New Star Trek Running On Empty

J.J Abrams’ reboot of Star Trek was a bombastic, yet miraculous film. Despite its many flaws it holds up well as you watch it, but if you give it any serious thought and revisit the whole enterprise (sorry, couldn’t help myself) the movie was a colossal one trick pony held

together by our collective childhood nostalgia.

Four years later we get the inevitable sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, which is sadly an utterly mediocre, action movie that is willfully stupid and completely devoid of internal logic in its narrative structure. I don’t want to give away any major plot points or spoil the OMG moment in the movie so I will keep my examination as generic as possible.

Is the movie an action packed, thrill ride? Yes. Check your brain at the door, and you should be fine.

Is the movie good and does it keeps the essence of Gene Roddenberry’s dream alive?
No. 

Star Trek Into Darkness is a bad movie that is painfully dumb and pessimistic. Life-long Star Trek fans are probably burning Abrams/Orci/Kurtzman/Lindelof in effigy. To be sure there are plenty of great, eye-popping, mind-blowing scenes involving big explosions, spacedives, and starships crashing, that are wonderfully shot and edited, but action set pieces cannot save a movie that is built on an objectively bad and idiotic script.

For example:

Kirk violates the Prime Directive and subsequently is busted down to first officer in the opening moments of the movie and Pike is given back command of the Enterprise. Huh?

John Harrison the villain of the story (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) is a genetic superman who is being forced by the head of Starfleet (Peter Weller) to design weapons, ships and commit acts of terrorism. Huh?

A suicide bomber blows up an archive in London, which turns out to be a secret base for black ops guys Section 31. Huh?

The bombing triggers a meeting of important Starfleet personnel. Prompting that meeting was the true purpose of the attack, and a ship piloted by the ‘mysterious’ John Harrison destroys the meeting room. Pike is killed in the attack,  and Kirk is giving back command of the Enterprise (again) and sets out along with the rest of his crew to track down and kill Harrison. Huh?

John Harrison is able to beam himself from Earth to the Klingon homeworld Qo’noS, (which apparently has no sensor defense system) using a personal hyperwarp transporter device. The device can be carried in your hands, and it can beam you sixteen light years. Huh?!?


The list goes on, but I am trying to keep the spoilers down to minimum. Needless to say, the movie is littered with violations of internal logic and consistency. The whole thing craps out pretty fast and all that is left is a sense that Abrams/Orci/Kurtzman/Lindelof simply didn’t care. They had action set pieces and a clumsy, unsatisfying ending that they wanted and pesky little things like logical impediments weren’t going to get in their way.

Ironically, the cast is the biggest strength of the movie, but sadly they are so completely wasted, it’s almost criminal. In particular, the character of John Harrison in the hands of Cumberbatch could have been an iconic performance, but instead the crappy script hamstrings him and all he can do is growl bad lines, punch guys into the ground, jump about, and look menacing. Such a colossal waste and a missed opportunity.

Is Star Trek Into Darkness the worst film in the franchise? No. The Final Frontier or Insurrection or Nemesis are far worse than STID. That being said, they are all pretty bad movies - Star Trek Into Darkness included – and I would rather have a root canal done by a pissed off Klingon dentist than be forced to rewatch any of them. At its best,  Star Trek is about the exploration of the human condition, something not remotely on display in either of J.J. Abrams’s films. 

Reportedly, Star Trek Into Darkness had a budget of a $190 million. That accounts for all the gee-whiz special effects … but what happened to the script? Star Trek Into Darkness is not the death knell for the franchise. But Abrams’ new Trek is clearly short on the hope and the optimism of Rodenberry’s vision.

According to Box Office Mojo, opening weekend was pretty weak for STID, it made $86.7 million in four days, impressive numbers to be sure, but well short of the $100 million Paramount executives were expecting. Some of that probably has to do with the state of the economy and the price of movie tickets, and worse yet, after a four-year wait for the sequel, the movie going audience might not be interested in Kirk and company.

Perhaps the most ironic movie trivia that comes to mind when I think about the new Trek vs. the real Trek is that despite its limited budget, and being over thirty years old, Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan is still the best movie in the franchise.

Go figure…

A Nice Quiet Room?

Fresh off his double-digit win in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night, Mitt Romney wasted no time conducting a series of morning show interviews. And in the span of a few short minutes he succeeded in demonstrating the real venture capitalist behind the rehearsed smile   and “average-Joe” campaign sound bites.

To recap:

Romney went on the Today Show Wednesday morning to celebrate his New Hampshire victory and during the course of his interview with Matt Lauer he was asked about his position on the issue of distribution of wealth and income disparity in our country. It should be noted that the Today Show is not 60 Minutes nor is Matt Lauer a “got you journalist” browbeating the guest with hard-hitting questions.

Towards the end of the interview Lauer asked a pretty straightforward question that should have been easily fielded by Romney.  

 Lauer asked, “Do you suggest that anyone who questions the policies and practices of Wall Street and financial institutions, anyone who has questions about the distribution of wealth and power in this country is envious? Is it about jealousy or fairness?”

Romney who is suppose to be a polished politician responded by saying, “I think it’s about envy. I think it’s about class warfare.”

Wow…

At this point in the interview (much to his credit) Matt Lauer provided Romney with the opportunity to clean up his response and clarify his position and take his foot out of his mouth.

Lauer asked, “Are there no fair questions about the distribution of wealth without it being seen as envy?”

Romany’s response, “I think its fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms and discussions about tax policy and the like. But the president has made it part of his campaign rally. Everywhere he goes we hear him talking about millionaires, billionaires, executives and Wall Street. Its very envy-oriented, attack-oriented approach and I think it will fail.”

Romney’s response has the virtue of demonstrating two points that speak to many questions about his character and fitness to be our nations next commander and chief.

First, Mitt Romney is clearly out of step with the American people. It may come as a complete shock to him and his campaign staff, but a presidential campaign is indeed the proper forum to discuss pesky little things like wealth distribution and tax policy, and the like. The American people are pretty smart, and we don’t appreciate venture capitalist with delusions of grandeur deciding our fate in nice “quiet rooms” or “members only” country clubs.

Secondly, Mitt Romney is an elite, robber baron who lacks anything in way of compassion and empathy. The occupy Wall Street crowds and all the people who lost their jobs on account of his company, Bain Capital are irrelevant in his world view. Mitt Romney only cares about Mitt Romney and his super rich buddies. 

Is it any wonder why the Tea Party folk can’t stand him and the rest of the GOP is searching desperately for ABM….

 Anybody But Mitt.

Hank and His Rowdy Mouth

The marriage between Hank Williams Jr. and Monday Night Football came to end last Thursday when ESPN decided to permanently pull the “Are you ready for some football?” intro from its MNF telecast. The move came on the heels of comments that Williams made on Fox n’ Friends in which he made an analogy that President Barack Obama and House Speaker Rep. John Boehner golfing together was like Nazi leader Adolph Hitler and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu playing a round.

Understandably, ESPN decided to discontinue its association with Williams and on Thursday made it official. Williams' theme song has been part of "MNF" since 1989. The song was a version of his hit "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" that he altered to match each week's game. He owns the song and all the rights to it, so ESPN will not be able to use it in any way.

Many commentators and comedians have come to William’s defense, claiming ESPN was infringing on his right to free speech. His defenders included the left-leaning Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar of "The View" and Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" and on the other side of the political landscape Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh.

Luckily for the world of music and mass media, Williams has cut a new song “I'll Keep My ..." calling out "Fox & Friends" and ESPN. Early in the song Williams says the U.S. is "going down the drain" and says it's becoming "The United Socialist States of America." He mentions keeping "Fox & Friends" and ESPN out of your home toward the end of the song.

Cool lyrics…I see a Grammy coming out of this.

For the record, the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.

Despite claims by Williams and his defenders, ESPN did not trample his first amendment rights and (I cant believe I am going to say this) Fox n’ Friends did not engage in “gotcha journalism.”

On the contrary, Williams got to exercise his first amendment right and shot off his rowdy mouth. Fox n’ Friends did not twist his words, and they provided him with the opportunity to clarify his statements. The Federal Government did not in any way violate his constitutional rights, he was not detained or arrested, nor was he beaten, tortured or coerced into making any false or misleading statements.

So in conclusion, Hank got to speak his mind, and because of the inflammatory nature of his comments, ESPN decided to no longer do business with him. This is within their rights as a “for-profit” private enterprise. One other point, private companies (which are now considered “people” thanks to the Supreme Court) are NOT constrained by the 1^st Amendment.

Many people do not understand free speech.

Yes, Hank Williams, Jr. has the right to free speech. But that right comes with strings attached; specifically a private citizen is not afforded 1^st amendment protections as an employee of a corporation. The employer has the right to stifle the speech or terminate the employee if the employee in question hurts the corporation’s image or bottom line. When one takes a job they agree to the conditions specified by the employer. The courts have ruled that one may either refuse the employment or quit the job.

 Williams spoke his mind (such as it is) and ESPN didn’t like the negative publicity that came their way as a result. In this country, private citizens, even wacky guys like Hank have to take responsibility for what they say. When you compare the President of United States to a psychopath who murdered millions of innocent people, you will find that most intelligent people will find that offensive. ESPN has every right to make sure their highest rated show does not start off every week with someone who offends people. That is their right.

Hank is still free to speak his mind just not on ESPN’s dime.

We're Mad As Hell part duh

Some politicians and mass media political pundits have gone on the record and have said that the Occupy Wall Street protests are staged events. According to people like Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cane, the demonstrations are political theater designed to deflect attention away from President Obama’s failed policies. Wishful thinking to be sure, but unfortunately, that is not the case.

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations are a real organic movement that has put a spotlight on the dysfunctional nature of our government and the gross economic disparity among the have’s and have’s not. The recession and social problems that currently affect our nation are not a new phenomena born into existence in the last three years. The issues that currently confront our nation have been looming in the background for the last four decades, and hoping that the problems will magical disappear or the next generation will deal with them is no longer a sustainable policy.

We have two choices before us; we can have a hard decade or a miserable century.

The problems that confront our nation are complex and daunting but not impossible to fix. But everyone, and that means, rich, poor, and middle class have to equally sacrifice in order to turn things around for generations of Americans unborn. Admittedly fixing what is broken wont be easy, but in order to gain some insight into how to proceed, we first need to examine the past…

The stock market crash and the resulting great depression came about in 1929. President Hoover and his administration were more concerned with fly fishing and putting Al Capone behind bars rather than helping reducing the 25 percent unemployment rate in the country. So FDR was elected and probation (18th amendment) was repealed and the country muddled along until 1933 when the American people demanded that the President and Congress do something. This resulted in the much-vaunted New Deal…

Fast-forward to 2011 … massive unemployment, foreclosures, rising poverty rates, out-of-touch-do-nothing Congress, well meaning but impotent President, crisis of confidence, protesters demanding, “do something.”

Sounds familiar? Of course instead of repealing probation, we hear vows to repeal and abolish Obamacare from the face of the Earth, but the similarities are pretty uncanny.

So what to do? Here are a few ideas…

We need to get the big money out of our political process. Super-pacs need to be outlawed. Corporations should not be allowed to pay for political outcomes. Our democracy should not be for sale.

We need to honest with our selves. Tell the truth about the state of our economy, and the plight of the 99 percent. Corporations are not people. Taxing the rich so they pay their fair share wont kill them. 

Close tax loopholes for corporations and over haul the tax system.

Arrest and prosecute the robber barons in Wall Street and the banking institutions that caused our economic meltdown. No individual or corporation should have free reign to destroy our economy and the American Dream.

Lastly, stop electing people who are unfit or unqualified to hold office. The crazies should not be running the asylum.

Our political leaders should care about protecting and advancing the interest of our nation rather than lining their pockets with donor money. They should be willing to compromise to serve a greater propose. But most of all they should have some damn empathy.

We have the democracy we deserve, and right now we have grid-lock because we are too easily distracted by the things that separate us rather than focusing on things that we share in common.

We're As Mad As Hell

It was bound to happen, the disenfranchised and marginalized in our country taking to the streets and screaming for the world to hear, “We’re as mad as hell and we are  not going to take this anymore!”

The Occupy Wall Street protests and all the other spontaneous demonstrations that have taken place in several cities is the American version of the Arab spring!

Many politicians like Rep. Eric Cantor, and mass media political pundits have proposed that the protesters that call themselves the 99 percent are nothing more than shiftless, unruly mobs. According to Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, the plight of the unemployed is their own fault. "Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself. It is not someone's fault if they succeeded, it is someone's fault if they failed."

Mr. Cain like Rep. Cantor and the rest of the naysayers and political pundits all seem to conveniently forget that wall street and the banking industry played a significant role in the 2008 economic meltdown. The recession that has gripped our nation and played havoc with the global finical markets is not a natural economic phenomenon. The ugly truth is our nation was robbed and the banks and people responsible got away it…. and worse yet, the robber barons and their cronies have gotten richer on the dime of the American taxpayer.

The numbers as they stand -- 14 to 20 million unemployed in our country, the nation's poverty rate rose to 15.1% in 2010, about 46.2 million people are now considered in poverty, 2.6 million more than last year.

And the guys responsible are sitting on trillions of taxpayer dollars bemoaning their lot in life and the anger directed their way. In case anyone who reads this blog is keeping count, a measly six finical institutions control over 60 percent of the assets of the United States of America! After “we the people” bailed them out because they were to “big-to-fail,” 3 out of the 4 of the largest finical institutions in question actually became bigger.

Another point that politicians and mass media political pundits have a problem grasping is the notion that every man, woman and child on the face of the planet have an inalienable human right, to peacefully gather and petition their representative governments for political redress.

Nothing in our collective human history has ever been changed for the better without somebody starting the process by saying,“This is wrong. I don’t know how to fix it, but this is wrong.” Then other likeminded people gather and say “this is wrong” and then a social movement develops which in turn demands that the government in question addresses their grievances, and passes legislation to correct the problem. Government “for the people, by the people.”

Admittedly this is a hard concept for some politicians and media intellectuals to understand, but it’s the nature of democratic governance.

The problems that face our nation are not insurmountable. We have been through worse times; slavery, the civil war, Jim Crow, segregation, the great depression, WW II, and we have always come out on top. Our nation doesn’t lack courage, ingenuity, education, or vision. We have all those things in abundance…what we lack is leaders that have the political courage to do what is right for our country rather than what is in their best interest.

It has become increasingly obvious to the Occupy Wall Street protesters and most like-minded Americans, that our political leaders, on both the left and right are incapable of fixing what is broken, of getting our nation back to work, and breathing life back into the American Dream.

We the people are going to have to hold their feet to the fire, force them, all of them, Democrats, Republicans and the President to do their jobs, or lose them.

Yet again …we're as mad as hell.

To Be Continued.

Meet The New Boss...Same As The Old Boss

All is not well in the land of the Tea Party.

First, according to a recent New York Times poll, the tea party is the most unpopular it has been since they started polling on the tea party’s favorability in April of last year.

Secondly, according to data compiled by two researchers and published late in  2010, and recently updated for a paper back edition (American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us), the tea party ranks lowest in the 24 separate groups of Americans’ or individuals who they polled on. They are among the least popular groups of any kind of Americans in politics and culture right now. They have a lower favorability ranking than Sarah Palin, Democrats, Republicans, Atheist (God Bless Them), and Muslims – who were vilified for trying to build a community center in lower Manhattan.

The authors examine the role of the tea party in American politics and the data is painstakingly researched and brutally honest. For instance, when polled, Americans overwhelmingly stated that given a choice between a tea party president and Muslim president, they would prefer a Muslim president. Not a fake Muslim president, but an actual Muslim.

Wow.

Needless to say, the billionaire sugar daddies (Rupert Murdoch, David and Charles Koch, Dick Armye’s Freedom Works) that are bankrolling America’s so-called spontaneous and leaderless populist uprising have a public relations problem that threatens their self-interested and at times radical agendas.

The other fascinating thing that becomes clear from the data collected is the undeniable fact that the tea party, which is often billed as an non-partisan grass roots political movement, is actually nothing more than the same old republican base with a fresh coat of paint. In fact, past republican affiliation is the single greatest predictor of tea party support today. Also, next to being a republican, the second criteria for being a tea party cardholder is the desire to see religion play a prominent role in American politics.

Despite what Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, and Glenn Beck might have you think about the tea party express – the data collected shows that the tea party movement is not a bunch of independents that are upset with the growth of government, fighting the good fight, but actually, the same old religious, conservative wing of the Republican Party. 

The curtain has been drawn back and the wizard as been exposed.

Meet the New Boss…Same as the Old Boss.

Pay As You Go

Considering there have been 36 Presidential disaster declarations in 2011, (there were 267 such declarations from 2001 to 2005, but 330 in the five years that followed) and Hurricane Irene swept through the northeast and left a trail of destruction that is still playing itself out, one would think that budget requests and Congressional appropriations for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) disaster relief and recovery efforts would be on the rise. Sadly, that is not the case.

The 2012 Homeland Security appropriations bill will include $3 billion in cuts to FEMA’s budget. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), which has already been hit with budget cuts  (about $140 million) that will diminish its ability to track storms, and FEMA, like much of the federal government, will lose about a third of its funding over the next decade if tea party Republicans have their way.

Normally during times of great need the Federal Government puts aside its partisan bickering, and spends whatever is necessary to help make whole what has been broken or destroyed, and lend aid (food, medical, loans, relocation assistance) to help families and communities rebuild. That has always been one of America’s greatest virtues – we come together as a nation and we help each other. And this humanistic philosophy has served us well since the founding of our great Republic.

Alas, certain congressional leaders have a different view on what is the proper role of government, and what form should Federal assistance take on any given occasion. Case in point—speaking on Fox News Channel, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said a natural disaster like Hurricane Irene is an “appropriate instance” for a federal role, but that the government can't go deeper into debt to pay for unexpected outlays.

“We will find the money if there is a need for additional monies,” he said. But “those monies are not unlimited. And what we've always said is, we've offset that which has already been funded. Unfortunately the government continues to borrow money and to spend money it doesn't have."

The House Majority Leader equated the situation to what an ordinary family would do in a crisis, doing without a new car to pay for the needs of a sick loved one, for instance. Cantor is the poster child for the tea party, and his position has been the consistent view of majority Republicans since taking control of the House, even with disaster relief funding running thin after yet another severe weather event.

Cantor is a genuine profile in lack of compassion and empathy for the plight of people in need and worse yet, he is a walking disaster for the economy and his constituents. In fact, Cantor, who has been on vacation for a month, has not held one open town hall meeting to talk face-to-face with his constituents about their concerns. Maybe he is afraid they might ask him about jobs, the zero number that he has created and the thousands that have been or will be lost from the disastrous cuts embedded in the debt crisis deals.

The state of Virginia, which he supposedly represents, has suffered through the epicenter of an earthquake, the effects of Hurricane Irene and a near depression. But Cantor never lets a crisis go to waste. So now he and the heartless tea partiers have taken the low road again by saying that disaster relief ought to be offset by spending cuts.

Compassion for the rich and disdain for the rest of us: class warfare in full bloom for all to see.

It’s About Time

After 15 years and some heated debate, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington makes it long awaited debut at the National Mall. The memorial is a 30-foot granite sculpture of the prominent civil rights activist, and is flanked by a crescent–shaped wall inscribed with 14 excerpts from Dr. Kings most notable sermons and speeches.

According to Harry Johnson Sr., president and CEO of the MLK National Memorial Project Foundation, “This is going to a first in two different ways—it’s the first memorial on the National Mall to honor a man of peace, and a man of color.”

Building a permanent tribute to the globally revered icon was a long and arduous process that tested the determination and faith of the team behind the project. The vision to build a national memorial dedicated to Dr. King was initially conceived in 1984 by Alpha Phi Alpha, the African-American fraternity of which King was a member. Congress authorized the memorial in 1996, and two years later the Alphas set up a foundation to manage fundraising -- to the tune of $120 million -- and design.

While his legacy has been reduced to snappy catch phrases, ‘limited series’ postage stamp collections and Federal Holidays dedicated to the proposition that all American’s can devoutly worship at the altar of rampant consumerism, ultimately it is much more than a trip to the mall or a quick sound bite on TV during “Black History” month.

The true measure of the man we know as the leader of the American Civil Rights movement is actually more about the “message” that he, as well as other abolitionists and revolutionaries throughout history have given their lives to uphold and defend: the message of healing and unconditional love. Dr. King sought the integration of the spiritual and the intellectual, he asked us to go beyond ourselves and tap into the transcendent moral ethic of love.

Dr. King was the spiritual leader of our nation; he was the Commander in Chef of the war on racism, hate and inhumanity—the war for the soul of our nation. This war still rages on today, three years after the election of America’s first black President. This should not be the case, but tragically, it is. The price of freedom demands eternal vigilance, even more so when we speak of the ugly and odious specter of established racism. Perhaps the human heart will never truly free itself of fear and hate—but I refuse to accept this conclusion. The human race is made of finer stuff, and therefore, the warriors of light and love can never rest until the war is finally won…

But for the time being, right in the heart of our nations capital, bordering Washington, D.C.'s Tidal Basin between the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials, stands a 30-foot granite statue that captures the vision of one man who dared dream of freedom, opportunity and justice for all Americans.

It’s About Time.

Too Little, Too Late

Ohio Gov. John Kasich wants to negotiate a compromise on the anti-collective bargaining law known as Senate Bill 5. The highly controversial bill sharply restricts collective bargaining, ends binding arbitration and bans worker strikes for all state and local public employees.

Perhaps because of the sobering results of Wisconsin’s’ recall elections, or his sharp decline in job approval rating Kasich held a news conference to publicly ask union leaders opposed to SB5 to meet with him and other Republican leaders.

According to Kasich his sudden epiphany and willingness to talk and negotiate with union leaders has nothing to do with efforts to repeal the law, or a recent Quinnipiac poll that shows the measure being defeated by double-digit margin.

Senate Bill 5 which was signed into law on March 31 has dominated the Ohio political landscape for months and has galvanized staunch opposition from all quarters. Boisterous and intense rallies in the Statehouse have drawn huge crowds. One rally in particular attracted more than 8,000 people, which in turn prompted Kasich and his cronies to lock the Statehouse door to keep opponents out. Those types of strong-arm tactics drew national media attention.

Unfortunately the working and middle class in Ohio didn’t take kindly to being shut out of their Statehouse and decided to collect 1.3 million signatures demanding the repeal of SB5. WE Are Ohio spokeswoman Melissa Fazekas, who was waiting outside Kasich’s Statehouse office, made it clear that the time for talk and foot dragging was long past.

"These politicians who passed Senate Bill 5 have the ability to come back and repeal the law," she said. "And that is what they should do, repeal the entire law. Or they can join us and vote no in November on Issue 2."

Gov. Kasich and the Republican leadership in Ohio rammed SB5 down the throats of the people of Ohio, they locked the doors of the Statehouse to keep opponents out and they made a mockery out of the democratic process. They own SB5 and they are going to defend it to the bitter end, and they will do anything, including standing before the cameras at a press conference and asking the people who they ignored and victimized, “hey lets talk.”

In most cases, an honest an open debate is the way to go. Democracy is dependent on compromise and respect for differences of opinions. Unfortunately Gov. John Kasich and Scott Walker in Wisconsin see the democratic process as something to be discarded when it stands in the way of their political aims. They talk real tough when the game is rigged in their favor, but when the voters take up the call to arms and stand against them, and then they have an epiphany and run to the cameras to plead their case. In the case of Senate Bill 5, the time for talk was 197 days ago when Gov. Kasich ignored the will of the people he works for.

1.3 million voters have already spoken and their message is succinct and clear, “Too Little, Too Late.”

Why ask Why?

Nouriel Roubini, the well known economist that predicated in 2005 the housing bubble would cause an economic crisis in America, says that former President George W. Bush is to blame for America's current economic crisis. Well duh!

Roubini, or Dr. Doom as he has been labeled because of his dour outlook on the state of our economy, claims that there are five factors that have led to our current fiscal condition.

1. We cut taxes.

2. We spent $2 trillion on two unwinnable wars.

3. We doubled discretionary spending. Some conservatives originally aimed to "starve the beast" or big government by cutting taxes in order to force future cuts in spending. But spending grew so out of control in Bush's term that no beast was starved, Roubini said. In fact, the beast was fed.

4. We added entitlement benefits like the Medicare drug benefit.

5. We entered the largest economic and financial crisis ever, which caused a huge increase in the deficit through the "recession deficit" and the cost of bailing out the banks and financial institutions.

According to Roubini, "We destroyed our fiscal sustainability before [President Obama] came to power. We had guns and butter and low taxes. It doesn't work. If you want guns and butter, you should have high taxes during wars."

The "guns or butter" portion of his statement refers to the macroeconomic model, that says that a nation must choose between defense spending or civilian spending, or some combination of both. In other words you cannot throw a big party without paying for it, or, you better have money in your checking account to cover that big purchase.

Of course most well informed and intelligent people (the operative word being "intelligent") understand that when President Obama came to power, he inherited a budget deficit of $1.2 trillion. When Bush came to power, the country had a surplus of $300 billion. But that is not going to get any traction at Fox News. Its easier to play the victim rather than take credit for the mess your political party helped create. And sadly it far easier to stand on the side line and call President Obama an outsider, and "a non citizen of the United States" and vilify him as Satan incarnate rather than help him fix the mess.

Remember, the "Hell No Party" want him to be a one term President, and they are perfectly willing to allow the middle class and the American economy go into the abyss to accomplish their short-term aims.

To be sure there is more than enough blame to go around in Washington, our lack of leadership in Congress has contributed to S & P's credit downgrade which made Wall Street very unhappy last week, which in turn made all our 401k's very unhappy. But re-litigating who should shoulder the blame and how we came to this sad predicatment isn't going to solve the problems we face as a nation.

We are here, and it is now. We need Jobs, Jobs, and more Jobs. The middle class needs help and the time for cute sound bites, and empty promises is over.

The time for "Why Ask Why?" is over.

The time has come for all our elected leaders to do the unthinkable and do their jobs and actually lead...

Tax the Rich… What A Concept

Tax the Rich… What A Concept

Rarely does a billionaire write an opinion piece in The New York Times that receives a positive response.

When someone like Warren Buffett urges U.S. law makers to raise taxes on the country’s super-rich to help cut the deficit, it’s a pretty big deal that makes many people shake their heads in disbelief.

On the one hand, the vast majority of people will say, "you an ungodly amount of money and you have some nerve complaining." Then there are those that will say, that your opinion is spot on and the rich do need to pay more in taxes, and, "you have an ungodly amount of money."

According to Mr. Buffett, the concept of shared sacrifice should apply to all Americans…yes, even billionaires with ungodly amount’s of money. The Tea Party’s line-in-the-sand, that implicitly states that government spending must be slashed while taxes can never be raised, even for the superrich, is an unsustainable strategy that lacks any semblance of common sense and leadership.

Too many American families and small business across our nation are struggling and need help. They no longer have the patience for all the Washington shenanigans’ that has led S & P to downgrade our credit rating. If this country is going to pull itself our of the ditch then its going to take compromise and shared sacrifice from everyone, yes, even millionaires and billionaires who have ungodly amounts of money.

It’s embarrassing and shocking when a billionaire has to scold our elected leaders to act in the best interest of our nation. But who better than a man who has an ungodly amount of money in his bank account to speak truth. To be sure, there are many die-hard, self-described capitalist that will swear we will let loose the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse if we dare ask the superrich to pay their fair share in taxes.

The Republican Party and their Corporate Overlords will shape the narrative into the following sound bites, “The rich are not like us, they create jobs, they can’t pay higher taxes, corporations will pack up and leave if their taxes go up, its democratic socialism, etc.”

And unfortunately, some people will buy the con-job, hook, line and sinker. After all, the rich and the powerful in this country have always been very successful at making solidarity, and communalism appear blasphemous.

Perhaps John Steinbeck had us figured out when he said. “Americans don’t like socialism, because the poor here see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”

In the meantime, one lonely billionaire with ungodly amounts of money has stated what is normally considered unthinkable.

And America is still standing…imagine that.

Corporate Greed At Its Finest.

The Verizon Strike of 2011 is not about Health Care!

If it were about Health Care there would be no work stoppage.

The Verizon Strike of 2011 is about one thing only: Corporate Greed!

Verizon wants to accelerate the outsourcing of American jobs to other countries by removing all aspects of job security from upcoming contracts, to freeze all pension for current workers, and completely eliminate them for future employees, slash sick time, eliminate disability payments for injured workers, eliminate holidays (including Veterans Day) and completely gut health care plans for current and retired workers.

Verizon wants to bust the CWA and the IBEW unions, then take the 45,000 unions jobs and outsource them.

Some fun Facts:

Verizon claims that the landline portion of its network is in decline and not profitable, yet they fail to mention that landlines are the backbone network of their FIOS, DSL & Wireless operations. They want you to think that there is no need for a landline because they want their FIOS & DSL to be classified as “internet or data” instead of exactly what they are: landlines. Every cell tower connects to a landline network. Without Verizon’s landline business they would have no wireless business!

Despite making $ 19.5 billion in profits and paying out $258 million to its top five executives in the last four years, Verizon wants to take back more than 50 years of collective bargaining and destroy middle class jobs.

The President of Verizon makes $55,000 a day, and has free, lifetime medical coverage.

Verizon has paid $0 in federal corporate income taxes over the last three years.

Verizon received nearly $1 billion in tax benefits from the federal government (your money) over the last three years, how much has the average American worker received in tax benefits?

Yet again…the Verizon strike of 2011 is about plain Corporate Greed.

The American Middle Class is under siege and its time to circle the wagons and defend the homestead.

One last thing…I am CWA member who is fighting for the future of my children and the American Dream.

Can You Hear Me Now!

Pining for Them Good Ole Days

The shame of it all…

The party of Lincoln, as it has been called, was formed to fight the expansion of slavery into the western territories. It was formed by a merger of the old Whig party and the abolitionist movement that was committed to the end of slavery as an American institution. In 1860 the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. He became a symbol of the party for all the generations to come.

Flash forward a hundred fifty years. The Republican Party of the new millennium is now the party of “no”, big money, hate-speech, and Fox News propaganda sound bites. If your in the mood for real uninspired debate, and follow-the leader pledges of
"no taxes ever" then all you need to do is watch the results of the Iowa Straw poll. U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota won. Unfortunately this is the choice that Regan-conservative's are having to deal with.

Sadly the Republican party of today expresses itself more with decidedly militant rhetoric, compassion-less posturing, harmful policy, and unfocused “Teabagger” rage. The Republican party of the 21-century is nothing if not consistent…they want to win at all cost, and they don’t care about the truth, civility, constitutional law, informed public debate, bipartisanship and good old fashion decency.

The GOP is a train wreck unfolding as we speak, and worst of all, their so-called cynical, obstructionist leadership amounts to providing their fellow citizens with misinformation, stroking irrational fears, and sabotaging our government. Let it burn to the ground is the new slogan. Rising the Debt Ceiling...hell no! Rising Taxes On the Wealthiest Americans...hell no! Curbing Military Expenditures...hell no! Approving a Jobs Creation Bill...hell no! Putting America Back to Work... hell no!

And lets be honest… The GOP of the 21-century would shun Abraham Lincoln if he were alive today. And they would also reject Ronald Regan. He increased taxes during his presidency, and that is a major no-no in the GOP today. The party of Lincoln is dead, and in its place is a party that does the bidding of its corporate overlords like the Koch Brothers, or Karl Rover and his Super Pac buddies. The grand ole party has become the party of hell no.

The party of hell no is not interested in putting the needs of the American people first. They want to win no matter the cost and they are using every trick in their magic bag to make that happen. The 2012 Presidential campaign is going to be one hell of a ride.