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.

If you carefully inspect your home plus the stores you shop at you’ll find them loaded with American brand name imports from clothing to Christmas and Easter decorations to electronic components and nearly everything in between right down to G.E light bulbs. This includes many of America’s most darling Wall Street companies from Apple to HP and even Ford and Chevy. ABC News with Diane Sawyer recently reported on this in a series Made in America and their revelations have taken some folks by surprise. Perhaps some of us have been buying our goods with eyes wide shut...

As Congress members return this week from recess the battle over the budget will soon begin. Obama wants to raise taxes on the wealthy by repealing the Bush era tax cuts and close some tax loopholes. The GOP refuses to consider any tax revenue increases at all. But given our dire budget situation shouldn’t everyone and every corporation be paying their fair share for the good of the nation? Following the same rationale of ‘support our troops’, what is our patriotic duties with respect to our nation’s financial well-being?

By Mitch Gurney April 1, 2011 It’s extremely rare for the corporate media to publish an article as candid as this one, Tax the Super Rich Now or face a Revolution a commentary by Paul B. Farrell and published by Market Watch, a division of the Wall Street Journal Digital Network owned by News Corp ... Read More »