November stuff....

It’s November and I am thankful, just delayed, so here is my catch-up: 1). Michael who can still tolerate me after 30 years; 2) My six kids (Jordan, Jesse, Ian, Katie, Matt and Emily) and also my adjunct kids (you know who you are) all who have let me love them and harass them and still somehow, love me and keep coming home to see me; 3). My grandmonkies, the best little boys in the universe; 4) My family and friends who keep me going even when I’m a whiney pain in the posterior; 5). Penny and Copper, my constant companions and true best friends; 6). Home, the best refuge ever; 7). Colorado, the most sane, wonderful state in the union; 8). Cornwall, possibly the most amazing place on Earth; 9). my gifts and my passions because they keep me busy and fascinated with this world ; 10). the people in this world who are making a difference, reaching out in their own individual ways to help others and make the world a better place; 11.) Adversity, which has made my life stronger, although at the time, it didn’t seem so wonderful; 12). My wonderful, amazing, godson, Brendan who should have spot #4 because it was also his 17th birthday, but hey, this is off the top of my head...; 13). My wonderful, amazing fairy goddaughter, Amanda, whose birthday is, today, November 13th...

My Apologies For Our Idiocrats in Congress

I hate politics. I hate dealing with it on every level and truly believe that if we all play nicely, the world will be a better place. However, that is so far from our current reality, evidenced by the whole world watching us, as if it was some overly dramatic reality show. Unfortunately, it is the real deal and as shocked as the world is at what is happening in the seat of our democracy, Washington, D.C., those of us living it are just as stunned. 

First off, let me state that most of our elected politicians are, I think, reasonable, honest, honorable people.I would like to believe that those currently throwing tantrums in Washington might have started off that way, but now have changed into...whatever they are. Corrupted? Intimidated? Had some Vulcan mind-erase technique used on them? Perhaps they are merely possessed by aliens who are, at any moment, about to reveal themselves as they rip off their outer shells (the ones that look like the congress members in question), revealing their oozing, monstrous, alien selves to the world. One can only hope that this is the explanation as it is preferable to admitting that this small, yet vocal group of delusional, self-righteous, self-centered, congressional members who appear to be the racist the minions of certain mega-industries, are, in fact, the people that we put there by choice. 

Without that plausible scenario, I fear that the rest of the world will continue to view us as backward, pathetic creatures who are unable to control a small faction of lunatics obsessed with preventing us from having affordable healthcare on the same level as every other First World Country. Don’t ask what’s wrong with us. Believe me, most of America is as deeply shocked about this as you are. However, fighting it is far more complicated than it should be. 

The problem is, as I understand it, there is little that we, as the American people, can do to stop these governmental hijackers from destroying our government. Yes, I mean destroying, as in crashing our credit rating, which is already under watch, something that almost guarantees the lowering of our ratings, with or without a resolution by tomorrow. We, the voters, cannot do anything to bring them to justice in a speedy manner and for some reason, they are exempt from being fired for not doing their jobs (i.e., paying the bills). Most Americans are highly embarrassed and certainly want to pay those bills, even though it was brought on by two wars, greed on Wall Street, and had very little, proportionately, to do with aiding the average American. The root of this issue, and how we got here, stems from the failure of many to completely understand or remember what got us here, so here is a quick recap:

This government shutdown allegedly started over a small group’s resistance to the Affordable Care Act, a law that was passed, signed, and even vetted by the Supreme Court of the United States. It is the law. It was implemented on October 1st of this year. Perhaps those in Congress who started this by trying to cut a deal to change this law, the Affordable Care Act, need a refresher course about how to do their jobs? They certainly need some remedial lessons on how to change a law, as what they have demanded is not legal in any sense of the word. I have no idea what led them to think that they can allegedly act in an illegal manner, such as by holding the government hostage or cutting what amounts to side deals to circumvent the law about changing a law, but after the past few weeks of viewing this behavior, a refresher on the legal system couldn’t hurt.   

The refresher doesn’t matter at the moment because this bunch of hooligans has moved on, dropping their complaints against the Affordable Care Act, and focusing on the debt. Do they realize that they were part of the reason that we have that debt now? Perhaps an economics course or two should be added to that course list? 

 But, where did this debt come from? For that we have to look in the rearview mirror.

The times are not the same as when President Clinton and Newt Gingrich bumped heads, rather amicably, over the debt. That was a different sort of Congress. Also, it is not the same situation as it was when President Clinton finished his last term. He left  a budget surplus when President Bush took office. However, in the eight years following that surplus, we started two very profitable wars that made American defense contractors very wealthy. Ditto for oil companies and Wall Street Bankers.  Meanwhile, no one was prosecuting or even enforcing laws such as the uptick rule or preventing hedge funds from allegedly manipulating the stock market. It was all just good fun - right?

Not for most of us and not for the debt. The average American struggled and the debt spiraled to reach the present-day numbers. Sadly, unlike the average American, those same people who made a killing off the war or oil profits or Wall Street got used to used to making staggering profits. That gave way to Greed. Greed is like heroin - highly addictive and a nearly impossible habit to break.

Now that we have a huge deficit, thanks to the greed/war combo and the fact that the country needed saving from a near-depression situation, caused by the greed/war combination, we have a handful of idiocrats in Washington making it an issue worthy of forcing the government into default and thus, creating another economic mess. Still they remain clueless about what they are heading toward with their demands. Sadly, those same idiocrats, who have chosen (actually stated that a shutdown of the government was their goal) to shutdown the government instead of doing their jobs and paying the bills that they have already committed to (as in voted for and passed) pay, have not done a thing about prosecuting those who made obscene fortunes and profits, while the country fell into that huge recession.

 So as the world watches our “leaders” in Congress - the idiocrats -as they continue to complain, pout, and throw very public tantrums while America slips closer to disaster. That means that everyone else on this little planet will suffer, too. We are all connected, though Americans are likely to feel the initial blows. We apologize in advance for not paying our bills and potentially bringing another worldwide recession. Just remember, we didn't do it; the idiocrats did.

Ironically, there is one thing that this same stellar group of “leaders” may accomplish through this, albeit, totally by accident. While it’s fun to watch from the other side of the world, choosing to move here and to endure the effects of this clown show is another issue. Thus, we may end up with significantly reduced immigration numbers, accomplishing another goal of the idiocrats in Washington.