Tag Archive for 'politics'


21
Jun
2011

John Q Sr.

Published in Rant. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .
original article

James Richard Verone, 59, is sick. He’s also unemployed, which means he has no health insurance.

He decided to do something about the situation, so in the morning of June 9th he walked into a bank, robbed it for $1, sat down on a chair and waited for the cops to come and arrest him.

He’s now entitled to free healthcare in the county jail he’s held while he’s waiting for his day in court. He’s refusing to post bail, because he wouldn’t receive healthcare if he did.

This is how healthcare works in the US. Free markets in full effect. It seems like enterprising individuals like Mr. Verone are figuring out how to play the game, too. Well done.

-TPP


09
Apr
2011

The Feudal US

Published in Rant. Closed Tags: , , .
original article

According to a recent study, one third of all working families in the United States can’t meet basic needs like food and healthcare with the family income.

They are working, but they are kept in poverty due to low wages (and/or high living costs).

In New York City this leads to a situation where the city is spending over $260M per year to support the families during their crisis:

In New York, where there is stiff resistance to living wage legislation from business and civic leaders, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city is already being forced to spend about $260 million a year to support poor working families with child care services alone.

Why are we, taxpayers, footing the bill to allow developers and other businesses to hire cheap labor and provide no benefits?

You and I are essentially supporting companies like Walmart, who provide minimal benefits and low wages to maximize shareholder profits. That’s pretty damn outrageous, if you ask me. At the very least I’d be entitled to free shares from these companies.

What would probably make more sense is to force these modern day feudal lords to actually pay fair wages and stop the suffering of people who are working incredibly hard to support their families.

-TPP


17
Mar
2011

In Soviet USA Broadcasters Must Preach The Party Agenda

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , , .
original article

The House Republicans have been busy this week trying to destroy public broadcasting in the United States, because some NPR employees have been caught speaking against The Party.

To that say the Republicans: “To the Gulag, peasants!”

-TPP


14
Mar
2011

Speak the Truth, and Get Fired

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , .
original article

State Department spokesperson PJ Crowley has been forced to resign after he spoke the truth about Bradley Manning’s despicable treatment by the US Army. He called Mr. Manning’s treatment as ridiculous and counterproductive.

Looks like the Obama Administration is now intent on keeping only yesmen around.

-TPP


27
Feb
2011

What’s at stake in Wisconsin

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , .
original article

Frank Rich of the New York Times sums up what’s really at stake in Wisconsin and elsewhere where the Tea Party frauds and other right wing radicals are busy eroding the well being of ordinary Americans.

That’s not to say there is no fiscal mission in the right’s agenda, both nationally and locally — only that the mission has nothing to do with deficit reduction. The real goal is to reward the G.O.P.’s wealthiest patrons by crippling what remains of organized labor, by wrecking the government agencies charged with regulating and policing corporations, and, as always, by rewarding the wealthiest with more tax breaks.

That’s what it’s really about. Not the deficit, not the continued success and supremacy of the United States, but the well being of the plutocracy that supports these people.

-TPP


21
Feb
2011

The Plutocratic States of America

Published in Rant. Closed Tags: , , .
original article

Over the holiday weekend I finally had time to read Bill Moyers speech at Boston University on October 29th 2010. It shoud be required reading for all elected officials in this country, starting with the corporate apologists at the Wisconsin Governor’s office.

In his speech he outlines the different ways the rich have raped the country at the expense of everyone else since the 80s.

Average income went from that $30,941 in 1980 to $31,244 in 2008. Think about that: the average income of Americans increased just $303 dollars in 28 years.

Yes, think about that, indeed. The US has seen near unprecedented growth of wealth in these years, but it has done little to nothing to actually benefit the US people. Make no mistake about it, the trickle up economy is working exactly as planned.

The US has been fighting class warfare for 30 years with one side having all the arms, and the other side getting massacred without even noticing. Wake up people!

Update: Even Warren Buffett thinks so.

-TPP


18
Jan
2011

The Conservative Internet Policy

Published in Rant. Closed Tags: , , , .
original article

The US Government shouldn’t regulate the Internet unless it benefits those who pay us.

That’s how I would characterize the contents of the keynote speech by Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn. She is the representative, who also introduced the bill to get rid of net neutrality regulations.

It appears that she would be perfectly fine regulating the Internet, if it benefits the content producers. Not a word in her speech was said about fair use or other consumer rights regarding intellectual property. Not a word was said about benefits of a more relaxed stance to legislating intellectual property. In fact what she wants is more strict IP regulations. I am convinced all of it would be bad for consumers.

When are we going to get out of the Dark Ages?

-TPP


01
Nov
2010

Attack ads are nothing new

Published in Humor. Closed Tags: , , , .
original article

The nastiness this election season has nothing over the nastiness during the 1800 election campaign season.

-TPP


29
Aug
2010

The Tea Party – of the people, by the people, for the rich

Published in Rant. Closed Tags: , , , , .
original article

The “grassroots” movement “reclaiming” America’s “honored” past turns out to be nothing but a front for fascism. In a most excellent piece of investigative journalism by Jane Mayer of the New Yorker, it is revealed the Koch brothers have been funding the Tea Party the entire time.

The Koch brothers have a long standing history of self-serving agendas. The Tea Party is but the latest attempt by these ultra-rich businessmen – in the US their wealth is only eclipsed by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett – to change political environment of the country to favor the ultra rich.

It really is amazing how the Tea Party has been branded to stand against special interests and the “Washington politics” while at the same time being held together by funds from the very people the party is supposedly against. This has to be one of the greatest branding successes ever. It’s truly amazing that these are the same people who accuse Barack Obama for having some sort of a hidden agenda.

The Koch family history is a history of racism, disregard for the environment to enrich the family, communist witch hunts and behind the scenes political dealings. Its agenda is total abolition of all consumer protections, taxes, unnecessary Government agencies (incl. FBI and CIA) and all regulations that regulate businesses in the US.

-TPP


27
Sep
2009

A Nation of we can’t

Published in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , .
original article

I’m not really fond of Bill Maher, because he almost always seems to articulate his ideas in the most inflammatory way, but I think he’s onto something with his recent article about how we (as in the US) can’t seem to manage to make anything happen any more.

Well, I hate to be a nudge, but why has America become a nation that can’t make anything bad end, like wars, farm subsidies, our oil addiction, the drug war, useless weapons programs – oh, and there’s still 60,000 troops in Germany – and can’t make anything good start, like health care reform, immigration reform, rebuilding infrastructure. Even when we address something, the plan can never start until years down the road. Congress’s climate change bill mandates a 17% cut in greenhouse gas emissions… by 2020!

We weren’t always like this. Inert. In 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law and 11 months later seniors were receiving benefits. During World War II, virtually overnight FDR had auto companies making tanks and planes only. In one eight year period, America went from JFK’s ridiculous dream of landing a man on the moon, to actually landing a man on the moon.

The last two paragraphs are typical Bill Maher, however, but the larger point about a population of sheep is completely valid. “Yes We Can” has been “Yes We Could, but The Bachelor is on!” for a long time.

-TPP


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-if-america-cant_b_299383.htmlWe weren’t always like this. Inert. In 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law and 11 months later seniors were receiving benefits. During World War II, virtually overnight FDR had auto companies making tanks and planes only. In one eight year period, America went from JFK’s ridiculous dream of landing a man on the moon, to actually landing a man on the moon.