Rand Dagree’s Did you know? Rebuttal

I 100% AGREE….Every time I read something about these leeches making three and a half times the pay of the average American worker, or taxpayers paying them a base salary of $174,000 ($285,000 when benefits are included), or their illegal, but “legal” stock market tactics, it infuriates me. Yes, their approval ratings are at an all time low, however, “We the People” keep re-electing the same Reps and take no action to keep them on the straight and narrow.

Recently I wrote a letter with an attachment to three different individuals, Michael McCaul (my U.S. Representative), Senator Kirk Watson (my Senator), and Mark Strama (my State Representative) concerning this same issue. I asked them to explain to me how can this be possible? How can congress profit from an activity that has been deemed unlawful to the public? That’s like saying the police can arrest me for a crime, but they cannot themselves be arrested for that exact same crime. Am I being punked, because this is totally bogus? Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff went to jail for all kinds of corruption within Congress, however, he contends that it is still running rampant, so what was the point of him going to jail again (besides making him an scapegoat)?

Although I have not heard back from either office, I will continue to write until I get some kind of answer. It is absolutely absurd that this type of behavior is allowed to continue while we struggle daily to pay for college, to find jobs, to feed our families, and or to just LIVE!!! It is as if Congress lives in a bubble and has absolutely no concern or interest in the American peoples’ reality. I keep saying, instead of protesting Wall Street, or hating the President, we should direct all this anger toward Congress. They should be held accountable, they should be protested against, they should be ostracized from our communities, not the other way around. However, the sad part is I have a sneaky suspicion that Congress is fully aware that we will not do anything, but talk. randdagree.blogspot.com/

"What Have You Done For Me Lately?"

“When small businesses do well, communities flourish and our economy grows.”  This was the sentiment echoed by President Obama on Saturday November 19^th, 2011, as he celebrated along with business leaders, lawmakers, and shoppers across the country, Small Business Saturday (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/georgia-businessman-refuses-to-hire-until-obama-is-fired/). This initiative encouraged people to buy only from local, small businesses for a day. This even included the small business owner that has so viciously attacked the people that made this effort possible for his business to grow.

Bill Looman, owner of U.S. LLC, said he is fed up with the bad economy and D.C. politicians who do nothing to solve the problem and is refusing to hire any new workers until President Obama is removed from office. Mr. Looman posted on his websites as well as his trucks this message to the American people “ New Company Policy: We Are Not Hiring Until Obama Is Gone.”

What I think is so perplexing about this entire situation is the audacity of some individuals. Ninety-five percent of them do not start out writing their Congressmen to complain about the financial state in which they are finding their communities, but yet have this compulsive nature to take their complaints to the extreme right away. These same business owners MIGHT vote during election, but almost never vote in the primaries, and they never get involved with community action programs (that could very well spark some kind of economic fluctuation to their communities and ultimately to their businesses). As I read this news article, I was sure there would be some information on what positive action steps Mr. Looman had put into place, what community leaders he had spoken to, or what types of programs he had contributed his time to in order to keep his company, his community, and or his customers from shutting their doors. But there was nothing! All Mr. Looman has done is complain, just like the majority of us. We are so sick and tired of what is going on in Washington, but yet we do NOTHING except elect the exact same lying officials to represent us all the while never holding them accountable for their mistakes, for their empty promises, for our communities that continue to decline, or our jobs that are constantly being taking away and sent either oversees or to the that young kid (willing to take a little less than the current salary in place) with the highest degree.

Our United States Gov’t is like a pyramid that doesn’t trickle from the top down, but from the bottom up and for those individuals who constantly spew the importance of expressing their Amendment Rights, should first understand that they are the ones holding the pyramid up. The buck stops at “We the People.” We have the power to change every problem that is causing concern, dishonesty, and mayhem within our political arena. This power starts by looking, studying, and contacting who is representing your state. We then make decisions based on what that individual has truly done for our communities, schools, and neighborhoods. Do they truly deserve to represent us? Can they truthfully represent us? We decide who becomes the mayor, the governor, and our representatives in Congress, and we must make good choices, because it is that choice that decides our President. So don’t get pissed with the work your President is doing, get pissed at the work your Congressman is doing. Mr. Looman is clearly an angry man who needs to direct his anger into action. If he is so upset, why not run to represent his community? We all know he will not, because it is easier to keep complaining than to really take a stand and do something about the destruction.

Grace Hendrix's An Arcane Electoral College: Rebuttal

I really enjoy reading your opinions and I have to say I was hoping that your commentary on An Arcane Electoral College (http://americanlibertylifeandhappiness.blogspot.com/) was going to change the way I currently feel about the Electoral College, however, it did not and I am still in disagreement with you. I definitely think the Electoral College process should at least be revised if not eliminated all together.
You are absolutely correct about the founding fathers’ way of thinking for the foundation of America and it “made” so much sense-to them, especially when more than half the country was not allowed to vote to begin with. When all of the attributes of our United States Government were being formed, it clearly was not a safeguard against tyranny of the majority but a protection for the minority that was voting. Our government set it self up so that it not only would be very stagnant, but also depend on very few to keep it afloat. And that has turned the government we know today into a lot like the “Factionist” state in which Maddison spoke against. How can we trust the integrity or wisdom of these so called representatives when their motives have not only become mechanical, but the way in which that machine operates is corrupt to its very core? How can we trust representatives that are influenced by whom ever has the largest purse? I do not believe that we can, I believe the few states that have laws in place to force the Electorals to vote as they wish, is a step toward a new direction.
I do understand that most of the citizens with in the United States, do not care or even vote for a President when election comes around, however, the ones that do turn out to vote I believe do care and want their voices heard. It is a total sham that a nominee could be winning the popular vote, but lose the presidency, because of 270 electoral votes. Again I say maybe the founding fathers thought this was a perfect system in 1787, but in the twentieth century the world has evolved and this country needs to stop holding on to processes that clearly do not make logical sense just to show respect for age old politics.

9-9-9 PLAN or 9-1-1 PLAN?

For the last two years, the United States’ Gov’t has been pregnant with multiple promises, but none birth so far, mainly for two reasons. One, the promises were actually lies to begin with, and or two there are individuals standing in the way of those promises coming to fruition. I guess the saddest part about the stand being taken to put our economy back on track, is it comes at the cost of millions of Americans who either worked or are working hard every single day to make ends meet for their families.
Americans want a simple, understandable, and cheap way to get out of the state of emergency we are currently in, so when Herman Cain comes along explaining in the simplest form his "9-9-9 Plan," it doesn’t take long for many to jump on the band wagon. We hear words like “flat tax”, “same tax for everyone”, “scrapping the current taxes”….etc, and those words make the uninformed excited!
What we do not hear is the replacement of 9 percent taxes across the board will hit low- and middle-income families the hardest. Households making between $10,000 and $20,000 will see their taxes increase by nearly 950 percent and those that are already wealthy, (households with the highest incomes), however, would get big tax cuts. Those making more than $1 million a year would see their taxes cut nearly in half, on average.http://2011/10/18/999-plan-herman-cain_n_1018462.html
It is not a coincident that the wealthy and huge corporations are not being taxed as much as they should, and it is also not a coincident that politicians running for Presidency will always find away to gloss over that fact with these make shift promises that the “current” tax structure will change. That is of course if they are elected and Cain’s plan is no different. He promises to scrap current taxes on income, payroll, capital gains and corporate profits. He says he will replace them with a 9 percent tax on income, a 9 percent business tax and a 9 percent national sales tax. http://www.hermancain.com/about%22%3E%3C/a%3E Several polls have Cain at or near the top of the Republican field because of this rubbish, but if 9-9-9- was such a great idea, why has it not been put into place sooner? If this was such a great way to shift the economy forward, why not save millions of Americans’ jobs, homes and families by working with the current President on this plan. I will tell you why, because our current President thinks the plan would do exactly what it is designed to do, impose a "huge burden" on middle-class and working families. Making sure the wealthiest pay less – and replace the revenue with a sales tax hitting the less well-off.
Low and middle-income families will stay in a state of emergency by excepting the 9-9-9 Plan. So much so that I feel a year from its exceptence, it will become known as the 9-1-1 Plan. This is not a "New Deal" era, this is a "let's work together with what we have" era. Let's face it, we hear this same lie every year, and every year the rich are the ones who come out on top, because they are the ones funding political parties. In 2000 George W. Bush quoted his plan for the " flat/simpler tax" as being what Americans needed in order generate additional revenue. Sadly as time went on and he served his years as President, we soon saw that most of the tax cuts did not go to low- and middle-income Americans. And the tax code was still very unfair. In fact, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center calculated that most of the tax cuts-53% to be exact-went to the highest-earning 10% of US individuals and families. Those most affluent Americans got an average tax cut of $7,661. And as for the “low- and middle-income Americans” Bush mentioned-the bottom 60% of individuals and families got only 13.7% of the tax cuts, a far cry from “most” of the cuts as claimed. http://www.issues2000.org/george_w__bush_tax_reform.htm
We may never be able to have the perfect tax structure, however, I still believe that I live in a country that could beat the odds and bring it's fellow countrymen out of a state of emergency and into a land of prosperity, but we must at least try!

VETO THAT BILL!!!

Is it just me or has our Gov't gone from sugar to shit in the last six months? I think maybe it is just me, because it has been the later for sometime now.

The article that grabbed my attention was titled “House Panel Approves Bill to Cut U.N. Funds,” (http://www.time.com/Bill to Cut Funds) and in that moment, I thought to myself “why not just approve a bill to end the world too?” The article to my surprise was written quite well. I was definitely expecting to read with the type of apprehension that gives you the feeling “something is missing here,” however, the feeling was not there at all. I believed this journalist, and I generally believed that he/she was telling the whole truth, especially when they quoted Democrat Howard Berman of California as saying "The Republicans true purpose of the bill is to end U.S. participation in the U.N. and in the process, deal a fatal financial blow to the world body.” The journalist spoke about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s disapproval and how she vowed to recommend that President Obama veto the legislation.

You cannot put these types of phrases together during a time as fragile as the times we are currently living in with the expectation that your audience will be middle school kids. No, this article was written for individuals seeking to understand what is going on with in our society, with in our Gov't. With all of the madness, you keep telling yourself that there has to be an answer, you are not crazy, and the people that have been empowered to make decisions for you, will not allow your country, your family, your friends to suffer a minute longer.

This article really hit home describing in detail just how far the Gov't is willing to go to cover up facts such as “We spent all of the Social Security money-people! We are not going to tax the rich, because they are the ones that keep our political parties floating! We will continue to tax YOU, so get off of Wall Street so we can clean up!”
This journalist's logic and evidence made me think more about the state of this country and where we could possibly be headed. There is one part, however, that keeps regurgitating with in me and that is the statement the journalist made about how big of a problem/bully the Republicans think the U.N. actually is. The U.N. has been around since before I was a kid and problem or not, it does a lot for thousands who cannot do for themselves but my question is why is the U.N. such a problem now?  It is as if Congress has started playing tit for tat and this journalist was right on the money with this one “these measures will end American involvement in the world peacekeeping body.”

"Do-Nothing Congress"

For this entry, I will be critiquing the opinion of Michael Bowen's piece " Obama can't blame the do-nothing Congress"  The Christian Monitor- Obama can't blame the do-nothing Congress (opinion section) September 28, 2011 issue.

It became painfully obvious that the history professor of West Minster writes as if only conservative college students will read his work, which would have served readers best in a West Minster's news letter instead of a international magazine such as The Christian Monitor. Although it was his opinion, one simply should not write an article on national issues from a biased standpoint and make it count as an objective argument. Being that Mr. Bowen is the author of "The Roots of Modern Conservatism: Dewey, Taft, and the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party," I would say that this article gave you more of a synopsis of his book rather than what is going on with our nation's government.

Mr. Bowen is arguing that our current president can not blame congress for the political climate at hand, he referenced the year 1948, when Harry Truman campaigned against the "do-nothing" 80th Congress. Citing several issues that Truman was able to lean on, Mr. Bowen said "the political climate is different today than it was in 1948" (I beg to defer). In 1948 we were dealing with inflation caused by the demobilization from WWII, today we are still dealing with demobilizing effects stemming from the War in Iraq, except it seems to be much worse with the torture issues coming to light. In 1948 there was a housing shortage, today we are still dealing with major housing issues, and in 1948 there was the rampant labor unrest, today unemployment is almost at " The Great Depression" status. So why would the president not blame Congress? Why would he not demand action from both sides of the house? Something has to be done and if that means reaching back and gleaning from your predecessors' success then so be it.

There was really no logic to what Mr. Bowen wrote in his article. It never once made me rethink any of my current concerns differently, never made me think that our president would not succeed nor that history could not repeat itself in a number of ways within the next few months. It is all prospective, some see the glass half empty, others see the glass half full. The points that were raised about the Democratic and Republican parties are pretty much still true today except for the Democratic party being in shambles, nevertheless, I felt that the lack of evidence in this article made most of the political implications seem very shady and if this is how our government is ran then again I ask what is the point of making our voices heard? If orders continue to be passed down but our United States Congress is hell bent on fighting, blaming and bickering to the point that nothing gets done while the people continue to suffer then what is the point?

State Pension Systems have already changed in Massachusetts, how long before Texas changes their system?

I read an article today that said and I quote “This is not the beginning of dismantling what we have, it is crafted to protect what we have.” (Boston Globe) and as I read, I could not help but to wonder if all the approaching 55 or 65 individuals echoed those same sentiments? Better yet what does our government have planed for that same age demographic who has not only recently loss their jobs, but what minuscule pensions they once had?
I guess the even bigger question is what will the State Pension Systems look like by the time I am 65? It is deathly apparent that our national government has some major work to do when it comes to securing jobs, resources and federal funds that will assist and or support several generations down the line and as a people this is not the time to create this "got to get mine" mentality. We must put a plan of action into place now or my generation, your generation, your children's generational retirement age and top years earnings will drastically change. That my friend is a very scary thought!
Keith Fitz-Gerald wrote an article in January 2010 entitled "Why the Government Wants to Hijack Your 401(k)" and in the article he states "It's bad enough that we've been forced to bail out Wall Street. But now the Obama administration is hatching plans to raid our retirement savings, too." (Money Morning) Although I am a firm believer in not believing everything you either see on television and or read on the Internet, there are however somethings you need to give careful consideration to, and I believe this is one of them. Pay attention to what the government is doing to every penny of your hard earn money, because one day you may wake up and that little that they have been setting aside for you has now turned into an IOU.