"Trickle down economics....."

Jesus, more politics?  Really?  Yes... more politics.  I have a link to one of my home town news papers and there is a place where you can comment, discuss, or argue about the content of any or all of the articles.  As usual, politics is quite the hot bed and people get real mad real fast these days.

Anyhow, the original topic was something about local politics, which lead to national topics, which lead to all of the usual suspects.  Of course the President was brought up, his history, blah blah blah.  Naturally Bush was brought up along with his history.

Obama's unprecedented spending got whirled around like a pin wheel at a kindergarteners birthday party in a wind storm.  Naturally a lot of the numbers being knocked around were not traceable to any facts, as so often happens.  As equally likely, someone rushed to the defense of the President by calling "racism".

I'm not going to go any further with all of that silliness.  But I have to bring up how far back people are willing to go.  And I guess its okay, but "trickle down economics" was brought up.  Not only was it brought up but it was elaborated upon at great length.  Defend, deflect... but nobody take responsibility.

During the economic diatribe, we were told that only republicans are rich and only republicans benefit from these policies.  I simply asked, "where do rich democrats in office make their money?" and the person blew an o-ring.  This person started calling me names, tried to insult my family....  Mind you, they never answered the question.  That is normally where these things end up.  Somehow responsibility is always put on previous administrations.  (Liberals and conservatives alike did this during the last administration but just don't remember it too well.)

Here's the kicker, people.  I don't give a hairy rats ass who is in office.  You can spin it any way you want to, but I prefer to see this in a very simple manner.  As long as our politicians and media are going to be pinning us against each other, we are going to have a problem.  As long as we and our politicians sit and point fingers and lay blame without offering solutions to problems, our asses will stay right here.  We've gotten lazy.  Well, not us as much as our representatives.  We are paying these people to do nothing but throw fits like they do on elementary school play grounds.  They won't hold themselves accountable and it appears that we won't either.  Its just far easier to talk shit, point fingers and deal with the same thing election after election, day after day.

The only way we can hold these assholes accountable is to vote them out.  Here's were party line affiliation comes in.  Most republicans are going to vote republican, most democrats vote for democrats and we end up with the same turds in the same sewer.

No wonder why things don't get handled.  Look who we elect and re-elect from the bottom up!

While I'm on the subject....

A "friend" gave me a ration of shit over my post on Senator Bernie Sanders.  It appears as if I struck a chord.  The bit was full of opinion, no doubt, but there were  some verifiable facts and I think I paid enough attention to the hypocrisy that seems abundant in politics.  For what it's worth, my "friend" believes I  chose to pick on Sanders because he isn't a conservative.  That's not the case at all. I chose him because he is a politician who is full of shit and enamored with himself.  Actually, after a discussion with another friend, she suggested I write about my feelings regarding the esteemed gentleman.

In fairness, I'd like to say a few words about Senator Mitch McConnell.  Pretty much everything I said about Sanders is applicable to McConnell but of course McConnell sits across the isle from Senator Sanders.

Right off the bat, one thing that irks the ever loving shit out of me about Senator McConnell is, he too thinks he can feel what the middle class feels.  He thinks he understands.  Now, its not so much that he feels this way, but this cat is way wealthier than Senator Sanders is.  Depending on sources, McConnell is worth between $9 million and $36 million dollars.  And in my opinion, that moves him well beyond an understanding of what the middle and lower classes are going through.  Honestly, do you think this guy goes grocery shopping?  Do you think he knows what a gallon of milk costs?  How about toilet paper? Fuel?  I'd venture a guess that he doesn't know what his power bill costs.  I think someone else is writing that check and I don't think the good Senator has enough time in his busy schedule to do a personal expense audit.  I'd also venture a guess that he hates the word audit and wants nothing to do with an audit... unless he is to impose one on a democrat.

This guy has been in politics for about 30 years.  As a new comer in 1985, the Senator stepped into a then very cushy position that earned him a little over $75k a year.  Since then, McConnell climbed the ranks and nowadays senators make $174k a year.  He being who he is and the position he now holds, you can add on an additional $19k - $20k. 

Mitch McConnell is comfortable.  Way comfortable.  After all this time in office, he has a lot of insulation.  He's made connections that are making him money outside of politics.  It's a given and everyone whose been in politics this long is just like him!

Yeah, he's just like you and me.  I bet he doesn't get his suits from Mens Wearhouse, because he doesn't like their style.  His suits are taylor  made.  I bet he has more than 2 tuxedos.  I'll call my mechanic and see how many tuxedos he has... wait a second.  No I won't because Roy is a crafty man and one hell of a mechanic (Roy's Auto, Jackson Wyoming 733-6616).

And don't get me wrong.  I am not jealous of his wealth or that of the other couple hundred millionaires in congress.  This isn't about the redistribution of their wealth either.  I'll make my own shuckles.  This is about people who have no clue what your life is like and they are trying to convince you that they do.  They are nothing like you and they don't have a clue as to what real America is going through and don't ever let them fool you.

Why I disagree with Bernie Sanders....

A quote from the esteemed and benevolent gentleman, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)



I didn't get interested in politics until late in life.  Now only a short time later I find myself on the precipice of not giving a shit at all.  I find all things politics becoming more and more frustrating and I'll tell you why.  It is more difficult to find the truth in anything any politician says.

As time goes on, I see less honor and less integrity in our nations politicians as a whole.  I see people who have been in politics at one level or another who have become very comfortable holding office.  Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is a great example of what I am talking about.

Senator Sanders, like a lot of his constituents have been in politics for a long time.  I believe at one point they either thought they could make a difference or, they knew the job would be filled with great pay and benefits.  Often the earlier would morph into the latter and you now have a person "holding down a position" rather than a person "doing a job".  I am also of the belief, regardless of your party affiliation, the longer you stick around the more of a party line official you become.  And, its those party lines that dictate what you say (and or do) at any particular time.  Because of this and labeling, the nation will eventually become so polarized that everything ends up being a fight.  This is where we stand today.

Senator Sanders, in true party line fashion is furthering the polarization by pointing fingers.  A true leader, (if there are any from either party) would step up, acknowledge that they are part of the problem and do something about righting the ship.  But here in lies the problem.  Their party lines will not allow them to meet in the middle.  This has to be "us versus them", and we the lemurs buy into it time and time again.  We keep electing the same people and we keep expecting change.

Following a strong line for democrats, the esteemed gentleman from Vermont does what his constituents do.  He tells you (the middle class) that he knows what you are going through.  Senator Sanders has been in political  office for 40 years. He was elected into the House in 1991 and then the Senate in 2006-2007.  In the last 8 years, the guy has made at least $1 million dollars from the tax payer (and who knows how much elsewhere).  How much money have you made during the last 8 years?  Senator Sanders is going to try to lead you to believe he understands what it is like to have to make the decision between buying much needed medicine, or pay the power bill. He wants you to believe that he knows what its like to try to scrounge up enough money for gas in order to get to work in the morning.  Senator Sanders will look you in the eye and tell you that he believes that income inequality is a problem... but at the same time is doing nothing bout it.  It would go a great deal towards his integrity and honor if he donated $100k of his salary to middle and lower class families that are scraping by, and it would also put him back in line with the people he says he really understands.

In short, Senator Sanders is just like his friends in DC.  He is "fighting" for the middle class.  What that really means is, he wants you to believe he is really fighting, but has nothing to show for it...  except for his good word and that is why you should keep him in office...

It could be coincidental, but we all know that the VA is in a real rough spot.  Did you know that Bernie Sanders is Chairman for the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs?

I'll close with this.  Politics is a popularity contest.  The longer you're around, the more people you meet.  The more people you meet, the more you realize that there are things you can do for them and in return, they for you.  All of a sudden, you're a hell of a guy within your party and everyone loves you....  These people have lost touch with all of America and they truly forgot why they went into politics to begin with, unless they are a con-artist.  Nobody wants to solve a problem.  They've convinced themselves that if they solved a problem they might be talking their way out of a pay check.

Fire them all...

What's wrong with America?

 

What's wrong with America?  I've heard a lot of people take that question on.  I didn't think I had a clue, until today.  Today, 30 seconds after walking into the convenience store, I found the answer to that very question.  (Turns out, I do some of my best thinking in the convenience store.  I should probably hang out there more often.)

30 seconds after I walk into the store and begin to pour myself a soda, I watch a young girl trying to pour herself an Icee.  Her brother who appeared to be about the same age got away with the task.  And truthfully, there is a bit of skill involved.  You can easily screw around and shoot cherry Icee all over the store if you aren't careful.  Well, the little lady was not careful and that was obvious because she was wearing about a quart of Cherry Icee.  Problem was, the cup could have only held about a pint....

That is not what is wrong with America.

As the little girl sits there with this semi frozen red shit all over her face, arms, shirt, counter, floor and Icee machine she says... "Daddy, it's not my fault...."  And she said it over and over again as if trying to convince her father that the fucking Icee machine went bat shit crazy for a minute and tried to puke red shit on everything and every body.

The problem with America is, people don't take responsibility for the shit they do.  Now, I'm not saying you have to kick the shit out of this little girl to make the point, but I do think you owe it to yourself (if your her parent) to say, "It is your fault because the lever didn't pull itself...."  No big deal, right.  Don't make a big deal out of it.  It's a spilled slurpee, but make sure she understands that it was indeed her fault that half of the convenience store was shellaced in red slurpee.






Now what kind of made me chuckle is this.  She looks at her daddy while he is busy going through about 7 lbs of napkins trying to clean her up and asks, "Daddy, can I have another cup?''  Daddy grabs her another cup and lets her have another go.....  I almost flipped my wig!

I would have told her, "well sugar, no you can't have another cup because there is nothing wrong with the other cup.  You get the other cup with only 1 table spoon of red shit in it.  You can then have yourself a good cry in the back seat of the car, tell me you hate me, and then "accidentally" spill half of the tablespoon of red shit all over my car's window and door panel."

You've got to say something other than, "I know it wasn't your fault...."  You have to say something else!!!  I don't care if it's "Jaeger bomb, pizza fart" but you do not allow this kid to think for one second, that this was not her fault.  I don't care if it takes half a day in lawn chairs staring at the slurpee machine, waiting for it to go bat shit crazy, like your little angel would have you believe happened earlier.

If you're a god damned American, you stand up as a parent and say something to your kid when things like this happen.  If you don't, your kid grows up, runs for office, gets elected, screws everything up and looks you dead in the eye and says, "It's not my fault...."