Good (us) Verses Evil (bankers)

Glenn Beck will have you believe that "spreading the wealth" is somehow evil. But it's by hoarding and not sharing that is truly evil. Most of us learn this very basic lesson in humanities as small children when our parents had first taught us to share.

After recently witnessing the other uprisings in his neighborhood, why is the King of Saudi Arabia JUST NOW offering higher wages, cash bonuses, and welfare for the unemployed? Why not before, if he hadn't been hoarding the wealth and resources of the country? He controls the largest reserves of oil in the world and lives like a King, but why is he ONLY NOW attempting to be more "generous" with the masses that he rules? Shouldn't he have been doing this all along if he were a kind and caring ruler?

All the uprisings and revolutions in human history were all began for just this very reason, when the masses were denied access to the wealth and resources - and reduced to living in poverty and struggling just for survival - before a tipping point is finally reached. When will Americans reach their "tipping point"?

The Faustian Bargain is a deal with the Devil; a dangerous bargain made by a person who offers his or her soul in exchange for wealth and power...the Fiend's service is the wagerer's soul, to be condemned to eternal damnation.

When one controls the resources (wealth), then they control humanity. If a wealthy person has empathy for humanity, and shares the resources (wealth), then this is good for mankind. But if one were evil (and hoarded the resources/wealth), then they are very bad for mankind. If this evil person has the wealth (and therefore the control of the food, the media, the armies, and law enforcement) and doesn't wish to share, how does humanity obtain access to the resources (i.e. food, shelter, and the creature comforts)? By peaceful revolt, uprisings, and protests? And if this doesn't generate the desired results for the masses, then what, just vote for a different politician in the next election cycle?

A wealthy person who is good can do great things for mankind to improve the human condition in many ways, by taking their resources (wealth) and inventing new things, mass producing goods and services, researching diseases and cures, growing crops for the masses, generating power for heat and light, cleaning water and providing sanitation services. They can also build roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, and universities - - - the same as a nationalize government could do collectively for all its people. But an evil person with too much wealth and only hoards it, deprives humanity of the resources needed to provide the vital goods and services mankind needs for life and comfort. What are the masses to do? Just vote for a different politician in the next election cycle?

Money (fiat currency) and precious metals (i.e. gold and silver) is mankind's global and mutual agreement on the measurement of resources (wealth). This is equivalent to a person's labor: The effort that must be physically exerted to produce a good, or a task to be accomplished to provide a service. People labor for those who possess the "token" fiat money or gold that represents human labor. Example: One bar of gold could = 1,000 hours of human labor, which could = a mansion or a yacht. If a poor person builds a yacht for a wealthy person but does not get paid enough gold in return for his labor to even buy small boat for himself, then what can that person do? Just vote for a different politician in the next election cycle?

If all the wealth (labor, gold, natural resources, food, etc.) in all the world could be equally divided between all the people on the globe, we would still have wars, famine, murder, theft, and other bad things...because there will still be evil people making every attempt possible to acquire all the wealth and to hoard it. It's called human greed, and greed can not be eradicated from the planet in ANY election cycle, but only with the help of God.

This is why Socialism has yet to work, because of greedy and evil leaders (i.e. Joseph Stalin) who controlled the wealth (natural resources and human labor); but instead of sharing, had hoarded. To have a truly Utopian and global human society, mankind would need a world leader who cared not so much about wealth (and power), but only about the human condition, such as Mother Teresa.

The big central banks (i.e. the U.S. Federal Reserve) control the politicians that work for greedy global corporations and big central banks, enriching only a few people who only amass and hoard the wealth, never wanting to share with the masses. Average working people are at the very bottom of the food chain and don't have any control of their destinies. The major corporate media controls what they know. And even in America, they are slowly just being left with only the illusion of their freedoms.

The good news for humanity is, after the masses have lived, suffered, and died poor they will also spend eternity in Heaven (like Mother Teresa); but after the evil and greedy ones have perished (the oil barons, politicians, bankers, dictators, despots, CEOs, etc.), they will all have to forfeit their souls, and spend eternal damnation in the fires of hell...even if they're a moron Mormon or Latter Day Saint like Mister Glenn Beck - who may have also made a deal with the Devil - and also believes in not sharing with others.

But in the end, Good always triumphs over Evil.

Glenn Beck - Charity Begins at Home for the Jobless

And ends at home. At Glenn Beck's home.

When our government undertakes disaster relief, very complicated logistical requirements are needed to manage the flow of goods and services between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet the requirements of the people in need.

That's why we have relief organizations such as the Red Cross, AmeriCares, the U.S. Army Corps of engineers, the National Guard, and FEMA for national emergencies. Americans can't always just rely on their neighbor's good Christian charity when a catastrophe strikes.

The economic collapse of America in 2008 was one such disaster for millions of Americans who needed help desperately after they suddenly lost their jobs. Although it wasn't a "natural disaster" (made by God), it was still a man-made disaster (made by AIG, Goldman Sachs, etc).

When 8.5 million people were laid off during the Great Recession, most of them didn't have the financial resources needed to sustain themselves and their families beyond a very short period of time. Housing, heat, and food was of an immediate concern. Their most basic needs couldn't have been met by simply depending on the charity of their neighbors or by relying on collections taken by ministers at the local church.

And the CATCH-22 for most of the unemployed in our modern era is that most of them were most likely locked in to a long-term financial obligation (i.e. mortgage, lease, auto loan, credit cards, etc.). So without a job and their last two weeks pay stubs, it's usually not possible for them to just immediately abandon their cars and homes in search of a cheaper place to live and/or an older car to drive.

And besides, after first losing one's job in "normal" times, and after only a few months at the most, one can usually find another job. So most people just attempt to maintain the status quo in the meantime - - - keep the kids in school, make the car payment, and tell their spouse not to worry, that everything will be alright. And most of the time, this is true. But it was much different this time, during the Great Recession. And those that lost their jobs first, they were the most affected for a variety of reasons.

Who could have known back then, that it would have been so difficult, and taken so long, for the unemployed to ever find work again? So unemployment benefits were essential, just for basic survival. When collecting unemployment benefits one usually receives less than 50% of their previous earnings - - - and on an already tight budget while they were still employed, these people weren't on a "paid vacation" as all their critics on Fox News had proclaimed.

Glenn Beck (as did the GOP and the Tea Party) later preached about the unemployed having to rely on "government hand-outs" when the financial crisis (national emergency) suddenly hit America in 2008.

The people who were first laid off were literally blindsided. Some had arrived at work one morning only to see the gates locked. There were no early warning signs for these workers. It wasn't in the news yet, people at work weren't discussing layoffs, it hadn't become common knowledge yet. Mass layoffs weren't yet being reported in the media, so they had no time to prepare in any way, except by having any past savings in the bank - - - that is, if they had even earned enough to save any money at all.

Beck (and his ilk) had preached like evangelists, judging the moral integrity of those who had lost their jobs through no fault of their own...telling them that they should have practiced more "personal responsibility", and if they had, they might not be where they were.

For over two years the unemployed (now the "long-term unemployed") have heard Glenn Beck, the Tea Party candidates, the conservative pundits on talk radio, the Republican bloggers, and the talking heads on Fox News blast them. The jobless were smeared, insulted, called names, slandered, accused of irregularities, and blamed for their own situation. Just as many people did to the unemployed during the Great Depression. FDR had even scolded those that did in one of his State of the Union addresses.

Most of these jobless people, it now turns out, are now estimated to be between the ages of 45 years old and retirement age, because it appears that it's only mostly younger workers with less wage expectations that are now being hired. So most of these long-term unemployed American citizens in 2011 can be assumed to have already worked for up to 20 to 50 years already. A great many were college educated and had special skills. A very few eventually found another job, but earning much less that they once did...about what a much younger worker would earn when first entering the job market.

After months of filling out job applications and searching for a job with no results (and very few, if any, actual interviews), the long-term unemployed became what the U.S. Department of Labor labeled as "discouraged", and the government no longer even counted them in the monthly jobless numbers just 4 weeks after they exhausted all their State and federal unemployment benefits (EUC), which was between 26 and 99 weeks. This only further frustrated these people: After being rejected and not getting any job offers, it was infuriating and exasperating to know that their own country no longer even acknowledged them...as though they didn't exist. Add to that the insults from the commenters on the on-lines news articles and the commentators on Fox News, which also depressed them more. It almost seemed as though the unemployed were getting no empathy, sympathy, or understanding at all from their fellow Americans, except from other unemployed people.

So the long-term unemployed formed small on-line communities in which to network regarding job searches, and to discuss such topics as job discrimination, unemployment benefit legislation, and the economy in general. They  made concerted efforts to write letters to their members of congress, and they grouped together to launch "Fax Attacks" on Congress and the White House. They also joined jobless Facebook groups, like for the 99ers. A few started talk-radio blogs and Twittered as well, reaching out for work or advocating what was known as a TIER FIVE for extended federal unemployment benefits.

Many were interviewed for national radio and TV shows such as Ed Schultz on MSNBC and Diane Sawyer's World News on ABC. Many were also interview for AP newspaper articles, and a few were even on Fox News....their worst critic. But as usual, most of the long-term unemployed were criticized and ridiculed...as if just being without a job was their own personal failure. It was unimaginable that the American public had turned so bitterly and angrily against their fellow countrymen. Like kicking someone when they're down. Truly a national shame.

Many of the oldest workers who never found employment again were lucky enough to have had at least made it to an age for early retirement (62) and collecting the much lower amount for early Social Security benefits. Others had qualified for SS disability benefits, but only after a very long, exhaustive, and complicated battle with the government to qualify.

And almost all of those 8.5 million people who had lost their jobs earlier in the Great Recession had also lost their life's savings, and many their homes. Some moved in with friends or family. Many were forced to live in their cars if they weren't repossessed by the bank. Many moved to live in tent cities. Because of budget concerns, mostly due to lost tax revenues, it put a huge strain on the government's ability to help, leading to vastly reduced social services that these people desperately needed (homeless shelters, healthcare, food stamps, food banks, etc).

And it's not by chance that those very services are the ones that the Republicans and the Tea Party wants to slash even more, rather than just have the wealthiest 2% pay a little more in taxes to help their fellow citizens during a time of national economical suffering not seen since the 1930s (* This blogger hopes that historians will make note of this.)

Church charities and other religious organizations became quickly overwhelmed and ran out of available resources. Phones were being answered by answering machines, turning the needy away.

When America's jobless had qualified for and received unemployment insurance compensation, they were accused by Glenn Beck (and other critics) as being a "drag on the economy" while those people desperately searched for work as they tried to care for their families, all while attempting to maintain the status quo. If they didn't move in with friends or relatives, others moved or relocated across the country to live and search for work. Some had nowhere to go and ended up living on the street.

Many killed themselves to escape the horrors of homelessness. Suicide hot-lines had their funding increased by congress as they were reaching record levels.

But Glenn Beck (who himself is a multi-millionaire), says that America is the most charitable nation on earth, but preached on his Fox News program that these people (the unemployed) should be ashamed to call themselves Americans because a handful had protested in NYC in August of 2010 for a government extension of federal unemployment benefits to help sustain themselves in their economic hell. Beck thought they should have went to church and asked their priests for charity instead...all 8.5 million (which grew to be 10 million by the end of 2009).

An let's not forget, all these "older" unemployed people who worked for 20 to 50 years who also lost all their employer-related healthcare. Could Doctor Beck have helped all these people who had medical conditions too? Could the neighborhood priest have helped if someone had kidney stones or if a child had needed medication?

The United States of America is (was) the richest nation on earth, who "trusted in God" - so why did so many of her good people (like Beck and his ilk) complain about helping their neighbors, ex-co-workers, families, and friends when they lost their jobs because of the greedy financial shenanigans that were perpetuated by the Wall Street bankers? How much money did Glenn Beck stand to personally lose if grandma had her federal unemployment benefits extended a while longer? Would Beck's family have had to make a sacrifice and his children go hungry? If not, then why would Beck deny others?

"Government hand-outs"? Well then, what are all those farm, tobacco, and oil taxpayer-paid subsidies if not  "government hand-outs"? What about all those tax breaks for the uber-rich like yourself Reverend Beck?

"Personal responsibility"? Well then, what about all those "limited liability" corporations that you and your ilk put on a pedestal every day Mister Beck? Don't the CEOs, Board of Directors, and major shareholders duck "personal responsibility" while hiding behind a corporate status while knowingly making defective products, but yet refuse to recall them because it would cost too much, and because it's usually cheaper to litigate through the courts if only a few people die - and because most people can't afford expensive lawyers?

Glenn Beck doesn't want to contribute anything to unemployment benefits because he doesn't want to have to pay any more in capital gains taxes on his book sales or gold investments - so instead, he'd prefer to cut the federal budget so that the unemployed can't feed and house themselves and their families any longer.

Read yesterday's excellent piece in the New York Times: The Forgotten Millions - "Things don’t look so bad these days, as long as you’re willing to write off the unemployed."

And this is the most devastating thing of all: Has anyone ever wondered why the reported unemployment rate has remained so consistent all throughout 2009, 2010, and into 2011 (averaging around 9.5%), but now in March of 2011 it's reported to be only 8.9%?

The numbers are deliberately being manipulated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but not just for political reasons to make the present administration look good on the economy, but to keep the general pubic uninformed as to the true numbers - - - because that way, it's much easier to justify not funding additional unemployment benefits in the budget. By not having the media's and public support, the long-term unemployed have no one else to turn to for help.

"Spin" is always made on these numbers to make the economy appear better, because we need "consumer confidence" to induce more spending to drive the economy and increase the GDP.

As an example, from my daily Charles Schwab newsletter yesterday: "Weekly initial jobless claims declined by 16,000 to 385,000, versus last week's figure which was upwardly revised by 4,000 to 401,000, and below the 388,000 level that economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected. The four-week moving average, considered a smoother look at the trend in claims, decreased by 7,000 to 386,250, while continuing claims declined by 80,000 to 3,706,000, below the forecast of economists, which called for continuing claims to come in at 3,750,000."

In plain English this says: "A whole bunch of people are still applying for unemployment benefits while another 80,000 just exhausted all their unemployment benefits and still can't find a job." So if this is the GOOD news, then what's the BAD news? It seems that only the jobless knows the TRUE unemployment rate, because they study and actually live these numbers. The REAL U-3 rate is closer to 15% (not 8.9%), and the REAL U-6 rate (to include "marginally attached workers") is closer to 22%.

America's unemployed NEEDED to receive their unemployment compensation insurance payments, because there was no better way to logistically help 10 million jobless Americans. The church collection baskets couldn't have helped them. The jobless deserved the government's help because they had already paid into the system for years - they weren't lazy. If no one will give them a job (especially paying a fair and living wage), then why not pass the government's collection plate around to help our fellow Americans? It's the right thing to do.

And especially because there's no way in hell 10 million jobless Americans could ever have relied on Glenn Beck's charitable and generous donations to feed them - - - because first he'd have to sell his $4 million dollar home...where HIS charity begins and ends.

Obama: Sleeping with the Enemy

Obama was not just in bed with the uber-wealthy, after the orgy he served them breakfast in bed too!

The Europeans must  think we Americans are damn fools...and they would be right. We should have taken to the streets LONG before they ever had the good sense to do. They've been complaining about the G-20/G-7 for years, the big central banks that have been micro-managing our lives to enrich the elitist money masters.

“I have reviewed this agreement that the president reached with the Republican leaders. The agreement taken as a whole is, I believe, the best bipartisan agreement we can reach to help the most Americans.” - Bill Clinton (Dec.2010)

It seems that on the outside, all "well-meaning" Democrats become corrupted sooner or later.

President Obama's agreement ("compromise") last December with the Republicans wasn't a compromise at all. He sold the average working people of America another bill of goods. The uber-wealthy have been doing this to us all along; they've always tossed a bone to the peons, telling them how wonderful it will be for them, pat them on the head, and say, "Be good now."

The GOP had withheld the funding (held hostage the funding) for extended federal unemployment benefits with the demand that the uber-rich also have their Bush Tax Cuts extended for two more years - they wouldn't just allow working-class people to have their taxes lowered (about $15 in their paychecks) unless capital gains taxes for the uber-rich stayed at 15% as well. Capital gains is taxed at a lower rate than regular payroll income is for us working stiffs.

The "bone" Obama through at us peons was to brag that he also lowered the Social Security taxes starting this year in 2011. For every $100 you gross, you get to keep two more bucks. But wasn't Social Security supposed to be going broke, and hasn't the GOP been whining like stuck pigs about the cost of this "entitlement"? Haven't the Republicans and the Tea Party ravers been ranting about this "government hand-out" and threatening to cut back and reduce this huge cost from our budget to lower the nation's debt and deficit?

I don't get it. Am I missing something here? Am I the only dummy in the room, or am I one of the few that managed to keep a marble or two?

The "Obama Compromise" reduced the employee’s share of the Social Security payroll tax by 2 percent. It went from 6.2% in 2010 to 4.2% in 2011 - up to a maximum base wage limit of $106,800 a year.

Why was this? With this paltry amount of savings, will YOU "stimulate the economy"? What will you buy every week with all that extra cash? Basically, you'll just have that much less going towards your retirement fund - just to squander on something that a big corporation wants you to buy today...but "to improve their economy", not yours.

Obama (and his new Republican friends who represent the uber-rich) just had you pay less in FICA to further under-fund your eventual retirement and medical care when you get too old or too sick to work. And this "benefit" you get with a little more cash in your pocket every payday was just traded for billions of dollars in now-to-be-uncollected lost tax revenues from the uber-rich, which is the extended capital gains taxes (the Bush Tax Cuts). Some big favor Obama did you, huh? That was quite a bone they gave us to chew on! Golly gee! Pat me on the head again!

The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax is a payroll (or employment) tax imposed by the federal government on both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare — federal programs that provide benefits for retirees, the disabled, and children of deceased workers. Social Security benefits include old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI); Medicare provides hospital insurance benefits. The amount that one pays in payroll taxes throughout one's working career is indirectly tied to the social security benefits annuity that one receives as a retiree.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities states that three-quarters of taxpayers pay more in payroll taxes than they do in income taxes. The FICA tax is considered a regressive tax* on income (with no standard deduction or personal exemption deduction) and is imposed only on the first $106,800 of gross wages. The tax is not imposed on investment income (such as interest and dividends).

* The Social Security component of the FICA tax has been called "regressive", meaning the effective tax rate regresses (decreases) as income increases. For wage levels above the limit of $106,800 a year, the absolute dollar amount of tax owed remains constant thereafter. (How much do CEOs and bankers earn?)

FICA is also not collected on unearned income, including interest on savings deposits, stock dividends, and capital gains such as profits from the sale of stock or real estate. Stuff the uber-rich invest in (Investments to them are like paychecks to us). The proportion of total income which is exempt from FICA as "unearned income" tends to rise with higher income brackets...such as CEOs, bankers, hedge fund managers, stock traders, AIG, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, etc. (all of Obama's new pals).

A CEO of a major corporation earning OVER a base salary of $106,800 a year pays less as a percentage of their income a year towards Social Security and Medicare than you do earning $40,000 a year - - - and if they also have stock-options worth $1 million a year as part of their executive compensation package, after one year they can cash out those shares of company stock (at an equal or greater value) and only pay 15% in taxes as "realized" long-term capital gains, of which NO portion is allocated to the Social Security or Medicare fund.

The capital gains tax rate used to be 28% a few short years ago in 1997 when President Clinton agreed to lower it to 20%. Then President Bush lowered it to 15% in 2003, where it stands today. Now in 2011 the Republicans want to lower that capital gains tax rate to ZERO percent! Sure! Why not put the Statue of Liberty on sale at eBay too!

And that's just for one CEO...but many other people make multiple millions (and some, billions) of dollars every year and have been making out very well with the present (and past) tax code. So I'll say it again...the Republicans want to lower capital gains taxes to ZERO.

Social Security has accumulated a $2.5 trillion trust fund since the 1980s. But the government has borrowed that money to pay for other programs. The Treasury Department has issued special bonds to Social Security, guaranteeing the money will be repaid, with interest. Without changes, Social Security's trust funds will run out of money by 2037, according to the trustees who oversee the program.

But the uber-rich (and apparently, now Obama) don't give a damn if Social Security goes broke in 5 years. Either way, THEY won't need it for themselves. He and his rich corporate and banking pals have plenty of dough, and will never need a "government hand-out" or "entitlement" like us ordinary working folks some day will.

As usual (like always), we just keep getting screwed. And we wonder why the current deficits exist. The GOP and Obama know very well where all the money is and where it's going. They also know where it's not going...to YOU!

I really don't wish Obama (and his sleazy Democratic friends) to wake up with fleas just because they lay with dogs. I hope they enjoy sleeping with the enemy (the GOP). But I also hope they'll all catch a fat dose of syphilis too.

Capital Gains Taxes - A Rich Man's Poison

As of this month in 2011 (just before Libya and the Japanese earthquake) the stock market had doubled in just 2 short years. When was the last time in history - EVER - have we seen stocks increase in value by so much, and in so little time? (Like the housing bubble, is another stock bubble on the way and waiting to burst?)

But in that same period of time we've also had the highest and most sustained rate of unemployment since the Great Depression, along with record setting government deficits. But why? Because of too low capital gains taxes.

Federal and State budgets are going broke as millions of Americans remain jobless and reduced to poverty, while the big corporate officers and bankers have been raking in record bonuses and paychecks. But why? Because of too low capital gains taxes.

All the money those uber-wealthy INDIVIDUALS were saving by paying less in capital gains taxes weren't being INVESTED (to grow companies and hire people, something "corporate treasuries" usually fund), their money was just being HOARDED...depriving the federal and State governments billions of dollars in vital revenues.

There's a fine line, a balance is needed to "encourage investment" and also to being fiscally responsible when funding tax revenues that are needed to run any kind of government. Too much of one is bad for the middle-class and poor people, and too much of the other...well, let's just say the rich would rather not pay ANY taxes at all.

Let's look at the last 30 years of capital gains taxes...from Reagan to Obama.

1981 to 1989 - President Reagan's Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 reduced the capital gains tax rate to 20% and lowered the oil windfall profits tax. Next year the annual unemployment rate's high was 9.7% in 1982 - and the following year in 1983 the annual unemployment rate's high was of 9.6% (about the average all throughout 2009 and 2010). This tax act slashed estate taxes and trimmed taxes paid by business corporations by $150 billion over a five year period.

As a result, in 1986, the annual revenue of the federal government had been cut by $200 billion a year (which ended up being well over $1 trillion in lost government revenues in 5 short years).

Two years later in 1988 President Reagan had also completely ended the oil windfall profits tax before leaving office (now think of the taxpayer-paid oil subsidies). But with a growing budget deficit, Reagan had also been forced to raise the capital gains tax rate back to 28%. The net job growth that's always been boasted during Reagan's entire two terms in office was only that of the natural rate of population growth (which would also include immigrants). And Reagan’s administration is the only one not to ever have raised the minimum wage for poor working people. (Gee, thanks Uncle Ronnie!)

"Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders." ~ Ronald Reagan in the Sacrament­o Bee while running for Governor of California (28 April 1966)

1989 to 1993 - The first George Bush - Early in his term, Bush faced the problem of what to do with leftover deficits spawned by the Reagan years. At $220 billion in 1990, the deficit had grown to three times its size since 1980. Then, just like today, the Republicans believed that the best way was to cut government spending, and Democrats were convinced that the only way would be to raise taxes.

In the wake of a struggle with Congress, Bush was forced by the Democratic majority to raise tax revenues; as a result, many Republicans felt betrayed because Bush had promised, "Read my lips, no new taxes" in his 1988 campaign. Perceiving a means of revenge, Republicans defeated Bush's proposal which would enact spending cuts AND tax increases that would reduce the deficit by $500 billion over five years. (Despite demands by the Republicans for a reduction in the capital gains tax, Bush relented on this issue as well.)

1993 to 2001 - Bill Clinton - The capital gains tax rate, which used to be 28% since Reagan left office, was lowered back down to 20% in 1997 by Clinton.

Washington Post - July 15, 1999 - "The economy is booming, and Americans are no longer clamoring for tax relief. Congress passed a modest tax cut two years ago; most state and local governments have slashed taxes as well. And President Clinton has apparently mastered the art of making Republican tax cutters look like Medicare-busters, Social Security-destroyers and debt-expanders."

Brookings Institute - October 1999 - "After decades of deficits, the recent emergence of federal budget surpluses and the expectation of even larger surpluses over the next decade or more have dramatically altered debates regarding tax and spending policy. The most recent Congressional Budget Office estimates, released in July 1999, project a unified budget surplus of $ 2.9 trillion for 2000-2009. This is divided between off-budget (social security) surpluses of $ 1.9 trillion and on-budget surpluses of $ 1 trillion."

2001 to 2008 - The Second George Bush and HIS tax cuts: After inheriting a budget surplus two years earlier, in 2003 President Bush lowered the capital gains tax rate even more, to 15%. Five years later in 2008 the economy collapsed, tax revenues fell further, mass layoffs occurred, and we saw record unemployment. Now in 2011 the Republicans are pushing for even lower corporate taxes, eliminating the estate taxes altogether and also lowering the capital gains tax to a whopping 0% (That's ZERO, nada, nothing, none at all. No taxes at all on the uber-rich! OMG!!!)

American corporations can pay less for labor in China, and less in capital gains taxes than many other countries - and because of tax loop holes, even though the corporate income tax is higher in the U.S. than it is in China, less as a percentage of total revenue is also paid in American corporate taxes too. So big American corporations can escape paying taxes in very many ways.

2009 to the Present: Obama and the Democrats were blamed for the deficits and too much government spending, but whether the Republicans admit it or not, it was THEY who insisted we under-fund the tax revenues (with lower capital gains taxes) needed to run our ever increasing size of government because of natural population growth (100 million more people since 1970, making a "bigger government"), allowed the outsourcing of our jobs (more tax revenues not being collected), helped kept wages down with union-busting (even more tax revenues that can't be collected), and increased the size of our deficits (because of all the taxes that aren't being collected!)

In the United States, individuals and corporations pay income tax on the net total of all their capital gains just as they do on other sorts of income, but the tax rate for individuals is lower on "long-term capital gains" (at 15%) which are gains on assets that had been held for over one year before being sold (stocks, bonds, stock-options, mansions, yachts, etc). Short-term capital gains (held less than a year) are taxed at a higher rate: the ordinary income tax rate (but minus all their accounting loopholes such as depreciation, deductions, etc).

Capital gains taxes in the U.S. should be raised to their earlier levels (20% under Clinton, or even as high as 25% as they were in the 1950s. But 28% may be too high) to balance the federal and all State budgets...NOT ZERO PERCENT as the GOP now wants!

* * The applicable tax rate for capital gains in China depends upon the nature of the taxpayer (i.e. whether the taxpayer is a person or company) and whether the taxpayer is resident or non-resident for tax purposes. Tax-resident enterprises will be taxed at 25% in accordance with the Enterprise Income Tax Law. Non-resident enterprises will be taxed at 10% on capital gains in accordance with the Implementing Regulations to the Enterprise Income Tax Law.

* An individual may exclude $250,000 ($500,000 for a married couple filing jointly) of capital gains on the ONE TIME sale of the individual's primary residence, subject to certain conditions and limitations.

* * Business entities treated as partnerships are not subject to income tax at the entity level. Instead, their members include their shares of income, deductions, and credits in computing their own tax. The character of the partner's share of income (such as capital gains) is determined at the partnership level. Many types of business entities, including limited liability companies (LLCs), may elect to be treated as a corporation or as a partnership. Distributions from partnerships are not taxed as dividends. Every year the CEOs and bankers can rake in capital gains, not just once like you.

Selected sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/budget/stories/taxes071599.htm
http://www.brookings.edu/articles/1999/1018useconomics_gale.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush#Economy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics#Taxes
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/06/the-laffer-curve-past-present-and-future
http://www.google.com/finance?q=INDEXDJX%3A.DJI
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/fed_capgains_taxrates-20100830.pdf
http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1466.html
http://www.suntimes.com/business/4211618-420/two-old-year-bull-market-draws-investors-but-is-it-showing-its-age.html
Google "Laffer curve"

Today I told the IRS, "Audit me!"

It seems the IRS is either too busy or too stupid to help little-ole-me. I had heard that the IRS was doing an additional one million more audits this year, so maybe the IRS is just short of help and they don't have enough people to answer their phones, make appointments, or prepare tax returns for poor people.

Imagine that. And the GOP, the Republicans and the Tea Party, wants SMALLER government!

Today I tried to comply with the federal law, and to do my duty as a good citizen of this country, but my government made it impossible for me to obey the law.

Every year of my life that I've worked, and I was required to file an income tax return (whether I qualified for a refund or owed them money), I always filed. I never attempted to EVADE paying taxes or to AVOID paying taxes. I was a good American and always did my legal and civic duty; but now it seems my country has made me into a criminal.

Last year my total income was about $9,000 in unemployment benefits and $4,000 from an IRA CD that I was forced to cash out early to have money to live on. TOTAL INCOME: Ca-Ching!!!! A whooping $13,000 annual gross earnings for 2010, just $3,000 above the government's standard of the poverty level - - - but just enough that legally required me to file a federal income tax return.

But unlike many previous years before, I can't file a 1040EZ form this year because I have a FORM 1099 from Charles Schwab carrying over capital gains losses from the tax year of 2008 (when the stock market crashed) and when I used to own stocks, had cash in the bank, a car, and a full-time job. Those were the days!

Now I can not afford to pay TurboTax or H&R Block (like I did last year) to prepare my tax return this year, nor can I properly file one myself, because I was not schooled in the United States IRS Tax Code (I'm a high school drop-out with a GED).

I've been unemployed two and a half years, exhausted all my unemployment benefits, used up all my cash, was evicted, and had my half-paid car towed away. Now I'm indigent and rely on food stamps just to eat. I also have health issues too. I'm flat broke and too damn dumb to file a proper income tax return in 2011.

So I visited the IRS website and gathered a little information, then dialed a few phone numbers to get an address as to where I could go to have them prepare my tax return for me - free of charge. The next day I went to see them.

On Wednesday, March 16, 2011 I attempted to do the right thing and arrived at the IRS building at 8:38 AM. (Of course, as usual, being a lazy jobless person, I first had my morning cigarette and cup of coffee before doing my civic duty.)

NOTE: The person that drove me to the IRS office is unemployed as well and paid federal taxes on the gasoline that was needed to drive me there.

After arriving there I waited in a line outside for about 30 minutes to get inside (I'm glad it wasn't raining or too cold). The IRS only allows one person in at a time inside the building for security purposes (and now I know why). There were signs outside at the beginning of the line that said NO FIREARMS, NO CELL PHONES, and NO SMOKING (25 Feet from the front door).

Like other federal buildings and airports, when it was my turn to enter the building I was asked by armed guards to empty all my pockets, provide them with a current government ID, and walk through a scanner...and my personal objects were x-rayed. (The woman in front of me had to remove her shoes because she had pennies in her "penny loafers".)

After I was cleared by security and deemed not to be a "clear and present danger" to them or to mankind in general, I waited in another line. When it was my turn I approached the desk and said I needed someone to prepare my taxes. I was told that they were too busy and I would have to schedule an appointment for another day. (WTF?) I then asked them why they didn't have a phone number for me to call and schedule an appointment in advance - before having to come all the way down there in the first place. They looked at me with blank stares and offered me no reason at all.

They then asked me for my W-2 forms and related tax records before scheduling a later appointment with me. When they saw my FORM 1099 I had from Charles Schwab, they said, "We don't do 'complicated' tax returns." I asked them why not, and they just gave me the same blank stares with no answer at all.

So because they refused to prepare my federal income tax return for last year (2010), I then told those bozos at the IRS, "Well then, just audit me!" - figuring an IRS audit wouldn't cost me anything, and I was all caught up on my present taxes to date anyway. What's the worst that can happen, right?

So they gave me a ticket with a number (506) to see someone else. When I asked them about how long I would have to wait, I got the same blank stares with no answer at all. DAH!!!! (I heard that Federal workers get good wages and benefits. But those idiots have jobs, I don't. But yet, I'm the one who's unemployed. Go figure.)

Then I sat and waited for about 30 minutes before I finally gave up waiting and left (my lower back had been bothering me). Besides, I think they gave me "a number to nowhere", because no other number in sequence with my number ever showed up. I saw 001, 304, 937, 284, 804, etc. So nobody was ever to know when they were next to be called...it could have been several hours, there was no way to judge. Every time a number was called, it appeared to be a random number. Very odd.

As I was leaving I asked them for a business card. The same dumb (but polite) blank stares. I finally left at 9:52 AM and paid the parking garage $9.00 that I couldn't afford for the privilege of my time, frustration, and expense. Why I even bothered trying to comply with the federal law, I still don't know. Thank you U.S. government, the same government who destroyed the middle-class to begin with!

Now I'll just have to fill out a 1040A form as best I can, knowing it probably won't be correctly done (and should raise some red flags at the IRS...that is, if they're not like the SEC and are sleeping or watching porn)...and then I'll just wait for my free IRS audit to properly prepare and file my income tax return for 2010, like I asked them to do in the very beginning!

I'm not due to get a refund, nor will I owe taxes either, so I won't worry about being cheated out of money, or having to owe the IRS fines, interest, and penalties. I have no job (they can't garnish wages), I have no bank account (they can't freeze any accounts), I own nothing (so I need not worry about any property liens), and I hear debtor's prison is full these days (so I won't go to jail either).

But I may end up on a WANTED poster in the Post Office. I just hope and pray I never play and hit the lottery for Mega-Bucks. At least that way I can maintain my status quo.

And the GOP, Republicans and the Tea Party, wants SMALLER government. Maybe THEY should try visiting the IRS some time. At least hire a few more people at the IRS during tax filing time to help poor people file their damn income tax returns...especially if they aren't even getting a refund...and especially if they might actually owe the government some money!

We gotta pay down that national debt some way, right? We sure in the hell won't do it by taxing the rich, so we might as well try doing it by auditing the poor.

Corporate America's Scam on Japan's Disaster

We already know how big major American corporations SQUEEZE, PINCH, GRAB, and DRAIN every penny they can out of average hard-working (and unemployed) American consumers. They will also profit off of human suffering, natural disasters, and death too.

Example from Change.Org - "As Japan struggles to overcome a disastrous string of events -- including a possible nuclear catastrophe -- millions of us have sought to help, often by donating money to urgent relief efforts. But if you donate via text message (i.e. AT&T and Verizon), your donations may take up to 90 days to reach aid organizations that need the money as soon as possible."

Corporate America wants to make money on disaster relief too! These are the same CEOs who want us to believe that they are upstanding "pillars" of our community; and to give them more tax breaks with the false promise of creating more jobs.

If you wish to donate, go directly to the Red Cross website and bypass the tele-communication giants (these corporate scam artists) who have already slammed us in the past to their long-distance carriers and overseas porn sites; and who have also charged us "roaming charges" and many other added charges in the fine print on our bills, including insurance and other services we never even sighed up for!

Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief at the Red Cross web site:
https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=0&5052.donation=form1&df_id=5052

The president of the Red Cross says that 91 cents of every dollar donated goes to actual relief for the people.

Masaya Uchino, a law student in San Francisco with family in Japan, started a petition on Change.Org to demand that AT&T, Verizon, and other major phone service providers stop delaying much needed donations from reaching organizations doing relief work in Japan.

Please add your name to this petition at Change.Org
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-delay-on-donations-to-japan-2?alert_id=QXeUWkuBQr_EAlYKbLnJM&me=aa

Beware of Glenn Beck's "McCarthyism"

(UPDATED BELOW) - Despite what Glenn Beck told you last week , the clenched fist logo was not just used by socialists, but by trade unions as well - as an expression of solidarity, resistance, strength, unity, and/or defiance (generally with oppressed peoples).

During the Vietnam War it was used by student protesters. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) adopted it for their political movement and Glenn Beck will always associate the clenched fist logo to this movement (Bill Ayers and his wife were dumped by SDS, so Ayers and she had later formed the more radical and violent Weather Underground).

The Black Panther Party used the black fist, and the Aryan Nation used the white fist, both as a symbol of power.

During the Spanish Civil War it was sometimes known as the anti-fascist salute.

But the clenched fist logo being used by the the protesters in Wisconsin has put this logo in another new light...protesting against a major U.S. political party's blatant attempt at union busting - by the GOP and the Tea Party, who doesn't represent ordinary worker's rights, but the interests of the uber-wealthy and big corporations.

READ: Gov. Scott Walker's Real Agenda in Wisconsin (to sell off state-owned facilities in no-bid contracts.)

A few years back the SEIU President was seen on camera saying, "Workers of the world unite!", which unfortunately was the U.S.S.R.'s state motto, and shouldn't have been representative of an American labor union. But Glenn Beck picked up on this and labeled all labor union members as socialist and anti-American.

So besides just accusing unemployed Americans (such as the 99ers who had been advocating for a Tier Five of extended UI benefits) as being un-American, Glenn Beck now wants you to think that all American union workers are also un-American...like those in Wisconsin. (Glenn Beck really does have a very narrow point-of-view when it comes to politics, symbolism, slogans, and logos).

What Andy Stern should have said was, "Working-class people of America unite...against Glenn Beck!"

But so what if Andy is a labor leader who might have left-wing ideological beliefs; that doesn't necessarily mean that all those protesters in Wisconsin are also card-carrying communists.

Beware of Glenn Beck's "McCarthyism".



We all know about Gov. Scott Walker's union busting agenda and his false claims about just cutting the budget (As a state employee himself, did Governor Scott Walker take any cuts in HIS salary and benefits?)

But Walker's war is not only against the Democrats and the middle-class, it's also against Wisconsin's institutions.

What's not talked about much is that Walker also wants to sell off state-owned facilities in no-bid contracts that are notoriously prone to insider dealing. The Republican governor's budget plan would open up the whole State of Wisconsin to a huge corporate asset-grab not seen since the days of robber baron capitalism.

This is who Glenn Beck, the GOP, Fox News, and the uber-rich like the Koch brothers support.

FULL STORY

Wisconsin Firefighters were withdrawing all their cash and closing their accounts on a bank that had supported Walker. Afterward, the banks closed their doors for fear of a run on the bank. (He-he!)

FULL STORY

The Uber-Rich Must Pay!

It's bad enough that they haven't been paying enough already, but now the Republicans are whining that they should be paying much less! Maybe none at all!

When a CEO flies to Washington D.C. on a "company jet" to attend a bail-out hearing in front of Congress, they are flying in THEIR jets, collectively owned by senior corporate officers and/or major shareholders. Just because you might own a few stocks in their company (or they are being held by your IRA or pension fund), YOU'LL never fly in one of those multi-million dollar Learjets.

Uber: "The ultimate, above all, the best, top, something that nothing is better than."

I was watching a program on PBS last night and it drew the conclusion that after a 20-year study that in fact, it wasn't the wages of State employees that's caused the State budget deficits; but that lately it has been just the lack of revenues. It conceded that at the current rate, pensions couldn't be sustainable in the future, but that was only because of the Great Recession (unemployment, housing prices, etc), and this shouldn't be a permanent concern. While it was true there was a very small proportion of State workers who were over-paid, those cases were rare, and in fact, State workers' actual wages usually only accounted for a very small part of any State's overall budget. But I agree, reform should be encouraged, especially while dealing with their over-time wages.

See Alan Grayson's article today about corporate tyranny and union organizers: "Did They Die in Vain?"

It's not common workers (and the poor) who are busting the State and federal budgets, but the GOP wants you to believe otherwise, so that the uber-rich can pay LESS in taxes, because with cuts in government services (reduced budget outlays), it's usually only YOU that will feel the sacrifice. The uber-rich will never make any sacrifice, at least, never voluntarily unless they are forced to by our politicians, via us, the voters.

More from Alan Grayson: "Ronald Reagan cut taxes on the rich and added $1 trillion to the federal debt, and turned America from the largest creditor nation into the largest debtor nation.

Then George W. Bush cut taxes on the rich and added another $4 trillion to the federal debt, and vaporized 20% of our national wealth in the last 18 months of his administration.

Yet in December, the Republicans in Congress forced us to extend tax cuts for the rich for two more years, at the cost of $70 billion a year. And now, they want to cut social services by $70 billion a year."

Since the dawn of humanity there has always been the haves and have-nots, from the most primitive tribes to the ancient Pharaohs; from the Roman emperors to the despots of the middle East; from the dictators in Cuba, China, and North Korea to those guys in North Africa today.

The ones who have the wealth, also have the power. When they have the power, they control the wealth and the people - just like the big corporations and the bankers have been doing to the people in America for the past century...ever since they invented a central bank and corporations for themselves. They used the politicians to trick the voters.

Now the uber-rich have TOO MUCH cash, so much so that they don't even know what to do with it! But one thing they know for certain is, they don't want you to have any of it!

Current technology and innovation hasn't kept up with the available cash that the uber-wealthy have to invest. It's become too easy and less risky for them to invest; it's much simpler and safer for them to just sit on their money and continue profiting from what they already have and/or control...such as oil. So if they won't invest in us and the country, then tax them more, and allow us to invest in ourselves.

Even before the Bush Tax Cuts, they were already paying far too little in taxes. With loopholes and other accounting and corporate strategies (and cracks and lack of enforcement in government regulations), the uber-rich, while paying more in taxes than you and I, weren't paying their proportionate share in regards to their actual incomes...many (if not most) of their personal incomes were taxed at the same rate as a person earning only $30,000 a year!

A too-low capital gains tax rate has allowed for this vast disparity, in both their taxes being paid as revenue to our government treasures, and explains the stagnant wages we've earned as compared to theirs over the decades.

By taxing them, they accuse us of stealing, "by taking from the rich and giving to the poor". That's BS and has been their propaganda line for years and years. If we tax them more, they always accuse us of being Socialists and "spreading the wealth around", as though THAT were somehow an "evil" thing - because they always compare it to Stalin's economic policies. But we are completely different. He was the STATE taking from THE PEOPLE, we are THE PEOPLE taking back from the CORPORATE STATE.

When you have the wealthiest people hoarding 2 to 3 trillion dollars ("money on the sidelines") of the nation's total wealth, and they're not investing in anything, that money is not circulating throughout the economy. Jobs can't be created, infrastructure can't be improved, social services are under-funded, states lose much needed revenues for public services, schools suffer, and the economy goes into a tailspin. Mass layoffs occur.

If there were a way to pry those funds loose from the "hoarders" and money grabbers such as with a 25% capital gains tax (since these people won't voluntarily help our nation) then our government (we) should raise their taxes so that WE can invest in America and its people - - - since obviously the wealthy now refuse to do this.

If I only earned $7 an hour at my job, I wouldn't pay any taxes at all unless I were forced to do so, but the IRS always manages to get my share (whether I think it's fair or not). So why not also force the wealthy to PAY more taxes instead of EVADING as many taxes as they can, by using their high-priced corporate accountants? The uber-wealthy can't wiggle out of that one...it's simple math. If corporate CEOs, investment bankers, hedge fund managers, and real estate tycoons earned $1 billion dollars from their "paper investments" (stock trades, stock-options, commodity trades, property flips, currency swaps, etc), then they'll have to pay $250 million for every billion they rake in to help pay down our national and State's debt.

TAX THE UBER-RICH 25% ON ALL THEIR CAPITAL GAINS.

THEY won't invest in America, so tax them so WE can invest in our country. There would be no deficits, budget crisis, or blaming unions or public workers for earning fair wages. The middle-class will never return if we only relied on the wealthy (they were the ones that killed the middle-class). We have to rebuild the middle-class ourselves...by having the uber-rich do the responsible and fair thing, and invest in those who made them uber-rich in the first place.

Socialism would be taking ALL their money and dividing it equally among all of us. I don't advocate that, just like I don't think they should hoard ALL the money either. There has to be a fair and equitable distribution of a nation's wealth so everyone can prosper to some degree ("floating all boats"). Reducing the majority (the masses) to poverty isn't the American way, that's what the ancient Egyptians did, and look what happened to the Pharaohs after several thousand years of economically oppressing their people. Now we see the results as it was happening again in places like Egypt.

But America can't wait several thousand more years, we have to tax the uber-rich now, before it's too late and we're all just slaves to the bankers and corporations. Or is it too late, and we are already?

"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a president and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

And we must remember: The uber-rich are NOT our ultimate rulers either!

(PHOTO BELOW) Uber-rich toys: Just a sample of their cars, their planes, and their boats (beach-front mansions, mountain retreats, and private islands are not included)- - - What's in YOUR wallet? The uber-rich must pay a 25% capital gains tax for the survival of this nation. Don't worry, they won't suffer much...in fact, they'll never even feel a thing. (Click photo to enlarge)

The Tea Party - Just Another Damn Corporation

I'm not anti-business, I'm anti-corporation. As a modern society we need big businesses to provide us with the essentials of living, to produce in mass quantities all the things we rely on - - - our cars, our food, and even our cell phones made in China. Things such as personal computers have become a necessity in our daily lives. My mom used to call them toys, my brother argued, "No, they're not toys, they're tools." Even many working people will tell the unemployed that computers are extravagances, that they should sell them for food. Idiots.

I don't like corporations because it's too hard to punish the individuals who run them - those who personally ruined so many lives when they made decisions that hurt us; it's difficult to obtain justice and punish them, and send them to jail for their criminal activities. The only way we can exact our "revenge" is to either sue them (which most of the time is almost impossible), or we can hit them where it really hurts the most, in their personal wallets, not their corporate wallets.

The only way we can do that is to collectively use the greatest power we still wield as individual citizens, our vote. We can vote to raise their corporate taxes, but even more specifically, their capital gains taxes...taxing the CEOs and hedge fund mangers and bankers who destroyed our economy and the middle class.

The problem is, the GOP (and by proxy, the Tea Party) wants to reward these people by completely eliminating capital gains taxes entirely. They've been lying to us and telling us it will good for the economy and more jobs can be created. Why would we vote for politicians who only have corporate interests as their primary concern? Which brings me to my next question...

Why is the Tea Party "incorporated"? Could it be that, just like the Republicans (the GOP), they only represent corporate interests? Is that why the Koch brothers bussed them in to the Wisconsin protests? Isn't it true that in fact, it is THEY who are the true "astro-turfers", and not really a "grassroots movement" or the "political activists" or the "government reform advocates" that they claim to be?

While they may have started out that way (with a lot of help from a wealthy CEO named Glenn Beck* back in 2009), since then the Tea Party has become just another corporate tool to influence the masses and public sentiment. The Tea Party has become just another political force representing special interests, not average working people. But I'll bet many of them probably feel in their heart that they still do - - - but they've been corrupted, just like our politicians have. Money and power does that to people too. It's only natural I suppose when sometimes, what was initially a good cause, runs afoul.

* Since his “Restoring Honor” rally, Mr. Beck has lost over a third of his audience on Fox News - mostly younger viewers - and 300 sponsors have ditched him. Fox may not renew his contact again this year.

I refrain from using the expletive "tea-baggers" (like some on the far-left do) because not only do I not categorize a whole group of people in such derogatory terms, but also because I'm polite. And I don't consider myself to be a Socialist either, nor am I anti-government per se. And I'm not a "radical left-wing anarchist" either. I'm just a regular guy who happens to be anti-corporate. I think ALL limited liability corporations who duck personal responsibility and evade the laws should all be dismantled, and many of their officers put in prison. They are not for America's best interests, but just their own.

And the Tea Party supports them.

Now the Tea Party would just have you believe that they only want "smaller government", such as less intrusive governmental regulations (like stricter banking laws), lower taxes (such as those corporate and capital gains taxes on JUST the wealthy), less government spending (for the poor and elderly), and free trade for "a better environment for conducting business" in America (but not necessarily for small "mom-and-pop" businesses, but for the HUGE multi-national corporations that outsource jobs overseas for cheaper labor, destroying the middle-class of America).

Tea Party "patriots"?

And if you read the Tea Party's Mission Statement, one of their 3 core values if free markets."This inherent definitional bias allows many to advocate strong governmental actions that promote corporate power, while advocating against government actions limiting it." Now think of all the free trade agreements that allowed all our jobs to go to Mexico, India, and China (just to name a few), and then let that sink in for a moment.

Smaller government?

We have 100 million more people living in America today than we did 40 years ago, so now we also have "bigger government". With a third more people to care for and all the related bureaucracy that's needed to govern the government, it only makes sense. If a corporation doubled in size, would they only need half as many managers to manage twice as many workers?

What is this "smaller government" that the Tea Party and ultra-conservatives are demanding? We ARE the government, all of us, including them. Are they demanding that we enforce population control, or just reduce the size of the bureaucracy that manages us? Or do they really just want to reduce the services that only the poor, sick, and old people need? Hmmmm?

What exactly is this "smaller government" they keep ranting about? Do they even know?

Is the Tea Party demanding that with the naturally occurring proportionate amount of low-income, poor, and unemployed people (that would naturally increase in size and scope with any equally larger population base) that we should just drastically reduce the help and care that the disadvantaged once received? (instead of raising the taxes proportionately to the amount of wealth that the uber-rich has been hoarding over the years?)

It is WE THE PEOPLE who are the government (the rich and the poor alike), so what part of this government does the Tea Party want to reduce or eliminate? Just the greed, waste, abuse, and fraud in our government bureaucracy? I could go along with that. Just like large corporations also have greed, waste, abuse, and fraud. Greed can be found everywhere, not just in government bureaucracy or among the poor, but also inside large corporations and among the very rich.

Greed, waste, abuse, and fraud can also be found in the Tea Party too.

When they say "smaller government", does this mean that those in the Tea Party wouldn't mind waiting in longer lines at the DMV to renew their drivers licenses? Or do they really mean cut off the heat for the elderly and food for poor children?

In case the Tea Party didn't know this, the larger our population base grows, the more beggars and worthless old people we'll also have living amongst us - - - the ratio of these "drags on our economy" also grows in respect to our population.

What exactly does the Tea Party mean by "smaller government"? Less taxes for the rich so that there will be less resources for the poor, elderly, disabled, blind, mentally challenged, homeless, sick, and starving? Is that God's America, the one we "trust in"?

Oh, and where's all that down home good Christian charity you claim to have? Do you really think that enough cash could have been collected in the baskets on Sunday mornings to feed 15 million unemployed Americans? Would the pastors have personally distributed these funds among everybody? Get real!

If the Tea Party just means eliminating congressional earmarks, do they realize that not ALL are waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption. Senators represent the citizens of their States to bring federal tax dollars to their communities for other things besides "bridges to nowhere". But I agree, there must be reform here.

I usually think of a starving child with sad eyes living in Africa, India, or Asia - and holding out an empty bowl when I think of people in need. Would the Tea Party accuse that poor child of being lazy and just looking for a free government "hand-out"? Would they deny foreign aide to those children, but at the same time, agree to expand taxpayer-paid oil subsidies worth billions of dollars? Or lower the taxes but raise the salaries for members of Congress like they've always done for themselves?

When they say "smaller government", is the Tea Party advocating for the size of government that we had in 1929 when the Great Depression first started? Or the size of government that we had during our Founding Fathers' time? Just how small should this government (us) be in 2011 with 309 million people now living here?

And what about all those greedy government workers...how much should they earn? Would the teachers be paid $7.25-an-hour, the federal minimum wage? Will the Tea Party send all their children to expensive private schools? Does the Tea Party also want to pay their police and firefighters that too? If so, and if I were them, I wouldn't call 911 the next time I needed a smaller government!

Smaller government. How many Republicans and Tea Party people have elderly parents who busted their asses all their lives and got paid piss-poor wages by their corporate masters, and now rely on Social Security and Medicare to survive? Will the Tea Party cut or reduce their parents "government hand-outs"?

Between the mid-1950s up until the Vietnam War were some of the best days in America's history. From 1954-1963 the highest tax rate was subject to a maximum effective rate limitation equal to 87% of statutory "taxable income." Capital gains taxes were 25% (today they're now 15%, but the GOP now wants them set at 0%). But people kept getting rich, even back in those days, and our nation became the strongest economic and military force than any other country ever had in human history. Really? That's odd, how did that happen? And we didn't even have a Tea Party back in those days!

Today the Republicans (and by proxy, the Tea Party) want to make the Bush Tax Cuts permanent, reduce corporate income taxes even more, and completely eliminate the estate and capital gains taxes for the uber-wealthy entirety. If this is allowed to happen, then the Tea Party is right...we WILL need "smaller government". Much smaller.

Cut the budget...cut, cut, cut!

If the Tea Party truly believes that State workers are paid more than they are, then maybe it's not the State workers who have been earning too much, but it is THEY who have been earning far too little all these years. Maybe you too should have joined a labor union with collective bargaining rights instead of always having to beg that corporate stingy boss of yours for a raise. Remember Ebenezer Scrooge? They're all over the place, in every damn corporate boardroom in this country.

This is what the Tea Party considers to be an average American worker's attack on the GOP and their corporate interests (posted by a moderator on the Tea Party Patriots Facebook wall): Wisconsin: Left's war on democracy. Of course it comes from the same propaganda machine as Fox News. The words used in that article to describe labor unions: rogue, hostage, stunt, attack, flee-baggers, illegal, sore-loser party, temper tantrum, danger - just like in my post: The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

But if the Tea Party and GOP leaders still insists on "smaller government" (without raising taxes on the uber-rich), I suggest we start off by laying off all the government sanitation workers in the Tea Party's and GOP's neighborhoods first; and they can live with their own garbage, because they want much "smaller government". Those damn sanitation guys make far too much money anyway, right? So cut the budget! Cut, cut, cut!

And then let's reduce all the Republican congressional wages and benefits to match those of our BIG government's measure of poverty - - - about $10,000 year. Only THEY (the Tea Party whiners) won't be getting any healthcare, food stamps, or welfare either. Because, after all, we need smaller government - - - just so that the uber-rich can have more tax breaks and pay for less "government hand-outs".

In a recent Tea Party Patriots newsletter that I just received in an e-mail, they claim that "95% of the American public wants the deficit reduced" (but they didn't say by how much, or how, or where to reduce or cut the budget). So this could be a little misleading.

And in that same Tea Party newsletter they say "a majority of Americans favor spending cuts over tax hikes". This last part is deliberately and outright misleading in many ways. What the Tea Party newsletter didn't tell me was that most Americans DO prefer tax hikes, but just for the wealthiest 2%. (Why didn't the Tea Party tell me that?)

Their newsletter offered no links to back-up their statements or numbers - or any supposed poll results...they just put their own slant on what they wanted me to think and believe.

So I looked it up: According to a New York Times/CBS News poll the general public's preference for spending cuts dissolves when they are asked about cuts to Medicare and Social Security. And a majority by a large margin said cuts in Pentagon spending was much more preferable. (Oops! Don't big corporations profit from defense spending?)

The Tea Party wants to eliminate our Social Security and Medicare so we will die old, sick, and broke on the street. And the Tea Party will have the Wall Streeters pay ZERO in capital gains taxes to make them all even more rich. And the Tea Party will eliminate programs to feed starving kids...just so we'll have "smaller government".

The Tea Party doesn't just represent average middle-class income hard-working folks who believe in the right to bear arms, strict immigration laws, and "fair" government. I believe in all those things too. And I don't believe most of the Tea Partiers are necessarily racists either. But the Tea Party also represents the big corporations, whether the so-called "members" realize this or not. They might not like BIG government, but they represent the interests of BIG multi-national corporate conglomerates (i.e the Koch brothers).

At all the Tea Party rallies you'll see many of those yellow flags that reads, "Don't Tread On Me", as if it were government tyranny that was oppressing the masses. But tell me, just who exactly is treading on who? Hasn't it really been corporate tyranny that has been keeping us down? The rich have been treading on the working-class for centuries.

The Bail-Outs of 2008-2009 Re-visited (Lest we forget)

The corporate and banking bail-outs were just that, bail-outs. They all went bankrupt, they weren't too big to fail, they really did fail. Only instead of going through the normal federal bankruptcy courts, special provisions were made by our government leaders for them by people at the Federal Reserve, those very people who also used to work for those very same banks, such as Goldman Sachs and AIG.

Essentially, our government leaders allowed the printing of more fiat dollars (maybe not actually printed money, as in physical currency, but in "digital dollars" - as a promissory note, that they just entered as 0's and 1's of binary code into a computer to the credit of all those big banks and corporations.

By "monetizing", this devalued the dollar more, hurting common working Americans. And the Chinese, who hold so much of our debt, weren't very happy either.

And the talk was, that the price of oil was no longer going to be pegged to the U.S. dollar because of this "monetizing", because America had lost her credibility - the once almighty dollar, now like a junk bond. President Obama just said in a news conference today that [paraphrased] "Because of emerging markets such as China, the demand for more oil has driven up the cost." TRANSLATED TO MEAN: "Because of big corporate American factories in China, the cost of your home-heating fuel and gasoline prices are going up, while we also continue to lose more jobs to China." Meanwhile common American taxpayers are forced to pay for HUGE oil subsidies to oil companies that have been making billions of dollars in profits every year...WTF?

And because of the social unrest in Libya, the commodities traders are manipulating the "futures" on the price on a barrel of oil to profit further, never letting a "crisis" go to waste. Meanwhile, Obama also announced that he'll also consider tapping into our national emergency petroleum reserves, which will have to be replaced with ever higher oil prices. So then, tell me again: "What's the big difference between Obama and Bush?"

So long as BIG oil corporations can profit, we'll never see low-cost hydrogen energy!

The banks then got billions of dollars in all this fake "monopoly" money as a loan by the government to pay them (us) back at 0.25% interest while they turned around and loaned it out to big businesses and American consumers for 10.0% to 20.0% interest...hence their higher stock prices and big bonuses (and only paying a 15% capital gains taxes on those, taxes that the GOP now wants to make 0% on capital gains taxes).

While they bought yachts and mansions, we lost jobs and homes.

The corporations and big banks had trillions of dollars on the books with credit-default swaps, but using accounting trickery (mark-to-market rules) to hide all those lost assets that essentially disappeared into thin air. And the taxpayers just refunded them for all their losses, while at the same time, had paid them ever more profits on top of that. And out of gratitude, we saw what the big banks and corporations gave us in return.

After destroying the housing market and the middle class - and putting millions of Americans out of work, now these same banks and corporations want more...to pay less corporate income taxes and to pay no capital gains taxes at all, while at the same time reducing or cutting the national budget that further hurts the very people they had destroyed, those who are now homeless, poor, sick, disabled, unemployed, hungry, and suicidal.

But today the FEDS are telling us that the banks did nothing wrong!

This is who the Republicans and the Tea Party support - the corporations and big banks, those that hid their greed by deceivingly trying to cloak it in American patriotism, and fleecing us like ignorant third-world beggars.

God bless America, but good bye to the American Dream forever.

Full Disclosure from the Tea Party Patriots Newsletter

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My Posts About the Radical Far Right Wing Tea Party

Tea Party Exposed - Against Small Business

Tea Party Anarchists

The Tea Party's Cure for Cancer

The Tea Party - Just Another Damn Corporation

Tea Party on the Poor and Unemployed

More Tea Party Truths

The Tea Party Loved Medicare, before they Hated It

Tea Party Radical Mike Pence - "Shut it down!"

Michele Bachmann - "Take our country back!"

Michele Bachmann - Congressional Mobster

Paul Ryan's Holy Bible

Saving Medicare from Paul Ryan

Tea Party's Health Care Compact

Koch Brothers Are Living Large...

Nikki Haley: Does she have her "affairs" in order?

Tea Party Candidates - Millionaires Representing Millionaires

The GOP: "The Russian are coming! The Russians are coming!"

If you vote for a Republican, then essentially you're agreeing to eliminate ALL taxes on the mega-wealthy. The GOP claims that by eliminating ALL capital gains taxes on the rich, then ALL AMERICANS will have a much better chance of getting rich themselves!

WHOOPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's the crazy nonsense that the GOP (with their corporate backers) are now proposing - and it's just frigging ridiculous! But it's also very damn scary, because so many average Americans actually believe this crock. The Republicans have been driving the message home, and the sheeple have been following these GOP propagandists over a cliff.

Didn't we just have 10 years of Bush Tax Cuts, and what did THOSE tax reductions get for common every-day working Americans?

   * An economic collapse
   * $14 trillion in national debt
   * Bank and corporate bail outs
   * Record Wall Street and corporate bonuses and profits
   * Record high unemployment and more jobs outsourced
   * Budget deficits in ALL levels of government
   * A crumbling infrastructure
   * Higher costs of living
   * The elimination of worker's rights
   * Record poverty, home foreclosures, homelessness, and suicides
   * The demise of America, the middle-class, and the American Dream

On Fox News this morning (Fox and Friends) they reported that at the present rate 50% of all American households will be receiving some form of "government hand-out". Even Social Security was eluded to as a "government hand-out". One commentator remarked, "We're turning into a Socialist State!" (The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!)

Just prior to that last moronic statement, one Fox News commentator had praised the Governor of Wisconsin for stripping the labor unions of their bargaining rights. He said when he was in his car and heard that on the radio, he pumped his arm up and down with a clinched fist, as in Choo-choo! "You go boy!"

Oh really? Depressing worker's wages and benefits so that the uber-rich can become even MORE uber-rich is a "good thing"? The budgets are not in the hole just because state workers are getting paid fair wages, it's mostly because the uber-rich have been paying less in taxes.

And just prior to what that Fox News blow-hard had said, they had another guest who claimed that, "Eliminating the capital gains tax entirely would be good for America because businesses would create more jobs, which would be good for the economy."

What Fox News always seems to fail so miserably to emphasize is: Capital gains taxes are usually what the really rich people only have to pay - - - not what us grubby peons pay from our meager paychecks.

If more Americans need government assistance ("hand outs"), it's only because big banks and corporations (rich people who pay capital gains taxes) have fleeced the American people for decades, and sent their jobs overseas to further enrich themselves. And then those same rich people caused the budget crisis by getting their Bush Tax Cuts 10 years ago. Now they want to pay NO taxes at all!

We're NOT turning into a "Socialist State" as the GOP and Fox News proclaim, we're turning into a "Corporate State". Stripping common workers of their collective bargaining rights is what's enabling the Corporate States of America. Big business wants to pay Americans Chinese-wages and pay no taxes for Social Security and Medicare. The rich have declared an out-right war on the working-class and poor (who are just about everyone else who isn't extremely rich like them, and also has to pay capital gains taxes). The rich have declared out-right war on the working-class and poor Americans in ALL political parties. When it comes down to just "regular folks", there is no LEFT or RIGHT, there's just US.

The wealthy in America deliberately divide us into factions to fight among ourselves, the same way despots and dictators gain and maintain control of their populations (managing tribal disputes)...so they can embezzle their nation's wealth, build elaborate palaces, and hoard money in secret bank accounts. We are dealing with very clever and powerful (and very sick) people! These GOP dictators who are backed by their corporate benefactors are no better than those monsters in the Middle East.

Eliminating taxes completely for the rich with the promise to create well-paying jobs for you is a BIG GOP LIE.

"Fool me once, shame of you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Remember the Bush Tax Cuts?

I don't want to preach to the choir, so I'll address the remainder of this post to Republicans and Tea Party people. How often do you say (or think) this: "It's the left wing that wants to spread the wealth. The left wants to limit people's ability to make it on their own. It's the left that just wants government hand-outs."

I used to watch Fox News and I once believed all that nonsense too, so I know exactly where you're coming from - - - and I know exactly why you believe what you do. I was once brainwashed also. But in the REAL world, it's the "powers that be" that uses the media (Fox News) to influence the uninformed masses (you) to believe that GOP mantra; and to turn you against all Democrats in general - and to have you believe they're all "evil", "liberal", "left-wing", and "socialistic radicals".

"The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!"

First of all, most Democrats are just average working Americans (just like you); and secondly, they're human beings with feelings, wants, and desires too (just like you). They are your family members, your co-workers, and neighbors. They're not lazy, twisted, drug-addicted, thieving, evil, dirty, beggars and communists. They're not trying to destroy this country or to take over the world either. They're not denying you the opportunity to acquire your own wealth. That's just the GOP propaganda. I know, I used to spew all that crap too!

I used to be a Republican conservative blogger and I once believed all that rubbish that people like Glenn Beck spews. Now, when I read all my previous blog posts from a year ago, I feel immature, foolish, and ashamed for posting my moronic rants and railing against the labor unions. It's not at all about anybody looking for "hand-outs" as many of you so foolishly pontificate (like I once did); it's about a class war that the rich has been waging against the middle-class (of ALL political parties...you included) for many years.

The GOP has been working for corporate interests, not for working people (like you). Normal people WANT to work, while also earning a FAIR wage - they are not looking to live on a pittance (welfare or unemployment benefits) and food stamps (hand-outs). Get real man!

The rich have turned the middle-class against each other to preserve THEIR wealth, and to gain more wealth and power for themselves...they don't give a damn about their ignorant cheerleaders (like you). Do you really think that the Republicans are trying to promote a whole new generation of billionaires, and that you'll really ever have a good chance of joining that elitist little club? Wake up dude!

And what if you don't get rich, will you then blame the poor? Will you accuse all those filthy "beggars" who just wants a free government "hand-out" and gets food stamps? Would you feel that somehow they are preventing YOU from realizing YOUR "American Dream"? Pol-eeeeeeze!

If you're out of work now (like me) and you blame the Democrats (like I once did), then at least learn more about why you're out of work right now....start with Wall Street and American-based multi-national corporate conglomerates that sent your job to China. Then look at the ridiculous tax rates that the wealthy have enjoyed so much, and for so long - - - and then consider them paying NO CAPITAL GAINS TAXES at all, so that when you're too sick or too old to work, or want to retire, you won't have Social Security or Medicare to rely on. Or if you do, you'll have to bust your ass until you're 80 years old if the GOP had their way.

Oops! I forgot...you're going to be a billionaire, and you won't ever NEED Social Security or Medicare. My bad. Sorry!

It's not the LEFT that's "spreading the wealth", it's the RIGHT that's been enabling the wealthy to "hoard the wealth". It's the GOP that's allowing the corporations and banks to only spread the wealth amongst themselves.

If it were up to the uber-rich, then you wouldn't see a damn dime dude! Just like the drug lords protecting their territory, you become THEIR competition. They want you to stay poor. They want you MORE poor!

The wealthy don't care what pill you take: The blue pill (Democrats), where the story ends and you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe - - - or the red pill (Republicans), where you stay in Wonderland and Nero shows you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

But for now, basically the GOP is telling you: "If you vote for us, we can eliminate most taxes for the very rich, but still keep taxpayer-paid subsidies for the big tobacco companies, then raise the taxes on cigarettes, and then cut cancer research out of the government budget. And after all that, if you're still unemployed, it's probably your fault because you smoke."

So in conclusion of my daily rant, please allow me to remind all my "conservative" Republican friends, ex-co-workers, neighbors, and family members...it's not the sleazy Democrats (my other friends, ex-co-workers, neighbors, and family members) that are your enemy. It's the uber-rich who are ALL our enemies, The Enemy Within.

So don't take the red pill OR the blue pill, just take a damn Xanax and chill out already...the Russians are NOT coming!