Tag: American Dream

In Debt or Indentured Part Five: Mortgaging The American Dream

People Politico In Debt Or Indentured Mortgaging The American DreamThis is the fifth part of a multiple part series taking a deep dive into our current political and economic crisis in America. Partisan politics, unfettered corporate spending and recklessness along with a shift in our social acceptance of debt, is having far reaching and potentially devastating affects on our way of life, on the American Dream. With each installment we will take a closer look at some of the major pieces of this very complex puzzle and try to understand them and bring them into perspective. Use this opportunity to take a broader look on the political and social economic state of America and how each of us, as a small pieces of the puzzle, can make a difference.

In Debt or Indentured: Mortgaging The American Dream

The American middle class has been sold an American Dream built on a foundation of debt, that encourages more debt, looks to remove the negative stigma of debt, so more and more Americans will be lolled into its promises of have it now and paying later. Unfortunately, the pay later has emerged through time to mean pay, continue to pay, and acquire more debt while paying more towards the debt already acquired. This in turn has created a middle class caught in a revolving circle that requires to constant income to support their debt and to have further credit they must also have constant income. This on its face value does not sound outrageous, but there is another factor that has become the key ingredient in transforming this seemingly symbiotic relationship the middle class has developed with debt. This ingredient has transformed the middle classes relationship with debt into a parasitic one. That key ingredient is fear. Fear of being jobless. Fear of being without health insurance. Fear of being unable to pay the debts. Fear of for the children’s future. Fear of not being able to keep up with the Jones’s.

Throughout the 1980s through the 2000’s the policy of Trickle Down Economics yielded no improvement for the American’s working class but it saw the richest Americans take much more of the slice of American wealth. The argument for lowered taxes on the top 1% is that this will lead to job creation through investment but the data does not support this. Professor of Psychology and Sociology at the University of California Santa Cruz G. William Domhoff explains in his article “Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power.” Domhoff contends, “In the United States, wealth is highly concentrated in a relatively few hands.” In America today only fifteen percent of the country’s wealth is held by bottom eighty percent of workers (Domhoff). What is even more surprising is how few Americans seem to understand that there is a consolidation of wealth in America. Domhoff describes a Norton & Ariely 2010 study that ask over fifty-five hundred people to describe what they to be “the ideal wealth distribution” and a large consensus described a distribution “which the top 20% owned between 30 and 40 percent of the privately held wealth,” this being well outside of “the 85 percent that the top 20% actually own.” Domhoff continues the misconception of wealth distribution by surmising that those surveyed also believe “the bottom 40% — that’s 120 million Americans — should have between 25% and 30%” of the wealth ideally but believed that this bottom forty percent have “8% to 10%” which is “far above the 0.3% they actually had.” The information in this survey demonstrates how Americans have established an idea of how wealth is held in America but this idea is not reflected in the reality of power and wealth in America.

That’s it for this part of In Debt or Indentured. We hope that this has given you some important things to think about. Use some of what you have learned here to look beyond the mere message our politicians are presenting to what the ramifications of these actions has on all of us Americans. Our country started down a slippery slope over a decade ago. We seemed to have stopped the free fall it had become, but do not fool yourself. We are still on the precipice of another long fall. Let’s just hope we all can learn, and grow, from the last spill we took.

Check back soon for the next installment of In Debt or Indentured.

 

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In Debt or Indentured Part Four: Work Force

People Politico In Debt or Indentured: Work ForceThis is the forth part of a multiple part series taking a deep dive into our current political and economic crisis in America. Partisan politics, unfettered corporate spending and recklessness along with a shift in our social acceptance of debt, is having far reaching and potentially devastating affects on our way of life, on the American Dream. With each installment we will take a closer look at some of the major pieces of this very complex puzzle and try to understand them and bring them into perspective. Use this opportunity to take a broader look on the political and social economic state of America and how each of us, as a small pieces of the puzzle, can make a difference.

In Debt or Indentured: Work Force

The American middle class is facing this mountain of debt now with stagnant wages that have seen little to no increase in salary compared to the drastic increase in productivity. Frank Levy (professor of Urban Economics in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Urban Studies and Planning) and Tom Kochan (Professor of Management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and Co-Director of both the MIT Workplace Center) in partnership with the Employment Policy Research Network (group of 150 academic researchers from more than 50 universities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom) published a comprehensive look at the American middle class and how the effects of stagnation are impacting the middle class worker. Levy and Kochan clearly make the connection between the middle class’s labor, wages, and belief in the American Dream when they summarize the current state of business as “The broken connection between labor and productivity growth and compensation growth for average workers has undermined mass upward mobility and the ideal of a growing middle class.”In short, American workers are being asked to do more work for the same pay and expect to continue to grow financially within society. All three of the ideals cannot exist at the same time. Levy and Kochan describe the evolution of large American corporations as “increasing their economic power and political influence” through and after the 1970s. Levy and Kochan state that these changes in business practice and ideology have lead to:

[S]ubstantial legislative changes that deregulated major industries, liberalized banking rules, undercut labor-law enforcement and reform, prevented increases in the federal minimum wage, and fostered an ideology of free-market liberalism and the ‘maximization of shareholder value’ at the expense of other stakeholders. (p.4)

This has lead to a laissez-faire business environment that encourages corporate profits over anything else, including taking care of their employees, not just their executives. If the company can get more productivity out of less people…it will. If the organizations can require longer hours with no additional pay (salaried employees or moving to have a part time workforce)…it will. If a corporation can frighten and intimidate their employees out of collective bargaining…it definitely will. The strange thing about this radical movement by corporations is that it has been supported through legislation from the government and American middle class is still supportive in large numbers towards decreasing regulation for corporations favoring a belief in pure capitalism.

That’s it for this part of In Debt or Indentured. We hope that this has given you some important things to think about. Use some of what you have learned here to look beyond the mere message our politicians are presenting to what the ramifications of these actions has on all of us Americans. Our country started down a slippery slope over a decade ago. We seemed to have stopped the free fall it had become, but do not fool yourself. We are still on the precipice of another long fall. Let’s just hope we all can learn, and grow, from the last spill we took.

Check back soon for the next installment of In Debt or Indentured.

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In Debt or Indentured Part Three: Healthcare

People Politico In Debt or Indentured HealthcareThis is the third part of a multiple part series taking a deep dive into our current political and economic crisis in America. Partisan politics, unfettered corporate spending and recklessness along with a shift in our social acceptance of debt, is having far reaching and potentially devastating affects on our way of life, on the American Dream. With each installment we will take a closer look at some of the major pieces of this very complex puzzle and try to understand them and bring them into perspective. Use this opportunity to take a broader look on the political and social economic state of America and how each of us, as a small pieces of the puzzle, can make a difference.

In Debt or Indentured: Healthcare

Understanding the debt that will be incurred through education, a mortgage, and credit cards to a certain extent can be prepared for or at least decided upon as the benefit outweighing the cost of the debt. The unexpected has become another trove of debt for the American middle class especially in the form of health care, health services, and chronic illness. The Washington Post columnist Sarah Lovenheim in her article titled “New Study: Bankruptcy Tied To Medical Bills” reported that as of 2007 sixty-two percent of all bankruptcies in America were related to medical expenses. Within that sixty-two percent is a surprise, eighty percent of those that filed for bankruptcy were covered by insurance (Lovenheim). Even though many middle class families feel that it is critical to have health insurance to protect them and their families if sickness or an accident were to strike, this insurance oftentimes will not cover the entire cost of the care required. Couple the out of pocket cost to afford health care insurance with the deductible costs if the insurance is used, and add in the maximum payment from the insurance company, then compound this all with the rising number of Americans living with chronic illnesses and a picture of a middle class struggling to hold on to a system that is failing them clearly emerges. Again like college grants, Medicare and Medicade have been established  to assist the elderly and the poor a while the middle class is left holding debt for all of their expenses since they make too much for help from the government and not enough to afford the care they need.

Healthcare in this country is a huge problem and we will look at this topic specifically at a later date. For now, just understand that sudden, unexpected and even protected healthcare issues can be absolutely devastating to Americans on top of everything else we must endure.

That’s it for this part of In Debt or Indentured. We hope that this has given you some important things to think about. Use some of what you have learned here to look beyond the mere message our politicians are presenting to what the ramifications of these actions has on all of us Americans. Our country started down a slippery slope over a decade ago. We seemed to have stopped the free fall it had become, but do not fool yourself. We are still on the precipice of another long fall. Let’s just hope we all can learn, and grow, from the last spill we took.

Check back soon for the next installment of In Debt or Indentured.

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In Debt or Indentured Part Two: Education

People Politicon In Debt or Indentured - EducationThis is the second part of a multiple part series taking a deep dive into our current political and economic crisis in America. Partisan politics, unfettered corporate spending and recklessness along with a shift in our social acceptance of debt, is having far reaching and potentially devastating affects on our way of life, on the American Dream. With each installment we will take a closer look at some of the major pieces of this very complex puzzle and try to understand them and bring them into perspective. Use this opportunity to take a broader look on the political and social economic state of America and how each of us, as a small pieces of the puzzle, can make a difference.

In Debt or Indentured: Education

Another way the many middle class families have come to see the equity in their house is as a way to afford higher education for their children. As tuition prices for university and college educations have continued to explode, it became unreasonable for American families to be able to just save their way to a higher education for their children. Instead of demanding intervention from their government, the American middle class looked to their hidden savings in the form of home equity. For those that did not own their own home though the options dwindled to scholarships, grants and loans. With availability limited for students to receive scholarships and grants, many students are forced into borrowing in order to gain their degree. Writer and Editor Marcia Clemmitt dives into the ways which college pricing and affordability have changed over the past three decades in her report “Student Debt Is the College-loan System Fair?” Clemmitt observes, “Many analysts call current education-debt level truly alarming, arguing that college loans saddle students with long term burdens that can affect their choice of jobs and ability to shoulder other responsibilities such as mortgages.” The fear of analysts exemplifies that, as soon as, those students graduate from college, they have debt already strapped to their backs. Interestingly, these analysts are not only worried about the graduates’ ability to chose the job they want but the analysts are concerned that these students will not be able to get into the next big debt adventure for many adults…a mortgage.

The facts behind rising college costs are murky at best, but much has been attributed to state budget constraints and rising costs for services. Regardless of the reasons for the ballooning costs, student loans have far exceeded them by rising 375 percent from 1982 to 2005 (Clemmitt, 879). The debt being incurred by middle class Americans is phenomenal with total college debt surpassing America’s credit card debt in 2010 (Tompor). Part of the reason that college debt has become such an issue for the American middle class families is because there are safeguards in place for low-income families where they qualify for government grants and financial assistance. On the other hand, most middle class families do not qualify for these subsidies from the government and are instead made to rely on loans to pay for their further educations (Clemmit, 880). This has meant the cost to graduates has been growing substantially and as reported by Justin Pope for The Huffington Post titled “Average Student Loan Debt: $25,250” the debt for the average student is a large burden to leave school with. Graduating students were also met with nine-point-one percent unemployment (Finnegan). Priming students to become accepting of debt has been what the American middle class has come to embrace as their trade-off for participation in the American Dream.

That’s it for this part of In Debt or Indentured. We hope that this has given you some important things to think about. Use some of what you have learned here to look beyond the mere message our politicians are presenting to what the ramifications of these actions has on all of us Americans. Our country started down a slippery slope over a decade ago. We seemed to have stopped the free fall it had become, but do not fool yourself. We are still on the precipice of another long fall. Let’s just hope we all can learn, and grow, from the last spill we took.

Check back soon for the next installment of In Debt or Indentured.

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In Debt or Indentured Part One

People Politico In Debt or IndenturedThis is the first part of a multiple part series taking a deep dive into our current political and economic crisis in America. Partisan politics, unfettered corporate spending and recklessness along with a shift in our social acceptance of debt, is having far reaching and potentially devastating affects on our way of life, on the American Dream. With each installment we will take a closer look at some of the major pieces of this very complex puzzle and try to understand them and bring them into perspective. Use this opportunity to take a broader look on the political and social economic state of America and how each of us, as a small pieces of the puzzle, can make a difference.

In Debt or Indentured – Introduction

The American middle class is now swimming in debt that is pouring in from every direction. The middle class is faced with stagnant wages coupled with inflationary prices on energy and food, health insurance costs that continue to grow well beyond the rate of inflation, education debt, exorbitant cost of child care, and a dwindling number of well paid job prospects even for those that have higher education. These aspects coupled with The Great Recession have driven workers to stay in jobs that demand longer hours and with more tasks at the same rate of pay. Fear of unemployment and the debt that they owe has driven many American middle class workers to feel lucky to just have a job. They do not speak out because of their debt that they owe on credit cards, car loans, mortgages, and the steadily rising educational debt incurred by today’s students. With bankruptcy law changes that were heavily lobbied for by the banking industry and credit card industry, have made it virtually impossible for average Americans to qualify for bankruptcy bargaining to reduce the most of common middle class debts.

American household debt has been on the rise as credit became more available to middle class workers during the mid 80’s, 90’s and the first half of the 2000’s. With this new access to credit the Americans middle class families just as their government began to spend well beyond their means. Associate professor and Department Chair of Personal Finance and Planning at the University of Missouri Robert O. Weagley reported in an article for Forbes Magazine titled “Big Difference Between Chinese and American Households: Debt” that “The average US household debt is 136% of household income […] if we include federal borrowing, the United States number increases an additional $109,792 per household, to $224,303 per household or 266% of average household income.” This is a dramatic number that demonstrates how the American middle class has become reliant on cheap credit and borrowing. Professor of Economics at New York University Edward N. Wolf explains in his working paper “Recent Trends in Household Wealth in the United States: Rising Debt and the Middle-Class Squeeze—An Update to 2007” that “Indebtedness, […] skyrocketed in the early and mid-aughts [2000’s]; among the middle class, the debt-to-income ratio reached its highest level in 24 years.” Acquiring debt in America has not only established a way for Americans to live outside of their means through the use of credit cards, it has become blasé to go into debt in order to pay for a college education, afford transportation, buy one’s house, and even make daily necessity purchases. This has not always been the case in America.

Credit card debt in America exploded during the 1990’s through to the beginning of the Great Recession when credit became scarce and liquidity dried up as banks became unwilling to even loan to each other in fear of what bad debt the other bank might be holding. During this time period of easy qualification and exorbitant credit limits being doled out America’s binged. Writer Susan Tompor reported in her 2010 USA Today article “Student loan debt exceeds credit card debt in USA” that revolving credit in America stands at $828 billion, this included credit card debt. As Americans have become more accustomed to hearing numbers in the trillions, this number may have lost some of its sticker shock, but to put that into prospective, this is $2,760 owed by every man, woman, and child in America (based on a citizen population of 300 million). Although new lines of credit have been reduced following the financial collapse in 2008, existing borrowers have continued to use their credit cards. Karen E. Dynan and Donald L. Kohn said it well in their Federal Reserve report, “The Rise in U.S. Household Indebtedness: Causes and Consequences.” Dynan and Kohn claim “substantial evidence suggests that households are not always fully rational when making financial decisions” when discussing the American willingness to go into debt. Though Dynan and Kohn are primarily focused on housing debt they identify one of the reasons Americans have been willing to use credit cards so frivolously. The drastic rise in housing prices through the 1990’s into the mid 2000’s gave a false impression to many middle class American families that they were richer than they actually are (Dynan and Kohn, 6). By seeing the equity in their housing as actual banked money, many middle class Americans lived well outside their means knowing that they could refinance or sell their home and still end up with a net profit overall. This of course turned out to be a folly when housing prices plummeted during the economic down turn leaving many home owners upside-down in their mortgages.

That’s it for this part of In Debt or Indentured. We hope that this has given you some important things to think about. Use some of what you have learned here to look beyond the mere message our politicians are presenting to what the ramifications of these actions has on all of us Americans. Our country started down a slippery slope over a decade ago. We seemed to have stopped the free fall it had become, but do not fool yourself. We are still on the precipice of another long fall. Let’s just hope we all can learn, and grow, from the last spill we took.

Check back soon for the next installment of In Debt or Indentured.

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The Cost of a Vote in 2012

people-politico-five-dollar-billsNone of us like to think that the millions of dollars spent by presidential campaigns are trying to buy your vote. However, that is in fact the case. So I thought I would take a minute to look into what a vote costs in America today. I was shocked, and I think you will be too, so I’ll try and ease you into this a bit. Politics have changed dramatically in the time after the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.

The Supreme Court’s decision on Citizens United basically removed all caps on contributions from corporations and unions to political campaigns. It has been widely accepted through our history that money influences politics, corrupts democracy, and takes the power from the people and puts it in the hands of those with money. The Supreme Court’s decision put democracy more firmly into the hands of the corporations by allowing unlimited spending on elections.

Spending on elections was out of control before this decision, and now it’s incomprehensible, it’s a joke, and we the people are the punch line.

There are a few things we need to know about making a rough guess about the amounts of money being spent to win your vote. In most cases they can’t actually trade money directly for your vote, so instead they use advertising, media, new outlets,, pundits, the internet, you name it, to get their message and their brand out to you. Unfortunately there is very little regulation regarding the insane and often false things they say to sway you one way or another. When there is regulation, they will get around it by using a 501c/PAC combination to absolve any involvement and responsibility. If you think this is a joke, watch this series masterfully done by Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report. He actually creates his own PAC, then turns it into a Super PAC, and ends up with a million dollars donated. Really.

How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It

How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It

PACs have to disclose who gives them money. However, a 501c is a tax-exempt organization that does NOT have to disclose donors. All a person or corporation need do to circumvent the disclosure rules is contribute money to the 501c. The 501c then gives to the PAC and the PAC does what it wants with the money. It’s money laundering on a breathtaking scale. A candidate could pour money into the 501c and get it right back through the PAC. Sickening and totally legal.

So now that we know how it’s done, let’s see how much money it takes to buy a vote.  That’s what all the money is ultimately there to do. I’ve rounded the numbers for ease of understanding. A few thousand here or even a few million there will not make much of a difference in our completely broken election system where billions of dollars are involved.

In 2010, it is estimated that there were about 236,000,000 registered voters. According to this data, we can estimate that the registered voters will increase to 240,000,000 in 2012. Going by prior voter turnout numbers, we can expect 50% or so to turn out to vote in the upcoming Presidential Election. This gives us the first part of our equation: 120,000,000 votes.

How much money is going into getting those 120 million votes? This number is difficult, because campaigns want to keep this number as quiet as possible.  So first we’ll look at how much the politicians are raising themselves. This is required to be publically disclosed and it is the number most often reported. Over the last year we can see that a total of almost $380,000,000 was raised by politicians.  We can assume that over the next 6 months the money will flow in faster than in the last year. It is probably conservative to say that this total will reach $800,000,000 by November. Many analysts are saying that campaign spending will easily break a billion dollars. But we’ll use $800 million for our calculations.

Next we need to try to determine the contributions to PACs and Super PACs. They are required by law to disclose their finances, but with over 7,500 listed in the Federal Election Committee’s database, there are bound to be errors.  To make it easy, we’ll use this information. You can find the information here:  http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/srssea.shtml. Adding it all up gets us $1.7 billion from 2010 to 2011. For ease of calculation, we’ll round that number down to $1.5 billion to use for 2011-2012. This gives us $3.2 billion for these two years of PAC and Super PAC fundraising.

With no cap on how much money can be contributed to an election, candidates are looking at three to four times the amount of money they had to spend in the past.  They can spend the majority of it on    sleazy ads, misinformation campaigns, robo calls, spamming, and whatever else it takes. And the best part is, the candidates are “completely separated” from the PACs and Super PACs. If someone gets offended or if an ad backfires, the candidate can throw up their hands and claim plausible deniability.

Math Time!

  • $800,000,000 (candidate money) + $3,200,000,000 (PAC money) = $4,000,000,00 or a cool 4 billion dollars. Easy to remember.
  • 120,000,000 voters.

Now all we need to do is take the money spent on elections and divide that by those who vote. Gravy!

  • $4,000,000,000 (Money) ÷ 120,000,000 (Votes) = $33 and change.

 

Well that doesn’t sound too bad, you have 33 bucks don’t you? So to put in your equivalent support as a citizen of the United States you should toss $33 to who you support.

The problem is that it doesn’t work out that way. Our democracy is supposed to form and control our government on a 1 to 1 basis, but now with these new rules we are getting further and further away from the 1 to 1 vote working.

Rich Joe used to be capped at a $2,500 donation. But now he can give his $2,500 personally to the campaign and can also funnel in $1,000,000 or more  from his company, trust fund, dividends or whatever.

Money equals influence in our government, and the increased flow of money from corporations and unions magnifies their influence.

Influence of Donations Before Citizens United

Poor Joe throws in $33 to support his one vote. Rich Joe throws in his $2,500 to support his vote. Rich Joe’s influence on his candidate is 75 times more than Poor Joe’s. That in itself shows the system was sad, broken, not working as intended.

Influence of Donations After Citizens United

Today Poor Joe throws in his $33 again to support his candidate. Rich Joe throws in his $2,500 and also donates $1,000,000 dollars from his company. Again, Rich Joe’s influence is obviously more, but by how much? His influence is now a staggering 30,378 times more than Joe’s! This one person/entity now has tens of thousands of times more influence than Poor Joe in the elections.

I don’t even know what to think about this. I am disgusted. I am appalled. I am horrified that we allowed this to happen to our country.

Checkbook Democracy: How Money Corrupts Political Campaigns

Checkbook Democracy: How Money Corrupts Political Campaigns

With these billions of dollars intended to influence us, and with the mountains of lies about their opponents, and false promises about themselves, it is no wonder our government and our country is screeching to a halt.

We have allowed democracy to be taken away from us. We have literally sold it. We have allowed a plutocracy to take its place.

When the wealthy control the country they do whatever they can to not only increase their wealth but consolidate it. That is exactly what we are seeing now.

With the caps lifted, they can literally spend whatever it takes to convince us they are not doing exactly what they are doing. The facts are in front of us. I have presented many here and you can look for yourself all over the place. We are swimming in the evidence of the fall of our democracy but so many would rather drown than to think about this.

This cannot endure or our country will not. We have already fallen behind because of our broken and crippled system. We are being surpassed by many other countries in almost every sector you can think of. The power has been taken from the common people. We are simply being outbid.

It’s time you did your part along with those around you to stand up, speak out and shout out that you want your vote back and demand it can’t be outbid anymore.

Sources

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President Barack Obama on Presidents Day

people-politico-obama-family-nov-2011President’s Day is coming up and that means it is a good time to take a moment and reflect on the many varied presidents this country has had over its short history. They have come from all walks of life and have had very differing views of what America should be. Much of these presidents’ views were based off the time they led their county and their own history. But most of the presidents throughout our history have held a few common beliefs and goals for our country, and its direction as a whole.

The deeper you peer into the American Presidents’ history and the contribution to forging America, the more you learn about its people as a whole.

You can start your search here:

Here are some fun facts about President Barack Obama:

  • President Barack Obama is our 44th president, but there actually have only been 43 presidents: Cleveland was elected for two nonconsecutive terms and is counted twice, as our 22nd and 24th president.
  • President Barack Obama was born to a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas.  Obama worked his way through college, aided also by student loans and scholarships.
  • President Barack Obama attended Occidental College and Columbia University, and went on to attend law school to became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review.  He later taught law at the University of Chicago.
  • Obama became President of the United States on November 4, 2008.
  • He does not like ice cream as a result of working at an ice cream shop as a teenager.
  • He collects Spiderman and Conan the Barbarian comic books.
  • He was known as “O’Bomber” at high school for his skill at basketball.
  • His name means “one who is blessed” in Swahili.
  • His favorite meal is wife Michelle’s shrimp linguini.
  • He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father.
  • He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21.00.
  • His favorite fictional television programs are Mash and The Wire.
  • He was given the code name “Renegade” by his Secret Service handlers.
  • He was nicknamed “Bar” by his late grandmother.
  • His favorite artist is Pablo Picasso.
  • His specialty as a cook is chili.

For more interesting facts about President Barack Obama check out these sites:

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President Obama’s State of the Union Address 2012

people-politico-president-barack-obama-debatingThe President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, gave his 2012 State of the Union Address. Whether you love or hate President Obama, there is no denying that he knows how to give a great speech. President Obama is a very charismatic speaker using a great amount of intelligence and elegance when he speaks. Whether you agree or disagree with what he said last night does not change the fact that he is great at addressing America.

Watch the web enhanced video of the 2012 State of the Union Address


It’s always interesting to see how the fact checkers rate these addresses. Not just the State of the Union Address but the many other speeches, policies, rallies and other promises that are made by politicians. They are so easily lost in the tumult that is politics that no regular person, like you and I, can keep track of it all. So I like to wait at least a day for all of the fact checking places to do their due diligence. Then I peruse through them to see what was real and was smoke. I urge everyone to take a few extra minutes and check several different sources yourself, especially about the political issues you care most about.

It turns out that on the scale of what was true and what is reality President Obama’s State of the Union Address turns out to be mostly true! This is great news and a refreshing change of pace from the last administration. I always hate when we hear great promises or “facts” about what they have done or not done only to find out it was a thinly veiled attempt to earn favor, and far from the truth. Unfortunately, our first impressions are often the strongest. This means it is much harder for us to “unlearn” the lies we hear first instead of being able to believe the truth we learn later. Unfortunately this is widely known and is an often used tactic in politics. Know they use it, so you can guard yourself from it.

President Obama definitely covered the full gamut of issues that America is facing. There is a lot to talk about for sure and it will be interesting to see what, if any, action is actually taken. President Obama took a tougher stand last night during the State of the Union Address than we have seen before. We can only expect this “toughness” to increase over the course of the election year. I do appreciate that even though President Obama was talking tougher, he was still addressing everyone with respect and dignity. This is something that is unfortunately becoming more and more rare.

Formation of Committee to Investigate Misconduct of Big Oil and Wall Street

I think this was one of the biggest, most important announcements from the State of the Union Address, the formation of a Committee to formally investigate big corporations. If this actually happens, and actually gets to a place that they can actually do their job, it has the possibility to illuminate the insanity that our financial system and its corporations that puts on the people of American and the rest of the world. This decision alone could reach deep into the workings of our government and economy to expose the massive issues and broken systems that have brought the world economy to its knees. It amazes me how fast people have already forgotten how close we were to a calamity of massive proportions. Hopefully this will help to expose these issues and help us move forward to a solution in the future.

I know these are high hopes, look at how crippled some of the others have been. Tied up in the bureaucracy but more importantly the lobbyists pushing their congressman to fight against these common sense steps to a better America.

Combine the Citizen’s United, political partisanship, election year politics and it will honestly be a miracle if anything gets done at all this year. However, I am still hopeful that something will be, or at least could be, accomplished. We have to keep on trying and keep on pushing forward. Contact your representative and urge them to action!

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Martin Luther King Jr Day and the Occupy Wall Street Movement

martin-luther-kingMartin Luther King Jr. Day is coming up, which gives us a chance to reflect on how far we have come as a society, and remember those who worked tirelessly for the betterment of us all. Martin Luther King Jr. is probably the most recognizable figure in the American Civil Rights movement. He brought attention to race issues in the 1960’s, rallying citizens to end racial segregation by use of non-violent protest. He also worked to end poverty and bring about an end to the Vietnam War, before he was assassinated in 1968.

Dr. King’s contribution to civil rights and equality is undeniable: trying to explain to kids that in America, it used to be expected that you would treat other people differently because of the color of their skin, just results in puzzlement. Slowly, Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream has come true—our children are basically colorblind. His work is not yet completed, of course, there is still more to be done to accomplish true equality. But this success shows the effectiveness of peaceful activism.

His goals to end poverty and inequality are echoed in the Occupy Wall Street Movement, whose protest method is based upon Dr. King’s nonviolent activism. Dr. King’s methods were based on Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violent civil disobedience. The Occupy Wall Street movement’s actions are based upon the prior successes of both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, and are protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights allows for peaceful assembly and freedom of speech.

There are a large number of homeless protesters involved in the Occupy Wallstreet movement. After all, the economic downturn was fueled by just the types of issues the Occupy Wall Street movement is trying to bring to light: economic inequality and the corrupting power of major corporations. The homeless and jobless, most obviously affected by the recession, are the most bitterly appropriate people to represent the rest of the 99%. And as the states and the protesters began having differences about how public areas should be used, it brought to light the age-old issues of homelessness and poverty. Now that more people are at serious risk of becoming homeless and impoverished, some of those who already hit the bottom are speaking up to try and prevent the rest of us from sliding down.

In several cities across the nation, on the same November night, the protesters were evicted from public areas, effectively ending the Occupy Wall Street movement in its original form. However, the movement has grown quite large, gaining media exposure because of a popular lament, an abiding inclusiveness of varying points of view, and because the protesters insisted upon nonviolent protest. They have a breathtaking new tool in technology and social media, and have received the world’s attention.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy has rippled across generations. His method gained results and changed the world. Indeed, large numbers of people in countries all over the world have engaged in unarmed protests, demanding to be heard, and have seen results from their tireless activism. Although change is measured in years and not months, preventing the horrors and loss of life that result from violent uprisings is worth the wait.

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Political Resolutions for the New Year

people-politico-windy-eagleWith the end of the year comes the end of the politco circus for this year. It’s been a hilariously depressing year of posturing, antagonizing, and defaming. The really fun part is watching them try to out lie one another. It’s nice to hope that we have hit the lowest of the low in our political environment but it’s hard to say. I’d like to think we can only get better from here, but to make this dream a reality, each one of us can take a few moments and forge our own Political New Year’s Resolutions.

With any luck, we all can pick a few which fit ourselves and our views in order to make us better people, better citizens, and better equipped to deal with our poisoned political environment.

Treat Each Other with Respect

It may seem simple, but it may be the hardest resolution.  We all have our own political opinions and we want to share them. We also have our issues with other political views and tend to look down on people who don’t agree.

The unfortunate truth is that we are not smarter than those who disagree with us, nor are we morally better than those that hold different opinions.

You don’t have to agree with other people’s political views, but if you accept that their opinion is just as valid as yours, you may have a chance to intelligently debate and discuss both sides. Perhaps we as constituents might be able to do what our representatives cannot: either agree to respectfully disagree, compromise, or even come to a solution that suits both sides.

Being one of unbending principles and ideas is NOT respectful. Without the ability to change, adapt and grow, political ideas grow stagnant, time and money is wasted, and the problems that face us as Americans do not get solved.

Stay Politically Informed

This resolution has several facets but I find this to be an important issue which undermines one’s own ideas and opinions on all manner of political topics.

It’s easy to say we don’t have time to keep up with politics. It’s true we are very busy and the current political environment is incredibly complicated, and even politicians can’t keep up with everything. Career politicians have advisors to tell them their opinions daily. They also have lobbyists to try and push their agendas. If politicians cannot stay fully informed, and cannot always get both sides of the story, how does the average American person stay informed?

First, determine the top 6 issues that affect you directly or you are truly passionate about. Ignore the other issues that hold little interest to you or have no impact on your life. I know you may care about more political issues, but you can’t stay fully informed, so focus only on your top political topics. If you want to add a couple more or take a few off the list that is up to you. The point is to focus on what is most important to you. To not be distracted from issues you are passionate about, to those you aren’t. Limiting your focus accomplishes two things: 1.) Makes sure you are knowledgeable about what is most important to you. 2.) Allows you to vote knowledgeably on the issues that are most important to you.

So you have narrowed down your topics, but you can’t add more hours to your day to research these things. We can’t add hours to the day, but we can squeeze in a little more education or substitute our time with some knowledge. If you usually listen to music on your commute to work or school, try listening to the news instead. Get informed for the day and discuss current events with co-workers. You can also install a few apps on your phone to browse news stories while you are waiting in line, on break, or at lunch.

It’s important to get you news and information from a variety of sources. If you watch two hours of news a night but it is always the same channel or the same website you are doing yourself a disservice. Free media in this country is nearly extinct, and all the remaining news sources are corporately or privately driven. This means they inject their own political bias onto their stories. Though frustrating, it’s reality. So pick a few different news sources and rotate between them. More variety in your news sources will greatly improve your real knowledge of politics and world events. The very same news story will be presented differently depending on who is telling it. Do yourself a favor, and work to filter the bias out yourself by attaining your knowledge from many different sources.

Be Politically Open Minded

It’s difficult to know that sometimes we are wrong. The current political environment is so unforgiving that people cannot admit to being wrong. It’s refreshing when someone actually says they had the wrong idea. We can only grow as people and a society by acknowledging our mistakes and growing, evolving, and progressing, because of our mistakes, not in spite of them.

It’s good to keep this concept in the back of your mind when discussing politics. Unlike math, political ideas, laws, and legislation are not absolute. They affect different people in different ways at different times. Our opinions can be right one day and wrong the next. That is OK!

The most important thing is to have an open mind. Be open to different ideas, perspectives, and ways of thinking. An open mind enhances political discourse and will ultimately drive us all towards political solutions that are the most advantageous for all of us. But we will never get there unless each and every one of us has an open mind to new ideas and ways of achieving more for us as a country politically.

Allow Others Their Time

We all have our own political ideas and beliefs. Some want the world to know their ideas and some are afraid to share. Those who are afraid to share may fear persecution or intolerance. They may simply not want to risk a friendship by stating their political ideas or beliefs. It’s possible the quiet, shy person who is afraid to open up or is constantly interrupted has a startling idea for change.

It can be hard to let someone express their ideas or thoughts on politics. We often are so busy thinking of what we want to say next that we don’t actually listen to the other person. Sometimes we can’t contain our thoughts and we interrupt. These interruptions can derail the point or even burst into counter points and arguments. Soon the person who wanted to share their fabulous idea is lost in the discourse and ricocheting of these kinds of conversations. This kind of behavior gains us nothing.

It’s hard to wait your turn, as silly as that sounds. But it’s vitally important to allow the time and attention required to fully listen to and absorb an idea. Keep any counter points you have to yourself and save them for your turn to speak when the time comes.

This is one New Year’s Resolution I am going to work very hard on this year. We all deserve respect and attention when we are presenting our ideas. I would hope others would offer this to me and I will work hard this year to offer it to them.

Should you find yourself involved in conversations where this is impossible or realize the discussion is on the verge of breaking down, step in and offer some more solid rules to the discussion. It might sound silly, but if some ground rules are followed, people of vastly different opinions and ideas can discuss their sides fairly. When laying out the rules, the first one should be no interrupting.  You might want to decide on a procedure, such as a round robin, where one person can speak their piece for a set amount of time and then it’s the next person’s turn. This frees up the listeners to really pay attention to what they are hearing versus trying to find a point to jump in and dispute. Another important rule would be to always respectfully disagree.

Contact your Representative

Do you agree or disagree with a certain bill? Contact your representative and give your opinion.  Backing up your opinion with a story that tugs at heartstrings is a bonus. They may even use your story on the campaign trail! You are a constituent. If you want representation, you need to express yourself. If you want your representative to compromise to get a problem solved, tell them so.

Get Involved

By Popular Demand

By Popular Demand tackles two important issues--increasing political participation and restoring trust in government--that are critical to the future of American democracy.

If you have some time, local campaigns could use you. If you have some money, donate to candidates or to causes you care about. They hire lobbyists to do the sweet talking for them. Get involved in some way.  Whatever skills you have can probably be used.

Make Next a Better Year

The solution to our country’s problems is not in average Americans giving up and dismissing these hard conversations and decisions. The solution comes from more of us being more involved than we are now. It is truly sad when the “flagship” of worldwide democracy celebrates that we had a record setting turnout of 40% of registered voters. It does work to the advantage of those politicians that want to disenfranchise the American people from their own country. Then they can give themselves raises, months of vacation, free health care, and earmark bill after bill awarding millions in contracts to their friends and lobbyists.

Resolve to do some of these, all of these, or anything else you can think of. Let’s bring American politics back to a level of decency and functionality we once enjoyed. Politics in America can be worse, and they can be a lot better. You and I can make sure that politics in America will be better this coming year, one American patriot at a time.

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