Is The United States Broke ?

The Republicans have been going to a lot of trouble lately to paint the U.S. government's financial situation in very dark terms. They want us to believe if they don't slash government programs and balance the budget, the government will soon not be able to function and will default on its debt causing dire financial consequences.

House Speaker John Boehner says, "We're broke; Broke going on bankrupt." His spokesman, Michael Steel, says, "If an American family is spending more money than they're making year after year, they're broke." That may be true for a family, but as an analogy for government it just doesn't work. The definition of being broke is the inability to pay your bills, and the American government is not having any trouble paying its bills -- and there is no reason to believe it will have any trouble in the future either.

The fact is that a government has options that are not open to a family. They can sell bonds, raise taxes, and if necessary even print money. It would be preferable to not print money to cover debts, and taxes should be raised very judiciously -- but both options are always available to government when necessary.

In fact, this country is not nearly as overtaxed as Republicans would have us believe. In a survey of 28 developed nations by the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation it was shown that only two of those 28 nations have a lower tax burden than the United States -- Mexico and Chile. Currently all taxes totaled together (federal, state and local) comprise about 24% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -- by comparison, Great Britain's tax burden is 34.3% of GDP, Germany's is 37%, and Denmark's is 48.2% (the highest of all 28 countries).

There is clearly room to raise taxes in the U.S. if necessary (especially on the richest Americans, who are making more money and accumulating more wealth than ever). Just abolishing the Bush tax cuts for the rich would erase $400 billion a year from the deficit -- and taxes would still be lower than at any time since World War II.

But the United States most often covers its deficit by selling bonds. These bonds create a debt that in good times is paid through increased production and creation of new jobs (both of which bring in more tax revenue for the government). And that is what the government should be doing now -- spending money to create new jobs (while stopping job outsourcing) so new tax revenues can be created as Americans go back to work. Instead we are slashing government spending, which puts a downward pressure on GDP and job creation and growth.

If the government was really broke, unable to pay its bills, then it would make sense that no one would want to purchase the government's bonds. After all, no one wants to loan money that can't be repaid. But that is not the case. The U.S. is having no trouble selling bonds (borrowing money) and they are currently doing it at historically low interest rates. And those government bonds still maintain the highest ratting of AAA (by the rating firm of Standard & Poors).

Does the government currently owe a lot of money? Yes. Is the government broke? Not even close. But we might get there if we keep following the failed Republican economic policies. There is only one way out of this recession, and it is not to slash spending. It is through stimulus spending and job creation. The recession will end when Americans go back to work.

The government is not broke, but ordinary Americans are. We must stop listening to the Republican lies and  do what is necessary to put people back to work. Why must we relearn that lesson every couple of generations?

Vilsack Should Resign And President Should Apologize

By now you've probably heard the story about how right-wing conman Andrew Breitbart edited an innocuous video so it falsely showed a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employee, Shirley Sherrod, look like she was making a racist statement (if not, you can catch up on the story here). But I don't want to talk about Breitbart in this post. His actions were reprehensible and indefensible as everyone knows by now.

I want to talk about the reaction of other people to the showing of Breitbart's edited video -- a reaction that was unwarranted and just as reprehensible as Breitbart's own actions. The people I am talking about are Tom Vilsack, Agriculture Secretary, and President Barack Obama.

Immediately upon hearing of the video (from a source known for unfairly editing videos), Vilsack and his cronies at the USDA repeatedly demanded the resignation of Ms. Sherrod (pictured). This gracious lady tried many times to get them to hear her side of the story (a.k.a. the truth), but these knee-jerk politicians refused to take the few minutes to listen to their own employee. They had no interest in anything she had to say.

Can you imagine anything worse in an employer/employee situation than a boss who refuses to hear your side of the story? Any employer with even a shred of common decency should be able to take a few minutes to listen to what his own employee has to say ( and then to remove any doubt about what had happened, do at least a cursory investigation). But Vilsack and his underlings were only interested in saving themselves from some possibly bad publicity. The truth and the well-being of their employee didn't enter into the equation.

And it took them far too long to start acting like real humans even after the truth started to come out. First, Vilsack wouldn't budge, saying his stood by his decision to ask for Ms. Sherrod's resignation. Then, as the backlash began to build, Vilsack said he might consider rehiring Ms. Sherrod. Finally late yesterday, as the enormity of his unreasonable actions became known across the country, Vilsack tried to save some face by offering Ms. Sherrod a new job (I assume with a promotion and a raise) and apologized admitting he had actly rashly.

That's a good start, but it is not nearly enough. Vilsack has shown America in no uncertain terms that he is incapable of running the USDA fairly and competently in the best interests of both the American citizens and his own employees. Vilsack should be terminated from his job as Secretary of Agriculture -- a job that he has shown he is not qualified for. If he had any conscience, his resignation letter would already be laying on the president's desk.

The White House is not without blame in this whole affair either. Vilsack is claiming he acted completely on his own without any word from the White House. Ridiculous! If anyone believes that then please get in touch with me, because I have some nice ocean-front property in Amarillo that I'll sell real cheap. I don't for a moment believe he acted without contacting and probably receiving instructions from the White House.

President Obama owes Ms. Sherrod and the nation a public apology. I know that his press flunkie, Robert Gibbs, has issued an apology "on behalf of President Barack Obama's administration." But this was an egregious error and it demands an apology from the president himself. President Obama has been so afraid that he will look like he's favoring blacks over whites that he allowed this terrible thing to happen, and don't even say he didn't know, because if he didn't then he certainly should have.

Some may be unhappy at these demands of the Democratic administration. But if this had happened during Bush's administraion, I would have said the same. I can therefore do no less just because a Democrat is now in the White House.

2010 Census Mail-Backs Are Lagging

Are the right-wing nutjobs like Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) actually having an effect on the 2010 census? They have been telling a lot of lies about what the census will be used for. Or are the American people just lazier and procrastinate more than people did 10 years ago?

Something strange is happening, because the return of census forms is far behind where it was at this point 10 years ago. Nationally, only 46% of the census forms that were mailed out have been returned, compared with 72% have been returned nationally by this time in 2000. Here in Texas, only 39% of the forms have been mailed back, compared to 68% in 2000.

So far, there are only eleven states that have mailed in more than 50% of the forms sent out, and all of these states are still far behind the returns they had in 2000. All other states have less than 50% compliance. Here are the eleven states with more than 50% compliance and their percentages:

Idaho 53%

Montana 52%

North Dakota 57%

South Dakota 58%

Nebraska 57%

Kansas 52%

Minnesota 51%

Iowa 54%

Wisconsin 54%

Pennsylvania 53%

Virginia 51%

Here in the Amarillo area, the numbers are not very good either. Potter county has returned 43% of their census forms, and Randall county has returned 52%. Here are how some of the other large Texas counties are doing:

Lubbock 35%

El Paso 45%

Ector (Odessa) 43%

Midland 44%

Webb (Laredo) 26%

Nueces (Corpus Christi) 38%

Bexar (San Antonio) 38%

Travis (Austin) 34%

Galveston 38%

Harris (Houston) 35%

Fort Bend 41%

Walker (Huntsville) 34%

Bell (Temple) 37%

Bowie (Texarkana) 47%

Wichita 56%

Denton 43%

Collin (Plano) 45%

Tarrant (Ft. Worth) 45%

Dallas 39%

Taylor (Abilene) 50%

Williamson (Georgetown) 39%

Cameron (Harlingen) 26%

McLennan (Waco) 40%

These are terrible numbers. Almost none of them are within 20% of where Texas was in 2000. Texas is set to gain possibly 3 congressional seats if the census goes as expected, but if we have an undercount one or more of those seats could be lost. That means Texas would have less of a voice in the national government than it should have.

In fact, I am surprised by the low compliance rate nationwide. What is wrong with Americans in 2010? Do they not want their fair share of federal dollars? Do they not care whether they have the proper representation in Washington?

Let me be clear about a few things. The census information cannot be used by any other government agency -- not the IRS, not immigration, not Homeland Security, etc. The information given out is very broad-based. NO individual information is released to anyone. Therefore, there is no way the census can be used against any individual by the government (and the 10 questions they ask don't involve any sensitive information anyway).

And it is against the law to refuse to give census information. I doubt that anyone will actually be arrested for this, but it is still important for the government to know how many people are in this country and where they live. If large numbers of people refuse to cooperate, then it will just force the federal government to use mathematical formulas and other guesswork.

Come on, people. This is not political. Send in your census form. Today!

Government Does Something Right

The federal government has done something so simple and so imminently smart that I think it may well get praise from both the left and the right. It should anyway.

As we know, this country is in the depths of a serious recession (regardless of what the pundits say) that has cost us well over 8 million jobs, and these jobs might not come back for a long time. This loss of millions of jobs has placed Americans in serious need of help (many of them for the first time in their lives). People who were working and paying taxes and supporting their families, suddenly find in many instances that they can no longer even feed their families.

It has become so bad that workers at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC) just can't keep up with all the applications for food stamps. There was a backlog of 42,000 applications not long ago. Through much hard work and the addition of more employees, they have gotten that backlog down to 16,400 -- but that is still far too many.

Yesterday, the federal government issued waivers to allow food banks in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth to help the people in need that they serve to access the food stamp system. Their computers will be tied into the state computers of the THHSC. This will allow them to check and see if their clients are receiving food stamps, and if not, they will be able to complete the initial application process for them.

All final decisions on who receives food stamps will still be done by the state employees of the THHSC, but they will be able to do it much faster because the time-consuming initial application process will already be done. All they'll have to do is peruse it and make a decision.

This will have the effect of adding new personnel to the THHSC without actually doing so. And one of the best parts is that it won't cost the state or federal government anything (except for the minimal costs of hooking the food bank computers into the state system). That's important to a state that's already predicting a shortfall of funds in the next biennium and is cutting jobs in many state agencies.

It will also ease the backlog of cases and make it easier for applicants to apply for help. Many of these people need help for the first time and grudgingly go to the food bank, but are too embarrassed to go apply for food stamps (probably because of the stigma many politicians have put on it). The good people at the food bank can ease their fears and embarrassment and help guide them through the process.

I know there are many who think once a person gets on food stamps, that person stays on them forever. That is true only for a small portion of food stamp users (such as those with disabilities that prevent them from working and those who are too elderly and frail to work). The huge majority of food stamp recipients are only going to receive the food stamps for a limited period of time -- just long enough for them to get back on their feet.

If there's one thing that atheists like myself and religious people can agree on, it's that we are our brother's keeper. When our fellow men/women are in need, it is our obligation as humans to help them out. But it certainly helps when a solution can be found to help that process without adding further costs.

The food banks in these four cities are sort of a pilot program. If it works well in those cities, and I don't see why it wouldn't, then waivers could be issued for food banks in cities across the country.

U.S. Plane Violates Venezuela Airspace

A United States government plane "conducting counter-drugs operations" violated Venezuela airspace last Saturday. The plane flew over the Venezuela-owned island of La Orchila, which has a military base and a home owned by president Hugo Chavez. Venezuela claimed this was just the latest in a series of "provocations" by the United States and Columbia.

The government there called in the U.S. Ambassador and demanded an explanation, but the U.S. government just passed it off as "navigation problems". The S-3 aircraft is a reconnaissance plane that is based in Florida. It normally does recon for counter-narcotics actions.

This is a bit worrying. It is a bit strange that the plane just happened to fly over a military base and Chavez's home after losing its way. That sounds more like the navigation problems were planned.

All eyes recently have been on Iran, as Bush postures and threatens. Many of us have wondered if Bush was planning another military action before leaving office. But maybe we've been looking in the wrong place. Maybe his last military venture will be in South America rather than Iran.

It's no secret that Bush hates Chavez. Maybe he thinks an attack on Venezuela would be easier than trying again in the Middle East. I hope not.

Wiccan Religion Wins Battle Against U.S. Gov.

The Wiccan religion has won its court battle with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The Wiccans had sued the VA to allow its believers in the U.S. military to have the symbol of their religion placed on their headstones when they died. The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State had backed the Wiccans in their court battle.

The VA said they had agreed to the court settlement in the interest of the soldier's families, and to save the American taxpayers the cost of further litigation. This means the Wiccan symbol, a five-pointed star, will join 38 other symbols that have been approved by the VA to put on the graves of American soldiers.

Rev. Barry Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said, "This settlement has forced the Bush Administration into acknowledging that there are no second class religions in America, including among our nation's veterans."

There are currently 11 requests pending for the Wiccan symbol to mark the graves of American soldiers. The VA says these requests will be honored within 14 days.

This is a victory for religious freedom in America. In a truly free country, citizens should be allowed to practice the religion of their choice, or choose not to practice any religion at all. The government should not interfere. It has no business telling Americans that any religion or religious symbol is not approved.

These soldiers honored America with their military service. It was wrong for the U.S. Government to dishonor their memory by denigrating their religion. The VA was right in its decision to stop the court battle and recognize the Wiccan symbol.

This small victory for Wicca is a huge victory for all Americans.