With economic indicators showing our nation sliding into recession for the last year or so, I was surprised to hear the
recent talk of an "economic stimulus package" to help ease the strain of the recession, which most people feel has
already arrived. I was even pleased to hear that the Republicans in Congress were not only admitting that we were in a
recession, but that they were even agreeing that something should be done about it.
I seems we have come a long way since the days of President George H.W. Bush, who couldn't even utter the word
"recession" during his re-election campaign in 1992. The media even mockingly used "the R word" to refer to the unmentioned
recession.
Admitting we have a problem is the first step to solving it. Doing something about the problem becomes the second step.
Unfortunately, President George W. Bush now says he wants an extension of his two major tax cuts for the wealthy to be
the cornerstone of his "economic stimulus package". I find that ironic, considering that he and his Republican friends who
used to control Congress told us that those two tax cuts would in fact create economic prosperity by themselves.
The fact that we are now entering a recession demonstrates that those tax cuts certainly didn't prevent our current
economic woes. Renewing those tax cuts sounds like an attempt to try the same policy that has already failed.
With housing sales down by about 20% nationwide in 2007, with the credit crunch caused by the scandalous behavior of mortgage
lenders, and with our national wealth heading overseas with every boat load of empty Chinese cargo containers, and middle east
oil tankers, it appears our economic problems will only get worse.
Just yesterday, the DOW Jones closed at 12,466. It closed at 10,507 on the day President Bush took office on January 20th
2001. This is less than a 20% increase in seven years, which translates to about a 3% annual increase, far below the
historical 14% annual increase in the Dow Jones average. As a result, our retirement savings accounts have suffered.
Most Americans have our retirement investments in 401K packages, yet the DJIA has stagnated for seven years.
And they wanted to transfer our Social Security accounts into the stock market?
Likewise, those who thought their investments in a home were adding to their personal wealth have seen that "paper wealth"
shrink by ten percent, or more over the last couple of years.
We've watched the value of our dollar crash during the last few years, while the cost of gold has skyrocketed, up
nearly 300% since George Bush took office. Even the Canadian dollar is now worth more than ours. We've also watched
the price of oil go from under $30 per barrel to about $90 a barrel during the Bush Presidency, and we've watched most of
the goods on our nation's retail shelves be replaced by goods made in China.
Clearly, our economic problems didn't start last month.
Now, President Bush is responding by saying that extending his tax cuts of 2001 & 2003 are the
solution to the problem.
This reminds me of President Clinton's comment during the 1992 campaign where he said
the definition of insanity was trying the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. My father taught me
decades ago that "two wrongs don't make a right". Extending the tax cuts that have done nothing to help our economy,
is clearly not the solution to our current economic woes.
I hope the new Democratic Congress will let those tax cuts for America's richest 1-2% lapse, and perhaps grant a tax
cut to those that are struggling in this weak economy. Perhaps doubling the personal exemption would be a good idea?
I don't see any benefit to making working families pay taxes, when they can't afford to pay their housing costs, when they
can't afford to pay for food and clothing, when they can't afford medical insurance and expenses, or when they can't even find
a job. Extending unemployment benefits would be another good idea.
Unfortunately, President Bush's solution to the economic recession seems to be "more of the same".
Now, more than ever, Americans need creative leadership from Washington. The Democrats in Congress can see to it that we don't
have to wait for a new President to get that creativity. I hope they realize this and I hope they follow through.

Name 10 things the new Democratic Congress should do:

We've heard our new Congressional leaders mention a few items that they plan to address in the "first 100 hours" after we take charge. They've mentioned raising the minimum wage, implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, and allowing Medicare to use group bargaining power to negotiate lower drug prices. It also looks like we may soon take the first steps towards bringing our troops home from Iraq.

What's at the top of your "to do" list?

Do you agree with our leaders? Do you have your own list? Even if you have one, or five, or nine ideas, let's hear your ideas as to what the new Congress should do to make this country a better place.

In no particular order, here is my list:

1) Health Care - I believe we should push an incremental plan that eventually results in guaranteed health insurance for all
Americans. Nancy Pelosi has said that she will push for a plan similar to what they have in San Francisco
whereby all children are guaranteed health insurance, and they retain it until they are 25 years of age. I
fully endorse her "San Francisco Plan", and I would expand it to include all new and expectant mothers,
regardless of age, or other factors.

2) Minimum Wage - The minimum wage has not gone up since 1998. Because of inflation, minimum wage earners today
earn about 30% less than thos in 1998. That's eight years with not only NOT getting a raise, but
effectively getting a pay cut due to inflation. We can't let this happen anymore. Not only do minimum
wage earners deserve an immediate raise (up to about $7.50 per hour), but we must also see to it
that minimum wage earners are never again subject to the sadistical whims of right wing politicians.
This past eight years of effective pay cuts was a repeat of the 1980's when the minimum wage was
raised in 1981, but not again until 1990. We cannot allow our most vulnerable workers have their wages
set by the likes of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. We need annual inflationary increases in the
minimum wage. We cannot settle for a raise without the mandatory annual increases.

3) Tax Fairness - Since the days of Ronald Reagan, the GOP has worked to reduce the tax rates of the wealthiest
Americans. Reagan reduced the number of brackets and he reduced the rates paid by those in the
highest brackets. The difference is left to be paid by those in the lower tax brackets, or not at all, resulting
in a loss of one service or another. Since the arrival of Reaganomics, the right wingers have worked to
reduce or eliminate other taxes paid by wealthier Americans: Capital gains taxes, dividend taxes, estate
taxes, property taxes, all the while continuing to push for cuts in the top brackets.

In order to work for tax fairness, we need to fight to reduce the taxes paid by working individuals, and
have the difference made up by wealthier individuals. The best way to accomplish that is to increase the
exemptions to federal taxes. I would suggest that each adult receive an exemption of $20,000 per year,
with an additional $5000 annual exemption for each child. That way, a family of four would pay $0 per year
in federal income tax with a $50,000 income.

The Republicans like to claim that it's more important to cut taxes for the wealthy, because they will then
use the money to "create jobs", and that the wealth will eventually trickle down to the wage earners. I
think the Clinton years proved that the best economic plan for America is to have everybody working and
bringing home a paycheck. Consumers with money to spend create jobs, not rich Republicans.

4) Fair Trade - We've watched as hundreds of thousands of jobs have left this country for overseas to places like China,
India, and Indonesia. Workers in those nations now make a huge percentage of the products sold on the
shelves of places like Walmart. Just try to find a plastic child's toy this Holiday Season that WASN'T made
in China. American corporations now import their goods from developing nations that treat their employees
in manners that would get the executives thrown in jail, if they did that in America. Likewise, those foreign
manufacturers damage the environment in ways that would lead to jail time in this country.

The jobs continue to leave on a daily basis.

In addition, China and Japan have been manipulating their currencies, making their products more affordable
to Americans, while making our products unaffordable to their consumers. Michigan GOP Gubernatorial
candidate Dick DeVos said that the only reason he opened factories in China, was because they wouldn't
allow him to sell products there, that were manufactured here. Why can't we provide the same protection
for our workers? Why can't we insist that they open their markets to our products, if they want to sell their
products here? Part of the reason is that the American corporations that profit from the cheap Chinese
labor have been writing our trade policies in the past. That must end.

We must insist that they open their markets to us, or else we will close our market to them. We must also
insist that they let the value of their currencies float on the open market, and that they also provide
compensation for their past abuses of currency values. We need the Congress to fight for American workers
and for corporations that still manufacture goods in this country.

5) Corporate Citizenship - We need policies that help corporations that remain in America and continue to provide jobs in this
country. Conversely, we need to punish those corporations that do otherwise, such as those that
send manufacturing facilities overseas, or those that create paper home offices in Barbados, in
order to dodge American taxes. We need to aid the companies that pay living wages, and provide
health insurance to their employees, and we need to punish those that don't. The way to do this is
through the tax structure. Provide lower than current tax rates for those that do pay their
employees well, and provide higher than current rates for those who don't. Ditto for those that do
and don't provide health insurance. We can also provide tax relief for corporations that manufacture
goods in America, and sock those that import from slave labor countries with higher (MUCH
higher) tax rates. Hit them so hard with taxes that it becomes cheaper to open factories in this
country. Make it cheaper to pay your employees well.

6) Nationalize the energy industry - The energy industry, including oil & gasoline, natural gas, and electric service have
proven that they will do whatever it takes to make obscene profits, even if it bankrupts
the American consumer. We cannot tolerate that any longer. We cannot allow them to
threaten our economic security any longer. "We the People" should own the refineries,
the pipelines, the electrical generation plants, and the transmission wires, and we
should own the retail gas stations. Those that currently own all of these entities have
proven that they are a threat to our nation, and they should lose their ownership
privleges for it.

7) Iraq - Bring the troops home. The tyrant is out of power, he's been convicted, and he will soon be executed. The Iraqis
voted, and they have voted again. They have voted for the Constitution, and they have voted for the Parliament.
We've all seen the purple thumbs. We can't run their country for them, and they won't run it themselves while
we're there. They'll only do so when they're forced to. That time is now. Bring the troops home.

8) Strengthen Social Security and Medicare - Social Security will remain solvent until about 2040, Medicare until about 2015.
The baby-boomers are about to begin retiring and we will soon need to take
steps to insure the long term solvency of those very important programs.
Anything less will leave the door open to right wing agitators who will try to
eliminate or privatize the programs. We can't let that happen.

9) Public Education - We need to improve our public schools, especially those in the big cities. Declining tax bases are
robbing these districts of revenue and are exacerbating the problems that already exist. With the
falling revenue, discipline and drop out rates will continue to get worse. Class sizes will grow, and
the quality of education will suffer. We need an educational policy that recognized the vulnerability
of our big city school districts and works to improve them, rather than letting them continue to decline.
Vouchers won't help inner city schools, nor will non-union teachers solve the problems. The big city
school districts have the added burden of older buildings that need more money for maintenance and
repairs. The suburban districts have more money to spend on books & supplies, and also on teacher's
salaries. Couple that with the higher degrees of relative safety in the suburban schools and we have
a system where our best teachers migrate from the big cities to the suburban schools. If our big city
schools are going to match the quality of our suburban schools, they we are going to have to pay
the big city teachers comparably. Because of these factors and the falling tax bases in many of the big
cities, meeting these goals will require a higher rate of spending in the big city schools. We need to
make a financial committment to saving all of our public schools. Failing to do so will open the door to
the right wingers who want to destroy the public education system that has done more to pull
Americans out of poverty than any social program.

10) Civil Rights - America has come a long way since the days when African-Americans were counted as only 2/3 of a person. We've come a long way since the days of slavery, Jim Crow, and the lynchings, but we still have a long way to go to guarantee basic civil rights to all Americans. Overt discrimination still exists in this country as does de facto discrimination, both of which work to trap brown skinned Americans in an "economic sub-class". No group, however, bears the brunt of discrimination in this country more than homosexuals. The right to a legally recognized marriage is denied, along with the basic human dignity that goes along with that right. Probate rights are denied. Insurance rights and coverage are denied. Hospital visitation rights are denied. I doubt the Family Leave Act even applies to homosexuals.
(How can you take time off work to help your spouse, if you can't even marry the person?). Basic rights
are denied to homosexuals by the fundamentalist Christians who sometimes have an awful lot in
common with the homosexuals they suppress, when the lights are turned off. We cannot allow the right
wingers to continue to deny basic human rights and dignity to the homosexuals. We must fight to extend
full family and spousal rights to homosexuals. America will never be the "Land of the Free" until this final
civil rights frontier is conquered.

"Windquest" the yacht owned by billionaire Doug DeVos, brother of fellow billionaire and Michigan Republican Gubernatorial candidate, Dick DeVos has now fallen to third place in the annual Port Huron to Mackinac Island race due to the correction factor used to adjust for the size of the yachts. Because the DeVos yacht is so big, they adjust the finish times of all the other yachts to compensate.


www.wwj.com/topic/ap_news.php?story=AP/APT...


"Windquest, owned by the brother of gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos, was the first to reach the island, but ended up in third place in its class on corrected time."

Here's a photo of the DeVos yacht:



Oops, I'm sorry. That's the DeVos family jet, Alticor.

Here's the DeVos yacht Windquest:


Oops, sorry again, that's the DeVos yacht Alexia.

Not to be confused with the DeVos yacht Enterprise:



Yes, the same Enterprise yacht upon which the DeVos family has hosted countless Republican fund-raisers, including the ones to benefit indicted former House leader Tom DeLay. Good ole Jack Abramoff was also known to schmooze with the DeVos family upon the Enterprise. (What pleasant company they keep, eh?)

http://www.democrats.com/node/8385

"Business Week and the Associated Press reported in 1999 that Abramoff was “first to sign up” for a meeting with GOP House conservatives hosted by DeVos on the Amway yacht. Brewer demanded that DeVos abide by his own words on accountability and release the photographs of him and Abramoff at that event and from other meetings they had."
"Abramoff attended the meeting of GOP conservatives called the “Potomac River Cruise” hosted by Dick DeVos on the Amway yacht Enterprise in the summer of 1999. Abramoff was the first person to sign up for DeVos’ meeting. Indicted Rep. Tom DeLay, another leader along with DeVos and Abramoff of the GOP culture of corruption, also attended the meeting."


Ok found it. Here's the photo of the DeVos yacht Winquest:

Sorry about the earlier mix-ups.


Can you imagine if Dick DeVos were actually elected Governor? How would he find time for work, what with all the yachting and jetting around the country to GOP fundraisers? They'd probably have to show him how to operate the office water cooler. I picture him walking into the office followed by a guy in a tuxedo carrying a frilly pillow with Dick's briefcase on top of it.

Recent history has shown that Michigan has a predictable pattern during national economic recessions. One predictable truth is that when the nation gets an economic "cold", Michigan gets the "flu". i.e. moderate national recessions hit Michigan hard. Such was the case in the late 1970's and early 1980's when the nation went into a pretty bad recession, but Michigan entered a near DEPRESSION. Detroit's unemployment was like 25%. Most of the major cities in Michigan with large African-American populations had unemployment rates between 20 and 30%. That was true of Saginaw, Pontiac, Flint, Benton Harbor, Muskegon in addition to Detroit.

The reason Michigan takes such an economic beating is because of our dependence on the auto industry. When the nation slips into a recession, even one that's not that bad, one of the first things people do is forego the purchase of a new automobile. They make the old ones last. Repair costs are probably cheaper than new payments, especially if the old one's paid off.

That's why Michigan almost always has a higher unemployment rate than the national average, during recessions.

Dick DeVos and the Republicans don't want you to know that.

They want you to think that Michigan's current economic problems are Governor Granholm's fault. Nevermind the fact that it was her that had to provide the political leadership to take care of the budget mess that John Engler and his Republican legislature left her. In spite of continued Republican control of the legislature, Governor Granholm made the tough choices in her budget proposal, that resulted in Michigan's current budget solvency.

Since they passed her budget, the Republicans have tried to stone-wall every single one of her proposals. They did so, because they did not want her to succeed. They didn't want her to create jobs improving the infrastructure, they didn't want her bringing jobs to Michigan through Michigan Economic Development Grants, and they sure didn't want her improving the living and working conditions of Michigan's working class.

Now they're trying to blame Governor Granholm for not fixing the problems.

The Republicans also don't want you to know that Michigan is always the last state to pull out of a recession. When the nation first starts to pull out of a recession, people are more interested in paying off their bills, building savings accounts, and maybe buying a few small luxuries that they wouldn't buy during times of economic uncertainty. What they don't do is rush right out and spend $25,000 on a new vehicle. Those major purchases are put off until six months, or one year, or two years after the recessions end.

That's why Michigan is always the last state to pull out of a recession.

The Republicans don't want you to know that either.

Please don't let Dick DeVos' campaign mislead you, or anybody else.

Bash them by saying that they are just like Bush. Bash them for all the stupid things they do. But whatever you do, be sure to bash the Republicans in both houses of Congress. We should all be concentrating on retaking one, or both houses of Congress THIS YEAR. Congress is up for re-election this year and Bush is not.
Bush's approval ratings are already in the bottom of the trap below the toilet, so there's not much sense in trying to push them further down. It's not in our best interest to try and "pile on", or punish Bush, in spite of all the bad things he continues to do. Bush's term doesn't end until 2009. We have a chance to send a whole bunch of Republican Senators and Representatives home "to spend more time with their families", THIS YEAR. With it, we can overtake one or both houses of Congress.
We have a historical opportunity before us. All indicators point towards Democrats having a chance at sweeping the GOP out of power. We can impeach Bush in 2007, but first we need to take over both houses of Congress THIS YEAR. To do that, we need to defeat the individual candidates. We need to seek out any and every seat that is possibly vulnerable and work our butts off to win those seats.
Further attacks on Bush won't help that cause, unless we use the opportunity to tie the GOP candidate to the sinking Bush ship.
Gather and share photos of your local GOP Congressperson with Bush Jr., Tom DeLay, Trent Lott, Newt Gingrich, or Jack Abramoff. Gather and share quotes from them praising the failed President. Especially, be prepared to point out that they have marched lock-step behind George W. Bush for their entire term in Congress. Point out that they are as responsible as Bush Jr. for all of the failures in our current leadership. It's not just Bush's fault, it's those in Congress who have abetted him too.
It's morning in America...

...MAKE IT HAPPEN!

After all, Hastert only got the job as Speaker of the House, because the Republicans didn't want the American public to know that they were actually electing Tom DeLay as their leader. Hastert was meant to be the figure-head, while DeLay would actually control the House Republican agenda. Hastert was supposed to project some sort of warm-puffy, jolly nice guy image.
The Republicans had learned their lessons from the Newt Gingrich era. They knew that electing an overt a$$hole as their leader would probably expose the fact that all of them are complete a$$holes.
Pretending to elect somebody like Hastert as Speaker of the House was and always has been a subterfuge meant to fool the American people. ...or at least enough of them to keep getting Republicans elected...
The politically astute Republicans knew that the ice cold razor sharp edge that Tom DeLay brought to American politics would expose their true character.

What now? DeLay is gone. The House of Representatives is without a true Speaker. Surely, we can't allow Hastert to suddenly take over as the ACTUAL Speaker of the House. The learning curve is far to steep, especially when you consider the fact that the Republicans are going to be ousted from power next January, following the November elections. We have reached a true Constitutional crisis. Does the Constitution address this scenario? i.e. where a figurehead puppet Speaker suddenly finds himself without his marionette?

For those of you that love South Park. For those of you that read banned books. For those of you that think Scientology is a cult. For those of you that want to see Tom Cruise and R. Kelly get SKEWERED. Watch the controversial episode in it's entirety here:

http://throwawayyourtv.com/2006/03/south-p...

"Go ahead and sue me! I'm not afraid of you!" - Stan.

Thanks to George W. Bush and his handlers, we are right in the middle of the biggest money grab in world history. The rich and powerful are working full time to line their pockets with our money, before the window of the Bush Presidency closes. George W. Bush is literally holding open our front doors, while his campaign contributors loot our homes and personal wealth.

As soon as Bush took office, the big money grab began. First it was tax cuts for the ultra-rich. Then it was more tax cuts for the ultra-rich. Meanwhile, the debt and deficit soared, passing the cost of those tax cuts onto to every other American taxpayer, born or unborn.

Throughout it all, the large corporations gained tax breaks of their own. They also gained deregulation and a lack of oversight, which allowed them to try their accounting schemes and line their individual pockets, while leaving their shareholders holding worthless stock certificates. Big Business also gained the open door policy into the White House and Dick Cheney's office, which allowed the corporate executives to write the very legislation that would (de)regulate their particular industries.

Large retailers, led by Walmart, decided that they wanted in on the action, so now nearly every single product sold on their shelves is manufactured in China by workers earning slave-wages, working under inhumane working conditions, ignoring their severely detrimental effects on the environment, and generally doing a whole host of things that could get the corporate executives tossed in jail, if they dared try those things in this country.

Not to be outdone, the energy and health insurance industries jumped into the action. We saw what happened in California a few years ago with the manipulation of the energy market that caused blackouts and needlessly caused enormous price increases for consumers. Today, the oil industry is getting "their share" as all of the major oil companies are raking in record profits, in spite of the high gasoline prices that are crippling our economy. The natural gas industry decided to get it's piece of the pie this winter as they jacked their prices up on the order of 100%. Meanwhile heating oil and diesel fuel prices also helped keep the cash registers stuffed at the American energy companies.

The health insurance companies are also making record profits, while more and more Americans go without health insurance. I think we're up to 50 million uninsured Americans these days. Those that do have insurance are paying higher premiums every year, while getting less coverage, increased co-pays, and a whole lot of run-around from the national Republican party.

Wall Street wants their share, so the Bush junta is trying to privatize our Social Security accounts, in order to pump billions of dollars into the stockmarket, which will help both the big money interests of Wall St. and the big money interests of corporate America. Nevermind that the stock market has flatlined for five straight years, and that future retirees would suffer greatly under Bush's privatization plan. The Republicans are only interested in facilitating the big money grab that transfers money from those that have only a little bit, to those that already have a whole lot.

Credit card companies? They're now charging interest rates that used to be called "loan sharking". Now they're called "business as usual" in George W. Bush's America.

Wages and benefits are being curtailed, and the buying power of minimum wage earners continues to fall behind inflation. What are the corporations doing with the extra money they gain from wages and benefits that effectively get cut year after year? They're lining their pockets with some of it. They're buying homes and funding college educations for their children, grandchildren, and unborn great grandchildren too.

And it's all at the expense of the American consumer. Those that want to buy homes of their own, those that want to send their own children to college and complete the American dream for their families are watching their dreams fade away, all because George W. Bush is helping the rich and powerful take money out of our pockets on a daily basis. They must feel like kids in a candystore, taking candy from babies. Where are the adults?

Since personal retirement accounts come in the form of 401K plans for most Americans, the terrible performance of the stock market during the Bush Presidency has prevented America's retirement savings accounts from growing as a result of investment returns, during the last five years. Only continuing contributions have caused the accounts to grow.
The lack of a "Santa Clause rally" has highlighted the problem this year.


Here's a graphic showing the Dow Jones performance during the Bush Presidency. The performance could only be described as flat-lining at best, and dangerously volatile for American retirement security, at the other end.



The Republican squawk box endlessly repeated their claim that the market took a beating after the attacks of 9/11/01. No doubt that was true, but the graph shows that the market had fully recovered by spring 2002. Then the excuses started: "It was the accounting scandals". "How were WE to know? What could WE have done?", the Republicans asked, as the stock market tumbled again. The graph shows that the DJ average had recovered again, by January 2004, nearly to the level it was at when Bush Jr. took office.

Here we are in January 2006 after celebrating a holiday season without a Dow Jones "Santa Clause Rally", and we see that the DJIA has barely gone up one penny in the last two years. Why not?
The terrorists haven't so much as blown up a firecracker in this country since 2001. The accounting scandals have generally subsided. Bush got his tax cuts. He has a Republican Congress. Yet the stock market continues to stagnate.

Here are the year end Dow Jones closing averages from December 31st of the following years:
The five year stagnation under GWB is a major change, even from the days of his father's Presidency.

Dec-88 2,168.57; Dec-89 2,753.20; Dec-90 2,633.66; Dec-91 3,168.83; Dec-92 3,301.11; Dec-93 3,754.09
Dec-94 3,834.44; Dec-95 5,117.12; Dec-96 6,448.27; Dec-97 7,908.25; Dec-98 9,181.43; Dec-99 11,497.12
Dec-00 10,787.99; Dec-01 10,021.57; Dec-02 8,341.63; Dec-03 10,453.92; Dec-04 10,783.01 ; Dec-05 10,717.50


Other economic indicators also show that Republicans are bad for the American economy. Among them are the federal deficits...



...and unemployment rates:



You don't have to be an economics professor to understand that the George W. Bush, and other Republican Presidencies have been a disaster for the American economy, and you don't have to be a political science professor to understand that the Republicans will continue to lie about the above facts. Sooner or later, they will again start telling us that they, and only they, can manage the federal budget.
They'll scratch and claw to find any economic news that they can use to argue that they aren't terrible stewards of the American economy. Some are still puffing their chests over the growth in Gross Domestic Product in the fourth quarter of 2004. Or was it 2003?
Look for more of the same in the future...

With elections just around the corner, the GOP has had to grasp an "issue" that they think will help divide America, and thus open a door for them to win elections. That issue is the illegal Mexican immigrants that are "stealing American jobs".

The right-wingers have decided that we are being invaded by Mexicans, and that as part of the war on terror, we have to seal our border with Mexico. We need a wall they say. We need the minutemen, and we need the KKK from which they came.
We need to punish employers that hire Mexicans. We need more border patrol agents. We need electronic devices. We need deportations. We need to keep Mexicans from getting drivers licenses, from getting health care or welfare.
We need... We need... We need...

Why do we need all this stuff? We need it because the illegal immigrants from Mexico are taking jobs from Americans.

What about the Chinese? How many "American jobs" have left this country for China? Have you looked on the shelves of Walmart, Target, or Toys-R-Us lately? I think about 90% of the things those stores sell are made in China. I don't see that many "Made in Mexico" tags. I don't see the cash registers at Walmart being run by Mexicans.

Why are the Mexicans such a threat, and the Chinese aren't? Could it be that the GOP is merely looking for a political tool to divide Americans? Would they possibly pander to the racism that thrives in some people's hearts?

The GOP is working hard to stir up the racism in southwestern states. Nevermind that "the Mexicans" were in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas about 10,000 years before any Europeans were there. The Mexicans are invading "our land".

GOP Congressional bribery scandal grows:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/20...


The bribery scandal that caused Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham R-CA to resign in disgrace last week threatens to ensnare more high profile Republican legislators according to a report in USA Today.
Today's report said that San Diego businessman Brent Wilkes, who was referred to as "co-conspirator no. 1" in documents from the Cunningham investigation, had donated large sums of money to several influential Republicans, including Duke Cunningham, presumably in exchange for the government contracts worth nearly 100 million dollars, that were awarded to Wilkes' company, ADCS Inc. The court documents said that "Co-Conspirator No. 1" gave $636,000 to Rep. Cunningham. Wilkes' attorney has confirmed that his client is "Co-Conspirator No. 1".
Wilkes also gave over $40,000 in campaign contributions to Rep. Duncan Hunter R-CA, who now chairs the House Armed Services Committee. "Hunter has acknowledged that he joined with Cunningham in 1999 to contact pentagon officials", who then reversed their earlier decision and awarded a $10 Million contract to ADCS.
In addition, Wilkes "and his employees" gave $71,253 in campaign contributions to Rep. Jerry Lewis R-CA and Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Lewis led a Congressional panel that ordered the pentagon to continue funding programs that aided ADCS, even though the Pentagon had requested that the programs be cut.
A report from the Pentagon inspector general concluded that "the money went to ADCS instead of projects for the Army's UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, Air Force bases, and a parts center in Oklahoma."
And lest you think that this scandal only involves the Republican Chairmen of two major House Committees, it appears that Wilkes also has close ties to President G. W. Bush himself. Yup, Wilkes is one of Bush's "Pioneer" fundraisers, a special distinction given only to those that raise/contributed over $100,000 to Team Bush. Anybody wonder where Wilkes got the money to donate to Bush?

John Eisenhower, son of the late President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, wrote a letter to the editor of the Manchester, NH Union-Leader last year about two months prior to the Presidential election, explaining why he was going to vote for John Kerry.

http://www.theunionleader.com/Articles_sho...

"As son of a Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, it is automatically expected by many that I am a Republican. For 50 years, through the election of 2000, I was. With the current administration’s decision to invade Iraq unilaterally, however, I changed my voter registration to independent, and barring some utterly unforeseen development, I intend to vote for the Democratic Presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry."

"...To me, the word “Republican” has always been synonymous with the word “responsibility,” which has meant limiting our governmental obligations to those we can afford in human and financial terms. Today’s whopping budget deficit of some $440 billion does not meet that criterion."

"...Recent developments indicate that the current Republican Party leadership has confused confident leadership with hubris and arrogance."

"...In 1960, President Eisenhower told the Republican convention, “If ever we put any other value above (our) liberty, and above principle, we shall lose both.” I would appreciate hearing such warnings from the Republican Party of today."

"The Republican Party I used to know placed heavy emphasis on fiscal responsibility, which included balancing the budget whenever the state of the economy allowed it to do so. The Eisenhower administration accomplished that difficult task three times during its eight years in office. It did not attain that remarkable achievement by cutting taxes for the rich..."

"The Republicans used to be deeply concerned for the middle class and small business. Today’s Republican leadership, while not solely accountable for the loss of American jobs, encourages it with its tax code and heads us in the direction of a society of very rich and very poor."

"Sen. Kerry, in whom I am willing to place my trust, has demonstrated that he is courageous, sober, competent, and concerned with fighting the dangers associated with the widening socio-economic gap in this country. I will vote for him enthusiastically."

Here's the monthly Dow Jones closing averages during the Bill Clinton Presidency:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=%5EDJI&a=0...

Note that the DJIA rose steadily during the Clinton Presidency from 3300 in Jan 1993, to 11,500 by December 1999, before settling back at 10,600 by the time Bill Clinton left office.

Now, here are the monthly Dow Jones closing averages since George W. Bush has been President.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=%5EDJI&a=0...

The average was about 10,500 when he took office, and today it's about 10,500. It hasn't gone up a nickel in 5 years...



defying a decades long trend of upward growth.



The average dips around September/October 2001, due no doubt to the terrorist attack, but the average had rebounded by February 2002, when it went into a tailspin caused by all the corporate scandals by a business community run amok with no oversight from the "hands off" federal government.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/specialreport/...

The Republicans are crying that Michigan should be building new highways in their Republican districts, because failure to do so "deprives Michigan of development" and because it would "spark a faster (economic) turnaround".
They object to Governor Granholm's ongoing program to rebuild our existing highways, before building new ones.
The fact is that the highways of Detroit were left to rot by former Gov. John Engler and his "budget cutting" pals in the Republican party. In spite of the huge deficits he created, King John was still too busy cutting taxes and showing everybody how fiscally responsible he was, than to fix the roads. He wouldn't dare raise taxes for any "meaningless" project like infrastructure renewal.
After about a decade, he caved-in to public pressure and allowed money to be spent to rebuild the highways, but that was well into the twilight of his reign, and we still haven't dug ourselves out of the hole caused by his neglect. As a consequence, the millions of daily commuters in the Detroit area are forced to deal with the complete rebuilding of I-96 and I-94 through the city of Detroit.
One cannot overstate just how bad those two highways were before the re-build began. Both roads were completely covered with disintegrating asphalt. I've driven on many dirt roads that were smoother than either of those two highways were. The rebuilding of both highways should be finished next month.
Next year, M10/ "The Lodge Freeway" will undergo a major rebuild. Currently, I-75 is also undergoing a major rebuild.
Where would the right-wing Michigan Republicans rather spend the money? Led by House Speaker Craig DeRoche (of Novi), their wish list includes, "interchange improvements on I-275 in Canton Township, additional lanes in I-75 in Oakland Co., expansion of I-94 in the Kalamazoo area, and completion of the US-131 freeway from south of Kalamazoo to the Indiana border".
I've driven through all those areas the Republicans wans to "fix". None of them is anywhere near in need of improvement, as the Detroit highways were. I'm sure it's just a coincidence that all of the highways they want to fix/build are in "White" areas...
They also want to expand I-75 through Oakland Co., expand the I-96 interchange at Novi Rd., and add traffic lanes along M-59 from Rochester Hills to Ryan Rd. in Macomb Co.
Again, the skin color of the local residents is just a coincidence...


So here's what the Republicans really want: They want to take money from the general fund, and spend it in their neighborhoods.
Other people want our tax money to be spent in other places.
Just about everybody agrees that Detroit is in desperate need of a rapid transit system, either a light rail system, or an enormous expansion of the existing bus system. People have been talking about it for decades. In fact, a plan was in place to move forward with the project a few years ago, but alas, it was vetoed by King John Engler. His last great act of spite towards Detroit as he left office...
The Republican legislature hasn't lifted a finger to move the project forward since.
Others have suggested that state and/or regional tax money should be spent to expand COBO Hall in Detroit. The Republicans, led (again) by Brooks Patterson of Oakland Co. have thwarted any plans to do so. "Why should we spend any money to help rebuild Detroit?", they have asked.
Suddenly, the Republicans support the use of state and regional money to help develop certain areas.
Of course, if the proposal will help out "Black" Detroit, then they will oppose it, but if it supports a "White" community, then they are all for it.

I ask, because for years I've listened to the right wingers in the NRA tell me that they make up some sort of "civilian militia", simply by virtue of being armed, and that they ramain prepared to defend America against all enemies.
They tell me that the second amendment's reference to "a well regulated militia" doesn't refer to any organized militia at all, but rather to a bunch of individuals who own guns, but have very likely never met one another.
The NRA has told me that their membership + their guns = a well regulated militia.
Without delving into the question of their sanity, for the sake of argument, I will accept their assertion that they make up an armed militia, and that they are prepared to defend America at a moments notice.
My question is: Where are they?
We have a disaster of epic proportions still unfolding in New Orleans.
The NRA's Presidential candidate, George W. Bush has sent everybody else's "well regulated militia" (ie The National Guard) into Iraq to fight his stupid family feud with Saddam Hussein.
Meanwhile, we have mayhem in the streets of New Orleans. There are random shootings, car jackings, and countless robberies. Looting is rampant. There is a degree of lawlessness never before seen in this country, yet the self-proclaimed "militia" is nowhere to be found.
Where are they? Wouldn't a true militia step up to the plate and start policing the streets during this time of crisis? Obviously the local police are overwhelmed, and lots of help is needed.
The NRA militia is nowhere to be found. They're not guarding the medical helicopters. They're not guarding anything. They're not protecting anybody.
In spite of the fact that we need soldiers in New Orleans, and in spite of the fact that the self-proclaimed NRA "militia" is hunkered-down ala Dick Cheney, I'm STILL going to give the NRA the benefit of the doubt.
Perhaps they've all signed up for the real military, so that they can go help President Dipshit fight his useless war? Perhaps they're not back from their August vacations?
I anxiously await the moment when the self-proclaimed militia actually starts to act like a militia, and begins helping police the streets of New Orleans.
Until that time, I'll just sit her an hold my breath while I wait...