Showing posts with label corporate welfare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corporate welfare. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

WAKE UP And Realize This Is A Two Party Dictatorship

Nothing brings out the worst in Democratic voters than losing.

Nothing brings out the worst in Republican voters than losing.

And nothing brings out the scrawny, pointy finger of shame of both party's voters than the idea that some people have figured out the United States of America's political system is nothing more than a two party dictatorship and that's why some of those people don't vote. The owners' of these scrawny, pointy fingers don't realize that it is such a dictatorship and hence their 'tsk-tsk' and 'cluck-cluck' at those who do understand speaks volumes; or at least it should.

After an election such as the 2014 mid-terms, the 2000, the 2004 and so on, the spinners make a washing machine seem clunky and slow. Losing is winning!

Of course, since the Republicans won big in last night's mid-term we get wonderful examples of Democrats creating and distributing charming memes such as the one below.


Then, we get, from the so-called party of tolerance and inclusion a cargo ship or two full of the most prejudicial, stereotype and bigoted caricatures as one could imagine. All the while, they conveniently ignore how the Obama administration has continued and expanded upon the draconian path began with the Bush administration about, oh say, 10 minutes after 9/11.


BUT WAIT!

THERE'S MORE!

The Republicans do the exact same thing when they lose, too!

Yet, rarely, and boy do I mean rarely, does anyone pop their head out of the sand and admit that we live in a two party dictatorship. Wall Street and the Military/Industrial complex are the real party and those in national office are beholden to their owners. Some out there do understand this and act accordingly whether by not voting, at least admitting this has been a problem for decades, or actively seeking ways to overcome the dictatorship. But, that last part is difficult considering how entrenched the machine has become. It is easier to be a lemming, nay, a smug lemming, and follow the Limbaughs, the Savages, the Maddows or the Stewarts (who are all corporate shills by the way, get the picture yet?) and parrot their spewed garbage as if it were gospel.

One of the major activities of the two party dictatorship is sowing divisiveness with your favorite political footballs. Abortion! Illegal Immigrants! Racism! Guns! Health Care!

Look around two party adherents, nay, zealots, and tell me when was the last time any of the events listed below happened in the last 40 years.

- Abortion was outlawed
- Government storm troopers came and took away your guns
- You wanted to pick vegetables or fruits
- Government storm troopers came and ripped up your health card
- You must stop speaking English

Well, you get the picture. It hasn't happened because it isn't going to happen. Otherwise, we could no longer be divided. We might become like Toto and pull back the curtain to reveal to the others what is happening with that man. And to update for modern times, or that woman, too.



 

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

It's Not About "Burger Flippers" It's About The Devalued Dollar


I'm sure many of you have seen the memes (or variations thereof) shown below on social media over the past few months. The one on the top is more than a bit disingenuous because it presupposes that first responders only get minimum wage and that they do not complain. There's a similar one comparing "burger flippers" with United States soldiers which is also disingenuous because it ignores the fact that soldiers are grossly under paid and under benefited as well! The bottom meme is closer to what has actually happened - the decline of buying power by the U.S. dollar and the MSM ignoring inflation, the second great depression and the impact that this had on tens of millions of Americans.
 
 
 
 
Many moons ago when I was working a part-time minimum wage job for $3.10 an hour while in college I was able to afford to share a 2 bedroom apartment, had a savings account and didn't need food stamps. Six months later, I was out of college and bumped up the gravy train to $3.50 an hour and more than 30 hours a week. Then I was paying back my student loan and still had the savings account, paid rent, paid for my food, paid for clothes, et al. My point is that the buying power of the dollar has dramatically decreased over the years and inflation (which they used to report on the nightly news by the way) is going through the roof.
 
I noticed that almost no one was bitching and moaning when McDonald's CEO was given a 4+ times raise last year, but raise the minimum wage and howls are made mostly from the right-wing, economists and filthy rich people. So, with minimum wage workers on food stamps, child welfare, housing welfare etc., you'd rather argue that subsidizing these high-profit, low wage corporations is all right for American taxpayers? A $15 an hour wage would cut food stamps rolls and all the rest. It's that simple. This isn't about pimply faced teenagers or retirees, this is about corporate welfare at the expense of working Americans and the fact that the dollar doesn't buy nearly as much as it use to.
 
If you are still fixated on the "burger flipper" in spite of reading this far, consider this: the average fast food "value meal" costs about $7.50. It would take an employee at said fast food establishment one hour's worth of wages to afford that. Even the self-serving, bigoted car magnate Henry Ford understood he had to pay his employees enough of a wage to afford the cars they built.
 

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

FOOD STAMPS - Come To My Door With Your Torches And Pitchforks!

One of the stranger divisive issues to enter American politics recently is the one where people on food stamps should not also buy, with their own money, booze and, gasp (!) tobacco. Newsflash! The sanctimonious blowhards who perpetuate this argument are being completely disingenuous because you can't buy booze or tobacco with food stamps! Get it? They are called food stamps.

Here's the quick story: I pay taxes. A few times over my life I have qualified for food stamps - like right now. Without it, I'd be homeless. Homelessness, we may agree, is a much bigger burden on our welfare system. Some wags will say that the poor should be careful with their "discretionary" income all the while ignoring the enormous burden place upon tax payers by the corporate welfare state. Newsflash #2! The rich are being subsidized by the tax payers. That's why they have lawyers and lobbyists.

So, the rich can party but not the poor? Because some people need assistance from us, the tax payers, they should continue to remove more joyousness from their lives? How does that work into the "happiness" part of the Constitution? Like, "sorry family, we're on food stamps and Christmas is cancelled", or "no birthday for Billy", or "if you want to watch a movie, go to the neighbors", or "well, time to get rid of our pets".

I'll say it again: it is all about housing and corporate welfare! The government has said that housing should account for no more than one-third of monthly income. Well, that's all fine and dandy, but the actual amount is 50% or more, an especial burden for the poor. So, should I be able to buy booze or tobacco with my hard earned money? You bet! We tax payers subsidize the rich through a vast array of resources for them. Know what? They buy booze, too.