old man 76
old man 76's JournalFight or flight
I recently had a discussion with three men about gun control and the right to own guns. Only one of the three I knew and this was just a chance encounter in a store. All felt they musted be armed to protect their homes and families. I have no problem with this as I own guns myself. I made the statement if some one was trying to break into my home I would grab my gun but there were a number of exits so I would take my wife and run. The men showed sign of distaste for this notion and the one man I knew asked me as we left why would you run I know your a pretty good shot. There are three reasons. First I would not know the number of people breaking in and if they were well armed. Even if no one wants to think about it there is alway the chance you will be shot or a family member hit by a stray bullet. If I go down that leaves my wife unprotected. Second not knowing who is breaking in you might kill an unarmed person with a mental problem, intoxicated and had the wrong house or a child to name a few scenarios. You might just end up arrested and facing prosecution. You might win but it could cost ten thousand or much more in legal fees plus the possibility of a civil suit. Third every one has some body they are special to no matter how bad they may seem. One of those some bodies might just decide to even the score by killing you or worse a member of your family. Outside chance I know but is still still a possibility. Being macho sounds great but sometimes common sense is better.
One 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.
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Member since: Sat Feb 18, 2012, 04:53 PMNumber of posts: 228
