The Chicken Little Paradox

Doom and Gloom, The Chicken Little Paradox

The Paradox, as conceived has wide applicability. It can swerves functions as diverse as

           

religious revival meetings

seminars for financial/retirement planning

fomentation of political/financial interest groups

global warning is happening

It is offered, free of charge, gratis for such uses. Enjoy!

1 - IDENTIFY A COMPELLING YET CRITICAL ISSUE FOR AUDIENCE

           

The sky is falling, our morals evaporating, the end is near

The national debt/deficit/taxes – escalating, unsustainable

The Liberals/Socialists/Wall Street bankers are taking over

Icebergs are melting, weather patterns are changing, living species going extinct

2 – IDENTIFY YOURSELF/YOUR GROUP AS SAVIOR

            I/we have a plan to correct, forestall, or eliminate the issue

            Support/vote for/fund our struggling cause

            Become rabid in your support

            Take back “our” country, banking system, morals, way of life

Give your cause a high sounding name which obscures your intentions

            (Americans for tax reform, United for prosperity, People for Principles)

            Don’t look too carefully at who is funding me/our cause, or implications

                        Of doing what I/we/they want

3 – Go on the road, Internet, Facebook to sell cause

Rich Man's Revolutionary

I had a bad feeling about this guy, not because of the pizza connection, but for what he says of the Wall Street demonstrators. Check it out!

By Michael Tomasky | The Daily Beast – 10 hrs ago 10/13/2011

V.I. Lenin: Now there was a fellow who thought ahead. He had five-year plans and seven-year plans by the bushel-full, and he never lost faith in the dialectic. Marx and science had provided the proof that it would all work out. We need that kind of constancy and can-do spirit in America today, I think you’d agree. Well, friends, we have it—in Herman Cain. His now-famous 9-9-9 tax plan is certainly as radical as anything Lenin ever proposed, although in the opposite direction. And more than that, it turns out to be (like communism itself) merely a stage in man’s development on the way to nirvana. Maybe I have been underestimating him.

Cain now actually leads the field in some new polls. One seems like a dodgy poll, in that it shows Newt Gingrich at 15 percent, which I doubt is accurate even among his extended family. But another isWall Street Journal/NBC. There’s no denying—Cain is riding the wave. He’s a nice feel-good candidate, an indulgence, an escape hatch from the disappointment of Rick Perry and the tedious (seeming) inevitably of Mitt Romney—and finally, a way for Tea Partiers to say, “See? We’re not racists!” In all those senses he has a lot going for him. But now his plan has started to face serious scrutiny, and that scrutiny is revealing that it’s undoubtedly the most radical shift of wealth that a presidential candidate has proposed in this country since (speaking of communists) Gus Hall.

Bruce Bartlett, the esteemed economist who is an apostate conservative but also not a liberal, recently sliced the plan to pieces. “A distributional monstrosity,” Bartlett wrote, under which “the poor would pay more while the rich would have their taxes cut, with no guarantee that economic growth will increase and good reason to believe that the budget deficit will increase.” We’ll get to a few details on that in a moment.

But what’s really startling about Bartlett’s report—and this is what got me thinking about Comrade Ulyanov—is that the 9-9-9 plan is not his goal. No—it’s merely Phase 2 in the melting away of the state! Phase 1 would reduce business and personal income taxes to a high rate of 25 percent. That sounds nice. But you have to know about concepts like marginalization to realize that 96 percent of all taxpayers don’t even make enough to pay a single dollar in income taxes at rates above 25 percent. So in other words, Cain cuts taxes—for the top 4 percent. And for the top 1 percent—especially the top 0.2 percent (millionaires)—he cuts them radically.

The same applies to Cain’s proposals for business taxes. Cain’s Phase 1, the way it’s structured, would cut taxes mostly for the largest corporations and not help small- and medium-size concerns that are 92 percent of businesses. And he’d abolish all taxes on capital gains. Two-thirds of all capital gains are reported by taxpayers with yearly incomes above $1 million.

Getting the picture? A massive Christmas gift for the well-off. And remember—that’s just Phase 1! The 9-9-9 plan is Phase 2, calling for a 9 percent rate for business taxes, personal income taxes, and a national sales tax. First of all, the numbers don’t add up. Either government services will be savaged or we’ll run an unthinkable deficit. And again, middle- and lower-income people will be crushed, even worse than under Phase 1. Most poor and many working-class people pay no income tax (they do, of course, pay payroll taxes). But under Cain’s plan, they would pay. And the wealthy would pay far, far, far less than they do now. Far, far, far less than George W. Bush ever dreamed of making them pay.

Cain would say: But I get rid of payroll taxes. Fine. That saves an average taxpayer about $3,000. But it also means there is no Social Security, since that is how Social Security is financed. So the taxpayer would probably plow most of that back into a private retirement account anyway. Then, she pays a 9 percent tax on everything she buys. What people buy, from food to entertainment to what have you, usually amounts to 60 percent or more of their income.

Ah, but if you think that’s a lot of sales tax, just wait till you hear about Phase 3. This last phase ends 9-9-9 and imposes a (get this name) “Fair Tax”—a 30 percent sales tax on all goods and services. The theory here is that prices will fall. Another part of the theory, which proponents don’t mention quite as often, is that wages would fall, too. And all that’s on top of spending $130 for a $100 pair of sneakers for your teenager, or $780 for a $600 television.

It’s no wonder that Cain’s chief economist, Rich Lowrie, isn’t even an economist but a “wealth management” consultant. The Cain plan is entirely about wealth management. And GOP primary voters love them some wealth management. This plan will surely help Cain in primary season.

So I do have to hand it to him. He understands the spirit of the age in some way. Be as radical and simplistic and unrealistic as possible, and lustily feed the haves’ hatred of the have nots. And be black while doing it—better still! And feed America pizza too! It’s a good thing for the world Lenin was never quite this clever.

INSANITY AT WORK

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives unexpectedly defeated a bill that would fund the federal government past September 30 on Wednesday as dozens of Republicans broke with their party to push for deeper spending cuts.

The unexpected outcome was an embarrassment for House Republican leaders who have at times struggled to rein in a conservative wing that remains closely allied with the anti-spending Tea Party movement.

"This is a democracy. This is the sausage factory," said Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, who sponsored the bill.

The vote could further rattle consumers and investors who have been unnerved by the high-stakes budget battle that has played out in Washington this year. Congress pushed the government to the brink of a shutdown in April and the edge of default in August.

Republican leaders said they would figure out a way to pass the spending bill and avoid disrupting everything from national parks to scientific research.

"There is not going to be a shutdown. Everybody needs to relax," said Representative Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, as he emerged from a meeting with other top Republicans after the vote.

Later in the evening, a panel approved a measure that would allow the House to quickly reschedule another vote. But it was not clear how the substance of the bill might be changed.

The bill would have funded the government at an annual rate of $1.043 trillion, in line with a bipartisan agreement reached in August. Many conservatives want to stick with the lower figure of $1.019 trillion that the House approved in April.

The measure failed by a vote of 195 to 230, with 48 of the chamber's most conservative Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.

The vote demonstrated the continued reluctance of Tea Party conservatives to compromise on spending issues, even as the public grows weary of repeated confrontation on Capitol Hill.

NO HELP FROM DEMOCRATS

Republican leaders have suffered a similar number of defections on other high-profile budget bills this year. Democrats had helped them reach a majority on those occasions, but only six backed this bill.

Democrats objected to a $1.5 billion cut to an electric vehicle loan program, which Republicans included to offset the cost of increased disaster aid.

Republicans might remove that cut to pick up Democratic support, an aide said -- an action that could further alienate conservatives.

That would be a big victory for Democrats, who want to double the amount of disaster aid in the bill and ensure that it is not paired with further spending cuts.

"At the bottom line, the disaster victims have to be treated far more fairly than they did today," said Democratic Senator Charles Schumer.

Facing rock-bottom approval ratings, lawmakers from both parties are eager to show voters that they can act quickly to approve aid for victims of floods, tornadoes and other disasters in one of the most extreme years for weather in U.S. history.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested $5.1 billion to replenish its disaster fund, which could dry up entirely next week. FEMA has already suspended rebuilding efforts across the country.

Congressional Reform

Congressional Reform

This was forwarded to me by a classmate from my Scarborough High school Class of 1962. I believe you can all agree with this.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011 Bipartisan law to stop Congressional pensions

Subject: FW: Please read !!!!

This is bipartisan in nature and is going to both Democrats and Republicans. We should all seriously consider helping with the change suggested below. This is something I will fight for and I hope you will too. This is short so please read it all the way through and then forward. You will be glad you did.

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

I'm asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.  If we all did that, in three days, most people in The United States of America would have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay once out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Maybe it is time.

THIS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO FIXING CONGRESS!!!!!

You are one of my 20+. Please keep it going.

If you agree with the above, pass it on. If not, just delete.

For a REAL effect, send it to your Senators and Congressman.

Hope in the Center Blog entry 14 – 22 August 2011

It looks by all accounts in the press that the four decade autocratic rule of Muammar Ghaddafi of Libya is at an end. In almost every conceivable way this looks to be a good thing. It will (we hope) lead to a peaceful transition to democratic rule by Libya’s peoples. It means a continuance of the sweep of democratic revolution across the Middle East. And it symbolically shows that the religious zealots of the Muslim world – had not one thing to do with it! Hooray!!!

As our domestic election process ramps up the zealots domestically are out in force. It remains a curious thing to me that while the conservatives have repeatedly frustrated efforts to reach a common ground on the national debt, deficit spending and taxes. At the same time they have zealously guarded those aspects of taxes which would intelligently raise taxes on those most able to pay taxes, our billionaires and millionaires. Isn’t that wonderful; our descendants will share a greater share of greater debt because we need to ensure relief for the rich. Strange world. In my mind this shows who the politicians, especially the conservatives, answer to.

Those at the bottom face eviction, starvation, and stress.

Those at the top eat caviar, and have to survive on luxury and limos.

You HAVE TO READ THIS!!! A story of young people fighting Ghaddafi in a small town, using guts and ingenuity…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110504/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_libya_battle_for_misrata

The Donald … I’d like to verify that he was born in the USA. He’s a real trump card, meant to be dealt with, playing without full set of cards …

Conservatives rise up, defend our wealthiest, institute relief for the rich – the Donald needs it.

But wait, didn’t he recently boast that he was more wealthy than Mitt Romney? Is that an important fact for voters to consider? Is it relevant to the many in our country who are out of work, or working several jobs, or have no health insurance?

Any later, in a fit of enthusiasm, the Donald just called our national leaders “stupid.”  How very significant, not offering substantive suggestions, but just playing the demagogue card.

Oh … but it gets better! It has now been reported that while the Donald said in a TV interview that he didn’t serve in Vietnam because his draft card number wasn’t called … drum roll… he actually applied for and got four separate draft deferments. How touching … I wonder if he’ll take up hunting with a shotgun without a license and shoot a friend – like another conservative stalwart who repeatedly got draft deferments????

This month we’re remembering the 150^th Anniversary of … the Civil War; The War Between the States, The War of Yankee Aggression; That Recent Unpleasantness; etc etc etc. I mention this as there seem to be so many living around here who give the feeling that the war to end slavery is still going on, and the wrong side won. My personal assessment is that many “birthers” are closet racists who refuse to acknowledge that Barack Hussein Obama was freely and democratically elected the President of the US.