3.31.2011

Blowback

Today's word is "blowback!"

Blowback as in what's going to happen once Ohio Governor John Kasich signs house bill 5 into law. It passed the State Legislature last night following a day of debate in Columbus. This bill effectively neuters Ohio's unions by making strikes illegal, outlawing collective bargaining except for safety equipment and eliminating seniority.

Kasich says this will go a long way in helping to balance Ohio's budget. Maybe. But what about the raises Kasich gave his minions upon taking office? If we can't afford to help the people of Ohio by way of social programs, how the devil can we, the people afford to pay wall street salaries to those in government who pretend to have our best interests at heart.

History shows us that a good leader is one who does not ask his followers to do anything that he, himself would not do. So how can Kasich give his cabinet a raise, and take his own paycheck when he is asking the rest of us to bite the bullet and live on less money? 

Are we the people supposed to take our happiness watching the gov and his boyfriends live it up on our nickel? Are we the people supposed to be sustained on the sizzle rather than the steak?

Just askin'.

We, the people can do something, if we're not happy about Kasich and company starting with signing the petitions to place House Bill 5 on the November ballot. If we do this and then actually turn out and vote, we may actually be able to kill HB 5.

State level blowback of the best kind!

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Federal Blowback

Teabag hypocrisy is surfacing in DC like turds in a toilet bowl. Seems many of those alleged deficit hawks have been sucking at the public tit for years, by way of farm subsidies. A report out today says they have literally pocketed billions of dollars in the past 15 years or so. Yet, while they are ready to cut off the tit at the breast bone for the rest of us, they are expressing reticence about turning loose the nipple themselves, and these guys are millionaires without the subsidy bucking them up.

Heck, did you know there is a law that allows these jackels to give back some of their salary as well as health care benefits to the government to help pay down the federal deficit?

Did you know that of 535 members of Congress, only two congressmen have chosen to do so?

Some well placed blowback in the form calls to your congressman or woman demanding they divest of their subsidies, their paycheck and their health would go a long way in making me believe that a government shutdown and cuts to all social programs are our only options.

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White House Blowback

Word is we're thinking of arming the Libyan rebels against Moammar and his family.  Word is we're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a day in a country that does not give us oil or anything else for that matter. Libya is important to our allies in the region so that is the justification being tossed around.

Okay, so we arm these guys and what happens....are they the Taliban in the making for the 21st century? That's how we got Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, back in the day.

Just like war...you can't half ass regime change either. What is needed is a 007 type action in Libya. Somebody needs to "sanction" old Moammar and his son and bloodthirsty daughter, but be direct and upfront about it.  A well placed bunker buster bomb or two or three, would do the trick. Done, with no boots on the ground.

America has been half assing war in Iraq and Afghanistan for years, allowing Americans to watch the sanitized version on television from the comforts of our very safe suburban homes, when we should never have been there in the first place. If it is regime change, then go in and shoot the so n so in the head and come home. If it's war, make the country a parking lot and be done with it.

America is the only country known to destroy nations and then spend billions to rebuild them so they can attack us again and again using our money and our weapons to do it.

Or maybe this is job security Pentagon style, ya think?

There is a lot of waste down Pentagon/Department of Defense way...Maybe we the people should harrass our congressmen to make some deep cuts in that direction, if they really want to make some headway on the deficit.

It is not in our country's best interest to keep building outdated weapons systems to fight illegal wars, or funding crooked contractors or blackwater type mercenaries when the people are hurting.

To paraphrase Mr. Spock..."sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one!"

Where is our Vulcan when we need him? At least Obama has the ears...

Let's hope he has the heart and fortitude to put an end to this self defeating cycle in which we're stuck.

Blowback..









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