State of the Union

Well, after a year plus off, we're back. I took the time off, mostly because I was tired of seeing the same thing, having the same argument over and over again. But, it appears, it's time for us to get back in gear.

During our absence, the Occupy Wall Street movement has popped up and taken over the national conversation. Whether you agree or disagree with them, what they are saying needs to be heard. Even in his attacks on Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich has used key phrases from the OWS dialogue. Expect to hear alot of it tonight from President Obama as he tries to reach out to this disenfranchised group of voters, because in the long run, that's what they are, is voters. And campaign Obama loves to try and show the youth he's the hip cool nominee, which isn't hard based on who the GOP is putting up as opposition. But can Obama practice what he preaches, or are we in for another four years of pulling the wool over the eyes of the American people.

For as much as Obama and even the GOP want to show that he's a "crazy liberal", signing into law the NDAA is very, very conservative. It's setting up the Republicans for the eventual power swing and a fear state in which the Democrats can seem like superheroes that come in and save us. However, they're really not. They are as much in the pocket of big investors as the Republicans are, the Democrats just pretend to care about the people a little bit more. Which makes the poor happy and think that they have a champion in their corner.

The State of the Union... it's a f--king mess. Unemployment is still as high as ever. Don't let the latest reports that unemployment filing is at a three year low fool you. It's the same as during the Spring when they say spending is up. It's all fabricated, inflated numbers to make those in power look more and more like they're doing right. The cold hard reality is, that those are, were, temporary jobs for the holiday season. Many of which will be back, unable to file for unemployment, within the next couple of weeks. And many people have or are running out of unemployment in general.

So what is the GOP's solution to the mess? Well, Newt Gingrich wants to flood the employment market with children. He wants to fire janitors, many of who are working the job to put food on the table of their families at an extreme medical risk to themselves, and put in place children who go to those schools. In a time when bullying is spreading through out the younger generations, he wants to submit the children of poor parents to the stigmatism of cleaning the halls after school. Meanwhile, attending today's State of the Union Address will be a young woman who is a science whiz, and homeless. And impressing the judges on American Idol, next to many other hopefuls... another homeless girl. But, if Newt gets what he wants, those children would have less time to chase their dreams and more time to clean the gutters and bathrooms. To say that the poor don't have the drive to make their life better is a complete disregard for not only the human spirit, but those whose backs and shoulders hold up his doughy posterior.

Meanwhile, the ever sliding Mitt Romney is showing how well he connects with what's left of the middle class by not only simply handing money out, or paying for votes as it could be construed, but he only pays 15% of the $46 million he brings in while hiding millions more in an off-shore bank account in the Caymans. Must be nice.

Our environment is still in just as much danger as it has been. While Obama escaped off some by saying "no" to the Keystone oil pipe, there is still the chance a smaller version of the dream will run a pipe from Oklahoma to the Gulf. This less then five years after the greatest oil disaster in American history, and the spilling of oil into Yellowstone River. So next time Oklahoma and Texas universities get together, they can call it the "Black Gold Rivalry". So what is the Republicans plan on this? Well, they want to do away with the EPA and the regulations that are holding back "progress". Maybe someone should talk to the people of Ohio about that as they suffered an earthquake a month ago caused by fracking.

The pure and simple fact is, it's not going to get any better any time soon. We are still going to struggle as a country. We will find ourselves in a war by the end of the year, it's just a matter of who with depends on who wins the election. Jobs are still going to be hard to come by as corporations cut jobs to keep those in power richer. The people will still suffer because it's easier to ask those without to do without more, than it is to ask those with to do without, or at least it's expected. After all, they already gave at the office.

The Mayans predicted 2012 not as the end of the world, but a time of major change. With the death of Kim Jung Il; the growing economic super power that is China; Iran's nuclear desire and the unrest all around the world, I'm fairly sure they got it right. And with the date being 12-21-12, just a little more than a month after the elections, and about a month before the next inauguration, we're all sitting on a powder keg and there is an extremist somewhere whether foreign or domestic, who has the match.

A Fair Economic Warning

Well friends, all over the news there are mumblings and whispers that the economy is starting to show signs of life and that our current recession may actually begin to right itself by the end of the year. The experts use statistics like the fact that massive layoffs are down and companies aren't losing as much money as they thought. Basically, there are silver linings to all the grey clouds above our heads.

And to this, I'd like to warn you. Sure this past Memorial Day weekend retailers saw an upswing in consumer confidence. However, one thing that is mysteriously missing from these experts is any talk of the timing of this upswing. It is not that Americans are making more money than we were a few months ago, the national unemployment rate is still hovering around 10%. The biggest factor for the recent economic upswing has everything to do with federal taxes. The Memorial Day weekend came at the time that most Americans who filed Federal taxes, and even those in government who forgot to, are receiving their rebates, thus Americans have some spending cash that they have earmarked for their summer.

Take myself for example. My family income has not changed since February. However, upon receiving our tax check, after paying all necessary bills and the surprise car fix, we had bought season passes to our local Six Flags theme park while they were inexpensive. Our Memorial Day consisted of going to Six Flags and then going to our local minor league baseball game. Total cost for the day, maybe $40 dollars for a family of three, and that includes buying tickets for our guest at the baseball game.

The talk of massive layoffs being slowed is an obvious comment and shouldn't make anyone really feel comfortable for two reasons: 1) there aren't any massive hiring and 2) State and local governments are in the midst of laying off hundreds of employees for financial reasons. So before you buy into this whole "We are getting better" mantra that the government is selling, you need to think about the surrounding factors.