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Five things I'm grateful for:
1. Bike Lanes
In DC, people put on ties and lipstick to get a midnight slurpee. The city's type A drivers -- flustered by the dastardly indirect French roadplan -- have made biking to work a Road Warrior sport. Until now. Today, showing up in the morning in Seattle styled grease stained fleece is hot! Racks are packed. Nationwide, bike transportation is up 26% and climbing. Here in DC, we have miles of new bike lanes and more planned. The bike share program is over-subscribed. Bike commuting made it to the big time this campaign season -- During the Colorado governor's race, the conservative candidate accused bike advocates of damaging American sovereignty. I don't know how my silver Jamis hybrid with armadillo tires feels about globalization, but it sure loves the new bike lane on Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to Congress.
2. California
When will everybody -- including New Yorkers -- just admit their secret schadenfreude and acknowledge that California is going to save our nation? I know its a fiscal disaster, but California proved its value on November 2nd when it turned back a conservative tidal wave of money and media -- putting Democrats in office state wide. Dems also held onto their congressional seats. Calmed by the eternal waves of the Pacific (and Grateful Dead cover bands) the state is our national progress leader. Governor Jerry Brown will not allow crazy neighbor Arizona to export its O.K. Corral governing antics. To be fair, Republican Governor Schwarzenegger wouldn't sign Arizona's anti-immigrant legislation either. Watch California lead us out of climate catastrophe. If karma has any meaning at all, the state that gave us Ronald Reagan's sunny apathy as a governing philosophy will push digital citizenship into new democratic frontiers and we will all benefit.
3. Millennial Generation
Okay everybody under 30. No pressure, but you need to get fitted for a cape. We're counting on you to save the planet. Your cohort characteristics are alluring but potentially scary: activist altruism and deference to authority. My advice? Go with the altruism and you will build new mechanisms for authority. Transparency, Validation, Accountability, Trust. Your desire to be part of a larger purpose is desperately needed in today's demoralized public space. Get some experience inside of a governing institution (join the military, Peace Corps, work on the Hill) Take your experience and re-invent the world. We weary Gen X-ers covet your opportunity. We're jaded, but you should ask us for advice!
4. Washington, DC.
In this season of DC bashing, I thought I'd share some photos from a random week in your lovely capital city.
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5. Tea Party Movement
This political shot across the bow might just provide the adrenaline we need to rebuild American civic life. I'm for giving the Tea Partiers a chance. But the fact that they are almost all Republicans who won with unprecedented amounts of anonymous cash makes me think that when it comes time for a real community barn-raising, they'll call Halliburton. And the dirty money won't stop in the near future. 2012 will make Tom Delay's 190K criminal offense look like a Curious George prank. Don't put away your pitchforks! We're front row at the philosophical clash of the century. Our president will keep asking his opponents to come to the table. Like he did this Wall Street record profit week -- as the Republicans snubbed his invitation and the Chamber of Commerce sulked about hurt feelings. Creating an inclusive negotiating table is Obama's job. The rest of us have to force the intransigents to sit down and cooperate. (see Millennials, above).
Follow Lorelei Kelly on Twitter: www.twitter.com/loreleikelly
Who can hate on the tea party?
They are for lower taxes!
They are for restoring America's greatness!
They are for representing the people!
They are for PUPPIES!
They are for RAINBOWS (but not rainbow flags)!
They are for apple pie!
Unfortunately, the baggers don't know how to lower taxes, they thought America was great when we fought it out in the streets, they are only "for" people who look like them and share their religious views, they don't understand how rainbows are created, and none of them have the slightest idea how to actually MAKE an apple pie.
But those are all minor details.
Actually, how about increasing it a third for millionaires and doubling it for billionaires.
Sounds fair to me.
Bagger please. One election cycle with a bunch of republikkkants in drag doesn't add up to squat.
...other than, of course, the changing of the House guard; also, of course, the realization that we are driving ourselves into fiscal oblivion
Unfortunately for the Millenials, their parents are the Boomers who are all about image, selfish aggrandizement, and money hoarding over life balance. This explains the Millenials over sexualized, image absorbed, and techno gadget over real personal relationships persona. There are plenty of community conscious boomers and millenials, but we gen-x souls will need a change in the American society concerning the "me over we" dynamic before any genuine balance between capitalism/consumerism vs. societal/community needs are met. In regards to that balance, the last decade was just horrid.
Tea Party people who are mostly 55 and older and predominantly white give me lots of hope. The reason is their reactionary conservatism which reared its ugly head in the 80's is slowly fading into the background. Majority of people under 45 think that untethered capitalism without a secure safety net is plain dangerous for the country's future. Also, community involvement and life balance with work is slowly transforming stereotyped and inaccurate image of the slacker who doesn't want to work to involved and responsible citizen. I see that overall dynamic mentioned above is changing, but like most things in American society it takes a big financial shock for people to wake up and realize what is really important in their lives.
Thank God the American people are waking up to this 100 year long nightmare called the progressive, Liberal, Democratic, Marxist, communist movement. We will never be asleep again, I promise!!!!
When we awoke, you must've been awfully upset to see how Bush/Cheney ballooned our deficit, no? And how they trampled the Constitution? And the bailouts they gave to Wall St?
That's a harsh way to wake up....
Which states get the most federal spending for each tax dollar they pay? (Hint: 76% of them are red states)
- North Dakota: $2.03 for each dollar
- New Mexico: $1.89
- Mississippi: $1.84
- Alaska $1.82
- W. Virginia: $1.74
- Alabama: $1.61
- Arkansas: $1.53
Which states get the LEAST federal spending from the government? (yup: 69% are blue states)
- New Jersey $0.62 for each dollar
- Connecticut $0.64
- New Hampshire $0.68
- Illinois $0.77
- Minnesota $0.77
- Massachusetts $0.79
- California $0.81
- New York $0.81
It's time to cut some states loose - no more allowance from Uncle Sam. Repubs are all about smaller government and greater self-sufficiency, right?? Let's see how you put that into practice....
1. Balanced budget amendment.
2. Repeal Obama care.
3. Term limits.
4. Repeal the 17th amendment.
I could go on, but you might even get the picture.
How do you propose "kicking out progressives in the Dem party?!" (you DO realize the Dems probably won't take your advice, right?)
I'll stick with the progressives who are the heart of our country.
These two issues separate Republican phonies from real supporters of limited government.
We should scrap all of the above. No free VIP health care for politicians at Navy Hospital in Bethesda or at Walter Reed. Politicians who support health care reform routinely show up at both facilities and receive free preferential treatment.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_authoritarianism#Research:
According to research by Altemeyer, right-wing authoritarians tend to exhibit cognitive errors and symptoms of faulty reasoning. Specifically, they are more likely to make incorrect inferences from evidence and to hold contradictory ideas that result from compartmentalized thinking. They are also more likely to uncritically accept insufficient evidence that supports their beliefs, and they are less likely to acknowledge their own limitations. Nevertheless, there is no connection between authoritarianism and either low or high intelligence.
We should also consider a balanced budget amendment. We have a current Federal budget deficit of $1.3 trillion. We should, as a country, never be able to spend more than we take in.
Lowering taxes is something to consider as well. One theory (the Laffer Curve) suggests that there is an optimal tax rate that can bring in an optimal amount of revenue. Going to the extreme in either direction will lower tax revenues.
Limited government is always a good thing. Government is currently operating at a deficit. We can hardly afford to create new government entities that are mandated from HCR and the financial reform bill.
There is no possible way the budget can be brought under control without a modern, realistic tax structure and cuts not only to defense but also middle class welfare.
We have to get our health care industry costs down to what the rest of the industrialized world is paying by getting rid of the middle man.
Effective representative government is a good thing as opposed to the pay to play system we have had.
Now, GW Bush's tax cuts did nothing to increase federal revenue, which tells me that, assuming that Laffer is correct, we are already taxing well under that optimal amount and need to raise taxes to get closer to Laffer's "sweet spot".
That's what you and every other liberal on here said about the Tea Party and look where that got you. Keep it up, you are only helping us.
A couple years of GOP/TP clowns running the House and America will vote them all out again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzy6YVGIf0w
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/world/middleeast/26diplo.html?_r=2&hp
On Thanksgiving Day I Posted on http://uspublicpolicy.com/legacyofperpetualdebt.html a comprehensive update of an article published on http://debtism.com/ in 2005.
This article attempts to identify and promote corrections of systemic defects in US tax and welfare laws that are insidiously bankrupting this great country.
US BANKRUPTCY is LOOMING!
The general public needs to be informed of the impending economic and social catastrophe that is rapidly approaching.
I need help in spreading the truth about the dangers of debtism so that following the inevitable collapse the same mistakes will not be repeated.
Good luck to all and thank you!
John T Koraska aka SargeK
I just completed an article in response to recommendations made by the President's Debt/Deficits commission. Those ideas have been tried and failed. Defective laws and flawed government accounting has promoted the explosion of both Deficits and Debt.
Unless these defects are corrected the path toward Destruction by Bankruptcy is certain.
"Simple, but significant defects and contradictions in federal accounting of revenues and expenses of US Treasury and federal managed trust funds (i.e. Social Security Retirement) have fostered levels of debt and deficits that are beyond control. US government accounting is so convoluted and complex that it allows the government to spend money it hasn’t received, doesn’t have and cannot account for.
Without immediate correction of these basic accounting defects, the President’s debt and deficit commission will lead to further misunderstanding and chaos. If adopted, the commission’s recommendations will perpetuate, not solve, the debt/deficit problem.
However bi-partisan or well intended, it doesn’t mean squat what actions are enacted into law if the drafters do not recognize the fundamental federal accounting imperfections. http://uspublicpolicy.com/flawedlawbankruptingus.html
Please read the article and scroll just below it to the article entitled The Legacy of Pertpetul Debt. The last article was recently updated and comprehensively revised to provide full understanding of documented subject matter.
Good luck to all
John T Koraska aka SargeK