Rich People

Do you know any rich people? Did they create any jobs in 2010? Well apparently not enough because we still have too many unemployed and underemployed people in this country and it is not their fault. Companies have been shipping jobs overseas for years.

Stockman: “Jobs outlook worse than people think”

David Stockman served as budget director in the Reagan Administration and was considered one of the architects of the modern tax system. Since then he’s had a change of heart. In the last six months he’s made a clean break from his own legacy. The topic of the break concerns the Bush Tax Cuts.
We’ve heard a lot about how the economy has created one million jobs since the end of the recession in 2009, but until recently we haven’t heard anyone break down what those jobs are like.
That changed last week when David Stockman appeared on CNBC.

“The jobs that they count every month and people get excited about are really part-time jobs,” he said.

gjohnsit’s diary :: ::
Stockman separates the “breadwinning jobs” – jobs that average $50,000 a year – from the part-time jobs – jobs averaging $20,000 a year. Once you do that it you start to see a clear reason for working class discontent. from DKOS

Boehner’s Jobs Plan for China, India and Mexico

e all know that House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has a long record of fighting just about every initiative that could give a working family a bit of help as we’re shoveling out the debris left over from the years when Boehner, Bush et al. were in charge of the economy.

Most recently, he led the House Republican fight against jobs legislation designed to prevent the layoffs of hundreds of thousands of teachers, public employees, police officers and firefighters. What do you think Boehner would do if he and the Republicans were back in the majority?

This new TV ad gives us a glimpse. It notes Boehner’s opposition to the jobs bill and highlights his real goal.

Boehner has a different plan: Tax cuts for businesses and those that shift jobs and profits overseas. Saving multinational corporations $10 billion.

So to China and India and Mexico, Boehner has a message: You’re welcome. from AFL-CIO Now Blog

Mr. Boehner, Where are the jobs?

That is what Keith Olbermann asks. That is what I want to know. Where are they? So the upper income people are the ones who are supposed to be creating the jobs. How many jobs were created by the upper income individuals in 2010? I want names and numbers and evidence. Tired of being treated like a fool and lied to. Boehner said the upper income people are the job creators. Time to tell him to provide evidence to back up this statement. I am tired of the trickle down theory which has been proven to not work. Why are we okay with the lies?

Elitism, Oligarchy and Democracy

This is from a dailykos blogger/contributor 0n 10/20/08

One of the things that always amazed and bothered me was that the overwhelming majority of people who rose to the top of and were most successful at the schools that I attended and companies that I worked for were themselves the children of powerful and successful parents. Not that they necessarily lacked it, but they didn’t get to where they were merely on merit. And I’m not just talking favoratism, although there was surely much of that, but also the inherited and absorbed wisdom, smarts, experience, sophistication, etc., that they got from their parents and their friends and relatives. They entered the world with huge advantages, which I don’t begrudge them, but which most people simply do not have, making it much, much harder for them to succeed in a world which such people tend to dominate.

Our society used to be much better at leveling the playing field to the extent possible, in the form of a great public education system, and with companies offering great post-education professional “grooming” in the post-WWII years to fill vast new numbers of job openings that couldn’t possibly be filled by the children of the well-off alone. This is no longer the case. Public schools are awful for the most part (I was lucky enough to attend an excellent one), and companies tend to hire for specific slots, and grooming is more and more a thing of the past, as privileged graduates of top schools get tracked to the top, and everyone else gets shoved into a vast assembly line where you’re basically interchangeable and easy to replace, in a dead-end job. It’s still possible for someone of limited means to rise to the top, but much harder than it used to be.

Obama, of course, is the exception, but one that proves the rule, as he’s clearly an exceptional person who would have succeeded anywhere. But these days, if you’re not already from a privileged background, or exceptionally smart and ambitious, it’s very hard to gain entry into the upper levels of the professional world. Which makes one wonder just how many talented people are stuck somewhere, unable to realize their potential and maximally contribute to society, because society is no longer interested in making it easier for them to do this. It’s like we’re all driving on the highway, with a privileged few on the express lane and moving fast, and the rest of us stuck in the local lane, moving slow, and unable to move into the express lane.

If Dems can get us back to a move level playing field, they will not only help millions, and society, but themselves as well, as they’ll be winning over a generation or two of loyal voters (which the GOP knows, and is part of the reason why they worked so hard to make government fail, because successful government invariably leads to left-wing dominance). This has to happen. The inbred nth-generation offspring of the country’s rich and powerful elites are unfit to lead the country, and a massive change of leadership is called for. And a new generation of leaders has to be groomed for it.

McCain Hates the Gooks

“I hate the gooks,” McCain said yesterday in response to a question from reporters aboard his campaign bus. “I will hate them as long as I live.”

Yes. I know he was held captive by the North Vietnamese. He himself admits he has hatred inside him. This could also be why he is so angry. He called his wife an obscene name. He does not have the temperament to be president. I know Bill Clinton got angry sometimes, too, but John McCain was tortured and has reason to be angry. He has had too much trauma to be President. Maybe has nightmares about his imprisonment. I think he has been too damaged psychologically to be president. Unfortunate for him but this is not someone we want in the most stressful job in the world. We need someone who can be calm under pressure. He just has too much of a bad temper.

FPL to raise electric bills

Our electric bills are going up in August and again in 2009. How do these people expect us to live? We have a lot of senior citizens in Florida on social security. Seems they do not give a damn about us. Is this increase in electric bills and in gasoline prices going to be reflected in the next cost of living adjustment? The proposed COLA for 2009 is 2.8 percent. With that kind of small increase, more and more people are going to fall behind and will not be able to keep up with the increased expenses.

Energy Views

It does not appear that we can rely on government to solve our problems. If there is going to be a solution, I think it is going to have to come from the grassroots. The price of gasoline is outrageous. I think this was all planned a long time ago by Bush, Cheney and their oil buddies perhaps in Cheney’s secret energy meetings early in the first Bush administration. Why all the secrecy? We need to demand accountability and the only way we can do it is for the people to rise up and revolt against their treachery. I propose we get started NOW!

Secrecy in the Bush Administration – Another Example

from Daily Kos June 15, 2008

The dirty secret about the Bush administration negotiations with Nouri al Maliki’s government for a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) is that they hinge upon secrecy. Begun in earnest in March, all the details have been kept secret from the US Congress, the Iraqi Parliament, and the public in both countries. In fact Bush announced last year that he would not permit Congress to ratify what would be a (major) defense treaty. The American public has no enthusiasm and Iraqis across the board are deeply hostile to almost everything about SOFA. Virtually every Iraqi politician of note is suspicious if not dismissive.

Even dead-enders in the WH have been defensive in the extreme. Vague and negative details were all they’d give out, none of them being very credible: That SOFA would be “nonbinding”, would not be a treaty, would not establish permanent bases, would not limit what the next president can do, etc. It was clear already last year that they realized there’d be no agreement, and hence no opportunity to lock in the next president to Bush’s Iraq policies, without resort to the utmost secrecy.

The US media was happy to lend a hand. In Iraq and Iran, SOFA has been the hottest of issues all year. But until May 30th, it barely registered in American news.

Another example of secrecy and dishonesty: These treacherous liars had secret meetings with energy executives to plan the energy policy. I think the price of oil and gasoline at the pump was planned a long time ago by Dick Cheney and his corrupt buddies. Their actions are beyond impeachable. They are criminals and should be held accountable for the mess they have made of this country. If McCain wins then I cannot say we deserve it. I do not think I deserve to have McCain and these criminals running my country into the ground. This is an outrage. I am beyond angry at these sleazy Republicans.

 

Practical Solutions

Do you have any ideas that will help the middle class? I believe in the intrinsic value of education, however, I also think we need to be practical and take into consideration the realities of today’s economy. Kids should attend college but I think they should carefully consider their major area of study. Unless you plan to become a psychologist, for example, I do not recommend getting an undergraduate degree in psychology. You would need at least a masters in psychology to get a decent paying job after finishing school.

I do, however, recommend getting a degree in business with the intention of starting your own business. A degree in the health field may be a good idea considering the future demand for health care workers. Degrees in art, history or philosophy do not make sense to me at this time. There is too much luck involved in some of these fields. It is too chancy.

Financing an education for your children is becoming more and more challenging as college costs continue to rise. Two ideas come to mind: In Vermont, there is plenty of financial assistance available through the Vermont Student Assistance Organization and they have a very good outreach program.

In Florida (and I assume other states) there is a prepaid college program and I recommend enrolling your child in the program as early as possible and college will be paid for by the time he or she is ready to enroll.

Getting good grades….start early with encouraging good reading habits for your children. Require them to do 20 minutes minimum of reading every day from an early age including in the summer. They also need to comprehend what they read. Good grades lead to scholarships for college and children should be rewarded for getting A’s.

What ideas do you have? Please contribute to the discussion if you can think of ways individuals can use to increase their ability to make it in this hostile world. We need all the help we can get.  Ideas such as how we can cooperate on things like car repairs, computer repairs, home repairs. Maybe barter??? Craigslist?