I wrote the other day that I could get excited if someone like Dennis Kucinich would lead a third party which was not contaminated by the coporate bribery and welfare which now permeates Washington DC, and therefore, the government of this entire nation.  I have written numerous articles expressing what has become TOTAL disdain for the Republican party, which I have trouble even understanding how it can continue to exist.  That is, until I do a little research to find people who have “bought” into the propaganda of the “right” wing.  Yesterday I googled Rush Limbaugh, just to see if I could find information relating to what I had heard was a heart attack he had suffered while vacationing in Hawaii.  I started reading one of the message boards and found, as I usually do, a BUNCH of so-called “ditto-heads” who have bought Limbaugh’s “shpeel” – “hook, line, and sinker.”  Most of the people I read posts from were speaking like “working stiffs” (I use that term “lovingly” as, for most of my life, that is where I place myself) who are so anti-Democratic that there isn’t much hope for any influence on their thinking outside of the Limbaugh realm.

A large percentage of the people I know who have drunk the “Limbaugh coolaid” are also totally connected to Fox “news.”  There isn’t one that I’ve talked to who knows that the owner of Fox is an Australian (or when I tell them they don’t care that an Australian right winger is in control of a HUGE percentage of the United States’ media).  They consider the New York Times a “left wing rag” – unless, of course it prints a story they agree with – and, they think Sarah Palin is qualified to be President of the United States.  Additionally, based on the “ditto-heads” that I know (a fair amount of them – although, the older I get, the harder it is for me to even associate with them) can’t stand President Obama – not for any policy differences with him (although they have the Limbaugh lies drilled into their heads) – but because of the color of his skin.  For some reason our “main stream media” has a problem with telling it like it is.  I mean, come on now, how many OVERT racist comments does Limbaugh have to make before he is called what he is ON EVERY FRONT?  And Rupert Murdoch – why are we “pretending” what he is?   There has been enough racist “stuff” published by his publications to answer that one.  Obviously, the guy has a lot of money and it buys him enough influence that he has control of a significant portion of our “left wing” media.  I’m guessing he gives the money to strategic Democrats in enough volume to guarantee his “immunity” from a Congress breaking up the media conglomerates who are literally destroying this nation.

It appears to me that in Washington DC, greed rules.  All one has to do is follow this health care debate for a short period of time and he/she can’t miss the true American political process – what it has evolved into since the days of Ronald Reagan.  You have to give it to the Republicans – even with a dwindling number of people who are willing to publically say they are part of that party, they continue to control the agenda.  The Democrats always seem one step behind, but I believe part of the problem is that they are “hooked” on the huge campaign donations as much as the Republicans.  I won’t be surprised if, after all is said and done with the present health care bill, over $1 BILLION is spent by the health care industry to protect itself from reform.  That should give anyone a clear example of how much they’re making and, given the 30 MILLION or more new customers they’re on the verge of being “gifted” how much more difficult to get reform once the present bill becomes law.  I’m feeling that the real hope is that the House can change the Senate bill, or KILL it.  It almost seems to me that the Republicans have Obama about half way out on the “plank.”

I keep saying on this site that “I hope I’m wrong” when discussing the first year of President Obama’s administration.  And, I really do hope I’m wrong.  The problem I’m seeing is that much of what I’ve been “ranting” about appears to be coming “true.”  I think the part of that that bothers me the most is how much I was encouraged when President Obama was elected.  When George W Bush was elected I had the same sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had when Ronald Reagan was elected.  There wasn’t anything that happened that surprised me (well, that might not be true in the sense that I knew Dick Cheney was a “thug” I just didn’t know how much of one he would turn out to be).   I suffered for eight years when Bush was President, so I expected “relief” when President Obama was elected.  As I’ve stated many times, I saw the “red flags” going up prior to the inauguration.  Rahm Emanuel was a MAJOR “red flag” – and he’s proving to be as advertised – the epitome of the Washington “insider” politician.  And, he’s the chief advisor to the President.

Economically, the more I find out about Timothy Geithner, the more I feel uneasy about the future of our economy under Obama’s “watch.”  I listen to the pundits talking about how the Democrats are so much better than the Republicans at managing the economy and THAT’S TRUE – but, as I’ve said here many times, that’s not saying much.  The unemployment problem is getting worse and the President and the Congress are still haggling over the health care legislation which is going to undermine President Obama’s credibility with his own supporters (unless, by some miracle they can fix it – which seems highly unlikely at this point – although I’m sending letters, etc. and I hope millions more people are doing the same – to let them know what we think).  Geithner has too many connections to Wall Street, especially Goldman Sachs, to cause me to have confidence he will initiate any kind of meaningful reform which will prevent those INCREDIBLY GREEDY bankers from doing the same thing that caused the present mess in the future.  And, having Larry Summers as Obama’s “economic advisor” doesn’t help, from my standpoint, either – I mean, his advice led to a lot of the present problems due to choices made while he was woking for Bill Clinton. 

Young people In America who want to work at fast foods restaurants for the minimum wage can’t even find jobs.  My nephew is a recent graduate of an excellent college with a degree in Math/Business and he can’t find a job (he had above a 3.5 grade average at one of the best universities in the nation).  I have friends with over 25 years  of employment who are educated, experienced, and honored members of the work force who can’t even get interviews for jobs that pay anything close to what they were laid off from.  Today, I talked to a friend who has been given notice by Tektronics – where he’s worked for 28 years – that his job will be going to China in August – as soon as Tektronics can finish a plant over there.  This is all the result of 30 years of “trickle down” economics combined with the “bipartisanship” of the Clinton years – which, on the surface were great economically, but allowed for the “rush” of businesses to relocate in places like China with the so-called “free trade” agreements and was also responsible for the conglomeration of our media and the repeal of Glass Steagall which led to the sub-prime meltdown.  All of these “deals” were made with Republican support – the focus of the Republicans for this entire time (the 30 years) has been to repeal the effects of the New Deal which created the greatest middle class in the history of the world.

I actually believed that President Obama was going to push through a “New” New Deal once he took the reins of the White House, at least I thought that when I voted for him.  By the time he was inaugurated I sensed that he had surrounded himself with Washington “insiders” and disappointment was a major possibility.  So far, I’ve been TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTED!  Just as it took almost a year for the “experts” to figure out we were in a MAJOR RECESSION from when it actually started, I’m feeling like we’re approaching “Depression” era unemployment levels and hoping it doesn’t take a year for the “powers that be” to figure this out.  I’m listening to the “pundits” pointing to one month of 2.8% growth as a sign that “we’re coming out of it.”  Of course, that 2.8% soon became 2.2% and the reality is the economy is so low that 2.2%, while better than continuing to go down, isn’t going to do much for the MILLIONS of Americans who are out of work and wondering what their future holds.  Essentially, the Republicans RUINED OUR ECONOMY and it’s going to take drastic measures and a NEW ATTITUDE – both in Washington and in the “heartland” to fix this.  It won’t happen with “timid” leadership, which is what I see coming from Washington since the Democrats took over.  We need a strong leader at the “healm” – someone who’s going to challenge the system in Washington, demand changes to the corrupt nature of the “beast,” and “tell it like it is” to the American people so that we can “come together” to solve these problems.  There are plenty of ways to raise money that could be used to jump start this economy. 

For starters, Wall Street should be taxed – every stock transaction should have a tax of something like a .25 cents tax to help pay for the damage done by their terrible excesses of the past.  Another tax which would allow for money to help fix our infrastructure would be an additional 10 cents per gallon gas tax – which would raise BILLIONS and would help pay for the rebuilding of all the hiways and bridges that we all depend on which are falling apart, due to neglect.  Of course, the Democrats, if they had any guts at all, would have repealled the “Bush taxcuts” for the “rich” as soon as this term in Congress began.  What were they afraid of?  Did they think they might not get any Republican votes if they did that?  Well, guess what – they’re not going to get a single Republican vote on ANYTHING anyway – so, maybe they should be trying to impress their own supporters for a change.  George W Bush didn’t surprise me when he was in the White House, I knew what to expect.  When I voted for Barack Obama, I voted for “Change I could believe in,” which now feels almost like a “gingle” that an advertising agency came up with.  Progressives are battling for the heritage of this country, unfortunately they’re depending on Democrats to carry the battle!