What is a real national emergency

Trump wants to declare a national emergency to build the border wall. But we have a number of emergencies that should’ve been handled first.
The cost of all the national disasters related to climate change in the USA in 2018 $91 billion and 2017 was worse at a cost of $306 billion. This is a mixed bag including loss of life, damaged infrastructure and cost of relocation.
Civil engineers estimated the cost of fixing our crumbling infrastructure at $4.6 trillion. Our bridges are deteriorating along with dams, power grids and roads. The longer we wait the higher the cost.
Our educational system is another disaster that will also require a large sum of money to fix. Our teachers only make 68% of the salaries of other college graduates in the workforce. Even though we spend more per pupil than any other country are system is behind a number of countries. And US students are as much a year behind students in other counties in core subjects like math. The key is spending more money on teacher salaries which would allow current teachers to focus on the classroom instead of worrying about finances and the higher pay would also attract better new applicants.
We do have a opioid disaster that is partly supported by illegal drugs that have not been stopped at official points of entry but this problem was caused by greedy US pharmaceutical companies and doctors those companies paid to increase the use of their drugs. From 2001-2018 this crisis has cost the nation $1 Trillion dollars and that does not include the personal tragedies of those who have been impacted by it.
The cost of the national disaster of gun violence in the USA for our economy is about $229 billion and the loss of lives in 2017 was 39,773 people. This is a disaster that the President and his republican colleagues who all are receiving money from the NRA don’t want to talk about.
With all of these other National Emergencies why does Trump want to build a wall.
I forgot there is one other national disaster I did not name Donald Trump he has set US progress back ten years and damaged the reputation and fiber of America.

UnAmerican

I am sorry to say we now live in a world where truth, justice and the American way are no longer what they use to be. We now have fake news with the rise of the internet anyone can write a story that they can claim is true and it does not matter if the author is foreign or domestic some people accept it as dogma without any evidence to support its claims.
Everyone talks about the Constitution but few seem to know what it really means. A lot of people forget that our founding fathers added a Bill of Rights in their wisdom to insure our individual freedoms. I have seen a lot of Presidential transitions in my life and this has been one of the scariest. The truth is no longer relavent to president Trump and his supports nor is it to his critics either. We do have freedom of the press even thou some of the press is bias. We do have freedom of speech even freedom to lie or cast doubt on the stories that seasoned journalist uncover.
Many talk about the right to bear arms but few talk about the responsibility in bearing arms. According to FBI statistics for 2015 there were 15,696 murders in the United States that year that is more people killed than the population of Sitka Alaska, Gettysburg Pennsylvania, Astoria Oregon, Jackson Hole Wyoming, or Hanover New Hampshire. This does not seem to be a problem for the NRA or the gun manufacturers who push for anyone and everyone to have unhamperd access to guns. You can buy guns when your mentally ill, abuse your wife, or belong to right wing militia that wants to over throw the elected government. I am not against people having guns I just want them to be responsible people.
Our property right are now in question as well and if you don't believe this just ask the Native Americans at Standing Rock. If an oil company wants put their pipeline near your water supply they only need a friend in the Oval Office.
A lot of people wanted health care repealed but Congress has found the task harder than the anticipated everyone of their proposal cost more and have less coverage due to concessions they have tried to make to their political contributors the legal drug cartel and the insurance companies.
We are no longer a melting pot where diversity is our strength we are now just a pot where the biggest turds float to the top.
Our constitution not only guarantees freedom of religion but also freedom from religion although it seems the religious right owns Congress  but you might dispute who owns Congress. It's not owned by the American people, just special interest.
The seventh amendment gives us protection against excessive fines and that is not working either if you have been to traffic court recently or been late on your mortgage or rent.
I love our country, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights but I wish they would be used as our founding fathers intended in their wisdom.

It's Time to start the Revolt in your State

I have seen a number of US Presidents come and go during my lifetime, some good and others lacking. Now for the first time I am worried about the future of our country and the deterioration of the fabric that our democracy was made from. The fire has gone out under the melting pot. Hate and self interest are now burning brightly. I understand the anger coming from all sides because for years now we have had two incestous political parties that bred upon themselves excluding the input of those they served.
In the past two decades labor's power has declined along with wages. The Supreme Court made corporations citizens while chipping away at individual rights. Our Presidents and Congress bailed out the big banks during the recent recession but allowed the banks to make record profits while they foreclosed on a multitude of home owners. Due to the loss of jobs during the recession and also because of the increase of outsourcing in the past couple of decades banks and corporations are now running the show.
It is no wonder the little average Joe is starting to get selfish and cutting corners because it has worked for the banks and corporations. Wells Fargo's executives recently got rich while practicing unethical banking practices and opening fraudulent accounts that customers were unaware of. Other banks have also been guilty of other violation. The have been fined but when the fine is equal to a few pennies to a thousand dollars, it's not much of an insentive to change practices.
The Trump administration chose to solve these problem by getting a group of advisors who mostly billionaires to solve the working man's problem. Their answer is to push through deregulation on the banks, Wall Street and big corporation. Trump's tax plan does little to change my taxes but is a great boon to big business. Don't get me wrong I do think Trumps looking into trade is good but that is only part of the solution for average Joe to succeed.
Social Security was fine until Congress started borrowing from it to pay for wars. And why are we giving more than 5 Billion in foreign aid to Israel their people have college and health care paid for while we squabble.
We need a revolution in both our political parties to get them back to serving the people and we need it to begin in every state. This way Congress and the rest will follow.

This is not news but the thoughts of a journalist of 26 years.

HEADS SHOULD ROLL IN WASHINGTON AS THE WALL STREET MOB GROWS ACROSS THE NATION

Republican congressional leader Eric Cantor said he is concerned by the "growing mobs occupying wall street and other cities across our country," and criticized "some in this town have condoned pitting Americans against Americans." He might as well have said "Let them eat cake" and we all know that comment was the catalyst that started the French Revolution.
Representative Cantor calls it a mob when there are peaceful protest against the banks and Wall Street but he has no negative comments about the mob activities of the Tea Party.  His statement seems to be at best unfair but not unexpected since he is the main defender of big business  and the wealthy in congress. According to the blog Fight for a better Us, "Eric Cantor (R-VA) representative of House received  $12,650 campaign contributions  from the notorious Koch Brothers who back anyone that will protect business at the expense of the middle class and the nation as a whole. They have spent their money well with Cantor one of the best investments they have put money into.
The so called Mob on Wall Street was not created by the left or radicals but more accurately created by the excessive greed of the banks and some on Wall Street that forgot ethics and created a system that has almost destroyed our nation.  The banks were bailed out,  Wall Street was bailed out but the middle class was asked to pay for it but not given a break for themselves in the process. The mob does not have clear message and has a variety of people in it from old grandmothers to students, One unifying factor they do have is they all know that the system is screwing them all the same. The rich get richer and the middle class is now joining the ranks of the poor.
Cantor and others of his thinking may have the "Let them eat cake" attitude toward the middle class. Maybe it is time for the mob to move to the steps of the capitol and set up a guillotine to separate those who do not support the values that this country was founded on, with equal rights for all men and opportunity for every American. Cantor's head would be the first to roll.  But the battle will not end until those that are behind this attack on the middle class,  like the Koch Brothers heads also roll. Then the American nightmare may turn into the American dream again. This is not a call to violence but a call for America to wake up and get rid of this group of politicians that are bought and paid for by big business. End their evil way at the ballot box.

It is revolting, but we are facing dark clouds in our economy. We face even darker clouds when we look for leadership in this country. The president has been weak in his leadership compromising too much. The republican leadership has shown none and only does things that they believe will make the president look worse. The agenda has been political not practical.

Why don't these guys just fall on there swords like the Japanese samurai did when they did not complete their task? What has happened to honor, and doing what is right for the country? Shame on all three of your houses.
 

There is no easy solution to the mess we are in but I do have a few suggestions on things that could be done to improve the situation.
 

A. Create a massive infrastructure program that provides jobs and also fixes our decaying infrastructure.
 

B.Give republicans lower corporate rates for businesses but on the condition that those businesses create jobs in the United States. If they do not, no tax break and maybe a penalty because they are not being loyal Americans,
 

C. Use the heavy hand of the government to encourage banks to make loans easier for business to expand, Banks should also be encouraged to redo all housing loans at risk so that they are realistic in there process for consumers to pay back loans. Maybe extend loan out a bit to lower payments. If the banks don't go along make their life miserable.
 

D. Cut congress's wages and benefits by 40% to make them reflective of the economy they can't seem to fix. Also stop all corporate donations and pacs and only allow published individual donations.
 

This four step plan may not totally get us out from under this dark cloud that covers our nation but it would let the sun peak through.

It is revolting but some people want to live in Rick Perry's 1850's

It is revolting but some people want to live in the 1850's. You may say, no one wants to go back to those days prior to the emancipation of the slaves, Darwin and modern scientific theory and prior to helping those in need in this country because it is the right thing to do. But it is true if you are a person who supports Rick Perry for President.

If you ever saw the movie Dumb and Dumber, George W. Bush would be the smarter one and Rick Perry would be Dumber. He likes to boast of his leadership of creating more jobs in Texas than were created in the nation. He does not mention that a good percentage of those jobs were created with extremely low wages and many others were do to increases in Defense contracts. Congress will be cutting funding to many of those Defense projects.

Perry has stated he is uncompromising with is views on how the Federal Government should run. Perry accused Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke of being a traitor in so many words by saying, “If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I dunno what y’all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treasonous in my opinion.” Perry made this comment only two years after contemplating treason himself by suggesting at an Austin Texas Tea Party meeting Texas might succeed from the United States, "There's a lot of different scenarios," Perry said. "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that? But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot."

Perry has very radical regressive views that will put this country back in the dark ages of American life making statements like, "Evolution is a theory that's out there," "It's got some gaps in it," Perry continues, "but in Texas we teach both creationism and evolution." He further stated his lack of understanding of modern science by saying, that man-made global warming "a scientific theory that has not been proven and from my perspective is more and more being put into question" he further claimed that scientists have "manipulated data" on the issue.

Perry's facts are always questionable on today's issues such as this statement he made on immigration, "The people who illegally cross into the country are from countries that have very close ties to al Qaeda, whether it's Yemen or Afghanistan, Pakistan, China. It is an absolute national disgrace." The bulk of illegal aliens are from Mexico and Central America.

Obama has not been the strong take charge leader that we expected or needed but it does cause me worry that Rick Perry would be considered an alternative. Do we want someone to lead us forward out of this mess or someone to lead us back to the dark ages like Rick Perry would based on his own comments.

It is revolting but this maybe the America that some people want.
AN AMERICA WHERE WE ARE BACK IN THE DAYS OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION WHEN WORKERS WORKED EXTREMELY LONG HOURS WITH NO BENEFITS. CHILD LABOR WAS A STANDARD.
AN AMERICA WHERE YOUNG WOMEN USE COAT HANGERS TO ABORT THEIR FETUSES BECAUSE THERE IS NO HELP FROM THE GOVERNMENT TO ASSISTED THEM IN CARING AND RAISING THEIR BABIES.
AN AMERICA WHERE WHERE MINORITIES VOTING RIGHTS AND RIGHTS IN GENERAL ARE NON EXISTENT.
AN AMERICA WHERE SCIENTIFIC FACT TAKES SECOND FIDEL TO SUPERSTITION AND FABLE.
IF RICK PERRY EVER BECAME PRESIDENT, I AM AFRAID WE WOULD BE LOOKING BACK AT THE GEORGE W BUSH ERA THAT STARTED OUR DECLINE INTO THE PRESENT BLACK HOLE WE HAVE FELL INTO AS THE GOOD OLD DAYS AND THAT IS REALLY REVOLTING.

IT IS REVOLTING WE DON'T HEAR THE POSITIVE AND GOOD NEWS

We watch the news on television or the internet, and most of the time it is about disasters, mayhem, or stories about people who you would not want at your dinner table. It is not just the duty of the media to bring us the dregs of the earth but also to find stories that inspire us.
Why does the public have to watch two weeks of constant coverage about Anthony Wiener's wiener? The only admirable thing in that story is his wife and how she is dealing with his general stupidity on the issue. It is true great men have great flaws but small men can also have great flaws. The news media and congress also have great flaws for perpetuating this story. I often hear the cry that the public wants to know, but what ever happened to using good sense and taste in how things are covered Why does the media always want to get off the main issues?
Everyone who is middle class is hurting severely now. The public does not need to be guided by the media or congress off the road to recovery.
The problem with the recovery is that some of the money has been misdirected such as the bank recovery money. That money should have gone out to get all the homeowners who were not speculators current on their loans. If that was done the banks would not have been in trouble, housing prices would not continue to go down. The greedy banks could have paid this money back out of their profits. That would have been a winning situation for everyone. But the way it w done the banks were saved making record profits while not giving an inch on their mortgage holders. They would offer plans to get mortgages straight by making people pay more for each payment until if was straight and not really helping the hand to mouth economy we all are working in.
If the Republicans want to give tax breaks to big corporations let it be base on jobs in the US, jobs created and average improvement in wages, don't just give them a pass because they are a done to your re election campaign.
The media needs to look into why things are being done by congress the way they are why all the help goes to the big boys and not the general public. It would also be nice to get a story or two on people who are doing things right.