old man 76
old man 76's JournalOne hundred million I need a new prison
The Governor says we must cut expenses and will not pass the bonds the people have approved. Now he needs a one hundred million bond for a new prison. Must be the Governor expects a lot of hungry, sick, homeless people to emerge from his new budget and needs a place to keep them. You can't say he doesn't think about the people of Maine.
Entitlements and the debt ceiling
The Republican have set their sights on social security and medicare. When the debt ceiling is up for a vote the entitlements will be the price the right wants to keep the country from defaulting. I am not sure but I believe it was a greek philosopher that said for every decision there is a consequence and before they bargain with social security and medicare I hope the left makes them spell out the true consequence. I hate to see one of the best programs this country has traded for the benefit of wall street, big corporations and the super rich.
What have we won?
Happy New Years to all. Looking back at the past year, we re-elected the president, held the senate and the court upheld the Affordable Health Care Act. There has been a lot of bragging rights imposed on the Republican Party and justifiably so. That was just one game and there is still the pennant to be won. The reality is the debt must be addressed, health care cost is going over the roof and automation plus globalization are draining jobs. Education is more expensive and the job market only wants the top of the graduates. This leaves many young people with large debt and low paying jobs. Our population is over three hundred million, without the industry to provide jobs and the prospect of job expansion is not good. I don’t have an exact number but it seems forty percent or more of the population is subsidized in some form or another. Those on the right feel that the answer is to end support for these people and let them make it as best they can. The right is not thy brother’s keeper. When I say to people on the right, what do you propose to do with these people; there are a number of responses. The first is they are just lazy and if we quit feeding them they will go to work. The second response is, it is not my problem and I shouldn’t have to support them. The rest is a mix of they are illegals or other equally stupid responses. We do have a big problem and the old Republican theory of take care of the money and everything else will take care of itself, just won’t fly. We as progressives must take the lead and realize we are not the same country we were fifty years ago and new methods of providing for and governing this country must be implemented. The hardest part people may have to adjust to is a constitution written before electricity or the automobile and it may have to be adjusted for the age of global economies, instant communication and a great many other things our founding fathers never even dreamed of. So here is to the future and may we have the will and courage to be progressive and not try to retreat into the past.
Schools in Maricopa county Arizona
Sheriff Joe Arpiacopa said this morning on the news that his posse of three thousand armed member will take over the duty of patrolling around schools. These are volunteers so no cost sounds great until you take a good look. First this is Arpiacopa's private police force. It has been said Joe has a teflon coat because he has escaped prosecution for miss use of fund and a lot of other charges. Now he has a foot in the door to have more control over the young people and for a number of reasons I don't consider Joe a good roll modal. I would not stay in Maine if one of our sheriffs enlisted thousand of private citizens armed and answering just to them. To me this sounds a little like the brown shirts in Germany be for the war.
Social Security, Medicare and other safety nets
The republicans seem to feel the entitlements need to be cut or reduced. I admit it is a big expense for this country. No one wants to talk about the long term effects of the loss or reductions. Yes they say retirees and those close to retirement would not be effected. I would like to know the effects of these cuts twenty too thirty years from now. Is this just another way of kicking the can down the road and if the door is opened will the republicans only accelerate the process if they get back in power.
Senator Collins
Collins and two other senators from New Hampshire and Arizona have a plan. Step one discredit Ambassador Rice. Step two have senator Kerry as the next secretary of state. Step three open Senate seat in Massachusetts for Scott Brown.
Might be funny but sad also
After thinking about the comic strip I also thought it is sad that politics has become more of a business then a civic under taking.Mr. Webster is using any tactic to gain an edge even if it means compromising right and fairness.
voter registration
Check the Portland Press Herald doonesbury comic strip for a laugh. You can do it on line.
School chose
The governor is at it again. The Republican agenda is the end public education then they can have private schools to promote the conservative ideology. There are to kinds of conservatives one is for money, power and control they are the dangerous group. The second group are just plain dumb. The have beliefs about religion, women's rights, welfare and such which is their right but they can't seem to grasp the fact they can't pick and choose which people it will effect. Two examples I have encountered recently one a lady that said we need to end welfare to these people having children they can't afford. I asked what about her granddaughter who was receiving aid and the answer was she is different she's a good girl. The second was a man who said no Obama care. His son had an accident with no insurance. When I questioned him on that again it was different because the son did not expect to have an accident. It is time for the left to prepare for a battle and not set by and lose our freedom a piece at a time.
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Member since: Sat Feb 18, 2012, 04:53 PMNumber of posts: 228
