By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
The budget of the most prosperous nation on the planet is in a spin. The GOP House of Representatives threatens to use its power of the purse to shut down government services, strangling the domestic programs most of us rely on. As politicians wrangle over the numbers, the current welfare and future growth of the U.S. are in jeopardy, along with the well-being of nations around the world. With billions going out in foreign aid, Uncle Sam is everybody’s rich relative.
This particular political moment is as serious as a heart attack. Let me put that another way — this is a serious attack on the heart. Consider who and what are at risk. The Republicans call for 100 billion in yearly funding cuts that dramatically affect community health centers, Pell grants, Head Start, children’s nutritional programs, Planned Parenthood, AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity, food aid for the poor, PBS, NPR, nuclear non-proliferation, wilderness and animal protection programs, national parks, and any hope of an effective EPA. There are proposed cuts to public services like Social Security and public safety programs such as Elizabeth Warren’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Imagine what our country would be like without those things. That anyone would want to curtail them is mind-boggling. Our social contract is under the gun. Republicans’ frenzied attacks are sold to the public as emergency measures, but are actually thinly disguised assaults on the last traces of FDR’s policy of government intervention to benefit citizens. Anyone actually interested in balancing the budget would have supported the public option in health care reform and refused to extend tax breaks across the board. Now suddenly the Republicans are fiscally conservative, spreading their message of accountability and tough love? Really?
Could it be possible that the American people have the attention span of a gnat? Have we lost all memory of the eight years prior to the last two? Can’t we remember how we got in this dreadful fix and who brought us to this moment? With the exception of Scooter Libby, nobody in Bush’s administration went to jail for willfully mugging our democratic principals, just as no Wall Street executive has been made to take legal responsibility for full-scale fraud. We can’t have forgotten that, can we?
You may have heard the joke going around that illustrates how — yet again — we’re being played, each against the other:
A union member, a CEO and a Tea Party member are sitting at a table with a plate full of cookies. The CEO grabs all but one, turns to the Tea Partier and whispers, “The union wants to take your cookie!”
Things have changed, just in the last few days. Have you noticed? We’re having what I call a revelation moment, when the truth of a given situation shines too brightly to ignore, most often due to the pain of it. The corporate signature is on everything we see these days. The union fight to preserve bargaining rights in Wisconsin has leaked over into Ohio, where similar rights have been stripped. Governors of strapped states across the nation blame their problems on the working class, decrying workers’ supposed greed and unwillingness to sacrifice. People like teachers and librarians and sanitation workers and firefighters are being asked to give up mainstream middle-class benefits and services they have worked for all their lives, forced to sacrifice rights hard-earned by the generations of workers before them.
By no stretch of the imagination is our economic situation the fault of the working class. We were spun into mortgages by an eager Dubya who loved to brag about numbers of new home owners in his “ownership society.” Again and again we were told to spend-spend-spend instead of sacrifice after 9/11. The Bushies borrowed to finance the wars and risked the national treasure as if it was their own. Yet even as workers watched their jobs sent overseas, we kept production high and even raised it despite our dwindling numbers; now there are fewer than 12 million manufacturing jobs left in the United State while production remains impressive.
But even the most compliant citizen must eventually pay for absolute trust in a broken system. The little guy is thrown under the bus first; the truly poor and chronically unemployed were mashed into the pavement long ago. Now the middle class is having its ‘come to Jesus’ moment.
The tiny portion of the budget proposal not allotted for military, Medicare and Social Security spending — the last cookie — is now under attack by an increasingly radical GOP. They won’t mention the expensive ramifications of these cuts: the hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk, the crumbling health and education of the nation, the vanishing chance of a speedy fiscal recovery in the future. This is where the political gets personal.
While none of this seems like good news, there is a flash of hope on the horizon, and I expect it will encourage you. It turns out that the majority of the American people — no matter WHAT the talking heads tell you — favor progressive measures to solve our budget issues. According to an NBC/WSJ poll, 81 percent of us favor putting a surtax on federal income of those making over a million bucks a year to begin solving our economic problems. Not surprisingly, 76 percent of us want to ditch weapons systems no longer needed by the Department of Defense, and 74 percent want to axe tax credits for the oil and gas industries.
Left to their own devices, the public supports the unions, is vehemently against cutting entitlements and is more interested in pragmatic cuts than ideological. People have no problem paring down the defense budget or imposing on the wealthy. When given a cyber-tool in which they themselves made cuts to the budget, they favored trade-offs that preserved the humanitarian necessities and even increased spending for some, while carving away at the top-heavy expenses. Of course the average citizen isn’t being lobbied by the Big Money guys or blackmailed by his or her own party. Give it a try yourself, here.
Doesn’t that make you feel better about your neighbor? Aren’t you a bit encouraged that you’re not alone in your altruism and common sense? As the overreaching opposition party meets the anger of the American middle-class, we can anticipate a change of political mind and a reprioritizing of what is worthwhile, of what is rational. If we believe the government has broken faith with us, then it’s time for us to take it back. That’s the kind of mind-change a revelation moment gives us, a clear mandate for looking after our own best interests and taking care of the least among us.
It gets exciting now, dearhearts. And for starters — we want our cookies back!
THANK you, KathyC. Gracious of you to share with us.
And yes, 7Towers, most ALL of us can relate. For a few decades most of us were lulled into complacency by bringing home ‘enough’ plus ‘a bit’ — keeping us spending and hoping — while the Big Machine squeezed us for ever more of our good. It IS a quandary why they think they can kill the Golden Goose and get away with it, but perhaps its a matter of who will be the first to “sacrifice” some of their beloved profit to keep the pump primed; not likely when they’re this deranged.
I’m reminded that the Bible is quoted wrongly about money being the root of all evil — it’s the LOVE of money that’s at the base of human darkness. Amen and amen.
I also put the seed saving instructions on each packet of seeds 😉
They asked me to teach seed saving at the local adult learning center- until they set the tuition beyond the means of normal people, and I couldn’t agree to go along with that … so I’ll answer any questions for free.
my seed site is http://www.ommas-aarden.net 🙂
Hey Judith great piece I would like to comment on this section especially
“By no stretch of the imagination is our economic situation the fault of the working class. We were spun into mortgages by an eager Dubya who loved to brag about numbers of new home owners in his “ownership society.” Again and again we were told to spend-spend-spend instead of sacrifice after 9/11. The Bushies borrowed to finance the wars and risked the national treasure as if it was their own. Yet even as workers watched their jobs sent overseas, we kept production high and even raised it despite our dwindling numbers; now there are fewer than 12 million manufacturing jobs left in the United State while production remains impressive”..
Im really very tired of hearing the psychotic leaders, with their puppet parrot media drones along with the dillusional money experts and their feature interviews of BLAH BLAH BLAH endless bullshit!
Since the 1990s the american middle class began to see a price increase in the cost of living that continued to rise nonstop with each coming year rising higher.
The yearly salary rising only a fraction with laughable “pay raises”. But adding more insult was the fact that employee contributions for their healthcare increased rising higher every year but receiving less coverage with higher copays, deductibles and perscription expenses jumping 3 times higher. The policys also were rewritten adding loop holes which favored the insurance companies and many of us being blindsided by previous provided services being met with denial of coverage.
Not to mention countless hours on the phone desperately trying to negotiate which services are covered , which perscriptions need authorization along with praying that they approve the amount the doctor perscribed which never is the case because their data states you should only medically need half that amount so your shit out of luck ..So sorry you’ll have to pay 120.00 out of pocket if you wish to have your full months supply or we can offer you a substitue which is a shitty inferior and poor quality .
I was shocked at the widening gap , and that reality it wasn’t leveling off but gaining momentum and saying to myself ” where is all the money going because its certainly not getting circulated back into the middle class. When the late 90’s ushered in my thoughts continually wondered what the Greedy Bastards could be thinking by eviserating the middle class killing the cash cow not only cutting off their source but rendering the paper greenbacks they so greedily hoard completely useless aside from having a use to wipe your ass or perhaps wall paper your rooms ..
What was truly puzzling to me as well during this experience was I was also learning about stocks , 401 ks ect ect.. and as I followed the stock exchange. The reports showing how year end earnings showed lucritive profits for most companies. This coupled with specualtions being positve for future quater earings due to the Cows very strong spending tendencies the picture presented was that of a strong vigorous economy.
I was very unaware economics most of my life at this time beubg a newbie learning and it was my curiousity to find out why they would speculate as positve strong spending tendicies when most of the purchasing was with credit incurring debt and while some make better salaries than others , the majority of us were all getting hit with higher living costs our earnings rose little
How was this debt going to be paid and with interest no less? How could these so called experts call this a thriving economy.
I lived the reality and saw numerous others did as well. Each coming year we found ourselves having to cut back more still, determining which necessities could be gone without.
I shopped in food outlet stores that we have here in Pa for several years being grateful to get coffee for 99 cents , and it was the high end brands more often than not and this was the case with many items I needed and found there.
Always having enough to choose from and then in 2008 the influx of new consumers exploded and I had to become very strategic to get even half of what I usually would because it sells out. The number and variety of what they used to get in gormet type foods are no longer available , this was a bummer ..
My life and the things I focus on are not things money can help me with,along with the obsurd practices of Credit card companies I refused to even consider them.
So my point is , is that I didn’t spend money like it was water , we were very responsible with our money and yet I found that with every passing year our net income was not able to sustain even basic living costs and growing worse .
I have since learned where the money is going and the fact is these people are severly mentally ill , they are so drunk with addictive power deviod of humaness willing to kill millions and what for? Why? Surley they know the time grows short and like any addict the fears grows and their behavior exposes the desperation.
I think the majority of american people find it hard to come to terms with the fact that our goverment , and others involved became so twisted and evil .. Knowing what I do I find it very hard to understand how one can be that depraved.. Does anyone identify ?
Eric I also want to tell you and I have been for a while that I LOVE YOU and IM SO GLAD YOU ARE HERE!
Well, dearhearts — reading your response today, any concerns on my end that we cannot find our passion is surely behind me. Yours is evident. Of course those of you who regularly respond are the choir, not the congregation; my weekly stuff is more a report on the wobbles within the Matrix than a handout to the residents of Zion. I’m always mindful that there are a lot of Neo’s out there who need help to recognize the blips in the slipstream before they are willing to risk a new reality.
Jere, I suspect more of us are finding our way towards the alternatives you propose and sooner rather than later would suit us both, but we know what a huge leap that is for the sleepwalkers. And yes, taking responsibility is always the first step. You are an excellent role model for the kind of changes that empower us. I hope one of Pam’s recipes works for you — what is life without cookies! Thanks, Pam — yummy! I love recipes.
Patty, I come from a long line of teachers and my Dad was both tenured and a member of the union when he quit teaching for the private sector/bigger paycheck. I worked in education myself for a number of years and my co-workers were always talking about leaving teaching for other, better-paying possibilities. Few ever did. I came away from that chapter of my life with the realization that like many gentle, artistic types, teachers are often happiest sheltered within their particular system, not required to compete and able to navigate the rules without bucking them. Perhaps that’s why it’s so difficult for educators to change. Their obsession with tenure is parallel to the union obsession with seniority; another system with inflexible rules. These worked for the first leg of our journey into a new era. Giving tenure/seniority up to another system — like peer review, for instance — is another of those risks that don’t come naturally. We’ll get there eventually. Risk is upon us now.
Nobody on this site is laughing Mimi, especially when so much of this is pure political fabrication. According to Chris Hellman over at TomDispatch, the military budget — added up correctly — comes to over a TRILLION bucks for 2012. That’s a mind-boggling number of tax dollars gone with an ill wind. Instead of fighting over the demise of programs that provide LIFE for some of us, it would be a Divine moment to curtail those that bring Death to others.
The notion that we have an emergency is bogus. We have a challenge and it can’t be met with political posturing. We have enough money in this country to do what needs doing plus some but the system itself sucks the majority of our resources into dark corners and open pockets we have little awareness of. If this smack down MAKES us pay attention for a change, so much the better.
Aword, big hugs to you; always faithful. And KathyC, you’re doing healing, grounding work, i.e., “we’re nearer Gods heart in the garden than anywhere else on earth,” etc. If you have any on-line or e-mailable info on seed saving, I’d love to see it.
Here’s a Mark Fiori ‘toon on the budget cuts:
http://www.markfiore.com/political-cartoons/watch-congress-budget-cut-fight-deficit-reduction-debt-republican-democrat-animated-video-mark-fiore-animatio
mimi,
my personal california economy collapsed ten years ago when a non-family law judge decided to use me as his example (of power) of how woman had the upper had in divorce in this state for far too fuckin’ long and he was going to put an end to THAT.
Me thinks he will meet with his own destiny.
But isn’t it a teensy example of something we’re up against? Personal Issues (creating “Stupidity”) enveloped in Power.
Dr. Mercola reported today on Wikileaks making connection between Bill Gates’ stupidity and Monsanto Greed’n’Power. Did I miss that here already?
“Monsanto’s “Unlikely” New Business Partner — A Name You Know Well…..”
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/03/05/wikileaks-exposes-unholy-alliance-of-us-government-bill-gates-and-monsanto.aspx
Thanks All for the Little Rant time.
This is no laughing matter, no wonder we are dubbed the “sheeple”.
Countries all over the world are standing up for what is right at the risk of their lives.
Did you do the budget to see what you would do? I’m sure every item has waste in it, so if many things are lowered slightly and the items that are really wasting tax payers money like the huge amount for large farms (Monsanto) and other items that could be drastically cut; the poor, education, high speed railways, highways etc., could be boosted and still the deficit would be lowered.
Aren’t you guys paying attention? CA the 8th largest economy in the world is about to collapse, who’s next? What about all the money the banks got, what about all the money spent on wars nobody wants except the arms dealers and politicians?
Start spending the money on America, we have enough if we would stop giving it to the banks and all the people lobbying, which should be outlawed.
Jere here’s a cookie for you to crumble in any fashion! (Tho you might have to make it)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup of oil (sunflower?)
1 cup sugar
4 tsp ground flax
1/2 cup soy or nut milk or even water
3/4 cup chocolate chips or 70+ g fine cooking choc chopped
3/4 cup walnuts
Add vanilla and stuff if you like – orange zest (this recipe is simplified from veganomicon)
mix ingredients together – choc and nuts last. Press the dough firmly together into 1 1/2 inch walnut size pieces and flatten a bit on a baking tray. cook Gas 4 10-15 mins
Leave for 5 mins on the tray if you think they’ll crumble, not too long or they stick
And if you’re gluten free as well as vegan (flying apron cookbook)
2 3/4 cups brown rice flour
1 1/2 cups + 1tbsp garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp bp
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup oil (the recipe says canola)
1 cup sugar
1 cup rice milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (8 ounces) choc chips
3/4 cup chopped nuts
350°F oven
Mix the liquid elements except rice milk and add the dry bit by bit alternately with the rice milk with the food processor on until the mixture is smooth. (3 mins)
Stir in nuts and choc
Scoop the dough onto lined pans with an icecream scoop. Bake until golden and slightly firm to the touch (17 ish minutes)
(Bet you have loads of recipes – hope you don’t mind).
ya, seems like individually people still have a cookie crumb of sanity, but the mass kool-aid effect is wild.
As soon as the pressure comes On , individuals succumb – to the myth that each of them is NOT thinking like the other, but that in order to be part of community each Should Be thinking like the Marketing Lies.
The big picture is so wildly tangled, that people shirk back – into old habits.
KathyC – I agree: “I am going to concentrate on what I can contribute to”.
Thanks Jude. ‘I needed that.’
Not to mention tenure and the people we all know who shouldn’t be allowed inside a school let alone teaching little kids. The notion that it is a tradition that should never be changed is a little ridiculous. In fact my daughter teaches school in a privately owned school that embraces differently thinking parents and students, where the parents enter in by signing agreements upholding their end of the deal and are willing to pay thousands of dollars for the kids to be part of it. Public schools could move a little more in that direction. One official in my state was paid 1 million in salary – head of a public school corporation. Are you kidding me? The nun who taught my first grade class had 52 kids in the class.
I hear ya Jere… I got my heirloom seeds, my garden, I teach how to save seed… and I can’t control anything else, so I am going to concentrate on what I can contribute to.
..(and Jude, I really do respect you, …beyond words.. In fact, I Love you, Friend. …
If I manage pictures, and make it back in, you’ll be the first to know…
LIVE,
Jere
..and dammit!, I can’t eat the cookies.. (they’re dairy).
(sorry Jude, hope this doesn’t come off the wrong way. I respect you immensely.)
..Fuck, maybe it’s time people took responsibility for what they’re doing. Maybe it’s a matter of folks TAKING HERBS, WALKING, DOING TAI-JI, RAISING THEIR FUCKING KIDS, AS IN NURTURE, PAYING ATTENTION TO THE PLANET, GROWING FOOD, VEGETABLES!! (you twisted ‘carni’s’), SPEAKING UP AND REALIZING YOU’RE ALIVE, EDUCATING YOURSELF, REALIZING THAT YOU ARE THE GOD/GODDESS (BULLSHIT TERMINOLOGY) OF THIS WHOLE ENTIRE FUCKING PLACE!!! GRRRRR
I’m done..
Let it crumble..