Which wolf has Donald Trump fed?

A Cherokee tells of a fight that is going on inside himself between two wolves. One is evil: Anger, envy, sorrow, regret, fearful thinking, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, superiority and ego. The other is good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The grandson asked, "Which wolf wins?"... "The one I feed."

 Which wolf has Trump fed?

In his bid for the Presidency, Donald Trump has garnered the support of racists, neo-Nazis, white nationalists and other right wing extremists. People like David Duke, former imperial wizard of the Ku Kulx Klan; David Black, former a former KKK grand dragon and founder of the white supremacist website “Stormfront”; David Riden, a “Constitutionalist” and militia member; Matthew Heimbach, a white nationalist and training director of the “League of the South” (Neiwert & Posner, 2016). The list is lengthy, and those on it are unified ion their rhetoric on white nationalism, white supremacy and fascism. Neither Trump, nor his campaign, repudiated or rebuffed the support of any of these groups and their rhetoric of hatred. Neither, it is worth noting, did the GOP. 

And of course, we have the multitude of instances where Trump fanned the flames of hatred against Hispanics and Muslims. His misogyny which borders on, if not into, sexual assault. His racism and homophobia. His disdain for the sacrifices made by members of our armed forces and their families ("Record of Hate," 2016).

With the election of Trump to the office of President of the United States, these hate groups will be emboldened. It would have been years in repairing the damage done with a Trump defeat. But now, with his victory, they will feel empowered as they have never been in decades.
Now, which wolf do you think Trumps is feeding?

References

Neiwert, D., & Posner, S. (2016, September 21). Meet the Horde of Neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and Other Extremist Leaders Endorsing Donald Trump. Mother Jones. Retrieved from http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/09/trump-supporters-neo-nazis-white-nationalists-kkk-militias-racism-hate

America has failed her first people

On October 28^th, Amnesty International USA issued a press release detailing their sending a delegation human rights observers to Standing Rock “to monitor the response of law enforcement to protests by indigenous communities” ("AIUSA," 2016).

On October 31^st, The Guardian reported that the United Nations “is investigating allegations of human rights abuses by North Dakota law enforcement against Native American protesters” (Levin, 2016) at the Dakota Access pipeline protest at Standing Rock.

American media coverage of these two events, particularly the mainstream media outlets, has been virtually non-existent. The silence on the part of the American news media regarding this matter is a shameful example of just how little news is actually being reported in this country. While we are nearing the end of a bitter presidential election, it is no excuse to ignore this glaring failure of US law and treaty obligations to its indigenous peoples.

The silence of the Obama administration has been deafening. The silence on the part of the Clinton campaign has been equally deafening. I expect no better from the Trump campaign and the GOP, but the Democratic party has higher principles and standards to live up to. And President Obama has a legacy that will now bear the indelible stain of his failure to stand for the rights of America’s indigenous people.

References

Amnesty International USA to Monitor to North Dakota Pipeline Protests. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/press-releases/amnesty-international-usa-to-monitor-to-north-dakota-pipeline-protests

Levin, S. (2016). Dakota Access pipeline protests: UN group investigates human rights abuses. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/31/dakota-access-pipeline-protest-investigation-human-rights-abuses

Voter Intimidation...GOP Style

In 1981, the RNC brought the "Voter Security Task Force" into New Jersey. This "task force", composed of mostly off duty police officers, stalked around polls in minority precincts with walkie-talkies, arm-bands and sandwich-board sized posters boldly proclaiming that falsifying ballots and violating election laws were crimes. As a result, the election went to the GOP gubernatorial candidate...by about 1800 votes.
A civil suit charging voter intimidation and harassment was brought against the GOP. Interestingly, the attorney for the GOP was Donald Trump's brother-in-law. In 1982, the New Jersey and national GOP signed a consent decree prohibiting them from engaging in such illegal activities until 12/01/2017.
Fast forward to now. Donald Trump is exhorting his trollish followers to watch polling places because it's "so important that you watch other communities", or "some other place", or "certain areas". "Other communities"..."certain areas"..."some other place"? Unless you've been sleeping through the last century of race relations in the US, or have just chosen to ignore the issue altogether, you'll realize that those phrase are euphemisms for minority communities.
Back to 1982. The consent decree signed by the national and New Jersey GOP will expire on 12/01/2017 unless they GOP is found to have violated that decree. In which case, the decree extends another 8 years, expiring in 2025. And the GOP desperately wants to get out from under that decree.
Back to now.
Reince Priebus probably spends hours in a corner, in a fetal position, rocking back and forth, every time Trump babbles some shit about watching the polls. Watching the polls in "other communities"..."certain areas"..."some other place". Keep up the good work Donnie.

The Rise of Donald Trump

The American political landscape, as it now stands, is fertile ground for demagoguery. After nearly 40 years of stagnant wages, a widening wealth gap, the decimation of the middle class and the failure of "trickle-down economics, many who work for a living are desperate for change. Throw in the incessant ranting from the political right in their efforts to delegitimize the functions of government, and you have set the stage for the rise of Donald Trump. Had it not been him, if would have been some other charismatic, authoritarian, dictator wannabe.
One of the chief culprits has been "trickle down" economics. This is supply-side economics, but "trickle-down" is more appropriate as the GOP and their oligarch pimps are pissing on the collective backs of everyone who works for a living and telling them that warm feeling running down their backs is prosperity. The basic theory was that, through lower marginal tax rates, corporations and investors would take those tax-savings and plough them back into expanded production, thus producing new jobs and expanding opportunity for people who work for a living. How it's really worked, however, has been another story. Instead of investing in research and development, new equipment and manufacturing, US corporations have parked those savings and other corporate income in offshore accounts...to the tune of some $2.1 TRILLION, yes that's TRILLION.
While people feel they have been let down by both parties, and rightfully so, the burden of guilt remains with Republicans in their dogmatic adherence to the failed policy that is "trickle-down" economics, deriding and delegitimizing the offices they hold and seek to hold and pandering to the fears and insecurities of working Americans.
This is the background, against which, Donald Trump arose. A man with on background in public service. A man whose business experience consists of being bailed out...repeatedly...by his daddy, from his multiple bankruptcies. A misogynistic man who views women as little more than chattel, to do what he pleases to, whenever he pleases. A man whose world view is focused solely upon himself. A racist, bigot and xenophobe. In short, he is likely the unsuitable candidate for presidentcy ever to stand for election. Yet here he his. Having crushed his primary campaign opposition like grapes, and all because he has been perceived as a "straight talker", as "genuine", as a "breath of fresh air", when he is the antithesis of all of those qualities. Trump has waffled on every subject he has spoken on, changing his positions on a daily, even hourly, basis. and he is as much a breath of fresh air on the political scene as a broccoli fart on a crowded elevator.

With the political and economic disenfranchisement of many Americans, they are looking for a strong leader who can provide solutions to the problems and fears they face. Authoritarian demagogues, like Trump provide simple, stark answers to those problems in the form of scapegoats an vague promises based solely on HIS self-proclaimed position as being the "only one" who can solve these problems. But the problems we face do not render themselves to simple solutions or finger pointing. Yes, Trump may be soundly defeated this November. But unless the issues which led to his success as a candidate are not addressed, and right quick at that, we may not be so lucky with the next authoritarian, fascist demagogue to stride onto the political stage. Then it'll be "Sieg heil, y'all", and the death of the Republic and Democracy.

Lies and the GOP...Goebbels would be impressed

Lies...they're all the GOP has left. I am referring to the most recent foray by Trump and the GOP into their alternate universe with regards to  claims about HRC being behind the "birther" movement and the RNC's and Trump campaign's monotonous repetition of the meme. On an historical note, Joseph Goebbel's would be impressed by the efficacy of the GOP spin machine given that the GOP and Trump campaign are masterfully employing his techniques.

"Arguments must therefore be crude, clear and forcible, and appeal to emotions and instincts, not the intellect. Truth was unimportant and entirely subordinate to tactics and psychology." - Joseph Goebbels

"Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and repetitive. In the long run basic results in influencing public opinion will be achieved only by the man who is able to reduce problems to the simplest terms and who has the courage to keep forever repeating them in this simplified form, despite the objections of the intellectuals." - Joseph Goebbels

"The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly – it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over." - Mein Kampf

Politics is No Game

There are more than a few people I know for whom politics appears to be nothing more than a game. A game played by those already in positions of wealth and power. A game whose consequences will, at best, have a minimal impact on their lives. For these people, I have a question...

Have you ever seen one of these?

I have, and I've known people who had them. They are a reminder of just how serious politics can be. This, and others like them are born by fewer people every year as the number of those who survived the Holocaust and Nazi death camps grows ever smaller. They are grim reminders of just how serious politics is. It was politics, that ultimately gave rise to the horrors of the Third Reich. Through the use, and abuse of the political system and the democratic process, a right-wing, demagogic, charismatic figure appealed to the fears, prejudices, anger and disaffectation of  German voters to overthrow the Weimar Republic and establish the Third Reich. This is how serious politics is.

We stand at that same threshold now, as  a right-wing, demagogic, charismatic figure appeals to the fears, prejudices, anger and disaffectation of American voters to secure the highest office in the land. The stakes couldn't be higher.

  

 

More Conversations With My Congress Critter

Dear Mr. Schrider,

Thank you for your recent communication regarding Planned Parenthood. I appreciate this opportunity to correspond with you.

By way of background, Planned Parenthood receives federal funds through Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants and programs. Title X of the Public Health Service Act and Medicaid provide a considerable amount funding to the organization for family planning and women's health services. Planned Parenthood is prohibited from using federal funds for abortion services.

Recently, several videos have been released that show healthcare workers at Planned Parenthood discussing and arranging the sale of organs from unborn children. Employees in the videos also explain how they alter abortion procedures to obtain specific requested organs and body parts which they then sell to companies that specialize in procuring fetal tissue for research purposes. I am deeply disturbed by the footage and find it abhorrent that doctors and senior employees at this organization have engaged in their barbaric process and may have blatantly curtailed federal law.

Congresswoman Diane Black (R-TN) introduced H.R. 3134, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, on July 21, 2015. This bill would place a year-long moratorium on all federal funding to Planned Parenthood unless the organization and its partners certify that it will not provide any money for abortions. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3134 by a vote of 241-187. I voted in favor of this bill, and I am sorry that we do not agree on this issue.

There are many alternative locations where women can receive family planning and women's health services. For every Planned Parenthood facility there are 20 federally-funded comprehensive care clinics, known as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) or Rural Health Centers offering women 13,000 alternatives. In Ohio, there are 204 different FQHC service sites that serve more than one-half million women. They offer emergency medical care, mammograms, radiological services, child wellness services, health screenings, and a full spectrum of family planning care. They do not provide abortions.

I have been pro-life my entire lifetime and oppose the use of U.S. tax dollars to fund abortion services in any capacity. Cases of rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is endangered are the only exceptions I can accept. Through education and increased awareness, the number of unwanted pregnancies can be reduced. In addition, we must encourage alternatives to abortion such as programs that promote adoption. Through this approach, we can alleviate many of the circumstances that contribute to the distressingly high number of abortions in this country.
Again, I appreciate the time you have taken to reach out to me. I am sorry that we do not agree on this issue. Please do not hesitate to contact my office should you have any additional questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Patrick J. Tiberi
Representative to Congress
_________________________________________________

Representative Tiberi,

Thank you for your response, rife with inaccuracies as it was.

First, the Hyde Amendment already explicitly prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion services. So, Planned Parenthood does not use any federal funds in providing abortion services.

Secondly, the videos you and your fellow travelers cite as the source of your disgust and ire with Planned Parenthood have bee thoroughly and completely discredited. Any legislation written or passed on the basis of these videos is legislation based on a lie.

Thirdly, the fact of the matter is that while there may be alternative sites for women to seek healthcare, the system lacks the capacity to take in the number of patients that would be cut adrift with the defunding of Planned Parenthood. Again, you and your fellow travelers are legislating on the basis of misleading information.

Finally, defunding Planned Parenthood would shutdown one of the best programs available to reduce the number of abortions. The patient education, access to contraceptives, and counseling...all serve to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies, thus reducing the number of, and need for, abortions.

Mark Schrider MSN, RN, CCRN

Conversation with My Congress Critter

Press release by Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) today (9/18/2015):

“I watched the horrifying videos showing clinicians coldly talking about selling baby body parts and they made me sick. I am proud of my pro-life voting record and join my House colleagues today to vote to prevent federal dollars from going to Planned Parenthood. I hope the Senate promptly takes up this legislation so it can go to the president’s desk to be signed into law. Congress will continue to investigate this matter fully. Taxpayers should not be forced to fund organizations that participate in these barbaric practices. There are plenty of clinics that provide comprehensive women’s health services without offering abortions that would be helped by this funding.”

Representative Tiberi and his fellow travelers in Congress are legislating on the basis of a lie. They are fixated on a non-issue while the very real, clear and present issues this nation face are ignored. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

My response to the Representative:

 Representative Tiberi,

I read your press release regarding the the videos released by the misnamed "Center for Medical Progress" (CMP).I am simply amazed at the disingenuousness of you and your fellow travelers on the "Defund Planned Parenthood" bandwagon. The videos released by CMP have beeen shown to be utter frauds, but that seems to carry little weight with you and your fellow travelers. Rather than take stock of the situation and adjust your response in accordance with the facts, you continue on.You ignore the facts for no better reason than they are not in accord with your ideology.

There are greater issues this country must come to grips with...the widening income gap, crumbling infrastructure, climate change. But rather than deal with these issues, you and your fellow travelers prefer to pursue non-issues, like defunding Planned Parenthood on the basis of outright fabrication and prevarication...Yes, a lie. Perhaps you find it easier than dealing with the hard issues, the issues you were elected to address. If you are unable to take up these more difficult, pressing and REAL issues before us as a nation, Perhaps you should resign your office in favor of someone who will.

Respectfully,

Mark Schrider

So, You Wanna Vote Republican?

So, you’re worried about your job and money worries keep you up at night? Why, then, do you want to vote Republican? Never mind that working folks voting for Republicans is like mice voting for traps because of the cheese.

The GOP budget would more appropriately be called “wealth care” because the benefits of that budget fall, chiefly, to the wealthiest Americans. Nearly 62% of the cuts under the GOP budget would fall on programs designed to help low income individuals and families…SNAP, Pell Grants, AFDC, Head Start, Medicare, Medicaid, and the list goes on (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities [CBPP], 2012). All this, while 40% of the benefits of the budget go to those earning $1 million a year or more, a staggeringly tiny fraction of the total number of American citizens…less than 1%.

As for jobs, well, much as the GOP has touted the miraculous benefits tax cuts have for economic and job growth, after more than ten years of Bush Era tax cuts we have yet to see any of these ballyhooed benefits. In fact, the US economy was hemorrhaging more than 700,000 jobs each month by the end of the Bush administration. It wasn’t until President Obama pushed through an anemic economic stimulus package, heavier on tax cuts than stimulus money, that we began to see the picture reverse itself. More than 4 million private sector jobs were added as economic stimulus money began to percolate through the economy. The proposed GOP budget, if enacted, will create a drag on job growth to such an extent that nearly 4.1 million jobs will be lost by the end of 2014 (MediaMatters, 2012). This would very nearly eliminate the jobs gains under the Obama administration.

If you work for a living, live paycheck-to-paycheck or are unemployed, if you think the GOP has your back, you’re wrong. The current vision the GOP has for the budget is simply the trickle-down economics of Ronald Reagan and, later, George W. Bush taken to their logical extremes. Trickle-down economics is nothing more than the GOP and the insanely wealthy few backing them collectively pissing on our backs and telling us the warm feeling trickling down between our shoulder blades is “prosperity”.

References

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (2012). Ryan Roundup: Everything You Need to Know About Chairman Ryan’s Budget. Retrieved 08/22/2012, from http://www.offthechartsblog.org/ryan-2/

MediaMatters. (2012). No Matter How Right-Wing Media Spin It, Millions Would Feel “Sharp Effects” Of GOP Budget. Retrieved 08/22/2012, from http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/05/02/no-matter-how-right-wing-media-spin-it-millions/184992

Adventures with Aetna or, "Why Aetna Sucks"

I have been taking Benicar for nearly eight years, with excellent control of my blood pressure. It was covered by Aetna last year. Now, however, I find that it is not covered under this miserable excuse for an insurance plan. Denied for no better reason than I have not tried two other approved medications, losartan and diovan, before being prescribed Benicar, never mind that I had been taking Benicar for years
I was told...by an Aetna representative...that all I needed was for my physician to send in a pre-certification stating I have been taking this medication for years and the prescription for Benicar would...be...approved. I was assured...by an Aetna representative...that the prescription would be approved. Today (February 16th), I found out that the prescription was denied. I was not informed of this by any party, either my physician's office or Aetna.
In the phone calls to Aetna following this revelation, I was told by and Aetna representative that my physician need only submit a pre-certification to Aetna, which his office did…twice. Furthermore I was told, explicitly, by the Aetna representative that the prescription would be approved. In the phone calls that followed, the customer service supervisor denied all culpability on the part of Aetna for the misleading statements to the effect that the medication would be approved with no further ado. Secondly, Aetna, nor any other insurer for that matter, has any business questioning or inserting itself in the decisions regarding treatment options as discussed between a physician and a patient.
I have been taking Benicar for years with no side effects and effective control of my hypertension. Changing medications at this point is unwarranted from a medical standpoint and would require a period of dosage adjustment and titration to effect which could have consequences for my health and well being. But my health and well being are, apparently, of no importance. Aetna’s policy in this matter poses unnecessary burdens on physicians in that Aetna representative state the matter can be resolved by a fifteen minute phone call to Aetna’s pre-certification department. As you may well know, given the volume of patients primary care physicians see on a daily basis and the added burden of meeting the documentation requirements of multiple insurers, this is completely unrealistic. The process seems designed to serve as an impediment to patients seeking redress for these unjustified denials of coverage than to address the patient’s needs.

Highway to hell

I have been thinking for a while that the other shoe is about to drop on the US economy. Seems some other folks have too. Meredith Whitney seems to think the same thing. You remember her, she was sounding the alarm about t imminent collapse of the housing bubble in the US as far back as 2007.

State and local governments have been limping along on funds from, according to responsible economists, the far too small stimulus package passed at the beginning of the Obama Administration. Well, those funds are about to run out. And while states have the federal governemnt to fall back on, local governments have no cushion, as many of them depend on state funding for a third, or more, of their annual budgets. And as the stimulus dollars dry up, state funding to local governments is drying up as well. This loss of state funding, as well as shrinking tax revenues will likely force a significant number of local governments into default. And you thought the recession was over. The fear of this already has financial markets, where huge amounts of muni bonds are held, nervous. The fear alone could be enough to tip the US economy into a tailspin which made the collapse of the housing bubble look mild in comparison.

During the economic turmoil and devastation of the Great Depression, America managed to avoid sliding into full blown fascism, as much through dumb luck as anything else. After all, you had industrialists...like Henry Ford...and politicians and financiers...like Prescott Bush...making nice with Hitler and Mussolini. Oh, and in 1934, a group of American industrialists approached retired Marine Corps General, Smedley Butler with the hopes that he would help them overthrow FDR.

Given the recent economic turmoil and the lingering after effects of 9/11 on the American psyche, it won't take much more to push America down the particular highway to hell known as fascism. Thanks to the Bush administration, and now the Obama administration in its failure to roll back the worst excesses of the Bush administration, we're already half way there. Another serious economic downturn could provide just the impetus needed to push an already nervous citizenry the rest of the way there.

We were lucky we dodged that bullet during the Great Depression. We're not likely to be so lucky again. Especially given the number of lunatic fringe right wingers about to flood into Congress. Incidentally, these lunatic fringers were mainstreamed by wealthy industrialists and financiers who can, now anonymously, funnel millions of dollars of untraceable money into groups like the US Chamber of Commerce, American Crossroads, Crossroads GPS and other right wing political money laundering operations. Money which, in this last election cycle went overwhelmingly to right leaning GOP candidates. The further right the better, as we saw with so many Tea Party candidates.

Every thing is pointing to us being in for a long, rough ride. Tell ya what. If you're living within your means, pay off whatever debt you have and start living below your means. When the crash comes you'll be acclimated. If you're living beyond your means, get ready to take it in the shorts. We're on the highway to hell boys and girls.

I hope I'm wrong.

Billo the HYPOCRITE

Whilst you claim to be a Christian, and spout a few Christian aphorisms completely out of context, it makes you no more a Christian than going to a garage for a couple hours a week makes you a mechanic. The message of Jesus was not what you, and your right wing fellow travelers, seem to think it is. Giving aid and succor to those less fortunate was, and is, the very heart and soul of Jesus' message. Yet, you would besmirch that message for such base purposes as your own self aggrandizement and promulgating a misguided political ideology.

Being the good Christian that you are, Bill, pick up your Bible and turn to the Book of Matthew. In Chapter 19, verses 23-24...

"23Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

24And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

And then to Matthew 25: 34-46...

"34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

But being the good Christian you are, I shouldn't need to remind you of this...Should I. And me not even a Christian.

Small Businesses...Really?

The GOP is making much about American small businesses, and the impact on them of letting Bush era tax cuts lapse. Well, guess what...They're not talkin' about the Mom & Pop store around the corner.

The SBA defines as a small business, any business which meets the following criteria:

- 500 or fewer employees for most manufacturing and mining industries (a few industries permit up to 750, 1000 or 1,500 employees)

- 100 or fewer employees for all wholesale trade industries

$6 million per year in sales receipts for most retail and service industries (with some exceptions)

- $27.5 million per year in sales receipts for most general & heavy construction industries

$11.5 million per year in sales receipts for all special trade contractors

- $0.5 million per year in sales receipts for most agricultural, forestry and fishing industries (Source: Federal Access)

The GOP is talking about something else entirely. They are talking about Chapter S corporations. These corporations are defined by the following criteria:

* Must be an eligible entity (a domestic corporation, or a limited liability company which has elected to be taxed as a corporation).
* Must have only one class of stock.
* Must not have more than 100 shareholders.
o Spouses are automatically treated as a single shareholder. Families, defined as individuals descended from a common ancestor, plus spouses and former spouses of either the common ancestor or anyone lineally descended from that person, are considered a single shareholder as long as any family member elects such treatment.
* Shareholders must be U.S. citizens or residents, and must be natural persons, so corporate shareholders and partnerships are generally excluded. However, certain trusts, estates, and tax-exempt corporations, notably 501(c)(3) corporations, are permitted to be shareholders.
* Profits and losses must be allocated to shareholders proportionately to each one's interest in the business. (Source:Wikipedia)

These corporations are also known as "pass through" corporations, as corporate income or losses pass through to the share holders.

The real focus of GOP tax policy was made clear in a September 12 interview (5 minutes in) on "Face the Nation" with House Minority Leader John "The Boner" Boehner(R-OH). Boehner admits that only 3% of small businesses would benefit from continuing the Bush era tax cuts. This 3%, however accounts for around half of all "small" business income. H&R Block has some 1.5.million small business customers, yet only about .005% of them would benefit from extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans...Tax cuts Boehner and the GOP are fighting tooth-and-nail for.

Some of the corporations that meet this loose definition of a "small business" include Koch industries...which is busy funding the pseudo-populist tea-bagger movement, Bechtel, the Chicago Tribune, and the list goes on, with some 20,000 S corps with more than $ 50 million in receipts in 2008. Small, not in terms of income, or number of employees, but in the number of owners.


And it is this 3% of "small businesses", which account for 50% of small business income that John "The Boner" Boehner and Mitch "McChinless" McConnell are interested in benefiting. Sound familiar? It should. The Bush era tax cuts...The same ones the congressional GOP leadership want to extend...saw the greatest benefit go to the top 2-3% of income earners in this country.

SO when you hear The Boner or McChinless talk about "small business"...It's not the small business owner who come to fix your plumbing or do your landscaping, or owns the diner down the street where you meet your neighbors for coffee. They're talking about, as usual, the wealthiest Americans who hold more of the national wealth than at nearly any time in US history.

Wealth, Income, and Power

Why do they hate the troops?

Yesterday, the GOP, on a party line vote, along with two Blue-Dog Democrats, voted to block DEBATE on the defense authorization bill. Why, because it contains language to repeal DADT. The repeal of DADT is supported by the head of JCS and the Secretary of Defense. Also contained therein is the DREAM Act which would provide a road to citizenship for immigrants who serve in the US military. This also has support from the Pentagon.

Senator Scot Brown(R-MA) justified this pointless filibuster on the grounds that these amendments were "politically expedient legislation entirely unrelated to the defense authorization". Bullshit. Let's look at amendments to defense authorization bills by THE GOP.
- Banning internet gambling
-Opening ANWR to oil drilling
- Concealed weapons amendment
-Increased indecency fines
- Campaign reform amendment
- Immunity for vaccine companies

Really? Does ANY of this have anything to do with defense funding? No.

GOP protestations aside, the GOP can add amendments to the bill.

Despite GOP protestations, the head of JCS and the Secretary of Defense, THE MILITARY, supports repealing DADT and the Dream Act.

The GOP, as it has been doing since day one of the Obama administration,have been blocking debate on the issue...DEBATE. They do this because they know that, open to debate, their objections and amendments would be tossed aside, like a trailer park in a tornado, by the facts. Cuz, ya see, it's not about the political window dressing enumerated above. It all boils down to the "culture wars". It's about continuing to deny a segment of American society the constitutional rights that they are willing to put their lives on the line for.

Why does the Senate GOP hate the troops?

The mainstreaming of idiot America

Attempting to talk out of both sides of one's mouth, usually involves inserting one's foot and chewing vigorously. Such is the case here. Mr. Fischer states there shouldn't be a backlash against Muslims in America yet, in the next breath, cheerfully proclaims Muslims shouldn't be allowed to serve in the US military or emigrate to this country...Yeah...No backlash.

Now, picture this...at the Values Voter Summit in Washington this week, Mr. Fischer...with visions of holy war against Islam dancing in his head...will be sharing the stage with GOP leaders and presidential wannabes. People like Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Mike Pence, Michele Bachman, Jim Demint, Mike Huckabee, and other luminaries of the GOP. Really? Is there ANY political accountability on the right for those actively embracing this formerly fringe rhetoric? So far as can be seen, no. The red meat base of the GOP is actively embracing this message. Never mind that Obama's plea on Friday echoed the sentiments of George W. Bush on the matter...We are not at war with Islam, we are at war with terrorists disguised as Muslims.

What we see here is a group of ideologues for whom Islam is a convenient scapegoat...A different religion which they have differences with. So rather than keep the debate within the theological realm, where it properly belongs, they (by they I mean Limbaugh, Beck, Gingrich, et al) drag the issue kicking and screaming into the political arena. This in order to inflame the emotions of those, and their number is legion, lack the intellectual and emotional wherewithal to see this xenophobia as nothing more than scaring white people for fun and political profit.

Corporations are people...Really?

If corporations are people, as the current right loaded SCOTUS asserts, then corporations...like BP...need to understand some very fundamental principles of BEING a person.

Firstly, in any society, it is incumbent upon persons to be good neighbors. Good neighbors do not destroy the property of of their neighbors...they do not shit on their neighbors dining room tables or in their water supply. A principle which BP has clearly violated in its attempts to maximize profits at the cost of the safety and livelihoods of its neighbors and employees in the Gulf states.

Secondly, being a person in a society entails a degree of responsibility for one's own actions, unless one has been determined to be non compos mentis. In this latter case, the state appoints a guardian for the individual in question. This is not the case with BP. Memos from BP shown that, in the days and weeks leading up to the catastrophe, BP was more concerned with cutting costs than in the safety and well-being of its neighbors and employees. Now, I'm no lawyer, but it would seem to indicate premeditation on BP's part. And, thus, it would seem to be a clear case of maleficence on the part of BP.

It is also a given that a person accepts, not only the benefits of living in a society, but also accepts the responsibilities it entails. Failure to accept these responsibilities is immature at best, and criminal at worst. BP falls into the latter category with its obvious and callous disregard for its responsibilities as a corporate "person".

Similarly, neither corporations nor persons cannot accept the profits accrued through capitalist enterprise without accepting the risks that accompany those profits. It is the attempt to reap these profits while shifting the risk, and the costs accompanying that risk, to the public sector...the tax-payer...you and me...that corporations and their political whores are attempting to institutionalize.

But it can only happen if "...We, the people..." abdicate our responsibilities as neighbors...as members of this society. We cannot expect to enjoy the benefits of living in a free and open society if we fail to accept the responsibilities it entails. We can take the easy path and let the punditocracy...the Limbaugh's...the Beck's...the Rove's...the Cheney's of this country tell us what to think and do. Or we can take the path less traveled...think for ourselves...educate ourselves on the basic issues involved in securing our liberty and prosperity in the face of corporate fascism. It is only this latter course which will allow us to maintain and protect a free and open society. The alternative is despotism.

Democrat in Chief?

The problem lies, not just with the Democrats, Republicans or even President Obama. Until each and every corporate lobbyist is whipped naked and howling into the wilderness...Until big money contributions have been eradicated from political campaigns (An no, money does not equal free speech. The SCOTUS has its head waaaay up its ass on that one) and ALL political campaigns are publicly funded, nothing will change.

And therein lies the rub. Politicians don't want the system to change. They get their gerrymandered districts which assure little, if any electoral competition...and when they leave office they can become "consultants" for their corporate pimps and johns until the restrictions on lobbying Congress expire. Then, they go back and spread corporate cash around Washington like the all pervasive cancer corporate lobbying is.

Until "We the People...' wake up and take our responsibilities as citizens of this nation and the ultimate arbiters of how our government conducts its business in our name, Nothing...Will...Change...Ever. It is one of the cornerstones of this Republic that the Republic derives its powers from the "consent of the governed". Did we REALLY consent to this level of dysfunction in our government?