PRESIDENT JOHN MCCAIN--A DISASTER IN THE MAKING
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistAsk me
again as to
why some people want to repeat another disastrous mistake in the coming election–by voting in more of the same bellicose policies which have train wrecked our nation’s economy and worn out our military past the breaking point?
Despite recent attacks on the Green Zone and the increase in violence (plus the apparent unraveling of the cease-fire by the Mahdi army), McCain has clearly signaled that he won’t change course either–echoing Bush’s recent comments on how history will perceive his failed Iraq policy: "One day, people will look back at this moment in history and say, 'Thank God there were courageous people willing to serve, because they laid the foundations for peace for generations to come.' "
McCain
himself believes that the US troop surge is ‘succeeding’–despite the ratcheting violence and the fact that we have hit another grim milestone (or two): 4,000 dead American troops and almost 30,000 wounded.
Does he care? From his recent statements: “Sen. John McCain declared Monday that "we are succeeding" and said he wouldn't change course -even as the U.S. death toll rose to 4,000 and the war entered its sixth year.”
Apparently not.
Imagine for the moment that McCain is President for the next 8 years–having won the 2008 primary by a slim margin (2016):
Iraq has descended into complete chaos by 2012; 8,200 troops are now dead–with as many as 62,000 US troops wounded; with many more raw recruits having to come and fill the gaps left behind, through an unregulated draft put into place 2 years into McCain’s presidency.
On top of that, $1.5 trillion dollars have been spent on the conflict so far (not counting the money needed to take care of our wounded troops), Malaki’s government no longer exists in the form that the previous administration had installed–forcing the current administration to take steps to ensure that some semblance of democracy still
exists in that war-torn region.
Between 160,000 to 1.2 million Iraqis have died so far and as many as three million more displaced by the war. Iran’s influence in the region is simply overpowering, but there is little that McCain can do to affect any real change with that country; after it succeeded with its uranium-enrichment program the year before.
At this stage, McCain is consistently accusing Iran of wanting to destroy the world with its phantom nuclear arsenal–while Afghanistan has collapsed into complete anarchy. (NATO left in 2011-2012–having been unable to turn the tide against a now entrenched Al-Qaeda; with the country in complete control of the warlords which now operate without fear.)
Pakistan is now no longer our ally in the war against terror; having given up its pursuit of democracy. That in turn has left Al-Qaeda a new place to call home--even as its operations have started to expand on a
global scale; instead of just isolated to one or two countries. (As many analysts were quick to point out that the Iraq war conflict has deeply inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad and given groups like Al-Qaeda the money, resources, and manpower to carry out their deadly terrorists attacks against European and American interests; and a few recent attacks here in the states.)
Public opinion has so soured over the war (with a scant 15% still supporting the administration), that they see themselves unable to connect with their representatives over the war–let alone the government that’s
supposed to represent them.
However, things at home are much worse than they were when Bush took office. The economy is still mired in a deep recession brought on by the collapse of the housing market, the credit crunch, a near worthless dollar, and $170 oil. (Not to mention nearly $7 gas.)
High energy costs have left the majority of Americans dependent on their federal government to make ends meet–rather than the now scuttled wage earners which had helped prop up many of the former middle-class Americans in years past.
Chronic homelessness and rampant poverty now grips the nation, with no end in sight.
McCain’s tax cuts for the rich and the continued war has pushed the US deficit to nearly $14 trillion dollars–as federal revenue has fallen to its lowest level in recent memory; coupled with the strain of the insurgent population of baby boomers on Social Security and Medicare (whom retired in 2008), healthcare costs which have transcended levels not seen in a generation, and the
surge of illegal immigrants into our country has put a severe strain on our country’s medical and social services. (Thanks in part to McCain’s successful ‘amnesty’ bill; pardoning many immigrants from breaking federal law and not paying their share in back taxes–while working here illegally.)
But McCain is up for re-election and he’s once again claiming that despite the high costs of lives and money, the US is “winning the war in Iraq”. (The same ploy which Bush used in his last year in Iraq.)
And this time, the
majority of the country doesn’t support or share his views. Even a larger majority of Republicans whom blindly supported Bush’s push for war during the early 2000s, don’t rush to his defense of the conflict as they did before many years prior.
But will a change in the American public’s perceptions finally end what McCain said would be a “100 year occupation” of Iraq by 2012–almost 10 years after Bush invaded that country?
It all depends on how the people in there and
now vote.
The above scenario is little less of a fantasy and more on the
reality we all face if we let someone like John McCain in the White House–based on current trends and an equally dismal future for
all Americans.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: elections, healthcare, Iraq, Iraq war, Iraqi civilians, McCain, milestones, national deficit, President Bush, recession, troop surge
WHEN IT COMES TO THE ECONOMY, GOP HAS NO CLUE
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistThe recession is here and still the Republican candidates have no
clue as to how to deal with it.
How can they? Terrorism and
war is the only two things they know now.
Have a family of four approach John Boy and Ghouliani and their response would be: “Huh?”--when asked what they would do about their stagnant wages, rising healthcare costs, and job security.
See, the problem started back when Reagan was President. He was a pure capitalist by heart. He believed that being rich gave you
huge entitlements that weren’t yours. (Namely tax cuts.)
Hey, you're rich and need money, right?
So Ronnie began a destructive process which deprived trillions of dollars of needed monies to go towards working families and the middle-class–and started handing out “grab bags” to the rich and wealthy.
Money that they
didn’t need, but it was good politics, right? Deprive people of funds needed for education, job training, and assistance programs?
And so it began, a long and hard road for the many millions of American families, singles, and of course, the disabled and the elderly–primarily because good ol’ Ronnie Reagan believed that “trickle-down economics” would benefit from giving money to the rich and that would translate to strong job growth and increased wages.
Sadly, the Gipper had his signals crossed. The man was blinded by ideals that made absolutely
no sense to the average tax-paying American.
As a result, Big Business capitalized on Reagan’s generosity and started a process which has now
cheated people of a living wage, quality healthcare benefits, and job security 25 years later.
Bush I was no better. Clinton tried to level the playing field for at least 8 years during the Roaring 90s, but Bush II thought that the rich and wealthy had suffered long enough at the hand’s of Bill’s prosperity–and made the working American
pay for it by denying him and her an increase in minimum-wage for 10 years, access to affordable healthcare and prescription drugs, and education needed for higher-paying jobs.
Not to mention
adequate job security.
But it didn’t stop there. The Decider
encouraged Big Business to take their business elsewhere by offering such generous tax exemptions and breaks in exchange for shipping the bulk of America’s manufacturing complex overseas; and replacing it with low-paying wage jobs here at home.
As a result, personal debt
exploded seemingly overnight as the average American family had to face the struggle of making ends meet with what little was being offered to them.
And let’s not forget that Bush’s son also gave away tax breaks to the wealthy, the rich, and Big Business–just like Reagan did–expecting the same kind of
windfall to be seen.
But it never materialized.As a result, America’s social and domestic infrastructure has been left in ruins because of the Republican's inept economic policies.
And that’s why–when you ask any of the current GOP candidates what they plan on doing with the economy and the recession
now–all you get is a few mumbled words and a blank stare.
Because they have no clue!
The GOP never had any experience in dealing with Lower Class America. All they’ve been doing since Reagan took office has been catering to the wealthy and the powerful.
That’s all they know. All they ever will know.
As a result, people like you and me will only continue to suffer at their gross incompetence.
But it's no big deal.
After all, who is better to take care of us than the Republican Party, right?
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: big business, Bill Clinton, economics, entitlements, GOP, President Bush, recession, tax cuts, wealthy
ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE NOT SO 'STIMULATING'
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistJust occured to me last night--as I was going to bed--that this economic package that Bush proposed lacks any real substance or
teeth to be of any real help to the sagging economy.
Pay close attention to his words: "This is designed to help
big business stay afloat, and whatever's left--we'll give to the middle-class and working poor."
Think that $1600 is going to you because you're married, have a job, and two kids?
Think again.
In 2001, I was promised $300 for a single person, $600 for someone who is married.
I got $75!
Wow!
I can certainly go to town on this amount! I was completely
fucked by my own government! Ass fucked so severely, my butt's permantly puckered here!
Surprised? Actually, no. The reason why I got that amount (and not the $300 I was promised), was because I was working
minimum-wage. I could only qualify for the $300 if I was making (minimum), $20,000 or more. $600 if I was making $40,000. (Families making this amount got double or even triple the amount.)
So $75 was my damned consulation prize.
And this is the reason why I
curse my fucking government for being such stingy bastards.
Everyone talks big and all, but who gets
reamed in the ass like a corner-plodding whore?
It's people like me whom make less than $15,000 a year on minimum-wage. (Back in 2001, I was only making $11,000.)
That's who!No one
ever talks about us. We just focus on the high-rollers whom make $20K or more. (Like good little sheeple.)
And that's why these stimulus packages are such a joke and waste of tax-payer's monies.
They aren't designed to help those who
truly need it. They just package it in such a way that gives the *illusion* that we are helping you out.
We're not.
We're just adding to the deficit (to the tune of $150B), and the working poor and some lower-class Americans get the royal shaft once again.
But don't think for a second that this stimulus package is going to be of any use to the economy.
While two-thirds of all Americans spent their tax rebate in the first six months of 2001, the rest
saved their money.
And did it jumpstart the economy? It did
somewhat, but the problems plaguing us from the 2001 recession never really left us. Our job creation numbers have sucked for the longest 8 years imaginable.
Our debt has grown so bad, many certified public accountants are having nightmares and needing therapy.
All it did was give more money to the rich and everyone else was left hanging high and
dry.
This time, the problem is
worse. High energy, high food prices, inflation which hasn't been seen in awhile, credit card debt skyhigh, and a housing meltdown that makes global warming look like your average July summer bake sale in the South.
And let's not forget $3 gas--which wasn't the case back in 2001.
Still think that your rebate check is going to save the economy when you're faced with
these problems?
Bush seems to think so. But Bush has always been locked away in his own little fantasy world.
Funny thing is, so are the Democrats we helped put back into power.
It would be ironic if it wasn't such a sad thing to witness first hand.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: $3 gas, economy, high-energy, housing meltdown, President Bush, recession, stimulus, tax cuts
GOVERNMENT AND FEDERAL BANK CLUELESS ON RECESSION
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistIf we all paid attention to what top economists and Alan Greenspan is saying–we’d be still waiting for the recession which has already gripped us all.
Forget waiting till the end of next year–when Greenspan’s forecasts suggest only a 1.5 percent GDP or less for the final three months of 2008–
look at what’s happening now.
Now is more important than trying to see into the future by a full year.
We are in the throes of a recession–whether the clueless Fed or the stubborn Bush administration wants to admit it or not.
10 months ago, preliminary housing data suggested a downturn which the Fed, the government, and Wall Street basically
ignored–despite persistent prodding from many outsiders to stabilize the housing market through sound fiscal intervention and a strengthening of the dollar–to give homeowners and the average American consumer reassurances and breathing room.
But they didn’t.Summer of the 2007 gave what many had hoped was a
wake up call to Wall Street, but that hope was short lived; as the fear melted away and stock brokers resumed their parochial fantasies that everything was still bright and peachy-keen.
Nevermind the fact that the dollar was steadily losing value and foreign investors were jumping ship left and right.
The Fed’s response in the next three months?
Drop interest rates–the single-handedly most
boneheaded move that the central bank could ever make!
The subsequent drops in interest rates haven’t made any difference on the housing meltdown or the credit crunch, but it certainly has made a
dramatic impact on the purchasing power of the dollar.
Basic essentials are now more costly than they were five years ago. With wages depressed and inflation reaching new all-time highs, living on what you have becomes more of a challenge for those who barely have enough as it is.
And oil and energy prices are continuing their staggering climb towards $100 a barrel, with $4 gas not too far off into the distant future.
But the government’s response to this?
Nothing to help America overall. Nope.
Just 220,000 homeowners out of the estimated 3.3 million that are affected by the housing crisis–based on a ridiculous plan that does little to assist the majority with their mortgage problems. (But what would you
expect from the Bush administration? This asshole government has been nothing more of a hindrance for the average consumer than a real-life godsend these days!)
And this trend is already having a devastating impact on the average consumer’s lifestyles.
With housing numbers falling to the lowest levels in 12 years, the cost of renting an apartment has skyrocketed dramatically; forcing many people to re-evaluate their place of living.
But the high demand for affordable housing may become a thing of the past; as tent cities have sprung up in some parts of the country–mainly because people on limited or fixed income cannot find a place to live.
Even those in foreclosure status may not be safe from the specter of becoming homeless themselves.
And the Fed’s new move for the new year?
More interest rate cuts. Not what this nation and economy desperately needs.
But tell that to the five banks whom (collectively) injected almost a half-trillion dollars of liquid funds into the US’s sagging banking system in an effort to shore up its loan and hedge fund operations.
Money isn’t what this nation needs to get back on its feet. It needs sound fiscal policy and responsibility. It needs the Fed to stop with its interest rate cuts and start shoring up the dollar.
Or this recession–which has gripped this nation for the betterment of the last five months or so–will only get progressively
worse, and not better as government officials are so optimistic about.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: Bush administration, credit crunch, Federal Reserve Bank, government, housing meltdown, recession
THE DEFLATING DOLLAR VS. FED STUPIDITY
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistThe Fed is set to lower interest rates once again--which will more than likely drive stocks up on this. But sadly, the Fed is just trying to bail out investors, lenders, and borrowers from their own mess.
It's not going to do the economy any good when the government and the Fed are on the side of big money. These people who have been ensnared in these ARMs loans are just going to lose their homes anyway.
They can't afford the increased payments, and they certainly can't afford to keep their homes either.
One analyst said that Bush's mortgage bailout plan was essentially worthless--because it wouldn't stop what's happening with the housing meltdown anyways.
Just extends it.
Regardless of what the Wall Streeters says, this is going to have an adverse impact on our economy.
Sending it into recession.Lowering interest rates are just going to drop the dollar into the toilet further, forcing oil prices back above $90 and...well, start this whole mess over again. (Seeing how artificially low interest rates was the main culprit to this problem to begin with.)
The Fed already lowered rates twice already--thinking that was going to help--but once things snowballed, Bernanke jumped the gun and decided that a third rate cut is going to fix things.
It's
not.
It's going to make things much worse.
He says he's worried about inflation, and the idiot doesn't understand is that the
inflation he's referring to is core-index numbers. What he doesn't
see is the
inflation which has struck all of America in terms of the high costs of living and food!
Basic essentials are just going through the roof on price because the dollar has lost much of its value! It's putting a serious hurt on the average consumer.
And if you believe that things are hunkey-dorey in your neck of the woods, try taking a small amount of money--let's say $100--and go shopping for food.
Here's a list of things that I want you to get:
1 plastic bottle of ketchup (24 oz)1 jar of kosher baby dills (24 oz)1 jar of green Olives (10 oz)1 bag of chicken breast tenders (they're like chicken nuggets)
2 bags of mini pretzels1 jar of mayo (30 oz)2 bags of mixed vegetables with cheese sauce included1 bag of corn chips2 bags of chili cheese corn chips1 box of taquitas2 cans of pear halves2 cans of peaches (sliced)1 container of cottage cheeseReady for the end result?
My bill came to $40.27 after these purchases.
You would be left with $59.73.
Think
this is normal?
Wrong!This is what the depleted power of the dollar would get you.
Under normal circumstances, this list would only cost you $10 less if the dollar was
strong.But because of the
weak dollar, you are now having to spend $10-$20 more in basic essentials--just to make up the difference. And for each interest rate cut the Fed dumps on the market, you take another $2-$5 hit on your next purchase.
Because why?
The dollar is being weakened by interest rates--making it
less attractive to foreign investors and buyers. If you haven't figured it out by now, our major buyers of the dollar have been supplementing their currency reserves with other monetary denominators (like the euro). The Chinese have been. The Japanese are about to, and last I checked, Iran has dumped the dollar as a major trader in its oil market; supplementing it with another more stronger currency.
So as a result, it is now costing you and me
more money to buy things.
But why hasn't the government or the Fed acted on this information to boost the strength of the dollar? To keep it from collapsing?
Because they don't
care. It's not important to them--seeing how our national debt is being financed mostly by the Chinese and partly by the Japanese.
All they want is to keep the economy going for Wall Street and big business--no matter
what the cost it is to average American consumer! We are being
sacrificed for Corporate America here, people!
Wake up!But the sad part to this latter half of the story is this: We haven't
begun to pay off the interest to our staggering debt yet. And when we do in the coming years, it's going to take
three times the amount of money to pay off the first loan of interest.
So let's say that you've just financed a car and your first payment is $450--using the above scenario.
Under your terms of contract with the dealership and your starting interest rates of 3.9%; you would be paying an additional $175.50 to that normal amount each month.
But if the dollar continues to weaken further and further still, the amount of interest you would have to pay instead would eventually be $526.50--on top of that $450 a month.
Given what the Chinese are going to charge us for interest rates on a $9.3T debt...? It's not going to be pretty when the time comes to pay the Piper's first bill.
Not good at all.Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: consumer spending, cost of living, Federal Reserve Bank, groceries, housing market, inflation, purchasing power, recession, US dollar, weak
