Pick your team and root
for them. No matter what.
I realize most people
pick their political affiliation like a sports team and root for them to win
every argument no matter the reality of the situation. Even if their party’s
ideals drastically change away from their own ideals back when they first
joined the team. That is bad. It closes the mind and ends the possibility of
progressing toward a goal using rational conjecture based upon facts. People
often vote against their best interests because their “team” tells them to
(Death panels killing grandmas never existed – that was a completely moronic
fear-mongered fabrication posted on FaceBook by a fucking idiot ex-Alaskan
Governor just to keep herself in the news, which the partisan right-wing media
preached as gospel, also making them fucking idiots – for those interested in
facts. If you’d like to know what ‘End of Life’ decisions really are, let me
know, because I’m not a fucking idiot and am able to explain it to you.) (Also,
there are substantial amounts of elderly people down here in the South that
will only vote Democrat because they still believe there are Southern
Conservative Democrats like there were way back in the 50’s & 60’s – when
they were first able to vote. They have no idea that the parties have since
swung heavily to extremes, consisting almost entirely of Conservative
Republicans and Liberal Democrats. Even after being told that the black guy who
shouldn’t be able to eat at the same lunch counter as them is a Democrat, they
are so set in their ways, they won’t listen and still vote for him - against
their beliefs. These Conservatives always voted Democrat, they always will. Close-minded to any new information. – educational tangent).
This is not sports where the only consequence is a possibility of one team
getting more points (or less for you golfers out there) and winning a pretty
trophy (or tacky jacket). It’s partisan douchebags gambling with the future
life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of real people just to score some
meaningless political win (and payment from their lobbyists). Ninety-nine
percent of which are not millionaires and many actually need help. And it’s not
because they’re lazy and abusing the system, you ignorant, extremist asshole.
Personally, I am neither
Republican nor Democrat. Obviously I lean left of center, but choosing between
joining the militant fascist party or the pacifist hippie party is not really a
choice to me. I mean, where else in life are you restricted to two choices, one
of which supposedly represents all of your ideals? Grocery stores: many
different stores, infinite food choices. Car dealerships: many different makes,
hundreds upon hundreds of models including used cars. There are so many different toothbrushes, I
have trouble deciding which to buy. Shit, even in actual sports where you do
pick a team there are a bunch of choices. And my well-being doesn’t even depend
on any of those things (well, eating – shut up you know what I mean). But a
government that will represent my ideals and in which my present and future
existence depends upon – only two
fucking choices?
At the end of the day,
this is what I observe: We need to pay taxes. We will always pay taxes. Taxes
are what the government functions on. And like it or not, taxes – all taxes – are socialism. You don’t get to decide where
your taxes are spent. You fork over a certain amount and the government decides
where it is best put to use. America will always be part capitalism, part
socialism and cannot function any other way. It may not be the best system of
governing, but it’s the best one humans have invented so far.
Pure socialism is
dangerous. Capitalism without regulation is dangerous. Only ignorant extremists
can’t see this. Pure socialism can lead to Communism – no more life, liberty
and happiness pursuit. Capitalism without regulation can lead to corporations
dumping as much toxic shit in our waters and skies as they want - no more
breathable air, arable land or potable water (That’s why Cap-and-Trade was
developed by the Reagan & H.W. Bush Republicans. What, you thought it was a
Democrat’s idea? No, no, no, silly – after Obama was elected, he just agreed
with McCain when McCain made it part of his 2008 presidential platform to try
and curb man-influenced climate change, AKA “global warming.” That’s why
Republicans became hypocrites on that particular issue – their knee-jerk
opposite response to everything Obama endorses – even if it’s their own
son-of-a-bitchin’ idea - because their stated goal is to get rid of Obama, not to help the country. The Clean Air Act was signed into law in 1990 under
Bush, which is a Cap-and-Trade policy on regulating acid rain. It proved to be
a profitable system. It cut acid rain in half, costing utilities just $3
billion annually – made up by adding just pennies monthly to the consumer. But it also generates
an estimated $122 billion a year in benefits from avoided death and illness
[saving consumers a lotta-lot more than pennies a month, which means they got to keep even more of their paychecks – turning that frown
upside down], healthier lakes and forests, and improved visibility on the
Eastern Seaboard. – highly educational tangent)
 |
| Theodor Geisel |
The main but not only
difference between Republicans and Democrats is this: Democrats want to take
the tax money you have to pay anyway – and sometimes raise those taxes - and
use it on social programs for the benefit of the people. Republicans want to
take the tax money you have to pay anyway – and continue to lower those taxes
(mostly just for rich people) – but then take even more money from the middle
class by way of cutting pay, benefits, pensions, unemployment and health
insurance, collective bargaining and also cut funding for social programs which
causes out-of-pocket expenses
to increase – but not “raise taxes” just so they can say
they “didn’t raise taxes” – fooling you into thinking you’re keeping more money
– but still manage to take a fuckity-fuckload MORE money from you than just
raising taxes would – but goddamnit they didn’t fucking raise taxes! – and raise fees – FEES AREN’T TAXES, THEY’RE TOTALLY DIFFERENT –
and hand all your money (but it’s not “taxes”) right the fuck over to the top
richest 1% of Americans using the proven failed system of
trickle-mother-fucking-down economics (getting angrier as I type)(breathe. 10,
9, 8, 7…OK). Which, going only by the observable fact of the continually
widening income disparity between the rich and poor which grows by giant leaps
under Republican rule, and not by any partisan rhetoric, has only made the rich
richer and the poor poorer (I realize I just qualified what I said by stating
‘not by any partisan rhetoric.’ Tough shit. Doesn’t make it any less true. Go
write your own rant if you have a problem.). And when they do cut taxes, it
inevitably cuts funding for public transportation, police, fire, roads, street
lights, highway signs, schools, Medicare, Medicaid, national parks, social
security, unemployment, libraries, post offices, public housing, prisons,
public defenders, etc, etc, etc. You know, “socialism.” Not to mention, by
taking more money from the middle class (the poor, too), the class that spends
money all over town on goods and services, you tank the economy because
they are now NOT spending money all over town on goods and services - they are
saving. The rich class is an extremely smaller class and pumps infinitely less Renminbi
into the economy. AND one of the favorite Republican tactics of cutting
unemployment ALSO tanks the economy, because according to CBO estimates, for
every dollar spent on unemployment, up to $1.60 is injected into the economy.
Strange, right? Here’s how it breaks down: When you give $1 in unemployment
payments to a person who has lost their job, they spend that unemployment dollar.
Tom gives that $1 to Dick down the street to buy some of his vegetables. Dick
might put 25 cents in the bank but use the 75 cents left over to buy fertilizer
from Harry’s gardening store. Harry might save 15 cents of the 75 cents he got
from Dick but use that remaining 60 cents for a new shirt.
When calculating the
gross domestic product (GDP), economists add up all those transactions,
excluding the amount placed in savings and money used to buy foreign goods.
Tom’s original unemployment $1 has added $2.35 (Tom's $1 plus Dick's 75 cents plus Harry's 60 cents)
to the GDP. It’s only $1, but spending it has helped three people and kept the
economy moving along, preventing it from taking a dive. You fuck the middle
class, you fuck America. The middle class are the true job-creators, not the rich, as Republicans would falsely have you
believe. The rich wouldn’t be rich if not for the purchasing power of the
middle class. The rich wouldn’t be able to hire anyone if the middle class
didn’t make them rich in the first place by being able to buy their goods. The middle class needs to be paid
well so they can create rich people. Simple economics. Paying the middle class
less and giving more to the rich, “trickle-down economics” is not a sustainable
system. Just ask Ancient Rome.
#Occupy
You know what? This
whole Rant has just turned out to be a series of conjoined tangents. I don’t
care. I’m happy with it. It’s got a flow to it. An… I don’t know what, a… “je
ne sais quoi,” if you will. Different topics, different languages, English,
Chinese, French y Spanish, Italian in just a moment, all coming together in a
fondue pot of information-based opinion. If you don’t like it, va' fa Napoli.
Anyway, in conclusion to
the original point I started out to make, one of these is the team you root
for. It’s not your fault; they are your only two choices.
Of course, I don’t count
the Anarchist Party. You may know them by their registered name: Libertarians.
And the Teabaggers are nothing more than bratty, uneducated children dressed in
wrinkly grown-up suits repeating the lies FOX "News" tells them. These are not choices. Oh, and the Independents are
just Democrats without the stigma.
McCain's 2008 campaign platform of Cap-and-Trade (pointing out it will also be profitable):
* *
Yes, Cap-and-Trade is a Republican idea.
* *
Scumbag:
* *
Income growth rates are
stronger for everyone when Democrats are in charge.
* *
Income gap tripled since
1979 –
"These
capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the people, and
now that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon to
appropriate the people's money to settle the quarrel." -- Abraham Lincoln
in a speech to Illinois legislature, Jan. 1837. That’s right, bailouts already
in 1837. AKA: socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor. Sound familiar?
“I see in the near
future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the
safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of
corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will
endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people
until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”
-- Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864 in a letter to Col. William F. Elkins. Yup,
wealthy corporations already running the country by the Civil War.
“In Washington, a man
gets up to speak and doesn’t say a thing, and the other men disagree with him
for three hours.” -- Milton Berle
Good day.
Oh, and on the dark
side, remember when the big banks were too big to fail and we wanted to split
them up and separate the savings banks from the investment banks (again) so
they can’t fuck us by gambling away all our money (again), then can’t double-fuck us by
then being bailed out with our tax money (again)? You know, stopping us from double
financing their Vegas trips? Well, none of those changes were made and as a
plus, the banks now control 13 FUCKING PERCENT MORE assets of the gross domestic
product. In case you are slow, that means they are BIGGER than before the
crash. They are now WAY TOO, TOO MUCH BIGGERER TO FAIL.
And all the finance people that knowingly fucked us, cost us our savings, cost
us our jobs, cost us our homes and stole billions from us? Not one of them went
to jail. But the Obama administration did pretend that Bernie Madoff
was a big deal to distract us. Gullible people willingly gave him money after
he promised outrageously unrealistic high return rates. Yeah, it sucks, but it
didn’t collapse the economy. Oh, then there's Martha Stewart
. And let’s not forget they put the full force of the DOJ behind Roger Clemens. Because that impacted my
life.
Corporations own
America.
#Occupy
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