Weeks ago House Representatives refused to award the auto industry a blanket bailout or even a bridge loan. Policymakers insisted they must see a reasonable plan to revamp a business near bankruptcy. The legislators set a deadline for delivery of the proposal, December 2, 2008. This same date was reserved for another auto review; in Florida a delayed vote on emission regulations would finally be realized. The two tales may seem separate; certainly, the cities where Congresspersons will meet are far apart. Nonetheless, the sagas are inexorably connected.
Twas the night before Election Day and my mind, heart, body, and soul were filled with fright. I fear I did not do enough; nor could I have, to truly bring about change. I more needed time with those that trust me or were still open to reflection. When last I made calls for candidate Barack Obama, I was slammed, damned, and spoken to with much disdain. Similar occurred when I stood on a street corner and waved my signs. Granted, I saw and heard there was much support. Still, I had friends who would not vote for Senator Obama. Several were sure that they preferred John McCain and Sarah Palin. Then, there was John Michael Rubens. John is eligible, older; he is registered. This fine fellow has cast many a ballot in his lifetime. Doctor Rubens is prominent pillar of the community. The well-trained physician is a scholar. He cares. Yet, he would not cast a ballot for either candidate.
In the tradition of the Grand Old Party, this election year Republicans had hoped they had nominated a fiscal Conservative. In March 2008, Columnist Bonnie Erbe mused; John McCain might return the messianic rule Republicans think "Right." The Journalist scribed.
Ah, finally, one of the presidential candidates actually offers a common-sense approach to resolving the mortgage crisis. Sen. John McCain yesterday "derided government intervention to save and reward banks or small borrowers who behave irresponsibly . . ."
The Senator from Arizona and Presidential aspirant has often spoken of the need to be economically accountable. Financial folly is conduct John McCain does not favor. John McCain rejects earmarks. He wants no Senator to spend dollars on local projects. He is proud of his rigid record; he has not supplied his home State with money for roads or bridges to nowhere. As President of the United States, the "maverick" Republican, will not reward capriciousness. Yet, perhaps he has and will when in the White House.
The only question is as to sustaining the change [to higher taxes] before the people.
I believe it can be sustained, because it does not increase the tax upon the "many poor" but upon the "wealthy few" . . . ~ Letter to William S. Wait, March 2, 1839, reprinted in Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, volume 1, p. 148. Rutgers University Press. (1953, 1990).
I go for all sharing the privileges of government who assist in bearing its burdens. ~ Letter to the Editor of the Sangamon Journal, June 13, 1836, reprinted in Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, volume 1, p. 48. Rutgers University Press. (1953, 1990).
The chap was well-dressed as was his wife. She expressed her distain with her husband's choice. He would cast his ballot for John McCain in this election year. Taxes were his only concern. This lovely lady declared herself an active Democrat. She had been a Clinton supporter, Hillary that is. Now, she was decisively behind Barack Obama, and proud of it. I might not have known this or much else about the couple of strangers; however, in the year 2008, everyone seems anxious to share political concerns.
Today, citizens of this country are confronted with a record realized under the Bush Administration. Karl Rove, "The Architect" of the Bush campaign claims no responsibility for the cause or effect of his chief candidate's actions. Nor does he acknowledge that his Grand Old Party might be answerable for accounts receivable. However, others, those common folks less connected to the current Administration might disagree. In an ominous moment, on a San Francisco stage Americans were given the opportunity to look into the future and remember earlier days and dictums.
Never spend your money before you have it. ~ Thomas Jefferson
I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared. ~ Thomas Jefferson
Tis Sunday, September 28, 2008. The weather is warm and word on the streets is warmer. Fire from Hades, fervor, and fury heat the debate heard on the streets and in the halls of Congress. Businesses fail. Banks do too. Bailouts are planned and these too falter. Those in the White House are red hot with concern. People in Treasury Department and within Secretary Henry Paulson's office sense the burn. Many fear they too will be scorched. The flames are intense on the Hill. Yet, on American avenues many feel, while inflamed by the rhetoric, chilled at the prospect that this immediate need for a bailout is but a hoax or perchance, just hype.
The skeptics snickered; if man was meant to roam far and wide, he would have been born with wheels on his heels. They said it could not be done. Yet, circular tubes were made to ease travel on the ground. Cynics sneered when someone said we might travel on water. People would be born with buoyant blubber if they were intended to float and move with the flow of the current. Rudders would protrude from our behinds if we were supposed to navigate the seas. They said it could not be done; still someone invented a boat. If people were meant to fly, disbeliever declared, humans would have wings. Orville and Wilbur Wright did not accept that logic. Travel to the moon; how absurd an idea. Surely, the skeptics thought, if he was destined to soar to such heights, he would be physically able to propel himself far above the atmosphere. Then, John Fitzgerald Kennedy set a goal and devised a mission. Neil Armstrong took a giant leap for mankind. Currently there is a cry for green energy. However, doubters think the job cannot be done.
Americans each have an opinion on Sarah Palin. The Alaskan Governor has been the topic of conversation for weeks. The Press pours over her record. Average Americans read. Some say she is sensational. Sarah Palin has sizzle. Many hockey Moms relate to the woman who worked her way up. Governor Palin has cracked the glass ceiling. She has become a celebrity of sorts.
Several scorn the lovely lady. Others imitate the daughter of Eve. No one disputes, Sarah Palin has style. Yet, few have the opportunity to make an informed judgment. Less are able chat one-on-one with the Republican Vice Presidential nominee. Fortunately, two did. First Lady Laura Bush shares her thoughts after a conversation with Palin. ABC News Anchor, Katie Couric offers an objective view. Only a read from interviews with Ms Bush or Ms Couric reveals what each might think. Please peruse the reflections and dear reader, decide for yourself. Who might Sarah Palin be to you.
I understand that deregulation, greed, and mismanagement are major factors in the current economic crisis. But why are so few of the "experts" talking about a war, fought on credit, that's already cost hundreds of billions - and that some believe will have a total economic impact of more than $3 TRILLION? It's insane. This week's toon, "Dollar Wise," (Archive 0833) pokes at that question.
Tis true. For days, if not weeks, months, or years the country has been in a state of financial crisis. Americans experience what it means when the President of the United States says he will act boldly. Economically, he has been brazen. Our current Chief Executive unabashedly embraces businesses, just as he had in his private pursuits before he entered the Oval Office. Bush policies allow corporations to run free. If need be, he says, as he did early on in his Administration, Let the bailouts begin.
It's not the actual destruction that makes us fear terrorists, it's the chaos they introduce into the system. So imagine what the rest of the world thinks of the "First-World Terrorist," (Archive 0832) who, driven by a radical faith in greed, lays waste to financial markets and threatens prosperity everywhere. Too bad Bush and his cronies didn't launch a preemptive strike against those bastards.
What do you talk about when you, a Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate have nothing good to say of yourself? What can be said to encourage people to endorse you when your proposed policies will hurt them? What do you talk about when you cannot explain, the last years that define the failure of your Party?
You speak of others. Then, no one will notice what you do not want them to acknowledge. When you are not as wondrous as people hope you will be, criticize someone else. Slice, dice, and place people on the defensive. Lessen the worth of one who looms too large for your liking. Then, attention will be diverted away from you. A common enemy can be your cause. If people in your Party have someone to actively oppose they will joyfully join you in a quest to conquer.
Without a good education, children are left behind. Americans understand this. Yet, most do not acknowledge, in the United States, very few young persons receive quality instruction. American children do not learn to think critically, creatively, or comprehensively in comparison to those in other countries. Even students enrolled in excellent schools do not excel as children elsewhere do. Internationally, the information published in a 2002, United Nations Children's Fund, [UNICEF] study exposed a frightening truth; America pupils and schools receive poor grades when student performance and instruction are assessed. Today, the American education system remains at risk. As a recent report reinforces, today as we observe our offspring, we must consider the necessity of change. It is time to make Tough Choices (in these) Tough Times. This nation, left behind, must commit to teach our children well.
It is becoming more apparent with each passing day that the American lifestyle as it currently exists is unsustainable. For more than three decades, we have accepted the false narrative that we can live beyond our means and there will be no cost for the extravagance. Not only has our government accepted and promoted this falsehood, but we as a nation have accepted it as well. It has become so engrained into our national psyche that anyone who dares to point out its inherent flaws is immediately ridiculed by politicians, the media, and their fellow citizens.
You see rather than looking at the real culprits of our failed domestic and foreign policies we want to create these "bogeymen" who want to destroy our sacred way of life. The truth is that it is always easier to blame others for our shortsightedness and faults.??
He is ninety years young. Born in 1918, Alexander recalls the Great Depression. He understands why some thought the Bush Forty-One years were worse than the days after the crash in 1929, although no one ever admitted to that. Now, near two decades later, denial of economic despair remains intact. Alex wonders if only history paints a truer picture. Possibly, when he was but a boy, people did not accept that the crash was the big one. In retrospect do we realize . . . Alex wonders aloud; for in recent months, each evening he dreams of realities that were during what was defined as the most dramatic, worldwide economic downturn.
The sad reality of politics-as-usual seems to make the development of a sustainable energy policy almost impossible. We need bold leadership right now, both to retool our economy and reverse the terrible damage we're doing to the global ecosystem. Instead, we get . . . offshore drilling? That's obviously not the answer to "The Oil Problem," short- or long-term.
At this point, we need to face the fact that change is inevitable. The only question is what that inevitability will be: a quick transition to a post-fossil-fuel economy, or the devastating effects of our refusal to do so.
Teresa Madison forlorn and torn by life's dilemmas contemplates a reality she never considered before. Death by one's own hand may be the latest and greatest in preventative medicine. Suicide can be a cure for what ails a person, or at least many have come to believe this is so. In her age group, more people deliberately take their lives. Only months ago, Ms Madison perused an article that appeared in The New York Times;Midlife Suicide Rises, Puzzling Researchers. Teresa was not perplexed. Ms Madison knows to her core society is consumed with ills. Physical, mental, emotional, financial woes, and a sense of finality overwhelm individuals in the United States. Teresa feels heaviness in her heart when she opens her mailbox and sees the bills. Her empty pocketbook cannot ease her pain. Nor does it alleviate the aches her family feels.
Something momentous occurred and the news media said nothing. The press spoke of North Carolinian voters, and those in the Hoosier State. Citizens in these regions would cast their ballots today. The results, undoubtedly, would be significant. While no one, and nothing can lessen the impact of what is expected to ensue, before the polls closed, another event quietly occupied the attention of many. The occurrence is meaningful, noteworthy and will effect the election. A prominent person, one who had long remained neutral in regards to the Democratic primary race finally expressed his opinion.
Employment opportunities are a pillar of military recruitment. Recruiters focus much of their efforts on low-income schools and communities, promising that the military provides valuable skills and job training.
Television commercials for the Army often show soldiers transitioning into the professional world, depicting military service as a guaranteed stepping-stone to success. The Army airs television commercials showing soldiers in uniform transforming into professionals in suits and lab coats.
The idea that one can serve a short term in the military and emerge a valued, marketable worker attracts youth fearful of life after high school, as well as older workers who struggle under capitalism. While many join the military hoping for a better life for themselves and their families, the reality is that veterans actually experience a dramatically higher rate of unemployment.
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