A historical fact about a republic form of government such as ours is that they eventually become corrupt. They require constant maintenance and vigilance over those in power and those with powerful influence over those in power...Perhaps a National Write in Campaign is not be as farfetched as I had originally thought while proposing the idea in my In a Funk article. The Rational Revolution.net blog proposes “Occupy Wall Street for President” as a write in during this election cycle… If we want real change we must change those in power, those who decide policy – pure and simple. If we want elected officials to serve the needs of the people then we need candidates that are not owned by the power elite – pure and simple. While we may not be able to stop special interests from funding the candidates they parade before us, we don’t have to vote for them…Perhaps this election cycle should be about REAL change…

I’ve been in a real funk for quite a while and took a sabbatical from writing as a result. About 5 or 6 years ago I pulled my head out of the mythical cloud and began questioning the status quo and researching into what’s become of our political system and quite frankly I don’t like what I’ve learned. Our representative style government is broken - unless of course you happen to be part of that 1% that owns our political system…Some of the ideas I present here may sound extreme or even a bit too idealistic to some. But that we need to rebalance the power structure in Washington is not. If we truly value the principles established by the founding fathers we at the very least have a responsibility to reclaim the people’s authority over government.

Many economic ‘experts’ seem puzzled why the U.S and world economy remain in a funk. Most seem ‘surprised’ by ‘unexpected’ poor economic reports when released. Are they really baffled or is this merely public relations nonsense?

In Debt Limit Analysis we step aside the finger pointing and fear mongering dominating Washington and the nation and present resources for the reader that if reviewed puts the issue into context and provides insight into the options available to the Treasury in the event this is no agreement to raise the debt ceiling by Aug 2. Clearly because the Treasury will be able to prioritize the bills that need to be paid the government will not shut down nor go into completed default. Here we present a legal perspective of the authority vested in the President...

As the chances for a compromise over budget reductions and the raising of the debt ceiling looks less likely let’s pull this bogeyman out of the closet and take a look at this situation and gain an informed perspective. The Bipartisan Policy Center has prepared an informative and easy to understand analysis...

Is the crisis atmosphere over rising of the debt ceiling providing an opportunity for political and perhaps corporate strategist to attempt achieving some alternative objective? It’s no secret that many Republicans have wanted to kill Social Security and Medicare since their inception and while ending them in one grand move seems rather remote attempting to gradually chip away at them however seems more likely. I suggested in Endless Wars and Debts and taxes to pay for them that conservatives hate these programs because they believe they create freeloaders plus believe people should fend for themselves…

America’s companies are ambassadors representing our nation and the American people around the world. With crap like this occurring is it any wonder why so many people don’t like us?

For the really big issues, like government citizens surveillance and wars, don’t buy in on the partisan bickering between the Democrats and Republicans, for the most part it is all just theater. When it comes to critical policy matters the parties are not as far apart as it appears and often rumble in the sack together.

What association do you make with the word ‘entitlement’? Is it negative or positive? Conservative opinion shapers can exploit the negative connotation many people make with ‘entitlement’ and frame Social Security and Medicare in a negative misleading manner while at the same time accurately describe them as entitlements. Seldom mentioned, however, is that Social Security and Medicare are ‘earned’ entitlements based on legislative arrangements and requirements with taxpayers. The premise behind the conservative’s agenda for these programs is the belief that people are better equipped to plan their own future and don’t need the government’s assistance. Whether that is true is a matter of opinion. The historical record doesn’t bear this out. It’s part of their ‘selective’ less government motif and perhaps part of a corporate serving agenda as well.

As policy makers bicker over the budget and increasing the debt ceiling let’s take a look at our nation’s financial condition. In recent years I have begun questioning how much debt is simply too much even for the U.S government… Are you familiar with the term normalcy bias? It is a mental state we often “enter when facing a disaster.” It “causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects,” causing most of us to be inadequately prepared. I suspect to a degree normalcy bias with the economy is at play in clenching this ‘faith based notion’ in the U.S. credit system all together.