Michael1942's Blog

The title of this post denotes my confusion about the people we have elected (without a second thought sometimes) to do the work of governing. A statesman by definition (Wikipedia):A statesman is usually a politician, diplomat or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level. A politician:A politician, political leader, or political figure (from Classical Greek πόλις, “polis”) is a person who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making. A Manager: One who directs a business or other enterprise. b. One who controls resources and expenditures. Given these definitions who do we have doing our work? I have tried hard to determine what  type of folks we have elected. It appears to me that  all of the political infighting, out fighting and media coverage has  shown that we have the equivalent of entertainers with the same weaknesses and not so many strengths. The only people these elected officials seem to want to make happy are their big contributors and special interests. We have seen and heard endless coverage on taxes, immigration, firearms and healthcare but few of them have stepped up to say enough!, let’s get back to representing our constituents. This would be a watershed moment ( we will never see it). These issues are important and should have been addressed in a prudent fashion without the media coverage and speculation. We voters are partly responsible because we demanded to have cameras in the House and Senate but the proceedings are not what is reported in the media. Meanwhile the Lawmakers used our hue and cry as a means of campaigning for our votes and issuing statements designed to sway our votes against our own interests and for theirs. Thus  the question becomes: What do we have? Statesmen, politicians or managers? I  believe we have none of the above.

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Since you took over Sear Holdings which includes among other entities Kmart stores, the Sears Brands along with Kmart have gone south by the quickest route you could muster. The Craftsman Brand now has the reputation of being :”Crapsman”, There have been no upgrades in the local Kmart stores since?. It is sad that most updated and best looking rooms in at least one of the stores are the bathrooms. This is just the tip of a seeming Titanic size iceberg, the stores appear to be in constant reset with nothing completed, it appears more like  a overstock and end of run sales operation. The sales tags are confusing with as many a 3 sale tags with different end date on an item. The overall sense of the workers appears to be impending doom. It takes an investment of money and time to turn a company around, not continuing cuts to worker benefits and hours (that has not worked in your favor so far). I am sure you believe you have done what is correct but can you look in a mirror and say that with conviction? If you feel you can then the Sears and Kmart brands are destined for extinction along with the thousands of workers associated with them! Thank you for scrapping more jobs due to ineptitude.

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I read many op-eds in several publications, during those reads, I see the them of people who spend little time beyond their daily paper or local news (and the radical elements therein). I initially want to respond to the writers but since the media that printed the piece does not print many of my opinions (unless it suits them) I continue to write this blog and hope the 10 readers I have will spread the word.

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Today I heard a statement by a Dupublican committeeman that stated: “we need credible candidates”.  This appears to be forgotten by our Government. Why have the major political parties fielded candidates who were less than credible? Were these candidates ever credible or did they become credible on paper after becoming candidates? Remember many ” credible candidates” proved to be otherwise when looked at closely (usually by the other party or other sources). I believe the credibility comes from our (voters) personal opinions sometimes based on our personal biases which are often skewed by ignorance and lack of  current or cognitive information. The challenge for voters is to pay little attention to the media blitzes, flashy advertising and politi-speak that arrives ahead, during and after elections. In this country we have the right to speak out even if we are wrong and suffer no ill effects for it but that right (freedom) ends when it is truly slanderous and criminal in nature. The past elections and beyond have many Americans still castigating the current administration while giving the previous one a pass. We should all remember the saying” LEST WE FORGET”

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The Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” as it is commonly called will go into full effect next year. Due to the political rhetoric, partisan bias and possible Racial undertones, the ACA has not been fully embraced by all states and their residents. Where ACA is implemented, it is working good and not so good but that is not a bad thing since any new program has to be tested to get it right.  This lack of backing is due more to the political skewing of the act as opposed to the laying out of the act as it as written. It was (and still is) incumbent on the 535 to diligently and properly assess and examine ALL proposed laws for validity and correctness but in this case and who knows how many others the Congress acted outside the needed objectivity for ANY proposed legislature. This has been the case for more years than we know and to our detriment. Keep in mind that these are people who OK’d going into Iraq based on faulty information causing billions of dollars and countless lives to be lost in a misplaced cause that benefitted their own more than the American people or the Iraqi people. We as voters should be REQUIRED to pay attention to what our representatives do because our lack of attention to anything but irresponsible rhetoric with a political bent is what allowed the Congress to bring us to the state we are in. We have the possibility of making the  changes in the political system but only if we stop waiting for someone else to do it. Our task is simply to start voting incumbents out, even if the new person is not our perfect choice, remember we can remove them in the next election. Trial and error will cause some problems but I believe  the message sent by voters will bring a better selection of candidates and perhaps a better government overall.

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Today several opinions on a variety of subjects prompted me to write that most of us have the same thoughts and opinions on Government (or Lack of), business failings and perhaps our neighbors. Where we fail is not acting on our opinions by writing to our Representatives when we feel they are remiss in their duties, expressing how we feel when a business fails to deliver the basic services they so proudly crow about. As for our neighbors. a simple wave or hello will usually cure any ills in that area. The basic premise here is we complain but do not vote against incumbents no matter how long they have been in office, longevity in office is where our elected officials go astray. They seem to develop a “laissez faire” attitude towards doing the government work (which we pay them well for). I urge all Americans who vote to begin the renewal of our Government by voting the old timers out (anyone who has served 2 terms), write, call or e mail your representatives when you do not agree with them. When we do not let them know how we feel they do whatever they want and many times against our wishes and desires. Since most of us have the same opinions in general we need to voice these opinions whenever we can. The various PACS, parties and other groups spend millions persuading the Government representative to do what they want and not always to our benefit.

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Why is that celebrities and high profile folks commit public faux pas, then recant saying it was just a Joke? I would rather  these folks and anyone else just admit to their feelings and move on. We have our “elite?” political and other leaders committing the same errors in judgment yet we continue to give them a pass. What else are they saying, doing or not doing sub Rosa?

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