B'Man's Revolt
TheRealNews
Insanity Versus Sanity: Big Money Rules
Insanity
Why are millions of harmless people incarcerated for smoking marijuana? Private corporations, whose lobbyists influence lawmakers, are making a killing from the imprisonment of average citizens. This un-American activity must be ended before more lives are wrecked.
Sanity
Stephen Downing,a retired deputy chief of police for the Los Angeles Police Department and Terry Nelson, retired from Department of Homeland Security on why they support treating addiction as a health problem and are for the total legalization of drugs
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All posts are opinions meant to foster comment, reporting, teaching & study under the “fair use doctrine” in Sec. 107 of U.S. Code Title 17. No statement of fact is made or should be implied. Ads appearing on this blog are solely the product of the advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BuehlahMan’s Revolt or WordPress.com
Wall Street’s Greatest Wet Dream: The Grand Bargain Betrayal
I told you long ago that Obama was W II (the third and now fourth term of George W Bush policies). Very little has changed, except that Americans (especially black ones) think that his color makes him some sort of Messiah. I have said many times that he is whiter than I am, meaning that he is acting black, but serving the interests of whitesJews. And only the uninformed can really argue that point, as Luke points out in one of his latest videos:
Luke Rudkowski hits the streets of NYC to find out where Obama supporters really stand on his policies. Now he did this in an underhanded way where the policies where presented to be Romney’s, but this was only done to get an honest opinion. The reactions when the truth was uncovered varied but they were very telling to say the least.
Of course Luke won’t tell you about the Jewish connection, but the point is that every one of those he interviewed show their total ignorance when it comes to Obama’s policies. The Obama Brand has done a great job of lying people into believing a load of bullshit that simply perpetuates the Empire and direction towards American financial serfdom.
After his “win” in this past sElection, he now work to implement the final austerity goals that Steve Lendman (quoting Bill Black) lays out as “forced-fed austerity“:
Force-fed austerity assures the worst of hard times. It’s responsible for what Black calls “the four horsemen of the economic apocalypse:”
- economic decline;
- job cuts and greater unemployment;
- increased deficits and debt; and
- destruction of safety net protections.
Wall Street Wants It ALL, Folks
They want your retirement. They want your healthcare. They want your Social Security. They want your property. They want your savings.
They want to control it all.
And when I say “Wall Street”, I mean what Lendman, nor Black will say out loud… Jews and their parasitic lackeys.
The goal is to take this country down to third world status, where the very rich prosper and the poor barely sustain a miserable existence the best we can. Enough pain felt, for long enough, and us poor ole rednecks will beg them to bring the work back, at slave wage levels, just to feed out kids and care for our sickly old folks, since SSI is going to be privatized (continuing W’s wet dream).
Bill Black explains it very well in his Real News interview:
Bill Black: A group of Democrats called “The Third Way” are working with President Obama towards the “grand betrayal” on social security
The Unholy Grail Of Wall Street
The “unholy grail of Wall Street” is the privatization of the SSI safety net, which so many idiots believe is a good thing. But how can it be good? When has anything that they privatized end up being the best solution? It only steals from you by costing you far more, introducing middle men who scam you and install systems that force horrendous requirements to sustain their profit motives (think privatized prisons or military).
SSI is a very well run institution with little overhead. Any supposed shortfalls are simply because the damned government has stolen the money with no intention of giving it back. But the dumb ass republican sycophants believe the hog wash that the government tells them… believing that it is unsustainable, without ever asking their favorite reTHUGlican Congressman/Senator where the money went to begin with.
And don’t think that demoRATs aren’t complicit… they work together for the same goal, for they serve the same Wall Street Jews and sycophants:
Combined ["the four horsemen of the economic apocalypse"] assures third world status. Black said Obama prioritizes it. We’re forewarned but does it matter? Few Americans understand what’s coming.
Grand bargain betrayal is planned. It’s come in stages like boiling a frog. It doesn’t know it’s dinner until too late.
Social America is on the chopping block for elimination. It’s been happening incrementally for decades. Democrats are in league with Republicans. Their agenda assures intolerable pain and suffering for ordinary people.
These criminals are about to make life in America very hard for the poor. SSI is to be butchered, Medicare and Medicaid to be butchered, Food Stamps to be butchered… They are at the cusp of major changes to your already weakened quality of life. Both “parties” are complicit. Dumb Americans are complicit.
You are about to go the way of Greece, but here in America, we don’t even have a clue, even though we have already experienced huge losses in money and quality of life. And the accelerated changes are coming very soon. Mr Lendman writes:
From now through yearend, four major issues must be resolved:
(1) extending the 2% payroll tax deduction another year. In fact, it’s a stealth drain of hundreds of billions of dollars from Social Security’s Trust Fund reserves.
Revenue already lost irreparably weakened its ability to pay future benefits. Lose more and the entire program may be lost. Privatization assures it.
Obama fully concurs on driving a stake through the heart of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and public pensions. He’s no progressive. He’s a corporatist hardliner. He never would have become president otherwise. Populists needn’t apply.
(2) extending expiring unemployment benefits for millions of laid off workers.
(3) another one-year Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) fix.
(4) delaying the 29% cut in doctors fees for serving Medicare patients.
Expect Republicans to drive a hard bargain like they always do. Democrats pretend they care. In fact, they’ve already sold out. Obama’s reelection hinged on it.
He talks tough, then caves at the 11th hour. He did repeatedly throughout his first term. Both parties are in lockstep on defending privilege.
People needs don’t matter. It’s part of a longstanding plan to third worldize America. Safety net protection is someone else’s problem.
On November 6, Bill Black discussed what’s coming. His article headlined “Wall Street Urges Obama to Commit the Great Betrayal,” saying:
Top domestic policy is eroding safety net protections en route to eliminating them altogether.
“Only a Democrat can make it politically safe for Republicans who hate the safety net to unravel it (a process that would occur over a number of years) by legitimizing the claim that (it) must be cut.”
Obama was hand-picked to do it. “Wall Street’s unholy grail (is) privatizing Social Security.”
Doing so will let financial predators “charge tens of billions of dollars in fees annually and the banks that administered the privatized program would be systemically dangerous institutions (SDIs) because the consequences of allowing bank failures to cause tens of millions of Americans to lose their retirement savings would require either that all such deposits be federally insured or that the failing banks be bailed out by the federal government.”
“Privatization, therefore, is a convenient fiction. The banks’ profits will be privatized. Any catastrophic losses will be borne by the public.”
The Big Lie claims no acceptable alternative exists. Safety net cuts must be imposed. Obama’s sharpened knife is a dagger at the heart of what matters most to ordinary people. Their welfare, security and futures are up for grabs. They’re being destroyed in plain sight.
h/t The Real News & Steve Lendman’s Blog
Did I rub you the wrong way or stroke you just right? Let me know below in the comments section or Email me at buelahman {AT} g m a i l {DOT} com
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All posts are opinions meant to foster comment, reporting, teaching & study under the “fair use doctrine” in Sec. 107 of U.S. Code Title 17. No statement of fact is made or should be implied. Ads appearing on this blog are solely the product of the advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BuehlahMan’s Revolt or WordPress.com
The Grand Bargain IS Paulsterity
I have warned you multiple times about Paulsterity. I told you that it didn’t matter whether or not it was Ron Paul or Paul Ryan’s plan, or whether or not the liar-in-chief, Obama, wins another term, Austerity is coming. I have warned you that it doesn’t matter which of the two complicit duopolistic parties win, the end result will be hurting poor folks at the expense of the rich getting richer (why do you think they give all this money to the elections in the first place: because they “love America”?).
Morons.
Image found at http://contemporarycondition.blogspot.com/2012/03/science-and-ethics-of-austerity-lessons.html
They give all that money because they want something in return. They want to control the money (and control it right into their own pockets). They will do so by attacking the social network while NOW is the time to keep their greedy fingers off of it. Now, the worst financial situation this country has ever found herself in is a result of privatization which simply makes those who can afford to buy even richer at your expense.
I mentioned a friend’s unwavering dedication to Romney and the Republicans, mainly because he thinks Obama is a communist and Romney is a Capitalist (indicating that he would be better than Obama). I insisted that on the issues that matter, disregarding the propaganda of Rush Limbaugh (he did use him as an example), they are the same, and that they are both bad for this country.
In a passing comment about Romney vs Obama, I wrote:
As for preferring Romney over Obama… one is just as evil as the other. Both are corrupt, as are both parties. Both serve Israel’s interests (Romney will probably be much worse than Obama, as a matter of fact).
To me, my concern isn’t about which person or party wins, for we all lose with either one.
He countered:
Sorry B’Man, can’t agree with much of what you say below. Your belief that Romney and Obama are the same is simply wrong, and I’m very sad that you think this way. Obama is a communist, plain and simple, and his communist roots and education are plain for all to see. Romney is a successful capitalist and a decent man. Are saying communism is morally equal to capitalism? If so, you couldn’t be more wrong and I would hardly know where to start in convincing you otherwise. How about this: Do you want this country to look like Cuba, Russia, or China?
You see, he immediately went for at least one of the Seventeen Techniques For Truth Suppression.
I had to explain, again, that the system is corrupt (I used the word “evil”) and had to bring out my tired old motto:
My motto is “Ne’er an R or D Again”.
The two party paradigm has grabbed you. I am sorry that you don’t understand what I’m saying. You have lived much longer than I and surely have experienced the ping pong effect. One election year is the lesser of two evils. The next election year, it is the other lesser of two evils. I assume you understand evil. Evil is evil. Period.
The debates are controlled by those two parties. Big Money controls both parties. It is obvious simply by following where they put their money in each election cycle (Opensecrets.org).
Obama is evil. Romney is evil. The system is evil.
And this is the mindset that keeps us in bondage to Big Money. An undying allegiance to one of the two dominating evil parties. A lack of discernment, both politically and spiritually. A trust in one’s favorite “lesser of two evils” and the total abandonment of sanity and/or clear thinking. A purposeful dedication to an evil, corrupt system that is blatantly obvious to any open-minded, sane person.
DCDave sent me a link this morning to The Activist Post (I have been a long time subscriber to their site and must have forgotten this comparison of the two evil, lying characters running for POTUS. They write that there are “40 Points That Prove That Barack Obama and Mitt Romney Are Essentially The Same Candidate‘:
1. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both supported TARP.
2. Mitt Romney supported Barack Obama’s “economic stimulus” packages.
3. Mitt Romney says that Barack Obama’s bailout of the auto industry was actually his idea.
4. Neither candidate supports immediately balancing the federal budget.
5. They both believe in big government and they both have a track record of being big spenders while in office.
6. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both fully support the Federal Reserve.
7. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are both on record as saying that the president should not question the “independence” of the Federal Reserve.
8. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have both said that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did a good job during the last financial crisis.
9. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both felt that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke deserved to be renominated to a second term.
10. Both candidates oppose a full audit of the Federal Reserve.
11. Both candidates are on record as saying that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has done a good job.
12. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have both been big promoters of universal health care.
13. Mitt Romney was the one who developed the plan that Obamacare was later based upon.
14. Wall Street absolutely showers both candidates with campaign contributions.
15. Neither candidate wants to eliminate the income tax or the IRS.
16. Both candidates want to keep personal income tax rates at the exact same levels for the vast majority of Americans.
17. Both candidates are “open” to the idea of imposing a Value Added Tax on the American people.
18. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both believe that the TSA is doing a great job.
19. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both supported the NDAA.
20. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both supported the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act.
21. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both believe that the federal government should be able to indefinitely detain American citizens that are considered to be terrorists.
22. Both candidates believe that American citizens suspected of being terrorists can be killed by the president without a trial.
23. Barack Obama has not closed Guantanamo Bay like he promised to do, and Mitt Romney actually wants to double the number of prisoners held there.
24. Both candidates support the practice of “extraordinary rendition”.
25. They both support the job-killing “free trade” agenda of the global elite.
26. They both accuse each other of shipping jobs out of the country and both of them are right.
27. Both candidates are extremely soft on illegal immigration.
28. Neither candidate has any military experience. This is the first time that this has happened in a U.S. election since 1944.
29. Both candidates earned a degree from Harvard University.
30. They both believe in the theory of man-made global warming.
31. Mitt Romney has said that he will support a “cap and trade” carbon tax scheme (like the one Barack Obama wants) as long as the entire globe goes along with it.
32. Both candidates have a very long record of supporting strict gun control measures.
33. Both candidates have been pro-abortion most of their careers. Mitt Romney’s “conversion” to the pro-life cause has been questioned by many. In fact, Mitt Romney has made millions on Bain Capital’s investment in a company called “Stericycle” that incinerates aborted babies collected from family planning clinics.34. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both believe that the Boy Scout ban on openly gay troop leaders is wrong.
35. They both believe that a “two state solution” will bring lasting peace between the Palestinians and Israel.
36. Both candidates have a history of nominating extremely liberal judges.
37. Like Barack Obama, Mitt Romney also plans to add “signing statements” to bills when he signs them into law.
38. They both have a horrible record when it comes to job creation.
39. Both candidates believe that the president has the power to take the country to war without getting the approval of the U.S. Congress.
40. Both candidates plan to continue running up more government debt even though the U.S. government is already 16 trillion dollars in debt.
I am not saying that I agree with every point (for instance, I don’t see number 12 being correct… neither want “universal healthcare”, what they want is to privatize the system and continue feeding the beast that is draining the system, Health Insurance… NOT the same thing. Nor is ObamaCare “universal healthcare”… #13). But, by and large, most are an accurate comparison.
It truly boils down to Big Money and austerity measures to keep afloat the very ones that have wrecked our economy, at YOUR and my (and our children for generations to come) expense. They truly desire to create a third world country where the few ultra-rich dominate the millions of us poor folk.
A vote for Romney is a vote for Paulsterity (Paul Ryan’s Plan).
A vote for Obama is also Paulsterity (or the Great Bargain).
The insanity (or stupid allegiance, whatever) to continuing the support of either “Party” or the bought and paid for candidates that the bogus media has brainwashed you with, is not only horrific for me and my family, but it is equally bad for your family. Its time you get your heads out of your butts and see what’s going on.
One could simply not vote (and if enough were to stay away, in protest, perhaps it would send a message). But there is another way, if enough people got on board, and that is to vote for ANYONE else that is unassociated with an R or D (reTHUGlican or demoRAT).
A poster promoting the virtues of austerity. But who really benefits? Photo: Flickr Creative Commons
There are some third party or independent candidates running, personally, I am voting for Merlin Miller (will write him in, if he is not on the ballot). At least he is not afraid to call out the best reason we are falling apart as a country.
At least then, we would easily be able to see the obvious election manipulation that will permeate the corrupt voting machines as Dr Paul Craig Roberts highlights in today’s post at his site.
You will finally recognize that next year, when they cut your Social Security, Food Stamps, Medicare/Medicaid… when you see the poor people begin to starve and/or get sick and die because you didn’t have the sense or discernment to see what is obviously coming… when you will be the one that suffers burdens to take care of your elderly mother, because they are taking away the safety net that all of us poor rednecks have piad for all of our lives… when they complete the cycle of theft, by taking your savings because there is no interest paid on the meager money you do have left… when the final condition will be them taking your home because you cannot afford the taxes…
THEN and only then will the brain-dead, political sycophantic fools FINALLY realize that dumb ole redneck, B’Man, warned you to the best of his ability.
But then it will be too late.
Morons.
h/t DCDave, The Real News, Paul Craig Roberts, and Activist Post
Did I rub you the wrong way or stroke you just right? Let me know below in the comments section or Email me at buelahman {AT} g m a i l {DOT} com
If for some reason you actually liked this post, click the “Like” button below. If you feel like someone else needs to see this (or you just want to ruin someone’s day), click the Share Button at the bottom of the post and heap this upon some undeserving soul. And as sad as this thought may be, it may be remotely possible that us rednecks here at The Revolt please you enough (or more than likely, you are just a glutton for punishment??), that you feel an overwhelming desire to subscribe via the Email subscription and/or RSS Feed buttons found on the upper right hand corner of this page (may the Lord have mercy on your soul).
All posts are opinions meant to foster comment, reporting, teaching & study under the “fair use doctrine” in Sec. 107 of U.S. Code Title 17. No statement of fact is made or should be implied. Ads appearing on this blog are solely the product of the advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BuehlahMan’s Revolt or WordPress.com
Legalization? Decriminalization? And A Liar’s Flip Flop
Sanity from truth tellers that know:
Jim Gierach a former Assistant State’s Attorney of Cook County, Illinois and Richard Van Wickler superintendent for the Cheshire County, New Hampshire Department of Corrections call for the legalization of drugs
more stories on the war on drugs
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8…
Insanity from a brazen liar:
Did I rub you the wrong way or stroke you just right? Let me know below in the comments section or Email me at buelahman {AT} g m a i l {DOT} com
If for some reason you actually liked this post, click the “Like” button below. If you feel like someone else needs to see this (or you just want to ruin someone’s day), click the Share Button at the bottom of the post and heap this upon some undeserving soul. And as sad as this thought may be, it may be remotely possible that us rednecks here at The Revolt please you enough (or more than likely, you are just a glutton for punishment??), that you feel an overwhelming desire to subscribe via the Email subscription and/or RSS Feed buttons found on the upper right hand corner of this page (may the Lord have mercy on your soul).
All posts are opinions meant to foster comment, reporting, teaching & study under the “fair use doctrine” in Sec. 107 of U.S. Code Title 17. No statement of fact is made or should be implied. Ads appearing on this blog are solely the product of the advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BuehlahMan’s Revolt or WordPress.com
The Sweetest Deal EVER made—
…. who made it and who was in on it????
Okay folks– just for the sheer sake of jumpstarting your nervous system today. Read this report. I promise you that in it you will discover one sentence that will make you pause your breath for a second– and then you will think “ How did I not already figure that was coming”. What a deal folks, what a deal!!!!!!!!!!!
European Stocks Climb for Sixth Day; BMW, BP Shares Advance
July 13, 2010, 12:14 PM EDT
July 13 (Bloomberg) — European stocks climbed for a sixth day to a three-week high as Alcoa Inc. began the U.S. earnings season with profit that beat estimates, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG raised its forecast and BP Plc gained.
BMW, the world’s biggest maker of luxury cars, jumped the most in 15 months after saying higher volumes in 2010 will boost profit. BP increased 2.9 percent after installing a new cap on its leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and as Abu Dhabi said it’s considering making an investment in the company.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 1.9 percent to 255.99, erasing this year’s losses. The measure has risen 8.2 percent over the past six days amid easing concern about the economic recovery and speculation that the selloff in equities since April has overshot the outlook for company profits. The gauge remains 5.9 percent below this year’s high.
Earnings “forecasts look too low and we expect a strong majority of companies to beat their numbers,” said Graham Bishop, the London-based head of pan-European equity strategy at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. “We already know a great deal about the performance of the global economy through the second quarter. Consensus economic forecasts have actually been revised materially higher.”
Portugal’s PSI-20 Index was the second-weakest western European market today as Moody’s Investors Service cut the nation’s credit rating by two notches to A1 because of a growing debt burden and weak economic growth prospects. The gauge gained 0.1 percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 surged 2 percent. Germany’s DAX rallied 1.9 percent.
Greek Bond Sale
Greece’s ASE Index surged 2.6 percent as the nation sold 1.63 billion euros ($2.1 billion) of 26-week Treasury bills at a rate below the 5 percent charged by the European Union for its bailout package, easing concern the country faces punitive costs to borrow.
BMW rallied 8.3 percent to 42.13 euros, leading a gauge of auto stocks to the biggest gain among 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600. The luxury-car maker forecast 2010 sales volumes will rise by about 10 percent to more than 1.4 million units, with a full-year profit margin of more than 5 percent expected for the automobiles segment. Rival Daimler AG advanced 5.4 percent to 43.81 euros.
Automakers Advance
Peugeot SA climbed 5.3 percent to 24.37 euros and Volkswagen AG preferred shares gained 5.2 percent to 77 euros. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its price estimate on the French carmaker by 3 percent to 34 euros and on the German automaker by 4 percent to 78 euros, saying increased demand and “attractive valuations” favor the industry, according to a report today.
BP advanced 2.9 percent to 410.35 pence, extending yesterday’s 9.4 percent jump. The oil company installed a new cap on its leaking Gulf of Mexico well and will start testing today whether this will stop the gusher while work continues on a permanent plug. Separately, the Financial Times reported that BP expects to be able to write off the oil-spill cleanup costs against taxes, without saying where it got its information.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the emirate is considering making an investment in BP.
‘Still Thinking’
“We are still thinking about it,” he said in an interview in Abu Dhabi today, when asked about potentially buying a stake in the London-based oil producer. “We are looking across the board. We have been partners with BP for years.”
Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer reported second- quarter profit that topped analysts’ projections as higher metal prices boosted sales. Earnings from continuing operations were 13 cents a share, exceeding the 11-cent average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Profits for S&P 500 companies are projected to have increased 34 percent in the second quarter and by the same amount in 2010, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Intel Corp., the biggest maker of semiconductors which reports quarterly earnings after the close of U.S. exchanges today, is among 23 companies in the index to announce results this week.
Burberry Group Plc surged 3.7 percent to 818.5 pence, the highest level since at least 2002. The U.K.’s largest luxury retailer posted a 27 percent gain in first-quarter sales, beating analysts’ estimates, led by growth in Asia and deliveries to wholesale customers.
Unilever, BAT
Unilever, the world’s second-largest maker of consumer products, gained 2.9 percent to 1,898 pence and British American Tobacco Plc advanced 2.6 percent to 2,277 pence as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. upgraded both companies to “buy” from “neutral.”
SEB AB surged 4.9 percent to 48.75 kronor after the second- largest bank in the Baltic countries returned to profit in the second quarter as loan losses in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania decreased.
DNO International ASA rallied 4.9 percent to 8.74 kroner, the highest close since April, after the Daily Telegraph reported that RAK Petroleum Pcl has made an offer to buy the remainder of the Norwegian oil producer. DNO Chief Executive Officer Helge Eide said he had “no comment and no information” on the report.
–Editors: Andrew Rummer, David Merritt.
All posts are opinions meant to foster comment, reporting, teaching & study under the “fair use doctrine” in Sec. 107 of U.S. Code Title 17. No statement of fact is made or should be implied. Ads appearing on this blog are solely the product of the advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BuehlahMan’s Redstate Revolt or WordPress.com
The 99er’s
WTF are people supposed to do?? Hell, I wish my Grandfather was here so I could get some insight as to how to navigate through times such as these!!! He was born in 1898. I did listen to him when he spoke about the Depression– but I sincerely would like to of heard the deep ‘how tos’. God Bless those fromback then– and God Bless us from today!
Michael A. FletcherWashington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 TOMS RIVER, N.J. — Even before his unemployment checks ended, Dwight Michael Frazee’s days were filled with the pursuit of any idea that could earn him a buck. But few are working out, and now his nights are filled with dread.
In the coming weeks, the Senate is expected to resume its debate about whether to extend the emergency jobless benefits that were passed in response to the steep increase in unemployment caused by the recession. But people like Frazee, who have suffered the longest in the downturn, will not be part of that conversation. They are among the 1.4 million workers who have been unemployed for at least 99 weeks, according to the Labor Department, reaching the limit for the insurance. Their numbers have grown sixfold in the past three years.
The 99ers are glaring examples of the nation’s most serious bout of long-term joblessness since the Great Depression. Nearly 46 percent of the country’s 14.6 million unemployed people have been out of work for more than six months, and forecasters project that the situation will not improve anytime soon. Currently, the Labor Department says there are nearly five unemployed people for every job opening.
Frazee, 50, has applied for work at more places than he can remember since he lost his construction job two years ago. He has tried car dealerships, Kmart, Home Depot and the funky shops on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, near Toms River. He looked into becoming a commercial crabber, working in title insurance and as a bail bondsman. But no dice.
While searching for work, he lived on $585 a week in unemployment payments. But the checks were cut off in May when he reached 99 weeks. Now Frazee, who is married and has a 5-year-old daughter, is in a financial free fall with no safety net.
“My life has been total stress. I sleep maybe four hours a night, worrying about money,” he said. “I understood the president and Congress had to stabilize the banks, get Wall Street going. I figured something would be done for middle-class Americans, that they couldn’t abandon us. But I was wrong.”
Since the recession began in December 2007, lawmakers have passed several extensions that stretched the normal 26-week limit for unemployment benefits to as long as 99 weeks in the hardest-hit states. In the Washington area, only workers in the District, where unemployment is 10.4 percent — well above the 9.5 percent national rate — qualify for the longest-term unemployment benefits. Virginia and Maryland residents can receive benefits as long as 86 weeks, including 60 weeks of federally financed benefits. The Labor Department has no statistics on the number of workers in each jurisdiction who have exhausted their benefits.
With the federal extensions now up for renewal, Congress has shown decreasing enthusiasm for them amid increasing concern about the ballooning deficit.
On several occasions, Senate Republicans have said they would not vote for stimulus bills that included unemployment extensions, saying any new spending must be offset by cuts elsewhere. With the extensions expired at least temporarily, more than 2 million Americans have lost their unemployment benefits, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research organization. A report by the House Ways and Means Committee estimated that 21,700 Virginians, 12,300 Marylanders and 5,200 D.C. residents lost their benefits when the extensions ended.
Congress’s inaction has been accompanied by a growing sentiment among lawmakers that long-term unemployment benefits create a disincentive for the jobless to find work.
“Workers are less likely to look for work, or accept less-than-ideal jobs, as long as they are protected from the full consequences of being unemployed,” said Michael D. Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. “That is not to say that anyone is getting rich off unemployment, or that unemployed people are lazy. But it is simple human nature that people are a little less motivated as long as a check is coming in.”
That was disputed by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, who cited a recent study ordered by congressional Democrats. “These benefits do not inhibit job seekers from vigorously looking for or accepting work,” she said.
The growing backlash against unemployment insurance has left the 99ers with few political advocates. President Obama, buffeted by GOP criticism of his economic policies as unemployment rates hover at their highest levels in 28 years, has been struggling to win support for renewing the extended jobless benefits. Consequently, any help for the 99ers is off the table, at least for now — leaving them angry at their political leaders.
“President Obama talks a lot about making the victims of the gulf disaster whole, but what about the victims of this economic disaster?” Frazee said. “Nowadays, he seems mostly concerned with image. Now, he doesn’t want to be seen as a big spender. But people need help.”
A 34-year-old resident of Vienna, Va., named Brian, who withheld his last name because of his embarrassment about being out of work, worked in corporate finance for nine years before being laid off three years ago. He exhausted his unemployment benefits long ago and has been living off savings and credit. “Before this, I figured that if you can’t find a job in two years, you’re not looking,” he said. “But I keep looking and jobs just are not there. The economy is not recovering. It’s being propped up by government spending. But when that ends, I think this whole mess is not over with.”
Here in Toms River, Frazee has not earned a regular paycheck since working as a $75,000-a-year laborer during the construction of the Borgata hotel in Atlantic City. That was in July 2008, just as the economy was imploding — and just after he was returning to health after having a cancerous appendix removed.
Since then, he has not worked, save for a recent four-day stint cleaning up a construction site at a nearby state college. He has fallen behind on mortgage payments for his sunny townhouse, and he is staring at the prospect of foreclosure even after negotiating a loan modification with his lender, Wells Fargo.
Most of the time, Frazee said, he has been confident that things would work out, if only because they always have. He started as a construction worker after his father’s endorsement helped him land a spot in the Laborers’ International Union Local 415 shortly after he graduated from Toms River South High School in 1978.
When he wasn’t working construction, he had jobs on oil rigs off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., and in the Gulf of Mexico. He also was a bounty hunter. “I’ve never been one to feel sorry for myself,” he said. “I’ve always worked.”
Until now. The longer he is out of a job, the more unemployable he feels. He suspects that potential employers are turned off by his age and by the fact that he has been out of work for so long. But he is moving near the top of the hiring list for his union. And in the meantime, he has been buying mail-order children’s quartz watches from China and selling them on consignment at local convenience stores. He clears close to $3 per watch.
“I’m a union construction worker, but I think I can be a hell of a salesman,” Frazee said. “A lot of the stores around here are owned by Indian Americans, and they like me. They’re taking my watches. Maybe India and China are going to help me out of this jam if my country won’t.”
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According to Uncle Sam’s Accountants…
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/
These are the figures for U.S. Trade per Country….
Call me crazy– but first : I don’t believe ‘all’ the figures
and secondly I just keep thinking ‘ what exactly did we trade for that couldn’t of been produced here?”
And why the hell do we trade with our enemies???? To win their hearts and minds…? How about winning your own citizens hearts and minds so they can get back to work, make a liveable wage, stay healthy… and pay into their own systems .
What’s the fuss all about?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Post-American_World
The Book
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fareed_Zakaria
The Author
Many folks have remarked that they think this is all Muslim backed… how about 1] At least our President can read 2] he is reading a book openly not appearing to hide it. God forbid!
so… in your opinion whats the big deal?
Health “Care” Reform Vs Health “Insurance” Reform: Red Herrings For The Gullible Americans
What will it take for all you lemmings to get full of the herrings being forced fed you. Do you like the taste so much or are you truly that stupid? Do you consider those elected into office to be more deserving of good, quality Single Payer healthcare than you? Did you know that those fighting against this, use it, even tho “Socialized medicine” (read as “Devil’s Healthcare” in the mind of fools) is Sooooo bad? Or are you aware that the brainwashing is so deep that the elderly and others on Medicare are being brainwashed into thinking that their beloved Medicare is actually “Socialized Medicine”?
When will you think for yourself? Ever?
These criminals, with the exception of a very few, use the Devil’s healthcare and don’t want you to have it… all the while lining their campaign pockets with the very ones that cause your bankruptcy or sickness and death due to limiting or denying your care when the worst comes? Ask your old Mama to give her “Socialized Medicine” up and see what happens. She’ll slap the shit out of you. Ask a vet to give up his VA healthcare for the private plans and watch out for the M16. ask a Congressman to give his up and watch out for the… (crickets chirping).
Single Payer: Listen to the Doctors!
What a concept! Listening to the people who work in our broken healthcare system every day and can tell you exactly what needs to be done from a first hand perspective!
h/t JohnPerryOnline
And please watch John’s Homework assignment in a RealNews segment down below highlighting Glen Ford as he explains how they are pulling off Health “Insurance” Reform, when what we need Health “Care” Reform. We do not need health “insurance” reform, unless you call cutting the head off of health insurance companies all together, “reform”. THAT is what is needed and any sane person knows this.
For you “conservatives” out there that keep insisting Obama is “liberal”, consider that he has played to the conservatives at each and every turn in this debate (and virtually every other debate). This man is no more a liberal than YOU are. You fall for the Kabuki Dance and look very stupid doing so, for the most fiscally conservative way to health “CARE” is Single payer. For you “liberals” or “progressives” out there, when will you begin to understand what those terms are and actually mimic their meaning? I’m just asking, because otherwise you are just as foolish and ignorant as your despised two-party headed counterparts in the dance.
Health reform: dead or alive?
Ford: By excluding single payer plan, Obama allowed the right to dominate the reform debate
Maybe all you need, Mr Conservative, is for one of your very own heroes to admit the truth. Is Jon Stewart really this brilliant or is Billy Boy Kristol as stupid as I think he is? Maybe Billy has come to his lying senses, or maybe he just got caught in a trap. Either way, watch some truth come out and explain why the Armed Services “deserve” superior treatment and other Americans don’t. I mean, don’t they say that your reward is the “adventure”, not the job (including benefits)?
I wonder if the following segment from Countdown (guest hosted by Governor Dean) interviewing Wendell Potter, the CIGNA insider who has been forthcoming with the truth about healthcare, would help you understand why the Kabuki Dance moves on and how, if the congress is allowed to carry forward, we will see an even worse situation arise.
more about “Countdown:Fighting to keep the public…“, posted with vodpod
The Blagojevich Committee Chaired By Max Baucus
Follow the money, honey, to see why Sen Max Baucus (Dungheap: Montana) will not allow Universal Healthcare “on the table”. Do you think that this corrupt, bought and paid for Insurance water boy will fight against his MAIN financing that gets you local Montana dumbasses to vote for him?
The “Pay to Play” Senator is clear about his intentions on his own site:
Universal Coverage: The first principle is universal coverage, every Montanan and American has a right to affordable health coverage. Universal coverage is essential if we are to make meaningful progress on the other four principles. We cannot address the health care system, if we leave a growing portion of the country behind. The solution, however, must build on the current system and must involve a public and private sector mix.
It MUST? Really? Wonder why it MUST?
Like I said, follow the money. His invitation was to “Stake Holders”. No real consideration of American workers or the public, in general. Pay to Play.
Now then, I saw a video at Dandelion Salad which continues the gist of my post from yesterday regarding the heroic 8 people who demanded that Universal, Single-Payer Healthcare be “PUT BACK ON THE TABLE“. The Real News Network’s video illuminated the lies that these corrupt, deep pocketed pawns say (and the American Sheople take as truth and “Gospel”) and offered the truth in answer to those lies.
The video quotes from a Harvard School of Public Health Feb 2008 Press release and shows poll results of how Americans feel about “Socialized Medicine”, broken down by Party affiliation. From the poll (just to show you that a majority of those who believe they understand what “Socialized medicine” is, feel like it would IMPROVE our system). Sorry to take away the lying MSM meme of “Americans are against it” (no I’m not).
To begin…
Q1 Politicians sometimes talk about “socialized medicine”. How well do you understand what this phrase means? Would you say [READ LIST]?
67% VERY/SOMEWHAT WELL (NET)
34% Very well
33% Somewhat well
31% NOT VERY/NOT AT ALL WELL (NET)
15% Not very well
15% Not at all
2% Don’t know/Refused
(Asked of those who understand what socialized medicine means “very well”, “somewhat well” or “not very well”; n=886)Q2. So far as you understand the phrase, do you think that if we had socialized medicine in this country that the health care system would be better or worse than what we have now?
45% Better
39% Worse
4% About the same (volunteer)
12% Don’t know/Refused
When Sen Jim Bunning of Kentucky weighed in (heavy laden with his largest campaign contribution coinage in his pockets from Big Insurance), he told what is termed down here in Tennessee, “A Damned Lie” when he said that when he looks at “Government Single Payer” healthcare in other countries like the UK, Canada, Sweden, etc that he sees MUCH higher tax rates on workers (“60% and Higher”). In other words, government run, “socialized medicine” causes very high tax rates for the workers of those countries compared to us.
But what is the truth about that claim?
The truth is found in the OECD Fact Book.
Canada 33.3%
UK 32.6%
Sweden 50.1% (but they also get free college for everyone and many other “social services” that we pay for out of our pocket, or double the unemployment insurance protection than our own government provides).
NONE are the Big Money’s (or the “Owned” Sen from Kentucky’s) lie of “60% or higher”.
But just what IS the American tax rate (before our expensive health care, college and other “social services” we pay for are factored)?
30.4%
Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a tax burden of ALMOST as much as they do, but we STILL pay for our healthcare in premiums, out of pocket and the cattle train mentality of our extremely lucrative medical industry (and the health insurance companies that control it via their high dollar campaign contributions to the very ones who keep the only viable option OFF THE TABLE).
Now what does our 2-3% “savings” in tax rate get us? Besides the $.31 of every Healthcare Dollar going to the Big Insurance Company’s overhead and outrageous salaries and bonuses?
Well, it gets us more dead babies on arrival. Yes, that’s right… the American infant mortality rate is higher than all of these “socialized medicine” controlled countries. (On a side note, Cuba beats us, too) Along with France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Japan, S Korea, Israel, The Czech Republic, Portugal, Australia, (do I have to go on)…
US 6.26 out of 1,000 births
Canada 5.04
Sweden (that monsterous “Socialized Medicine/College/Worker Friendly” country?
2.75 infant deaths out of 1,000
(Do you understand what this means? That those bastards in Sweden have twice as good an infant mortality rate, get all their college paid for and are very well treated as workers and citizens, while we… well, you know what you are going through)
These scumbags are liars and well paid for it. Sen Baucus can giggle about “needing more police”, but if you ignorant sheep herders from Montana would just wake up to his bullshit, we could rid ourselves of another Big Money crony set to protect his coffers and fuck his fellow citizens. I’m working on my sorry assed Senator Alexander. Step up and do your part.
We need to rid our country of these slimy assholes enriched by ill-gotten gain that leaches off of you and your families’ health.
The Buffering of history
WHAT AN AWESOME DAY! … and now I have a question…
Well, after watching ‘history’ today… I noticed a topic I do desire to ask all of you about. Bear with me as I set this topic up and then ask a few questions. Do those who chose to be the ones ‘recording’ history for our country as well as the world have the right or obligation to alter the ‘realism’, truth of reflection regarding it? To delete, or ignore parts etc out of it as a rationalization of using kindness or respect? Sounds nice and right– but I disagree! I can recall critics of the Statue of Iwo Jima [which was made after the photograph of those who actually did raise the flag]… say that that statue should of reflected a black, an Indian and a woman. Well that to me would have been a distorted reflection and not true at all.
So– when the reality of the history today was recorded… those who held the power over the audio and cameras decided to not pan the masses when Bush was announced… and turned down the audio. This to me was not a ‘real’ entry into the ledger of history. No matter the day– the chips should of fell the way he himself had caused his presence to effect the people of this country. Obama didn’t hedge in his speech regarding those that failed the country. He even made many pointed remarks about Bush in my opinion.
>
“…a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some,…”
“…false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics….”
“…that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply…”
“..And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government….”
“…we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals…” [I love that nice way of calling someone a liar]
This only took 8 years to do!!
“..”Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].” <
So, whatever did or didn’t happen in that slice of time will only be told by those there… independently.
If we demand that Cheney turn papers over for historical reasons, we demand truth in all things, then I personally took offence to the fact that the media decided to edit anything. The media must join the train of change… and what led us all to the gates of hell prior to this day, was our own complacency. Today was not the day to not expect the true reflection of all things about this day that made it what it was.
Times we say “WOW!”–
Human perfection just may exist–
Come on, admit it when you have seen this , that this made you say “Wow!!”
Those minds before us–
http://www.filmswelike.com/pages/doc.html
The amazing adventures of H.L. “Doc” Humes, the man who put the culture in counterculture. With Lord Buckley, the Hip Messiah; paper houses for the poor; Don Peyote, a lost Beat take on Cervantes; the CIA, FBI, marijuana, massage, utopia—and paranoia.
In the 1950s and early ’60s, Doc co-founded The Paris Review, wrote two acclaimed novels, and was a gregarious fixture of the cultural scene in Paris, London and New York. Doc was a 1950s NYC intellectual, a 60s free speech militant, and a 70s visionary crazy genius. His story is the story of decades of cultural history, a poignant personal long-strange-trip, and a fount of ever-relevant ideas.
Absorbing! Could have been subtitled Portrait of the Artist as a Madman… Doc emerges as a quintessential countercultural figure, embodying both the exuberance and the excesses of the times. More poignantly, Immy Humes finds redemption for the father who was often too preoccupied or too sick to tend to his family.”
– Tom Beer, Time Out NY
“An engaging time capsule of ‘60s downtown subversive culture.”
– Lisa Rosman, Flavorpill
DOC
95 Mins/ 2008/ USA
A film by Immy Humes
QUOTES BY H.L.“DOC” HUMES
“I suggest that we start with the blueprint for Utopia. We’ve gotten into the pernicious habit of dismissing utopia as impractical. It may be that utopia is the only way out. I mean that quite seriously. It may simply be a fact of history that the alternative to Utopia is Hell, perpetual warfare. It looks like we all have to learn how to live like saints and angels merely to survive.”
“The country is suffering a real pestilence, a plague as real as anything that ever hit Europe in the Middle Ages. It’s an emotional plague, an emotional disorder rather than virus or a bacillus, it’s endemic anxiety neurosis. They see fear as something that makes their machine go –I mean when I say they, call them the government, call it the corporate structure, call it whatever you will. They deliberately induce a state of anxiety.”
“I think we can establish in a court of law that cannabis is a drug that does heal and liberate the human spirit. If used properly and not just to get stoned out of your balloon on—you dig what I mean.”
“What’s happening in the world of the media is that the techniques of image mongering are being perverted to distract, divert, obfuscate, exactly the opposite of what the poet does—It’s kind of a battle of language that’s going on. This presents a real problem for the poet, because the poet—being the first enemy of the tyrant—is stuck with the task of unraveling this perversion of the use of language.”
“Machinery that’s not used rusts. And sometimes it’s a good idea not to pay the 2 dollars, to fight the case, to give the judge something to get his teeth in, so he can put down a decision, make a precedent. If you pay the 2 dollars every time, then nothing gets before the courts and nothing is decided, no new precedents are made and everything stagnates.”
“The thing I’ve discovered most recently, that I think is the most relevant, is that you never fall out of love with anybody that you’ve ever loved. I mean, once the anger has diminished, once the stone has been removed from your shoe, the love is still there. And that’s just amazing. Just amazing. I’ve done exhaustive research on that subject. Exhaustive research. And it has exhausted me.”
Norman Mailer
“The 50s had sat on all of us like a boil… And what we wanted was to disturb society. We couldn’t stand the complacency of society. We hated the Cold War, although I don’t recall we ever talked much about it, it wasn’t the Cold War we hated, we hated the air of oppression that sat over everything because of the Cold War and the way we felt that the powers that be were manipulating everything and using the Cold War in order to be able to run their little game the way they liked to run it. So we saw ourselves as icebreakers, as people who were going to smash all the stupidity and this congealed lard that sat over the public mind. It never occurred to us that there’s a certain part of the public mind that loves being installed in congealed lard because it makes life a lot easier if you don’t have to think a lot of the time. Then came the 60′s…”
Mimicing the style, not the grace?
The fact that for some odd reason I do not find this cute at all– It scares me a bit– lol. I can not even imagine freedom of choice for this baby. Oh he will have it, but I feel it will come with much internal conflict down the road. I sincerely do believe ‘personal Faith’ is ‘found’ then grown. This little baby boy has no clue as to what he appears to reflect to those who know not God. And right now, he doesn’t ‘know’ God either, he ‘knows’ his Grandfather. ok, maybe it’s just me . Usually is. lol lol
http://www.apostoliclive.com/play.php?vid=492
