This Friday, customers of Apple Computer will wait in lines to take it in the ass by paying $600 for a phone. Then they are forced to sign a contract with AT&T, which is notorious for slow and shitty cell phone service. After the 2 year contract is signed these drones will pay up to $3,000 to use a phone for two years. Because Apple cares about its customers so much, they are out pricing the next competitor by double and then forcing them to sign a contract with a known lemon. Thanks Apple, we appreciate the love!

Who is the more foolish: the fool or the fool who follows the fool? In every case it's always the fool who follows the fool. Although this $600 price tag is a better example of price gouging than the oil companies, people will line up like brainless drones for a chance to dump their money for something which will be obsolete in six months. Then they’ll have to line up again to dump another $600 for the same thing but with more RAM or a different color.

When I see people willing to pay $3,000 to use a phone for two years, then I can very easily foresee $6 a gallon gas prices. The American consumer is infatuated with taking it in the ass, in fact; they’ll line up to take it in the ass. If gas prices were $6 per gallon, people would still buy the enormo SUV’s by the bushel because GM told them they needed it or they saw a commercial and it looked cool. When will people start to think with their brain instead of their ego?

This is the reason people in other countries hate us so much. We are a brainless society. We buy gold chains when we can’t afford food. We buy vehicles which burn gas like a forest fire consumes trees, while we watch the effects of global warming on the news like it’s a video game. We shop with forklifts and over pay for everything with a 29% credit card and then file bankruptcy next year. Meanwhile our expenses runneth over our income like the Gulf of Mexico at a New Orleans’ levy during a hurricane. Then we end up crying on Dr. Phil because our wife fucked the trash guy after the house was foreclosed.

The typical American consumer spends $1.10 for every $1 they earn, and the average credit card debt is closing in on $10,000 per household. This is stupid behavior but when people line up to pay $600 for a phone then I can easily see how this happens.

The above graph shows the escalating credit card debt in America. Lets all give Apple a big round of applause for contributing to this problem.

I’ll bet most of the people buying this device cannot afford it but will just charge it, further contributing to their downward economic slide. After all, this is not really a phone, it’s a status symbol. People will buy this device to compensate in other areas they are deficient; like maybe cock size or wallet size or even personality.

“But Darth, maybe if the hot chick at the coffee shop sees me with this phone while I drink my $6 cup of coffee, she’ll go home with me.” Could the hot chick actually have a brain and think, “What a waste of money? Anybody who spends $600 phone and $6 on a cup of coffee is a loser.” In any event, how will you even be able to afford to take her out when you will spend $3,000 for phone service for the next two years but you work at a dollar store?

When I see things like this happen, I see the collective intelligence of the entire country drop by 100 points. Can you survive with a phone which costs $300? And even that is obscene. Yea you could, but that would make too much sense. The typical American is infatuated with irrational behavior.

Exxon Mobil today announced earnings for 2006 at over $35 billion. There is no mystery to high gas prices; just look at $35 billion and that should answer any question as to why gas prices are so high. Even as crude oil prices tumbled in late 2006, prices at the pump did not always fall at the same rate.

This is a classic example of how a corporation’s interest often conflicts with the interests of the country. When this happens government regulations need to exist to curtail the corporation in question. Exxon Mobil could easily contribute to crushing our economy by charging whatever it wants for gasoline products in 2007. What can the government do to prevent these corporate giants from negatively impacting society? Turn them into nonprofits.

I am not in favor of what Chavez is doing in Venezuela but I respect his motives. At least he will not allow a thieving oil company to suck money out of his middle class. But nationalizing something like oil could also lead to government corruption. In my opinion, any market which is deemed needed for the survival of the country or its people should be made into a nonprofit market.

Examples of where nonprofit entities are needed include: hospitals, drug companies and other health care facilities, utilities such as electricity, gas, water, and sewer, gasoline companies like Exxon Mobil, banking services including loans and interest on debt. Just think about how good our life would be if we could all afford healthcare and did not have to pay exorbitant interest rates. Just those two items alone would make life better for all of us overnight.

Am I suggesting Best Buy be forced into nonprofit status? Absolutely not. There is nothing wrong with earning profits because the consumer chose one product over another. But when there is no choice or when the market is rampant with collusion or when you cannot afford life saving drugs or treatments because they are too expensive, the consumer needs protection.

Imagine taking that $35 billion and giving it back directly to the drivers of automobiles. Imagine taking the $600 million Ameren earned in 2006 and giving it back to the families in the St. Louis area. Ameren actually is seeking a rate increase this year, like $600 million was not enough money.

How much is enough? The answer to this question, there is never enough for them. If they earn $35 billion this year they are going to want $50 billion next year. This cycle will continue until this beast consumes everything around it. This is the problem with capitalism and why certain markets must be regulated. As long a product has plenty of substitutions, capitalism and the free market system will be successful. But when smaller companies are allowed to merge into bigger companies to create monopolies and energy companies are not regulated, they will run wild and consume everything.

If you live in St. Louis then you know the owners of the Cardinals are required to build a Ball Park Village as an addition to the new stadium. They have three years to do so or face a $3 million dollar penalty per year until this village is completed.

It was initially conceived this add on to the stadium would coast about $60 million dollars but recent developments reveals the actual cost to be more in the neighborhood of $600 million. So now the Cardinals management are crying poor and wanting the tax payers to pick up some of these costs.

They want the tax payers of St. Louis to pay the initial investment and then give them a tax break on the revenues earned. If the city of St. Louis complies, they would assume no ownership role in the business, nor would they get any revenue gaining privileges. This sounds like a bad investment for the tax payers.

Usually when a percentage of the startup costs are paid by an individual or entity, that individual or entity gets ownership in the business and shares in the revenues. Part of the American dream involves risk but I have heard Bill DeWitt will not even personally finance any of his business projects. He prefers to have others take that plunge for him while he collects the revenues without sharing in any of the risks.

What about the businesses that have been operating in the area for years? Why should we give an unfair advantage to the Cardinals owners to dominate this market? The businesses already operating in the area did not start with any public money nor do they get any tax breaks.

It is time we stopped giving out tax money to companies wanting to open a business in a particular community. When local and state governments give these unfair advantages to larger businesses it hurts everybody. First of all, because they do not pay personal property tax, their presence does not benefit the local schools. So the under-funding of education continues. If we would just collect the fair taxes on all of the business in the St. Louis area we would have no education shortages.

Secondly, as I stated earlier, the small business are forced to close because they cannot compete with larger business that don’t pay taxes, get free real estate from the government, and get their start up costs provided by the government.

I have heard some economists say the added tax revenues created by the jobs will pay for the tax breaks. That would be like if I wanted the government to give me $5million to build an addition to my house for the additional personal property taxes they would collect on the enhancement. Ludicrous!!

If the Cardinals owners want to build an extravagant Ball Park Village, then they should pay for it. Stop corporate welfare and stop handing out money to the rich!!

Sugar makes food taste good. When our ancestors were roaming the bush looking for non-poisonous foods, sweet tasting items were usually guaranteed not to be poisonous. Sweet foods also provided them with much needed nourishment because of the carbohydrates.

However, since mankind has developed technology for growing and concentrating refined sugars in unimaginable levels, our sweet tooth has become our enemy within. Like a moth drawn to a flame, that sweet tooth leads us to greater and greater heights of sugar intake. More sugar does not make us healthier, so our taste buds are leading us down the slippery slope of diabetes, heart disease and a host of other ailments.

This is evident in our children, in which we are raising the most obese and sedentary generation in the history of mankind. We reward out kids for sitting around all day playing video games with candy. We encourage them to eat more, do less. At meal time when they might accidentally eat something healthy, we allow them to smother it with ketchup or some other sugar enhanced condiment so the kids’ taste buds are forever tainted. This is very evident when I read an article like this.

In an effort to curb the epidemic of obesity, the federal government mandated healthier lunches in schools but our children’s taste buds are so corrupted they cannot handle eating foods devoid of heavy doses of sugar. These kids will not eat salads, vegetables or fruit because they are “gross”. They even put less sugar in the lunchroom cookies but the kids will not eat them unless they contain dangerous levels of sugar.

This has happened because instead of parents requiring their children to eat healthy, they have allowed children to choose their own food. Now we have a generation of sugar addicts and lazy malcontents, whose only legacy will be to contribute to ever exploding levels of diabetes and other ailments in the future. In today’s household menus, it is evident that vegetables, fibers and fruit are absent from the plate and replaced with a mixture high fat and high sugar. But why?

Are the parents conveniently avoiding arguments early in a child’s development risking long term damage to the child’s health for peace in the home?

“:Eat your veggies, Johnny!”
“No! WWWWAAAAAAA!!”
“Okay……… here………… eat this candy …………just stop crying!”

Are the parents not capable of controlling their own diet so the child takes on the behavior of the parent?

Parent opens the fridge. “What should I make for dinner today? Hot dogs and Ding Dongs sound good to me. What do you think, Johnny?”
Little Johnny nods with a smile on his face.

Not only are the foods we eat very bad for our health but the size of the portions we consume are irregular. After eating the healthier meals which included portions sizes conducive to the child’s age, 149 out of 175 complained they did not get enough food. So not only are the hot dogs and Ding Dongs being consumed but they are being consumed from an elephant’s plate. Again, what is going on with these parents?

After dinner, instead of the parent sending the child outside for some much needed exercise or maybe even a brisk walk, its back to the ass.

“Fire up the video game! Warm up the TV! The ass is getting a vigorous work out tonight!”

I applaud the federal government in their attempt to bring some health to America (and I don’t applaud them for very much these days). But this effort will fail unless the parents are accountable and enforce some basic fundamental rules. You can’t live on hot dogs and Ding Dongs. Doesn’t anybody remember the four food groups anymore?

I support tax breaks but I do not believe in trickle down economics. Trickle down economics is a theory of economics whereby you give a tax break to the rich with the belief that they will spend more and the money spent will come back and help the lower classes. If the lower classes need the money, why not just give the lower classes a tax break?

The ruling class like to give their colleagues incentives to continue to contribute to their campaign funds, so they created trickle down economics as a bullshit formula to support this.

I think this the following information should come to no surprise to anybody. The following information is about the latest bill to extend the tax cuts and comes from CNN's Lou Dobb's program:

EARNINGS ---------------MONEY RETURNED FROM TAX BREAK
$20k-30k ---------------$9.00
$50k-$75k ---------------$110.00
$100k-200k -------------$1,388.00
More than $1 million ---$41,977.00

With mounting deficits, the government decides to grant a tax cut to wealthy people. Priceless!!

The minimum wage increase failed last week because it contained pork legislature giving the upper class an even bigger tax break than this. When a bill fails, always look at the extra pork within before you get angry. If you want to get angry at anybody, then get angry at the politicians that put this extra baggage into legislation.

About a week and a half ago the price of oil jumped to over $75 per barrel. I remember reading an article that same day saying the price hike in crude would cause $3 per gallon gas prices at the pump. While I was driving home that same day I noticed the gas stations changing their prices to $3 a gallon reflect this increase. How in the hell is this possible?

From the time oil is sold until it becomes a refined product at the pump is almost three weeks or more. So how could this increase hit the pump so fast unless we were being gouged? I found only one gas station with the old price and they kept it until last Friday when they finally jumped with the rest of them.

The excuse for the price increase in oil to over $75 a barrel was increasing tension with Iran. This is insane!!! You mean I can charge somebody more for a product just in case it becomes scarcer in the future? Can you imagine charging more for a product for an event that might not ever happen? If the event never happens can I get my money back?

When the Congress investigated gas prices last fall they forgot to factor in the bullshit like this. They found nothing shady about the oil industry. The bullshit factor is when you raise prices in anticipation of a shortage. This should be an illegal practice. If there is a shortage then you can raise prices but you should never be allowed to raise prices for an inelastic good without an actual event.

By finding no wrong doing, the Congress is saying they can charge whatever they want and it’s perfectly legal. When the people got upset with these findings the economists defended the corporations. In the economists’ minds, you should be able to charge whatever price the market will hold regardless of its impact on society.

So in this case we have another example of corporate goals not being in alignment with the health and welfare of society; as well as, another example of collusion. All of the stations except one raise the price immediately even though they had not felt the impact of the higher price yet. The gas in their tanks was bought at the old price. And they all raised prices together even though they are supposed to be different companies.

You might think discrimination should not exist in a free society but it is allowed. I am going to expose the collusionary practice of price discrimination and show how businesses are allowed to charge more to certain customers based on class. The entire wholesale/distributor industry discriminates by selling only to a select few (usually higher class individuals). It is collusion because they have all decided not to sell to consumers to artificially inflate prices for the retailers. Again, this is called collusion which is illegal in our country.

I used to work in produce for Kroger back in the mid-eighties and I remember finding a wholesale price list my boss accidentally left out. The item that stood out in my mind was they paid one penny a pound for potatoes and resold them for 99 cent per pound. But if you tried to buy those potatoes from that wholesaler/distributor at one penny per pound you would be turned away. Why? Isn’t my money good enough? But I’m not a rich corporation or business so they will refuse to sell to me.

When you think about it, we don’t need retailers; consumers should be allowed to purchase directly from the wholesalers. All retailers are good for is driving up prices; they offer nothing else. But consumers are not allowed to purchase directly for the wholesaler and this is collusion at its finest. If you locate one of these wholesalers or distributors and try to buy something you will be denied unless you have a tax ID which you can only get if you have a business license.

Each wholesaler or distributor should be able to sell to any consumer, whether they are business or private homes but they want to maintain a higher pricing scheme so they elect to sell only to other businesses. Do you realize how cheaper things would be if we were allowed to do this?

I’ll give you another example of this collusion. A furniture store near my home announced a going out of business sale. We have wanted a new bedroom set for quite sometime so we went but the prices were horrible for a going out of business sale, only about 10%-25% from the full retail price. I found out later if you were a business and shopped there you could get a discount on the merchandise for as much as 75% from the retail price. Why couldn’t I get that same deal? Who cares who I am as long as they get the money? This industry takes care of its own by practicing collusion which is illegal in our country.

Another example of collusion is I used to work for a printing house, one of the biggest in the world. They printed many of the educational books both in the collegiate and high school levels. We print books at a cost to the publisher of $3 - $5 each. Then the publisher sells them to the students at $100-$150 each!!! They do nothing except ship the books to the schools and give a few pennies to the author. I don’t know about you but that kind of profit really pisses me off!!

One final example and I’m done. When I was younger I collected baseball cards. I used to get the monthly Beckets Guide that would tell me the values of my cards. Well I had several Ozzie Smith rookies that were valued at $90 so I decided to sell a couple. I took them to the local baseball card shop where he had one for $90 so offered him two more but he would not pay me more than $20 for each card. What I did not realize is the Beckets is for a consumer buying cards, but businesses have an entire underground of pricing that was far cheaper than I could obtain. That was my introduction to pricing discrimination practices in our country. Businesses get things cheaper than people.

Collusion is illegal in this country so why doesn’t the government go after these businesses? Because of this, I am going to get a tax ID and a business license so I can gain access to this underground and get goods at a reasonable price. I should not have to do this but the rules are against us, so if we don’t start getting smart these businesses will suck us dry.

Some of the bigger businesses like Wal-Mart have already figured out that cutting out one level in the chain will decrease prices. They use a practice call lateral positioning where they are their own wholesaler\distributor. That is one of the reasons they can sell goods cheaper than anyone else. They cut out a whole level of business. This also gives them the ability to penetrate smaller markets and drive everybody else out, because they can sell items to the consumer cheaper than these smaller businesses pay for them at the wholesaler.

What needs to be done is a non-profit retailer that acts as a wholesaler and a retailer. This business buys directly from the manufacturers and then sells directly to the consumer. Imagine how cheaper things would be. This business would exist to keep prices more affordable for all. All the profits would go to pay employees a decent salary and give them free healthcare. Maybe then the poor could afford more items and those of us with more income could retire earlier. Am I a dreamer or what?

The San Francisco Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is suing AT&T for allowing the government unabated access to everyone’s personal confidential information. AT&T was one of the few ISP’s to buckle under government pressure and grant access to its voice and data networks to allow unwarranted federal snooping on American citizens. I know this sounds like something from the headlines of a Chinese newspaper but this is really the American government I am talking about.

In response to this lawsuit, AT&T initiated a disturbing new policy. The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it "to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process."

Customers are required to agree to this policy to get service. This will limit the consumer’s ability to take any legal action against AT&T. This broad policy allows AT&T to disclose a customer’s private information without consent. American consumers should respond to this by cancelling all services with AT&T. Here is the article if you want to read all of it.

I don’t have a problem with AT&T responding to a judge’s order for surveillance but this unregulated snooping of American citizens must stop. This was the behavior I was referring to in my Big Brother post last week regarding the letter my employer received. I did post an update stating our letter was NOT a request to snoop but ensuring our equipment was compatible with their snooping system.

It seems the American public is accepting this behavior. I have not heard much opposition so I guess everybody has no problem with the government snooping on us without warrants. I have come to realize that unless an issue affects our pocketbooks it is usually ignored in our society.

This should be a bipartisan issue. Everybody should support the Constitution’s system of checks and balances and oppose this legislation or policy (or whatever you call it.)

Life contains risks but as we have learned throughout history, we cannot sacrifice freedom for safety. Safety issues came and go but once freedoms are lost, they are lost forever and can only be regained through blood.

How do you feel about this?

Being this blog is named Neutrality, I am in favor of all things neutral, but the Net Neutrality legislation proposed by big business and the ISPs is not neutral at all.

Net neutrality is a term used by ISP’s to give certain customers faster service. Certain customers like Microsoft, Google and Yahoo and the ISPs themselves, will get cheaper rates with faster speeds while the rest of the Internet community pays higher fees for slower access. This does not sound neutral to me.

How do these companies get faster speeds cheaper; I thought the faster speeds cost more? False. The larger companies including the ISPs will be able to negotiate cheaper rates with the government. This will completely stifle competition and transform the Internet into a Microsoft, Google and Yahoo monopoly, among other companies. All under a new government regulated umbrella.

The best way to safeguard an open Internet is to maintain the free and open competition that exists today. And not create a new government regulated socialized Internet. Net Neutrality is nothing more than special interest legislation dress up to sound less self serving.

Contrary to what these businesses say, there are no problems with the Internet. Net Neutrality is just an effort by big business to seize control, while allowing ISPs to charge outrageous rates to consumers.

Price regulation would stifle any economic incentive to innovate and invest in the private networks. Over time we would end up with a slower Internet but higher prices and taxes for consumers, fewer broadband choices, and slower broadband deployment to all Americans. It would also mean less privacy, as Net Neutrality would require government monitoring and surveillance.

So don’t be fooled by the big business lies regarding Net Neutrality. This is bad business for the American consumer.

With gas prices soaring above the $3 mark and expecting to soon eclipse the $4 mark, people are wondering who is to blame. There is no individual company or person to blame for this problem but there are plenty of individuals responsible.

Supply Lines – Limited Blame

In this article, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister stated supplies are not a problem because there is plenty of oil being produced. Saudi Arabia contributed 9 million barrels per day to the world supply and is expected to increase production to 12.5 million barrels by 2009. But he admits if the price of crude oil is to stabilize then other suppliers will have to increase production and the world will have to have better conservation methods.

Where is all of this oil we were supposed to get from Iraq? We were told we could pay for this war with the oil we got from Iraq only I don’t see any oil. Can you imagine how the price of crude would tumble if Iraq also produced 9 million barrels of oil per day?

American Consumers – Most of The Blame

Let’s face reality here; America uses most of the oil produced. You can complain about increased demand in China until you are blue in the face, but the reality is the American consumer uses most of the world oil supplies. Oil demands by the American consumer grow so fast production cannot keep up. By comparison, demand in most European Nations is up only slightly.

Therefore, the primary culprit of the soaring gas prices are the knuckleheads that still purchase gas guzzling automobiles. I am not talking about someone who owned one before 2004 (although there is some blame for them), I am talking about the idiot that bought one this year or last year.

Even though gas prices are at record levels, SUV sales are declining but only by 30%. Who are these knuckleheads that are still buying SUVs even though the outlook on gas prices is horrendous? The people that purchase SUVs in today’s market are are mostly responsible for the rising gas prices.

Every time I see one of these “Darwin award recipients waiting to happen” on the news, filling up their monstrosity of a gas tank and complaining how it cost $120, I laugh out loud. Just once, I would like it if the reporter would bitch slap them and say, “Idiot! Why do you think gas is so high?!!” They never do.

Another disturbing report stated RV sales and rentals have shown a slight increase in demand. These vehicles get between 5 and 8 gallons per gallon, thereby proving the knuckleheads that buy or rent these are solid idiots. I’ll bet these people also have 2 SUVs in the driveway. The next time you see one of these mental giants driving down the freeway, you should thank them for contributing to the $4 gallon of gas by extending the finger to them.

Refining Companies – Much Blame

The refineries are a big problem because bottlenecks in production translate into more profit for them. We have known about the bottleneck in the refining process for at least a decade but yet absolutely nothing has ever been done to remedy the problem. It is a known fact that every spring the refineries close a large portion of their production to do “maintenance” which contributes to the spike in prices in April and May.

Why doesn’t the government force these companies to do their “maintenance” in the fall or the winter when demand is very low? Why doesn’t the government force these companies to build more refineries? Because we all know as long as big business profits are high there is no incentive to do anything except lay off people to make even more money.

Commodities Traders – Much Blame

These are the people largely responsible for setting the price of oil per barrel. Do you remember hearing the reason for the rising oil prices was “because of rising tensions in the Middle East” or some other ridiculous reason that eventually never happened? Well these are the clever capitalists responsible for that. When our government looks into price gouging instead of looking at the gas pump they should look at these vicious sharks. The true market never sets an accurate price because these cajoles always find an excuse to keep prices high.

Our Government – Much Blame

Our government should be responsible for keeping the industry honest but they have not done a very good job. Here are a few ideas for the guys and gals in Washington:

• Keep the refineries on-line during peaks in demand.
• Hold the refineries responsible for increasing production as demand increases.
• Set higher standards for fuel efficiency for the auto makers. The American consumer has proven they are too stupid to act responsibly so we might have to start regulating this.
• Allow Tax breaks for people that buy hybrids. How about no sales taxes for cars with fuel efficiency ratings over 30 miles per gallon? You can make up the difference by up charging taxes for the purchasers of vehicles with a fuel efficiency rating of less than 22 miles per gallon.
• During peaks in demand the government should lessen or eliminate all gas taxes. If it’s true that Exxon earned $8.4 billion in one quarter from 9.5 cents profit per gallon of gas, then the government with taxes running over 40 cents per gallon earned close to $40 billion during that same quarter.
• The federal government also needs to end the state regulated gas formulas and mandate one formula for all. Because each state can mandate is own custom gas formula, supply is always an issue because refineries cannot keep up with all of the different mixtures. They have difficulty enough with keep up supply without this added burden.

American Auto-Makers – Much Blame

Do you realize that since the first Model-T rolled off the assembly line we have not made any significant improvement in gas mileage? The Model T got 34 miles per gallon. They have invented plenty of other costly improvements; mostly only in comfort areas. But they have never invented something to help save the consumer’s money only improvements to help spend the consumer’s money.

The primary reason the auto industry still produces large quantities of SUV’s is because they make more money from those models than from smaller more gas efficient automobiles. New smaller cars can sell for as little as $8,000, while their larger counterparts can sell for as high as $50,000. You can see why the auto industry does not want American tastes to change and will not promote these changing tastes. If not for foreign auto makers, they would still be producing the muscle cars from the 1970’s because consumers would not have any other choices.

But the worst decision of all is the auto makers’ insistence in staying with the internal combustion engine. You would think that after nearly a century they could produce a better engine. I don’t know if the oil companies are partially to blame but this engine should have gone the way of the dinosaur many years ago.

Patriotism

If you really want to be a true patriot and do your part to help the country; then conserve energy. You can start with changing your tastes from huge inefficient automobiles to smaller more fuel efficient ones. Take smaller trips or consolidate your trips in the car.

Remember, every time you fill up your gas tank you put money in the hands of the Arabs. Eventually that money finds its way to terrorists.

Conclusion

The bottom line is there is no simple solution to combat the rising gas prices. Even if you don’t drive you will pay higher prices for other goods; there is no way to avoid inflation. Who is to blame for high gas prices? There is plenty of blame to go around. Some of us only need to look in the mirror to find someone to blame.

If all things were equal I would have no problem with immigrants coming to America. But all things are not equal so the flood of immigrants to this country is harming lower class, unskilled Americans by taking their limited supply of jobs. Many immigrants, especially the illegal immigrants, will work for less than minimum wage with no benefits and thus the unskilled American worker cannot compete.

The unskilled American worker has already lost their manufacturing job to China. So now they are trying to get jobs in infrastructure but now those are being taken by immigrants working for less than a living wage with no benefits. There is no place left for these unskilled workers to go. Let’s face it, not every American can get a college education but they should still be able to get a job to support their family.

Illegal aliens should not be permitted to stay in America as these people are here illegally. There should be no argument here; illegals are illegal. If businesses are found to employ illegals then those businesses should be heavily fined and, in some cases, the owners put in jail and the business closed. If you take away the income from these people provided by business, then you will stop the problem.

Who should we blame for this mess? We should blame the greedy, blood sucking businesses that leech onto cheap labor and suck them dry. We should not blame the illegal immigrants for wanting to better their lives by coming to America; we should blame the businesses who prey upon them. Tougher labor laws are needed to protect American labor. So if we are going to punish anybody then put the business owners and HR people in jail for businesses that employ these illegal workers. It would be wrong to punish the illegals but they should be sent back to their country. If opportunity dries up then they will return to their countries or not even come here to begin with.

Our borders are not protected at all. It would be very easy for Al-Qaeda to penetrate our country through Mexico or Canada, yet no one is talking about that issue. Our borders need to be protected and people who cross illegally should be stopped. The Patriot Act was created specifically to deal with these people. I do believe the Patriot Act chips away at our rights but the reason we need it is because of the flood of undocumented illegals into our country. Perhaps if we could eliminate the illegals from our streets we will no longer have any need for the Patriot Act and we could then reclaim those lost rights again.

The H-1B visa program was created to help business combat the "shortage" of IT workers in America. It did not do that. What it did do was eliminate well-paying IT jobs. Jobs that paid in excess of $60,000 were quickly given to H-1B visa immigrant workers at $30,000 or less. Business would have you believe they need these H-1B immigrants because they cannot find American workers skilled enough to do these jobs. In reality, American workers are in abundance but not at $30,000. This is a microcosm of the problem with immigrant workers.

Pro-business politicians would have you believe these immigrants are needed because Americans will not perform any of these jobs. That is a false statement. Americans will work any job but not at less than market wages. Now you can see how the flood of immigrants both legal and illegal is harmful to lower class and middle class America. Americans already have enough problems finding work without having to compete with immigrants who will work for less than a living wage with no benefits.

You cannot look at this issue through the emotional eyes of the immigrant. The immigrant is trying to better their lives and the lives of their families by coming here and we should all respect that. However, we should be looking at this through the emotional eyes of our poorest American families that cannot find work because an immigrant worker is doing the job for much less than minimum wage. We should always protect Americans first.

Please note: From now on I’m going to use the term “sith lord” to represent whenever one of our idiot leaders takes away from the poor and gives to the rich and becomes sort of an anti Robin Hood. Let me introduce our first sith lord.

When Missourians stupidly elected Matt Blunt, little did they know they unleashed a sith lord on the state. When Matt Blunt was elect governor of Missouri, the first thing he did was to strip poor families of healthcare. With the same pen, he then awarded millions in tax breaks to businesses. Like most sith lord Republicans, Matt Blunt is an ambassador for big business and, likewise, unsympathetic toward anyone else. The hardest hit by these Blunt cutbacks were handicapped children, the elderly, and the working poor.

So it was no surprise when a recent study found out that in Missouri, uninsured adults were more than four times more likely to go without medical care when they needed it, compared with those who have insurance. Preventative care is non existent for these uninsured, hard-working families. So when they get sick it is usually something serious and expensive.

It was also no surprise when the same study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund, a private health policy foundation in New York; found that 41 percent of adults earning $20,000 to $40,000 were uninsured in 2005. That's a jump from 28 percent lacking coverage in 2001. Of the estimated 48 million adults’ uninsured at some time in the past year, 67 percent were in families where at least one person was working full time. One in five adults under age 65 said they were paying off debt from medical bills. More than 1.3 million adults in the Midwest from ages 50 to 64 are uninsured.

In all, two studies were conducted. One found that increasing numbers of working people earning moderate to middle-class incomes are joining the ranks of the uninsured. A second found that a significant percentage of people without health insurance in the past year were unable to get medical care.

More statistics from the Commonwealth Fund survey (these statistics include the entire country):

• Two of five Americans with incomes from $20,000 to $40,000 a year (41 percent) were uninsured for at least part of the past year.

• More than half of adults earning under $20,000 a year (53 percent) spent time uninsured in the past year.

• Of the estimated 48 million adults who spent any time uninsured in the past year, 67 percent were in families in which at least one person was working full time.

• More than half of uninsured adults (51 percent) reported medical debt or problems with medical bills. Of those, nearly half (49 percent) used up all their savings to pay their medical bills. Two of five were unable to pay for basic necessities like food, heat or rent because of their medical debt.

• 59 percent of uninsured adults who had a chronic illness, such as diabetes or asthma, did not fill a prescription or skipped their medications because they could not afford them.

• More than a third of uninsured adults (35 percent) who had a chronic condition went to an emergency room or stayed overnight in the hospital in the past year because of their condition - about two times the rate of people with chronic conditions who had insurance all year.

Remember these are working people. They get up everyday and go to work but they get no healthcare so they skip life saving medications and when they do get sick, end up in hospital emergency rooms. If these families own homes they won’t have them long because the first illness will probably take everything they own.

Matt Blunt is not responsible for creating this mess but he compounded the problem by further adding to these statistics. Let’s all remember this sith lord at election time.

Ted Kennedy has renewed his annual fight to raise the minimum wage. Criticize this guy all you want but he is an ambassador for the poor. In the face of overwhelming Republican opposition, he is trying to bring morality and ethics to a Congress lacking in both.

Why do I say Congress is lacking in morality and ethics? Because since 1997 they have not supported giving the poorest Americans a raise but during that span they have raised their own salaries by $31,000. Congress claims that America cannot afford a minimum wage increase but, adjusted for inflation, corporate profits are up a staggering 85% while the minimum wage fell 41% and the average hourly wage fell 4%. The retail sector, which employs a large numbers of workers at or near minimum wage, profits have skyrocketed 159% while wages have tumbled.

Wages are a moral issue in this country. Do you think wages are not a moral issue? Then answer these questions:

• It is immoral that workers who put food on our table go without health care to put food on theirs?
• It is immoral that workers who care for children, the ill and the elderly struggle to care for their own families?
• It is immoral that the minimum wage keeps people in poverty and does not help them get out of poverty?
• It is immoral that Congress votes to limit wages of the poorest Americans but likewise increases their own wages?

These statistics support the minimum wage increase and prove businesses are not hurt like naysayer’s forecast. In the words of Joel Marks, national director of the American Small Business Alliance, "Fair wages are good for business."

With the federal minimum wage stuck in quicksand, a growing number of states have raised their state minimums above $5.15—Oregon and Washington are highest at $7.50 and $7.63, respectively. Studies by the Fiscal Policy Institute and others have shown that states with minimum wages above the federal level have had better employment trends than the other states, including for retail businesses and small businesses.

Dan Gardner, commissioner of Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries, says, "Overall most low-wage workers pump every dollar of their paychecks directly into the local economy by spending their money in their neighborhood stores, local pharmacies and corner markets. When the minimum wage increases, local economies benefit from the increased purchasing power."

The minimum wage has become a poverty wage instead of an anti-poverty wage. A full-time worker at minimum wage makes just $10,712 a year—less than $900 a month—to cover housing, food, health care, transportation and other expenses.

I cannot imagine raising a family on $10,712 per year, yet many American families are doing it every year. In the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.”

I think another famous individual born in Bethlehem said something similar. I still find it hilarious that many politicians claim to be Christian and then vote for legislation that hurts poor families or ignore legislation that could help poor families. Can you say, hypocrite?

The last two posts were extremely negative rants, so I wanted to post a positive rant today.

China.

Even though I think China will someday replace the US as the number one world power they have much to do before they achieve number one status. First of all, they must deal with their human rights issues. People within the country will finally rebel unless the government allows its people to be free. I am not suggesting a revolution but they can do other things to rebel and sabotage the dictator’s (I mean President’s) agenda.

Second of all, China is their own worst enemy. Whenever they gain economic momentum they usually do something stupid. The government will not let the markets set the wages so the population still works for pennies a day. They must end government “price fixing” of wages and allow their people to obtain a higher standard of living.

Other Chinese problems include: poor working conditions within factories, cleaning the environment (China is one of the worst polluted countries), and providing aid to other countries in need. The Chinese do not like to get involved with other countries problems but if they are the new number one power, foreign aid goes with the job.

To sum this all up; only China can prevent China from becoming the number one world power (Now the European Union is another story but no negativity today). The one thing I fear China could do is after sucking all the manufacturing jobs from the US, picking a war and winning it.

November Elections.

This November provides another opportunity for the people to vote for new local and state governments and a new House of Representatives and Congress. I believe the Republican plan has failed and I am ready for new leadership.

The problem is the Democrats never provide any new ideas. Maybe they will finally toughen up and challenge the Republicans. If the Democrats are to succeed they have to change the issues discussed at election time. I don’t want to hear anymore about these topics: men marrying men, abortion, God in the government, burning flags, establishing a national or state religion, issues dividing races but never accomplishing anything, where the next terrorist attack will happen.

On the other hand I WANT to hear politicians talking about these issues: education, national healthcare, a realistic plan to end the war in Iraq (not just a withdrawal date but a plan to establish a world coalition regarding the middle east to keep these rogue nations in check for now and in the future), cleaning the environment, plans to combat global warming, an investigation into gas prices and a special public hanging for the guilty, ending tax breaks for the rich, ending tax breaks for corporations that outsource manufacturing, an end to the unchecked, government snooping of its citizens.

To initiate change, the Democrats need to start addressing the 70% of the population that did not vote in the last election. The 30% that did vote are probably the ones wanting to keep the current regime in power. While you might win a few of these votes, start fishing in the 70% pond.

Right now I have a positive attitude about things and you all should too. Even though the Democrats usually find a way to screw things up, I am hoping because of the ass kicking they took in 2004, they will be wiser now. Don’t get me wrong because I am NOT a Democrat but this Republican majority must end sooner rather than later. I think I would vote for just about any other political party except the Nazi’s and Al-Qaeda.

The President and Congress agreed on 92% of all issues since 2004. I think both parties should get along but if you have that kind of agreement rate then one branch of the government is not needed at all.

So spread the word; start posting on your blogs today, chat amongst your friends today. Change is only possible if we initiate it. If you did not vote in the last election then get off your ass and vote! I hate to think what other liberties, freedoms and status we will loose if the current regime gets more unsupervised time in power. What this country needs is another FDR not another GWB.

Special Note:

It would also be a good idea if the President of the United States, the most powerful man on the planet, had a science advisor. GW Bush is the first president in American history that does not believe in science for some reason and I find that disturbing. Over the course of American history, science has played an important role in establishing and retaining our power. It is okay to be a man of faith as long as that faith does not blind you to reality.

A recent law proposed by the Congress, the gang that supposedly works for the people of the United States, will turn just about every citizen into a lawbreaker. If you copy an article, a photo, any file whatsoever you could be imprisoned for 10 years and any asset used in the “theft” will be stolen from its owner and sold at a public auction or destroyed. Translation, you find a cool picture on a website so you use it on your website. The government finds out you have “stolen” this picture so they arrest you, put you in jail for ten years and destroy your computer. Why? Because we all want that.

Our leaders of today are political whores, compared with earlier leaders. They have forgotten the interests of the American middle class, which is the majority of people in America and who elect the politicians, should factor into all decisions made by leadership. As the middle class goes so the country goes; if the middle class becomes weakened or extinct, the US becomes weakened or extinct.

Our politicians are whores because they sell legislation that conflicts with their values, the values of their constituents and the values of the nation to the highest corporate bidder. They also sell harmful legislation for an obvious payoff. These whores are worse than corporate whores because they are in charge of the interests of the American people. Instead, they have all become just another corporate subsidiary.

Politicians support laws like this because their interests lie with the corporations and not with the people. Too often decisions are made for personal gain that conflict with long term interests of the country, either from payoffs or favors from lobbyists or direct contributions from corporate America. In order to restore validity to our leadership, these steps must be taken sooner rather than later:

• Elimination of all lobbyists from Washington. This will finally restore the hearts of our leaders. Now they will make decisions based on what is good for the country as a whole, instead of selling legislation to the highest bidder.

• Elimination of all political contributions. Everybody politician gets the same amount of money to spend on an election campaign. So when elections are won the politician will not have to promise something to a contributor that conflicts with his values or the country’s values.

• Term limitations for all politicians. Good leaders should realize this is a short term job. Good leaders do not crave power.

• Elimination of the special retirement program for Senators, Judges and Representatives. They should get the same program everybody else gets, maybe then they will fix it.

• Reduce the pay and benefits of Senators and State Governors. How can the middle class be represented when there are no middle class Senators or State Governors? We need a mixture of Democrats and Republicans in the government and likewise we need a mixture of class within all branches of government. These Senators should be treated like average citizens but that is impossible when they are given ridiculous amounts of compensation through political contributions and federal benefits. I realize this will be the most difficult to change of all because they are in charge of their own salaries (what a gravy life).

These changes will force leaders to make decisions based on what is right instead of what is for sale. As it stands today, too many leaders make decisions based upon the amount of personal gain. If you remove personal gain from the equation, you remove the blinders and allow them to see clearly.

In this article, Philips has invented a device that will disable the remote control on your television during commercials. It will also disable the fast forward features if you record the program with a DVR or DVD burner. Why? Because we all want that.

The corporations on our planet are such whores. I say this because they’ll screw anybody and everybody for a few bucks. Why would you invent something every living person on the planet would hate and something that would make everybody’s life miserable?

In the movie Aliens, Ripley sums up the corporate mindset in one phrase, “I don’t know who is worse, us or them? At least you don’t see them (the Aliens) screwing everybody over for company profits.”

The real problem with this invention is our economy is supposed to be built on the idea of supply and demand. So if there is no demand for something it should die, right? Wrong. Supply and demand only REALLY matter when it comes to the enrichment of profits. What I mean by this is instead of the supply and demand principle our economy is built on the profit model principle.

In the profit model principle, if something can earn a profit you MUST create a market even if there is no market for it. This is accomplished through corporate sponsored government regulations or laws that create unnecessary and unwanted markets. Corporations support government regulations only when they create wealth. Regulations that support the enrichment of communities or the environment are fought because even if they are good for the entire population they cut into profits.

If companies can invent, patent and standardize anything that makes a profit regardless of demand, what keeps them from inventing:

• Lenses for glasses and contacts that muffle color.
• Car engines that only last 50,000 miles and burn 5 gallons of gas for every mile traveled.
• Soleless shoes.
• Pants with only one leg (cuts the cost of producing pants in half).
• Inkless pens.
• Computer keyboards with no vowels, numbers or punctuation symbols.
• Cell phones with no speakers.
• Cell phones with only 10 minutes of time before they completely die.
• Radio stations with 50 minutes of commercials per hour (we already have this now; it’s called AM radio).
• Controllers for console games have only one button.
• Treadles tires.
• Light bulbs that last three hours and muffle light.
• Heated refrigerators.
• Cooling heaters.
• Toeless socks.
• A plan to charge everybody for air (this would be “good for the economy”).
• New standards requiring all new homes to have no doors or windows.
• Keyless locks.
• A cover charge to get into grocery stores (we already have these too; they're called Sam’s Club and Costco).
• Duct tape with no sticky
• Calendars with no dates on them.
• Condoms so neither person has an orgasm (barbed for no one's pleasure).

I would like to send a message to Philips from the new keyboard mentioned above: fck y

Part of my problem (if you want to call it a problem) is money holds no value to me. I would rather have the stuff money gets than the money itself. My only motivation to get money is to pay my mortgage, utilities, and get the few things I need to survive and live comfortably. So when I hear about companies putting profits before people it is very hard for me to understand why.

Some people, on the other hand, worship money. They horde it, they collect it; it is the most important thing to them. They will kill for it, screw for it, sell their kids for it, sell their family for it, sell their soul for it, and trade anything to get it. Why? I don’t understand this; can somebody explain it to me?

It's very ironic that many of the people who horde money or condone the hording of money claim to be the most religious. Yet another thing I do not understand. No matter what God you worship, I cannot remember any of the prophets, apostles or demigods having lots of money or condoning the hording of cash.

Isn’t it ironic how the CEO goes to church on Sunday and then goes to work during the week behaving the exact opposite of what the preacher teaches? Exploiting over seas workers, firing employees, destroying families, while collecting all of their earnings for himself. Isn’t it ironic how the President goes to church and claims to hear God's voice and then signs legislation to benefit the wealthy and never sponsors legislation to help the poor? Makes me wonder who he is actually listening to, God, or something else (if you know who I mean).

I am very lucky because other than my mortgage and a slight student loan, I have no debt. My cars are paid off, my credit cards are at a zero balance, I have no second mortgage on my house and 50% of my net salary is put into some type of savings account. I could easily sell out and abandon the poor like other people in my class but I can’t.

I believe in the phrase, “with great power comes great responsibility”. But our political leaders, although they have great power, are not responsible at all. Instead of helping the very rich, which do not need any help; they should be helping the poorer Americans so everybody can live the American dream. So what if the wealthiest Americans have to spend a little more in taxes, it still won’t matter to their bottom line. They will still be ultra rich when it’s all said and done but since they horde money they just cannot do it. Why? I do not understand this at all.

Let’s take the Walton’s for example. In one single quarter they each earned $17 billion. If they each took only $1 billion (and it probably would not even be that much) and gave all of their employees healthcare, they would still have $16 billion and they would make hundreds of thousands of people/families better off. So why can’t they do this? I would have no problem doing this and would consider it an honor if I could have a positive impact on this many people. I don’t even go to church every Sunday but the Walton’s do; do you think they could figure this out? Hello?! Do you listen to what the preacher is saying to you?!

Am I way off here? Please tell me if I am.

When you look at the bills that are signed into law, did you ever consider what the outcome would be if the bills were subject to a popular vote? My thoughts are the results would be 180 degrees different. Right now minority of people from the upper class rules our country and this probably will not change in the coming generations unless steps are taken to stop it. Before you can stop it you have to realize a problem exists. Let’s look at some recent laws and see if the majority of citizens in the United States would vote differently than the politicians.

Filial Responsibility Laws
Status: Already a law in 30 states.
I cannot see any citizen approving this bill unless they own a hospital or long term care facility. But yet even though these laws benefit a small number of people our politicians are signing these into law in 30 states and counting.

Prediction: Fail by at least at 90% - 10% margin.

Bankruptcy Laws
Status: already a law
The bankruptcy laws were changed in 2005 giving creditors even more power by making it impossible to get out of debt. Based upon the fact that over 2 million Americans filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and almost 1.8 million filed in 2005 why would we want to make it more difficult to file? It is important to note that the number one reason why people file for bankruptcy is to save their home because of a hospital bill.

Only credit card companies, banks and hospitals would want this law tightened and since they represent a small portion of the American population I would think this bill would be defeated by a landslide. So why do our politicians support a bill that hurt the majority of the people that voted them into office?

Prediction: Fail by at least at 80% - 20% margin.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
Status: Already a law
This law transforms our 14 year old kids that download their favorite music into felons capable of serving jail terms up to 10 years and paying fines up to $1 million. If the fines were realistic, let's say, $5 a song with no jail time and lawbreakers were misdemeanors and not felons, this law might have a chance but the way it reads now there is no way this would pass a popular vote.

The only group in America in favor of this law would be the minority servicing the RIAA and the MPAA; everybody else hates it.

Prediction: Fail by at least a 95% - 5% margin.

Privatizing Social Security
Status: Proposed legislation.
I cannot imagine anybody over 50 years of age supporting a law REDUCING Social Security benefits. The only reason younger people would vote for such a law would be if they are convinced they will not get a chance to collect their benefits upon retiring. The reality is there are plenty of funds to keep Social Security healthy for generations provided the richest 1% of the country contributes to this fund as the original law intended. Remember, the plan to “strengthen” is really a plan to “eliminate” or “reduce” Social Security.

Prediction (if the truth is known): 90% - 10% against privatization.
Prediction (if the deception is believed): 50% - 50%. Even if the deception is believed the seniors out vote the younger generations and will never vote for any changes to this program.

National Healthcare
Status: No longer even discussed.
This is the greatest need in our Country, period! If this was even mentioned again in Washington I'm sure the smear campaign against it would be overwhelming. The minority would be over estimating taxes for the middle class to scare them off completely.

The only way the politicians could prevent this from becoming a law is if they worded the law so the tax burden fell squarely on the middle class. If it was written so the wealthiest individuals and corporations funded the difference needed between what we are paying now and what would be needed this law would overwhelmingly pass.

The piece of mind with knowing you could get healthcare for your family without the threat of losing everything you own is so important for our American families. With what we currently pay for healthcare we should be able to afford a national plan but the healthcare industry would have to be reformed.

Prediction: Pass overwhelmingly by 90% - 10%.

Estate Tax (renamed Death Tax to scare the middle class)
The Estate Tax is a tax on the estates on the minority of the super rich in our country when their estate is passed onto the heir. This tax does not affect the majority of the middle class or the lower class as the current administration would have you believe. Because this tax was eliminated, the middle class has had to pick up the difference and pay more.

Prediction: Estate Tax is NOT repealed 90% - 10%

Deregulation of Electricity and Natural Gas
Status: Proposed
The only reason to deregulate these utilities is to increase profits for the companies providing the service. In increase for their profits translates into families paying more to keep warn in the winter when they already cannot afford their current bills. The illusion is this deregulation will somehow make our rates cheaper, yea right!!!

Since nobody wants higher utilities I predict a popular vote would put the smack down on this proposal. The politicians are considering this even after the Enron debacle because the lobbyists for these utilities are contributing many dollars to the Republican and Democratic parties and candidates.

Prediction: 90% - 10% to retain the regulation of utilities.

Other ways the minority rules the majority:
• Upper class never fights wars only middle and lower classes.
• Tax deductions mostly benefit the minority of wealthiest Americans.
• Credit laws only benefit the minority of wealthiest Americans.

When you look at how our politicians vote, it is the completely opposite of the popular vote. Why is this? This is because when they cast their votes, our politicians are influenced by the lobbyists and not the citizens of our country. The lobbyists represent the small minority of rich citizens in our country and almost never represent us.

These lobbyists should be kicked out of Washington and all gifts to politicians of any kind should be eliminated. This will return honesty to our government and give power back to the majority of people. Until these changes are made the minority will rule us forever.

Can you think of any other ways the minority rules the majority in this Country?

The definition of slavery is the state of being under the control of another person against their will, enforced by violence or other forms of coercion. Slavery almost always occurs for the purpose of securing the labor of the person concerned.

If you remove the word “violence” from the above definition you have just described the labor conditions in much of the world including the United States. The majority of workers in the United States hate their jobs but cannot quit and are working poor. Working poor means they work full-time but still cannot support themselves or a family. While the physical abuse is outlawed the mental abuse is rampant. I will provide evidence below suggesting a new form of slavery exists in the US today. The masters are the fortune 500 corporations and richest 1% of the country. The slaves are the middle and lower classes.

The morale of today’s workforce is the lowest in thirty years. Management is becoming more ruthless and demanding, as principle-centered leadership styles are abandoned in favor of scare tactics. Working long hours or weekends is expected regardless of your family conditions. Women who use family leave to have a baby are viewed as a problem and often return to their jobs without the support of management.

In the IT field, training, which was a staple since 1990, is gone. In the mid to late 90’s training was a part of your professional development, so company time was devoted to learning the newest technology. Today, professional development plans have been eliminated as employers expect workers to learn the latest technology on their own time, taking even more time away from the family. You don't like these new rules.....tough! If you look in the local newspaper or on-line the good jobs are just not there anymore.

No one I know of is happy working in the corporate sector anymore. The spirit and comradery of the office is replaced with a deafening silence as people are scared to lose their jobs, so they tolerate horrible conditions, bad employer behavior and declining benefits and wages. In the IT field, everything is now a short term consulting gig with no benefits. If you take one of those you are not technically unemployed but those are not good jobs either. Thus the work force today is nothing but a pool of slaves. Very few people enjoy their job nor can they leave for something better because there is nothing better available.

While company profits along with the number of hours worked continue to climb, personal wages and working conditions continue to decline. Politicians like to point to the low unemployment rate as a signal for good news for the under classes. What they don’t tell you is that many of those jobs do not pay enough for someone to support a family, so our country continues to produce working poor families. Even worse, this same system makes it impossible for people to improve their conditions by not providing higher education and not allowing employees to organize to obtain a livable wage.

Ford Motor Company earned $2 billion dollars in profits last year is now somehow broke and firing 30,000 employees. I’m sure as their sales show growth in the coming months those jobs will be replaced with cheaper labor in over seas factories. Their new buyout program marks the beginning of the end for company provided retirement benefits for the working class.


BEGIN SARCASM

You are in the richest 1% tax bracket or you have just been promoted to the CEO of a company and you want to know how to rule the slaves. Below is required reading for all potential masters.

The goal of the master is to keep the slave working. Because of those annoying labor laws you must now pay slaves but remember never to give them enough money so they can stop working only give them just enough to come back tomorrow. You will now be given detailed instructions on how to keep your slaves working. NOTE: remember to repeal those labor laws.

Create a system of lending in which interest exceeds the original principle
This is probably the best way to enslave a population. Credit card debts and home loans that can never be repaid and plenty of payday loans keep the slaves without cash and working. Slaves get absolutely no value in credit because all of the laws are slanted in favor of the masters.

Let’s look at home loans. If a slave's mortgage is $150,000 at 5.81% interest for 30 years, by the time they pay off their house they will pay $317,192. This is the primary tool in keeping the slaves working and indebted to the system for an entire lifetime. Al Capone used to give a better interest rate to his gambling debtors than these loans.

As a master, you want these business practices in your favor since you have all the money anyway. Hopefully, the slaves will pay off their MasterCard with their Visa so they have to work overtime tomorrow. WHOOPS! You don't pay overtime! HA! HA! HA! HA!

Thankfully, the bankruptcy laws were finally changed to favor the masters. Now it is easier than ever to keep the slave in a lifetime of debt and even take their home. We must all praise the Republican Congress and President Bush for that masterpiece.

No healthcare
Never give the young slaves healthcare because they will retain their property longer. You always want to keep the fear of losing their home within reach. As an added bonus, the Filial Responsibility Laws enable the masters to take the inheritance of all middle and lower classes and still dig into the heirs savings and property. Don't worry about similar laws taking your stuff because the Death Tax was eliminated.

If you give the older slaves healthcare they will not work as many years. A national healthcare plan would only help people retire sooner. Masters hate for the slaves to retire.

No retirement
Retirement is an obstacle to work and an obstacle to profits. You want everybody working. This keeps the labor pool larger and the wages lower. Plus you don’t want a bunch of lazy-ass old people sucking down your profits so all retirement plans and healthcare must be eliminated.

The dilemma is how to keep the older folks working cheaply. After all, experience translates to decent wages; but masters hate decent wages. The plan here would be to figure out a way to fire them when they are about 10 years away from retirement. Blame it on a recession or something like that. Now you can hire them back at nothing. The next three sections will help you deal with this problem.

Remember to support President Bush's plan to "strengthen" Social Security. LOL!! Suckers!!

Keep wages low through mass layoffs and rehiring
The slaves should always have the illusion that wages are set by the market. This makes it easier to fire everybody and hire them all back at lower wages without a revolt. Better yet, don’t reopen in the United States. There are cheaper slaves in China, Mexico or any of the Central American countries. This is a great plan to break a union.

Keep wages low by implementing policies like NAFTA and CAFTA
If you want many cheap slaves you will have to pay many politicians to support laws that enhance your ability to be master. Let the politicians decide how to break the news to the slaves.

The politicians can spin anything negative to the slaves out to be a positive, and the dumb ass slaves believe it all every time. Remember the Clean Air Act actually allows more pollutants into the air. They use phrases like “good for the economy”. The slaves don’t understand that “good for the economy” translates into good for the master.

No employment laws for workers
Like I said earlier, as the master, you will have to pay politicians to pass laws in your favor. You cannot have employment laws standing in the way when you want to relocate a plant to China or fire half of your work force to collect a lucrative bonus. Unions used to protect people from predatory management practices like this. Again, we see how the political spin machine is so amazing because now the slaves actually believe that unions are evil!!! LOL!!

Create an atmosphere of fear
Nothing helps a slave forget about his rights faster than fear. As a master, this atmosphere of fear created by terrorism is just what you need to get laws like the Patriot Act acceptable to the slaves. It also helps you avoid the troublesome Bill of Rights and get the surveillance you need. Also, as a master you must understand many of the judges are not on your side so they must be completely ignored in the warrant process.

Create a false sense of urgency
A good salesman knows if you want to sell somebody something they do not need, insist they buy it now before it’s too late. Thus President Bush’s plan to “strengthen” Social Security is needed now before the plan is bankrupt. He won’t tell you that if he would eliminate all the tax breaks for the richest 1% of the country, Social Security would be healthy for decades. LOL!!! Suckers!!!!

Instilling a sense of entitlement for the masters
Even the slaves believe in this sense of entitlement for the masters. The proof is they voted in a political party that overwhelming supports the richest corporations and the richest 1% of the country. The tax burden has been shifted from the masters to the slaves but the slaves overwhelmingly accept this. The slaves support plans to eliminate social programs that cut their own throats because the masters use words like “strengthen” when they intend to “weaken”.

Slaves also believe their labor to be inferior to the masters. Why else would they allow the masters to earn so much more in comparison to their meager wages? A CEO earns 400 times more than the average slave but no one complains because the masters are entitled to this money.

If a slave wants to organize a union just to get healthcare and a decent living wage this slave is ostracized and the other slaves nod in support of the master. As a master, you can see how easily it is to manipulate the slaves and easily exploit their lack of intelligence.

Allowing the masters to control their own wages and benefits
As a master you can make a different set of rules for yourself. For example you give yourself healthcare or a decent wage but deny the slaves the same. The beauty of this is the slaves actually support and believe you have a right to a different set of rules. After all, you are the master.

Encourage a system that puts profit before people
As a master you can earn 400 times more than your slaves but complain about the high price of labor. Then, layoff half of the slaves forcing the remaining slaves to pick up the slack while taking away their healthcare and retirement and freezing wages. Now you can collect a record bonus and be hailed a hero. This is how the system works today in America and as a master you have to take advantage of this.

An even better plan would be to convince the slaves your company is not profitable, even though you earned $2 billion in profits and then fire everybody and open your plants in China. Now you can collect an even bigger bonus because you destroyed more good paying American jobs but the slaves will still hail you as a hero for "saving" the company.

Give the illusion of choice
Perhaps the funniest thing about being a master is Election Day because you get to watch the slaves flock to the polls with a gleam in their eyes. It doesn’t matter who gets elected, your lobbyists own all the politicians anyway, so you win. LOL!!!

Keep education a low priority
You don't want too many slaves to be educated. The people who can afford education should get the education and to hell with the rest. You don't want some loose lipped prick like the guy who writes this blog to enlighten people.

Every once in a while it helps when a slave breaks out and makes it big; this will continue the illusion that wealth is possible for the slave. LOL!!! They're so gullible!!!

END SARCASM

Now I'm back and the sarcasm is over. I hope I did not offend anybody but I wanted to use sarcasm to prove my point. Do you see any similarities to the policies of the master and the rules of business in today’s world?

So here you are fighting your way through life. You finally have a career with a decent home and a few nice belongings and then a lawyer shows up at your door with a bill for hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars you owe to a hospital or nursing home for treatment you never received. Its bad enough you have to worry about health care for your spouse, your kids and yourself but now if your parents have little or no health insurance you are legally responsible for them too. When I read stuff like this I truly understand how the French were able to justify the beheading of their leaders.

Be advised, filial responsibility laws exist in thirty states and may be coming to your state! These laws are written for healthcare institutions so they can sue the adult children of elderly or disabled parents who are admitted to care facilities but cannot afford treatments. Translation, your mom or dad can no longer care for themselves so they are forced into a nursing home. They cannot afford to pay or they do not have adequate insurance......no problem for the nursing home. They can sue the adult child for the entire amount of treatment even though they did not sign anything.

When I first heard about filial responsibility laws I thought it was a joke. There is no way this could be possible! Now you could find yourself loosing everything you own because your parent gets sick. The state can bring civil and criminal lawsuits against people. So now they can put you in jail if you are unable to pay.

This will completely backfire on these treatment facilities. When people discover this is happening no one will ever go to a nursing home again. Who would want to jeopardize their children loosing everything? They would just sit in their house and rot or get some kind of assisted suicide. No elderly person wants to risk the future of their children and would probably extinguish their life instead of risking their child loosing everything. I know if I was elderly that is what I would do.

Why can’t we have health care in this country? Why do we have to lose our house to get treatments for illnesses or to die with dignity? This is another classic example of how our representatives in government do not represent our best interests. Again they took the lobbyists’ money and cast their vote in favor of big business leaving the little guy with no protection. I want to extend a big “thank you” to our state and federal government for making it easier for big business to take my home and put me in jail.