The Games People Play

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Election 2024, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, voting rights

I titled this post as I did for a very good reason … our lawmakers at every level are playing games … with our lives.  They are playing with our right to vote, with the bridges that just waiting for a heavier-than-average rush hour to collapse and kill thousands, they are playing with the rights of Blacks, Hispanics and those of Asian descent to … well, to live, actually.  And they are playing with numbers … how they can profit the most from the 98% of us who live from paycheck to paycheck.  Oh yes, folks, our lawmakers are great games players, just not very good representatives of We the People.

For the People …

Over the past 2 weeks, I have spent hours pouring over the For the People Act, the legislation that is currently collecting dust in the United States Senate.  This is legislation that, in addition to much else, would guarantee every eligible person age 18 or over the right to vote.  But the Senate seems to think … wait, let me amend that before I go any further … the Republicans and two Democratic members of the Senate … seem to think that We the People should not have a voice in the government we support financially!  The more I study this bill, the more I am growling, for there is literally NOTHING in it that should give rise for concern.  If, that is, we had legislators who put country above party, who truly cared about the future of this nation, who treasured integrity and honesty above profit and power.  Sadly, we don’t.

I will have a post, more likely 2-3 posts, summarizing this bill, what it would mean to you and I, and the Republicans’ objections to it within the next week or so, but for now, suffice it to say that as long as our elected officials care more about themselves than about us, as long as they are tethered to the former guy’s wagon, and as long as there are enough uneducated people in this nation who will fall for their lies, this bill is likely to be burned at the stake before it gets a chance to see the light of day.  It’s a damn shame that we will almost certainly end up trashing the democratic principles on which this nation was founded so that the likes of Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy can stay in power and keep the money rolling in … to their bank accounts.

Now about that infrastructure bill …

There has been much hassle over the infrastructure bill while bridges and roadways further erode, while people are still drinking water that is proven unsafe, but hey … let’s thank those bloody Republicans for keeping our tax dollars safe, shall we?  Oh yeah … rather than spend them on our safety, they can spend them to build and buy more military hardware, better guns, even more nukes that will someday in the not-so-distant future destroy us all!

Today, the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) announced that the infrastructure bill, often touted as a bipartisan bill, though I question this, would add in excess of $250 billion to the already bloated federal deficit over the next decade.  Well duh … bridges, roadways, water & sewer systems … they cost money!  They also save human lives, but hey … no biggie, right?

Now, since the CBO is so happily crunching numbers … I have another request for them.  How about calculating the amount of additional revenue this nation would garner if every single person with a net worth over $1 million was forced to pay a fair share in taxes as the rest of us have been doing for all our lives?  Yeah … I want to know how much of that money required for infrastructure could be covered if the likes of Jeff Bezos, Exxon Mobile, Smith & Wesson, and every other corporation or individual worth millions paid the same rate in taxes as the rest of us do.  I’m betting these assholes could more than cover the infrastructure, upgrade our schools, and cover Medicare for All if they just opened their wallets and paid … the same progressive income tax that the rest of us pay!  How ‘bout it CBO … you game for calculating this one?

During my career years, ages 13-57, I never once begrudged Uncle Sam the amount I spent on federal income taxes.  I am a CPA and for years have prepared clients’ tax returns, but I refuse to lie or cheat on their behalf.  But I admit that I see red when I see that certain corporations paid zero income taxes, or that a multi-millionaire, nay billionaire, paid somewhere around 1% – 2% while the average John Doe is paying 12% – 25%.  C’mon, Congress, close the damn loopholes!  Tax the wealthy … they can afford it … I can’t!

On April 19th, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln spoke these words in his infamous Gettysburg Address …

“ … that these dead shall not have died in vain– that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

That government of, by, and for the people is perishing from the earth.  It has had a dagger thrust into its heart and is just now gasping its last breaths.  Are you content to let it die?  Will we sit back and watch as those with money take power unto themselves and subjugate the rest of us?  Sigh.  And on that note, I bid you a good night.

32 thoughts on “The Games People Play”

    • You’re right … if the Republicans in Congress lie awake nights, it is because they are plotting against the people of this country, not because their missing conscience has returned.

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    • Power just seems to breed greed and corruption, doesn’t it? Few seem to actually believe that their purpose is to attend to the good of the people in the nation, and even around the globe. They seem to think only of themselves. xx

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  5. Jill, this infrastructure bill is only about ten years late. It was the one thing labor and business agreed on and it still could not get done. The former president is still bemoaning Republicans trying to get this done saying it will be a win for Biden. No, it is a win for American people. I distinctly recall the Democrats saying they would work with the former president on an infrastructure bill which could have set the stage for a different tone in his presidency. Instead, he chose to try and take everyone’s healthcare away with some of the most god-awful legislation, that fortunately did not pass. Keith

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    • Indeed it is … any day now, I’m expecting a major disaster that could have been prevented. And now, Manchin has decided, based on the CBO report, that he cannot support the bill either! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. The former guy doesn’t care a whit about the people … for him, it is all about him, and that was true even when he was the illegitimate leader of this nation of 330 million people. HE won, or HE lost, not we. And now, his minions are carrying on his ‘work’.

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      • Jill, these folks need to do something, anything. People Congress need to do their jobs and worry less about keeping their jobs. I fully expect the deal to fall apart because of the tribal way things are. Keith

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        • Agreed. It appears that they plan to do NOTHING, or at least as little as possible, until after the midterms next year when they believe they will have a majority and then they will “own” the country in their minds. One of them, I can’t remember who right off the top of my head, even stated that was the plan … to keep Congress in a state of chaos until after the 2022 elections. I hope it backfires on them and they all lose their jobs!

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          • Jill, maybe they will vote on the Infrastructure bill today, but there are some who do want to drag this out. Those who just want chaos should resign as that is not governance, that is a hissy fit. Keith

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  6. Looks like we have something of a lesson out of Exodus 32 going on here.

    1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

    2 And Aaron* said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

    3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

    4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

    5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord.

    6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

    7 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

    8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

    9 And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

    10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

    * For Aaron read Republican Party.

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  7. he Republicans seem determined to delay by any means every policy the Democrats want to put forward until it’s too late to do anything this session. Biden might as well put through everything he can, that doesn’t need the agreement of Congress because any promises of bipartisanship on the rest of the bills is just smoke and mirrors. There’s talk of bipartisanship on the For The People Bill once it’s been pared down a bit, it just won’t happen as the Repubs won’t help legislate for something that will end the disenfranchisement they’re currently doing in all Repub run States. They have no intention of dealing honestly with it when their way may give them the majority after next years interim elections and all it means is taking the vote away from millions of ethnic minorities who they think shouldn’t have it anyway.
    Cwtch

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    • Indeed, it seems to be the goal of the GOP to obstruct and delay everything until fall, when nothing will have changed except the bridges will be even more likely to collapse, more states will have passed voter suppression laws, and the people of Flint, Michigan, will still not have potable water. However, Biden is very limited as to what he can do without the consent of Congress. Hell, he hasn’t even been able to get a single ambassador confirmed yet! You’re right … the only way Republicans will win the presidency again is if the voter suppression laws are allowed to stand and We the People no longer have a voice in our government. So, rather than spend their time actually developing policies that would help people and therefore be popular, they would rather lie, cheat and steal, which is precisely what they are doing. And the foolish people in this country are standing for it, rather than making their voices heard, screaming loudly for change, protesting at every chance. We just sit back and wait for the inevitable, and then we’ll cry in our beer and ask “How did this happen?”. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
      Cwtch

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