Got Nerve? Listen to Blue Collar Republican

BLUE COLLARREPUBLICAN

Read the following article... Got Nerve" click on title here.

Blue Collar Republican

A Podcast

Written by Patrick M McCormick

Copyright © 2010

All Rights Reserved

Vocals by Emily and Patrick M McCormick 

“Nothing but laughs”, Zero Muscatel, South American Freed Press
“Laughing all the way”, Christopher Kringal, Arctic Travel Assn
“One laugh after another”, Solomon Bogart APII
“Continuous Laughter, what a gas”, Aurora Boree-Alice, New Light APD

(This Podcast represents the personal thoughts of the author)


I’m getting really sick of Republicans blaming the costs of our social safety nets as the reason our society is in financial trouble. Fiscal programs of the past Republican Administration, tax cuts and the two wars, coupled with the housing scandal and our loss of jobs are the reasons America is broke.

I was thinking about reasons why blue collar workers, the unemployed and the poor would want to support a political party demanding a reduction in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Unemployment Insurance, Financial Aid for Students and many other social programs frequently used by the working class. I started laughing.

The more I thought about the psychology behind this strange phenomenon, the more I laughed. This podcast is the result. Listen if you dare.

The Tax Cut Scam

Commentary by
Patrick M McCormick

12/10/2010

A lot of noise is being made about these tax cuts for the wealthy. Top Republicans have dumped all sorts of fearful prophecies upon US Voters. The sky will fall, the economy will crash, there will be more unemployment, housing sales will fall and god only knows what other terrible calamities will descend onto the backs of the American workers if we do not extend Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy.

But wait, I read where these cuts will cost more than the stimulus package... isn't that more government spending? Oh they are going to make cuts in social services to pay for these tax breaks for the excessively rich. It sounds like a bitter pill to swallow, cut medicare, social security, medicaid, food stamps, educational loans and anything else that tax dollars pay for. Then, when they get the extra tax cuts, the really wealthy corporate leaders will get to work and improve things for US. I can hardly wait for that.

The theory is that by cutting taxes on the rich, the economy will rev up and everything will magically improve. Are we that F-ing stupid? These cuts have been in place for more than ten years. How many new jobs did the Bush administration create... Don't forget, with their big fat tax breaks, those generous old corporate moguls used the extra income to send more of our manufacturing jobs to China and India.

During the years the wealthy were sucking up the benefit of ridiculously low taxes, our economy crashed, the housing market collapsed and twenty million Americans were put out of work or forced to work for less. Millions have lost their homes and all of the bad things the GOP is threatening US with now... have all ready happened. I think the Grand Old Party has been infiltrated by a bunch of stand-up comedians.

If they were weren't so cruel, I'd be laughing with them. Here's what we can expect from the GOP... Take the case of six-month-old Seth Petreikis, who suffers from complete DiGeorge syndrome, which keeps him from developing a thymus, an infection-fighting glandular organ. He needs a transplant that's been pioneered by a specialist at Duke University in North Carolina.  But the procedure costs $500,000, and the state of Indiana's Family Social Services Administration won't pay for it under the state's Medicaid, It claims that the treatment is "experimental" -- even though 58 of 60 children to receive it have survived, in order to save money... they condemn the poor child to death.

Sadly, this great Bastian of GOP Christian family values, the Indiana FSSA, also recommended  parents drop off their developmentally disabled children at homeless shelters. The parents had failed to receive schedule Medicare waivers to pay for care. It seems Gov. Mitch Daniels -- who is now weighing a possible 2012 GOP presidential run -- cut the agency's funding to deal with a budget shortfall. I do not believe that he cut the payroll of state employees; why should they suffer.

And then there are the wars... when GOP leaders mention cuts, they seem to forget how much money Iraq and Afghanistan are costing US taxpayers. Why do you suppose that is? Could it be that their buddies, those wealthy businessmen, are cashing in on the wars as well? If we stopped spending our money there, how much cash would we have for the average citizen's social safety net? I'm guessing trillions.

The whole thing does not really make any sense... unless you add one word....GREED.

But We, The People, voted for the GOP because they promised to cut spending and improve our economy. Their plan is to return to Bush era programs and, as if by magic, everything will be lollipops and roses once more. Personally, I find it all rather hard to believe. The Economy the Bush Administration inherited was virtually debt free and we are dealing with the mess that Bush era Republican financial strategies caused.

 The GOP wants to sweep it all under the rug in the oval office.  President Obama, weakened by the mid-term elections, is now willing to walk over the bumps. It's a scam.

We Need to Save Ourselves Before We Try to Save the World

Commentary by
Patrick M McCormick
Dec 4, 2010

The national press is buzzing about “The report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility”. Every politician and every News Commentator has an opinion. I agree that America needs to get its financial house in order. We need a sensible strategy for eliminating our enormous deficit. It is the most important problem our leaders have to address.

Many want to make huge cuts in medical benefits and social security. Many desire to reduce our social safety net; unemployment, food stamps, welfare, and educational assistance. Personally, I think this is the wrong road to travel. We elect our leaders so they may serve and protect the citizens of their individual districts. We elect them to protect and serve US, the citizens of the United States.

Somehow, our senators, congressional representatives and presidents have twisted this obligation to protect US into a global philosophy where the needs of other nations come before the needs of American Citizens. We give huge donations to hundreds of foreign countries while people in this country are out of work and hungry and in many cases, losing their homes.

In order to stimulate the economies of hundreds of foreign countries, Our leadership has allowed the economy of our country to take a back seat and suffer. This has allowed, in part, for an enormous financial trade imbalance.

We maintain standing armies in many foreign lands, when those countries could, and should, defend themselves. If we brought our troops home, they could protect our boarders and airports as part of their training.

We have allowed whole industries vital to our national defense to move overseas. Not only has this cost jobs for Americans, it has put US at risk.

We are waging two unjust wars in countries where we stand to gain nothing that will repay the tremendous waste of our resources. We need to end those wars now and use those resources to help rebuild America.

The first and foremost responsibility of our leaders is to make our own economy well and attend to the needs of our people. We cannot remain a world power if our own society crumbles.

How can it be better to wage war than to provide for the needs of our own citizens? People that desire to cut social services while we continue to wage war are morally corrupt. How can killing people be a better thing than curing them or feeding them while they are out of work?

It is time for all Americans to rise up, write their elected officials and demand that they solve our problems before they attempt to solve the problems of other nations. We no longer have the resources to “Save the World”; we need to use what we have left to “Save Ourselves”.

Fear and the Witchdoctors

This is the third of my podcasts. Click on the title to listen.

A tale of fear and how our leaders use it to manipulate the masses. This story visits three primitive witchdoctors to learn how they used fear to control their clans. Nothing has changed, today our leaders use the same trickery.

The Dreamer

I have posted a new Podcast "The Dreamer"... A short bit of inspirational prose telling of mankind's history after abandoning our ancient arboreal home in the primeval forests and why we must abandon our dependency on the fossil fuels they still provide.  Click on the title... let me know what you think. I am carrying them on Podbean.com and they should start showing up on ITunes soon.

I would appreciate it if you would pass them along, retweet and all that good stuff.


Thanks

Pat

Another Blacked Out Sunday in a Football Town

Written by

Patrick McCormick DMV76C6BE4T4

10/24/2010

Article first published as Another Blacked Out Sunday in a Football Town on Technorati.

Tampa, Florida, Sunday and the Bucs are playing at home. It’s a sad day, nobody will be watching the game from their couches or local bars this afternoon. Not enough tickets sold; the NFL has imposed another blackout.

NFL marketing experts say, “If we punish the fans and take away their football, they will be forced to purchase tickets and fill up the stadiums”. It is happening in a handful of cities around the country. It’s the fourth consecutive week here and those marketing guys have gotten it wrong again.

The Buccaneers are playing to a partially filled house, but it’s not for lack of fan support. Look around town; all you see is Buccaneer license plates, decals and flags flying from pickup trucks. Every kid has a jersey, their fathers wear Buccaneer hats, Tampa is a football town.

The Tampa Bay area has been hit hard by the current recession. Home sales are at an all time low. Home building has nearly stopped. The developers, contractors and tradesmen have been in and out of work for the better part of two years. Most of the businesses are making a lot less; many have closed. Local folks simply do not have much money to spend these days.

It’s so bad that buying a six pack and some chips for a family get together on game-day would be a strain on the grocery budget. Going down to the local bar to watch the game is an extra treat that many locals cannot afford. The cost of game-day tickets are out of the question for many of the unemployed residents here.

But the NFL, in their infinite wisdom, chooses to punish these old fans for running out of money. Do those marketing guys really believe that it is possible squeeze their unemployed fans hard enough to force them to buy tickets. I guess they showed us who's boss.

Well, as you might guess, I’m not watching football today. I think I will get a beer, go out, and scrape the Buccaneer decal off my car. Loyalty is a two way street.

    

Can a Single Word Save the Democrats in 2010? Yes!

Written by 

Patrick M McCormick DMV76C6BE4T4

10/22/2010

Article first published as Can a Single Word Save the Democrats in 2010? Yes! on Technorati.

I saw a video on Yahoo from “The Fix” that was titled “Democratic candidates are hoping a single word can save them from defeat. The word that was used is; "Extreme." In my opinion, that is not the correct word. The only word that will save them in 2010 is “Miracle”.

In 2012, the word that will save President Obama, the surviving Democrats and our country, is “Jobs”. The Democrats along, with the new Republicans, primary objective should be job creation. It is not only the Democrats that are in trouble, the entire Republic is in jeopardy.

President Obama needs to take the lead in order to get our economy moving again. More importantly, he needs to get it moving in the right direction. Because of the serious situation our citizens are in, he needs to start it moving now!

Millions of American jobs have moved overseas. Whole industries have virtually moved with them. This is part of the reason our economy is in its downward spiral. But it is not all bad news folks, it has left the doorway to change open. Great opportunities await US if we move through that doorway. We need to rebuild a large part of our manufacturing capacity. Do we rebuild it as before, or do we use new technologies?

President Obama needs to bring some entrepreneurial business advice into his cabinet. Not more Harvard lawyers or some MBA from Yale, he needs to find one or two men or women that have actual successful large-scale start-up experience with manufacturing operations.

This is also the time for the president to keep his commitment to green power. An honest gesture would be to grant the same incentives and tax breaks to power companies that build a thermal solar generator, or wind farm, that is currently enjoyed by a coal-fired plant. This will level the playing field for the incorporation, construction and implementation of renewable power generators. Granting tax advantages to private parties that fund these developments will speed up the process considerably.

Then the President can put the new business advisers to work developing enterprise zones in our little used port facilities in the Sun Belt or old factory buildings in the Rust Belt. Use as much green power as is possible. Manufacture steel, machinery and textiles in mostly robotic factories in order to keep the production costs down so we can begin to compete with our “Trading Partners”. In order to make as many goods as possible in the United States, we should give financial incentives to those companies that maintain their operations here.

A concentrated effort to create jobs for Americans will increase the GNP. It will generate new tax revenue so our government can pay its debts. Putting people to work will fund new home sales and pay for health care. Green power will lessen our dependency on fossil fuels, lowering our balance of trade and helping to reduce our “Carbon Footprint”.

My ideas are somewhat over simplified illustration of what could be. The financial crisis demands we do something inventive and competitive. It is time to “Think out of the box”. That is the reason we need some sophisticated business experience near the top. I hope the President can see this now. We are doomed if we continue on as before.

We are at a crisis point in our history, the question is not what word will save the Democratic Party, rather will America remain a great global power instead of slipping into obscurity? It is not something to talk about over coffee or use as a campaign slogan. The creation of millions of new production jobs is an absolute necessity for our nation’s survival. If President Obama moves his party in the right direction he will save the people of the United States. He will save the Democratic Party, and he will save our country.

Failure to respond aggressively to the current financial crisis will allow our nation to continue its downward spiral into oblivion. Someday in the not too distant future, some foreign traveler will come to our shores and ponder the crumbled ruins of the Statue of Liberty. Perhaps that traveler will recite the old poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley called, “Ozymandias”. His poem read:

“I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

It would be sinful to let a proud free nation like America wither because of greed, corruption, ignorance and the arrogance of it’s own leadership. However, that is exactly where we are heading if we do not change our ways and begin cooperating with each other again. It is not a political game. It is a matter of survival and we are running out of time.

Dem Candidates See Light at the End of the Tunnel, oh, No..It's a Train!

DMV76C6BE4T4 

Written by

Patrick McCormick

10/19/2010

The Obama administration and the Democratic Party have actually passed considerable legislation. The GOP has refused to cooperate with them for most of the last two years earning the label, “The Party of No”. The Republicans did not contribute to any positive solution for our economic recovery, yet voters seem to be flocking towards them. What is driving voters to the GOP? Think about it.

It’s not a trick question. I can tell you; the answer is jobs. The unemployment situation has not improved. Record numbers of Americans are scratching out an existence below the poverty line. The people need jobs; millions of them.

Interest is lower than it has been in years and the banks are not lending. Easier credit might have stimulated job creation. The Democrats did nothing serious to prod the banks. Oh, they gave them some money, but bankers kept a tight hand on credit, unemployment kept rising. People became afraid to spend. When they don’t buy things, production stays low. Low production equals low employment. We need some positive action from our government to get things moving forward again.

Where are all of the incentives to create green energy? Where are the incentives to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States? Where are the Fair Trade Initiatives?

The Obama Administration’s effort to lead US back to work has been dismal. Huge numbers of Americans are in need of jobs, they cry for help, they are losing their homes and their kids are hungry. They are the passengers on that train and they are going to roll over the Democratic Party in November.

Whoever wins seats in the upcoming Mid-Term Elections had better beware; “Put Americans back to work or you will be standing in the tunnel facing that same train in two years”.

Article first published as Dem Candidates See Light at the End of the Tunnel, on an Oncoming Train on Technorati.

Secretary of Housing Spanks Reckless Bankers Over Foreclosures

Written by

Patrick McCormick

10/17/2010

Here’s a good one for you suspicious students of politics and the things that “go bump in the night” or in the dark back rooms of Washington.

Our Housing Secretary said on Sunday "It's shameful that financial institutions may have made the housing crisis worse by improperly processing foreclosures.

Shaun Donovan, our Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was quoted on the “Huffington Post” website that a comprehensive review of the foreclosure crisis was under way and that the administration would respond with "The full force of law where problems are found."

There have been allegations that banks failed to review foreclosure documents properly or submitted false statements when they foreclosed on properties.

Somebody’s joking, or “Stroking” someone. Where was the "Full force of the law" for those that sold millions of mortgages, like hot dogs, to people without jobs or who were otherwise unqualified to purchase them? Where was the "Full force of the law" on companies that bundled the worthless mortgages together and sold them to an unsuspecting world. I'll tell you where I think it was; "The full force of the law" was in the back room taking campaign contributions from the bankers and brokers that created the problem in the first place.

What a coincidence that right now, just before the election, this administration is taking an interest in this mess; "Oh, the poor cheated voters". Could it be another “Dog and pony show” for US citizens; "I think so".

If you doubt my intuition, or interpretation of these facts, keep track of this matter until after the election. Observe “The full force of the law” in action.

Article first published as Secretary of Housing Spanks Reckless Bankers Over Foreclosures on Technorati