Is it any wonder that people around the world are undoubtedly shaking their heads in disbelief as they await the outcome of this fabricated “debt crisis” which President Obama has allowed himself to get cornered into?  Now, if you’ve been around this site at all you know that I have had MANY disappointments with Obama, whom I supported eagerly in 2008.  You can check the archives if you wish, but I’ve been railing against one capitulation after another – wondering if President Obama actually believe(s)d that the republicans, especially the “tea partiers” (who were carrying signs depicting him in all sorts of racist ways during the campaign) – who appear to be “running the show,” would ever “negotiate” in good faith with him.  The reason I put the “d” after the above reference to the word “believe” is because you would think by now that President Obama would “get it.”

It seemed obvious to me after the extension (the UNBELIEVABLE extension, I might add, from my perspective) of the “Bush Tax Cuts” – tax cuts which should have been repealed the day Obama took office – that the next “crisis” would be over the debt ceiling and, I predicted at the time, it would be the time when the “right wing” would “go after” Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (little did I know that Obama, himself, would put all three programs “on the table”).  Despite the FACT that none of those programs (especially Social Security) are at the heart of the deficit problem, republicans have managed to manipulate the discussion away from the REAL causes of the “debt crisis” onto the remnants of the New Deal that they hate – and, President Obama has been MOST ACCOMODATING!  That all being said, tonight I hope to funnel my thoughts to where I believe the problem actually lies – if for no other reason than to give myself a little sanity in the face of a situation where the government of the country I love appears to be TOTALLY dysfunctional!

I recently finished a book about the presidency of James K Polk and I’m reading “A Team of Rivals” about Abraham Lincoln and written by Doris Kearns Goodwin.  What I’ve learned from both of these books is the backbiting in Congress, the people more concerned about their own futures than that of those they represent, the biased press, the insubordinate members of presidential cabinets and the military – all issues Obama is being forced to deal with while trying to bring America out of the “Great Recession” – NONE of this is new.  Both Polk and Lincoln had to deal with the insolent name calling, the disregard for the national interest due to personal issues and biases, and “in a nutshell” the Congress which the framers so wisely set up with ALL the members of the House of Representatives being elected EVERY two years.  That does give me hope that these “tea party” whacos can be voted out as quickly as they were voted in.  (of course – and, I might add, unfortunately that may depend on President Obama becoming more “progressive” in his response to their insolence).

So, what I’m trying to say is that I believe this entire “crisis” is the result of a minority on the republican side of Congress.  It kind of reminds me of when the Spotted Owl was used to get the Federal Government to stop overcutting the forests of the Pacific Northwest (at the time I was a “sawmill worker”).  The “tea partiers” are using the reqirement that Congress raise the debt ceiling as a means to “get their way” regarding their political and ideological agenda which would otherwise have NO CHANCE of passage in Congress.  They are essentially saying “We’re willing to crash the entire economy in order to get what we want – PERIOD!”  The problem, of course, is that “what they want” is TOTALLY unacceptable to the vast majority of Americans.  And, they are doing this “hostage situation” in a way where they believe Obama can be held accountable for the damage, should it become reality.

Now, I truly hope the American people are not so stupid – and, I hope that Obama FINALLY stops “negotiating” with these right wing thugs.  As I’ve stated MANY times on this site, one thing that is TOTALLY unacceptable to the American public is a leader who shows signs of weakness.  Obama is attempting to take the “role” of the “adult in the room” with Boehner, McConnell, Cantor, and the rest of these heartless republcans, but it’s become EXTREMELY important that he REFUSES to allow them to control this debate – even if it leads to an American “default.”  Of course, the “tea partiers” are “pooh poohing” the idea of default, as if it’s “no big deal,” but even if they’re wrong, Obama MUST NOT allow them to control this debate.  They are a LARGE part of the problem, and it’s become obvious there’s going to have to be some “pain” suffered by the rest of us in order to get RID of them.

The reason I say they are a “large part of the problem” is because what is probably a LARGER part of the problem are the corporations who have put these whackos in office and given them their “talking points.”  That is the real scarry part of what is happening right now in America.  Despite the fact America may default on August 2nd, there is NOTHING more important than getting CONTROL of the Multi-national corporations which are attempting – through this coalition with the right wing republicans – to gain a stranglehold on the government of the United States of America.  We’ve all heard recently how the Koch Brothers have bought their way into the state houses and governor’s mansions in NUMEROUS American states – such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Idaho, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, to name a few off the top of my head – and how these governors and state legislatures are attempting to undermine the rights of workers to organize, they’re trying to sell off state owned assets to private corporate cronies (ie – I expect the Koch’s to own the “Public” utilities in Wisconsin if the recalls don’t stop governor Walker – and, at “firesale” prices), and they’re attacking state workers such as teachers, firefighters, policemen, nurses, social workers, etc. as “greedy.”  In fact, I still recall the governor of Michigan (I believe he was from there) pointing out that teachers are “the privileged elite.” (as a teacher myself, I didn’t know whether to be offended or to go “wow!, I never thought I’d make it to that level)  I guess, to these right wing governors, the fact myself as a teacher can still (barely) pay my mortgage payment means I’m overpaid.  And, the Koch’s are just the “tip of the iceberg.”

Not only are America’s “top” corporations “investing” BILLIONS in America’s congressional “leaders,” but they’re busy sidestepping their patriotic duty to pay their “fair share” of taxes while they’re “cutting off a fat hog” in the recent “recovery” as the rest of us are listening to their minions argue over the debt ceiling.  I recently read a report about how out of the “top” 100 of America’s corporations 85 have “subsidiaries” (around 2500 “subsidiaries” in all) in foreign “tax havens” where they are able to “shield” upwards of $100 BILLION per year in taxes that SHOULD be paid to America’s treasury (for anyone who’s math challenged, that amounts to close to ONE TRILLION over ten years).  What makes matters worse is that these corporations are receiving something in excess of $85 BILLION in government contracts and MOST of them pay either NO TAXES or a VERY low percentage of their profits in taxes.

One example that many people are familiar with would be GE – one of America’s leading defense contractors.  Last year their profit was approximately $15 BILLION – yes, that’s BILLION with a capital B – and they paid ZERO in American taxes.  Yes, we can all probably agree that “this is bad,” right?  Well, on top of that, they received over $3 BILLION in government subsidies – You’ve got that right, they not only paid NO taxes, but “we the people” gave them OVER $3 BILLION that we probably had to borrow from China.  Did I mention China?  Well, if ALL that wasn’t bad enough, it was announced today that GE is moving their giant X-Ray business and headquarters to China, “To take advantage of that emerging market.”  Finally, GE’s CEO Jeffrey Immelt is President Obama’s top advisor on his economic advisory board – supposedly the leading advisor on creating jobs.  Does this all sound convoluted, or am I just not seeing things well?

So, we have a congress that is totally dysfunctional and is being run by a “faction” of “tea partiers” who are funded by people like the Koch’s (who have a long history of anti-middle class, pro business, anti-environment, AND racist postions – the Koch’s father was a founding member of the John Birch Society) and advised by people like Grover Norquist (he the one who coined the phrase that the republican goal should be to “starve the government” until it is so small “it could be drained in the bathtub”), and pursuing Karl Rove’s “permanent republican ‘majority.'”  Washington DC has been virually OVERRUN by various lobbyists who are funneling UNBELIEVABLE sums into the coffers of the only people, theoretically, who can fix this problem – both houses of Congress – we have a Supreme Court (I haven’t even mentioned them yet tonight) who determined corporations to have “free speech” rights as if they were individuals, and we have a “socialist” president who looks more like a conservative republican to someone like me who “came up” in the 60’s.

In my mind, the greatest American president was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who was the president who originally put this corporate vehemoth in its place.  The “New Deal” was the turning point in American history which led to the greatest middle class in the history of the world.  Roosevelt’s administration supported policies that have transformed worker’s rights far beyond the shores of this great nation.  What is so sad to me is how many Americans have NO CLUE as to what happened in the 30’s and 40’s in America which set the foundation in place for many of the privileges which many of us take for granted today.  Since the inauguration of Ronald Reagan the extreme “right” in America has been pushing so hard to reverse the “New Deal” that the dialogue has shifted so far to the “right” that people like me who were once considered either conservative or moderate are now “flaming liberals.”  And, I can tell you this – I haven’t changed much.  The present debate in congress would have been UNIMAGINEABLE just a few short years ago.  Reagan and his followers have successfully transformed a significant portion of America into a “me” society from what was clearly a “we” society when I was growing up and in my formative years.  I have to tell you, from my vantage point, this has been a terrible trade off.

My hope is that the present FABRICATED “crisis” (raising the debt ceiling has NEVER been an issue in my adult lifetime – other than giving the minority party a chance for some “political posturing”) will FORCE the president and the democratic party to REVISIT their “roots.”  This republican POWER PLAY is so radical and severe that I’m hoping AT LAST we will see President Obama “draw a line in the sand.”  The FACT that America’s “full faith and credit” lies in the balance is not sufficient reason to continue allowing these radical whaco’s to continue bullying their way in congress.  Combined with their corporate “sponsors” they managed to essentially disable the health reform legislation in Obama’s first term (now, they’re trying to defund it), they’ve managed to say NO to virtually EVERY attempt by President Obama and the democrats to get us out of this recession (their stated FIRST PRIORITY is that President Obama – as Rush Limbaugh put it again today – FAILS – and, by the way, I can’t remember a time in my lifetime when a political party was so out front in their willingness to take the entire nation “down” so that a president in the opposing party would “fail”), and now they’re using raising  the debt ceiling (for debt they largely created) to hold the president and America hostage to their minority agenda.  Well, in the end, I believe these right wing republicans have made it easy for Obama to succeed (against their stated wishes).   I believe that if President Obama wishes to succeed, all he needs to do is say NO to the “tea party” republicans!