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Mr Obama is acting more and more like a shill for the bigs! He reminds me of other polititians who will say whatever they think will please their audience. Actions, in my mind, speak louder than words--and if you ask me he's shouting at the top of his lungs "sui, sui, sui" to the top 1%. How dare he break the social security and medicare covenant! We have paid into these systems all of our working lives only to see our governemnt steal it away by stealth and slight of hand. Do we have an Uncle Barack in the White Cabin?
No, it doesn't. if it does, take it all from subsidies to big oil and the pentagon. Problem solved.
Lift the ceiling on income subject to Social Security taxes. Problem solved. No chained cpi needed.
What reality do you live in where social security is not a self funding insurance plan?
Don't blame the republcians for this. Obama always leads with OUR chin.
You can see from the previous poster that the lie of the deficit is driving force behind austerity, regardless of the fact that it is making the economies in Europe descend into depression...that, apparently is what our government wants as well.
The poster above has swallowed the bait hook line and sinker.Even tho SS ahs not added to the debt by one red cent. and Medicaid ahs already been slashed to the bone and no doctor wants to take Medicare anymore cause they'll go broke, they say. Meanwhile, I hope he's ready to find a good cardboard box to live in
I just wish the democrats would stop following this DINO president right off the cliff.
He seems to WANT a republcian House and Senate.
Robert Heinlein put it very well when he said not to trust liberals and others who were towards the middle. Those who are extremists will always stick with their principles, while those who are looking for a compromise will tend to bargain away their values "for a higher good."
Oh, and Mauiman 2, how much of the federal budget deficit is directly due to the social programs you mentioned? Or are they separately budgeted? And could at least some of them be indefinitely self-supporting with just a little tweaking--like taking the cap off contributions.to Social Security? Cutting the budget doesn't mean cutting everything equally; that's a meat ax approach that the sequester is taking and it's beginning to cause chaos. If you're going down that road, I'd suggest looking first at two pointless lost wars and what their continuance is costing us.
Why do you hate driving to San Diego ? My goodness the US Navy has all those nuclear powered subs and aircraft carriers that make our Navy the envy of the world. It's time that people like you and Thommy get things figured out that solar is a joke and the most expensive way to generate power on a sunny day. Wind is even worse are they only have a 20 yr life expectancy and a 50 yr payback. (It takes one technician to maintain 5 of them)
People always try and make any issue out of 3 Mile Island but the only problem was a cooling water valve stuck open which is why they shut down the reactor. There are no 3 headed cows walking around today becuz of this. People like you and Thommy get the movie China Syndrome with none other then Jane Fonda which was all fiction and not a single element of truth about what actually happened.
THe Russians had operators that performed a test they were told not to perform, this is what caused the incident.
The Japanese nuclear plant actually survived the earthquack and Tsunami. The emergency generators were in a bad location which did no allow them to operate and provide backup power.
France gets over 80% of their power from their nuclear plants. Germany is making a mistake in that they are going to buy natural gas from Putin and also in turn have to buy power from Frances nuclear power grid(France recycles their spent nuclear power rods by the way). China, India, and Tiawan are building new nuclear power plants to get away from the dirty coal fired plants. Our coal plants produce 20% more pollution then all the cars on the road in this country.
Lucky for us, we are building 3 nuclear power plants and some day, no more coal and will have cheap pollution free power that is available to you every day whether the wind is not blowing or the sun not shining,
Keep Obama's Sequestration in perspective
This from Taxpayers for CommonSense:
Binge Budgeting
Volume XVIII No. 14: April 5, 2013
Despite all the bellyaching over sequestration, Washington is doing little to change the federal spending diet that brought us to this point. In fact, a number of options on the legislative menu would actually expand the appetite for deficit spending while doing nothing to trim our bulging national debt.
For example, agriculture special interests have re-emerged this spring to demand a bigger piece of the budget pie. In the farm bill, they’re pushing a number of potentially budget-busting “shallow loss” dishes with innocuous lo-cal names like ARC, SCO, STAX, and RLC. These belly busters would spoon out taxpayer dollars when agricultural businesses miss their income projections by as little as 10 percent—even if they’re still turning a profit. Lawmakers are also cherry-picking folks they want to get better seats at the table, with special mandates for federally subsidized crop insurance policies for producers of catfish, peanuts, popcorn, and poultry. All this in spite of agriculture having experienced—even before you count crop insurance payouts from the drought—its second most profitable year in a generation, a mark it’s expected to beat this year. The agriculture committees should work at making the agricultural safety net more cost-effective and transparent, not simply expanding the entrees at a taxpayer-subsidized buffet.
Turning to energy policy, a few more dishes will load taxpayers up on empty spending calories. The Energy Department (DOE)’s Title XVII Loan Guarantee program continues to saddle taxpayers with risky investments that Wall Street won’t stomach. Yet DOE just announced plans to finalize an $8 billion loan guarantee for a nuclear reactor in Georgia this summer, despite the project’s numerous cost overruns and technical challenges. The closed-door deal is years in the making, but instead of pulling the plug, DOE continues to keep our $8 billion handout on the table. We’ve already seen what happened when the $500 million dollar Solyndra project went bust: Taxpayers can’t afford to risk billions on this risky reactor. And it’s not just loan guarantees. DOE’s Inspector General recently released an audit report detailing the indigestion caused by the Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage program. At a time when agencies need to do more with less, DOE is actually reducing beneficiaries’ share of costs for flailing projects that bit off more than they could chew.
But no current legislation leaves a more bitter taste in a fiscal conservative’s mouth than the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) passed by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. There is a legitimate need to invest in our nation’s ports, rivers, and water systems. Yet the appetite of these projects’ beneficiaries (states, cities, port authorities, barge companies) to pay for them is shallow. This is why the federal government established consistent rules for sharing costs with beneficiaries in 1986. It turns out that when a project beneficiary has to contribute their share to the potluck, they are less inclined to super-size the project, or even find that they’re not even hungry.
WRDA is chock full of changes that would increase the tab for federal taxpayers. It makes taxpayers responsible for maintaining ports up to 50 feet deep (the Feds now pick up 100% of the cost down to 45 feet, with local ports kicking in half the costs for maintenance at deeper levels). It also would make federal dollars available for dredging not just the harbor channel, but private berths. It’s as if your city decided to not just plow snow from the road, but also from your driveway, for free. It allows the transfer of excess non-federal cost share—when the value of the land a city, or state provides for a project exceeds the required dollar amount for that project—to other projects, which could keep some deadbeat projects alive. And a number of provisions appear narrowly tailored to relieve costs for a narrow set of communities.
Washington will never trim its debt waistline unless it does more with less. Requiring those who benefit from federal dollars to put some of their own skin in the game is an effective way to ensure good investments. Washington needs to respond to sequestration by making hard decisions, saying no, and pushing back from the table, not by turning the budget into a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.
Sorry Louise, the Federal budget has to be cut by at least 15%, and some of that has to come out of social security, medicare, and medicaid. That's reality, whether you like it or not!
The monotheistic neurosis takes many forms, and has a strong appeal to the conservative mind, which requires a constant level of fear to maintain the survival of its belief system. As the level of fairness increases in a society, so does the level of violent thought -- and probably, action -- among the ever decreasing number of these extremists. And, the targets of attack become ever more random. Ultimately, this works against their favor.
Forget pointing out the sections of our Constitution that forbid the establishment of a state religion at any level of government: they won't listen because they are sure it doesn't apply to them. Let's just keep moving forward toward equal rights for all. People are leaving the established churches in droves and are, generally, all the better for it.
This is an excellent idea! Does it abolish the Electoral College and institute the National Popular Vote as the basis for Presidential/Vicepresidential election?
An increase to at least 80% of the minimum wage, indexed to the cost of living. Plus healthcare and paid sick leave. Paid sick leave is less expensive than the coming lawsuit from a customer who became ill from having their food handled by a sick employee.
always manufacturing self-gratification by 'helping out the little guy'. is this you're unbiased thinking process ? please review a Fast Food Restaurant P&L (that's profit & LOSS statement). try buying a bun..meat..cheese..condiments..a paper wrap..bag..napkin, then pay someone to take the order..cook the meat..assemble sandwich.. present to customer and charge 99-cents. make sure you pay for lights..rent..water..and commericals to tell everyone about your sandwich. Stop -thinking that every employer is: Bernie Madoff ! 'payroll'...is a 'controllable'... on the P&L. there are Lots of ..non-controllable expenses. i understand Your Side. why can't you understand My Side ?
According to KEN WARE, VIOLENCE IS THE ANSWER to our problems.
Yes KEN WARE lets all take up weapons and storm the Corporate Government. You lead the way since you are so gung-ho and are a junky for killing. Ya gota taste for blood shed 45 years ago, and you need a fix...Didn't kill enough people in Viet Nam!?!?! Then again you were a pilot that just dropped bombs from waaaaaaay up in the sky. You didn't get to personally see people's body parts strewn about. You didn't get to hear the screams from children as their skin melted off them, or a parent holding their dead baby.
How's your grandson??? Are you ready and willing to sacrafice him? I'll bet you'll be so proud when he decides to be another pawn in the war machine, that's if he doesn't get blown away first in your war.
'Nother soldier, 'Nother Sucker.
As for pacifist and Non Violent Action...You Ken Ware are ignorant.
It helps to understand that whites who feel entitled to maintain (rescue?) the dominance of the white social paradigm or who are convinced that anyone who challenges their beliefs, prejudices, or resentments is an Enemy of the State. Such people have no interest in democracy or in embracing the diversity implied by democracy; they simply want to attain and keep privilege.
Republicans see their strategy as they have seen it since the Southern Strategy was launched: (1) support only policies that benefit the wealthiest sponsors of the Party--the rich must make the rules; (2) avail itself of white prejudices, resentments, and hate by pandering to them, on the assumption (proven valid) that such pandering will appeal so much to the need for validation of these emotions that whites will overlook the destructive, anti-democratic policy agenda.
Lately, whites (including religious fanatics) have been demanding more than lip service; hence, the GOP has redoubled its efforts fo produce results: make abortion as difficult as possible; restrict voting as much as possible to the angry white male; demonize blacks and (undocumented) immigrants; and pander to homophobia.
As (was it Jim Lindsey?) a Southern politician once observed, the value strategy is beginning to peter out: the GOP is running out of angry, white males.
My friend and her husband moved to N.C, two years ago when they retired from the Teevision Industry in SoCal. Her son - a grown man now who is a straight, good-looking previous model for men's clothing, and is a straight A student in college there. Because he used to live and work in Hollywood, CA, he is being discriminated against because of his photogenic looks, his Straight-A determination to get a degree in something that's more likely to lead to a good job in something more than his good looks gave him here (which, by the way, was lucrative). He is being bullied, even at his older age - students are leaving him gay slurs on his locker, cornering him in college bathrooms and insulting him - all because he used to make a lot of money at something most of these ignorantly-raised bigots are inwardly jealous of, and seem to want to ruin his reputation and wish to punish him for having once lived a lifestyle in Hollywood - one that most of those Evangelical Yahoos can only dream of...
North Caroline is filled with Evangelicals who take great pride in being ignorant of common sense and the ability to respect the difference of those who come from a more sophisticated background. This young man has fallen in love with a girl there, and now they are calling her "Queer-lover" and lots of other names I cannot repeat here. It makes perfect sense that N.C. has no morals when it comes to competition with someone who has seen more of life than any of them willl ever know - and survive without becoming less, rather than more than any of the rest of them.
THIS is what these southern, religious states - who's "moral" conduct is far more reprehensible and damaging to themselves, and to those who come from a different culture - offer to the rest of us who walk through fire to become what we desire to be - accepted, and to fall in love without being branded with lies and abused for having been lucky in life in a different culture from the West Coast.
The Federal Courts need to reign in these rogue, 18th Century thinking idiots, and drag them kicking & screaming into the 21st Century where the real world is not something you reject... you learn to conquer the bad parts of it and become REAL, strong people, instead of being enslaved to an antiquated religion which will hurt everyone more than it helps them adjust.
The Constitution gives us freedom from and to religion - but it does NOT permit them the right to badger, berate, accuse and disrespect those who can teach them about the real world their churches fear the most.
Education is empowerment, and when that happens, it endangers control of the congregations. CONTROL is the real reason these N.C. bigots pass it on from one generation to another. It needs to stop. The South can only rise again if it;s done with education - not rhetorc that divides rather than unite this republic into a great union which benefits us all.
akunard..thanks..I read it..interesting!
Ken Ware ~ I don't know why people feel the need to have a religion other than my socio/psychological explanation. People tend to have an inherant psychological need for confirmation. Some, like myself, need confirmation from a God that is unseen; others, like many members of religious institutions, need public confirmation from other people. In my opinion, people who have a need for religion, need confirmation from other people. Fortunately, my Faith, frees me of this need.
As far as getting a gun and practicing my shooting is concerned... I had a bee bee gun when I was a child. I became quite a proficient shot at a very young age. Once I decided to use my skills on a living target--a Robin Redbreast in a tree in our yard. I hit the bird with the first shot under its left wing. The bird spiraled to the ground 10ft in front of me. An overwhelming sensation of remorse consumed me. I cradled the bird in my arms--despite being violently bitten--and brought it into the house. I spent several weeks desperately trying to heal the wound on the bird--feeding it with an eye dropper with a water and sugar solution with the help of my father. My father, a WWII War veteran stated that he was greatly relieved that I felt as bad as I did. I carry the scar and overwhelming remorse for that act to this day. I will carry that grief to my grave. There are no actions I regret more in my life than that.
No, my friend! There is no need for me to seek arms of any kind. I assure you that I am not capable of shooting another bird, or certainly any human being. Right now I am in tears retelling this story. I'd prefer to be shot myself.
With my faith I believe that if I ask God for the power to move a mountain, you can kiss that mountain goodbye. Be I right or be I wrong, I have no fear that if I err, I err on the side of righteousness. If I fall, I fall in righteousness. I accept my fate--be it in eternal life with God, or eternal oblivion--at least it will be free of the horrors you've described seeing in downtown Los Angeles. I will carry my Faith to my grave with me as well! I will also never regret this decision!
May God bless us all, Brother! Enjoy your meal! Pleasant dreams!
Faith in God is an opiate to be used when needed, whatever religion or god you believe in my friend.
Why do people feel they have to have a religion? Is it because they were brought up a certain way and have inherited their religion or do believers feel a need as they grow older to believe they will live forever in a spiritual kingdom? Is it a primal need or desire to believe you will never die and will not return to star dust for infinity and the fear of non-existence is too much for the human brain to except, since we are the only mammal or living organism that can foresee ones end. Do you need a blueprint to follow or guide you in life in order to be productive and orderly? Do you think mankind is inherently "evil" and you need some supreme being to keep you in line through the threat of going to hell or just returning to the start dust you evolved from if you fail to follow the orders handed down thousands of years ago? Have you had some type of spiritual experience in your mind and now have seen the light of following rules written by people decades or longer after they thought they had found the true meaning of god?
Why all this uproar over religion and whether a state should decide on a religion? Is it not the relationship between your "God" and yourself which is the true meaning of your religion? So why are you all so angry over a bunch of yahoo's who have the backing of their backward voting population to say what they think their state religion should be? Do you really care what these characters say and are you really afraid this will set a precedence in this country?
Religion of any and all types have been the basis of more wars and deaths of innocence in this world than any other reason throughout time, so why are you all up in arms over something so destructive as religion. Religion is the opiate of the people and also the reason so much hate abounds around us. From the Crusades and Spanish Inquisition to the Radical Muslims like the Taliban and El Qaeda in the scope of modern history. To the mass wars and killings that took place many thousands of years ago, because one group worshipped a different god then the other. We have all read the historical accounts of all the wars and mass killings because of a difference of religious ideals and here we see it again, stirring up more hate, anger and distrust over a need to establish the true religion. Is it fear that you might be wrong and your neighbor next door or in the next country might somehow have a belief that threatens your own small minded belief system.
Too hell with all religions and the zealots who have to hold onto the brain-washed idea that they worship the only true religion and "God". As you might have guessed I believe anyone who holds onto the idea that there is some supreme being out there who really gives a damn about mankind is a fool in all ways. Go to war and tell me where you see your god and his goodness and I say you will find none. No, it has nothing to do with war; I was just using that as an example. Go to down town Los Angeles where you will see (30,000) poor, hungry and medical needy adults and children and I see no god protecting these innocence (children) living in cars and boxes. You can all keep your little narrow minded conceptions of a deity that created man and all of his woes. We evolved, we were not created this way and to make so much noise and hatred over religion, just points out why I think you are all foolish if you argue over a religion and whether a state should decide what to call their state's religion. Much to do about nothing in the real world, except for those who are so weak minded they need some deity to call upon so they will live beyond physical life and the end which will call upon us all at some time in our existence here on planet Earth. Hate, war, intolerance and the downfall of man can all be linked to some religion or another. No thank you, when you die you die, so make the most of life while your here and stop the nonsense of arguing over a state and its people having the right or not the right to say what their state religion should be called. After all, you’re going to believe whatever you choose to and it will not be the state who decides that in the end, unless you allow them to influence you and then you deserve what you will get. Seperation of state and religion should be the last thing to worry about in todays America. Get over this nonsensical argument over religion; you have better things to worry about, like what you will have for breakfast tomorrow! Leave religion in your bedroom like your sex life and we will all get along much better with less bullshit to argue about....Ken Ware. - My choice of religion is called life, without the added bull of religion. Please do yourself a favor and do not bother to comment on my comments, you will just get angry and you will try to prove your point and I could not careless what you believe. Ask DeAnnMarc or Palindromedary how much I care about someone else's comments and then you will not waste your time responding about your religious beliefs or the lack of in my case! I just read all the B.S. on this subject and had to add my two cents before I have dinner.
DeAnnMarc - Get yourself a gun and practice your shooting, because your words have less impact on the President or the Wealthy who own Washington and your just voicing hot air that will go no further than this little read blog of Thom's (maybe 30 comments a day!). Come up with some real plan to change this President and his bill of Austerity called Sequestration on the poor or join a group that will do something that will have a physical change on this society. I read what the few who comment on this blog had to say about weapons and it was all a list of bullshit, biases and hot air. Pacifists have done nothing to change anything in this country, it is boots on the ground in the street that makes a difference. And, you seem young enough to get involved if you have the brass to actually change this society, as you keep exclaiming you want to. And as far as just meeting once a month to make your fellow Americans feel better and complain about the government is just about as worthless as being a pacifist in my opinion. You know what I feel needs to be done, lets see what happens in the coming years and who is doing what is needed for change. Pacifist politics is what has gotten us all in the situation we now face as a nation. Maybe your god will reach down and change the world for you and your type of politics. Violence is the only thing that anyone in power or out of power understands and fears. The type and method of delivery is up to the people to decide, anything less is fruitless in the end...
Google, how obama wan his us senate seat by robert wenzel
I am firmly against this legislation. I am a faithful believer; and I'd pit my faith against any man on the planet, including the Pope(s).
One must distinguish between Religion and Faith. Religion is basically a social institution that satisfies the human psychological need to explain the unexplainable. Humans are the only species on the planet that are aware that they will die. The need for reassurance of the continuation of conscious after death is the prime reason religious institutions exist in all societies.
Faith is the belief of the individual. As a person who claims a unique relationship with The Spirit I can declare that God wants us to come to him of our own free will. Anything else is false faith. I can assure you that the motive behind this religious legislation is conjured up by a church composed of people with charlatan inspired false faith. These members only gain 'spiritual' award when seen of many of their conjugation. They seek human approval and desire to inflict their 'culture' on others. Their faith is demonic in origin and dangerous to the American public at large.
I have found that often in our society, the greatest potential for pure faith exists among confirmed atheists. Ironically, this group has completely cast out any hope for the hypocritical religious institutions. In fact, this is the greatest first step anyone of faith needs to take before they can discover God. Ask yourself how many atheists you know who live by the law of God and justify themselves by saying, "Oh, well that's just common decency." Or, "That's the way I want to be treated." Or, "Well, that's just common sense." Yet, does not an omnipotent God also adhere to the laws of common sense?
As Jefferson and Madison concluded, any mixture of Church and State would be catastrophic to both Church and State. They were correct. It is imperative that in order to save the Church and the State that we must separate them. They can thrive and reach their separate goals best alone.
Faith is an issue that can only be addressed by the individual and God. If the State intervenes in anyway it will further discourage divine faith in God as well as sovereignty of the State. This president must be nipped in the bud before these power mad religious zealots get a firm foothold in public legislation. Once that occurs the total destruction of our Democracy will not be far away.
The time has come for the true Faithful and the true Atheist to put aside their petty differences and join forces to stop this tragedy in its tracks.
Just goes to show that extremist religious fundamentalism in any form is possible everywhere. The very idea of some arrogant self-rightous dilusional dufus insisting that others subscribe to his or her patheticly ignorant beliefs, or face corporal- or capital-punishment -- is the most abhorant situation I can imagine in civil society. Relatively pacifist, this issue could quickly get me to grab a weapon.
But if raised in an environment saturated with scoundrels claiming access to some god's holey-word, why shouldn't such truths be the foundation for civil society? The premis becomes self-justifying, no matter the source.
Which explains why "religious-issues" are most likely used to divide-and-conquor people; and to initiate and maintain ongoing wars of economic conquest. Makes you wonder how primitive we really still are on this planet.
Outback, I just read your reply from Tuesday. In answer to your assumption that I'm in denial about the very real possibility of needing a gun to protect myself during a house intrusion.....I in fact have an early warning system that I don't care to go into detail about. The thing about shooting someone is that the someone, "intruder," in my area anyway, would most likely be a strung out teenager on meth, bath salts, crack or something. I have other ways of dealing with this should it happen and no one dies. I don't want to be the person that shot a community member's troubled kid. I'd have to move if this happened and that's not an option.