US Values Special Interests more than Education

Why should the United States be concerned with providing education for its youth. The HB Visa program has taken care of America’s future. If we do not have enough Cheap University Graduates we can just import them from some country that provides free University Education to its citizens. Most Americans at this point are thinking this is crazy, he is just upset about something or that I am a Commie Pinko Fag (term from the 70s). Unfortunately, none of the above are true. The proof is in the legislation.

The Georgetown Voice writes:

The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007, currently before both houses of Congress in different forms, would reform the corrupt student loan industry and make textbooks more affordable, among other admirable goals. Unfortunately, though, the bills also contain clauses that instruct universities to crack down on file-sharing on college campuses. While the Voice does not condone illegal file-sharing, Congress should not be roping universities into the fight against it, and Georgetown should not be diverting any of its limited resources into investigating students’ downloading habits.

If WE THE PEOPLE are interested in a strong and vibrant America then we must make education available to all no matter what one’s social status.

This is a bold statement. It sounds populous. It surely will upset those born into the Upper Class who enjoy a road less traveled. Thoughtful consideration instead leads us to believe that the strength of the United States in the future is best served by free University Education to all who desire it.

In any population there is a certain portion of a population that does well with manual tasks, others are thinkers, communicators, organizers or athletes. Rarely are the same genetic characteristics passed from parent to child instead they as the population mixes and mingles certain traits appear and go dormant skipping generations. Very complex children can be born to very simple parents and vice versa. Additionally science has found that mixing very different genetic characteristics produce better more adapt offspring.

The very mathematics of genetics teaches us that the best and the brightest will not come from the rich upper class. As a country interested in its future we should be facilitating the education of those least likely to fit the normal profile.

Our politicians are so corrupt and the collusion between business and politics is so great that our legislators have decided that it is more important to protect a corporation’s profits then to teach the greatest minds.

Read the Full Story...

The Inevitability of the Destruction of the Middle Class – War on the Middle Class

A father opens the door in the early evening just as the family has finished dinner. The sharp explosions of gunshots break the peaceful silence in a quiet neighborhood and a normal family ends its existence. The police investigate and find no reason for the tragedy. No apparent enemies, a simple family with a simple life. Stories like these find their way on to the front pages of our newspapers with increasing frequency. An unknown killer choosing a house at random in places where “these things just do not happen!”

We discussed these events over a plate of Cincinnati Spaghetti. Incredulous, we wondered what is happening to our world. My profession requires that I study tendencies and perceptions. I am subjected to hours of financial programs and news services. Some interesting things have been published recently. Raw data that may explain what would drive a person to knock on the door of a stranger and kill a family in cold blood without a moment’s hesitation:

Over the last 10 years the increase in earnings of the top 0.5% was more than the total earnings of entire bottom 20% of the population.

Greenspan and others state that inequality in earnings has been going on for 100 years. It is inevitable and cannot be stopped.

Successful people say that they work harder or have sacrificed more than people who are less successful. This is a fallacy. Success, as measured by earnings, has a great deal to do with social status, education and opportunity (knowing other successful people creates opportunities).

Legislation allows financially stable individuals to take advantage of difficult times. Financial institutions are allowed to charge usury rates on loans on credit cards. This reduces the disposable income of the lower income or rising classes. The result is less demand for products that can then be purchased with cash at significantly lower prices. A simple example is that one individual does not pay bank fees, credit card dues or any other type of utilization costs while an individual with a lower salary will pay 50$ annual dues, 12$ monthly service fee, 18% interest which can accelerate to 30% even though the debtor is making the payments in accordance with the contract. These fees can be the difference between eating dinner and going hungry for many families.

Rich people get bailouts from government when they make bad investments while working class gets bankruptcy.

The US working class mentality sides with the rich on policy because they believe they will become rich (the lottery syndrome).

Government uses tax dollars to protect America’s interests (only rich people). The latest example is the mortgage bailout. The only people helped by the various plans suggested will be the investors in bank stocks.

Government allows powerful individuals to close US production facilities and move their facilities to poor countries to avoid health and safety standards. They will say it is to reduce labor costs but the only real reason to produce outside the US is to avoid regulation.

It seems that the world is stacked against the working class. It is tough to make it to the end of the month much less think about the future. Should this individual get sick they are hit with a double whammy, healthcare costs they cannot afford and must go into debt just to stay alive and loss of wages since sick leave has been practically eliminated. God forbid that an individual should become part of the 35% of Americans who are not employed. They will be homeless in a few weeks and left to die.

With this type of future, always present in the mind of 98% of Americans, the pressure is intense. It is a short road from despair to anger against the world thus any door in quiet neighborhood is the perfect place to express that anger.

Free Markets work under enlightened self interest. They can last for centuries but take away the enlightened part and free markets bring their own type of enlightenment. We have seen it over the centuries with all great empires. The French Revolution, the fall of the Roman Empire, Macedonia, Egypt, Napoleon all learned why all members of society must have hope for a better future for themselves and their children. Perhaps the US is simply another fallen empire learning a lesson in humanity.

Read the Full Story...

Time to Change – Eliminate all Incumbent Politicians

Today I suffered through a couple of hours of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifying to Barney Franks and the House Financial Services Committee. It was evident that the current administration is beginning to talk about how bad the US economy really is as they prepare for a change in the Whitehouse in the next elections, but that is another story. Listening to the representatives speak evidences that career politicians talk in sound bites and do not have the mental capability to support a single argument.

A Latino representative, I could hardly understand his English, asked about outsourcing of American jobs. He blamed the Republicans for allowing corporate America to drive down wages. He then moved immediately to ask what would happen to the US economy if all the illegal immigrants were sent home. He wanted Bernanke to say, “Sending all of the illegal immigrants home would destroy the US economy.”

Bernanke simply indicated, “Dislocations of resources would be the result.”

His answer should have been, “Reduced labor against stable demand would raise wages and benefits for the workforce!”

The real sad point, one that makes me think we must eliminate politicians and replace them with normal people who have no political experience, is that Bernanke is politically correct. If he had responded as an economist, the reason for which he was appointed as Federal Reserve Chairman, our Latino Representative would have looked like an idiot because in one breath he wants to protect the American worker. His very next breath is used to support open borders which reduces wages, benefits and working conditions for American workers.

A black representative, I believe we are still allowed to use the adjective black, asked a question about inequality. He wanted to know why blacks have twice the unemployment rate as whites. He said the game was stacked against blacks since to make it in today’s world you must have a college degree. If you are poor a college degree is 10 times harder than if you are a little white girl whose daddy is going to take out a loan on the house to pay for her college.

The representative surely was promoting some legislation to give more money to black students. This is stupid because it will only pass if you get a lot of white guys to vote for it.

Why is this representative not taking on the real problem?

Why do students have to pay to go to school?

Consider that even Ethopia offers free University education. If we want to create equal opportunity we must have free healthcare and free University for all, not just some group. Singling out a group of individuals increases dependence on the welfare state. We should not be latinos, blacks, whites, etc. We should be Americans. Our representatives, even if they speak Spanglish, should represent this country, as a whole, in good faith.

WE THE PEOPLE must take back our country. We must vote out of office all incumbent politicians. We must eliminate the Electoral College. We must institute national referendums. We must have a way to make our government fail when it no longer represents the people’s wishes. We must eliminate lobbies.

Tags: Government Illegal Immigration Corporate America Corruption

Read the Full Story...

A Great Nation – Selling out the family for personal gain

In the discussion of what makes a great nation there are different ideas. Depending on what perspective we use looking at how a country acts can give us very different conclusions. What is not a topic of debate is what characteristics a country would have that make it impossible for that nation to be considered great. Before a country can think about taking on world hunger, injustice and democracy a country must be sure it has resolved those problems at home, in the family.

It is important to accept what a country is made of. A country is made of citizens, people just like you and me. Any other entity just does not count. This concept is supported by the fact that corporations, partnerships or lobbying entities cannot vote. A government, to be great, must resolve the necessities of the voters. Right along the basic services of equal healthcare and education opportunities for all citizens, a nation must protect its members from hostile environments. What would we say of the father who chooses to move his family with young children into an area known to have drug wars on the streets even though he could easily afford to live elsewhere.

The father, in this case, exposes his children to undue risk to their life and well being. When he makes this decision because he receives cheaper sexual favors from the local prostitute his actions are even more deplorable. He is making choices with his children’s safety and future opportunities for personal gain. Most likely a man like this would lose his children and face some type of criminal prosecution for endangerment.

When our politicians enact laws that favor predatory practices by companies and financial institutions that are clearly against the financially disadvantaged our country is doing just this. Usury has been condemned over the ages. The Islamic religions even prohibit charging of interest. To think that we consider the radical Muslims as really bad people yet, they prohibit not just usury but all interest charges. You say, “it is not the same. They blow people up!” The method of destruction is different but the results are the same. Banks ruin people’s lives, creating situations where children do not eat or get appropriate education. Our soldiers and their families are targeted by these vultures. It is well known that our government does not respect its obligations to the military.

Credit card companies have contractual clauses that are considered illegal and illegitimate in most every nation without a dictator. Our government thinks that corporations and financial institutions are more important than the voters. In their eyes this is surely true. I can say with confidence that a country that not only allows but sanctions usury can never be considered a great country no matter what it does in the rest of the world. We talk about national security but we all know that tensions are created when the people are not treated with respect and desperation sets in. In this light, the war on terrorism should be focused inside our country. We should be taking on those who create the conditions for desperate acts by people who have nothing to lose. We must take on the corporations, and the financial institutions. Yes, dear politician, the same people slipping you that big fat check under the table!

Read the Full Story...

A Great Nation – Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness – Education

“The US is a Great Nation”, meaningless and empty words spewed by corrupt politicians. Just as Hitler and Mussolini rallied the masses, crying in the streets, “We are number 1! It is our destiny to create a new World Order!” our politicians use sensationalist phrases about who we are and what our responsibilities are to the rest of the world. All this while the take kickbacks from corporations to render the American people nothing more than cattle to be driven and slaughtered at the pleasure of Corporate America.

In our family of citizens of the United States there are the powerful and the masses. The powerful become more powerful while the meek ever more desperate. A great nation is a free nation. Freedom can only occur through education and culture because education removes the advantages of wealth and allows all family members to compete freely without advantages. Yes, the wealthy will always have the advantages of established relationships, businesses and financial backing but an intelligent educated poor man can compensate for these things with drive and tenacity.

The first thing an occupying power does when it wants to dominate a people is destroy the libraries and educational institutions while creating sufficient poverty to require the newly dominated people to dedicate all of their energies to survival without the possibility of improving their situation. Corporate America, with the complicity of our politicians, has been successful in doing this without burning the libraries but raising costs for higher education while reducing wages has had the same affect.

In the rest of the world there is discussion of brain drain. Not because the best minds are coming to the US instead because there are a certain number of people who accessed the public education system. Yes, university is free in most developed nations, are taking jobs with American companies. They can work for less than US educated workers because they do not have $200,000 of debt for University training. Countries are now talking about taxing the companies who access their citizens for the cost of the University.

So we can easily see the influence of corporate America on our politics. Making money on a large scale is not about having a great product instead it is about getting someone else to pay for the cost of doing business. We see it with Walmart and we see it at Microsoft. In different ways but the trick is always to get someone else to pay for the costs.

Are we a great nation?

Can we consider the United States in the same category as countries that provide equal opportunities for its youth?

Just because someone screams at the top of their lungs how good they are does not mean they are actually any good. It simply means that they must compensate for their lack of reasonable argumentation by shouting. If a tree produces lemons it is a lemon tree no matter what it was sold as. Can a nation that does not guarantee equal access to education ever consider itself great?

Tags: Politics Corporate America Corrupt Politicians Government Data War on the Middle Class Border Security Port Security Stop Pork Spending Illegal Immigration

Read the Full Story...