No way to run a government. US vs Them
On the Local Front: News of the last week/ before 10/16/13. And now the games continue?
Bus drivers strike in Boston? They are clearly not happy that the National Labor Relations Board is not open to hear complaints or grievances, so they stranded 33,000 kids in a wildcat strike?
The Mall in front of The Capital stays open for a rally on Immigration Reform. 8 Senators and 150 others are cuffed and indicted? , as they vow to bring up and resolve Immigration Reform this year. Permanent Resident? Road to citizenship? Meanwhile, a taxpayer decides to mow the lawn in front of the Lincoln Memorial and he’s evicted by Park Supervisors?
A young Houston Billionaire, donated $10 Million to keep Head Start Funded in 6 states slated to run out of funding. If the Funding is continued, The Arnold’s donation will be treated as a loan and repaid. People Power at work, Thanks to John Arnold and wife Laura for coming forward while others ” dithered”.
Cuomo rejects Con Ed rate hike of $450Million for now. Actual voting takes place in December. This rate hike deserves to be turned down, Con Ed like most utilities in our area have “wasted money ” rather then fund back up generators or equipment required to keep the City lit and functioning when emergency strikes. Let’s support the Governor and say No to Public increases, the Utilities should ” tighten their belts”?
I heard The President state that the shut down is contributing to ” big business ” delaying job creation for 6 months. Caution prevails. No joke, if I thought there was any truth in this statement , I would have protested more vociferously. ” Big Business is pocketing profits” and has been delaying new employment all along, as Main Street crumbles?
For 20 years we have been increasing our dependence on Technology while we have been under educating our youth. Instead of burdening our young with debt. Major Corporations could have been paying them to attend schools qualifying them for future jobs. Far fetched, not really, Lucent Technologies and Bell Labs hired kids with Bachelor Degrees, and paid them to get advanced degrees at Stanford . What happened to those programs and the can do spirit? After 5 years of Recession, is it time to spend those stock piled Trillions on future returns?
And this next article, submitted by a Nobel Laureate, discusses the plight of The Nation’s scientists:
Financial Times 10/10/13 US NOBEL LAUREATE WARNS OF BRAIN DRAIN: Rothman speaks out on budget crisis; NIH scientists hit by shutdown. Amid the clamour of the shut down one top scientist has warned that ” the adventurous research” that this week won him the Nobel Prize in Medicine will no longer be possible in the future if there is no end to the ” dire” funding deficit from the US government. As government continues to defund NIH , down 32% from 2000, a real brain drain will occur in the States as scientists go elsewhere to pursue their projects and dreams. Opportunities exist Dubai, China, India. The list is endless with great benefits, I’m sure!
Further thoughts on the state of our Nation. NY TIMES 10/111/13. US jobless claims show sharp increase The number of American applying for unemployment rose by 64,000 to a seasonally adjusted 374,000 an increase attributed to California finally processing claims after a computer upgrade. Makes me wonder, is the Recession over? For whom?