1% - Twilight of the Elites - a book report

America after Meritocracy By Christopher Hayes I have a good friend who currently is of the opposite political persuasion. We banter back and forth. I share books and articles with him. He lent me his copy of this book. I have just finished reading. He will no doubt be astonished that I agree almost totally with this author. It has been my contention right along that those on the right and on the left are all dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. Where we should be collaborating, the powers that be are content with us battling back and forth while the Elite among us continue to enjoy outstanding wealth and privilege. To start with a definition of meritocracy is required. I was going to quote my Webster Dictionary but it isn’t even mentioned. Perhaps my copy is too old. The author’s general definition is that those in the meritocracy are the cream of the crop, natural born leaders, and highly intelligent, hard charging persons regardless of sex or race. Some came to power from wealth or privilege. These are the people who generally make the decisions that affect all others in the world. This is not a bad thing as we want the best and brightest to make those critical decisions necessary to keep moving forward. The problem as he and I see it is that in recent decades starting in the 1980’s in America there has been a disconnect between these leaders and the rest of us. Without regard to the general prosperity of the average citizen, these Elite have made decisions that have had the direct effect of lowering our standard of living while increasing their wealth astronomically to where it is incomprehensible to even imagine. He spells this out in great detail. He covers many different areas such as Wall Street, Congress, the Catholic Church, Corporate America and even Major League Baseball. All of these institutions have failed in their responsibility to citizens by ignoring our needs while protecting and enhancing their grip on power. He points out the disastrous effect of the Supreme Court decision to allow Corporations to spend unlimited funds on political elections thereby assuring their continuing dominance regardless of which party is in the majority. All politicians are deeply indebted to those Elite who shower funds on their behalf. On page 181 he quotes Thomas Paine on the importance of the proximity of politicians and those who elect them, “That the ELECTED might never form to themselves an interest separate from the ELECTORS, prudence will point out the propriety of having elections often, because as the ELECTED might by that means return and mix again with the general body of the ELECTORS in a few months, their fidelity to the public will be secured…. On this….depends the STRENGHT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE HAPPINESS OF THE GOVERNED.” The author doesn’t mention the following but I wish too. The above has become meaningless as Congress has become a career instead of service. Something over 90% of Senators and Representatives are re-elected time after time. This in my opinion creates the distance between them and not being able to understand the lot of our citizens. He is convinced as I am, that the ELITE are so far separated from the populous that they just don’t care. As this separation intensifies sooner or later a backlash will occur as it does today in countries like Spain and Greece. To say it can’t happen here is denying the reality. He points out how countries like Brazil have quietly and successfully closed the gap with the rich still getting richer but the rest catching up. It is possible to accomplish but we need the will to get it done. Let us hope it does happen. This is a worthwhile book to read. Jack B. Walters October 17 , 2012

The Fine Print- a book review

How big companies use “Plain English” to rob you blind By David Cay Johnston Mr. Johnston is a financial investigative reporter. This is his third book. The first two were “Perfectly Legal” and “Free lunch”. He has appeared in a documentary and is often interviewed on news channels relative to financial matters. Several years ago I placed reviews of his books on my blog. It is jackbwalters.blogspot.com. In searching the Internet for reviews of his books he discovered mine. He was pleased enough to write to me. We kind of became pen pals. He lives in Rochester, N.Y., my sister lives in my home town of Lockport, N.Y. which is about 50 miles from Rochester. I try to visit her every year. For two years I was able to combine these visits with a drive to Rochester to have breakfast with David. He was kind enough to sign my copies. Since I am also an author, I gave him copies of my three books. He was complimentary but at the same time advised that they would never sell. He was correct. Over 90% were just given away to friends and family. His books on the other hand were best sellers. After those two years we were never able to co-ordinate my visits so we could get together. What with his writing and interviews he is just not available. I still treasure those two opportunities. He is doing a great service for America. If only those in power would read they might become more responsive and start the financial recovery of our country. You and I know that is not going to happen. They are too busy raising campaign funds to worry about actually doing something positive. Now about this new book, if anything it was more depressing than the first two. In chapter after chapter he spells out the mismanagement of our tax dollars not only at the Federal level but also State. It was very hard to read. I could only take a chapter at a time. I would put it down and start again another day. The money being given to politicians is mind boggling and the largess given in return inflates the profits, particularly of the largest corporations by providing ways to hide profits so little or no taxes are paid. One issue happened in 2004. The corporations that had moved American jobs to China and elsewhere were required to pay 35% tax on profits but only when returned to America. The Congress in its wisdom granted them a special tax of 5%. The bill was called “the Jobs Creation Act of 2004”. It was passed with 205 out of 221 Republicans and 75 of 199 Democrats. The corporations brought home $312 Billion. While there was a promise of American jobs, nowhere in the bill did it specify nor was there any provision to monitor. In actual fact thousands were laid off. As an example Pfizer closed whole factories. The workforce at the end of 2004 was 115,000. By 2009 it was down to 75,000. Hewlett- Packard immediately fired 14,000 employees. Other industries did the same. Astonishing that such a disgrace could occur under the guise of helping American workers. Believe it or not in 2012 these same corporations have accumulated $1 Trillion in untaxed profits. I am well aware that consideration is being made to repeat this once again which will deny proper tax payments and destroy several hundred thousand more jobs. Once again it will be the Republican Party most in favor. Regardless of who becomes President, this will be approved. Keep in mind that all the while American manufacturers producing in America pay 35%. Can you not see how wrong this is? There are specific chapters about abuses in pipe lines, railroads, waste removal, telecommunications, film production, etc. Each time he clearly states the facts which beg for correction. His final chapter is entitled “Solutions”. The most important concerns the 2010 Supreme Court decision to grant corporations unlimited expenditures to influence elections. He particularly chastises Chief Justice Roberts for giving them vast new rights. He mentions previous bad decisions by the Court such as the Dred Scott decision that stated that slaves were not persons protected by the Constitution. He pleads that the Congress take action to overturn or that new justices might reverse. Since the decision was 5 to 4 that could happen but in the meantime untold damage will have occurred to our election system. I will end here by imploring others to read this and his other two books and do what you can to restore a Congress that truly cares about American workers. Jack B. Walters October 10, 2012

Pakistan, Egypt, Libya Aid Cutoff Legislation

During the week ending September 21 the Senate voted on a bill to end financial aid to the countries listed above. The bill was defeated by a vote of 10 for and 81 against. Guess how our Senator’s McCain and Kyl voted. Hooray for you, you guessed right. They voted to continue aid as if nothing had happened. Now they are home supposedly on a break until the elections are over with complete satisfaction of a job well done. Should they take the time to ask constituents they would find to their amazement that 90% disagree with them? Oh, I know some of those funds find their way back to Raytheon and other armament producers. That still doesn’t justify giving funds to countries who hate America and Americans. The Star will not allow me enough words to explain. If you are not aware, restating would be useless. Jack B. Walters September 23, 2012

Letter to the editor 9/14.2012

I have waited several days before weighing in with my assessment of the destruction of our Embassy in Libya and the accelerating attacks on Embassies in the Middle East, not all of them American. To hear Hillary and Obama apologizing for a film made by an Egyptian is disgraceful to me. We, as Americans, either believe in free speech or we don’t. There is no half way point. If the Islamists get their way free speech and our Constitution will cease to exist, replaced by Sharia law which is reprehensible and the worst type of hate filled dictates. The Middle East is a dangerous place made more so by our complicit removal of the strong men who had kept a lid on the radical Muslims. Our Congress is even now approving billions in armaments for Egypt and other Islamic nations all of whom are dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Our President has left them out in the cold to fend for themselves. This is outrageous and criminal in my opinion. Jack B. Walters

The Party is over by Mike Lofgren

How Republicans Went Crazy Democrats Became Useless And the Middle Class Got Shafted I just happened to catch a Public TV program where Jim Lehrer was interviewing Mike Lofgren. Afterwards I ordered a copy of his book. Wow, he really takes the Republican Party apart and at the end gives the Democrats’ a shot, just too even things out. Since the early eighties until just recently he was a Republican working in various positions on Capitol Hill. He finally became fed up and just walked away. He writes in clear unmistakable language the problems he sees in the party. For those reading this who have agreed with me that Obama must go you will not enjoy reading this book. I must say I didn’t either. I purchased it in the interest of fairness. We get carried away only reading articles and books that support our agenda and refuse to listen to the other point of view. Those of you who have not agreed with me should rush right out and buy a copy. You will be thrilled. Most of you who have received articles from me in recent years know how I feel about our current president. You should also remember my complete disdain for the past president. In short it would appear that neither party nor president has performed as government should, in my opinion. That is why I register as an Independent except for a brief changeover so I could vote for Ron Paul in the primary. He was the only one who promised to bring our troops home from Afghanistan and the rest of the Middle East. There are twelve chapters. He is most irritated by the tax policies slanted for the benefit of the richest among us, their drumbeat for using our armed forces as a tool instead of diplomacy (Senator’s McCain and Lieberman are the chief proponents), the influence of the religious right and the incessant overextending our military machine, all of the above without regard to taking us down to financial ruin. In the last chapter he provides thoughts on how to get our government under responsible control. The number one item is to stop the outrageous money being poured into both parties principally by Corporations who the Supreme Court has granted that they have the same rights as real people and can spend as they desire on campaigns. If you are paying attention at all you must realize how bizarre this is. Over $1billion has been raised for each presidential candidate alone, and similar amounts to all other candidates for office. With those funds comes leverage to pass legislation favoring the contributors, not the American people. The amount of time devoted to raising funds rather than enacting the countries business is outrageous. His solution is public funding of reasonable candidates with no money from individuals, corporations or unions. Shorten the election campaign to several months as other nations do. Perpetually running for office leaves little time to solve our problems. I proposed similar thoughts in my “Still Angry” book, but that is beside the point. You must agree that constant concentration on picking candidates and campaigning is out of control. The media, of course, love it for the revenue they receive. I wonder who will be interested enough to check out this book? Jack B. Walters September 13, 2012

Who is the racist?

I am white. Four years ago I and millions of other whites voted for Barack Obama. I liked what he said. Obama has not lived up to his promises. Almost everything he promised to do he didn’t accomplish such as his pledge to make us energy independent in four years. He added $5 trillion to the debt when he said he would bring it down. His health care bill is an abomination which greatly adds to our debt and adds 15,000 IRS agents to track down those who are not enrolled in a private plan. This time I will vote for Mitt Romney, a decent family man with a proven record of accomplishments and service. I told a Democratic friend and he said I was racist. I reject that statement. Over 90% of blacks will vote for Obama in spite of his abysmal record. That is being racist. Jack B. Walters September 10, 2012

2016 : Obama's America

A documentary film co-directed by Dinesh D’Souza and John Sullivan They pose the question of where will we be if Obama wins a second term. I went to see it today. There weren’t more than 30 attendees and no young people. At the end those attending clapped their hands. It wasn’t a joyous type of celebration due to the content of the film. I will be sending a copy of this article to my entire mailing list, over half of whom to this day are staunch supporters of Obama. Regardless, I am asking all to see this film, after all what should they be afraid of. If they think it is garbage, at least they will have shown enough interest to check it out. This film reminds me of Fahrenheit 911 a Michael Moore film which was a negative review of the presidency of George W. Bush. I saw that with my liberal friends at that time. I am specifically requesting they attend, if nothing else but to square the books. This film follows Obama’s life journey and points out the major persons who influenced his thoughts. Most were anti-colonialists or outright communists. They go to great lengths to prove their thesis; case in point, the strange decision to return the bust of Winston Churchill. They claim it was because of Churchill’s earlier life as a colonialist of India and other countries. There are many names listed including his Kenyan born father who abandoned Barack at an early age. Much of the film includes scenes from places of interest including Hawaii, Indonesia and Kenya. They interview Obama’s half-brother who lives in a shack in Kenya without any assistance from Barack which seems bizarre until you understand the difference in philosophy between them. They refer to Obama’s first book “Dreams from my Father”. They contend he was influenced by what he knew about his own father but more importantly by his third father Frank Marshall Davis an avowed communist on the FBI register as someone to keep track of. Barack lived with him from age 9 to 18. The ending suggests a bankrupt America which loses its standing in the International community and also weaker militarily so that we become vulnerable. He shows the entire Middle East as totally converted to Islam surrounding little Israel who will be left to die without American support. This is pretty scary stuff. Check it out for yourself. Jack B. Walters September 1, 2012