Category Archives: Current Events

The Ghosts of George W. Bush and Richard (The Dick) Cheney.

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On January 20, 2009, you probably thought the Bush/Cheney administration had come to an ignominious end.  You were wrong.  The problems generated by these goons still haunt us.  The war in Iraq may be winding down (although we can’t be certain), but the war in Afghanistan is growing.  The oil companies and Big Pharma are still holding a gun to our collective heads.  The Wall Street tycoons are still gambling with our money and paying themselves six to eight figure bonuses.  The corporations and utilities are still spewing poisons into our atmosphere.  The gun lobby is still rewriting laws to permit more weaponry.  Health insurance companies are still hauling in record profits while denying care to millions. 

Don’t blame Obama.  These issues all began or at least ballooned under Bush/Cheney and it will take years to change them. 

But these issues are the least of our problems.  Seriously!  The most problematic legacy of the Bush years is a Supreme Court dominated by conservatives who liberally support big corporations while denying rights for individuals.

And now that the Roberts Court has over-reached by over-turning 103 years of established law to allow unlimited funding for candidates by large corporations, what Senators or Congressional representatives will dare to vote against corporate interests when those corporations can spend millions, maybe billions, to defeat them in the next election?  What Gubernatorial or Legislative candidate will be able to raise enough money to compete with a corporate-sponsored foe?  The majority opinion of the Court says it ruled to erase limits on free speech.  The effect will be very much the opposite. 

The next big crisis facing Democrats.

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For 30 years, the Grand Old Party of Corporations has fought to end welfare for the poor (although corporate welfare is just dandy), labor unions, workers’ compensation programs, public schools, and entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security.  And recent events have presented Republicans a golden opportunity to permanently undo 80 years of progressive initiatives. 

State income has plummeted as a result of the Republican-created financial collapse.  Now those states controlled by right-wing conservative legislatures are capitalizing on the recession by slashing budgets for public education, health care for at-risk children, and pensions.  And you can bet the wingnuts are going to blame it all on President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress. 

In my state of Arizona, a Republican-controlled legislature has slashed millions from an education system that already ranks 49th in the nation.  (Following the Republican philosophy of wresting control away from government, the state offers huge subsidies for private and parochial schools.  Of course, those subsidies are unaffected by budget cuts.)  The legislature is also closing state parks even though they are a necessary part of the state’s 2nd largest industry – tourism.  The legislature is even considering selling all state-owned buildings and leasing them back as part of long-term agreements which will pay the purchasers billions of taxpayer dollars.  But, according to Republicans, they’re only doing what Democrats won’t – balance the budget. 

Never mind that, for years, Republicans have cut taxes for the wealthy.  Never mind that the legislature refused to allow the Republican governor to place a temporary sales tax increase on the ballot.  It’s a perfect political climate for Republicans to orchestrate this charade. 

I hope voters are informed enough to make Republicans pay for it by voting for progressive candidates.  But since many rely on the Faux News Channel for information, they’re more likely to make matters worse by voting for the Tea Party, instead.

If you think herding cats is difficult, try Democrats.

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The election of a Republican to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat in the U.S. Senate has clearly illustrated the disarray of the Democratic Party.  Despite holding the White House, the House of Representatives and a super majority in the Senate, Democrats have been either unable or unwilling to accomplish much of the agenda they campaigned for. 

Faced with a financial industry so greedy that it nearly caused the collapse of the international economy, Democrats have failed to institute new regulations to prevent future problems.  Faced with millions of unemployed, they failed to pass a stimulus bill large enough to create jobs.  Faced with mounting foreclosures, they failed to force lenders to restructure loans.  Faced with millions of uninsured and more than 33,000 deaths each year for the lack of access to health care, Democrats let Republicans and Tea Party wingnuts control the dialogue about health reform.  They publicly cut deals with insurance companies and big Pharma.  They allowed a few Congressmen to include more restrictive language on abortion.  They allowed one senator to kill the public option despite polls showing that a public option is favored by a significant majority of Americans.  And they allowed another senator to hijack the bill in order to gain major concessions for his state. 

It’s not that our nation’s current problems were created by Democrats.  They weren’t.  And it’s true that the Republicans, whose policies led to the problems, were determined to block any initiatives by Democrats.  But the fact remains, in one full year, Democrats were unable to solve them.  And given the fleeting attention spans of most voters, in their minds, these ongoing problems are now the fault of Democrats.   

So where does the party go from here? 

In my opinion, Democrats must take a lesson from Republicans.  When it comes to legislation, Democrats must act as if they’re joined at the hip.  They must craft legislation in caucus meetings and not present it to the public until they can all support it – without fear of defections.  They must better present their ideas to the public and explain their benefits.  And they must learn to be as ruthless as Republicans in trying to achieve their goals.  No more “gangs of six” that include Republicans trying to undermine the legislation.  Democrats can make it clear that they will work with Republicans, but only if Republicans are willing to work with them.

And the President must change his approach.  Although he obviously envisions himself a modern-day Lincoln who will pull together both parties and the nation, he must finally realize that you can’t achieve bi-partisanship when there is no “bi.”  He must realize that Republicans are serious about their desire to see him fail.  He must become more involved in legislation and more clearly set a path for his party.  He must become the leader we voted for. 

Failing these kinds of changes, we’re likely to see Democrats, and the nation, flounder.  If that happens, voters will believe the Democratic Party is incapable of governing.  And they will be right.

The Corporatization of America.

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Those on the political right incessantly condemn government while, at the same time, promoting “privatization” – another word for corporatization.  What they want is to eliminate all forms of public regulation and turn all of our government affairs over to large corporations. 

They have a good start.

In the U.S., our health care and pharmaceutical industries have long been privately-owned and controlled.  This despite the fact that taxpayers provide large research grants to these companies to help them develop their products.  And over the past 30 years, we’ve seen increased privatization and control of the food chain, schools, prisons, even the military.  The mercenary company, Blackwater (aka Xe), has become a household word for its role in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Indeed, some reports state that there are as many mercenaries working for the U.S. in those wars as there are government troops.  We’ve even seen our government award patents (and the resulting control) to corporations for genetic discoveries, including plant hybrids even though they were often subsidized by our government.  Perhaps the greatest threat of this privatization nonsense is to our water supplies. 

Appearing on Christiane Amanpour’s CNN program, Robert Kennedy, Jr. stated that this is becoming a very big concern throughout the world.  He stated that water is one of the biggest bargaining issues for peace between Israelis and the Arab world.  And, according to Kennedy, the issue we’re seeing in the Middle East is now becoming a very big issue in the western U.S.  For example, as the result of urban and irrigation pressures, the Colorado River now runs dry before it hits the ocean.  Lake Powell, which provides water for Las Vegas, is projected to be dry in 20-50 years.  In addition, much of the prime farmland in California now lacks water for irrigation because of the demand on reservoirs.  Of course, some suggest that the solution is to give control of water supplies to private corporations. 

This is a very bad idea.

This privatization stupidity has gone so far that some want corporations to take over public lands, public parks and public buildings.  In the state of Arizona, the Republican-controlled legislature has already cut millions from education, tourism and public safety in its attempts to balance the budget while simultaneously cutting taxes.  Yet those measures haven’t been sufficient.   So the Republicans are actually promoting legislation that would force the state to sell all state-owned public buildings to individuals or corporations and lease them back.  The result would be to literally hand billions to the buyers at the expense of the taxpayers who paid to build them.

If the choice is between a well-regulated government and greedy corporations (think AIG, Goldman-Sachs, BankofAmerica, et al), which would you want to control your fate? 

The cost of tax cuts.

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Everybody complains about paying taxes.  But Republicans and Teabaggers have turned their complaints into an art form.  Indeed, just last week, they were whining that the Obama administration allowed a number of Bush-era tax cuts to lapse.  Yet these people are the first to complain when our government entities don’t work as they expect.  Somehow, they seem incapable of seeing the connection. 

For the past 40-plus years, Republicans have been cutting taxes on the wealthiest U.S. citizens and U.S. corporations.  They’ve even cut estate taxes (the so-called death tax). 

All of this tax-cutting has had a profound effect on our infrastructure. 

Except in our largest cities, our highways haven’t been substantially improved since the 50s and 60s.  As evidenced by the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, many of our nation’s bridges are in woeful repair.  Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t Hurricane Katrina that caused the disaster in New Orleans.  It was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s archaic levee system.   And in California, another levee system responsible for much of Los Angeles’ water is eroding making it highly vulnerable to a catastrophic event. 

Our electric grid needs to be replaced.   Many of our largest cities’ sewer systems are collapsing.  Security at our airports is incapable of stopping all terrorists, and the security for our ports is much worse.  Our schools are falling behind those in many other nations.  And, unlike most wealthy nations, we can’t provide basic health care to all of our citizens (although that is, hopefully, about to change).

What’s the reaction of Republicans when faced with these facts?  Not surprisingly, they merely call for more tax cuts.

Campaign donations and lobbying are paying off for health care.

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Health care related businesses have long been the biggest spenders in politics.  The AMA, American Hospital Association, Pharma, and insurance companies have donated millions to Congressional, Senatorial and Presidential campaigns.  They have a massive collection of lobbyists.  And it’s working.

Purdue Pharma, Aetna and The Hartford have all generously contributed to Joe Lieberman’s election campaigns.  And when it came time to vote on health care reform, Joe hijacked the Senate bill, threatening to join a Republican filibuster unless the public option was removed.  The biggest contributors to Senator Ben Nelson’s campaigns have included insurance and health care professionals, and now he wants to stop the bill over abortion language.  Senator Max Baucus who presided over the gang of 6 that removed some of the strongest elements of the House bill is backed by insurance, health professionals and pharmaceuticals.  The list goes on…and on. 

I admire the efforts by President Obama and the dozens of Democratic Senators and Congressional Representatives who have fought so hard to reform health care.  It’s desperately needed.  But with Republicans determined to block any health care reform and the health care industry flexing the muscle gained by contributing millions to elected officials, it’s unlikely that any substantive health care reform will ever reach the President’s desk. 

Even if it does, it’s likely to benefit the health care industry more than our citizens. 

Democrats still need to grow a pair.

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Since Bill Clinton left office, the Democratic Party has been searching for a large dose of testosterone.   When Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination, it seemed that the party had finally found someone who had the vision, the intelligence and the strength to stand up to an opposing party that is united in its support of corporations and the wealthy. 

That may be true, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell.

Despite a large majority in the House and a 60-member caucus in the Senate, the Democrats once again seem weak and incapable of governing.  The health care reform bill is exhibit A.  In its current form, the Senate bill will mandate that everyone purchase insurance from private corporations more interested in increasing their profits than controlling costs and provide health care coverage for their customers. 

It’s time for President Obama and Congressional Democrats to drop their futile attempts at bipartisanship and pull together.  If they don’t, Sarah Palin and the Tea Party may have a better chance of reaching majority status in the future than Democrats. 

According to a new NBC-Wall Street Journal poll, they’re currently more popular.

Why the recession is our own damn fault.

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Sure, it was the greed of mortgage-lenders and Wall Street that led to our recession.  But it’s consumers that are perpetuating it.  Most economists will tell you that recessions are mostly in the consumers’ minds.  If consumers are worried and reduce spending, our economy drops.  When consumers start spending, our economy rises.

Now, I understand that there are several overriding issues that led to this particular recession, not the least of which is the redistribution of wealth upward (10 percent of Americans now control nearly 71 percent of all U.S. assets).  Nevertheless, we have the power to fix it.

For one, we can vote for political candidates who are more concerned about ordinary citizens than the wealthy and the corporations that finance their political campaigns.

When possible, we can purchase American-made products.  Not just products with American brands, but products that actually say “made in America” on the product or the packaging.  I understand that it’s increasingly difficult to find American-made products, and that they sometimes cost more than those made elsewhere, but there is no better way to create or ensure American jobs.  For example, a Chevrolet or Ford is not only assembled in the U.S. by American workers, many of the parts are made in the U.S. and the profits go to American-based companies that pay taxes in the U.S.   This isn’t protectionism.  It’s simply common sense.

Finally, we can individually and collectively boycott corporations that don’t operate in our best interests.  Given their recent behavior, why would anyone continue to patronize the too-big-to-fail banks when there are so many other alternatives?  So even if you feel that voting for political candidates doesn’t change anything.  Voting with your purchases most definitely can.

The real scandal surrounding Tiger Woods.

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For days we’ve been treated to “news” stories speculating about Woods’ infidelity and the consequences of his alleged indiscretions.  Why?  Personally, I could care less if Woods had one affair or a hundred.  He’s human.  And like all humans he has flaws. 

Instead of wondering about Woods’ future, we should be wondering why the news media has devoted endless hours to this story when the same media could not devote a few hours to investigate the Bush administration’s claims that led to the ill-advised invasion and occupation of Iraq.  We should wonder why the news media spends more time covering the personal indiscretions of political candidates than the issues they espouse.  We should wonder why the news media gives equal access to representatives of the far right and far left without examining the accuracy of their claims.

Following the death of Walter Cronkite, many journalists reported Cronkite’s philosophy that a news organization’s responsibility is to tell people what they need to know.  Not what they want to know.  Too bad none of them seem to share that philosophy.

Corporate loan sharking.

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Having read that credit card companies are increasing interest rates, I began to wonder: What separates our financial institutions from the Sicilian Mafia, the Chinese Tongs or anyone else imprisoned for loan-sharking? They all charge outrageous interest rates on loans. They all have aggressive collection tactics. And many of them have politicians in their pockets.

The main difference, of course, is that the banks have incorporated as financial institutions. This allows the banks and credit card companies to borrow money from the Federal Reserve at a discount rate that’s currently .05 percent. Then they lend it at interest rates ranging from 20 to more than 45 percent! Not even casinos enjoy that kind of return. But, then, casinos are regulated.

For those of you under age of 50, you might be interested to learn that all financial institutions used to be governed by usury laws designed to prevent the lending of money at unreasonably high interest rates. State banks still are. Unfortunately, usury laws no longer apply to banks that label themselves “national”. The result is that large banks such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase can charge pretty much any interest rate they want.

And they want a lot.

Of course, they justify their rates by claiming that consumer default is on the rise.

There are several problems with that claim. One, the managers of these companies pay themselves 6- or 7-figure bonuses. Two, it was their greed that led to an economy that has forced consumer defaults. And three, it was the government, financed by you and I, that kept these companies from going bankrupt.

If our Congress ever decides to put the interests of taxpayers above corporations, the corporate officers that run national banks might have even more in common with the Mafia and the Tongs – a prison cell.