there's been an increasing number of mass murders in America, with 151 victims for 2012 alone. Some involved only a few people, while others involved dozens. Regardless, all were lives lost needlessly. The most recent, and the most painful was at Newtown where evil walked into a school and murdered 26 children and teachers. However, some good may come out of the tragedy with treatment of the mentally ill back in the limelight. For far too long, the mental ill were basically tossed aside as funding for treatment was cut or eliminated. However, darker forces have been stirred too as talk of "gun control" is back as the hot topic in liberal media.

Now, while I agree that the average person doesn't need incendiary or armor piercing ammo or military oriented weapons, the majority of the guns used in these recent killings were not "assault rifles". They were actually typical hunting caliber with fancy stocks to give them the "look" of being military. Nevertheless, those who wish to disarm Americans for their own nefarious agenda, use these tragedies as an excuse to disarm all Americans of their guns. Does depending on the government and law enforcement to show up after the fact or you being able to defend yourself at the time make you more secure? That's the crux of the argument.

While this may seem hard for others to understand, guns and the right to own them are as fundamental to the American psyche as free speech or freedom of or from religion. It was written into our Bill of Rights expressly to protect us from a tyrannical government; something our Founding Fathers feared. Next to our right to openly express ourselves without fear of government reprisal, it is our most important right. Some individuals have voluntarily turned their guns in, mostly in exchange for cash. In these severe economic times, some value cash more than their rights. Perhaps it's part of some grand plan.

Then there is the looming "financial cliff". In yet another example as how dysfunctional our government has become, both Congress and the White House are still engaged in a game of "Russian Roulette" with the gun aimed at the head of the American People. Of course, neither Congress or the White House have any fear of repercussions. They'll merely find some other crisis to divert the public's limited attention, and there is always gerrymandering to partially guarantee their re-election. But not to worry America, we have the best economy of any second tier nation in the world.

As if to throw salt on the national economic wound, Congress quietly agreed to extend portions of the "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978" dealing with monitoring, opening emails, unwarranted wiretaps, and surveillance on all domestic and foreign suspects so long as its intended goal to gather foreign information. In exchange, as if a Presidential "thank you", the White House agreed to a pay raise for Congress of .5%. Yelp, while many Americans are struggling to keep their homes, pay their bills, and afford their healthcare coverage, Congress got a nice pay increase. Wasn't that nice of you America? After all, the pay raise was made possible with your tax dollars, which, by the way, are going up again.

Lastly, this article marks the 200th edition of AO. It's been a pleasure to reach out to each and every one of you over the years, and I hope to do so for many more. I hope I've inspired at least some of you to look up and question what's going on around you. It has been my goal to encourage and challenge you to think for yourselves; to step away from the herd and accept that you are an individual capable of thinking your own thoughts and reaching your own conclusions. Remember, John Lennon told us it was "Power to the People", not "Power to the Sheeple". So, as I ask in every blog, what are you prepared to do?


General Losing His Job Over Benghazi
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/robbins-report/2012/oct/28/general-losing-his-job-over-benghazi/

A Guide to Mass Shootings
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map

Congress Extends FISA Wiretapping Act
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/12/28/168220266/congress-extends-fisa-wiretapping-act-to-2017-awaits-obamas-signature

Obama Order Raise
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-orders-raise-biden-members-congress-federal-workers_692223.html