Neo-Con Bliss...WAR WAR WAR

"In fact, the idol of war-weariness can be challenged," Kristol writes "A war-weary public can be awakened and rallied. Indeed, events are right now doing the awakening. All that’s needed is the rallying. And the turnaround can be fast."

Maybe what he would like to see is a modern-day Pearl Harbor Attack, much like what happened on 9/11/01. It allowed the Republicans to push some very dramatic legislation into law and many Americans are regretting it today.

Perhaps the missing Maylasian Boeing 777 could be used for such a surprise attack. There is some evidence al Qaeda members have wanted to do such a hijacking. We shall see.

Meanwhile,

Sen. McCain wants us to war with Russia, or at least sell military aid to Ukraine. That's a big industry in Arizona.

At the same time, and despite the unsigned Ukraine-EU deal, some U.S. corporations are investing heavily in Ukraine and the surrounding area. What do they know nobody else is privy to?

Maybe Mitt Romney knew something special when he said Russia was a major geo-political foe. Is something which has been planned for years now in the works? Are Right-wing (and corporate) Americans plotting war, committing us to a foreign policy the government can't undo?

It makes me sad to think this can happen.

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) Salutes the Irish

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/03/senator-dumbass


Need I say more?

Progress vs. Republican Retrenchment

Republicans are using government resources to investigate and to try and smear Democrats or government in general. They refuse to do their job and legislate to help America move forward. Recently Congressman Darrell Issa, who is chairman of the committee doing oversight of the administration, closed down a hearing without allowing a single Democrat on the committee to ask a question. It's a blatant violation of House rules, but the Republicans, including Speaker John Boehner, don't care.

There's a better way and we see it in the private sector when people invent neat new things to improve life.

A new bionic leaf could solve solar energy storage problems.

Could future clothes, bottles and chairs be made from carbon emissions?

One American city enjoys internet connect speeds hundreds of times faster?


Perhaps we can improve America's economic vitality by promoting more infrastructure repair and the creation of new advances like those mentioned above. But, the Republicans won't let Democrats raise taxes on the rich to pay for it or shift any resources to more scientific research & development. Even more they won't help raise the minimum wage, so the American consumer can buy more things and push the economy to higher levels.

Many U.S. corporations pay little tax.

Washington (the state) shows that highest minimum wage state creates more jobs!

Why do the Republicans want to hold back the economy by only cutting government spending?
Why are Republicans searching for conspiracies and scandals to tar the administration?
It's all politics and they aren't doing their jobs -- to govern.

Americans shouldn't reward that kind of behavior with votes. We need politicians who want to govern and make America better and better.

Budget Priorities

I heard there is a suggestion we should take greater revenues the federal gov't is receiving and put it into more spending on the military. I can't imagine why we should do that. Our involvement in Afghanistan is winding down this year and we probably won't be leaving any contingent there. We won't be invading or "bomb bomb bombing" Iran. We won't be invading Syria. We won't be placing a security force in Ukraine capable of protecting it from the large Russian army. We won't be invading Russia to overthrow Putin. We won't be doing anything requiring a much larger military.

We won't be satisfying the mania of Senator John McCain and his friends who want to use every last dollar of America to build a military which one of their other friends, perhaps a future President Bush, can use to empty on some helpless country a la Johnny Rambo. It's the worst use of a government to take from its people merely to destroy another country.

What the Republicans have been arguing for years, and in fact what George W. Bush argued in 2000, is that we should shrink our military involvement around the world and use that money to build America. This would ease the tax burden some on the Americans Republicans claim to be protecting from "big government". Using money senselessly on the military is the worst kind of "big government".

Instead we should use any extra revenues in one of two ways: cut taxes on the public or to solve problems. The two major problems are to pay down the ridiculous debt the Republicans have saddled us with and to build American infrastructure (including R&D like science research). As we have a large debt I suggest the latter. Split whatever revenues are available between debt reduction and infrastructure building & repair. If someone would like to argue we need to reduce taxes on the poor over-burdened American taxpayer then all they have to do is commit to tax reform which includes reducing freebies to the rich and use that money instead of taxing the working class.

Too many of the working class aren't working any more!

They don't think we're spending enough on the military, but look at the following pie charts and decide for yourself.

Some Scientific Discoveries and Some Unsolved Problems

Some people are working to make things better...


Recycling plastic bags to make automobile fuel !


Sealing gunshot wounds to stop bleeding FAST !


Turning air pollution into plastic !


Mutant algae generating hydrogen we can use !


3 Ways Elephants can help you think better !


Video from within the "3 Ways" link on our divided brain -- very neat !


And then there are the problems in our society...


Pesticides and honey bees


Children are dying because of the "stand your ground" laws


More and more school shootings and no new gun regulations


Maybe if the scientists working to get rich could make money in Congress fixing our other problems...

Business and Regulation

I was reading Andrew Tobias' blog and saw this interesting piece.

"talking about the new hedge-fund regulations. Most everyone on Wall Street thought they were a bad idea. “But isn’t it better for the system as a whole?” I asked. The room went quiet, and my boss shot me a withering look. I remember his saying, “I don’t have the brain capacity to think about the system as a whole. All I’m concerned with is how this affects our company.”"

This, in a nutshell, explains why business can't be trusted to guide government policy toward business. They don't care about the whole, only their bottom line.

Here's a link to the original story: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/for-the-love-of-money.html?_r=0

Political Agenda for America

We need to stay safe and focus on terrorists while trying to bring peace with diplomacy and further negotiations on nuclear arms reductions.

At home we need better gun control laws to prevent kids from killing each other or for people with mental problems from killing large numbers of people. If these were airplane crashes we'd pay more attention. Why protect the rights of terrorists to buy guns in America at gun shows with no background checks?

We need a stronger economy for EVERYONE in America and that means increasing the minimum wage and it means reforming the tax structure, so the rich finally have to pay the same rate as a middle-class working man or woman. It makes no sense that someone like Mitt Romney (not to pick on him) should be so wealthy they don't have to personally work and earn all their income from stock & bond investments and yet pay only a 15% tax rate. I don't understand all the special favors to the rich like getting to use deductions for mortgage interest on their 2nd, 3rd or other homes which aren't their primary residence. I also don't understand all the special preferences for established mature profitable industries like oil & gas drilling or tobacco farmers or any of the agricultural subsidies which go to corporations making large profits. Somehow the 99.9% of the people who make less than the 0.1% of our people need to have greater income, savings and economic mobility. Tax reform and an increased minimum wage is but one step in that direction.

It isn't of interest to a lot of Americans, but we do have a problem with illegal immigration. We have a lot of undocumented foreigners in America and they're working without gov't protections (work-place safety, proper pay, etc.) and they're involved in black market business. We need to protect our borders, and we are doing more on that today than ever. We need to document everyone who comes across as guest workers, students, short-term visitors or something. It's ridiculous to have so many undocumented people in our country who can be enslaved or otherwise abused or even killed without any protection by the government. It's ridiculous companies get away with paying them very low wages instead of having to pay a wage which changes the incentive more toward hiring legal American residents. Even if we don't offer foreigners paths to citizenship (and we have never entirely limited that to zero) we need to document these people and protect them or deport them as is appropriate. It's time to also protect the children who have grown up in America and know no other home country, but who are legally not Americans. Many don't even learn they're not documented legal residents until they apply for a drivers license or fill out a college application. It's a ridiculous situation.

Foreign peace, gun controls, an increased minimum wage, tax reform and immigration reform.

When will the Republicans, particularly those in the House of Representatives, go to work and do the job we need? I've read stories saying they only go to work a few days a week. Could any other Americans keep their job if they did that?

Time to get the job done !

Robert Reich has some suggestions to improve the economy!

When corporations worry the minimum wage needs increased our political leaders should listen.

State political leaders recognize a need to raise the minimum wage, so when will our national leaders get it.

Economists endorse a minimum wage increase !

Too many people are dying from handguns.