Debatable Intentions

I'm not sure if it’s my predisposition to the left or if I'm among the many who feel this way, but I find it very hard to take any of the Republican candidates seriously.

I keep imagining future Presidential debates, and inevitably Barack Obama always comes out the winner. Whoever wins the GOP primary – Romney, Santorum, Gingrich, Paul – will never be able to hold a candle to the President in a serious, one-on-one debate. He'll simply wipe the floor with them. It's not just his forward accomplishments and track record – which cannot be factually disproven no matter how much negative chatter emanates from the right – it's his innate calmness, gift-of-gab, natural command and clear grasp of all political scenarios. None of the Republican candidates seem to have a deep understanding of the issues, nor do they appear to have a sincere connection with common, everyday people.

I listened to all the "Super Tuesday" coverage yesterday, and one theme seemed to be prevalent amongst most of the political pundits: The majority of conservatives are desperate to remove President Obama from office, even if means casting their vote for an unqualified right-wing candidate. Silly me - I thought doing right by the American people was top priority, not personal career advancements. It speaks volumes about the right-wing agenda, frankly, which is fully demonstrated by their ineffectual version of Congress.

Some might argue that replacing President Obama is "doing right" by the American people, which I heartily disagree with. Can you imagine going back to the days of an unchecked Wall Street, cuts in benefits for the poor and elderly, reversal of stem cell research, religious and moral bigotry, dismissal of global warming and free tax rides for the rich, just to name a few?

A return to right-wing policies will throw our nation backward, not forward, and bodes nothing but ill for the future of our country.

Ads & Endorsements

This is the "political" portion of my Irish Eyes blog entry about advertisements and endorsements:

The worst of the ad lots are products promoted by celebrities. I can't think of anything less influential or less credible than a celebrity endorsement. Who wouldn't hawk a product if they were paid gobs of money to do so? The product or cause could be a load of crap for all we know, and I'm not willing to spend the dough to find out otherwise - no matter who is at the advertising helm. I've been a fan of The Rolling Stones for decades, but I definitely would not buy a product endorsed by Mick Jagger or his band mates just because they insist on its goodness.

The same applies to celebrities endorsing political candidates. Who cares what they think, for God's sake? Their opinions are no more viable than anyone else's, even if they try to lead us to believe they have insight into their particular candidate. To me, it's just another example of the high and mighty who believes American masses are nothing more than a tribe of idiots with no thoughts of our own. Of course, there are idiots among us (including the high and mighty), but for the most part we are all quite capable of understanding the political spectrum and arriving at a decision on our own.

I care as much about political candidate endorsements as I do the right-wing opinions of my neighbors. I'm just not interested. I'm old enough to know my own preferences, and I've heard all the arguments many times before.

And that's all I have to say about that…

Clown Show

I've tried to keep my mouth shut about the assortment of clowns vying to be the GOP party candidate for President, but I can no longer bite my tongue.

Let's get real. None of the right-wing candidates inspire a great deal of confidence. In fact, I find most of them to be a major joke, some less than others. It's not my intention to unleash personal attacks per say, but please....can you imagine the robotic Ken-doll Mitt Romney as leader of the free world? Or Michele Bachmann - who likens herself to Margaret "Iron Lady" Thatcher - sitting in the Oval Office? And honestly, do we need another gunslinger wanna-be (Rick Perry) running the country? The scenarios are laughable, plain and simple.

All of them refuse to acknowledge the work President Obama has done, hiding their true feelings of ugly racism by attacks on his policies. I don't care how often or how vigorously they try to deny it, most wealthy (eg: white) people sitting in the right-wing echelon will never accept the President. We have the virtually non-functioning and aggressive blockage of Congress as a case-in-point. The right-wing mantra of Christian values et al is a load of hooey, conveniently used to suit their purposes in the moment.

I had to laugh out loud the other night when one of the candidates - can't recall which one - said it was time "to take our country back." Back from who, or what? If one of "them" is elected, does it mean we are to return to the destructive policies of George W. Bush via the demented Dick Cheney?

Who are they kidding?

Credit History & Employment

One of many sore points in today's economy is an employer's ability to check the credit history of job applicants. This is an outrageous invasion of privacy and should not be allowed. It stands to reason an applicant's credit history might be spotty if he/she has been out of work for a period of time or experiences a financially catastrophic medical procedure.

Individual credit histories should not be made available to employers who might use the information as a hiring qualifier. To state the obvious, job skills and credit histories have nothing to do with one another.

In addition, just as employees are often required to give a two-week notice before quitting a job, it should be mandatory for employers to give the same notice prior to layoffs or closings.

Truth Emerges

Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich appeared on the Ed Schultz Show yesterday, where he hit the nail on the head regarding our current state of immovable affairs:

What the Republicans want to do is keep the unemployment rate as high as possible because history has shown it's the best way to make sure a president is a one-term president.

Reich, who is also a UC Berkeley Professor, went on to say: "President Obama needs to make sure the public understands what republicans are doing, what they've been doing for more than two years with their just say no attitude, which is to sabotage the presidency and to undermine the economy."

Related commentary from Reich's web site: "The disconnect between Washington and the rest of the nation hasn't been this wide since the late 1960s. The two worlds are on a collision course: Americans who are losing their jobs or their pay and can't pay their bills are growing increasingly desperate. Washington insiders, deficit hawks, regressive Republicans, diffident Democrats, well-coiffed lobbyists, and the lobbyists' wealthy patrons on Wall Street and in corporate suites haven't a clue or couldn't care less."

In essence, GOP hatred of President Obama far outweighs their concern – or lack thereof – for the American people. Their number one goal is not jobs or fixing the economy, but getting rid of President Obama come 2012.

Click here to see Friday's video with Reich from the Ed Show (MSNBC).

Cut Congress Benefits (CCB), Part One

Job security is a constant source of worry and stress for most Americans. Unlike members of Congress, we don't have assured benefits at the end of our working lives. Some of us have to make choices between paying rent, buying food or obtaining medicine, much less deciding what to do with a pension.

The perks enjoyed by members of Congress appear to rival those of a financially thriving corporation. While the base salary of a junior member of Congress is $174,000, they also have access to an "allowance" that helps fund their office staff. For instance, House members are allotted more than $900,000 to pay the salaries of up to eighteen employees. On top of that, they receive $250,000 for travel expenses and mass constituent mailings (also known as "franking"), the cost for which is borne by the taxpayer. Worse yet, Senators receive $3.3 million for office expenses. Some senators also receive $500,000 to hire up to three legislative assistants.

According to a report from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) and Our Generation (OG) advocacy groups, "Federal legislators earn 3.4 times more than the average full-time American worker and are among the highest paid legislators in the industrialized world."

Furthermore, the report states: "Congressional salaries and benefits are compared with what private sector workers receive, and with those of foreign legislators. Members of Congress receive an annual salary of $174,000 - which alone puts them in the highest-paid 5 percent of U.S. workers. They also, however, receive a host of additional benefits that put their total annual compensation at around $285,000. By comparison, the average full-time American employee earns just $50,875 annually."

David Williams, president of TPA, says: "Congress has run up a $14.3 trillion debt and a $1.5 trillion deficit, yet they are still among the best compensated employees in America. It is time to hold our representatives in Washington responsible for their job performance. With the high salaries Congress is collecting, we don't think it's too much to ask that they do their jobs and get our economic house in order."

The TPA also points out that that if congressional salaries were cut to $100,000 taxpayers could save $39 million each year.

Current annual salaries for top positions in the House and Senate:

• Speaker of the House ($223,500)
• House Majority Leader ($193,400)
• House Minority Leader ($193,400)
• Senate Majority Party Leader ($193,400)
• Senate Minority Party Leader ($193,400)

Many of us would be more than grateful for just a fraction of such salaries, willing to work our fingers to the bone to earn the money. That's more than can be said of our legislators at the moment.

Members of Congress also enjoy an annual cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA), unless Congress votes against it. Why not leave constituents to vote on whether members of Congress receive annual COLA’s instead? Because congressmen and senators know they would never be granted raises if they let us decide the issue.

If members of Congress faced the same level of financial and healthcare insecurity the average American deals with every day, perhaps their voting consciences will take a direction for the better. Most important of all, perhaps the sense of urgency and panic many of us feel will be experienced by those in power and will propel them to set aside the poison and acrimony now polluting Washington D.C. and get down to business.

Pay cuts for members of Congress should be implemented, above and beyond any wage freezes currently in place. Since the rest of us have to live within our means, right in line with the virtually non-moving Cost of Living index, so should members of Congress. If they cannot live on their wages, so be it.

Denial Mode

I was listening to NBC's Jamie Gangell interview Mitt Romney with Chris Christie the other night, and was struck by a comment made by the New Jersey governor: "Romney is our best chance of taking back the White House."

Take it back from what, where or who? Take it back to the disastrous times of George W. Bush? Do Republicans really think the general populace has forgotten what Bush did to the United States in eight short years?

Or perhaps right-wing politicians are living in convenient denial, in their minds truly forgetting what their party did to our country.

Speaking for myself, I have daily reminders of their handiwork in the cost of food, healthcare and the consequences of their current non-action, not to mention just trying to survive in general.

I doubt I'm the only one.

Onwards & Outwards

As mentioned in my blog post Media Skim, I was rather puzzled by the lack of coverage on the Occupy Wall Street movement. However, it's hard to ignore when people are assembling in every major city to make their displeasure known, including the bloody place where I live at the moment.

Local news channels in my current place of residence are not known for their impartiality. In other words, it's fairly obvious to which political side they lean on any given day. It's one of the reasons I tend to look to the web or cable news, in particular MSNBC, to get a reality check and to shed the feeling that I live in a veritable Twilight Zone.

I was surprised when people gathered at the capitol nearby to carry on their own Occupy Wall Street demonstration, and even more stunned when local news channels reported the event. It was peacefully organized and well-attended, but resident senator Orrin Hatch naturally cast his own brand of alarmism into the mix:

"We are going to have riots in this country because of what these people are doing."

"These people" are tired of carrying the burden for everyone in America, which is something right-wing extremists like Hatch will never understand. I'm sure he would be perfectly happy if we all just sat back and swallowed the financial inequities that have nearly crippled our country.

On an unrelated note, I'm doing my damndest to get out of the place where I currently reside. I realize the political and economic climates are the same everywhere in the United States at the moment, but to get away from a community that tries to control what we view on television or attempts to foist their religious views non-conformists is a good start.

Media Skim

I fully support the views of the Occupy Wall Street movement. I knew sooner or later people would grow tired of class and financial inequity; the constant burden placed on them even as they lose their jobs, benefits and homes with no signs of relief in sight.

However, I'm not sure what to make of the disparity in media coverage. I didn't realize the demonstrations had spread to other US cities until a headline at the UK’s Daily Mail caught my eye: Occupy Wall Street protests spread across U.S. to Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago as cities brace for more demonstrations.

One glance at my usual news source, MSNBC, displays not one mention of the incidents as of this morning. Why is that? It's certainly not typical for people to take to the streets in America. When they finally do take action, it's NEWS. I've heard brief mention of the demonstrations, but nothing as intense as the boringly ridiculous coverage of celebrity weddings and split-ups. If I'm gleaning reports from the wrong source, where do I go to find decent coverage – other than a British online newspaper?

Think Progress and Wonkette have been tracking the various protests (re: A Complete List of National Politicians Who Have Embraced the Occupy Wall Street Protests), but I'm flummoxed as to why major media outlets skim over the topic.

Is every money-making machine in the hip pocket of Wall Street these days?

In my opinion, the protests are long overdue. Hard-working people are weary of footing the bill as the wealthy virtually get away scot-free.

Catching Up

A computer crash and a death in the family have kept me away for quite awhile. I hope to get back in the political swing of things shortly.

My estranged husband, who was still my best friend, passed away on September 2. Rather than go into all the details, I wrote about him on my primary blog Irish Eyes. Click here to read the entry. I've been helping his brother with arrangements and other details, so the last week has been like a blur and quite difficult.

The day before my birthday last month, my computer literally sizzled inside the tower and gave up the ghost. There was no reviving it, I'm afraid. I dragged out my old computer (Windows XP, last updates from 2007), and managed to work with that for a short time. I now have a newer system. Just yesterday I finished re-loading all my essential software programs and documents. I hope everything holds out until I strike it rich! ;)

Today I will be spending some time watching the commemoration events for 9/11 victims. It's hard to believe ten years have passed by so quickly, yet the memories are still fresh. In fact, it was right around this time ten years ago that Wilbert and I began to date.

Today is sad for many reasons.