America was and should be the land of opportunity. Yet increasingly we are becoming a nation of cynical opportunists.The cynical use of these kinds of opportunities can’t sit well with true conservatives. They wreak of fiscal irresponsibility. This kind of behavior grows the influence of government while reducing the rights and freedoms of our citizens. These kinds of policies weaken the nation now and unless reversed, cripple the nation in the future.
One who waits until it’s too late. One who follows polls while ignoring information.
The problem of leadership is among the most critical factors affecting the future of our nation. This isn’t intended to be a rhetorical attack on our elected officials, this is intended to point out that we have been devoid of leadership for at least several decades or at the very least, the political climate in our country is such that even the most well intentioned leader finds it nearly impossible to lead. Put simply we have a terrible habit of policy that is a penny wise and a pound foolish.
In 2012 we have an opportunity to choose our leaders, let us not be the ones who do nothing.
Yesterday Eric Cantor when speaking about the Payroll Tax Cut Extension said "People across America are scratching their heads, wondering what Washington is doing." This is just the latest example of what is arguably the historically greatest do nothing congress we have ever seen. In the middle of the greatest economic downturn since the great depression the GOP / Tea Party response has been to do nothing. Their response time and again has simply been "no".
That which is spoken, to be leveraged rhetorically but not acted upon, but intended to hide one’s actual actions.
Ethics, while not religion, exist in the domain of right and wrong behavior. The right has spent much time and effort over the last few decades trying to convince us that they are the party of religion, they are the party of ethics, they are the party of right moral and ethical conduct. The reality of the right is that they have claimed the ethical ground as a way of framing the debate so that anything from the left starts as being devoid of ethics.
The US doesn’t have a Medicare problem, we have a healthcare cost problem. The US “fails to achieve better health outcomes than other countries, and . . . is last on dimensions of access, patient safety, coordination, efficiency, and equity.” When compared to the majority of OECD countries and WHO countries, we are the most privatized, least social medical system in the world, and our nation spends more than any other nation while achieving some of the worst outcomes.
Staten Island Advance Joins Hundreds of Newspapers Nationwide In Launching New Grimm Humor Section
A new campaign by the American Action Network seeks to get seniors to call in support of their Republican congressman and senators to thank them for "fighting to protect medicare." The Staten Island Advance contained an ad from AAN in what is apparently a new Grimm Humor section for the paper. It must be a new humor section because the idea that Congressman Grimm is fighting for Medicare is hilarious.
Simply because the modern right uses a term does not mean that we should indulge them. How did retirement and health care for the elderly and disabled become an entitlement? Why do democrats use this language, and worse still why won't they fight to save these programs? When did the idea that forcing our senior citizens to live in poverty was a good thing for our nation?
As the republicans continue to make unrealistic demands in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, and President Obama continues to offer unbelievable concessions to the republicans without putting up much of a fight, I'd like you to consider this number, 3%.
On Sunday an energized group of 15 citizens from Bay Ridge and Brooklyn joined with over 25,000 other Americans at over 1,500 Rebuild the Dream events nationwide. We spent about two hours getting to know and understand each other’s perspective on the American Dream and then we got down to the business of discussing and debating the key issues of our day.
Congressman Grimm had it all wrong when he voted to support Paul Ryan's budget, and after the recent town halls, he went from bad to worse. As a small business owner living in Bay Ridge, the economic downturn demands a fact based approach, not an ideological one. Here are 7 ways in which Congressman Grimm has got it all wrong.
