Being the Change I Wish to See

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This perfectly sums up what the whole problem is with our government today.

We’re at a big turning point in America.

We have plenty of money. America is not broke. It’s how we’ve chosen to spend it that is causing so many problems. We have a big disconnect on what economics works and what fails.

There is the Republican/Tea Party faction that wants spending cuts, no new taxes, lower the taxes we have, and stopping America from doing great things. They don’t even want to put enough into the country to keep it a civilized society.

There are the progressives who are willing to dream big, to win World War II, to put men on the moon, to build an international space station, to rebuild Europe and Japan after World War II, to build the interstate highway system, to create the best public school system in the world, and to build the modern infrastructure we enjoyed for three generations.

Our greatness was hijacked by the Reagan administration, when he refused to continue investing in this country, over-spent on defense, and tripled the national debt.

I want pre-Reagan (Carter) America back. I want our greatness back. I want America to do great things again. We have a choice. We can do better. Let’s choose a greater American future.

Technorati Tags: Lean Forward campaign 2011, MSNBC, Rachel Maddow, TRMS

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Grover Norquist

Barack Obama is President of the most powerful country on the planet, but he’s not our dictator. Grover Norquist is our dictator. He carried out a very deft coup. He hasn’t taken over the government, but he has taken over enough people in it to paralyze it.

Norquist’s power and control over conservative Republicans and a few conservative Democrats far outweigh any other form of influence they face as legislators. They seem to truly fear him and what they believe he can do to them. Or they are delusional enough to believe their ideology over the realities of the country’s economic position.

Norquist’s pledge is getting more allegiance and compliance than the oath these legislators swore to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That could be viewed as treason through some lenses.

The actions of conservatives, especially House Republicans, over raising the debt ceiling show they do not represent the people who elected them. Polls taken last week show 80% of all Americans want the debt ceiling raised for at least 18 months. This will insure stability for the economy to recover without short-term political interruptions to raise the debt ceiling again in a few months.

The debt ceiling has to be raised for at least 18 months. Otherwise, all those partisan fights will make everyone uncertain in this fragile economy, so no one will move. No one will start spending, lending, hiring, etc. to make the economy recover and grow. The markets also signaled they will downgrade our bond and credit ratings if a short-term debt ceiling is passed.

Norquist’s subjects seem quite prepared to plunge this country off an economic cliff that will have us in a deep recession or a second Great Depression just to uphold their pledge to never raise taxes.

If a default happens, taxes will rise on everything to service the higher interest rate we will have to pay on the debt. In fact, all interest rates in the entire economy will rise. The cost of everything will go up, and the American people will have gotten nothing for the extra money we will have to spend.

We can service the high amount of debt we currently have because we are paying almost no interest on any of it. It’s not all about how much you owe, it’s also about what you’re paying to borrow it.

Conservative pledge-signers are playing an ideological game that doesn’t work in the real world.

• If they don’t raise the debt ceiling (do nothing) and we default, taxes will go up and they will violate the Norquist pledge.
• If they can’t get a strict spending cut and cap bill through Congress and get the President to sign it, we will default, everything will go up, and they will violate the Norquist pledge.
• If they work with Democrats and the President on a balanced bill of cuts and revenue increases, they will violate the Norquist pledge.

The only action they can take that won’t violate the Norquist pledge is to pass a clean, one-sentence debt ceiling bill that both raises the debt ceiling amount and specifies a minimum time period of at least 18 months. The President will sign it.

They may lose their constituents if they choose default or their cuts are too draconian. A default will cause more job losses (~700,000) and the economy will shrink (~10%). Everything will cost more for no good reason, or they will be seen as extremely irresponsible for putting the country in this position. Constituents may well vote them out of office for not doing the job they were sent to Washington to do: create jobs and fix the economy.

Conservative signers of Dictator Grover Norquist’s pledge have dug themselves into a deep hole, and now it’s raining hard. So far, they would rather drown for their Dear Leader than act responsibly and do their jobs.

This is exactly why we are a nation ruled by laws and reason, and not pledges and allegiances to one person’s or one small group’s ideology. It’s why our Founders made this a republic instead of a monarchy or dictatorship.

Any pledge any legislator signs or swears concerning their elected position, other than his or her oath of office, is in direct violation of that oath of office. When it interferes with a legislator’s ability to perform his or her duties, he or she should be removed from office by any legal means available.

The pledge is interfering with too many legislator’s ability to perform their jobs, so Grover Norquist has effectively overthrown the proper function of our government. That makes him a dictator.

Technorati Tags: Dictator of America, Grover Norquist, House Republicans in denial, King of America, national debt ceiling, Tea Party Caucus

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