Progress and Conservation part 2

(Read part 1)

Progress.  Pro. Positive. Movement. Activity.  Alive.
Liberal. Liberty. Life. Love. Freedom.

The antithesis of Conservatives, Liberals and Progressives made the United States!  The author of the Declaration of Independence made a statement (many, really) that "conservatives" would find highly offensive - "It does me no harm if my neighbor says there are twenty gods or no god at all. It neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket." (Thomas Jefferson)

Liberals stand for Liberty, Justice and Freedom more than any other group.  You can be any religion you want or none at all - that is Freedom of Religion.  You deserve a chance at a good education, no matter how much money your parents have.  You deserve to be protected from the predations of those in a better position than you, no matter how little money you have. You can not trample on the rights of others and get away with it, no matter how much money or influence you have.  Progressives and Liberals are the "the government should leave me alone as long as I am not hurting anyone else." while Conservatives are the "the government should leave me alone even if I am hurting other people, but I want to make sure YOU don't do anything I say you shouldn't do, even if I do it in secret."

Am I saying Progressives are better than Conservatives?  Well, lets just say, "We hold these Truths to be self evident."

Do Liberals have their nutcases? Sure! The only difference is for the most part, Liberal extremists don't hurt others and Progressive extremists don't crash the national economy in the name of profit.

Progress and Conservation in 2 parts

Part 1 : Conservation

(First, let me be clear that this is not a blanket attack on everyone who calls themselves a conservative.  The people who identify with the term vary widely.  The term as I am using it is applied to the public faces of the Republican Party seeming majority as portrayed by such "luminaries" as Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Santorum, Gingrich, Boehner, and that creepy looking 'lets turn medicare into a voucher' guy... Paul Ryan.)

Conservative. Con. Servitude. Stagnation. Stuck.

You hear a lot about how "Conservatives" are all about Freedom, Liberty and the Constitution.

I would challenge anyone to point out a reality based example of a modern "Conservative" actually championing those ideals.

The Right Wing shouts of "Freedom and Liberty" come with a lot of 'Except' clauses.

"We value Freedom to make your own choices! Except of course, if you choose to not be the right kind of Christian, to marry someone of the same sex, to have an abortion, to buy alcohol on Sunday, to smoke anything other than tobacco, to heal yourself using products we can't patent, to organize Labor Unions, to choose your time to have a child, to respect other cultures, protect the environment or regulate any industry in any way." (my paraphrasing of a conservative mindset)

(I am sure I missed a lot of their 'excepts')

Their philosophy is why we can't smoke Marijuana (would hurt tobacco companies) to ease pain and increase appetite for cancer patients.  Their philosophy is why we can't cure cancer - there are whole industries built around treating cancer... we can't damage their profitability!  I mean, if the market doesn't allow a product to be available, then its "Free Market" right?

Conservatives seek to preserve (conserve) the status-quo - to keep the rich rich and the poor disadvantaged.  They don't want to give people a hand out nor a hand up - they want to give people a heel on their neck and take the coin from their pockets in the name of the almighty Profit.

The Constitution? Oh, they hate the real Constitution of the United States of America.  So much so that they have invented a delusional, revisionist history version to cling to.  Most of the people holding up the grand Document at Tea Party rallies haven't read it (maybe can't read it).  They certainly have not read or studied the History of the United States nor such things as the debates on ratification of the Constitution or works of Thomas Jefferson.  ( One must remember, Conservatives opposed forming the United States in the first place! )

Conservatism is a greedy, fear based philosophy that, in the end, ensures its own fears must come true.  It collapses economies and destroys civilizations.  It creates poverty, hunger and crime.  It is one big Con-job by the ultra rich to dismantle Democracy (or our Democratic Republic) and institute a Theocratic Plutocracy.

If you think I am totally off base - read this commentary from a right-wing insider.

"I know what the stakes are. I know from the inside just how deranged, corrupt and awful the marriage between Wall Street and the unwashed Tea Party/Religious Right anti-abortion, racist, homophobic and misogynist mob really is. I know that these people will buy elections then try and turn America into a theocracy -- on matters of personal morality -- and into an Ayn Rand libertarian and heartless swamp where the 1% eat the rest of us-- when it comes to the economy." - Frank Schaeffer
 



Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back

Stay tuned for Part 2!

How to Kill your Wife and get a Pardon

NOTICE : Don't kill your wife.  There is nothing worth doing that for.  Just leave her - one of you deserves better and the other one needs to learn a life lesson. This post is about politics! Read part 2!

If you are tired of the old ball and chain, bring her to Mississippi to kill her - the governor will give you a pardon. Working as a trustee at the governor's mansion helps a lot.

Here is a list of murders Haley Barbour pardoned

David Gatlin (wife killer)

Joseph Ozment

Anthony McCray

Michael David Graham (wife killer)

Clarence Jones (girlfriend killer)

Paul Joseph “Jody” Warnock (girlfriend killer)

Bobby Hays Clark (girlfriend killer)

William James Kimble

but no pardon for
Cory Maye - shot a cop during a botched drug raid on the wrong home.
No pardon for Jamie and Gladys Scott, who were each serving double consecutive life sentences in state prison for a robbery in which no one was injured and only $11 was taken. ( Barbour gave them a suspended sentence so the State didn't have to pay their medical bills. )
Nothing for the innocent people imprisoned by the corrupt (in)Justice system in this state.

Now, the people of Mississippi have elected someone just like Barbour - who actually bragged on the fact - to continue this atrocity.  May the Gods all get together to help this state!


Articles abound :
How many more killers will he free?
Miss. Gov Pardons killers.
Democrats criticize pardon of murderer.
Barbour helps domestic killers.
Barbour's Bizarre pardon record.
The Mississippi Pardons.

The stories about Hayne and West have been all over Mississippi's newspapers and TV and radio stations, and on a few occasions have made national news. Yet Barbour hasn't uttered a word about them. He hasn't expressed sympathy or apologized to Kennedy Brewer or Levon Brooks for their wrongful incarceration (and in Brewer's case, his near execution). Nor, for that matter, has Barbour said anything about Cedric Willis, another Mississippi man recently exonerated for a murder he didn't commit. "It's disappointing that the governor's mercy largesse hasn't reached the people whom Dr. Hayne and West affected—many of whom, unlike the people the governor pardons, are unquestionably innocent," says Tucker Carrington, who heads up the Mississippi Innocence Project.

Read part 2!

Say No to the GOP "No!"

before his supporters in Iowa, Romney said: "This is a campaign night where America wins. We're going to change the White House and get America back on track."

Lets take a look at that Track that Romney wants to put America* back on.

Remember that : "During the first half of 2001 and the 2003–07 period, the GOP maintained full control of both the White House and Congress."  Those are the years that lead up to THIS economy as we try to recover from the REPUBLICAN lead crash of 2007.

Spending:

Historically, Republicans have often been worse spenders than Democrats. Since 1962, they controlled the White House during six of the 10 largest annual percentage increases in real discretionary outlays (see Figure 1). Discretionary spending is the part of the budget that is appropriated every year, as opposed to mandatory spending, which is on autopilot and can only be changed by altering the law behind the programs. For three of the 10 years with the biggest increases in discretionary spending, Republicans controlled Congress as well as the White House.

The Republican (Bush) tax cuts are killing the economy and driving a majority of our National Debt.

Is there any one of the GOP contenders who would be willing to let the tax levels for high-income individuals revert to their pre-Bush levels? That is, the levels they were at during the Clinton administration, when unemployment stayed low, the economy grew at a startlingly lively rate, and the government ran - gasp - a surplus? If so, they've been pretty quiet about it.

Democrats are better at GDP growth, Republicans cause recessions.

Since Franklin Roosevelt’s third term (1941–44), Democrats have generally presided over faster growth and stronger stock markets than Republicans; Republican administrations have been friendlier for disinflation and the bond market. Also, Republicans tend to preside over recessions early in their terms, with growth accelerating as time passes; Democrats tend to preside over earlier accelerations followed by slowdowns as the term matures.

The Republican Agenda should frighten anyone who loves Liberty, Peace and Freedom of Religion.

The extremist Tea Party agenda won a clear victory. No matter who the Republicans nominate, we'll be running against someone who has embraced that agenda in order to win -- vowing to let Wall Street write its own rules, end Medicare as we know it, roll back gay rights, leave the troops in Iraq indefinitely, restrict a woman's right to choose, and gut Social Security to pay for more tax cuts for millionaires and corporations.

They will continue to destroy the Middle Class.

the reason that the parents are not there to instill values into their children and coach their baseball teams is because those mothers and fathers are working their ass off. While Republican governors such as the likely former candidate for President Rick Perry seek praise for their ability to create minimum wage jobs, the people working those jobs realize they simply do not pay the bills. They need two of these jobs and their wives need one and none of them provide adequate health care.

The GOP propaganda machine, aka Fox Misinfotainment, aka Faux Newz is spewing distortions and lies which any precursory fact check can reveal.

The Bush administration left the American working people with a huge deficit  The hole dug over 8 years by the previous administration will take more than 2 years to fill.  

It is time to oust the Party of No.

*America is a large land mass consisting of two continents - North and South America.  North America has 22 Nations, including the United States of America.  South America has 13 Nations.  It appears Romney wants to create an American Union, destroying the U.S.'s sovereignty.

Comment (Answer) I wanted to (edit and) share :

Q: Why do Republicans avoid their record and only attack Obama?
A (by bob): A quick look at their record will answer this question. forty years of the conservative agenda and the country has had only one little spurt of progress, and that only when a Democrat was president. Other than that, it has been a consistent record of failure. Economic growth during the Reagan and Bush administration that was supported by borrowing and record setting debts. Poverty increased every time a Republican was president, Increased unemployment every time a Republican was president, Decline in manufacturing every time a Republican was president....Now their only hope is that they can force a Democratic administration to be the total failure they were. So far, they haven't been too successful and last month the Obama administration added more private sector jobs than Bush did for his entire first term, the stock market keeps plugging along, manufacturing has increased and they have been successful only in stalling Democratic proposals.
In 2006, the economy was not "humming along." The stock market was up, but the entire economy was a house of cards built on an extraordinary amount of borrowing, both private and public. Both private debt and the national debt were at record highs. The unemployment was good, but it was also up from the 3.4% Bush inherited from the Clinton years. Republicans took office and for four years the Bush administration did not have a net gain in private sector jobs (ended the first term with an administration that had not recorded an increase in the number of jobs for the first time in history and finished two terms with a net increase of only 2 million jobs...again, worst performance in history) Hard to put this on a little more than one year of Democratic control of congress...especially in the light of the fact that George Bush recorded a record number of vetoes in that year and a half after having completely lost his "veto pen" for the first six years.

and a "HELL YEAH!" to Obama standing up to the Do-Nothing GOP congress!

Entitlement ( It should not be this hard to earn a living )

I've read a lot of the comments on this story.  Seeing the "conservative" side is really disheartening during this holiday season.  They argue that an individual's worth is tied to their Education level and previous successes - in other words, what their parents were able to afford for them, how well their parents could set them up and what they started out with in the first place.  They seem to firmly believe that poor, disadvantaged people have worthless children and that it is a wasted effort to try to ensure they have a good foundation for success - it seems they feel they were born poor, so don't deserve anything.

Somehow they seem to feel that working 16 hour days should not necessarily be enough to pay your bills and feed yourself and your children if you are not in the 'right kind of job.'  It seems none of them know the struggles of living on very little income.

Lets start with Education.  To get a good education in public school requires a few things : 1 - good nutrition. 2 - good, stable shelter. 3 - good clothing. 4 - Someone to tell you how important an education is and enable study habits, curiosity, etc.
Many "conservative" people start out life with a two-parent household in the suburbs where there is never a concern about 'how to keep the lights on and eat at the same time' and think they have accomplished something on their own.  Talk about feeling 'entitled.'  They have many advantages and privilege, but delude themselves into thinking they've done it on their own and other people must just be lazy.

They somehow believe that their being steered to shake the right hands, kiss the right buttocks, pay the right fees to the right institutions and garner the right favor is somehow all their accomplishments.  Its not.

Today in the United States of America, you are not very likely at all to ever climb up the socioeconomic ladder.  There is much more chance of you falling down.  Most likely though, you will stay just where you started out.

Then, when people say that if you work 8 hours a day 5 days a week, you should at least be able to house, feed and clothe yourself, 'conservatives' say you're asking for a handout.  They say if you are working two jobs or double shifts 6 or 7 days a week and still can't pay the bills and keep food on the table, you must be lazy and worthless.  That is a fine example of the cognitive disconnect required to be a modern 'conservative.'


This is the USA - if you work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, heck, even if you work 6 hours a day, you should be able to afford to house, feed and clothe yourself without resorting to 'rent controlled' housing and food stamps.  Even if you are stocking shelves or mopping floors.  There is no reason at all that earning a living should be this hard in this country.

I am the 53% and the 99%  I started near the bottom, though with more advantages than Jessica Smith or Dakota, and I am now slightly above the median.  It took 15 years from the time I graduated High School to get here.  Maybe it was harder because I did it my way and I earned everything without kissing butt or brown nosing or depending on having 'the right connections.'

The bottom line is - it should NOT be This hard to Earn a living in the United States.

No, its not the government's job to take care of anyone.  Its the government's job to make sure that the powerful are not taking advantage of and suppressing the average citizens.  There are plenty of hard working, great people who are poor and downtrodden and Not looking for a handout - but getting the combat boots of corporations and big finance off of our necks would do amazing things for the economy.

Obama echos my blog posts

President Obama gave a great speech in Osawatomie, Kansas yesterday.
Robert Reich had some comments on it.

What struck me is how much it has echoed some of my blogging over the past couple years.

Portions like :

Today, we're still home to the world's most productive workers. We're still home to the world's most innovative companies. But for most Americans, the basic bargain that made this country great has eroded. Long before the recession hit, hard work stopped paying off for too many people. Fewer and fewer of the folks who contributed to the success of our economy actually benefited from that success

and

This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class, and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. Because what's at stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement.

and here is a big slice :

Now, just as there was in Teddy Roosevelt's time, there is a certain crowd in Washington who, for the last few decades, have said, let's respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. "The market will take care of everything," they tell us. If we just cut more regulations and cut more taxes – especially for the wealthy – our economy will grow stronger. Sure, they say, there will be winners and losers. But if the winners do really well, then jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everybody else. And, they argue, even if prosperity doesn't trickle down, well, that's the price of liberty.
Now, it's a simple theory. And we have to admit, it's one that speaks to our rugged individualism and our healthy skepticism of too much government. That's in America's DNA. And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker. But here's the problem: It doesn't work. It has never worked. It didn't work when it was tried in the decade before the Great Depression. It's not what led to the incredible postwar booms of the 50s and 60s. And it didn't work when we tried it during the last decade. I mean, understand, it's not as if we haven't tried this theory.

and this :

Look at the statistics. In the last few decades, the average income of the top 1% has gone up by more than 25% to $1.2m per year. I'm not talking about millionaires, people who have a million dollars. I'm saying people who make a million dollars every single year. For the top one hundredth of 1%, the average income is now $27m per year. The typical CEO who used to earn about 30 times more than his or her worker now earns 110 times more. And yet, over the last decade the incomes of most Americans have actually fallen by about 6%.
Now, this kind of inequality – a level that we haven't seen since the Great Depression – hurts us all. When middle-class families can no longer afford to buy the goods and services that businesses are selling, when people are slipping out of the middle class, it drags down the entire economy from top to bottom. America was built on the idea of broad-based prosperity, of strong consumers all across the country. That's why a CEO like Henry Ford made it his mission to pay his workers enough so that they could buy the cars he made. It's also why a recent study showed that countries with less inequality tend to have stronger and steadier economic growth over the long run.

Good one here :

if we don't have an economy that's built on bubbles and financial speculation, our best and brightest won't all gravitate towards careers in banking and finance. Because if we want an economy that's built to last, we need more of those young people in science and engineering. This country should not be known for bad debt and phony profits. We should be known for creating and selling products all around the world that are stamped with three proud words: Made in America.

and again :

In the end, rebuilding this economy based on fair play, a fair shot, and a fair share will require all of us to see that we have a stake in each other's success. And it will require all of us to take some responsibility.

another quote from someone else :

Andy Grove, the legendary former CEO of Intel, put it best. He said, "There is another obligation I feel personally, given that everything I've achieved in my career, and a lot of what Intel has achieved…were made possible by a climate of democracy, an economic climate and investment climate provided by the United States."
This broader obligation can take many forms. At a time when the cost of hiring workers in China is rising rapidly, it should mean more CEOs deciding that it's time to bring jobs back to the United States, not just because it's good for business, but because it's good for the country that made their business and their personal success possible.

I've made a list of my blog posts on the economy and it can be found on bobbykearan.com.

Wicker and Cochran vote to Detain Citizens without due process!!

Senate approves $662 BILLION dollar military, spy and espionage funding. - allowing suspension of the Constitution in detaining U.S. Citizens Indefinitely by the military without charge or due process.  They actively rejected an amendment to prevent screwing over U.S. Citizens.  Please, remember the names of those who voted to Detain U.S. Citizens without due process or trial! Those who voted to do so include both Mississippi Senators, Cochran and Wicker. Not just once, but three or four times they confirmed their "Lets Detain Citizens without due process" votes!

Then, on top of that, the Senate rejects payroll tax cuts for working families.

Now, if you go to some of those links and look at other votes, there are some that are good and positive.  I'm not going to say its all bad.  However,  the betrayal of Citizens and another big step toward the creation of a military state is simply unacceptable.