Congress reaches deal on $4.1Trillion Dollar Budget.

And we're supposed to be happy.

Still about $500B too high. The waste absolutely boggles the mind, and the working person's life.

536 people in Washington D.C. want it this way, however, and until they change it, we're screwed.
BTW, this is NOT responsible self-government. This budget is shameful just like POTUS.
Dig up our FF for one day, and they would scream.

Time for: one six year presidential term. Two terms as a representative or Senator, at all levels of government. One seven year term as Chief Justice.

Time to: cut foreign aid in half or more, stop helping those who hate us; shut down Bureaus of Indian Affairs, Energy, Education.

Time to institute the same cuts to welfare programs as the state of Maine did so successfully. (You can look it up.)

Time to end federal subsidies to: farmers, Big Oil, Big Wal-Mart ($6.7B annually) and others.

Time to penalize any American company inversing itself to avoid its share of tax responsibility.

Time to end sovereign Indian nation status. Assimilate, or leave. One Nation, Indivisible.

536 people in Washington D.C. want it this way, however, and until they change it, we're screwed.

Wish I'd written this:
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I think I can understand where the brother-in-law is coming from. But I honestly don't think you can separate the man from his religion. There are simply too many acts of violence committed in the world by Islamic groups of some kind or other. I'm thinking of the violence of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and now, ISIS, as well as the many "lone wolf" acts of terrorists. We have enough problems in America with our extreme right-wing terrorists like McVeigh, or the shooter in Planned Parenthood, or just the wackos, like Adam Lanza, but now, to be attacked in our own homes and workplaces by people who have been "radicalized" by Islamic jihadists?
I don't hate Muslims as people, nor do I wish them any harm, but I have to be honest and say I don't want them as my neighbors. Why? Their values, particularly their political values, are not compatible with our liberal and democratic values. They cannot assimilate, if they take their religion seriously. How can they say they value Freedom of Speech, when living "infidels" were attacked, some even killed, over some silly cartoons in a Danish newspaper?
And how about Freedom of Thought? Any American can change his religious orientation that he received in his childhood. Death is not a penalty for thinking, among us. But if an adult Muslim challenges his faith, or even tries to leave it, it is considered a terrible sin and crime, deserving of death.
Knowing these things, how can I welcome Muslims as my neighbors?
I don't think we should accept any more Muslim immigrants or refugees, excepting only young orphans. I know this will mark me as an "Islamophobe" but I don't say this just because of 9/11 or this slaughter in California. Islam is not a religion of Peace. Buddhism and Jainism are religions of peace, but not Islam. I have no use for any of the 3 Abrahamic religions, but Islam is undoubtedly the worst of the lot.
"God is great!" they scream as they shoot women and children, or carve up human beings as if they were slaughtering pigs. What kind of monstrous god do they worship? Yes, I know, you see the very same violence in the OT of the Christian Bible, but the difference is that we Americans don't believe we should consider slaughter as an act of worship, and we no longer try to live by the ethics of the ancient Hebrews. Islam has never been "de-fanged;" Judaism and Christianity have been, and that's the major difference today. Islam needs a Reformation and Enlightenment. They didn't have those things to civilize them.
So, yes, the religion is a problem, no matter how you try to talk around it. The only real "moderate" Muslims we can count on are those who have been secularized, who are what we might consider "cultural Muslims," because they don't take their religion seriously anymore. Those who do take it seriously either become terrorists, or are always in danger of being "radicalized." But how can we distinguish them? Islam needs to be reformed before believers in liberal and democratic ideas can really trust its adherents.

No presidential or U. S. Congressional campaign shall last more than 90 days.

No state level campaign shall last more than 60 days.

No lower level campaign shall last more than 30 days.

Each level must have a minimum of three debates between ALL candidates.

U.S. Supreme Court ruling over-turning corporate and political campaign contributions shall be re-instated. Limit shall be set at $100k. 

No candidate may have for national office, a campaign chest of more than $10m. All campaign costs must come out of that account, and that account alone. When it’s done, so is the candidate.

Overhaul the IRS and throw out the tax code. A new one might have a Value Added Tax that applies to everyone, no exceptions.

Throw out the Operating Handbook of Rules for both U.S. House and Senate, and re-write them to: Eliminate all sub-committees. 

No bill shall have a life of more than thirty days until either passed, or voted down. No more of this 9-months nonsense to pass a simple bill. 

No midnight pay raise riders attached to legislation. 

No off-topic amendments added to any legislation, period.

Pay no citizen to vote, and do not create punishments for those who don’t. The last time at least 60% of the American voting public did so was 1968. It should be a personal choice. Voting age shall be 18 nationwide, as shall be the drinking age. If those are raised to 21, than so shall the age for eligible military enlistment.

On national voting day for President, no projections shall be broadcast by any media by any means until the polls close in Hawaii.

Eliminate and ban all political parties. Eliminate and ban all lobbyists.

No semantic dance around the Constitution when declaring war, by any President. Only Congress may do so. Pretty clear.

All American corporations must bank inside America. No off-shore banking, no dual set of books. No avoidance of tax responsibilities to the very communities that provide the resources for them to make their profits.

Federalize the gasoline industry. Competition between companies is non-existent anyway. It is a commodity that affects every citizen and thus can no longer be exposed to the whims of the greedy pigs now in charge. Prices may only be changed twice a year, in either direction, by no more than 10% each time.

Eliminate the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Energy and Education Departments, and the CIA. More problems stem from these four agencies than any others combined.

Cancel the Patriot Act and the Affordable Healthcare Act. The former took away some of our freedoms and right to privacy, and the latter actually fines people who don’t buy it, because they couldn‘t afford healthcare insurance in the first place. The ACA is the 2,000 page document Ms. Pelosi famously swore no one read anyway because they couldn’t understand it. Why should we have to obey it?

Native Americans can no longer exist as sovereign nations within our borders. Segregation was tried once before in America. It led to civil war and nearly the permanent division of the country.

Secure our borders. Change federal law that now states public schools have to admit anybody that knocks on the door, citizen or not, speaks our dominant language, English, or not. The cost to states and districts is in the billions as a result and those same states and districts are now nearly destitute.

Change the anchor baby law, which allows women from anywhere to birth their children in America, automatically granting citizenship. We can’t afford it.

Change the way public schools are funded. Property-tax based systems favor the rich and the comfortable and the home owner, and always, always hold back, hurt, and discriminate against the poor.  Put all of a state’s education funds into one pot and all schools get what they need. That way, suburban schools don’t get extra practice fields, planetariums, indoor pools, and closed-circuit t.v. studios, while inner city schools and Appalachian poor go without windows, heat, books, computers, software, decent furnishings, and all the rest.

Ban HOA sub-divisions everywhere. Town and city govts love them because taxpayers pay property taxes but receive very little from their towns and cities in return, because HOA fees do so. Availability of non-HOA housing across the country is dwindling because of this communist concept that someone else has the power to tell you what you can and cannot do with your own castle.

Close all the law schools. We have far more lawyers than we shall ever need.

Shut down cash payments of foreign aid. Foreign aid shall consist only of trade items. It’s incredibly stupid to send billions overseas while our own country crumbles because of neglect and the improper distribution of taxpayer dollars. America First. We need to pay down our $18T debt, the constant and ever-growing elephant in the room.

All presidential candidates must produce valid proof of identity and birth, and background and education. No exceptions.

About half of the govt offices in Washington should be distributed to other cities around the nation. It would be an economic shot in the arm for those cities, lower traffic, housing, and over all congestion problems for Washington, D. C.

No Congressional representative shall serve more than two terms in a lifetime. All such reps shall, while in session in Washington, live in military family housing on a military base, for incredibly cheap housing costs and better security. The concept was never, that representation shall be a career.

Presidential term shall be six years and no one shall serve more than one in a lifetime, no matter if the officer holder dies in office. 

Supreme Court jobs shall last seven years, and no one may have more than one in a lifetime. It’s about restoring balance and authority to the original concept of Checks and Balances, currently all but non-existant.

Amtrak must privatize or disappear. Outside the NE corridor it builds terrible operating losses covered by the over-burdened American taxpayer.

Overhaul FDR’s welfare state. Once in a lifetime, two-year eligibility that would require mandatory no-notice drug testing. Checks to be spent only on basic food groups and not on alcohol, tobacco, or non-food items. During time on welfare, recipients must attend and graduate from job training program, and work at least 20 hours weekly on community improvement project, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and other projects of the 1930s accomplished. Cleaning roadsides, clearing forests, removing debris from crumbling inner-city blocks, all will make a difference.

Overhaul the very comprehensive yet out of control Farm Bill, which first started to fall apart in 1933. Congress passed the latest five-year version a year ago to the tune of $952M, and admitted publicly they didn’t know how to fix it. I do. Stop paying farmers to grow crops. Stop subsidizing them by the billions. Let market forces dictate to them what to grow, how much to grow, and when. If they want to eat, they’ll figure it out.

Eliminate retail subsidies and enticements. WalMart receives over $7.8B every year from your govt (taxpayers). About $6.2B goes to pay for food stamps, subsidized housing, and Medicaid to their own employees, which the company should be paying for out of its gross profits. They recently announced a min. wage raise effective April 2015 to $9 hr, and again in Feb 2016 to $10 hr. Wonderful, except the feds have set the national poverty income level at $11.90 an hour, NOW. Since when should American taxpayers pay for the benefits of a privately owned family business? Just because we help out NFL owners by building their stadiums for them doesn’t mean we can help everyone.

At age 18, all citizens must mandatory do two years of national service. In the military, in hospitals, in food banks, in shelters, I don’t really care. But, just like the Mormons off riding their bikes all over the country for two years, spreading whatever, the rest of the populace should be helping as well. Beats getting blasted at Spring Break.

No federal mandates of any type without accompanying, at the same time, appropriate federal dollars to pay for them. Pretty simple. I think this is called State’s Rights.

I honestly believe that if we do not, at a minimum, restore Checks and Balances and get Tax and Spend under control, even our current Plutocracy form of government will disappear. The heck with Socialism and presidents and billionaires who support such nonsense. Country was established and developed by working people without any help from their government, save a well-defended country in which to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. Let’s try this again.  Thank you.

It's been 52 years since that tragic Nov day in Dallas.

Our country made a hard and irreversible turn that day. What could have been, staggers the mind. JFK was far from perfect, and his family was scum, but his plans would truly have changed the nation, and the world. His loss is beyond tragic. 

He was highly intelligent, extremely well-read, and well-traveled. He lived in Europe during the War, then joined that fight, despite easily being physically ineligible. The 16 years ensuing from his heroic military service to the oath-taking that frozen Jan morning, are full of disgusting, nasty, crooked, vote-bought politics of the lowest order. He was a philanderer and no innocent. Addicted to sex, and to power, lying about his incredibly poor physical shape, he almost let one ruin the other. His fawning followers covered for him time and again, along with irresponsible members of the Fourth Estate.

His vision, was supreme. He set us on the road to explore the stars, and we took him up on it, and succeeded beyond his and ours wildest dreams. Today, Voyager 2, launched in 1977, is still traveling through space, sending back invaluable data. He truly wanted and believed in peace among all nations. He supported a nuclear test ban treaty with the Soviets. He wanted peace with Cuba, despite his behind-the-scenes machinations of the CIA and FBI to assassinate Castro. Having visited Vietnam in the 1950's, he knew that to become embroiled in war in that country would be futile, as the French found out, and he was working on extracting us from that quagmire. Today, some 58,400 American souls later, and a couple million Vietnamese, America's largest companies are members of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce.

Peace with the Soviets was within his grasp. Khrushchev was ready to join him. He led efforts in reducing our nuclear inventory. He was going to pull us back from the threshold of an unwinnable SE Asia war. He paid more than lip service to his predecessor's exit warning about the dangers of the growing military industrial complex in America. He didn't trust his Joint Chiefs, and wanted to eliminated the CIA. He would have fired Hoover and changed the FBI, but Hoover's files were full of JFK's misdeeds, so Hoover, and his FBI, remained off-limits.

In 2015, America would be unrecognizable to him. A black man in the White House with no leadership experience and an empty resume, who has shown no interest or ability in eliminating or even fighting America's enemies around the world. A national treasury, not just empty, but some $18T in debt. He wouldn't understand that. A deeply divided, strictly partisan Congress unable to agree on just about anything, forcing his successors to do workarounds in the form of too many Executive Orders, not the design the FF's had all those years ago.

Poverty and hunger are worse today in America than ever before. Our infrastructure is old, rusty, and crumbling. Roads, bridges, electricity grid, transportation systems, all outdated, with no money for repair and upgrades.

Race relations are also probably a lot worse today, despite all the improvements in law and social programs to help those of darker shades gain a piece of the American Dream.

The elderly in America today are better off robbing a bank and going to jail, because the treatment of inmates is far better than the health care, housing, food programs, and daily assistance available to those obeying our too many laws.

Look at us all today.

We fight and pick at and with each other, over the smallest of issues, be it a religious-themed display, or respect for our flag, or a thousand smaller issues. Everyone seems able to quote the Constitution, yet no one seems able to explain its words, nor agree on their meaning. Congress, bought and paid for, is worthless and immovable. The Supreme Court, also bought and paid for continues to reverse itself in favor of Big Business.

Returning to the Wild West, we are now armed to the teeth more than at any other time in our young nation's violent history,whether we can handle the weapon or not. The smallest slight sets us off, shooting at the spilling of beer on our sneakers, or a driving move on our roads, or being handed the wrong food order at a drive-thru. When pulled over by our police, we have no idea how to act, and often instigate tragedy as a result.  

People in our country illegally, refuse to assimilate, yet feel they have the right to welfare benefits, free education and health care, while marching, shooting, demonstrating down our streets. As a nation we don't care much for voting, not aware of who our reps are and what they are allegedly doing on our behalf. This, is the legacy of Watergate, and the most crooked, mad, paranoid president to ever hold the office. Surrounded by his henchmen and yes men, he was doomed from his start.

We have disintegrated as a positive forward-moving and thinking and accomplishing society. We now think nothing of violence. It is ingrained in our culture. A neighbor gets shot and we take it for ho-hum granted. Our youth are exposed to more violence at an earlier age than ever, thanks to the computer, video games, alleged music, and Hollyweird movies that seem incapable of any other theme.

We've allowed ourselves to be taken from a great, representative democracy, to a plutocracy of socialist means and goals. The best we can do for presidential candidates in the current too-long campaign cycle, is a career liar, master of double-speak and distraction, desperate to be the first female president, as if that will begin to solve any of our nation's ills. Other candidates include a fellow who thinks he is entitled to the position because it is his family's business, a socialist senator who thinks his ideas are new, a businessman whose blunt buster rings true to millions of citizens, another black man running without anything on his political resume remotely resembling leadership of any size organization, but who undoubtedly deserves and should be included, on the next Cabinet. He is totally unprepared for the Beltway Battles, but might serve as a calm catalyst for actual change.

In trying to provide for those too lazy to do so for themselves, we have pulled ourselves down into a non-functioning, war-based, broken-economy, an empty-treasury nation of divisive self-interested souls. We care far more about our electronic devices and the lives of Hollywood narcissists,n the decision-making skills of 545 people in Washington. 

JFK simply would not recognize his beloved country, where it has ended up, and where it is headed. Sad, probably irreversible mess.

Guess we got what we allegedly wanted as a nation.

We got God not only out of our schools, but out of nearly all public displays. No praying allowed, apparently.

We have let the minority voices of a handful of atheists dictate what our cultural mores are going to be. How did we let that happen, and why?

We allow our nation's symbol to be burned, as free speech, yet we shut down protesters and remove people from press conferences for merely asking questions.

Not once, but twice did we elect our national leader on the premise of Hope, and Change. How's that working out for us? He bows to foreign leaders, restricts military operations, circumvents the Congress and thus the Constitution he swore to uphold, and fails to lead in times of domestic and international crisis.

1968 was the last presidential election in which at least 60% of the eligible electorate bothered to vote. We will, however, camp out in front of retail stores for days no matter the weather, to save a few bucks, and think nothing of packing playpen arenas on weekends, sitting in the worst of elements to cheer on our teams.

We know who the third string QB is, but can't name our Congressional reps, or our five freedoms listed in the First Amendment.

We'll post anything here, but won't take the same amount of time to write those same representatives and tell them what we think.

We believe adamantly in the 2nd Amendment, yet refuse to even consider compromising on the deadlier weapons available to anyone who can stand up straight and fake a document, and a background,. This, despite the slaughter of innocents in an Amish school house, in a Newton school, in too many schoolhouses, really; in theaters, and malls, and work centers, and subways and planes.

Under the guise of an ancient plaque overlooking a harbor, we let in those who intend us harm, because we are soft-hearted and truly believe folks come here merely for a better life, and no really evil purpose. We continue to believe that despite the Tsarnaevs and the Siyooks and the as yet undiscovered terrorist cells already in place here, waiting to be next.

We allow violence to wash over and through every facet of it, from books, movies, music, television and cable and satellite programming, to cartoons and comics and video games. We shrug and continue to buy it and follow it and play with it, meanwhile rationalizing our choices as being really not that bad.

We must like our current culture. We sure don't work to change it.

In no particular order:

1. 18 month presidential campaign is far far too long. 90 days to say what you have to say, show what you're about, and let's vote. 

2. Congress is the root of all evil in this country. 545 people in Washington D.C. run the country. Nine are on the SC, and one executive. That leaves 535 ineffectual partisan windbags to sit around and collect paychecks and benefits while the country goes to hell in a hand basket. Congress must want us involved in Middle East mess, they approved funding and troops. Congress must want illegal immigrants, they allowed the porous borders. Congress must want millions on a useless welfare system, they approved it. Congress wants Obamacare, they didn't bother to read it, but they approved it. Whatever problems exist are directly attributed to the Congress. They hold the purse strings and the approval authority. 

3. The U.S. Senate has been the most ineffective committee ever created in our country. They have done nothing of note in about 60 years. Just a white man's club with some seriously stupid rules. We the People take charge of their rules, and watch how fast things change in that less than august body.

4. We are a belligerent nation, have been since post WW-II, the last relevant war for us. We have incited more revolutions and assassinations and manipulations of more governments and their officials around the globe, than any other nation. Our economy is based upon the military-industrial complex, make no mistake about that. Our enemies are right about us. We attack other nations for no clear reason. We send "aid" everywhere to just about anyone who wants some. Back home our nation's people and infrastructure go wanting. Really stupid and short-sighted.

5. The Middle East is not fixable. Get out. Stay out. Stop supplying either side. Period.

6. The disappearance of balanced investigative journalism in the last 30 some years has been the biggest assist to social unrest and divisiveness. Replacing it, has been a select number of reduced publishing corporations interested in dollars and ratings only, content be damned. Daily news broadcasts are shows for talking heads.

6. Congress has been blatantly bought by the highest bidder, and there are so many slick ways to do that without being caught or being outside the law. Congress makes the rules, which is the problem to begin with.

7. Carson is not the answer. Another inexperienced president we do not need. Like to see him join the cabinet, however. At least one voice of reason and common sense is needed. Trump is offensive bluster. Sanders is just another socialist. Don't need that, either. Bilary couldn't satisfy her husband, and she won't satisfy the country, either. Disgusting candidate and person. Another Nixon, totally unable to recognize and tell the truth about anything. Anything.

8. Do what JFK wanted to do. Break up the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds. They should take the FBI with them, but they're too busy investigating recalcitrant high school girls with rug burns. NSA, listening in on Americans since 1952, also needs to leave.

Great country. Great people. Just need the right leadership. Re-elect no one. Representation was not ever supposed to be a career. Two terms, and go home. 

You're welcome.

Having lived (survived in the Phx area for 20 years, I recognize this activity for what it is. Normal, routine stupid behavior by Hispanics with guns and tempers. This has been going on there forever. 

It is no different than the Hispanics in Los Angeles, and the blacks in: Oakland, St. Louis, Chicago, Gary, IN; Newark, Patterson NJ, NY, Boston, Philly.  Got a problem? Someone take the last piece of bar-b-que? Stab 'em with a fork. Someone spilled beer on your shoe? Shoot 'em. Kids riding bikes in Philly? Easy targets, fire 17 shots at their defenseless behinds. Think a rival lives in that house in St. Louis? Fire into the bedroom window, kill a 14 year old.

This is normal and routine behavior for low lifes across the nation. Get rid of all the guns, and they would use an axe, a baseball bat, a hammer, a nail gun, their momma's cane, whatever. It is NOT the weapon used, it is the stupidity and the violence within, that must somehow be addressed.

I more and more really really like the three strikes and OUT concept. Anyone of any age that commits a crime using a weapon goes away for one year mandatory. In possession of an unlicensed and uregistered firearm? Go away for one year. Lose your job. Your apt. Your car, your bicycle, your dog. Anyone 16 and up who has three misdemeanors can go to jail for ten years. Anyone with a combination of misdemeanors and felonies totalling three, can go away for life. I am all in favor of building hundreds more prisons in small busted communities all over America. They will stimulate local economies, cure the unemployment rate, and give the rest of us worry-free movement about our own communities, knowing the knuckleheads won't ever walk free among us again.

I am past tired of soft judges, dealing prosecutors being nice to first time offenders, plea deals, and all the rest of the revolving door crap. Past time, to start locking up a large number of the offending populace, for life. Be done with their tired, repetitive act.

Guy (St. Louis metro punk with a record, arrested and charged with setting two of 7 recent church fires) is a walking advertisement for Three Strikes and You are Out. I really don't mind hundreds of more prisons. Any yahoo with three misdemeanors or felony convictions, should go away for life. No parole. One meal a day, based upon food they grow in the prison yard. No t.v. No library. No weight room. No basketball court. No handball court. No legal library. Just sit in there and vegetate and ponder a life wasted. 

Because I am really really tired of all the criminal nonsense that is, yes, allowed and encouraged through plea deals, soft prosecutors, first-time offenders, soft judges, and the like. Imagine how much safer any community would be, with all the three time losers gone. GONE. It simply is not that difficult to get up every day and lead your life in peace while making a simple living. 

Our entire mindset about crime and criminals needs to change. Now. What passes for criminal justice in America is merely revolving door repeat business for all involved who make a very good, secure living: bailiffs, court reporters, guards, public defenders, paid prosecutors, defense lawyers, alleged expert witnesses, judges, their staffs, bail bondsmen, etc., etc. Tired of it all. 

This guy had a long rap sheet. Put him away, permanently, at the third offense (if misdemeanor) or felony (totalled up with any misdemeanors) and he is nowhere near any of these churches. How many people are out on bail right now, walking around, with or without ankle monitoring bracelets, carrying guns, planning and doing all sorts of nonsense? More Vonderrit Myers Jr. punks we do not need. 

Not that hard to live on the right side of the law. Make a habit of not doing so, and you can leave. 

Permanently.

Any doubts about the strength of memory of American voters was cleared up during the presidential candidate debate the other night, when Jeb Bush turned to Donald Trump and said ".....my brother kept us safe.", and the audience applauded.

I do remember 3,000 Americans being murdered one Sept morning; an absolutely wrong invasion of a country that had not harmed us in any way, under the pretext of looking for weaponry that was never found; and 14 ensuing years of terrorist attacks against Americans at home and overseas, the deaths of about 5k American soldiers alone, untold numbers of wounded left to deal with the VA, and yet again another unstable time period in the Middle East.

Yep, his brother kept us safe alright. For just under nine months of his presidency.

And voters applauded the statement.......geez.

We live in a culture that says "if you disrespect me in any way, if you disagree with me over anything, if you cut me off in traffic, if you take my parking space/shopping cart/space in line, I will shoot you."
Somehow along the way, we have produced at least two generations of parents who forgot the part about teaching their young 'uns how to work out differences without being stupid or violent. Pre-school disagreements in the sandbox, taking someone's crayons in kindergarten, cutting in the water line in 3rd grade, knocking someone out of the way to board the school bus in 7th grade, bumping into someone in the high school hallway, the hangout location, or just riding down the road. None of these daily occurrences should be the source of tremendous rage, violence, death, and stupidity, but among at least two generations now, they are considered normal. Adults think nothing, nothing, of flipping their middle finger at rude drivers, setting a wonderful example for their children in the car and/or those nearby who witness this immature choice.
Again, it is not the weapon of choice, it is the individual reaction, the individual choice to the perception or reality of having been slighted. Mature people of any age can avoid violence with proper conflict resolution skills at almost any age.
This insanity can be prevented by proper education in the schools, if legal guardians at home can't do it. Far more important to learn this skill, than calculus or Spanish.

Try not to focus on the weapon of choice. We have had a seismic culture change across America in how we Americans solve our disagreements and conflicts and accidental/incidental public contacts, up close, and from a distance.
I never, ever was exposed to road rage until I saw it in the 90s. I was amazed that folks would respond to rude drivers in that manner. RR then advanced to gun fire as a response, instead of a middle finger. These were grown adults in their 50s in some cases, professional lawyers, accountants, etc. Really incredible stupdity levels.
We now are into our second generation of young people of all shades across the country, who clearly seem to believe, that the ONLY way to resolve conflict, is to instantly pull a weapon, usually a gun, and shoot the other person. Incredible. Stunning. And equally stupid.
The pages of this particular online paper have been filled with such stories, incuding the adults who went armed to a local park to "defend" their teenage children. Incredible. Stunning, And really really stupid.

Pontificating further, it is my sumise that such a cultural shift is connected to the continuing purge of religion from our culture. Attendance in church is down across religions, I believe. (I could be wrong). Minority voices of one or two people, that's all, has been enough for elected and appointed judges to order the removal of Ten Commandment displays, Christmas holiday displays, banning prayers at high school activities such as sporting events and graduation functions, etc. Mind you, these bans did not swell from a massive write-in campaign, or massive media campaing. One or two people went to a judge and whined. Instantly, activities that were commonplace and universally accepted and tolerated for over 200 years, were eliminated. 

How the minority overruled the majority on these and other matters is to me one of the great unanswered questions of our time. I don't get it. Exactly what harm was there in: displaying a nativity scene; praying before a game; praying before a graduation ceremony; displaying the basic tenents of one particular religion, and all the rest that has occurred? I'm confused by it all, too. Apparently, if one parent, one adult is offended, the rest of us without being heard from, must instantly kowtow and be politically correct and just nod our heads and say yep yep yep. 

Just passing through, confused.

As much as many of us thought the week of Supreme Court decisions was a tumultuous one, this latest Iran deal may beat them all.
A guy who won't acknowledge so much as his birth place, who never even run a city council meeting, served as a puppet senator in waiting, now is about to run to the U.N. to get one of the most one-sided treaties since the Armistice of WW I approved, before Congress can return to debate its merits.
Embargoes and sanctions have been lifted for most if not all European and Middle East countries, in fact most of the world, to restore trade to Iran. All except America, of course.
We have kept the Persian Gulf and Straight of Hormuz open to international shipping traffic of oil and other goods for half a century, all for naught, now. Our presence there, despite all the nonsense, has insured the flow of day to day life for millions in relative peace.
We have turned our backs on Israel, who would not surprise me at all by launching pre-emptive strikes, as they have been prone to do, at anyone they perceive to be a danger to them. Pretty sure Iran lobbing nukes from a few hundred miles away qualifies.
We still have four Americans being held. Genius Kerry and the rest of the idiots in the State Dept. did nothing to bring them home.

The entire Middle East took terrifying steps closer to true war with this deal. It is stunning in its one-sidedness, despite our fearless, knowledge-less leader's spin, and that of his Muslim minions.
Stunning. Scary. The world has known nuclear peace of mind for 66 years, knowing only two superpowers possessed them. Now, hell, everyone we know, half of whom are our stated enemies, have them, and the ability to deliver them.
And we're concerned abut the Kardashian morons?

 It is my personal perception, that billionaires like Soros and the Koch Brothers and the Walton family and Gates, among a long list, are using their billions to improperly influence the rules the rest of us mortals must live by. How else to explain Walmart paying wages ($9 hr) that are far below the federally established poverty level of 11.90 an hour, and making it up for that corporate strategic plan, by being subsidized by the taxpayers to the tune of $7.2B annually? About $6.2B of that goes to personnel for subsidized housing, food stamps, and Medicaid. In other words, WM is not paying for the benefits they supply their slaves. We taxpayers are. I can think of better places for our country to spend $7.2B, and I don't mean overseas. Money-deficient schools, some of which are crumbling in more ways than one; roads and bridges that are crumbling, no mistake about that, etc.

Bill Gates is pouring some of his money into changing the ways schools operate. Is he suggesting? No, he is offering his idea of school improvement programs to schools along with some computer freebies and every supt. starts bowing down to his Foundation. I am all for free enterprise and the amassing of fortunes. It is what the recipients do with their profits that concerns me. You can't take it with you, so why not spend it on the greater good? That is what drives me nuts about the oil industry. Double-figure quarterly profits in the BILLIONs were normal for years until the recent dip in crude and Brent crude barrel prices. The irony is they bring it in over the very road and across and under the very bridges that their trucks have helped deteriorate, and need some serious repair and replacement work. Do we ever, ever hear of any of the American or foreign oil conglomerates announce they are donating funds to fix those items, anywhere in America? What we get, are media ads touting how they need their profits to increase technology and find more oil. World is awash in the stuff, and yes there is an extraction and manuf. cost. But look at their quarterly profit statements easily accessible on line, then wonder why your local school district has to have booster clubs to raise funds for basic education needs.

Greed wasn't so dominate a topic once upon a time. Somewhere along the line these past 40 years we've gotten out of balance in America. Living wage jobs are fewer. Corporations buy smaller companies under the guise of having responsibilities to their stockholders, and turn around and close those companies, laying off thousands, whose lost income effect ripples through their communities. We have been living in such a world for at least 25 years. Who is going to be able to keep buying stock if no one is working a decent paying job to buy stock? We're already at that point.

Mr. Soros is reputedly behind some of the social unrest in this country. He is a life-long committed, dedicated socialist and a long-time financial supporter of, wait for it, Pres. Obama.

The Koch brothers have, in my opinion, wielded undue influence up and down all the halls and cloakrooms of Congress, influencing votes, bill outcomes, Supreme Court rulings.

I am pretty sure that the FF did not have this evolution in mind when they wrote our founding documents. Our give-away welfare programs are out of control. Our tax code has more holes than swiss cheese. The five year farm bill Congress passed a year ago to the tune of about $962m, was so complicated and so loaded with pork that Congress admitted publicly they have NO IDEA how to fix it.

Read the Patriot Act some day. I still haven't been able to finish it. Talk about loss of freedoms.

Read the Affordable Healthcare Act, that Ms. Pelosi admitted "we didn't read it so we don't know what's in it." This, is your representative (employees) govt. in action.

A plutocracy is an ugly thing, sir. In my opinion, we have been one for some time. Probably reached it about the time corporations started banking off-shore to avoid the IRS reach, banking laws, etc. Read the spin that corps. put out every year about how they "pay taxes, yes we do." Someday I want to read BOTH sets of books.

In summary, we created our own problems. We have a do-nothing Congress completely at odds with the Executive Branch. We have a bunch of lifetime bench sitters on the Supreme Court that have, in recent years, rolled back all major court decisions regarding integrating schools and corporate campaign contribution ceilings. We have twice elected a man to the WH who to this day refuses to discuss or provide the most basic documentation about his birth, background, educational institutions attended and graduated from, or held any kind of job that would remotely prepare him for the mess in which he finds himself today, partly by his own inabilities, and partly by a citizenry that refuses to vote or care. Waiting in the wings is Bilary Clinton, who has no idea what truth might actually be, not a scintilla of character or integrity, but retains the ability to fast and double-talk her way out of everything disgusting she does, which is everything. She will gather votes next year because too many sheep think it will be cute/great to have a woman in the WH finally. We made that "first" mistake 6 years ago. Let us not repeat.

 How to Change America:

Take the Congressional Handbook of Operating Rules Away from the Roosters in the Hen House.

Reduce Supreme Court positions to 7 years. 

Representation in either house limited to three terms. Our FF never envisioned idiots making a career out of hearing themselves talk. 

Presidential term shall be one six-year term per lifetime. No relative may ever be elected, eliminating dynasties and power grabs, like the Kennedys and the Bushes. 

Return to the days of ceilings on campaign contributions. And none of this one-dozen $3k gifts, either, from one person. 

Reduce presidential campaigns to 90 days, with three mandatory debates that must include all candidates. Governor and state legislative offices to 60 days. Lower offices of all types to 30 days. 

Eliminate the: CIA; NSA; Bureau of Indian Affairs; ED. and Energy depts. The Indians are not thriving through segregation, self or govt-imposed. Leave education questions to the states.

Eliminate all subsidies: farmers, Big Oil, Big Energy, Wal-mart and all retailers, pharmeceuticals, you name it. Return that money to all 50 states. They'd have their infrastructure repaired inside of ten years.

Things I simply do not understand:

Southern CA college professor requiring his students to take finals in the nude.

Florida college forced vaginal exams on some students.

Why anyone would want to be president. Far more lucrative to be a CEO of a subsidized entity.

Why too many blacks do not have family values, and thus grow up wild and untamed and out of control, with no sense of social responsibility.

Why a train engineer was going 106 in a 50 zone.

Why a Waco TX bar would invite not just one, but five rival biker gangs at the same time. What did they think would break out, "We Are the World?"

Why Congress still authorizes subsidies to the Big Five Oil companies, a practice first initiated in 1913. Do they look like they need help, registering billions in proft QUARTERLY?

Why Congress does nothing with the Five Year Farm Plan except take the easy way out and approve it, instead of sending it to committee and exploring why dairy prices are subsidized (meaning our current high milk prices), why farmers are being paid not to grow items, and all the rest?

Why Congress subsidizes the Energy companies. They're not exactly going broke, either.

How Wal-Mart, a family owned private business, managed to get the American taxpayer to cover their personnel costs to the tune of about $6.7B.

I don't wonder why our schools nationwide, our roads, our bridges, our homeless shelters, our food banks are suffering funds shortages. I know

 I don't give a healthy crap about the selfish national group known as stockholders, Ken. They're as piggish and greedy and selfish as the corps. they bow down to. Since when did the needs of a community/state/nation be superceded by the greed of an ever-growing, more demanding faceless corporation? These would be the corps. that: bank off-shore to avoid their responsibilities as U.S. taxpayers, which in turn means they are accepting and using all manner of local and state resources without contributing their fair share to the maintenance, upkeep, and delivery of those resources: police, fire, water, sewer, trash, electric, gas, schools, libraries, roads, bridges, etc. These are the corps that hire armies of accountants and tax lawyers to find every conceivable loop-hole to avoid paying their fair share, that you and I and our neighbors cannot afford to. These are the corps. that have bought Congress, and managed to get the U.S. Supreme Court to alter/revoke the rules of the game, tilting the field to the corps. advantage. We now live in a plutocracy, the United Business States of America. We are lucky to retain the few freedoms we have. Everything else we once knew is an illusion. Six major corporations own and are responsible in our once-great country for 1500 newspapers, 1100 magazines, 9000 radio stations, 1500 t.v. stations, and 2400 publishers. Where's the diversity, the individuality, the willingness to point at Washington, D.C. and say STOP! or ask questions, or investigate. There is very little individuality left in America, Ken. Our malls, strip malls, fast food joints, our cars, retail box stores, WM with its $7 Billion taxpayer subsidy, all look-alikes in a look-alike, PC world, a socialist world of conformity and quiet compliance.
For every shareholder who benefitted from a stock deal, there are more losers that have been hurt. For every corp. acquisition, there are people out of work whose losses spiral throughout their communities. We're out of balance, sir. Do you like the direction America has been in, for years? I sure don't. The middle class, responsible for supporting the other two, has all but disappeared. Community school districts across the nation are struggling to educate. Tax and Spend has been the applied response, but that has never worked, isn't working, will never work.

All we seem to have heard about over the months since Aug, is how Black Lives Matter. I am not seeing much evidence of that among blacks in the St. Louis metro area, both sides of the river, or nationally. Again, all shades commit all manner of atrocities. That isn't likely to change. What's confusing, in my fertile, aging mind, is the sheer volume of public nonsense (fights, shootings, police killings, beheadings, etc) from an ethnic group that constantly and consistently complains that: white don't treat them fairly; police harass them; banks don't loan them money; retail security guards follow them around stores, and all the rest. Personally, I think there is a correlation between how members of this ethnic group, blacks, live on a daily basis, and the ways in which they are perceived and treated in kind. Maybe it's just me. I dislike stereotypes. At the same time, 14% of our country's population is black, yet make up 40% of our prison population. The entire national criminal justice system can't be biased towards blacks. There's too many of them crossing the line of social behavior to believe that. I understand that we are only 4-5 generations removed from U. S. slavery conditions, and that it does indeed take time for any group to re-form itself. But how long does it take? Public schools are open to all. Public universities are open to all. Bank loans and mortgages and rental properties and homes for sale are open to all. Motels and restaurants and nightclubs are open to all. Major league sports teams are integrated. Voting rights are established for all. How many different immigrant ethnic groups have migrated here, established themselves within a generation or two, and not been a societal burden to the extent blacks have been ? Yet, blacks have high high school drop-out rates, high teenage pregnancy rates, tend to live in higher crime zones, own less homes and operate fewer banks and businesses, go to college less. It's very disheartening to read and see and watch an ethnic group basically hold itself back, embarass itself, and be a public burden. I don't know what the answers are. Common sense, personal pride, family structure, life goals, these are not restricted to any one group. I just don't get it. I don't.

From a Sunday NYT article about overhauling U.s. tax code:

"....the official corporate income tax rate is 35%. This is second highest in the world behind only France. But there are so many loopholes and tax dodges that the effective rate is 27.9, according to World Bank.

....However, a GAO study of profitable US companies with at least $10m in assets put their tax rate at (only) 12.6 % in 2010. Many companies pay NOTHING (my emphasis).

....CBO reported in January that corporate tax receipts would shrink to 1.8 % of the economy in ten years, from 2.3% in 2016, and individual income tax rates would rise during that same period from 8.7 to 9.5 %."

Just exactly why, do any of us intelligent active voters put up with this? It means a lot of Fortune 500 companies, conglomerates that control many of the brands we buy, pay little or nothing of their fair share. Those missing tax dollars are missing from your child's schools; your libraries, your city governments, your state coffers, etc., etc. Yet, just try, just try not paying taxes yourself. The IRS will be all over you, for years.

It's a long, long article and much more worthwhile reading than Kim Kardashian's antics, or whomever. Your choice. Your life. Your children and grandchildrens' lives.