I’ve been puzzling over what’s going on across the pond, and haven’t come across many bloggers’ comments, so thought I’d try a bit of a rant to stir things up a bit. It seems to me that the government of the US of A is a bunch of lemmings poised at the cliff-edge of total disaster. Lunacy’s the word I’d use to describe the idea that borrowing unimaginable sums of money in order to pay the interest on the unthinkable sums of money already borrowed. If they can’t service current debt, only an ostrich with his head well and truly in the gritty stuff could conceive of the daft idea of raising the debt ceiling. Multiplying/extrapolating an already horrendous problem only adds to the disastrous result of spending more than you have on things you don’t need (like wars?)
3 ways when short of money: work for it, sell something or go without.
Viv ducks the inevitable brickbats.
Miserable old bat's blog 
Well, the good ol’ US of A is run by a bunch of perpetually daft politicians who as long as they are accumulating money will continue to make un-intelligent decisions based on information they know is not true… maybe we should re-elect Clinton?
Viv, SO glad you left your RANT address on my blog, LOL.
First off, thank you SOOOOO much, Pres. Bush, for keeping American really, really scared (except for me and mine, who figured him out before 9/11) and for charging the entire two wars on a Chinese credit card. Also to Rep. Phil Gramm, who put some extra language in a bill that made it possible for mortgage companies to “shred” bad-credit mortgages and mix them in with good ones, like an omelet. A stinky, loser omelet. And thanks also to VP Cheney for Halliburton, Blackwater, and all those other wonderful “private contractors” (read: mercenaries) who make ten times what our troops do and get the cake gigs to boot. And to Rumsfeld (then Sec. of Defense), who, along with Cheney, decided waterboarding was a great way to torture prisoners of war (but it wasn’t an actual war declared by Congress, because it’s war on an ideology, so they skirted the Geneva Conventions) and in the end got really great information, like the names of an entire terror cell… actually, the names of the Iraqi soccer (football) team, but that’s all the poor bastard could think of to make them stop.
I was an early supporter of the president but am becoming extremely upset that he (or his advisors) think there’s something to “win” in Afghanistan. Other than the huge deposit of lithium (think batteries) that was discovered under the sand, we are trying to impose democracy, when the idea for a government that is a republic must come from the fire in the bellies of those already living there. Pres. Bush campaigned on “no nation building,” but he couldn’t WAIT to get into Iraq. Even left Osama bin Laden (whose bags were probably packed for the trip) in Tora Bora without going after him – so he could get “the guy who tried to kill my daddy.”
Honest to God, Viv, the politics here are awful. And it’s all sides! And this “Tea Party” is more like “Teapot Dome” (paging Boss Tweed, must get a poem out with that phrase), so corrupt. All the Republican members of Congress (and four Dems), plus the five of nine justices who are “conservative,” all go party at the Koch brothers’ elite golf courses and on their luxury yachts, etc. Then they get their marching orders.
The Kochs literally bought the governorship for Scott Walker, who is busting public unions, because they are almost the only unions we have left. Thanks to Bill Clilnton’s NAFTA and Bush’s CAFTA, taxpayers ended up shelling out $1000 per job for every position that was moved to a foreign country. That money was paid to the multibillion-dollar corporations for their “expenses.” I kid you not.
And we are now spending ten billion a month on the Afghan mess, but we cannot, as Mike said, afford free health care? God, I’ve said enough for now… but I could go on. Sorry, Viv. You know, France is looking better all the time! Amy
I’m glad you stopped by, Amy, and got that lot off your chest. That’s what this blog is all about!
Hey, and I don’t have much chest to go around, so I have to use discretion, ha ha ha.
Happened upon your rant blog and realized I can’t comment on the whole disastrous issue without compromising my values and/or risking a stroke. The lack of political leadership we are experiencing is abysmal as politicos continue to cast their votes with an eye on their reelection potential. (Obama has had 37 fundraisers already for his upcoming campaign.) We have indeed become a nanny state and so many of our younger people have lost the ability to assume responsibility for their own lives. Unemployment, welfare etc. is fraught with fraud while, on the other hand, people are truly hurting. How come GE with its multi-billion $ annual revenue is exempt from paying taxes. We cannot continue to accumulate debt. We citizens have to cut back but our reps are addicted to spending.
As for compromising my values, I will refrain from the expletives that bombard me at this moment…
I’m sorry for raising your blood pressure – though to be fair it is the politicos and super-rich who have done that. I just cleared the air a bit!
This has been very interesting reading. Thank you.
The mindless nanny state existence is in full force here too; fully corrupted and mis-used.
There are times when i think we should rename ourselves the US of incompetence. Too many chiefs and not enough indians (which btw, the indian people are a whole other topic of disgrace for this country). The mentality of “each man for himself” will always win out. I hope all the people that were trying to “keep up with the Jones'” actually started a savings account as some point in their lives, because the Jones’ were actually so far in debt that they didn’t have a pot to actually _ _ _ _ in. The “United” States of America is far from a “United” anything. And yes, I am an American. There actually was a point in this country when we actually had a surplus…I add now a part from an article written on September 27, 2000 on the CNN website….
“…President Clinton announced Wednesday that the federal budget surplus for fiscal year 2000 amounted to at least $230 billion, making it the largest in U.S. history and topping last year’s record surplus of $122.7 billion.”This represents the largest one-year debt reduction in the history of the United States,” Clinton said Wednesday morning. “Like our American athletes in Sydney, we’ve been breaking records and have come a long way.”In June, the administration predicted the surplus would be $211 billion, and would increase by as much as $1 trillion over the next 10 years.Clinton also announced the federal government paid down the national debt by $223 billion this year, and by more than $360 billion since 1998, the largest debt reduction in U.S. history.”The key to fiscal discipline is maintaining these results year after year. We need to put our priorities in order,” Clinton said.”
Pay close attention to this specific part…”the administration predicted the surplus would be $211 billion, and would increase by as much as $1 trillion over the next 10 years.” Well fellas, it is almost exactly 10 years……..HOW WE DOING SO FAR? Yes, yes, I know there are “reasons” as pamelasayers pointed out above, and quite well I might add. But nothing is going to change unless the mindset of this entire country changes. Hope has long since faded. The American people are numb at this point – most, simply just don’t care. People are so wrapped up with their individual everyday lives that they can’t see the writing on the preverbial wall. Except, of course, when tax time rolls around and the Jones’ get a tax bill for their SUV that takes up half the driveway, a tax bill for their two story house, a tax bill for their boat, a tax bill for their motorcycle, a tax bill for their camper, and tax bill for little Billy’s car. This country is in deep kaakaa. Do I know the answer to make it better…..no.
It may be simplistic, but my goodness people….wake up! Buckle down! (Those of you who are not already broke because you are jobless, your house got foreclosed on and your living in your car with your entire family that is) What a great country this is. Was. Could possibly be again. I wonder how the settler felt…his wooden wagon loaded with sparse belongings, horse on the verge of collapse, his wife five months pregnant, two little ones ridding at her side, killing food as they found it to eat, almost out of flour, coming over the ridge after riding through the plains for months….to see a valley, green, lush…with a river flowing through the center, good bottom land to till and farm…..what pride in himself and for his family he must have felt. To know that he, as an American, was able to conquer his fears and doubts and venture forth to start a new life for his family. That is what this Country needs…to regain its pride and move ahead with the knowledge that while yes, one man can overcome his fears and doubts and strive for a better future for himself, but what if that mentality spread through all men in this Country, and women, and the troulded youth….what we could become then. We would once again be The United States of America.
(I’m going to go back to writing some poetry now)
Thank you for your very interesting response. There is something very wrong at the heart of politics in too many countries. I worry seriously about the future that awaits our grandchildren.
Don’t forget that Pres. Bush “charged” both wars on a Chinese credit card, so all the war money was borrowed – approved by both Dems and Reps, so our taxes wouldn’t go up. Whatever happened to war bonds?
I was branded unpatriotic and literally “a crappy American” for advocating peaceful negotiation on 9/12/01. Now that a biracial man is in office, the same people are suddenly anti-war! Amy
Viv, I’ll try to answer this, if I can. It is more complex than I even know, but there are driving forces behind this farce.1) Grover Norquist made the current GOP sign a pledge stating to NOT raise taxes on the rich Americans, which I think is currently 2% of the population. The Tea Party are followers of Norquist and they pretty much held the GOP hostage over this debt ceiling issue.
2) The US has invaded Iraq ( a money maker for the now ex president Dick Cheney’s company “Halliburton” and they wanted the petrol), Afghanistan ( looking for Bin Laden for 911 attacks, or so they say), Libya for Gadaffi’s atrocities against mankind, which is completely perplexing since they pretty much had him after Lockerbie. But if we take into account the money Gadaffi gave to lawyers of the victims. It is not so extraordinary. By the way, the families received a very small portion of the money, and the lawyers kept the rest. Take all of this in account with the fact that most IT jobs are outsourced, the car industry is hanging by a thread, Wall Street robbed the American people and then received money for big “Bailouts” from the Bush administration. Basically:
1) The GOP believe in the “Trickle Down” effect, which has never proven itself to work.There are NO new jobs being created, but unemployment is on the rise.
2) The Tea Party wants to take away “entitlements” Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. The very programs some of them live on. ( I know, mindboggling)
3) The Koch brothers are behind this somehow, to what extent I am not sure. They own and control a good part of manufacturing, trading and investments. You could Goggle them to find out more. A very evil family.
4) Wars: it costs I million dollars to maintain a solider in one of these wars. Crazy, I know. Who is getting the money certainly not the solider. They are losing their homes and cars while fighting overseas.
5) Violence is on the rise, America’s youth are uneducated and vile. But they want to cut Educational programs. Seems perfectly reasonable to me (sarcasm).
6) President Obama has no backbone. A big problem. He fashions himself after President Lincoln. However, even Lincoln raised taxes to fund the “Civil War”. But still he wants to be the great negotiator.
7) Not to mention, that most of GOP follow the ideology of Ayn Rand, who believed the working class were parasites.
7) In a nutshell: the country is falling to pieces, I see the modern day Nero playing the violin as I write this. A very sad scenario on a once great country. I guess you got a response from me.
Pamela
btw I off to read your poetry from last week. Michael and I went to the coast for a few days for some R&R. Now I am back and must pick up my pen. I didn’t write anything while we were gone.
At last, some understandable insight to American politics. Your holiday has put some great impetus in your writing. Thank you, Pamela
Pamela, you pretty much nailed it. thanks for posting!
We are striving for a nanny state. It’s worked so well everywhere it’s been tried–kind of like Communism. It did well everywhere.
The framers of the Constitution were idiots. They believed that government should be small as possible and individuals should have to freedom to work and get ahead or the freedom to fail. For those willing to expended the effort, nothing should be out of their reach. They were not far sighted enough to see that 50% of the people would become helpless sheep, unable to think or do anything on their own.
They left many of our basic rights out of the Constitution. The right to a free education whether a decent student or a disruptive dunderhead. The right to advance to a diploma through higher education, even if basic reading and math skills are missing. The right to a government job if unable to hold any other job. For the moderately successful, the right to pay exorbitant taxes to support those who don’t want to work. For those too involved in the search for drugs to take care of their children, the right to daycare and free syringes. The right to insurance, even if its cost will bankrupt the country. Those overlooked constitution rights go on and on, but not to worry. The politicians of both parties are fixing those oversights as we speak. It’s not a problem. We are the only entity in history, which will find prosperity through borrowing. I’m thinking of taking out an additional mortgage on my house so I’ll be debt free.
Whew! Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
Oops! I struck a nerve. Some of that applies here in France, but somehow they muddle through. Partly because banks are not so eager to lend money to people who haven’t a hope of paying it back as they have been in other countries, so the economy stays relatively stable.
Good one too!
Ben Franklin reluctantly signed off on the Constitution, saying it should be revisited in the “near future,” lest landowners and other gentry become too powerful. He advocated a level playing field. Wise man!
They seem to be doing the opposite of the British government, so it will be interesting to see what happens.
So long; it was nice knowing you 🙂
Oh well, I should go down laughing, having just read your comment on the Laughing Housewife!