Category Archives: War

Are We Better Off Than 4 Years Ago? Let Me Count The Ways.

Posted on by

What an utterly ridiculous question!  As a campaign technique, it may have worked in 1980 against Jimmy Carter and in 1984 against Walter Mondale.  But it’s completely absurd now.

At the end of the Bush administration, the US was losing 800,000 jobs a month.  Since President Obama took office, those losses have stopped and our economy has added private sector jobs for 29 straight months.

On December 31, 2008, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 8,776, resulting in devastating losses for pension funds and Individual Retirement Accounts.  Today, the Dow has soared to more than 13,300.

When President Obama took office, General Motors and Chrysler were on the verge of bankruptcy, jeopardizing more than a million jobs. Now both automakers are thriving, and General Motors has reclaimed the title of world’s largest automaker.

Four years ago, we were immersed in two lengthy and costly wars.  Since then, President Obama has ended the war in Iraq, ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden, and placed an end date on the war in Afghanistan.

In 2008, healthcare costs were soaring out of control, sending many American families into bankruptcy and costing those who could not afford insurance their lives.  In 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act which has stemmed the rising cost of healthcare and given more than 30 million people access to health insurance.

I could go on.  But, seriously, do I really need to?

If you can’t see that our nation is a whole lot better off since the beginning of the Obama administration, you’ve been spending far too much time watching the Fox News Channel and listening to conservative hate radio.

America’s Collective Amnesia.

Posted on by

It seems many Americans have forgotten what happened in 2008.  They can’t remember who was at the wheel when our economy was driven into a ditch.  They can’t remember who led us into an unnecessary and unfunded war.  They’ve blanked out the memory of the second-largest stock market crash in history.  They can no longer picture the deer-in-the-headlights look of the Bush administration when the housing bubble burst.

As a result, many Americans seem to accept the latest assortment of conservative lies.

Despite the fact that President Obama rescued our economy from the abyss, many voters seem to accept Teapublican claims that his policies have failed.  Despite unprecedented obstruction by Teapublicans, voters seem inclined to reward them for their disgusting behavior.

Nevermind that it was decades of “conservative” policies that resulted in the loss of American jobs and growing disparity between the rich and the middle class.  Nevermind that Republicans squandered the surpluses of the Clinton administration in order to give tax breaks to the wealthy.  Nevermind that Romney intends to reinstate many Bush administration policies, voters are considering giving him a chance to repeat the same failures.

(Sure, trickle-down economics and free-market ideologies have repeatedly failed in the past, but maybe they’ll work this time.)

President Obama has not only guided our nation back to solid economic footing.  He has restored America’s reputation throughout the world.  He has earned another four year term.

Indeed, if voters sought the truth, this coming election wouldn’t even be close.  But Teapublican lies seem to have placed the outcome in doubt.  Teapublicans seem to have convinced voters that the path to prosperity isn’t the high road after all.  It’s back through the same ditch they drove us into more than four years ago.

Why You Should Hate Teapublicans. Let Me Count The Reasons.

Posted on by

1 – Richard Nixon’s Watergate break-in intended to literally steal an election. 

2 – The “Southern strategy” in which the GOP embraced racists. 

3 – The “Moral Majority” in which the Party embraced “social” issues. 

4 – Reagan’s union-busting. 

5 – Elimination of loan interest deductions resulting in huge tax increases for the middle class.

6 – Cuts to capital gains taxes and estate taxes on the wealthy. 

7 – Reagan’s Iran-Contra plan which financed Central American death squads.

8 – Deregulation of Savings and Loan institutions resulting in the loss of billions.  

9 – Gun laws putting military-style weapons in the hands of millions. 

10 – $60 million witch hunt and impeachment of President Clinton. 

11 – Massive voter suppression giving the 2000 election to George W. Bush. 

12 – Bush’s failure to act on warnings of a 2001 terrorist attack. 

13 – The Bush tax cuts.

14 – The unnecessary and completely unfunded war in Iraq. 

15 – “Swift-boating” of Vietnam War Hero, Sen. John Kerry. 

16 – Richard “The Dick” Cheney. 

17 – The outsourcing of our military to corporations. 

18 – Awarding government contracts to corporations with offshore “headquarters.” 

19 – Deregulation of banks resulting in mortgage fraud.

20 – The Great Recession.

21 – Subsidies and tax breaks for corporations that send jobs offshore.

22 – Fox News Channel and right-wing hate radio. 

23 – Unsubstantiated claims about President Obama’s birthplace and religion. 

24 – The Tea Party.

25 – Sarah Palin, Michele Bachman, Steve King and Paul Ryan. 

26 – Attacks on women’s rights. 

27 – Attacks on the LGBT community. 

28 – Plans to repeal The Affordable Care Act. 

29 – Assaults on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. 

30 – Obstruction of hundreds of President Obama’s appointments. 

31 – Filibusters. 

32 – Buckley v. Valeo resulting in a ruling that money is free speech.

33 – Citizen’s United which gave corporations the same rights as people.  

34 – Voter ID laws intended to steal the coming election.

35 – Attacks on Public Broadcasting, education and the environment.

36 – Blaming the poor and the unemployed for our deficit.

37 – Blaming teachers and first responders for our deficit.

38 – Trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor.

39 – Vilifying immigrants to get votes.

40 – The debt ceiling debate.

41 – Embrace of Ayn Rand’s self-centered philosophy.

42 – Lies, lies and more lies.

Learn more in The Teapublican Book of Lies available from Amazon.com and other on-line bookstores

When Did It Become Patriotic To Avoid Paying Income Taxes?

Posted on by

Mitt Romney has been smart and very lucky.  The son of a famous father, he has used his privileged childhood and education to make millions – often by bankrupting companies and offshoring American jobs.  To make himself even wealthier, he also offshored his money in Switzerland, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg.

That allowed Romney to pay income taxes at a rate of less than 15 percent in 2010. Now insiders from Bain Capital claim that Romney didn’t pay any income taxes at all for at least 10 years before that!

No wonder he doesn’t want to release those tax forms.

But Teapublicans don’t see anything wrong with such behavior.  Many even claim that it’s patriotic to avoid paying taxes.  Seriously?  That’s your definition of patriotism?

You can ignore the sacrifice of soldiers who have served 5, 6 or more tours of duty in a war zone?  You can ignore those who take less than they deserve to serve soldiers in Veteran’s hospitals?  You can diminish those who work long hours for little money to teach children?  You can ignore those who risk their lives to save others as first responders?

None of that is patriotic according to Romney’s supporters.

According to them, true patriotism is squeezing every possible dime from your tax form.  It’s cutting food stamps for the poor.  It’s turning your back on homeless veterans and homeless children.  It’s allowing thousands to die each year for lack of access to healthcare so you can buy another vacation home or a bigger yacht.

If this is the Republican definition of American patriotism, it’s time for the party to crawl into the deepest recesses of history.

McCain’s Accusation Only Confirms Our Choice In 2008.

Posted on by

Today, Senator John McNasty accused the Obama administration of leaking national security information in order to make President Obama look strong as we near the election.

First, why would the White House want to commit leaks to make the president look strong?  He doesn’t need any help with his national security credentials.  President Obama is the man who ordered the capture or killing of Osama bin Laden.  He has done far more to damage al Qaeda in 4 years than President Bush did in 8 years.  His credibility on this issue is above reproach.

Second, McCain wouldn’t accuse another of such a traitorous act for political gain if he wouldn’t consider it himself if the roles were reversed.

Kind of makes you feel even better about the choice we made in 2008, doesn’t it?

The Teapublican Book of Lies.

Posted on by

You know those things Teapublicans present as facts that just never quite make sense?  The ones that are repeated day after day on Fox News Channel and right wing radio?  The conservative ideas that have been tried and failed, but keep coming back?

I’ve taken 50 of those so-called “facts,” researched them, and presented my findings in a new book:  The Teapublican Book of Lies.  It’s a sort of handbook for debates with your conservative friends and family members.

Pardon the shameless self-promotion, but you can buy the book from Amazon.

A Real Memorial For Our Warriors.

Posted on by

I’m writing this on Memorial Day, the annual celebration of those Americans who died in military service.  On this day, some Americans fly the flag.  Some attend memorial services.  Some place flowers on graves.  But most have a picnic, attend a baseball game, go shopping, take a mini-vacation or otherwise enjoy a day off.

What would be more fitting is to change our national mindset toward war. 

Some time ago, I realized that our nation has been at war for all but 33 years of our existance.  When we’re not at war, we’re preparing for war or meddling in the affairs of other nations.  We have fought against Native Americans, the British, Spanish, Mexicans, Libyans, Philippinos, Chinese, Japanese, Italians, Germans, Koreans, Vietnamese, Panamanians, Iraqis, and Afghans.  We have threatened many more.  We have even fought each other.

Some of these wars were necessary.  Many were not.

It’s time that we came to the realization that the US is a warrior nation.  We have spread our influence around the globe at the end of a gun.  It’s no coincidence that the world’s only military superpower is also the world’s greatest economic power.

We have created an American Empire in the mold of the Roman Empire.  But there’s an ominous warning in that comparison.  You see, the Roman Empire also ruled through military conquest.  Eventually, it over-extended its resources and collapsed of its own weight.  It simply could no longer afford the military and the political infrastructure needed to keep its subjects in line.

If the US doesn’t want to fade into history, we need to heed that warning.

Instead of a three-day weekend in recognition of those who have fallen, we would better honor our military heroes by reimagining our future; by seeking to avoid conflicts through diplomacy and true leadership; by refusing to use our military in support of our economic interests (aka greedy corporations); by relegating war to the avenue of absolute last resort; and by committing to never again send our sons and daughters to fight in an unnecessary war halfway around the world until all other options have been expended.

I can think of no better way to honor our fallen warriors than to dramatically reduce the number who join their ranks in the future.

Cutting Defense Spending Does Not Have To Compromise Military Readiness.

Posted on by

Although Teapublicans insist on cutting government spending despite our fragile economic recovery, they categorically refuse to consider cuts to our defense budget.  They claim such cuts will leave the US vulnerable to attack.  So, when they passed the Ryan budget plan in the House, they included significant budget increases for the Pentagon.

In doing so, they disregarded a Pentagon report requested by Senator Bernie Sanders that shows, over the past decade, the government has awarded contracts totaling $1.1 trillion to defense contractors and their parent companies found guilty of defrauding the government.  In other words, when a military contractor is found guilty of defrauding the government, we demand a settlement.  Then we give them an opportunity to do it again!

If Teapublicans are serious about cutting deficits, the military/industrial complex is the very first place they should look.  Not the last.  The military budget is so bloated the Pentagon can’t even determine what happened to the $60 billion or so that has gone missing in Iraq and Afghanistan!

The money that can be saved by cutting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security pales by comparison to the money that could be saved just by increasing oversight of military spending.  Moreover, the money spent on safety nets tends to go right back into our economy, while much of the money wasted on military fraud tends to line the pockets of CEOs and foreign dictators.

Of course, Teapublicans don’t want to stop with cuts to safety nets.  They want to hack away money from education, too; money that is truly an investment in our future.  Money that will pay us back in innovation and future increased tax revenues, as opposed to excess military spending that will result in more fraud and waste.

Both parties say this election will determine the future of our nation for generations.  The question is what future do you want?  More military and more wars?  Or a better standard of living for our youth and our seniors?

It seems like an easy choice for me.

Requiem For The American Dream.

Posted on by

This isn’t so much a blog post as an obituary.  The American Dream was defined as the ability for Americans to rise above their parents’ experience.  The ability to, as the result of education and hard work, become a success.  It is measured by the distribution of wealth and upward mobility.

In both of those measurements, the US now trails most of the world’s advanced nations.  A report by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) found that social mobility between generations is dramatically lower in the US than Denmark, Australia, Norway, Finland, Canada, Sweden, Germany and Spain.

The American Dream didn’t pass into history as the result of natural causes.  It was starved to death by Teapublicans who signed Grover Norquist’s “no new taxes” pledge.  It was bludgeoned by the likes of George W. Bush, Richard “The Dick” Cheney and their cartel of oil companies and military defense contractors.  It was driven off a cliff by greedy Wall Street bankers and their enablers such as former Senator Phil Gramm.

Republicans may have led the attack on the Dream. But many Democrats participated. President Clinton signed the Republican bill that revoked the Glass-Steagall Act allowing Wall Street bankers to gamble with your money and our futures.  He also signed a Republican bill opening commodity markets to gambling.

Many Congressional Democrats cast their votes alongside Republicans to starve government through the Bush tax cuts.  And they added their names to legislation approving the invasion of Iraq.

As the result of these actions, corporations were allowed to rake in large profits while sending our jobs offshore.  They were allowed to stash profits in offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes.  Banks were allowed to privatize their profits and socialize their failures.  The wealthy got even wealthier while paying lower taxes.  Banks got homeowners to sign mortgages at inflated interest rates, then took their homes to support the banks’ gambling habit.

The only question left is what now?  Will we allow economic disparity to grow dividing our nation into the haves and have nots?  Or will we resurrect the Dream?  The coming elections will provide the answers.