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The Golden Flush Award /Click Image for Past Winners
Usually this is an after thought…” Oh, wow, year’s over, let’s get a person of the year”… And then once we elect one, we go… “holy crap… we totally forgot so and so….”
So to try to stir up some old simmering coals of memory, both mine and others, and perhaps even to (heaven forbid) get some debate going in the blog sphere, I thought I’d make an initial run on Thanksgiving Week, and then add people into the nominating category as others mention various ones I should kick myself for forgetting.
It will also force me to review the year which is something I rarely do… because face it, as a human being, I am slave of the moment…. If I did this last year, come December 14th the entire world would have been turned upside down and all the old priorities of 2012, would in one day become trivial….
And so starting early gives me the chance to make the argument for each of those I decide to enroll with your kind recommendations included….
Julius Cephus: Particularly this one man organized and stopped an end run around the Port of Wilmington. The Kinder Morgan deal did not go through, and the Wilmington Port is bustling like never before… Kinder Morgan was to strip the union of power, and drop the rates of pay, further dampening the economy of Wilmington proper. It was also the first defeat of a Lavine-Markell development project, .. Fisker and Bloom had gone forward without a hitch. Julius and other’s push back resulted in a General Assembly motion that stated they, not the governor, had final approval. It was the first time we were exposed to the current Governor’s manipulations. They were to play a significant part across this year’s tapestry.
Steve Newton: A blogger who has written infrequently, but effectively. His piece on SB 51 is what alerted us to the end run being performed by Dave Sokola on lowering the current standards being used for educating teachers. It is brilliant. It took an evening of reading the legislation line by line and cross referencing it with Steve’s analysis, to understand the huge negative impact this bill would cause. By the time this was done, the Bill had already passed the Senate unanimously without comment, and with an friendly amendment added that was voted upon without even being read. Some public outcry was mustered within the House, both in committee and on the floor, but under the Governor’s direction, the Speaker of the House, pushed the bill to the floor before significant outcry could be mustered. Only 4 House members were not on record for it’s passing. Our educational schools now have to water down their teaching standards to meet the new law. Steve also has brought the Highmark story to Delaware. His research in the increase of medical costs in Western PA as a result of knocking out competition by unfair practices, leads one with a cold chill of what to expect in Delaware’s future. We are already there. As an insurer, Highmark is only paying medical claims in its own affiliated clinics. As the new Blue Cross/Blue Shield owner, that is a huge percentage of Delaware’s residents. None can go to any other hospital. He has properly fingered Karen Weldham Stuart for not catching this prior to implementation. Without Steve, this would have passed unnoticed. The News Journal still has not once mentioned the takeover of Delaware’s health field under one owner.
Ernest Lopez. If Kennedy were still writing Profiles of Courage, he should include this man. Ernest Lopez is a conservative, and voted with Libertarian values to pass the gun legislation recommended by Markell and Biden. Reflecting the views of his district, instead of taking the threatening message sent to him down from the NRA, he voted for his district. A very vocal minority, who is always vocal, and always in the minority, swore they would unseat him. He disregarded their idle threat, and voted both his and his constituents conscious. A major billboard was put up to call him out. His vote caused the passage of us now requiring background checks at public gun sales. Now a certifiably insane person cannot slap cash and get a gun. It is a no-brainer, and Ernie was the only Republican with brain enough to even know what a no-brainer is….
Cathy Cloutier: her vote allowed gays to marry. Again, she is a Republican who said enough is enough… Tired of voting against her conscious just so Sussex County would not flip over to the Democrats, she finally did not toe the line and voted along the lines of her own constituents, all overwhelmingly in favor of gay marriage. In doing so, she went against the entire grain of her party, who firmly feel that gays are second class citizens, even though most Republicans in office are closeted gays.
Bethany Hall Long: on the same vote, made a viable personal decision, and also voted for the legalization of gay marriage. Unlike Cathy’s vote, this was accomplished at great personal sacrifice, for all of those in her personal life, were solidly against this policy from taking effect. In voting for what was morally right, she had to contend against those whose influence she could not escape. She went with the correct vote, over the easy one. As a result, Gay marriage is now legal in Delaware.
Paul Baumbach: gave great ammunition against the fight for SB51, and later against HB 165. Both bills which will damage Delaware’s education for years to come. He was one of the four who put up a fight on the House floor. Paul also arranged for the meetings in Newark to discuss the new Power plant that figured in this past week’s election.
John Kowalko: also was against SB51, HB 165, as well, being against the power plant. In fact, John was the first person to sound the alarm over how big the power plant would be. Without his big voice, it may have slid through unnoticed. The power plant has defined northern Delaware politics since September.
Kim Williams; responsible for HB 40 which investigates Charter School’s meddling into our educational systems. She was as an acting state representative, allegedly refused entrance into a committee hearing on education, for fear she might say something damaging to the bill being rushed through…. She brought to the public’s knowledge, that the Charter School bill was drafted illegally without public input, and the charter group constructing it, was also under FOIA, to which the private group denied. The Attorney General backed up her assertion, that the bill was formulated illegally but their decision was moot, because the bill was passed both houses anyways. Kim Williams also in the HB 40 task force, led the group to realize that charter schools unlike public schools, do indeed filter those entering charters to weed out those who might lower their test scores….
Mark Murphy, Rodel, Sweeney, Hefferman, and the Fake Educational Reform Establishment: I almost purposefully did not post this. Although the first person’s name is usually followed by explicatives whenever mentioned, it is unlike Voldermort’s, still getting mentioned. Mark Murphy was not put in his position based on his ability. He was placed there for his loyalty to the cause of corporatizing public education. Markell pulls the strings, Murphy figures how to get it done… It is hard to make a puppet the most influential person of the year… So I was going to skip him… But at the last minute, remembered that every time he or anyone of these make an op-ed, it resonates as gigantic news. The entire community rises up to counteract each op-ed, usually with the word “lies” thrown liberally about…. So, they do exert an influence. I looped all of them together, as the group of liars in a Greek play, who stand on the stair steps and taunt the protagonists. Well,… they are part of the play…….
Dan Short: Sometimes villains get noticed too. Primarily a single issue candidate, who personally supports the NRA, he actively campaigned and organized to create enough backlash so Markell’s gun laws could not get enough votes… Without him, there is a possibility that all four of Markell’s gun control pieces of legislation would have passed both houses of Delaware’s legislature. Dan Short should be given the credit for stopping them.
John Sigler: Single handedly by his very brief tenure as the re-elected head of the Republican Party, he pointed out through his pigeon shooting, just how inept the Republican Party was at everything else. With his leaving, all fissures cracking the Republican bedrock, were impossible to ignore. Blogs split. The IPOD’s split. Former candidates of the same party just months earlier, now not talking to each other. The Delaware Republican Party is dead; no it is past dead. More dead than a pigeon shot inside a box by John Sigler, former head of the Delaware Republican Party.
Nancy Willing: Her blog, the Delaware Way, is the go-to site for local information. Whether about Dover, about New Castle County, about any of New Castle County’s associations, Nancy combs all sources and puts them down in aggregate form. Heavily involved in the Power Plant controversy, The Delaware City Rail Yard controversy, Barley Mill controversy, the Woodlawan controversy, the Kinder Morgan controversy, the Charter School Controversy, the Common Core Controversy, Nancy has who is saying “what”, and links to “why”. One can expend less energy by using her blog to follow all the stuff the News Journal neglects, in a few quick empty steps.
Amy Roe: a head of the Sierra Club, who emerged from nowhere to lead the fight against the power plant, and give quite a run against the establishment candidate. Becoming the face the anti- power movement could coalase behind, she gave the anti power plant movement both dignity and grace. Coming up short only 115 votes, she has awakened Newark now politically as never before… The power plant if it goes forward, now has a strong group of Newarkeans against it. Hopefully they will be monitoring it regularly and helping authorities keep in in compliance with all local law.
Tom Gorden; although much quieter than his first term in office, Tom Gorden is rapidly rolling back the privileges the previous Clark administration handed over to our state’s top developers. The Barley Mill plaza which had a green light, is now parked at a red. In a big sea change, though handled quietly, community groups are now no longer persona non grata in county government. It is no longer accepted as a matter of course that the Woodlawn Trust will be gobbled up by developers. If enough fight can be mustered, it can be stopped. Furthermore, with Tom there is closer coordination with the City of Wilmington, than we have experienced anytime in our lifetimes. In the county, local policing has been stepped up, particularly in neighborhoods prone to crime…
Dennis Williams: Came in with grand expectations, which looked deliverable for a while. The tide is turning and his relevance on this list, is because every day, the headline reality in Wilmington’s streets, brings his electioneering boasts back to haunt him, like a sizzling hot branding iron. Time, Dennis, to say “Damn the torpedoes… Their punk asses are going in jail no matter which blowhard on City Council spouts off,before mine gets tossed in jail for impersonating a mayor..”
Alan Levin: Jack Markell’s second in command, he was instrumental in defending Markell’s position on Kinder Morgan and the port, as well as the new power plant for the data center. He also had a hand in keeping Dole in Delaware, and worked to slip the power plant past a slew of unsuspecting Newark City officials.
Jack Markell: had his hand in everything. He was behind Kinder Morgan’s takeover. He was behind SB 51 and HB 165. He was behind the illegal charter group, requiring HB 40. He also was the driving force for the four rational steps to gun legislation, 2 of which were passed. He was also the driving force behind the passage of gay marriage, signing the bill in the chambers just moments after its passage. He also supported the transgender bill in its travels through the labyrinth of Legislative Hall. He as behind keeping Dole in Delaware. He was behind changing an icon in Millsboro away from pickles, over to poultry. He pushed the bill to curtail Flowers. Despite your opinion over whether these were good or bad, they still showed a ubiquitous and wide reach across the state of Delaware. Seems like nothing got done that didn’t have his fingerprints all over it.
John Young: As head of Christina board, John Young led the board in standing up to Mark Murphy and Jack Markell, by refusing the RTTT funds slated for his district. Although some hired fools, (Jea Street) tried to paint Young into a corner, it served the opposite purpose and gave Young a platform. For the fist time, Common Core was getting publicly bashed. For the first time, many were finding that aligning themselves blindly to this sham of improving standards, was probably going to hurt them politically in the next couple of years. It was the fist salvo back, so the damage estimates were not high, but it did open eyes of many who had been on the sidelines of all educational issues, making them also become vocal in fighting Common Core. His blog Transparent Christina has channelled a lot of detailed information into the Delaware market, and had made Common Core an apprehension, instead of the savior it was supposed to be….
Kilroy: Kilroy has always been haranguing over education. In fact he was doing such a good job I left that issue alone for years, because other issues for me, like the economy and elimination of guns from the hands of the mentally ill, were more important. But as the issue has shifted back into the limelight, Kilroy’s hard hitting is making its mark… Kilroy is blunt, and right now, that is the language that needs to happen. Blunt descriptions of what takes place in the stratosphere of he academic field…. Kilroy often breaks stories before the News Journal, especially ones embarrassing to the Murphy/Markell cartel of education. If you have read Kilroy over the past couple of years, you would already know that Common Core is not the panacea we have been promised. It is a power grab for taxpayer dollars, financed by Wall Street itself…. If you think otherwise, you haven’t been reading a balanced reading list….
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That is what I have so far. In retrospect I am surprised that education has played so much, as even I have only come to that topic lately… But if one looks over the News Journal op eds, education really did dominate the discussion in the 2nd smallest state this year….
I may have forgotten some big ones. To reiterate, that is why I am posting this early, to catch those big mistakes as they get brought to my attention….
A task force is designed to get independent thought from a large outreach of people. The idea behind a task force is that if many minds are crawling over an issue, there is a greater chance someone will come up with a new solution far faster than if one person has to think through every scenario himself..
Of course it works that way… The thing one must watch for, is if any one party tries to influence a task force by putting their own people in to give itself a majority of votes, thereby solidifying it will choose exactly what that person wanted to do in the first place, long before the task force was forced upon him….
Thanks to Mike O for publishing the list for all to see….
On it we see the Secretary of Education, Mark Murphy. We also see:
- Three parents appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Education
- Two representatives from Charter Schools with selective enrollment criteria appointed by the Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education.
- Two representatives from Magnet Schools or Programs appointed by the Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education..
We have 7 Director of Education appointees and the Director himself… Particularly of interest, was that the formation of the this group was to include a wide range of viewpoints. All these 8 must subscribe to the viewpoint of the Director himself.
Now for those associated with the Director.
Randall Hughes – State Board of Education Board Member
Susan Francis Delaware School Board Association Executive Director
Those appointed to their positions by the Governor include.
The superintendent of each of the Vocational Technical Districts or designee(s) 1. Victoria Gehrt – NCC Votech; 2. Deborah Zych – Poly Tech; 3. AJ Lathbury – Sussex Tech
The president of the Delaware State Board of Education or designee; Randall Hughes – SBE Board Member
Lindsay O’Mara; Wife of a representative from the Office of the Governor appointed by the Governor.
A representative from the Governor’s Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens (“GACEC”) appointed by the Council Chair; Terri Hancharick
Those on record as cheerleading for support of Common Core.
The president of the Delaware Parent Teacher Association or designee; Yvonne Johnson – State PTA President
The president of the Delaware School Boards Association or designee; Susan Francis DSBA Executive Director
The president of the Delaware State Board of Education or designee; Randall Hughes – SBE Board Member
Delaware Senator; David Sokola
Deleware Representative: Darryl Scott
A list of votes that parents could possibly sway to make modifications to Common Core Implementation.
Nicole Poore; Delaware Senator
Kim Williams; Delaware Representative
Frederika Jenner; President DSEA
It is apparent that overwhelming force must be applied from outside this task force to make every-day parent’s concerns known. Inside the meeting room, any parent who speaks with heart within the allowed time-frame, will be deemed by the sheer numbers arranged against her, as being a nice, quaint, but silly “crazy Eileen.”
Not every panel is a foregone conclusion. This one will be unless there is a lynching mob outside the front doors waiting for them to exit… that is the vehicle through which they will change their mind.
One final note. for this, the teachers’ voices were bought off and silenced, allowing uncontested passage of SB 51 and HB 165… Just sayin’….
The Social Media outlets erupt: “Oh no, another school shooting” “I’m so saddened by the sickness in America” “My hearts go out to the families of all involved…”
Another shooting… Seems like one happens after every big blockbuster release these days…
This shooting in Connecticut, is our Norway-bloodbath it appears… The idea that children so small getting torn apart by bullets makes every normal person pause. It is terrible.
But as happens with every tragedy there is soon a period of accounting that takes place, to see if vulnerabilities occur elsewhere in our system, if we are truly secure, if it could happen to us….
Television brings it close. Our media has the capacity to transfer what used to be a printed newspaper byline: “shooter kills 28 in elementary school” into putting us right there into that very school’s parking lot seconds after it happened. We see moms and dad, teachers and support staff, and 3rd Graders themselves… telling us in their words what happened…. As we see the same clips over and over, it is as if it happened to people we personally knew.
In real life when one witnesses a horrific crime, the residue from it stays with them forever. Whether it causes them to overcompensate, or go crazy, that event makes some dent in their destiny…..
It just makes sense that our emotions would choose not to distinguish between one that happened to us, and one was electronically beamed. To our emotions, both are very real.
We say: someone has to do something!.!.!
And often the medicine we prescribe is worse than the disease we are trying to cure…….
In an effort to put this in perspective, here are some facts I’m willing to share.
There are 39,200,000 elementary students in school today, both public and private. Today we lost 18.
Just saying if you stood every student side by side in a single row starting from Delaware’s Old Courthouse in Old New Castle,…. (39,200,000 feet at 5280 feet per mile, gives you a row of elementary students standing side by side, that is 7424 miles long)…. meaning it would stretch 2 and a half times across our nation… almost exactly the distance Forest Gump ran in the movie Forest Gump.
As you drive home today, imagine a line of students looking at you from the side of the highway from the beginning of your commute to its end. Imagine if that line continued to California, and came back on the other side, and then headed out again!… Imagine as in the Hunger Games, some authority, divine or otherwise, picked out just 18 from that line…..stretching beyond as far as our eyes can see….
We truly do live in a very safe society where most of us have no real fear that our lives won’t emerge at the end of the day, very similar to how they began at it’s start……
We have a lot to be thankful for… that those numbers are not a lot higher….
If we truly want to get that number down to zero, we need to begin fostering a culture where anger and depression are treated as normally as is a common cold. We need to open lines of communication where any child who is abused at home, can simply feel extremely comfortable telling any public official such, and that abuse can stop… We must continue our work against continued suppressed emotions by dissolving anger before, as it did today, it breaks out into an even bigger tragedy.
Just heard from Ohio… As expected, because it actually happened in 2004, weird stuff is going on in Ohio’s elections… The voting machine companies went to democratic districts of metropolitan Cleveland and Columbus, whose vote totals amount to 4,041,056 registered voters…. and installed mysterious software patches.
Solid Republican districts had no such visits. These machines have been in place for months. Why now?
Here is how voting fraud works. One it has to be believable. Two, it has to be subtle. Three, it has to be untraceable. Videos are available on how machines can be tampered with… Every video, including one by Princeton University, says beware of software patches being applied just before election.
Well, software patches are being applied just before the election.
Why not do it earlier? Because of error. If Romney was winning by 5 points in the polls, and you set the calculations too low, if Obama was head by 2 or 3, you would be to low. If Obama is ahead by 5 pts, and you set to subtract 6 from Obama and give to Romney, you will have a very close election, to the wire, but with a 1% advantage for Romney….
In other words, you have to know the probable spread, before you tamper…. No doubt in 2008, the last minute wave for Obama still carried him in some districts over McCain, even though the machines were flawed. No one ever bothered to check because the turnout for Obama was at records higher than the voting machine adjusters dreamed was possible….
Bottom line, something very fishy is going on. An early morning sample run on each machine can be done with both parties watching… Fake 100 votes, and verify the total. Then erase and begin anew if the machine adds votes exactly like it was programed. One switched vote out of 1oo could throw the election…..
Good luck, Ohio… Wear your guns to the polls… lol..
Notes: From the contract between Ohio Secretaries Office and the vendors in charge of machines….
(Right click on image for full view)
Occupy Delaware has been whittled down to a tiny group.
But today, just as the 12:00 beginning of the rally began, the sun burst through the dreary day, and the sky turned blue…. It was the best omen of the day.
If you saw them, you would have said…” this is it?” The vast encampment is now whittled down to three camping tents and the mess tent… Spencer Square is now ready for spring.
Later around 4:00 the group tried to block 10th and Market. 6 people stood in the intersection, one carrying an American flag, as traffic weaved around them. A crowd at the bus stops off Rodney Square, stopped to watch. Within 10 minutes two police cruisers pulled up and the demonstration dispersed peacefully.
Seeing videos of this action made me realize when you have a demonstration without the fear-factor of large amounts of people, it looks silly. I would equate this demonstration with say, seeing a flash mob show up in the Opera House and do the dougie… Interesting. Weird, a little bit confusing. These words come to mind how one feels….
The message which is very important. …. we’re getting eaten by corporate piranha.. little bite by little bite and they are taking our flesh fast and furious is being blocked by the emotional pull back of “eww these people are weird….”
Now I want to make it clear. These people are not weird. In fact they remind me of the everyday continental soldier who gave up everything they had, only to walk in snow with bare feet. Now these people are not 9/12 patriots; these people are real patriots. (The 9/12 patriots act like the Royalists; supporting the powerful status quo.)….
Their idea is good. It just got sprung too fast… A general strike needs to be called… on a day far advanced that we can adequately plan for it…..
I think loving symbolism as I do, it should be the day after labor day… In fact, laborers should take that Tuesday off stretching out the holiday weekend by one more day…. 9/5 Tuesday should be our general strike.
We are striking so the 1 percent knows the 99% is capable of….. No work, no school, and all citizens should no go in on that day….. The ones who do go in, should be beaten up…. (just kidding, lol)….
But that is something that could take off. Hell, even if I didn’t care about Occupy or corporate greed, I’d support the strike just so I could spend another day at the beach….
Lifted from Der Speigal:
And so the farce continues. The more mind-boggling its incarnations, the happier the US media are to cheer first one clown and then the next, elevating and then eliminating “frontrunners” in reliable news cycles of about 45 days.
Take Herman Cain, “businessman.” He sat out the first wave of sexual harassment claims against him by offering a peculiar argument: Most ladies he had encountered in his life, he said, had not complained.
In the most recent twist, a woman accused Cain of having carried on a 13-year affair with her. That, too, he tried to casually wave off, but now, under pressure, he says he wants to “reassess” his campaign.
If Cain indeed drops out, the campaign would lose its biggest caricature: He has been the most factually challenged of all these jesters.
As CEO of the “Godfather’s” pizza chain, Cain killed jobs — but now poses as the job-creator-in-chief. Meanwhile, he seems to lack basic economic know-how, let alone a rudimentary grasp of politics or geography. Libya confounds him. He does not believe that China is a nuclear power. And all other, slightly more complicated questions get a stock answer: “Nine-nine-nine!” Remember? That’s Cain’s tax reduction plan that would actually raise taxes for 84 percent of Americans.
Has any of that disrupted Cain’s popularity in the media or with his fan base? Far from it. Since Oct. 1, he has collected more than $9 million in campaign donations. Enough to plow through another onslaught of denouements.
The following is what the Vision Committee of Occupy Wall Street struck up as their vision statement….
It’s not practical.
Take the first line:
We Envision: [1] a truly free, democratic, and just society; [2] where we, the people, come together and solve our problems by consensus….
“Where we the people, come together.” Ok, how many people will you get together and where? 25, in a library side room? 40, in a Union Hall? 120 in a fire hall? 300, in the county building’s auditorium? 7000, in Frawley Stadium (hope it doesn’t rain)? 140,000 in Dover Raceway (fifteenth largest stadium in the world) and then what, where do the rest of our 307 million conglomerate?
Perhaps one could do it on-line. But how do we know that result is real, and not hacked? No, there is a reason that a representative system is best. For one, you just have to argue good sense into a few heads at a time, not millions who aren’t getting all the details of the argument.
Secondarily, as recently portrayed within the Occupy Movement, it often takes sooooo long for pure democracy to reach a consensus. and as illustrated by Occupy Oakland when they tried to throw out a trouble maker. There it was possible for him to stack the group in open meetings and thwart the necessary and significant change. Can you imagine what Republicans would do if we were discussing all policy in open forums and having everyone vote upon them? It takes one bad apple to ruin things in a pure democracy, and the Republicans are much larger than a party of one.
[3] where people are encouraged to take personal and collective responsibility and participate in decision making;
I’m sorry, I’d like to be at the meeting, but I have to work.. or I have to watch my kids, or I have this Dr.’s appointment made months ago, or my kid’s starting in the game tonight, or I have to volunteer at the food bank, or I have to see a movie and report on it for school, or I have to get my finances in order,….
How many of us make meetings now? How will it be any different in our future? Sorry honey, no sex tonight. I have to go vote on whether we raise country revenues by 33 million or 32 and 3/4 million… It’s very important you know.
[4] where we learn to live in harmony and embrace principles of toleration and respect for diversity and the differing views of others;
Forget it! There is no way I’ll sit in the same room while a corporate fat cat whines about the fact that he’s losing money….. He should be in jail. After all he’s done to ruin America? Why should I tolerate and respect his views? Ain’t happening….
[5] where we secure the civil and human rights of all from violation by tyrannical forces and unjust governments;
Define unjust governments: What happens if my government blocks my Internet access because I downloaded a free copy of Roger and Me? Wouldn’t that be unjust?
[6] where political and economic institutions work to benefit all, not just the privileged few;
If unions support and elect a candidate, don’t they, then having the inside ear, become the privileged few? If churches can bend the inside ear of their candidate, don’t they get to include themselves among the privileged few? When Mayor Barry got reelected, didn’t crack dealers consider themselves the privileged few? Whoever wins an election, or helps win an election, becomes the privileged few. Whether he’s a small town operator, or owns a wealthy conglomerate, if he has the ear, he gets his way… Currently, it’s the one percent that has control. But that can change in an instant.
[7] where we provide full and free education to everyone, not merely to get jobs but to grow and flourish as human beings.
We do that: the concept of high school is broken; it doesn’t work.
[8] where we value human needs over monetary gain, to ensure decent standards of living without which effective democracy is impossible;
We did that with the Great Society. We pumped welfare money into black and Appalachian neighborhoods and wound up creating dependent societies who could not function without welfare money. Unemployment never dropped, because there was no incentive. Why work when you could live for free? No matter how much we pumped in, their standard of living still sucked.
[9] where we work together to protect the global environment to ensure that future generations will have safe and clean air, water and food supplies, and will be able to enjoy the beauty and bounty of nature that past generations have enjoyed.
Build a city? or preserve open space? People always will win over animals.
Although these are thoroughly impractical, they are nice platitudes. They would be nice standards to place in a Miss Manners Guide to Congress, at least as a guide on how Congress should act civilly among themselves to in turn represent the greatness of what they do, and the respect of whom they represent.
But they are impractical in a real world. Only one person could sabotage a meeting under these guidelines. The assumption behind these platitudes is that everyone want what’s best for America.
That is a lie. We saw Republicans sell America down the river last summer solely to help their party’s chances November 2012. You and I got dissed; they get elected (and then dis us up even more… )
Diametrically different.
On the opposite end is Norway. The Norwegian Corporate Rate is 28%. Their Income Tax rate is 48%. They are one of the highest taxed nations in the world. They also have been ranked as the nation with the highest standard of living for several years in a row.
Ireland got a lot of press by the Investment Papers because of it’s low corporate tax rate. It was an economic miracle.
Then came the crises.
Here are the unemployment numbers out of Ireland June 2004: 4.4%; July 2011: 14.1%….
Here are the unemployment numbers out of Norway..June 2004%:4.4%; July 2011: 3.3%
During boom times both nations had equally low unemployment. One nation taxed heavily; the other taxed very lightly. One nation was run democratically; the other was run as Republicans wish they could run the USA……
The Democratic country, currently has an unemployment level of 3.3% … The USA has an unemployment level of 9.1%… The Republican run country, currently has an unemployment level of 14.1%….
Why?
The reason is simple as the Aesop’s fable: the grasshopper and the ants. While Republicans are frivolously playing around during times of plenty, Democrats with higher taxes are investing in their future for rainy days…..
Taxes are a means of stabilizing the economy. Norway did just that. The nation with the highest level of taxes, has the lowest unemployment and the highest standard of living on this planet.
Throw that in Mitch McConnell’s face when he says high taxes cost jobs. Truth is: they don’t.
Jobs go where taxes are highest. In both good times and bad, if taxes are high, a nation’s people stay employed…….
kavips 