National issues in a Nutshell

   Post Script to blog post below:  LOL, now I've thought about it a bit more, I  realize that the thesis of my writing below buys into the lie that cuts in corporate taxes creates jobs. But this is just a popular myth propagated by our scurrilous politicians & their cohorts in the  "news" networks. My basic college education (in journalism, which is how I know how bad our news media is) tells  me that the idea is patently false that tax cuts on big business creates jobs. In fact, this is merely part of the the "rosey scenario" (described below) that politicians & the news media paint on behalf of their rich corporate bosses. Actually, the only thing that creates jobs in a capitalistic society is the balance between  supply and demand. Even my mother, who is a 1956 high school graduate, knows this. When demand outstrips supply, suppliers react by immediately raising the price of the goods or service and followed by increasing the supply if that's possible. At that point, efforts to increase the supply may include plans to expand infrastructure and/or hire more people, depending on the type of industry and the existing infrastructure. So logically, the only tax cut that will reliably spur job creation is tax cuts on consumers of goods and services. Then the consumers go to the marketplace, spend the tax return on a broad variety of goods and services, which in turn creates more general demand that may outstrip the supply of a broad range of services and goods, possibly leading to the creation of many more jobs over a broad range of industries to meet that demand. So the corporations do not need more tax cuts, consumers do.
 My original post:
     How come politicians, neither Republicans, nor Democrats ever talk about tax cuts for the rich and corporations IF they've created new jobs that year?
       Instead, both sides, at one time or another, talk about and hand out the tax cuts AS IF it's a conclusion that doing so creates U.S. jobs. However, a frequent guest on CNN today pointed out that 'if tax cuts in recent years for corporations creates jobs, then we'd be up to our wazoos in jobs by now'. What he didn't say, what neither the politicians nor the press ever point out in the same story about tax cuts and job creation, is that the jobs ARE created- but only overseas where labor is dirt cheap. Not only that, but the government hands out even more tax cuts to ship more jobs oversees.
           The reason they do that is because the majority of our politicians in both parties are owned by the large corporations & industries & told "cut our taxes" no matter what. So our politicians real job is painting rosey pictures of their back room deals with the industries & corporations (intent on breaking the back of American workers for profit) public consumption. They are aided in that by the "news" networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN,FOX, CNBC,MSNBC) which all acknowledge that their paychecks come from the very same corporate interests, but disingenuously & falsely claim that the accuracy & quality of their news reporting is not affected. So the bottom line is that when they (news networks, politicians, corporate mouthpieces all) talk about cutting taxes again for coporations & rich people, they always leave out the recent news that two thirds of the large U.S. corporations last year, which made healthy profits, did not pay any taxes at all!
     And to add insult to injury, they talk about more tax cuts on these corporations (that don't pay taxes now & haven't created significant jobs in this country over the last 10 years)  as being a definitive job creating mechanism, implying that it is for U.S. citizens (if you move to China and work for 1 yen a day or more if you are a soldier and even much more if a contractor in one of our wars).
           But we should listen closely to what they always leave out when painting this fantasy scenario: They leave out in what country and for whom the jobs are created, leaving us to assume it's for us (ahhhh, the fine science of political rosey picture painting)! So what is the chance that some day soon, our politicians pass tax cuts for the rich and powerful only IF they've already created jobs that year and not because "maybe" they will? They are law makers and can pass a law that gives out tax cuts to corporations that create jobs for Americans in America. But they never will as long as they can keep things the way they are handing over money to the rich while painting rosey scenarios about how they work for you and I and not Them.


                                       

How to vote or how not to vote. This is the question

In the last election were you confuse about who to vote for? Were you trying to weigh what everybody had to say about the candidates before making your decisions? If so, that was your worst mistake. Below is my sound, experienced advice for potential voters whether you are affiliated with the Tea Party , Dems, Reps, independents, progressives (whatever because none apply to what I have to say). Rather than being for voters with a specific party affiliation, this advice is for anybody who is intelligent enough to understand the merit of what I am saying & has enough regard for others to want to cast a vote for the common good of all.

     Here is my advice: First and foremost: Don't listen to  anything  anybody has to say about any candidate. I say this because anything negative about any candidate is either coming from the opposition, whose job it is to make the candidate look bad or coming indirectly from them through your friends and colleagues with whom you discuss politics. Conversely, the same is true for anyone saying good things about the candidate! So don't listen to them either. Their job is to make the candidate look good and and they've influenced people who are trying to influence your decision at polling time.

     Instead, listen to the candidates & your own perception of the candidates as you weigh how they behave and speak. Listen to the candidates every chance you get & to determine if they are addressing the issues that are important. Are they actually talking about substantive issues in a meaningful way or are they just talking a lot about nothing & repeating vague platitudes about ephemeral things like "the American Way" & "justice for all." Are they continuously bashing their opponent or do they seem to be masters of doublespeak? Or are they talking about their  plans to do the job if elected & do the seem sincere& honest? If you tune out all the BS, all the lies, all the news media commentary and opinions and let the candidates speak for themselves, it becomes easy to differentiate between the charlatans who just want the power & prestige & the candidates who have an altruistic motivation for seeking the office. But to cast a vote for the common good, your mind can't be polluted by the self-centered, racism & greed & ethnocentric hatred that they throw at Obama like he is Hitler, a nigger, a socialist etc.They hiss "Muslim"  about him, trying to control your vote by playing on your irrational fears about those thing. So along with my advice not to listen to anyone but the candidate, I will say that this only works if you've cleared your mind of all the irrational fears mentioned above. Because if you still harbor them at poll time, you're either a puppet casting the votes your puppet masters want you to cast, or you 're a selfish, self-centered SOB who cares for no one but yourself (in other words, you're an average American).

     So, all you need to cast a good vote is to not be influenced by all the garbage spread about candidates & you need to quell your irrational fears so your choices can't be manipulated by others. The last thing is that you need only listen to the candidates themselves.  If you maintain an open mind and listen to only what the candidates say and nobody else, and look to them for speaking the truth & being, sincere & candid, I promise you that more often than not, you can reach a choice on your own that is yours and as good or better than anyone else's choice.  That's because, you know what? Most people let their minds get polluted by the enormous amount of pure horseshit that is thrown around in these campaigns due to two factors: their ignorance & their irrational fears that allow them to believe, for example that all Muslims are terrorists and Christianity is superior, being conveniently devoid of terrorism throughout it's entire history despite such events as the killings & bombing in the abortion industry by avowed Christians; the Oklahoma Courthouse Bombing by Timothy McVeigh; David Koresh and his cult; the years of Christian-on-Christian terrorism in Ireland, The Salem Witch Trials and the Spanish Inquisition to name just a few blemishes. 
     But if you've tuned out all the crap & have just listened to the candidates, come voting time, you're much more qualified than most people to cast a good vote. Don't listen to stuff about the candidate, listen to the candidate. Anybody saying things about the candidates cannot and should not be trusted because they either work for them or against them and are getting paid to either build the candidate up or tear him/her down.

      This advice is not comprehensive and will not guide you through an entire ballot of obscure offices and unknown candidates for positions you didn't know existed, but at the very least it will help you to make your own decision on a few races that are important to you.