America at a Crossroads 2012

The Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, and the General Anathema in America (2012)

by Tommy Lee Jenkins, III

There is something gravely wrong in America today.  Yes, there is extreme income inequality and disparity coursing through our society.  Yes, we are a nation still at war.  Yes, we find ourselves in trying times and the future seems uncertain.  All of these things are correct, but there is something else wrong.  I feel that we, as a nation, are beginning to realize that something is wrong, but we just can't figure out what it is.

America is at a crossroads in 2012.  It is an election year.  We are in the midst of our third Great Depression.  Those familiar with American history know that there was a Depression in 1893, 1929, and by all definitions 2008.  The fact that most public officials, journalists, and politicians avoid using the word "depression" doesn't change the fact that we are in one.

When Barack Obama was elected for President, a lot of things were going on in America:  We were at war in two countries, the World and U.S. economies collapsed, unemployment shot to record highs, the price was shooting into 3 digits per barrel, Iran launched its first rocket into space, pirates re-emerge as a leading threat to cargo ships off the Horn of Africa, and President George W. Bush signs the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act into law.

Let mw start out by saying that I like the Republican Party (at least, I like the ideals that they claim to espouse in front of the camera).  Limited government, keeping taxes low, promoting free market capitalism, reigning in spending, and being strong on defense.  These are ideals that the Republicans had plenty of opportunities to prove their expertise in from 2000-2008 and every time, they failed to live up to their own ideals.  This is so much so, many frustrated Republicans led a movement to break away from the establishment Republican Party.

THE TEA PARTY

I have been disappointed with the Republican party, but I really didn't find anything appealing about the Tea Party either.  There was something artificial about the Tea Party.  It didn't seem like a genuine movement.  It was bought and paid for by the Koch brothers.  The majority of the members of the Tea Party were White Americans.  They were more well-off than most Americans, which is probably why one of their biggest gripes was the elimination of taxation.  They would show up to Tea Party protests wearing loaded guns.

Their list of demands in the interest of a better America were:

1. Identify Constitutionality of every new law
2. Reject emissions trading
3. Demand a balanced federal budget
4. Simplify the tax system
5. Audit federal government agencies for waste and constitutionality
6. Limit annual growth in federal spending
7. Repeal the healthcare legislation passed on March 23, 2010
8. Pass an "All-of-the-Above" Energy policy
9. Reduce Earmarks


The Tea Party was too divided.  Their organization was not centralized.  They were not inclusive and they had all kinds of zany ideas which called into question how they were able to make the big paychecks they were pulling down.  I did, however agree with them when they saw and acknowledged that there was something drastically wrong with the Republican party.  Out of the list I agree with demanding a balanced federal budget, simplifying the tax system, auditing federal agencies for waste, and passing an "all-of-the-above" energy policy.

OCCUPY WALL STREET

Occupy Wall Street was the cry of the rest of America.  There are 2 origin stories for Occupy Wall Street.  The official story about the Occupy movement was a blog post from the Adbuster's Media Foundation.  It can be verified and it is a fact.  I call into question the origin of the Occupy movement because something similar to it went on before the blog post and it was the 2011 Wisconsin protests.  This is working class America.  This is white collar America.

The Occupy Movement represented a more diverse and larger segment of the American population.  I found that I could relate more with the Occupy movement.  There were homeless people there, trust fund babies, and secretaries.  There were lawyers, documentary film-makers, and teachers.  These people weren't griping.  They were going through real financial and social upheaval and they took to the street so their voices could be heard.

The Occupy Movement could agree that they wanted:

1. More and better jobs
2. More equal distribution of income
3. Bank reform
4. Reduction in the influence of corporations in politics
5. Economic justice
6. Re-implementing Glass-Stegall
7. Term limits
8. Fair tax code
9. Student loan forgiveness
10. End outsourcing
11. Abolishing the electoral college
12. Foreclosure moratorium
13. Reform public education
14. No censorship of the internet
15. End the War in Afghanistan

As much as I dislike the Tea Party, there are some obvious overlap in what the Tea Party wants and what the Occupy movement wants.  Both want an overhaul of the tax code.  Both want a balanced federal budget (the Tea Party wants to cut programs and lower taxes; Occupy wants to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations).

Long live Occupy... Occupy will never die.

AMERICAN INDEPENDENT VOTERS

That brings us to me -- the American Independent voter.  We don't want anything really.  We just want to get up, go to work, come home, wind down, and relax.  It becomes hard to lead a simple kind of life when it feels like your world is collapsing around you.  We appreciate our power as voters and wield that power with all of our might.  We recognize that we have to do more than just vote.  This year its our turn to react to the unjust practices in our political system, but we haven't quite figured out how to respond to the injustice yet.

President Obama Nails It in 2012 SOTU Speech

President Obama Lays Out Blueprint for America's Future
by Tommy Lee Jenkins, III

Tuesday night, January 24, 2012, President Obama laid out a blueprint for how America should proceed in it's navigation through the current economic downturn we, as a Nation, find ourselves in our current segment of history.  This is an election year, and President Obama seems un-phased by the challenging odds of him being re-elected for a second term as President.

And, by all means, should he be phased by the competition which presents itself on the GOP side of the 2012 election?

His opponents for the 2012 Presidential bid are Newt Gingrich (a GOP candidate that claims "conservative values" while leaving one wife on her death bed and offering an open marriage with another) and Mitt Romney (the poster-child of the 1% and thus what is wrong and unfair in the disparities of wealth and prospects in America today).

Nothing needs to be said about the GOP that has not already been said.  Newt Gingrich took money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while Americans were being foreclosed upon and struggling to stay afloat.  Not to mention that, the last time Newt Gingrich was in power in Congress, he was ousted by his fellow Republicans for ethics violations.  There are many assertions that Newt Gingrich makes during his debates, but he backs his assertions with either no evidence or faulty logic, at best.  Newt Gingrich is delusional enough to believe that he is adept enough to debate Barack Hussein Obama in a general election in which he would have to appeal to a majority of Americans, including the ones he has shunned and spoke disparagingly during the primaries currently underway.

His GOP opponent, Mitt Romney, released his tax returns (2 years worth) a few hours before the President was due to give his much-anticipated State of the Union address.  He made a speech in a venue with a banner in the background that read "Obama Is Not Working".  The choice of words is characteristic of Mitt Romney's disconnect to the general population.  Case in point:  While employment in America is getting better, there are still many Americans who remain unemployed; the sign automatically places Obama as one of the unemployed and stresses Romney as one of the 1%.  This is in addition to the fact that Mitt Romney does not feel that $400,000 in speaking fees as being a lot of money; Mitt Romney professing his love of firing people who provides services to him; and paying less than 30% worth of taxes on his income that we have been made aware of.  It is left to be said that he may have income that goes untaxed in the Cayman Islands.

It is almost as if President Obama cannot lose this election with competitors like Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.  I do not fault the GOP candidates with being who they are.  I fault them with being so tone-deaf as to not be aware with the images they are projecting of themselves to America as a whole.

There are some problems I have with President Obama.

1.  President Obama has an over-idealistic view of the GOP's willingness to work with both him and the Democrats in order to get America on track and headed in the right direction.

2.  President Obama governs more like a conservative Republican (at least the ideals they espouse to be for) than the Republicans themselves and he still chooses to do so despite their constant obstructionism and vehement opposition.

3.  President Obama does a poor job of commanding the dissent among Republicans and getting them to put the needs of the Nation above their own self-interests and govern in response to the voiced concerns of their constituency.

4.  President Obama does a poor job of marketing his vast accomplishments and explaining to the American people how his decisions are in their best interests.

5.  President Obama was far too late in using his bully pulpit to whip the GOP in line with passing legislation that would benefit all Americans.

President Obama hit it out of the park with his 2012 State of the Union address.

President Obama gave the speech of a lifetime in his 2012 State of the Union address.  It was a speech that drew stark contrast to his GOP competition.  He hit a lot of the points that the GOP candidates avoid speaking about or speak about in such a disconnected nature that one wonders what reality they live in.

President Obama hit the points of killing Osama bin Ladin, saving the American auto industry, providing tax incentives for corporations to create jobs in America, income inequality, enforcing immigration in a responsible way, providing support for veterans, focusing on education and research, diversifying America's energy options, and generally digging America out of the hole we find ourselves in.

Obama needs to continue and intensify the tone he set in the SOTU speech.

Despite the speech and the lack of competition in the GOP, President Obama could still lose his re-election bid.  I work at a hotel that has a bar.  We get a lot of conservatives and Republicans.  Most of which reminisce over President George W. Bush, if you can believe it.  In overheard conversations, they lay the blame of them having to lay off workers with President Obama.

Rasmussen states that 48% of Americans believe that Romney would do a better job with the economy while only 39% trust Obama more.

In a New York Times/CBS News poll, a grim picture for President Obama is painted, as only 43% approve of his handling of his job as president and a whopping 49% disapprove.  The poll shows a disapproval along party lines but, the 49% disapproval rating is for all Americans regardless of party.

My hope is that the SOTU speech that President Obama gave gives him a much-needed bump and that he manages to maintain that increase in the polls.

Despite my hopes, it seems that President Obama does need to actively pursue his bid at re-election.  While America is in a bad place right now, I shudder to think of America with a President Mitt Romney at the helm, or worse, President Newt Gingrich.

I fancy myself as an independent.  I do not support President Obama blindly.  I just feel that I have been robbed of the choice to select a president due the serious lack of a viable alternative.  I am going to vote for President Obama, but it is always nice to have a choice in the matter, instead of the inevitability I find myself with in electing President Obama.