Look You

Look you. For just a minute, I ask you to think about something. You can readily see all the disruption, discontent, want, suffering, and unhappiness all around us, with people, with nations, and with the world for that matter. You don’t have to be told. You know things aren’t right. Why? For just a moment, look beyond what you see, what you hear, and even how you think you feel. The late French economist, thinker, and artist, Frederic Bastiat told us that there is that which is seen, and that which is not seen. Looking for that which is not seen, cast aside from your mind for just a moment all the clutter and garbage that is fed to us on a daily basis and ask yourself a question. What on earth is behind all of this that is not seen that is causing all of this? What is really going on?

Allow me to suggest an answer to all this misery. That answer is the struggle for power and dominance, the basic answer to everything. The greatest, yet the most basic struggle is between God and Satan. Before you cast that aside so brusquely, please, just consider it. We all know who is going to win in the end, but that struggle is happening all around us each and every day. 

Now, let us bring this discussion down to earth where we can really relate. For the past approximately two and a half centuries of our nation’s existence, our people have been suffering between the pull of two forces—capitalism, the interests of the rich and the privileged, and the interests of the people, God’s creation, put here by God to “dress, till, and keep”, i.e. rule, a very long time before capitalism was ever given a thought. Before you cast that aside, too, recall to your mind what we were told by Jesus, God’s Son, that man cannot worship God and mammon, i.e. money, that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In that light, I say to you, this earth exists for man—all of us—not just the rich and privileged. To this end, you also know that business exists to serve the wants and needs of man—not the other way around, to rule over man.

Therefore, as you listen to your television, read in your newspapers, glean from your computers, and, also, relate with your friends and neighbors, behind all the information you “take in”, are the influence, propaganda, and mind control resulting from this struggle for power. In your study of history, you can see it in the Republican Party from the beginning of the industrial revolution in the mid 1800s to the present, and in the Democratic Party pretty much from the “seventies” to the present, neither of whom have really served the people that well until people like Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, etc. came to the fore.

So, therefore, if we really want to “get on the road” with solving our problems in this great nation, I suggest we must first determine which way we want to go, i.e. direction, and “get it done”, rather than continue to follow the messy and expensive direction we are now doing. That decision should be made by the people. Perhaps we need a new party, do you think? I do know this for certain. Our country is going to continue to “go downhill” until our people wake up, get involved, and address this question.

Moving a step further in this discussion, there are those who say our country is not a democracy. It is a republic. They are mistaken. Our nation is a democratic republic. It is true that, in our beginning, our democracy was weak. Our senators were elected by representatives in the Houses of Representatives rather than directly by the people as we now do. Also, women couldn’t vote in those days, and neither could blacks, who were treated like machines with no regard for their humanity. They were property to be bought, sold, traded, and even killed at will. If our founders had been able to have their way in our beginning, only the wealth and property owners would have had the right to vote. Our democracy has come a long way baby (as they say), and could come even further if our people would only get off their duffs and take back our country from the corporations and very rich, i.e. the Corporatocracy and Power Elite—the very rich, the, well, you know who; or, what is it they say? You Know.

Only if the people, our people, take charge can we take back our country—not with guns, but at the voting booths across the nation, in demonstrations, and with pressure on our representatives in the “House” and senators in the “Senate”. Do we remember the “sixties”? It worked then. Even our president then decided not to run for a second term. Also, it would be one big help if people would read more and be better informed so as to really know what they are talking about. I say again, “Look you”.

In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller, http://sageobserver.blogspot.com/

The News Media is Thriving These Days, But…

The news media is thriving these days, alive and well with its many commercials, political propaganda, gossip, sports, and, relatively speaking, minor news events—and, oh yes, commercials. From our very beginning, “Freedom of the Press” has been a major contribution to the safety, welfare, and protection of the people from the errors and sins of government, but real in-depth reporting is slowly disappearing from the scene. Daily news events are reported over and over, sometimes for days, while other important subjects are overlooked. We are majoring in minors and minoring in majors.

For example, where, today, are the pros and cons of single payer healthcare being discussed? Certainly this subject is being discussed superfluously, but where are the in-depth pro and con discussions? Most of what I hear about the subject is, to the effect, “No need to discuss this as it will never be approved anyway”. Oh well, healthcare is only 17.5 percent of our spending nationally, annually contributing to our national deficit and debt. No problem.

Ref: http://www.justfacts.com/healthcare.asp

The financial crisis of 2008 was triggered by derivatives, one of those new securities invented to allegedly provide insurance coverage to home mortgage holders, aka fish food for speculators in the financial markets. I don’t really know how many dollars worth of these securities were in circulation in 2008. I have heard numbers like $400 Trillion. I have also heard numbers amounting to $900 Trillion. What are the numbers now, and when is our illustrious media going to reveal them to the people. The last time I heard anything in the mass media about the derivative risk was an article by Peter Cohan, AOL.COM, Big Risk: $1.2 Quadrillion Derivatives Market Dwarfs World GDP. Folks! Do you know how much money $1.2 Quadrillion is? Let me tell you. It is $1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.00 or 1,000 times $1 Trillion. My gosh, folks, the world’s annual gross domestic product is only $50 to $60 trillion, and this article was written June 9, 2010—over six years ago. Oh well, that wasn’t important either. The public wouldn’t understand anyway.

https://www.aol.com/2010/06/09/risk-quadrillion-derivatives-market-gdp/

Let’s really get basic. It’s common knowledge that education in government, and civics has been lacking in our school systems in recent years. Yet our government from the president on down and the news media, when they address the people, they refer to members of the House of Representatives as Congressmen (or women). They are not Congressmen. Their titles are Representatives. If they are a Congressman, so also is a Senator by gum and by golly. Congress is the name given to our national legislature, a bicameral body made up of the House of Representatives, the lower house, and the Senate, the upper house. To be a Congressman, one would have to be both a Representative and a Senator at the same time. Duh… By the way, do you want to know why we have two houses? In short, the answer is the lower house, the House of Representatives represent the majority of the people, the masses who elect them. There are 435 members. The Senate, the upper house, represents the minority elite among us, in theory at least. There are 100 of them. I say elite. In our nation’s beginning, Senators were elected by the House of Representatives. Only later in the course of our history were they elected by the people as they now are. For further information:

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Enduring-debate-elitism-versus-populism-3189454.php

To close for now, our news media exists for the purpose of serving our people. They have to earn income to pay their bills, i.e. salaries, insurance, rent, and return on investments to their investors, but their main purpose, their only purpose which, in the end, justifies their very existence is to serve the people with news which is the truth; and, in my view, they could do a much better job.

This is my view. What’s yours?

In the meantime, this Ronald Miller, http://sageobserver.blogspot.com/

                                                    

December 6, 2017

Senator Bill Nelson

716 Senate Hart Office Bldg.

Washington, D.C. 20510

Subject: Resignation of Senator Al Franken

               For alleged sexual harassment

Dear Senator Nelson:

It is my prayer, that you are extremely busy in these times notwithstanding, read this letter and sincerely consider what I am saying. I will be as brief as possible.

Not only is sexual attraction for those of the opposite sex part and parcel to our very being, but also, sexual aggression has been the norm from our very beginning and, for better or worse, good and bad, practiced throughout history. Accordingly, seduction, and harassment has been a part of our everyday lives and, in most instances short of violence, accepted—even when found distasteful. I believe seduction is proper; harassment is wrong — especially in a work environment under the threat of one’s employment — and should be stopped. There must be enforced rules — something we don’t now have. We might have the rules to some extent, but we don’t have the enforcement, making many of our actions arguably acceptable.

Secondly, inasmuch as, these practices have been going on for such a long time, I find it questionable that all these objections are coming to the forefront at this particular time. I believe they are being brought to the table just now for political reasons, i.e. political distractions, if you will; and this is not the time to shake up our political makeup in the Congress. These issues are of the utmost importance, and we must take action to put them to an end; but, right now, our nation is facing much more critical issues. I sincerely believe the very sovereignty of our democratic republic is at stake.

   

Just now, we should ask no one to resign. Rather we should lay down strict rules for the future, not only for those employed by our government, but for our nation as a whole and enforce them. As to Senator Franken and others with his predicament, we should let the voters and present law resolve the past. Our government is under enough stress. Our Congress doesn’t need this.

Your support will be sincerely appreciated.

Respectfully,

Ronald Miller

Copies to: Representative Ted Yoho

                 My Blog: www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

Our Leader

What are a people to do? How are they to protect themselves from themselves in a nation governed by a representative democracy? We live in a wonderful nation, a nation governed by the majority, yet ever protective of the rights and privileges of the minority. One of those protections is our Electoral College, an institution comprised of a set of electors who are, under the law, selected by the voters to choose who should lead the country. I submit to you that this time it failed us, an observation with which, if you are really watching with an open and informed mind, you must surely agree. We have elected the wrong person to office, political parties notwithstanding. Our nation is in serious trouble.

Leon Friedman, professor of Constitutional Law at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, wrote on November 10, 2016 in the Huffington Post, that the reason we have the Electoral College “goes back to our founders’ distrust of democracy. Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 68 explained that the ‘immediate election [of the President] should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station.’ Rather, a ‘small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.’” This having been said, I can’t help but wonder who is going to protect the majority from the minority, the 0.1% who have “all the money”. This is just to provide for you a brief summation as to why we have the Electoral College, but another thought relative to this election enters my mind. Was Donald Trump really elected legally? Wasn’t it just reported that twenty-one states were hacked in this election? How did that affect the vote of the Electoral College?

Now let’s talk briefly about the Presidency of the United States of America. Wikipedia tells us that “the President of the United States is the head of state and head of government…. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is considered to be the world’s most powerful political figure, as the leader of the only contemporary global superpower. The role includes being the commander-in-chief of the world’s most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The office of President holds significant hard and soft power both domestically and abroad”. This goes on, but you can check it out in Wikipedia and, also, Article II of the Constitution.

It has been said that the government of the United States is the “largest enterprise in the world”. If you will, imagine for just a moment being the CEO of an organization that huge and the immensity of the challenge such a job, arguably the biggest job in the world, entails. Think about it a long time because that is the problem before us. We have hired the wrong job applicant. We have hired the wrong man regardless of politics. He just ain’t qualified to fill the job for which he was hired.

Whether you love him or not, let’s look briefly at the problems currently facing our nation, problems which we must solve if we are to survive. Let there be no doubt about it, this is serious. These problems must be solved. The games have to stop.

 First, and above all, this nation is the most divided since our Civil War in which, according to historian J David Hacker, an estimated 750,000 soldiers died (it is said that is proportionally equivalent to 7.5 million US dead in 2012 [Ref: BBC News 4 April 2012]). We must come together and we need a leader who will do that. In almost every instance, rather than unite us, our president is serving to separate us—just listen to the news.

Second, we are on the verge of a nuclear war with North Korea. Our leader has done almost everything possible to exacerbate this threat, the nation of Iran notwithstanding. Do you think?

Third, our whole healthcare system is threatening to explode. Our people, most of them—I believe—simply can’t pay these massive increases in costs when, really, a solution is relatively simple if not for the petty very expensive political bickering of our elected representatives.

Fourth, as I have repeatedly written in the past, we are losing our democracy. The rights of our people notwithstanding, our nation is being governed by a shadow government of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, controlling every move of our elected representatives through lobbying, campaign financing, and who knows what else. We must get money out of government. We must overturn the Supreme Court ruling to the effect that Corporations are people with equal rights. We must take back our country.

President Trump is not a leader either within our country or without. His position in the Trump Empire notwithstanding, he is not a manager; and, to say the least, he is intellectually incompetent. In his current position, he is a dangerous man—dangerous to our country and dangerous to you and to me. He should do the right thing and resign.

I have just now exercised my freedom of speech. Now you exercise yours. If you agree with me, please share this in the public venue, Facebook and otherwise. In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller.

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

   

Tax Cuts

The New York Times reported yesterday that “Republican lawmakers are gearing up to battle a powerful force in the coming skirmish over a $1.5 trillion tax cut: Economists”. I submit to you that there is another more powerful force they better gear up for: “We the People”.

Let there be no doubts in anybody's mind. It's the Republicans, the Corporatists, and the Power Elite against the American people and the interests of this country. Our national debt was less than a Trillion dollars when Republican Reagan entered office just thirty-some years ago in 1981. Just twenty-eight years later, when Dubya, entering office with a surplus, left office, the debt had increased to $10 trillion. Today, it is $20 trillion. And don't blame today's $20 trillion on Obama either. In just eight years Dubya left him with a collapsed economy. a 1.3 Trillion Dollar Deficit, and an illegal war to deal with. In conjunction with all of this, they raped the middleclass, creating inequality between the rich and the poor not seen since the days before the great depression. There's a lot of hungry people out there, folks, and it isn't all because they won't work either. Now the Republicans are wanting to enrich themselves even further when our economy is threatened with poverty up to our ears and, maybe, potential collapse of the dollar. To this end, they have had not a little help from the Corporatists arm of the Democratic Party.

Our people don't have to have a degree in economics to know they are being screwed. They may not be educated or know the difference between a Representative and a Congressman (calling all Representatives Congressman and Senators Senator, although everyone knows a Senator is just as much a Congressman as any Representative), but they aren't blind or stupid. And yet we wonder why the people elect misfits like Donald Trump. Why wouldn't they want a change? I tell you, the dysfunction being created is going to rain hell down upon us if Republicans don't straighten up. The rich don’t need tax cuts, and our country doesn't need tax cuts for them. We cannot afford them.

It's long past time for real tax reform. It's time for everybody to pay taxes according to their ability to pay. We, the United States of America lived "high on the hog" in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, the highest standard of living of any people as a whole in the history of civilization, and the top tax rates hovered around 90%. The Republicans have reigned, for the most part, ever since and now look at us—look at where they have brought us. Look at our condition. We are going down hill folks. Does it really take a pair of binoculars to see that?

The real irony of all this is that so many of we the people have let ourselves be sucked into the Republican lies and propaganda luring us like lemmings over the cliff. I submit to you that, in the scheme of things, the Republican Party has never really represented the people of this country from the beginning during the industrial revolution. Their only interests have been in the Corporatocracy and Power Elite that fill their pockets with riches. Open your eyes people. 

This is no longer Grandpa and Grandma's world. We are being taken for a ride, folks. Theodore Roosevelt pulled us out of the fire created by these people in the twenties and Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman again in the forties (and we thrived after both these times). I don’t know who, but somebody must do it again. I must tell you, however, it ain’t no Trump. You’ll see why soon, if you haven’t yet.

I have just now exercised my freedom of speech. Now you exercise yours. If you agree with me, please share this in the public venue, Facebook and otherwise. In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

Single Payer Universal Healthcare

Lindsey Graham says as to single payer healthcare, “you have a choice between Federalism or Socialism”. I say to you, “Hogwash! Absolute Hogwash!” I mean no offense to anyone; but, I daresay, if you asked all the American people to write a short essay defining Socialism, the vast majority of us couldn’t do it. We wouldn’t know where to begin. What I’m telling you right now is that single payer universal healthcare with access for all is not Socialism.

Before going any further, let me let me first attempt to put an end to one other piece of misinformation I hear repeatedly from people. Generally, it goes this way or means this: “the government will give it to me”, or “the government will pay for it”. Again, Hogwash! In the end, our government doesn’t pay for anything. You do through your allegedly fair share of the taxes or your share of government borrowing for which, ultimately, you the people are responsible. Nothing is free. Somebody pays—if not you, your neighbor.

There are, also, those who define Socialism as that which we do in common with one another in governance, economic associations, etc, to which please answer (just to yourself) a couple questions. Every year or so, in our representative democracy, we go to the polls together and vote for our representatives in government. Is that Socialism? We do it in common. Whether you realize it or not, in the business world today, most notably in banking and investments, we capitalize profits and socialize losses. One immediate and more obvious example of this you will recall was the bailout of General Motors during the financial crisis in 2008—another, the bailout of the financial markets. A less obvious example is home financing wherein you borrow money (your mortgage) and pay interest (profit) to the lender. Yet our government (you the taxpayer) guarantees the loan. Is that Socialism? When the Multi Trillion Dollar derivative markets of the world collapses down the road for which we will all pay in one way or the other (they did in 2008 [you will recall that derivatives are mortgage backed securities]), ask yourself if that, too, is Socialism. I could go on, but….

I tell you this, single payer universal healthcare with access for all is not Socialism, what Congressman Lindsey Graham says notwithstanding (I know, Lindsey Graham is a Senator; but it is just as correct to call him a Congressman as it is to call a Representative a Congressman—but I digress). When it is adopted, and I believe it will be because it is the only sensible way, single payer universal healthcare, i.e. Medicare for all, will be “paid for” by all, and it will be billions of dollars cheaper. Take note, however. You will be the payer through your taxes. Private enterprise will participate in providing the service, i.e. hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, drug stores, etc. THIS IS NOT SOCIALISM!

Let me tell you THE REAL ISSUE. The real issue is MONEY (investments, income sources, campaign contributions, etc), and then Politics, and Pride. The interests of the American people and our nation, which should be on the table in the forefront, are constantly being subordinated and shoved aside. I’ll also remind you of this.  The purpose—the only purpose—of any business is to provide a quality product or service to the people. People were on this earth long before business. Business exists to serve the people—not to dominate and rule over them. It is wrong to continually support a business which is no longer needed whether that business is insurance, or whatever.

We continue to ridiculously argue and bicker, wasting billions of dollars in the process, adding to our national deficit and, accordingly, national debt while simultaneously neglecting to deal with other economical, political, and social issues critical to the welfare and security of our nation and our people. Right now, our government is a mockery to the institution of representative democracy here and abroad. It’s past time for them to do their job.

If you agree with me, please share this in the public venue, Facebook and otherwise. In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller.

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

Debits on the Left, Credits on the Right

Any accountant or bookkeeper knows that debits are on the left and credits are on the right. On any balance sheet, debits usually denote “Assets” and “Credits” refer to liabilities in one way or another. You should think about this. Our national debt, a $20,000,000,000,000 credit on the balance sheet of the United States of America is, collectively, a debit on the balance sheets of others—someone, somewhere else, in someone’s balance sheet, in the Cayman Islands perhaps, or Ireland, or etc. The spending of our nation, constitutes the profits of others—the Corporatocracy and Power Elite of the world, the military industrial complex, the 1%, the 0.1%. You get my drift. I understand that my statement is a generality; but, essentially, the inference is true. Again, think about it. After all, in the end, it’s your debt—your obligation.

Ronald Miller

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

Knowledge

It seems to me that all we really know about anything is what we have seen, heard, read, felt, or been told by someone else, i.e. what we have experienced and/or studied. Even then, we still don’t know it all. Only God knows it all. There always remains something else for us to learn which is why we should never cease to keep an open mind.

On July 25, 2013, in my blog, I published the story of the Six Blind Men as it portrays the essence of many of the opinions we form in our deliberations today. Many of you have seen this before, but many have not. I think the lesson is worth the reading:

John Godfrey Saxe's (1816-1887) version of the famous Indian legend,

There is an old, old story of long, long ago of the blind men and the elephant, you know

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he,
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

MORAL.

So oft in theologic political wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

I think this says it all—a potent message to all of us. What do you think?

Ronald Miller

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

Lemonade

It has been said: when someone gives you a lemon, make lemonade out of it. If anything can be said of the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of The United States of America, if he has accomplished anything to date—anything—anything at all above and beyond the further division of a people already the most divided since the Civil War, above and beyond a nation on the verge of nuclear conflict, above and beyond a nation that has sold its soul to the Power Elite and Corporatocracy of the global order, it is his living testimony to the sloth and ignorance of those who voted for him, to the demise of our great nation. How the hell can anybody make lemonade out of that?

This is my view. I would like to hear yours. If you will, pass this on to others, on Facebook or whatever. In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller.

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

Congressman

The preamble to our Constitution is: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Immediately following is Article I, Section I, which states: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives”.

Section II goes on to say, “The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several states….”

Section III goes on to say, “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State….”

You will immediately note that in no case is the title of Congressman used. There is no such title and never has been. One is either a Representative, i.e. member of the United States House of Representatives, or a Senator, i.e. member of the United States Senate.

At first blush, this may seem to be a rather petty matter; but I disagree. I think it is very important. This error is compounded daily by the ignorance of the new media, the press, TV, and on the internet, exacerbating an already existing national problem, the ignorance of our electorate. Many, if not most, of our schools have either “cut back” or discontinued courses in civics and history to save money; most of our citizens refuse to read books and literature of a serious nature; and polls have been taken which show a widespread lack of knowledge as to how our government works among our people. It is my view that we are losing (If we haven’t already) our democracy and the very sovereignty of our nation to the Corporatocracy and Power Elite of the world. If we are to combat this, an accurate knowledge of how our government works is imperative.

This is my view. What’s yours? In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller.

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

National Healthcare

I was just listening to “Fox Business” when I heard their propaganda Judge, Andrew Napolitano, state that health care was not a right because a right was something inherent in being born, etc., and health care was something one bought—interesting. How does that relate to the rights of private property, or the right to buy a gun, or free speech, and so on? Rubbish! His statement is as ludicrous as that of Rand Paul some time back when he equated the right to healthcare with slavery; and, also, in the last few days that healthcare is not a right. How strange are those who think in such deranged manners? Suicide is illegal, against the law, but healthcare is not a right.

Let me tell you what a right is. A right is the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I think—in fact, I know—that is right out of our Declaration of Independence. I cannot imagine life without healthcare; I cannot imagine real liberty without healthcare; and, in my wildest imagination, I cannot view one being happy for very long without healthcare. A happy, healthy, educated, and united people are the very essence of a strong, successful, and prosperous nation.

What the hell is wrong with these people who are doing their utmost to destroy our country by keeping us continually divided, stealing our fair share of our productivity, income, and wealth, reducing our people to eternal poverty and serfdom—ruling us through a Shadow Government by an Oligarchy of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite?

James Madison, said to be the main framer of our Constitution, was as much of a believer in democracy as anyone in that time; yet he initiated the design of our system such that the power laid in the hands of the wealthy, those who are the most responsible of men and would have the public interest at heart. In my mind, I interpret that as he believed them to be patriotic, honest, and would use their God given extraordinary intelligence and abilities to serve all the people—not just their selfish interests as they are presently doing.

I may have already said this in another place at a different time, but please let me say it again. When our Constitution was written, a lot of important things were left out—very important. Only men could vote. Women weren’t allowed. Slaves were not people. They were property—property with no more rights than a stone along the road to be bought, sold, kicked, beaten, killed, etc., like dogs, and cats in an animal store. Civil rights, too, were not covered. All of these have been covered since, but one more huge omission continues to exist—social rights. In the 240 years of the existence of our nation, our great need notwithstanding, we have failed to address this—albeit we have managed to determine that corporations are people and have the right to buy elections. And social needs? Well, thus far, our answer to those problems has been the philosophy of Survival of the Fittest. Let the Devil take the hindmost.

I say that Social Security is a right. Universal Single Payer Healthcare, i.e. Medicare for all from the cradle to the grave, is a right. Jobs for all with livable wages are a right. You must understand, however, one must pay for them. Nothing is free. Neither are these. The key to these, as to everything, including taxes, must be one’s ability to pay. We must amend our Constitution accordingly.

In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller.

www.sageobserver,blogspot.com

Look up America!

Look up America!

Look all around.

Look at the real issues that abound,

just not the sound.

Who are you?

What are you?

Where do you really want to go?

Are the solutions proposed really in your interest or

are they those you oppose?

Rise up America!

You are better than this.

You know what is best for your body.

You know what is best for your soul.

Vote for the solution that really supports you,

your family, and those of your country

that you propose.

Pay no attention to the clowns

who major in minors and minor in majors

only to attract your smile

for a little while;

while they distract you with their wile

and steal the blessings God gave you

with their guile.

Look up America. Look all around.

Look at the issues—not just the sound.

In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

National Healthcare

Today, Republican representatives in the Senate are meeting to discuss and develop the upper chamber’s version of a plan for the future healthcare of our people that might be accepted by a majority of the Congress and final approval by our President. Let there be no doubt in your mind about one thing. There will be no knowledge presented that is new. Everything said will have been said before—every argument argued time and time again. We know the history of healthcare over and over again, here and around the world. Political ideology, greed, avarice, corruption, and personal gain notwithstanding, the only issue—the only issue—at hand should be the overall good and wellbeing of our country and our people. Again, I submit to you, everything to be known relative to this subject, is known (or available to all who care to know) as well as the results of whichever direction to be determined. The only real question remaining is whether or not our elected representatives in the Congress will truly represent the best interests of our people and our country, politics and all else notwithstanding.

We can put all the arguing and bickering, all the legal confrontations and cases, and all the massive spending associated with such inefficiencies aside as well as to taking a giant step forward toward the reduction of our horrendous national deficit and, eventually, our debt by adopting a single payer universal healthcare system for all. Let’s get this over with. Let’s give relief to our people from their fear. Let’s give relief to business from the burdens of healthcare that they may focus on the management of their businesses.

To those who argue the merits of free markets, I say to you as I have said before: The only free markets that exist in these days and times are to be found on a blackboard in a classroom. Today, they are called chalkboards, but I digress. The closest we have ever come to really free markets was in the eighteen hundreds; and, most certainly, healthcare is not adaptable to such. Are you able to analyze and evaluate drug prices? Are you able to compare prices when you choose a doctor? How much choice do you have in choosing a hospital or evaluating their charges to you or your insurance company? If you are honest with yourself, you know, for the most part, you are at their mercy—there is no free market in healthcare. It’s a myth.

The only question remaining, a question I am confident our representatives in Congress wish to avoid is how to finance such a system. You know as well as I that nothing is free—no argument there. I have discussed this before in my past writing, but I think it appropriate to address this matter again. Healthcare is such a significant portion of our national budget, much if not most of which significantly contributes to our national deficit and, therefore, debt that I believe it is imperative that the financing should be self-funding annually and excluded from the national budget. By this I mean that income to the fund in a given year must be sufficient to pay the expenses of that year—no deficit. The healthcare fund should be a stand-alone fund in the same manner as our Social Security. It is, also, imperative to say that its accounting system be auditable with an integrated data base.

I recommend that a single tax, ear-marked for the purpose, should be levied on “taxable wages” on a progressive basis determined by ability to pay. To this end, I think it fair that healthcare benefits currently paid by employers be incorporated into employee gross income to facilitate employee ability to pay. I also suggest an increase in minimum wage rates to facilitate incorporation of the plan for small business employees.

There are those who believe our nation cannot afford such safety nets as Social Security, Universal Healthcare, public education, unemployment insurance, etc. I don’t believe that. Given that we the people of the United States of America take back our country from the Shadow Government of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite now reigning over us, retain our democracy and sovereignty with equal opportunity for all, a fair and more equal distribution of income and wealth, and a system of progressive income taxation levied according to one’s ability to pay, I believe our annual Gross Domestic Product will enable us to prosper once again as we did in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, the most prosperous period in the history of civilization. Also, to this end, it is imperative that we treat our neighbors throughout the world fairly, and seek peace rather than war and dominance.   Quoting Noam Chomsky, “Violence is a powerful instrument of control, as history demonstrates. But the dilemmas of dominance are not slight” (Ref: Interventions, pg.48, by Noam Chomsky). To this end, you only have to look at our present status in the world and our National Debt.

In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

An Observation of Our President and His Governance

In as much as our esteemed president likes to communicate in the vernacular, “telling it like it is”, please allow me to communicate with you in like manner.  

In recent news, President Donald Trump complains, along with many of his supporters, about his unfair treatment by critics to which I am compelled to respond, Absurd! He brought almost all, if not every bit, of his problems upon himself, beginning with his having run for election in the first place. The office of President of The United States of America is one of the highest and most complex managerial positions in the whole world; and Donald Trump is not qualified in any way or manner. He cannot lead—he dictates. He does not inspire and motivate people to loyally follow. He cannot manage—he does not plan and “shoots from the hip”, constantly changing his position on issues based upon his emotions at the time. His intelligence quotient notwithstanding, he lacks knowledge, reportedly managing from a data base of the news media and hearsay. Donald Trump is simply not qualified for the office of President of The United States of America. Every day he is in office is testimony to this fact, and that is just the way it is.

The threat of nuclear war notwithstanding, the greatest issue before our president today is the division of our people. Rather than unite us as a people (or even attempt such), he further divides us. Just one prime example of this was his executive order about which I have written before—his executive order to ban Muslims from entering this country from six specified nations for ninety days—to what end? What could he do in ninety days under the ban that he couldn’t do without his edict? Also, none of the nations indicated have previously caused terror problems before. What in heaven’s name did this man accomplish? Let me tell you. He divided us even further. He created havoc and even more dissension among our people. He created nothing; and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars in legal fees and arguing and bickering in the process.

The second greatest threat to our very democracy and sovereignty is our increasing dominance by the Corporatocracy and Power Elite. Corporate dominance has been going on for a long time. If this is what the people want, they should be allowed to vote on it. This is not what I want, and I don’t think this is what you want. We the people should be allowed to have a say in this matter; and to my knowledge, even our elected representatives have not had a say in the matter. I tell you, Corporations are not people. They were designed by man to serve the needs of man. They are not people, and “We” did not create them to rule over us. Donald Trump has done nothing to address this problem. Rather, he has exacerbated it.

The third greatest threat to our nation is the problem of healthcare. Healthcare costs have grown so high, they are unaffordable by an increasing segment of our society. In addition, from the beginning, they have been underfunded, contributing significantly to our national deficit. There is a simple, workable, and financially viable proven solution to the problem of healthcare with a relatively minimum of amount of complexity and confusion—Universal Single Payer, Medicare for all. Yes, we will have to pay for it. Nothing is free; but, it will serve us well and cost a lot less than what we are now paying with the present arguing, bickering, complexity, and inefficiency of what we are now doing. Incorporated in our present Medicare system, this is the fastest and easiest way for us to go. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are going nowhere.

Fourth, and very important, Social Security has been underfunded for too many years; and it is past time for our Congress to do their job and catch up. Rather than spin their wheels by continually kicking the ball down the road and/or postponing eligibility, i.e. extending age requirements (You haven’t heard, have you, of any company extending age requirements in hiring). Hear again, under the leadership of President Trump, we are going nowhere.

So, for now, I’ll close by reminding you that our country is in deep trouble. We need to go in a different direction and that direction needs to be towards serving the people of our great nation, all of them—Not Just Donald Trump and the One Percent and certainly not the Corporatocracy.

In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com

Let’s Get Together

A Discussion of Healthcare

The threat of nuclear war notwithstanding, one of, if not the greatest, problem facing our nation today is our division within, the division of our people and our nation—a threat to our democracy and our very sovereignty. Yet, sad to say, our leaders refuse to do anything about it, ostensibly preferring to pursue their personal interests instead.

But let us think about this. Are we really as separated as it looks or, is this being perpetrated upon us? I submit that if we think more deeply, we will see the real truth of the matter just below the surface. I believe that the truth is found in the beginning of the second paragraph of our Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness….” I believe we all want this; and, in this we are all united—we are one and all together.

There are other truths that go right along with Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, one of which is that this earth belongs to all of us. We all have a right to its resources, the fruits of our labor, and equal opportunity to the full extent of our abilities. Although we are all born equal under the eyes of God and under the law, it is patently obvious, however, that we are not born equal physically. Some are born more gifted than others, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Accordingly, those whose abilities are limited have a right to share also from the fruits of those more able and more gifted. To whom much is given, more is expected. Our separation begins here and increases in proportion to our self interests and misperceptions which we all have to one degree or another. It is in this light I view Health Care, Social Security, Unemployment, and Taxes in accordance with one’s ability to pay. Just as sloth and laziness, the unwillingness of those who are able to work, is unacceptable, so also is the concept of “survival of the fittest and let the devil take the hindmost”.

Personally, I’m an old man. For all you young people who don’t know it, I have one of the best healthcare plans in the whole world. I have Medicare which pays 80% of my medical bills and a supplemental plan which pays the other 20%.  For that, I pay an annual deductible of $150 and monthly premiums combined of approximately $250. You, too, could have just as good a plan and choose your own doctor—really. The insurance is called “single payer” and the program is already up and running—if only Congress would represent your interests instead of that of the insurance companies.

Of course, you would have to pay more. My cost is cheaper because of all the years I have already paid in, but it should be significantly cheaper for you than you pay now. Just eliminating the insurance companies from the picture should save billions of dollars (Many are talking about leaving anyway). Also, look at the monumental savings to small business and large corporations as well. Even Congress would find relief. To those who cry Socialism, I say it’s not true—just not so. It’s only single payer—the government only pays the premiums. The providers would still run the system.

A very important point that I don’t hear discussed elsewhere has to do with the administration of the system. It should and must be a stand-alone, pay as you go system apart and separate from our government operating budget just as now is Social Security. It should be paid in full at the end of each fiscal year and not affect our annual deficit or debt. The amounts businesses are now contributing to employee healthcare should be added to employee wages. To finance the program, I suggest that in this particular instance, to minimize its impact on the people, a wise government would create a non-deductible adjunct to the corporate income tax—no payroll taxes, etc. A good time to do this would be when we reform corporate income taxes.

Let’s all get together and go in the same direction. Let the entire people share in the fruits of our productivity.

This is also discussed in my blog of October 22, 2016.

 In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller, www.sageobserver.blogspot.com.

Dear Mr. President

There is something I don’t think you quite understand. As the leader of the arguably greatest, most powerful empire (and democracy) in the history of civilization, you no longer have the right to be your own person. Being on call during every minute of the day or night; and, having your every thought and word subject to the review, judgement, and affect upon others throughout the world, you no longer have the right to eat, to sleep, or even the discretion to speak your mind at will. Truthfully, the only rights remaining to you are to breathe, to relieve yourself, and to die—and only then if absolutely necessary. If you will think deeply and wisely about this ostensibly outrageous statement, I think you will find more truth in what it is saying than fiction.

The position you hold is one of grave responsibility; and, if you really want to honestly, honorably and successfully fulfill it, you must comprehend your responsibility not only for the welfare and security of those who voted for you, but also to everyone else you represent and/or your words and decisions affect throughout the world—your personal affairs and business(s) to no avail. Anything less is unacceptable. The best interests of the people of the United States of America and the world are in your hands.

I hope you will accept this message constructively as intended. I will post it on my blog, www.sageobserver.blogspot.com, and Facebook.

Thank you.

Respectfully,

Ronald Miller

Illegal Immigration

There are those who forgot more about the subject of immigration than I will ever know; and, therefore, I will leave to them any discussion, in-depth, of the subject. It is, however, patently obvious to most that the subject of illegal immigration is in the forefront of issues before us today and one of the most contentious. Illegal immigrants are taking our jobs, putting people out of work; or they are running up our tax bills thru their use of our schools, utilization of health care, non-payment of taxes, gangs, drugs, crime, and so on, causing us to have to build a great wall costing us billions of dollars (which will ultimately be paid for by Mexico some Sunday after some Tuesday)—or so all this is said.

Before we go any further, let me remind everyone who reads this that there is not one thing under this subject which is not the responsibility of our Congress (Ref. Article I, Section I of our Constitution). They are responsible for the legislation; they are responsible to provide the financing for its execution; and, ultimately, they are responsible to insure it is being enforced. Further, it is my belief that we should not allow any law to be on the books for which adequate financing is not provided and we do not enforce. If either is withdrawn, the law should be cancelled. In either event, what we have now is pure neglect.

This having been said, let’s discuss the wall, a subject in the forefront of the “news” these days. Because of the campaign promise of then Presidential Candidate Trump, the wall is now erroneously portrayed by the media and the politicians, as well as the President as “the issue”. I contend that the wall is not the real issue, regardless of what “they” say. The real issue, the real problem, is illegal immigration. The wall serves as only one of several, if not many, means to solve the real issue, “illegal immigration”. The wall is just one means to an end. Unfortunately, and I think, unwisely—it is ill advised financially, politically, and diplomatically.

President Obama and others stated on national television that approximately forty percent of illegal immigration was caused by people overstaying their visas and they could not be tracked—forty percent, mind you. We can track a calf with mad cow disease to a barn somewhere in the backwoods of Wecando and we can’t track someone who overstays their visas? Malarkey! If we can’t track these people, it’s only because we don’t want to. We don’t want to spend the money or some other reason such as an employer who wants to keep them on the payroll, cheap labor, etc. But I digress.

There are undoubtedly other sources of illegal immigration and points of entry than Mexico and overstays of visas. Those coming from and thru Mexico are less than half of the total; and yet we want to literally waste billions of dollars building a wall that will at best exacerbate the tensions and polarization that already exists among our people as well as between our nation and the country of Mexico. Does this really gain the respect of our foreign neighbors and allies? Do we really want to shut down our government for this? Is this really leadership? Or is this whole thing just plain dumb and second class?

What we really need to do is write legislation, a reform bill, to which we will all agree to conform; yes, including E Verify (and whatever else I may have left out) and enforce it. And we should do it now. If a multibillion dollar transnational corporation spread out around the globe can efficiently and successfully manage their affairs, there is no reason, absolutely none, that our government can’t do the same and just as well. This is another one of those many subjects at hand which we have talked and studied to death. We know exactly what needs to be done. Let’s quit talking about it and do it. Let’s do it now.

Let me know what you think. In the meantime, this is Ronald Miller, www.sageobserver.blogspot.com signing off.