"D.C. HYPOCRISY" SHOULD BE A FOUR-LETTER WORD

…Joe Lieberman, the ultimate hypocrite, campaigning for John McCain






The antics of the politicians in Washington would be laughable if they weren’t so tragic.

In regard to the latest brouhaha over President Obama bowing to the Emperor of Japan, former Vice President Richard Cheney now says that; “No leader of the United States should ever bow to another world leader”. How quickly and conveniently he forgets?

In my past 30+ years in international business, I spent much of it working with various large Japanese and Asian companies. Bowing to the high-level management person you are meeting in Japan or Asia is a normal sign of mutual respect. Yes, the level of the bow is somewhat in relation to the status level of the individuals. However, the proper overall protocol is that you should bow to where you can look “eye to eye” with the other person as you are both bowing. As the Emperor of Japan is very short and President Obama is very tall, based on proper protocol, the president was required to bow somewhat lower than the Emperor. This has nothing to do with acting weak or being subservient.

And as to other presidents bowing and respecting other world leaders:

• George W. Bush bowed low at Hirohito’s funeral and to his casket. (And Hirohito had approved the bombing of Pearl Harbor.)

• Bush and Cheney both kissed the Saudi King and held his hand while walking in the palace gardens.

• Richard Nixon bowed low to Chairman Mao in China

And as to showing respect for other world leaders:

• What about when US President George H.W. Bush fainted after vomiting into the lap of the then Prime Minister of Japan, Kiichi Miyazawa?

• And then there was his son, US President George W. Bush, attempting to give the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, an inappropriate shoulder massage at the G8 Summit Meeting.

Now there’s showing some “real respect” !


AND EVEN MORE HYPOCRISY:

>>> The always “Pro-Life” claiming Republicans on the Hill continue to yell that the health care reform plan has a round-about way in paying federal money for abortions.

But POLITICO just reported that the Republican National Committee (RNC) employees insurance company covers RNC employee’s abortions. The SIGNA insurance company has said that they had asked the RNC if they wanted to “Opt-Out” of the abortion provision, but the RNC apparently said that they wanted it left in their policy. Therefore, it appears that the RNC headquarters was supporting their insurance paying for “a woman’s choice on abortion” for all of the RNC’s women employees. Now that’s “pro-life” hypocrisy.

>>> In a speech from President Bush after 9/11, he said: “If we as Americans show fear, then al Qaeda has won.” Then we went and invaded a country that had not attacked the United States. And the reason given for the invasion was based on the administration’s trumped-up “fear” of what Saddam “might do” to the United States. (This hypocrisy has cost over a million lives and Trillions of US dollars.)

In addition, today the Republicans are displaying their strong “fears” if the insurgent detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Prison (Gitmo) are actually brought to New York City for a jury trial.

>>> The GOP wants to try the remaining Guantanamo detainees in a military tribunal at Gitmo instead of bringing them to New York City for a trial by jury in the city of the scene of the crime. The US justice system has already tried and found guilty 195 terrorists and they have been put away in various “Maximum Security Prisons” around the country. There have only been 3 military tribunals to date at Gitmo, and the Bush administration already released 520 detainees before the end of 2008. A number of these previous Gitmo prisoners have since returned to the battlefields in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The reason for the civilian trials is very fundamental. The United States was not at war when the 9/11 attacks occurred. Just as with the first attack on the Twin Towers, a terrorist attack is a criminal act, not a military issue. The prisoners were not captured by military personnel. They were arrested by the CIA and FBI personnel on foreign soil. In addition, war cannot be declared on a group such as al Qaeda. Wars are between nations, not groups or individuals. As an example, if someone from Germany committed an act of terror in the US and fled the country, when caught, they would be brought back to where the crime was committed. They would then be tried in that location by a jury of their peers. That is the law as is stated in the US Constitution.

Due to the damage that has been caused by the building of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and its subsequent torture, having a jury trial is what would be the beginning of showing the world that the US is back to sticking up for its values. Gitmo was a wonderful recruiting tool for al Qaeda and it needs to be closed ASAP. (Gitmo is the ultimate hypocrisy of a then so-called “democratic America”.)

>>> The Republicans continue to lie about the government coming between a citizen and their doctor with the current Democrat’s health care reform proposal. That is totally untrue. But the GOP feels that it is perfectly fine for a private “for-profit” insurance company to come between the patient, the doctor and the hospital and to restrict or drop a patients coverage. (This hypocrisy needs no further comment.)

>>> The Republicans continue to scream about government getting involved with American’s lives. But they will totally support the government coming between any woman that might choose to have a legal abortion. (Ditto to above comment.)

>>> For months, Republicans leaders of both the House and the Senate have verbally stated that no one should be denied health care due to a pre-existing condition. Those leaders included; House Minority Leader John Boehner, Senator Tom Coburn and Representatives Eric Cantor and Mike Pence. However, the Republican health care reform package that was introduced by Mr. Boehner 3 weeks ago does NOT deal with the issue of Americans with pre-existing conditions. (The hypocrite insurance companies that wrote the GOP reform plan didn’t want to deal with that issue.)

>>> A friend that just happens to be gay once said to me that; ”Straight people are really dumb if they think that gay people would actually have chosen to be gay.” But Minority Leader John Boehner still insists that he believes that sexual orientation is a matter of personal choice, not genetics. For this reason, Mr. Boehner recently spoke out against the Hate Crimes Bill passed in the House earlier this year. Apparently, the Minority Leader thinks that if you are gay you deserve to be hated by people like himself. (Oh that’s right, Republicans don’t believe in science.)

>>> Tim Pawlenty, Republican Government of Minnesota just had to do a little fear-mongering on the health care reform legislation. Pawlenty has told MSNBC's Joe Scarborough that the worries about the so called “death panels” in the Democrat’s bill "are not an irrational concern". He also said that bringing up the possibility that “the government might someday kill off grandma is not a crazy idea."

All this noise is just about the end of life discussions with your doctor that had already been approved as part of the Medicare Plan D program that the Republicans approved in 2007. (Amazing…..and Tim Pawlenty is supposed to be one of their best potentials for president in 2012.)

>>> But the height of D.C. Hypocrisy is today’s very rare “Indedemocan” (pronounced: “In-de-demo-can”). This rare political figure is a combination of part Independent, part Democrat and part Republican.

Actually, there is only one of these in the US Congress today. That individual is; Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman, the current “Indedemocan” Senator of Connecticut.

THE MAKING OF A INDEDEMOCAN:
Senator Joe Lieberman was originally a long-time Democrat and even ran (and lost) as the vice presidential candidate with Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election. During that time, Senator Lieberman was also a staunch supporter of government sponsored “Single-Payer” health care for all Americans. This was his position, even though for years he had received many campaign donations from the many insurance, pharmaceutical and health care companies located in his home state. In addition, his second and current wife, Hadassah Lieberman, was a previous high level Research Analyst for Lehman Brothers and a Director of the large drug company Pfizer.

Unfortunately, the “D.C. hypocrisy” took over and it has gone totally rampant with the Senator.

This all seems to have started when the Senator lost his state’s Democratic primary election. He then decided to run as an Independent, and he eventually won the general election. Today he is one of the only two Independents in the US Senate.

As an Independent, the Democrats still allow Senator Lieberman to continue meeting with the Senate Democratic Caucus and to continue in the important position as the Chairman of the Homeland Security & Government Affairs Committee.

But then, in the 2008 election, Senator Lieberman totally “thumbed his nose” at the Democrats by actively supporting and campaigning for his good friend, Republican Senator, John McCain. He also changed into becoming a strong “War Hawk” and a major supporter of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Lieberman has now further strayed away from his past position on “universal health care” and is today threatening to vote against the current Democratic sponsored health care reform bill. Apparently, the contributions from his home-state’s insurance donators are helping to support his change of heart. This is happening even though the polls show that 68% of his state’s citizens support either a “Single-Payer” or a “Public Option” health care bill.

It is appearing that Senator Lieberman understands that all of these changes in his political position have been noticed back in his home state. He is also aware that to continue his current ways will probably be his final demise as a US Senator. The rumors on the “Hill” are that he is just planning ahead by sitting himself up for a high-paying position after the Senate at one of the major insurance or medical companies located in Connecticut. This has happened many times before and it could happen again with Joe Lieberman.

Whatever the situation, Senator Lieberman will go down in America’s political history as one of the most famous and rare “Indedemocan” politicians.

And yes Virginia, this is just more proof that it is certainly time for “real” campaign finance reform.

Copyright G.Ater 2009

Follow me on Twitter: gater01

WILL "DO YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT" REALLY BECOME THE AMERICAN WORKERS NEW BY-LINE?

…Is this a caricature of our children’s future careers?










Public Education and the American worker, neither looks very “robust” today.

Is the United States becoming a nation of “Hamburger Flippers”…..? Will the most common phrase from a recent college grad’s mouth really be “do you want fries with that?” while they are employed at a national franchise burger joint?

Well, it might not get that bad everywhere, but there are some things going on in America that are bringing us closer to that reality.

We are all aware that the number for American college grads, when compared to China, India and other Asian countries continues to slip. US high school graduates in the math and the science areas are also getting less and less every year. Even the overall number of high school graduates in the US continues to fall and the public school drop-outs continue to increase, especially in the ethnic neighborhoods of African Americans and Hispanics.

Many of our elementary and primary schools have already dropped courses such as physical education, classes for a 2nd language, US History, World Geography, Social Studies and most of their previous art and music offerings. With less and less emphasis on the “3-R’s” in public schools versus 40-50 years ago, things don’t seem to be heading in an up direction. It does make us ask ; “Just what are these students going to be qualified for when they get out of school?” Whether a student is headed for a major university, a state or community college, a trade school or just a regular 40 hour weekly job, it’s become a serious question as to whether today’s public education is doing what’s needed for America’s long-term future.

Unfortunately, it’s not looking very good for either America’s high school and college graduates or today’s average middle-class American factory worker as well.

But, let’s look at what’s really going on with the long-term effects and results of today’s public education and for the workers at US manufacturers today. Unfortunately, the expectations for the average American worker today is much different from that of the past .

No I’m not just talking about the effect of the current recession and the loss of jobs over the past 3-5 years. For this situation, it is finally starting to appear that the president’s stimulus package with some additional focus on the country’s infrastructure of roads, highways, schools, federal buildings, hospitals and bridges will do something for increasing good paying, heavy construction jobs in the short term.

But what about real, long-term US manufacturing jobs?

Well, today that’s a real mixed bag, as it has unfortunately been for years.

If today, we only looked at US manufacturing from some of the recent past statistics from the Bush Administration, one would think that they look pretty good. But as with all statistics, it’s all in how you look at them, not just their overall numbers.

Now here are some of the statements that were being made at the end of President George W. Bush’s first term that he (of course) touted strongly to all Americans at the end of 2003.

The following was from a report written by a Mr. Bruce Bartlett. Mr. Bartlett is a political / economic historian and he was a domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan and a treasury official under President George H.W. Bush.

Per Mr. Bartlett in 2003: “Looking at gross domestic product (GDP), real-goods production as a share of real (inflation-adjusted) GDP is close to its all-time high. In the first quarter of 2003 — real-goods production was 39.2 percent of real GDP. The highest annual figure ever recorded was 40 percent in 2000. By contrast, in the “good old days” of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, the U.S. actually produced far fewer goods as a share of total output.
The highest figure recorded in the 1940s was 35.5 percent in 1943; the highest in the 1950s was 34.9 percent in 1953; and the highest in the 1960s was 33.6 percent in 1966.
In short, manufacturing output is very healthy. We are producing more “things” than we have in almost every year of our history for which we have data. The decline in employment is, in effect, a good thing, because it means that manufacturing productivity is very high. That is also a good thing, because it means that employers can afford to pay high wages to manufacturing workers while still competing with low-wage workers in places like Mexico and China.“

OK, now let’s look at the reality of this information.

At the time this report was written, the minimum wage in the US had not been adjusted for almost 10 years, while everybody’s expenses (especially medical insurance premiums) had continued to escalate every year. The American wage earners salary had been stagnate for over 10 years and most Americans were using the equity in their homes like their personal ATM’s for covering their increased expenses. The US worker was only competing well with the workers of Mexico and China because the American workers were producing more while losing more jobs through increased automation, and all the while effectively making less per hour than they were before.

(This period was also at the height of the real estate and mortgage boom that eventually went bust, and we all know the effects of that debacle.)

There were two Middle East wars going on when this report was published and as the US is the largest weapons and military manufacturer in the world, much of what America was building was not for increasing domestic business or improving people’s lives. It was for producing products that blow up things and that wear out or disappear in the field. In other words, it was for producing mostly disposable, expense items with no redeeming use or value.

Today, in regard to manufacturing as a portion of America’s GDP, Mr. Bartlett refers to “real goods production”, and gives us some nice positive numbers. However, his “real goods” also include all of those military goods that eventually wear-out, blow-up or disappear. They also include products such as “soft goods”. “Soft goods” are items that are only good for a one-time use or that wears out after a few months. Everything from paper towels to clothing could be referred to as Mr. Bartlett’s Americas manufacturing of “real goods”.

The key to a nations real manufacturing position is that of manufacturing what’s called, “durable goods”. “Durable goods” are items that last over time or during multiple-usages such as automobiles, trucks, tractors, refrigerators, televisions, buildings, bridges, dams, power plants, washing machines, etc. The real percentages of those numbers as shown in Mr. Bartlett’s comments for back in the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s, most of those 30% to 40% “real goods” back then were actually “durable goods”, or goods that lasted.

If we look at manufacturing just real “durable goods”, here are some recent numbers for the actual percentage of US GDP in “durable goods”, not just “real goods” that include “soft and military goods”.

Manufacturing % of US-GDP in “Durable Goods”:

1987: US “Durable Goods” = 18.3%
2098: US “Durable Goods” = 9.2%
2008: US “Durable Goods” = 7.4%

The actual percentages of the past GDP which were “durable goods” of the 1940’s through 1960’s is not readily available. However, I would suppose that the “actual” real percentage of US “durable goods” of the stated 1953 “real goods” @ 34.9% of GDP, was probably around 25-28% “durable goods” as compared to today’s 7.4%.

And this same situation can be applied to the current difference in numbers between back then and the number of today’s American union workers.

At the height of US being the world’s giant of global manufacturing, the percentage of Americans that belonged to a union was over 30% of all US “blue-collar” workers. Today that number is at about 13%. And that percentage today is somewhat “skewed” as many of the union workers in the current union percentage are in a “Service Workers Union”. They are not working in a factory that builds “things” or in a “durable goods” factory. They are instead in unions such as those for janitors, nurses, teachers, etc. Yes, they are very useful unions for needed US jobs, but they are not for those higher-paid, skilled workers that are “building things that last”.

There’s another small example that shows the status of workers and manufacturing in America today. Remember many years ago at Wal-Mart, America’s largest retailer today, when they stated that they would only sell “American made products”. They haven’t made that statement in decades, and just try finding an item today in Wal-Mart that is “Made in America”. More than 90% of Wal-Mart’s products today are NOT made in the USA. In fact, most are from China, India or other Asian countries.

America today does not just need Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! America needs to have real “durable goods manufacturing”: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!

We all know that America can build anything. But as long as the America’s “market playing field” is being ruled by the Republican Party’s so called “free market” mentality, and if the flawed trade agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA and the WTO continue to flourish, it will never be a level playing field. The Asian countries do not have “free markets”. The Chinese and Asian duties on US and other of their foreign imports are as many as 20 to 50 times higher than US import duties on their products. And this is especially true for US “durable goods” export products.

The solution to this problem is very complex and it will take many years to solve.

The first area that needs work is in the mentality of the American manufacturing and business decision makers. Just because you can make something cheaper in an off-shore factory that uses cheap labor w/o any consideration for civil or human rights, then you think everything is just fine. If that approach and mentality doesn’t change, nothing will change in going forward. And yes, the US government can get involved in a positive way for helping make that change.

When foreign countries put 20% duties on US imports, the US should reciprocate with high duties on that foreign country’s products as well.

As an example, during the past “Cash for Clunkers” program, why were all foreign auto manufacturers included….? They could have included those models from foreign manufacturers if over 50% of the car was manufactured in the foreign manufacturer’s US factories.

As it was, the largest benefactors of America’s “Cash for Clunkers” program were the auto manufacturers Hyundai and Subaru. Only a few of their car models are over 50% built in a US factory. This un-even market approach has to stop.

The other area that must be dealt with is health care for the American factory workers that is competitive with foreign workers. Until the American manufacturers can remove the financial liability of their employees health care coverage, the products from the US will continue to cost more than those from foreign manufacturers that already provide their workers comprehensive health care.

As I said, it is a complex issue. It needs attention from the basics of public education; to long-range business and market / government regulations; to decisions on comprehensive health care for all Americans.

It’s all in ours, our children’s and our grand children’s hands.

Copyright: G.Ater 2009

Follow me on Twitter: gater01

AS TO THE FT. HOOD ATTACK, I HAVE COME TO BELIEVE IT WAS A “TERRORIST ATTACK”

...DR. Nidal Hasan. An early picture of a Muslim Army Major that should never have been.



Was Dr. Hasan’s attack an attempt at committing an “acceptable” Muslim suicide?



Anyone that is a regular reader of mine knows that I am seldom on the same side of the fence as the Pulitzer Prize winning conservative op-ed columnist, Charles Krauthammer. I also usually end up turning him off on the week-end FOX round-table shows as he tends to go along with all the right-wing war mongers on the not so “Fair & Balanced Fox Noise Channel”.

This week however, Mr. Krauthammer wrote a column that I must say that I agree with almost 100%.

His column this week was on Doctor-Major Nidal Hasan. This is the Army Major and psychiatrist that was seriously wounded while he shot 51 soldiers and civilians, killing 13 at Fort Hood, Texas. Mr. Krauthammer wrote his article criticizing those writers such as TIME Magazine’s, Joe Klein for arguing that the massacre perpetrated by Dr. Hasan was of an Army psychiatrist driven over the edge by terrible stories he had heard from soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. He wrote that the other writers were saying; “They suffered. He listened. He snapped.”. From all the circumstantial evidence that continues to become available, I agree with Mr. Krauthammer that I just can’t accept that as a reasonable explanation for what happened.

I must also at this point, give Mr. Krauthammer much more room for his opinion and attitude because in Mr. Krauthammer’s previous life, he himself was once a board certified psychiatrist that graduated from Harvard Medical School. He had also practiced at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Under those circumstances, I will give his opinion much more weight than the average op-ed or news magazine writer.

As Mr. Krauthammer wrote; “What about the doctors and nurses, the counselors and physical therapists at Walter Reed Army Medical Center [where Hasan had worked] who every day hear and live with the pain and the suffering of returning soldiers? How many of them then picked up a gun and shot 51 innocents?”
“And what about civilian psychiatrists -- not the Upper West Side therapist treating Woody Allen neurotics, but the thousands of doctors working with hospitalized psychotics -- who every day hear not just tales but cries of the most excruciating anguish, of the most unimaginable torment? How many of those doctors commit mass murder?
It's been decades since I practiced psychiatry. Perhaps I missed the epidemic.”

Krauthammer also wrote:” Consider the Army's treatment of Hasan's previous behavior. National Public Radio (NPR)'s Daniel Zwerdling interviewed a Hasan colleague at Walter Reed about a hair-raising grand round that Hasan had apparently given. Grand rounds are the most serious academic event at a teaching hospital -- attending physicians, residents and students gather for a lecture on an instructive case history or therapeutic finding. I've been to dozens of these. In fact, I gave one myself on post-traumatic retrograde amnesia -- as you can see, these lectures are fairly technical. Not Hasan's. His was an hour-long disquisition on what he called the Koranic view of military service, jihad and war. It included an allegedly authoritative elaboration of the punishments visited upon nonbelievers -- consignment to hell, decapitation, having hot oil poured down your throat. This "really freaked a lot of doctors out," reported NPR.”

This “Grand Rounds” item was not the only issue between Dr. Hasan and his colleagues. NPR reported that “The other psychiatrist said that he was the kind of guy who the staff actually stood around in the hallway saying: Do you think he's a terrorist, or is he just weird?"

I agree that as the information continues to come in, it is appearing that as Dr. Hasan was becoming more and more conflicted and depressed about American troops shooting and killing Muslims (while in Hasan's mind), the US was illegally occupying a Muslim country.

But if his fellow medical workers saw this happening with Hasan, why did no one say anything to his superiors? Was it just because no one wanted to be accused of “Islamophobia” and prejudice against a colleague's religion?

According to some of his fellow workers, Hasan was transferred to Fort Hood because it got him away from the incoming injured US soldiers at Walter Reed and it put him with a large group of other military psychiatrist that could possibly help Dr. Hasan. If that’s the case, how could he have then been targeted to be transferred to Iraq? This was obviously a location to which he seriously should not have been assigned.

It is also appearing that as he was getting more and more involved with his religion, he was changing from being just a “follower of Islam”, to becoming a “devout Muslim Islamist". As a devout Muslim, it is against their religion to commit suicide. But if he were to be killed while protecting his fellow Muslims or while killing the infidels, that is acceptable to Islam. Is that why he planned and executed the attack? Did he do this in order to die according to the rules of his religion? And is this why Dr. Hasan purchased and used the civilian automatic handgun known as the armor-piercing “Cop Killer”?

Did Hasan’s mind just “snap” and he then decide that this was the only way he could die while not committing a sin against his religion? Well, if he did, he failed, and he’s paralyzed but still alive, and he will face the consequences in an American courtroom. Unfortunately however, it appears that he is already a martyr to many Muslim extremists around the world.

Here is how Mr. Krauthammer ended his article:

“…we know that Hasan was in communication with a notorious Yemen-based jihad propagandist. As late as Tuesday, The New York Times was running a story on how returning soldiers at Fort Hood had a high level of violence.
What does such violence have to do with Hasan? He was not a returning soldier. And the soldiers who returned home and shot their wives or fellow soldiers didn't cry "Allahu Akbar" [as did Hasan] as they squeezed the trigger.
The delicacy about the religion in question -- condescending, politically correct and deadly -- is nothing new. A week after the first (1993) World Trade Center attack, the same New York Times ran the following front-page headline about the arrest of one Mohammed Salameh: "Jersey City Man Is Charged in Bombing of Trade Center."
Ah yes, those Jersey men -- so resentful of New York, so prone to violence.”

Prior to the Fort Hood attack, Dr. Hasan made it very clear to his colleagues that he was against Americans killing Muslims. He had even recommended that American Muslims should be allowed “Conscientious Objector (CO)” status so that they could either leave the service or at least not be required to shoot at other Muslims.

But, whatever happens, I believe that this attack by Major Nidal Hasan will eventually be classified as a “terrorist Muslim attack on American soldiers”, and I will personally have a hard time thinking about it otherwise.

Copyright: G.Ater 2009

Follow me on Twitter: gater01

“DING-BAT” BACHMANN & MINORITY LEADER JOHN “BONER” EMBARRASS THE GOP….AGAIN

...Representative Bachmann, is a real "piece-of-work"












When will the Republicans learn that the new electronic age won’t let them get away with not telling the truth.

As usual, the highly bizarre Republican “ding-bat” US Representative from Minnesota, Michelle Bachmann, got herself into trouble once again when she used her government computer and web site to promote a political “Rally”. The get-together was for all the anti-health reform bill “crazies” to attend at the US Capitol Building on the Saturday before the House Health Reform Bill vote.

It is well understood today just how much of a House rule was actually broken. Years ago, the previous Chairman of the prestigious House Way & Means Committee, Dan Rostenkowski, was actually sent to prison for the improper use of officially purchased US Postage Stamps which were supposed to be for his Washington DC office mailings.

The GOP members originally tried to get away with calling the “Bachmann Rally” a “Press Conference”, but no members of the press attended the get-together. By using her official web site to promote such a partisan event, plus involving a Washington lobbyist, Representative Bachmann broke the current rules against using a government provided computer system and web site for a wholly partisan political meeting. (Even the Bush White House had gotten into similar trouble for using the government computer and e-mail systems for doing partisan Republican Party business.)

What is also disturbing is that this so called “press conference”, without any national or local press, was sponsored and attended by the House Republican Leadership. Senior GOP lawmakers were in attendance and they had no problem with the negative tone of the proceedings.

The proceedings featured the kind of things that we’ve unfortunately grown accustomed to, such as signs of President Obama being depicted as Hitler. But this time there was also a large new 1940’s picture-sign showing piles of bodies from the German Dachau concentration camp with the caption “National Socialist Healthcare”. It was truly grotesque and disgusting.

Representative Eric Cantor, the second-ranking House Republican, only offered some mild criticism after the fact. Mr. Cantor said “The signs were inappropriate and the use of Hitler comparisons by such people as Rush Limbaugh conjures up images that frankly are not, I think, very helpful.” Saying that signs showing a pile of naked dead bodies from the Holocaust and comparing dead Jews with the protesting of an American health care bill are only “inappropriate”, goes way beyond the pale of being totally out-of-line and insensitive.

Then, when the Minority Leader, John Boehner spoke, he proceeded to once again embarrass himself when he stated that he had a copy of the US Constitution in his hand and that he was going to read its preamble. Apparently Mr. Boehner didn’t know the difference as he proceeded to read the preamble to the Declaration of Independence……?

And even though Mr. Boehner was less than 20 feet away from the large Holocaust sign, he now says that he never saw the sign. Anyone that watches the videos of the event can plainly see the sign next to Mr. Boehner. So I would therefore suggest that Mr. Boehner get his eyes checked as soon as possible. (And since he has the outstanding health care that all Federal employees have, the examination will probably be totally covered.)

But there were two additional events that made the whole proceedings very embarrassing for all those that produced, promoted, supported or attended the event.

First, even though the event was sponsored and promoted by the FOX Cable Channel, by Glenn Beck and Ms. Bachmann and Dick Armey’s national FreedomWorks lobbying organization, all they were able to round up for the Saturday protest was somewhere between 4,000-10,000 attendees.

If that wasn’t enough, when they were showing the video of the “Event” later on the Sean Hannity Show on FOX, to make the crowds look larger, FOX had spliced in some video of the larger gathering at the Washington Mall back last September. These older videos were made while the Summer’s larger 9/12 “Tea Party” meetings were going on.

Unfortunately for FOX, Jon Stewart‘s team on The Daily Show caught the attempt at the deception. Stewart showed on his Daily Show, just how the trees in Hannity’s video, that had started with their current Autumn colors, changed back to their Summer green in the middle of Hannity’s video. Stewart then showed some of the video from the September 9/12 crowd that was identical to the video supposedly from the recent November Bachmann meeting.

The next day, Hannity owned up to the supposed “accidental” insertion of the older video and he apologized on his show after Jon Stewart’s revealing exposé.

But even today, there is still a big difference between the Hannity/Bachmann numbers (They say 45.000 attendees.) and the numbers put forth by the Washington Post which says at the most, maybe 10,000 attendees. And according to MSNBC, "Three Capitol Hill police officers all guessed that the crowd numbered at about 4,000 in attendance for Bachmann's protest event.” And we know that the Police and Fire Department personnel are all trained for determining a crowd’s size for security and safety issues.

When will the Republicans ever understand and admit that “e-mails and video today are forever”. The day of the “missing 18 minutes of tape” as it was with President Richard Nixon in 1973 are no more. Due to these two communication items alone, we are continuing to learn just how long and how much the GOP has been lying to the public. Now we can find and document the proof to nail them if we need it. (Yep, the proof from The Daily Show was posted on YouTube just minutes after the show.)

Unfortunately, the Republicans don’t seem to care about telling the truth and that can be a serious problem when trying to maintain a truly democratic nation.

Copyright: G.Ater 2009

Follow me on Twitter: gater01

IS TELLING “UNTRUTHS” A GOP JOB REQUIREMENT?

…Minority Leader, John Boehner. There’s a reason he is referred to
as “John Boner”.









C-SPAN showed exactly why the Republican party just continues to shrink.

Once again, a loyal reader has commented on how I must just “despise” all Republicans. And when I look back at all the articles that I have written about the actions and comments of the Republicans, I can see where others might get that idea.

Actually though, it’s not the concept of someone being a conservative or a member of the GOP that I dislike. Everyone has the right to their opinions. If someone thinks, as do the Republicans, that the there should not be an American middle class, but just two classes for the wealthy and the poor, I absolutely disagree with that idea. But if that’s their choice, so be it.

Where I go off the rail about the Republicans and the conservatives are the streams of lies and half-truths that they continue to spout as they expect us all to just accept what they say as gospel. I don’t do that for anyone, especially a politician.

Let’s take as an example, all of the false statements that the Republicans were making from the floor of the House of Representatives on Saturday evening just before they made their final votes on the House’s health care bill. Here’s a sampling of what was said as I sat watching on C-SPAN:

>>> The falsehood-peddling began right at the top, with Minority Leader John Boehner:
"If you're a Medicare Advantage enrollee . . . the Congressional Budget Office [CBO] says that 80 percent of them are going to lose their Medicare Advantage."

This is absolutely not true. The CBO hasn't said anything close to that. Boehner's office later acknowledged that he misspoke. He meant to cite a study from the Medicare actuary estimating that projected enrollment would be “down by 64%” if the cuts took effect. Choosing not to enroll in the private Medicare Advantage programs is very different from "losing" them.

>>> How about the claims of the alleged Democratic excesses. Such as when the Georgia Republican Jack Kingston said: "Let's remember the Pelosi plan for jobs: an $800 billion stimulus plan that caused unemployment to go from 8.5% to over 10%."

So, Speaker Pelosi personally caused the unemployment to go to 10%? Even though the best evidence suggests that the stimulus prevented things from being even worse, no rational person believes the stimulus or the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi "caused" unemployment to rise.

>>> Then Georgia Republican Tom Price stated: "This bill, on Page 733, empowers the Washington bureaucracy to deny lifesaving patient care if it costs too much." (This is a flat-out lie!)

Also not true. The bill sets up a Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research. This center will identify the manner in which diseases, disorders, and other health conditions can most effectively and appropriately be prevented, diagnosed, treated, and managed clinically. There is nothing about denying anyone patient care.

>>> Representative Price, then also said: "This bill, on Page 94, will make it illegal for any American to obtain health care not approved by Washington."

Not true again. The vast majority of Americans get their insurance through their employers. The bill envisions setting minimum federal standards for such insurance within the insurance exchanges. This is hardly making it "illegal" to obtain "health care" without Washington's approval.

>>> Then there was Michigan Republican Dave Camp: "Americans could face five years in jail if they don't comply with the bill's demands to buy approved health insurance."

Not even close. The bill only requires people to obtain insurance or, with some hardship exceptions, pay a small fine. As 80% of Americans already have insurance, this will only apply to a very small minority. No one is being jailed for being uninsured. People who intentionally evade paying the fine could, in theory, be prosecuted, but it’s not very likely. The government has better things to do.

>>> And let’s not forget Kentucky Republican Brett Guthrie: "The bill raises taxes for just about everyone."

Absolutely not true. The bill imposes a surtax on only the top 0.3% of households. The surtax is only for those individuals making more than $500,000 a year and couples making more than $1 million (both situations are also income after taxes & expenses).

>>> And there’s California Republican Buck McKeon: "I offered two amendments to try to improve this bill, one to require members of Congress to enroll in the public option like we're going to require all of you to do."

No way. No one is required to enroll in the public option. In fact initially, most people won't even be eligible to enroll in the public option.

>>> Florida Republican Ginny Brown-Waite: "The president's own economic advisers have said that this bill will kill 5.5 million jobs."

Can’t these people even read? Christina Romer, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, has estimated that the bill would increase economic growth and add jobs. Republicans have misused Romer's previous economic research on the impact of tax increases to produce the “phony 5.5 million number”.

This is just a one-evening’s C-SPAN example of why I have continually been vilifying the GOP and the Republican politicians.

I have come to believe that it is impossible to be a full-fledged Republican if you are an honest broker. Telling lies is apparently a GOP prerequisite.

That’s a hell of a job requirement for joining a political party, but there you have it.

Copyright G.Ater 2009

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THE “TEA BAGGERS” & THE GOP’S CLAIM THAT “HEALTH CARE IS TOO EXPENSIVE” IS BASELESS

…”Tea Party” demonstrators in Washington DC

Health care for all Americans is both possible and affordable, regardless of what the “right-wingers” claim.

Every major industrialized nation in the world, except the United States, currently has comprehensive health care for all of their citizens. If it was as impossible as the Republicans and the “Tea Baggers” say, how are these countries able to offer this service to every citizen? As I had stated in a previous column, when citizens of France, Germany and Canada were interviewed, over 97% say they love their health care coverage and when asked, they say the current American system is “useless and stupid”. And they are correct.

As to the negative comment that it is “too expensive”, anyone with a basic knowledge of Economics 101 and an understanding of how taxes and comprehensive health care function today, can see that comment is not supported by the facts.

The reality is that the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Joint Tax Policy Center has been saying since 2007 that if the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000, (after taxes),were to expire, that alone would be worth about $150 Billion a year starting in 2012. That amount on its own would cover the necessary subsidies for implementing universal health care in America.

By getting rid of the Bush tax cuts, the wealthiest 1% of Americans would have their after-tax incomes reduced only by only 4.5%. Even with this loss, the wealthiest 1% of Americans would still be making millions more than they would have made 30 years go.

As an example, in order to see what that means for today’s wealthy compared to the taxes paid by those same individuals in the past, let’s look at the tax rates of today compared to those of 1979.

THREE TOP US TAX RATES:

2008:
• Top Tax on Earned Income: 35%

• Top Tax on Long-Term Capital Gains: 15%

• Top Tax on Corporate Profits: 35%

1979:
• Top Tax on Earned Income: 70%

• Top Tax on Long-Term Capital Gains: 28%

• Top Tax on Corporate Profits: 48%

Looks to me like the wealthiest Americans are doing pretty well today.

Here is also a comparison of the top “effective tax rates on earned income” of the United States compared to some examples of other industrialized nations:

Earned Income Effective Tax Rates:• United States: 35%
• Great Britain: 48%
• France: 60%
• All of the large industrial nations have higher effective taxes than the effective rates in the United States.
• And in Great Britain, “capital gains” are taxed as ordinary income at 40%, versus only 15% in the US.

If you think taxing the rich another 4.5% is still too high, please note that in the 1950’s, under the Republican President Eisenhower, the tax rate on the wealthiest Americans was at 90%.

Therefore, as one can see, to let the Bush tax cuts expire would be substantially less detrimental to Americas very rich when compared to taking them back to what their tax liability was in the late 1970’s or especially the 1950’s.

Now, as we are also all aware, getting rid of the Bush’s tax cuts is not all that is needed for covering the total cost of providing comprehensive universal health care.

Another way for dealing with the needed health care financing would be to close some of the current loopholes that allowed Wall Street and the banks to get into the financial debacle that occurred late last year.

The first loopholes that I would target are those for the dreaded hedge-funds. Due to some of the past Republican fiscal tax mismanagement, they passed laws that allowed hedge-fund managers to classify their earnings as “capital gains”. These earnings are only taxed at 15%, rather than the normal 35%. In just making this change would result in $50 Billion more in taxes every year.

The other area that needs work are the massive subsidies that the previous Republican Congresses passed for supporting the private health care providers. These additional subsidies are solely for the private companies to offer virtually the same coverage that regular Medicare already offers. Today, the US government pays these private corporations 14% more revenue for providing regular Medicare type health coverage, but they also include some small extras like a gym membership, or a new pair of glasses every two years plus some free over-the-counter drugs. These subsidies now cost the US taxpayers $50 Billion every year.

The latest House of Representatives health care bill proposal would stop these 14% additional subsidies. That is why their bill, along with the other tax, loophole changes and stopping these subsidies shows that the health care coverage would be paid for and budget neutral.

Yes Virginia, all Americans can have health care coverage, similar to the rest of the modern world, and it can be done in a fiscally responsible manner.

The “Tea Baggers” and the GOP can howl at the moon, shake their disgusting “Hitler and Holocaust” signs and make all the noise that they want on “FOX Noise”. But yes, America can afford comprehensive health care for all.

Copyright: G.Ater 2009

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THE DEMOCRTS ARE NOW THE REAL “CONSERVATVES”, AND THE REPUBLICANS ARE THE RADICAL “WING- NUTS”

…This American diplomat & politician of the 1950’s had the GOP figured out years ago.







Dictionary Definition: CONSERVATIVE: Favoring traditional views and values; restrained; moderate; cautious. Sure doesn’t sound like any current Republican I know today.

Over the last few years I have recently come to the same conclusion that a late, well know American diplomat and politician had come to as far back as 1952.

The realization that I came to is that the Democratic Party has changed significantly and they have become the actual “conservative party”, while the Republican Party has become the politically disconnected “Radical Party”.

Here I thought I had come to a special realization that needed to be passed on to my readers. However, in my research I came across a part of a speech made by a former Governor of Illinois and UN Ambassador named Adlai Stevenson. Mr. Stevenson was a Democrat that had run for and lost twice for US President in 1952 and 1956. He was also the Ambassador to the United Nations in the Kennedy administration and he had heroically gone head-to-head with the powerful UN Ambassador from the then Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

However, in relation to my recent realization, here is what Mr. Stevenson stated in a 1952 speech when he was running for the US Presidency:

“The strange alchemy of time has somehow converted the Democrats into the truly conservative party in the country, the party dedicated to ‘conserving all that is best and building solidly and safely on these foundations’. The Republicans, by contrast, are behaving like the radical party, the party of the reckless and embittered, bent on dismantling institutions [such as Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Medicare, Civil Rights, etc.] which have been built solidly into our social fabric.”

Mr. Stevenson was very prescient, especially when considering the past bizarre eight years under the Bush / Cheney Administration. And let's not forget all the “right-wing, wing-nuts” that are showing up on FOX and all over right-wing talk radio. I would suspect that metaphorically speaking, over the previous past years of GOP rule, Mr. Stevenson was regularly, “turning over in his grave”.

As a good example, just look at what the Republicans have tried to destroy over the past 30 years.

President Ronald Reagan went after the Unions with his initial efforts against the air traffic controllers PATCO union. Since then, unionization in the US has gone from a high of 30+%, to the current 13% level of all American workers.

Past Republican Congresses have shot-down national health care from Democratic presidents as far back as Truman, Kennedy and Clinton, and even including their own president, Richard Nixon’s once feeble attempt at a national health care program.

The previously removed and tainted house speaker, Newt Gingrich, had also tried to strangle Medicare out of existence, all the while the Republicans were voting against bills for social programs or civil rights including the Voting Rights Act.

Then, in 2004, President Bush II attempted to privatize Social Security, which would have been the first move by the GOP for eventually phasing out the whole program.

Usually, when the liberals and the progressives clash with the radical Republicans, the liberals try to enfranchise all American citizens. Republicans on the other hand, try to block citizens from voting. These are not just casual comments, these are documented facts. Progressives usually support the concept of due process, while the GOP usually insists that (at least when they are in power), they can do just as they please and “the hell with due process”.

Democracy survives by having honest debate, not the lies, innuendo and the false statements we have been hearing from the GOP over the past 30 years. This “dishonesty” is not only just wrong, it is a serious threat to the survival of a nation that makes its political decisions based on receiving truthful information for making informed decisions.

As an example, important decisions, such as invading a nation that has not threatened the US is an example of why the American public should not have been given “cherry-picked” information for supporting the invasion of a sovereign nation. This is regardless of how much the US president hated the sovereign country’s leader and the war in Iraq was just another example of the Republican “radicalism”.


Now when did this aforementioned change to “conservatism” occur within the Democratic Party?

This all started when the Democrats stopped being the “liberal” party to being “liberal conservatives”. And this all started when, as the Nobel Prize winner, Paul Krugman said; “ When the Republican Party was taken over by a radical new force in American politics that is now known as “Movement Conservatism.” This so called “movement” began with the GOP’s infamous “Southern Strategy” which was for converting the southern state populations into Republicans, which started just after the Democratic President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Prior to this signing, most of the American southern states had voted Democratic.

This new “movement” really took off when Ronald Reagan became president. It then reached its highest point in the 2004 election after which it began its accelerated decline.

After Bush had won in 2004, (in an election that is still today considered by many to have been stolen), the American public started to see just where the Republicans were headed. This realization occurred as reality when Bush tried to dismantle the Social Security system. This is the “Crown Jewel” of FDR’s New Deal institutions. (And since the market crash of 2008, everyone now sees how bad Bush and the GOP’s idea of privatizing Social Security would have been.)

This effort by Bush and the GOP signaled to the country just how much the “far right” and the “religious southern conservatives” had taken over the Republican Party. It was also at this time that the country seriously realized the problems with many of the Bush and the Republican’s political moves. This included the approving of “warrantless wire tapping” and the removal of “Habeas Corpus”. These were examples of just how far the Republicans had decided to ignore the concept of America’s need for the whole truth and for trashing the basics of real “due process”.

Since that period in time, the problems with the lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the Republican Party then surfaced. Subsequent to that, a host of highly publicized problems started popping up with other prominent Republican politicians. They included issues with: Mark Foley, David Vitter, Ted Stevens, Scooter Lobby, Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, Ed Schrock, Helen Chenowith, Bob Allen, Larry Craig, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Alberto Gonzales and now former Vice President Dick Cheney is once again being grilled for his involvement in the outing of the CIA Agent, Valerie Plame.

And since the Tea Party “wing-nuts” surfaced and the GOP health care plan has been declared a “non-plan”, written by the health care lobbyists, it’s no wonder that only “one-out-of-5 American voters” currently identify themselves as being a Republican.

Yes, in reality and for the short-term, the Republicans should rename their party as the “Minority Radical Party”. They would only be considered a “conservative party” if the definition of the word “conservative” were changed to mean: “untruthful, deceitful, liar and radical”.

The letters G.O.P. use to mean; “Grand Old Party”. Today they could actually stand for a; “Great Outstanding Problem”. At least that’s the way it is looking today.

Copyright: G.Ater 2009

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