[EDITOR’S NOTE: I interrupt this blog with a message from the heart]

normally don’t extoll anything political, but with the election coming up in November there are several things no matter what party you belong to that you should remember..

Right now there is a lot of anger out there and people are concerned about where we are headed as a nation from all sides of the isles. Let’s just look at where we are less than 2 years into  this current political situation..

TAXES

It’s easy to say “oh we are going in the wrong direction”, but honestly is that true. ?  Everyone looks at the taxes we pay… We all don’t like to pay taxes, but who should have to pay..

Let’s look at this historically..  Below is a chart,  pretty simple this is how much the top and the bottom tier of people in this country have been paying since 1979. The top is the 97 percentile. If you are reading this it’s unlikely you pay this much. However you should note taxes have actually went down from 37% to 29.5%

DEBT

No one will argue that our country is in debt to other nations. Many people point out that China is one of these countries.  We have been spending more than we make for years. But who has *REALLY* been spending that money ? Each party blames each other instead of working together as one America. Each for the sake of elections and control of the country normally blames each other. So how can we see what is really true here ?

Well let’s look at the presidents and administrations since world war II and the debt load.

The numbers are kind of shocking. Who spends money the folks who identify the most as being fiscal conservatives.. Why is that ? Who bailed out wall street without accountability when they were told the sky was falling ? Who said the sky was falling ? Let’s ask the previous administration’s federal reserve chairman and the secretary of the treasury.

Watch the movie from the BBC (Yes an outside the country perspective not as politically motivated hopefully..

http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2010/06/09/cnbc-to-air-the-last-days-of-lehman-brothers/

 

The White House at the time that called for the bailout found it initially rejected by Congress in the house..

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/29/news/economy/bailout/index.htm

”Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., said the bill posed a choice between the loss of prosperity in the short term or economic freedom in the long term. He said once the federal government enters the financial marketplace, it will not leave. "The choice is stark," he said…”

So if you think the current situation with money, jobs, unemployment is not good, it may have become worse.. 

A conservative democrat Lloyd Doggett  from Texas was quoted at the time saying “ Like the Iraq war and Patriot Act, this bill is fueled by fear and haste,"

What’s done is done

Can you overturn something which could have lead to the next great depression in only a few months, no not really.. So can you be mad at something that could have been complete disaster or blame one or both parties because you still don’t have great work options and lots of money after something like this?  

The Blame Game

I could sit hear and blame a number of people on both parties for what happened here, but it’s done we can’t take it back we can only move forward..  Many people right now are blaming congress..

Is the Job Situation Any Better ?

American’s have really huge gaps in their memories for when they were out of work and when they were working.. Just like who created jobs..

During President Clinton's eight years, our country added more than 22 million private sector jobs, incomes went up, and we enjoyed the largest budget surplus in U.S. history. Did this stay though ?  After the change in administration and congress over the next eight years  only 1 million jobs were added, incomes stagnated or plummeted for most Americans, and we were left with record budget deficits. Of course 9/11 and two wars probably had something to do with that too, but it all comes down to non-conservative spending.

What has congress been able to actually do in 18 months ?

It’s election season and it’s open season on incumbents ? Why ? Because again the nation voted for change with Obama. They expected it immediately and well how do you reverse the tied of what was almost another world wide great depression. My mom was born and lived through the last one in rural Tennessee. She didn’t have electricity until she was 18 at home. So look how far we have came and what we can do if we move forward not back.. We have gotten out of worse..

There is lack of faith by many in the current leadership but honestly now this has been over reported by the media.. It’s actually pretty even sided.

Tea Party / Glenn Beck / Restoring Honor Rally

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/26/politics/washingtonpost/main6807659.shtml

One Nation Rally

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20101003_Liberals_mass_in_D_C__to_counter_Beck_rally.html

So what has congress gotten done ? Or how to make enemies with big business..

Congress passed sweeping health care reform

One of the big accomplishments is that no one can be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions.  That in itself saves lives.. I would say if we dumped as much money into healthcare as we have into Iraq we probably wouldn’t have a problem with healthcare costs for most of our citizens at all.

For those opposed do you want to go back to this from Bush in 2008 ? This was Tennesee in 2008 during Bush, where their fabulous state medicaid was failing..

 

Now with healthcare reform enacted, the insurance companies are upset and trying to get the laws changed and manipulating the situation to try to force the government to make changes that benefit the insurance. They are using one of the nation’s biggest employers to do it, little do they know this may backfire on them. Insurance companies are also funding the opposition to health reform or the so called “Obama Care” and the movement to get it repealed.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/09/30/id-rather-have-a-plan-on-the-new-health-exchanges-than-mcdonalds-health-insurance-any-day-of-the-week/

E.D. Kain is quoted as saying “ I’d rather have a plan on the new health exchanges than McDonald’s health insurance any day of the week” .

Why ? He believes that the health exchange system  the new Obama healthcare plan offers to the uninsured offers better benefits than what is offered to basic workers with the current private McDonalds plan. Who loses here? The insurance companies.. Who benefits the consumers..

The insurance company is asking  McDonalds to ask the government for a waiver so they can go ahead and keep offering the same plan to McDonalds. While many in that company are suggesting they’d be better off not insured and on the government “healthcare exchange” system..

Congress enacted consumer protections for homeowners and credit card users. No more wild interest rates or crazy fees..

 

Congress worked to end tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas.

If you want to understand how our tax code supports and rewards companies that move jobs overseas read this article from the Harvard Law and Policy Review online..

http://www.hlpronline.com/2006/07/kvaal_01.html

Is congress really doing something to make things better ?

You can judge for yourself, but it’s my own opinion that they are. You can’t roll back years of failed policies in less than two years government and change weren’t designed to turn on a dime on purpose and the grand design of our system allows time to evaluate what is going on so we don’t accidently  go there ourselves. So we aren't really like lemmings in a cliff off the wrong direction

By the way for clarification, the guy who made this film back in 1958 for Disney admits this scene was all staged and someone was throwing them off the cliff for the purposes of the film’s drama. I hear he now teaches film ethics. Oh and don’t worry they didn’t swim away from shore that was a lie too, much like the doom gloom appraisal of our current situations.  Yes things aren’t great but they aren’t as bad as they could be right now.

What could have been worse ? Are we better off at all now ?

The U.S. auto industry in the face of others saying "let the market work," and our efforts preserved hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Health care reform improves drug benefits for senior citizens. It also provides coverage to those with a pre-existing condition. Also it allows a 22-year-old home from college to stay on her parents' insurance, and promises health care for millions of Americans who couldn’t get it before and many that were denied.

They stopped predatory lending practices to college students made college more affordable for students and not let them graduate into debt for years that was impossible to ever pay back due to penalties and interest.

Historic legislation for our nation's veterans to support them when they come home and are still working on improving that.

There has been more movement towards equal pay for women

Be Patient..

Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither was our country.. It’s obvious we can’t go back to the reckless days where there was no oversight and deregulation of the financial industry. We can only move forward, there is a lot to do, but all in all there is real and good progress being made.

The Inside Job Movie

Thought provoking, no matter your position on it..

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/inside-job-rampant-conflicts-of-interest-cronyism-led-to-2008-crisis-charles-ferguson-says-yftt_535519.html

 

Many Corporations Avoid Taxes (and they want a tax break?) ??

http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/12/news/economy/corporate_taxes/

“ Most firms pay no income taxes - Congress

Study finds that the majority of domestic and foreign corporations in the United States avoid paying federal income taxes.

By David Goldman, CNNMoney.com staff writer

Last Updated: August 12, 2008: 4:38 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Nearly two-thirds of U.S. companies and 68% of foreign corporations do not pay federal income taxes, according to a congressional report released Tuesday.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined samples of corporate tax returns filed between 1998 and 2005. In that time period, an annual average of 1.3 million U.S. companies and 39,000 foreign companies doing business in the United States paid no income taxes - despite having a combined $2.5 trillion in revenue.

The study showed that 28% of foreign companies and 25% of U.S. corporations with more than $250 million in assets or $50 million in sales paid no federal income taxes in 2005. Those companies totaled a combined $372 billion in sales for the largest foreign companies and $1.1 trillion in revenue for the biggest U.S. companies..”