Greetings and Salutations;
There has been a burst of mindless lies and rants from Right-Wingers showing up on Face Book and while I realize trying to combat the problem with facts is probably like trying to keep the Ocean Tide from coming in, I thought I would not just sit by and do NOTHING. So…When the above image showed up on my time line, I decided to grab a copy, and, discuss here each of its “points”.
My first thought upon seeing this sort of rant is “What in the world are they trying to do with this?” It would be nice to believe that some thought had gone into it, and, it was designed to generate debate on how to improve America. However, as Click and Clack say…some people live life unhindered by the thought process. Rather, I realize that this is nothing more than a whiny rant that has no interest in improving things, but, rather just exists to spread hate and dislike.
So, now, let us look at each of the points raised in the image.
1) This is Pres Obama’s second term, so, by the Constitution, he cannot run again…so in a few years they will get their wish. He will be gone and someone else will be elected.. Of course, they are ignoring the fact that during the five years that Pres. Obama has already served, he has accumulated a surprisingly lengthy list of quite positive accomplishments, all if which are aimed at improving America. This has happened in spite of unending and strong opposition by the Republicans and other Right-Wingers. A few of the positives?
a) Osama Bin Laden met his end and was fed to the fishes (Respectfully, of course).
b) the Deficit is reduced by 3/4 or more from what it was when Pres. Obama took office.
c) While the economy is still terribly fragile, It has improved a bit, and, there is some hope that it may regain much of the strength it had some 10 years ago.
d) The Stock Market has regained a huge amount of value, reaching numbers it has not seen in a decade.
e) The ACA is the law of the land, and, after a rocky start, is proving to be a boon to millions of Americans. Perhaps most importantly, it has curbed many of the abuses by the Insurance Industry that allowed them to cancel policies without reason, sell crap policies that took huge premiums but provided nothing in return, raise premiums by huge percentages every year, deny people coverage due to “pre-existing conditions” – some of which had NOTHING to do with serious health issues, and, cap the amount of money they would have to spend on a policy holder in case they managed to get a claim approved.
f) We are no longer deeply entangled in the wars in the Middle East, taking the huge numbers of casualties that we were during the previous administration.
There are a lot more, but, these are a few, good examples of why I believe that wishing that Pres. Obama was “gone” is foolish and based on factors that have nothing to do with his performance in office.
2) Closed Borders? REALLY? If the borders were truly closed, and it was impossible for undocumented workers to make it into the USA, what do these people think would happen? Like it or not, undocumented workers are a vital part of the American Economy now, have been for some time and probably will continue to be for the foreseeable future. After all, who is going to pick the produce, clean the toilets, build the houses and do all the really hard work that it takes to keep America going? Are Americans going to take those jobs? I know that they are not going to work for what the producers pay the undocumented workers. Now, if the borders were closed, and Americans DID take over the jobs, it is likely that they would demand more money for less work. That would cause a jump in prices for everyone. Also, I suspect that there wouldb e a drop in availability of goods and services, because it has been my observation that American workers often do not have the focus or speed that other workers exhibit. So…it gets back to the question I started with…who will replace the undocumented workers, and, how much will YOU be willing to pay them per hour to do it.
3) Right now, it is true enough that English is the defacto language of the USA. However, that is mainly because English speaking citizens are in the majority, at least for the moment. For us to not even attempt to accommodate people who speak another language really shows what small, shriveled souls we have. Read the Constitution. The Founding Fathers, in their wisdom, chose not to create an official language for the country. Even then, they realized that America was going to be a melting pot culture that would attract people from all around the world. People who spoke a multitude of languages. They wanted America to WELCOME those people, because they also understood that the alloy of these differing peoples would create a country that was far stronger than it would be if it were “pure”. Finally, If you have a problem with interacting with folks that do not speak English well, I would suggest that it is far better and more productive to learn a second language, then be an egotistical twit and force others to learn YOUR language.
4) This point seems to imply that American life is NOT controlled by the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Again…kind of delusional… I look around and while I see some things happening that are infringing on those rights, I do not see a wide-spread erosion of the Rights guaranteed us as Americans by the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Since I seem to be missing something, I wish that one of these Right-Wingers would be kind enough to explain to me why they are saying this and what I am missing. Actually, considering the number of Right Wingers who want to remove Constitutionally guaranteed rights, this is even more puzzling. After all, it is not the Liberals who are protesting and raising a big stink to try and force the elected officials to block people from their right to vote, to block children from getting a good, broad education that will allow them to be successful in today’s world, and, are trying to remove the rights of citizens to make personal decisions about their own bodies and life. It is the Right-Wingers who want to expand government to deny these rights to citizens. Explain that to me, please.
5) Mandatory drug screening? Been there, done that, and it was an expensive failure. Less than 1% of recipients were found to be using and, since MILLIONS of dollars were spent on the program, it ended up costing around $40,000 to find each one of them. The only people that really benefited from these programs are the rich Right-Wingers who run labs that test for drugs.
6) No Freebies? I am not sure that this means to the Right, but, to me, it shows a sad lack of understanding about what people are getting in benefits from the government. The food and support benefits provided the poverty stricken in America are hardly generous, are limited to 60 months in the LIFETIME of the recipient, and, are challenging to get and keep. Actually, Walmart makes out better than most of the poor. It is reported that Walmart salaries for many workers are so low that we taxpayers are giving the stores many tens of thousand of dollars a day to provide benefits to their workers, so they can afford to work for the company. Also, the rich and ultra-rich get such generous tax benefits that they avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. It also ignores the fact that many undocumented workers are both so underpaid that they would starve without aid, and, are paying income taxes and such that they will NEVER see any benefits from. It would be worthwhile for some folks to follow this link, and read the article, so they will have some facts about the subjects they hold such strong opinons about.
Reading this statement really kind of makes me think that the poster is proudly proclaiming that we are NOT a Christian Nation, but, a collection of greedy, self-centered, grasping bastards that would kick a starving child to the side of the road if we happen to see them! Good to know, I suppose, since it clarifies what the rest of the world can expect from us.
7) A Balanced Budget? Sure…and easy to do with these two actions: a) Cut the military budget, the vast amount of pork, the benefits enjoyed by the Federal Representatives, and the “Black Budget”. b) Raise tax rates on the part of society that can afford it the most – the Rich and Ultra-Rich.
8) Tax Reform? Sure….As mentioned above, raise taxes on the rich and ultra rich. In the process, eliminate loopholes that allow them and the large companies to hide their income in other countries, and, so, avoid paying any taxes at all. I realize that to many Right-Wingers, this means “Stop collecting taxes”, but, again, that is delusional. There is nothing magical about the government. It needs to collect money from someplace to pay for the services it offers to the citizens. No money coming in…at some point, the services will stop. No one wants to pay taxes, but, everyone wants the services that they get.
9) Term limits? Do not make me laugh. We already HAVE term limits for elected officials at every level. It is called “getting out of the recliner on election day and voting for someone besides the incumbent.” Who is responsible for the fact that, traditionally, 95% of the incumbents are returned to office? You and I and too many other citizens are responsible. Every American who does not stand in the election booth on the date, and record a vote for someone else is responsible for elected representatives keeping office well past the time they should leave.