Michael1942's Blog

In my life’s trek, I have met many people who have opinions ands are opinionated. For clarity: an opinion is a belief based on what seems to be true or probable but not certainty.. Being Opinionated is an obstinately held belief regardless of truth or reality. I believe (opine) that many of  us younger than 40 years old cannot afford to be opinionated as they have not had enough life experience to earn it. Now with that in mind, there are many older people who do not qualify to be opinionated because they  while having life experience cannot or will not accept any new information that would change their opinion. Being human uniquely qualifies all of us to form and gather opinions but still retain the ability to alter that opinion as information becomes available, its called learning. So when we opine about religion, race, sex or politics there needs to be room for change in that opinion or we miss some of the fine points on the many subjects that appear before us in print or on the airwaves. This narrow focus is why we have the ineffectual Congress in modern times (past 30 years or so). Our Congress has offered and altered (when possible) opinions on important  issues to the point of confusion on what the issues really are. So to opine is great but leave the door open for change.

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Franklin Roosevelt said “we have nothing to fear but fear itself”, This is not the entire quote and it’s related content but unfortunately we do have something to fear. What we have to be completely fearful of are the firmly entrenched 535 members of Congress who by their stubborn adherence to political malfeasance in the guise of Legislating have put us in a war we could not hope to win, an economic morass that we cannot hope to get out of without some tough choices. All the while they have protected their wages,pensions and health care. This unfortunately is not an isolated case, we have the same events occurring in every state and many communities. The people we voted in office have failed to do anything related to problem solving but still draw the salaries and benefits they so richly do not deserve. We as voters have allowed our legislators and public administrators to do what we were led to believe was correct and prudent. It is apparent to me that our faith in the government as a whole is a mistake. Our needs are for elected officials who will do the work required for what we as voters consider correct pay and benefits not what they surreptitiously give themselves. When we (their bosses) decide we have has enough then we will begin to un elect these losers so we can win for a change.

In the course of past several days I have heard the following: the first black Republican President, this is after the apparent disconnect of the Dupublican party with the majority of the country over the past 2 presidential elections. When will the political parties understand that dividing the populace into segments has no modern day value or relativity? The milestones in America have been accented by the first, Black man, the first Back woman, the first Woman, the first Jewish person, the first Catholic or the first person of any gender, Race  and  religious persuasion. The political process has accented these issues to point of exacerbating situations that are of no real importance to most Americans. What we all want, desire and so desperately need is an end to media exploitation of the differences among Americans as news or entertainment. Imagine if the elected officials we currently have really paid attention to ALL of their constituents as they purport to, we would (I venture to say) have a better economy is spite of the problems that exist. Under the guise of protecting us these elected tacit hate mongers have created rifts where there were none and those rifts are propagated by people who are too young and inexperienced to realize where this nation came from. One could read the Constitution from end to end and still not have a complete picture of what we are about but our Congress assumes that ability by the so called power of the Office and the Oath they took upon assuming the duties of that office. The power they have is from the people and not the mantle of office. We the  people give that power by virtue of our votes and donations so it is within our power to remove them for cause by the power of the same vote. If as voters we stop picketing start voting away from party lines , we will see the fruits of those labors quicker than a picket line. Remember many big spenders support groups that benefits them not necessarily All  Americans.

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Many of the cuts in State and Federal budgets affect education, health and retirement. The people who are proposing these cuts seem to be exempt from the effects of these cuts. These proposals and actions get a lot of media attention yet the only people making any statements about them are the hardline conservatives who already feel the government spends too freely. There is nothing wrong with conservative spending by governments but not on the backs of education, pension and health. There is a median point where all parties can agree but political party bickering and electioneering get in the way. The ability to make rational choices in law making is supposed to be the expertise of the people we have elected, unfortunately we are not blessed or cursed with even a marginal amount rational thought. We are hammered daily by reports of one legislator or another  supporting or proposing a budget of some sort without solutions.  Can we afford to ignore the long term effects of education, pension and healthcare reforms that offer  vague short term  relief? The American education and social security system are broken yet we have a houseful of Representatives who do not appear to have the ability to resolve the problems. The Individual states and municipalities that receive their various shares of Federal funding are suffering from cuts and the inability to successfully raise enough local funds for these programs. The painful solution to this morass is the drying up of “vote by rote” elections and more voting for non standard candidates.

The recent dustup about and from Bill O’Reilly is indicative of the unseeing and not willing to know what the true facts are in the budget negotiations. It is easy to push the envelope of truth in the name of journalism but to get fact appears to be out his grasp. If the time were spent on obtaining all of the facts as far where the economy is at this time compared to where it came from the story may be different. There have been numerous accounts from economists well known and not so well known that show that in spite of fiscal cliffs and sequesters the economy is growing at a steady but slow pace. The jobs are returning, more people are working, the exceptions are the people who have just stopped looking for work. The ability of well known naysayers, naboobs (not an error) and high profile commentators to stretch, shrink and otherwise alter the truth is the reason many people have no correct idea  where the economy really is. It is OK to consider these opinions (and that is exactly what they are) but the truth while not as loud is always there in plain sight. Between  high profile politicians and high profile political entertainers the public has a very narrow window of truth. We as readers, listeners and voters need to take advantage of that window by looking at all sides and not accept as fact ALL of the offerings from these known talkers.

For the past 8 years the Erstwhile Congress has shown that it as a body is seemingly unable to do what they were elected to do. That is do whats best for all of the people and not just big donors, lobbyists and the loudest screamers. The majority of America’s voters do not scream and yell but they are vocal about what matters to them. The Congress (both parties) have espoused ideas of  what the American people want, these unfounded citations are no more than appeasement to the constituency that matters most to them. That constituency is not the “American People” that has been so widely cited. As a voter I am staunchly for Government working as it should not necessarily as I want it to. What we want is not necessarily what we need but these seat fillers take requests like a lounge singer with the payoff being  enacting or delaying legislation that benefits their retention or after Congress well being. It is evident that our Congress has failed long before Mr. Obama, both Bush’s, Clinton and beyond. The idea of being in Congress and what can they can get out of it seems to be the driving force , not a sense of service. There may never be a great or upstanding member of Congress in my lifetime but I will certainly do my part by always voting for a new office seeker rather than an incumbent. Congress will never set term limits on themselves so it is up to the voters to impose those limits through the balloting process. Remember a run for a political office is not about serving, it is about power and prestige which does not benefit the voters.