The National Debt: Peter Welch in the Hill

An article about Peter Welch from Vermont appears in "The Hill"... and it helps to underscore a important fact: The national debt is ticking time bomb. The Tea Party republicans are correct in having identified this, and actually trying to work to fix it. This is a massive change for a party who, while they have paid lip service to cutting the debt, is actually largely responsible for it. (Under Reagan, the debt went from $997 billion to $2.85 trillion-- an important gift to America which we should remember whenever we are tempted to eulogize the man.)

But, of course, the Tea Party is wrong in it's approach. In it's efforts to "Free the Rich" (from taxation, from Regulation) it would actually produce stagnation...the very wealthy have no desire to be subject to market forces which might displace them...and historically, they have taken great pains to prevent the free market from working. When market forces finally do win out, we end with disasters like the Great Depression...from which recovery is all but impossible.

It's time to elect Democrats who understand that belt tightening is important if we are to survive to grow another day, AND who understand how to wage the political battles necessary to prevent the Tea Party from inadvertently cutting our throats.

From the article, it sounds as if Congressman Welch is doing a pretty good job.

OIL! Oil oil oil

Oil is once again dominating our thoughts. John Boner...ooops, sorry, BAYner (but it's spelled Boehner) is grinning all over the news saying that if Oil prices don't go down, Barack Obama won't win reelection.

I got an email from the local tea party, it reads:

$6.00 Gas Coming?

Gas has already hit $5.00 in a few places in the US. A year ago, it was $2.87. Obama says the increase is caused by "mideast instability" and speculators. We think it's inflation & inadequate US domestic production.

The government takes every opportunity to choke off our domestic oil supply.

And you thought it was supposed to be government for the people.

Wow! The Government is CHOKING off our oil supply... they must REALLY hate us.

If only we could let those POOR OIL COMPANIES free... they would help us.

But wait...last year, EXXON MOBILE MADE $30 BILLION DOLLARS...PROFIT. PROFIT! That's what they made AFTER they paid their operating expenses. That's money they KEEP. Oh, and the government, that bad old Government that is Choking off our oil, actually handed out 4 BILLION DOLLARS in Federal TAX BREAKS!

And get this, according to CNN...Exxon's profits for THIS year are expected to DOUBLE...to $60 Billion.

Now, presumably, the only reason the Tea Party is willing to put the livelihood of it's fellow Americans at risk by drilling off their beaches (and spills affect tourism, fishing, real estate, you name it.)or mortgage our children's environmental heritage (imagine: in place of the Alaska wilderness, we get an oil soaked wasteland)...is because they are betting that, if we found more oil, the natural economic laws of supply and demand would kick in and lower the prices....

But wake up people...the normal laws of supply and demand are NOT operating here. A fair profit is one thing, but THESE profits are obscene. The game is rigged. There is no reason to risk environmental devastation to further subsidize a rigged game.

Tea Party Types are fighting mad, but as usual, they are not looking in the right places.

President of the Planet of the Apes? Marilyn Davenport even turns some GOP Stomachs

I've been doing a little bit of research for this weeks MWMB podcast. I came across a story that was definitely "Blog Worthy"....

An elected member of the Orange County, CA Republican party has come under fire for circulating an email which shows a picture of Barack Obama’s face stuck on to the body of a baby chimpanzee. The caption read… “now you know why….no birth certificate”.

I'm not posting it on Rip and Read because I won't have it here. However, because some things need to be seen to be believed, I'll let you look it up yourself if you are so inclined. Click this link for a Google Image Search

After the email was exposed, to be fair, other Republicans in OC called on Marilyn Davenport to resign, something she has not yet done.

According to ABC, Ms. Davenport, who was elected as part of the Tea Party Movement, said QUOTE: “We all know a double standard applies regarding this president. I received plenty of emails about George Bush that I didn't particularly like, yet there was no 'cry' in the media about them."

Now, that’s true, but there IS a HUGE difference… George W. Bush is the son of a rich white president and the grandson of a rich white senator…in short, he is the scion of one of America’s wealthy families. In America, we don’t have a long tradition of using brutal cartoons to keep our underprivileged rich people down and out. We haven’t depicted them as apes or shown them running around Palm Beach as witch doctors with bones in their noses… However, as a nation, we have done ALL these things to African Americans within LIVING MEMORY. It almost defies belief that ANYONE could be ignorant of this basic truth about the brutal underside American culture. If you ARE that ignorant, then you are almost criminally stupid...and I, for one, do not believe it. I think that anyone who uses this kind of symbolism, and then backs away when caught claiming: "no racist intent" is, to put it bluntly, a liar.

Speaking of Crazy Birthers, according to a new poll by Public Policy Polling says that 51 percent of GOP Primary voters don't believe that the President was born in the country...despite the fact that his birth certificate is a now a mater of public record. Among those who believe Obama to be an Arab plant... the choice is clear, they want Huckabee to be their next President. Almost makes Mitt Romney look good, doesn't it?

The Election Summed Up in One Sentence....albeit a long one

You've got to hand it to Wall Street...FIRST they get the Liberals to bail them out (which we did to save jobs) and NOW the get the RADICAL RIGHT WING to vote them a TAX CUT so they don't have to pay for their bailout! Sleazy, but Brilliant.

THANKS, TEA PARTY!

Also, a friend of mine posted a link to this article on Facbook... Personally, I think this writer lets the President off the hook...not for his lack of accomplishment, but for his lousy communication skills...still there is one paragraph here not to be missed...

If you are a lower to middle-class Republican, Tea Partier or flip-flopping indie voter, you are now in the most delightfully ironic position of all -- you think you just voted yourself more voice, when in fact you voted for far less. You think yourself a lion; you're actually the meat. You actually just voted yourself an even lower position on the food chain. Congratulations.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/11/10/notes111010.DTL&ao=2#ixzz151cAzK4v

And dat's da truth....phhhhhttttttth!

Education Spending Wasted...Cut 'em Loose.

Maybe the Mad Hatters over at the Tea Party have a point after all. The United States Census Bureau just released some data on school spending. Here are the results:

The percentage of public school funding from the federal government was highest in
Louisiana (16.8 percent),
Mississippi (16.0 percent)
and South Dakota (15.2 percent)

and lowest in:
New Jersey (3.9 percent),
Connecticut (4.2 percent)
and Massachusetts (5.1 percent).

What this means, of course, is that we in the Blue States are PAYING the taxes but we're spending them on the kids in the Red States. Obviously, it's pretty plain to see that our tax money isn't doing any good- we keep spending, but Louisiana and Mississippi remain too dumb to know what side of the bread their butter is on.

Memorial Day Thoughts

I never served my country in the armed forces. So not only am I in debt to those who have for my freedom, but I also hold them in awe.

It bothers me when they are used to score political points. Perhaps I am playing politics by responding, but I'd rather think that I am trying to keep their memory sacred by not allowing others to drag them down into the mud of partisan bickering.

I managed to get myself on the mailing list of the local Tea Party. Today, I received this message from them:

Remind those of our sacrifice and don't confuse arrogance with leadership.


The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne France .. A total of 2,289
The American Cemetery at Ardennes,Belgium A total of 5,329
The American Cemetery at Brittany,France A total of 4,410
Brookwood, England at American Cemetery. A total of 468
Cambridge, England ..3,812
Epinal, France American Cemetery.. A total of 5,525
Flanders Field, Belgium .. A total of 368
Florence, Italy.. A total of 4,402
Henri Chapelle, Belgium, .. A total of 7,992
Lorraine, France .. A total of 10,489
Luxembourg, Luxembourg .. A total of 5,076
Meuse-Argonne .. A total of 14,246
Netherlands, Netherlands .. A total of 8,301
Normandy, France .. A total of 9,387
Oise-Aisne, France .. A total of 6,012
Rhone , France .. A total of 861
Sicily, Italy .. A total of 7,861
Somme, France .. A total of 1,844
St. Mihiel, France .. A total of 4,153
Suresnes, France .. A total of 1,541

The count is 104,366 dead brave Americans.

And we have to watch an American elected leader who apologizes to Europe and the Middle East that our country is "arrogant".

HOW MANY FRENCH, DUTCH, ITALIANS, BELGIANS AND BRITS ARE BURIED ON OUR SOIL, DEFENDING US AGAINST OUR ENEMIES?

To honor those who fell in Europe helping to fend off, first German Imperialism enforced through a policy of "frightfullness" and then, later to face Nazism and defeat is ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.

But the radical right go further, as they always seem to do. They use this solemn American Day to try and an paint the president as unpatriotic, AND they accuse the French, Dutch and British of being cowards, of not having fought for "us".

Perhaps it is worth considering, as these radicals try to appropriate Memorial Day to their own ends, that it was right-wing groups in the 1930s, namely the German-American Bund and the America First Movement, who ensured that, while Great Britain began her fight against Hitler in 1939, America did not enter the war against evil until December 1941- over two years later.

So, Tea Partiers, while you are correct to honor Americans who fell on foreign fields, you are wrong, very wrong ...and arrogant...to insult our allies.

The Dutch, the French, and the British DIED where they stood to defend AMERICAN freedom to oppose the fight against fascism. While right-wingers in America had the freedom to criticize FDR for his sympathy for the struggle of England, France, Denmark, Holland and Belgium in their fight against the dark powers, our European cousins lost their homes, cities, families and lives...sacrificing ALL to buy us time to decide to do the right thing. Just as you do today, these other American right-wingers of days gone by complained about "European Arrogance".

Just as you owe the American Solider a debt today, you owe an equal debt to those from other lands who fell in their own countries to keep you safe.

So, you've said you're piece, I've answered with mine. I suggest now that EVERYBODY shut up and pay some respect to those to whom we owe everything.

War Memorial In St. Paul Minnesota

War Memorial In London, UK