My message to Kristi Noem, 7-11-11:

If the debt ceiling is not raised by August 2nd, many economists are predicting that the dollar will plummet and interest rates will climb. This would have devastating effects on the economy at large as well as on personal finances for many people. I don't know about you, but my finances are just beginning to stabilize after the hit the economy took under the Bush administration. Please don't make them take another hit - and an unnecessary one at that. Please do the work of the American people - don't hold the debt ceiling hostage to unreasonable demands. Please go along with raising taxes on the wealthy; their taxes are already lower than they've been in decades. If higher tax rates didn't halt job growth under Reagan, they won't now either so that argument doesn't hold water. And the Ryan proposal is absurd - do you really want to be known as someone who threw Granny under the bus in order to defend tax breaks for corporate jets? A vast majority of the American people want to protect Medicare and Social Security. Please take that into account as you cast your votes.

Another phrase I hear batted around a lot is "wealth redistribution." When spoken by the GOP, it generally refers to taxing people and then using those dollars to fund programs like Medicare and Social Security. Please remember that people have paid into these programs throughout their working lives, so referring to them as "entitlement" programs is insulting and ignores those contributions. Not to mention that Social Security wouldn't be having financial problems if irresponsible legislators hadn't dipped into SS funds, leaving meaningless IOU's behind.

The truth about wealth redistribution is that the money has been flowing from the lower and middle classes to the upper class for years. I refer you to:

http://www.squattable.com/blog/birdflip/030911/real-redistribution-wealth-forbes-400-triple-wealth-5-years

So please don't try to con people into believing that higher taxes for the rich would be a bad thing. I don't believe that, and neither do most people. I refer you to:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/03/us-usa-taxes-poll-idUSTRE7022AK20110103

The salient point: "...Sixty-one percent of Americans polled would rather see taxes for the wealthy increased as a first step to tackling the deficit, the poll showed...."

The GOP is out of touch with the American people. Wouldn't you like to be a voice of reason for the party instead of being just another "my way or the highway" obstructionist?

Please get the debt ceiling deal done by compromising on raising taxes. It's the right thing to do.

My Message to my Representative Re: GOP Budget Proposals

I see the cuts being discussed on the news as ones that will primarily serve to further the Republican agenda and the political futures of individual politicians instead of serving the needs of the people. Rather than balancing the budget on the backs of women, infants, and children (WIC) etc., why don't you try cutting some of the corporate welfare spending? You know - subsidies to big energy companies and such.

Also, deregulating the EPA is one of the WORST things you could ever do. Do you remember when the Olympics were held in Beijing? Athletes had to wear face masks because the air pollution was so bad. Dismantling the CleanAir Act could lead to that same situation here in the USA. WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT! We must not ruin one of the few significant accomplishments of our lifetime. I used to live in Denver - they have "inversions" in the atmosphere at times that trap pollution over the city. Have you ever had a "pollution headache?" I have. They're awful. Please don't screw the American people while pandering to big business.

You're supposed to represent all of the people of SD, not just Republicans. I am an independent voter, but not one that will blindly swallow Tea Party propaganda. I have voted for Republicans, Democrats, Independents and Libertarians - in each case, the person I thought best for the job.

I'll be watching. And I vote.

Pat Kyne

If I ruled the world.........Sarah Palin would no longer be referred to as Governor Palin, or Former Governor Palin by all the talking heads on cable news. Or any other news. Quitter. That would be her title. Quitter Palin.

Nuff said.

Proposed Tax on Sodas, Juice Drinks, etc.

Have you seen the latest ad on TV complaining about a proposed tax on sodas, juice drinks, and other unhealthy beverages? It shows a hockey-mom type woman in a grocery store, and she's talking about how she can make good decisions for her family without government interference. Etc. So who do you think is helping to fund the anti-soda tax campaign?

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/politics/food-taxes-obesity-campaign-commercial-grocery-soda-pop-20101011

Look, I'm not a fan of new taxes either. But parents these days are making a lot of really bad decisions. That's why we have a whole generation of kids growing up with unprecedented rates of hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. Parents have abdicated their responsibility for making kids eat right. When I was a kid, we had milk with meals, not soda. Soda was maybe a once-a-week treat, and that was just one glass. Now many kids seem to drink empty soda calories at every meal. So if the afore-mentioned hockey-mom was able, as she claims, to make good decisions, why are the disease rates among kids skyrocketing? And just who does she think is going to be paying for medical care when her type II diabetic 21 year old kid is in the hospital for amputations and dialysis? Probably won't be her. And the kid will be on Medicaid or disability, which means you and I will be footing the bill.

And while we're on the subject of diseases among kids, it's these same parents who let their kids get away with spending hours on electronic games while sitting in a chair instead of telling them "Go out and play" like my Mom did. Running, biking, climbing trees, building forts - these were the activities of my childhood, and should be the activities of kids today as well.

What has happened to parenting skills????

I don't want to hear their complaints about the tax proposal. And I don't want to pay for treating their kids' serious medical conditions in the very near future.

Besides, overpopulation is becoming more of a problem all the time. Here's my proposal. Just do away with the tax deduction for minor children. Why reward people for having more kids that have a high chance of turning into societal liabilities? Let them pay their taxes without the deduction, and give a deduction to people who don't have children and therefore aren't creating future drains on society and infrastructure. Yeah - like that'll ever happen.

JMHO

Food for Thought...

Penn Jillette, the talkative half of Penn and Teller, is a well-known atheist and speaks out regularly about his non-belief. He was interviewed for the "This I Believe" segment on NPR a few years ago, and I found his explanation thought-provoking. Someday, someone might actually read this blog, and might find it interesting also. The original is at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5015557

Here's what he had to say:

"I believe that there is no God. I'm beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy — you can't prove a negative, so there's no work to do. You can't prove that there isn't an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt definition of the word "elephant" includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire?

Nubar Alexanian

Enlarge

Penn Jillette is the taller, louder half of the magic and comedy act Penn and Teller. He is a research fellow at the Cato Institute and has lectured at Oxford and MIT. Penn has co-authored three best-selling books and is executive producer of the documentary film The Aristocrats.

So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself has to start with no belief in God and then look for evidence of God. She needs to search for some objective evidence of a supernatural power. All the people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at this searching stage. The atheism part is easy.

But, this "This I Believe" thing seems to demand something more personal, some leap of faith that helps one see life's big picture, some rules to live by. So, I'm saying, "This I believe: I believe there is no God."

Having taken that step, it informs every moment of my life. I'm not greedy. I have love, blue skies, rainbows and Hallmark cards, and that has to be enough. It has to be enough, but it's everything in the world and everything in the world is plenty for me. It seems just rude to beg the invisible for more. Just the love of my family that raised me and the family I'm raising now is enough that I don't need heaven. I won the huge genetic lottery and I get joy every day.

Believing there's no God means I can't really be forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories. That's good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I have to try to treat people right the first time around.

Believing there's no God stops me from being solipsistic. I can read ideas from all different people from all different cultures. Without God, we can agree on reality, and I can keep learning where I'm wrong. We can all keep adjusting, so we can really communicate. I don't travel in circles where people say, "I have faith, I believe this in my heart and nothing you can say or do can shake my faith." That's just a long-winded religious way to say, "shut up," or another two words that the FCC likes less. But all obscenity is less insulting than, "How I was brought up and my imaginary friend means more to me than anything you can ever say or do." So, believing there is no God lets me be proven wrong and that's always fun. It means I'm learning something.

Believing there is no God means the suffering I've seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the world, isn't caused by an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent force that isn't bothered to help or is just testing us, but rather something we all may be able to help others with in the future. No God means the possibility of less suffering in the future.

Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have."

I'd be very interested in the responses of my theoretical readers.

Meaningful Legislation on the Bush-era Tax Cuts?.......

.......Don't hold your breath while this group of Bozos is running things in Washington.

On one hand, the Republicans are willing to sacrifice trillions in income by shielding the wealthy from tax cut repeals, but they insist that unemployment benefits be "paid for" before being extended. Ya can't have it both ways, people. They make me want to retch. Add to that, the Republicans, if they had their own way, would only give tax cuts to millionaires. Which would continue their agenda of transferring wealth from the poor and middle classes to the wealthy. I refer you to:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15923.htm

".....The economic pie is getting bigger -- how can it be true that most Americans are getting smaller slices? The answer, of course, is that a few people are getting much, much bigger slices. Although wages have stagnated since Bush took office, corporate profits have doubled. The gap between the nation's CEOs and average workers is now ten times greater than it was a generation ago. And while Bush's tax cuts shaved only a few hundred dollars off the tax bills of most Americans, they saved the richest one percent more than $44,000 on average. In fact, once all of Bush's tax cuts take effect, it is estimated that those with incomes of more than $200,000 a year -- the richest five percent of the population -- will pocket almost half of the money. Those who make less than $75,000 a year -- eighty percent of America -- will receive barely a quarter of the cuts. In the Bush era, economic inequality is on the rise.

Rising inequality isn't new. The gap between rich and poor started growing before Ronald Reagan took office, and it continued to widen through the Clinton years. But what is happening under Bush is something entirely unprecedented: For the first time in our history, so much growth is being siphoned off to a small, wealthy minority that most Americans are failing to gain ground even during a time of economic growth -- and they know it......"


Meanwhile, the Dems just forced a vote on keeping tax cuts in place for ONLY the middle class. Even though they knew it wouldn't work. Nothing but posturing. All they're thinking about is how they'll frame issues to the voters in the next election cycle; they want to be able to say they voted for middle class tax cuts and not tax cuts for the wealthy. I have a hard time believing they really give a crap either. All they care about is their own re-election.

And, of course, there's much made of the fact that this is all taking place during a "rare" Saturday session. My heart bleeds for them. As a nurse, I've worked plenty of evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays. Those shifts weren't at all "rare." Am I supposed to feel sorry for our poor Senators for having to work on a Saturday? Cut the fuss people. I'm not impressed.

Can the USA as we know it survive this kind of government? The answer may be no:

http://investmentwatchblog.com/when-the-people-find-they-can-vote-themselves-money-that-will-herald-the-end-of-the-republic-benjamin-franklin/

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been about 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”

Might just be time to go get a little piece of land in the middle of nowhere, dig a moat and pull up the drawbridge.

Survivalist Blog Give-away

M.D. Creekmore at the The Survivalist Blog – a survival blog dedicated to helping others prepare for and survive disaster – with articles on bug out bag contents, survival knife choices and a wealth of other survival information is giving away a 1,000 round case of 9mm – 124 Grain FMJ (a $200 value – donated by LuckyGunner)! To enter, you just have to post about it on your blog. This is my entry. Visit The Survivalist Blog for the details.