02/10/09 Three Weeks - and still no "make up"

I suppose one of my favorite things about our new President is that he refuses to wear a mask, or mask anything we need to know with rhetoric or bullshit, as we have long become accustom to.

He has told us that not everything that we try to do to "fix" the economy is guaranteed to work the way it was intended. He admitted that he screwed up. No finger pointing, no deflection.
Accountability just like he campaigned with. He is leading by example. The question remains though, will we follow by example or will we keep doing, and living as we have in the past.

By now, in our own lives, we should know what works and what doesn't. We know we can't buy things beyond our means with the assumption that we will be able to afford it based on projected increases in our income. Those projections are not guaranteed.

As Whoopi would put it, "the Doo-Doo is rising fast", and it is disgusting to see some of our elected officials still sitting on their thumbs screaming "what about me??"

Whether we actually will need more money than they are fighting over now or not, they should pass the common items that everyone wants to see happen, and fight over the rest next month.
Or just pass the cumlulative of both bills, covering everyones bases.

But to drag their feet and continue bickering over whether we should continue the endowment for the Arts (who employ a helluva alot of people) or not is nothing short of typical bi-partisan bullshit.

Once again, beat out by the third world.....

"The State prohibits and punishes all forms of discrimination founded on the basis of sex, skin color, gender, age, sexual orientation and gender identity, origin, culture, nationality, citizenship, language, religious beliefs, ideology, political or philosophical affiliation."


-- Article 14.II: In the title 'Fundamental Rights and Guarantees' of the new Bolivian constitution. Once again, another "third world" country is surpassing the United States in human rights standards.

Contemplating my Staggering Stimulus Package

02/08/09.......and counting

We (Our Government) seem to be making "progress" in our (The Government) attempt to "save" our country (Us) from a "D" word (Depression). I think I understand a little more each day in what actions will create what results and therefore understand a lot more regarding why the Republicans are pushing for different actions than the Democrats as they want different results.

By using more money, or any money for "Tax Cuts"; i.e. reducing withholding tax, therefore giving You more "take-home pay" each week in your paycheck. Sounds great, huh?
It could be, or it could have an undesirable lack of stimulus to our economy.

Let's say they did reduce the withholding tax and you did get a little extra paper in your check.
Then you run down to Walmart to spend your hard earned money and buy a new flat screen (gotta have it!!). And of course you "charged it", knowing that you will have that same "few extra bucks" every time you get paid. Of course this keeps you in the same state of "check to check" living you have grown accustom to blaming the Government for.

Oh yeah, and it was made in Taiwan, whose economy was just stimulated, by you.

Flip the coin........

Let' say instead, they pumped more money into infrastructure, and created Government Jobs (Contracts). That would help slow the unemployment rates free fall, and those workers would in turn spend that money on everything; Food, clothes, rent, gas. Not just a flat screen. And not on a credit card. Hmmmm.

A bigger paycheck every week is great, unless you spend it without thinking.

Government jobs are great while they last but we sorely need some road and bridge work done.

So digesting all of that, I think my current view on it is that everything we do carries some risk.
Along with that risk comes responsibility and accountability.

Hello! I am talking about PERSONAL responsibility, and PERSONAL accountability.

We all want our actions to create the desired results. But we can't just sit back and hope for the best. We've settled for that for too long because we could always point a finger.

Whomever we point at, we always seem to forget that the majority of the time, we knowingly allowed actions by others, or inaction by ourselves, to negatively affect the desired result.

So maybe if the Republicans, the Democrats, or even better, All Americans took a minute to point in the mirror and accept their part in the American Quilt, we very well may become a great nation again.