In a Perfect World we'd all be Republicans

In a perfect world everyone would be Republican, this a strange statement coming from someone like myself. I try to beat up on Rethuglicans every chance I get. I like their rhetoric, but in practice, they always always always get side tracked by crooks. Not all, but a good portion of Republican politicians just want to be re-elected just like Democrats, and to get re-elected you have to get in bed with unsavory characters, this is the game and they all play it.

I like the Republican mantra of small Government, I like their talk about reducing the deficit, I like their dogma about people being responsible for their own health care and there talk about giving the power to govern back to states. But if you think about it -Clinton was the only President in the last 50 years to lower the deficit or shrink government. President's Reagan, Bush and Bush II all ran massive deficits, and never really tried to fix the problem (when the first Bush tried to raise taxes to fix the problem, he got ran out of office on a rail). Both Reagan and Dick Cheney have said "deficits don't matter", look at them now though. Bush II grew the size of government at a unprecedented rate, first with two wars and then with the unfunded liability of Medicare-Part D. At least Obama is trying to pay for the health reform he's proposing.

Another Republican rallying point- personal responsibility is only applicable when times are good, look how all of these so-called free market capitalist companies are lining up for Government bailouts and handouts, whats that all about ? Another rallying cry is- the monopoly on Christian values, which is only convenient when they're not 'bearing false witness' concerning different aspects of President Obama agenda. But when they do get what they want, the values will return. This is the biggest problem most Democrat I talk to, have with Republicans, their supposed Christian values, that they cast a side when it's convenient.

There is one bright spot in this continued 'bearing of false witness'. The Fox News crowd-advertisers are starting to leave the channel and programs like Glenn Beck that tell lies about serious problems this country faces. No one is opposed to a opposing opinion, but this country cannot continue to be viable if 39% of the population is basing their opinions off of false information. People need to understand that 25 to 30% of the population get all of their news from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, it should scare people. These are good American people who in a lot of cases have no idea their being manipulated by people ruled by money and the bottom line concerns.

Garden Tip: here's a simple way to find out if your plants need water, take a handful of soil and squeeze it, if no water comes out of your hand the plant needs water.

Tight Rope Walker

President Obama is walking a tight rope. He wants to get something done concerning health care but he has two sides pulling at him and if he doesn't watch out, they will rip him apart. Earlier this week the administration let out how the President was not being married to the PublicOption in the health care reform bill. This got Rachael Maddow, Dr. Howard Dean and their liberal leaning crowd in a tizzy. Dean was on the morning news shows yesterday saying that if there's no Public Option, "health care isn't even worth passing," which then set a fire under Obama and his people because if he loses the more liberal wing of his party - game over for a second term.

The more I think about it President Obama may have to fall on his sword on this one, take a position and go all out, and let the cards fall where they may. Democrats are looking at him as wobbly, as if he'll take any bill that lands on his desk. In these days and times that's not acceptable, people have strong feelings, they could have sent anybody to Washington to be weak and indecisive. Many people 'really' looked at Obama as the 'messiah,' somebody needs to tell him that.

It really just occurred to me as-of-late, reading op-ed's and comments from some of the American people writing in, members of the far left are ready to fight for health care as much as the people on the far right. Obama's problem is that those on the left voted for him. If these people don't at least get a Public Option, (they have already given up on the single payer-Medicare style plan they really want) Obama will be a one term President.

In my opinion, the only way Mr. Obama can get out of this predicament is for the economy to take off like shot out of a cannon. The economy may be the only thing that will get Mr. Obama a pass. He still needs to take a stand though. Today Obama was to meet with former President Bill Clinton, I'll assume they're talking strategy, I hope their talking strategy. Clinton's been behind this eight ball before, he was always able to stay one step ahead of the Rethuglicans. I'm pretty sure Clinton is telling him not to become too close to many of the current Democrats in Congress -as they might not be around after November 2010.

I've said this before: the best thing that could happen to President Obama would be for the Rethuglicans to take back the House of Representives and Democrats keep the Senate. Clinton's telling him the same plus not to take it personally if it happens, he went through the same thing and look how he turned out...

Garden Tip: This is the No.1 gardening and landscape tip I can give you - buy Lesco fertilizers and lawn care products. They are sold at Home Depot now. They are a professional grade products that work - great!

America: The Land of Gangsters

I've been wondering out loud lately-did black people in general sign up for the pain they would have to go through to get President Obama agenda achieved ? What I mean by that is there are untold numbers of blacks, latins, muslim and liberal whites that have lost there jobs because of their political view. There have been women (mostly black) that have come on to job sites, whether it be casual Friday or everyday clothes, wearing Barak Obama tee shirts or overly happy about his win, are now laided off, or outright fired now. People that don't really follow minusha of Government and it's effects on the business culture don't know what hit them, some probably had just got a good yearly review or raise.

Not all but a good portion of small and large corporations are run by very conservative IE Republican men. These men (not all) are taking the election and the direction President Obama is taking the country very personally, The more Mr. Obama tries to get his agenda across the more and more these people have fears that their freedoms and money to some extent will be taken away from them, in the form of higher taxes. The way these people get back at Obama and his kind (Dems, Liberals blacks and Latins- who they think are all illegal) is to lay as many of them off as possible.

It's been widely reported that businesses went overboard in cutting jobs last fall and winter. Right now the stock market is sailing right along -higher and higher. Most economist feel like the recovery is well on it's way to becoming reality. But nobody feels flush, know one feels 'safe' yet. This as we all know is because of jobs. Unemployment is still a huge problem among young black men, there rate of unemployment is at like 25 to 30%. Blacks overall unemployment is 14.6 but going lower, this is good. The Hispanic unemployment rate is12.6 but going hire, which isn't good.

This brings me back to my original thought- why do 'some' black have to suffer because Barak Obama wants to try to 'utopasize' a very gangster America ? Anyone who has been paying attention to American since the Reagan Revolution of the early 80's, up-to-now, know that in America people steal big money, and they don't have to wear masks. These days the best thieves wear- three piece Brooks Brothers suits while stealing millions and in some cases billions.

All of this while the local news concentrate on brothers and poor whites stealing hundred dollar Playstations. This is the culture of America now, this 'is' the new normal -Russians, Italians, Hispanics and to a lesser extent the Jews realized this long ago. Rich Rappers like Jay-Z and 50 Cent figured it out and try to explain it, in their raps. It's why I like Jay, he just says it, "it's only illegal if you get caught". Welcome to America

I like America, it's a competitive place, if you have some hustle and imagination you can have some incredible times hear, (Lord knows I have). But I also understand that America is a Country consumed by gangsters who like it just the way it is. Wall Streeters hate when you refer to them as gangsters, they prefer business men. But you tell me: a guy sits down with his friend, he's known for 25 yrs, we'll say at Goldman Sachs. They are discussing a compensation package where he pays his friend 100 million dollars for a years work. The deal says whether the Company make money or loses money his friend gets paid enough money to take care of three generations of his family. Now you tell me that's not gangster.

Idiocracy

I saw a movie a while back, it was a outrageous over the top take on what America will be like in 500 years. The movie was called Idiocracy and was written and directed by Mike Judge the man behind 'Beevis and Butthead' and 'King of the Hill'. It starred Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph. The whole premise of the movie revolved around American people becoming dumber and dumber over the centuries, instead of smarter and smarter. When I watched it for the first time I thought it was ok, a little much -but cool. Now that I see what this debate on healthcare has become, I can truly see something like that happening in the near future.

This is just my opinion, but there is a element in this country that have figured out how to manipulate the less bright amongst us. These people follow Sarah Palin and the Birther Groups -who think President Obama was born in Kenya, and shouldn't be President. What is disturbing about this is that these people are the ones buying all the guns. I think they want to try to bully the rest of the country out of healthcare, they think Democrats are scared of them. This healthcare debate and vote are going to be a huge crossroads for this country, I'm interested to see how all this plays out.

A big problem that's facing the American people is the media/press let this nonsense go unchecked. The only news outlet I've seen call Palin to the carpet, concerning her Facebook rant about Obama's supposed -Death Panels was ABC NEWS who held their their viewers hands and explained to them that it was all a big lie, no Death Panels.

What is going on concerning all the disinformation being dissipated is a STRATEGY. People have to understand these things, the people behind this feel that their losing control, checks may stop coming in. A tactic in the larger strategy of misinforming their constituents is just trying to stop the debate among people who want to discuss healthcare. That to me is a new low, the more and more I see this, it's proves Idiocracy exists. Mike Judge is somewhere saying- "I told you so".

Garden Tip: Something real easy, but something people never think about until it's too late. When you go out of town move your pots on the deck and on the front porch out of the sun into the shade. You can't imagine how that could be the difference between a dead plant and a plant just wilted a bit.

The Rally Continues...

If I'm home at this time of day (it's 2p)I'm listening to CNBC on the TV while working in our office. The older I get the less I like TV, it's become mostly reality shows, court programs and home fix-it programs-nonsense. Today the unemployment numbers came out for July, all week different business oriented shows were making a big deal about if the number was going to be good or bad. As of recently like 5 months now, the stock market has been on tear. This has been while the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and my favorite Neil Boortz have been hammering President Obama about how he can't handle the economy and unemployment while trying to overhall healthcare. The unemployment number turned out to be good -going from 9.6 to 9.4, most economist had expected the number to rise. The rally continued on the Dow and S&P while President Obama gets some room to think and take a quick vacation with his family.

Health care town hall meetings across the country have been hectic. The meetings are being attended by Congressmen and women in their district . During these town hall meetings the dignitaries have been shouted down, threatened and surrounded and followed to their cars after the meetings. Paul Krugman in the New York Times today says this is the same crowd that attend the birther rallies and don't believe Obama was born in America. Democrat operatives have called on union members to rally around the Congress people and stand up to those that are trying to interrupt the democratic process in these meetings.

Now if one if these people have serious issues and disagreements with policies that are being discussed in these meetings, they definitely have the right to have their say. But if your coming to intimate the people who want to discuss and debate health care, then that's not cool. It also says a lot about that group of people. This is what people do when they have no new IDEAS, you have to be able to bring a different viewpoint a new idea that people want to rally behind.

Garden Tip: Here's something that I do -Plant White flowers around walkways and areas in the landscape they are the last plants to fade at dusk and kind of pop at night in outdoors situations. If you have potted plants on your deck or your front porch throws some white petunias, or pansy in to create interest in night settings.

36 Chambers with Kim Jong Ill

Maybe this is harsh but why were these journalist so close to North Korea's border, also why were the three hikers hiking so close to the border of Iran. This is not a game people !
In the case of the journalist, if one of the ladies sisters wasn't the more famous journalist Lisa Ling, would these ladies be home right now. If they weren't working for one of Al Gores' ventures - Current TV, would they have been able to reach out to former President Bill Clinton.

From reports that I've read, these young ladies never saw the inside of a jail cell. They were in a North Korean 'condo' the whole time. They were able to talk to their families 'a lot' and were served three hot meals a day. So lets hold up on the sympathy for these two. As is the American way they'll get back home, write a book, sell the movie rights, go on a book tour, and forever be looked at as some sort of North Korean experts. They'll probably graduate from cable channel obscurity to be on-air personalities for Network TV. Really folks where is the downside.

On top of that, they've been eating bad North Korean food and have probably shed a few unwanted pounds.

What sucks about the whole thing is that the Obama Administration has to spend political capital and answer questions about who sent Clinton, who paid for it and why are we rewarding a dictator like Kim Jong Ill, with the presence of someone like former President Bill Clinton.

Before all of this, the Obama administration was trying to isolate Mr. Jong Ill and his country because of the Nuclear testing his they had been conducting off the coast of Japan and South Korea. They had even threatened to launch towards Hawaii and Alaska. But now it looks like their rewarding bad behavior. And right on cue the Rethuglican's have pounced on Clinton's trip as bad diplomacy that sends the wrong message to the world and North Korea. "We are suppose to be mad at them, didn't Obama didn't get memo".

Garden Tip: Here's a tip to help you decide which of your plants like sunshine and which don't. Those with big leaves like hydranges, rhododendrons, and hostas need less sun than plants with small leaves like herbs and sedums. Big leaf less sun,, small leaf more sun.

Healthcare healthcare healthcare

I think President Obama and his administration have it right. He still has a tough road ahead, but things should work out. Healthcare is going to happen, in my opinion. People don't realize that the Democrats have been trying to pass healthcare reform for 40 yrs now. Each time the Rethuglicans beat them back with lies and scare tactics to the American people, it always works because most Americans aren't too bright. You have admire their persuasiveness in getting people to support a interest that doesn't serve their own goals. Like a person needing a glass of water in the dessert and someone talking them out of drinking it. This is our healthcare debate.

Let me make this clear though, I just don't want 'any' healthcare. If Govenment/Americans enter into a Medicare (Single Payor Type Program) for healthcare, I don't think we the 50% of people who pay taxes can afford it. If we do decide to go that way, the Government will have to have everyone pay taxes, even the poor people- I understand this is unpopular.

Something that I try to explain to people everytime I get a chance is that only 50 % of the population in America pays income taxes. The other half gets earned income tax credits and other little goodies, to prop up their income. Nothing wrong with that if that's the law that we voted in. Buttttt for everyone to have Universal healthcare, everyone -even the earned income tax credit crowd need to pay taxes or this isn't going to work. I'm not talking about alot of money, but something -2 or 3 dollars a pay period. Every little bit helps.

It looks like were going to end up with some sort of COOP - Pooled healthcare plan- companies in a big pool are choosen by people who need insurance, I believe this is what Massachusett is doing right now. There would also be rules that everyone would have to covered and the insurance companies wouldn't be able to turn away people with pre exisisting conditions. I say as long as people have a option that doesn't bankrupt their family if someone in their family has a major illness, this would be progress.

Garden Tip: When plantings under trees use plants with shallow root systems. Plants like impatiens, hostas and other shade tolerant plants, grow well because of their shallow root sytems that like the shade a large tree provides.