Slow jam the debt ceiling.... gotta laugh

DEBT VISUALIZATION

One Hundred Dollars

$100 - Most counterfeited money denomination in the world. Keeps the world moving.

Ten Thousand Dollars

$10,000 - Enough for a great vacation or to buy a used car. Approximately one year of work for the average human on earth.

One Million Dollars

$1,000,000 - Not as big of a pile as you thought, huh? Still this is 92 years of work for the average human on earth.

One Hundred Million Dollars

$100,000,000 - Plenty to go around for everyone. Fits nicely on an ISO / Military standard sized pallet.

One Billion Dollars

$1,000,000,000 - You will need some help when robbing the bank. Now we are getting serious!

One Trillion Dollars

$1,000,000,000,000 When the U.S government speaks about a 1.7 trillion deficit - this is the volumes of cash the U.S. Government borrowed in 2010 to run itself. Keep in mind it is double stacked pallets of $100 million dollars each, full of $100 dollar bills. You are going to need a lot of trucks to freight this around. If you spent $1 million a day since Jesus was born, you would have not spent $1 trillion by now...but ~$700 billion- same amount the banks got during bailout.

One Trillion Dollars

Comparison of $1,000,000,000,000 dollars to a standard sized American Football field and European Football field. Say hello to the Boeing 747-400 transcontinental airliner that's hiding on the right. This was until recently the biggest passenger plane in the world.

15 Trillion Dollars

$15,000,000,000,000- Unless the U.S. government fixes the budget, US national debt (credit card bill) will topple 15 trillion by Christmas 2011. Statue of Liberty seems rather worried as United States national debt passes 20% of the entire world's combined GDP (Gross Domestic Product). In 2011 the National Debt will exceed 100% of GDP, and venture into the 100%+ debt-to-GDP ratio that the European PIIGS have (bankrupting nations) If you live in USA this is also your personal credit card bill; you are responsible along with everyone else to pay this back. The citizens of USA created the U.S. Government to serve them, this is what the U.S. Government has done while serving The People. The unfunded liability is calculated on current tax and funding inputs, and future demographic shifts in US Population. Source: Federal Reserve & www.USdebtclock.org - visit it to see the debt in real time and get a better grasp of this amazing number. IF YOU HAVE DIFFICULTY VIEWING THIS, CLICK HERE FOR THE SOURCE PAGE This is a jaw dropping presentation of just how far in debt tie United States really is. I have to admit, there is a part of me that thinks  we should default on the debt. Not in a Michelle Bachmann, Tea Party way- where they are so revved up with  anti government rhetoric it's not even funny, and  is totally irresponsible. But in a way that would make this country sober up about our debt. When I say "our debt" I really mean the debt the GOP is responsible for in the 8 years of the G.W. Bush era.

Retraction- I heart Moen

A few blog posts ago, I pitched a fit about my dealings with the Moen company re my kitchen sink faucet.
They made a funky designed product & I freely expressed my dissatisfaction.
The clerk said if I think they are replacing the faucet that was not going to happen.
They stalled a few times, then sent the wrong part, each passing day, the flow got worse.
I did ask to speak with a supervisor.
I said having to get replacement parts, holding for 5 minutes each time I call & then waiting, then having to take apart the faucet was not what I signed up for.
She asked how I wanted to resolve the issue, send me a replacement faucet that does not have this funky design flaw.


She agreed to send a replacement faucet.
Free of charge.

I figured I would be getting their cheapest model.

But a few business days later, Fed Ex delivered not only a brand new faucet, but an upgrade.

Shut my mouth.

 I sent an e mail to Moen,  to say not only was the part they sent late, but it was the wrong part. ....

I also took the time to send a thank you  letter for the Supervisor who listened & did the right thing.

My freaking sink is like a gusher now. From barely a trickle to full force flow.

Since I wrote a scathing rant, it is only fair now that since they stepped up, that I post a glowing review. Granted I had to escalate to a supervisor, but my issue has been resolved, and it is only fair that I express my Kudos.

Way to go Moen.

Gingrich does not have his shirt together

One reporter asked the Republican presidential hopeful about his campaign t-shirt.

"A lot of what you are talking about is about taking America back to America. We asked for t-shirts to be sent to us and they were made in America. I just picked up that one and it's made in El Salvador," said the reporter.

"I'll have to ask the folks who ordered this. I didn't order it and I don't do it," said Gingrich.

Suggestion for next batch of Made in America T Shirts:

NOT NEWT 2012

Reverse Robin Hood

I just coined a new phrase to describe the GOP budget battle. 

This is a Reverse Robinhood

Stealing from the Poor to give to the rich

You have oober wealthy people & corporations, not contributing a fair share, or worse taking subsidies.... 

So in turn they hit up the middle & lower classes & entitlement programs meant to be both a safety net & lifeline, to  be sacrificed, so the wealthy can continue to not pay a fair share. 

Tweedle Dum: If you think we're waxworks, you ought to pay, you know. 
Tweedle Dee: Contrarywise, if you think we're alive you ought to speak to us. 
Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum: That's logic. 


In his infinite wisdom, Eric Cantor said ""The debt limit vote sucks," the Virginia Republican declared directly to members during the House GOP conference meeting, according to two sources behind the closed doors.

"It comes down to the people in this room. It comes down to the willingness to stand together. This is the path to victory for the American people," Speaker Boehner said, according to the sources.

That "willingness to stand together" is code for Lockstep. 

In Cantor & Boehner's minds, not compromising at all while negotiating the budget & debt limits equals a "victory for the American people"?

The reality is, they could care less about the American people. If they did, they would not be insisting the rich not pay their fair share of taxes, and would not even think about messing around with so called entitlement programs. 

It seems to me their goal is to force Obama into a corner. Either let him alone make the choice to raise the debt limit, then they come out of it with clean hands & use it as ammo against Obama in the 2012 election. I can almost hear them now echoing the "Obama is the reckless spender who raised the debt limit, that irresponsible socialist!!!"

In the end, I wish these discussions were made public. I hope this roulette with such important decisions comes back to bite them in the ass. In the end I hope it is themselves they are throwing under the bus. 

What am I sinking about?

The title to this post could also be "You don't miss your water, till your well runs dry".
My domestic situation, specifically my kitchen sink faucet is really not newsworthy in the big scheme of things. Indeed it seems the whole world is spinning out of control. Madmen intent on killing. Politicians either acting like sandbox bullies, corporate whores, and lacking spine to pitch a PR fit that would resonate big time. So many dire situations I can't even keep track. But in the midst of all this panic and bickering, we do manage to fund wars, and the rich ones keep their money.

So back to the sink. Maybe these ideas segway together because it has something to do with clogged faucet intake valves, and things going down the drain? There is some kind of metaphor between my trickle down plumbing issues, and lack of flow in functionality in our government & the world.

 My Moen faucet actually restricts water flow to the point of agony. OK that may be a little dramatic, but waiting 15 minutes for a slow & slower trickle of water to flow so I can have the pleasure of washing dirty dishes sucks. 
Long story short ~ (Sung in the form of a classic blues style).


My faucet's trick-a-lin
soooooooo slow
I called me a plumber - to come on in
he said this de-siiiiign, is bad to the core.....
I can't do noth-in --but walk out your doooooor

I called the man-u-facturer'
said what's the deal?
this faucet---it ain't for real
They said, we'll sent a part to your door
... in a day or  week or more......


I got the plumbin' blues..... 
water ain't flowin' like it should
this Moen faucet... it ain't no good


they sent the wrong part-
4 days late
now the water the flow is worse
and I can't relate

I got the plumbin' blues..... 

water ain't flowin' like it should

this Moen faucet... it ain't no good

I have a trackin number

of a faucet on it's way

now I need a plumber to fix it  todayyyyyyyyyy.




Maybe I am embracing focusing on this old house & it's multitude of repairs because reality is too annoying! That and packing hot water from the bathtub faucet in a stew pot to do dishes is getting old, fast. 
 Pioneer days, not so much fun, really. 

Heartening

Sooo sweet to see all these couples in love finally have marriage equality in the State of New York.

After a lottery last week, New York City said it could accommodate 823 couples who wished to marry. The line outside the Manhattan office of the city clerk — couples, friends and family in outfits from bridal gowns and morning suits to T-shirts and shorts — formed at 4:30 a.m.

In New York City, 823 couples had signed up in advance to get marriage licenses yesterday. Marriage offices in each borough were open, with some drawing more than others.
Outside the five boroughs, more than a dozen other cities and towns from Buffalo to Brookhaven opened their offices to issue licenses, and more than 100 judges across the state have volunteered to officiate.

Chelsea residents Phyllis Siegel, 77, and Connie Kopelov, 85, got hitched at the marriage bureau on Worth Street in Lower Manhattan at 9:02 a.m.

‘‘It was just so amazing,’’ said Siegel, who has been with her love for 23 years. ‘‘It’s the only way I can describe it. I lost my breath and a few tears.’’

Phyllis Siegel (rear) and Connie Kopelov (front) celebrate after becoming the first same-sex couple to get married in New York City the day the state's gay marriage law went into effect.

She added: ‘‘This is the first day of the rest of our lives.

Wow!


Click here to see photos of a whole lot of very happy, loving people, now legally married, in the State of New York. 


Cheers to all the newlyweds~ May Love & Equal Rights surround you!


http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/07/24/nyregion/100000000963327/i-now-pronounce-you.html

Meet ALEC

"Corporations, like Koch Industries, Phillip Morris, Reynolds, Kraft, Wal-Mart, Bayer, Coca Cola, State Farm and more, sit on ALEC task forces and vote with state legislators to approve "model" bills in secret. They wine and dine legislators at swank hotels, with child care provided, fundraisers and other perks pre-arranged. After a swell time, participating legislators -- overwhelmingly conservative Republicans -- bring the bills home and introduce them into statehouses across the land as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations. ALEC cuts out the middleman and the state legislators themselves become "super lobbyists" for the ALEC agenda."


"ALEC is not a lobby, and it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that. Behind closed doors, corporations hand legislators the law changes they desire that directly benefit their bottom line. Corporations are "equal" members. They have their own corporate governing board which meets jointly with the legislative board. Corporations and trade groups fund almost all of ALEC's operations directly through hefty membership dues and indirectly through corporate foundations, like the Charles G. Koch Foundation."


A little sampler:

Starving State Government of Revenue to Make It Dysfunctional and Despised: ALEC members are introducing hundreds of bills to grant tax breaks to big corporations and to cripple state's ability to raise revenue, including new constitutional rules to limiting state taxing powers. Grover Norquist would love these lethal proposals.

Privatizing Schools and Other Government Services: ALEC bills encompass over 20 years of effort to privatize public education through an ever-expanding school voucher system, to turn Medicare and Medicaid into voucher programs,and to privatize almost all aspects of government including toll roads and bridges, pensions, foster care and prisons. Foreign firms like Maquarie and Cintra, which are snapping up U.S. roads and bridges, are also using ALEC to push model bills.

Race to the Bottom in Wages for Americans: ALEC bills would repeal state or local laws that boost workers wages such as "living wage" and prevailing wage laws. ALEC bills call a starting minimum wage an "unfunded mandate" but think that prison labor is just terrific. ALEC also supports a radical "free trade" agenda that sends U.S. manufacturing and an increasing number of service-sector jobs overseas.

Defunding Traditional Supporters of the Democratic Party: ALEC purports to be nonpartisan, but only 1 of 104 legislators in ALEC's leadership is a Democrat. ALECexposed.org contains dozens of bills to defund public sector and private sector unions and to make it harder for trial lawyers to bring cases when consumers are injured or killed by dangerous products.

* Credit: Common Dreams 

Check out the website ALEC EXPOSED

They have their fingers in these government "pies":

• Worker & Consumer rights

• Tort reform & injured Americans

• Privatizing Schools & Higher Education bills

• Health, Big Pharma & Social Welfare

• Environment, Energy & Agriculture

• Tax & budget bills

• Guns, Prisons, Crims & Immigration

One part of their campaign is to: 

EXPOSE ALEC LEGISLATORS. Demand the truth about which politicians in your state are in ALEC. Uncover whether YOUR tax dollars are paying ALEC "dues." Expose politicians who accept “scholarships” from ALEC's corporate-funded coffers for fancy trips.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS....

High-Profile

ALEC Award-Winners

• President Ronald Reagan
• President George Herbert Walker Bush
• Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
• Governor John Kasich, identified by ALEC as involved in its formative years
• Governor Rick Perry
• Governor Tommy Thompson
• GovernorJohn Engler
• Governor Mary Fallin
• Secretary William J. Bennett
• Senator Jack Kemp
• CongressmanTom Feeney
• Congressman Mark Foley

(In addition to these politicians, ALEC has given awards to such corporate CEOs as Richard DeVos and Jay VanAndel of Amway (both in 1993) and Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch of Koch Industries (both in 1994).)

Featured Speakers

• President George W. Bush
• Vice President Dick Cheney (1994, then Former Defense Secretary)
• Vice President Dan Quayle
• Attorney General John Ashcroft
• Congressman Newt Gingrich
• Senator Trent Lott
• Chief Domestic Policy Advisor Gary Bauer (Family Research Council)
• Governor George Allen
• Senator Jon Kyl
• Governor George Pataki
• Senator Bob Dole

(Economist Milton Friedman has also been a featured speaker. At ALEC's 33rd Annual Meeting in 2006, he spoke about issues including the economy, school choice, education reform, tax reform.)

Alumni

• Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)
• Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois)
• Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (1995 Chair of ALEC Business Policy Board)
• Speaker Tom DeLay (R-Texas)
• White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card (for George W. Bush’s Administration)
• Senator Don Nickles (Oklahoma)
• Congressman Joe Wilson (recently called Obama a "liar")
• Representative Dan Burton (Indiana)
• Congressman Billy Tauzin (Louisiana)
• Representative Katherine Harris (Florida)
• Senator Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma)

WOW! I feel the need to go take a shower after reading this list of names. Katherine Harris is the former Secretary of State in Florida during the hanging chad election nightmare in the 2000 Bush2/Gore stolen election. 

Boehner just walked out on budget negotiations w the president yesterday, even though he makes $223,500 as Speaker of the House. How many jobs do you get to walk off in a hissy fit & still keep over $2 grand salary?

Tm Delay is now a convicted felon for money laundering. Rumsfeld, Cheney, Ashcroft  Bush2 should all be in jail for long lists of crimes against humanity. 

Click here to see a more extensive list of ALEC (owned) politicians. 

I thought lobbyists were bad enough, this takes it to a whole new lower level.