Friday, August 19, 2011

How the GOP Destroyed Detroit


by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

Muslims did not destroy Detroit! Nor was it destroyed by black people though bigots post pictures of the 'ruins' amid claims that Detroit is the 'victim' of a multi-racial society!

Who will bigots will blame next week? Hispanics? The Irish? Italians? I am Native American; will I be blamed though Detroit is probably the only large city in American that I have not set foot in?

Multi-racialism has nothing to do with an economic decline that is the result of Bush economic policies. It was the very worst administration to have ever exercised political power in the U.S. --Reagan, Bush and Bush Jr! Blaming 'Muslims' for this outcome is uninformed, perhaps bigoted!

The destruction of Detroit required help from phony and/or incompetent economists inside the GOP. The destruction of Detroit began with the deals Bush Sr cut with China as the U.S. tried to find an 'honorable' way out of Viet Nam. I have spoken with the Sr Bush about this personally. My questions were pointed: what deals were cut? What price was paid to get our asses out of Viet Nam with honor? GHWB was either incoherent or taciturn but never forthcoming. He preferred to tell stories about how he may have been 'duped' into eating 'dog lip' (presumably with sweet and sour sauce) at a formal dinner in the Forbidden City.

In footage and stills, much of Detroit looks like the aftermath of World War III. It was not Muslims nor black people who destroyed Detroit! Nor are Muslims to blame for gutting American industry, destroying or exporting jobs or the screwing over of the 'working man'. The U.S. --under GOP regimes --became a vassal state of China. [See: CIA's World Fact Book, Current Account Balance]
The gutting of American industry, the destruction of jobs, the export of jobs, the screwing over of the 'working man' --that's all the work of the GOP, a party that is utterly dependent upon bigots who make up a significant GOP constituency. [note: since Bush Jr left the Oval Office, the U.S. trade posture vis a vis China has improved somewhat!]

It was an economic 'scorched earth policy'. Reagan (the GOP in general) wanted to destroy unions and they did it! They did it by destroying jobs, and in some cases, the entire industry! Works every time. Those who lived through it, most certainly recall a "depression" lasting some two years.

Though I am not more enamored of Islam, I am quite sure that Muslims are still demonized by an uninformed segment of the U.S. population. For them, I have a clue: Muslims have nothing to do with the decline of Detroit. Nor do immigrants of any type or origin. Only bigots believe that to be the case.

Muslims are in America!! So what? We have been uninvited guests of Muslims ever since the U. S., running out of its own oil, discovered oil in abundance throughout the Middle East. Subsequently, the U.S. would, upon any pretext, con and/or steal it. If theft did not work, the U.S. would resort to duping the leadership of a foreign [Muslim] country to get it. Prior to the Senior Bush's decision to begin Persian Gulf War I, U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie had met with Saddam Hussein. According to the transcript of the meeting, she told Hussein that the U.S. had no position on 'Arab-Arab' disputes.
The official State Department discussion between Saddam and April Catherine Glaspie from July 25, 1990: Ambassador Glaspie:
“I have direct instructions from President Bush to improve our relations with Iraq. We have considerable sympathy for your quest for higher oil prices, the immediate cause of your confrontation with Kuwait. (pause) As you know, I have lived here for years and admire your extraordinary efforts to rebuild your country (after the Iran-Iraq war). We know you need funds. We understand that, and our opinion is that you should have the opportunity to rebuild your country. (pause) We can see that you have deployed massive numbers of troops in the south. Normally that would be none of our business, but when this happens in the context of your other threats against Kuwait, then it would be reasonable for us to be concerned. For this reason, I have received an instruction to ask you, in the spirit of friendship – not confrontation – regarding your intentions. Why are your troops massed so very close to Kuwait’s borders?”
President Saddam Hussein:“As you know, for years now I have made every effort to reach a settlement on our dispute with Kuwait. There is to be a meeting in two days; I am prepared to give negotiations only one more brief chance. (pause) When we (the Iraqis) meet (with the Kuwaitis) and we see there is hope, then nothing will happen. But if we are unable to find a solution, then it will be natural that Iraq will not accept death.”
US Ambassador Glaspie: “What solution would be acceptable?”
President Saddam Hussein: “If we could keep the whole of the Shatt al Arab – our strategic goal in our war with Iran – we will make concessions (to the Kuwaitis). But if we are forced to choose between keeping half of the Shatt and the whole of Iraq (which, in Iraq’s view, includes Kuwait), then we will give up all of the Shatt to defend our claims on Kuwait to keep the whole of Iraq in the shape we wish it to be. (pause) What is the United States’ opinion on this?”
US Ambassador Glaspie:
“We have no opinion on your Arab-Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait. Secretary (of State James) Baker has directed me to emphasize the instruction, first given to Iraq in the 1960s, that the Kuwait issue is not associated with America."
--Transcript of the Glaspie-Saddam meeting that started the Gulf War
Hussein was given a green light to lower the price of oil, though this outcome was most certainly at odds with Bush's real policy --higher prices for oil! In short --we have no one to blame for this outcome but ourselves.

Earlier, Ronald Reagan and Bush Sr may have committed 'high treason' with respect to Iran/Contra. Both men lied about it! Both were architects of a scheme that armed enemies of the United States. In simpler times it would be called 'high treason'. It would be 'high treasons' today if a Democrat had done it! The GOP is apparently above the law!

I refer you to the final report of Lawrence Walsh, Prosecutor for 'Iran-Contra' matters. Walsh left no doubt! He believed that Reagan, Bush et al had committed treason! There was a time shortly after FDR had shepherded the nation out of the Great Depression that the U.S. manufactured products, employed people to make things and export the results to other nations. In other words, the U.S. created jobs.

We no longer create jobs. I can prove that that is the case with numbers from the CIA itself. As mentioned, China is at the top of the list with the World's largest positive Current Account Balance. That's because China makes things, employs its population and exports its product to the world --primarily U.S. via Wal-Mart. Go to Wal-Mart! Find just one thing that is made in the U.S. Since Reagan, the U.S. has made very little of anything and less has been exported. The CIA's list proves my point. When did this trend begin? It began shortly after George H.W. Bush went to China, set up Nixon's famous but largely ceremonial trip to the Forbidden City. The deals that were cut turned out to have been the price we paid to get our sorry asses out of Viet Nam --a dank swamp we had no business being in in the first place. One pays for one's sins.

But when ignorant asses raise strawmen, red herrings, propaganda to justify their hate and bigotry, I part company. That's what's really wrong with the U.S. No one has been safe since it was discovered that big bucks could be made by killing Indians [Native Americans, my ancestors], driving Mexicans (who were there first) out of Texas, stealing land, waging wars in general. It was Randolph Hearst who said just prior to the U.S. attack on Cuba --"...you give me the pictures and I'll give you the war!"

Like Rome before us --we are busted and are not creating jobs. A trip to Wal-Mart proves that. Who is to blame? Not immigrants --though I cannot fathom why anyone in his/her right mind would want to come here. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to swim or wade across the Rio Grande.

The alleged 'Governor' of Texas --Rick Perry is lying about the 'Texas Miracle'! There was NO Texas miracle. There was no net increase of jobs over the time period he cites. There was, rather, a huge net decline in job creation! That is to be expected. It is the GOP modus operandi! It is best described as a Texas Two Step: 1) subvert education 2) by doing so, ensure a growing prison population which --alone benefits from the corporate ownership of the prison system!

What will Houston look like when the oil companies decide that, as the U.S. has all but run out of oil, what's the point of maintaining spiffy, shiny 80 story office buildings in downtown Houston? Last time, I checked there was lots of high rise office space in Dubai.


Monday, August 15, 2011

Tell Rick Perry that there was NO 'Texas Miracle'

by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

As a fourth generation Texan, a descendant of Texas pioneers, I deny a favorite myth among the GOP inclined. There was no 'Texas Miracle' --a term cooked up in a GOP focus group, fly-by-night political consultants (perhaps from Chicago). Fact is --not only has education dropped off the radar, Texas has run out of oil that can be pumped profitably; real jobs are as scarce as hen's teeth.

Frankly, I am surprised to learn that --as economist Paul Krugman points out -- in June 2011 the Texas unemployment rate was ONLY 8.2 percent. I had expected that it would have been higher. About that, economist Paul Krugman asks: "...what does population growth have to do with job growth?" Krugman is right to ask! The point is made as only Krugman can make it! Indeed, if the 'Texas Miracle' had been real, Texas should not be boasting of unemployment rates as high as 8.2 percent.

But I am disappointed that Krugman has not mentioned the BUSH-PERRY scam about which I have screamed bloody murder! I believe that unemployment figures for TX would be much, much higher if those millions left behind by Bush-Perry neglect/subversion of public education were showing up in the stats. But --they are not! They are not showing up because those "left behind" are finding the only long-term employment that is available to them in the corporate-owned prisons, what I call the Bush-Perry Gulag!

This is not the result of GOP incompetence. It is, rather, the result of deliberate GOP crookery at the party-leadership level. This is the result of the GOP's deliberate neglect of education. It is one of several reasons the GOP is not a poltiical party; it is a crime syndicate, a kooky cult!

The only pockets lined by GOP largesse (pork) are the pockets of an increasingly tiny ruling elite now just 1 percent of the total US population. Official stats prove my assertions; those numbers can be found at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Commerce Dept-B.E.A. Be prepared to see proof that the GOP, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry et al are lying, distorting the effects of every GOP tax cut in U.S. history.

In each case, the cuts --enriching only the upper, upper classes and the corporate owners of prisons --are followed by recessions, depressions. ERGO: GOP tax cuts do not and have never stimulated the economy, have never created a single job! In fact, job growth has either declined or gone negative (net job loss) after every GOP tax cut. In fact, every recession/depression since 1900 has been the result of either GOP incompetence or crookedness or both.

It is for this reason primarily that BUSH-PERRY neglected education. A state that will not educate new generations deserves to pay for the privilege of neglect with much higher crime rates. But even that is not the point ---the point is that the GOP and the CORPORATE OWNED PRISONS benefit from the whole package: 1) LOWER HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATIONS 2) HIGHER CRIME RATES 3) HIGHER PROFITS FOR CORPORATE-OWNED PRISONS. It's the GOP formula.

Given what we know about the GOP record in Texas, we should not be surprised to learn that a failed governor from a 'gulag' state, a failed governor with more hair than brains, an inarticulate governor challenged to spell 'ed-joo-ka-shun' should wish to occupy the White House, a 'perch' from which he might prey upon the future of an entire nation and the futures of all the people who live in it.
So when Mr. Perry presents himself as the candidate who knows how to create jobs, don’t believe him. His prescriptions for job creation would work about as well in practice as his prayer-based attempt to end Texas’s crippling drought.

--Paul Krugman, The Texas Unmiracle
There was NO 'Texas Miracle'!

Unless you consider the rise of the prison system to be a 'miracle'! I don't! Nor am I impressed with pimples on the much larger curve. I grew up with the boom and bust 'oil industry' and consider it an utterly failed strategy akin to playing Blackjack or Roulette in the expection of, one day, hitting a jackpot! I cannot count the number of 'busts' that I witnessed growing up. And from each 'bust' only the very, very rich benefited. In any case, when it is deemed more profitable to attack and invade another Middle Eastern country, temporary 'bubbles' will always burst. But crime --as a result of the GOP/right wing sabotage of education --will ensure that the corporate run prisons are full. What a racket!!

GOP policy is anti-education! It was the evil axis of Bush-Perry that made of Texas the GULAG STATE!



Sunday, August 14, 2011

Deluded Mitt Romney says: 'Corporations are people' too!

by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

Here's what Mitt recently puked up:
"Corporations are people, my friend... of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to the people. Where do you think it goes? Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People's pockets. Human beings, my friend."
--Mitt Romney, aka 'The Compleat Cockroach'
Like every other GOPPER, Mitt claims privileges for corporations because, '...they are people''! The 'privileges' he claims for corporation are denied to 'real people' simply because they are real people and corporations are not! Neither Mitt nor the GOP can have it both ways.

In fact, corporations are not taxed as much or even in the same way as are real people. That is by design --GOP design! I say TAX the corporations! But, of course, the corporations themselves will oppose effort to tax them fairly or in the same ways as real persons are taxed. Nevertheless, corporations must be compelled to pay their fair share to support the legitimate functions of government with respect to the 'real' real people who are, by law, the source of all governmental 'sovereignty'.
Funny thing is, Romney's questioner wasn't asking him about corporate personhood. He was asking why Romney wants to cut Social Security but while preserving corporate tax breaks. It seemed as if Romney had already memorized this little speech and was looking for a chance to trot it out. He probably had.

--Truthout, Shiny Happy Corporate People
Corporations and the ruling elite which runs them can, in many cases, can avoid paying taxes entirely. In practice, however, the 'ruling elite' (now just 1 percent of the total population) pay less and less as a portion of their total income than do middle and lower class individuals. For us, the government's cut is a much, much larger percentage of our income than are the nominal taxes levied the ruling elite.

Why are not corporations locked up when committing crimes that would land real people in a Texas gulag hell-hole? As Truth Out put it: Romney and the GOP at large would ask: "Are you crazy? We're talking about corporations here, not people."

Corporations are often left off the hook entirely when sued for negligence or 'criminal manslaughter'. How many real people are housed in Texas prisons for those crimes? How many corporations are housed in TX gulags for precisely the same crimes? I will tell you: NONE!!!! In practice, perhaps in law, corporations are placed above the law, treated differently, given privileges and exemptions that real people have never had and will never have.

Why is the GOP so eager to bestow upon corporations --a collective abstraction --the status of 'personhood'? The answer is simple: the GOP are 'collectivists'; the GOP is anti-individual! The GOP seeks to establish a 'collectivist' dictatorship in which wealth --created by labor --is shared but only among the ruling elite which did not create it and have not earned a penny of it. Every one else in the GOP vision of AmeriKa is reduced to slavery if we have not been already.

REPUBLICANS: ARE THEY ABOVE THE LAW OR JUST OUTLAWS?

Republicans may say what they want of corporations as people, but, in fact, corporations have none of characterisics of real people, none of the responsibilities. They do not vote as people; they don't have to. They OWN the government! They benefit from its largesse as real people have never benefited and never will!

The only pockets lined by GOP largesse (pork) are the pockets of an increasingly tiny ruling elite now just 1 percent of the total population. The official stats prove my assertions; those numbers can be found by anyone with an internet connection at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Commerce Dept-B.E.A. Look 'em up! Be prepared to see proof that the GOP and Mitt are lying, distorting the effects of every GOP tax cut in U.S. history.

In each case, the cut --having enriched only the upper 1 percent --has been followed by a recession/depression. ERGO: GOP tax cuts do not have have never stimulated the economy, have never created a single fucking job! NOT ONE!

In fact, job creation has declined after every GOP tax cut; and every recession/depression since 1900 has been the result of either GOP incompetence or crookedness or both.

The Reagan depression of some two years is a specimen typical of the recurring problem. Under Reagan, jobs declined, investment declined, millions were thrown out of work, lost their homes and were forced to live in tent cities, under bridges! Ironically, this was the case in 'boomtown' Houston which had been called the 'Golden Buckle of the Sunbelt'. Every such depression/recession has been the result of similar incompetence by previous GOP regimes at least since 1900.

Here's the story that puts all this in perspective: Romney wants to cut Social Security while preserving corporate tax breaks. In other words, MITT ROMNEY --a typical GOP seed pod --wants to enrich those who are already rich upon the backs of those who were never rich, those who can least afford it. Romney wants to rob retirees and literally GIVE that wealth to mere 'legal abstractions' --corporations!

Romney's ideas will most certainly result in a contraction of wealth as 'money' (in varrious forms) will follow the well-rehearsed GOP SCRIPT! In other words, this 'wealth' will wind up in various offshore bank accounts where it creates no jobs and --significantly --does not 'trickle down'! As was the case wtih the Reagan tax cut, a depression, a massive loss of jobs, a contraction of the economy will result. It always has!

THE GOP MODUS OPERANDI

Check the official stats at Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Commerce Deptartment-B.E.A., the U.S. Census Bureau. Following EVERY GOP tax cut at least since Reagan has been a recession/depression [negative growth] defined by the millions of Americans that were suddenly jobless, homeless and living in tent cities, under bridges, as was the case in fact in 'boomtown' Houston.

The REAGAN YEARS SUCKED! [see Cheney's nose at right]

And they sucked because GOP economics have never, ever worked as advertised! GOP economic 'theory' is a fraud, a scam, a conjob. It does precisely what the GOP wants it to do: it enriches the GOP base! It's a laundered payoff for their continued support. As a result of GOP policies, just 1 percent of the total population owns more than the rest of us combined.

Instead of listening to Mitt, we should be restoring the nation's prosperity by taxing the rich and the even richer corporations FAIRLY! In other words, they should be taxed as was the case until Ronald Reagan wrecked the economy and impoverished everyone but the very, very, very rich who have had the 'bad manners' of investing their ill-gotten booty in offshore bank accounts.

The EXODUS of wealth following every GOP tax cuts is commonly called 'recession' or 'depression'. Look them up at the U.S. Commerce Dept B.E.A. the Census Bureau or the Bureau of Labor Stats. The GOP record of tax cuts followed by recession is there in black and white for anyone curious enough to learn the truth!