Four Fifteen and Counting...

Good afternoon everyone,

It’s another spring day here in Salt Lake City. That means it’s snowing, and two days ago it was almost 70. Not to mention that, but the drive to school was a little choked up by protestors. That is going to launch the huge rant I have below. But first, a couple of cool movie tid-bits:

• Gostbusters 3 is now in full swing to start shooting, with the original cast.
  

• Sin City 2 is gaining momentum, with more actors in talks to take on the roles. But there still looks to be a 2010 release date.
  
• The second Halloween from Rob Zombie is in full production, and there have been some stills released, and the look awesome.

And, well here we go; my Political Pissings, as promised:

Like I said before, I do not want to turn this blog into a huge political rant, but these people just piss me off. They are protesting large government spending, and unsustainable deficits in the government budget, and “tax hikes”. Sounds like a reasonable thing to protest right?

Well, no. the truth of the matter is, yes, no one wants higher taxes, every one wants a financially stable government and yada yada yada… but the problem here is that these protests are being organized and fueled by people with no solutions to the problem. All they are doing is whining and complaining. And to add to the absurdity, most of the protestors are middle class working Americans who are actually going to benefit from the new President’s tax plans and tax reform, much of it already rolling in the stimulus package… that they are also protesting.

And when I say they do not have a solution, I mean a practical solution. The Republicans shit bricks when they saw the new budget. Well, what would a rational person do when something like that comes along? Come up with an alternative!

Did they? Short answer: Yes, Long answer: No. yes they did propose a new budget, but it was not that much different than the current budget. In fact, it was almost the same thing but with the deficit stretched out into 5 years or more, instead of just 4. And the biggest difference was the “alternative budget” called for re-instating Bush’s tax plan and undoing the stimulus package. The only point it served was to politically “butt heads”.

Now ask yourself, what did all that rant above have to do with the protestors? The answer to that is simple: things have to change. And they do not like the changes. They are being rallied by people who want to use this to gain political momentum, no matter what the issue is.

My justification for this is simple. It all comes down to taxes, and their increase. First, lets have a little history lesson. Did anyone protest Regan when he doubled the national debt? Was there a protest of this magnitude when Bush sr. had to raise taxes (breaking a campaign promise) to pay for all of Regan’s crap? Did any one protest on this scale when Bush jr. repeatedly raised the ceiling on government spending, and doubled our national debt again? Did any one protest on this magnitude when Bush signed a tax code into law that 450 economists (10 of those Nobel Prize recipients) told him not to? No.

Do any of them give credit to Clinton, who at the end of his term, had a surplus of cash, made the largest ever payments on the national debt, and had us on track to pay it off by this year? No. You will never hear about that on any “conservative”* radio show.

This is nothing but a bunch of Republicans, sore about loosing the election, and not willing to face the tough choices that are ahead, and doing nothing about resolving the problem. So go ahead folks, stamp you feet and cry. Or deal with the problems that face our nation like a big kid; and if you don’t like it, offer a different path. Don’t make a mockery of one of the most famous acts of rebellion in America’s history. And when asked about what we should do instead, don’t give the standard Reganomics crap we have been hearing from you for 20+ years. Sure it sounds good in principle, but the fact of the matter is, it does not work. Those tax practices have forced the consumer recession we are in, and those business practices have caused the corporate irresponsibility that have necessitated the bailouts. So, if you have something better, put it out there. Trust me, people will follow. And be sure to use your inside voice.

*I felt that a little explanation was due here. When one hears “conservative” values, the things that come up are: Free market, stable economy, low taxes and smaller government. That set of goals is not just true to the Right, but the Left as well. If you ask any rational liberal what they want the country to be, they will give you that very same list. It’s not the Ends they argue over; it’s the Means. Those radio shows (you know what ones I am talking about) steryotype the other side to the point where it’s just flat not true. The Left is no more socialist, hippie, controlling environmental lunatics than the Right is bible thumping homophobic racist corporate scammers. It goes both ways.

Thank you for reading through my rant. It felt good to vent. I will update when the semester lets out, and hopefully about a more light hearted subject.

Good night all.

T