Reality Check

If you had to name the biggest crises facing America what do you think it would be? Children and elderly in poverty? Climate change? Wealth Disparity? Foreclosures? Crime? Depletion and exploitation of natural of our resources?

Well, if you guessed any of the above you would be wrong, dead wrong. See according to Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, the #1 crisis facing America is OBAMACARE.  *Gasp!* Yes, that's right folks, access to affordable healthcare is threatening America.



I know, take a minute to regroup and prepare yourself for the second most pressing problem facing America. (Maybe sit down or hold someone's hand for support before you continue reading.)

The number TWO problem facing our great nation according to the great Rush Limbaugh is young, single, over-educated white women. Oh my! What are Americans to do in light of such heinous horrors bearing down on us?  Perhaps Santorum and Limbaugh will form a charity to offer free lobotomies to all these snooty single women? One can only hope!

Certainly, I'm being a bit tongue-in-cheek about all of this, but honestly these two fellows are just plain sad. Obviously there are many important issues that America needs to tackle without inventing problems and realities.

Now, I know that this blog is Tennessee- centric, but I bring these issues up here because A,  Tennessee went Santorum in the primaries and B,  Limbaugh is without reproach to too many of our state's residents and political leaders.

Tennessee's state legislature is the most obvious demonstration of bizarro-land ideas. During a time when Tennessee faces record deficits, huge job losses, increasing crime rates, high rates of poverty and homelessness (particularly among children and elderly), Tennessee legislators chose to deal with OTHER non-reality issues. I offer the following as examples of Tenneessee's nuttery:

• Bill passed to allow guns in parks and bars. - (Uh, that's creating a problem NOT solving one.)
• Proposal to create a TN State currency  - (in case we decide to secede again?).
• Bill proposed and passed 1st round of voting to ban an Income tax in TN. - (Smart! Ban the ONLY remedy for the state's perpetual budget deficits.)
• Ban teachers from discussing GAY, ever in any context at school. - (Ugh, barf, bigotry.)

Okay, I have to stop at 4 examples or my head will explode.

Freedom!

Meanwhile legislation that would actually solve real problems gets shot down or never makes it out of committee. Priorities people! 

My point in all of this is to highlight the absurdity of what is really going on here. Obviously, access to quality healthcare and an educated citizenry are good things that should be supported by everyone. There are real problems facing this country and this state and it would be nice if our political leaders in Tennessee would tackle them instead of inventing new ones.

Tax Day and Brats

  Every year at tax time, like clockwork, someone berates the Government for "taking my hard-earned money." It's an old trope and I'm tired of hearing it. Personally, it calls to mind a whiny, bratty child who doesn't want to do his or her chores. This mentality, that of a spoiled child, is in my opinion at the heart of most tax debates in this country.


  A major contributer to this nonsense is one Grover Norquist  who has been able to get 95% of all Republicans to sign his "Tax Payer Protection Act," which states:

• ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses; and
• TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.

In effect, Grover decided that the best thing for America, for Americans, for his ego, wallet and party is to simply stop raising taxes -  for any reason - ever. His reasoning for this is to establish a clear line of demarcation between the "tax and spend Democrats" and the "fiscally responsible Republicans." 

Poor Grover.

Of course Democrats have often proven themselves to be much more fiscally responsible than their "conservative" counterparts. Take President Clinton and President George Bush, Jr. for example.  One ended his term with a surplus, the other with record-breaking debt.  All facts aside, Mr. Norquist and his party beg to differ.  


 Grover's genius plan for our entire economy was hatched when he was merely 12 years old. Child prodigy? I think not. Spoiled brat? Probably.  Weird? No question.  


  In effect the Republican's inability to take any action to rescue the economy is due to the whims of a 12 year old. Not just any 12 year old, cause most kids are pretty cool, but a spoiled, bratty kid who has no clue or care about the suffering of the real world. 

  Grover is not alone in his spoiled mind-set, as too many people agree with him. This ideology is espoused every time someone attacks welfare, poor people, the sick, the jobless and so on. For instance, South Carolina Lieutenant Governor André Bauer equated impoverished children with stray cats and urged people not to feed either so they would just go away, presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich wants poor children to clean school toilets to earn their keep and the state of Florida has started drug testing all (poor) folks who get government assistance in an effort to reduce government spending shame them. 

  The reasoning behind these reprehensible ideas is that if you are not wealthy, and I mean making upwards of $200,000 a year, then you are lazy, worthless and probably stoopit.  After all, what does a wealthy, white, insulated, old man 12 year old  know about suffering due to lack of money, discrimination, hunger, and so on? Nothin'. 

  Ultimately, the facts are these: The United State is the 3rd lowest taxed nation of all industrialized nations. If one breaks it down further, Tennessee is one of the lowest tax states in the country. With these low taxes the people buy protection in the form of air traffic control, police, military, firefighters, food and building regulations and more. The people buy sewer systems, electricity grids, roads, the justice system, parks, street lighting, garbage pick-up, public schools and universities and SO MUCH MORE. The people of the US are getting a pretty good deal for their tax dollars. In fact, some can argue (and I usually do) that we should have more and better. Tax loopholes need to be closed so that major corporations like GE, BOA, and AIG who paid no taxes at all pay their fair share. Tax rates need to be progressive and NOT regressive so that the Mitt Romneys of the world pay at least as much in taxes as his secretary does. Also, tax rates on the wealthy need to be raised in general so that taxes aren't the sole responsibility of the waning middle class. 

  Of course there is no doubt that there are many fixes that our federal government and state government need to employ regarding taxes, but the answer is certainly not to just stop raising taxes. That makes no sense. I can't decide one day to stop paying the increases on the things I buy like food, energy or clothes. I can't say to my local grocery that I will only be paying last year's prices for bread forever.  It just doesn't work like that in the real world. 

  But, of course I am an adult. I am no longer the "dreamer" that I once was at 12 and have therefore let my go of ideations of mandatory pizza party Wednesdays for everyone. At any rate, I'm happy to pay my taxes. I know that I have contributed my part to pay for all the things that make our country great.  Oliver Wendell Holmes once said: "I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization." Yep. 

  Grover and friends, on the other hand, are tedious, spoiled, insufferable people who never grew out of their tantrum phase. They are the Veruca Salts of the real world and they are spoiling everybody's good time. So to them I say "GROW UP."

Sorry, Veruca you deserve better.