Some Thoughts

I was watching an interview with Brian Williams a few weeks ago.  He was visiting with the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner.

I am prepared to take the high road (I almost always am, sometimes to my detriment…).  The Republicans won the House.  They get their turn.  I will try to not be the person that spouts without listening, believing I am the only one who is right, and if I talk loud enough, repeating myself enough times, I will convince others to my way of thinking.

(Actually, I prefer to let them shoot themselves in the foot.)

(But I digress…)

So, with open mind, I am listening to the interview.  I know Mr. Boehner differs from me in his fiscal opinions, in his take on the healthcare issue, and many other things.  That’s okay.  We are a nation of different opinions.

But…

Then…

Brian Williams broached the subject of Mr. Boehner’s cigarette habit.  He is, and I quote, ‘a committed smoker’. He has made a few efforts to stop, but none lately.  Mr. Boehner makes no apologies for is, says that is who he is, and that is that.

Well. Okay, then.

But guess what, Mr. Boehner?

I pay for your friggin’ healthcare.  Well, actually, it is the private payer plan offered to all federal employees, retirees, and their dependents, that subsists of several differents levels of covereage and premiums.  But it is a generous plan of which the government pays about75%.  Oh.  That would be the taxpayers.  Our congresspersons pay the remainder (up to about $300/month), depending on their choice of plan out of their paychecks (which are significantly larger than mine)...again paid by the governnment.  (Which again...would be us.)  To the best of my research, the plans are blue ribbon.

And yet…you want to vote to repeal, albeit symbolically, the healthcare reform bill.

He says it is a 'job killer'.  Because the rise in healthcare premiums are causing employers to not hire or to lay off.

I am casting about in despair at this.  I cannot….I cannot! be the only one that has seen healthcare premiums continue to climb for the 10-15 (at least) prior to the current debate, with out of pocket expenses rising and coverage dropping, totally eliminating any raises we might receive as employed persons.  At least for the 9 million of us who aren't federal employees.

Also.  We have been told there is no end in sight to this rise in healthcare cost.

I think I understand now, though.  As with many people who have nice and safe insurance programs, the thought of rocking their safe and secure boat is filled with all sorts of spooky.

And this man…smokes.  In spite of all we know...he smokes without excuse.  And he is now leading the House Healthcare debate.  I am filled with warm fuzzies.

Or not.

I heard this as I was putting on my shoes to head out the door for work.  And I must say…Wonderful Guy got an earful.  I had words, and they just came bubbling out.  There was no highroad to be taken as I stomped strode walked into the kitchen to fill my travel mug.  I was filled with vitriol.

(Did you know that ‘oil of vitriol’ was what sulfuric acid was known as back in the day?)

Political Discourse

I am as tired of being hit over the head with the Constitution by Tea Partiers, as I was being whacked with the King James Version of the Bible by those conservatives in religious circles I have passed through in my life.

I read this earlier this week in Newsweek, in an article titled ‘America’s Holy Writ  (How Teapartier’s Got It Wrong)’.

“‘When Barack Obama took office, experts rushed to declare an end to the old battles over race, religion, and reproductive rights—whether because of Obama’s alleged healing powers, or the Great Recession, or both. But these analyses ignored an important reality: at heart, the culture wars were really never about anything as specific as abortion or gay marriage. Instead, as James Davison Hunter wrote in Culture Wars, the book that popularized the term, the conflicts of the 1990s represented something bigger: “a struggle over…who we have been...who we are now, and...who we, as a nation, will aspire” to be. Such conflicts, Hunter explained, pit “orthodox” Americans, who like the way things were, against their more “progressive” peers, who are comfortable with the way things are becoming.

For the forces of orthodoxy, the election of a black, urban, liberal Democrat with a Muslim name wasn’t a panacea at all; it was a provocation. So when the recession hit, and new economic anxieties displaced the lingering social concerns of the Clinton era, political fundamentalists sought refuge in a more relevant scripture—one that could still be made to accommodate the simpler, surer past they longed for but happened to dwell on taxes and government instead of sinning and being saved.’” [emphasis mine]

I have come to believe it’s not about the Constitution (or the Bible), because I see now, as I saw then, a certain ‘cherry picking’ going on.

Those that heaved out their Bibles to denounce women in leadership (then, and perhaps the acceptance of gays now) kindly looked over those scriptures addressing slavery, cutting of hair, and certain laws regarding how ownership of property is handled.  Also, the obligatory tithe off the top of one’s income to one’s house of worship is almost always skipped over.  Not always, but very, very often.  I know.  I was once the wife of a minister.

And now, in likewise fashion, I am being beaten about the head and shoulders by those who do not like what has happened in the past two years in Washington.  It is said that the actions of our elected leaders is not what the Founding Fathers intended, and indeed, is unconstitutional.  We need a return to the basics of that revered document.

Make no mistake.  I revere the Constitution, and believe that Adams and Madison and Jefferson and Franklin were amazing, intelligent, and visionary individuals that pulled off an incredible feat in forming this embryonic nation with farsightedness and intellectualism that humbles me.

And by necessity, I believe we have built on that document.  Less than 150 years ago, we had to spell out that slavery was against the laws of this country (Amendment 13).  And only 140 years ago, it was noted that race was not to be used as a bar to voting (Amendment 15).

It was only 90 years ago this document was changed to give women the right to vote (Amendment 19).   And less than 50 years ago, this document spelled out a law against poll taxes, leveling the playing field for ‘less than wealthy’ voters (Amendment 24).

All of these events moved this country out of a comfort zone and closer to what we aspire to be.  All of these events were met with calls of derision by those who took the change uneasily, or just plain felt the change. Mostly people don’t like change.  I sure didn’t, when the X took his leave.  My whole apple cart was upset.  I understand this reticence.

But my little recitation here begs a question.  If we are going to hearken back to the Constitution, as our founding fathers envisioned it, are we talking just going back a couple years?  I might suggest some constitutionality issues the Bush administration had with search and seizure (Amendment 4) and right to a speedy trial (Amendment 6). Those don’t seem to get much press these days.

Do the Tea Partiers wish to take the Constitution back beyond Civil Rights?  Perhaps take back my right to vote and to own property?

Or perhaps like Clarence Thomas (and we are not even going to go there, my friends…especially today…).  From the same article as I quoted above, ‘Thomas sympathizes with a radical version of originalism known as the Constitution in Exile. In his view, the Supreme Court of the 1930s unwisely discarded the 19th-century’s strict judicial limits on Federal power, and the only way to resurrect the “original” Constitution—and regain our unalienable rights—is by rolling back the welfare state, repealing regulations, and perhaps even putting an end to progressive taxation….As Cass Sunstein, a centrist legal scholar at the University of Chicago who now serves in the Obama administration, has explained, “many decisions of the Federal Communications Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and possibly the National Labor Relations Board would be [ruled] unconstitutional” if Thomas got his way. Social Security could be eliminated. Same goes for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve. Individual states might be allowed to establish official religions. Even minimum-wage and maximum-hour laws would be jeopardized. [emphasis mine]

I am betting Tea Partiers do not wish to hearken back to a pre-social security, pre-medicare constitution.  Which is another thing…

Those that have their government provided healthcare all tied up in a nice tidy package, paid for by taxes, cannot seem to see how that is government run healthcare.  And those that are screaming about how health insurance premiums are going up this year, are not relating to the fact that the rise in health insurance premiums have effectively taken away all raises, and eaten away at our standard of living for the past decade and a half.

I think I have now completed my political discourse, inadequate as it may be.  I am a chemist, not a political scientist.  However...

Separation of church and state?  Amendment 1, people.

Today I Am Angry

I am angry because not being savvy in economic ways, I could see the mortgage/housing crisis coming over the last three years. At least.

I am angry because those with those with the knowledge of economics, LOTS of knowledge, and the power to do something waited until the timbers were on fire and falling about our heads to start a process of any sort.

I am angry with a president that has used up all his credibility, and when he tells me ‘Congress must act now! Or else!’, I think…uh…wait a minute…really? WMD, anyone?

I am angry with members of congress who are responding to re-election pressures rather than thinking for themselves.

I am angry with people who were put in a position, by themselves and by others, to owe more monthly on a house than they could pay.

I am angry that my health insurance took a leap in cost and in deductible this past year (of which I am having to use), and that my employment is iffy, and my retirement took a hit the last two weeks, and I am not one that overextended myself with a bum mortgage or credit cards.

I am angry with the press for the drama/panic that makes the current crisis better news. (And I am grateful for our free press so we know what is going on.)

This is a situation that will affect us all, of that I am sure.
I don’t know the answer.
I think something may have been done earlier, but I am not an economic guru, and I don’t know what that might have been.
That is history. This is now.
It is a global problem, and we are all in this together.

Yep. Today I am angry.

Ground Hog Day

6 more weeks of winter? Whateva.

Look what I rented yesterday. Wonderful Guy is going to be away on business next week, so I shall keep myself out of trouble this way. (except for the part of having to buy more roving to feed the beast...) I plied part of the white merino and brown alpaca at my lesson yesterday (I named it Chocolate and Vanilla, because I am so original), then finished it up at home. I tied it off and had it laid out ready for soaking when The Cat Who Would Be Queen left her place in front of the fire and pounced on it! She who takes very little interest in much of anything anymore suddenly wants my homespun! After being told that was not appropriate behavior, the Cat Who Would Be Queen settled for adoption.

Super Tuesday means a caucus for this state and I am going to participate for the first time. I have voted in every election since reacing voting age, taking that privilege very seriously. I believe that this election has spurred my recognition of the caucus process because of the significance of the democratic candidates.

In 1969, I sat in an assisted living home (nursing home back then) with my grandfather and saw the landing on the moon. He said, as the landing craft descended, that he 'wouldn't be surprised if the Russians snuck something in on us'!

In 1989, I saw the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the subsequent decline of communism. I thought to myself (with my permed hair, sweater with shoulder pads, and high waisted jeans) "This is truly a surprising and marvelous thing to witness."

In 2008, we have a woman and an african american man as the two front runners for the democratic presidential candidate. Hillary Clinton is the first woman to win a presidential primary! The first woman ever. Whatever one might think about her politics, it is one giant stip from 100 years ago when we didn't even have a national right to vote.

We've come a long way, baby.