Tag: politics

Is America Becoming Socialist?

by rhealitycheck

Because that’s certainly what it feels like at least from *all* the socialized losses that we seem to be picking up these days. What I want to know is where are the benefits for the majority of Americans? Surely there has to be something more in it for the average person to be picking up over a trillion dollars worth of bad business. At the rate that we are handing out money to corporations I really do hope that someone is going to be held accountable because I find it absolutely unacceptable that there are many executives that have truly made a giant mess of things and yet are still being paid in the millions.

Perhaps I just don’t understand capitalism but I was always under the impression that should you run your business poorly, it will go under and you will “lose your shirt”, but clearly we no longer believe in that. As it is being proven by the fact that we are now bailing out the automakers along with Wall St. Who else are we going to take on as charity cases? I’m just waiting for the next shoe to drop. For all these years we have criticized and absolutely down-played the need for any socialist tendencies, yet now, now we are essentially taking from the poor and giving handouts to the rich who have managed to mismanage their money. (Sure, I know I’m exaggerating a bit but if you really do take an overly simplistic view that is exactly what is going on.)

So I hope that the new administration does not forget that this is not a socialist country. And until the base standard of living can come up to some sort of reasonable standard, such as universal health care and an appropriate minimum wage and appropriate taxes on the wealthy to compensate for such things, I would hope that the government can control themselves as to just how sorry they feel for those poor, poor corporations that have managed to go astray.

The Mumbai Bombings

by rhealitycheck

So the bombings in Bombay have really bothered me. Part of it is that it is a hot topic for the fam and part of it is that I was there just 2 years ago right around this time. I could have easily been one of the people gallivanting around the Taj. And that is really upsetting and disturbing.

And on a slightly different note I’ve had several people take offense to Obama’s hard line stance on Pakistan but really at some point I think we need to look at what Pakistan has been doing for years. They harbor and train terrorists and quite frankly India bears the brunt of a significant chunk of these attacks. It’s amazing that India has chosen not to crush Pakistan quite yet. Everyone knows that just by sheer might it is quite possible and if India were the US it would’ve happened decades ago. But I think that’s part of what makes India so great that they haven’t opted to crush them. In fact there are more Muslims that live in India than in Pakistan and you know what they aren’t persecuting them in the same way the west does. After all is said and done India is the only true democracy where minorities are treated as equally and fairly as possible. Certainly there are discrepancies between the majority and the minorities and there will always be a few extremists everywhere but all in all I think India is handling the whole thing quite well.

Also I would like the US for once in its history to just stay out of it. This is not your problem, this is not your dispute just keep to yourself. I mean it isn’t enough that they gave the terrorists their weapons and training way back when they wanted their puppets in office in Pakistan, all this “help” is really unnecessary. At any rate it is truly tragic for anything of this type to happen and I wish someone would take the time to analyze why there are so many young people filled with so much hate that they would go on these terrorist missions. I think it is an important question that all world leaders need to think about and in particular those in Islamic countries (considering that’s where many of these people cone from). It just doesn’t make sense to me. And to destroy buildings with so much history.

One concluding thought, why would these people target Colaba? It is essentially a tourist destination and yes in India you obviously can’t find anywhere without lots of native Indians but seriously why would they target the largest tourist section of the city? What do you think was the message in there?

Should Hillary Be Secretary Of State?

by rhealitycheck

I actually think that’s a very tough question. Obviously I’m no political expert but for a woman of her stature, especially with the manpower she has behind her right now that’s a big question. I know nothing is formal and that most speculate that the offer will be formally made and that she will formally accept it but I wonder if it is the right choice.

Now, when I first heard that Hillary might be Secretary of State, I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty excited. But then I discussed it with my mother and I read a few articles by some pretty intelligent older women about the reasons why she shouldn’t and I have to say I am torn. Right now Hillary Clinton is a power house in the senate. She is the woman that has 18 million votes. She is the woman that everyone wants on their team. She may be the junior senator from New York but she will never be just another senator. Everyone wants her on their committee, everyone wants her to be their friend because Hillary Clinton wields a lot of power with her 18 million votes.

So why would she want to move over to being Secretary of State. It’s true being the head of the state department is extraordinarily prestigious but it isn’t quite the same sort of change as being the party leader in the Senate or heading up as many committees in the Senate. At the same time being Secretary of State she gets to make her own rules in her own department and there is far less clawing for position. The part that I find interesting is that as Secretary of State, she is officially Obama’s face to the International World and that is what would given me pause (you know, if I were cool enough to be Hillary Clinton).

As Secretary of State you are not quite your own woman anymore, which I find interesting. I just wonder what this step means should she choose it. I am sure she will do a fabulous job no matter what she decides but would it be better to be your own voice, your own power house in the senate or to be the president’s voice to the world?

Yes To Bailouts, No To Thinking

by rhealitycheck

Sometimes I truly believe that is what is going on in our government. Has everyone just decided to leave logic and reason at home for the past few weeks? Because I surely don’t see many good decisions being made. Not that a lot of good decisions have been made in the last 8 years but nothing quite so drastic as what seems to be happening with the economy and our lovely tax-payer dollars today. I was having a lovely ride to work today on the bus until I happened upon this article in the New York Times.

First of all I am absolutely incensed that Paulson believes that the money from the bailout should only go to “investment” in financial institutions rather than “spending” on rescue efforts.” Well quite frankly Mr. Paulson, you and your Wall St cronies fucked up big time, pardon my french. Why should we allow you to fritter out tax dollars away giving these guys golden parachutes and money to “invest”? I’m sorry, I think you’ve done a lousy enough job screwing up our economy thoroughly, I think it’s about time we gave back to the people who are losing their homes. Sure, I believe that one should not invest in something one cannot afford but let’s be realistic, we bailed out Wall St for making poor investment choices, which I would like to mention were based on these same mortgages that we are not allowing to be refinanced. So basically what Hank is telling us is that it is ok for banks to make stupid decisions, let’s not hold them accountable but average people who make those same stupid decisions should be held accountable. Right, I’m glad that we’re all on board with this privatized profits and socialized losses system. I love it. Perhaps I am a little too jaded on this topic but I have to say that this editorial did make me happy that at least someone else thinks Paulson’s thinking is flawed.

Although I have to say I was at least happy to note that Paulson does not want to bailout the auto industry. While I don’t like most of what he has done, in this is one instance I do agree that bailing out the auto industry is a bad idea. I actually think the op-ed by Mitt Romney was a really good take on Detroit. I certainly think he made a really great argument for what should actually be done that would be effective.

Why I Was Wary Of The Bailout…

by rhealitycheck

Really, now we want to bailout the automakers in Detroit who haven’t been performing up to par for years? This is the ultimate in privatized profits and socialized losses. Sometimes I wonder about the Democrats in office… Are they actually paying attention or do they just think handing out money to anyone who asks is a good idea? Because I don’t. I may be a liberal but I still believe you should have to earn your own bread and butter. I have come to terms with the fact that our entire economy would have collapsed if we had not bailed out the banks. That I can accept, unhappily but accepted nonetheless. If the automakers cannot create vehicles that people in this country would like to buy then they should not be rewarded for their incompetence by being bailed out.

Yes, I do realize that allowing the auto-giants in Detroit to fail does mean a significant amount of jobs lost. But let’s be realistic, if you run your business poorly, you don’t pay attention to your consumers and the fact that your sales have been going down for years then you are going to run yourself into the ground. And it is not the general public’s problem to clean up. You fail, you close, too bad for you.

And I know Detroit is crying out that we bailed out the banks so why not them. Well, to put it simply, yes the banks made a mess of things but unfortunately they effect every other industry in the United States and, with these fantastic global markets, the rest of the world too. So not bailing them out would have most likely guaranteed a Depression that would have been unprecedented. While I may not like that we bailed out the banks, it certainly was necessary in order to maintain some semblance of an economy, even if it is in crisis. The automakers on the other hand, well ok too bad they go out of business, we still have a bunch of foreign automakers that have factories in the US. This will not effect the entire country much less the world even an iota of what the banks failing would have done.

Perhaps it isn’t fair but it’s true and the less socialized losses we take the happier I am because let’s face it we’re not a socialized country. I am all for socialized losses as long as we start socializing the profits, you just let me know when that happens cause I’m not gonna be holding my breath for that one. And just one final thought, perhaps we should take a look at Britain and learn from their mistakes, bailing out a lousy automaker does nothing for anyone. It’s just plain stupid.

Keeping An Eye On Palin

by rhealitycheck

I believe that Sarah Palin may have learned something in her disastrous run for VP. When I was reading the article about the Republican Governor’s meeting in the Times I was thoroughly shocked by many of the Palin quotes. I do believe she is one that the Dems should keep their eyes on because she is charismatic, attractive and if she learns how to actually speak well she could become a thorn in the side of liberals everywhere.

I mean just the simple fact that she didn’t want to talk about 2012 and instead redirected the conversation to what the governors should be focusing on now are their budgets and giving Republicans all around a better name, well that actually shows some vision. If she continues to make statements like that and thinks before she speaks, well, colour me concerned.

And it’s not just her, I know many people may have forgotten about Mike Huckabee but he is yet another Republican with amazing charisma. I generally don’t agree with anything he says but what I will give him credit for is actually making sense when speaking about what the middle class needs. With someone as grounded as he is and Palin starting to get her act together, I’m a little concerned about our future.

The Dems really need to get it together and fast because I can see some major competition coming up in our future. And I think it would be nice to have a more moderate government for a while, I mean idealistically I’d like it to lean left but you know I’ll settle for moderate. I just don’t want to think of what could happen should the likes of Palin and Huckabee get to be more significant National figures for the Republican party.

Ok Forget Prop 8, Let’s Talk About Arkansas

by rhealitycheck

While the rest of the country is bemoaning California passing Proposition 8, which I still find extremely depressing, let’s discuss what just happened in Arkansas. What you may not have known and what I did not know until very recently was that they just passed a motion to ban people who are “cohabitating outside a valid marriage” from serving as foster parents or adopting children. I have to say I was horrified to see that in my op-ed page of the Times!

I find it quite disturbing that there are now laws being passed about the marital status of an individual’s ability to raise a child. I was raised by a single parent and in our case it was because she was widowed rather early in life but what if someone had deemed her unfit. I don’t believe the state can determine what is best for the child simply by the marital status of an individual. For example, in college one of the religious advisers at the school refused to marry her “partner” (who is a man) because she is morally opposed to marriage if it isn’t equal for all people. What would Arkansas say about her children, would they be taken away simply because she opposes the institution of marriage?

Anyway reading that just horrified me. First California goes and passes a law that protects the rights of chickens over the rights of their gay residents and now this. Really, what is this country coming to? And since when did we want the government to come knock down our doors and take a peek into our bedrooms? I thought America was all about freedom, what ever happened to that? I thought conservatives were really about small government, somehow this does not sound like small government to me. And Little Cog made a fabulous point in this article about how there should be “Marriage for none, Civil Unions for all” and I completely agree with that sentiment.

And to throw a little amusement your way watch this video about a counter proposition banning divorce in California.

I will end this with a happy thought, CT just legalized gay marriage. Yay!

When Politics Gets Personal

by rhealitycheck

I’ve been thinking about the passing of Proposition 8 a lot lately and what bothers me most about it is that it is fundamentally unacceptable. I believe I have finally understood why it bothers me so much and it is much the same with the issue of abortion. And I say this because it has nothing to do with whether anyone believes that being gay is acceptable nor what your personal opinion of abortion is. The similarity between these two issues is that these are basic human rights that we are not being afforded.

Let me be clear, I am not saying, “Yay, let’s all go get abortions”. I mean really, who says that? or even thinks that? Personally, I don’t know if I could have one if I were ever to get pregnant but let’s leave hypotheticals out of this. So what do I believe? I believe that women should have a right to choose. Yes, yes I do. I believe we should give women enough credit that they should be able to make this choice for whatever reason may be behind this. It is scientific fact that having an abortion is not easy, women experience a whole host of side-effects. In reality the whole thing sucks a lot, even having to make that decision sucks a lot. Can you imagine being a teenager and trying to deal with the consequences of having a child? Can you imagine being a woman who has been trying to get pregnant for years but is told that it’s your life or the child’s life? Can you imagine being a woman who has been raped and not only that but now has to go through a series of tests to find out if she is ok, if she has stds and if she is pregnant and if so wants an abortion? Those are not easy decisions to make. This is not something that they should be persecuted for.

This whole Christian right campaign about being pro-life is actually completely unfounded and ridiculous because if you were actually pro-life then should we be abolishing the death penalty. Not to mention thinking about health care for those babies that you so generously saved. And what about health care for their parents so that they can still have parents to take care of them while they’re growing up. Or even social security for the elderly so that they may not starve to death because they were too poor and too old and too weak to fend for themselves. And how about those food stamps and welfare for those families that are too poor to take care of those children that you so wonderfully saved from the jaws of death. What about making sure that there is appropriate housing for all these people whose lives we clearly care about saving. Clearly those do not qualify as being pro-life. Really this campaign isn’t about being pro-life, it’s about being anti-choice but let’s face it pro-life sounds a whole lot better than anti-choice. And I will say that whoever came up with that verbiage was a genius.

Now if we look at the issue of gay marriage, I want to know exactly how this threatens your heterosexual marriage? Is there somewhere that states, “oh if we let the gays marry then our marriage means nothing anymore!”? I would imagine that the divorce rate is actually more of a threat to the institution of marriage than actually allowing two people that want to spend the rest of their lives together to be married. What I think some people seem to be confusing the issue with is, is it ok to be gay? Well I’m sorry it’s not your legal right to tell me whether it is or is not ok to be gay. Remember, marriage is a legal institution what your house of worship chooses to do about the gay issue is not in question here.

Recently a friend sent me a note on his thoughts about Proposition 8 being passed and I am thankful to have many friends who have the same socially liberal views that I do. The thing that he said that really brought the point home was when he compared it to segregated education. It was not so long ago that our schools were still segregated. It was not so long ago that people believed that the education system should be segregated. But there was one man, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who stood up to all those people and took the initiative to turn it all around. Now LBJ was originally just a school teacher from East Texas and I’ll be the first admit (being a Texas native) that Texas is not always a particularly progressive place. But he was still able to realize that we should not allow such discrimination in our school systems. The questions around this issue run parallel to those with gay marriage – Does having black students affect the ability of the white students to learn from their teachers? Does it hinder the education system to allow people of various colors to be in that system?

Regardless of your belief, whether you believe all men are created equal or not, is it your place to judge and put it into the legal system of this country? America was created to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. It is not brave to disallow people who are different from you to exist happily, it is cowardice. It is not freedom to have unequal rights for particular groups of people.

As my friend said to me, “Should we not abide by and promote the idea that this nation was founded on one fundamental idea, freedom and liberty for all. Let’s not prevent other law abiding citizens from enjoying the same freedoms and liberties that we so freely enjoy, and let us all progress once again and truly be Americans.”

A Bitter-sweet Victory

by rhealitycheck

When the election results first came in I was absolutely elated. The Democrats have successfully managed to gain a majority in the House and Senate and we even got the presidency to boot! This has not happened since the beginning of Clinton’s first term and it only lasted for his first two years in office, so I tend to not count that. Before Clinton the last time we had Congress and the White House with a Democratic majority was when JFK was in office. Clearly there has been a major shift to the right and the people have finally decided enough is enough. At the end of the day I do believe that Americans, as a whole, are rather centrist in their beliefs and it was about time we started moving back towards the middle.

I say this is a bitter-sweet victory because while I am elated that the Dems have swept Washington, I am also severely disappointed in the passing of Proposition 8 in California. I find it hard to believe that in California of all places they could pass such legislature to modify their own constitution. Especially considering all of the anti-discrimination legislature that is already in place in California I find it disturbing that they don’t see this in the same light. Ah well, I hope that my friend, Matt, is correct when he says there are many things that pass in California that cannot be put in place because there are too many checks against stupid laws actually passing.

Ah well it was a nearly perfect election, I suppose you can’t always get everything you want. I’ll settle for a hopeful Presidency and Congress!

A Historic Election

by rhealitycheck

I would say this election is one to remember. Not just because a black man was elected President of the United States of America but also because we now have a Democratic majority in D.C. “We” just swept the House, Senate and the Presidential bid. I know this has happened in the past but with the conservative rule of the last 8 years it seems like it was a lifetime away that America knew what being centrist was about let alone having a Democratic majority in anything. I just hope that the Democrats can do a good enough job to at least not lose the majority significantly in the next 4 years.

I have to say being in Chicago for this momentous occasion was pretty spectacular. Granted I wasn’t in Grant Park (you know Chicago is notorious for its riots for no reason and this time there were many reasons had the results gone either way) but still biking home from my friend’s apartment across town there were victory calls smattered throughout the city for Obama. There were couples on the street rejoicing and people everywhere celebrating. It was an unforgettable experience.

To be here.
Right now.
Is larger than anything that one can imagine.
It is being a part of history.
And this history cannot be rewritten. It is up to the Democrats with Obama at the helm to truly turn this country around and show us why we put our faith in them. I just hope they are up to that task.

I know that Obama wasn’t my ideal candidate but I cannot explain what a relief it is to see him as the nominee. But in the same breath I will also say that I was extremely impressed with McCain’s concession speech. That was one of the most gracious concession speeches I have ever heard and quite frankly if McCain had campaigned like that I don’t think that Obama would have had the landslide victory that he did. I may not agree with McCain but I do respect him. I respect him because as he proved in his speech he is a classy, intelligent, honest (relatively speaking, this is politics) and courageous man. In that speech I saw a glimmer of the McCain that I actually considered to be someone worth looking in to in the 2000 Republican primaries. I still say had he won the 2000 primaries or even been allowed to run in 2004 I would’ve considered him. He had far more gumption back then and as this speech proved he can really be a moving speaker.

I give a hearty “Congratulations” to Obama and I do hope to see what we can accomplish in the next 4 years. As an eternal optimist I am hoping for the best!

side note: I am officially a Rachel Maddow fan girl now… I typically don’t think of myself as a “fan girl” but I don’t mind for her, she’s worth it