Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Debt Ceiling and Economy Truth Sucks

This week there has been a lot of debates between Democrats and Republicans about the debt ceiling. There are fights about how to move forward and really get the budget balanced and the economy going. I have been hearing people on television talk shows debating about which party has the right answer. With unemployment near 10%, Americans are concerned with how the government will create jobs. Here is the dirty secret that will hurt everyone's feelings. Neither party has absolutely no clue on how to get this economy going. If they really knew they would have done it already.

Democrats want you to think that the answer to the problem is increasing the tax rate on wealthy Americans. Well if they are referring to ending the Bush era tax cuts then yes it would help lower the deficit. The reason is because the Bush tax cuts are not just for the wealthy but for everyone.

Republicans want to argue that raising taxes would be a job killer. Despite these tax cuts being in effect jobs have been lost every year at a steady rate since 2006. Just think about this when has any of you been let go from a job and the companies reasoning was related to a tax increase.

The last time the federal deficit was in order the president and congress at the time raised taxes and cut spending. Neither party wants to do both and can't agree on one or the other. They are pandering to their special interest and fighting to impress donors for the 2012 election cycle. The reason they throw the economy and unemployment in this mix is because that is what relates to the average voter.

Here is the truth, the economy will eventually get better but we don't when that will be. Roosevelt had World War II to get him out of the depression and Clinton had the boom of the internet to propel his economics. Obama currently has nothing on the horizon and due to failed policies of previous years and selling out various special interest groups we don't have anything.

It is Not as Bad as You Think
I know its tough out there right now but it is not as bad as you think. We are not in danger of a 1930's great depression with people standing outside in soup lines. It is a slow process but the economy is actually getting better. The economy moves in cycles and it goes up and down. It today's super connected world with 24 cable news networks and constant internet news coming in it makes things seem worse than it may really be sometimes.

The unemployment rate has actually dropped from its high in 2009 of 10.1% to the current 9.2%. When President Obama took office in January of 2009 Dow industrial average was at around 8077 where today it is at 12,446. Which means the value of stocks are going up which usually means that companies are making money.

News organizations and politicians like to manipulate how you feel about these subjects to push their agenda. What you have to do is decipher the real from the fake and evaluate the information for yourself.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Republicans Rally The Bigot Base (Damn Michelle)

Just when I thought Michelle Bachmann was not that bad or not stupid she goes off and signs her name to stupidity. She signed a pledge that a conservative advocacy group in Iowa that can be seen as pretty racist and homophobic. The pledge, titled “The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family,” was introduced by a group called "The Family Leader. The group is led by Bob Vander Plaats, an Evangelical Christian leader in Iowa.

The group has asked every 2012 GOP presidential hopeful to sign this pledge. The only other candidate so far who has also put ink to paper is Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.)
The pledge asks the candidates to vow that they will be faithful to their spouses and to the U.S. Constitution. Which is not the offensive and is actually understandable. Even though if the person wins he or would actually take an oath of office that will require them to pledge their allegiance to the constitution.

Now for the controversial and overly judgmental stuff. The pledge also outlaws “quickie divorce,” pornography, cohabitation and Islamic sharia law. It also says that homosexuality is a choice rather than a biological trait and that black children were better off during slavery then under the Obama administration. The document also warns that marriage is in crisis in our society and that homosexuality may have a negative impact on public health in America.

Felt that I needed to break all of this crazy down
1. No one should be overly concerned with their presidential candidates personal life views. Their views on porn, cohabitation or them having a quickie divorce does not effect their ability to govern. The questions should be "Can you balance a budget?" or "What's your foreign policy agenda?". Whether or not an unmarried couple that consist of consenting adults are living together is not the governments concerned.

2. We will never ever, ever live under Islamic sharia law under any circumstances. The perceived threat is just another political scare tactic. In the United States we have something called a constitution that would never allow such a thing.

3. The idea that homosexuality is choice and poses some kind of public health risk lets me know that they are not using any facts. First of all until there is any scientific evidence that a person's sexuality is chosen then you can not say it as a statement of fact. Secondly homosexuality poses no health risk to anyone. If you are thinking about HIV/AIDS then I just know that you are incredibly ignorant. A person's health as it relates to their sexuality only has to do with their behavior not their orientation. Anyone who is having unprotected sex and using dirty needles would be the ones that are dangerous to the health of other Americans.

4. Now I had to work up to my last point because I needed to be fully prepared to address the dumbest portion of this document. The idea that blacks were better off during slavery than under the Obama administration. The crazy thing is that this point was defended when controversy arise regarding the statement. According to the group blacks were more likely to be born into stable two parent homes during slavery. Where as now most black children are born into single parent homes.
This quite possibly maybe the dumbest thing that I have ever heard. Let me give Mrs Bachmann and others a short history lesson. A lot of those married black families killed their children at birth to avoid them having to live in slavery. If you think that anything that happens in today's society in the African American community even is remotely worse than slavery is insensitive and ridiculous. Nothing compares to being forced to work for free and being beaten everyday. Nothing compares to being labeled as property and having no rights as a human being. These children may have had both parents for a little while could be sold away from that loving family to never see them again. I could keep going into the horrors of slavery (which actually could get alot worse) but I think you get the point.

Bachmann, Santorum and the advocacy group have backed off the slavery portion of the pledge. These candidates are using short sighted politics and attempt to make a big impression in the Iowa caucus. These are two candidates who are serious threats to win the nomination but not electable candidates in the general election. They better say away from the bigot base.


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Sunday, July 3, 2011

Crazy that is going on this week 7/4

Do You Want Fries with Your Colt 45
Your next fast food purchase could cause you to have to show some identification. In trying to boost profits Sonic has decided to let two of their South Florida restaurants to sell beer and wine. This has also been done by Burger King who has Whopper Bar locations in 3 different cities.

I have seen where people are citing America's convenient excuse that the economy is bad. These restaurants are just trying to find innovative ways to create new revenue streams. I am pretty sure that fast food companies are not hurting this hard for money. According to Ron Paul president at Technomic, a restaurant consulting firm. "For consumers, it's basically about having it your way — even if it's having a beer with your burger."

It just seems like that this would kind of dangerous and especially at a Sonic establishment. Mostly only serves customers in their cars. Which means that people will get food that they are buying because they can consume it quickly and on the go will be doing the same thing with alcohol. I like to drink like a lot of other people but I just don't believe that this is safe.



Robbing and Freaking
Out in Hillsboro, Missouri, a couple who was allegedly robbing a person's garage they decided to have sex with each other. I guess the excitement of a robbery turns some people on.

According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said the man and a woman were in the process of burglarizing the garage on Glade Chapel Road, in Hillsboro, when they decided to have sex. During the encounter the woman decided to pepper spray her criminal love interest. Not sure if the sex was that bad or she wanted all the goods for herself. She then took the car of the robbery victim and drove the car in a pond.

The robbery victim woke up and saw the man leaving the garage with a bag. The man was caught by police wear just a raincoat and had a bag of goods in his hand. Jail time and pepper spray is not a good way to end the day.

Friday, July 1, 2011

I Could be Softening on Michelle Bachmann

This week Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann officially announced her candidacy for President of The United States. I actually think that she would be a good addition to the race. In a previous blog I called her a Sarah Palin mini me and I was wrong. She is much more of a capable candidate than Palin and would make a good competitor for President Obama. Don't get me wrong I want President Obama to be reelected but I think it would be nice for him to run against someone who will create productive discussions.

Michelle Bachmann may be just as qualified as a candidate as President Obama was in 2008. She is a lawyer by trade and served as a State Senator prior to serving in congress (sound familiar). She has a post doctorate degree in Tax law and worked for the IRS as an attorney. Which tells me that she knows tax law and may have an understanding on how to handle our crazy tax situation in this country.

I don't agree with a lot of her political views but she appears to practice what she preaches. She is a strong pro life supporter and has five children and raised 23 foster children. That at least means she believes in the value of life and is willing to get involved.

She has had some a gaffe on how she remembered history but she is not a historian. Her mistake is something that will happen all politicians from time to time. Presidents Obama and Bush have both said something that historically inaccurate before.

I guess I am officially giving her a chance since she is officially running.