The Political Slide

When I look at the current state of politics and policies in the United States I can’t help but feel letdown. I was one of those people who thought President Obama would be a vehicle for change. This idea was quickly shattered when he picked up his pen and extended the laws which were put in place by former President Bush which took away many of the protections in the law for the common citizen including Habeas Corpus. I guess I should have known better, because the indications were there, but under our system the only people which have a chance of being elected are either Democrats or Republicans and it was obvious when both candidates were invited to attend the Bilderberg Group meetings which the public is barred from and which are attended by the most powerful people in the world, that these guys were going to have to toe the line.

I don’t think those people cared who was elected as long as they carried out the policies they were told to and in many ways President Obama is doing that. What choice do we really have as Americans on the way the country is run? The campaign against Russia was continued by President Obama so there is no change in that despite the change in Presidents from different political parties. A rich banker once said he didn’t care who ran the country as long as he controlled the money. I am all for helping people but I can’t see letting millions of illegal immigrants have the rights they are being given. Never mind giving them identification, if you know who they are they have to be sent back to where they came from and apply to come here. My wife is from Europe and she had to apply to come here, take a test in the English language and pass before she became a citizen. Why should people be rewarded for breaking the law?

I mention this because President Obama is on the verge of making millions of illegal immigrants citizens. It just isn’t right and sends a message to every other country that it is all right for people to sneak into this country because we will make them citizens someday. When I found out who one of the people was advising President Obama I couldn’t believe it. I am not going to mention his name but he is well known where I live as a fraud and troublemaker and he was involved in a case which drew nationwide attention and proved to be false. You have to wonder how people like this stay out of jail and why someone like this would be contacted to advise the president on any issue? President Obama said he would remove our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and yet here we are sending more troops to Iraq and fighting secret wars in Africa. It just came out President Obama sent a secret letter to the Supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei talking about coordinating the fight against ISIS. I am not sure how I feel about this, but shouldn’t this have been something coordinated with congress?

Before I give the impression it is only the president I am disappointed with let me move on to the congress. We have just had elections where the Republicans have gained control of both the House and Senate. Many people are very happy about this because they believe the deadlocks will finally be cleared up, but they are in for a rude awakening. There is no doubt in my mind that we are about to find out that the main target for reduction will now be the social programs. It started already in some of the states which are now outlawing the feeding of the poor and hungry. I never thought I would see this in my lifetime and it certainly makes me sad. One man who feeds the poor has just been arrested for a second time and it is said he is being sent to jail for a couple of months. I have to hand it to him because he says he won’t stop. He was accompanied by two members of the clergy.

When bills start coming up to reduce the meager income of those who are elderly and sick and increase the income of large corporations and the rich maybe people will wake up to what is going on. As more bills come up to greatly increase spending for weapons systems while reducing spending for aid to education maybe these people will see we need a mixed congress not one which is run by one party. One of the worst things which can happen is one party not only controls congress, but also the presidency.Β  New York State has a very successful controller and that is why the state run pension system is one of the strongest in the nation. If one looks at the office closely they will realize that most of the time the controller is from a different party than the governor and that is why it works. This prevents it from being raided much as the Social Security System was raided in Washington. We are all going to hear about doing away with Social Security and putting in some other system and the retirees be damned.

The entire purpose of a majority in the House seems to be to shut out the other party and refuse every suggestion they make while pushing through a party agenda which has nothing to do with helping us. Our system is broken and if one polls Americans they will find the approval rate of congress is somewhere around 17%, an all-time low. A Gallop poll taken in November 2014 states the President’s approval rating is about 42% for October 27 to November 2, 2014. I can’t understand why it is this high and think it would be more appropriate if it was around the same as congress. What has the president really done for us except for Obama Care which is helpful for some and hurts other?

There is one thing this country has not had for a long time and that is a president and congress which is really trying to help the average guy and woman on the street. We have seen our wages decrease, our jobs lost and in some case replaced by minimum wage jobs. Some of the biggest companies in the country are now paying the lowest salaries. The Republicans has already stated they don’t believe in the minimum wage so now we might see wages decrease further if they do away with the minimum wage law. It seems to me the taking without giving back in this country by government and business has reached the point where it could destroy the life we all know and has done so for many people already. Why aren’t OUR representatives and OUR president trying to make things better for us? Doesn’t “by and for the people” mean anything anymore to our government officials?

I have to wonder if this is how the other great countries in the past were destroyed. Did greed and uncaring account for their downfalls? I ask this question, because it certainly seems we are heading that way. We have been shedding many of the hard earned gains we have made in the last few hundred years and I have to wonder how many of what is left are about to be destroyed. The prospects of things getting better are not looking too good and as the chasm between the rich and the rest of us widens it is becoming less likely we will ever regain our positions in society.