'Tis the Season, Sign the Holiday Shopping Pledge

I have started to notice that many of the Christmas season advertisements have begun, and they seem to focus mainly on making it easier for broke Americans to spend more money this year. For instance, many very large chain stores are offering lay-away on high ticket items so that in your "broke-ness" you can split up the cost of that new t.v. into two separate payments. Presumably this means that two paychecks can be reduced by half in order to purchase said t.v., and I guess if one's television has broken, this indeed can be a good thing. Otherwise, I am not sure who is buying t.v.'s as a gift, (certainly not me), and therefore I am confused as to why this would be a good thing in terms of Christmas shopping.

The second thing that I have seen advertised is that some stores will advertise their "Black Friday" low prices before "Black Friday". If this seems confusing, that's because it is. At some date in the future, some store will tell you what the prices on some items will be on a specific future date. I'll assume that this tactic is meant to encourage consumers NOT to spend (odd) until that specific future date, ie: "Black Friday". And if that wasn't enough, there is also a chain letting consumers know that if they find an item that is priced lower, they will match that price, thereby attempting to ensure that ALL holiday dollars will be spent at their store.

I only bring this up because I think that consumers should flex their muscle, and there is no better time for a workout then holiday shopping. In the same way that a petition and some loud voices stopped another round of bank fees, I think that in this moment consumers should begin to make demands of our holiday gift suppliers. This demand is simple too: Keep the money that I spend for my holiday shopping in the United States! With 9% unemployment, consumers can be this country's biggest fan by showing the big box chain stores that we are mad at their business practices and we are not going to take it anymore!

Therefore, I propose the following

Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods - merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!

It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper? Think about these ideas instead:

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?
Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.
Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen?

Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.
There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift certificates.
And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint.

Remember, folks this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?
Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.
My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.
OK, you were looking for something more personal. Think about your local artists and crafts people . . . paintings, photography, sculptures, jewelry, pottery, hand made sweaters and scarves.
Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip.
And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre.
Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community.

If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine. THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.

How else can you help?

Forward this blog to EVERYBODY you know in some way or another.

Commit to allocating a portion, if not all of your holiday funds, to advance the local economy as suggested above.

Be a part of the solution and sign the pledge:

https://www.change.org/petitions/holiday-shopping-pledge#

I AM the 99%!

And so are you.
Seriously, if you are reading this blog, I highly doubt that you are the 1% (roughly 15,000 people) who have been manipulating the tax code and hoarding all the wealth.

In answer to the many mainstream media stories regarding OWS, let's be clear, there are 100 Senators, One President and 435 people seated in the House of Representatives who are paid the "big bucks" for creating policy.

The job of Occupy Wall Street is to serve official notice to these policy makers that we have figured out that we have been scammed by them for years and won't take it anymore! It's not enough to simply "believe" in the possibility of upward mobility, it must be an actual possibility.

We demand policies that benefit the 99% of the population that has seen wages stagnate since the 70's and unemployment rise to 9% (16% for men of color) while the 1% has reaped the riches of their political machinations. It's up to our elected officials to craft those policies, and to take on that burden would be beyond the scope of OWS therefore illogical for the mainstream media to find fault in OWS because they have no policies crafted. It's absurd even, but definitely meant to discredit a movement that has grown worldwide.

The media also attempts to obfuscate the very clear message of OWS: The 99% is sick and tired of the 1% breaking laws and creating policy to stack the deck for their personal wealth. Regardless of the mainstream media that is controlled by the 1%, the message is spreading and people hearing it understand and last weekend those people took to the streets to occupy their country!

According to the polls this message is heard loud and clear with widespread support for tax parity and reform. The only people who don't seem to get it are the Eric Cantors, John Boehner's and Scott Walker's of the world. Controlled by powerful moneyed entities such as the Koch Brothers, these politicians have been bought and paid for by the 1% and are active in class warfare. Not the class warfare they complain about, but the real class war that they have waged against the lower and middle classes in order to assist their true constituents in wealth gathering.

So my friends, all of us, we are ALL the 99%.

Our screams against the self-evident plutocracy await a response from our elected officials.

Corporations may be "people" but they still can't vote.
Only by being active and voting will we be able to hold our elected officials accountable.

If you can't occupy in your city, drop some food and water off to those who are bravely taking up the fight for us all. Do it today because our scream doesn't and shouldn't tell the government what policies to enact, it simply insists that after 40 years it be heard!

Tea Party Members are Idiots (I know, Oxymoron but Read it Anyway)

This may not seem like a fair headline, but after watching the two Republican debates it has cemented my opinion that the average member of the Tea Party must be suffering from some paranoid delusion. They seem incapable of hearing their own hypocrisy let alone able to do anything about it. There is so much stupidity in this that one blog will not even suffice, so I will rename this blog to:

Tea Party Members are Stupid about Healthcare:

Now, that sounds a little better, but still too broad. I mean, they keep blaming "Obamacare" for the "uncertainty of job creators" and yet they forget that Bush only managed to grow jobs by 2% during his entire eight years. (They also blame regulation and high taxes and yet corporate America is very profitable, earning record profits so maybe, just maybe their lack of hiring, growth and expansion has little to do with regulation and more to do with _____?"

What has truly prompted me to blog about the Tea Party and their idiocy when it comes to healthcare was the latest CNN/Tea Party presidential debate. When Wolf Blitzer asked Ron Paul if the government (the richest government in the world) should just let an uninsured man die, and the audience shouted out "Yeah" and then applauded I almost choked on my beer. Seriously? This is how we conduct ourselves on national T.V. during a presidential debate? I shouldn't have been surprised when at the last debate the audience cheered the number of executions in the state of Texas (Where, of course, they always put "Life First") but it was never-the-less shocking. Especially when the audience members themselves are considered.

By and large, the people who spoke from the Tea Party asking questions during the debate were over 50 and overweight. They must all be knocking on the door of diabetes (a pre-existing condition) and if they had medical insurance it must have either been issued from an employer or by the government.

In order for the question to really hit home for these idiots, Wolf should have asked "What do we do with a 50 year old, recently unemployed and therefore uninsured man who can't qualify for insurance because he is slightly overweight and is pre-diabetic?". Or even take that same man who is still employed but has reached his lifetime maximum on his health insurance because he has had one minor heart attack. Would they still shout to "let him die?" Would they even have the presence of mind to understand that the man they have voted to death would be the one standing next to them? Could they ever recognize themselves in that question despite their narcissism?

If a Tea Party member did manage to look around when asked that question and understand that the person they have "voted off the island" was one of their own would they then ask if pre-existing conditions should be part of healthcare. Would they see a need for government to regulate the very profitable health insurance industry so that they ceased having monetary limits imposed on people's lives. Would they think that maybe, just maybe, health insurance shouldn't be inexorably linked to employment, and that health coverage shouldn't be at the whim of the employer because there would be no way an individual who was pre-diabetic could ever qualify or afford an individual policy.

Thank goodness somebody did ask and answer these questions. President Obama worked to reform our healthcare so that these things would stop happening. The trade off that we will all have to pay in order to ensure that healthcare will be there when needed is that we all have health insurance. We trade our personal liberty for lessor things all the time. Even though the chances that you or I would be personally involved in a terrorist attack is slim, we allowed the government access to our emails, bank accounts and many other things when the Patriot Act was passed and extended. As the national obesity rates continues to climb (especially in uninsured Tea Party, Red States)the odds seem much higher that people will need to trade a small liberty for insulin rather then a larger one for protection from terrorism.

We should all be supporting Obamacare because at least he cared. I wish, for his sake, he would have cared more about himself then the insurance industries he was trying to work with when he settled for 2014 as a total enactment date. At least the parents of recent college graduates can find some peace in knowing that their children will be able to stay on heir parent's policy for a bit longer while those graduates struggle to find employment in this dismal market. At least the children who couldn't get insurance because of a pre-existing condition are now covered. THOSE are the parents who should be rallying around the President shouting at the top of their lungs "Let him Live, he CARES!"

Low Taxes Creating Jobs = Vodoo Economics Part I. Low Taxes Doesn't Create Jobs

The short term memory of the American public is truly astounding. "Trickle Down" economics wasn't effective in the 80's and yet it has been trotted out as the cure for this "Great Recession" by the Tea Party and the GOP despite the fact that George Bush's 2000 incarnation of trickle down was a causal factor to the current economic crisis.

In this incarnation of Vodoo Economics the use of "Job Creators" rhetoric instills the fear in the masses that if the country taxes the "Job Creators" they will stop creating jobs and increase unemployment. This one argument is the one that I am addressing; lowering taxes on "Job Creators" otherwise known as the wealthiest 2% does not create jobs.

Before George Bush enacted what is commonly referred to as the Bush Tax Cuts, jobs were growing and Clinton had increased jobs at a rate of 21%. CNNMoney reported in October of 2000 "The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in September, matching the 30-year low touched in April, as strong job growth in service industries helped reverse a two-month decline in hiring, the government reported Friday."

When those tax cuts took effect, job growth came to a screeching halt. Clinton and Bush both served the same eight year term, but through strategic tax cuts on small businesses, raising taxes on the highest income levels (aka "job creators") and incentives Clinton created 22 million jobs whereas by lowering the taxes on those same "Job Creators" and reversing Clinton policies Bush left office only creating 3 million jobs. According to data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics "The numbers bear this out, too. BLS data, adjusted for inflation, show that average weekly wages grew by 21 percent from the start of Clinton’s first term to the end of his second term. They grew by only 2 percent under Bush’s two terms."

Lowering Taxes on "Job Creators" does NOT Create Jobs

That is one slice of history, so let us examine another when tax rates were considered low. During Reagan's eight year presidency trickle down economics became popular. The faucet tightened up however as Reagan was only responsible for creating around 16 million jobs. To put this in perspective, Carter created 10 million jobs during his only four year term. All of the tax cuts and de-regulation that was introduced during Reagan's presidency didn't actually trickle down, but up.

Lowering Taxes on "Job Creators" does NOT Create Jobs

Let's look a little further back in history at a slice of life that more accurately reflects our current economy; The Great Depression. Or more accurately, the period directly preceding the Great Depression. From 1925 through 1931 the tax rates on the wealthiest of Americans only reached 25%. By the end of this Laissez-faire period, debt had increased, demand for real goods had lowered and unemployment rose to 25%. Although it would be simplistic to credit low taxes as the cause of the depression, clearly the top "percenters" were not allowing all of that money to trickle down.

Lowering Taxes on "Job Creators" does NOT Create Jobs

All of these examples are interesting and timely, but the real truth about tax policy and jobs was witnessed by any person who was looking for a job in 2008. The unemployment rate steadily increased from 2007-2008 to a rate of 7.2% according to BLS.

Tax rates were low for the top earners, those "Job Creators". According to the New York Times in 2007 "Based on an exhaustive analysis of tax records and census data, the study reinforced the sense that while Mr. Bush’s tax cuts reduced rates for people at every income level, they offered the biggest benefits by far to people at the very top — especially the top 1 percent of income earners."

Obviously something is amiss here. Low tax rates for "Job Creators" and rising unemployment. Speaking the truth is easier if your constituency doesn't pay you to lie, and in the case of the Tea Party and the GOP, they must be getting paid a lot to continue to spin the tale that jobs will be created with lowered tax rates.

It simply isn't true.

Lowering Taxes on "Job Creators" does NOT Create Jobs

http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2010/jul/25/sherrod-brown/sherrod-brown-touts-job-grown-during-clinton-presi/

http://www.progressinaction.com/republicans/wealth-redistribution-wealthy-americans-are-taxed-less-now-than-when-reagan-was-president/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobs_created_during_U.S._presidential_terms

http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2010/10/us_job_growth_and_loss_under_p.html

http://econc10.bu.edu/Ec341_money/Papers/Carroll_paper.htm

A Short Intro

I guess I should have made this my first blog, but it seems I am never doing anything the easy way, including blogging.

The easy way to blog would be to talk about what I think, or what I believe. I have read many blogs such as this, and know that it would be an easy way to blog as I do have many opinions. If I were to blog in this manner I would also sound like many of the political "Talking Heads" that I pay attention to on an almost daily basis. I would also then sound like the people that those same "Talking Heads" interview, but then, I would want to argue with myself as I am always wanting to argue with the television.

I do things the hard way. This blog will follow in that same pattern as any blog that I write will have a strong basis in fact attached. I will cite my sources and make every attempt to only use credible sources. I will think of these sources as witnesses in a court of law. For example, I would imagine the Washington Post to be an educated, well dressed and presentable witness in a court of law. However I would imagine another un-cited blog to look like a witness who is uneducated and un presentable.

I invite comment and debate, but only if the respondent affords me the same courtesy that I afford my readers. Please cite credible sources for your arguments and try really hard not to cuss at me.

That's all for now. Lunch is calling and besides, how can you miss me if I am always here!

GOP Tanking Economy so Obama Looses 2012

What are the GOP goals? In 2010 Minority Senate Leader stated his number goal: To make Obama a one-term President. Examiner.com reported that when asked Mr. McConnell replied that "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."

I heard him. He was very clear that in the face of the "Great Recession", a steep decline in the housing market, high unemployment and bank failures, all the Grand Old Party is concerned with is politics. So now let's see how they have accomplished this goal.

Step One: Keep Unemployment High.
Presidents do not get re-elected when unemployment rates are high. As President Obama was elected when unemployment was already high and over 8% this was not going to be a hard job. Just looking at this historically according to AOL Jobs "No American president has been reelected when unemployment has been higher than 7.2 percent in more than 50 years. It's a refrain that's been thrown around in the pages of The New York Times and in nearly every conversation when Barack Obama's chances for reelection are discussed, both inside the Beltway and beyond." Therefore all the GOP has to do is block any legislation aimed at growing the economy and therefore reducing unemployment. That leads us to

Step Two: Block Legislation Aimed at Growth
The GOP forced a substantial reduction in the original stimulus bill in order to achieve passage. The New York Times reported in 2009 "The package of spending increases and tax relief, intended to spur an economic recovery and create jobs by putting money back in the pockets of consumers and companies, ended up smaller than either the House or Senate had proposed. Many Democrats would have preferred a larger bill, but agreed to pare back, including cuts to favored education and health programs, to win three crucial Republican votes in the Senate." The stimulus was nowhere near large enough to combat the "Great Recession" or unemployment therefore the GOP was successful at keeping unemployment numbers high. However, just blocking legislation was nowhere near enough. With the Tea Party blessing in 2010 they then changed the discussion and created a false problem: The Deficit.

Step Three: Change the Agenda
As soon as the Tea Party members of both the House and the Senate took office in 2010 they began to chant Deficit Reduction. At this time unemployment was still record high, and instead of focusing on jobs they instead focused like a laser beam on deficit reduction. The Fiscal Times reported in January of 2011 that "And that’s just for starters. With the arrival of an army of hard-charging conservative freshmen House and Senate members – many who rode to victory under the Tea Party banner of deficit reduction and tax cuts – GOP leaders are being prodded to challenge the status quo by shredding the president’s budget and downsizing government." This agenda shifting caused the deficit showdown ultimately causing the downgrade of the United States as reported by the Washington Post on August 5, 2011 "Lowering the nation’s rating to one notch below AAA, the credit rating company said “political brinkmanship” in the debate over the debt had made the U.S. government’s ability to manage its finances “less stable, less effective and less predictable.”

In the midst of record high unemployment it is clear the the GOP had a cohesive strategy; keep those numbers high so President Obama would loose the 2012 election. It blocked legislation that would have helped ease unemployment and then changed the agenda so that "deficit reduction" became the main talking point. The added bonus from this self-made distraction was an even shakier economy that would further increase those unemployment numbers.

Will Mitch McConnell succeed in making Obama a one term President? I can't predict the future, I can only report the facts. This I do know; the American people have surely lost as the GOP relentlessly pursues its goal!

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/07/15/can-a-president-be-reelected-with-9-unemployment/

http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-national/republican-leader-says-gop-s-number-one-goal-is-defeating-obama-2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/us/politics/12stimulus.html

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/01/03/The-New-Congress-Deficit-Reduction-at-All-Costs.aspx#page1

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/sandp-considering-first-downgrade-of-us-credit-rating/2011/08/05/gIQAqKeIxI_story.html

Tea Party is Corporate Funded by Koch Bros.

The rhetoric and hyperbole that many hear regarding the goals of foundations of the Tea Party might lead one to believe that the Tea Party is a representative, “grass roots” funded organization. However, when you pull the curtain away from the hyperbole and truly examine the facts regarding the Tea Party, the only conclusion that is available is that the Tea Party is merely an organization that is funded and organized by right wing political groups.

The Tea Party, since it’s inception, has been organized by Americans for Prosperity. According to the New Yorker, August 30, 2010 ““Americans for Prosperity has worked closely with the Tea Party since the movement’s inception. In the weeks before the first Tax Day protests, in April, 2009, Americans for Prosperity hosted a Web site offering supporters “Tea Party Talking Points.” The Arizona branch urged people to send tea bags to Obama; the Missouri branch urged members to sign up for “Taxpayer Tea Party Registration” and provided directions to nine protests. The group continues to stoke the rebellion. The North Carolina branch recently launched a “Tea Party Finder” Web site, advertised as “a hub for all the Tea Parties in North Carolina.” Clearly the idea that the Tea Party protests and organizations have been an organic eruption is false, as they have been trained, organized and funded nationwide by Americans for Prosperity since its inception.

Americans for Prosperity is a political group that is funded almost entirely by Koch Industries run by two billionaire Koch brothers. According to Alec Exposed “Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a group fronting special interests started by oil billionaire David Koch and Richard Fink (a member of the board of directors of Koch Industries). AFP has been accused of funding astroturf operations but also has been fueling the "Tea Party" efforts” Additionally, acccording to US News and World Report the “founding funders” of the Tea Party is in fact the Koch Brothers, billionaires in the Oil industry. “But it has now come out how involved they have been in funding Tea Party groups, Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks, and Citizens for a Sound Economy ($12 million).”

When the man behind the curtain of the Tea Party is exposed, it is evident that the controlling wizard is Koch Brothers industries. The Tea Party is a group that has been bought and paid for by this wizard which negates the rhetoric that they are a “grass-roots” and “organic” organization.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/Peter-Fenn/2011/02/02/tea-party-funding-koch-brothers-emerge-from-anonymity
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=2