Politics-Not As Usual
What a Political Year! The Republican presidential hopefuls want to "out-due their own conservatism" and the Democrat candidates want to be "more left" than the other. Most Republicans are trying to portray themselves as "outsiders" and at least one of the Democrats is running as the "outsider" from the left. Which is right and which is wrong? Tough call at best. Whoever wins though, they will have (regardless of who's fault it is) a terrible mess to clean-up.
Yes, a mess! What could I possibly be talking about? The country is so polarized against each other that whatever the outcome is will probably only heighten the mess. Few people would disagree with the components of the mess. Those components include:
- A 15 Trillion dollar national deficit that few of us really believe can ever be paid back or even slowed in growth as we move forward.
- Trouble spots in the Middle East which most fear will continue to spill over into America.
- A general feeling that those in Washington have simply forgotten who is really supposed to be calling the shots (we the people?) and that they have lost sight of what is right for America.
- A national healthcare system that is not working properly and costing entirely too much money and not really helping anyone along the way (why have health insurance if you have to spend thousand of dollars per year just to get through the deductible?).
- An American War Industry-Machine that wants more projects, for arms, more bombs and yes more money and will probably get it as our politicians continue to scar the "begeebies" out of us all with all the trouble going on in the world.
- A public education system that is sub-par with other industrialized nations and not educating our children sufficiently for them to cash-in on a future.
- A higher-education student debt bubble (now over $1 Trillion dollars and growing) that is leaving our smartest and our brightest Americans living at home and not getting the high paying jobs they need to retire their student debt.
- An economy that regardless of how often our Political Leaders tell us that the economy is improving we the people just don't get the same "warm fuzzies" as we see the economy struggle along.
- A national immigration problem that neither "side of the aisle" really wants to fix for their own politically motivated reasons (if they truly did why haven't they fixed it already).
- AND a terrible gnawing pain in America that our incomes (nationally) are going down and that the cost of living continues to slip up all the time. Said another way, people truly believe that in America the rich are getting richer and the poor (which is most of us) are getting poorer.
CAN YOU REALLY ARGUE THESE FACTS? Maybe, but if you do there is a strong possibility that you may be part of the problem. We need leaders that will take a hard look at the situation...from the perspective of the poor, the middle class (if there are any of us left). and the wealthy.
The outcome has to be a resolve of at least part of our problems that CLEARLY works for all of us, with no one being left out. That hasn't worked in our country for decades. WITH NO ONE BEING LEFT OUT! That is a mouthful that is simply a hard pill to swallow and almost Un-American...but it has to happen.
Is life about to change in our country? Can we continue on as we have in the past? Have we already experienced the "tipping point" for our country. Our families, our friends, and even our WA community demands that something be done sooner than later in this country to mend what is ailing us. Are you willing to help find a solution that will work for all of us (or at least more than 51% of us) that supports everyone with no one being left out? DAN
Recent Comments
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What ever the out come people complain and they day oh I wish I had voted !!! Just how stupid are we ???
So true, MarionBlack. But unfortunately, if a citizen does not care enough to vote, he/she loses her right to complain about the outcome.
Good point MarionBlack. I think that you should move to the U.S. I would vote for you for president...you know how to help people. DAN
In Oz, voting is compulsory. Anyone who doesn't vote is fined. Even so, we end up with politicians. In my opinion they are all pretty much as bad as each other.
That means Marion that we have to hold out for the Second Coming and I think that we may have to wait longer for that then with have time left. Voting is not the answer. Smart voting based upon the visceral feelings of the electorate may have a chance of saving things. Let's hope for the best though. DAN
Do you remember when Obama took office? The government was almost shutting down. I really don't like aligning myself with either party--they're both a mess. I think it's more a sign of the times...
Ed
I agree with you, mijareze. I consider myself an Independent; that means I don't care for either party. Every time I vote, the question in my mind is always "Who is the lesser of two evils?" It is sad how the word "politician" has become synonymous to "dishonest".
mijareze: Probably is a sign of the times and I certainly do think that either party is spotless. However, if it is the sign of the times, have we reached the tipping point? I don't know the answer but I worry about it a lot. Not for me or my children but I have the cutest most loving grandchildren in the world and I worry what we are setting up for them. DAN
The problem with being an independent is that for 3 1/2 years each presidential cycle, in our country, one gets to call themselves an independent and then on election day they get to tell the world that they voted for either or both parties at the election. That takes a little of the luster out of being an independent. DAN
There was a time when there were overlaps between our two parties. Times have changed. As you said, there is polarization, and the line of demarcation is clearer than ever. What you're saying, to me, does not apply at the present time.
I'm really not an Indepedant. I'm a registered Democrat. I'm just embarassed to say that these days because I'm really disgusted with both parties. I used to be very civic minded--hard core Democrat because I believe in helping people who need assistance but now I have seen the abuse! It's terrible and it perpetuates itself to the following generations. People who are healthy don't want to work. I have worked hard my entire life since I was a kid but that's another story!
Ed
I hear you! Our world has become so corrupt. People are killing each other--everyday. The threat of Isis...
Ed
Ed! You sound like you might fit into the Bernie Saunders camp. Bernie is a little liberal for my taste but I have to admit that many of his platform items could resolve a lot of problems in the U.S. Consider throwing your support for Bernie. I am afraid that Bernie's competitor is simply more of what we have grown to accept. DAN
Ed. Please check him out at berniesanders.com. He has a marvelous platform for so many of our country's problems. DAN
What you describe -- "people who are healthy don't want to work", is human nature. And it doesn't help when they have access to too many freebies that only encourage them not to work. I think our government should always have programs to help people who can't help themselves due to disability or illness, but healthy people should be made uncomfortable in their unemployed status while they are depending on taxpayer money.
If Bernie Sanders becomes President, we can kiss America the way we know it goodbye. He's a Socialist who will tax everybody to death.
Grendall: You may be right. On the other hand, there is a whole lot of socialism already in place here in America. We love to tell the rest of the world what a wonderful capitalist system we have and everywhere you turn we already have lots of socialism sneaking in.
But let's take a look at the positive effects of 30-years of "trickle down economics" in the U.S. Ronald Regan suggested it and implemented it decades ago. We all thought that it was great and we let the major U.S. companies get away with murder until they with their Wall Street financiers put us into the Great Recession. Now Trillions of dollars in debt as a result of the Great Recession and the RIGHT still insists that trickle down economics is the only way to proceed. What I am saying is that rationally (and I do not have the answer) what we have been doing has not been working. Our problems didn't start with Obama and I'll bet you that our problems won't end when Obama is gone.
Grendall, would you consider one extraneous thought that few have considered? 50% of our population doesn't pay taxes and most would say that our current taxing system is not that prohibitive to the middle class or for the wealthy. But consider, please, what is the costs of Trillions of dollars in national debt, a trillion dollar student debt, and underemployed people (and the millions that labor for $7.25 per hour). Our politicians have created a system that we can't get out of. Do we need to do something different? We have too. I am not saying who should be elected president in America. I am saying that we had all better have an open mind to other possibilities. DAN
Our huge national debt has nothing to do with Capitalism, it's caused by our spendthrift politicians on both sides who insist on spending and refusing to cut back on expenditures. They keep coming up with these entitlement programs that we finance through borrowed money. Obama alone has spent more money than all the presidents before him -- combined!
I was overjoyed when Obama was elected back in 2008 for reasons too long to discuss here. But boy, did he turn out to be different from what I expected! When he opens his mouth, it's the need to "invest" on this and that, and he wants to keep increasing our debt limit; it really means he wants to spend more and more and more! And what burns me up right now is his refusal to protect us. You'd think the San Bernardino incident would have him up in arms to eradicate the jihadists, but from his last speech, all I heard him say was some tough talk, and then essentially nothing. The San Bernardino attack will not be the last one. Something bigger is in the works. Obama aided the growth of ISIS by withdrawing our troops from Iraq too quickly and too soon, and now he still won't protect the country? What is he waiting for? Is he waiting for a truly widespread attack on the U.S. by terrorists in all 50 states at the same time? The way I see it, he is giving terrorists the time and opportunity to solidify and execute their plans to kill more Americans in a big way, and SOON. I'm becoming very cynical now that it's beginning to seem to me that Obama wants terror acts to escalate to give him a chance to declare Martial Law. I hope I am dead wrong, but it's beginning to look that way to me, especially when I see him releasing criminals back to the streets, releasing hardcore terrorists in Gitmo back to the fold, disseminating illegal aliens nationwide SECRETLY ... Whose side is he on??
I hate politicians, but I hate incompetent leaders who put American lives in danger the most!
We need tax reform, too. I like the flat tax or consumption tax idea being proposed by some of the Republican candidates. Not that I trust them, but that would solve the problem of 50% of our population not paying taxes. We need to get our manufacturers back here in the U.S.; without manufacturing, we'll become a lame country.
Our educational system has gone down the drain because it is so hard to replace incompetent teachers with good ones due to the corrupt public unions. As a result, a lot of Americans today are not educated well enough to advance themselves in their careers. We have been churning out generations of under-educated children.
As I said, I am an Independent. I go by honesty and integrity of a candidate, not party. But this time around, with what I'm hearing on the news about Hillary having her own server, foreign countries donating HUGE amounts of money to her Clinton foundation while she was Secretary of State -- I smell corruption! And now a Socialist is running for President on the Democrat side? What the heck is going on??
And the Republicans, Trump talks like I did when I was in grade school! "Oh I won't attack him because he's so nice to me, so I'll be nice to him." For pete's sake, what presidential candidate talks like that?? And his mouth is a loose cannon. Even though I can understand a lot of the points he's making, it becomes unpalatable to many because of the way he presents it.
I told you before that as an Independent, I've always found myself thinking "which party is the lesser of two evils" when I vote. This time around, the lesser of two evils, to me, are the Republicans. I cannot vote for Hillary the corrupt and liar, nor Bernie Sanders the Socialist, and the current state of the Democratic party whose only goal is to spend, spend, spend! Almost 20 trillion dollars, that is $20,000,000,000,000, and as I listened to the Democratic Presidential debate, the candidates were trying to outdo each other on who can spend more! WTH?
And what's staggering is that almost half of Americans don't even know what's going on because they're all too busy with hedonistic activities. I hope we can elect a responsible President this time, despite the ignorance of so many.
Obama inherited a pretty much broken country -- broken world. I don't think anyone would have been able to repair that mess.
I agree bjdluna. It was broken long before Obama took office. The fractured nature of our Congress hasn't helped him much either. However, regardless of who did what and why we have a hell of a mess on our hands that I am not sure anyone can straighten it out. As I said early, I honestly believe that America is at its "tipping point' and it's going to take us ALL and not our politicians to fix it. Thank you for your comment.
Please understand, bjluna, that we are closing down any further comments regarding my blog as it is tending to get a little too political. I hope you understand and thank you for your comments. DAN
Great Comments Grendall. As I mentioned before we need to shut down this conversation as it is becoming entirely to political. This will be my last response to you regarding the blog that I wrote. Thank you so much for your contributions. DAN
I'm not sure why you brought that up, as everything I talked about didn't really have anything to do with that. Being a big spender is not a consequence of having been left a burden. Besides, that bailout cost nearly 1 trillion. But the amount of our national debt has gone up almost 8 trillion in this administration. I was talking about the 7 trillion, not the bailout money that got added to our national debt.
In a nutshell, the future of this country depends a lot on who gets elected as President in 2016.
Grendall: I agree 100%. Now who is the one that can create the greatest and best fix? Please tell me. DAN
The biggest issues for me are the national security of the country and the national debt. The others won't matter if the aforementioned are not addressed. So to answer your question, Dan, pick politicians who show the most concern about these two issues.
It is unfortunate that most Americans are now too busy with distractions to even care about learning what's really going on in the country. There will be hell to pay because of this.
I agree Grendall completely. I think we have a couple of real tough things to think about but there are millions of people in our country struggling mightily with all of the talking points. DAN
You are right again Grendall, but the talking points are just that talking points...why don't we as the citizens of this great country attempt to do the right thing (for the country) once in a while. DAN
We will have to put this one down as a vent/rant, Dan, things not going well in the hood. Seems to be the case world wide. I am not sure if the whole world economy is running on sustainable basis. At some stage there will be a correction. At least we are doing our part by looking to the future and establishing sustainable online businesses, based on integrity.
If the economy collapses because of our national debt, people will lose jobs. That affects the demand for products. Less demand means less sales. Remember back in 2008? What do you think caused so many business to shut down?
Grendall: That is a terrible thought. Surely we will be able to help sustain our WA community and make a little money from it. DAN
You're right, Daniel. But what concerns me the most is that despite the explicit and overt threats terrorists are throwing at the U.S., we seem to be doing nothing. I'm not sure there will be a 2016 elections if terrorist advancements are not stopped.
I hope you are wrong Grendall but I know where you are coming from. We need to pray for our country and hope that our new elected leader will do the right things for America and not just the rich. DAN
Horrible thought but you might be right. Let's hope our citizenry does the right thing this time around. DAN
I hope you are wrong Daniel but there are a lot of things pointing to that type of outcome. Surely our electorate will work hard to make the right choice for our next leader. DAN
If I turn out to be wrong, it would be because the terrorists couldn't infiltrate our country fast enough to cause chaos before the elections. Because as is, from our President's last speech, despite the San Bernardino massacre, he's not going to do anything much that's different.
But IF the terrorists do manage to make a major move (most likely nationwide at many places simultaneously) that gives the impression of widespread chaos, then a state of emergency will be declared (also known as Martial Law), and there will no longer be any elections until it is lifted.
For myself, I find the entire political mess to hard to deal with. I pick one item, health care, that is important to me, and get all the information I can. I can write to whoever is working in the area of my concern, and often achieve some satisfaction. I find that is the only way I can make a difference. If everyone picked one issue and followed it through to make known your informed opinion, we may see some real changes occur. Being well informed in your topic may get some attention, in your city, state, and country.
In health care, having universal health care insurance is a good beginning idea but it is a band-aid on your mouth. Until the actual cost is brought under control there will never be top quality, affordable health care. There is no justification for the current medical costs. Whatever the medical industry wants to charge we pay. It must change and will as more people get informed and involved.
Pick a grievance you may have and work on it, it does not matter if it is the war industry, the food industry, economic conditions or any of the millions of other problems. Become educated and work on it. Political party does not matter, becoming educated and involved does.
For this new year make a change in something important to you.
Laurie: You make several great points. I used to be involved in the healthcare industry and it is mind boggling just how screwed-up it is. There are so many changes that could be made to bring down the costs of healthcare but Congress isn't about to move on any of them for fear of losing "health care political contributions." It's a mess.
However, may I remind your, my blog was a satirical statement based upon my cynicism that we will probably never change our current system. Why? The billionaire class has it all figured out and short of electing Bernie (which probably isn't going to happen) the billionaire class will continue to decide U.S. politics well into the future.
Laurie, I feel your frustration. I am not sure how to fix our system although I have tried. Thank you for your response to my blog. DAN
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globally many countries are struggling with debt, cuts to vital services and poverty increasing which is sad, not much different in the UK
I appreciate the fact that the World is going to hell in a handbag. I can only have a very, very small impact on what is happening in America. I wish I could do more but I am only one plus my wonderful network here at WA. We all have to do our best to bring some change that will work in this world. Thank you for your comment. DAN
That is true and so long as we do our bit we know we are trying have a good week