Let's Rein In The Super PACS

Politics have always been fraught with attacks on competitors, but since the Supreme Court ruling allowing corporations, as well as individuals, to contribute to campaigns, the attacks have reached the level of character assassination.  No doubt the justices did not intend to grant permission to commit libel and slander.  The level of maliciousness and outright lies that have been exhibited since the decision have gotten totally out of hand. 


Let's take the lie that candidate -- now President -- Barack Obama was not born in the United States, therefore is not a natural citizen and not qualified to run for President.  Of course the purpose of the lie, however incorrect, was to bring a cloud of suspicion over the candidate.  Those who wanted to believe it, especially Donald Trump, jumped on that bandwagon in a heartbeat.  The ones who wanted to believe the worst, forwarded PAC e-mails and called for investigations over and over.


Then there were the lies about the Affordable Health Care Act.  These were also meant to scuttle the law as well as taint the President and his party.  In fact, some conservative Republicans are telling each other that the best plan to take the Presidency next time is to continue to attack what is commonly called Obamacare. 


What's really interesting is that far less attention was paid to the information that John McCain was born elsewhere.  And nobody is squawking too much about Ted Cruz.


Now perhaps you are thinking at this time this is too late to raise such issues.  How true.  A Congressional committee already met concerning this and deemed it okay for McCain to run.  No doubt Ted Cruz qualifies also.  But that should not be debated in the press or on the internet.  It should probably be another Supreme Court decision anyway.


This isn't about the actual eligibility of one candidate or the other.  This is about manufacturing out and out lies in an attempt to steal an election from another party.  It is about sabotage of people and laws that have been passed and signed.  It is about libel and slander which are both against the law.  The laws are being consistently broken on the internet in written and live stream coverage.


"Libel, per the Revised edition of the Random House College Dictionary is 1a. defamation by written or printed words, pictures, or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.  b.  the crime of publishing it.  2.  anything that is defamatory or that maliciously or damagingly misrepresents 3.  to publish a libel against.  4.  to misrepresent damagingly."


"Slander per the same source is 1.  defamation; calumny  2.  a maliciousness, false, and defamatory statement or report  3.  defamation by oral utterance rather than by writing, pictures, etc.  4.  to utter slander, defame . . ."


Now folks, the laws are already in force, but they are being ignored by many, many individuals and organizations, especially the Super PACS.  Let's rein in the offenders and law breakers.  We need to put a stop to it before the next Presidential election.


Even though we espouse and have a legal right to freedom of speech, we are not exempt from the laws meant to protect others from character assassination.

The Hopefuls

It's hard to tell just how many of the Republicans being touted as Presidential candidates are hopefuls -- or hoped for by others.


No matter how hard some of us beg the media to wait before starting the 2016 campaign, they just keep on lighting sparks anyway.  The Republican conference last week got attention riveted on a handful of potentials -- Paul Ryan (44), Ted Cruz (43), Rand Paul (51), Jeb Bush (61), Marco Rubio (42), Chris Christie (62).  Average age (50.5).  Give us a break!  According to media reports a few months ago, experts have decided that men don't mature until they are 43.  And some of these want to be President already?


Picture Paul Ryan while campaigning.  Remember the pictures of him with his hat on backwards like a gang member?  Earphones -- listening to music and sparring with Mitt Romney about which was better, noise or elevator music.  Working out.  Carrying Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand around and praising it like it was the second Bible.  He is said to give copies of it to staff members whom he asks to read it.  He didn't back off until the Catholic Church objected.


Then there is Rand Paul telling the whole Republican Party they won't win the presidency again in his lifetime unless they completely change their positions.  Fat chance of that!  There is hardly anybody harder to change than a died-in-the-wool Republican.


Even Jeb Bush's mother thinks it's time for the Bush dynasty to be retired.  Oh, Lord, please!  Were satiated.  Too much of a thing -- good or bad.
How sweet it was for Ted Cruz to hold story time for his kids while holding up progress in the Congress.  But doesn't he realize that Mr. Smith already went to Washington?  Besides, that Mr. Smith (the actor) was better looking.  By the way, do you think Donald Trump will keep raising the citizenship question for Cruz?  There is bona fide evidence he was born in another country.  But then he says it is okay because his mother was a U. S. citizen.  How come the issue was raised with Obama, then?  His mother's citizenship was never in question.  Does that just work for Republicans? 




And Marco Rubio, your time will come.  Just not yet.  You need to wait until 2025 when it is predicted there will be no more majority and until we've forgiven a few million more Hispanics for crashing our party.


Poor Chris Christie.  We were all set to love the big Teddy bear if he won the election.  Then he got run over by his own team.  Or did he authorize the traffic jam himself?  Seems government agencies are having trouble getting hold of the memos. 


See what you cause by starting the campaign too soon?  Everybody is already getting weary of politics.  There is dirt flying as usual. You've already gotten me riled as well.

Do We Need More Unions?

Many years ago, one of the outcomes of business owner greed was the formation of unions.  These organizations protected workers from inadequate wages as well as hazardous working conditions.  If management didn't behave well, the workers were called out on strike.  Negotiations ensued and deals were struck -- often favoring the workers.  The company had to comply or risk losing the business. 


While taking the Circle Island Tour on Oahu -- during the early seventies -- we were introduced to the ill effects unions had induced there.  Per our guide, the unions had priced the pineapple business right off the island.


At home on the Mainland, the graft in some of the union organizations was calling their value into question.  Some really strong unions still remain, but there is movement afoot to get their influence reduced or neutralized where possible.


Certainly it gives one pause to wonder why a factory worker has the potential to earn almost twice as much as the average teacher.  How can we pay more for factory line work than we pay for the education of our precious children?  Well, we can do it because they have a stronger and more effective union.  The good of the unions versus the bad is brought to mind.


According to Rana Foroohar (Time Magazine, March 3, 2014), Republican legislators, the Koch brothers and Grover Norquist have been fighting the formation of a Union for the VW plant in Tennessee.  Their efforts were productive, as the vote went against the union.  Some of the workers said they voted against the union because they were being paid $15 per hour -- the amount minimum wage would be if it had increased at the same rate as inflation.  What would they begin receiving if they had voted for the Union?


So, is that a good thing?  It seems unrealistic to create unions for every kind of worker, but American businessmen and Republican conservatives continue to reign unchecked.  We wouldn't be having the current minimum wage debate if there were unions for all levels of workers.  Scary thought, isn't it?  But it's even more scary to think of all the children in America who grow up in poverty because the Koch brothers and their ilk think it is okay for the business owners to exploit their workers.


So, do we need more unions?  Need?  Well, probably.  Why?  Because the greedy will not consent to paying their help a living wage without a struggle equivalent to a war of the classes.  But, there may be an alternative.


Why don't our businessmen just do the right thing and quit exploiting everybody else?  After all, you can't take your money to heaven, but if you should somehow luck into getting there, you will need the good will of the Almighty.


Of course, businessmen (and their friends in congress) don't want unions or any more regulations that constrict the rights of  the affluent.  But why do they continue to behave in such a disgraceful manner?


Sharing the wealth with those who earn your wealth is a really good thing.  It offers the workers the opportunity to participate in purchasing food, clothing, shelter and a few luxuries.  To let them participate, will bring this country back to its former position as the financial leader in the world economy.  It will also go a long way toward showing us as a moral leader to the world.

The Temporary $10.10 Job Loss*

This past week the official government word on increasing the minimum wage was released.  Although raising it to $10.10 would bring 900,000 people out of poverty, it could cost Americans 500,000 jobs.


Right?  Certainly business owners want us to believe that.  More certainly, conservatives who favor business concerns want us to be afraid of it.  And it could be that this would happen for a brief period of time.  But how could it possibly be more than a temporary glitch?


Congress and federal financial experts understood some years ago that feeding more money into the country could increase jobs and improve the economy.  They did, after all, approve two stimulus packages.  The first was for taxpayers and seniors.  The second was a taxpayer refund.


I used my senior stimulus money for such non-essential items as a 12-pack of wash cloths, a pair of jeans and print cartridges.  Did I fail to mention food, that wasteful usage?


But, Congress was a little disappointed in the results.  People so long without sufficient funds tended to hang onto the tiny glimmer of hope.  Their experience dictated that a rainy day was a surety, not a possibility for them.  How much more effective a permanent increase in wages would be for 900,000 people and their families.  How much more it would mean in the long run for the business owners themselves.


Sure, the increase should first be used to decrease debt.  Certainly most people with their heads on straight will do just that.  But as people begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, they will start to eat out more.  They will upgrade from used VCRs and used videos to blue ray DVD players.  They will exchange their old televisions with conversion boxes for high definition flat screens, or maybe even 3D versions.  Their Tracfone prepays might even be abandoned for I Phones.  People who work at McDonalds might be able to afford to feed their families there -- or maybe even at Red Lobster.


These burgers won't cook themselves, folks.  Employees who were let go will have to be called back.  They might actually find better jobs during the layoff.  (Perhaps you employers might want to avoid the knee jerk dismissals so you don't lose your employee pool to other companies.  You are going to need them in a heartbeat).


As has been stated in this blog before, American business owners shot themselves in the foot when they outsourced their jobs and failed to increase wages at home in step with inflation.  That may have temporarily increased business abroad but they lost business at home.  In fact, the low wages have forced people to buy cheaper goods made in China, Sri Lanka and the like, thus harming Made in America companies.


Get with the program folks.  Getting America out of the downward slide toward becoming a third world economy would be good for all of the U. S. A.  Remember you can increase your income in more ways than one.  You can do it by over charging and under paying, or you can do it by volume sales, that almost forgotten concept that underscored the Industrial Revolution.  Why not try the latter approach for a while.  Think how much $15.00 per hour  -- what the minimum would be if it had kept up with inflation -- would  line everyone's pockets.




*Thank you for your patience during the hiatus.  I also want to thank the citizens of Russia, Chechnya and the Ukraine for their recent high volume attention to this blog. 

Temporary Hiatus

On hiatus until further notice.

See last article      Let's Take Back Control of Our Country

Let's Take Back Control of Our Country

"Ah, politics -- and the price we the people pay for the illusion that we are in charge of our government.  The politicians are in charge, folks -- the politicians -- and don't ever forget it . . . "    Joe Copp, Private Investigator, Copp On Ice, by Don Pendleton, a novel published in 1991 by Donald I. Fine, Inc., Copyright 1991 by Don Pendleton. 

This quote underscores a large part of my message to the American people concerning politics today.  We have about zero control over politics or our lives now.  What issues politicians don't control, the popular media do.  Both groups sway us back and forth and up and down, like being on that oft-mentioned roller coaster.

During this past year, Americans have sat and watched one of the worst displays of political decision making in decades.  We have duly cast our votes.  Once the politicians are in office, we sit and watch in horror as they do their level best to ruin their careers and our futures.  But so it goes each election cycle. 

The question is, do we want it to continue this way?  If we don't, what can we do to change it?

We need to start learning everything we can about our candidates.  Knowing that they are Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal, just isn't enough anymore.  Just how conservative are they?  Are they so dead set against raising a single tax, that they will throw the whole country under the bus to emphasize the point of no new taxes?  What are their personal agendas or the agendas of their city, county or state?  Are they capable of analytical thinking?  Do they have common sense?

For instance, financial experts were invited to Congress before the 2012 Presidential election.  These experts explained to what members actually attended, that if Congress did not raise the debt ceiling, thus causing default on our loans, it could mean worldwide financial disaster.  Yet, hard line tea party candidates such as Michelle Bachman were stating they would never vote to raise the debt ceiling.

There is such a thing as principle, and it is sometimes a good thing, but when people's minds are set rigidly in concrete, not listening to valid warnings, disaster can result.

We also need to know what Congressmen are willing to sacrifice all their principles and their votes to get pork for their own neighborhoods.  Several people, some spouting no new taxes, including one young, extremely Conservative Congressman, went behind closed doors and made private deals for their communities at a good deal of expense to taxpayers.  Then they walked right back out and began spouting no new taxes.  Talk about hypocrites.

The media could help more in exposing such deals.  In fact, they could remind us right before election time, as some local papers and stations do.  They could saturate the news with truths about all candidates without prejudicing voters toward or away from particular candidates. 

Another thing our media could do is to quit picking our candidates for us and whooping up enthusiasm for one or more.

They could quit spotlighting young, green politicians who, though they chomp at the bit to run, are not yet seasoned enough to carry the responsibilities they seek.  In fact, their own careers might be better served by waiting.

Sometimes political competition and reporting parallels mistakes of the entertainment industry.  A young, upwardly mobile entertainer starts acting like a jerk to gain notoriety.  Once the spotlight finds their position, it would almost take dynamite to get it off of them.  One writer of a celebrity gossip column used to speak of a tart of the month club.  They act out in a ridiculous manner.  The media pounces.  They act out again.  Then the celebrity media gets stuck at ground zero and the rest of the world gets bored senseless with the rapidly repeating broken record.

You see, politics is too important to play games with in this manner.  We need to avoid making instant stars of the young politicians before they have time to know something and to gain enough power to maintain control if they achieve their goals.  Remember the movie, The Candidate?  In the final scene the candidate is asking an empty room what he should do now.  You reporters have the power to create political stars.  Just be careful how you exercise it.  This is our country, our very lives, you are playing with here. 

Then, the rest of us need to vote as informed citizens.  This is no longer Mom and Dad's world or for that matter their political parties.  We have to get as much control over our own government as possible.  Remember that knowledge is power.

You'd Be Depressed, Too

Did you hear the press?  The President seemed depressed when he left for vacation.  No kidding!  Do you wonder why?  What's that expression?  "They were on that like white on rice".  Isn't that a good description of reaction to every move he makes?  If the Republicans don't think of something to gloat about, the media makes up the words and puts them in their heads.  Ladies and gentlemen, he can't run again.  Wage your presidential race against another guy or gal.

It took a lot of courage to become the first black President.  Whoever did it was going to take a lot of flak just because he was the first black president.  What he and those of us who voted for him didn't realize is that he was going to be expected to be the first perfect president as well.  I'd be depressed, too.  So would you.

And look what happens to him when he takes a moment out of the horror to joke around with officials from other countries.  The press turns it into marital discord.  Whew!  There is nothing sacred to these roving commentators and cameramen, is there?

I hope you will all let him have a decent vacation so he can get some rest and prepare himself for the next onslaught from all of us.  Why don't you all take a rest from criticizing and gloating, too?

All you presidential hopefuls, think about the future moves you make.  They say that what goes around comes around.  Is this the kind of treatment you want?