we are sick, aren't we? we have no idea how to stop; we have no intention of ever changing; it's a deep seated twisted addiction -- of an extraordinarily, reckless, perilous behavior -- that may, ultimately, bring us to our death. And as soon as August 2.
We are hoarders of the worst kind.
Now, for anyone who suffers from hoarding -- as portrayed frequently on TLC -- my heart goes out to you. I believe it is a debilitating, toxic, symptom of huge emotional pain; a kind of pain the average soul, sometimes, never finds a way out. It destroys relationships, families, an entire life, piece by piece; stacking up protections and barriers and walls and turmoils into every corner, upon every table and chair, in every room. Not a path can be traversed without climbing over something, through everything, while under the weight of the world.
This is our government.
We are truly sick.
Half of us are on the side of the family in denial; while the other half is just bloody angry -- having reached 'enough already'; and there is NO OTHER WAY TO GO but demand catastrophic reform.
When the house was all brand new -- we had four departments under the Federal government: State, Treasury, Defense, and Justice. FOUR.
Today, we add:
INTERIOR - AGRICULTURE - COMMERCE - LABOR - HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES - HOUSING/URBAN DEVELOPMENT - TRANSPORTATION - ENERGY - EDUCATION - VETERANS AFFAIRS - HOMELAND SECURITY...while the U.S. Postal Service doesn't even get mentioned, that department is different (hmmm, wonder why...).
Have you heard this stat? top 1% pays more in tax burden than the entire bottom 95% combined.
Yes, I would say we are at a redistributive peak.
Just why is the burden so great? Just what in tar-nation do we have to pay for? Just what is growing -- like a fungus, or a mold, with dead rodents and all? For this is an accrual of decades, perfectly hidden in the cover of darkness, of leadership past and present. And the truth is - something like this - just doesn't happen over night.
Check out this easy reference A through Z.
So our president has been perfectly clear with us over the last several days -- he will veto the GOP generated plan, "Cut, Cap and Balance." Which is funny, considering if it were to pass by two thirds vote in both the House and Senate, it would be considered law. He would not have a say. Of course, we recognize the Senate isn't even going to pass it with such absolutes, so the question of whether he vetoes or not is really a non-starter. But just O-dumb-a saying something like this for political points says it all, doesn't it. (And yes, that isn't a question.)
Here is some food for thought, rotting in the back of the fridge:
The Department of Energy -- a department which doesn't actually produce even one kilowatt of power, but ironically wastes it, can better be described as this: stacking one kind of power right smack up against the weight of another...surviving only by making towering, foreboding claims based on untruths... and employing over a hundred thousand employees with a budget of about 25 Billion dollars. While how many Dept of Energy agencies are duplicated within the Dept. of Interior (90 B), or Agriculture (134 B), or Commerce (16 B), or Transportation (73 B)?
The Department of Labor costs us 138 Billion dollars a year. Considering our growing unemployment figures, what, in fact, are we gaining from this department?
The only four departments advocated by our founding documents -- State (16 B), Treasury (20 B), Defense (650 B) and Justice (46 B) -- come to a tally of about 750 billion dollars (based on real dollars spent in 2009).
So, returning to the theme on the day, once we begin a department/government agency, we never go back; we do all that we can to hold onto all that we can. And it just keeps building, growing, expanding, into a life force of its own.
Perhaps it is an oversimplification -- but we have adapted hoarding as a means of coping; and now, besides making us terribly sick, inside and out, the writing is on the wall (if we could only see it). It is time to stop.
What is utterly disgusting is realizing how much money we spend to maintain this lifestyle -- which is clearly unfit for a mouse, let alone a king. Looking around, my stomach turns, my lungs collapse, my heart aches, and my mind cannot so much as wrap any or all logic/understanding around it.
Our founders had no intention to grow social justice reforms within the fabric of our daily life (and direct cause of the curtains beginning to stink). Yet, today, thanks to the last hundred years, we have Social Security (701 B, 20% budget), Medicare/Medicaid (793 B, 23% of budget). And adding to all that, the ONE department the federal government MUST do, DEFENSE, at 689 Billion, 20% of budget for 2010. And to that end, we are already nearly at 3 Trillion dollars a year.
Continuing on with regard to the proposed budget for 2010 (the one over 800 days too late), it makes a fiscal commitment for another 660 billion for "Discretionary" spending (20%) ...$197 billion for interest (6%)....another $416 billion for "other mandatory" expenses (12%)...I may be just a girl, but I'm inclined to think anytime we freely throw around 'discretionary' and "other mandatory' to the tune of a trillion dollars, we should know we have issues.
But add this all up together and turn the light on: we are at a staggering 3.5 Trillion. so excuse me while I go throw up.
Sure, we could just turn the lights off again and fall back to sleep -- but it's too late, isn't it. It's too late. We know what government did to us last summer, and the summer before that, and the summer before that, and so on and so on. We know. And now that we know, we can't ignore it. How could we, right? and still be able to live with ourselves. Morally, ethically, we cannot just walk away and let America continue to destroy herself.
We have a duty to speak up, even if it is the hardest thing we have ever had to do.
And of course, as we speak, the contradictions surround us: from the outside, she looks perfectly functional. We would never know it what goes on behind closed doors, unless we found ourselves brave enough to cross the threshold.
And it's funny, on one side, as late as just last week, we have been told that Social Security is fine! Harry Reid has repeatedly noted, we no more need to worry about it's solvency until maybe 2036; the prevailing belief, drilled into our heads all these years, is that there is a Social Security "Lock Box" -- it is safe, secure; while at the same time, Michele Bachmann adds, everybody's weekly, bi-weekly, payroll, has a deduction taken out, in fact, for the explicit use of Social Security disbursements. And yet, what did our own president say,
"I cannot guarantee that those checks
go out on August 3rd
if we haven't resolved this issue.
Because there may simply
not be the money in the coffers to do it..."
So the "security" of Social Security is either a lie before, or a lie now; it cannot be both. And, not to dwell, but the president did all of us a disservice here. This is political posturing to serve his purpose. But let's not add a digression to what is already a substantial argument...
Now one thing we cannot do, is let her talk us into understanding, to the extent that we acquiesce, retreating to cross this path, her path, for another day. For we know, her life depends on our life making a stand for her own good.
There is no compromise.
With regard to the luxury of time, we have none. Time is of the essence, otherwise we have lost her -- buried under debris, departments, waste, and a fraud -- of two or three or fourteen trillion...
The ceiling, itself, is irrelevant really....when you can't even walk across the floor.
Does anyone in Washington really get this?
now, if you'll excuse me, I have a cupboard to organize, a closet to clean, a floor to uncover, so that I can let the sunshine in -- both in my physical reality -- and then, taking my sweet time, allowing it to meander to the far reaches of every little breathing corner of my mind....
Make it a Good Day, G
and to think, our president just wants us to add 2.4 Trillion to our debt of 14.4, to equal 16.8 trillion -- AND only good for ONE year -- without cutting or capping much of anything. Seriously? Really? Just who doesn't understand what is going on here?
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