Our nation was founded on the premise that government should be of the people, but that direct democracy was untenable, so a democraticly elected representation government, a republic, should be the form of this new government. In setting this government up, the first job was to overthrow the rule of the king, and then work on refining the government, which came into being with the constitutional convention. One of the framers of these ideas, was someone who seems very relevant today, Thomas Jefferson.
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson
Think about what that means in the context of today. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 1.8 million civilians work for the Federal Government, excluding the Post Office. The military is another large group on th federal payroll, with active forces at 1,444,553 and slightly more in the reserve.
This nation built up this military force after scaling back at the end of WWII, notably to demonstrate our ability to meet any threat our ideological foes, notably the Soviet Union, could pose. Yet the enormous military is of little benefit in our current situation.
I have written on this for years, 3 years here in this blog, that the hell bent desire for American business to compete globally has led to a wholesale sell off of our heritage, the very freedom we cherish. We have done so at the expense of maintaining status as industrial giant that gained its economic leverage from American workers producing everything American consumers wanted, from diapers and electronics, cameras and cars, gave the world numerous inventions and medical advances, captured the imagination of a planet with manned voyages to the moon and probes to the outer reaches of our solar system.
Then this afternoon I came across one of the many documentaries about how evil Wal Mart is. I used to get really steamed up at Wal Mart, but about now i am seeing they aren't the problem, they are just biggest representative of the symptoms of the deeper illness in our lifes. Crap we even made a movie about it, Wall Street...pure greed.
I guess we are all part of the problem, since we continue to shop for things like clothes, appliances, cars etc, and allow the big corporations to further erode any balance in the need to maximize profits. Maximize profits, reduce overheard, cut operating costs are all in todays business world synonymous with outsourcing. A movie i recently saw the characters said they were being insourced, and when questioned, said well the company hires the illegals, and pays them sub wages, so all the other folks they replaced weren't outsourced, they were in sourced...
People in the media that point this all out are stifled or ridiculed, so what chance does a middle aged woman have to stir up anything from a blog read by a handful of people? NIL??...
I wrote to my US Senators, saying how about some real stimulus in the economy, tell these MFers that from now on every piece of junk they sell needs to be either American made or have 40% American components, and not just minimum wages either, but a wage a person can live on. That was two weekd ago, and all i got was a generated email that "The Senator is working hard to help California, and will be unable to respond to your email" I wrote back and said dont count on my vote in the future.
My daughter is currently supporting her and her husband; he is oout of work, and has no benefits, and because he works as a independent carpenter, I dont think he gets unemployment, since I doubt he ever paid into the fund like you are supposed to. Her job in unionized, and she has full benefits, and makes enough to paid their expenses, supplemented with savings from when he did work. He cant find much remodelling work, because when there is some minor work to be done he is out bid by others using what he calls Home Depot labor...latinos here without legal documents, willing to work for next to nothing.
I work myself into a very depressed state, no not depressed, frustated and with a feeling of futility thinking about this crap...sorry, i dont swear in these forums much, but it seems appropriate.
So to summarize:
American business greed has simultaneously put us at the mercy of the Chinese economically and managed to wreck the US economy, and severely cramp the global economy..
Our Presidents (Bush and Obama) are utter tools, or fools, and have dinkered around and not done too much so far...
The peoples representative are completely and totally nutz, and have committed the USA to a get a better way of life thru debt to the tune of probably $21 trillion dollars by my estimate using a algorythm I made that takes past debt trends and forecasts to the future...
Oh, and I think i need to say that several weeks ago i predicted the Chinese would start musing about having over a barrel, and then what pops in the news, but Obama promising the Chinese they are safe in loaning us some dough:
"Obama, responding swiftly to Chinese worries about their trillion-dollar investment in U.S. government debt, said the U.S. economy remains the most vibrant in the world and continues to attract foreign money even amid its deep recession.
His comments came less than a day after Chinese Premier Wen Jibao said he was "definitely a little worried" about Chinese holdings of U.S. bonds.
The exchange was an unusual public commentary on the soundness of the U.S. economy."
And then there is the other agenda of the new administration, which if it comes to pass will likely spark a second coming alright, but not biblical- a second Constitutional Congress to cede the 20 states sovereignty, ones that have openly told the feds they are nutz, and want to have a do over with the union. Welcome to the Western States Alliance of America?
"Lawmakers in 20 states move to reclaim sovereignty
Obama's $1 trillion deficit-spending 'stimulus plan' seen as last straw
Following passage of stimulus plan and budget package, analysts expect that in addition, another 20 states may see similar measures introduced this year, including Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nevada, Maine and Pennsylvania. "
One source of frusrtation and some fear from the states is the new administrations determination to push the United States to be part of the global community via A Plan for Action,1 which features a revealingly immodest subtitle: A New Era of International Cooperation for a Changed World: 2009, 2010, and Beyond.
(Footnotes 1 The report can be downloaded free of charge at http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2008/11_action_plan_mgi.aspx.)
The Plan calls for the United States committmitment to “a rule-based international system that rejects unilateralism and looks beyond military might,” or else “resign [our]selves to an ad-hoc international system.” Mere “traditional sovereignty” is insufficient in the new era we have entered, an era in which we must contend with “the realities of a now transnational world.” This “rule-based international system” will create the conditions for “global governance.” I saw this and my heart started pounding- Global Governence?? Forget whatever fear you ahave about the North American Union, this is way beyond that...the article continued
"This is what “responsible sovereignty” would look like. For the signatories of A Plan of Action, sovereignty is simply an abstraction, a historical concept about as important today as the “sovereigns” from whose absolute rights the term originally derived. That is not the understanding of the U.S. Constitution, which locates the basis of its legitimacy in “we the people,” who constitute the sovereign authority of the nation.
“Sharing” sovereignty with someone or something else is thus not abstract for Americans. Doing so by definition will diminish the sovereign power of the American people over their government and their own lives, the very purpose for which the Constitution was written. This is something Americans have been reluctant to do. Now their reluctance may have to take the form of more concerted action against “responsible sovereignty” if its on"ward march is to be halted or reversed. Our Founders would clearly understand the need.
Bold letters were added by me...sovereignty is abstract...? Honey says he will defend the constitution like his military oath said " ... that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;.."
Problem is who are the enemies???
The National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona is a beautiful 225 acre facility located in Phoenix. A usually quiet U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Cemetery, it has been unusually active lately. Starting in mid February 2009, and continuing since then, from early hours of the morning until sunset, a massive construction operation has been underway. Major amounts of earth have been excavated about 9-10 feet deep and 600-1000 feet wide. There are multiple locations on the property like this.Crushed rock covers the base of the excavation, while large tractor trailer loads of in ground vaults are brought into place side by side, then covered with the concrete lids and backfilled to look as if nothing is there. Crushed rock is put in place under the burial vaults for good drainage and solid bedding. This will help not contaminate ground water sources.
