GOP leaders in Congress don’t want a balanced-budget amendment. The party which rails against government bureaucracy is counting on government bureaucracy to prevent them from successfully changing our founding documents. It’s perfect because they don’t actually want to amend the Constitution ”” well, not in a serious way. Maybe in a drunken, overly-clever, 1:30 AM… Continue reading →

Is being gay something one chooses? Are we all capable of being gay or lesbian, but the better among us choose to be straight? Tim Pawlenty, former Minnesota governor and current candidate vying for the 2012 GOP nomination, was asked by David Gregory on NBC’s Meet the Press (since Pawlenty has shown himself to be… Continue reading →

In 1950 a largely unaccomplished lawmaker from Wisconsin, Senator Joe McCarthy, alleged that Commie sympathizers were infiltrating the U.S. Government and Hollywood. “Communist subversion!” was the claim; Red Scare, the aim. Televised hearings were held. Lives were ruined. No evidence of his accusations was found. McCarthyism, as it’s now known, is a blight in American… Continue reading →

Walmart is the biggest retailer in the world. It boasts of having 1.2 million Americans on their payroll. Its reported annual profits are around $13 billion. So it’s safe to say since it is so big ”” and so ubiquitous ”” and so obviously successful ”” the government can now stop subsidizing it. Let me… Continue reading →

The whole idea of a democracy is accepting you’ll never fully get your own way in government. Yes, I know we celebrate the imagined rugged individual pulling on his sole-proprietorship bootstraps fully autonomous while enjoying socialized infrastructure and tax subsidies – it’s what makes America great….and charmingly peculiar. But letting consensus dictate means all individuals… Continue reading →

“The media” is our favorite whipping boy. It’s shallow, petty and often stupid. It misses points, focuses on the wrong things, and completely ignores the bigger issues. It’s prone to obsess on trivial rivalries and scandals instead of thoughtful substantive discussions about things which affect us most. Essentially, the media is a mirror of us…. Continue reading →

The rich don’t create jobs. The bottom 80% of Americans have 15% of the net worth, and the top 1% has 35% of the net worth in what is still the richest country on earth. So, when I say “rich” ”” I mean really really rich. “The rich create jobs” is a well-worn catch phrase… Continue reading →

According to Oakland, California’s Harold Camping, the Rapture was supposed to hit American Samoa (the location of the International Dateline) at 6 pm on Saturday, May 21, 2011. Despite what all the billboards claimed, that would have been 11 pm PST on Friday for the west coast. And from there the Rapture was to roll… Continue reading →

The best thing about the upcoming 2012 election is that the ominous “Obamacare” was a Republican idea. But now since this alternative to Hillarycare was signed into law by a (gasp) Democratic president the GOP has been trying to peg as a radical socialist Kenyan ”” Republicans now have to be against their own ideas…. Continue reading →

It’s perfectly logical and reasonable to wonder what politicians who want to protect secret donations are hiding. You don’t want us to know something? Why? When it comes to public servants, especially our elected representatives, nothing financial should be “none of our business.” That is ”” unless you’re a House Republican. Yes, 21 Republican members… Continue reading →

If you didn’t have, say, a sense of smell, and 3,000 people all informed you Casablanca Lilies were pleasantly fragrant ”” you’d rely on that information and assume they were right. Now if you didn’t have, say, a sense of humor, and 3,000 people around you all guffawed uncontrollably at jokes about you ”” best… Continue reading →

Americans used to buy savings bonds to support the war effort. These were securities liquidated after the war was over which ideally would spur an economic boom. During World War II, Defense Bonds, War Bonds and what was called Series E Savings Bonds offset the massive costs. The gush of liquidity after that war created… Continue reading →

We must love boisterous blowhards. As Americans, we are fixated on people who make loud, definitive declarations so we can stand behind them waving our oversized number-one foam-fingers chanting: “Go team! Win!” If you take away all the nebbishy number-crunching and bureaucracy – which is most of government ”” politics is all posturing and platitude… Continue reading →