A Brief Rant

A Brief Rant

1. A segment on NPR this morning discussed the diminishing funds available for research.  Whether you are talking about the NIH or the National Cancer Institute, money is drying up for research. 

2. We are getting ready to spend half a billion dollars on the Syria/Iraq black hole. 

We have money to throw away on trying to bring peace and democracy to the Middle East but can't fund our own scientists, educate our own children, or repair our own infrastructure.  Makes a lot of sense. Not. 

Troops to Remain in Afghanistan?

 

I see that President Obama wants to keep 6,000 troops in Afghanistan after the end of the year.  Anyone reading my blog for the past 10 years will know my opinion of this idea.  No, no, no! Whether we keep 6,000 troops there or 60,000 and whether we stay an additional 1, 10, or 50 years, as soon as we leave chaos, civil war, and misery will return.  And I resent my tax dollars being poured into that or any other bottomless pit of corruption when we don't have the money to care for the veterans that we have already so needlessly damaged.  

I have come to the conclusion that citizens of this nation must perpetually stand and loudly proclaim their unwillingness to support the perpetual war machine that has become our nation. 

Once again I will be contacting President Obama, both my Senators, and my Congressional Representative to let them know my vehement objection to keeping any troops whatsoever in Afghanistan. 

Update:  According to NPR this morning, President Obama wants to keep our troops in Afghanistan until 2016 and then pull out.  Then it was reported that both of the Afghan Presidential candidates think that 2016 will be too soon for us to leave.  What they really want is to keep the money flowing into their
Swiss bank accounts. No, it is well past time for the U.S. to declare victory and leave.

Ukraine

 

Well, the crisis du jour is Russia and Ukraine.  Politicians make me want to throw up. Putin wants to rev up the ratings on the home front with patriotic fervor so he stirs the pot seeing just how far he can go.  So now Russia has about the same number of troops on the Russian side of the border as we have on the other side of the world in Afghanistan. 

And of course John McCain has never seen an incident he didn't want to bomb and/or send troops to while John Kerry continues to circle the globe in search of relevance. 

We have enough to take care of within our own borders. Let the Ukrainians and the Russians sort it out. And please, folks, give some thought to what happens after the protests and revolutions. 

NO!! NO!! NO!! continued

Well, it turns out I am not the only person to take issue with the Status of Forces Agreement being negotiated by Secretary of State John Kerry keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014. Here is a link to the editorial in today's NYT by the Editorial Board:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/opinion/sunday/the-long-goodbye-in-afghanistan.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0

The last sentence, "Regardless of what he (John Kerry), the tribal council and the Afghan Parliament decide, President Obama still has to make a case for the deal to the American people."  I do not think that case can be made at all. 

NO!! NO!! NO!!

This from the front page of today's NYT:

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry announced on Wednesday that the United States and Afghanistan had finalized the wording of a bilateral security agreement that would allow for a lasting American troop presence through 2024 and set the stage for billions of dollars of international assistance to keep flowing to the government in Kabul.

I can't believe it!! Yes, I can. I am furious!! I voted for Barak Obama for President, not John Kerry. Surely, a treaty committing billions of dollars and U.S. troops on the ground has to be ratified by the U.S. Congress???? 2024?? Isn't 12 years, billions of dollars and thousands of lives and limbs all for nothing enough?? NO, just NO, this cannot happen!!!

Edited to add this email which I just sent to President Barak Obama, Rep. Pete Olson, Senator John Cornyn, and Senator Ted Cruz:

Dear President Obama,

   I am troubled by the news reports today that a treaty is being considered that would keep American troops in Afghanistan until 2024 and would continue to pour billions of dollars in aid to Afghanistan.  This is not to be done.  The time to leave Afghanistan is 2014 as we were told we would. There will be chaos when we leave whether it is 2014, 2024, or 2054. We have urgent business here at home, in the United States. Let's not dissipate our resources in endless quagmires. 


Next I will call the offices of all 4. 

Iraq and Afghanistan

I wonder if there is anyone who thinks that we (the U.S. and various allies) have accomplished anything worthwhile in Iraq and/or Afghanistan? We are still bringing young Americans home in flag draped coffins and we are still spending billions of dollars on these debacles. Why? It is long past time to declare victory and get the hell out. Who will be the last person to lose their legs or their mental well being or their life? Who will it be before we finally stop the madness? I am not a pacifist. I fully realize that there are people out there who would do us harm.  But I think we need to be careful in spending lives and treasure.  We are coming up to 2014 which is the date that President Obama has determined is time to exit Afghanistan. There will be all kinds of pressure on his to leave troops behind for "training" or "support." Will he be strong enough to resist? I wonder.

The Affordable Healthcare Act

We should have a single payer, universal healthcare system. 

The ACA makes money for those who lobby Congress and for the insurance companies. It is an inefficient, wasteful system that leaves many citizens still without access to healthcare. It should be thrown out and an efficient, single payer, universal system instituted. 

I refuse to discuss the failings of healthcare.gov and the struggles of the HHS Secretary Sibelius and the Obama administration. 

What a disgrace!

The debacle in Washington is a disgrace and an embarrassment.  I hope the Republicans get clobbered in the Midterm elections. But that is a year away and in the meantime, so many people are being economically devastated by the sequester first and now by the government shutdown. The Republicans are so determined to prevent healthcare for all and determined to do everything they can to undermine any and everything President Obama tries to do.  

Let us hope that somehow enough of our legislators will come to their senses before anymore serious damage is inflicted on our nation. 

Update: The Shutdown has ended but Sequestration is still in effect.  Now the question is: Will we have to go through this all over again in January??

Men seeking power

The Government Shutdown. 

It makes me so sad that our congress is so dysfunctional that they are shutting the government down.  The quest for power is so strong that the good of the county is put on the back burner.  We have a Constitution that defines probably the best system of government ever. But men seeking power are subverting it to the detriment of the country.  

I am limiting my news exposure as this has greatly upset me. 

The Serenity Prayer as Foreign Policy

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

Most of us are familiar with the Serenity Prayer but I'd never thought of it as a kind of guide to foreign policy until I read blog post by Rod Dreher.  Here's the link to the entire post:

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/the-serenity-prayer-as-a-guide-to-national-security-policy/

With turmoil everywhere from Mali to Syria to Iraq and Nigeria, the United States can't solve everyone's problems.  Some how we must determine what we can do and what we cannot do. With the instant 24/7 communications that we have today, it is hard to turn away from the vast amount of suffering in the world today. I think the first step is simply not to make a bad situation worse. Then to realistically determine if we can make the situation better and if so, we need to count the cost before we go plunging in.  (We could certainly have avoided a world of hurt if we had applied this to Iraq but we all know my soapbox on Iraq,...)

Sequestration

If the budget is to be cut, sequestration may be the best/only way to cut it.  I am not totally convinced that now is the best time for budget cutting but then there never seems to be a good time.  The reason I think it may be the best/only way to go rather than selectively cutting is that no matter what is chosen to be selectively cut, there will be a  lobby crying that their area is absolutely necessary to the safety and well-being of the nation. Or sometimes the cry will be that their cuts will not make a significant cut in the budget anyway so we might as well leave them alone.

I think JMM and I will weather it without any undue hardship--we will have a home, good food to eat, medical care when needed, and heat in the winter. This is unfortunately far from universal and it will be the people who can afford it the least who will bear the brunt of it.  It beats me to know if there is anything I can do about it though other than taking care of my family and reaching out to help where I can.  Contacting my Representative is a non-starter because Pete Olson is about the worst of the worst and we share a mutual loathing. So we carry on doing what we can.

President Obama has offered a package that will forestall the full effect of the sequestration. He is such a good person and President; he is truly trying to do the right thing for the country with absolutely no cooperation from the Republican Party of Obstruction. Please let us try to take back the House in 2014!

Enough already!!

I voted for President Obama and am very thankful that he won and not Mitt Romney.  But a word to NPR: Enough innauguration coverage!! I thought it was over the top yesterday with dawn to midnight innauguration stuff but to find out that today is Reflections-on-the-Innauguration Day (well it seems like it anyway) is really aggravating.  Cover the oath, 5 minutes of the parade, and a mention of what the First Lady wore to one of the balls. That's enough!! IMHO

An honest moment with Mitt

Shock, shock, Gordon Gecko doesn't care. No duh...

Wow! Oh, Wow!

I was so prepared for the Supreme Court to rule against the Affordable Health Care Act. I am just astounded that they ruled the whole thing constitutional. Yes!! Of course, the hate mongers are going to try to get it repealed. I wonder how people can really want their fellow citizens to suffer and die without access to healthcare. Anyway, I am so happy that this small step in the right direction was upheld. Wow! Oh, Wow!

Once a Republican, Now a Democrat

From David Brooks column in today's NYT

"First they went after the Rockefeller Republicans, but I was not a Rockefeller Republican. Then they went after the compassionate conservatives, but I was not a compassionate conservative. Then they went after the mainstream conservatives, and there was no one left to speak for me."

The Washington Budget Fiasco

I suggest that we put Congress on a contract basis.  We hire them as independent contractors (no benefits) to make a budget and they get paid only when the budget is completed, passed, and signed.  If they aren't able to perform, they don't get paid and we outsource it to India.  OK, we just fire them and try again in 2012.

Postcard to the President

My latest missive to the President was brief and to the point and fit nicely on a post card.  Somehow, President Obama has missed the fact that he is the President of the United States.  I wanted to clarify his position to him.

Dear President Obama,
You won the election. You are the President. Stop being Mr. Nice.  You have Power.  Please start using it.  
Respectfully,

CBS Evening News 8/3/11

Several Items on the news yesterday really grated on me.

First, President Obama is going on a "listening tour" about jobs.  He doesn't need to go on a listening tour about jobs.  Can there be anyone, anywhere that doesn't already know that unemployment is a huge problem??  What is needed is some LEADERSHIP: fire and brimstone, raise the roof, energetic LEADERSHIP.  Throw out ideas, plans, programs.  Use the vast 2008 database to bury, drown, and trample the opposition.

Next was the segment on spending billions on inventing an Afghan police force.  Is there anyone, anywhere who thinks that any police force in place when we leave will be there 15 minutes after the last troop transport leaves???

Finally, the segment on the dismantling of our educational system.  This segment focused on California's universities but it could have been any state's elementary, secondary, or university system.  We have to cut teachers, cut research, cut federal tuition aid while we pour money, lives, and limbs into Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia.

Why are we not marching on the capitol and burying our legislators with e-mail, phone calls, and letters??

Ben Bernanke tells it like it is...via The Onion

The Onion nails it again:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/drunken-ben-bernanke-tells-everyone-at-neighborhoo,21059/

The Budget

I like to be in control of my finances and the only way that I have found to have that control is to have a plan...better known as a budget.  People say that they try to budget but something always comes up.  It is understandable that it takes some time and practice to get the hang of making a written budget but it is also important to have an emergency fund so that when a true emergency happens, there is money to take care of it.  It is also important that if you are married that your budgeting includes your spouse so that neither feels their priorities are not being taken into account. 

The basic idea is to take the money that comes in (take home pay) and spend it all on paper--just write down all your expenses for the coming month.  It surprises many people that they will have money left over after writing down expenses.  Use that money to build the emergency fund or save for something special; I have a category for "mad money" for each of us to have some pocket money.

Being in control of our finances has allowed us to live debt free, in a paid for home, driving paid for vehicles, and have a good emergency fund.  I know that at the end of the year when property taxes, home owner's insurance, and Property Owner's Association fees come due, the money will be there to pay them because I've been saving $500 per paycheck all year long. 

There's less stress with no money fights because all is agreed on in advance.  There's less stress because expenses are planned and saved for in advance.

Wouldn't it be nice if Congress would sit down with a pad of paper and pencil, list what expected income is, budget anticipated necessary expenses, and put the remainder in a rainy day fund.  Then we wouldn't be having this national nervous breakdown over raising the debt ceiling and paying down the debt.