HIATUS WINDING DOWN

• Long time, Searchers. I've been off for a while dealing with things I won't go into detail about here. Greetings to a Searcher, Jason of Illinois.
  
  Very quickly, as I'm taking care of other things at the moment, I wanted to touch base about two books I picked up from the Library the other day. One is by Deena Guzer, Divine Rebels American Christian Activists for Social Justice. The other is Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman. Both are phenomenal.
  
  In Krugman's book, granted I am only a few pages in, he writes about the similarities between what he calls The Long Gilded Age, the period between 1870 and the 1920's. There is a table he inserts that appears on page 16 of the book, I will attempt to recreate it here:
  
  
  



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  Table 1. Share of High-income Groups in Total Income, Excluding Capital Gains



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  Highest-income 10% Highest -income 1%



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  Average for 1920's 43.6% 17.3%



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  2005 44.3% 17.4%

In the table and the writing explaining the table, he discusses the inequality of income and the resemblance between the Nation in the 1870's and today, albeit a few years ago. Since 2005, it has not gotten better, it has gotten worse. As a direct result of the abysmal economic policies of the Republican party, including Ronald Reagan, and his political offspring, George W. Bush.

The Republicans are tearing down our Nation, make no mistake. Another quote from his book that appears on page 11 of Conscience of a Liberal:

Ronald Reagan, more than anyone else, showed the way. His 1964 speech "A time for Choosing," which launched his political career, and the speeches he gave during his successful 1966 campaign for governor of California foreshadowed political strategies that would work for him and other movement conservatives for the next forty years. Latter-day hagiographers have portrayed Reagan as a paragon of high-minded conservative principles, but he was nothing of the sort. His early political successes were based on appeals to cultural and sexual anxieties playing on the fear of communism, and, above all, tacit exploitation of white backlash against the civil rights movement and its consequences. (Bold mine.)

One key message of this book, which many readers may find uncomfortable, is that race is at the heart of what has happened to the country I grew up in. The legacy of slavery, America's original sin, is the reason we're the only advanced economy that doesn't guarantee health care to our citizens. (bold mine) White backlash against the civil rights movement is the reason America is the only advanced country where a major political party (the Republicans, this is inserted by me) wants to roll back the welfare state. Ronald Reagan began his 1980 campaign with a states' rights speech outside Philadelphia, Mississippi, the town where three civil rights workers were murdered; Newt Gingrich, (who by the way is running for President for the 2012 election, against President Obama, parenthetical commentary mine) was able to take over Congress entirely because of the great Southern flip, the switch of Southern whites from overwhelming support for Democrats to overwhelming support for Republicans.

Without a doubt, the Republican party is against American families, and against America herself.

Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan's dangerous plan to turn Medicare into a coupon or voucher program is but one of the many examples of the Republican nightmarish plans for our country. For those of you who don't know about his plan to destroy medicare, study up. Same for the plans by the now infamous Scott Walker, the current Governor of Wisconsin. He will be up for a recall vote one year after his term began. There are currently several Republican State Senators facing recall next month in Wisconsin.

The Republican party is not for America's families. They are attempting to haul us back to the time before the Great Depression, and they are trying to destroy the New Deal designed by FDR, as well as the middle class and the elderly, students, young families, American industry, the list goes on and on.

Listen, Searchers, get off your asses and get involved. It is time to take our country from the Right Wing of America that seeks to destroy it.

Peace-

By the way, I will write about a couple of comments I received a while back that come directly from the useless Flanagin rabble in the state of Arkansas. And, there is a circuit judge I will post about before long, also in Arkansas.


The table is kinda jacked up, I know, but figure it it. Better yet, go to your library or local bookstore and pick up a copy of Paul Krugman's book. I don't have the time to perfect the table right now, in the future I will work on it.

Till next time...
Where's my sitemeter?????? Must get that back on....

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS

Note: This is a long post, please take time to read it. In it I bring up the tragic case of Nataline Sarkisyan, the girl killed by insurance giant CIGNA, and I remind the recipients of the ridiculous Billy Tauzin (R, Louisiana), the fraud that went to work for PhRMA after he left congress. I am in the process of emailing it to my respective electeds in Washington as well as Arkansas. I am also snail mailing it. We have to make changes in our system, people are dying as a result of policies that our Lobby-Owned Congress refuse to change. Peace-

My Dear Elected Officials- Monday, June 8,

I am writing to request a full explanation regarding the "single payer" option being taken off the table in reference to health care reform.

As you are well aware, scare tactics abound when this subject is broached, as in the early 1990's when insurance lobbies spent upwards of 100 million dollars to kill health care reform when President Clinton first entered office.

I am confident you aware of at least one of the tactics used by Republicans, neocons, skinheads, and some Conservadems, the usual worn-out statement meant to scare people that goes something like this: your sick mother or grandmother will not be able to get treatment because of a government bureaucrat as a result of "socialized medicine." I have noticed some on the right beginning to use catch words such as “rationing of care” “long lines” “you may have to wait six months to see a dentist.” And other nonsense. There have been times I wished I could wait six months to see a dentist because as our current system is designed now, NEVER was how long I would have to wait to receive dental or medical treatment.

Let me remind you of W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, Republican, of Louisiana proclaiming over and over again how he "loves his Mama, I love that woman" while on a "family values" crusade and then went to work for PhRMA at a reported salary of 2.5 million dollars a year after he left office. So much for all of the love for Mamas everywhere.

I am confident you are aware of the current for-profit health industry, in which insurance companies such as Aetna, Blue-Cross, and Kaiser Permanente, companies that make billions of dollars profiting from people's misery, have the ability to deny claims.

Perhaps you recall the infamous case of Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17 year old girl that died at the UCLA Medical Center on December 20, 2007 as a result of CIGNA denying her a liver transplant. Unfortunately, Nataline was one of approximately 20,000 American that are killed yearly, one could argue murdered, by the insurance companies they pay premiums to. Premiums that are paid by Americans for the express purpose of the insurance company paying up in the event of a claim being filed.

If you have seen the movie "Sicko," you will recall a scene in which a doctor is testifying before committee on Capitol Hill, and she recounts a particular case in which she had to deny a claim by a man that was dying because of the denial quotas she was expected to adhere to. She testified that had the man received the necessary care he paid for he would not have died. I do not understand why this woman was not immediately detained and charged with this man's death.

Please include an explanation of the lack of detention of this woman in your response. Be advised any references to any sort of immunity deal should be included, but as a taxpayer, I am uninterested in this. Had this scenario played out during a robbery anywhere else, the individual responsible would be imprisoned. In this case the CEO's of these companies are directly responsible, and they have blood of Americans on their hands. When health insurance companies take money for premiums from individuals and do not deliver, that is robbery. Furthermore, if that robbery results in an individual’s death, one could argue a murder occurred.

The current state of our health care system is in shambles. As you are well aware, the United States spends more money on health care than any other Western Nation, and we have less to show than most for our efforts.

I would like to include more statistics for you, but I am confident you already know the numbers.

Here is what I require from you, my dear elected officials: A full explanation of why my elected officials are bowing to the insurance companies by denying a single payer system for the American People. As members of my Congress, you are individuals that enjoy the benefits of health care funded by the American Peoples’ tax dollars. Armed with the knowledge that the paycheck you cash as a result of your elected position is drawn on my Treasury, I will need an explanation for the lack of Congressional regard for the American People, especially our children.

I will also require a detailed explanation as to why my government cannot negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for medication prices as is the practice in other countries. An explanation of the law as it is currently written is unnecessary. I am well aware of the legislation, what I require is detailed explanation of what you are doing to repeal this reckless legislation.

What must not be included in your detailed explanation is any defense of the current for-profit insurance nightmare that has been developed in the United States, which has been as successful as Milton Friedman's economic policies adopted by Ronald Reagan in 1981. We have learned that "trickle down" economics does not work, nor does our health care system. There is no reason to cling to either of these failed policies.

Let me reiterate: under no circumstances are you to defend the current system, it does not need to be defended, it needs to be dismantled completely and redone.

Even Margaret Thatcher, the Ronald Reagan counterpart that turned thousands of police officers and military against her own countrymen and women to break the labor unions, much like Reagan with the Air Traffic Controllers, said of the National Health Service "It is safe with us." Even Thatcher knew the U.K. National Health Service worked, and as one prominent Labour leader stated, "If they touched it there would have been revolution."

Perhaps that is what we need in the United States. Perhaps not, perhaps all we as constituents need to do is vote out politicians that live off the government dole, while they slash education, health, food programs, school lunch programs, while at the same time ensuring their own children and families are well cared for.

As a young man of 40, I have many years left, and while I am sinking myself into thousands of dollars of debt, (my wife as well) because of our abysmally planned higher education system, eventually I will be out of school armed with an education in Public Policy and Poli Sci from Washington State University, Vancouver. My wife will eventually be finished with her second Bachelor of Science, this one in Biology, from WSU Vancouver as well, her first a B.S. in Psychology from Portland State, and she will eventually be in and out of Medical School, with a mere $200,000 dollars in debt, and together we will work to ensure the current system in the United States is turned on it head.

An interesting side note, at this point in time, due to the failed policies of the past 30 years, we are considered poor enough to qualify for the State of Washington health care system. Thank you Washington. My primary care physician is a remarkable woman from India, where, when she trained there 15 years ago, related to me just today in conversation that India has programs that put women into Medical Schools for free. She also related to me the appalling amount of waste in the United States in relation to health care. You see, the Indians are interested in investing in their people; they approach government as government and not as a corporation that only thinks about the P&L Sheet. It is time to once again wake up and realize the U.S. government is not a business; it is a government, one that must invest in its people, not its lobbyists, and the CEO's of massive financial firms on Wall Street.

Ms. Patty Murray, Ms. Maria Cantwell, and Mr. Brian Baird, my wife, son and I are constituents in Washington State.
Mr. Mark Pryor and Ms. Blanche Lincoln, I have two children of voting age in your state, and two more that will soon be of voting age.
I am including some of our Republican elected officials in my request, so be assured I hold all Members of my Congress fully responsible for the paralysis on this and many other extraordinarily important issues.

Mid-terms are just around the corner, and 2012 will be here soon. As a former Conservative that voted Republican for 22 years, (for Heaven's sake I voted for Mike Huckabee of Arkansas; sorry about that, my wife proudly proclaims she did not) I have fully embraced the Democratic Party's principle of people over profit. Please do not disappoint me.

Thank you for your time, I realize you are in session, and I will be patient. However, please understand paralysis in D.C. is trying most Americans' patience. I will be following up with each of you, and I will post this letter and your responses on my blog, www.mikesearches.blogspot.com.

Sincerely,

It is time for systemic change in the United States.

FRED HAMPTON, SR

Fred Hampton was murdered by the Chicago Police in cold blood in his bed with his pregnant Lady beside him...He was an activist, a father, a Black Panther, a man. He paid with his life for helping the poor. Although Hampton lived and died in Chicago, Mos Def recounts that, as a child in NYC, it was the Black Panthers that ensured he and thousands of other low-income children had a free breakfast before school...something I want for my own children. Read about the vandalism and the burning of Black Panther medical clinics by the police...it is mindblowing...Peace and much love...

MORE INCARCERATION? MORE FAMILIES DESTROYED?

I'm following a story in Oregon. -UPDATE- I can't get the link to work, the story is from Oregonlive.com- Basically, Oregonians are going to the polls to decide a number of things, not the least of which will be the question of whether to "tighten up" sentences for non-violent offenders. (I love these ambivalent terms like "tighten up." It's allowed to sound innocuous when the reality of it is terrible and destructive. Kind of like "mandatory minimums." The shit doesn't work.) Non-Violent offenders. Drug addicts and the like. So, I'm hoping Oregon will get it right. From what I've seen in my few years of paying attention they probably won't.

People don't get it. Drug addiction is social problem, not a criminal one. Putting addicts in prison and destroying families further does nothing except feed the hideous beast that is the Prison Industrial Complex. For sure these cops and prosecutors don't get it, and they have very little incentive for helping in a positive way. Their jobs depend largely on addicts and convictions of addicts. Treatment would put a massive dent in revenue. That is the truth.

We have a nation of self-righteous sanctimonious christians, cops, judges and lawbreakers; I mean lawmakers, that have no sympathy or empathy for their fellow man. This is the result of a society built on capital and greed.

So, I push and focus my education on change in the United States. I'll follow that story and let ya know what's up, Searchers.

It is time for a systemic change in America. Peace-
Mike

LET'S PLAY 20 QUESTIONS!!!!

I came across this on AfterDowningStreet.org. It is an excellent tool to relate how fucked up the United States and its capitalistic greed is. Capitalism is a horrible route that the US has, by and large, embraced. Regarding all of these government bailout in the past few days, that ole pile of crap Milton Freidman must be spinning in his grave. Read and be outraged. Print it off and distribute it on the streets. This is the meaning of a Searcher: seek out truth and truth in history.


Twenty Questions: Social Justice Quiz 2008
by Bill Quigley / September 11th, 2008

1. How many deaths are there world-wide each year due to acts of terrorism?

2. How many deaths are there world-wide each day due to poverty and malnutrition?

3. 1n 1965, CEOs in major companies made 24 times more than the average worker. In 1980, CEOs made 40 times more than the average worker. In 2007, CEOs earned how many times more than the average worker?

4. In how many of the over 3000 cities and counties in the US can a full-time worker who earns minimum wage afford to pay rent and utilities on a one-bedroom apartment?
5. In 1968, the minimum wage was $1.65 per hour. How much would the minimum wage be
today if it had kept pace with inflation since 1968?

6. True or false? People in the United States spend nearly twice as much on pet food as the US government spends on aid to help foreign countries.

7. How many people in the world live on $2 a day or less?

8. How many people in the world do not have electricity?

9. People in the US consume 42 kilograms of meat per person per year. How much meat and grain do people in India and China eat?

10. How many cars does China have for every 1000 drivers? India? The U.S.?

11. How much grain is needed to fill a SUV tank with ethanol?

12. According to the Wall Street Journal, the richest 1% of Americans earns what percent of the nation’s adjusted gross income? 5%? 10%? 15%? 20%?

13. How many people does our government say are homeless in the US on any given day?

14. What percentage of people in homeless shelters are children?

15. How many veterans are homeless on any given night?

16. The military budget of the United States in 2008 is the largest in the world at $623 billion per year. How much larger is the US military budget than that of China, the second largest in the world?

17. The US military budget is larger than how many of the countries of the rest of the world combined?

18. Over the 28 year history of the Berlin Wall, 287 people perished trying to cross it. How many people have died in the last 4 years trying to cross the border between Arizona and Mexico?

19. India is ranked second in the world in gun ownership with 4 guns per 100 people. China is third with 3 firearms per 100 people. Which country is first and how many guns do they own?

20. What country leads the world in the incarceration of its citizens?

Answers to Social Justice Quiz 2008

1. 22,000. The U.S. State Department reported there were more than 22,000 deaths from terrorism last year. Over half of those killed or injured were Muslims. Source: Voice of America, May 2, 2008. “Terrorism Deaths Rose in 2007.”

2. About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations. Poverty.com – Hunger and World Poverty. Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes – one child every five seconds. Bread for the World. Hunger Facts: International.

3. Today’s average CEO from a Fortune 500 company makes 364 times an average worker’s pay and over 70 times the pay of a four-star Army general. Executive Excess 2007, page 7, jointly published by Institute for Policy Studies and United for Fair Economy, August 29, 2007. 1965 numbers from State of Working America 2004-2005, Economic Policy Institute.

4. In no city or county in the entire USA can a full-time worker who earns minimum wage afford even a one bedroom rental. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) urges renters not to pay more than 30% of their income in rent. HUD also reports the fair market rent for each of the counties and cities in the US. Nationally, in order to rent a 2 bedroom apartment, one full-time worker in 2008 must earn $17.32 per hour. In fact, 81% of renters live in cities where the Fair Market Rent for a two bedroom rental is not even affordable with two minimum wage jobs. Source: Out of Reach 2007-2008, April 7, 2008, National Low-Income Housing Coalition.

5. Calculated in real (inflation adjusted) dollars, the 1968 minimum wage would have been worth $9.83 in 2007 dollars. Andrew Tobias, January 16, 2008. The federal minimum wage is $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008 and $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009.

6. True. The USA spends $43.4 billion on pet food annually. Source: American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, Inc. The USA spent $23.5 billion in official foreign aid in 2006. The government of the USA gave the most of any country in the world in actual dollars. As a percentage of gross national income, the USA came in second to last among OECD donor countries and ranked number 20 at 0.18 percent behind Sweden at 1.02 percent and other countries such as Norway, Netherlands, Ireland, United Kingdom, Austria, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and others. This does not count private donations which, if included, may move the USA up as high as 6th. The Index of Global Philanthropy 2008, page 15, 19.

7. The World Bank reported in August 2008 that 2.6 billion people consume less than $2 a day.

8. World-wide, 1.6 billion people do not have electricity. 2.5 billion people use wood, charcoal or animal dung for cooking. United Nations Human Development Report 2007/2008, pages 44-45.

9. People in the US lead the world in meat consumption at 42 kg per person per year compared to 1.6 kg in India and 5.9 kg in China. People in the US consume five times the grain (wheat, rice, rye, barley, etc.) as people in India, three times as much as people in China, and twice as much as people in Europe. “THE BLAME GAME: Who is behind the world food price crisis,” Oakland Institute, July 2008.

10. China has 9 cars for every 1000 drivers. India has 11 cars for every 1000 drivers. The US has 1114 cars for every 1000 drivers. Iain Carson and Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future (2007).

11. The grain needed to fill up a SUV tank with ethanol could feed a hungry person for a year. Lester Brown, CNN.Money.com, August 16, 2006


12. “According to the figures, the richest 1% reported 22% of the nation’s total adjusted gross income in 2006. That is up from 21.2% a year earlier, and is the highest in the 19 years that the IRS has kept strictly comparable figures. The 1988 level was 15.2%. Earlier IRS data show the last year the share of income belonging to the top 1% was at such a high level as it was in 2006 was in 1929, but changes in measuring income make a precise comparison difficult.” Jesse Drucker, “Richest Americans See Their Income Share Grow,” Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2008, page A3.

13. 754,000 are homeless. About 338,000 homeless people are not in shelters (live on the streets, in cars, or in abandoned buildings) and 415,000 are in shelters on any given night. 2007 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Annual Homeless Report to Congress, page iii and 23. The population of San Francisco is about 739,000.

14. HUD reports nearly 1 in 4 people in homeless shelters are children 17 or younger. Page iv – 2007 HUD Annual Homeless Report to Congress.

15. Over 100,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. About 18 percent of the adult homeless population is veterans. Page 32, 2007 HUD Homeless Report. This is about the same population as Green Bay Wisconsin.

16. Ten times. China’s military budget is $65 billion. The US military budget is nearly 10 times larger than the second leading military spender. GlobalSecurity.org

17. The US military budget of $623 billion is larger than the budgets of all the countries in the rest of the world put together. The total global military budget of the rest of the world is $500 billion. Russia’s military budget is $50 billion, South Korea’s is $21 billion, and Iran’s is $4.3 billion. GlobalSecurity.org

18. 1268. At least 1268 people have died along the border of Arizona and Mexico since 2004. The Arizona Daily Star keeps track of the reported deaths along the state border and reports 214 died in 2004, 241 in 2005, 216 in 2006, 237 in 2007, and 116 as of July 31, 2008. These numbers do not include the deaths along the California or Texas border. The Border Patrol reported that 400 people died in fiscal 2206-2007, 453 died in 2004-2005, and 494 died in 2004-2005. Source Associated Press, November 8, 2007.

19. The US is first in gun ownership world-wide with 90 guns for every 100 citizens. Laura MacInnis, “US most armed country with 90 guns per 100 people.” Reuters, August 28, 2007.

20. The US jails 751 inmates per 100,000 people, the highest rate in the world. Russia is second with 627 per 100,000. England’s rate is 151, Germany is 88, and Japan is 63. The US has 2.3 million people behind bars, more than any country in the world. Adam Liptak, “Inmate Count in US Dwarfs Other Nations,” NYT, April 23, 2008.


Thanks to Bill Quigley, a human rights lawyer and a Professor at Loyola University New Orleans...peace-

Mike

P.S. Reading this makesme just my shake my head in wonder...when will it end?

Feds Bail out Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/treasury-set-bail-out-fannie/story.aspx?guid=%7B46D1439E-A2C4-418C-9BE0-09BE0B9EE60D%7D&dist=msr_4

So, the feds are bailing out corporations. Again. All while this worthless Administration cuts social benefits are being cut, we have two morons on the Repub ticket, both will do more damage to social programs, students in higher education, children, families. It's okay to bail out corporations, but not okay to provide health care to every man woman and child in America. It's okay to have college educations cost more than a house in many areas. It is all a ploy to get the rich richer, keep the poor poorer, and build a corporate christian fascist base. Before anyone spazzes, I know ultimately people who own their homes through these mortgage companies, and people need help. The republicans only care about the company, not the individuals that make it up, unless they are in the top spots.

Think they care? Look at this new psycho Sarah Palin. She cut special needs education by 62%. How's that for right wing Christianity? And to get on the stage and say she's a friend to the disadvantaged. It furthers my belief in the utter failure of the Republican party and the American right wing as well as their churches...
Peace-Revolution...let us take our country back...