rhett o rick
rhett o rick's JournalThose that are so eager to denigrate others by calling them CT are often
living in a carefully guarded denial bubble. They know that if we really dig we will find corruption beyond imagination. They cant handle this, therefore they want everything wrapped up in a tight bundle. And they are willing to bully those that they think might unwrap the bundle. One DU member has suggested that CT'ers be automatically PPR'd. And I assume he thinks he should make the decision. Fortunately the Admin here is more open minded.
I am not sure where I should be on the graph.
I am against the Patriot Act, Domestic spying, indefinite detention without due process, Citizens United, unregulated drone killing, free trade, NAFTA and all the 'AFTA's.
I am for single payer health insurance, reducing defense spending, ending the wars, habeas corpus, protecting American jobs, eliminating the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, making big Pharma compete for Medicare drug contracts.
So on what issues do you disagree?
The lax regulation of Wall Street is a threat to our economy.
Wall Street has proven beyond a doubt that without proper regulations they can crash the economy. Very little is being done to prevent another situation where they can again blackmail the American citizens into paying trillions to save the economy.
Two major problems discussed in Dean Baker’s, "False Profits" are the failure of the Fed to control economic bubbles, like the housing bubble, and the rampant speculation by our banks which is backed by taxpayer's dollars.
The Fed is intended to regulate our economy to benefit all Americans. That means dealing with unemployment. However, most of the board members are bankers and it looks like their actions favor those banks over the 99% masses. The Fed operates with our economy at stake, in almost complete secrecy. It’s dealings should be made more transparent and they should have to meet with Congress on a regular basis.
We need to reestablish controls similar to those of the Glass-Steagall Act. Also, a Financial Transaction Tax needs to be established to reign in the rampant speculation that endangers our savings.
There are a lot of important issues we need to tackle. Free and fair elections must have a high
priority.
None of the important issues facing us will matter if we don’t fix the election system. It wont matter what we do about gun control, marijuana laws, same-sex marriage, Medicare, etc., if we allow the Republicans to steal future elections. They will be able to undo any good we do.
Some here think that we are safe because the oligarchic elites failed in the presidential race of 2012. Please, we cant let our guard down. The midterm election will be here before you know it and we wont have President Barack Obama’s coat tails to count on. Then in 2016 we must be prepared. The Democratic Party must take the lead in countering Republican voter suppression methods and correct the damage done by gerrymandering.
NGU 
Do not feel too harshly towards those that need the comfort of their denial bubbles.
We see it here in DU as a reflection of our society. People form denial bubbles because they cant (or choose not to) deal with certain challenges to their realities. I think we all live in bubbles with different boundaries. Some challenge the bubble boundaries (usually not conservatives) while others, not only dont challenge their boundaries but lash out at anyone that might dare to suggest they make the challenge.
Seems that some of us, when faced with a horrific reality, seek to rationalize or minimize the horror. To think that an organization was capable of plotting and carrying out the assassination of a popular president can be overwhelming. And to add to that, the idea that part of our government could have been involved can be way too much reality for some.
To some it seems to be more comfortable to rationalize that a lone nitwit could defeat the security surrounding the president. And since he was conveniently silenced, the case is closed and should never, ever be discussed again.
IMHO humans conspire at all levels.
Is Exxon a nation?
A nation is a group of people so I don’t think Exxon qualifies as a nation, but IMO, they are definitely a strong, independent sovereignty.
Exxon has to be one of the most powerful entities in the world. They are not a “USofA” company, but an entity all of their own. They have zero allegiance to the USofA. They use our country’s resources, infrastructure and military, and not only don’t pay for it, WE PAY them. We give them corporate welfare. We cover their risks while they keep the rewards. They are so powerful they have literally purchased some control of our government and have given themselves very large subsidies. But you wont hear anything bad about Exxon in the corp-media. Exxon pays the media large sums of money for “advertising” and/or share the same people on Boards of Directors with the large media corporations. The advertising money yields favorable treatment from the media.
It looks to me like globalization means the formation or creation of corporate sovereignty's.
Trickledown - Have you received your trickle?
In the last 30 years the trend in the USofA was for the gap between the rich and the 99% to continue widening. If this trend continues, we will live in a Kingdom or Serfdom like Saudi Arabia. Let me repeat that. If we don’t reverse this “Trickledown” trend, we the 99% will become poor, peons, paupers, etc. Kiss the middleclass goodbye.
The Democrats are trying to slow this trend down but the Republicans make no bones that they don’t want this trend to stop let alone reverse.
You can fool the American people some of the time, but you can fool the gullible Republicans all of the time. “Honest, Charlie Brown, this time wealth will really trickle down.”
I apologize for the condescension above. I tried to write this to a gullible.
Edit: Had to correct "condensation" to condescension. Damn OttoCorrect.
Occupy is a movement that is part of a larger movement that started before Occupy.
I strongly support Occupy and would not suggest they change one iota. But there are millions of people that want to fix America that dont fit with Occupy. I dont know who is behind moveon but I havent yet seen any evidence that they are run by the enemy. We need to be united against the enemy, the oligarchs. They would like nothing better than to see us fighting among ourselves.
I will agree that moveon hasnt been successful, but that is no reason to exclude them. I have participated in moveon protests before Occupy.
Occupy isnt moveon and moveon isnt Occupy, but as far as I can see, we all want the same thing.
Be suspicious of those that would turn us against each other.
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