HOW SMALL WOULD THE GOVERNMENT HAVE TO BE TO SATISFY THESE RIGHT WING RADICALS?
When you hear “Our government is too big” and “government is the problem” or “the best government is that which governs least” it harkens back to the Reagan ideology which he took on from the very first day he was in office. He uttered those very concepts at his Inaugural address, and I seriously question how any President could actually govern a country if he holds those ideas.
We must take into consideration that we are a large nation, we are the number one Super Power nation in the world therefore we can’t possibly have a small government and we are the only nation that exists and was founded because of an ideology: EGALITARIANISM. We also have a very dear concept that is almost irrelevant at this point in our history: DEMOCRACY; as we have seen this eroded by special interests and the power of the rich and the corporations.
What is it precisely that the right wing wants to eliminate in order to make government smaller? Is it all the safety nets for the poor and the middle class? Surely they think that is Socialism but to sacrifice the middle and poor classes and benefit the few rich and the corporations? That is not acceptable to any American when you get right down to it.
Let me see if I get this right…in order to satisfy these people we should eliminate what from our government? Should we do away with: INCOME TAX, SOCIAL SECURITY, UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION, PUBLIC EDUCATION, MEDICARE AND MEDICAID, THE EPA, THE DEA, OSHA, and THE MILITARY?
Why do we begrudge a single mother a few thousand dollars or the unemployed, who are jobless because of the wreck less policies of Republicans unemployment benefits? Yet we give corporations billions in bail outs and also even subsidies to milk us dry. Where were all these people who now protest when Bush was giving away the store? Did they complain about the National Debt then? Did they think that the deficit was going to take care of itself just like the Stock Market and Banks would take care of themselves?
Our government is big indeed, but so is our country. How do we meet the challenges of the 21st century without any government stimulus or initiatives? Do you think that private enterprise would rise up to that challenge? What happens when corporations are left to their own devices like the Health Care Insurance industry or the Oil Companies? Are they doing what is right for the country or for their bottom line?
Many people adhere to the concept that the free market will take care of itself, will apply the corrections and solutions according to the law of supply and demand. But what if there is no supply, just demand as is the case with Health Insurance and fuel? If you eliminate competition then whoever controls supply can ask an arm and a leg for it. We have seen how we have been blackmailed by the Health Insurance companies, messing with our right to be healthy and in some cases just survive by getting medical attention, it matters not if it bankrupts us while getting it…so that we are forced to pay obscene amounts for the insurance premiums simply because we have no other choice.
Likewise we see how our addiction to fossil fuels have diminished our capacity to make choices and we are even subsidizing adversary nations in order to get our fix…we are willing to pay up the kazoo for a gallon of gasoline to put into our gas guzzlers and that is perfectly acceptable. It is also palatable to allow the oil companies to explore and drill for oil in ecologically sensitive areas, and we have seen the results of mishaps that have reached an unprecedented catastrophe and are we Americans to apologize to them rather than make them pay for the damage they cause?
Maybe I am missing something here.
Why should we the taxpayers be subsidizing large corporations? Why should they not pay one red cent in taxes particularly if they are no longer American corporations because they picked up and set up housekeeping in Yemen, Dubai or the United Arab Emirates? Should we even continue doing business with them? When are the rich and the corporations going to begin to pay their fair share? Why should the taxpayer shed out bail outs so these fat cats can live in the lap of luxury in the Hamptons when their corporations and their products contribute absolutely nothing to the economy…Why should we, if they are parasites?
EVEN THE RIGHT WING EVANGELICALS ARE QUESTIONING CORPORATIONS
Dr. Russell Moore the dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and preaches at Highview Baptist Church near Louisville, Ky. told NPR's Audie Cornish that calling on government to hold companies responsible for their actions isn't out of character for evangelicals.
"There's really nothing conservative — and certainly nothing evangelical — about a laissez-faire view of a lack of government regulation," Moore says, "because we, as Christians, believe in sin."
"That means if people are sinful, if all of us are sinful, then all of us have to have accountability — and that includes corporations." Moore says. "Simply trusting corporations to go about their business without polluting the water streams and without destroying ecosystems is really a naive and utopian view of human nature. It's not a Christian view of human nature."
I propose to you that if our government is too big, then we cannot allow it to fail because if it fails, we fail and we as Americans would be up the creek without a paddle. So that for those of you who want President Obama to fail, you are only wishing our country to fail and that is not very patriotic of you even if you parade around in Patriot costumes, wear lapel flags and carry misspelled signs.
Halliburton, the oil services company formerly headed by US Vice-President Dick Cheney, is moving its headquarters from Texas to Dubai.
The company said it hoped the move to the United Arab Emirates would help it expand its business in the Middle East. Halliburton won valuable contracts in Iraq following the US-led invasion of 2003, some of which were awarded without competitive bidding.
The oil giant will keep an office in Houston but the posts of chairman, president and chief executive will be based in Dubai. Chief Executive Dave Lesar, speaking at a conference in Bahrain, confirmed that he would be relocating.
PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.photohome.com/pictures/washington-dc-pictures/us-capitol-building-1a.jpg
http://lastpostofsanity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/halliburton20stock.jpg
http://futureupdate.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/halliburton-logo.jpg
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128130198&ft=1&f=1001
0 comments:
Post a Comment