Payday Loans
Joke:
George Bush jogs by a boy who has a box of puppies for sale.
Bush: Whaddya call your puppies?
Boy: Republicans.
Delighted, the next day president Bush brings one of his jogging buddies with him.
Bush: You gotta hear this: "Son, whaddya call yer puppies?"
Boy: "Democrats."
Bush: Whoa, yesterday you told me they were "Republicans".
Boy: Yeah, but today their eyes are open.
Take this job and shove it
I ain't workin' here no more
--Take This job and Shove It, Johnny Paycheck
______________
We are as a nation of confused puppies with unopened eyes. We are blindly probing for the teat to suckle, but it is not easy to find.
Why do we have a Democracy in the first place? Why not a dictatorship, or Communism or Socialism? A government should serve the following goals:
These functions provide for the exercise of freedom. Minus any of these legs, the government is out of balance, regardless of what form of government exists. The hungry are not really thrilled that their kids could grow up to be president.
The current U.S. economy shares something with hungry Americans. It is living from payday to payday, taking out loans in order to make ends meet. Both the Right and the Left have eschewed a middle ground, and hatred and fear have replaced those vaunted democratic ideals of security and social well-being.
The distractions and fear-mongering began this administration with the Phony War on Terror (PWOT ©), a misguided campaign which has added trillions of dollars in present day debt, and untold future debt yet to be incurred. An undertaking with no benefit devolving to the average citizen.
In fact, the U.S. now faces the fact that it can no longer afford to occupy Germany, Japan and Korea. In our newly frugal times, NATO membership should also be questioned, as it is no longer a mutual defensive alliance (if it ever was.)
But if the Payday Loan sharks keep lending Presidents newly-minted bills, what motivation is there to moderate? Government these days is accustomed to doling out money on shrink-wrapped pallets, weighed rather than counted. Money is no longer a precious commodity; it grows on trees. Traditional accounting principles no longer apply.
It seems like the U.S. lacks for long-term fiscal planning; economic and military plans are ad hoc. For many good Americans, those "bad men" (who downed the planes) really are the problem. "Didn't you see them? They laughed in court," one of my well-meaning conservative friends pleaded. But while he and his brethren's eyes are turned to Ring #3, the real action is happening under the Big Tent, only we're not allowed in there.
Obama gives lip service to following George Bush's template, throwing money that we don't have at still opaque problems. No one speaks of Plan B, if the stimulus packages fail. Our plans lack depth and continuity, and fail to address future contingencies.
If the U.S. ceases to be solvent, it loses. To borrow a concept from Paul Simon, there must be 50 ways for the U.S. to lose this endeavor. Some are non-existential -- like loss of world prestige -- while others are non-negotiable, like entering an economic depression.
If the U.S. does fall that far, everyone may say Osama bin Laden is to blame, and they would be correct, though for different reasons. George Bush sunk the country in a fool's errand. Whether the fool was in earnest or not is moot.
In a beginning chapter from Terrorism 101, al-Qaeda prompted a lavish overreaction from our callow leaders who swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker. So today we are told Baghdad and Kabul street corners are kinda getting a little safer than they were after our invasion.
But this thrills Ranger not at all when Detroit and Cleveland are dying.
George Bush jogs by a boy who has a box of puppies for sale.
Bush: Whaddya call your puppies?
Boy: Republicans.
Delighted, the next day president Bush brings one of his jogging buddies with him.
Bush: You gotta hear this: "Son, whaddya call yer puppies?"
Boy: "Democrats."
Bush: Whoa, yesterday you told me they were "Republicans".
Boy: Yeah, but today their eyes are open.
Take this job and shove it
I ain't workin' here no more
--Take This job and Shove It, Johnny Paycheck
______________
We are as a nation of confused puppies with unopened eyes. We are blindly probing for the teat to suckle, but it is not easy to find.
Why do we have a Democracy in the first place? Why not a dictatorship, or Communism or Socialism? A government should serve the following goals:
- Protect and serve the citizens
- Provide services
- Pass and enforce laws for the common welfare
- Provide economic and physical security
These functions provide for the exercise of freedom. Minus any of these legs, the government is out of balance, regardless of what form of government exists. The hungry are not really thrilled that their kids could grow up to be president.
The current U.S. economy shares something with hungry Americans. It is living from payday to payday, taking out loans in order to make ends meet. Both the Right and the Left have eschewed a middle ground, and hatred and fear have replaced those vaunted democratic ideals of security and social well-being.
The distractions and fear-mongering began this administration with the Phony War on Terror (PWOT ©), a misguided campaign which has added trillions of dollars in present day debt, and untold future debt yet to be incurred. An undertaking with no benefit devolving to the average citizen.
In fact, the U.S. now faces the fact that it can no longer afford to occupy Germany, Japan and Korea. In our newly frugal times, NATO membership should also be questioned, as it is no longer a mutual defensive alliance (if it ever was.)
But if the Payday Loan sharks keep lending Presidents newly-minted bills, what motivation is there to moderate? Government these days is accustomed to doling out money on shrink-wrapped pallets, weighed rather than counted. Money is no longer a precious commodity; it grows on trees. Traditional accounting principles no longer apply.
It seems like the U.S. lacks for long-term fiscal planning; economic and military plans are ad hoc. For many good Americans, those "bad men" (who downed the planes) really are the problem. "Didn't you see them? They laughed in court," one of my well-meaning conservative friends pleaded. But while he and his brethren's eyes are turned to Ring #3, the real action is happening under the Big Tent, only we're not allowed in there.
Obama gives lip service to following George Bush's template, throwing money that we don't have at still opaque problems. No one speaks of Plan B, if the stimulus packages fail. Our plans lack depth and continuity, and fail to address future contingencies.
If the U.S. ceases to be solvent, it loses. To borrow a concept from Paul Simon, there must be 50 ways for the U.S. to lose this endeavor. Some are non-existential -- like loss of world prestige -- while others are non-negotiable, like entering an economic depression.
If the U.S. does fall that far, everyone may say Osama bin Laden is to blame, and they would be correct, though for different reasons. George Bush sunk the country in a fool's errand. Whether the fool was in earnest or not is moot.
In a beginning chapter from Terrorism 101, al-Qaeda prompted a lavish overreaction from our callow leaders who swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker. So today we are told Baghdad and Kabul street corners are kinda getting a little safer than they were after our invasion.
But this thrills Ranger not at all when Detroit and Cleveland are dying.
Labels: fiscal irresponsibility, inner city blight, osame bin laden, phony war on terror, PWOT
posted by rangeragainstwar at 8:15 AM
6 Comments:
absolutely. the huge, big ass elephant in the room about both afghanistan and iraq is that they have been waged on credit cards. racking up bills in excess of 20bil per month, with the butcher's bill of maimed and damaged souls which will require our support and care from this day forward.
they also started racking this up when the accounts were far from settled over the first gulf war. remember that one? the saudis and the kuwaitis were supposed to be footing the bill for that shit. they defaulted. the bills are still due.
it really gals me to see them quibble about chump change when it comes to things like detroit, and many places in the rural west. nope. sorry, as soon as you walked in the door i became a budget deficit hawk.
i have suggested that every democrat in congress carry a big ass squirt gun so that they can douse down any republican shameless enough to say "fiscal" and "responsibility" in the same sentence.
it was bad enough to watch "diaper" david vitter, that regular line of credit patronizer of DC and New Orleans hookers lecture hillary clinton on the importance of appearance and ethics. good god ya'll, it's a good thing it wasn't me. not that i'd be anybody's first choice for diplomacy but faced with shit like that i'd have been suggesting a low tide duel on a convenient sandbar, high tide take the loser.
I still go off on a rant when I get stupid e-mails about how W made us safe, etc.
I bluntly state that W and cohorts took up Osama's cause and accomplished all O's objectives. And should be in Guantanamo.
Old Bogus,
Really an excellent and concise response.
MB, The tide will take out the loser- that'll be the American people.We're the big losers, especially if we're middle class.
Range, you've got it pegged. But most of the masses are like the puppies mentioned in the joke--THEIR EYES ARE CLOSED. Every other day you look in small-town papers you see articles like "Mother and son are deploying to Iraq (by rights, they should be crying in each others' arms)" or "Mother and daughter join the Army". They're still DUIK-A (Driving Under the Influence Of The Kool-Aid). They're all STILL gung-ho. The gov't is telling them, "go get the snakes! Cuff and book 'em!"
That being said, Range, I forgot my main point-- IT'S DONE ALL ON MONEY WE AIN'T GOT!!!
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