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So, can we talk about gun safety, now? We keep hearing that it isn’t the right time to talk about gun legislation in the middle of a gun tragedy. But, then, of course … the news moves on and the short attention span of the American people leads our nation to just keep kicking the can down the road. So, I propose that we start to talk about gun safety legislation NOW, following two back-to-back mass gun murders within two weeks.

To begin with, the Supreme Court has decided that the 2nd Amendment guarantees that the individual citizen has the right to bear arms. While I don’t agree with their interpretation, I do accept it. So let’s move on. Let’s start with the regulations that we actually agree on.

1) We pretty much agree that the Constitution does not guarantee citizens the right to own nuclear bombs, bazookas, machine guns, missiles, mustard gas, and other weapons of mass destruction. We agree that the government has the right to prevent anyone from acquiring any of those weapons.

2) We agree that crazy people should not have the right to bear arms.

3) While the National Rifle Association doesn’t agree, most Americans do not want people on the terrorist watch list to be able to buy arms.

4) The majority of Americans do want the Assault Weapons Ban reinstated.

So there is agreement that there are limitations to “the right to bear arms.” As reasonable people, we should talk about these issues, and decide on reasonable gun-safety legislation. We all have the right to bear arms, but does that include shoulder fired missles that can bring down airplanes?

How can we decide these life and death decisions if we can’t even talk about the issue?

There have been many studies comparing gun deaths in America with 22 other high income countries. In 2002, there were 30,136 firearm-related deaths in the United States. While our neighbor to the north, Canada, reports that 816 people died of firearms-related injuries in Canada that year. Of all the firearm deaths in these 23 high-income countries in 2002, 80% occurred in the US.

What accounts for the unbelievably high number of gun deaths in our country? To what do we attribute the high number of mass killings in America? To listen to the right-wingers the cause of these violent mass murders is attributable only to crazy people — “because guns don’t kill people, people do!”

So, do we assume that America just has more nut-cases than Canada? More crazies than 22 other high income countries — COMBINED? Why would that be? That’s a patently ridiculous assertion.

We simply must face the fact that while there are certainly examples of crazies committing mass murder around the world — the recent Norwegian killer of young campers, for example — that it is very rare in other nations.

Is it possible that the reason that America has so many more gun deaths is because we have basically armed everyone in the country — with many people owning multiple guns and weapons of mass destruction?

In 22 other high income countries it is safe to walk down the street and to go to church. That is a freedom which must be defended.

CAN WE TALK NOW?

The time to get serious about rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure is NOW! It’s not just that bridges are falling down, roads are in disrepair, and updates for our railway systems are needed … it’s also that our water pipes delivering fresh water to our homes are disintegrating, and our electrical grid — it’s a disaster!

With changes in the climate definitely upon us, upgrading our nation’s electrical grid and burying the power lines underground would be a big boon to our nation and to our economy. We need to bury our power lines across the nation because when the latest big storms blow into a community, causing the above ground power lines go down, power is lost. When power is lost in the summer-heat, the resulting sweltering cities lead to suffering and even deaths. And when the electricity which powers computers and equipment is lost, when air-conditioning is lost in the summer and heat in the winter, lower economic productivity is the result.

Our schools are in terrible disrepair and the internet is not available to all in our nation. Schools should be repaired and rebuilt, and the internet needs to be expanded to the entire nation — as we previously expanded the availability of electricity with the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933.

The TVA is a federally owned corporation which was created by Congressional charter in order to establish an economic development agency to rapidly modernize the Tennessee Valley economy. The TVA dramatically expanded electricity to this region, which was particularly affected by the Great Depression — and it worked in stimulating the economy and making a brighter future for the region possible. We could do the same with making the internet available throughout the country, and probably without establishing a federally owned corporation!

Under Republican Dwight David Eisenhower the federal government built the interstate highway system, linking the contiguous 48 states. The role of the federal government in building the best infrastructure in the world in the 20th century was not questioned. And yet, while America fought two Middle East wars in the first decade of this new century — Europe and China were investing in top notch infrastructure. And we must face the fact that America simply cannot move our economy into the new century with this crumbling infrastructure.

And the really good news is: With interest rates at once-in-a-lifetime lows, the time to borrow money to rebuild the country could not be better than right now. The other really good news: Rebuilding our country will put Americans back to work and spark the economic recovery that we’re all looking for. And with Americans back to work, higher revenues to the government will accumulate and help to pay for the costs of the low-interest loans.

The bad news: The political environment is so toxic that our decision makers in congress are just plain opposed to spending any money what-so-ever, despite the fact that government spending is what brought our nation out of depression and recession in earlier times.

We are hopeful that there seems to be more and more effective grass-roots actions that are cropping up everywhere on the internet. The American people may be starting to rouse to demand democracy. Maybe we should start a petition online to get Congress to ACT NOW on rebuilding America’s infrastructure!

TIME FOR INFRASTRUCTURE NOW!

The formal name for Obamacare is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In order to form an opinion on this new healthcare law, it’s important to take a look at just what Obamacare DOES and DOES NOT do.

Basically, the PPACA made new health care rules, with the purpose of making health care more available and affordable for everyone. Despite the noises that critics of the PPACA are making that the new rules take away too many freedoms, the FACTS are still the facts.

And here they are in the order of when each one goes into effect:

Already in effect
• The FDA is now able to approve more generic drugs, which should produce more competition in the market to help drive down prices.

• Under the new law there are increased rebates on drugs that people get through Medicare — so drugs cost less.

• The PPACA has established a non-profit, non-government group that is to study the different kinds of treatments in order to determine what works best and is also the most cost effective.

• Chain restaurants (McDonalds, etc.) now must display calorie counts in all their foods, so we can make good choices.

• There is now a high-risk pool for people with pre-existing conditions.

• There is a new 10% tax on indoor tanning booths.

• Health insurance businesses can no longer throw people off of their coverage because they have hit a lifetime limit. If they’ve paid for health insurance, that company cannot then tell the customer that they won’t cover him anymore.

• Young people can continue to be covered on parent’s health insurance until age 26.

• There are no longer any pre-existing conditions for children under the4 age of 19.

• Health insurance companies now have less ability to change the amount that customers have to pay for their health care plans.

• There is a rebate for people in a Medicare Gap to make up for the extra money that they would otherwise have to spend.

• Companies can no longer drop their customers just because they get sick.

• Insurance companies must now tell customers specifically what they’re spending money on, not just claim “administrative fee.”

• Insurers have to have an appeals process for rejected claims.

• New ways to stop fraud are created.

• Medicare extends to smaller hospitals.

• Chronic illnesses for Medicare patients must be more closely monitored, which should reduce the costs for some companies that handle benefits for the elderly.

• There is a new website for insurance and health information: http://www.healthcare.gov/

• A credit program is made that will make it easier for business to invest in new ways to treat illness.

• Insurance companies now have limits on the percentage of money that they can make as profit, to minimize price-gouging.

• There’s now a limit on what kinds of insurance accounts can be used to pay for over-the-counter drugs without a prescription — basically, your insurer isn’t paying for the Aspirin you bought for that hangover.

• Employers need to list the benefits they provided to employees on their tax forms.

Beginning in 8/1/2012
• Any health plans sold after this date must provide preventative care (mammograms, colonoscopies, etc.) without requiring any sort of co-pay or charge. Preventative health care will hold down costs over the long run.

Beginning in 1/1/2013
• If you make over $200,000 a year, your taxes go up 0.9%. A change of less than one percent is miniscule, especially when we’re talking about people in the top 5% of earners.

Beginning in 1/1/2014 This is when a lot of the really big changes happen.
• No more pre-existing conditions — at all. People will be charged the same regardless of their medical history.

• No more free-riders — people who can afford health insurance, but do not get it. Free-riders are required to now purchase insurance, and if they do not they will pay a penalty under the IRS rules. Basically, it’s a trade-off for the pre-existing conditions requirement, saying that since insurers now have to cover you regardless of what you have, you can’t just wait to buy insurance until you get sick. Otherwise no one would buy insurance until they needed it. You can opt not to get insurance, but you’ll have to pay the fee instead.

• Insurers now can’t do annual spending caps. Their customers can get as much health care in a given year as they need.

• Make it so more poor people can get Medicaid by making the low-income cut-off higher.

• Small businesses get some tax credits for two years.

• Businesses with over 50 employees must offer health insurance to full-time employees, or pay a penalty.

• Limits how high of an annual deductible insurers can charge customers.

• Cuts some Medicare spending.

• Places a $2500 limit on tax-free spending on FSAs (accounts for medical spending). Basically, people using these accounts now have to pay taxes on any money over $2500 they put into them.

• Establishes health insurance exchanges and rebates for the lower and middle-class, basically making it so they have an easier time getting affordable medical coverage.

• Congress and Congressional staff will only be offered the same insurance offered to people in the insurance exchanges, rather than Federal Insurance. Basically, we won’t be footing their health care bills any more than any other American citizen.

• A new tax on pharmaceutical companies.

• A new tax on the purchase of medical devices.

• A new tax on insurance companies based on their market share. Basically, the more of the market they control, the more they’ll get taxed.

• The amount you can deduct from your taxes for medical expenses increases.

Beginning in 1/1/2015
• Doctors’ pay will be determined by the quality of their care, not how many people they treat.

Beginning in 1/1/2017
• If any state can come up with their own plan, one which gives citizens the same level of care at the same price as the PPACA, they can ask the Secretary of Health and Human Resources for permission to do their plan instead of the PPACA. So if they can get the same results without, say, the mandate, they can be allowed to do so. Vermont, for example, has expressed a desire to just go straight to single-payer (in simple terms, everyone is covered, and medical expenses are paid by taxpayers).

Beginning in 2018
• All health care plans must now cover preventative care (not just the new ones).
• A new tax on “Cadillac” health care plans (more expensive plans for rich people who want fancier coverage).

Beginning in 2020
• The elimination of the “Medicare gap.”

That’s it!
• No socialized health care, no death panels, no government take-over of the heath care system — just new rules for insurance companies and a requirement that everyone have insurance.

• All changes are designed to move America from having the most expensive health care system among western nations, with lower positive results, to a more fair and effective system.

Heard this explanation of the health care mandate yesterday and thought I’d share it. Consider the Gas Tax. Because we need decent roads to drive our cars on, we are all asked to pay a tax on the gas we consume, which is then used to maintain our national road system. The mandate to purchase health care insurance, and to pay a penalty to the IRS if you don’t, can be looked at in the same way. We ALL use health care services eventually, and we all will NOW be required to pay for that care. No more “free-riders” who show up at hospitals for health care and then do not pay — causing everyone else’s insurance premiums to go up. And now — as we all pay the gas tax for decent roads — we must either purchase insurance or pay the penalty to help defray the costs that are eventually incurred, in order to maintain a decent national health care system … as we have a decent national road system paid for by ALL.

We love to watch Joe Scarborough’s MSNBC “Morning Joe” weekday program. Joe is a political barometer in many ways … a man who calls himself a “small government conservative” — and even admits to having cast a protest vote for Ron Paul in the GOP primary — but who appears to have embraced the Obama plan for America’s economy. Not sure he actually “gets” that he’s supporting Obama on fiscal issues, but he IS!

This Ron Paul voter has been saying for months now that Washington needs to come together to pass long-range budget fixes to entitlements, and simultaneously enact short-term stimulus — in the form of infrastructure spending and education for the nation’s future.

So, who’s going to tell him that it’s Obama’s plan that he’s promoting … NOT Romney’s — much less Ron Paul’s?

This clear and obvious contradiction in just one American voter really clarifies what is happening in our society as a whole. That is: Voters often identify themselves as belonging in a certain category, but their belief system is quite different.

Hence: Joe Scarborough sees himself as a small government conservative, but in reality he wants to stimulate the economy by SPENDING federal dollars as investments in the country’s infrastructure and education.

Another prime example is the public’s view on Obamacare. The majority of Americans disapprove of Obamacare — YET they support the components of the act!

The country as a whole approves of what Obamacare will accomplish, yet identify themselves as belonging to the group that claims the Affordable Care Act is socialism.

Full of contradictions, we are — as Yoda might say!

An uninformed citizenry is all that’s necessary for a handful of billionaires to mold the thinking of a nation. These successful businessmen understand marketing — and marketing their politics to serve their own interests is an easy step.

Beginning with the Reagan presidency right-wing marketing has promoted the idea that labor unions are bad. Workers banding together to get safer working conditions and living wages is a bad thing. It’s a bad thing because those union negotiations harm the bottom line … and of course, corporate profits are sacrosanct!

The deal struck with the American people was that if voters rewarded corporations with minimal regulations and massive profits safe from even taxes, that the corporations would reward the people with good jobs. They took the profits alright, then shipped the jobs overseas and the jobs that remain in our country are minimum wage jobs that no one can raise a family on.

Let’s be clear here: The public unions in Wisconsin negotiated brand new contracts with the new GOP Governor Walker when he first came to power. The unions gave the new governor everything he asked for. He won in the negotiations. But that was not enough for Governor Walker, because the state’s budget was NOT his goal … no, his goal was to further undermine labor unions for political gain. And, it worked.

The Master Puppeteers came out from behind the curtain only briefly, but it was long enough to see their faces and the smug look on them.

Everything is not as it seems. Uninformed voters are blindly moving to their Master’s Puppeteering!

America is being bought and sold to the New Tycoons. The Supreme Court, with the Citizens United decision, has given free rein to the uber wealthy to purchase our government for their own benefit — and the 1% is moving quickly to exercise their new freedom to shape our nation to line their own pockets.

It is no longer “One person, one vote” and has become “One dollar, one vote.”

The old adage, “Never let a crisis go to waste” is in full force! The economy has been on life support due to small-government and trickle-down economics, and the GOP and their financiers are using the fear in the electorate to convince voters that it was big-government and debt that caused the economic melt-down.

“Look over here at the shiny object,” the Right sings out, “your problems are caused by liberal ideas,” because they don’t want us to be informed and make decisions based in FACTS. And the way they “sell and market” that idea? With MONEY!

Voters can stand up, become informed and armed with FACTS, and see clearly that the ideology being sold to the public by the few does not benefit our society as a whole. I’m no longer sure that even they believe their ideology … it seems to just be a marketing vehicle to garner votes.

Think about it: If you give me lower taxes than you pay and give me the freedom to regulate myself without interference from you, then you will reap the benefits. That’s trickle-down economics and small-government in a nutshell.

What they’re selling, we already bought and tried … it failed miserably and gave us our current economic conditions. The world is now desperately trying to bail out of this mess, while the GOP House of Representatives refuses to do anything to get our economy kick-started.

Their working idea seems to be that if they can keep the President from being able to do anything to grow our economy, then the American voter will blame him and give the reins of government back to the GOP and Wall Street — and maybe, just maybe trickle-down and small-government will work this time!

THEY THINK YOU’RE STUPID!

So, you’re really confused now … is Obama the right leader for our country, or should we try a new guy?

We think there are many reasons to stick with President Obama, but one of the strongest arguments may just be: Financial Regulations. Yeah, we know … BORING!

But, we should stop for a moment and consider HOW we got into this economic slide in the first place. It wasn’t “big government,” or “deficits and debt,” or even Social Security and Medicare … much less Food Stamps! See previous CLN post.

The cause of the economic crisis is the financial deregulation in 1999, when the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed and replaced with much weaker regulations of the big banks. The Glass-Steagall Act was put into law following The Great Depression in order to reign in Wall Street greed and ensure that such a financial crisis would never happen again. When The Glass–Steagall Act is mentioned, it is most often in reference to four provisions of that act which separated commercial banking from investment banking. Many believe that separation is what kept our financial sector safe from itself.

For over 50 years our economy thrived, with no depression in sight, and the financial sector did just fine. The American economy enjoyed the very best growth in our history with The Glass-Steagall Act in place — and by the way, during that time the top marginal tax rate was much higher than 50%; it was up to 90% at one time. Under Ronald Reagan the top rates were over 50% — eight years of a presidency that the GOP claim was the economic zenith that they wish to replicate!

The new deregulation in 1999 once again unleashed Wall Street —> and the greed of the 1930s returned, but this time — because of a globalized economy — the financial collapse brought down the world’s economy.

Many Americans believe that the Dodd-Frank Act was not strong enough to actually keep these forces in total check (commercial banking and investment banking are NOT separated) … and yet: Mitt Romney wants to repeal even these mild reforms.

ARE YOU REALLY READY TO UNLEASH WALL STREET GREED?

The US economy is holding up much better than the economies of many other countries in this worldwide recession triggered by Wall Street banks. Clearly, big business has not jumped in to get the economy and employment kick-started, but our nation has been bumping along above the double-dip territory … not so with countries that adopted “slash-and-burn” cuts to government spending, otherwise known as austerity.

A global economy does not give any country the opportunity to actually break out on its own. We’re all interdependent now — all in it together. And, that’s why we need to stop the bickering and get our act together. We ARE the United States of America, and the world needs us to lead, not fall apart in partisan destructiveness.

The GOP games of “Let’s destroy Obama” is leading not just our nation off a cliff, but also the rest of the world. Even Romney this week decried the government slashing actions of the House led austerity plan for America that is in place for the end of 2012.

What we don’t know is whether or not Romney would, as president, stick with his initial honest assessment … or be led by the House and its deficit hawks who are demanding that government spending be slashed even deeper, and further deep tax-cuts for the wealthy implemented. A prescription that would destroy any hopes for a recovery in the near future.

Based on his actions a good bet would be that a President Romney would follow the Tea Party leaders in order to keep the right-wing of his party happy and ready to vote for him again in 2016. I don’t somehow see him willing to take on the base of his party. He has shown zero inclination to challenge anyone with wild Tea Party assertions — from supporters who claim Obama should be impeached, to Donald Trump and his hair-brained “birtherism!”

Somehow, I have to believe that with a second term President Obama will have more of an ability to move our country forward and get things done for us — and for the world.

I betcha that some out there will quickly reply, “government overspending.” But, that’s not right. The worldwide, economic meltdown was caused by the deregulation of Wall Street — leading to risky, greedy gambling with tax-payer backed money: Heads — Wall Street wins; Tails — Wall Street wins. They couldn’t lose, and they didn’t.

To continue to allow Wall Street to gamble with our money is foolish — but, that’s what the GOP wants to do. And to convince voters that deregulating Wall Street would unleash economic growth, rather than lead to more financial meltdowns, is the alternative reality they’re attempting to sell.

To cast Wall Street gamblers as job-creators goes against the facts; but that’s how Mitt Romney wants to sell himself — as a job creator, when the reality does not match with the claim.

To further muddy the waters, the alternate reality they’re putting out there is that since “government overspending” is the cause of the economic woes, then it stands to reason that to fix the problem we must cut government spending.

Reality is stood on its head — to fix a problem, we must first acknowledge the cause.

Vote with logic and reasoning in 2012, and answer the question for yourself: WHO’S RESPONSIBLE FOR US ECONOMIC CRISIS?