 
 Dear Editor

Liberal Tidbits for a Tea Party

By Sherry McKnight

SMASHWORDS Edition

Copyright June 2012 Sherry McKnight

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

* *

To my dear Lisa, who shares my concerns,

viewpoints and passion for a better America.

She holds the lantern which guides me.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Abortion, Birth Control, Contraception

Amendments to the U.S. Constitution Proposal

Budget, Economy & Taxes

Civility in Public Discourse

Election Day - November 6, 2012

Energy & Environmental Concerns

Entitlements

Financial Industry & Regulations

Greed, aka Capitalism

Healthcare, Social Security, et al

Liberal vs Conservative - what makes us one or the other?

Myth Busters

The Party Line, Talking Points, Propaganda & Dogma

Pledges, Those Republican "Attachments"

President Barack Obama

Religious Freedoms (also see Abortion, Birth Control Contraception)

Separation of Church and State

The 99%

Unemployment

Voter Fraud

My Vision for Humanity's Future

Foreword

How do we arrive at our opinions, our viewpoints? Diehard politicos often suffer from familial programming with no growth, no maturity, no evolution of thought for they espouse, actually regurgitate, the pabulum from childhood onward, culminating in a concrete set of stone markers, attitudes stuck in time, filling the cemetery of opinion in their mind. Others seem to cling to the beliefs formulated throughout their life journey, many during particularly difficult experiences in their trek.

This compilation of Letters to the Editor, combined with several fact-based graphs and charts, is my effort to offer facts, to open minds, and to urge all voters to make electoral selections based on information and avoid prior programmed party affiliation. I want to preserve actual Democracy - I see groups attacking it.

Our country is headed into very dangerous waters and your informed vote is needed to buoy all our boats. You can help secure a brighter future for all of us, and, while I'd relish influencing others to my liberal viewpoints, my intention here is not to direct your vote, it is to encourage you to make election choices based on a better defined understanding of the issues.

The Tea Party folks' vow to "take back our country" only succeeded in creating a more caustically divided - NO Compromise America, certainly not a better environment. This movement re-invigorated the extremist, right wing, religious zealot minority, who have resurrected intolerance and hatred for any who are 'different'. This Christ-avowed faction seeks theocracy. "Take back our country"? Our America has definitely been taken BACK-wards!

The conservative leaning U.S. Supreme Court unleashed the corrupting influence of big money into our political campaigns, producing the real possibility of "high (covert) bidder takes all" oligarchy/plutocracy. A few billionaires will contribute hundreds of millions of dollars attempting to buy elections for Republican candidates and policies - local and national - which further their interests and build their empires with little care for anyone else. These few power-hungry giants have their own agendas and the prosperity of ordinary Americans is not on their lists. (see Elections: "Billionaire Puppet Masters")

Imagine the positive change which could be affected if those billions were instead directed toward ending poverty in America - 150 million Americans live in poverty - 1/4 of American children! These titans of industry could truly contribute to their country, instead they yearn to control it. We need housing for the homeless, clinics for the sick, actual job creation through infrastructure projects, research and development enterprises - the list is endless of "common good" needs which could be met.

I know it sounds paranoid to foresee the right wing, "smaller government" ideal as a mega-rich strategy to thoroughly privatize America, but it is possible. If millionaires and billionaires can abolish government entities while redirecting Federal funding to their for-profit enterprises, they will literally capitalize the only alternatives. Abolish the Department of Education/public schools and the taxpayer-funded voucher system enriches corporate, for-profit schools.

When labor unions cease to exist, there will be fewer worker rights in the workplace and corporations could experience unfettered profit margins. Kill EPA regulations and corporate wealth will quadruple. We un-favored suckers may struggle to survive in our allotted but poisoned landmass, fighting one another for the opportunity to serve in luxury preservations for the rich.

The fantasy of 2022's overpopulated and totally polluted Earth, where the natural resources have been exhausted and the nourishment of the population is provided by Soylent Green was imaginable to Brazilian Claudio Carvalho. I propose, what one can conceive, someone will create, especially if there is money involved.

From my vantage point, I am confident my attitudes evolve, perhaps even daily, but definitely over time as my exposure to a myriad of life situations occur and I recognize that which I did not previously consider or visualize. My less than perfect life choices took me down paths which certainly color my perspective on issues such as abortion, birth control, parenthood, the glass ceiling, armed conflicts, divorce, and equal rights.

I've held opinions which have morphed and even reversed, however I do cling to a precious collection of core beliefs for which I see no alternative - whether inbred, inborn, pragmatic, whatever the origin - I hold fast against inequality, which envelops so many situations and I will always oppose racial, ethnic, gender and religious bigotry.

Still, if we are to participate in the American system of democracy, one does need to cast a ballot for one entity in each category, whether it be for an officeholder or a local proposition question. For many reasons, which undoubtedly have become evident in this Foreword, I am very supportive of Barack Obama and voted for him in November 2008. I was truly taken aback at my tears of joy reaction to his election as our President. I realized my tears were a sign of my inner relief that injustice would vanish and hope for the future was now a real option for my country and my future.

President Obama's presidency has awaken many emotions within citizens of the United States, including a regrettable, deep-seated hatred, aka bigotry, in some. So many harsh critics spout lies which should be easily categorized as such, yet too many willfully choose to believe them to fuel their fires of discord and animosity. I soon became alarmed at the viciousness with which many in my community and country-wide criticized our new president.

The ugliness grieves me and provokes my literary sword. What follows is my campaign (2009 - present) of Letters to the Editor, my small attempt to plant seeds of consideration, thoughtfulness, and civility into the often repugnant regional dialogue surrounding the accelerating fragile condition of our United States. Sadly, the years progress but progress doesn't as many issues remain unresolved.

I am among thousands of Americans who sense the takeover of our democracy by oligarchs, obsessed with installing plutocratic oppression of the 99.5%. Sounds radical and crazy, I know, nevertheless, please consider there are former Republican administration appointees who share my concern, including David Stockman (see Financial: "Freeloaders ..."), Reagan's budget director; and Diane Ravitch, Asst Secretary of Education and Counselor to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in the administration of George H.W. Bush who warns of a "right wing conspiracy to abolish public education".

Respected conservative journalist David Frum wrote in November 2011,"... the GOP has gone from being a party dominated by reasonable right-of-center pragmatists to being hijacked by right-wing extremists." Frum attributes the GOP's extremist drift to the influence of talk radio and FOX News, ethnic competition, and the pain of economic stagnation. He observes that, once he raised his views on FOX News, he was immediately banned as a commentator.

Frum opined, "The America championed by the current Republican party would be a brutal country with even more extreme wealth inequality and poverty and an even more powerful and richer ruling class. And, unfortunately, the extreme views of today's party will alienate many of the more moderate Republican ideas --or, worse, cause them to [become]extreme or risk getting excommunicated."

Henry Blodgett, Business Insider, "One hopes that, by bravely speaking out on these issues, David Frum will galvanize what might be called the Great Silent Majority of Republicans to take back their party. Because the sooner America returns to having two reasonable alternatives, the better. Read more: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-11-21/news/30424409_1_david-frum-republican-party-tax-cuts#ixzz1wepHwSve

I continue to believe in our President's Hope and Change agenda for all of America, but a better America can only be realized when all of us work together, not against each other. I believe Obama's re-election and a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress would culminate in forward positive movement and, more importantly, would restore the reasonable, now endangered saner faction in the Republican Party and impel a return to bipartisan government, where liberal and conservative policy compromises bring balance.

Where applicable, I've noted publication dates and reference and quotation sources; where omitted publication is awaiting approval or the passage of time, as opinion publication is limited to one letter per month.

Above all, my primary goal remains, and I plead with you - please be an informed voter, you are helping direct the future of all of us, not just your precious few. Watch the presidential debates, utilize your computer for more than Facebook, read newspapers, discuss the issues with friends and family - invest your time and engage in your future.

* * * * *

Abortion, Birth Control, Contraception and the Religious Influence

" **Employee Compensation Pays for Contraception"**

Published March 23, 2012 in Island Packet

The birth control/contraception insurance issue will not go away as Arizona passed legislation which essentially allows employers to actually question employees about their personal birth control use - farewell privacy! AZ employers will be empowered to deny birth control insurance coverage if contraception is a religious taboo for them - goodbye civil rights! Hopefully, the subsequent costs for lost time and productivity, including medical issues which might arise, combined with subsequent childcare issues will be considered by the employer before deciding to deny birth control benefits.

The truth is employees pay for their coverage \- not employers! Employee Compensation is defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the worker. "In kind" generally refers to non-cash "benefits" such as vacations, 401k plan, group health, maybe dental and vision coverage.

Lost in the arguments for and against employer provided contraception insurance is the fact that, where offered, group health coverage is deemed an integral part of total employee compensation and is used as enticement to recruit talented/skilled employees. Specifically, employee compensation consists of three components: a base compensation, rewarding incentives, and indirect compensation in form of benefits.

In 2012, fewer employers offer group health insurance and those who do rarely provide "fully paid" coverage for their workforce. Whether included as indirect compensation or offered as an employee option, group health insurance premiums are paid directly or indirectly by the employee - not by the employer!

" **Scary, Angry Men on the Right"**

Published on March 12, 2012 in Island Packet

While our white founding fathers avowed "all men are created equal", we minorities continue to hope "all" will eventually mean "every person". The increasingly Puritan Right roars against government regulations while an alarming number of states' Republican legislators strive to humiliate women seeking legal abortions by mandating females submit to medically unnecessary trans-vaginal probes or abdominal ultrasounds. Republicans proclaim anti-intrusive-big-government ideology yet hypocrites like these lawmakers assert their religious piety empowers them to penetrate women's bodies and dictate a woman's reproductive life choices.

Abetting this campaign to dismantle the Affordable Healthcare Act, Candidate Santorum rants against prenatal testing, accusing liberals want more abortions to avoid future medical costs, while Godfather Limbaugh enriches himself spewing toxic lies and purposely vilifies and slanders a young woman innocently testifying for medical insurance equity. That Rush equates birth control pills with Viagra reveals either his ignorance or how Machiavellian his puppetry over his flock of spineless sycophants. Righteous Rick chest-thumps for war with Iran, then denigrates "snobbish" college education aspirations. Newt blatantly invents falsehoods, while Mitt can't push "hold" on his opinion console.

Conservatives ignore increased U.S. oil production and market profiteering to blame the President for higher gas prices, yet resist ending oil subsidies. Some Republican nutcases still chase the "birther" issue while plotting voter suppression based on no evidence of voter fraud. This is one scary, tyrannical, angry political cadre of schemers and finger pointers whose far right manipulations already penalize the 99%. Vote Red and America will veer RIGHT into ecclesiastical domination.

* *

Progress is Republican?

All schools in the 'Red' state of Texas are limited to "abstinence-only" sex education

Texas has abolished all family planning funding

No publically funded contraception is available in Texas...thus

Texas has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country

**Texas has the 2** nd **highest double and triple teen pregnancy rate in the country**

In Texas, 60% of all birth deliveries are Medicaid-funded

(in essence we taxpayers pay)

Texas has a booming population of children born to poor parent(s)

Education funding has been slashed and test scores are at the bottom

Texas accounts for 10% of America's future workforce

_As Texas Goes_. a book by Gail Collins, NY Times columnist

* * * *

Amendments to the U.S. Constitution Proposals

June 2012

I am one of many who proclaim the need for a Term Limits Amendment to our Constitution. For the sake of continuity, perhaps House of Representative and Senators might have a 10 year limitation if elected to more than one term, thereby preserving legislation which they may initiate or support without drastically hindering the established process.

How about bolder, more provocative clauses be included for consideration in such an Amendment? To force compromise we might require one Senator per party per state - we'd either have government that works or enough stalemate to necessitate better lawmaker selection! And might we consider changing the office of the President to one six-year term to create a true presidency without re-election interfering with the important job we convey upon our leader.

We might go even further by affecting a major overhaul of the congressional payroll procedure. For hundreds of years American taxpayers have contributed to the salaries of United States House Representatives and Senators, with what millions believe is wasted dollars because our "investment" has not proven to be truly beneficial for us, the paymasters.

I submit the current, unsatisfactory system - scant value for tax dollars - demands Congressional salaries be the sole responsibility of Grover Norquist, Rush Limbaugh, Koch Brothers, Wall Street, to name specific roadblocks to equal representation, plus more broadly divided among all the lobbyists, PACs, SIGs, et al. Our legislators don't seem to be working for the greater good of the electorate population so why should we pay for the disservice?

" **Our Constitution"**

June 2012

The U.S. Constitution is a venerated document, often revered to as "inspired, perfect, indisputable", "the TRUTH guiding America". Lawmakers, judges, legal experts claim it our roadmap for perfection, and Libertarians and the Tea Party cite it as that which we have strayed from and need to "return to".

To enforce its reputation as a positive guide for government in America, the document has been declared a model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise, obviously a specific characteristic discredited in word and deed by Tea Party conservatives who proclaim the impossibility of bipartisanship, thereby disavowing one Constitutional asset - are there more?

The Constitution provides for the Electoral College, intended to facilitate the mid-1700s voting process, but clearly an abomination in our 21st century modern America as majority vote elections would actually be democratic.

The document is patently incomplete, requiring updating as many components are antiquated - unforeseeable elements of the internet, space travel, the combustion engine, atomic weapons, abolition of slavery and indentured servitude, entrenched political parties, et al. The white founding males made no provisions for true equality via gender and race, but were opposed to plutocracy and theocracy, forms of government which they undoubtedly planned to be antithetical to their united colonies/states.

To say this document is imperfect is understated. Let's add some amendments and correct many injustices. Adjustments might include: term limits for Congress, a single 6-year Presidency, Electoral College dissolution, eliminating filibuster and Super Pacs, no pledges to any entity but Constitution, Congress paid per workday with no special employment treatment without consent of the population.

* * * *

Budget, Economy & Taxes

" **Smaller government equals Bigger business"**

June 2012

Lowering taxes bolsters business. "Government is bad" mantra has successfully implanted the myth "lowering taxes is advantageous", and the gullible public has bought this bait and switch deception. Blind to the drawbacks, taxpayers shun civic responsibility to subsidize Big Business rather than directly funding our communities.

When Local/State governments receive fewer income/property/sales/use and Federal tax dollars, traditional public-funded services are exchanged for profit-based necessities. We've traded reasonably priced/tax funded public works for higher priced equivalents, enriching corporations/stockholders who relish our overpayment.

Municipalities once provided sanitation (garbage collection) - we now pay private companies. Cities provide law enforcement and fire protection - today, many locales are so short-changed residents are billed following firefighting rescues while private security firms flourish. Once upon a time, quality public education was championed, now private/charter/for-profit schools are promoted. We even have privately-operated, venture capital prisons. What a con! Save one tax dollar/pay three business dollars.

Mideast conflicts sired commercial opportunities - taxpayers pay billions to Cheney-masterminded Halliburton - ousting Quartermaster Corps - while Black Water/Xe Svcs. mercenaries relegate U.S. service men/women to the bottom of the food chain.

U.S. Congress is "millionaire-ville". Grover, greed and cronyism impel Republicans to lower tax rates for themselves and the privileged, fully embracing revenue deficits. The Left, recognizing good fortune begets moral responsibility, acknowledges increased personal tax burdens ultimately benefit mainstream Americans.

I'm not against capitalism - I'm against business decisions contrary to my best interests - lower taxes haven't meant more money in my pocket. Demonizing government is profitable - beware bait and switch!

" **Job Creators aren't Rich, They're YOU!"**

Published on May 23, 2012 in Bluffton Today

'If taxes on the rich go up, job creation will go down' - dead wrong says Nick Hanauer, a founding investor of Amazon, denying conservative dogma - the rich are super-awesome at creating jobs.

"I've started dozen of companies, but if no one buys my products all the jobs would evaporate. Rich people don't create jobs, nor do businesses large or small - jobs are a consequence of a circle of life feedback loop between customers and businesses and only consumers maintain the cycle of increasing demand and hiring. Hiring more people is a course of last resort for capitalists - it is what we do IF and ONLY IF rising consumer demand requires it. It is blatantly disingenuous to say capitalists are job creators.

When the biggest tax exemptions and lowest tax rates benefit the richest - in the name of job creation - all that happens is the rich get richer. Since 1980 income for the top 1% has more than tripled while effective tax rates decreased by 50%. Average Americans' incomes have declined. If it were true that lower taxes and more wealth for the wealthy led to job creation, we would be drowning in jobs.

There can never be enough super rich people to power a great economy like ours - I make hundreds of thousands more than the average American, but I don't buy hundreds of thousands more 'stuff'. My family has three cars, not three thousand cars - I can't buy enough of anything to make up for the fact that millions of under / unemployed Americans can't buy any new cars, new clothes, etc.

In a capitalist economy, middle class consumers are the true job creators and taxing the rich to make investments which benefits the middle class is the single shrewdest thing America can do for the poor, the middle class AND the rich."

" **What's the Plan?"**

June 2012

The Ryan Budget, endorsed by Candidate Romney and all good little Republican toadies, is condemned by social justice advocates, countless religious organizations, all liberals and some caring conservatives for brutalizing America's poor and struggling children, families, seniors. Ryan's draconian plan is a very efficient model for eliminating the 'middleman' and funneling government welfare quicker to the 1%. Currently the 'middleman' recipients of Social Security, Disability/Low Income Supplement, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment, School nutrition programs, Healthcare projects, Student loans, etc., fuel the economy and subsequently that money filters up the business "food chain" to the upper echelons. Ryan's tax cuts streamline wealth redistribution by reducing/eliminating those "hand-outs".

Conservatives insist America must adhere to a policy of Austerity to prosper, disregarding hard evidence to the contrary via flagging European economies. Republican austerity means the have-nots scrounge for stone soup so the haves can dine ala carte when visiting their offshore capital. Increase upper bracket tax cuts, ala 2001/2003, and America can keep reliving the Bush 'job creation' approach, expecting a different outcome - the definition of insanity.

Customarily business borrows for growth and prosperity ensues, yet reducing the DEBT is cited as #1 imperative by Republicans who contradictorily shun increased tax revenue but grow the Deficit by granting subsidy billions to the prosperous. Republican lawmakers demand public employment cutbacks, exempting their government jobs, then decry the resultant unemployment upsurge.

We over-compensate these "do-nothings" budgeters, yet some won't vouchsafe a pittance for infrastructure projects and disadvantaged Americans? Vote for building America not the golden egg gatherers.

FACT CHECK.org analysis of **The Ryan Budget** :

Rep. Paul Ryan spreads some false and misleading information in a series of "Setting The Record Straight" web posts, in which he criticizes the president's proposed budget and promotes his own. Among the claims:

Ryan says his plan would not increase the debt.

In fact, under Ryan's plan the public debt would increase from $10 trillion in 2011 to $16 trillion in 2021, by his own figures. That's a slower increase than under President Barack Obama's 2011 budget, but the debt would still rise substantially.

Ryan says his plan would "bring deficits below $1 trillion immediately, ending the era of trillion-dollar deficits."

True — but just barely. The 2012 deficit in his plan would be $995 billion, just shy of $1 trillion. It would drop to about $700 billion by 2013 — but that's what the president's budget projects, too.

A GOP document defending Ryan's plan wrongly claims that the budget "does not cut Medicaid" and that it "spends more on Medicaid each year than it does the previous year."

That's false. Ryan's own projections call for slashing Medicaid below this year's spending level for years to come.

That GOP document says Democrats in Congress and Obama increased the deficit 259 percent since 2008, when it was $458 billion.

That ignores the fact that President George Bush was in office in 2008. Obama inherited a $1.2 trillion deficit largely caused by declining revenues and Bush's response to the economic crisis.

Ryan says Obama's proposed budget "commits seniors to bureaucratically rationed health care."

In fact, the new health care law states that the advisory board to which Ryan refers "shall not include any recommendation to ration health care." Furthermore, the board members are to be primarily doctors, economists and other outside experts, not Washington bureaucrats.

Ryan says the "principles of tax reform" in his plan are "identical" to those in the bipartisan fiscal commission.

That's misleading. Both would close loopholes and reduce tax rates, but the commission would raise $785 billion in new tax revenue from 2012 to 2020 for debt reduction. Ryan's plan is revenue neutral.

Ryan says Obama's budget "imposes $1.5 trillion in tax increases on job creators and American families."

But, as we written before, about half of that total would come from increases scheduled under current law.

Ryan says that closing the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap would "increase prescription-drug prices for everyone."

But the Congressional Budget Office says out-of-pocket costs would be unaffected or lower for many.

Ryan claims the health care law doesn't improve Medicare's finances.

Not true. It does, but experts worry some cost controls won't be fully implemented. Furthermore, Ryan's budget keeps in place some of those same cost controls.

NOTE: The March 2012 Ryan Budget does not contain the word "Veteran" anywhere in it. This GOP Budget proposal does, however, cut $11 billion from Veterans Benefits - 13% to be exact, while over-riding Pentagon's budget plan and increasing the

Department of Defense spending on the "machinery of war".

Bowles-Simpson Plan vs Ryan Budget Plan

Mitt Romney Budget Plan

" **The Truths Conservatives Can't Handle"**

Presidential Spending

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/how-congress-helps-republicans-but-not-democrats-weather-bad-economies-charts.php

"Republicans like to portray Democrats as big spenders. But the truth is more complicated. Democratic Congresses were pliant under Reagan and the first Bush, and thus federal spending (particularly military spending under Reagan) grew dramatically. For Bush 41, this trend didn't hold when he needed it and he lost his re-election bid amid a weak economy.

Working with a Republican Congress, George W. Bush also presided over a major increase in federal spending. This, along with the large tax cuts he passed in 2001 and 2003, exploded federal deficits, but also likely helped him through the economic hard times at the beginning of his first term.

Clinton and Obama, who both lost control of the federal purse strings to an intransigent opposing party halfway through their first terms, were comparatively hamstrung. Politically, this proved to be a much bigger problem for Obama than it was for Clinton — Obama, after all, inherited a historic financial and economic crisis. But Obama's economy is finally picking up on its own, and just in time. This Congress isn't about to give him a hand — and, for good measure, thanks to last year's debt limit deal, Obama's consigned to a continued downward trend in spending for the next couple of years at least."

" **Middle Class Dinghy Barely Staying Afloat"**

Published December 12, 2010 in Bluffton Today and

December 2010 in Island Packet

The reality of gifting the rich with continued tax relief in the hopes they'll give back to our country in jobs - thereby improving our economy - is akin to hoping your teenager will take out the trash at the first request – it's wasteful hoping. Those with taxable incomes above $250,000, after all loophole tactics are exhausted, have been privy to these "tax breaks" for nearly 10 years, yet our economy plunged rather than grew.

Jobs were outsourced to benefit everyone but the American unemployed, while the rich continued to stay well afloat. As Warren Buffet stated in a televised interview, "yachts always float, the dinghies are sinking." I'd rather everyone's taxes rose than give the well-to-do a break they don't need - most of us have a lot less income to be taxed anyway.

The right claims "small business will be hurt" – however don't be fooled. They aren't protecting your local Mom & Pop enterprises; the protected species here includes lobbyists, CPAs, hedge fund managers, stockbrokers, lawyers, entertainers, athletes, etc. – those with enormous incomes who won't go on a hiring spree to provide a job to anyone.

The divide between "those with" and "those without" widens daily and the folks who dream of joining the "haves" feverishly support leniency for the rich in the delusion they too will bask in the glow of easy street lighting. To you, I say, quit fooling yourselves, you're in this with the rest of us and you'd best join us as we earnestly keep bailing our sinking middle class dinghy.

" **Corporations are Stashing Their Cash"**

Published August 2010 in Bluffton Today

According to conservatives, the U.S. economy will improve and there will be job growth if only (1) Republicans are back in control; (2) Bush tax cuts are renewed; (3) the Democrats stop wasteful spending. Many reporting agencies note none of those will have any impact on our economy because 'those with money are keeping it'.

NY Times, July 2010: "Many companies are focusing on cost-cutting to keep profits growing, but the benefits are going to shareholders rather than the broader economy, as management conserves cash rather than bolster hiring and production. From S&P 500 companies reporting second-quarter results, more than one in 10 had higher profits on lower sales, nearly twice the number in a typical quarter before the recession.

Big company management is using its leverage to get more out of workers. Some, including Harley-Davidson, are preparing for a future where they prosper even if sales do not recover. Harley's goal is to permanently "...generate strong profits on a lower revenue base." "As long as corporations are reinvesting, the economy can grow," Ethan Harris, chief economist at Bank of America. "When companies take those profits and save them, rather than buy new equipment or increase workforce, overall growth suffers."

Profit margins crumble in most recessions. Although the most recent downturn was far more severe, profit margins bottomed out at 5.9 percent in 2009 and quickly rebounded. By 2011, analysts expect margins to hit 8.9 percent, a record high! The difference this time is companies squeeze more savings out of their workforce, said Neal Soss, chief economist, Credit Suisse.

Fact: wages and salaries have barely budged from recession lows, but profits have staged a vigorous recovery, jumping 40 percent between late 2008 and 1Q, 2010. When Alcoa reported a July turnaround in profits and a 22 percent jump in revenue, CFO, Charles D. McLane Jr., assured investors "..we aren't eager to recall the 37,000 workers let go since late 2008."

Verdict: The unemployed, small business owners, everyone without dividend income – you're blaming the wrong people. You can't change your plight with a vote – your fate is decided in the Board Room.

" **Tax Fairness is a Fairy Tale"**

Published November 2009 in Bluffton Today

Right chastises Left for "always wanting to raise taxes". A justified allegation considering the last "right" government over adjusted tax relief for the wealthy, creating income shortfall, then countered by spending billions for wars abroad. Continuous deficit budgets necessitate a return to the sound tenet of "take in more, pay out less". How?

In 1981, taxable incomes exceeding $217,000 were taxed at 70%. In 1986 the highest tax rate was 50% on income over $175,250. Since 2003 the highest federal income tax rate has been 35% on all taxable income over $372,950, however that income undoubtedly started well over $500,000.

The U.S. tax code offers the well-heeled countless ways to shelter their income. For the super rich, that 35% "declared income" tax rate is much less than their true tax responsibility. They shake their fingers at individuals with deficit spending lifestyles, yet conservatives cry outrage at justified and desperately needed tax increases to balance U.S. spending.

Solution: spend less abroad by bringing our troops home and begin taxing the wealthy accordingly. They've had 6 years of very low taxes yet our economy continues to worsen despite Wall Streets gains, and jobs continue to be sent overseas. Companies lay-off thousands, yet increase the compensation paid to their CEOs. Almost 15,000 wealthy taxpayers confessed to hiding billions in offshore accounts and cheating America's treasury. Capitalism has become ugly greed. The rich don't need a break – the rest of us do!

* * * *

Civility in Public Discourse

" **Sticks and Stones"**

Published April 2011 in Bluffton Today

in rebuttal to an anonymous remark printed in BT's VOX

To the "unbiased reporter", who disparaged me and my recent letter, may I say, "you don't seem very unbiased to me". In fact, you seem downright angry with me and my liberal view of America's needs, as they relate to our current economic health and political climate.

Is it just me or do you despise all us bleeding hearts? Were my statements so threatening to you because you fear such offerings might sway another American to support a more open-minded stance rather than the narrow and apparent hateful conservative stance you exalt? You hide behind your anonymity and make a hateful statement indicating I am..."obsessed for blaming successful people for my inability to rise above mundane mediocrity". I think "obsessed WITH..." might be more grammatically correct, however more importantly you seem to have developed such a malicious attitude toward me that you felt the need for verbal punishment by attacking me personally.

I wrote a letter last year about the need for we civilized Americans to treat one another in a gentler, more kind manner however much we might differ in our political views. I daresay had you read that submission, you might have burst an artery in your tiny heart. And, while I'm at it, the other "kind" person who called in accusing me of regularly advocating a "soak the rich" doctrine, check out the "United for a Fair Economy" group recently cited by Eric Schoenberg, who has joined a group of other wealthy Americans with the goal to raise taxes on rich people like themselves.

To all my detractors, I write from my heart, not with hate toward those with whom I differ - but I suppose that makes me a bit mundane (dull). Please forgive my mediocre writing ability and unsuccessful life. My commentary, however, seems to be quite provocative.

" **Hate-filled Propaganda an Abuse of Freedom of Speech"**

Published September 16, 2010 in Bluffton Today

I understand many Americans do not like our President - that's their right. One of our rights as Americans is freedom of speech - a great liberty. However, this continual degrading of a person in print, in letters to the editor, in email messages, cartoon portrayals, photo altering, et al, is certainly not an attractive by-product of that freedom.

Slandering, libeling, slinging mud, assigning nasty epithets, comparing people to animals, including our simian ancestry - all this is really feeding the most unpleasant tendencies to demean others. I delete emails, shake my head at crude depictions in print, and bow my head in maligner's presence. I feel a great sense of remorse for those who think this is constructive to the future of America or even their own significance.

Do decent parents still teach this kind of bigotry, racism, hatred for others to their children - and hence this programming will continue forever? Everyone should vow to stop this offensiveness - or else one day find themselves a target of malice. I mourn this type of behavior and attitude in family, friends and colleagues for it causes me disappointment that one I love or associate with can be so cruel as to be part of such hate-filled propaganda degrading any fellow human being.

Dislike anyone you wish, but this kind of aiding and abetting coarse depictions in such low manner - it's just wrong - and part of one's worth diminishes each time anyone subscribes to it by passing along such material in emails or simply in common discourse with others.

Want change? Work for it, vote for it, amend your own shortcomings, but please cease finding "worth" by vilifying others.

" **The Dark Side of America"**

Published on May 12, 2009 in Bluffton Today

A 22 year old letter writer recently articulated her concerns regarding politeness and civility – and the appalling lack of same – among people nowadays. She was so "right on"! Many of us share her alarm at the rising incidents of utter evil behavior to others. Public rudeness is inexcusable but at least those unpleasant culprits are visible. The worst of these rude folk have a ready outlet for their venom when they can anonymously denigrate others and poison the public with their toxic allegations by having their venom published anonymously in the VOX public opinion section of this newspaper.

These unhappy souls like to bash newspaper letter writers who submit statements expressing beliefs and opinions contrary to their own. I've written letters sharing what I believe are workable solutions to a few current economic situations in America. I receive many positive comments from friends and others who encourage me to continue writing and expressing these opinions. It's those who vehemently disagree with me that I wish to expose. The Nasty Naysayers apparently have a list of writers they target with vitriolic lambasts, and I can attest that making their 'hit list' is not pleasant. One is confronted with ramblings, accusations, misquotes, and puzzling conclusions regarding viewpoints not even expressed.

No one has earned the right to be rude and offensive to others – no matter how many years on this earth. A basic personality principle is that mean old people were probably mean young people – unfortunately too many of these 'meanies' feel they've earned the right to fully express their 'truth' by virtue of their longevity. The least they could do is sign their work but they have no stomach for that brand of honest communication.

" **Can't We All Just Get Along?"**

Published in April 2010 - sadly, still applicable 2 years later.

What a better place this country and the world would be if we all followed these commandments we heard as children: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Mind your own bee's wax. Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody."

Once these primary habits are in place we would all do well to remember some basic truths: America was colonized by many people seeking freedom from religion, there is no Christian-Judeo imperative here – all are free in the U.S. to worship or not, as they wish. Our president should show other world leaders the same respect we expect for him/her.

Political parties are organizations of people who typically seek to attain and maintain power. That's POWER. Not justice for all. Not prosperity for all. Just POWER and it's not for all, it's for that organizational body. Republicans and Democrats come into power then fade from power, and yet America seems to be troubled no matter who is "in power". If anything, this should tell us that no one politico has the 'power' of foresight and right thinking. Sometimes the ruling party stumbles into making policies and laws which benefit all – more often, neither does. All legislators do tend to feather their own nests, however.

If the Republicans were so smart and wise, how could the 2008 (Bush) economic crash ever have happened? Why didn't all those Bush tax reductions for the wealthy cultivate a booming economy, instead of out-sourced jobs to 3rd world countries, burgeoning off-shore bank accounts and widespread unemployment? The Democrats didn't get it right either with Health Reform – but hopefully it's a start.

We need finance reform, immigration reform, true campaign reform and Congressional term limits. The list of needs is extensive. Finger pointing, hateful verbiage, unabashed ugliness toward fellow Americans certainly isn't going to heal this country. So read the first paragraph again and let's try to work this out like human beings, not as angry packs of wild-eyed adherents.

* * * *

Election Day - November 6, 2012

" **Do You Support Good Government?"**

The average American would probably answer "yes", however a mere 1% of the general population contributes to an election campaign or their favored candidate. The average American devotes that same level of personal investment in military service to our country. We demand more - we demand our lawmakers do their best for us - we demand our nation's sovereignty and security. We demand much, but we let someone else do it.

I offer this directive: the very least you can do to secure America's "exceptional-ism" is invest a bit of time and effort to research what you're voting for - who you're voting for - who you're voting against. Where do America's children, disadvantaged, seniors, minorities, immigrants - the 99% \- and where does the 1% figure in your vote.

" **Vote for America - not just a few Americans"**

June 2012

Romney is profit-focused, however profiteering creates winners and losers. Romney endorses drastic reductions for "step-child" Education, proposing taxpayers fund school vouchers and/or charter tuitions. Coincidentally, son Tagg founded Solamere Capital associated with TA Associates which operates 'for profit' schools.

President Obama abolished student loan private financing, creating an estimated $61 billion Budget savings over 10 years through lower government costs and eliminating bank subsidies. U.S. Treasury gains now fund Pell grants for needy students, community and minority-serving colleges, with a percentage of the loan interest income bolstering deficit reduction and health care reform. Romney wants to end this cost saving/deficit reduction efficiency to return the loans and accompanying profits to private banks, resurrecting bank subsidies, aka cronyism.

Romney condemns America's 'prairie fire of debt' yet boasted he lobbied and "..got record funds from the federal government" for 2002 Olympics. Federal funding totaled $1.5 billion, more than twice any previous Olympics taxpayer involvement, but Romney did walk away with thousands of "We Love Mitt" buttons - one less future political campaign expense.

These few examples illustrate Mitt's dedication to private patronage; furthermore his phobia to denounce hateful-slur-slinging conservatives unmasks a man whose over-riding priority is more self-interest than championing average Americans with whom he has absolutely no reciprocal business interests. George Romney governed Michigan then sought the presidency - Willard Mitt is only one win away from besting his father and attaining his ultimate profit trophy.

Remember, America is a not-for-profit entity \- your vote should favor every American

* *

The 19 donors' contributions accounted for about 53 percent of the $88.2 million combined receipts for those committees. Here are the 19:

### Donor - Donations - Sector

### Harold Simmons/Contran Corp. - $14.1M - Chemicals

### Sheldon Adelson - $5M - Casinos and hotels

### Miriam Adelson - $5M - Casinos and hotels

### Bob Perry - $3.5M - Real Estate/Construction

### Peter Thiel - $2.6M - Finance/Investment

### Jon Huntsman Sr. - $2.2M - Chemicals

### Jerry Perenchio Living Trust - $2M - Media

### Julian Robertson - $1.25M - Finance/Investment

### Robert B. Rowling - $1.1M - Energy

### Edward Conard - $1M - Finance/Investment

### Robert Mercer - $1M - Finance/Investment

### John Paulson - $1M - Finance/Investment

### Paul Singer - $1M - Finance/Investment

### Foster Friess - $1M - Finance/Investment

### Rooney Holdings Inc. - $1M - Real Estate/Construction

### William Dore - $1M - Energy

### Whiteco Industries - $1M - Real Estate/Construction

### F8 LLC (Jeremy Blickenstaff) - $1M - Finance/Investment

Eli Publishing (Steve Lund) \- $1M \- Cosmetics

These donations went to Super PACs backing GOP hopefuls Newt Gingrich (Winning Our Future), Ron Paul (Endorse Liberty), Mitt Romney (Restore Our Future), Rick Santorum (Red, White & Blue), backing former candidates Jon Huntsman Jr. (Our Destiny), Rick Perry (Make Us Great Again), and Republican candidates in general (American Crossroads).

To equal just their Super PAC contributions, political campaigns would need to collect more than 18,000 checks for $5,000 — the individual limit. Republican strategist Christopher LaCivita told the New York Times that these super donors are "serious business tycoons." And these serious business tycoons are seriously overwhelming the political system with their contributions.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/02/22/430271/19-superpac-donors-47-million-go/?mobile=nc

" **Romney's Billionaire Puppet Masters"**

The nation's billionaires are bypassing any support for President Obama and lining up to buy Candidate Romney. Voters should ask "what booty does big money buy from a Romney administration?"

"Koch Brothers Exposed" documentary film outlines the many 'profit and manipulation' agendas of the Kansas natives, but who are other, lesser known Republican oligarchs? Texas billionaire homebuilder Bob Perry emphatically opposes EPA and business regulations which hamper empire building. Homebuyer beware!

Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, who promises to 'invest' $36 million to defeat Obama, plans a subterranean nuclear waste dump in Andrews County, Texas, but he needs the Republicans to abolish EPA regulations protecting the Ogallala Aquifer, a massive, but shallow underground reservoir directly beneath the contaminant dump.

Sheldon Adelson ardently wants pro-Israel policies. With Vegas, Macau, and Singapore casinos, Sheldon is buying favorable tax/trade policies, IRS audit exemption, DOJ corruption investigation cessation, plus continuation of tax credits for overseas profits the Obama administration has proposed ending.

Foster Friess believes Christians should be less tolerant than they already are, as he funds Islamophobe Frank Gaffney. "Trumping" all, President Amadenijad supports Romney, recognizing Republican Party assistance to Iran – weapons in 1980's – nuclear bomb materials in 1990's - removing arch-enemy Iraq in 2000s. Ahmadenijad may invest in another decade of productive relations with Republicans.

These Titans of Capitalism demand the following changes or cronyism benefits:

Pollution Deregulation - Limiting Jury Awards \- Defense Contracts - Corporate

Subsidies - Tax Cuts - Wall Street Deregulation - More Oil Drilling

Pandering to buy the presidency leaves no wiggle room for Romney if he gains the Oval office, so no American, existing outside the upper .01%, need worry about inclusion on his "to do" lists. Brown-nosing Mitt may need Cover Girl concealer on inauguration day.

Carefully consider just who you're selling your country to before you enter that voting booth.

" **Vote Thought-fully"**

June 2012

America is torn by the conniving influences of power-seeking, politically motivated entities who've designed multiple ways to pit "citizen against citizen" - all for the sole purpose of gaining power. A few powerful, super-rich individuals manipulate everything that happens in America and probably the world. "They" make puppets of our elected representatives; "they" create and disburse hate-filled propaganda to effect adversarial bickering dividing Americans. 'Dupe the stupid masses into throwing hateful epithets around - spitting on each other's beliefs,' etc, and you'll control the poor slobs while "the men behind the curtain" (never the President) push the buttons, opening the smoke ducts for the "show" of governing America. It's manipulation at its best!

Ethics challenged Murdoch's FOX faux news makes a fortune fueling the fires of discontent by spreading misinformation. FOX News devotees are most often misinformed, ranking low on accurate knowledge of current political issues/events. How easy it is to influence close-minded people into accepting then spreading the "spin" put on controversial issues and legislation, while the puppet-masters sit back basking in their success, diverting attention from the facts that two wars, multiple tax breaks, unregulated wheeling and dealing enriched them while devastating the American economy.

I challenge each American voter to test their ideology and objectively research the claims of all candidates rather than cowardly obey their "herders". Learn as much of the truth as possible about each candidate. Don't allow your vote to be bought by the brightest liars – dig beneath the mounds of deceitful campaign rhetoric and seek to discern the facts. When you deny reality, you doom us all.

" **Time to Decide"**

An interesting phenomenon is people will vote against their own welfare simply because of political party affiliation, ignorance of the facts, or, sadly, personal dislike for a qualified candidate. Considering their severe swing to the extreme right, the Republican party recently passed legislation in many state legislatures which dramatically impact many of you and those you love. Here are a few issues in which the Republicans and Democrats are totally opposite. Please take a few moments to consider just a few of these issues before casting your vote in November 2012.

If you agree that:

In many Republican led states, doctors can lie to or omit informing any pregnant woman about any medical issue of their unborn child if the doctor believes the woman might subsequently seek to end the pregnancy. The doctor is protected from being sued for this deception. This is just the tip of the "deny female rights" iceberg. Romney advisor Robert Bork (Reagan Supreme Court nominee) opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, defends poll taxes/literacy test, denies women are discriminated against, and doesn't believe the Constitution grants the right of privacy.

America's energy needs justify any negative impact on environment:

* Fracking for natural gas has resulted in increased earthquake activity in OH and poisoned ground/piped water supplies in PA.

* Tar sands oil pipeline (from Canada) spills, (several companies are involved, including Keystone) have experienced serious spills including Kalamazoo MI in 2010 - the Kalamazoo River is still quarantined, perhaps for dozens of years.

* The Gulf waters indicate BP's oil spill continues to deform and kill marine animals. Oil companies have financed vastly improved drilling equipment and techniques. No oil company has developed any new or better ways to combat future spills, but their subsidies definitely should be retained.

Government regulations protecting citizens from unscrupulous financial institution dealings should be repealed returning us to the free-wheeling environment which caused the 2008 financial crisis.

It's more important to give the "job creators" a 6 figure tax reduction and increase Defense spending than to maintain: nutritional programs for American children; minimal funding for women's health care; Pell Grants to low income students, et al. Your taxes will increase if your taxable income is $50,000 and below. Programs to help you and your fellow citizens will be abolished or defunded to "address" the deficit. Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid will definitely need to be diminished, but those top 10% folks will get to keep more of their money plus expand their wealth through loose, or no regulations, etc.

A gun in every pocket, "stand your ground" laws, concealed weapons in church, restaurants, schools. The NRA, through ALEC, writes this legislation for state governments.

If you think Romney's expertise in business will make your life richer, ignore all those whose jobs disappeared when his Bain Capital focus was to enrich investors and themselves, not protect the common workers or save the companies they raided.

If you think Romney's governorship of Massachusetts is evidence of government leadership then ignore he spent 200 days of his final year absent from the state while campaigning for President; forget he turned the state's budget surplus into a deficit with a ranking of 47th in job creation (3 lower states were Katrina disaster states); and laugh at his 60+% disapproval rating at term end.

If you endorse all these conservative stances, then vote Republican, but don't complain when it adversely affects you and your family.

" **Gridlock is Fixable"**

June 2012

Gridlock in Washington is our reality. Any significant progress for American prosperity is a pipedream until after November 6, perhaps even January 2013. Vast sums of money gather interest in big business coffers, awaiting additional tax breaks from the Right if the election goes the Conservative way. Average Americans suffer while the kings in their counting houses, count their global profits. Investment bankers will gamble, continuing to flout safe and customary financial procedures as conservatives eschew rules and regulations claiming "we can trust them".

For now, Congress remains mired in Tea Party plough mud as the "I'll hold my breath, stamp my feet" bullies rule the House and Senate Republicans filibuster any possible legislation which might boost U.S. economy and increase jobs. The Right must force stagnation to win back the White House, maintain the House of Representatives and possibly take the Senate. The Right needs to be willful and obstinate, preventing any Liberal, or even bipartisan proposal being enacted. Any success for America this year means failure for the saboteurs who wave their Teabags and continue their treason against most American citizens - exempting privileged folks who continue to prosper.

The looming Congressional compromise of "Sequestration" contains significant cuts in Defense and social entitlements, but Republicans now want to renege on the Defense cuts part of that agreement.

America is "on hold" until the Republicans either win the coin toss or are sent home.

Why aren't you mad as hell about the gridlock?! We pay these people! Citing Romney, we need to fire these representatives who aren't providing us good service. It's time to fulfill America's promise - equal rights for all and an efficient government.

" **Who can best address America's problems?"**

Published May 2012 in Bluffton Sun

The Republican presidential candidate acquired great wealth in his primary profession with Bain Companies, private equity/venture capital firms eventually expanding into more lucrative and risky investments called leveraged buyouts. He made buckets of money for Bain, their investors/stockholders and himself. If America were a business he might be perfect to dismantle our convoluted mess, restructure the dysfunctional parts, sell off the unprofitable components while receiving a massive management fee for doing so.

His sole government experience is four years as governor, although he was absent from his office 212 days in his final year campaigning for president, ultimately bottoming to 67% disapproval at term end and dropping Massachusetts to 47th in jobs.

President Obama is consistently thwarted by a Republican legislative faction who continuously oppose him even when he adopts conservative theories - healthcare individual mandate, cap and trade, and environmental protection are just three programs Republicans quickly flipped against.

The TEA Party morphed into Too Extreme Anti-everything whose elected advocates became the TEAPOT coalition \- Traitorous Efforts to Attain President Obama's Termination - toxically dead-locking any positive legislation and poisoning all dialogue.

Those blinded by hate, greed, and intolerance can be led down any path but that path should not lead to Congress \- we must demand better of our lawmakers. The cure for obstructionist 'non-governing' is to deny power to any corrupt faction by peopling both Congressional houses with those committed to our success, not one man's failure. Please vote for unity.

" **Welfare of America and its Citizens are at Stake - Your Vote Counts"**

Published April 4, 2012 in Bluffton Today

America's future is threatened internally as incivility mushrooms and 'stand your ground' laws make personal safety uncertain. Immigrants may flock to America for the opportunities absent elsewhere, however what kind of unruly multitude will they encounter upon arrival. Every fiery sermon expounding the "rightness" of a religious sect's beliefs to the exclusion of all others, any racial-ethnic outburst, all hate-filled emails, each message endorsing disparaging all not sharing a sameness - all these denunciations sow seeds of hate sprouting blooms of upheaval within our country.

All must stop to ponder words and actions lest the vileness lingering in the darker parts of prejudiced hearts escape, increasing the divisiveness in America from which there may eventually be no return.

Presidential candidates have an imperative duty to restrict self-promoting discourse when reckless, frivolous, extremist statements sabotage America's geo-political position in an increasingly volatile and observant world. All political headliners must make a concerted effort NOT to succumb to a base, lust-for-power impulse by disregarding how rash pronouncements damage the U.S. domestically and abroad. If the electorate has one directive it should be not to cast a ballot for anyone promoting his/her own ambition which jeopardizes the welfare of America and its citizens.

If sensible conservatives eschew surrendering their party to those thirsting for militant, sanctimonious, and fiscally unbalanced tyranny over this land and truly desire the welfare of all U.S. residents, perhaps they might sacrifice 2012 elections to insure a more cosmopolitan America rather than an intolerant, theocratic oligarchy.

" **Forget About Voting a Straight Party Ticket"**

Published August 19, 2011 in Bluffton Today as rebuttal

Dear recent letter writer, it's not my daddy's GOP anymore either! America's political parties have indeed broadened their goals and become extreme in their platforms. The blossoming of the Religious Right would definitely rile my father to skip elections altogether! The Tea Party's goal to rid America of those pesky little regulatory safeguards limiting our financial hooligans might even force him to click a lefty's election switch.

The letter, decrying the Democratic Party of the 21st century, targeted its connection to one relatively obscure watchdog group, Media Matters. Is that the sum total of the Democratic party's regrettable metamorphosis which would disappoint and horrify your once "proud to be a Democrat" father? One dedicated, tax exempt, organization of zealots seeking to present, spin or totally distort "the facts" representing one point of view might be egregious, however a bit of research and you'll discover America is populated with many dozens of them – some left, some right, and some aspiring to be completely unbiased and in the middle. Expunging any group's tax exemption status won't change their message and I'm sure FOX News has enough followers to weather the storms of their propagandizing enemies.

What is of most concern is – who do we believe and trust? More and more I wonder WHY we trust any of them? After performing due diligence via research and study, common sense might provoke you to pick among the bits & pieces of both sides' pronouncements and select those who most often have shown we can trust them to work together in a bipartisan manner FOR us, rather than simply for their lobbies and hence themselves. Anyone who votes a straight party ticket is too uninformed and/or too entrenched in ideologue to have the right to decide the fate of our country.

August 2011

Do you support a particular political party? Do you truly agree with their entire platform? If not, you may be an Independent wavering between the two camps. Where once my father's Republican leanings, learned at his Republican father's knee, of personal accountability, strong national defense, pro-business and anti-unionism seemed logical to me, maturity and life experience have altered my perspective.

Personal accountability and living within my means remain constant tenets, however dad's deep prejudice against Negroes, Jews, Catholics, etc., never took hold as I quickly identified the narrow, selfish, ignorant attributes of hate. History taught me labor unions gave many working Americans a few simple human rights, like those outlined in our centuries old, and oh so often cited Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.

As removing regulatory constraints (safety valves) on business and industry were emphasized, barring females' dominion over their bodies and prohibiting certain human relationships were also advocated by dad's politicos. I recognized the cruel concept of "the strong shall survive, cream rises to the top, and to hell with the weak, therefore less deserving among us".

The hypocritical religious right, with their righteous self interests, shock and revolt millions of us. Additionally, while I want America strong, I don't think every household needs a firearm, nor does every nation on earth warrant a U.S. military contingent.

I believe those with great fortune should share their resources with those less blessed and I wonder "do God-fearing conservatives read their thumped Bibles"? Do they quote Philippians 2:4, Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others, yet not understand its guidance? Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse, Proverbs 28:27 is as pertinent today as it was in the time of David.

I can support a properly framed Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allowing for limiting circumstances, but it is a lengthy process and not a quick solution to our problems. While they're at it, we need an Amendment imposing Congressional Term Limits. The United States definitely needs Individual and Corporate Tax Reform, Campaign Reform, Congressional Compensation Reform, Lobbyist Reform, and undoubtedly many other reforms. Tort Reform is a restraint fully endorsed by big business, therefore I'm sure it can't be good for John or Suzie Q. Public. In all elections, remember to vote for those candidates whose values most closely mirror yours.

* * * *

Energy & Environmental Concerns

" **Tar Sands are NOT the Solution"**

Too many Americans "own" opinions glommed from provocatively deceitful emails, inflammatory discussions at social events, and/or talk shows colored by insidious bigotry. When pressed for elaboration about espoused opinions, pointedly the extremely important November election, they say, "oh, I don't understand political stuff, I just don't like Obama".

Often they cite the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, however that's all they can say because they can only recite code words - Keystone and pipeline. To enlighten, tar sands oil is the dirtiest and thickest oil, thus drilling and refining emits more greenhouse gases than conventional crude.

The pipeline to Texas refineries does not insure American use, therefore lower gas prices, for that Canadian oil, like increased American oil production, is likely destined for foreign markets where bigger profits are realized. Piping this crude across American land, much seized through Eminent Domain, potentially poisoning sensitive mid-west aquifers, can impact everything except the price Americans pay for gasoline because while America and Canada suffer the spills and the global warming, while private industry reaps the profit.

Permanent jobs created? much fewer than a thousand. Availability timeline for actual use? Four to five years! In that time, cleaner solar, wind, even bio-fuels could be satisfying U.S. energy demands. This is just one of hundreds of issues for which too many voters are ignorant, therefore, for those of us who do take the time and energy to investigate the issues, we plead: please don't vote if you avoid or are too entrenched to research all sides.

* *

America's energy needs are cited to justify any negative impact on environment:

* Fracking for natural gas has resulted in increased earthquake activity in OH and poisoned ground/piped water supplies in PA.

* Tar sands oil pipelines from Canada (several companies are involved, including Keystone) have experienced serious spills including Kalamazoo MI in 2010 - the Kalamazoo River is still quarantined, perhaps for dozens of years.

* The Gulf waters indicate BP's oil spill continues to deform and kill sea life. Oil companies have financed vastly improved drilling equipment and techniques. No oil company has yet to develop any new or better ways to combat future spills, but their subsidies remain.

* * * *

Entitlements

" **Definition of Entitlement A Point of View"**

Published October 29, 2010 in Island Packet

Entitlement means right, prerogative, privilege. Social Security/Medicare are entitlements. Those in dire circumstances are "entitled" to Medicaid, Food Stamps and low income subsidies. These are humanity-based entitlements.

But consider those who feel entitled to cheat the U.S. Treasury and the American people. TV ads boast, "I owed the IRS $100,000 but only paid $7,000." Thousands of American taxpayers hide their wealth and cheat us who pay a fair share of taxes, yet they feel "entitled" to do so. Corporations feel entitled to make bigger profits by sending jobs overseas - punishing American workers but stockholders are delighted, for that money-based entitlement philosophy enriches their bank accounts.

Equal rights entitlement: John worked hard for his comfortable position and the luxuries he and his family enjoy are proof of his goodness and righteousness. Betsy worked at the desk next to John, but life didn't always swing her way, as it did for John – she made less money because she was a woman. John felt he was entitled to more as he was the breadwinner of his family – Betsy wasn't "entitled" to the same pay for the same work. Her husband's job went to India. Betsy was diagnosed with cancer and left her job. The family became dependent upon "welfare entitlements".

Conservatives feel entitled to misrepresent the meaning of Small Business in their party patter by not revealing SBOs include lobbyists, lawyers, investment brokers, accountants, real estate agents, even sports figures and entertainers. Remember, "entitlements" span prosperity extremes, both right and left, and include manipulators at both ends of the economic spectrum. Which "entitlement" would you outlaw?

* * * *

Financial Industry & Regulations

" **Freeloaders Not Limited to Alleged 'Welfare Queens' "**

Published January 29, 2012 in Bluffton Today,

January 30, 2012 in Island Packet and

February 1, 2012 in Bluffton Packet

Are all millionaires/billionaires the product of the Investment Industry? It seems many are. Is this the primary cause of the ever widening divide between the 1% and the 99%? Like Wall Street's Gordon Gecko, investment folk don't create anything but wealth - for themselves and similar investors, who are already well-heeled. It's clear the 99% exists because the big guys are not producing substance other than multi-digited portfolio balances for each other.

Conservatives rail about all the freeloaders in our society and point at those receiving Medicaid, Food Stamps, Unemployment benefits, to name just three. There is indeed all kinds of freeloading in America, but the above examples are penny ante hand-outs compared to the world of investment and finance keeping the general population in poverty.

Check out PBS Moyers & Company "Crony Capitalism" featuring David Stockman, Reagan's budget director, and Pulitzer Prize journalist Gretchen Morgenson. "... there have been so many bailouts, .. so much abuse and misuse of government power for private ends and private gains, .. we have an entitled class in this country that is far worse than....the welfare queens that Ronald Reagan cited.

We have an entitled class of Wall Street financiers and corporate CEOs who believe the government should do whatever is necessary... tax relief, tax incentives, tax cuts, loan guarantees, Federal Reserve market intervention and stabilization. Whatever it takes .. to keep the game going and their stock price moving upward." Conservatives advocate smaller government but thrive on the largesse of it.

Part II, not submitted or published

U.S. financial world has not been restructured. The big toxic banks of 2008 - "too big to fail" - are even bigger now. Before the crisis, the top six banks had assets of seven trillion dollars; now they have nine to ten trillion. Rather than adopt fundamentally sound practices, which have been totally neglected, the system simply papered over the current system and continued the game of having the Federal Reserve and the Treasury prop up all of this leverage and speculation, which isn't helping the economy.

Stockman: "And when we talk about zero interest rates. That's not helping Main Street. Our problem in this economy is not our interest rates are too high. The zero interest rates are just more fuel for leverage speculation for what's called the carry trade and that is causing windfall benefits to the few but it's leaving the fundamental problems of our economy in worse shape than they've ever been."

"And what I mean by that is, that if we want to have a way for, you know, average Americans to save money without taking big risks and not be worried about the failure of their banking institution, then there can be some narrow banks who do nothing except take deposits, make long-term loans or short-term loans of a standard, business variety without trading anything, without getting into all of these exotic derivative instruments, without putting huge leverage on their balance sheet."

Stockman's additional comments:

"True free-market capitalists never go to Washington with their hand out when they make a foolish mistake - get over leveraged or end up with too many risky assets that don't work out - they don't ask the Federal Reserve for cheap or free money to continue as before. They expect consequences, failure of their firm, loss of their bonuses, even loss of their jobs."

"We don't have free-market capitalism in America anymore. We have everyone believing that if they hire the right lobbyist, raise enough PAC money, spend enough time prowling the Senate, the House and White House arguing for their parochial narrow interest, [all] will work out. And that is crony capitalism. It's very dangerous and it [is] becoming more embedded in our system. We need, not only a reinstitution of Glass-Steagall, but .. [even] more serious limitation on banks."

I would add, we need U.S. multinational companies repatriating desperately needed employment to their fellow Americans. Steve Jobs may be a laudable example to many, however I'm not alone in believing his decision to excessively optimize profits by using cheap foreign labor robbed thousands of his countrymen of decent paying jobs. We don't really need an I-"fill in the blank" gadget every year, do we? For that is what cheap foreign labor, producing flimsy products, necessitates - perpetual replacement, resulting in mounds of electronic waste, some toxic, and fewer "Made in U.S.A." offerings.

* * * *

Greed, aka Capitalism

" **It Really is All about Money...**

Unless You make it about People, Equal Rights and Democracy"

* *

" **My Money or Your Life!"**

June 2012

My money or your life! Gone are the days when many Americans would stop to ponder the question, consider the moral dilemma and concede their sin of avarice. Today fewer adults are conflicted by the choice, willfully opting to live the mantra 'my personal treasure is paramount over my fellow humans.' Sadly, Ayn Rand's credo: "greed is good, selfish is better" is the guiding principle of countless free marketers (and Paul Ryan), dismissing concern for the overall well-being of Americans. Perhaps, if a personal system of checks and balances ruled all, ensuring no one self-indulgence became too powerful, we wouldn't need to fret the governmental proviso of balanced power.

Does loudly decrying 'wealth redistribution' truly block out those voices of the 1%, acknowledging "it's always been redistributed to us!" John Wesley, UMC founder believed, "The only true path to freedom is to rid ourselves of the desires of the self." [selfishness, greed, materialism]. Moral capitalism by some American manufacturers is improving our economy, yet conservatives press for continual government 'benevolence' legislation to aid heavily outsourced endeavors. Google "territorial tax" - it's in Ryan's Budget - for evidence of corporate welfare, revealing elected conservatives' faithful allegiance to wealthy individuals and big business, yet feel no moral conflict denying aid to struggling Americans.

Why assist the rich to attain more wealth, but sabotage America's future by deserting the remaining citizenry? Eventually the strongest must feed on each other when the weakest have been vanquished. Conscientious voters have the power to change this outcome and save the rest of us!

" **Profit has Replaced God in Greedy America"**

Published April 25, 2012 in Bluffton Today

Why is America no longer "first in the world"? Greed - proliferate individual and corporate greed have brought America to its decline, replacing God with Profit - the new almighty. In pursuit of more, most of us have less. Bigger earnings are worshipped rather than principles of moral capitalism and responsibility to fellow citizens. Hundreds of corporations report very robust coffers and many pro-business factions promise "job creation", albeit through industrial rape of our continent, for it must be profitable and uncomplicated by environmental protection regulations.

Strip mining and fracking devastate the land, poison ground water, and cause earthquakes. Rivers are polluted by industry and pipeline oil spills while land development destroys once beautiful landscapes - all for profitable commerce. America's roads and bridges desperately need repair, but without big dividend checks or expansive corporate revenue in return, conservatives will not support those "jobs" initiatives.

Politicians feed at the trough of special interest groups, buttressing healthier corporate balance sheets yet they remain uncommitted to a healthier American citizen. The mantra "me first" has replaced the pioneer motto "circle the wagons to keep everyone safe". Big business has "un-employed" Americans in order to exploit cheap 3rd world labor to feed its gluttony for vigorous balance sheets and satisfy shareholder demands for juicier returns.

We have a choice - keep buying Apple products, endorsing the misery of Chinese and Indonesian assembly line workers - or buy only American and vote responsibly in November by researching who champions the average American and our fragile planet.

" **Don't Put Winning Ahead of Helping Americans"**

Published July 23, 2011 in Island Packet

What is America becoming as greed propels this country into an abyss of indifference for the general welfare of its citizens? The lust for power and wealth so clouds the minority "movers and shakers" they truly do not see, or care, the American dream is a nightmare for the majority. The voices of the 90% are obscured by the controlling influence of the 10% seeking more, always more.

Is there no middle? A place where the two sides meet – each surrendering a treasure for the overall good? Ten years of tax breaks have not produced jobs on American soil. Big business is well-coffered now, but rather than increase the workforce, fewer employees are asked to work harder and longer.

Is it unreasonable, as the family sits around the kitchen table poring over the household budget, to conclude only so much can be eliminated as unnecessary. Another income is needed to bring home more bacon so that everyone gets a plate of food. That's the solution in Hometown USA, not in Congress USA. One faction's goal is the antithesis of Congress' primary sworn duty, "..making the laws of the United States (which) in both houses (is) the work of preparing and considering legislation".

Those intransigent few blocking a balanced approach to improving our budget and deficit problems violate their oath. Their target is to retake the White House, no matter who falls beneath the wheels of their "protect the few" caravan. Is winning a political contest truly more important than the welfare of American people?

" **The Abyss of Blatant Greediness"**

Published July 18, 2011 in Bluffton Today

I struggle with the image of what America is becoming as blatant greediness seems to be propelling this country into an abyss of indifference toward the general welfare of its citizens. It seems apparent the lust for power and wealth has so clouded the minority "movers and shakers" they truly do not see, or care, that the American dream is becoming a nightmare for the majority. The voices of the 90% are obscured by the controlling influence of the 10% seeking more, always more.

Is there no longer a middle? A place where the two sides meet – each surrendering a treasure for the overall good? Ten years of tax breaks have not produced the jobs – not here on American soil. Big business is well-coffered now, but rather than increase the workforce, employees are asked to double and triple their efforts.

Is it really unreasonable, as the family sits around the kitchen table poring over the household budget, that perhaps only so much can be eliminated as unnecessary. Perhaps a family member secures a second job – moonlighting they call it. Bring home more bacon so that everyone gets a plate of food. But, that's the solution in Hometown USA, not in Congress USA.

One faction's sole goal seems to be the antithesis of Congressional representatives primary sworn duty, "..making the laws of the United States (which) in both houses (is) the work of preparing and considering legislation". Those intransigent few who block a balanced approach to improving our budget and deficit problems ignore their sworn primary duty – for their one supreme goal is to retake the White House, no matter who falls beneath the wheels of their "protect the few" caravan. Is winning a political contest truly more important than the welfare of American people?

Gap between average income of top 0.01% and average income of bottom 90%

**The Associated Press reports** :

David Simon of Simon Property received a pay package worth more than $137 million for last year, and the typical CEO took home $9.6 million, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Here are some ways to think about just how much money those salaries represent.

Simon's $137 million is almost entirely in stock awards that could eventually be worth $132 million. The company said it wanted to make sure Simon wasn't lured to another company.

HOW LONG IT TAKES OTHERS TO MAKE THAT MUCH: A minimum wage worker -- paid $7.25 per hour, as some workers at Simon malls are -- would have to work one month shy of 9,096 years to make what Simon made last year. A person making the national median salary, $39,312 by AP calculations, would have to work 3,489 years.

BY THE HOUR: Assuming Simon worked a 60-hour week, his pay was $43,963.64 per hour, or $732.73 per minute. To put that in perspective, the minimum-wage worker would have to labor for nearly three years to make what Simon earns in an hour. The average U.S. worker makes slightly less in one year than Simon makes in an hour.

COMPARED WITH AMERICA'S CEO: Simon makes about 342 times the $400,000 annual salary of President Barack Obama. In fact, if you add the salaries of Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, the Cabinet, the Supreme Court justices, all the members of the Senate and House of Representatives and all 50 governors, it is less than $110 million, so Simon makes well more than government's top 600 leaders. In the past 100 years, U.S. taxpayers have paid a total of $80.6 million, adjusted for inflation, to presidents from Woodrow Wilson to Obama.

The median CEO salary of $9.587 million:

HOW LONG IT TAKES OTHERS TO MAKE THAT MUCH: A minimum wage worker would have to work 636 years to make that much. A person making the national average salary would have to work 244 years to make the median CEO salary.

BY THE HOUR: If you assume the CEO works a 60-hour week, the pay comes to $3,072.84 per hour, or $51.21 per minute. To put that in perspective, the minimum wage worker would have to labor more than 10 weeks to make what the median CEO earns in an hour. It would take the average U.S. worker nearly a month to make what the average CEO makes in an hour.

COMPARED WITH AMERICA'S CEO: The CEO who made the median salary took in 12 times the total $789,674 in gross income that President Obama reported last year. But it is less than half the $20.9 million in income that presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney reported in his tax filing. Seth Borenstein, AP Science Reporter

* *

" **Average Americans Don't Stand a Chance"**

Published August 10, 2011 in Bluffton Today

Anxious about our country's financial future? Or yours? Take note of recent history via a few exposés revealing - how the worship of capitalism began infecting 1950s America (The Shock Doctrine); how the 2008 financial crisis developed (Inside Job); and how tort reform (Hot Coffee) will actually affect the average American. These eye-openers are also available as film documentaries, check cable/satellite listings.

You'll learn we "little people of America" are as grains of sand in the concrete block of lofty high earners – "Ultra High Net Worth Individual," defined as someone with net worth of $5 million or more. That 'job creator(?)' population grew 17% in 2009 to 980,000. Did jobs grow? The most recent (2007) data available, the top 1% of earners, those with annual minimum incomes of $398,000, enjoyed a 6.8% growth." (Spectrem Group).

If you can't claim such income, the reality is you'll soon be in the dumpster with us "lazy, welfare folk". "No taxes on the rich" proponents cite the wise economic counsel of several former members of Republican and Democratic administrations. Learn which presidential appointees became multi-millionaires due to their collusion in building and bursting the financial banking bubble. The true story of McDonald's hot coffee lawsuit was flawlessly spun to make Tort Reform seem reasonable rather than another avenue for deregulating corporate accountability.

If these glimpses don't turn your stomach, then you're part of the problem! Conversely, attempting to digest even a portion of these disclosures may enrage, scare, and finally depress you to the conclusion average Americans don't stand a chance.

* * * *

Healthcare, Social Security, et al

" **Healthcare should be considered a Human Right in the United States"**

64% of polled Americans agree

* *

" **The 'You Lie' Guy"**

Published October 2009 in Bluffton Today

House Rep Joe Wilson (SC-2) blames the current administration for no Social Security COLA. The funding problems did not begin with President Obama's inauguration or the Democratic majority in Congress, but have been brewing for a very long time. Blaming the current Congress and President is disingenuous and a definite sign of "politics as usual".

Many voters understand our "representatives" have failed Americans for decades. Congress rewards itself consistently with unwarranted pay raises and "employee" perks which make the average American's retirement benefits pale in comparison, and then play the "who's to blame / point a finger" game.

Social Security trust fund has long been plundered to support all kinds of programs: bolstering foreign governments, foreign wars/ incursions, black operations around the world, torture facilities, etc. The Fund might be solvent today but for the deficit spending of previous presidents and congresses – PLURAL - and could be made healthy with proper legislation.

If the SS contribution wage ceiling were eliminated all US workers would contribute on ALL their earnings. But this obvious fix won't be executed because Congress is influenced – not by voters or Americans in need – but by the wealthy.

When will politicians learn the majority of Americans belong to the WEARY / WARY party - weary of all both sides lying and ignoring our wants, and wary of politicians promising to make a difference while repeating the same old party rhetoric. Term limit legislation may never occur, but I pray incumbents losing re-election will become the norm.

* *

WOMEN's RIGHTS and HEALTH - ALL REPUBLICAN PROPOSALS

(partial list of affected states)

Republicans in U.S. Congress have blocked or successfully defeated several "women's rights" legislation, including:

VAWA - Violence Against Women Act

Paycheck Fairness Act

In 2011 - Eleven hundred (1100) bills were proposed in state legislatures imposing restrictions, denying services, associated with abortion procedures and contraception availability.

Proposed and/or "passed" legislation restricting and limiting women's access to reproductive issues healthcare, "Personhood" laws restricting or denying contraception, in-vitro fertilization, birth control insurance coverage, and abortion - some imposing more stringent procedures on abortion such as ultrasound and intra-vaginal ultrasound:

AL, AZ, FL, GA, ID, IN, KS, MN, MO, MS, SC, SD, TX, VA, WV

2012: There are still 450 other bills on birth control and abortion in state legislatures across the country. With a far-right faction of the GOP holding a majority in many of them with the following:

1. Doctor can lie to a patient about her being pregnant, or possible birth defects, if the doctor thinks the woman will seek an abortion. The woman cannot sue the doctor.

2. Doctor MUST inform woman seeking abortion that the procedure is linked to breast cancer. (there is no such correlation)

3. Ultrasound image must be placed in woman's medical file.

4. Ultrasound requirement is to determine the age of the fetus - if that determination cannot be made with exterior ultrasound, a trans-vaginal probe ultrasound wand must be utilized.

5. The woman must bear the cost of the ultrasound procedures.

6. TN bill proposes requirement for published list of all doctors performing abortions along with the statistical information on whom the abortion was performed - everything but the woman's name would be published, but enough info might well prevent keeping woman's identity private.

**May 31, 2012** : The U.S. House of Representatives wasted time considering legislation protecting unborn fetuses from gender selection calling it necessary to combat the "war against women" of female fetuses being aborted. If this were China, where "one child per family" controlled the population, this law might be necessary. This is simply one of numerous anti abortion proposals submitted by the extreme right. Research Trent Franks, representative from Arizona for other examples of how he "earns" his Congressional salary, continually targeting limiting women's health choices.

Published September 2009

Rather than sling accusations to the right and to the left, each American adult should consider what's best for the majority of Americans! Those with the most, cry "foul" loudest when it comes to sharing America's collective prosperity. Our "lawmakers" continually pass legislation favoring themselves over the people who sponsor and pay them - any five-year congressional term and "they've got it made for life" plus future 'payoffs' for their SIG patronage.

U.S. lawmakers have a long history of passing "pork" legislation and we re-elect them because they "built a bridge in our city" or "brought factory jobs to town", but few care what "pork" truly costs. A select few prosper without thought for those who "ain't got and won't get" and it's the same for health care. Every American deserves adequate health care – period.

Everyone cannot afford the most basic health care, much less medical insurance premiums. Making Medicare/Medicaid available to all is the answer for those without private medical coverage. This public option can be funded by raising the Social Security/Medicare contribution ceiling on wages. The pay of employees receiving more than the SS wage base, $106,800, increased nearly $1 trillion since 1999. CEO of "corporation big stuff" satisfies his/her contribution for the year in ONE PAYCHECK!

The growing portion of pay exceeding the maximum amount subject to payroll taxes has contributed to the weakening of the Social Security trust fund. SSA actuaries estimate removing the earnings ceiling could eliminate the trust fund's deficit altogether for the next 75 years. 1

Sadly this solution doesn't have a chance with ANY Congress or President because special interest lobbies run "our" show. This is why term limits are vital and lobbies (SIG) should be strictly regulated. The ceiling on Social Security/Medicare wage contributions should be eliminated!! (Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2009, Ellen Schultz) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124813343694466841.html

Note: Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Republican lawmakers insisted upon adding 150 amendments to the Affordable Care Act, then promptly voted against the bill while criticizing the complexity of the thousands of pages included in the legislation.

* * * *

Liberal vs Conservative - what makes us one or the other?

**Republicans broadcast identical talking points** (allegiance to party)

**Democrats frequently wander off script** (individualism)

* *

" **Understanding Political Motivation May Help Debate"**

Published March 7, 2012 in Bluffton Today

Charting U.S. Congress from late 1800s to the present reveals Democratic legislators exhibit miniscule change in their basic liberal ideology while Republican legislators have become progressively more conservative since the late 1970s, according to http://voteview.com/political_polarization.asp a research and analysis study at University of Georgia Department of Political Science. Coincidently, this escalating extremism of conservative lawmakers coincides with the beginning in 1970s America of the widening wealth gap between "haves" and "have less".

One might postulate the booming wealth of upper echelon Americans triggered their "greed gene" and voile! - realization that to nourish the wealth disparagement, harsher, more extreme ideology / legislation was mandatory to maintain an eternal wealth = power advantage. It's an egg vs chicken head-scratcher yet consider wealth begets greed thus addictive greed begets appetite for power to nourish greater wealth.

Polarization Increase

Social psychologists, www.moralfoundations.org, identify specific moral foundations prevalent in a person's political position. Conservatives assign greater importance to Authority (rules and power), Loyalty (caste system?) and Purity (religion, intolerance) than Liberals, who value Purity as least important, with Fairness (equality) and avoidance of Harm (empathy) being paramount.

When faced with a moral dilemma, Liberals value society above all; Conservatives tend to evenly value the five, but self-interest often prevails (see above wealth gap phenomenon). Life experiences undoubtedly blur, magnify and alter inborn values, however one's moral matrix dominates. Perhaps distinguishing the innate value differences between the two ideologies won't foster harmony with one's political opposite, but understanding the motivation may diminish the maliciousness of the debate.

* *

What is it called ..?

An acquaintance trashes Obama give-aways for adding to the deficit, then buys an electric golf cart citing the favorable hand-out aspect of the President's electric car program. There's a term for that.

Republican lawmakers propose severe budget cuts to social programs, the majority of which provides monetary stipends that immediately fuel U.S. economy. The same proponents then lower tax rates for upper incomes, block subsidy termination, preserve tax loopholes, et al, most of which provide heartier offshore and/or Swiss bank accounts - those piles of cash rarely find the way back into U. S. economy. Whose side are they on?

A state governor enacts what becomes a very successful healthcare program to protect his constituents, insuring all residents have access to vital medical services, then vows to abolish a nearly identical program for all U.S. residents. What's that called?

The term is "hypocrisy"

* *

" **My Conservative Conundrum"**

June 2012

Conservatives - why won't they even consider an opposing truth? Every conservative I attempt to engage in discussion shuns any and all facts/statistics offered. They harbor no desire to contemplate any reality other than their doctrine and they won't debate any issue. Research indicates there is definite personality difference between conservative and liberal, yet absolute opposition/total gridlock is immoral and destructive to beneficial government.

A 2012 Indiana Tea Party candidate insists bipartisanship means Democrats agree with him - that's his position: "obstinacy". If only he were the sole lunatic in the asylum! History proves bipartisan governing is necessary and effective, but Tea Party obstructionists have crippled the process, and systematically all the other Republican kids on the playground are now kowtowing to the bullies and have joined the siege.

Crippling conservative extremism is revealed in "It's Even Worse Than It Looks" by Mann/Ornstein, non-partisan Congressional scholars' in their objective appraisal concluding Republican lawmakers are the cause of Congressional deadlock: "One of the two major parties, the Republican Party, has become an insurgent outlier — ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; un-persuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition."

Republican sabotage is working, America is struggling but big money is winning. So, Republican voters, you got what you wanted - America is being non-governed your way. Unfortunately, the rest of us must struggle to exist as best we can in your mangled world.

" **What's So Grand?"**

June 2012

What's so Grand about that party? My Republican dad, programmed early in life and faithful throughout, would be puzzled by this 21st century Party. Though obstinately refusing to admit any beneficial assessment of FDR, he did eventually acknowledge valuable contributions by Truman, admiring HST's "the buck stops here" accountability. Though stubbornly Republican, his innate integrity would not allow him to accept the hypocrisy and intractability rampant in the 'new' Republican Party.

He'd notice his lawmakers' duplicitous "jobs and the economy" priority claims continually countered with obscene legislation limiting equal rights for women, immigrants, and minorities not only in U.S. Congress, but chillingly many state legislatures. He'd laugh at "our problem isn't revenue" propaganda and point out that's certainly true for the wealthy via enduring favorable tax treatment.

Dad would support the green movement and alternative fuels program, loving the earth as he did, but he'd be disgusted by the bigoted religious right coercing America toward a theocracy. He'd abhor the moneyed Super Pac propaganda machines fed by big business and billionaire influencers corrupting our elections, and he'd curse our heavily lobbied "for hire" lawmakers.

He'd note the President has few Wall Street campaign contributors - a sign Obama favors citizens above special interests, and he'd ask "what rewards do Romney's billionaire donors expect"? Will he be an obedient marionette for his masters?

Dad would hate these Grand Obstructionist Pirates and, comprehending the widespread Republican strategy of voter suppression, he might even vote Democrat for the first time in his life.

* * * *

Myth Busters

" **Jobs, Jobs, Jobs is our focus"**

John Boehner (R), Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

To-date, the U.S. House has disregarded public opinion and blocked legislation

Gallup Polling - U.S. Citizen approved economic issues:

75% favor budget funding for Firefighters, Police, Teachers

72% favor increasing tax rates for Millionaires

72% favor Infrastructure Projects

The 2011-2012, 112th Congress U.S. House has passed seven (7) Pro-Life bills, all of which died in the Senate. On May 31, 2012 the House failed to received 2/3 majority on Trent Franks (R) AZ gender-based abortion bill. "Single Issue" Rep. Trent Franks has proposed countless Pro-Life legislation during this 17 month House Session.

Republican majority House Representatives has also voted against Women's Rights legislation, such as Equal Pay and Violence Against Women Act

* *

" **Budget and Deficit Truths"**

June 2012

It's time for some myth busting, triggering conservative readers/writers to combust, however Independents - please read on! All the following budget/deficit facts are verifiable: Obama is the most thrifty President since Eisenhower - W. Bush and Reagan were most prolific spenders.

The Washington Post cites the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis stating 8 years of Bush/Cheney policies cost $5.1 trillion and increased the deficit by 85%; projected 8 years of Obama policies will ultimately cost $983 billion. That's "T" versus "B", folks!

The Obama Administration transparently and more accurately reports total federal spending by including four significant expenditures Bush/Cheney didn't reveal: 1) the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; 2) Alternative Minimum Tax indexed for inflation; 3) full costs of Medicare reimbursements; and 4) anticipating inevitable natural disaster relief expenditures.

Among major drivers increasing our deficit: 28% Recession revenue declines; 15% Defense spending increases; 13% Bush tax cuts 2001 - 2003; 6% Obama Stimulus; and 2% Medicare Part D. Bush/Cheney's legacy - 58%, versus Obama's 6% should ignite the finger-pointers blaming current administration excesses.

The Patient Protection/Affordable Care Act (Obama cares) contains 161 amendments the Republicans demanded, then unanimously voted against the bill, deriding its voluminous complexity. CBO estimates repealing ACA would "increase federal budget deficits from 2012-2019 by roughly $145 billion and cost 4 million jobs". In short, fully effective ACA will save money and jobs in the long run.

Voter ignorance is politically vital, but facts are available. Vote smart - not ideology, "the science of idiocy (John Adams).

" **So Many Lies"**

SOCIALISM - the great right wing talking point (myth) : "President Obama is a Socialist" Respected Conservative David Frum says "NO" - http://www.frumforum.com/is-obama-a-socialist

Labor historian Peter Rachleff of Macalester College in St Paul, MN, "Socialism suggests getting rid of capitalism altogether," says Dr. Rachleff. "Mr. Obama is not within a million miles of an ideology like that."

For what it's worth, socialists deny that Obama is one of them – and even seem a bit insulted by the suggestion:

"I have been making a living telling people Obama is not a socialist," says Frank Lewellyn, national director of the Democratic Socialists of America. "It's frustrating to see people using our brand to criticize programs that have nothing to do with our brand and are not even working."

EXPENSIVE VACATIONS: "Obama's expensive trips cost taxpayers tons of money"

Those who criticize the cost of Obama's Christmas vacation don't want you to know that George W. Bush spent at least $20 million taxpayer dollars just on flights to his ranch in Crawford.

The right wing has been outraged at the four million dollar plus price tag for Obama's family Christmas vacation, and they constantly hold George W. Bush up as an example of how thrifty a president should be when going on vacation.

The problem is that W. wasn't thrifty. He was the most expensive vacation president in US history. Not only did Bush spend more days on vacation than any other president, but he used Air Force One more often while on vacation than any other president.

http://www.politicususa.com/cost-obama-christmas-vacation-bush/

BUDGET DEFICIT: "Obama increased deficit more than any previous president."

During the presidency of George W. Bush, the gross public debt increased from $5.7 trillion in January 2001 to $10.7 trillion by December 2008, due in part to the Bush tax cuts plus increased military spending caused by the wars in the Middle East - that's 5 trillion dollars folks!

Under President Barack Obama, the debt increased from $10.7 trillion in 2008 to $14.2 trillion by February 2011, caused mainly by decreased tax revenue due to the late-2000s recession, Bush tax cuts and two unfunded wars. (wikipedia)

Presidential Spending Comparison

Obama Free Phones - Bush administration project

Tax on Bank transactions - 2004 proposal by a member of Congress (not Obama) to replace income tax

Restricted oil drilling & oil refineries closed - Bush administration

* * * *

The Party Line, Talking Points, Propaganda & Dogma

" **I don't remember what I said, but I stand by what I said, whatever it was."**

Mitt Romney, May 17, 2012

* *

" **The Plot to Kill America"**

Published in Island Packet, May 18, 2012

Revelation! Fresh reporting uncovers a traitorous stratagem to crush Obama and ruin America - a conspiracy concocted on inauguration day, January 20, 2009. Robert Draper's, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives" exposes top Republican lawmakers and strategists conspired to ruin Barack Obama's presidency within hours of his oath.

Those January traitors: Reps: Eric Cantor (VA), Kevin McCarthy (CA), Paul Ryan (WI), Pete Sessions (TX), Jeb Hensarling (TX), Pete Hoekstra (MI), Dan Lungren (CA), plus Sens: Jim DeMint (SC), Jon Kyl (AZ), Tom Coburn (OK), John Ensign (NV), Bob Corker (TN), with Newt Gingrich and Frank Luntz. These collaborators, agreeing to actively sabotage our government, united in an immoral, anti-American - anything but Christian - desire to lay waste to our country to win back the White House, with total disregard for their homeland.

Draper's account reveals the strategy to thwart Obama's legislative platform utilizing three steps: 1) campaign vociferously against cabinet nominees 2) coerce unanimous House votes to block all economic stimulus legislation; and 3) unrelenting attack ads.

Entrenched Republicans share a particular personality trait of marching lock-step despite: public dislike of their stance; and truth/facts. That 'loyal?' Americans even considered this 'scorched earth' strategy, regardless of the destruction to our country is shocking. When the betrayers are white and male, the picture clears in the context of Barack Obama. I will never understand any U.S. citizen countenancing this betrayal. These criminals deserve our scorn not our votes. Please vote for teamwork not stalemate.

" **Propaganda and Your Vote"**

America is torn apart by the conniving influences of power-seeking, politically motivated entities who've designed multiple ways to pit "citizen against citizen" - all for the sole purpose of gaining power. A few powerful, super-rich individuals manipulate everything that happens in America and probably the world. "They" make puppets of our elected representatives; "they" create and disburse hate-filled propaganda to effect adversarial bickering dividing Americans.

'Dupe the stupid masses into throwing hateful epithets around - spitting on each other's beliefs,' etc, and you'll control the poor slobs while "the men behind the curtain" (not the President) push the buttons, opening the smoke ducts for the "show" of governing America. It's manipulation at its best!

Ethics challenged Murdoch's FOX faux news makes a fortune fueling the fires of discontent by spreading misinformation. How easy it is to influence close-minded people into accepting then spreading the "spin" put on controversial issues and legislation, while the puppet masters sit back basking in their success of diverting attention from the facts that two wars, multiple tax breaks, unregulated wheeling and dealing enriched them while devastating average Americans.

I challenge each American voter to test their ideology and objectively research the claims of all candidates rather than cowardly obey their "herders". Learn as much of the truth as possible about each candidate. Don't allow your vote to be bought by the brightest liars – dig beneath the mounds of deceitful campaign rhetoric and seek to discern the facts. When you deny reality, you doom us all.

* *

Republican policies generally favor corporate America and the wealthy

" **I don't think this is the kind of issue we can legislate."**

Reince Priebus, RNC Chairman commenting on the failure to pass Paycheck Fairness Act making equal pay for equal work the law of the land. June 6, 2012 MSNBC

* *

" **Conservatives have their own 'code' to be leery of"**

Published on April 17, 2012 by Island Packet

This letter rebutted a "liberal code speak" submission

A recent letter interpreted Liberal 'code speak', I counter with well-worn Conservative Talking Points: "wealth redistribution", quickly followed with "Obama is a socialist", and further defined as 'take from hard-working folks and give to shiftless, lazy welfare recipients.' The American Socialist Party unequivocally disavows President Obama, but the scary lie blends nicely with 'we successful folk are being fleeced by the moochers'.

As a Liberal, speaking for others in my 'cult', I declare we'd truly like all freeloaders to be disenfranchised as there are thousands of worthy, struggling Americans needing a helping hand - we just don't think the high end of the "wealth gap" deserve lower taxes and more take home pay. The ever increasing "wealth inequity" is a fact folks, brought to you by patriotic American job creators, busily creating jobs anywhere but the U.S.A.

The writer translated "eco friendly" as expensive nepotism ploys, omitting his true concern - profit margins will suffer at the expense of breathable air, potable water, arable land, and a livable planet. The writer ended with "beware the government applying church doctrine", disregarding "separation of church and state" wherein the U.S. government was specifically intended to be religiously neutral - nevertheless interstate commerce and insurance laws are not religious documents.

The conservative indictment of "leftist big government" is egregiously hypocritical when compared to the Right's claim of small "limited" government" with its highly intrusive, prejudiced edicts regarding abortion, contraception, gay/lesbian rights, voter suppression, et al. They want to legislate our morals, but not their financial dealings. Beware, indeed.

" **Rigid Right-wing Dogma Real Danger to Country"**

Published February 12, 2012 in Island Packet

Several recent letters exemplify the rigid right's hatred of liberals, specifically our President. One writer equated compromise with failure and declared the American prototype is "one team wins = the other team loses" - and his team alone exemplifies America's basic Constitutional principles. His cites our founding documents but ignores the tenets of collective benefit (all are equal) and "promote the general welfare".

This isn't a game - it's dead serious to millions of Americans who've been crippled by the unfair advantages legislated to self-serving capitalists who deny civic responsibility. In our current "battle" the best final score for the American majority is always a TIE.

Another writer alleged our President insincerely drones on about his concern for the middle class. Romney, Santorum, etc., are genuine while numbingly chanting their mantra of talking points, ad nauseum? Space prohibits enumerating counterpoints to her specious assertions, however concerted balanced research informs better if one earnestly seeks the facts. Reality is indisputable - both political parties and all presidents perform both admirably and dismally in their governing roles.

To experience time warp, vote Republican, and the "righteous" will police your bedroom, decree who to love, keep the barefoot ladies pregnant, while the older women staff the nursery at the Christian church you're "encouraged" to join. Rabid Republicans seek to abolish all rights of workers to unite and they will feed their war machine by sacrificing children, seniors, minorities, the poor and sick, and our polluted planet.

" **Criticism Crosses Line into Rhetorical Nonsense"**

Published August 30, 2011 in Island Packet in rebuttal

Freedom of Speech enables a recent writer to offer the following accusatory bit of madness: "(Obama) ..is determined to destroy this country economically." This writer undoubtedly calls himself a patriot, a concerned citizen proclaiming his love of America and his great fear for the future of our country.

I would offer this nonsensical and groundless rant panders to the most irrational and susceptible radicals among us. Statements like this serve to escalate the uncivil discourse in America today. Is that the purpose behind this idiotic statement? Simplistically, why on earth would anyone want to ruin their own home, family, or country? How severely brainwashed is this person to make such an inane statement?

While Freedom of Speech protects reactionaries to vomit whatever drivel they wish, and enables this publication to print this inflammatory claptrap, doesn't the fourth estate also have an obligation when it comes to abetting irresponsible poppycock?

" **Why Vote for Any of Them?"**

Published June 2011 in Bluffton Today

American political party affiliation puzzles me. I've lived over 6 decades and my conclusive observation is most often the benefactors are those seeking to improve their personal condition through political association. It seems to me the intelligent American voter has little reason to endorse either political party, much less criticize the other. Regaling the faults of one president, one party, or one theory over another is a waste of time and energy. One side is not always right nor the other always wrong.

We have an executive branch headed by the President, and associated cabal, who has the power to ratify a proposed law or veto it. Generally, the joint houses of Congress offer a proposed law to the President for approval and enactment. When the members of the joint Congress, at present 535 people, spend an exorbitant amount of time in conflict, eschewing reasonable compromise through collective discourse, no legislation is created and no positive outcomes occur.

America has been held hostage by political stalemate and continual mud-slinging for too long. We voters have elected and then re-elected far too many politicos who pursue personal gain through allegiance to special interest group(s) rather than do the job we hired them to do - work for the general welfare of America and its citizens. These elected lawmakers have created a system which benefits them while we citizens faithfully stand by awaiting progressive legislation which might benefit the general population rather than just the favored elite.

Rather than support the "my way or the highway" stagnation we suffer with, wouldn't we all be better served to simply demand "work together and practice give and take" party agendas? Both sides have their fingerprints all over the serious problems of this country; both sides bear the blame. Remember, "When you're pointing a finger at someone, you have four fingers pointed back at you."

All members of Congress have the power to come together to combine useful solutions to our problems. We citizens must demand they do so, and stop condoning all these delaying tactics. Congress is at its lowest approval standing, yet voters keep re-electing their representatives. Is the well known outcry "vote out the bums" actually "Vote out the other bums!"

* * * *

Pledges (Those Republican 'Attachments')

" **I Pledge Allegiance to..."**

Published December 18, 2011 in Bluffton Today and

December 23, 2011 in Island Packet

"I pledge not to cheat on my spouse. I pledge not to raise taxes. I pledge to adhere to evangelical Christian doctrines. I pledge to end abortion and/or the healthcare law." The Republicans – Conservatives – Tea Partiers – whatever niche those "right" proponents claim, all of them should remember, recite and remain faithful first to the oath which most Americans memorized as children. "I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the U.S.A. and to the republic for which it stands, ONE nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for ALL." God as a supreme being is cited, not Christ, but the God of many sects.

As children we didn't pledge to divide the population into "worthy" and "unworthy". We didn't pledge to give liberty and justice to a select few. We didn't pledge allegiance to evangelists, capitalists, lobbyists, special interests or someone named Norquist. We didn't pledge to limit or legislate personal choices.

Why does maturing to adulthood negate that pure "belief" we vowed at the beginning of every school day? We pledged faithfulness to all our country's unique freedoms. A country, conceived with the ideal that all are equal, all are God's children, all deserve the best opportunity to pursue happiness, well-being, good health, education, prosperity, and a helping hand if necessary, is what we were taught made America "exceptional".

Our elected representatives know the Pledge of Allegiance. They also swore an oath to the U. S. Constitution and we, the people. Some of our lawmakers have overlooked those truly binding pledges.

So long as equal rights are denied to ANY inhabitant of this land, America and its people are anything but exceptional.

* * * *

President Barack Obama

" **Hope and Change - the next four years"**

When President Obama wins re-election, Democrats, Liberals and Progressives will thank the Lord and hope for the change he was unable to EVOKE in his first term. We hope for a non-obstructionist Congress, where our representatives will work together for the benefit of us, rather than 'work as usual' of feathering their nests at the behest of special interests to insure continuance of cushy jobs.

We hope this is possible because American voters have realized their obstructionist electeds didn't improve our future, they impeded it. We hope for changes in Republican Congressionals as Tea Party obstructionists are voted out in favor of lawmakers who want to work as a team for progress.

We hope the President is able to initiate the reforms he pragmatically realized he could not affect in his first term, given the "we work for Obama's failure" mentality in Congress. We know he thought his conciliatory, work-together-to-effect-change theory would benefit his nation, realizing too late that true actual governing was going to be the antithesis of the Republican party and its leadership.

We hope he will labor hard and long to pass legislation to finally fix our crumbing infrastructure, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. He'll work with concerned legislators to re-impose banking and investment regulations preventing revisiting September 2008 events and further JP Morgan-like "mistakes".

He'll continue working to guard our environment against profitable hazards as alternative energy initiatives will find legitimacy. Second term President Obama will confer with Congress to successfully pass the Dream Act for immigration reform, offering equality for all. President Obama will continue to fight for realization of veteran benefits promised throughout many decades, and his earnest commitment will assure success for programs which feed the hungry, care for the sick, educate our youth, support the unemployed, and fulfill the pledges made to seniors.

Yes, we Hope he finally has the opportunity to make significant productive Change for America and her every resident. There is continued Hope for these many Changes - the only thing that won't change - he'll still be a black man, and to many of us, a symbol of beautiful Hope.

* *

" **We have not seen such a divisive figure in America history as we have over the last three and a half years."** Marco Rubio, May 2012, referring to President Obama

(I would refute that outrageous assertion by countering with: FOX News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Newt Gingrich, et al and numerous "Christian" groups opposing equal rights for all.)

* *

" **The single most important thing we want to achieve is for**

President Obama to be a one-term president."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell National Journal, October 23, 2010

* *

" **That's how America was built. That's why we're the greatest nation on Earth. That's what our greatest companies understand. Our success has never just been about survival of the fittest. It's about building a nation where we're all better off. We pull together. We pitch in. We do our part.**

We believe that hard work will pay off, that responsibility will be rewarded, and that our children will inherit a nation where those values live on."

President Obama, Osawatomie KS, December 2011

* *

" **Where Did President Obama Go Wrong?"**

"When he came into office, Obama abandoned the more liberal public-option approach to health insurance that he had campaigned upon in the '08 race. Instead, he embraced an approach that had been pioneered by a Republican governor in Massachusetts, that had been championed for almost a decade by a former Republican speaker of the House from Georgia and that had been created by the most important conservative think tank in Washington, The Heritage Foundation.

But what was his reward for seeking common ground? Instead of winning bipartisan support through his embrace of the health-care mandate, Obama found himself condemned as a socialist who was out to undermine the foundation of American society. And that pattern has held throughout the course of his presidency.

Even then, it took Obama awhile to come to the realization that no matter what he did, there would be no compromise. The only thing that his opponents wanted from him was his surrender and then his disappearance. That was their price for 'unity', and now they want to blame him for refusing to pay it." Jay Bookman, National Journal

" **If President Obama had endorsed our proposal, his Party would attack him for considering entitlement reform, and Republican lawmakers would immediately and totally oppose the revenue producing components."**

Alan Simpson, Fmr Senator, WY (R), CNN May 27, 2012

President Obama Budget Proposal vs Bowles Simpson Proposal

* * * *

Religious Freedoms (also see Abortion, Birth Control Contraception)

Separation of Church and State

" **Religion Cannot Be Forced on Others"**

Published March 12, 2012 in Island Packet

Countless immigrants to America fled religious persecution seeking the freedom TO worship as they wished and conversely the freedom NOT TO align with any religious sect. Our Constitution's First Amendment grants fundamental freedoms of speech and of the press - plus, to guarantee an atmosphere of absolute religious liberty, our founders also mandated the strict separation, a wall between Church & State.

Republican lawmakers and a cadre of Catholic bishops, rabbis and ministers endeavor to demolish that wall to mandate their beliefs and prohibitions upon all American women by denying health insurance coverage, including hormonal medication. Various religious sects therefore assert their tenets supersede the medical well-being of American females.

Many of our state constitutions declare: "... nor shall any person be denied ... any civil right merely on account of his religious principles." Reasonable extrapolation directs, ". [nor] denied civil rights because of OTHER people's religious principles."

Candidate Santorum and Christian zealots crusade to impose their religious prohibitions on all American females, effectively denying Civil Rights and obliterating the imperative separation between church and state. Our laws must not be based on religious edicts. It's undeniable and crucial our legislators be influenced by moral standards often based, but not exclusive to, religious teachings.

Honesty, integrity and belief in an ethical system based simply on the idea that all human life is valuable is the secular foundation of our system. Americans must not mistake religious affiliation for morality, for one does not necessarily deliver the other.

* * * *

The 99%

" **What Civil Rights?"**

June 2012

The ugly American lives in your neighborhood, perhaps in your home. That false patriot continues the time-honored, immoral tradition of spreading the seeds of hate and intolerance, polluting our land, fertilizing bigotry to create forests of prejudice. The U.S. is in more peril internally than externally, for those with self-serving agendas mine that darkest place in the human soul to poison it for their malevolent manipulation: keeping this the land of the persecuted.

Inciting hatred under the guise of birth validity masks a subversive danger for our country and only one vile effort utilized by the ugly American. The primal urge to demonize others to boost personal value is an actual original sin, nurtured through the centuries by self-loathers who Jesus sought to minister. Christ's message of enlightenment emphasized the primary, very simple message - love one another.

When you deny another's worth - you take your Lord's name in vain; deny anyone's civil rights - your soul decays. For a majority to reject equal rights for all is a heinous sin committed by millions of self-righteous hypocrites boasting their piety. Christ surely abhors being a tool endorsing hatred and intolerance, preached from countless pulpits.

None can declare America "exceptional" when any faction denies equality to fellow humans, fellow citizens. Conservatives' "exceptional" America seems more "EXCEPT you, and you, and you" than exclaiming our extraordinary democracy where equality is promised. Upon His return, Christ will seek the disadvantaged and His true followers who ACCEPT all. He will shun exclusionists and rebuke again the money-changers for denying His message.

" **Life is Not So Good for Some"**

Published November 6, 2011 in Bluffton Today,

November 9, 2011 in The Bluffton Packet and the Island Packet

First the government lowered tax rates producing less revenue but more debt for America, however I benefited from the lower tax burden and life was good, so I was happy!

When Congress abolished rules and regulations for the financial world and my dividends blossomed, I invested more heavily in hedge funds and utilized tax loopholes to increase my disposable income, and life was good, so I was happy!

When U.S. corporations sent millions of American jobs overseas, I invested heavily in those multinationals; luckily my munitions company was safe so my pension prospered, my dividends doubled, and life was good, so I was happy!

While U.S. debt grew, the housing market bubbled big time, I invested more heavily and my dividends tripled, my taxes were lowered again and I sought more loopholes; military operations abroad grew my company, and my wealth multiplied by leaps and bounds. And life was good, so I was happy!

When the housing bubble burst, banks failed, my investments plunged, my pension fund was raided, my houses were devalued, my IRAs went south, and my company closed its doors in the U.S. Thank God for those multinational dividends which keep me happy!

Now some Americans want government to increase my taxes, close the loopholes, means test my Social Security benefits and Medicare coverage! Life has changed and I am not happy, and it's all the fault of the 99% who want a government hand-out.

As American Workers Labor More, Business Profits, but Workers Don't

Paul Krugman, 2008 Nobel prizewinner in Economics warns, "we need labor unions to counterbalance big money". Today only 7% of our nation's workers belong to private unions; unions account for only 3 of the 10 biggest political campaign contributors. Big business has a 70% edge on influencing the outcome of political elections and that 70% is banking on Republicans this election.

" **Walk a Mile in Their Shoes"**

Published April 2011 in Bluffton Today and Island Packet

To quote Thoreau: "Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?" In these days of 'each man for himself', a lesson might now only be learned by amending that "instant" to a week, a month, or a year. Perhaps then those with full bellies and healthy bank accounts might truly realize the pain of an empty stomach, because medical needs require choosing a life preserving drug over groceries.

Those with "new sight" might see that no family planning guidance results in unwanted babies who will eventually suffer in countless ways by being born into poverty. They'd have no uplifting cultural avenues for they are the unwashed and therefore unworthy of food for the soul.

With this new vision they might even puzzle over why the wealthy are so fervently protected from paying one more penny in taxes, while humanitarian programs for the disadvantaged in our society, are gutted. "Walk a mile in another's shoes"; "there but for the grace of God go I"; "there's always someone worse off". All fine clichés which carry only the truth, yet the well-off advocate that which improves their own lot in life – to the exclusion of the majority, not caring about the adverse results on the general good.

Those who are fortunate know there is misfortune, yet too many close their eyes and cloak themselves in their magnificent threads, speak from their lofty mansions and quote, oh so self-righteously: "let'em get a job and earn it like I did." Let not one undeserving person receive a hand-out – who cares how many more in the shadows deserve a "hand up". At the end of life, will that shiny new boat, racy new car, or luxury cruise really be more important than the kid who lives on the wrong side of the tracks?

Published March 2010 in Bluffton Today

The last administration executed tax cuts, putting more big bucks in the hands of the upper 10%, then spent bigger billions, no longing coming into the treasury, on "wars" maiming/killing many Americans. These actions line the pockets of many "war industry" folks – some are/were elected officials who continue to rake in plenty of 'blood money".

Many enjoyed greater wealth due to those tax cuts. Stockholders prospered, CEOs reaped bigger bonuses and platinum parachutes – while these corporations sent thousands of American jobs out of the country – putting greater U.S. wealth into fewer pockets. Capitalism at its best?

Now, there's a more pressing situation on the home front – it's called a dying American way of life for the lower 5/6 of us who didn't get a ticket on the "easy ride express". Americans are not too lazy, many of us have worked since our teens, many of us don't waste – many of us haven't had the same options, or luck, or know the right people. Capitalism may be the American way, but it breeds greed and has always benefitted the unscrupulous. Study Labor Unions and what horrible working conditions gave rise to them.

I hear, "I don't want those welfare folks to get anything!" Many use the system - some know how to skirt the fine print – but some are very wealthy and wrote that fine print! Abuse of the system abounds in America! But we should only punish the poor who do?

Today's quarrelsome atmosphere lessens America as much as our frightening economic situation. People spread ugly, divisive "truths", depicting the "other side" as vile and evil. Is it stark, naked fear of losing one penny which motivates the "haves" to be so uncivil? Might honest introspection prod us to give a bit more of "ours" to "them" to insure no American goes without medical attention?

Many can't afford to march - we're busy toiling to pay the light bill, the rent, food for the kids, etc. Medicare needs shoring up for current recipients, why not fix that program, make it more inclusive of all "in need" Americans and tell medical insurance companies, who've enjoyed a 400% increase in profits for decades - "the ride's over!" Rise above self-preservation and preserve Americans.

* * * *

Unemployment

We need U.S. multinational companies repatriating desperately needed employment to their fellow Americans. Steve Jobs may be a laudable example to many, however I'm not alone in believing his decision to excessively optimize profits by using cheap foreign labor robbed thousands of his countrymen of decent paying jobs. We don't really need an I-"fill in the blank" gadget every year, do we? For that is what cheap foreign labor, producing flimsy products, necessitates - perpetual replacement, resulting in mounds of electronic waste, some toxic, and fewer "Made in U.S.A." offerings.

Who do we blame for high unemployment in America today? Many want to blame the White House, our ineffectual Congress, lobbyists, the debt, and - the #1 excuse: "America's unfair corporate tax structure and regulatory imperatives which cause 'immense uncertainty' for job creators".

There is plenty of evidence America's high and unconscionable unemployed are truly brought to you by corporate America's insatiable greed, fueled by stockholders grasping for bigger dividend checks and the avenue is to lower overhead by laying off workers.

It's obvious America's unemployment problem can be cured, in part, IF American companies return to the United States and give back the jobs they shipped abroad in the 80s and 90s. Trickle down was merely a "cruel carrot" which filled the pockets of the 1% while tricking the 99% into thinking their time would come.

Candidate Romney cites his business experience as prerequisite for fixing U.S. economy, but we need jobs for every applicant rather than fantastic return on investment for a select few, which is Romney's business model for success. Mitt claims he left Bain prior to some of his venture capital takeovers declined into failures, but Bain didn't leave Romney - his retirement includes Bain profit-sharing.

* *

**Republican lawmakers** (government employees) **and Candidate** Romney

(who wants to become a government employee) **proclaim:**

" **It's not government's job to create jobs!"**

* *

George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush didn't get that memo

Public sector / Private sector Employment (Bush vs Obama)

" **Why do people vote against their own interests?"**

"Right to Work" states are a misnomer. The proper and more correct appellation should be "Right to Disadvantage Workers in a Corporate Advantaged Environment" laws.

Labor Unions are organizations of workers formed for the purpose of advancing its members' interests in respect to wages, benefits, and working conditions. The development of unions saved the American worker from exploitation of industrial giants greedy for exorbitant profits at worker expense. The negative, knee jerk reaction to unions is often a family tradition, even when the family is the working poor - this is incomprehensible to me.

Brain-washing by the "right to work" advocates has been so successful that many working class folks strongly oppose labor unions by despising the benefit gains for unionized employees. Ideology indoctrination has right to work advocates asking "Why Them?" instead of wondering, "Why Not ME?"

I agree with several conservative attitudes but disregarding workers rights isn't one of them. Only once in my life did I have an option - IRS workers can join the National Treasury Employees Union - I chose not to because I was temporary and felt no need, however I certainly wish I'd had an option in my employment in several small businesses, where Federal wage and hour laws provided no protection because the companies employed too few people, hence I had no protection from low wages, no overtime wage protection, and I had no recourse against harassment from my superiors.

Paul Krugman, 2008 Nobel prizewinner in Economics warns, "we need labor unions to counterbalance big business". Today only 7% of our nation's workers belong to private unions; unions account for only 3 of the 10 biggest political campaign contributors. Big business has a 70% edge on influencing the outcome of political elections.

The wage premium varies by industry and stage of the business cycle. Unions representing garment workers, textile workers, white-collar government workers, and teachers seem to have little impact on wages. But wages of unionized mine workers, building trades people, airline pilots, merchant seamen, postal workers, teamsters, rail workers, and auto and steel workers exceed wages of similarly skilled nonunion employees by 25 percent or more.

During the job boom of the late 1990s, the union premium erodes, following a historical pattern. Union wage agreements became relatively rigid, so gains lag behind the more responsive and flexible nonunion sector during a boom. The reverse happens during an employment slump like that of the early 2000s because nonunion wage growth slumps as hiring weakens, while union wage gains march on.

The wage advantage enjoyed by union members results from two factors. First, monopoly unions raise wages above competitive levels. Second, nonunion wages fall because workers priced out of jobs by high union wages move into the nonunion sector and bid down wages there. Thus, some of the gains to union members come at the expense of those who must shift to lower-paying or less desirable jobs or go unemployed.

Conclusion: it behooves big business to demonize unions in order to increase profits and the movement has been successful. Union membership in the private sector has fallen under 7% compared to peak membership in the 1950s. The drop in union density (the unionized proportion of the working population) has been more significant in the United States than elsewhere, possibly due to successful repudiation propaganda by big business and the Republican Party.

* * * *

Voter Fraud

George W. Bush won the 2000 Presidential Election because he was awarded Florida's 25 electoral votes. The deciding factor was a mere 537 votes

Total national popular vote favored Gore/Lieberman by 543,895 votes

Florida Credible evidence shows many Floridians were denied the right to vote in 2000. Analysis of the testimony and evidence gathered by the Commission show that these denials fell most squarely on persons of color. The Florida attorney general's office alone received more than 3,600 allegations.

United States Commission on Civil Rights

Since January 2011, 34 states have introduced and passed voter ID legislation. Republicans are in charge in most of the states passing ID requirements

National Conference of State Legislatures

* *

" **Voter Fraud not the Threat"**

Published on March 20, 2012 in The City Sun

A recent writer endorsed voter fraud legislation citing a publication reporting 2.7 million individuals registered in multiple states and 1.8 million dead people reported as registered and/or casting votes. The writer declared "if photo ID is not a requirement, the system could not guarantee 'one man-one vote'".

I once agreed because "we all have to show ID to board an airplane, rent a video, cash a check, etc." until I researched the issue and became informed. Possibly my name remains on voting rolls in my home state although I've voted only in SC for 6 years. Registered voters do die yet their names remain on voter rolls for years and people vote then subsequently die.

Many people aren't aware of the difficulty countless seniors, minorities, immigrants experience obtaining photo ID because certified birth certificate is demanded to obtain those identification placards. This can be impossible if born at home without a doctor presiding, born in rural areas with a doctor failing to report the birth - a common omission for poor rural blacks - and naturalized citizens may have difficulty obtaining native country documents.

Poor people don't fly, often do not have checking accounts, may not drive or even own an auto, and the fees required to obtain certified documents can be prohibitive. As of 2010, approximately 217 million Americans are of eligible voter age; more than 10% of U.S. citizens lack "proper" identification, and the numbers are even higher among constituencies that traditionally favor Democratic policies – including 18% of young voters and 25% of African-Americans. College (photo) IDs are generally not acceptable, but a Hunting License is in many states.

Verified occurrences of voter fraud is virtually non-existent but evidentiary statistics indicate occurrence is a miniscule .0005%. Suppressing the vote of traditional Democratic-leaning voters appears to be very advantageous to Republican lawmakers overwhelmingly supported in 2012 elections by the wealthy and Big Business.

Voter fraud isn't a threat to our nation - voter suppression is.

* *

" **Policy Brief on the Truth about Voter Fraud"**

Brennan Center for Justice, New York University School of Law

Summary

* Fraud by individual voters is both irrational and extremely rare.

* Many vivid anecdotes of purported voter fraud have been proven false or do not demonstrate fraud.

* Voter fraud is often conflated with other forms of election misconduct.

* Raising the unsubstantiated specter of mass voter fraud suits a particular policy agenda.

* Claims of voter fraud should be carefully tested before they become the basis for action.

**Fraud by individual voters is both irrational and extremely rare**. Most citizens who take the time to vote offer their legitimate signatures and sworn oaths with the gravitas that this hard-won civic right deserves. Even for the few who view voting merely as a means to an end, however, voter fraud is a singularly foolish way to attempt to win an election. Each act of voter fraud risks five years in prison and a $10,000 fine \- but yields at most one incremental vote. The single vote is simply not worth the price.

Because voter fraud is essentially irrational, it is not surprising that no credible evidence suggests a voter fraud epidemic. There is no documented wave or trend of individuals voting multiple times, voting as someone else, or voting despite knowing that they are ineligible. Indeed, evidence from the microscopically scrutinized 2004 gubernatorial election in Washington State actually reveals just the opposite: though voter fraud does happen, it happens approximately 0.0009% of the time. The similarly closely-analyzed 2004 election in Ohio revealed a voter fraud rate of 0.00004%. National Weather Service data shows that Americans are struck and killed by lightning about as often.

**Raising the unsubstantiated specter of mass voter fraud suits a particular policy agenda**. Voter fraud is most often invoked as a substantial problem in order to justify particular election policies. Chief among these is the proposal that individuals be required to show photo ID in order to vote - a policy that disenfranchises up to 10% of eligible citizens. But the only misconduct that photo ID addresses is the kind of voter fraud that happens as infrequently as death by lightning. Therefore, it suits those who prefer photo ID as a policy to lump as much misconduct in with "voter fraud" as possible, to create the impression that the problem is far more significant than it actually is.

* *

Photo ID requirements differ state to state however many do not list Student ID:

Alaska does not list Student ID as proof, but accepts a Hunting/Fishing License

Texas does not list Student ID as proof, but accepts a Firearm License

Utah does not list Student ID as proof, but accepts a Concealed Weapon Permit

* * * *

My Vision of Humanity's Future

" **A Star Trek World"**

My eden is a Star Trek World where "the common good" is reality. Earthlings enjoy full stomachs, secure shelter, adequate healthcare is a given, armed conflicts have been eliminated and generally the worldwide population has one endeavor \- elevating the human condition of all. Few crave outlandish riches because people realize fulfillment aspiring to excellence in their individual aptitude and the universal monetary unit is trade credits.

In my enlightened realm, protect and serve types function in defense organizations and/or seek exploration duty on spaceships with captain, science/medical officer, head engineer aspirations pursuing discovery of new civilizations and innovative advancements for mankind.

Politics, as we know it, would cease to exist. Leadership types would serve as Earth governing counselors and galactic diplomats, and lobbying for special interest advantage would be criminal, if not moot, as self-interest and conflict of interest has been identified and vilified, subsequently universally outlawed. Agrarian technicians will provide food stuffs, not only for our global community but to alleviate hunger throughout the galaxy.

There will be no acceptable rationalities for denying equality to all, labor unions are obsolete for industrial profiteering has been replaced by the universal goal of utilitarian production of vital goods to sustain life. There will still be bad people - evolution won't occur for everyone - however those who don't follow the anti-greed/anti-violence rules will be incarcerated - perhaps on a lunar penal colony.

A real miracle would be total elimination of hate-filled speech of any kind and a biological impossibility of telling a lie, an improvement which would render many people mute. Of course, the one, undeniable truth is all humans must aspire to this Better World before our planet is destroyed by power and wealth hungry autocrats. I concede it's a pipedream but others have undoubtedly visualized it.

The system we have is very imperfect and becoming more flawed over time. Perhaps the Occupy Movement will succeed and bring true revolution to the world and specifically America, but we do exist now and we must live with the current state of governing. I choose to participate and the only option I have any faith in is President Barack Obama.

In the meantime, if we all begin evolving immediately Earthlings may go where no one has gone before.

Comment:

I enjoy reading your letters to the editor- you probably have one of the cleanest writing styles. A South Carolina State Representative (R)
