The Budget?
Wed, 07/06/2011 - 11:32am
I'd like to have a thoughtful and sensitive conversation about the more and more urgent issue of the US budget. Anyone have any insight about this? There is some heightened rhetoric about "bluff calling" and the the very real possibility of this country going bankrupt. As with most of this stuff, aside from being chronically under employed, it all seems to exist in the world of politics and news. What the heck can I do about it? After years now of governmental threats of economic meltdowns, I am almost ashamed to admit that there is a small part of me that wants to see it happen just stop all the naysayers or the doomsday predictors. It gets to a point to where you start feeling like we are just staving off the inevitable.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/senate-returns-to-work-on...
Sun, 07/17/2011 - 12:13pm
#2
"Government is the means by
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/grand-bargain-on-debt-ceiling/201...
There's something that keeps coming up in this US debt ceiling debate that has been bugging me. When speaking of "Government," people act like it's this separate entity from themselves: "The Government is out of touch... Government is inefficient... Government is broken..." We've created this dynamic now where "The Government" is something to be feared or overcome. I thought government was supposed to be us? I though it was there to save us from tyranny in all of its forms. Every time we buy something or get paid through work we are supporting the government. There's really no way around it. There's nothing that large corporate entities would like more than for us to lose faith in Government. Less government means less accountability to our fellow humans. Government is an ever evolving concept that needs to be under constant scrutiny as we evolve. It's not always efficient. It's not always pleasant. It's not government that's the problem. It's the people who represent us in Government. I think that's important distinction to make. To lose faith in government is to lose faith in ourselves. What else do we have that binds this social contract between us and those less fortunate? There appears to be so much broad criticism of government these days. I think it would be much more beneficial to start taking slightly a deeper look as some of the compartments of our government, like say maybe our financial institutions? The people that run government are just like you and me. We are their bosses. If we don't like the job that they are doing we are obliged to let them know. We don't just blame the job.
Wed, 07/20/2011 - 3:36am
#3
greenwald, again
This was not exactly insightful, but perhaps incisive:
http://mobile.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/07/12/china
Wed, 07/27/2011 - 1:08pm
#4
Found this helpful
Mon, 08/01/2011 - 1:52pm
#5
bad deal
so hostage-taking works, apparently. the deal that is set to be voted on today includes NO REVENUE INCREASES, which means that the wealthy get to keep their historically low tax rates while the poor must suffer through another round of spending cuts to social services.
the current debt ceiling deal is bad. let your senators know.
Sen. Schumer (202) 224 6542
Sen Gillibrand (202) 224 4451
also call your Representatives
I called Rep Yvette Clark, district 11 (202) 225 6231
some other NYC Reps:
Michael Grimm, Staten Island/Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights (202) 225-3371
Jerrold Nadler, random parts of Manhattan & Brooklyn 202-225-5635
Nydia Velazquez, Bushwick/Williamsburgh/Greenpoint (202) 225-2361
if I didn't list your Rep., you can get their office number easily just by googling that shit.
Wed, 08/03/2011 - 9:56am
#6
Next
Okay the Debt Ceiling debate is history and as you all know Obama and Democrats came out of it looking like suckers. If you wanna use this as a gateway to stay somewhat actively involved with your government then contact your representatives and urge them to allow the Bush Tax Cuts to expire in 2012. Here is the argument why. Rock on!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/one-shot-on-taxes-dont-bl...
Find your Rep: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
Find your Senator: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Mon, 08/01/2011 - 3:58pm
#7
Rise Up!
ATTENTION: This is a general rant not meant to be directed at anyone specifically
I know this is some depressing shit and I have contacted all of my reps and let them know what I feel about this. But I still think the Republican/Tea Party revealed itself for the sick corporate puppets that they are on this one. And I think it's going to bite them in the ass in the long run. (or I can only hope)
I believe that to some degree Americans have themselves to blame on this one. We should have been drumming up this kind of enthusiasm during the mid term elections. We learned an important lesson here. The President does not have enough power on his own to make big change in this country. He needs the help of Congress. If citizens are not actively engaged in the process then the rich have no problem hiring their cronies to fill in for you. Cynicism is not what the liberal party needs right now. Corporate America feeds off the politically disillusioned and the cynical. They stay out of their hair in DC but continue to consume.
You want change? Then start working now to identifying these sleezebags and get to voting them out of office. Stop talking about how their all the same. If there is anything this whole debt debate has show it's that there "is" a real difference here between the 2 parties. And the other guys are not afraid to play dirty. If Republicans didn't have the majority in the house due to the these past elections (ie Tea Party mvt.) this Debt Ceiling crap would have barely made the papers. This is what happens when liberal minded people get disillusioned with the political process, and of course who could blame them. But look what you get.
(Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. And I'm sorry if anyone took offense.)
Some very good points here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/the-debt-ceiling-fight-...
A small silver lining to this thing.:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/the-debt-...
Tue, 08/02/2011 - 3:19am
#8
On the other hand
Yes Matt is right, people do have to wake up. Dems and Repubs are different, but the difference is that they disagree about what is the best way to keep the gears of this machine grinding away.
I just read Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow, and then I saw that a bunch of prisoners in CA were on a hunger strike. People are kept in solitary confinement 23 hours a day for years. Thats the reality of this machine. People do have to take a stand, look at whats happening beneath the surface, humming away. Its some ugly shit, and neither political party is your friend when it comes to this.
Ben posted this on FB, it fits here, in the micro-political sense.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/08/01/debt_ceilin...
And this is for the macro-political sense...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLqmKVwJ_Dk
Tue, 08/02/2011 - 12:33pm
#9
One hand clapping
Our countries political and governmental systems are totally intertwined I see not point in totally denouncing one and then still taking part in the other. Unless you can show me some specific examples of better working systems on the same scale of the US then could we please fore go the inevitable "the system is broken" portion of this conversation? The system is not perfect and sure maybe it's in need of some serious refurbishing but if your argument always ends with: "They're all crooks and we should chuck em all into the river and start fresh." Then there is nowhere this conversation can go.
If we want to talk about prisons then by all means start a thread and have a debate about prisons in the US compared to the rest of the world. In the meantime, as we speak, rich corporations are hijacking your government and chipping at the social services that I will most definitely eventually require. Have a nice day.
I read the article. Arguing that Obama has some kind of dark master plan to cut all our social services in the same way as the Republican Party is kind of like arguing that the US government staged 911.
And finally...I'm still waiting for that Rockstar trickle down theory to work when Jefferson Airplane sold out big time in the 80's in order to raise there platform the fight the social injustices of corporate America. Talk to Grace Slick's accountant and then talk to mine and see how that worked out...
Tue, 08/02/2011 - 1:26pm
#10
OK Well
Its fine to argue lets not talk about how the system is broken, etc. But you tell me--why is that less "realistic" than talking about that there is a way to somehow "fix" (even a little bit) what's wrong with society right now by leaving it in place? As you correctly put it, "rich corporations are hijacking your government and chipping at the social services that I will most definitely eventually require." And you CANNOT stop them, no matter who you vote for. Thats the lesson of the Obama "landslide" in 2008 (and of the current "debt" argument). The system, whether you want to hear me complain about it or not, "is what it is" in that regard. Even things on the most local level--community clinics, access to abortion, community gardens, state parks--will all be facing destruction based on the budgetary decisions in DC. The electorate has no control over this, never has.
And the prison thing is just an example I was using of how the real cruelty hums along in the background, and none of these "political disagreements" in Washington DC or elsewhere ever touches it. There is no voting that you can possibly do that will change the fact that the US has the highest per-capita incarceration rate in the world, and that the percentage of Black prisoners is far above their numbers in society, and that the Supreme Court has decided 3 separate times that this cannot be challenged legally as discrimination. Thats just a top of my head example. There are plenty more all over the world.
I'd say what if the "aching whose wounds cannot be nursed, the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse, An' every hung-up person in the whole wide universe" were to start thinking "Im through with trying to 'change' this thing, lets figure out a different way to do this"--if they even just started thinking that, maybe that would be the first step toward actually fixing it.
And as for the Starship song--this was long before the Marty Balin-led top 40 group of the 80s. But even so, the point I was making was the philosophy that comes through in the song--a very optimistic but at the same time confrontational look at the whole machinery as it existed at the time. What happened to the actual musicians involved is immaterial to me. Even if it didn't result in changing things at that time (and in fact some things did get changed--and not by voting), a lot of people were thinking that way at that time. And without that we wouldn't even have the "community clinics, access to abortion, community gardens, state parks" that I mention earlier in this post.
Tue, 08/02/2011 - 7:27pm
#11
You can't negotiate with a guy holding a gun...
All of this criticism comes from a perspective that these people are just following you around and taking notes on what they should be doing. You've gotta make your voice heard. I don't think the problem is that government isn't listening. I think it's just listening to the wrong people. I think the problem is that the people with the right ideas aren't trying hard enough to influence their government. They are giving up or distracted maybe? Disillusioned. I think it takes more hard work than just voting. You gotta contact your reps on a regular basis. You gotta continue to spread the word. If you don't care then people with louder voices who may not have your best interest at heart are just gonna move in there. It's kind of wild how now it's the conservative who are the ones willing to take down the government for their ideals. The tables are somewhat turned.
The prison thing is a relevant issue in the big picture and I'm sure I agree with you. I guess I misunderstood your point in referencing it in this discussion?
Frankly I'm happy to see that the president doesn't and shouldn't have that much power. I do think voting for him was a step in the right direction and I for one think he's managed to show us a lot about what is wrong with our system. And I think that's the best he can do in this current political climate. Stuff is way to fucked up for him to do much more. It's our responsibility now to figure out a way to fix it. Or at lease seek out and support the people who are moving in the right general direction. But if we want the guy to have more power then we have to give it to him in the form of supporting his party in other positions of government. As long as we are only a major 2 party system this is the best we can do. Of I guess you could support a 3rd party.
Of course working outside the system is possible and helpful. But I think you have to offer equal as much support as you do criticism if you are really trying to get your agenda across. If you just spend all your time criticizing without some kind realistic alternative all you're gonna get is pessimistic disillusionment. I don't need that. And I find that it often works against the causes I think are important.
And I do like a lot of Jefferson Airplane. I was being sarcastic, sorry. I think they were an important counter culture band. But my example was kind of to show you how criticizing Obama for the prison issue in California is kind of like me criticizing JA for the 80's. You can't get everything out of one person, band, party or president. But I don't think we should throw the Obama out with the bathwater. Call me crazy but I have hope for his second term. And yes I will vote for him again and God save us if a republican gets in. We're running out of places to invade.
Wed, 08/17/2011 - 12:40pm
#12
Found this interesting.
http://youtu.be/lzcCoyJBMSU
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/in-debt-talks-obama-offer...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-the-debt-ceiling...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/time-to-call-out-the-dishonesty-i...
"Here to do great things."