Let's Torture the Unemployed some MORE!!! It's SOOOO FUN!!!

Once again, the rich lawyers who run things (i.e. our "elected" representatives) are dragging their feet to extend unemployment benefits, which average $300 per week per person. Why?

At least ONE MILLION people will lose benefits at the end of February if nothing is done immediately. Another FOUR MILLION will lose all benefits in the months to follow. Harry Reid is talking about a TWO-WEEK extension (to March 15) to give these rich lawyers more time to wrangle, to fight about throwing in some obscure provision for a bridge in Alaska (or some other "pork" or obscure regulation) as a concession to extending benefits until the end of May (although there is no indication any miraculous recovery will occur at that point, and many economists have called for extension through 2010).

The end result of these delays is that the mental and physical health of the unemployed suffers, which is possibly GOOD NEWS for the insurance companies. They can make money out of this crisis, especially from the sick unemployed with COBRA benefits still intact.

Who cares if more people become homeless, or another child goes hungry, or Dad goes on a drunken tear or Mom pops an extra anti-depressant?

The unemployed should really be re-labeled "The Unimportant" or "The Insignificant". The way at least FIVE MILLION Americans and their families have been treated for at least the past six months indicates that re-labeling is long overdue.

Sure, our elected lawyers can find time to agree on pay-outs for rich bankers and Wall-Street execs. Hey, those guys NEED their million-dollar bonuses!!! But somehow finding time to make sure a huge portion of the American public makes it through these trying times (brought on, by the way, by unregulated criminals, i.e. the aforementioned bankers and execs)--well that is just too darn tedious.

And besides all that, let's face it, it's kinda fun to torture people. Almost like some cheap reality show. Except that this IS REAL.

Time to Speak Up, NOW! Equal treatment for all!

So normally when a blogger finds people are checking out her blog, she should feel really happy, right? Hmmmm...and yet I find myself with mixed feelings.

Why? Well, ever since I wrote a blog about the fatal police beating of Ken Howe of Webster, MA, I have suddenly had a spike in interest. It doesn't take much imagination or intelligence to figure out why I might have mixed feelings.

But last night I saw an interview with his sobbing wife, and images of a bruise from a foot smashed into his back, and I was horrified. And glad that I wrote what I did.

What kind of country is this if we all bury our heads in the sand, and don't believe that decent behavior IS possible, from police as well as politicians or CEOs? And YES, these people NEED to be regulated, just like the rest of us. If you or I get into a bar brawl, even just one on one, with each party ending up with a black eye, there's a pretty good chance we will be arrested and charged with assault.

If someone steals a shirt from the Gap, arrest and charges are pretty darn likely.

So why should police who lose control and beat someone to death be exempt? Or some CEO who is consumed with his own power and decides theft just goes with the job? Shouldn't he be charged?

If I dump garbage on the side of the road, I will at LEAST be ticketed. So what about major corporations that use the ocean, air and land as a dumping ground? Why should they be exempt?

The people in this country NEED to stand up, to speak out, to demand that the people we hire to work for us really work FOR us and not AGAINST us. And let's stop accepting the lie that politicians are working for US, if it is blatantly clear that they are working for the fat cat rich guys.

The health of the earth, our HOME, is in dire distress. If NOW isn't the time to find the courage to speak up, when WILL that time come? Speak up for your children, if it's too scary to do it for yourself. You can do it. Just write ONE letter to the editor and you will see how GREAT it feels to follow in the footsteps of the brave, outspoken founders of this country.

I Want a Bail-Out!

So yeah. I want a bail-out, too. Or at least, one of those one percent loans the banks are getting. That's right, one percent! The banks, which never in your lifetime or mine will EVER give you or me a one percent loan, are getting exactly that from US. By US, I mean, all the taxpayers whose pensions are being thrown at these greedy pigs who got us into this mess in the first place. Give me a break! We should be pursuing criminal charges against these con-artists, and that includes Bush and Cheney, who would like to quietly go away and hide with all the billions they stole from US taxpayers. How did they do it? Branch companies under Halliburton, the biggest umbrella corporation in the world (and Cheney's baby), got no-bid contracts to "rebuild" Iraq after bombing it to smithereens. They also inflated prices (who wouldn't, when there is no chance of any competition?) on everything from labor to hammers. So who pays now? We do! We are being told to tighten our belts--buy just ONE rose for Valentine's Day, and spread the petals around (no kidding, I saw this on a "news" item!) the dinner table, while you serve boxed macaroni and cheese. Meanwhile these thieves have absconded with money earned by our blood, sweat and tears. They should be prosecuted like any normal criminal, their assets frozen, and eventually, these billions put back into the US economy--health, education, social services, would be a good start. If you stole one loaf of bread for a hungry family, you would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Yet these greedy criminals and war-mongers (convenient way to make a BUNCH of money!) can rob billions and apparently, get away with it. TIME FOR A CHANGE!!!!!