If Money Is Speech, Then Comment With Cash

Since money is speech as defined by a recent Supreme Court ruling.....
And taxation without representation is tyranny as defined by our Founding Fathers.....
If I am unable to have my fair representation in Congress due to my inability to match donations to political candidates owned by large multinational corporations whose concerns may run contrary to my own ideals.....
Why am I paying taxes?
By not paying taxes, I am saying that I no longer support the permanent national security state, which requires a perpetual enemy in order to justify it's existence. It believes that collateral damage is acceptable, I do not. It believes that those people who do not hold to the same belief system as it does deserve to die. I do not. It believes that my children, your children, and every other child with the exception of it's own must be sacrificed in order for it's continual existence. I do not.
The Corporatocratic Military State believes that money that could be spent on Universal health care for all it's citizens is better spent on munitions and armaments. I do not. It believes that money that could be spent on providing a decent education to all it's citizens is better spent on enriching a small percentage of it's citizens. I do not. It believes that money that could be spent helping out the less fortunate of it's citizens is better spent helping out the more fortunate citizens. I do not.
The Bankster and Corporate Criminal Police state would gladly exchange clean air and water for bigger profits, homes and families for bigger bonuses, and people's futures and livelihoods for a bigger market share. I would not, and I wouldn't entrust them to shepherd my future, or my children's future anymore than trust us. Innocent until proven guilty has changed into guilty until beaten by police officers. They have prepared for the worst because they know that the people won't stand for their nonsense forever. Or at least until they can no longer afford the soporific effects of cable television.

The Rich Man's News Network

In their continuing war against the working class, Fox News made the pronouncement that cutting minimum wage is good for workers. How? Well, according to Fox, lower wages creates more jobs, which is good for workers, because if they're making less than $7.25 an hour, they're going to need more jobs to able survive.
It seems to me that I've heard this before. Oh, yeah, that was the same claim that was made about Nafta, about how it was going to create all these new jobs. Well, we know how that turned out. It didn't.
As the middle class evaporates so that the top ten percent of the country can have more money, our corporatist legislatures are looking for more ways to screw the working people out of what little they have. The latest plan from the working people hatin' Republicans is eliminating unemployment benefits for the victims of the corporcratic economic policies.
I think there's a pretty good chance that our current congress is out of touch. With their heel-dragging on health care reform, and now this pronouncement, I don't think a lot of them realize that there are people who don't live in gated communities, drive SUVs, or have stock portfolios. People who are a paycheck away from total destitution. Or, more probably, they know it and just don't give a fuck, since people like that can never afford to donate money to the GOP.

It Wasn't Me

As the new 'economic stimulus' package starts to take effect, the cries of class warfare fill the air as taxes are raised on the wealthiest citizens. Meanwhile, in the same breath, many still blame the working class for taking out home loans they couldn't afford as the cause of the fall of our fine and upstandingshifty and greedy financial institutions.
As one of those people who received a subprime loan and defaulted on it, let's get a few things straight.
Five years ago I was going through a divorce, angry and unreasonable, much more than I am these days, I ignored the advice of those who suggested I rent an apartment after moving out of the house I shared with my ex-wife. Pigheaded, I sought out a house, and found a nice one, figuring that I deserved one since I was losing one. The prescription drugs weren't helping me think any clearer.
The real estate agent assured me she could get me a loan, even with a certain part of my income unverifiable (money I thought I might make on eBay that never materialized). She even suggested I put in a higher bid on the house, just to make sure I got the house (and, of course, so she got a bigger commission). I applied for a loan, never thinking that I would get one. But, much to my shock and chagrin, I got one, and when things went bad, I was left with a foreclosure on my financial record from a loan on a house I should have never been approved for. But I wasn't alone. Lots of people did.Why?
It all comes down to the financialization of our economy. As the growth of our economy moved farther and farther away from the production of goods as the basis for accumulating wealth and more towards the accumulation of paper wealth, the need for riskier and riskier loans became inevitable. So, basically, my desire to have a simple home was exploited by greedy bastards so that they may have more little pieces of paper than their neighbors.
So, don't blame me, I'm just another victim of a corrupt system run by shylocks and shysters whose only concern is to have more wealth with little effort.

They Take Everything You Have And Yet You're The Traitor

It's officially over. The shining city on the hill has become the shining gated community in the lower tax suburbs. The rest of us? We're left to defend ourselves from the avatars of avarice who constantly demand more work, time and money from us while giving us less and less in return.
How did they do it? The poor have always wanted to be working class, the working class have always wanted to be middle class, and everybody wants to be rich. We've seen it on TV, force fed frolicking filthy rich fornicators on television for years, we all dreamed of the day when we won the wheel of fortune, that's how they sell lottery tickets and casino junkets.
Sorry folks, but the easy money you secretly wish for every night isn't for you. The rich right wing Republican robber barons rip you off using the carrot and stick method (beat you on the head with their stick then feed you carrots)to keep you slaving away, making them more money while discovering new ways to take away more of your hard earned dough. Welcome to New America!
Justice? Maybe if you have more than the corrupt corporations, otherwise, you and your family are at risk. Freedom of speech is reserved for those who say what the corpocracy wants you to hear, while dissension is a one way ticket to terrorism charges. Love our leader, or face the prospect of losing your liberty.
We have become like cattle at a kosher carniceria, hung up and bled dry until they can feast on our fetid flesh at the mortuary of miracles. Your money is not yours, but their money, well, that's just a matter of opinion.
It's a good thing that someone keeps us doped up through the water supply (notice how they always drink bottled water?), other wise there may be riots in the streets, or an awful lot of people in FEMA concentration camps.

Sorry Bibi, But We Can't Afford Your War

Is it un-American for the government to put a salary cap on the pay of executives scratching around congress for a handout? No, not really. Once you start asking the already overburdened US tax payer to subsidize your extravagant lifestyle, you should just shut the fuck up and take it like, well, a man, but according to Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

"Because of their excesses, very bad things begin to happen, like the United States government telling a company what it can pay its employees. That's not a good thing in America,"

Was it unAmerican for Wall St. demand that companies cut employee overhead or lose their stock value? A move that has left the US unemployment rate at the highest it's been in 16 years? (Which, coincidentally, was right after the last time we left Republicans in charge) I'm sure that if you were one of the over a half a million people laid off last month you might feel differently, especially if you knew that those jobs aren't coming back in a long time, and when they do, they'll be at a much lower rate of pay than what you were making on unemployment.
According to Joseph Stiglitz, the main cause for the economic slowdown that led to the recession, and in turn global depression has been the war in Iraq. The war has cost over half a trillion dollars so far, with no end in sight. We can no longer afford to subsidize the paranoia of Islamaphobes who think the solution to the problem is to drop bombs and shoot bullets, all of which costs taxpayer money. Money better spent on helping those hurt by the economic policies of the previous misadministration.
So even though there is no evidence that Iran is building any nuclear weapons, the soon-to-be PM of Israel Binyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu still wants the Obama administration to press Iran to stop it's perfectly legal and internationally sanctioned right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, or else Israel, ever the bastion of self-restraint (and such adherents to international law themselves) will strike at Iran.
The US taxpayer can no longer afford to support Israel's wars of aggression and ethnic cleansing, nor can they afford to pay the high oil costs that will be the inevitable result of Israel's cavalier attitude to obeying international law. Considering our new Secretary of State's pledged fealty to another country, I really don't see a change in our position on these matters from one administration to the next.

Who To Believe...........

In crisis management, the first step is admitting there is a problem. The second step is indentifying the cause of the problem. Of course, if you have caused the problem yourself, the first thing you do is deny there is a problem, or try to blame others for the problem that doesn't exist.
Our president denies there is a problem, or that it's not as big of a problem as we're being led to believe. Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says there is a problem, caused in part by the war in Iraq. So who do you believe? An imbecile who can't open his mouth without letting a plethora of untruths fly forth, or a respected economist. Hmmm. That is a poser.
This really illustrates the disparity between the two Americas. On the one hand, there's the billionaires who are making money in this economy, and they don't really feel the pinch of $3+ a gallon gas and rising prices for everything else, then there's people who work everyday and have to figure out how to make do with less because some greedy bastard doesn't have enough yet. And that's a situation that's not going to change until we get a government that works for everybody.

Welcome To The Corpocracy

...you think you're all clever and classless and free-John Lennon, "Working Class Hero"
You are a prisoner. You don't know it, because you've been so well-conditioned, you lock yourself in your cell every night. You think you have choices, but only choices you have are the ones that they offer you.
Most of you are happy, not knowing that you are in fact a prisoner. As long as you have the latest gadget, or can read up on the latest escapades of the current out-of-control media star, or watch the seasonal sporting event, your mind is too distracted to examine the truth. You see, right there, three choices.
But you're still a prisoner. The minute you get too close to the perimeters they have set up for you, they scare you with the latest health crisis, money scam, or dangerous gadget (that they urged you to buy last year) to keep you isolated, away from the other prisoners, lest you share your discoveries with them. They'll even create threats where none exist, because they need to keep you afraid, because a scared mind is an unclear mind, and more susceptible to advertising.
But wait, you say, I'm free to go where ever I choose, to talk to whomever I choose, to read what I want. But everywhere you go, from the grocery store, to the gas station, the bank, even driving down the street, you are under constant video surveillance. You say it's there to prevent crime, but I ask, are you a criminal? has crime actually stopped because of this? They can even search your computer's hard drive with out a warrant or even probable cause. And soon enough, even travel will be restricted those who lack the proper identification. But we still labor under the illusion of freedom.
America has the highest percentage of it's population in prison, while while members of the elite avoid investigation. A person can be jailed for political reasons while the president commutes the sentence of a crony and demands immunity for telecoms who helped him violate the law. Equal protection under the law is a farce, only for the gullible to believe, like the Constitution. You can even be arrested for video taping police officers making a forceful arrest. They can spy on you all they want, but don't you think that you have the right to hold them accountable.
Enjoy what little freedom you have left because it's not going to last. The detention camps have been built, with the US and Canada agreeing to allow the military from either nation help the other out in cases of civil emergency (Part of that whole NAU thing that Hillary Clinton swears is just a "conspiracy theory"). The FBI has partnered with businesses to gather information on persons suspected of "terrorism or other crimes. The corpocracy is positioning itself for a complete takeover, and when they do, all the remaining freedoms you posess that are bad for them but good for you will be gone.

It All Comes Down To Tuna

We've been told for years that the reason businesses needed to offshore many of our manufacturing jobs is because the cost of American labor had gotten too high. Things such as taxes, health benefits and other costs that kept the worker able to complete their mundane tasks and live comfortably were hurting the bottom line. But I see it differently.
The company I work for provides food service for corporate settings. We provide breakfast and lunches, and dinners in factory and executive locations. This gives me a unique perspective to see the differences between the two extremes.
A good example of this is tuna. The line worker in the factory gets canned tuna, usually made into tuna salad. The bread usually comes in frozen and is never fresh. The worker also pays for this food from their own pocket. The worker has twenty minutes to eat their food, unable to leave the grounds, because the company feels if they return late from their lunch break, productivity will be compromised.
The executive flying on the corporate jet, however, is fed sushimi grade tuna. While the worker in the factory would be fortunate to get flank or skirt steak on rare occasions, the executive can have nothing less than steak cut fresh from tenderloin. And the executives meals are provided for by the company itself.
Once a quarter, if the worker has not missed any days of work, the company will throw an "attendance celebration", where they get to dine on a five ounce strip loin steak, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and off brand fruit juices. The executive has weekly meeting where only the finest pastries, juices, and fresh fruit are served. While the factory worker has to make do with regular-old-coffee, the executives can have nothing less than Starbuck's coffee.
The executives have their own dining area, where they are waited on by good looking young women (as opposed to the worked, who gets food slopped on a plate by an old cafeteria worker), and have their choice of refreshments (including beer, wine, and liquor) to wash down their meals.
The job of a CEO is to make their company as profitable as possible, which in turn will make the price of the stock rise along with profitability . You would think that meant manufacturing products that people would buy, but as of late, it has meant cutting costs to make the company more attractive to prospective investors. Trade agreements such as NAFTA allow these companies to offshore manufacturing jobs with impunity. The downside to this is that the service jobs created don't pay as well as the manufacturing jobs they are replacing, and as a result, the economy has slowly been sliding downhill because people no longer have the money to buy the items made in this country that have traditionally driven the US economy, such as new cars or houses.
And now, the subprime crisis has led to a global $77 trillion in stock market loss, and the country is headed towards a recession. And it's all because some bigwig is too good for canned tuna.