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Campaign Finance Reform and Move to Amend have been my political mantra for some time now. When you look at the big picture, every major issue we have in this country boils down to the lack of these policies in government. The best approach to resolving all our issues is to focus all our energies into making these policies a reality. Anything else is a waste of time and resources.
Arizoina, land of John McCain, and Maine had adopted a system of public financing of election campaigns. They were, of course, made illegal by Citizens United. While they were in effect the lobbyists were largely cut out of the equation in those states. Legislators of those states spoke of how they could get from their cars to their offices in a short amount of time, just the time it would take to walk, because the very many, lying in wait to ambush legislators, lobbyists knew enough to leave them alone since they would be wasting their time otherwise. The other legislators, however, took at least a half an hour from car to office as they had to wade through and finnagel with all the lobbyists who would be waiting for them to arrive.
Perhaps Move to Ammend should seek an ammendment not only reversing Citizens United but mandating public financing, as well.
No excuse, eh?! Bill Clinton helped pave the way for this nightmare. Will that sanctimonious prick ever get an up-close-and-personal view of the pain and ruin he has caused? I see the day coming when all over this country, except gated communities and the richest neighborhoods, our streets will be teeming with multitudes of homeless people and their kids, all begging for small change or a chance to "work for food". As if ushering in NAAFTA and ripping people's livelihoods out from under them wasn't enough, President Clinton had to gut the welfare program too, thus destroying part of our safety net right when it was most needed! Real gem, that guy.
Fabian, who is the "we" you are referring to in your post, where you claim that "we" agreed there is "no excuse" for long-term unemployment? I never agreed to that. In fairness, I will concede that back in the "good ole days", before the factory closures and the outsourcing ad nauseam, I encountered lots of middle class people with a condescending, judgmental attitude towards the poor. It bothered me, and I recall thinking less of them for it. I never believed strict time limits on unemployment benefits were fair or justified, as each situation is unique. When it comes to employment issues, there is no one-size-fits-all. I never made knee-jerk assumptions about those who were down on their luck because I happen to know better. So many people insulate themselves from this harsh reality by assuming the homeless got there because of "bad choices", laziness or whatever. It always made me sick to hear anyone say that unemployment benefits were a "disincentive" to "get up and find a job". Where are the jobs? Having never enjoyed job security myself, I feel nothing but empathy and compassion for those shut out of the system. Were it not for dumb luck, I could easily have wound up on the streets. I'm not perfect; I have my shortcomings; but I'm not lazy or stupid either. So why should I assume that about anyone else who's been marginalized, without the good fortune of an inheritance to save their butts?!
The reason I bothered sharing my perspective here at such length is that I can't believe everyone bought into Clinton's assumption about the unemployed being always to blame for their fate. There's got to be a percentage of the population who shares my perspective on class issues like homelessness and poverty. I doubt DAnneMarc and I are the only ones with this point of view, especially here on Thom's blog.
If there is one thing I've feared more than death, it's homelessness. Shakes me to the core, just trying to imagine what those 1.3 million unemployed individuals and their families must be going through right now. I can't help wondering, how many of the newly destitute were middle class at one time? How many shared Clinton's view that unemployment should be tantamount to a scarlet letter? How many of these people once assumed all those left destitute by circumstance somehow deserved their fate? After laying out the red carpet for NAFTA like he did, ole Billy Boy had one helluva nerve talking that shit… about the very ones whose livelihoods he destroyed, at the stroke of a pen! As for all those formerly-middle-class individuals who once looked down their noses at the poor, and are now homeless themselves, I suppose it could be argued that this sad scenario has at least a kernel of karmic justice. But I take no pleasure or satisfaction from it. To the contrary, it pains me to see anyone suffer such a cruel fate.
It grieves me to know we live in a culture that is spiritually bankrupt, where nothing is sacred and money trumps everything, where extremes of wealth & poverty are now the "new normal". From the corporate fascist media to the socioeconomics of it all, we are skillfully and methodically isolated, kept at odds with one another. "Divide & Conquer" takes many forms. These master manipulators have it down to a science.
Every president since Reagan, without exception, has dug us deeper in the hole. Evil, stupid little men… including Obama! I hate every damn one of 'em, along with their enablers. And let's not forget the master puppeteers who nobody elected, pulling the strings behind their little curtains like clones from the Wizards of Oz! No president has been an island unto himself, no matter now dirty his deeds.
I remember the day Carter got elected. Having voted for him, I was delighted. But I vividly recall a powerful premonition I had right then, that Carter was destined for one term as our president. I had this horrible gut feeling Reagan would be next. Reagan seemed popular among moderates & conservatives. Having seen him in action already, as Governor of California (where I lived at the time), I saw nothing but trouble ahead. I had this feeling of foreboding and it was overpowering. I'll never forget it. In retrospect, it seems a bit odd, as there was nothing in my background that should have sensitized me to the kinds of problems a Reagan presidency could plague us with. I'd grown up comfortably middle class, in the fifties & sixties. Prior to adulthood, I'd never been poor or experienced an economic crisis. But when my premonitions tell me things I don't want to hear, I'm almost never wrong (SIGH). And look where we are now! This is what happens when people get too comfortable, too complacent, and take too much for granted. We fell asleep at the wheel, and now we're screwed..
It bothers me that even among liberals & progressives, the focus always seems to be on the middle class while the working poor are left out of the discussion. But Fabian, when you mention the "lib media", who are you referring to? MSNBC? Democracy Now? Thom's radio show? Just curious. But what has me scratching my head is you saying the "lib (liberal?!) media" is who has deliberately distracted We The Peons from the real source of these problems. Isn't that what the corporate fascists are known for? If it's the "libs" misleading the people to protect the elite, then what is there to distinguish them from the fascists?
Anyway, that's all for now. Reckon I've rambled long enough…. - Aliceinwonderland
We are doing everything we can with the limited resources we have.
Palindromedary ~ Actually, in my opinion they already do. In fact, I would say, they even consider those of us who have bought their lies as terrorists. You have to look at it from the perspective of the deceivers... They can't believe their own lies so how can they possibly believe anyone else can indefinitely? There only logical recourse is to assume everyone will eventually wake up to the truth. Remember Edgar Allen Poe's, "Tell Tale Heart?" The paranoia of guilty people can lead to some pretty wacky behavior. What else can better explain FEMA concentration camps, appropriations of huge amounts of ammo, and a stockpile of body bags all in the name of "Federal Emergency Management." No, in my humble opinion that line was crossed a long time go. The only reason we haven't been targeted as charged yet is because the culprits are hopelessly outnumbered and there is a big difference between what they want to do and what they can actually pull off.
DAnneMarc: Thanks for that link! That was quite a read! And the reporter who saw a white streak in the sky right at the time of the crash....and the news media squashed the story.
He was shot down!
And I sure had not read about this before...wow! ...
And, holy cow, what John Swinton, the former Chief of Staff at the New York Times, said at the New York Press Club was quite an eye opener. What we all knew to be true was just doubly confirmed by that top level insider.
And how about that James Clapper testifying before congress that millions of Americans were not being spied on...when it was revealed that we are being spied on. Man, these top level bastards get away with lying to Congress and committing the foulest of deeds and they get away with it but let someone like Edward Snowden leak the criminality of these top criminals...these top terrorists...and they're all for prosecuting or even executing him.
You know, that British woman from Wikileaks, Sarah Harrison who flew to Hong Kong, then to Moscow, and assisted Snowden can't even go back to Britain because they consider her a terrorist. Anyone who leaks, or assists anyone who leaks, is considered a terrorist by Britain. Before long they'll consider those of us who don't buy their lies...as terrorists as well.
And that idiot Hayden has called Snowden a traitor..but fact is that top level people like Hayden and Clapper are the real traitors...the real criminals that should be prosecuted.
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/30/glenn_greenwald_the_nsa_can_liter...
chuckle8 ~ I couldn't agree more with Aliceinwonderland. Sacrificing your family legacy isn't going to help anyone; or, encourage, force, or otherwise cause the wealthiest people in this nation to cough up any more than they can get away with. The more you have the more you can afford to work mischief. Also, the more you have the more you crave even more. Take your Mother's legacy and grow with it without guilt. It belongs to you hook, line, and sinker. Don't allow fluctuating fiscal values to cloud your judgement. Your mother paid the fair market value for the duplex when she bought it. Therefore, you are entitled to the fair market value of the property when you sell it. Your mother already paid adequate taxes on that cost when she earned the money to buy the property in the first place. Are you trying to tell me that you can buy today the same things with $50,000 that you could buy when your mother bought the property. No! I don't think so. It is not that the property has appreciated in value. In fact, the property has depreciated in value because it is older, out of date, and in more need of repair. It is the value of money itself that has depreciated. That is not your fault. Don't let the the guilt of living in a Capitalistic society and the phony numbers of the Federal Reserve fool you. That house belongs to you and your family free and clear. Besides, no amount of money or gold will ever be able to allow you to replace a cherished family home that already is rightfully yours. Hold tight to what you got.
Palindromedary ~ Thanks for that background. Most enlightening. I can say I've had similar problems with similar results, especially with startup/shutdown issues. It isn't always a virus at fault.
That bit about UEFI is most enlightening! I didn't know about that evolution. Thanks! I did, however, know about "if it ain't broke don't fix it," philosophy concerning BIOS upgrades; and, just about everything else in the tech world. Like you, I routinely ignored that practical and logical advice. Besides when having a "problem" the current BIOS version could so easily be why newer peripherals aren't compatible. It is naturally the first trouble shooting step to resolve such issues in a economic way. A little tweaking here and there can save the time, energy, and the money to upgrade the entire system. I totally understand. It is a shame in this new world of technological miracles that older equipment is so automatically obsolete--far before it's time. Like the Grateful Dead said in their famous song, "Built to Last"... " Show me something Built to Last, something built to try..."
Hopefully, our technology will eventually bottom out where standards are adhered to and waste is discouraged. Our consumer society of today will certainly have to be modified before that type of a conservative technological utopia can be fully realized in the future.
Palindromedary ~ Again, you are preaching to the choir. (Sorry for the religious reference.) Just because Saudi's pulled off the impossible in the Pentagon attack doesn't mean too much. First of all, from your own sources, the pilot training was fully funded by Saudi Arabia. They can easily afford the best training. In addition, training in this country doesn't mean they weren't also trained in Saudi Arabia before coming here. Most important of all, closer observations of the crash raise questions as to whether or not the Pentagon was hit by a plane or a cruise missile dressed up to look like a plane. Almost any alternative explanation makes more sense than the official story.
Just because the official story is hard to swallow doesn't mean we should not consider more reasonable stories with an open mind. Having said that I would ask your oppinion on the death of JFK Jr. Check out this story:
http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/CRASH/JFK_JR/jj.php
Do you think a missle took out JFK's kid? Inquiring minds want to know. There are a lot of reasons to be suspicious of that so called, "accident."
DanneMarc: Yes, and Obama "claimed" to have "murdered" Osama Bin Laden. Yet OBL, most likely, had nothing to do with 911...he was framed...just like the alleged hijackers were, most likely, patsies.
Bandar (Bush) Sultan and his buddy George (Bandar) Bush had more to do with 911 than OBL. Even the alleged "hijackers" may have thought they were part of some operation; but, not necessarily one that entailed dying in airliners smashing into tall buildings. They may not have even hijacked those planes but could have just been passengers thinking they were on their way to another meeting. Some of those alleged hijackers were not even on those planes. Some showed up, after 911, in their countries of origin. Their deaths were greatly exaggerated...as Mark Twain would have said.
I believe the airliners were electronically hijacked by Neocon conspirators and remotely electronically guided to their targets. Those "hijackers" couldn't fly small craft let alone airliners! How do you find your way all the way back to New York and the Pentagon in Virginia and manage to accurately guide those planes, at those high speeds, to hit buildings, when you can't even fly a small plane very well? And that tight descending circle maneuver at the Pentagon was way too difficult even for experienced airliner pilots to handle. And we are expected to believe that someone who flunked out of flight school on small planes could pull these stunts off? No way!!!
It is even possible that the original airliner pilots could have been knocked out with remotely controlled gas injected into the cockpits. In fact, the whole airliner cabin could have gassed everyone on board...so they wouldn't be any trouble.
Everything else, phone calls, etc could have easily been faked. And cell phone calls couldn't have even worked at those altitudes back in 2001. The on-board phones would have worked but again they could have been faked. So, the fact that some calls were allegedly made from cell phones just adds to the many, many other things that didn't add up either. Glaring signs that something is rotten in the United States of America and their "official conspiracy theory".
DAnneMarc: Well, the HDD is a separate entity and gets it's initial commands in the POST operation from the BIOS/CMOS..which resides in a little chip on the Mother Board. Some just plug into a socket... others are soldered in. I've replaced the plug-in type..if you ever have problems with your computer and suspect the BIOS then there are companies that sell your brand of BIOS...eg: Phoenix or Award...etc...already programmed into the chip. But, if it is soldered in..that's tough! One can even get a burner and program ones own I suppose.
But, BIOS is rather dated anyway...that's been around quite a few years and now the latest rage is UEFI. BIOS has some limitations...like you can't use any drive larger that 2.2TB..unless you partition them into smaller partitions. I know because I bought a 3TB external drive for backups, and my system uses BIOS and not UEFI, and the 3TB didn't work the way I wanted.
BIOS uses MBR (master boot record)..UEFI uses GPT (GUID partition table). The BIOS points to the MBR and the UEFI points to the GPT both of which are on the HDD or SSD (Solid State Drive). And Bios uses 16 bit mode whereas UEFI uses 32 or 64 bit modes.
Of course one can "flash" ones BIOS with updated code which is always a bit risky.
'If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it." Even motherboard makers recommend not to mess with it if it is not having any problems. Not that I always follow that path. ;-} But, the most common problem is that the CMOS battery goes dead and one indication of that is if your computer won't keep correct time after restarting. The CMOS holds all the important settings that BIOS uses to boot up the computer.
BIOS is written in assembly language while UEFI is written in a higher level language called C (and that is barely a notch above assembly) which makes it a bit more readable and understandable..and it is platform independent whereas BIOS was very platform dependent. The O/S can interact with the UEFI and is not so hardware fussy as was BIOS. It's easy to customize as well.
UEFI started to appear right about 2002-2005 and because of some of the features I've mentioned it seems like UEFI would lend itself to easy manipulation by some government entities if they saw fit. While BIOS would probably not be easy, maybe impossible, to mess with remotely, I wonder about UEFI. BIOS was very touchy...if you messed with it...it broke..your computer broke...very obvious and disastrous results.
Yes, there are a lot of strange looking processes and services listed in Task Manager...which you can do a search on the internet for if you are curious. Are they rogue malware processes or just crummy memory and processor hogs wasting precious resources which slows down your computer...or spying on you, perhaps.
I recently had a problem where I couldn't start, then exit, the restart Firefox...even after I turned off all my extensions which are usually the cause. In order to start firefox again, I had to go to Task Manager and end the firefox process. I finally fixed the problem by doing Malwarebytes in Windows Safe mode and zapped that little sucker of a trojan. Evidently the trojan was keeping firefox process active after I thought I had exited it. I also learned that I could do a (firefox.exe -safe-mode) in Admin CMD window and reset firefox which helped initially to fix part of the problem. Now I can start and exit firefox all night and it won't lock up.
http://www.ilovefreesoftware.com/17/tutorial/what-is-uefi.html
"chuckle", I wouldn't feel too guilty if I were you. Just think how much of that tax money goes to the Pentagon and to corporate subsidies, for example... and the salaries, perks, benefits ad nauseam those deadbeats in Congress receive on a regular basis, at our expense! And how much are we picking up the slack for those tax breaks enjoyed by the richest Americans?! I'm only scratching the surface here, but you get my point. The government is not a wise investor and squanders our tax money on a myriad of unworthy causes. I'm glad you've been spared that burden as the heir to your mother's estate. I encourage you to ditch the guilt and just be thankful for your good fortune. You deserve those assets more than the bloody Pentagon. - Aliceinwonderland
Kend -- Are you saying because Canada has such a small contribution to climate change, they are not willing to help China and India bail out their sinking boat? I think putting a huge export tax on all the fuel
Canada exports would help a lot.
DAM -- My problem is that you said that by and large most inheritances have already been taxed. If my example applies to most inheritances (I think it applies to a lot of them) then most inheritances have not already been taxed.
My mother had a living trust. I have no problem except the guilt of not providing my government with the resources it needs. I could help the government on my own, but that would even provide less pressure on raising taxes on the rich.
DAnne with all due respect. My house is clean. Canada is only responsible for 1.6 % of the worlds green house gases. We could shut down everything and it would change nothing. We are also reducing those numbers every year. There is only 33 million people here compared to 1.2 billion in India. So again lets focus on the problem. India and China. The past is what is what it is again let's look at the future.
Kend ~ North America isn't the problem? The problem was originated in, perfected in, and exported by North America, Kend. Don't you think North America should take some of the blame for what is happening in China, India, and the rest of the industrialized world. After all, if three people are sitting in a boat that starts to sink it doesn't make any sense to waste time accusing each other of who caused the problem. Only by working together and baling is there any chance to survive the situation. Personally, I think the full responsibility for doing something about this problem falls on the shoulders of North America. Our innovation caused it; and, our innovation might just be able to resolve it. Before we clean our own house we are really in no position to point fingers at anyone.
Aside from that Happy healthy and prosperous New Year to you, too.
I am not saying global warming isn't happening. The earth has cooled and warmed for millions of years And it will continue do do so. What I am saying is North America isn't the problem China and India are and we should be focusing our attention on them.
What if the sceintists are wrong? They have been before. Many new studies from the universities up here are showing some different facts. The polar bear commercial showing they couldn't find ice was a lie. Maybe you are not old enough to remember when sceintist thought we should spray the Acrtic with insulation because the earth was cooling. Of course the science was wrong then.
Any way happy new year to all of you. It has been fun getting beat up by you all. I wish you all a healthy, happy, prosperous new year.
http://nypost.com/2013/12/15/inside-the-saudi-911-coverup/
Palindromedary ~ Thanks so much for repeating that news bomb shell. For your convenience I'm going to repeat my response:
Repeated post from Dec. 20, 2013 blog ~ As always you are a virtual fountain of information. Let's start with Saudi Arabia. Fascinating and quite unbelievable that this story could fly under the radar for over a decade. The Patriot act, undermining the Constitution and three illegal wars? Talk about a day late and a dollar short. We should also add our voices to the Congressional efforts and not beg but demand that President Obama release these documents. The man promised to prosecute the Bush Administration for war crimes if there was credible proof. That time has come and gone repeatedly so far; yet now, he is clearly implicating himself as an accessory if he buries this compelling official information. He either acts now; or, finds himself brought up on charges as an accessory by a future Administration, or, by the court system. Of course, if this information somehow implicates the Obama Administration as well he might have to cover it up. After all, it was Obama who also charged us into the war in Afghanistan. A war that is supposed to last another 10 years. In either case, a revelation that Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda had nothing to do with 911 isn't going to help his popularity much. It beats the hell out of a war crime rap though. In either case, I sure am glad I'm not in his shoes right now.
Kend ~ Just because there are larger than normal ice sheets floating around in the shipping lanes doesn't discredit global warming. Where do you think these ice sheets came from anyway? If they were created in the shipping lanes than your theory is credible. On the other hand, if they somehow broke off from melting glaciers and floated there while they continue to melt then you theory is incredibly flawed and misleading.
William Manners ~ Very good thoughts! I agree 100%.
Gary Reber ~ Although I agree with your conclusion, your implication that providing unemployment benefits to people is the problem it is both flawed an uncompassionate. First, the unemployed by far are not responsible for their situation. They had jobs and lives that were perfectly fine until Bill Clinton and his fascist friends plunged this country into the dimension of free trade by removing import tariffs that for centuries have been used by nations to protect their own citizens from just this kind of a disaster. Mass Unemployment was caused by a government who decided to put Corporate profits above it's own citizens well being. The people who have been victimized were stuck in lifestyles they had earned for themselves and their families. Their only means to maintain that lifestyle was removed by government policy; and, therefore, it is the government that is responsible for the consequences.
You are right when you say that unemployment compensation can be a habit forming lifestyle. However, encouraging people to seek any work possible by stripping them of their benefits is as impractical as it is inhumane. If you cannot understand the concept of human dignity then I question your own humanity.
The last thing the government should do is to cut benefits. There are so many other practical approaches to the problem then that. Like Thom suggested, the government can become the employer of last resort. Like you suggested the government could sponsor worker owned coops. Personally, I like the idea of ending free trade for ever and cutting off incentives for industrial flight. Any and all of these ideas can be accomplished without cutting benefits or disrespecting human dignity. If there is any hesitation for recipients to take advantage of new government sponsored employment opportunities it would be fine to make the acceptance of them a condition to receive benefits.
To cut massive benefits thinking that the unemployed will simply have to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps overlook the fact that the current unemployment problem was caused by powers far beyond the control of the individual. Personal responsibility begins and ends when the actions of the many victimize the lives of the few. FYI Human dignity assumes that all people are created equal and that it is right to extend the same respect and compassion to others that you would have them extend to yourself. Cutting unemployment benefits without ensuring any other income opportunity capable of paying peoples current bills would plunge a huge segment of society into a life of pauper servitude, permanent under compensation, abject poverty, and in many many cases, homelessness and death. Not only would it completely ignore the real causes of this problem; but, it would officially destroy the American way of life for everyone. Such a solution is irresponsible and intolerable in any advanced civilized society. It is also safe to say that such a course of action is nothing less than soft genocide.
Palindromedary ~ Apropos to #75 I see you were one step ahead of me and answered my question about BIOS hacking before I could ask it. (@ Post #74) Thanks!
Palindromedary ~ As always you are a virtual fountain of information. Let's start with Saudi Arabia. Fascinating and quite unbelievable that this story could fly under the radar for over a decade. The Patriot act, undermining the Constitution and three illegal wars? Talk about a day late and a dollar short. We should also add our voices to the Congressional efforts and not beg but demand that President Obama release these documents. The man promised to prosecute the Bush Administration for war crimes if there was credible proof. That time has come and gone repeatedly so far; yet now, he is clearly implicating himself as an accessory if he buries this compelling official information. He either acts now; or, finds himself brought up on charges as an accessory by a future Administration, or, by the court system. Of course, if this information somehow implicates the Obama Administration as well he might have to cover it up. After all, it was Obama who also charged us into the war in Afghanistan. A war that is supposed to last another 10 years. In either case, a revelation that Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda had nothing to do with 911 isn't going to help his popularity much. It beats the hell out of a war crime rap though. In either case, I sure am glad I'm not in his shoes right now.
Your computer hacking information was quite enlightening; though, I didn't quite understand all of it, I understood enough to realize what we are up against. Installing firmware in a motherboards BIOS is a most effective way of permanently compromising ones system. I take it that flashing the BIOS or resetting it has no effect? What about replacing it with the HDD together. It seems like the only way; however, if the string is set to load in the new operating system the BIOS could easily just be reloaded with it during set up. Henceforth, there is nothing that can be done about this problem short of finding an uncompromised operating system and/or writing your own. Furthermore, I see you mentioned Task Monitor; yet, you didn't mention how to identify any malicious tasks in the viewer. I find it hard to believe that the NSA would allow any malicious content to be observable so easily; especially, when it is embedded as far down as the BIOS and does it's main thing during the boot up sequence. I'm sure that if you knew any simply ways to check for malicious activities you would have included them; therefore, I must conclude that you simply want us to know what is going on and that there is little we can do about it other than learn to live with it?
Thanks for that heads up about crash reports. I've never allowed those things to be sent simply because I don't want Microsoft to have my information. I never dreamed it would also be beamed to the NSA; or, anyone else. Nevertheless, now I have more reason to be secretive. In the past, my experience has been that if there is a problem with my computer that I can't fix on my own I just have to wait for an upgrade, clean the system of the unwanted cause, or use a different computer. Computer crashes are common and occur for a variety of reasons. I have learned that those reasons usually involve something I caused and rarely involve the base software programming. Furthermore, sending information to developers is not going to help you get your system to work right. That is something that you have to do on your own. My motto has always been, "Back it up! And when in doubt FDISK it out!" The crash report only gives the illusions that someone is trying to help you.
https://media.blackhat.com/us-13/US-13-Butterworth-BIOS-Security-Slides.pdf
Although the problem with the liberal discussion is that they try to address current conditions while excluding a big chunk of the population - the poor. I suspect the reason that lib media, along with Dem pols, have been waving the Middle Class Only banner for years is to keep the middle class distracted from seeing how our policies against the poor have actually been phasing the middle class out. You can understand the importance of getting rid of the middle class once you consider the tremendous political power they can have (when they feel like using it). They have the means to organize, walk out, and bring US business to a halt, if they felt like it. This would address their immediate concerns, anyway, and slow the continued deterioration of the US. Still, history shows why and how this generation "blew it." This isn't the first time in our history when the richest few took a dangerous degree of power over govt, to everyone's (and the nation's!) harm. Each time in the past, the poor and middle class united to successfully push back, to the benefit of both. That can't happen this time, so it will be interesting to see how this all turns out.