Day: December 4, 2010

The Harsh Reality: The Republicans Control The Senate, Even Though They Do Not Have The Majority Of Seats! :(

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The vote this morning in the Senate on the tax cut extension legislation proves what many do not want to admit! 🙁

The Republican Party controls the Senate, even though they do not have the majority of seats! 🙁

So the Republican Party will control what goes on in both houses in the 112th Congress, despite the fact that the Democrats will have 53 seats in the new Senate! 🙁

At this point, with more seats than they will have next year, the Democrats were unsuccessful in their goal of stopping tax cuts for the top two percent of the population, while continuing it for the other 98 percent of the population!

The amendment by Montana Senator Max Baucus to retain the tax cuts for individuals earning up to $200,000 and for couples earning up to $250,000 failed miserably! 🙁

But also, New York Senator Chuck Schumer proposed a modified deal, which would have kept tax cuts for incomes up to $1 million, meaning only the top ONE percent earning more than a million dollars would have seen their taxes increase, and still it was unattainable in a Senate with more Democrats than will be present next year! 🙁

Of course, the culprit is the Senate filibuster, which requires 60 votes to stop a filibuster, impossible almost always with 59 Senators who were Democrats and Independents, but certainly inconceivable with only 53 Democrats and Independents in the Senate for the next two years! 🙁

There will be a move in the new Senate by younger Democratic Senators to change the rules of the Senate to lower the number needed to overcome a filibuster, but it can be seen that it is highly doubtful that any change will occur, so reality is: The Republicans will control both chambers of Congress effectively for the next two years, and will do everything conceivable to prevent any successes for President Obama’s agenda, as their only goal is his defeat in 2012 and the destruction of the Obama Health Care legislation and other reforms in 2013, when they hope to win the Presidency and the Senate, and take us back to the past! 🙁

Republican “Blackmailing” Of Congressional Agenda: Hostage To Tax Cuts For The Wealthy! :(

Ronald 1 Comment

Immediately after the White House conference this week of Democratic and Republican leaders to promote cooperation over the next two years with a split Congress, Republican leaders made clear that they would NOT cooperate during the Lame Duck session on ANYTHING, unless the Democrats and President Obama agreed to extend the so called Bush tax cuts to all taxpayers, rather than the Democratic plan to only give tax cuts to all but the top two percent of taxpayers!

So the GOP is holding “hostage” the following: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military; the START Treaty; the DREAM Act for undocumented children of illegal immigrants; unemployment compensation extension for those who have run out of benefits completely; and even a child nutrition bill for the poor and needy school children! 🙁

The Republican leadership in the Senate has no limits to its arrogance and willingness to hold up action until they get what they want! Barack Obama apologizes to them, and they respond by making his life a total nightmare! 🙁

It is one thing to be the “loyal opposition”! It is another thing to promote a total blockade, a total refusal to cooperate on the emergency conditions that exist in this country, and only be concerned that super wealthy people continue to gain a greater concentration of wealth unseen in the entire history of this nation! 🙁

Is this a country for only the top two percent, the millionaires and the billionaires, or is this a government “of, by and for the people”, including the middle class and the poor, the sick, the elderly, the young, the disabled, what was called in the past the “common man” during the time of Andrew Jackson, and the “forgotten man” during the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt?

This is a bad omen for the 112th Congress, when it now looks more likely than ever that NOTHING will be accomplished, and the nation will suffer for it as the bad economic conditions continue to plague the future of America! 🙁

The Gap Between College Education Needed And The Response Of College Age Population, Particularly Males: Danger Sign For The Future Economic Growth Of America! :(

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With the unemployment rate rising from 9.6 percent to 9.8 percent, over 15 million people out of work, and over 6 million out of work for a long term, the nation is faced with the reality that college graduates or higher earn far more than others, and have a very low unemployment rate in this horrible economy!

At the same time, African Americans and Hispanics, and those with less than a high school diploma, or even those who finish high school but achieve no higher level of education, are faced with an extremely high unemployment rate and little hope of a real employment opportunity anytime soon!

In the midst of this crisis, we are finding a larger number of high school students no longer aspire to college education, and that this is particularly noticeable among males, who now comprise far less than a majority of college level students!

Women are becoming more educated, and gaining better pay than in the past, and have a lower unemployment rate than men, and this is also adding up to fewer marriages, with women no longer feeling the need to marry because they can support themselves, and less resistance to the idea of having children out of wedlock!

As Time Magazine stated in a recent issue, women don’t need to marry for money, and neither men nor women need to marry for sexual relations, so marriage is a declining institution, as well as the goal of many young people, and particularly males, to gain a college education, which would improve their chances of keeping a job and avoiding unemployment!

This is a social problem that plagues America and will adversely affect its long range future, unless we can convince young people of the importance of education in their lives!