Our Constitution

          I refer you to The Constitution of the United States of America, the basic law of our land upon which all of our laws are based. Our renowned forefathers, as bright, intelligent, and farseeing as they were, could not, in their wildest imaginations, have foreseen the world in which we presently live, a world of travel into space, computers, the internet, advances in medicine, and on and on. When you read our Constitution, you read only what it says. What it means is another matter. Its meaning must be interpreted in terms of “today”. Our forefathers knew that. That’s why they provided us with a Supreme Court to interpret its many applications.

          There are those who will argue that our Constitution is inflexible. Others will argue the opposite, that it is flexible, with changes in customs, the times, etc.—an argument still unresolved; but, it seems to me—I believe—certain provisions of our Constitution are unquestionable, our illustrious and infallible Supreme Court notwithstanding. I read that ours is a government of the people. We are a Democracy, a Democratic Republic, with a representative government to represent we the people—All The People, All 100% of us. Do I hear any arguments to that? I read about equality—we are all equal under the law, we all have equal opportunity to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Do you think?

          Am I just whistling in the wind? Do you believe in the same Constitution in which I believe? Now we all know that, in the beginning, the blacks were left out of the picture—after all, they were slaves, and everybody knows slaves weren’t people. Slaves, then, were, sadly, property to be bought, sold, raped, pillaged, whatever. Even our Civil War with the loss of over half a million lives didn’t solve the problem. Even President Lincoln’s executive order, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t really complete the job. It wasn’t until the Great Society of President Johnson and his Civil Rights Act that any real semblance of equality for the blacks occurred. Even then, have we really received them as equal? Under our law they are. Do we really have equality in voting? Think about such things as gerrymandering, voting restrictions, voter ID, job discrimination, inequality in education, etc. It took over one hundred years to fix the black problem; but, is it really fixed? I don’t think so. Just look around. It’s not fixed and that has to change.

          Let us look at inequality of opportunity from another aspect. You graduated from community college (because of costs, a rapidly growing trend today). John Doe graduated from a prominent Ivy League school. Who is more apt to be appointed to a high office in government; or, if you are a child of a commoner, how apt are you to be accepted into a prestigious school in competition with the child of a prominent leader even if you have the qualifications and the money. Where is the equality of opportunity there? We don’t have equal opportunity in America, and it becomes more fleeting every day with the rapidly increasing gap in income and wealth between the haves and have nots. What happens to the guy who worked his way up the ladder only to be shoved aside by another who begun in the middle or, worse yet, at the top.

          Speaking of the immense increase in inequality of income and wealth between the haves and the have nots, God created this earth for all of us—not just the 10% or 0.1% (If you don’t believe in God, have your way; the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, our Shadow Government, seemingly don’t either). So why should some earn hundreds percent more income than those below them who work just as hard, if not more so? They are more talented, you might say. Talent is a gift of God. It’s a blessing. Talent isn’t earned. I do believe one more talented should earn more. In some instances, maybe much more, but should they be paid hundreds of percent more as so many of our CEO’s are today? Also, should they pay far less taxes than we do, as they now do? Should they not pay according to their ability to pay (Fairness demands that comparisons be made in terms of percentages of income)? Some, including many corporations, pay no taxes.

          Let us come back to the subject of voting. I see absolutely nothing in our Constitution about Corporations. Nowhere do I see any mention of Corporations as people. For many years, Corporations have been deemed as legal entities for the purposes of determination of liabilities, taxation, ownership issues, etc. I believe that to be in the interests of the people. That’s acceptable. I read the mention of God and man in our Constitution, but nothing about Corporations. When our Supreme Court, in effect, declared a Corporation’s money as equivalent to free speech in direct competition for the votes of the American people, they were wrong. At this point, I’m not sure they weren’t corrupt. Our Congress has sold out. That’s a matter of record, i.e. campaign contributions, lobbyists, so what’s next? I don’t know, but I do know that Corporations should not be allowed to vote. They are not people. People were created by God. Corporations were created by man to serve—not to rule. Our present condition  must and has to change.

          To understand, all you have to do is look at the overall (the big) picture. These people are already in control. Contrary to our Constitution, they are running our government today. We didn’t vote for them. We the voters, in our lack of due diligence, have let it happen. We must now take it back. We still have the power of the vote. If we didn’t, they wouldn’t spend so much money each and every election to win. Vote only for those candidates who represent the direct interests of the people. Vote issues rather than party. Vote for a Constitutional Amendment to get money completely out of politics (If you leave even a little bit in, they will find a way to cheat). Vote for a Constitutional Amendment for voting reform—the right to vote for all citizens. Vote for Constitutional Amendments for universal access to single payer national healthcare, and Social Security. Vote for comprehensive tax reform—a progressive tax system for all based upon one’s ability to pay, including Corporations and control over Corporate Inversion (Tax avoidance by moving abroad). Vote for those who promote Fair and open trade—no more secrecy. Vote for those who advocate mandatory government sponsored education, pre K through college or trade school (Everybody has a trade, a job, i.e. is able to support themselves). Our nation needs a free and educated people—leaders. We don’t need a people encumbered with hardship, poverty, and student debt.

The very survival of our great nation depends upon our taking back our country from government by the Corporations and Power Elite less we become their slaves—the route in which, I believe, we are now going. Our government is us. The character of our government, any government, is a direct reflection of the character of our people. It’s past time for them to do the will of the people rather than the will of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite who have no sense of caring about anything except the price of their stock—quality product and efficient service to customers, loyalty to employees, dedication to their country notwithstanding.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

Our Unresolved Problem(s)

          Problems unresolved are not unlike cancers that fester and fester until they burst with pain and devastation. The longer they fester, the greater the pain, the greater the devastation. Such it is with our great nation, a nation of many problems—currently, it seems, tired, broke, hungry, polarized, and twisting in the winds.

          To solve a problem, any problem, one must first identify it, get to the absolute root of the matter, decide what to do about it, and do it—too often a problem in and of itself. For far too long, we the people of the United States of America haven’t done this, preferring to shift our problems to a “back burner”, dealing with them with temporary “fixes”, passivism, and procrastination, which has cost us dearly.

          I submit to you that in these, the greatest times in the history of civilization, the two greatest problems confronting our nation today are a lack of concerted direction and xenophobia, i.e. racial discrimination. We have many serious problems before us—very serious; but, before they can be effectively resolved, we must above all, first resolve these two.

          I have discussed this in prior postings to this blog, from various aspects. We are heading in a direction, if we are not already there, wherein we are being ruled by an oligarchy of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite which, contrary to our presently being a democratic republic “of the people, by the people, and for the people”, the extent of our freedoms will be determined by them. This is just not The United States of America. This is a global thing. Even now many of the rules under which you and I live are under the control of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Agenda 21 of the United Nations, etc. which transcends national boundaries. Even now, our government is negotiating so called Free Trade Agreements in secret (I’m thinking specifically of the Trans-Pacific Partnership [TPP], which will affect jobs and living standards for millions of us). We the people will have no say in it. Some will tell you we freely elected those who facilitate this, our Congress. We did? Keep in mind all the money which flows into the coffers of our representatives through the lobbyists of these Corporatists. Some even write the rules which go into these agreements. Does your representative answer your phone calls? You can bet on it. He, or she, answers theirs.

In 2013, Keynesian economist Joseph Stiglitz, himself a renown economist, warned that the TPP presented “grave risks” and it “serves the interests of the wealthiest”. Organized labor in the U.S. argues that the trade deal would largely benefit big business at the expense of the workers in manufacturing and service industries. The Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Economic and Policy Research have argued that the TPP could result in further job losses and declining wages. In December 2013, 151 House Democrats signed a letter written by Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and George Miller (D-Calif.) opposing the “Fast Track”

Let me briefly explain what is meant by the “Fast Track”. From Wikipedia, “the fast track negotiating authority for trade agreements is the authority of the President of the United States to negotiate international agreement that Congress can approve or disapprove but cannot amend or filibuster. Also called trade promotion authority (TPA) since 2002, fast track negotiating authority is a temporary and controversial power granted to the President by Congress.” Wikipedia also states that “The authority was in effect from 1975 to 1994, pursuant to the Trade Act of 1974, and from 2002 to 2007 by the Trade Act of 2002. Although it expired for new agreements on July 1, 2007, it continued to apply to agreements already under negotiation until they were eventually passed into law in 2011. In 2012, the Obama administration began seeking renewal of the authority.”

You can read for yourself in Wikipedia a history and summary of the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is just one event going on with the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, our Shadow Government. There are many more; and, in my mind, they are not in favor of the people—only the 1%, the very very rich and elite. Whether you believe in God or not, God made people. People made business. Business is supposed to serve the people. People should be in charge—not business. We must turn this around before we become their serfs.

I submit to you this is the greatest problem for our nation today. This is not the direction in which we should continue, and we must change that direction now. We the people must take back our country; but, to do that, we must all participate by voicing our demands. We cannot do that with only 40%, or whatever, going to the polls.

As I said above, the second greatest problem for our nation today is xenophobia, i.e. racial discrimination. I will post a candid discussion of this subject in my next blog. I’m sure what I say will be controversial, but it must be said. The successful resolution of almost all our future problems will depend upon the resolution of these two, our domination by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite and our resolution of Racial Discrimination.

Please, think about these things. Do you really want our country/your country to be run by these people—the huge corporations, banks, and the extremely rich and wealthy; or, do you want us to be a democratic republic as per our Constitution, a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people? I tell you. It is going, going, gone—unless you do something about it. You may think this is all a big joke but it isn’t. It really is in your hands. What are you going to do and when? When?

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net

It’s Christmas

It’s Christmas, a day during which we celebrate the birth of the Lord–a day in which we rejoice. It is He who gave us love, love for everybody, that we may live in peace and harmony with one another. It’s He who gave us marriage within which we can establish a family, nourish and raise our children, and perpetuate our kind. It is He who gave us salvation that we, through His grace, may spend eternity with him. It is He who gave us everything we need, along with the ability to work it all out–if we only will. It is He who is the reason for the season. To those who believe, I urge you. Take a moment. Worship Him. Tell others about him. To those who do not, that’s your right–you have freedom of choice; but, should you change your mind, He’ll be there for you, waiting–His arms open wide. I wish a Merry Christmas to all of you. May God Bless you all.

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net

Government Funding Bill for 2015

          Once again, the American people are about to be screwed by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, the Shadow Government which really makes the decisions and runs this country, our pseudo democracy notwithstanding. A new law would make taxpayers potentially liable for Trillions of dollars in derivative losses in the event of another implosion of the market.

To make a very long and complex story short, derivatives, aka credit default swaps are the mortgage backed securities that led to the creation of the massive bubble in residential and commercial real estate and triggered its market collapse along with the near collapse of our banking system and economy in 2008 resulting in our “Great Recession”. I have heard numbers all over the place ranging from $400 Trillion to $900 Trillion, centering around $700 Trillion of derivatives in circulation throughout the world at that time. Called Toxic Assets, many, if not most, continue to remain on the books of the banks throughout our nation and the world today. Despite our government’s bailout of the financial markets, i.e. Wall Street, and the establishment of stronger market controls by the Dodd Frank Act, derivatives remain relatively uncontrolled to this day.

Now, let me tell you this. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States as of Q3, 2014 was estimated to be $17.555 Trillion. You don’t have to get all wrapped up in details to see the comparison of hundreds of trillions of dollars in potential liabilities with less than $20 Trillion in productivity.

In this new funding bill, Wall Street bank lobbyists have lobbied our representatives to insert a provision that would allow big banks to trade derivatives through subsidiaries that are federally insured by the FDIC. To quote Michael Snyder in his article in www.economiccollapse.com, “This would mean that the big banks would be able to continue their incredibly reckless derivatives trading without having to worry about the downside. If they win on their bets, the big banks would keep all the profits. If they lose on their bets, the federal government would come in and bail them out using taxpayer money. In other words, it would essentially be a ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ proposition”. Presently, under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law, these banks are required to move many of the transactions to other subsidiaries that are not insured by taxpayers. This new amendment would change that.

It goes downhill from here. In addition to this effort to weaken the financial swaps rule, there is a separate provision that would Triple the amount of money donors can contribute to political parties. Is our Shadow Government telling us they need even more money after Citizens United v. FEC in 2010 and McCutcheon v. FEC in 2013 court decisions?

Must we sell our souls to prevent shutting down the government? Those of you who lived before and during World War II surely remember the rise and fall of Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Fascism. What has happened to our great nation and the trend in which it is going is unacceptable. We must turn around before it is too late. We the people must take back our country.

Ronald Miller

Email me at mtss86@comcast.net