And we’re back.

After a long delay in posting, I think it’s time to write a follow up to “1% President for the 99%.” In the article, I was among the first to bring up the fact that Mitt may be out-of-touch with ordinary Americans because of his status as a multimillionaire. A fact that has only became clearer, after Romney released his tax records to show that he only paid 13.9% in taxes. And no, I’m not jealous of how ridiculously rich Romney is, I just don’t think I should pay higher taxes than somebody who has more than enough wealth to spare. *

But enough with Money-Man-Mitt, perhaps I’m giving him a hard of a time or too much focus, because the real problem is that so many of our politicians are in this esteemed 1%.

Let’s take a look at Congress:

-       Median Income of Americans: $49,000**

-       Income of Congress: $174,000 (That only amounts to how much taxpayer money they determined should be their salary and    doesn’t include other incomes.)

So, really it works out to look like this:

-       Median Net Worth of American Families (which includes home worth): $120,000

-       Median Net Worth of Congress: $912,000

Making Congress almost 8 times more wealthy than most American families.

Maybe we should say, there’s a lot of 2%ers running the country, since $912,000 is actually just shy of the 1% threshold of $1.1 million. But there’s still an awful lot of 1%ers deciding how the country should be run.

It’s important to note that this transcends political party too. Of the 50 richest members in Congress, 32 are Republican and 18 Democrat. Of the 2012 Presidential race, all are millionaires: Obama net worth $7.3 mil, Romney $190- 250 mil, Gingrich $6.7 mil, Ron Paul $2.25-5 mil.

So where does that leave most Americans? Can any politician really relate to what’s going on for most people in America? Is it any wonder why the top tax rates are so low? Is it any wonder why low income Americans don’t get the help they need? Is it any wonder why the middle class continues to shrink given the economic makeup of our country’s elected officials?

Stay tuned for part 3, when I discuss how to change the current course….

Until then.

Ad Astra Per Aspera.

*Romney’s income totaled $45 million, he paid 13.9% in taxes or $6.2 million, leaving him with $38.8 million for the year. Which is a crazy amount of money. However, if he had paid 35% rate, he would’ve paid $15.75 million and still would’ve had $30 million dollars as a yearly income. Honestly, what couldn’t you do or buy with $39 mil that you couldn’t do with $30 mil.

**This stat was taken from the January 23, 2012 Newsweek article, “Rich America, Poor America.”

After reading Rolling Stone’s article about how the GOP is trying to disenfranchise voters so they can’t vote for Democrats, I couldn’t help but think that the reason is simple: the Republican party just doesn’t like democracy. Especially, in it’s current modern state where minorities, women, students, the elderly, immigrants and in some cases ex-convicts can vote.

What the article doesn’t take into account is that the Republican Party is undergoing a transformation led by strict Constitutionalists. Their mission is to take a’Merika! back to it’s roots. Back to the Founding Father’s original intent. Back to when only wealthy, white, males could vote.

Of course it all sounds extreme, but let’s not forget just how insane these Republican Party Constitutionalists are. Republicans have already ensured that the wealthy and corporations choose the candidates we can vote for.

Consider the Republican front-runner, Mitt Romney. He isn’t leading the Republican field because of support. He’s leading because he has the most wealthy friends. In July, the Romney campaign disclosed that 70% of his total fundraising of $18,383,256 came from 5,147 donors giving the maximum allowable contribution of $2,500. Which equates to approximately 0.003% of the voting electorate in the US deciding who will be the Republican nomination. As for the Republican runner up, Rick Perry certainly has his fair share of wealthy friends supporting him.

So with wealthy white male constituents picking wealthy white males as our candidates, returning to a time when only wealthy, white, males can vote isn’t too far off.

Now we all know minorities and the poor have been rightly forgotten about by these Republican Constitutionalist but women too? That’s right. The Founding Fathers never intended women to vote, so let’s assume their agenda will include taking away women’s right to vote in the near future. The Republican Party already wants to take away a woman’s right to her own body, particularly in Kansas, so are voting rights really that far off? They probably won’t push for it before the 2012 elections because Republicans will need the female vote, but mark my words: If Republicans take the Presidency, House and Senate, disenfranchising women will be a top Republican priority come 2013.

Why? Because Republicans love a’Merika! more than any of us and they’ll see to it that aMerika! gets back to the principals it was founded upon in the Constitution, especially voting rights. Nevermind the belief that the Constitution is an evolving document that has changed over time including and giving everyone  the right to vote regardless of sex, race, religion, education or social status.

Wait…. did I just say, “the Constitution is an evolving document?”

No wonder they don’t believe in our modern form of democracy.

Ad Astra Per Aspera.

TV specials. Newspaper Articles. Monument dedications. Stadium fly-overs and 100 yard US flags stretched out across football fields. There was no shortage of hoopla surrounding the 10th Anniversary of September 11th.

The anniversary is and should be a day of remorse and sorrow for the thousands of innocent lives lost. However, it has also become a day to honor and praise our troops. Almost a 2nd Memorial Day or 2nd Veterans Day for this country. Especially as the attention naturally turns to those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. So why do we shy away from talking about the War On Terrorism?

Is it because we lost the War On Terrorism?* Is it because only now, 10 years later, do we see that it was an error? Is it because it continues on with no end in sight? Or is it because Americans are so distracted by entertainment and their own lives that they just don’t want to talk about it? What is it? Why don’t we want to talk about this War?

The attacks on 9/11 killed 2,995 US civilians. But in the 10 years since, the US Military has killed somewhere between 224,000 – 258,000** people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. 125,000 of those people were Iraqi civilians. That’s more than 40x the number of US civilians killed on 9/11. In Iraq, 9/11 civilian casualties are happening every 3 months and have been for 10 years.

Why is this not being reported on? Is it because the western media doesn’t humanize these people? Or that we don’t value the lives of civilians living in the Middle East? Are these people not husbands, wives, and children with families that love them too?

The Associated Press recently reported that the War has widowed a full 10% of Iraq’s adult female population. What will become of these children growing up fatherless? Will they be more susceptible to joining a terrorist network, similarly to how fatherless children in the US are prone to joining gangs?

The New American Foundation seems to think so. They reported that for every civilian death attributed to coalition forces, insurgent attacks increase 6x. More civilian deaths = more terrorist sympathizers = more violence. And with the civilian casualties listed above, I think it’s safe to say that in the War On Terrorism the US Military is creating more current and future generations of terrorists than there were terrorists before the war began.

But it wouldn’t be enough for the US Military to just create more terrorists. Why not fund them more as well? The US Military has lost $360 million to Afghan insurgents and criminals, according to a report by AP and HuffingtonPost.*** I guessing here, but that money is probably several hundred times more money than these terrorists could ever get on their own. It’s like the US Military is paying terrorists so they have someone to fight and can justify their bloated budget.

Really though, it’s nothing compared to the $3.7 trillion**** the US Military will end up spending on the War On Terrorism. This cost has and will continue to have a crippling effect on America. Not only is the deficit expanding faster than the universe, we have no money left for our own country. No money for education, infrastructure, Social Security, Medicare, or any of the other things our citizens need and our country should provide. Not that any of those things listed would have ever cost the US $3.7 trillion.

I guess what I’m getting at is this:
The irony of the War On Terrorism is that the US Military is more dangerous and damaging to the United States than terrorists are.

The US Military has killed more civilians than terrorist organizations. They’ve helped to swell the ranks of terrorists, giving them more members and more sympathizers. And they funded them, allowing them to do god knows what the next time they attack. And the US Military has left the US in ruins. Doing more damage to our country at home than terrorists could even dream of doing.

Still we march on America. Support those troops. Fly that flag. Put on the red, white and blue and bellow out “Proud To Be an American.” The next anniversary of 9/11 is only 11 months and 2 weeks away and the only thing that may prove to be more dangerous than the US Military is the ignorant nationalism of its citizenry.

Ad astra per aspera…

*Did we lose the war?

** NOTE: There’s been another 365,000 Iraqi civilians injured, 7.8 million displaced from their homes, and 13,900 Afghan civilians killed.

*** The lost $360 million in Afghanistan.

**** Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies has estimated that the total costs of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan will cost the US between $3.7-4.4 trillion.

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
Mark Twain.

Congress is full of idiots. Boneheaded idiots. Nonsensical nincompoops. Legislative louts.  They are the ranks of most moronic members of society represent nothing of their country, but instead a representation of the ludicrously loony state of American politics.

I may be harsh, but I am not alone in my complete and utter dissatisfaction, anger and frustration at Congress. A CNN poll* taken the day after the debt deal showed only 14% of Americans approving of the job Congress is doing. It is the lowest ranking ever….

Why? How? What could prompt such an abysmal rating?** I’ll tell you why. Congress did NOT listen to its any of it’s constituents!!! They completely ignored the American people, whom they supposedly, hypothetically represent.

I give you this. A Reuters Poll back in January and reported on by 60 Minutes: 61% of Americans want the 1st step in tackling the deficit to be increasing taxes on the richest Americans. The 2nd strongest opinion, supported by 20% of Americans? Cut defense spending. Only 4% wanted Medicare cuts. And 3% Social Security cuts.

By April the numbers had changed as the Debt Deal, Chasm in the Chamber began. Washington Post/ABC News reported 72% of Americans wanted tax increases on the wealthiest Americans. Including 91% of Democrats, 68% of Independents, and 54% of Republicans. Meanwhile, Americans wanting Medicare cuts had jumped to a whopping 18%.

YES! Even the majority registered Republican voters were supporting tax increases! That alone should show how idiotic Congress is.*** And almost no one was supporting cuts to our social safety net programs. Yet, this is the deal we got!?!??!

Were our elected officials even listening? Were they paying attention to what we the American people wanted? NO! A Pew Poll after the Debt Debacle said 68% of Americans wanted compromise. Is that what we got? NO! So, who got what they wanted?

“When you look at this final agreement that we came to with the White House, I got 98% of what I wanted. I’m pretty happy.” – Speaker of the House, Republican John Bonehead**** in a August 1st interview with CBS News.

Boehner got what he wanted and the TEA Party got what they wanted. Even though it wasn’t anything close to what the American people and even a majority of registered Republicans wanted…Thanks a lot you idiots and assholes. Your horrible deal has tanked the stock market and caused us to lose our AAA credit rating. You idiots.

Let me be clear: I am pissed at Congress. But apparently I’m not pissed off enough that I am screaming my opinion so that I may be the only opinion heard. Which seems to be the only way you can get the attention of Congress. The loudest voice or the voice that funds campaigns is all they ever listen to. Unless, God forbid, our representatives represent the opinion of most Americans. But I digress….

Ad Astra Per Aspera.

*Polls taken by New York Times and CBS News showed a similar 14% approval rating for Congress.
** To put the 14% approval rating into perspective, consider this: “Zookeeper” staring Kevin James has a 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
*** How idiotic you ask? Anyone blindly signing a No New Tax pledge by Grover Norquist is probably an idiot. Which constitutes all but 12 of Republicans currently in the House of Reps and Senate.
****Excuse the typo. It’s actually John Boehner. Phonetically “Bay-nor” not “boner” as he should be designated.

Politicians love to clamor on about jobs and fixing the unemployment rate but few talk about the problem other than buzz words, circling around the question and basically responding, “we’re working on it.” It has left me to believe that not only do they not know how to solve this problem but they don’t even have any ideas.

Thus, I’ll offer one. A simple idea. One that won’t be supported by corporate America or the business lobbying group, but one that I think will have significant support from everyday Americans (you know, the people the government is supposed to working for and help).

The Idea:
The US Government should cap/limit the number of hours a person can work each week.

Why It’s Needed:
Whether Public or Private, workers in the US work more hours than any industrialized nation on Earth. The average worker now works 49 hours per week** and gets 2 weeks of vacation time per year.*** It goes without saying, that the increase in working hours has led to a boom in productivity. Economic Policy Institute reports, 80% increase in productivity between 1979-2009, however wages only grew 10% during the same time and mostly during 1996-2002.

This increase in productivity comes even as workers have less security than ever with their employer. The private sector employee has little to no rights and would have trouble unionizing or fighting for those rights, because there’s always someone out there who can take your job. We’re all expendable in this degree over-saturated job market. Without rights, corporations have squeezed more hours and more productivity out of their work forces while the fruits of labor have not been shared.

Health and Family Impact:
The biggest impact on working more and more hours is health and home. US Census shows that 65% of families have 2 parents working. This leads to families having less time to be families, less time to cook meals and less time to take family vacations. Parents frequently cut physical exercise or sleep to add more hours to their days. I don’t think I need to show any statistics about American obesity, dietary problems, and otherwise unhealthy lifestyles to prove the point that health improvement is a major issue in this county.

Both parents working is also damaging to a child’s behavior and development. Corporate interference with the family begins even before the child is conceived. A Harvard and McGill University study found that the US is only 1 of 5**** nations that doesn’t guarantee paid maternity leave. The US is also the only industrialized nation without a mandatory option for paternity leave.

The Center of Work Life Policy reports 70% of Americans say their job is affecting their health with 40% reporting their job as extremely stressful. Workers in turn have turned to prescriptions and pills just to keep up. Pills for anxiety, depression, insomnia, or even pills to focus, stay awake longer, and keep working.

We’ve become workaholics hell bent on the idea that money really does buy happiness. We’ve bought into an idea that the harder we work the more money we make. It’s caused us to put our careers above all else, our family and personal health included, in the name of greed, fear and career.

US vs. the World:
Although the US isn’t one of them, there’s 134 countries worldwide that have capped the amount of hours a person can work. Without the cap, American’s continue to increase the amount of hours working, year after year. Compared to Europe, Americans work a full 12 weeks more every year and 4 weeks more than the Japanese. Most countries in Europe mandate 6 weeks of paid vacation instead of the US average of 2 weeks. France with only a 35 hour legislated work week still shows a strong economy and worker efficiency is amongst the highest in the world.

Jobs and Unemployment Impact:
Last Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the addition of 117,000 jobs in the month of July, lowering the nation’s unemployment rate from 9.2% to 9.1%. The report was welcome news, causing a slight uptick in the stock market Friday that’s since been wedged between 500 point loss on Thursday and a 600 point loss Monday. That’s possibly because the unemployment number was inflated because it didn’t include the exiting workforce that’s too discouraged or underemployed. Taking that into account, the actual unemployment rate is closer to 16%.

So, back to the original problem…. the political focus is on jobs and lowering the unemployment rate. So how does an hours limit help? Well, by capping how much workers can work, employers will have to hire more workers to maintain the same levels of productivity. Thereby, lowering the unemployment rate and increasing the ranks of middle class incomes. These workers should also help to revitalize consumer spending as they’ll have more leisure and vacation time to spend the money they earn.

Opposition:
Of course, there’s going to be opposition to any Federal mandates on business. The US Chamber of Commerce will obviously have a conniption and start throwing money at Free-Market Republicans candidates who oppose a measure like this. But… what they don’t realize is that it will actually help them too. Businesses with happier workers, report less internal conflicts, better worker efficiency, less accidents on the job and less mistakes. Add to that the aforementioned increase in consumer spending and this measure should actually help businesses.

Right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness:
Consider this: In March of this year, corporate profits had hit an all-time high*****. The recession was effectively over as companies had more money than before it began. Yet, they were slow to hire more workers and now 4 months later, we’re teetering towards a double dip recession.

Capitalism still needs the government to dictate the rules and better the lives of its citizens and workers. Currently, there are no Federal laws to mandate paid sick days, overtime limits or maximum work week lengths. The government needs to take action and protect the American worker of both the public and private sector. The American worker has become burned out and empty. This is the “Giving Tree” story****** played out on our society’s grand stage; the American worker is but a stump of our former self, having given all we can give.

If the purpose of the US government is to protect it’s citizen’s rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” they have failed on the first word promised. Americans have been forced into thinking that we live to work instead of working to live. Blue collar or white, the working class in America is being overworked to the point where we increasingly do not have the right to life.

“Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche

* American Federation of Labor (AFL) slogan in the 1890s as they campaigned for an 8 hour work day in every industry.
** US Bureau of Labor Statistics: 85% of males work 40+ hours per week, 67% females.
*** Hudson, an unemployment firm, reports that 1/2 of Americans don’t even take their full 2 weeks amount of vacation days.
**** The other countries not mandating paid maternity leave: Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea.
*****http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/25/corporate-profits-2011-all-time-high_n_840538.html
****** Shel Silverstein’s “Giving Tree” in which the tree sacrifices everything for the benefit of the boy.