Where Do We Go From Here?–Part 2

Especially in the past thirty-some years, we have seen the utter failure of the far right and the destruction it has laid upon our country–just look at us now, on the verge of freefall. Oh no! Don’t go there. Don’t start blaming our current condition on someone else. All one has to do is look at the record–the real record, the real and true history, not the propaganda put forth by some. No one came into office in 2009 ready to deal with our financial collapse and impending state of economic depression. That happened in 2008, just before the elections–just before. I don’t have to be a resident of the oval office to believe that the plans of both parties, Republicans and Democrats alike, were geared toward winning the election and going forward from there. Our economic crisis, the largest since the Great Depression fell like a nuclear bomb out of the blue. Unfortunately, and arguably, no one expected it, not those in leadership anyway. It was a bomb dropped right in the lap of the new party elected to power, a bomb so immense it had to have almost completely demolished any plans which they previously had for governing in the immediate future. I don’t think anyone could think otherwise. Surely, their planning wheel had to be reinvented.

          Digressing ever so briefly, I want to make a point which I think we should keep in the back of our minds as we proceed in this discussion. In his book, The Benefit And The Burden, a book about taxes and reform, Bruce Bartlett briefly discusses the history of the income tax in which he says, “Historically, governments did not tax incomes. The main reason is that until the Industrial Revolution, incomes were too low to tax. The vast majority of people made barely enough to survive. They had no significant surplus from which to pay more than a small amount of taxes.” And what is my point? Our standard of living has come, as they say, “a long way, baby”. It surely has, and I don’t want to go back there, and neither do you. Also, I don’t want a government that will take me there either. It would seem, however, that there are some, if not many of those who would lead us in that direction, the purpose of this writing.

          I was born in 1932 smack dab in the bottom of the depression. For some time, years, we were homeless, living with relatives. Even though very young, I still remember the grinding poverty. I remember the very hard labor of my family eking out a living on a hillside farm in West Virginia in the thirties. I understand the concept, “survival of the fittest and let the devil take the hindmost.” We experienced it. There were no safety nets then. I know what it is to live without them, and I don’t ever want to see it again, for me or for the people of our great nation. I also understand, and care about those who lose. I remember, too, our recovery from that Great Depression brought about by the progressive programs of the left (the opposition of the right notwithstanding) and aided by the advent of World War II. I’ll never forget the difference in my family’s standard of living when I left home for the U.S. Air Force during the Korean conflict from that when I returned home after the armistice. Given our mini-recessions in the meantime, I remember our great period of prosperity between then and now.

As I proceed further, there will be those who don’t agree with my point of view. I ask you to consider one premise. God created this world for all of us–not just for the rich and powerful elite among us (and certainly not for the corporatocracy which are and should be tools for the service of man rather than to rule over him). Perhaps you don’t believe in God. All right–even if you don’t believe in God, surely you know this universe and our planet came from somewhere. That must surely be true. Do you think someone else out there just sat back and said, “Let us make our world only for the benefit of the rich and powerful? Let them rule and everyone else serve them. Let only the fittest survive.” I’m sorry. I can’t subscribe to that. For such to be true would require a world without feelings either for self or others, and we know that isn’t true. Everybody, even the lower of the mammals among us, have a sense of self, pain, and emotional feelings. To decide in which direction you wish to go, it seems to me, requires a knowledge and realization of who you are and your personal values. Do you want to be enslaved and poor or do you want to be among the rich and elite? Now that you’re thinking about it, what makes you think you will ever come close to being among the elite, that rare one, two, or three percent of us all–especially in this land which has lost its gift of equal opportunity for all? How many of us can even come close to winning a lottery, let alone be part of the elite?

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net

Where Do We Go From Here?–Part 1

When we look to our future, deciding the direction of our nation, we really don’t have to go back to school. We shouldn’t even have to talk about it. Over the many years of our history, we have been there, done that. We have empirical and historical evidence to support our options as into which direction our nation should go (or not go), economically and politically, whichever way we may decide. We have talked and studied these issues to death. If we don’t know the answers, we damn well ought to know them.

So, why don’t we "gitter done"? There is a problem. We are engaged in a civil war–a real war. It’s just that there have been no shots fired–at least not yet (and hopefully not ever). On the one hand, we have those concerned almost wholly with the civil and political rights of the people, corporatocracy, and the power elite (generally, these are those on the right); and, on the other those who are concerned with all three rights, civil, political, and social (generally these are those on the left), a problem exacerbated by the former’s preoccupation with the belief that one’s social status is wholly the result (or fault–depending upon the observers own status) of his own efforts, his economic and social environment, race, educational opportunities, and class status notwithstanding. This is further exacerbated, in my view, by the rapid widening of the disparity in income and wealth, as well as massive unemployment, due in part to globalization. This is explained very thoroughly in William Wilson’s book, When Work Disappears, published in 1996.

On November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldier’s National Cemetery, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, four and a half months after the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln delivered his world-famous address, part of which follows:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come….

Has anything changed? Here again, we are at a point of crisis; and are we not at the same point again, revisiting an old but obviously unresolved issue–equal rights for all, civil, political, and social? We have a crisis as to who is going to run this country, we the people or the Shadow Government of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite who have literally taken us over during the years since the advent of Ronald Reagan; and, as evidenced by our current status, growing disparity in income and wealth, and diminution in voting power (thanks to the 2006 amendment to the voting rights act of 1965 and decision of our U. S. Supreme Court in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission). 

We were conceived in liberty and created equal under the law. The question now is will we endure?

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net

Whose Business Is It?

          Arguably, it is our nation’s misfortune that we have only two political parties. Some very intelligent and well educated, and well meaning people would argue differently; but, what is an electorate to do when neither party reflects the will of the people? It seems, in these times, that many of us find ourselves voting against one faction or the other rather than for, or in favor of.

          Let’s say those words: On the one hand, we have the Democrats; and, on the other, the Republicans. Behind the scenes, dictating the actions of both, we have our Shadow Government, a government of the rich and powerful, by the rich and powerful, and for the rich and powerful, figuratively the one percent, if you will (if you don’t see that, you haven’t been keeping up with what’s going on–you aren’t looking). You may vote Republican; you may vote Democrat; but, when the results are in, it’s the Shadow Government that you get. Is this true? You bet it is. What you see is what you get.

          Over the years, we have come to think of the Democratic Party as the party of the people, the Republican Party as the party of big business and the rich. Our ostensible democracy and free elections notwithstanding, the Republicans have won (the rich, powerful, and elite).  

Think not? How about this? In his book, Freefall, Dr. Joseph Stiglitz, one of the most influential economists in the world, discusses the transition into office of President Obama after his election in 2008, following, arguably, in my opinion (Not Dr. Stiglitz’s), one of the most inept and destructive presidential administrations in our nation’s history.

Dr. Stiglitz says: “When the new president took office, there was a collective sigh of relief. At last something would be done. ….Ultimately, Obama’s team opted for a conservative strategy, one that I describe as ‘muddling through’.” I’m not going to copy Dr. Stiglitz’s book here as you can read it for yourself; but, continuing from my own recollections, President Obama carried right on with the NSA, the National Security Agency, and spying on our people; he bailed out the financial sector (Which he should have done) without any prosecution of the guilty, increasing of regulations (bringing back the Glass Steagall Act–as one example); he didn’t insist that the bailout money be used for lending or mortgage relief, allowing the banks to put the funds (your taxpayer dollars) in reserve as well as the payout of huge bonuses and salaries to the executives who got us in this position in the first place. Essentially, he just picked up where Bush left off. Another important action on which I will comment is the ACA, the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. I know the president had to make compromises for his healthcare program, but I consider his plan as a sellout to the insurance and pharmaceutical companies, a corporatocracy if there ever was one. The people lost again. I don’t care what they say. You’ll see, the ACA will die of its own weight. In the meantime, the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, our Shadow Government, has won again.

          Whose business is it? I think it is the people’s business. From my point of view, the people didn’t have a say in it. But, one might say, the people voted. Yes, they did; but they didn’t vote to be spied upon; they didn’t vote to be raped by the bankers; and they certainly didn’t vote for Jamie Diamond’s raise and the salary and bonus increases of the others which came out of our pockets. Neither, really, did they vote for the Affordable Care Act as it is unfolding. My point here is that the will of the people is not being recognized. My understanding of the Constitution and government is that our elected representatives are supposed to represent the people’s interests–all the people, not just theirs, or the one percent. It seems the people can’t even get a hearing anymore, let alone representation.

          Mr. Norquist (Who elected him?) wants a government so small he can squeeze it into his bathtub. Well, Mr. Norquist, the people don’t want a government that small–such is not in their interests. The people want a government as large, or as small, as they need; and, who are you to tell them different? I’ll tell you right now, with all our many problems, the government they want (and need) is pretty big. Our nation is in deep doo, and the people you represent got us there. The people want a government that represents the whole 100% of us–not just the 1%. The people want their government financed by a tax system that is based upon the principle of one’s ability to pay–all 100% of us. The people want a government that is honest, above board, and with integrity–a government that is transparent and believable.

          Am I right? Do I know what I’m talking about? Let’s find out. Let’s have a national referendum. I say the governance of our country is the business of the people; that is if we are the democratic republic we claim to be, and as is outlined in our Constitution. Our representatives are supposed to represent us, we the people–not just the corporatocracy and power elite. Do we want a government sufficient to meet the needs of the people? Is national security supposed to be the only function of government? Should the social needs of our people, i.e. our quality of living, educational needs, prosperity, social security, universal national healthcare, etc, in effect the very quality of our nation, be a responsibility of government? Should we be just another entity of world government, or should we maintain our national sovereignty, free and independent, with liberty and justice for all? Let us have that referendum. Let us determine what the people want. What false god gave anyone else the right to decide? In doing so, by the way, let us not word that referendum in such a way as to put words in the voters’ mouths as is done in the many political surveys in order to distort the results.

          Let’s do it.

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net

Gun Control

          Our current administration has for quite some time arduously pursued legislation toward the control of guns in our nation, ostensibly motivated by the many shootings in our schools, malls, and throughout the country in general. With all due respect to President Obama and those others who have advocated and supported those efforts, I believe they are wasting their time and taxpayer dollars. They may sound good politically. They may even make one feel good, for this is an emotional issue.  For sure, my heart and prayers go out to the victims and their families, but these proposed laws will not solve the problems. They will not even put a dent in them. Even if such legislation were to be passed, there would still be shootings in our schools, our malls, and elsewhere across the breadth of our nation. The real cause (or causes) is much deeper than guns; and, once again, our government is a day late and a dollar short in solving them. To them, there are greater problems to solve, like for the haves to make more money. Jamie Dimon needs another raise (Refer to my posting of January 25).

          There is another very important aspect of this subject which I must mention. Given what I have said above, one must surely understand the ramifications that the ultra restriction of guns, however effected or implemented, if passed, will have on our society. We would have a very unhappy people; and, our people are already unhappy–very unhappy. The blunt fact of the matter is our government is not faring very well with the people at all. I read in the media frequently, almost every day, as to their negative popularity. This is not a light matter. Pushing this issue further at this time will only serve to detract from our many other social issues which we are trying to resolve.

The truth of the matter is that guns are firmly ingrained in our culture. They are part and parcel of our psyche. The prohibition of guns, gun control, or a so-called war on guns, is arguably anathema to our society, the enforcement of which will have, if not already, the same results as those in our current war against drugs or during the prohibition of alcohol in the thirties. We all know how expensive and unsuccessful those efforts were (and are). If we really want to solve the problems of crime in the streets, drugs, school shootings, etc, we should redirect our efforts to the solving of our many social problems, i.e. unemployment, poverty, education, mental health, national healthcare, discrimination, incarceration, drugs, life in the ghettos, and many more. This is where our money and our political power should be spent. Politics aside, this is the direction in which we should and must focus our efforts.

          If, on the other hand, the real motive of our government is to control guns so as to forestall a rebellion or uprising of our people (It has been reported and known to most people that FEMA has already been setting up large internment camps throughout the nation as well as buying ammunition in huge quantities, coffins, etc. You can check this out at www.infowars.com ), they should forget it. Such will only lead to the destruction of our nation, subjugating us to others, in which event no one would win. The best way to govern our great nation and have a contented people is to govern for the benefit of 100% of us, as opposed to the 1%, the corporatocracy and power elite they now support. If this would be their focus, they wouldn’t have to worry about any such uprising. If our Shadow Government of the Power Elite would give back what they have taken, Our Country, they wouldn’t have to worry about the people taking it back. These are my views. What are yours?

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net

Budget Cuts In Defense

          Expenditures for the military, globally, stood at over $1.7 trillion, annually for 2012–down approximately .5% from 2011, the first decrease since 1998 (ref. globalissues.org). If I have read and interpreted correctly, that’s for the whole world. The United States share of this was approximately 39.0% or $663 billion. No other country comes even close to us. China is the closest with 9.5% ($162 billion), Russia spends 5.2% ($88 billion), the U.K. 3.5% ($60 billion), and Japan 3.4% ($58 billion), if I've done the math right.

With this in mind, one doesn’t have to be an expert in defense spending to recognize ours as outrageous and bloated, especially in these economic times and the needs of our people. I see no reason our defense budget cannot be reduced significantly without jeopardizing the defense of our country. This said, in the course of reading an article from The Hill regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s encroachment in Latin America, i.e. Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, I noticed reference to a statement of  General James Kelly, Commander of U. S. Southern Command at a Senate hearing earlier this month. I assume he was talking about Putin and the Russians. He, Kelly, was quoted as saying, “They’re on the march. They’re working the scenes where we can’t work. And they’re doing a pretty good job.” He went on to say there has been a “noticeable uptick in Russian power projection and security force personnel” in Latin America. He then said,”It has been over three decades since we last saw this type of high-profile Russian military presence.” He went on to say that the U.S. military had been forced to cut back on its engagement with military and government officials in Latin America due to budget cuts. The Hill article also said, “The U.S. had to cancel the deployment of its hospital ship USNS Comfort last year.”

They’re working the scenes where we can’t work? We have to cancel deployment of a hospital ship? Are you kidding me? I must say to you. That made me mad, downright angry, as a matter of fact. I understand budgets. I know how these things work. I worked with corporate budgets and planning for almost thirty years; and, unlike our Department of Defense, we had up to date computer systems, integrated data bases, and an auditable set of books. Who are these people trying to kid? We have to cancel a hospital ship and reduce national security at our back door in order to reduce a $663 billion budget? What we are doing with this budget thing is choking on nats and swallowing camels. It’s past time to cut our defense budget and the most lucrative sources lie in procurement, waste, procurement, and waste. Oh yes, let us not forget procurement. As are the banks, the military industrial complex is blood-sucking the life out of us, and it is being done on the backs of the poor. I’m tired of it, and you should be too. Take a long look at the F-35 and Lockheed Martin, if you will. 

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net

Paul Ryan and Inner City Culture

          On Wednesday, March 12, the House Budget Committee Chairman, Paul Ryan said on the Morning in America radio show , “We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work. There is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with.”

He is absolutely right! But, this man who was a candidate for vice president of the United States of America in the 2012 election; this snot-nosed, immature, slow and late bloomer in life, his high degree of intelligence and education notwithstanding; either has no clue as to the real causes of this problem or is disingenuous to we the people whom he serves, just another servant of our Shadow Government by the Power Elite.

          It is a fact of life that there are those among us who are sucker’s, leaching off the rest of society who work and are self-sustaining; so let us agree on that and put it behind us. As we come to that understanding, however, let us also understand that these people exist among the rich as well as the poor and those in the inner city ghettos. There are bottom feeders and there are top feeders. Just as the bottom feeders capture our welfare dollars, the top feeders steal from all of us through rents, corporate welfare, and tax avoidance and evasion. They downright refuse to pay their fair share of taxes in accordance with their ability to pay. On August 8, 2013, I wrote in this blog a posting titled “Our Underclass–The Bottom Feeders”, in which I discussed in detail, the bottom feeders and the top feeders in our economy. Scroll down to August 8, 2013, and you will find it.

          Next, everyone should understand that our inner city culture is composed of whites and Hispanic peoples, as well as blacks. No one has a monopoly on this, their numbers notwithstanding. Again, on March 4, 2014, I wrote a posting to this blog titled Our Underclass in which I emphatically stated that our underclass must be eliminated to the fullest extent possible–certainly not by genocide, but by helping them to help themselves thereby upgrading their status in society up into the middle and upper classes. I made several recommendations for accomplishing this. Again, scroll down in my blog to March 4, 2014.

          What has really angered me about Paul Ryan’s statement is the horse’s mouth from which it came, Paul Ryan. That man, a responsible leader (I should say irresponsible) in our House of Representatives completely ignores the causes of our problems in the inner cities, the ghettos. In fact, he has, in conjunction with his cohorts, done everything possible within the realm of his responsibilities to suppress the people (call it the 47%, the 90%, the 99%, or whatever) of this country into poverty.

What has he and his partners in crime done? They have forced cuts in spending in the middle of this recession (or depression–ask Paul Krugman) when we should be increasing spending to stimulate the economy and put people back to work. You immediately point to our giant deficit and national debt. Where do you think our deficit and debt came from? When Jimmy Carter left office, our national debt was under $1 Trillion. I submit to you. That is as close to zero as we will see in the next several generations. When George W. Bush left office, 28 years later, our national debt exceeded $10 Trillion, an increase of 1,004%. Bill Clinton reduced our deficit to zero, with a surplus forecasted for years ahead. Alan Greenspan was even worrying as to how he could manage monetary policy without a national debt for support. And what did his cohorts do with the help of Paul Ryan? They spent money like a drunken sailor on shore leave, literally exploding our national debt. This isn’t prejudice or bigotry I’m expounding, folks. These are facts. And why did they do it? I now submit to you my opinion. They wanted to enrich themselves, the rich, at the expense of the poor. This should be obvious to all. All one has to do is look at the exploding inequality in income and wealth within the past thirty years. Next, they wanted to put our nation on the verge of national bankruptcy so that our nation would be forced to the position of where we now are–force us to eliminate Social Security, eliminate national healthcare and Medicare, eliminate welfare, food stamps, and the public safety nets in order to reduce our deficit while, on the other hand, maintaining a defense budget greater than all the other major nations in the world combined. Do you think not? Aren’t these items discussed daily in the news media? It appears these people, including Paul Ryan, actually believe this world was made for the sole benefit of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite. Also, I haven’t mentioned in this posting the unnecessary closing down of our government at a completely wasted cost of $28 Billion to the taxpayer. Oh well. Just charge it. We can't help our poor, but we do have money to burn.

I can’t close this out without mentioning the huge spending of Barack Obama. Far be it for me to defend him–he doesn’t need me, but what else would one expect with the carryover of such an immense deficit, the deepest financial crisis since the great depression, jobs and money being outsourced to slave labor abroad , twenty million unemployed or underemployed, forty-seven million on food stamps, millions sleeping in cars, on the streets, or under bridges, another twenty million committed to privatized prisons, and the minority leader of the Senate vowing to defeat every program which he, President Obama, would set forth–not to mention half the world hating us, the result of an “us vs. them” foreign policy. Are you kidding me?

Surely, no one as smart as Paul Ryan can be so ignorant. I can’t believe it. But, what is the other side of the equation? He certainly isn't representing the people.

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net     

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

Books to Read on these matters:

          The Price of Inequality by Joseph Stiglitz

         Globalization and its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz

         When Work Disappears by William Wilson

If I Vote for You

If I am to vote for you, I don’t really care if you are handsome, beautiful, or sexy and charismatic. Neither do I care if you are old, wrinkled, fat, and ugly. And, in fact, I will not vote for you if I, in any way, perceive you as patronizing, an insult to my intelligence, and disingenuous. What I do care about, if I am to vote for you, is your character and where your heart is.

Can I really trust you? Are you honest? Do you have integrity? Are you a competent leader? Do you know what you are doing? What is your real motivation? Whom do you really serve? What is your world view and in what direction do you intend to lead my country and me? Will you represent not only my interests but, also,  the interests of all the people, all 100% of us, or just the 1%, the Corporatocracy and the Power Elite, the Shadow Government, the real government, that presently governs over us through their strings of power, i.e. money, lobbyists, and corruption?

As for me, I want to vote for those who want life, liberty, justice, prosperity, and the pursuit of happiness for all the people, and, to quote Abraham Lincoln, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net 

Our Privacy on the Internet

          Tonight on television, the CBS program, Sixty Minutes, broadcasted a program about privacy on the internet, the center focus of which, as I saw it, was centered on the companies which collect our personal data and sells it to many and various marketing companies, employers, and the government–information regarding our purchasing habits, books and papers we read, sexual preferences and orientation, personal medical history, credit history, politics, and on and on. Almost all, if not all, of you know about this. We know about it because the information on these things has finally leaked out over the years, but we sure didn’t know about it in the beginning.One of the speakers on their show even said that you know and, yet, don’t do anything about it–you don’t care. This is the spark which lit my fire tonight in posting this subject to my blog.

          What a lie. Who does he think we are? Does he really think we don’t care? You darn right we care. We all care. I have written in prior blogs, some no further back in time than last week, that our Shadow Government, the Corporatocracy and Power Elite of this country, which really governs us is using mind control and manipulation to control us–our democracy, yours and mine–in our political and economic choices. Not only do we the people care about this treatment (and downright robbery of our Constitutional rights) we are deeply angry about it.

Why haven’t we done anything about it? First of all, this massive invasion of our personal privacy has been going on in secret for many years, completely unbeknownst to us. Not only were we the people not asked for our input and/or approval into these unfavorable processes against us, but also (a second reason), our elected representatives failed us. They, those who are responsible in managing the affairs of our great nation and supposed to represent our interests, turned their backs on us. Rather, they represented only the interest of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite from whom they receive their financing, financing we can’t afford to match (This is even better understood when you include in your thinking the case of Citizens United v Federal Election Commission). Third, and just as important, information regarding the identity of the companies who spy on us, collecting our personal information, and its users to whom they sell it, is, for the most part, unavailable to the public, notwithstanding that their job and very lives are affected.

What should we do about this? If information is going to be collected from a citizen, that citizen should be fully informed of such and have its use, ramifications and possible consequences explained, after which he should have the right to approve or disapprove the action. In addition, a complete audit trail as to the information’s distribution and use (not the information itself, of course) should be maintained and available to the public. In conjunction with this, the names and ownership of every company should be available to the public, i.e. to the people–all the people. After all, every business is a legal entity.

It’s long past time to take back our country. This is not a bumper sticker to be read and ignored. It’s up to all of us to put a stop to these abuses of the people. Business is supposed to serve us–not govern us. Don't you think?

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net    

Election Day is Coming

          We are eight months from Election Day, the day when we will once again go to the polls and vote for our representatives in government. In the world of our democratic republic of the people, by the people, and for the people, this will be a very important day for all of us. On the other hand, however, in reality, rather than this being a day in which the rule of the day is one person, one vote, it will be a day when the rule of the day will be one dollar one vote. Rather than this really being a vote of the people, it will, in effect, be an election bought and paid for by the Corporatocracy and the Poser Elite, those who really presently govern our country–our de facto Shadow Government. Don’t tell me this isn’t true. Don’t tell me this is some conspiracy theory. This is a fact. To see the truth in this, just take off your blinders. Ask yourself. Who is paying for these elections? Don’t tell me what I said isn’t true.

          Around and around we go, where we’ll stop, nobody knows. On the stage below, are the actors, the political candidates for office whom we elect to govern us.

On the Right are the pseudo conservatives who proclaim to represent us–the people, when, in reality, they represent only the interests of the rich and powerful in their quest for even more wealth and greater power. This is the way they have been forever. Everybody surely knows that. They are supported in their effort by those who, with their lack of knowledge, and, in their ignorance, identify with them, erroneously thinking they are on the same track when in fact they are only satchel carriers. In short, if you ain't rich the right doesn't support you. They work only for their kind, the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, our real government, our Shadow Government. Face it. You aren't one of them. You aren't a millionaire. They don’t represent your interests what they say notwithstanding. They are taking for themselves the bulk of our annual national income and wealth.

On the Left are the pseudo liberals, the so-called progressives, who profess to represent the people. They, too, are supported in their effort by those who identify with them and their efforts–those in the lower classes of the populace, the middleclass, the poor, and the disadvantaged. I sincerely believe this is what they surely want to do. I believe they are sincere in their efforts. This is the purpose for which they stand. Herein lays a glitch, however. They too are caught up in the net of the rich and powerful. They, too, are trapped by the power of money. They, too, have sold their souls. As you do before crossing the street, stop, look, and listen. Isn't this what you see?

When the liberals came into office, January, 2009, they inherited the greatest economic and financial collapse since 1929, the largest national debt in the history of mankind, a commensurate national deficit, and two foreign wars, which, by the time all accounts are settled, will have cost somewhere in the area of three trillion dollars. In conjunction with this, there was approximately twenty million of our people unemployed or underemployed, unable to find a job anywhere, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of whom were hungry, in foreclosure or “underwater’ in their mortgages, sleeping in their cars, under bridges, or on the streets. I must, also, point out that twenty million persons were in our prisons. I must surely have left something out, but I’ll stop there. I’m sorry, but the Right left office with our nation in the worst mess in our history, an inkblot that will disgrace us for years to come. The only thing that saved us from falling into a deep depression equal to or worse than that in the 1930’s were the safety nets of Social Security, healthcare, unemployment, food stamps–programs some of which begun back with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Thankfully, people have a propensity to forget; and, in a generation or two, perhaps it will be behind us. Perhaps we will once again have the reputation of a great nation.

In light of this, I will dare to say that when our people elected President Barrack Obama to office, they were looking for a change. They were looking for honesty, integrity, and transparency in office. They were looking for an end to war, torture, spying, and oppressive government. They were looking for recovery from our depression. They were looking for affordable healthcare. There is probably more, but it just won’t come to my mind for the present. That, in my mind is what we were looking for. What did we get?

From my point of view, I saw President Obama come into office picking up right where President Bush left off–the Patriot Act, the NSA (National Security Agency), secrecy and lack of transparency, an expensive overfunded Department of Defense without a balanceable and auditable accounting system and state of the art computer systems, etc…. Instead of a national single payer healthcare system, affordable to all with strict cost controls, we got the Affordable Care Act, an unaffordable, immensely complicated system beyond the comprehension of the average person–an excessively expensive monster, which I believe will ultimately collapse of its own weight. In addition, our nation where the rich are constantly getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer was rapidly going downhill economically, destroying our middleclass, and replacing our labor with slave labor abroad. If you don’t see this outsourcing as slave labor, imagine in your mind’s eye how you would view those people if you brought them as they are to our country to work alongside our people. I daresay it wouldn’t take you long to look at them and see them for what they really are, slaves. At this point in my discussion, you must surely see that the Left, the party of the people has not, in reality, been a party of the people. Rather, as with the Right, the Left has been a representative of the rich.

Way up above the stage in the rafters is our Shadow Government which really pulls the strings and governs over all of us, their strings extending down below to the stage, attached to and controlling both parties, the Right and the Left, in our pseudo government which we elect and which is supposed to govern us, our nation–the government established by our Constitution. Why is this condition allowed to happen in our democratic republic, a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people? The answer is money. As I said above, instead of one person one vote, we have one dollar, one vote. In effect, our elected representatives have sold out to the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, our Shadow Government, which finances our elections. I understand that our elected representatives spend four hours of every day soliciting funds from the rich and business interests. I have heard that publicly reported. Also, our illustrious Supreme Court of the United States of America has ordained, in effect, that Corporations are people with the same right of free speech and expression as you. They can contribute all the money they wish to political campaigns with impunity; and, under certain conditions, they can even keep their contributions secret. Do you have that right? I don’t think so. Check it out. Up to now, I thought only God made people, but I guess that was before  SCOTUS. One last comment on campaign financing is the impact of the so called revolving doors between business and moneyed interests through which our elected officials continuously travel, enriching their selves.

One last comment is that massive amounts of money are spent by these moneyed interests in our political campaigns, spreading misinformation, propaganda, mind control, and persuasion. If you think about it you know this without me telling you. You see this type of marketing and thought control every time you go to the supermarket or go online to buy product. Not only are you faced with all the marketing techniques, they profile your every behavior, your likes, dislikes, desires, etc. Such is also true of our politicians. I've said enough. You know this is true. You know I’m right. The question is what we do about it.

My answer to you is that one party is completely unqualified to govern this country. Not only have they almost destroyed our nation, but the direction in which they wish to lead us is not in the interests of the people. They want a nation governed by a Corporatocracy and Power Elite. If we follow their lead to its ultimate conclusion, we will, for the most part, be part of the underclass. Again, if you don’t believe me, you have only to look at trends in income, wealth, and jobs. That party is unelectable. For me, that will be forever. I want my country to be a democracy not a vassal of the rich and powerful.

As to the other party, we must get it out from the hands of the rich and powerful, our Shadow Government. We must insure that it is truly a party of the people, working in the interests of the people, a populist party. All must prosper to the fullest extent possible. God made this planet for everybody–not just a fortunate few.

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net

Our Underclass

          There has been much talk about the growing inequality in our country and our rapidly disappearing middles class. This is very true, documented by many expert economists and evidenced by a myriad of statistics. We should talk about this more and more and continue talking about it until something is done–corrective action must be taken. This is no light subject folks. Left to continue, it will destroy our country as we know it–maybe even our very sovereignty. Let me ask you. Where is our middle class going as they disappear? The answer is: they are merging into our underclass, our poor and underprivileged, which is exploding. Our middle class is moving to the other side of the tracks, to the ghettos and wherever. As I have said many times before in the course of writing my postings, the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and the welfare rolls are climbing. What’s more, you, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer, are borrowing the money to pay for it. If this trend continues and is left to its ultimate conclusion, we will be in the underclass serving the rich as their servants, aka serfs (their slaves).

          What can we do about this, our nation’s plight? The answer is: we must get rid of them. We must rid ourselves of the underclass. Of course, there will always be those who need help. They will need help for a variety of reasons, including disabilities, physical and mental, but we can reduce their number to a minimum, if we will. We should begin this redemptive process today–now, before it is too late. The idea is to help as many of those as we absolutely can move from the underclass back up into the middleclass, helping them to, once again, become productive and carry their weight in society.

          Obviously, this is a very contentious issue, subject to much debate. I don’t even pretend to know all the answers as to how we can achieve such a feat; but, I can certainly come up with a few, and we must try:

1.     We must create jobs for those unemployed who are able and willing to work. We can do this through the creation of work programs and the building and repair of infrastructure.

2.     We must increase the minimum wage. This relief will only work temporarily as all other related factors will balance out, especially through inflation; but, it will provide temporary relief in the interim until our economy can recover.

3.     We must implement tax reforms, completely overhauling our present system, eliminating corporate welfare and implementing a progressive income tax system with top marginal rates approaching those before the administration of Ronald Reagan. Except for requisite increases in Social Security and Healthcare costs, this change shouldn't affect ninety-five percent of you reading this, if any of you, providing those who are able will once again pay their fair share of the necessary cost of government.

4.     We must take back our government from the present reign of our Shadow Government. You know who they are. I have discussed them in detail in a recent posting (or postings) to this blog–those making our government their puppet.

5.     We all know where learning abilities are greatest in our lives.  Of course, it is at our very beginning, when we are born and in our youth. Taking advantage of this reality, we should increase our emphasis on education, beginning with pre K and continuing through college. In fact, we should make it legally imperative that everyone able must achieve an education through the first four years of college or a vocational training school, dependent upon the student’s ability, aspirations or desires, effectively helping everyone to become productive and financially independent. This increased emphasis on education should include social training and reflect basic values, such as responsibility, honesty and integrity in the conduct of one’s affairs, paying one’s bills on a timely basis, how to balance a checkbook, home economics, and so forth. Responsibility for the success of this endeavor should be that of the parents as well as that of the students; and, those who resist or refuse cooperation when they are able should be placed in special schools to insure their successful training. Our nation is in serious trouble. To be quite candid, we no longer can afford not to do this. We are in dire need of an informed, educated, and responsible public if we are to keep our democracy. If we will do these things, I am confident our nation’s downward trend will reverse and the GDP will be there to cover the cost. We may be in debt up to our ears, but a turnaround is still very possible if we will, as they say, mind our P’s and Q’s, end corruption [another topic for another time], and take care of business.

6.     We need to establish trade tariffs so as to adjust prices on imports for wage differences between countries from which we import to that of which comparable wages will be paid in the United States. That there is a thing such as a free market is a myth, and continued lies and propaganda to the contrary don’t change the reality. A free market exists only in the classroom. When either supply or demand is controlled by any one means or another, the market is no longer free.

7.     Discrimination in hiring of any kind, be it age, color, looks, religion, sex, whatever, must be eliminated by any means available, in conjunction  with which I must also point out that it is going to be necessary to increase the retirement age for Social Security which will be unacceptable unless we are willing to hire those who are older. You will notice I didn’t mention Medicare. That is because I hope we will come to our senses and change to a single payer national healthcare system covering everyone from birth to death (I recommended this earlier in previous postings). I must also mention that we can’t allow this antidiscrimination rule to interfere with competency on the job. One must always be able to adequately perform that for which he is paid. The hiring requisite must relate to the job performance requirement.

8.     Another need for which the solution is, also, difficult, has to do with those living in the ghettos of our large cities. A severe transportation problem exists in that both jobs and retail establishments, for a variety of reasons, have moved from the inner city to the suburbs and outlying areas. Even schools have closed and/or moved, therefore effectively isolating those living there. This must be resolved. People can’t be expected to walk miles to school or to a job.

9.     The next and last issue, for now, which I feel must be considered in this discussion has to do with racial prejudice, a very argumentative subject, to say the least; but I feel I must discuss it because it is so important to the subject at hand. I believe and submit to you that, although much is said about color, actual prejudice against color in this nation, is minimal as compared to prejudice for another reason. That reason is one’s personal behavior and demeanor. That having been said, these personal traits are a source of prejudice by others regardless of one’s color, and has led to lost jobs, interview rejections, lost promotions, lost pay increases, social ostracism, family break-ups, incarceration, and even the inspiration of fear within others. This is another huge problem, probably the most difficult of all, that must be resolved. The only viable approach to the solution which I see is the creation of educational programs for individuals and families beginning in life as early as pre K. This, too, will cost money; but, if successful, I believe it will pay for itself plus interests, not the least of which will be a significant reduction in our prison populations.

 Folks, I am not talking about politics or political chess. I’m not advocating self-interests. I am talking about real issues and serious problems of our nation and our people–problems needing to be addressed and addressed as soon as possible; but, as you know, our Congress won’t act. They will do nothing unless you put strong pressure upon them to do so. If you don’t do it, it won’t get done. In a government of the people, it is past time for the people to stand up and be counted.

 Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net

When I Think of Our Government

          When I think of our government of the United States of America, a democratic republic, I think of it as “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people”, as articulated by President Lincoln at Gettysburg in 1863; and, also, I think of it as a nation under God based upon Judeo-Christian values and respect for the sanctity of life, as evidenced by our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. In this respect, our government, under our Constitution, is a secular government, one which is supposed to administer the law equally to all citizens within its jurisdiction without regard to gender, ethnicity and color, religious and sexual preferences, mental and health status, and all other differences notwithstanding–equally, equal treatment for all.

          This, in my mind, is important–very important, requiring our people to be informed, involved, objective, and responsible toward the achievement of our nation’s goals and resolving the many issues before us. Foremost in our minds should be the sovereignty, security, and solidarity of our nation, and, secondly, the security, freedom, liberty, and well-being of our people. All else, i.e. government, business, and labor, must serve the common good. You have heard the words, “United we stand, divided we fall”. I say to you, “The greater our inequality, the more we are divided”, and “The less informed, involved, objective, and responsible we are, the less secure our democracy becomes”.

          If we don’t become involved and take back our government from those who should be serving us, as opposed to governing us, there will be nothing left for our children and grandchildren but debt and servitude, i.e. slavery; and, if you don't do it, it won't get done.

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net