How F’d Are We dot Com

Dr. Ron Paul is an Idiot

Congressman Ron Paul vows to abolish the IRS, put an end to the war in Iraq and to eliminate current trade agreements. These are the raving rants of an idiot, or at least that is what his opponents will have you believe. The fact of the matter is that Paul’s ideology of how to create a better America, for all Americans, involves serious reform. Perhaps the presidential hopeful’s most extravagant promise to America’s citizens is the eradication of the Federal Reserve, only to have the gold standard reinstated.

The following is the skinny on the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve Act.

Founded in 1913 the Federal Reserve is to: furnish an elastic currency (abandon the gold standard), allow for rediscounting commercial paper (create new money at will), and supervise banking in the United States (expand credit).

The truth is that since the creation of the Federal Reserve, Americans have fallen to the mercy of cyclical monetary policy and recessive economic conditions. In other words, it is because the Federal Reserve consistently floods the market with money that artificial growth, in various sectors, is followed by recession. This is a direct cause of the devaluation of the dollar and the increase to the national deficit.

Paul wishes to put an end to the domestic issues and political ramifications that Federal Reserve policies have on the United States. He realizes that without a gold standard, congress is free to continue spending recklessly; under the assumption that monetary expansion will correct the negative infringement on the economy.

In a statement presented to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002, titled Abolish the Federal Reserve, Paul noted, “policy should only permit currency backed by stable commodities such as silver and gold to be used as legal tender.” Why silver, why gold?

Because precious metal is what the market chose! Remember the term laissez-faire? If not, here is the Encarta Dictionary definition: the principle that the economy works best if private industry is not regulated and markets are free.

Dr. Ron Paul is no idiot. He merely sees through big business lobbyists and supporters, and attends to the people who truly matter—you and me. His theories on how to address the issues which affect American’s, aren’t to favor his personal objectives or to help secure his legacy; they are to better the lives of those he is sworn to represent—the citizens of the United States of America.

RJ

Posted in Politics | 6 Comments »

TV Commercials Suck!

I hate TV commercials! And I hate the networks that insist on running 8 commercial breaks every hour, even more! You know who those networks are—Comedy Central, MTV, Spike, Discovery Channel, FOX; just to name a few. Is there any greater lack of viewer appreciation than subjecting us spectators to endless advertisements?

Now I’m not suggesting that the solution is to remove commercials all together. I’m simply asking that the TV networks limit the intervals. For example, the average half-an-hour time slot will show roughly 22 minutes of programming and 8 minutes of advertising. Ideally I would prefer to watch all 22 minutes of my favorite shows consecutively; then watch the 8 minutes of commercials before the next show begins.

I realize the chances of this happening are extremely slim. But here, right now, I vow to religiously watch any network that will go so far as to show me 11 consecutive minutes of programming, before breaking for commercials—even if it ends up being Lifetime!

In all seriousness, this isn’t a farfetched proposal. TV viewers in the United Kingdom aren’t forced to watch the network sponsors’ advertisements every 6 to 7 minutes. In fact, many British networks will show the whole 22 minutes! They often only have one break halfway through the show when they present a movie; which is kind of nice.

So, if any of you big-shot network suits stumble upon this post… Please begin to treat your viewers with the respect and dignity that we deserve. Give us commercial free programming! Show your advertisements when we want to watch them—after the show! Don’t run the opening credits then immediately break to commercial, that’s like a slap in the face! It’s not that TV viewers hate ads, it’s that we would prefer to learn about special offers and new products during a better time; like when we’re not already watching a show! Please help us to help you, by preventing the unnecessary recording of your shows only to have the ads fast-forwarded through!

RJ

Posted in Miscellaneous | 3 Comments »

Give Americans the Healthcare They Deserve

According to a 2006 National Center for Health Statistics study, there are 43.3 million uninsured U.S. citizens. This means that roughly one in seven of you, your family members, your neighbors, your co-workers, your peers, etc., have minimal financial assistance when it comes to personal healthcare needs. That’s right! The world’s richest and most powerful nation doesn’t even provide full medical assistance to 15 percent of its own citizens!

Critics of universal healthcare will argue that the uninsured are generally low-income individuals and children; therefore they are eligible for state and government funded healthcare programs—Medicaid, Medicare, or some other health coverage program funded by Social Security. The problem with this system is the middleman—HMOs. Whether you have private health coverage or qualify for a state assisted health coverage plan, the money used to pay for medical expenses passes through the HMOs’ hands before reaching the doctor’s office or hospital that performed the procedure. But most importantly, HMOs determine healthcare eligibility!

So if the HMOs are the problem, the solution would appear to be the removal of their existence and roll in healthcare completely. Not necessarily, or at least not yet. We merely need for them to function as what they were initially intended for… health insurance. Many nations that practice universal healthcare—the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Canada, Cuba, etc.; also offer their citizens additional healthcare coverage at an expense to the insured. Basically this form of health insurance allows those with the means, to receive premium health services; such as shorter waiting periods to see specialists and private hospital rooms.

These countries don’t allow HMOs to determine the level of coverage individuals are eligible to receive.

Instead, everyone receives the healthcare they are in need of—no questions asked!

Shouldn’t Americans be allowed that same freedom? …All Americans, from Navajos, the homeless, veterans, Blacks, Whites, the elderly, Hispanics, Texans, New Yorkers, Muslims, Democrats, and even Detroit Pistons fans??

RJ

Posted in Healthcare | 3 Comments »

Cheers to the American Poli-Idiots (politicians) of the Last Decade!

I’ve been scratching my head over the last decade wondering when the idiot towel would be thrown in. I’m sure that our Government is doing things I’m not aware of and that many of them are good for the nation and the world. However, the bi-partisan bull that is creating a divided nation and leaving matters unresolved needs to stop. Isn’t our government composed of mature, educated, responsible adults? Can’t they see that the bickering and inability to decide on clear initiatives is starting to snowball and leave politicians thinking that they’re supposed to act like little kids?

The branches within our government are supposed to balance the government and make sure that no person or party gains too much power, but are they supposed to act like wee little lads and cause problems just because they didn’t get their way in the past? Over the past several years I’ve read many articles and have seen several news broadcasts stating that branch X or politician X is going to make it hard for something to pass because that’s what was done to them in the past. Okay, Poli-idiots let’s just step back and remember why you were elected or appointed – to make decisions and initiate programs that are in the best interest of our nation and not your ego.

I got an idea; let’s spend millions and billions of dollars on researching eggs in Indonesia or on finding a way to grow greener grass. Let’s not focus all of our money and resources on things that will directly and immediately affect or nation. Who cares if our kids won’t have the same luxuries that our families have enjoyed for generations. Who cares if America is no longer a leader in technology or that our economy is slowly crumbling, let’s just keep bickering and not getting things done. What’s another year?

I’m not too sure if Presidential candidates used to act like little lassies before I was around, but I find it hard to believe that George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or FDR would run commercials that took deliberate stabs and their competition. I’m pretty sure that these men had principles and knew that our nation needed leaders as opposed to creative attacks on presidential candidates. I’m not sure about you, but I’m looking for a politician that can stand up and act as an adult would – can’t we get a role model? Is there a candidate that can talk about what our nation needs and how they’re going to address it as opposed to what X did and how that makes them unfit to lead our nation? I’ll admit that some candidates have given their opponents some nice compliments and that not all candidates take part in the name calling – when I see this happen, I listen a lot more.

I don’t know; I just wish we had a government of leaders with vision, focus, motivation and principles; a government that sees that our nation is faltering and realizes that it’s only a matter of time before we lose global influence and freedoms we’ve always enjoyed. Where are the leaders that can unite our nation and realize that a united nation is more powerful and more influential, leaders that understand that they need to work together and that aren’t afraid of losing a friend or two as opposed to selling out a nation? Where are our leaders of the past? We need leaders that make decisions and don’t take those decisions back when the media throws a little criticism in their face, but most importantly we need leaders that can lead and can be looked up to. Cheers to the Poli-idiots of today as it looks like they’re all we have!

I know, I know … I mean How F’d Are We anyway?
JG

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How F’d Are We dot com

How F’d Are We dot Com is a blog meant to discuss the many problems America faces today. Our trillion dollar plus debt, weakening image as world leaders, lack of environmental concern, the Iraq and Afghan wars, shaky national leadership and immigration problems will be major focuses of many of our posts but anything that illustrates how f’d our nation is-is an acceptable topic. Some posts may be simple questions hoping to entice you to rant, rave and have a little fun.

Don’t get mad at us; our posts are just opinions from observations and experiences. How F’d Are We dot com will feature several guest posts and welcomes any controversial post. Currently, we have 3 active bloggers that will be relieved to finally have a platform that we can unleash our frustrations and highlight our opinions as well as engage in constructive conversation with many fellow bloggers, and any visitors that are unlucky enough to stumble across our internet rants and foolish posts!

We plan on having fun and might even engage in some political satire from time-to-time but our underlying message needs to be remembered - our nation is faltering from a lack of strong leadership, weak parenting, bad decisions and a whole pile of crap I’m hoping many of you will mention. We are fortunate that many Americans recognize our nation’s faults and thousands are working to make a difference, however, our country is in need of real change and real solutions or we will keep seeing less than real results.

As a world leader we need to act as leaders do. We need to take necessary steps so that the world will follow and trust us once again. We need to lead our nation in the right direction so that we can once again be looked up to. Our nation is no longer great and it is because we are divided. We need change and the only way to is for us to voice our opinion and figure out, through posting and comments, what should be done. Long live America – the free, the proud and the brave.

Let’s get the ball rolling before it’s too late – who do you think can lead our nation in ‘08?

JG

Posted in How F'd Are We dot Com | 1 Comment »