US Politics

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence."

From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to great courage
From courage to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to selfishness
From selfishness to apathy
From apathy to dependence
From dependency back again into bondage

Here we go into mid-term elections. As before, nothing much has changed. Politicians parrot what people want to hear rather than what they need to hear. Millions are spent in buying the public vote using half truths and often totally incorrect information. Lobbyists, not the average citizen, have the ear

Enemies of the Honest & Prudent Saver

of the politicians and figure heavily if not totally in what the politician ultimately does or how he/she votes. Coming off of 8 years of Republican rule and 3 trillion dollars in projected war costs, few would argue against that administration being a total and complete failure. If you think the Democrats are any better or that I'm a Democrat, I'm afraid you would be wrong. Time is short for the public. The problems are many. Current leaders seem paralyzed (grid locked) and unable to take or even talk about the painful steps necessary to solving current problems.

I guess I need to eat some of my words in the Politics & Energy section below. As of today "September 21, 2008", the U.S. economy stands on the brink of collapse with our illustrious leader in the White House and Hank Paulson pleading for a minimum of $700 billion in taxpayer funds to rescue the economy. None of this should be a great surprise to anybody as this recent article in the New York Times details. With strong, independent leaders, this country could have avoided this crisis. Instead, this country is ruled largely by bought and paid for politicians guided by corporate sponsored special interests. This end result is the continued fleecing of the American middle class on a scale that is hard to imagine. It has been suggested that the U.S. is rapidly turning into a " Banana Republic" complete with hyperinflation. Lets hope these comments prove false. This coming election will indeed be important to all citizens of the U.S.

-- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, March 16, 2008

"I have great, great confidence in our capital markets and in our financial institutions. Our financial institutions, banks and investment banks, are strong. Our capital markets are resilient. They're efficient. They're flexible.""

-- President Bush, May 19, 2008

"Our policy in this administration -- laws shouldn't bail out lenders, laws shouldn't help speculators."

-- President Bush, July 15, 2008

"Our economy has continued growing, consumers are spending, business are investing, exports continue increasing and American productivity remains strong. We can have confidence in the long-term foundation of our economy...I think the system basically is sound. I truly do."

-- President Bush, September 24, 2008

"Entire economy in danger" bush image

Many say the main issue surrounding this election season is the economy. I would disagree. The economy is headed for the toilet primarily because of energy issues followed by corporate greed and short sidedness. That's one of the main reasons I started this website back in 2005. A reasonable person would think that after the 1973 oil shock, this country would develop policies and practices to make it largely immune to such shocks. It sure hasn't happened and today we give billions of dollars to the same mid-east factions that are trying to kill us. To make themselves look good, the government is doing everything possible to put lipstick on their pig policies and pig economy.

"Less government regulation and less taxes" is the favorite cry of both main candidates. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand the the infrastructure in this country is largely petroleum based and badly in need of repair or up-grade

I-35 Bridge Collapse

Other countries, over the years, have successfully built infrastructures that are largely independent of petroleum use. Such infrastructures employ systems such as high-speed rail system, extensive use of nuclear power, community planning to minimize travel and maximize energy efficiency. These same societies know the value of modern, high-speed Internet services that greatly aid in the areas of education, tele-working, on-line shopping etc.

I don't see any of these things happening in the U.S. T. Boone Pickens is right. The need for energy is so great, there is no way we can drill our way out of our problems. A completely new mindset and approach is what is needed. Who is going to supply the money for the massive change of direction this country needs to survive? Based on their past record, I don't see the corporations doing anything to help the private citizen in spite of their massively bad past decisions.

Yup, you're seeing the tax rate chart on the right correctly. A vast majority of U.S. and foreign owned & controlled corporations in this country pay no income tax what-so-ever on their profits. Click on the chart to see the base GAO document. I guess you can add this one to $4.00+ gasoline and the health care debacle for the continued fleecing of U.S. citizens by lobbyists and special interests.

U.S. Corporation Tax Rates

Seeing that most major new agencies are owned or controlled by major corporations, don't expect a lot of coverage on this issue by them. Believe it or not, there is now talk of extending the income tax free status to ALL corporations on the basis they need it to remain competitive on a world scale. Sounds like a major lobbyist project to me.

If you think you are getting the straight story from local newspapers or TV, I have another message for you. Most news organizations are biased in the information they give to the public. Witness that there are sixteen groups running for president and vice president. Why are only two, Democrats and Republicans, reported on in the press. The Internet is again the great equalizer. Thankfully, organizations like Fact Check and Colorado Media Matters exist to counter the one-sided reporting habits of many news outlets.