Our Hijacked Government

The terms Democrat and Republican are all but meaningless now. The two parties squabble over silly side issues, but whether they put a "D" or and "R" next to their name, career politicians of all persuasions play the same game – they cling to their offices for life by selling their services to the highest bidders. Meanwhile, the problems that really matter fester and get worse. That's why our national debt is fast approaching $10 trillion and crucial programs like Social Security and Medicare are on the verge of collapse, but wildly profitable industries get tax breaks and huge, unneeded subsidies every year.

From 99 Reasons To Be Mad as Hell:

What the Hell Can We Do About It?
Solutions to Take Back our Hijacked Government

From the Captive American Blog

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Allergic To Flagyl Treatment Of Bv, [caption id="attachment_2764" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Boom. There goes another trillion!"][/caption]

With all the partisan rancor in Washington, it's easy to overlook one area where the two major parties consistently agree: defense spending. When it comes to tossing tax dollars into the black maw of the Pentagon, Democrats and Republicans get along just fine, Allergic To Flagyl Treatment Of Bv overseas. Forget the furor over bailouts and bonuses. The Military-Industrial Complex has been enjoying the fruits of a sixty year stimulus plan by now and neither party shows any sign of stopping the fun, Allergic To Flagyl Treatment Of Bv.

From Reason.com (emphasis added):

Cindy Williams, a defense scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former assistant director of the Congressional Budget Office, points out that Obama wants to spend 2 percent more in the next fiscal year than President Bush allocated for this year, 500mg Allergic To Flagyl Treatment Of Bv, and 9 percent more than we spent last year.

Bush also planned for the defense budget (apart from Iraq and Afghanistan) to shrink slightly each year starting in 2010. Obama's blueprint calls for the defense budget to remain about the same. "Spending will actually be higher under Obama's plan than under Bush's," says Williams.

Just to repeat that last quote so all those on the antiwar left can hear it over the chants and the protest drums. Allergic To Flagyl Treatment Of Bv, President Obama, whom you all voted for in overwhelming numbers, is actually going to spend more on weapons of war than George W. Bush, Allergic To Flagyl Treatment Of Bv mexico.

Of course, the author of the Reason article doesn't point out that a lot of that increased spending is really just better, or at least more honest, bookkeeping. 150mg Allergic To Flagyl Treatment Of Bv, Bush conveniently pretended like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan weren't part of the Pentagon's budget, funding them with so-called "emergency supplemental" spending bills. So at least now, we'll have to admit how much money we're shelling out for those conflicts. But that doesn't mean we're going to spend any less on them.

Just how out of whack is our so-called "defense" spending, Allergic To Flagyl Treatment Of Bv craiglist. The Reason piece gives a nice bit of perspective:

Globalsecurity.org reports that in 2004, the United States lavished $623 billion on the military. All the other governments on Earth together managed only $500 billion.

Long live the World Boss.

April 2, 2009 | More »

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Generic Cialis Cheap, [caption id="attachment_2759" align="alignnone" width="320" caption="Don't buy that Winnebago quite yet. The government's pension bailout agency will probably need a bailout of its own pretty soon."][/caption]

For years, hundreds of our country's biggest corporations have been underfunding their pension plans. But not to worry. When the bill comes due and they can't support their retired workers, they simply dump the costs onto the federal government. Generic Cialis Cheap japan, On second thought, maybe it is time to worry after all. From the Boston Globe:

Just months before the start of last year's stock market collapse, the federal agency that insures the retirement funds of 44 million Americans departed from its conservative investment strategy and decided to put much of its $64 billion insurance fund into stocks.

Oops, Generic Cialis Cheap. Talk about bad timing. And they didn't just buy your grandmother's boring old blue chips either:

Switching from a heavy reliance on bonds, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation decided to pour billions of dollars into speculative investments such as stocks in emerging foreign markets, real estate, and private equity funds.

Why in the world would the PBGC, 50mg Generic Cialis Cheap, a staid government agency protecting millions of American pensions suddenly start doing its best impersonation of Lehman Brothers, the once mighty Wall Street firm that immolated itself on a raging pyre of high risk financial gambles. Maybe because the guy who was in charge of PBGC until recently, Charles Millard, used to run ... Generic Cialis Cheap canada, Lehman Brothers. Generic Cialis Cheap, No. We're not making that up.

How much did the PBGC lose. They're not saying. But they were kind enough to reveal that, as of last September, they were down about 23%, 20mg Generic Cialis Cheap. Of course, the stock market didn't start tanking in earnest until October, so that number must be a gross underestimation of the real losses, Generic Cialis Cheap. You know things are bad when losing a quarter of your investment looks optimistic.

To make matters worse, the agency was already $13 billion in the hole before it decided to start playing Mad Money. And if corporate behemoths like GM and Chrysler go under, who do you think is going to be expected to pick up all those millions of pensions on their books. 200mg Generic Cialis Cheap, You guessed it. The good old Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. But where will this bailout agency go for its bailout.

The same place everyone goes these days. To your wallet.

March 31, 2009 | More »

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Hydroquinone And Retin A, It makes sense that lobbyist Paul Magliocchetti, the subject of a story in The New York Times on Sunday, spent his formative years as a protege of Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee. The article fails to mention that Murtha won $150 million in earmarks in the 2008 defense spending bill, more than any other legislator in the House. Hydroquinone And Retin A paypal, The article offers another snapshot of how business gets done Washington, D.C., except in this case it seems Magliocchetti of PMA Group pissed someone off enough to embarrass him with these small potatoes, in this case served roasted with rosemary, as Mags likes them.

We can just see him now walking into the Alpine restaurant followed by a few portly Congressmen, Hydroquinone And Retin A usa, already licking their lips. "Get me some oysters. Get me some steamed crabs, Hydroquinone And Retin A. Get me a rack of lamb!" He wouldn't want his guys waiting for appetizers.

Talk about lacking teeth: the article cites federal ethics laws prohibiting lawmakers or staff "from accepting free meals of gifts worth more than $50 or a total of more than $100 over the course of a year." A year! A Benjamin in Washington barely covers the tip for lunch.

We like the line: "Mr. 1000mg Hydroquinone And Retin A, Magliochetti acquired his taste for the high life as a Congressional staff member wined and dined by lobbyists in the era before strict ethics rules."

Obviously, rules like the one cited above has led to the ascetic era in which we're living today.

It seems that Mags as a young congressional staffer, in addition to Italian cooking, "picked up his taste for gumbo on visits to shipbuilders around New Orleans, and a fondness for cowboy boots from former Representative Charlie Wilson of Texas."

Of course, Hydroquinone And Retin A japan, now that Mags has swung through the revolving door and become one of the biggest defense lobbyists on K Street, he offers a lot more than crawfish soup and python-skinned boots. Since 1998, the article states, 150mg Hydroquinone And Retin A, employees of PMA Group and its clients have contributed $7.8 million to members of Murtha's defense subcommittee, and $2.4 million to Murtha himself.

Fancy lunches are just the tip of the curly tail on this big old hog. Follow the tail, and see where it goes.

March 30, 2009 | More »

Hospital Colchicine Injection

Hospital Colchicine Injection, httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYscnFpEyA

We don't know where this guy came from, but we're glad to see someone as pissed off as we are. It makes you wonder whatever happened to righteous indignation.

As we contemplate this project, we often wonder, similarly to our man Thomas Paine above, "Have you become a nation of cowards, 500mg Hospital Colchicine Injection, America?" Of course we are all in this together, and we don't want to chastise our readers, but far more blunt language often comes to mind when we see such rampant complacency in this country, leading us to want to say, Hospital Colchicine Injection mexico, "You're idiots, America, and screwed." Thanks, Mr. Paine, for doing it for us, 250mg Hospital Colchicine Injection.

We're not as anti-immigration as this gentlemen seems to be, and some of his arguments are overstated, but he hits so many of our songs, almost note for note:

Removing the privileges from Congress.

Repealing Congress' right to give itself raises.

Mandating a balanced budget: "Force your legislators to do what you now have to do: live within your means."

Make Congress pay into the Social Security System.

Term limits.

Amend the laws the allow for such a generous pension after serving just one term. Hospital Colchicine Injection overseas, We think he exaggerates the benefits, but his point is spot-on.

Bring back universal service, two years in the military or two years in community involvement.

We love his line: "Give young people a chance to understand that they're entitled to nothing they don't earn."

Desperate times call for desperate measures. We're tired of bemoaning executive bonuses and bank bailouts. Clearly, the country requires the equivalent of open-heart surgery at this point, and whether the Obama administration's efforts will prove effective remains to be seen, 30mg Hospital Colchicine Injection. But for the people, there is no better a time to demand accountibility from your Congressional representative. As our man Mr Paine says, "It's a good time to be a patriot.".

March 25, 2009 | More »

Amoxicillin For Cats

Amoxicillin For Cats, Fresh out of the cage fight that was the California budget debate, in which Democrats and Republicans waged an ideological battle that pushed the state to the brink of collapse, comes new hope for the passage of open primaries.

As we've mentioned previously, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger floated the idea of open primaries after he scored a win in November with a ballot measure designating an independent body to redraw congressional lines that have been gerrymandered so badly that only a couple seats in the Golden State were even legitimately contested in the last election.

Now comes a sponsor for completely open primaries, in which any voter - regardless of party identification - could vote for any candidate. Instead of Republicans only voting for Republicans and Democrats only voting for Democrats in spring elections, Amoxicillin For Cats canada, which guaranteed that a Donkey always faced off against an Elephant in the fall, an open primary would put all candidates, regardless of party, on the same ballot.

In this system, the top two vote-getters would proceed to the general election, Amoxicillin For Cats. That means two Democrats could wind up squaring off against each other, Amoxicillin For Cats uk, or two Republicans. Or, perhaps, one or two Independents could make a strong run and break through.

As both parties are flat-out terrified of this idea, it's appropriate that the sponsor of the ballot measure, which would go before voters in 2010, Amoxicillin For Cats australia, is Rep. Abel Maldonado out of Santa Barbara, the deciding vote who crossed his Republican party lines to get the budget deal passed. Amoxicillin For Cats, Republicans have, of course, now targeted Maldanado as a fink for breaking from the Republican family in the budget talks - no matter that hundreds of thousands of jobs were on the line. He broke the cardinal rule: loyalty to party above everything else.

Reaction was swift. 40mg Amoxicillin For Cats, Just hours after the assemblyman cast his vote for the budget, Republican political consultant Matt Cunningham set up a Facebook group: "Never Elect Abel Maldanado to Anything, Ever Again."

And Tom Del Beccaro, vice chairman of the state GOP, made clear how dearly all the career politicians want to maintain the status quo: "The two party is as old as politics itself. It's human nature to have rivalries, politically, Amoxicillin For Cats coupon, in sport, and you can't legislate around human nature," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "That's called social experimentation--and it doesn't work."

To think this guy could elected dog-catcher saying such completely disingenuous nonsense.

Now it seems Maldanado's outsider status has emboldened him to actually do the right thing--as he'll have to depend on more Democrats and Independents to get reelected next time around.

February 20, 2009 | More »

Our Hijacked Government

What the Hell Can We Do About It?Solutions to Take Back our Hijacked Government

From the Captive American Blog

What the Hell Can We Do About It?
Solutions to Take Back our Hijacked Government