WE ARE DEAD SET TO BLOCK AND DESTROY .......

Let's counter the massive lobbying efforts , taking place these days, by big pharma, big tech, big oil, coal and gas and the chamber of commerce, and as always of course the war machine and arms industries and the relatively newly created military contractors, they are all fighting hard to suppress and gut the 10 years 3.5 trillion$ proposed by this administration, let's demand the legislators include the billionaires wealth tax in the build back better legislation now. 

Let no one kid you, or try to convince you of the contrary, but taxing billionaires wealth and big corporations is incredibly popular in most States, and more so in congressional swing districts across the nation. But billionaires, big corporations and special interests wield and exert too much power in D.C. from Congress to Federal employees and Pentagon leaders, many are under the special influence of the lobbying machine, that's why legislators and Congress will act sometimes in different directions from what their constituencies want them to do, and only when they hear clearly from us all, do they think and act rightly. 

The billionaires income tax bill is our chance to raise enough funds, hundreds of billions of Dollars, from the richest Americans, and use those funds to invest in critically needed programs for the vast majority of working families including direct unemployment help, child tax credits to the needy, universal pre K. for  3-4 years old kids, and free community colleges, making health care, elder care, child care, education and housing more affordable. As well as many more needed social and equitable distribution of wealth programs. 

On another level, I wonder why don't Democrats in Congress eliminate the obstructionist filibuster, which is not mentioned in the constitution, not a law, just an internal rule serving minority parties to delay or kill legislations. As Democrats will never be able to pass very needed and essential legislations and bills. Abolish the filibuster now and let Republican legislators reestablish it when they win back the Senate or both Chambers of Congress. 

To show how far Trump's influence has spread in the general ultra right populist movement and the red GOP States, listen to one of the candidates for lieutenant governor in the State of Georgia, a Mr. B. Miller, he went on a talk show and said;" We have attracted too many people to the State of Georgia, that don't think like us, if they don't think like us, they need to assimilate into our values and our culture. To my ears, it sounded like; There's no place in Georgia for people of color, black, brown or any shade, no emigrants from anywhere, no LGBTQ, or non Christians, or anyone who votes for the wrong party. That's not the kind of leadership America deserve if we want to move into a successful  new century. 

All of the above leads us to wonder if we're really any closer to ever passing the Biden's agenda and the build back better act, that cover essential investments in care, climate, and citizenship, the build back better act will be the biggest achievement our country will achieve for many decades, it's packed with benefits for working families and middle classes, from free community colleges to substantial cuts in child care costs, lower prescription drugs prices, while expanding Medicare and protecting social security, fix immigration rules, and the most important is that if we don't legislate to have these funds for these programs they will slowly and surely be swallowed by the war and arms machines and their lobbies, and will keep circling within the same powers and riches. 

America needs a collective action now, to profit from the actual peace times, to pass this bill. Everyone including the media should ship in, and talk openly about its benefits, and that the cost of it is 350 billion Dollars per year, less than half the Pentagon annual budget, and not keep referring to it as a 3.5 trillion devastating cost. We have to convince all our legislators in Congress to put aside their personal benefits and corporate affiliations, and choose all together America first, and I'm talking about legislators from both sides and not only one side. 

Americans suffer while Democrats debate among each other, and Congress end up voting purely on partisan basis, and blocking most bills, just to satisfy political agendas, election goals and personal gains, Americans are sick and tired of watching Republicans and pseudo Democrats tramp on the legislation their communities urgently need. We used to be the light house of democracy to the entire world, look at us now playing like a typical third country cheap politicians and politics. 

          As always, my gratitude to all my good readers.    

                   

IS THERE SOME WAY OUT ???

 Unlike Europe in general, the U.S. uses lots of white supremacy and superiority rhetoric to justify many political moves, and definitely battling it is not the same as advocating or adopting it. We proudly use voter suppression laws wherever we can, using any tactic or twist we find in the book, but we do not realize that passing laws to prevent voter suppression is not the same as passing laws to suppress it. Fighting for our democracy is not as seeking to destroy it.

The media and lots of centrists from both major parties, try constantly to equate both sides. Calling one side the left and the other the right, with different degrees and ranks. Suggesting there's a fair moderate middle between hate and inclusion, between democracy and protofascism, this is naïve, misleading, dangerous and morally wrong, let's not all fall for it. 

Now is not the time to hit the pause button on social projects, nor sit and have endless discussions about what's what and who's who, now is the time to take bold actions, courageous decisions, work hard and rebuild period. Democrats need to unite and vote like Democrats. They have the House, they have the Senate, they have the presidency and the White House, they should act like it, and deliver real results for all Americans, in fact the Federal infrastructure bill must be big, bold and green. It must cover the real needs of the country and its people, and clearly profit from a lull in the war machine and its advocates. 

Back in Feb. 2016, I published a blog entitled; "Bankruptcy, insanity or hysteria" I was describing a cruel situation that hasn't changed a bit in 5 years, and surely not in the past 75 years, it worsened, while the entire world sit silent, watching while occasionally smiling. the poet/writer Sam Keen reminds us of the cruelty and brutality of wars, more so endless wars; " When your icon of the enemy is complete, you will be able to kill without guilt, slaughter without shame." 

Indeed, imperial colonizers don't have any concern for other human beings, surely not for the colonized, so they never think of improving people's lives by a better health system, culture, education and nation building, not even any civilian infrastructures creation, they only look at perpetuating imperialism, occupation and wars. There are special beneficiaries, armament dealers, and special war contractors, politicians and generals, usually from both sides, who will do the impossible to maintain the game. even if and when it turns against their own people. In America, Israel and Russia, the war machines are thriving and striving, while their people are getting neglected and impoverished, turning the war machine into a permanent enriching and feeding tube for the few.  

Couple weeks ago, U.S. Green Berets were training special forces troops in Guinea, when trainees apparently slipped away to launch a military coup. operations like these and the situation of post Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, as well as other unidentified spots of the world, are not proof of failure of the U.S military machine, nor its manipulators, as many annalists suggested in the after math of the Afghani pullout, they are signs and evidence of the system working exactly as designed, and its evolving cycles through the years. 

It is high time we benefit from this short lull, and willingness of our actual administration to not further feed the special war interests and turn to America, as a matter of fact, once every 20 or 30 years of correct rebalancing might prove beneficial.

   My usual profound thanks to all, please stay safe and well.                

REINVENTING OUR PRIORITIES.....

 

As the Biden administration is trying to repair strained global relationships while dealing with infra-structure bills, new democracy protection bills, a possible debt ceiling crisis and a threat of  government shut down and default, plus the ongoing pandemic, and more of a persistent political partisanship, blocking blindly whatever is good for the American people and the country, even if it leads to tragic economical and instability steps. The country faces another big ongoing dilemma, the military and the for ever war-machine, that was beefed-up during the previous administrations, with unprecedented budget increases and unrealistic spending on military weaponry, special interest war industries and military contractors.

For the record, Congress is debating and voting on a three-quarters trillion dollars Pentagon budget, for context that's more than the military budgets of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran combined, in fact it's more than the next eleven largest countries military budgets combined, how on earth did we get to this point ?? When even back in the fifties president Eisenhower warned the country from a too powerful military weapon's industry and an insatiable war machine.  

Since the start of the war in Afghanistan, Pentagon spending has cost the Americans 14 trillions of their tax dollars, serious estimates are that one third to one half of all this money went straight into the coffers of  arms manufacturers and private military contractors and their joint lobbyists. The lion's share of these moneys has gone basically to just 5 major corporations, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. 

The 75 billions in Pentagon contracts received by Lockheed Martin in fiscal year 2020 alone is over one and a half times the entire budget for the State Department and agency for International Development for that year, which totaled a mere 44 billion dollars. These merchants of war and death have completely flipped our country's priorities and essential social programs. It's clearly needed to be fought tooth and nails. 

Weapons makers and military contractors, and Pentagon generals have spent and benefited over 3 billion dollars on lobbying Congress and Pentagon over the past couple decades, they have an army of 700 lobbyists pushing their pro-war agenda, that is more than one lobbyist for every single member of Congress. 

The last 60 years should have taught us that the last and least thing that will build security and peace is forever war, and stupid adventures, brutality and colonial imperialism, it leaves unbearable costs in treasure and blood. Even our closest pseudo ally Israel, is learning this basic lesson and recalculating. 

Over 66% of Americans clearly agree that it was a good idea to end the war in Afghanistan, and the ongoing one in Syria and Iraq.  Congress has spent billions of dollars each year fueling arms manufacturers and military contractors. With the disastrous U.S. war in Afghanistan behind us, the very last thing we should be doing is heaping more desperately needed taxpayer money into more weapons of war and more adventures . 

We have other obligations, domestically and internationally, we need to protect ourselves and help protecting the world from catastrophic effects of climate change, and pandemics that have no boarders, and within our own boarders to fix our decadent infrastructures, our archaic health care, and our old fashioned education system, the list goes on and on. These are not exactly the things those five mega corporations are lobbying for. It's high time we all stand up for their nefarious work. Let's all help build a more peaceful and prosperous for all world.

     All my usual thanks to my good readers, stay safe and well.