It was only a name...

My mother-in-law died April 16 of this year, a severe loss to our entire family. When she married she acquired "the curse" of her husband's family - a vagrant "e" in the last name that any German Jew would instantly recognize and acknowledge, but that was strangely out of place in American. My father-in-law, who predeceased her by over 10 years, was very particular about that "e". It was his connection with his forefathers, his extended family, his German-Jewish origins.

Lilo wholeheartedly embraced her married name with the awkwardly placed "e" (in German it would have formed an umlau or some such thing). Her passport, Social Security Card, Medicare Card, membership cards, credit cards, bank accounts, insurance policies all included the "e" in her last name.

Inexplicably, her death certificate did not! My brother-in-law tried to correct the error and the best the bureaucracy would do was add an a/k/a which listed the correct spelling. Not pleasant, but at least it was there.

When Probate Court finally, after 3 1/2 inexplicably long months of deliberation or pure and simple inattention, finally released the Letters of Testamentary they listed her name as listed on the death certificate but mistyped the a/k/a, so that both versions omitted the notorious "e". The result? All estate documentation and correspondence must now list first her correct spelling (as given in her will) and then the two spurious spellings as a/k/a.

My family thinks I am nuts to be upset about this. But she did not have any aliases or a/k/a's during her lifetime. She was VERY particular about making sure ALL her documents included the CORRECT spelling of her last name. Don't these bureaucratic agencies ever proof their work? How difficult would it be to correct it? It would probably take additional months and months of squabbling that we feel totally unequipped to endure.

My mother-in-law was not rich, famous, politically powerful. But she was an incredibly important person in our lives. I feel like she was disrespected in death and this casual negligence infuriates me!

Cut the B-S and Raise the Damn Debt Ceiling

Okay guys, you had your months and months of angst at the expense of the people you represent. You postured and posed for the media, rammed home your talking points and accused the opposition of intransigence as each and every one of you  concentrated on staking out the high political ground and gaining the support of the voters you vehemently pretend to represent.

Well, guess what? Time has come today. Prove you are not charlatans and grifters. Pass a damn debt ceiling increase that takes the country through the next election (you heard me) and get down to the business of representing the American people who sent you to Washington.

Problems with the deficit? You betcha. So start passing appropriation bills that reflect fiscal responsibility. Start compromising - the Republicans on raising taxes from their historic lows - the Democrats on fixing Social Security and Medicare solvency and all of you on trimming back our obscenely bloated defense budget. Take a long, serious second (or first) look at the Simpson/Bowles recommendations. But for our country's sake - stop the meaningless gamesmanship that threatens not only United States fiscal stability, but that of the entire globe!

Stop kowtowing to your corporate donors and start legislating for your constituents and the future of your own children.

Enough is enough.

Dear Representative Chris Gibson

Over the past months, I have been reading and listening to all the reports on the debt ceiling and deficit reduction talks with considerable anxiety and chagrin.

Tonight I listened to the President's speech and am following his advice in writing to you to urge you to vote for a debt ceiling increase whether it includes deficit reduction, tax increases or not.

Although I believe the Simpson/Bowles report accurately reflects the painful, yet necessary steps to achieving fiscal stability, I also believe that raising the debt ceiling is NOT a choice. It is a necessity, before any other steps can be taken. The catastrophic consequences of defaulting will rock our world and destabilize not only the U. S., but the global economy.

Every bank account, investment account, annuity, 401K, 401B, IRA is threatened by default - not to mention Social Security and Medicare that keep our retired solvent and the Medicaid that insures the poorest among us have access to health care. Let us not forget either our military serving in foreign wars, our veterans struggling here at home or our businesses large and small who rely on lines of credit to meet their expenses.

I KNOW you are a patriot. Your service to our country proved that.

I beg you to support raising the debt ceiling. You were elected in a traditionally Republican district. But Kirsten Gillibrand proved that Democrats can win here. The American voters - Democratic, Republican and independent - DESPERATELY want representatives who represent them.

Gay Marriages Celebrate Marriage Equality

Unlike Cinderella, for gay couples in New York State last night's stroke of midnight was a good thing. From Niagara Falls to Long Island marriages were performed as close to midnight as possible in a good-natured scramble to be "first." Among the newlyweds were couples who had been together for decades and couples who were in the early stages of commitment.

I celebrate with them as I privately give tribute to a dear friend who did not live to see this day. To a man who loved his partner through sickness and health until death parted them and yet was never able to emerge from the closet of subterfuge and euphemism that his religion and training had constructed around him. A man who lived a difficult life with courage and fortitude. I will not speak his name here. I have no right to break the silence he kept so painfully while he lived.

But in his memory I rejoice that others can choose openly what he could not.

Government Revenues

Come default on United States' debt, available revenues will be applied against prioritzed government obligations. If Social Security and Medicare are not the first priorities, the contract between the government and its taxpayers will have been broken.

Why do I say this? Because Social Security and Medicare contributions are made from every worker's paycheck and these contributions are matched by their employers. This money is "earmarked" for those programs. It is collected for the sole purpose of funding them.

Do our policymakers acknowledge this fact? A qualification I hear every two weeks when I make my small company's payroll tax payment gives rise to doubt. According to the programmed voice that guides me through the EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payer System), the amounts specified "in the subcategories of Social Security, Medicare and Federal Income Tax are for informational purposes only."

I have always feared those words meant that all withheld taxes were swept into the general fund and the government recognized the Social Security and Medicare components only when it suited its purpose.

Washington is Wonderland!

Let me get this straight. The proposal for solving the debt ceiling crisis is:

Congress will pass a bill forbidding raising the debt ceiling by a set amount. The President will veto it, thereby raising the debt ceiling by that amount. Am I hallucinating or is Washington totally, irrevocably OUT OF ITS COLLECTIVE MIND?

Military Spending Okay in Congress

With solid by-partisan support  the House passed a $649 billion 2012 Primary Defense Budget - an $18 billion increase over 2011 levels.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/08/usa-budget-defense-idUSN1E7670UA20110708
I guess we know what is definitely OFF the table in budget cutting discussions as our peerless leaders approach the debt ceiling deadline.

Good thing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are ON the table, huh?

Who do tramps and thieves in Congress think they are kidding?

Tax cuts for the rich - good thing.

Homeland Security neutralizing the Bill of Rights - good thing.

Cuts to any progressive program remaining - good thing.

Regulation of our water, air, environment, food, drugs - bad thing.

Support for education - bad thing.

Anything at all to "help" our corporate masters - SPEND, SPEND, SPEND.

Social Security on the Chopping Block?

This morning I heard on NPR that President Obama is willing to put Social Security and Medicare on the block in budget/debt ceiling negotiations with Republicans. Of course he is. President Obama always gives away his bargaining chips before he gets any balancing concessions from the opposition.

Last January, in the wake of the Obama/McConnell tax bill, I expressed concern the bill's 2% cut in Social Security taxes (that ripped an estimated $120 billion from government revenues) would weaken the program's financial position and increase its vulnerability to those who would first weaken and ultimately abolish it.

According to NPR, additional Social Security tax reductions will be considered for economic stimulus. Let me get this straight - the Democrats are willing to further weaken Social Security in the name of stimulus at a time when any lowering of taxes is a bad, bad idea?

For months we have witnessed the disembowelment of progressive programs and the de-funding of  regulatory agencies that were created to keep us safe and protect our environment.

The "small" people (that's you and me if you have any doubt) are being sacrificed on the altar of debt reduction while the wealthy grow richer, corporations hoard reserves of trillions of dollars and jobs continue to fly off-shore.

"Great job, Brownie."

Humanity 35. Planet Earth 6.

As we enter the fourth quarter, Humanity has a comfortable lead over Planet Earth. It has exploited its opponent's resources, expanded its population globally and its highly industrialized society increases in power by the second. Planet Earth did score two field goals during the third quarter but has found no defense against Humanity's onslaught of touchdowns as forests were cut down, water sources contaminated and increased refuse from carbon-based fuels poured into the atmosphere.

A tidal wave here, an earthquake or volcano there, melting ice caps and rolling cycles of drought, famine and flooding were shrugged off by Planet's formidable opponent.

Planet Earth's offense did appear to be strengthening as the quarter ended, but Humanity not only held firm, it kicked the offense up a notch, accelerating species' extinction in a spectacular play of ocean contamination. It is now poised to wrench new sources of power from Planet Earth's resources of gas in shale beds with a renewed attack on the water resources. Huge swathes of the Gulf of Mexico are turning into a tar pit. Radioactive waste spews into the ocean off Japan. Environmentalists are murdered in the Amazon. Oceanic dead zones expand.

Oops - Planet just scored a third field goal as monster forest fires and record-breaking floods went global and even threatened to engulf nuclear power plants in the United States. Several more Pacific Islands disappeared under the water.

The game continues... .

"They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot," Joni Mitchell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlNZN94_u-s&NR=1

Budget Wars

Over the past 10 years, the United States has waged two long wars. These wars have been VERY expensive. Elected officials of the Republican Party have been strong advocates of these wars.

For most of those 10 years, appropriations to fight America's wars were kept "off budget," funded with "special" bills. Bills that passed with strong bi-partisan support. It was not until President Obama took office in 2009 that the cost of our wars was included in the budget.

During these wars, for the first time in our history, our government lowered taxes during wartime, putting the ENTIRE cost of our military adventures on credit cards held by major investors like China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the global financial industry, the Social Security Trust Fund.

The interest on the U. S. Government's credit cards was faithfully paid to debt holders like China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the global financial industry. (To the Social Security Trust Fund? Not so much.) NO payments were made on the principal. Government debt increased by trillions of dollars.

After years of speerheading profligate spending, Republicans now insist on steep cuts in government spending to reduce the deficits they played the major role in creating. But they adamantly refuse to support any measures that would increase revenues. They also adamantly refuse to curtail military spending.

Are you with me, here? Republicans are refusing to raise revenues or decrease military spending and they insist America must live within its means. How, you ask, can this be done?

First, unofficially "restructure" government debt by "forgiving" the debt owed to the Social Security Trust Fund. Ignore it. Pretend it never happened. Categorize Social Security as an "unfunded" entitlement. Cut Social Security benefits to the bone, raise the retirement age and privatize its sister program, Medicare (effectively dismantling it).

Second, dismantle the regulatory agencies that were created to oversee the financial industry, protect our environment, the workplace, the food and drugs we consume. Entrust private industry with "self regulation" (an oxymoron).

Third, defund agencies that support and create infrastructure - public education, roads, bridges, railroads, power grids, water and sewage systems.

Fourth, "restructure" public pension systems and neutralize public unions to decrease public liability.

Fifth, privatize what were once government responsibilities - military logistical support, roads, water supplies, prisons.

This is not going to end well.