The Hard Work Recovery Program

It's time to get real. Let's ignore the politicians with their nibble-around-the-edges happy talk "solutions" to our biggest problems, and let's talk about what it will actually take to solve them.

Why start with illegal immigration and try to ignore the bigoted hang-'em-high shamefulness of the Republican candidates. Maybe one answer is that employers need to offer wages that will attract citizens and others who are here legally. What they do now is fatten their profits by paying substandard amounts to undocumented laborers who are so desperate to stay hidden they'll accept any pittance they can get. Maybe by doing away with this shadow economy, the jobs that cause so many to sneak across the border will not be waiting for them.

Unlike Immigration, many issues are beyond demagoguery. For those the candidates resort to obfuscation. Their double-talk is designed to suggest that we can "gain without pain". It's supposed to demonstrate that they're dealing with "substance" but they know full well it's just poll-driven, meaningless babble.

Let's talk about Global Warming. Now that we've come to a rough consensus that it's caused by people, we should face the fact that the biggest culprits are the people of the United States. We are far and away the worst global warmers, although other nations are trying hard to compete with us.

So, what should we do here? If we're really serious, we should stop driving, or least significantly cut back. We should adopt policies that take as many automobiles as possible off the streets and highways. At the same time, individuals, meaning all of us, should stop looking at driving, when and where we want, in whatever behemoth we want, as a god-given right.

Health care is another one of those issues the candidates try to finesse. No one wants to say so, but sooner or later we'll have no choice but single-payer. Actually, we have what amounts to that now. The insurance companies collude to offer us only one payer, practically speaking, a system made worse by greedy profit mongering.

One more. We all lament the outsourcing of our economy. But we all enjoy paying lower prices for our goods. Those prices result largely from manufacturing that has been moved out of the U.S. to unregulated sweat shops overseas, with their low overhard, translate slave wages and dangerous lack of product safety protection. That way we get low prices, for our childrens' toys, along with leaded paint and lost jobsere. When Duncan Hunter suggested during the Republican debate Wednesday night that we should "buy American," I laughed out loud. to "You gotta be kidding Duncan!". No wonder he's barely registering as a candidate.

The list goes on and on and maybe we should talk about some of our other problems another time. But here's the main theme. This country has spent a long time on a long downward slide. The only way to recover is through hard work, sacrifice and a true reordering of priorities and the way we live.

The other thing we'll need to do is reject the politicians who suggest there's any other way.

Comments

[mamacita]

Work on eliminating the profit of outsourcing. If corporations want the benefits of being a US corporation, then they have to have more than just their headquarters in the US, and they have to pay their fair share of taxes. Poor quality has become standard because the customer will accept it. Personally, I return a lot of products for poor quality. I know from experience in the workplace that quality is not an issue until the customer complaints start coming in, and only then will the issue be addressed. Let me repeat myself--POOR QUALITY HAS BECOME STANDARD BECAUSE THE CUSTOMER WILL ACCEPT IT.
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Reform the trade agreements from free trade to fair trade. Another long and bloody fight with the corporations who have benefited too long and too well. Perhaps it will lead to restructuring the corporate body into a more balanced form, rather than the top-heavy structure currently in place. If you consistently cut from the bottom, eventually you'll cut off your feet, and then you won't be going anywhere.

[mamacita]

Unlike NABNYC, I don't think it's necessary to over-tax the rich, just close the loop holes and enforce the tax laws to make them pay their fair share.

Eliminate government benefits for illegal immigrants, such as welfare. Those benefits are paid for by the legal citizens of the US, and should only be used by them. I'm all for helping the less fortunate, but those people are here for the freebies. If someone breaks into your house to steal the silver, do you fix them a steak dinner?

Return Social Security to how it was originally conceived. Slap the government hand every time it dips into the SS cookie jar, and pay back the money that has been "borrowed" (stolen) from it. Has anyone researched the numbers on what the balance of SS would be had government kept their hands out of it?

Universal health care as a deduction on your paycheck, just like insurance premiums we currently pay for. There's a start on how to fund it. Yes, it will be a long and bloody fight to a working system. The health care industry has profited long and well from the sick in this country, and they will fight tooth and nail to keep every tainted penny they've extorted.

Privatizing the military is a concept that I don't understand. A "contractor" (mercenary) is paid a much higher salary than the equivalent in the military, for example. Where is the logic in paying more? It seems to me that privatization has been an excuse to pick the pockets of taxpayers. Oh, but let's cut costs by denying medical benefits to service personnel, and reneging on sign-on bonuses.

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[The Collinbrandt]

No, I'm sorry, hard work is what has led us to our dismal situation. Americans work hard, they are coned out of their money then, they are told they need to work hard again. So we are stupid and will once again work hard so our rulers can steal it away? I don't think so. Americans need to stop working or, at least just work hard enough to get by. We've been working all to hard for generations and all it does is make those who inherit wealth much wealthier and they, blame us for the countries malaise and ask us to work even harder for them. The people at the bottom pay most of the taxes. We pay the sales taxes, rent taxes, phone taxes, use taxes, land use taxes, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. The wealthy pay taxes but, they incorporate those taxes into the prices and taxes they charge the rest of us ergo, they pay nothing in taxes. In addition, the wealthy have government connections so, they get back every cent of taxes they pay millions and billions of times over. That is the econoic truth the rulers don't want anyone to understand. The trickle down economics of the evil right wing fascist Milton Friedman, are all our rulers will except as legitimate economic theory. General Pinnochet hasin't left the building.

[NABNYC]

Tax all income above $150,000 at 70%; everything above $250,000 at 90%. No corporate compensation, including options, in excess of $250,000 can be written off. Take away the incentive to steal by taxing the proceeds of theft. Pass a real minimum wage law of $15/hour. Ban any government work for any business that takes work overseas. Federal funding for campaigns, limited campaigns, and prison for anyone who offers anything of value to any politician. Get rid of the HB1 visas that allow businesses to import professionals and pay them 1/3 what they would pay an American.

No, actually, I don't benefit from buying cheap goods from China. That's just the story the corporations have been selling. The fact is that because of this massive theft by the elite in this country, and the lowering of wages and benefits combined with radically increased costs of the big-ticket items, means that most people operate in the red -- in debt, no savings. So no, actually, we are not benefitting. That is a lie.

Prohibit privitization of the military, education, all the other areas where the corporate masters are trying to take over. Fully fund social security and raise the limits to make it a true pension. Make healthcare free for all Americans. Fund it by taxing rich people.

And impeach and/or imprison all these people who have looted, betrayed and destroyed our country.

[LeftRight]

Buy American.... That's a good one. Used to be that WalMart was good for helping you do that. Then they realized that they weren't making any profit there, so they stopped. Now nobody's making American anymore....