ENIGMATIME

TRUMPING THE FUTURE
Would a politician lie to trade the future for the sake of his own career? Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey did. He scorched a major project in progress to raid the funds for his benefit. A much needed10 billion dollar tunnel linking New Jersey with New York was killed by Christie to promote his image as a cost-cutter, claiming his state would bare 70% of the total cost when, in fact, the actual share was only 14.4%. He then used the funds from the abandoned project to lower gasoline taxes by 2 cents, running on the motto, “The man that lowered Taxes.” Christie is a good example of the Republican strategy to ignore the future by beckoning a return to the past, unabashedly using mindless shibboleths like “Spare our children and grandchildren from backbreaking federal debt,” when, in fact, the major increases in that debt happened when the GOP held office. Now that the GOP has finally seen a candidate emerge to run against Obama, namely, Romney, a man who truly represents the rich, he can be counted on to carry out the GOP plan to reduce taxes on the rich, all in the name of so-called fiscal responsibility (namely, a bigger share for the Haves) and all at the great expense of America’s future. It’s almost laughable to think of a multi-millionaire sitting in the White House who claims the disadvantaged are just fine with the safety-net, while worried that the rich are over taxed, To date, the Republican strategy to reduce government income while offsetting debt is secret. You can bet it tightens the belt on the 99 percent, while helping the so-called job-creators to rake in even more moolah, while letting the future take care of itself. With VP Christie at his side, Romney and his kind will laugh all the way to their accounts in the Caymans and Switzerland.

AUSTERITY, INSTABILITY AND CONFLICT
You don’t have to go to Greece to find this combination of circumstances, it’s right here in our own backyard. Fortunately, at a lower level, but at hand, nevertheless. Many of Obama’s supporters think he’s a “shoo-in” for a second term. That attitude promotes indifference. Romney has money, which can make a big difference. A key issue appears to be the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. The president, a constitutional lawyer, signed the bill, meaning, he considered it in compliance with our constitution. The GOP has challenged the “Mandate,” part of the bill, which requires all citizens to obtain insurance or face a fine. The GOP move indicates a conflict since the conservative Heritage Foundation first proposed the idea and Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, who used the concept in promoting the health plan in effect in that state. Obama originally preferred the “Single Payer” option, but adopted the GOP “Mandate” proposal as a way to get it through congress. A basic aim of the Affordable Care Act was considered an austerity measure as a way to bring down sky rocketing health care costs. Now the House Republicans have moved to repeal the independent board, a major part of the Act designed to control costs. Trying to understand why the GOP is against the “Mandate” when it was their idea in the first place, only promotes instability. It has been suggested that the GOP has but one goal, namely, to discredit our president, a venture that bodes serious consequences for the millions covered under the Affordable Care Act.

EMPOWERMENT
How many times have we witnessed the transfer of power from an individual or legal entity to another and watched the consequences of the change with dismay. How about those times when we picked a political candidate for an elected office based on his/her promises, then watch that person become a pawn to the party-line. Real empowerment comes with the possession of a gun. The NRA plays upon the fear that we will be unable to defend ourselves from criminals unless we own a gun, but ignores the fact that most deaths from guns owned by law-abiding folk involve the inadvertent use of the gun by family members as well as the gun owner. When a vulnerable person empowers someone to handle his or her finances, sordid stories of mismanagement abound. Empowerment in our lives comes from a wide range of sources, such as love, drugs, money, sex, law etc. How we control these forces shapes our lives. All these empowering factors enable us to guide the life we chose to live. Of course, outside factors play a part in our fate also, but no matter the situation, we always have the power to make a choice. With a world full of liars, we can’t set our hopes too high ere disappointment occurs. Depend on reason and compromise to find the light at the end of the tunnel.

THE BROCCOLI GANG
Reflecting on the current U.S. Supreme Court hearing about the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, it struck a cord of note when Justice Scalia expressed concern that that law, in his opinion, by requiring people to buy health insurance could open the door to giving government the power to make its citizens buy anything, mentioning broccoli, as an example. I know lots of people who hate broccoli, but I have never met anyone who hated health care. One can live a lifetime without broccoli, but at some point everyone needs a form of health care. It seems that Justice Scalia was resorting to distraction to favor his opposition to the question at debate. It is said that very analogy has a fault, and the broccoli/ Affordable Care Act analogy amounts to sarcasm and disdain, at best, rather than a creditable legal argument. In matters of legal interpretation, the Supreme Court justices may believe they are like God, however, I would like to remind the justices that the Bible makes no mention of broccoli. Therefore, the justices are not really God, but mere mortals. Smirking at a debater from the bench puts the judge Scalia’s character at the level of Shakespeare’s Falstaff. Justice Scalia is engaging in political activism, something he purports to hate. The public deserves better.

OUTRAGE
Recently, Bill Maher, wrote a column that appeared in the NY Times suggesting that the country establish a NO OUTRAGE DAY as a national holiday to give us a respite from the never ending series of outrage from events that are highlighted in the press. Here at our  Old Folk’s home, at every executive council meeting of the residents’ association, we experience a cacophony of outrage over care and services, odors in the elevators, being up rooted from a claimed seat in the dining hall, where every meal has its angry detractors. Frequently, calls are made to “get rid” of residents exhibiting perceived bad habits or employees that speak in their native tongue. The return time from doctor’s visits is another sure fire outrage provoker. On the other hand, reports that a hundred thousand teachers have been laid off, or that half the country is living in poverty, are met with silence, as if such matters were not worthy of outrage. Everything has its parameters no doubt. When asked what they thought of the idea to establish a NO OUTRAGE DAY, without exception the response was “A bad idea because it would only unleash another level of outrage.” So be it!

DID HE REALLY SAY THAT?
Karla Rover was reflecting on the political debates currently underway. Did her favorite, Santorum, really say that college was for snobs? Or that he threw up when JFK said he was not ruled by the Vatican?  Did he really tell the Puerto Ricans to shift from Spanish to English? Did the old fat guy from Georgia really say the he would colonize the moon? And which one said he was going to get rid of Planned Parenthood? Get rid of most federal agencies? That political strategy is an Etch-a sketch? That Obamacare is nothing like the Massachusetts health care plan? That high oil prices is the result of Obama’s plan. That business executives will be allowed to decide which of its employees get birth control benefits based on the executive’s religious beliefs. And which party has not said one word about the National Rifle Association’s “shoot to kill” law in Florida. And does anyone really understand what that old doctor candidate hopes to accomplish to make our lives in America any better? Karla said she was certain the answers are in the tarot cards as she shuffled the deck.
THE REALITY SHOW #47

WHOPPER
Karla Rover, our conservative forecaster, was still in a daze the day after Rush Limbaugh had excoriated a Georgetown female student for testifying before a congressional panel in favor of women’s rights in the matter of health care. Why, Karla wondered, had her hero, Rush, resorted to such harsh expletives regarding a person who seemed so civically impressive. Maybe, she thought, he was under pressure from his pro-life supporters to let it all hang out on what they really thought of people who practiced birth control. Unfortunately, the consequences of telling the truth often comes with a price. Karla hoped that people would look at the big picture and forgive Rush, whose voice, conservatives desperately need, to beat Obama. Karla was certain that without Rush as the GOP’s chief spokesperson on the air, their desire to establish religious tenets over the personal lives of American is in jeopardy. Thoughts of Rick Santorum restored her hopes for the GOP’s future, believing that his unsullied religiosity was the only way the nation can rid itself of its sinful ways.

TIMEOUT
Karla Rover turned away from her crystal ball and admitted that she was perplexed. A lifelong Republican, she was disturbed at the very murky future evident in her crystal ball about the hopes of the GOP. Her hero, Rick Santorum, was jeopardizing his base with claims of having God’s ear, while the front runner, Mitt Romney, hired a stadium that seats 65,000 and spoke to a crowd of 1500 about how his wife has two Cadillac’s. Then there is the candidate who plans to colonize the moon with republicans to get two more senate seats. Karla never considered herself a prude nor did she have she any reason to brag about her virginity. She always thought that these matters were personal and private, so, she wondered, why was the party sticking its nose into this sensitive area of human conduct? And what has it got to do with solving the nation’s debt? Karla picked up her tarot cads, hoping to find a rational explanation of the latest GOP strategy.

LET’S BE RLUNT
Karla Rover, our favorite prognosticator, had high hopes for Senator Roy Blunt’s anti-contraceptive bill, which was designed to preserve religious freedom in America. A win, she predicted, would have helped Rick Santorum’s bid for the presidency by showing that religious freedom was the No. 1 issue for Americans. She scoffed at those that claim GOP’s idea of religious freedom was to wage war on the freedom of women or that the GOP’s jobs program was doing a “job on women.” Long an admirer of Santorum, she agreed with his belief that freedom in sex was an anathema, representing the moral decay of our great democracy. Just because Jefferson said our country needs a “Wall of separation between church and state,” Karla noted, doesn’t mean its defenders have the right to deny others the right to change it. Being up-front and honest about the GOP’s concern for the morality of our nation, Karla mused, makes Santorum and the GOP the true hope of our future. What America needs is the kind of bluntness, Blunt has taken, to put us back on the right path, she opined? Karla said she had to leave to catch Rush Limbaugh on the radio.

LIFE IS FULL OF SURPRISES
Karla Rover, who predicts the future, sees Rick Santorum as a shoe-in to replace Obama. Karla admitted that she is physically attracted to Rick and personally favors his platform as being the most rational of the four remaining candidates for the Republican nominee to run on their ticket for the presidency. However, she insisted, her feelings in no way affect her readings of the tarot cards or from her crystal ball, which clearly indicate a blowout victory for Rick. How can you fault a guy with 12 years of college and three degrees under his belt for urging young people to forgo higher education? The man, she emphasized, knows how to win, which is how he got into the house of reps by exposing the incumbent for living in Washing D. C. with his family, instead of in the district he represented. After Rick was elected, she explained, he moved to Washington with the family, claiming it was different in his case. Was that clever or what, Karla asked? Karla said she had tons of examples of Rick’s integrity, but by highlighting just a few items should be ample evidence that he’s the right man for the oval office.