Elegy #1 For Congress

Congress used to be a place                                     
where people who cared
came to serve their country.

Now, it's a place full of

politicians, posers and
players.

Not everyone,
to be sure,
but the majority.

Now, it's a place where

red and blue
mean more than red, white, and blue.

Mean more than community, unity,

national pride,
the  greater good.

How will the American Dream survive
when it's forever a dream
and never a reality?

When government is no longer

by the People and
for the People?

Congress used to be a place                                     
where people who cared
came to serve their country.

~M.B.

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We create and keep U.S. jobs when we demand, promote, and buy Made in USA goods and products.

Here are some recommended "Made in USA" cereal/granola bars, and some not recommended, outsourced cereal bars made by so-called "American" companies.  Please feel free to post your own research to this blog!

This week's recommended products:

·         Eating Right Oats & Peanut Butter Bars - Product of USA by Lucerne Foods, Pleasanton, CA

·         Safeway Variety Pack Chewy Granola Bars, Safeway Chewy Pretzel Bars -  Product of USA by Lucerne Foods, Pleasanton, CA

      ( http://www.lucernefoods.com/)

·         Eviro Kidz Bars - Product of USA by Nature's Path Foods, Blaine, WA

      ( http://www.naturespath.com/)

NOT Recommended (made elsewhere):

      ·         Eating Right Fruit & Grain Bars
      ·         Fiber One, Nature Valley, Golden Grahams, Chex Mix  (General Mills)
      ·         Health Vallley
      ·         Nutri-Grain, Special K, Fiber Plus, Rice Krispies, Cinnabon (Kellogg)
      ·         Kudos (Mars)
      ·         Safeway Kitchens
      ·         TLC (Kashi)
      ·         Quaker
      ·         Giant Foods
      ·         Planters, Snack Well's (Kraft)

While Republicans Take Us On A Roller Coaster Ride...What's Happening to Jobs?

      Is anyone as sick of debt ceiling "negotiations" as I am?  I have never been a big fan of roller coaster rides, and I'm definitely way ready for this ride to be over.  One minute up, next minute down;  the President saying  "compromise,"  Republicans who worship at the altar of Grover Norquist  saying "no" to everything they don't agree with, and coming up with a "new plan" which is their same old plan reworded. 

     Should Medicare and Medicaid benefits aka entitlement programs be cut?  No.  It's not only immoral to hurt the elderly, sick, disabled, and poor of our country, it doesn't make good business sense.  Reduce Medicare and Medicaid benefits, and more of our elderly, sick, disabled and poor will end up living on the streets and seeking medical help in hospital emergency rooms.  This will actually end up causing more debt, not less.

     Should Social Security benefits be cut?  Why?  We Americans pay into Social Security all of our working lives.  President George H.W. Bush and President Clinton both raided the Social Security trust fund. The Bush administration looted the Social Security trust fund to pay for wars and tax cuts for the rich.  These raids are the only reason that Social Security is now out of money and a cause of debt.  The money that was taken should be returned  and a lock should be put on the Social Security trust fund, including surpluses, so that it can't be raided again.

     Should education programs be cut?  Are you kidding?  Lawmakers are already whining that Americans need to be better educated and trained for a more competitive world.  Cutting funding for education would be short-sighted.  An undereducated, undertrained population would be less likely to find jobs, especially good quality, good paying jobs, and would put an increased burden on society and social services, while paying less in taxes.

      Raise the debt ceiling.  Obviously, we should not default on our debt, causing our credit rating to drop, our money to be worth less, our interest rates to climb, our stock market to fall,  and our real estate market to plunge deeper than it already is.  To cut our expenditures and increase our revenue,  roll back tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans; take the cap off Social Security (FICA) taxes and make everyone pay into social security on their entire income, not just on the first $100K; remove tax loopholes for hedge fund managers and for corporations that offshore their operations and/or outsource jobs; stop subsidizing big oil companies, and fix inefficiencies in government spending, including overcharges by Medicare and Medicaid vendors.  This is the "Minnie Bee Plan" for reducing our debt.

      Raise the debt ceiling and move on.  While Congress and the President are spending time and energy on this roller coaster ride, unemployment is continuing to rise, and new jobs are not being created.  Patriotic American businesses of all sizes who are keeping jobs at home - companies like Tom's of Maine, Pepperidge Farm,  Viking Range,  Bayside Apparel, and Vita Fusion -  deserve to receive tax incentives; greedy, unpatriotic  "American" companies who outsource jobs to exploit cheap foreign labor should pay their fair share.

************************* 

We create and keep U.S. jobs when we demand, promote, and buy Made in USA goods and products.

Representative of the outsourcing by "American" companies that is plaguing the American economy is the simple cracker.  Here are some recommended "Made in USA" crackers, and some not recommended, outsourced crackers made by so-called "American" companies.

This week's recommended products:

        ·         Pepperidge Farm (all crackers and crisps) - Made in USA by Pepperidge Farms,
              Inc., Norwalk, CT
              (www.pepperidgefarm.com)

·         Westminster Crackers - Made in USA by Westminster Cracker Co., Rutland, VT  (http://www.ralcorpjobs.com)

·         Ry-Krisp Crackers - Made in USA by Bremner Food Group, Princeton, KY (http://www.ralcorpjobs.com)

·         Breton crackers (all except Vinta and Breton Minis) - Made in USA by Dare Foods USA, Spartanburg, SC

             (http://usa.darefoods.com)

NOT Recommended (made elsewhere):

      ·         Sunshine
      ·         Keebler
      ·         Nabisco (Kraft Foods)
      ·         Kashi
      ·         Wegmans
      ·         Lance
      ·         Red Oval Farms (Kraft Foods)

Blog Sources:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20082697-503544.html

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june11/debtceiling_05-16.html

http://www.fedsmith.com/article/2328/no-money-social-security-trust-fund.html

http://www.atr.org/about-grover

Job Standards for Members of Congress - Why Not?

     In the past few years, it's become a popular trend to blame teachers for student performance.   This has led to the establishment of more precise standards for teachers .   Last year, teachers and school administrators in Rhode Island were fired due to underperforming students.   A few days ago, teachers in Washington, DC, were fired because they were judged to not meet performance standards, and in many cases, their students did not do well on standardized tests.

     To be sure, an effective teacher plays an important role in the success of a student.  That being said, there are also factors a teacher must deal with in educating a child that are beyond the  teacher's control - things like a family's economic situation,  whether the child is eating nutritious food, whether the child is getting enough sleep,  how many or few adults are raising the child, how involved the parents/guardians are in the child's education, the parents'/guardians' own educational levels, whether English is spoken in the child's home... and so on and so on.  Considering these out-of-school factors, it's easy to conclude that it's unfair to put all or even most of the  blame for student performance on teachers.
    
     On the other hand, in order to do an effective job of working for the success of constituents and the country as a whole, a member of Congress must deal with very few factors that are beyond his or her control - what comes to mind are sudden acts of nature, the surprise hostile actions of foreign nations, and the philosophies and principles of the other members of Congress he/she must work with.  As to the last factor, in order to perform, a member of Congress, whether he or she is a member of the House or the Senate, must put politics and rhetoric aside, and make an honest effort to work with others, including negotiating and compromising at times.

     Since taking office in January of 2010, the present members of Congress have delivered an ineffective performance.  They have done nothing to help the U.S. economy; they have done nothing to create U.S. jobs; they have done nothing to reduce spending or the deficit, and they have brought the U.S. to the brink of default.  Why?  Primarily because conservative lawmakers have refused to put aside politics and rhetoric; they have refused to work with Democrats or the President; they have refused to negotiate or compromise.  (Ed. Note: "negotiate" means to bargain, as in reaching an agreement between parties settling what each shall give and take or perform and receive in a transaction; "compromise" means an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.)  These lawmakers have continued to insist that it's either their way or no way.  
    
     This past week, friends sent me an email listing proposed measures for reforming Congress.  I personally think that in addition to these measures,  Congressional reform should also include minimum job performance standards.  Therefore, I have taken the liberty to add a couple of my own congressional job performance standards (marked with an asterisk *)  to the list.  Read the "Congressional Reform Act of 2011" and let me know what you think.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1.  Term Limits

     A maximum of 12 years total may be served in the House or the Senate.

 2.  No Tenure / No Pension
     A member of Congress collects a salary while in office and receives no pay
     when he/she is out of office.

3.  Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security
     All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social
     Security system immediately.   All future Congressional retirement
     funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates
     with the American people. Social Security funds may not be used for
     any other purpose.

4.  Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5.  Congress no longer voted themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay
     increases according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or by 3% per year,
     whichever is lower.

6.  Congress loses their current health care system, and participates in the
     same health care system as the American people.

7.  Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American
     people.

8.  All contracts with past and present members of Congress are void effective
     1/1/12.  The American people did not make these contracts with members
      of Congress.  Members of Congress made these contracts for themselves.
      Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers  
      envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go
      home and go back to work or, if age allows, retire on Social Security.

 *9.  Each member of Congress, during the course of his/her  first term in office,
       will be able to show proof that they made at least one contribution to
       legislation designed to improve the quality of life (e.g., education,
       transportation,  safety, health, wealth) of all of the residents of their district.

 *10.  Each member of Congress, during no later than his/her second term in
         office, will co-sponsor  with a member of Congress from a different political
         party, legislation designed to improve the quality of life all Americans.
 **********************************

We create and keep U.S. jobs when we demand, promote, and buy Made in USA goods and products.

This week's recommended product:
·       Bayside apparel - Made in USA and union-made by Bayside USA, Anaheim, CA
    (http://ethixmerch.com/supplier/bayside-usa-unionmade)

Blog Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/24/rhode-island-teachers-fir_n_475234.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/206-low-performing-dc-teachers-fired/2011/07/15/gIQANEj5GI_story.html

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/06/randi-weingarten-michelle-rhee_n_792841.html

Politicians Hedge Their Bets On The Middle Class

     I have a confession to make...Nancy Pelosi is my current hero.  I know, I know, she can be really annoying; but out of everyone in Congress, she is the only one with the balls to clearly, firmly, and repeatedly say Social Security and Medicare should be off the table as part of a deal to get conservatives to agree to raising the debt ceiling. This is interesting, considering that anatomically speaking, she is one of the few people in Congress who has no balls. 

     I happen to agree with Congresswoman Pelosi on this point.  There should be no compromise when it comes to  programs, aka "entitlements," that help the poor, the disabled, our military veterans, and the elderly.  Shame on those politicians who are targeting these programs, especially when the wealthiest Americans are enjoying lower tax rates, and big oil companies and other multinational corporations earning billions of American dollars while outsourcing American jobs, receive federal subsidies and/or pay little or no taxes.  And shame on those politicians who are not defending these programs. 

     On top of this, billionaire hedge fund managers are legally able to claim most of their profits as "capital gains," therefore paying capital gains tax rates. Although this has just been in the news in the past few days, the hedge fund issue actually went public in the mid-2000's.  Simply put, hedge fund managers basically use their hedge funds, which are much like private equity funds, to use/invest other people's money (OPM).  The hedge fund manager basically acts as a risk consultant, much like a professional gambler who uses OPM to place bets in Las Vegas or at the track.  The gambler, in this case, the hedge fund manager, gets a 2% management fee plus  20% "carry" interest which is considered to be capital gains under the law and taxed at around 15%.  In 2010, the House of Representatives passed legislation to end these tax breaks for investment fund managers.  Under strong pressure from lobbyists representing the investment industry, the bill died without being passed by the Senate before the mid-term elections. 
    
     What's at issue here is the overall fairness of taxing hedge fund managers, many of them billionaires, at this rate, but not others who provide consulting services for a fee.  If this tax rate is fair for a hedge fund manager, for example, shouldn't an attorney who wins a settlement for her client get her percentage of the settlement treated as capital gains?  If a realtor sells a house for his client, shouldn't his commission be taxed as capital gains?        
    
     Another related issue is that if hedge fund managers were taxed like the rest of us, the federal government would receive an additional estimated 6 billion dollars in tax revenue.  (Some estimates are even higher.)  This is huge.  If hedge fund managers were taxed like the rest of us, if wealthiest Americans had their tax rate rolled back to what it was in 1996, when the budget was balanced, if we stopped paying subsidies to big oil companies, and if tax loopholes were closed so that multinational corporations paid their fair share of taxes, we would be able to reduce the nation's deficit without touching programs like Social Security and Medicare.
         
     Politicians who would rather target  programs for the poor, disabled, elderly, and veterans than touch entitlements for the wealthy, claim that doing so would harm job creation.  But giving these benefits to the rich have not helped job creation in the past, and they're not helping now. Critics also say that targeting benefits for the rich is basically waging a class war between the "haves" and the "have nots."  They are forgetting that the U.S. hasn't had just these two classes since the end of World War II.  Since that time, America has also had a middle class - what I like to call the "have enough" class.  The middle class has enough to give themselves and their families a comfortable, good quality life; enough to take their family out to the movies or dinner or a ball game now and again; enough to send their kids to college; enough to save money for their retirement and older age.  Social Security and Medicare help the middle class to do this.  Without good government, and without good social programs such as these, the middle class will be lost, and so will the American Dream that has made this country so great.

*****************

We create and keep U.S. jobs when we demand, promote, and buy Made in USA goods and products.      

 This week's recommended product:

·         Vanity Fair Premium Napkins, Made in USA by Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products, LP, Atlanta, GA

 Blog Sources:

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/pm120/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/business/29carried.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/07/991873/-The-New-Class-War:-Closing-a-single-hedge-fund-loophole-would-earn-billions

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/h/hedge_funds/index.html?scp=2&sq=investment%20fund%20taxes%20and%20senate&st=cse

Freedom Then and Now

     Back in 1776, when America won its freedom and independence from England, there were no taxes, little infrastructure, a fledgling federal government, and three socio-economic classes - rich, poor, and slave/indentured servant.   As we celebrate our independence 235 years later, we seem to be going back in time, economically speaking.  According to two years' worth of data from the Consumer Reports Index, only 18% of American households earn more than $100K per year, while 50% of American households earn less than $50K per year.  This leaves just 32% of American households somewhere in the ever-shrinking middle.
    
     In addition, surveys conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center reveal that "while things have been improving for the wealthiest Americans for some time, lower-income families still have very little to be positive about."  In fact, during the current recession, financial problems, such as the ability to afford health care and missed mortgage payments, are "three to five times the level of those earning $100K or more."

     With statistics such as these, and the very real, human stories behind these statistics, I feel compelled to ask again:  Why do  many of our elected lawmakers feel the need to protect tax cuts given to those households making $250K and over?  Why do they feel the need to protect subsidies given to big oil companies, defense contractors, and multi-national corporations who pay little or nothing in taxes, and outsource American jobs?  Why do they insist on targeting cuts to social programs, so-called "entitlements,"  such as Medicare, Social Security, and tuition assistance, that help lower income families? 
    
     If you agree with these lawmakers, keep voting for them, but be careful what you ask for.  If you don't agree, then express your independence, and vote them out.
**************
This week's recommended products:

      ·         Inko's 100% Natural White Iced Tea - Made in USA by Inko's White Iced Tea, New York, NY

      ·         Glad Press'n Seal - Made in USA by The Glad Products Co., Oakland, CA
Blog Source:

"Index shows recovery is for the affluent," Fort Myers Florida Weekly, 6/29-7/5/11