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Saving the economy By Art Pearl

This economic mess has been a long time coming. Reagan as good as any place to begin. Shortly before Ronald Reagan was elected president the economy slipped into a deep recession. In1982 unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent (In 1979 the unemployment rate was 5.8 percent). The Reagan solution was “supply side economics.” George Bush called it “voodoo economics.” Supply side economics according to one of its gurus. Arthur Laffer. would, for every 1% reduction in taxes produce 1% increase in tax revenues, (although in 2008 on the Daily Show Laffer insisted he never said such a thing). Amazing the number of stupid things people say that later they claim they never said. Whatever called, it was, in truth, the same ole’ aggregate consumer economics. What made it different was that the underpinning for consumer demand did not come from wages and savings but from an ever increasing debt. One of the most telling points Reagan made while campaigning for the presidency was the increase in nation

Lincoln and Obama

Before television or radio or even the phonograph there were songs. Songs were hot in politics. There was a song for every political position. Songs enlivened political campaigns and up until very recently promoted presidential candidates. Songs enabled people to invest in, participate and actually enjoy political campaigns. Although it was not necessarily true that the candidate with the best songs won the election. In 1860 many songs were created to be sung at rallies for Abraham Lincoln and for his rival Stephen Douglas. For whatever it is worth more songs were sung for Lincoln than were sung for Douglas. Consider one such song: Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness Out of the wilderness, out of the wilderness, Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness Down to Illinois Oh, aint I glad I joined the Republicans, Joined the Republicans, joined the Republicans, Ain’t I glad I joined the Republicans, Down in Illinois To get you into the spirit of the thing know that it was

What about This Lipstick Thing? By Art Pearl

Sarah Palin brought the house down, no great accomplishment at the Republican Convention, when she answered her question, “What was the difference between a soccer mom and a pit bull? by quipping “Lipstick.” She made a few other house downing quips, the most telling and revealing of broad and deep ignorance skewered Obama for his community service. The widespread laughter revealed that neither she nor her audience had a clue what community service entails. How could they, considering who was there. The selection of Palin to be John McCain’s running mate seemed to many as hasty and not carefully considered. It was hardly that. McCain, trying desperately to distance himself from Bush and Chaney is doing what every Republican seeker of this year’s presidency has aspired to do - cover himself with the mantle of Ronald Reagan. McCain, like Reagan, is ushering in a “New Morning.” The McCain pitch is a reprise of a distant past, the coziness of small town America, a recreation of a "Bygo

Why Biggest Is Not Necessarily the Best

The United States has the biggest, the most technically advanced and the most expensive military this world has ever kinown. That much military may be far more than we need to adequately defend against any real or imagined threats, that much military may not only not protect us, it may actually threaten our security. This is how we stack up Rest of the World $500 billion 2004 est. United States       $623 billion FY08 budget China                   $ 65.0 billion 2004 Russia                  $ 50.0 billion France                 $ 45.0 billion 2005 United Kingdom      $ 42.8 billion 2005 est. Japan                   $ 41.75 billion 2007 Germany              $ 35.1 billion 2003 Italy                     $ 28.2 billion 2003 South Korea         $ 21.1 billion 2003 est. Source: Global Security.org other sources differ in detail but not in substance. All agree US spends at least 8 times more than any other country spends There are at least four good reasons wh

Why Can’t China be Just Like Us

Professor Higgins, sexist as he was, wondered, “Why can’t a women be like a man?” I, great patriot as I am, wonder “Why can’t China be like us.” I fervently believe that the whole world would be very much happier if every country was exactly like the United States of America. Just think how wonderful it would be if everywhere you went it would be just like not leaving home. Imagine a McDonalds there, a Starbucks here (that is one still open for business) a Wal-Mart right around the corner, nothing could be cozier. China does have McDonalds and other good stuff, but that doesn’t make China like us, no siree. You see, with the Olympics just about to commence the Chinese government has issued an order to all foreign owned hotels (private enterprises) that they are to install monitoring devices and spy on their guests or face “severe consequences.” This has got Sam Brownback up in arms. And he would like Congress and the President to do something about it. This is pretty damn serious. If w

The President Holds a Press Conference

On July 15, 2008 The President held a press conference. That in itself is newsworthy. The last one he held was on April 29. This one was much like the last one. He entered the arena with characteristic swagger and was jolly as jolly can be. As soon as he started talking it is clear he has spent the interim on some far off planet.. He apparently prides himself on a disconnection to reality. Way back in February he was asked what advice would he give to people facing the prospect of $4 gallon gasoline. His response, “Wait a minute. What did you just say? You’re predicting $4 a gallon gas?” and when told that’s what people in the know were saying, he revealed. “That’s interesting. I hadn’t heard that.” Fast forward to the July press conference, when reminded of his earlier statement, he briskly cut off the reporter with ”I’m aware of it now” as if that exculpated him. I do believe that while we have drastically lowered our expectations and our standards to a point where all we want in

Better Than the Alternative

When asked “How are you?” I reply, “Well, I am still alive.” And always, anyhow almost always, comes the retort, “That’s better than the alternative.” To which I ask, “ How do you know? And that, my friends, explains the success of the Republican Party. The party of no new ideas reigns because somehow that limitation is perceived by oh so many as better than the alternative. Sometimes Republicans do talk about change which would possibly indicate they mean by that introducing new ideas to the political process. Not so, change is considered only when forced upon them and when they do talk about change they mean change back to some older very limited used–up idea. When Bush thoughtlessly plunged us into Iraq his initiative shocked nearly everybody into silent complicity. That was truly an uncharacteristic Republican action. Now, bogged down in that ungodly place for over five years, the Republican Party and a goodly number of Democrats do the “Better than the alternative number.” The

It's Growing Up Time

So here we are bogged down in Iraq, pretty much there now by our lonesome, and also in Afghanistan, where we have a few helping hands but it is mostly and increasingly our burden. We also bear the expense of maintaining 700 bases in 130 or so countries where, as McCain elucidates, we’ve been for lots of years and they love us. In truth, some like us, some would like us gone, but at least we are not being killed nor do we go around killing people, ruining their weddings and blowing up their houses. All of which is largely irrelevant. It matters little if we are wining (winning what?) or losing (losing what we never had) in Iraq and Afghanistan. What really needs to be understood is that we can’t afford those wars, the empire, or the bloated military. Neither Obama nor McCain seem to get it, nor unfortunately do most of the American people, although more and more are feeling the pain. Make no mistake about it. We are in deep trouble. And the problems we have were largely the result of a

I finally got it-they’re trying to outstupid each other

Barack Obama has been going around wildly trying to make friends out of his enemies and by so doing is making enemies out of his friends. And that’s pretty damn stupid. Obama as we all know has been severely criticized for being an elitist which of course was a code word for smart. And being considered smart has hurt him, So it is not surprising that he is trying to rectify that impression of him. The vote on the FISA bill in of itself was not an indication of stupidity, but his effort to explain the vote certainly was. John McCain at the very same time is trying desperately to convince everyone that he rarely has a lucid moment, Establishing new records to what some of us use to explain away or excuse our gaffs by falling back on the old standby, “having a senior moment.” With McCain it might be strategy. It is one thing to tell those Pittsburg Steelers fans that he gave the names of the famed Steelers “Steel Curtain” defensive line to bamboozle his North Vietnamese Captors, but not

Misunderstanding and Misunderestimating George Bush

Here those liberals go again calling our president a liar. He is not a liar. What’s more. whoever calls him one, he told a British reporter, slanders America. Talking slander deflects attention away from the issue at hand. Slander is one thing, lying is something else. And this is all about whether or not we caught the president red handed, or, more precisely, in a bald-faced lie. It surely seems like it. Recall not so very long ago President Bush said right out loud for everyone to hear that the United States had no intention of establishing permanent military bases in Iraq and anyone who even suggested something like that was, well, slandering America. And then, it was revealed just last week, in the negotiations with what many of us believed, erroneously as it turns out, was the puppet government in Iraq, that the puppets were balking on allowing the United States to establish more than FIFTY permanent military bases in Iraq, that's right, FIFTY, count them, bases,. This is on

Proud to be a what

by Art Pearl John F. Kennedy in his 1961 Inaugural Address famously informed us, "Ask not what your can do for you, ask what you can do can do for your country." That statement ought to be the basis for bringing sanity to this 'Proud to be an American' bru-ha-ha. Why? Anyone concerned about the United States, and that obviously does not include folks who make their living on talk radio or Fox News, ought not ponder whether those surrounding a presidential candidate are proud of their country - but whether their country has reason to be proud of them. That is the only issue. Everything else is insignificant. Michelle Obama has taken a bunch of heat by right wing talk show hosts and other slime because she said that as a result of some recent happenings, like for instance people voting for her husband, ”for the first time (in her adult life she was) proud to be an American.” That comment prompted Cindy McCain, John McCain’s second wife feeling the need to do more than s

Called Off

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