An American Girl, Facebook & The Ryan Plan

I know a sweet girl. She is 29 years old and lives with her mother and father. Her father's construction business went under over 2 years ago and they have not paid the mortgage on their home for almost 2 years. This girl often carries a genuine Gucci bag. I guess it makes her feel like Mrs. Romney for a few fleeting moments. Like many, she copes with the realities of her life in the same way Rush Limbaugh eases his conscience. And she loves Facebook.

Facebook is a social networking service and website. Essentially, it is an internet forum. It epitomizes the notion expressed by Andy Warhol during the decadent 70's. Warhol said,

 "In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 Minutes."

There is nothing inherently evil about Facebook. But we must hope that it does not become a substitute for living and life's activities; and hope that few use it as a form of avoidance and escapism.

Facebook makes money through advertising. Unlike the American automobile industry, Facebook creates nothing, it's merely a forum with content created by uncompensated participants. Facebook employs only about 2,000 people. Since consumers create jobs, one can only speculate as to the sustainability of Facebook's advertising revenues.

The Ryan plan calls for no new revenues to address the budget deficit. It does "disguise" government spending by maintaining credits, subsidies, and loopholes for the super rich and global corporations. The core of the Ryan plan is to cut benefits, subsidies, and loopholes for the middle class and poor. If consumers create jobs, this action will send America- and the world- into a depression so severe that the 1930's will pale in comparison. Per chance Romney and Wall Street are able to buy the Presidency, I seriously doubt they would implement a plan so draconian.

Finally, God Bless the United States Armed Forces. On this day that we fortunate ones give them the recognition that they deserve, may we pray that they are sent into battle by our elected officials to preserve democracy and the common good, and not as pawns of the super rich and global corporations.

JOBS

As I have been saying since I started this blog 2 years ago, which coincided with the disasters created by the Bush/ Cheney regime, job creation, with reasonable wages and working conditions, represents the single greatest issue facing Americans.

If you want to solve a problem, you must be aware of the causes of the problem. You must isolate and identify the causes of the problem. The shrinking middle class, coupled with the increased rate of poverty  in America, is the cause of the stagnation of job growth. Tax breaks for the wealthy and the further concentration of wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer super rich individuals, never has and never will, create jobs. The Republican solution to stimulate job growth is essentially the cause of the problem.

Consumers create jobs. The rich do not create jobs. It is a lie to say that they do. Nobody, from large corporations to small businesses, wants to add employees. They will do so only if there is a profound increased demand for their goods and/or services. And they will avoid doing so in America, if they can help it. It will only happen with a prosperous middle class.

Ergo, to solve the jobs problem, if that indeed is what the Republican party truly wants to do, public policy must be designed to strengthen and protect the middle class. Progressive taxation in line with the rates enacted by Republican President Eisenhower should be revived. Corporate regulation, in keeping with the vision of Republican President Teddy Roosevelt, should also be dusted off and enacted.

Over a year ago I stated that the Republicans, from Rick Perry to Michele Bachmann, and especially Mitt Romney, view American through the eyes of a corporate raider, a "New Derivative Thinker", and a Private Sector Vampire (a term I coined). The targeted "corporation" is democracy and the American people. I  also used the business analogy of golden parachutes. Bachmann, that great accumulator of tax payer monies, has recently acquired Swiss citizenship. And Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, despite the fact that his success could not have been achieved in any other country, has "parachuted" to avoid taxes.

Finally, I would like to thank MSNBC. Though it has taken some time, they are beginning to articulate the truths that are contained in the posts in this blog.

Truth or Consequences

The Republican Party has metastasized. And what has been truly appalling about this evolution is the notion that lying, unsubstantiated slander, unprecedented corruption, and outright theft are OK. It's just business.

Romney's etch-a-sketch persona is just politics. W. Bush's tale about "weapons of mass destruction" was an oops. And Rick Scott's grand theft of America's future was a mistake. Astronomically negative consequences for the American people, wealth and power for the perpetrators. Republican's simply excuse their mendacity and criminality without remorse and a simple: "I made a mistake".

The supreme crime is that Republicans, through their immorality and hypocrisy, are teaching values and behaviors that are rapidly turning America into a third world country with nukes.

 It's been a while since I've ended a post with a quote. I hope that this does not fall on deaf ears. President Obama has begun articulating this notion on the campaign trail. And no, this quote is not from Dick Cheney.

"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." Edmond Burke

Translated into teabagese: "Electing Republicans is insane and will destroy America. Make no mistake about this."