Poverty Is Not A Crime

There is a very significant problem in America that very few media outlets are paying attention to. The criminalization of poverty is becoming an issue in America, and no one seems to care. What's disheartening is that this trend  is coinciding with a growing number of Americans falling into poverty.  The increasing inequality in America has been well documented, and the results are more and more people showing up on our cities' streets.  While none of us were looking, state and federal agencies have been waging an undeclared war against the poor and homeless in this country.  Just the basic human biological needs ---like sitting, sleeping, or lying down have been labeled as loitering thus causing persons to be fined or arrested.  Here are some specifics:
 

Homeless Camp In New Jersey

 

• Over 1/3 of the large American cities have imposed city-wide bans on public homeless camps.  A 60% increase since 2011. These camps often in a metropolitan city are under a bridge, beneath the overpass on the freeway or railroad trestles. 
• In a growing number of American cities like Tampa, Florida, a person deemed homeless gets thrown in jail.[See Source] 
• There have been bans on asking for food in public and giving out food to the homeless in public.[See Article]

Let's put this into perspective. What are the implications of this? Could you envision a police officer walking through a city park or any other common public area, seeing  a white male dressed in a suit and tie taking a lunch time nap on a park bench and arresting him?  No!  No,  those people are seen as hard working and just taking their mid-day power nap before they have to go back to work. The people who aren't permitted this same luxury are the homeless.  For fear of being arrested,  the homeless person must wander around all day long, continuously on the move.  Why?  Because in many cities now, you can be incarcerated for just simply being homeless,  and to take a nap on a park bench with your bags would draw the eye of the authorities.

Even Charity Is Being Banned In Some Cities!

A 2009 study  from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, which found that the number of ordinances against the publicly poor has been rising since 2006, along with ticketing and arrests for more “neutral” infractions like jaywalking, littering or carrying an open container of alcohol.

The House of Public Discourse has found through our research one glaring motivation behind all of this legislation by our nation's municipalities regarding the homeless; to legislate the homeless problem out of sight and mind and to punish people who do not comply.  Taking away essential services to assist the homeless will force these needy Americans to go somewhere else with their problems .  One of the many trains of thought is that providing services for the homeless enables them to remain homeless.  Factoring in a political dynamic that caters to the racist and anti-tax crowd that believes these people should be left to fend for themselves, we easily see that idea is not only narrow-minded and wrong, it's un-American. People are homeless for a variety of reasons. Many areas in this country lack affordable housing, jobs, mental and physical health care and a working wage that is not indicative of the cost of living in a particular area.[See Article]

Increasing Need for Food Assistance across the U.S.

The 2013 Hunger and Homelessness Survey, conducted

by the United States Conference of Mayors

•     83% (19 of 25) of cities surveyed, in 2013, reported

an increase in the number of emergency food

requests from the previous year

•     91% reported an increase in persons seeking

food assistance for the first time

•     80% reported an increase in frequency of visits

to food pantries and emergency kitchens each

month

No matter these findings and despite the growing need for food assistance, cities have chosen to target the homeless by prohibiting their access to food sharing programs.

With a growing increase in need:

•     78% of cities had to reduce the number of times

a person could visit the food pantry each month

•     66% had to turn people away due to lack of resources

No Safe Place

As if homelessness was not hard enough on an individual within itself,  turning it into a criminal offense is, in a word, horrific.  For instance, in Bakersfield, CA, it is now against the law to panhandle for money.[See Source] This law is just one example of how communities all across America are clamping down on the plight of homelessness.  In another California city, an ordinance was passed making it a crime to sleep in your car.  That's right, sleeping in the car you own can land you in jail for six months.  The explanation given for this ridiculous ordinance was that it ruined the quality of life for the cities' elitist community.  The end goal for these so-called quality of life laws is to make no safe place for the homeless to rest. These type requirements are expanding nationwide. What all these facts and figures and ordinances amount to is an all out assault on homelessness. Unfortunately, it does not stop with these measures.  The mere act of being a good Samaritan to the homeless can land you in jail.  One of the most bizarre restrictions we uncovered was in New York City.  In that city, it was made illegal to donate food to a homeless shelter based on the fact that the food given could not be accessed for salt, fat, and fiber content!

So with corporate profits soaring to record levels while income inequality falls to record level lows it begs the following question:

When Did The War On Poverty Turn Into A War On The Poor?

Despite the slow but sure economic recovery from Bush II era politics, poverty in the U.S. is on the rise.  Poverty in America is becoming mainstream.  4 out of 5 Americans are one paycheck away from homelessness. Why do we see this downward slope after 50 years of the so-called " War on Poverty?"   One of the main factors that jumps from the page is capitalism.[ See: The American Dream Has Been Hijacked By The Capitalists]  We see an all out assault on every social program to assist the poor, and a total attempt to turn back the hands of time on civil rights legislation passed back in 1964.  There has been a stealing of people's pensions, a living wage that has not kept up with the growing cost of living, the outsourcing of jobs to other countries--- all tenants of the Mitt Romney-style of vulture capitalism.  Unions are being attacked and disbanded.  Even the smallest of measures to help the poor have been cut or done away with while there is an ever increasing trend to subsidize corporations and to sponsor arguably  unconstitutional amendments to make them appear as a person.  The bottom line is that measures that help poor people are being mitigated away while actions to help the rich have been enhanced.

According to a 2013 Census Supplemental ,  almost 50 million in the U.S. are poor.  Food Stamps keep five million out of poverty, and without Social Security,  more than half of America's elderly would be in poverty.[ See Additional Source] 

How much is the present assault on social services increasing this gap?

We have seen Republicans in every state work to cut food stamps while adding benefits for the wealthy. We have seen Democrats cave on their principles in relevant matters to Republicans who use these cuts to the poor as leverage to enact legislation for their deep-pocket political donors;  The old-Washington two-step.  The reality is these social services that are kicked around like a football on Super Bowl Sunday are a lifeline for a vast amount of American citizens.

What Are The Solutions?

Firstly, we must address the living wage issues in America. Increasing the minimum wage to $15 would be a nice start. Secondly, "We The People," must not lose our rights to organize on all fronts... labor, health care, and education just to name a few. We need to ensure and bring back guaranteed pensions for people who are long time employees and work hard all their lives for an employer.  We need to move away from a system that rewards profits over people. The free-markets have freed a few and enslaved the masses. We need as a collective society to change our priorities to those that put the common welfare of the people ahead of the common welfare of the corporations and their so-called free markets. 

It is the position of the House of Public Discourse that the steps needed to combat this war on the poor and the services they depend on should originate at the local levels of every community in this country. We who care must step up our advocacy for a positive change to make a brighter tomorrow for all Americans. The real unspoken and often under-disclosed fact is that the majority of Americans are, in fact, themselves one paycheck away from poverty and the streets.  Being poor is a condition with many variables.  But the one truism this writer holds close to the heart is " Poverty Is Not A Crime."

Written By: Johnny Hill

We The People Are Paying For Our Peril!

In America, we have seen a materialization  of cops meeting the military. Once upon a time, cops and the military had very different missions. It was widely held to conflate the two wasn't good for a free society. What we have seen happen over the last generation or so, beginning with the " War on Drugs,"  is the military selling weapons to police, including, tanks, armor-coated vehicles, helicopters, guns, and other heavy armaments.....even the old bayonet!  One of the first results of this practice was for police agencies across the country, big and small,  to form S.W.A.T like teams within the police force.

In fact, the number of S.W.A.T teams across the country has risen dramatically. It's this drastic rise that has Americans in every corner of the country in protest mode. Pencil in the NSA and America has a very serious problem. What's totally unfair and evil is " We The People" are paying for our peril with our hard earned tax dollars, .[Buy Source Below]

RISE IN S.W.A.T. RAIDS  ANNUAL FIGURES.

1970-----2005

• 1970's---Few Hundred
• 1980's[Early]---3000
• 2005---50,000

Source: Peter Kraska Easten Kentucky University

Before the Reagan " War on Drugs,"   most towns with 25K individuals who had S.W.A.T teams was about 15% but today that has risen to well over 80%.  What we see now is a domino effect from the 'Military Industrial Complex.' For example, we see Drones being used by police now. This development is problematic. America does not need a militarized police force! The recent events all over the country exhibiting police overkill have enlightened many Americans and motivated them to the point of national protests.

The Root of the Problem?  Under the Justice Department's COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) program, 629 of the 800 police jobs funded for the next three years – all the newly hired officers – must go to veterans who served at least 180 days' active duty since 9/11. This is the first time the 18-year-old COPS program has required cities and counties seeking grants to hire veterans exclusively.[See Source] Why is this a problem one might ask?  Thousands of Vets are getting ' less than honorable' discharges because they have (PTSD). How many of our Vets turned Cop suffer from this disorder in some capacity that, for a variety of reasons have slipped through the cracks?[See Article]

What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?[PTSD]

According to a CNN report, the suicide rate among Veterans could be as high as 22 a day. That equates to a suicide every 65 minutes. The point here is that Veterans of wars have known mental issues. How many of these psychological issues have been masked by Vets looking for work in the civilian workplace? How many of these former soldiers turned cop have gone undiagnosed?  What has come to reality is that America has loose cannons running around in a uniform with a gun and, based on the history of police related shootings and the conviction rate thereof, a ' licence to kill' unarmed American citizens with no recompense. This civil injustice has caused millions of Americans to become larrikin, which in turn creates trigger happy police who shoot first and ask questions later.

This Is Not A War, It's a 12 year old kid!!

Earlier this year, the House of Public Discourse also found evidence of our nation's military brainwashing and encouraging our impressionable young soldiers to become " Holy Warriors."  Killing in the name of God was posh in the Dark Ages; are we returning to the Dark Ages in America? Is there a crusade against certain segments of our society?  If these questions seem far-fetched, why are our nation's police forces buying military gear at record levels at the expense of the tax- payer?

WE THE PEOPLE ARE PAYING FOR OUR PERIL!

There are lots of things going on here concerning the militarization of America's police forces. What we don't know is important. What's even more important is why we don't know it. This ambiguity is one reason, in the House view, the Ferguson community reacted in the way they did. For instance, the Ferguson Police Dept. has had cameras their officers could wear. Their cruisers have dash cameras installed. For whatever reason, they decided not to use them. Why? If they did use these devices as they were intended, we would know what transpired on that day Darren Wilson shot an unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown dead. We would know a lot more as to who was at fault. In fact, these devices could have justified the action of officer Wilson. In reality, what we got was a grand jury process run amuck.[See Article]

Is America In A State Of Emergency?

What has added fuel to the fire is how America's 

police forces have reacted towards this civil-

disobedience. For example, who can forget the 

nonchalant press conference held by St. Louis County 

Police Chief Jon Belmar.  

In retrospect, there was a peaceful protest shortly after this news conference. Police met this protest with a substantial resistance, including snipers who had guns pointed at unarmed peaceful protesters. This show of force by the Ferguson Police Dept set the stage for this entire travesty of justice. When you show up at a protest expecting violence you, in fact, are self-fulfilling a narrative of seeing the protesters as the enemy.  All the protesters were doing was exercising their rights provided by the U.S. Constitution. When the protesters look at police and see this posture of Robo-cop, the people see these cops not as a protector of the community but the centerpiece of the very institution they are protesting. When you immediately respond in such a manner what you are telling the protesters is you don't have the right to public expression, and we are here to curtail this expression.  

We The People Must Demand Transparency and Accountability from Law-Enforcement. 

One of the significant problems our research found was the demographics of the Ferguson Police Dept, which was a far cry from the demographics of the Ferguson community, and this is prevalent all over the country.  It is critical that the community see itself in the police force they are funding with their tax dollars. Our study into this situation has shown that communities need to see the cops as representations of their ranks; not some ex-military person from who knows where, hired because of some government program to show favoritism over a non-military local applicant from the community. It's imperative that the community sees that the local law-enforcement has a stake in the commonwealth of all the people of the city, town, or nation it is tasked to serve and protect. When a community doesn't see itself reflected in the police force, like in Ferguson, they see these individuals as outsiders imposed upon them. By the same token, when the police officer does not identify with the people from his/her area, it's harder for him to feel a part of that community.

   What human psychology  suggests  is when this situation is self-evident,  people are less likely to see each other as neighbors and more as threats. 

One of the major side-effects of this societal condition is a lack of corporation between citizens and law-enforcement. This situation is dangerous because there is this attitude that if you talk to police you will be labeled a snitch. What is troubling  is that this goes to violent crimes as well as non-violent ones. What is so profound about the fiasco in Ferguson,MO  is that,  not since the killing of students at Kent State University in the 70's,  has the American public witnessed a police show of force that mirrored a military type endeavor on the streets of Baghdad,  by supposedly civic- minded policeman. Throughout our nation's history as a ' rule of thumb,' we have been adverse to using our military for domestic law enforcement. 

      

The business of being a soldier is very different than that of a street cop. What concerns this writer is the fact our military trains soldiers to become killers. What has become evident by the escalating questionable police shootings in America  is that we are putting trained killers on our streets with psychological issues like PTSD, to oversee communities that many do not identify with or relate to, and in some cases loath. A police officer in America is supposed to be a civic-minded civil servant. In fairness, the United States Military has for the longest time held the position of staying out of civil law enforcement and does not want to be involved for the most part. However, this has not stopped them from selling outdated and overstocked military equipment to state and local police agencies. Where the problem festers is with civil law enforcement who have a strong desire to become more like an army. No matter if a cop is an ex-military or a civilian recruit,  when we supply them with war-like equipment, train them in military tactics and tell them they are in some war, it begs the question: what type of mindset are we cultivating?

Our founding fathers were extremely aware of having the military enforce civil law. They got a high dose of it from the British and was one of the main reasons for the American Revolution. This tension came to a head in the Boston Massacre, which ultimately led to the American Rebellion. There are some bottom lines here. Soldiers are trained to kill people,  not protect them. By having individuals with this indoctrination and training now in civilian policing,  what you have is a time bomb and what we see in the here and now is an explosion. What must not get lost is that these killings by cops have become an everyday event, with very few reaching the national media attention as did the Ferguson and New York cases.

In closing, our advocacy here at the House of Public Discourse contends we must reverse these trends we see playing out in our news feeds on a day to day basis. How many more of these police shootings will be tolerated by the American people before the country erupts from civil discourse to civil unrest?  How many more unarmed suspects have to die before we return to some sanity in America where we demand justice for all with a sense of fairness for the everyday citizen? The fact is "We The People" need to take back our government from the corporations who have our elected officials in their hip-pocket. The cops are employees of the people. Our taxes pay for their salaries, equipment, pensions, and in most cases,  health care. I for one,  am sick and tired of my tax dollars going to fund this abhorrent and racist behavior by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. America is in a backward free fall across the board regarding civil rights. America has regressed into a corporation owned fascist government with an attempt to dumb-down this nation by cutting funding for education and having a military police force on stand-by when we as people try to express our rights and express our dissatisfaction through constitutionally protected public discourse. What should make us all emboldened to take action is how "We The People Are Paying For Our Peril!

President Obama Has Taken Some Positive Steps.

Source of Article: Rise of the Warrior Cop by Radley Balko

Is Capitalism A Threat To Democracy?

It is stunning following the Wall Street crash, how there has been no expression from any key player from Wall Street of regret or apology for having brought down the entire economy. Nor is there any sense of shame or embarrassment in their continuance to extract exuberant bonuses for producing nothing for the whole of society. There are even traditional conservatives who hold this view. This writer comes from a traditional conservative background. I grew up in a small community in North Carolina called Rosewood. My family raised me to believe in local control, community responsibility, and community values.

However, over a period, I came to realize there are two different definitions of conservatism in the Untied States. One is about the aforementioned traditional values that my family raised me up to believe. I can honestly say for the most part they brought me up focusing on the positive aspects as opposed to the hate element we see in conservatism of today.

What Are True Conservatives Like Today?

The traditional meaning of conservative is a monarchist. One which advocates monarchical rule.[Source: Dictionary.com] The word originated when the term democracy took root in America. The Conservatives were the ones defending the monarchy and central control.  Tension has developed among Conservatives who believe in  global elitist government and those who believe in local and state control. In many ways based on this "writers" understanding of conservatism, there is reason for concern when you see a concerted effort to centralize control.

The world today is all about globalization. The global economy. Huge corporations are parading as a person. The whole dynamic that we have been introduced to as globalization is a process driven by these companies for their corporate interest. They want to eliminate national boundaries, and reduce the capacity of governments to create regulation that maintain a sense of community interest and national interest in the economy. Companies have consolidated their power to rule the world without any democratic accountability. What is interesting is the counter to this corporate globalization. The behavior of these corporate entities has awakened the American people and restored the desire to return to a time when community values and keeping the local, state, and national economies close to home. There is now a globalization of people power. In my view, within this framework we must learn as a society how to work together collectively regardless of  one's political ideology.

You Cannot Have A Capitalistic Democracy! 

Milton Friedman

In many ways, capitalism and democracy are a contradiction of terms. Think about the Milton Friedman's and Ron Paul's and the whole Libertarian babble about free markets and freedom. At best, their sense of freedom is restrictive. It's not the freedom of the working person to control their lives as they see fit.[See Source]  The Libertarians don't like democracy. The freedom they speak of is the freedom to submit oneself to control by a higher authority.[Free Markets] [See Article] The reason the Libertarians don't like democracy is because they are Capitalist. Libertarianism in the United States is, in fact, an extreme example of what true Libertarianism is not. They are in favor of private  tyranny. The worst kind of tyranny!Tyranny by unaccountable concentrations of wealth. When they [Liberitarians] say we don't want government interference in the markets, they mean it. The type of intervention they want to block is the kind that would permit constraints on the utterly irresponsible behaviors of the super-rich.

Corporations are a prime example of private tyranny.

It's worth bearing in mind how radical in opposition this is to classical liberalism.         

Modern-day Libertarians love to invoke Adam Smith.  But, if you read Adam Smith he said the opposite. Libertarians claim Adam Smith was opposed to any form of government control. This presumption is not valid. Adam Smith was in favor of government regulation as he put it "when it favored the working man." He [Adam Smith] was against interference when it benefited the masters. That is classical liberalism. Libertarianism as called in the United States is a concocted methodology which is a complete contradiction to classical liberalism principles. It is astonishing the amount of people especially young people who are attracted by this complete fabrication by design. They say Adam Smith; they invoke him all the time. He was an icon of his time. Many factions considered Adam Smith a radical in his day. Why? Adam Smith was very much an anti-capitalist. Smith condemned the vile maxim of the masters of mankind. All for ourselves and everyone else could just " fend for themselves." Sound familiar! It was Adam Smith who championed the phase and doctrine called the invisible hand.

What is Meant By The Term " Invisible Hand."

Adam Smith rarely even used the term invisible hand. The term is mentioned once in his signature literary work " The Wealth of Nations." The context is an argument against Neoliberalism. Smith argued that if a company in England invested abroad and imported from abroad it might  be profitable for the business but would be harmful to the people of England. Sound familiar! However, they will have enough of a commitment to their country. [home-bias] That if by a. " invisible hand," they will keep to the less-profitable actions, and England will survive what we now call neoliberal globalization. To summarize, England was at the time an agriculture producing nation. Suppose some landlord accumulates an enormous amount of land. This reality creates a situation where everyone else has to work for the owner. Smith held the position that this would not turnout to badly because the landlord will be motivated by his natural sympathy for other people that he will make sure the essentials of life will be equally distributed. This practice in turn will create an equal distribution of wealth as by some invisible hand.

In Wealth of Nations, in the first couple of pages Smith talks about the butcher and his interest. The baker and his interest and this conflicting interest created what came to be known as a division of labor. However, how many have read a couple hundred pages into the work where Smith bitterly attacks the division of labor. Smith pointed out if you pursue the division of labor people will be directed to actions that they will repeat the same mechanical operation over and over. What this reality does is deskill a person. Smith advocated this would turn people into stupid and ignorant as a human can get. Therefore, in any civilized society the government will have to intervene to protect the will of  " We The People." This view is very different than the one held by Libertarians today. A Capitalistic Democracy would self-destruct and for the most part did during the Bush II administration and after decades of Reagan's trickle-down economic theory which mirrored the invisible hand concept. And, with the current time disparity in the distribution of wealth this hand has surely been invisible.

Reagan's Trickle Down Was A Prime Example of the Invisible Hand Debacle!

Guess What? Republican Tax Cuts Don't Work, And The Only Thing That Trickles Down Is Deficits!

Guess What? Republican tax cuts don't work, and the only thing that trickles down is deficits. In the 2010 mid-term elections, the Republican Party had a field day. Due to lack of involvement the Democratic Party took the election off and will pay dividends for years because of it. Not only has it allowed for stalemate in our national and state-wide governance it has created a helpless state of gerrymandered safe-zones for Republicans.

It was about this time last year, when the GOP was ranting and raving about the unemployment, the ill effects of Obamacare, and how it was ruining our economy. And, of course, the deficit. Quite frankly, with a politically uneducated American electorate the GOP was salivating with talking points for the now nearing 2014 mid-term elections. What a difference a couple of good financial reports, in the last several months has had on erasing those aforementioned talking points. See, time is a revealer of the truth. As reported earlier this month, in a historically right-wing financial Bible for lack of term, "Forbes," it was indicated that, in fact, Obama has out-performed Reagan on jobs, growth, 

investing and the deficits. 

There is an example after example of how Republican ideology fails not just in the social arena but in the financial realm as well. Cases in point. In 2010, Kansas voted Republican Sam Brownback as its governor. He got right to work cutting taxes. One of the biggest realities that the Republican Party and its adherents tend to overlook is that when you cut taxes-"taxes get cut." Subsequently, revenue could not keep up with expenses that will create a shortfall of about $900 million by fiscal year 2019. [Source: Bloomberg Business Week] This action by the so-called Tea Party favorite Brownback got the states credit rating downgraded by Moody's Investment Services which stated it was the states tax plan that was the main reason for the downgrade.[Source: Washington Post] 

In 2010, a Republican Governor took over in the state of New Jersey. Chris Christie. You know the one-time Republican front-runner for president before." Bridgegate."[See Article] One of the first things Christie did once in office was to cut taxes. Once again, seemly shocked to realize that by cutting taxes you cut revenue the state had a whopping $807 million revenue shortfall which added yet another self-imposed misery on the  wonder-boy of the Republicans.[Source: NJ.Com] 

What is apparent to this writer is this is a trend. These are not isolated occurrences. In 2010, North Carolina elected Republican Pat McCory to be governor of that state. In step, with his republican ideology he gives the wealthy a tax cut which in turn blows up the state's budget. These tax cuts created a deficit to the tune of $445 million. [Source: WRAL.com] Once again, its like a reoccurring nightmare that will not go away. Tax cuts wreck economies, slowdown growth, and wipe-out job creation. In fact, as I reported back last year in a Liberal America article  the good Governor raised taxes on the poor and middle-class to attempt to soften the blow, which in practice gave many of the very people who voted for him in that state a tax hike.[See Article] What were the reasons for these failures? According, to these governors, it was Obama's fault. Right, blame it on the black guy. 

While these Republican Governors were busy blaming Obama for their failures, a report was released on a budget that Obama was the overseer of " The Federal Budget." which indicated a 107 billion dollar surplus.

“Compared to the size of the economy, the deficit in 2013 is much lower than in 2009, when Obama took office. The deficit will be 5.3 percent of gross domestic product this year, nearly half the 10.1 percent of GDP in 2009.” [Source: Forbes]

 Republican's, Have Tried To Focus Their Media Echo Chambers On False Scandals To Avoid The Reality Of Falling Deficits Under The Obama Administration. 

Deficits Have Lowered At A Historic Rate Under President Obama's Term.

Republicans have purposely ignored these historic reductions in our nations deficit under Obama. Over the course, of the last two years and the entire Obama term Washington has been eaten up with fake scandals and left field conspiracy theories. To be honest, it would be hard for the most dedicated political study to keep up with them all much-less a causal follower of politics. While the Republican Party was blowing our tax dollars trying to repeal Obamacare a law that the majority of Americans are in favor of and voted for in the last two elections. Is it not clear that the Republicans are suffering from a new form of political dysfunction called the ' Deficit Attention Disorder." In English,what this means is that the GOP does not want to face the music that the deficits are falling at a historic rate under Obama. This drop has been unexpected. And, the truth is it has caught the Republicans off-guard. One of their most relied talking points for the 2014 mid-terms has evaporated. In a Washington Post report, the Congressional Budget Office[CBO] claims the deficit problem has been solved for the next 10 years.  

The conundrum for the Tea Party, Republican Party, and Libertarian's is their mantra of public discourse, they're tried and true rallying cry, of how liberal and progressive policies,  are unsound  has been discredited by facts and empirical data. It's as if the. "carpet has been jerked from underneath their feet." All we have heard from the right from politicians like Sen. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is how Obama refuses to do anything about the debt crisis. A picture of the egg in the face comes to this writer's mind. Where are the Republicans celebrations? Where are the front page headlines? Where is Fox News telling us what a great day it is to be an American. Any logical person would think this economic upturn would draw praise from the right. But, the realities of this polarized world we live in comes into focus. All we have heard from the right is Benghazi-Benghazi-Benghazi.

As a writer, my goal is to make one think and ask questions. What were Republicans doing when all this good news about our nations economy hit? Trying to repeal Obamacare for the umpteen thousand time at a dastardly cost  of millions to We The People. We The People voted overwhelmingly for Obamacare, and to see it start to pay dividends and be a positive influence on these very deficit reductions brings the ole ' please pass the jelly," commercial to mind.

What is Obamacare?

One of the biggest determinants to our debt as a nation has been health care. With the implementation of Obamcare between 2009 and 2011, total health care spending grew at the slowest rate in the last five decades, at just 3.9 percent per year.[Source; New York Times]  Health care cost are coming down which was one of the goals of Obamacare. Where is the " that a boy,'" from the Republicans? As a student of politics all my life, this writer has insights on this question. When politicians in Washington are talking about deficits, in fact, they are not. Truth is republicans don't care about the deficit and haven't for a long time especially since Reagan. The reason the republicans are not lauding the president for lowering the deficit is that they don't care.

There Has Been One Person In Washington For Sure Who Cares About Deficits And He Now Has The Stats To Back It Up. 

What the Republican Party has done for decades now is use the deficit as a cloaking issue. As the House of Public Discourse reported just last month, the Republican Party relies heavily on  poor, uneducated white people for votes. They use this issue to get the base all riled up knowing that most of their constituents don't know or care that they the Republicans have been the biggest villains in terms of driving up our nations debt. George Bush, Jr ring a bell. If not, do a Google search on the growth of our nations debt under Reagan. What the Republican Party is sayings is they want to cut spending on social safety net programs and  first-step help initiatives to compensate for their giving the wealthiest members of our society tax cuts. These are the very tax cuts that have driven downgrades and revenue short- falls in mostly red states.

What is paramount in the now, is that the Republican Party once thought to be a shoe-in to take back the Senate and House and pick up more Governor seats is in serious jeopardy. With these vanishing talking points, the only real hope for  Republican's is a low voter turnout like in 2010. Many are predicting that to be the case. As a liberal progressive writer, I harken back to the ole baseball saying " say it isn't so, Joe." We will see if these predictors hold true. But, this writer is an optimist and Guess what? Republican tax cuts don't work, and the only thing that trickles down is deficits.