The Poor Get Poorer

Let’s see.  Both Steve Wynn of the famed Wynn resort empire and Bernie Marcus, co- founder of The Home Depot have recently complained about President Obama.  I find it kind of interesting because both companies’ profits are up.  Mr. Wynn’s companies’ worth is as up as it ever has been.  Marcus isn’t doing too shabby either.

It must be nice being filthy rich and whiny at the same time.  At least you get noticed.  Even when you are sort of lying.

In the mean time real people in the real world are suffering.  These are the people who don’t have the millions or even billions to even get noticed.  They are the people who are still unemployed and can’t find a job.  I lot of times employers don’t even want to talk to you unless you have a job now.

I recently saw one of those stupid emails or letters berating the fact that Nancy Pelosi is rich and she has gotten richer.  It bemoaned the fact that she was rich (sexism confused with elitism at its best).  The truth is if you are rich, you are just going to get richer and richer.  That includes John McCain, President Obama, Steve Wynn and Bernie Marcus. 

However, the gap between the rich and poor grows every day.  The poor are getting poorer.  And they get blamed for everything that is wrong in the country.  They are blamed for the financial crisis we are in now.  You know the deal; Fanny and Freddie Mac.  Medicaid.  Welfare.  The poor are not to blame, but they make a convenient scapegoat because their voices aren’t heard.  Or better yet, no one really cares what they say. 

Not like a Wynn or Marcus.

Isn’t That Just Un-American?

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) recently said that, “I refuse to help Barack Obama get reelected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy.”  "It didn't work in 1995. What will happen is the administration will send out notices to 80 million Social Security recipients and to military families and they will all start attacking members of Congress. That is not a useful place to take us. And the president will have the bully pulpit to blame Republicans for all this disruption."

Therefore he proposes that the current president be the sole power to raise the debt ceiling.

Let’s forget that this is a stupid trap (that will backfire) for the President.  Let’s also forget that this makes McConnell sound and act like a certified coward.  Let’s forget that he doesn’t really want to do his job.  Let’s forget the fact that McConnell wants this president to fail in everything.

However, let’s remember one of the most important his he has said.  And I quote (emphasis mine):

"If we go into default he will say Republicans are making the economy worse," he concluded. "And all of a sudden we have co-ownership of a bad economy. That is a very bad position going into an election. My first choice was to do something important for the country. But my second obligation is to my party and my conference to prevent them from being sucked into a horrible position politically that would allow the president, probably, to get reelected because we didn't handle this difficult situation correctly."

And there you have it.  He has chosen his party over the country.  And he has admitted too it.

Isn’t That Just Un-American?

As for President Obama, he is once again playing an amazing game of chess while others are playing pocket pool.  We will see where this goes.

The Slavery Vow

“Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American president”

If you didn’t know this was in the preamble to the Marriage Vow statement signed by a couple of the republican candidates for the presidency of these fine United States of America.  I said was because the social conservative Iowa group, Family Leader, has since retracted it from the opening of the pledge.

I don’t really know what to say.  I am sure someone could look up the statistics and find out whether this is true or not.  I don’t think I care to though.  This is perhaps one of the nastiest, disgusting and naive things to come out of the camp of crazy in about a week.

The suggestion that black children born into slavery were better off in terms of family life than today’s black children is at best stupid.  Apparent the authors of this don’t consider the rapes, the murders, the starvation, the forced separation from your family very important.  Nor do they consider the century old adverse effects it has on a culture and the nation itself worth noting.  It was more than “disastrous” it was pretty much close to genocide.

Even worse the statement tries to tie the “USA’s first African-American president” to the plight in that community.  It’s as if it is President Obama’s fault somehow.  Even worse than that Next Gingrinch didn't sign it making him almost look like a decent human.

I'm sure that had something to do with the word marriage though.

If You Are Failing At Least You Are Doing Something

It had been reported that many politicians want President Obama to fail.  As such they seem to want the economy to crash.  They want the unemployment rate to be as high as possible.  They want to blame the President for high gas prices.  In fact, if it makes the President look bad to the general public, then they would be all for it.

Man, if they could catch his smoking a cigarette then they would be happier then ever.

This whole dept ceiling thing has me scratching my head.  Should it happen?  Why should it happen?  What are we really trying to do?

Recent history tells us that, we have raised the debt ceiling before.  I believe it was seven times during the Bush administration in June 2002, May 2003, November 2004, March 2006 and September 2007.  While many of the same people claim to hate it now were in office, none of them seems to have complained about it then.  In fact, Boehner, Cantor McConnell all voted “yes” to it.

Remember Paul Ryan’s 2012 budget bill?  It was supported by 235 House Republicans and 40 GOP Senators.  Well that little gem added $6 trillion to the US national dept over ten years.

In other words they supported it until it fell into the hands of President Obama.  Nice.

Now I do have to agree that we need to rein in our spending.  However, when I say we I mean all of us.  Every politician should be at the table with some decent and sincere spending cuts.  I think we should end our unpaid wars.  Why get rid of Medicare when we are fighting two wars.  I think they all should be a little more truthful and stop blaming this mess on the middle class and poor people.  Should we tweak the entitlement programs?  Perhaps we should.  Call me cynical, but I don’t think it would do anything for the economy.

Truthfully, I think this whole dog and pony show is so that certain people can make the President look like a failure they claim he is.  A “deal” will be made before the August 2 deadline, simply because there has to be one.

"That would be a financial disaster, not only for our country but for the worldwide economy. Remember, the American people on Election Day said, 'we want to cut spending and we want to create jobs.' And you can't create jobs if you default on the federal debt."

That little gem was by Speaker John Boehner in January.

Today, he's hoping that the President fails.

Young, Gifted & Black

Autum Ashante is a thirteen year old girl who apparently is some sort of genius.  She knows at least three languages, Spanish, Arabic and Swahili.  She has an IQ of 149.  She is a seasoned performance poet among other things.  She also may have been accepted as a freshman at the University of Connecticut.

I say may have been because the University has denied it.  Or rescinded it.  Or something.  It is a convoluted story.  In June, the school confirmed she had been accepted.  However, recently the father claims the school called and told him that they felt she was not academically ready.  Maybe thirteen is too young for college these days.

Still none of this reflects poorly on a child with such incredible potential.  I have to admit that I had never heard of her and she had been in the news before when she was about seven years of age.   During a poetry performance at a school near her home (she was home schooled) she had recited the words:

White Nationalism Put U In Bondage

White nationalism is what put you in bondage
Pirate and vampires like Columbus, Morgan, and Darwin
Drank the blood of the sheep, trampled all over them with
Steel, tricks and deceit.
Nothing has changed take a look in our streets
The mis-education of she and Hegro — leaves you on your knee2grow
Black lands taken from your hands, by vampires with no remorse
They took the gold, the wisdom and all of the storytellers
They took the black women, with the black man weak
Made to watch as they changed the paradigm
Of our village
They killed the blind, they killed the lazy, they went
So far as to kill the unborn baby
Yeah White nationalism is what put you in bondage
Pirates and vampires like Columbus, Morgan, and Darwin
They drank the blood of the sheep, trampled all over them with
Steel laden feet, throw in the tricks alcohol and deceit.
Nothing has changed take a look at our streets.

Not the average thoughts of a seven year old.  And naturally the right wing hated it.  Michelle Malkin (who I just don’t get) in particular wrote a Blog labeled “MEETTHE 7-YEAR-OLD RACIST POET” .  Way to go Michelle, always picking on the kids.

Personally I don’t have any problems with what the young lady wrote six years ago.  I don’t have a problem with Tom Sawyer being read in school either although I realize that others may.  In fact, unless the words she used were lies I don’t have any problem with it.  Okay maybe there are no vampires, but still.

That was six or seven years ago and now this called young lady, raised by a single father, can be considered quite gifted.  Whether or not this situation with the college works out or not, I believe she will have a very bright future.  We shall see.

Just remember there are many more gifted children out there.  We have got to tell those stories too.