What If Occupy Really Wanted Change?

Let's assume that the Occupy protesters have good intentions to actually change the system they feel is onerous and tyrannical and is not just a means to create havoc for the sake of havoc. What could they do to actually make their case for substantive difference in our system?

1. Stop acting like spoiled brats and remember that they aren't the only ones with rights to move freely. There are people in the areas they are protesting in that have rights as well. Those people want to live and work in peace. It's tough for them. They couldn't take TWO MONTHS out of their schedule to sit around and meet. What about their rights??

2. Actually have some stated goals, not just "the 1% sucks". Squatting in a park on Wall Street did not affect one trade or bond deal. If they wanted to get a media hit out of it, they could have gotten a permit to march for a couple of days with their "hand-made" signs and 1960s slogans to start things off. Then, more substantive actions could have been taken: for example, there was an activist in California, I believe, that pushed the idea of moving one's money from the national banks to local credit unions. What better way to get the attention of major companies that hitting their bottom line and making them compete for your business?

3. Don't treat PRIVATE property as your own personal outhouse. Come on people! Really? Defacating on police cars and sidewalks? Public urination?

4. The most outrageous of the behaviors is the outright crime going on in these areas. The supporters of the "movement" don't want to talk about this, but the idea that rapes, child molestation, drug use, murder, assault, theft and any combination of these is going on in these supposedly peaceful protest areas is sickening. Why would anyone listen to your demands when you have basically created an outdoor prison environment?

5. Of all the places in the country where the Occupy movement should have been protesting is Capitol Hill, Washington DC. The traders and banks on Wall Street could care less what you people do because Congress will continue to fund their largess. Go to Capitol Hill and ask the congressional leadership (both Democrat and Republican) why they gave billions (if not trillions) of dollars to companies that were "too big to fail". After that, march on over to the White House and demand the answer to the same question. THOSE are the people that made this system the way it is. Why would you blame the recipient of ill-gotten gains and not the donor?

6. Don't be partisan. If you really want to change things, become an anti-incumbent movement and throw all the bums out! The Tea Party flirted with this idea, though they are largely a Republican organization, but they started out of dissatisfaction with both parties and their spending habits. Actually, there could be some solidarity with the Tea Party (if you drop all of the communist, union support, oh, and the rapes and drug use) on some issues if the Occupiers were so inclined.

Those are just a few things that the Occupiers could have done to make their movement more effective. But, we all know there is no interest on their part to actually change anything. They are bored, overwhelming white, middle to upper class kids that don't like homeless people and want to "do something". I guess every generation has to have their college protesters who think they are the best and the brightest, but turn out to be nothing of the sort.

Climate Change v. Re-election

Real quick:

With all of the doom and gloom we've been hearing about global warming, climate change or whatever it's called, you'd think that Democrats in Congress would be ready, willing and able to pass legislation to solve the problem as they see it.

Considering they have a majority in the House, a soon-to-be veto-proof majority in the Senate and the presidency, Democrats should be able to do whatever they want with respect to the environment.

But wait! There are "moderate" Democrats from coal-producing states that are worried about...Re-election! So their desire to limit "greenhouse gases" to save the environment will just have to take a backseat to politics.

Finally, we can all realize that human-caused "climate change" is a hoax. If it were real and all of our lives were in danger, don't you think they would do something about it without worrying about politics?

I hate to say it but...

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has got to be one of the dimmest bulbs to ever serve in that or any other high-level position in our government. I know, I know, it's not nice to call anyone names, but I just can't help myself.

The recent flap over Congresswoman Jane Harman's involvement with an alleged Israeli spy in order to secure her seat as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee is quite shocking to say the least. Apparently, the National Security Agency had been listening in on conversations between this alleged spy and Rep. Harman. Well, like the good eavesdroppers they are, the NSA contacted Pelosi (this happened before she became Speaker which makes her ascension even more frightening) and told her what they were doing. This is her response according to Roll Call:

“It was not my position to raise it with Jane Harman...In fact, I didn’t even know if what they were talking about was real. All they said was that she was wiretapped.”

"I didn't even know if what they were talking about was real". Sigh.

The first word that jumped into my mind (after banging my head on the desk a few times) was "idiot". I went to look up this well-used and familiar word just to make sure I had it right. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary has this for a definition:

id-i-ot n 1: a person afflicted with idiocy; esp : a feeble minded person having a mental age not exceeding three years and requiring complete custodial care; 2: a silly or foolish person syn see Fool

The fact that the Speaker of the House, third in constitutional succession to the presidency would think that the intelligence professionals at the NSA would ask for a meeting with her only to scream "syke!" when they're done talking about wiretapping a member of Congress is just beyond the pale of good human thought. She didn't know they were being serious? Come on Nancy, you've got to do better than that.

Unfortunately, there's a pattern of this type of thing, i.e., Catholics haven't come to a conclusion about when life begins, America loses 500 million jobs a month, etc. She's really dropped some stinkers on us and I don't know which ones were worse.

So, anyway, now we have another verbal gaffe to add to the list. I wonder how many members of the House Democrat caucus are just shaking their heads wondering how the hell this lady became Speaker?

What about RESULTS??

This will be short. Vice President Joe Biden spoke to a Democratic National Committee fundraiser yesterday and spoke about the need to pass the Administration's budget. According to Politico, Biden included these profound and inspirational words for America in his remarks:

“It will have every single pundit out there, even the ones who are covering this today, saying, ‘You know, these guys not only came up with an idea, whether we like it or not, they moved and they passed it,’” Biden said. “And we are willing to win or lose – win or lose – upon the soundness of our judgment.”

Passing a bill through Congress with a clear majority isn't exactly the same as whether or not it will WORK. You don't get points for accomplishing the obviously easy. You get points for actual success Mr. Vice President.

Sheesh.

Brass Ones...

If you add hubris, hypocrisy, arrogance and gall together, what do you get?

Congress.

Amid all of the financial woes that are beating this country to its knees, the Congress of the United States of America thinks its doing such a bang-up job, that they approved a $4,700 per year pay increase for themselves.

I'm at a loss for words for once. Well, maybe not.

The $2.5 million that this increase will cost could be much better spent on many things. Tax cuts, paying down our ever-increasing debt, etc. How they could look the Big 3 automakers CEOs in the face and demand that they not take a salary when at the same time they INCREASE theirs is beyond me. All we've heard over the past few years is how corporate executives have been overcompensated. Do you have any idea what a CEO of a major corporation does in a day?

• Manage thousands of employees
• Answer to a board of directors
• Develop new concepts to increase production and profit
• Compete with other companies that would love to see them out of business
• Expand their products/services into new markets
• Create thousands of jobs
• Pay millions of dollars in personal and corporate taxes
• Testify before Congress

That's just scratching the surface. The responsibilities of these CEOs to keep their companies afloat so average people will have a job to go to everyday is staggering. Now, let's take a look at what an average Congressman/Senator does:

• Makes a speech to a Rotary Club
• Makes calls for fundraiser for re-election
• Makes a speech on the floor of the House or Senate
• Makes calls for fundraiser for re-election
• Attends fundraiser for re-election
• Manages staff of 15-20
• Makes calls for fundraiser for re-election
• Brings "home" taxpayer money for roads, bridges, fire houses, etc.
• Makes calls for fundraiser for re-election
• Asks grandstanding questions of CEOs at committee hearings

Whew! That's some hard work huh? Honestly, at approximately $170,000 per year, your average Congressman is seriously overpaid. I wonder which House member or Senator will do the right thing and not accept the increase? How long should I wait?