Popullism

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.

For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

The People's Vote

There is a missing discussion surrounding the Clinton-Obama race. That is the challenge to the idea that only the first primaries in the Democrat Party Nominating Priamries are important. That is one of the reasons why ao many states tried to jocky up calendar to get a forward position in the primary line up. Since 1968, the party has tried to shake a neurotic fear of an open Convention. The goal is to decide on a candidate as quickly as possible - most times precipitously. The candidates move on a downward path toward defeat.

The Convention in Chicago was a disaster, and I submit that the Democrat Party died in the streets of Chicago in 1968 and has been on life support ever since. Our political culture is defined by the Nixon-Reagan-Bush politics rather than the Roosevelt-Kennedy-Clinton politics.

If the Democrat Party is going to become a Party that can get things done it has to have a grass roots network - like the one that is trying to emerge - at its core. THe Party needs to bury its fear and revive the Party.

What is Populism?

Populism is a system where the People, all the people, determine their own destinies by participation in a Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The Populist Government would have at its core the interest of the people, all people by the means outlined in the Constitution of the US. Populism. rejects the idea that free speech can be protected for any one but the person speaking. Corporations are not people and never will be. People are people, and we do not need any redefinition of what a person is. Money is a tool to benefit man, rather than man a tool to benefit money. Under the Constitution of the US the people own every square inch of this great land and they and they alone ultimately determine how that land is used and how our natural resources are gathered and used. Time for the people to take their place at the national table and demand to be heard and followed. Use the Comment function to suggest people who would be better Candidates for President or any other office than the co-opted lot we have now.

Elizabeth Warren - Plain Speaking

Basic Economics

Economics is not a science, but the scientific method is of some use. One of those uses is to put the various factors in the economy into an understandable relationship. Once such relationship is stated in the Keynesian Formula that consists of the following make-up:

Consumption + Investment + Government Spending + Exports - Imports = Gross Domestic Product (C+I+G+X-M= GDP or Y)

Consumption is all of the purchases of Goods and Services. Investment is all the money that is placed in stocks and savings. Government Spending is all purchases by the government, and does not include "transfers". Exports less Imports means all that we sell outside of the US less that which we purchase outside the US.

This explains half of the economy. The spending part.

Gross Domestic Product is the same as income "Y". D = Y - T + t, where "D" is disposable income. "T" stand for taxes and "t" stands for transfers. So disposable income is equal to Income less Taxes plus transfers.



The two sides of economy look something like a plumbing system.

The Texas Populist

The Texas Populist is a blog designed to present the History and Political Philosophy behind the Populist nature of the United States.  It is the opinion of the author that the success and failure of a nation is based in the People.  A Democracy has to accommodate all people and their political will and the best way to achieve a consensus of what the "people" need and desire is to foster the ability of each group to express those needs and desires in an organized way. 

Today the people need a voice.  Their voice is filtered through media that are owned and run by people who a specific interest.  The people who work, be it in factories or in the fields, are the engines of production.  That is true whether it is in the supply of goods and services or the demand for goods and services. 

This in not in any way saying that the people who manage, finance, and own the Means of Production are not of a balanced importance.  It is to say that they are well capable of making their case for their needs and desires on their own. 

The Power of Power

The United States and its Allies have built a strong industrial and technological economy and social structure. That structure is based upon Oil. The major political players in our world now look to the future and see Oil as a strategic resource. The problem with that is that the location of the oil is fixed, so countries who have oil have power over countries that do not.

Additionally countries that need oil may see it worth a fight to control Oil. That means that this Century will be one that is dominated by Oil Wars.

There is an alternate solution to that bleak prediction. There is no reason why we must fund a military-industrial complex and defense industry to build weapons that have not and will not keep us safe, when we can have an equally strong economy based on alternative fuels.


Right now Russia is using its huge Oil and Gas supplies as leverage to dominate the European Theater. The future of the US is in alternative energies for both environmental and security reasons.

Study War No More

The Bush Administration is conducting a policy of Imperial Expansion. The NeoCons who have taken over the Republican Party beleive that there can be an "American Empire" in the 21st Century.

They have found in John McCain a person who will conduct this policy should he be elected President.

To believe this notion one must pass to threshold of reason. First, one has to believe that it is possible to have an empire in the 21st Century. There is a lot of experiments going on with this idea. China is trying to see if there can be a true "peoples" capitalism where power is centralized in Government. Russia is experimenting with Economic Bloc building that resembles the old Communist Bloc but with money and resources as the power rather than arms - though arms are never far away.

The US is falling back into the Military-Industrial mode similar to 1930's Germany, with thte intent on controling militarily the worlds supply of oil and gas.

Civics Primer

I am amazed by how little people in the United States understand how Governemnt works when it comes to the three Branches of Governemnt. A democracy can not function with a ill-informed population.



That is what we have. In 2006 a Zogby poll was taken and "sixty-one percent of people could not name any justices"(1) of the Supreme Court. Also in another Zogby Poll "only 42%(of US respondants) could name the 3 branches of the United States government: executive, legislative and judicial." After reading all the posts on the FISA dust up, it is not hard to believe.



But just naming the three branches of Governemnt is not really enough though. One really needs to understand what the roles of each branch are and how they work together, even in opposition, to make government work.



First, the Constitution sets up the rules for how Government is constituted. It says who gets to do what. To get the votes of enough states to ratify the Constitution, a set of ammendments, known as the Bill of Rights, was attached because people in 1789 feared abuse of Gevernemnt.







(1)http://www.elsblog.org/the_empirical_legal_studi/2006/08/the_polls_name_.html

There is no Win in Iraq

I wrote the following bits the day after the election, but time has past since then. I am hearing some hopeful ideas that are close to what I propose below, but also a tendency to want more troops and "Win" in Iraq. There never was a win in Iraq and the sooner that the American people understand that, the quicker we can stop the bloodshed.

Failure of the Democrats

The change of power has not very mush to do with any credibility that the Democrats may have. In fact, the Democrats have shown consistent inability to do more than wait until the Republicans to falter. That lack of any real plan to lead places an expiration date upon their ability to establish a sense of comfort with the independent middle which elects people to office.

Understanding the New World Order

There is a new world order that is taking shape. It does not preclude influence by the United States, but it limits how that influence can be exercised. The old solutions are not viable any more and it will take strong leadership to help the American people to understand that and to accept the coming changes. Communications and Transportation have made it more practical to utilize resources where they exist rather than moving resources to industrial locations. As a result the U. S will be in heavy competition not only in Labor but manufacturing as well. While a rise in minimum wage may be a short term fix, it does not address the larger issue that our labor and production costs are too high on terms of the rest of the world.

That is a complex set of changes ahead that includes bring our life style in line with the realities of sharing the worlds resources with the rest of the world in a more equitable way.

Iraq

It is still untenable for Americans to acknowledge that there is no win to be had in Iraq. We have a narrow window opening in January to make hard decisions in Iraq, after that the Tar Baby that Iraq has become will no longer be just Bush'’s but the DemocratÂ’s as well.

I believe that the following plan is at a good foundation from which to build a solution to the Iraq mess.

First the US has to cede the lead role in Iraq to the international community. The UN must take the lead with the assistance of NATO, where the US still has some major influence and the only organized multinational force that is capable of providing the peace keeping required to move Iraq from the unstable status it has had since its creation.

Once a multinational force has been created and replaced the US forces in Iraq, the country needs to be partitioned into Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd sectors. Then the people of each section can decide where they future lies. The fanciful idea that outside forces can control the future of a sovereign nation by force or manipulation should be put to rest along side the graves of brave men and women that have died attempting to establish and maintain such control. The Sunnis are more naturally aligned with Syria, and Jordan. The Shiites are more aligned with Iran. The Kurds have sought continuously to establish Sovereignty. IT will take time to allow each of these roups to determine if each will be sovereign or incorporate with adjoining countries. It seems that it would be useful to have One Iraq become three sovereign countries.

The US should withdraw or draw down the number of troops in Iraq as soon as the framework for a multinational force has been established. Then the long destructive occupation of Iraq can end and the US can move on to figuring out how it can constructively engage the new realities of the 21st Century.

Veterans Day 2005

A salute to my fellow veterans.

Hope slowly dies that sanity will prevail and our troops be home alive in 2005. Democrats are no better than Republicans on Iraq. No matter how we should have done it, we can not just put away our guns and be peace makers. We failed from the git go and our presence there serves no useful purpose. We are just killing people, ours and theirs, for no reason.

I have a young friend who wants to join the National Guard. I pains me. I cry for him and for the many young faces I saw that died in Vietnam. I salute him his willingness to join when the the privileged of this country who support the War, won't join. They are like our gutless, immoral leaders who could not be bothered to serve when it came their turn.

My young friend want to be a police officer and is from a large family with modest means. Today the military is a way for genuinely good and decent young men to get training and an education. My friend will be a good police officer, the type I want to deal with when needing to be protected or being stopped for a minor violation.

I hope and pray that the Liar Bush doesn't send this fine and honorable young man to a needless death. Over the past few years in this awful exercise in hubris, we have lost over 2000 good and honorable men and women who should have come home to really make America Strong by being Policemen, Firemen, Teachers, Mothers, Fathers, and all the other things that we as Americans needed them to be.

If you really want to honor a veteran, thank one and then commit yourself to working for the day the last veteran is buried and there are no more. To the day that we stop seeing War as an instrument of policy and stop electing to office those who do.

You Are On Your Own

You know, Life does not come with an insurance policy. From the time you pop out of the womb, you are on your own.  You have to breathe for your self and while food at that tender age might be placed in front of you, you still have to grasp onto that nipple and suck it.

Bad things happen in life.  When they do, there are not automatic reimbursements for your trouble.  The world does not owe you anything.  It is no one’s responsibility to tell you that bad things happen.  It is no ones responsibility to tell you when those bad things are coming and how to prevent them.

When you enter this cold cruel world you are on your own.

Now some people looked around after a while and figured out that if they work with some one else life get a little easier.  Then a little later some one figured out that groups of people working together made life even easier.  That did not change the truth that you are on your own, it just meant that when everyone takes responsibility for their part in the group, the group does better.

Personal responsibility.  If you live on the Gulf Coast, you are going to get hit by a Hurricane.  There have been hurricanes for centuries, big ones like Katrina and Rita.  If you live on the Gulf Coast it is your responsibility to pay attention and be prepared.

The Government of the United States does not owe you anything – you are the Government of the United States.  You owe yourself to take of yourself, your family, your friends, your Town, your County/Parrish, your State, and your Country.

If you are not happy that George Bush is a Elitist that has no idea what it means to have to work or actually take care of himself, then get off your butt and get involved in the process of Governing yourself.  If you like George Bush because he takes care of your pampered little over-paid butt, you might want, like Michael Brown, to start looking for a different appendage from which to succor.

Did anyone really think you could phase 2 million people out of a metropolitan area in 24 hours without some major problems?

Anyone who pulled there head out of their rear end in the last couple of weeks and saw chaos and disorder as the earth continued to exist despite our attempts to deny that physical reality, just needs to get about making some constructive actions toward fixing the problem or stick there head back in that outhole where they have comfortably kept it while we accumulated over 3 million people in the midst of some of the deadliest chemicals and toxins dispersed along the path of regular and often destructive natural disturbances.

Headlines screamed “Houston Gridlocked”.  Well, guess what, Houston is Gridlocked everyday.  Houston is a city where geniuses like Tom Delay fight tooth and nail to keep mass transit away so myopic Oil companies can continue to sell gas to self indulgent people who ride to work each day, one person to the vehicle, AC blasting, Radio blaring, Ear stuck to a cell phone, and Starbucks overpriced black water or Mc Donald’s fat laden breakfast being guzzled or shoved down their greedy gullets, like that is reality and not the stifling heat and choking exhaust that surrounds them.

What happened in Houston was a lot of people had, not the Winds of Rita blow over them - that will happen later today - but the Winds of the reality drive then straight in to the realization that we have designed a really bad way to co-exist with our planet.

CNN, ABC, NYT, WaPo, WaTi, MSNBC, NBC, and the rest of what has become known as the MSM., if you are just know figuring out that we cannot get people out of harms way in our major cities, then go back to the Caribbean and resume you search for missing coeds.  Who needs you.  Blogosphere, Right and Left, same goes to you.

If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem, just like George Bush.  If you have made it to the top of the heap, that is not a position of privilege, it a position of responsibility.  In case you have not noticed, you may be on the top, but you are still part of the heap, and that heap has slopes from which one may fall or be shoved.

So lets all take a deep breath.  What happen in Houston yesterday was not pretty, but today most people who wanted out of the path of the storm are out.  They will all return home and go on with their lives.

So the question becomes, so we go back to what we came from, or do we go back with an idea that maybe what we were doing doesn’t work so well.  Do we quit complaining about the high price of gas or do we give George Bush and his Oil Buddies notice that we want a better way to live than this.

The idea is not to try to plan to get 2.5 million people out of a centralized area in an emergency – we need to do that for the short term. What we need for the long term is to plan a way to technology to move people to areas in which to live that are not disaster prone and not concentrate them in a stress ridden Gridlocked dysfunctional cities.

It starts with you.  No one owes you anything; you are on your own.  Can you look around and figure out that if you work with others life can be easier?

Out of Words

It seems that I am out of words. I have been here before. The total futility of trying to change anything, unless it is for the worse, just gets overwhelming.

The war drags on and we need to get the troops home before the disarray in the Bush Administration creates some kind of additional disaster like the bombing of the barracks in Lebanon.

The plain and simple fact is that the vast majority of Americans didn't much care about the poor people of New Orleans before Katrina and we don't much care about them now. We don't want them to drown - at least not all at once - but we really don't want them to move into our back yard either. So we are putting "No Room in the Inn" signs on our cities and the displaced have to move on.

The social fabric of our country is slowly becoming tattered and frayed and we have no moral leaders. Those in leadership positions in the Church have lost credibility because they stepped away form faith and moved into politics. There is not some grand conspiracy of the secular world to belittle Christians, unfortunately the James Dobsons and Pat Robertsons of the our country have done that on their own.

Leadership in the Political world is non-existent. As strange as it sounds if I were to be tasked with deciding who the next president would be, I think I would choose Maxine Waters and John Conyers as her VP. As far as I can see they are the only ones with any real leadership in the whole elected US Government.

Humpty Dumpty falls on Powell

One of the arguments for staying in Iraq is the Powell statement that "You broke, you own it."

I agree with that. That does not imply an obligation to fix or repair the broken item. It implies that you pay for it.

In the wreckage that is the Broken Iraq, we have paid already, 1850 lives of Soldiers and 190 billion dollars. The price increases every minute.

It is being proposed that somehow we are suppoesed to "fix" the Broken Iraq. Powell does not apply here. Humpty Dumpty does.