A rougher tougher Depression

How many of us remember Rush shouting over the airwaves about a minority party voicing complaints about "W's" policies. He said,"Until you (the democrats) win an election you need to shut up. Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!!!" I remember that like it was yesterday.

Rush and his ilk used to say that anyone who criticizes an American president in a time of war was aiding and abiding terrorists. They were unpatriotic and against the troops. Interesting to note that we are still at war and Rush Any one wishing that Obama and the stimulus package fails apparently is a good Republican.


I keep hearing and reading that we are in this economic situation due to Liberal agendas like "affordable housing". While Carter and Clinton were proponents of such measures it was the Republicans like Phil Grahm who wrote the legislation that removed all of the oversight and regulations from those initiatives. Not to mention the housing collapse is merely 1/10th of our current economic catastrophe. Let's look at three other reasons our country needs money injected into the economy: 1. The previous administration removed more than a trillion from the economy for the war in Iraq. 2.The Federal Reserve gave another 2 trillion to insolvent financial institutions. 3. Another trillion was lost in tax cuts for the top 1% percent.

When Reagan put a cap on social security he began this 2nd Great Depression. Are you aware that those who make over $100,000.00 a year pay no social security tax? None. Zippo.

Think of how much more money there would be for the good of the commons. Something Jefferson and the founding fathers used to speak and write extensively about but seem to be conveniently ignored by the conservative right. Infrastructure, Schools and Education, medical research, etc etc. The middle class pays for the wealthiest of our countrymen's social security benefits. That's just criminal!!!

Why doesn't congress just do what it did before the Usury laws were usurped and the big big big business of credit cards took off. The United States is one of the only countries that does not have a cap on how much interest can be charged. At 12% they could still make a hefty profit. Capping credit card interest rates at 12% would truly stimulate the economy. The MFing Credit card companies are currently borrowing money at less than 1% and yet they are still charging card holders upwards of 30% on their purchases and balances. If you don't believe that we are in a class war then explain to me why the multi- million dollar corporations get their interest rates lowered to 0.5% and Joe Six pack gets his interest rate raised and his credit limit lowered? I'll tell you why? We are losing the war because we have no defense to their weapon of choice. Greed.

We are fucked people and I see no way out. Crippling the American economy, middle class, and the ability to attain a college education is Wall Street's, WTO's, and the wealthiest in the world's wet dream. Millions of out of work Americans deeply in debt are cheap labor. Starving people will work for a lot less than well fed people. We survived the last depression by the skin of our collective teeth. We were a kinder gentler nation in those days. There were about half as many people to clothe feed and house as there are today. Citizens rarely if ever car jacked one another. Road rage was non existent. As a population we were much more sociable, neighbors knew each other, and there was a sense of community, a sense that we were all in this together. Today's neighbors rarely speak to or even know each other and this is pretty much by choice. Our lives are so chocked full of the day to day minutia of life in these the aughts. We work more hours for less pay, we have multiple hour commutes, organized sports for the kids, work outs at the gym, nail and hair appointments, nearly daily trips to the supermarket, and on and on. We're just too busy for the neighborhood networking we used to do.

So, when this impending Depression is in full bloom, I fear that we'll be sitting on a powder keg, and the first gasoline, food, or water shortage we face will be the spark that ignites it. I don't see inner city gangs or even a lot of suburbia's Americans patiently waiting in a gas, food or water line.

Back to some more bitching: With each passing day I see this country driving right off the cliff and it makes for sleepless nights. I am reminded of that all so true Lincoln quote, " A country divided against itself can not stand." Well folks, we're pretty divided right now. Flip channels on your television and you'll see the divide. FOX vs MSNBC. Those who watch Fox hate the left and those who watch MSNBC hate the right. Those who watch neither are split down the middle as well, half read books and try to avoid television all together and the other half watch local stations and listen to conservative talk radio. We are about as divided a country as we were during the Civil War only the weapons being used are verbal and political. We are constantly being distracted by the dog and pony show of politics. We're too busy taking sides instead of addressing the problems. It doesn't look good for our future as Super power. We're printing money right and left with no standard which we know will only make the dollar virtually worthless. Yet we just keep doing it because if we don't there will be riots in the streets. I say there will still be riots only not this year but, next.

So here we go plodding through our daily routines thinking that somehow it'll all work out and this will all be a negative blip in our economic security. I disagree because, I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. The drastic measures that must be taken in order to avoid total collapse won't be as long as every policy decision is being made by millionaires looking out for their own best interests. Democrats and Republicans alike. 350 billion unregulated, unsupervised, unaccountable dollars given to those institutions that schemed away trillions of client's dollars. Did they have to lay off anybody? Did they have to give up medical benefits? Did they have to take a cut in pay? The answer to all those questions is "No."

Where's the outrage?!! Why isn't the headline of every news program: "What the hell did they do with our money?" We won't see that because the 5 media companies that own our nations media are part of that elite group of people who benefit from our ignorance.

DaG down and out