THE POLITICS OF A WIDE DIVIDE

In these remaining days before the year 2012 national elections, the United States sits as a house so divided the tenants are in need of a "time-out" room!    In this divided house there exists a body called Congress, a place where laws are enacted,and budgets are passed,and (once upon a time) differences of opinion were respected. In Wiley's nearly four score years, he has never seen a political divide so wide in the United States. Bills are passed in one body of the Congress (the House) that are killed in the Senate with the reverse happening to Senate bills in the House, The divide is primarily due to ideological differences. This divide is so wide it may take years to close (or what may seem like forever). The House is particularly worrisome because while its Republicans and Democrats speak on many things, today they barely agree on anything.

One of the vivid images of this time that captures the essence of the growing divide in the Country is provided through a video from a Town Hall Meeting in 2009. It shows a woman waving her arms and angrily shouting "I want my Country back!"(religiondispatchess.org. sept. 30,2009) It is unknown if anyone asked her: Who took your Country lady? How did they do it? To date, no direct answers to the questions, but the Democrats and the Black President and the Pollsters are probably the prime suspects.



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SINCERELY:  An observation regarding Olympian Champion Gabby Douglas
By  Light  and  Love    Sept. 24, 2012   7:00 PM ET
    
Soon after Gabby soared into the spotlight after winning two gold medals and becoming the first African American young lady to win the Olympic All Around Gold Medal; and assumed her position as the adored juvenile of the 2012 Olympics – she encountered a harsh reality.  Some outspoken African American women wanted to change her hair.  Instead of celebrating, and tweeting about the talent and the joy that comes with being the first African America young lady to win and achieve this honor, they chose to focus on stealing the joy by tweeting about her hair.

By the time the media and these African American Women finished reducing her, the most vibrant young athlete at the 2012 Olympics she wilted.  I’ve never seen a child go from radiant to dismal more quickly.

Please join me in sending Gabby Douglas an abundance of light and love; and praying that she becomes all that God intends for her to be.
                                   
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THE POLITICS OF A WIDE DIVIDE (Continued)

Dividing The Vote

A more troubling example of the division in the Country is the dubious effort by Republican Legislators and Governors to enact voter ID laws. These laws deny citizens their right to vote if they are unable to provide a State issued Photo-ID, or other State approved document(s).  Most of these laws have been passed  to suppress the vote in areas that have traditionally supported Democrats. While voter ID laws may not be a bad thing, winning an election because thousands of people could not afford the voter ID costs in time, travel, or money is not a good way to mend the growing division(s) in the Country.

People will want to vote because they understand the 2012 elections will be one of the most critical elections of the Century. They also understand that underneath the sheets the new requirements reek of racial and ethnic bias (like, in effect, a Poll Tax).

The editorial boards of the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Los Angeles Times have all written that Republicans are behind the push to restrict voting and that their objective is electoral gain at the expense of voters likely to favor Democratic candidates. (protectingthevote.com)

Reduce Debt or Invest or...

Next, in this divided house there is the left versus right failing fight to reduce the national debt (just over 16 trillion dollars) and grow the economy. (washpost.com). According to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke: “Many factors suggest this situation will be difficult to turn around quickly,” the Fed chairman noted, “including the slow recovery of the economy and housing market, continued uncertainty surrounding the future of the government-sponsored enterprises, the lack of a healthy private-label securitization market, and cautious attitudes by lenders.”  (nafcu.org/News/2012_News/May/)

Also, consider this: while  the economy is barely breathing, wealthy businessmen and banks are sitting on 3 trillion dollars, saying they are waiting until there is more "certainty" in the Markets (translate: after we get a new President).   By the time they decide to invest again, China and/or India will be setting up shop on Main Street!

Apparently, through negligence or madness, Congress has put the goose that laid the golden debt into a spiral dive so deep it will take years to get out of it. While Quantitative Easing III (QE III) purchases of securities by the Federal Reserve Bank may slow the dive and save the goose, only the Congress and the President can fix the debt problem!

In their recent effort to tackle the National Debt, the Republicans and the Democrats in Congress passed the Budget Control Act signed by the President in 2011. This Act created what is now a new problem for the Congress. The Act contains a sequester provision that mandates $110 billion dollars in automatic spending cuts equally divided between defense and domestic programs beginning in January, 2013, unless the Congress passes and the President signs a budget before January 2013 that addresses the Country’s debt. Now, with the sequester looming larger each day, and no budget agreement on the horizon, the Republicans (and some Democrats) in the Congress are saying they now want a “DO OVER AFTER THE ELECTIONS” to avoid the sequester and not go off the cliff.

“Off The Cliff” is the expression that symbolizes what will happen in 2013 if the sequester is implemented (there would be the cuts to domestic and defense spending of some $55 billion each under specific guidelines). Fearing they will have to lay off workers, government contractors would like to stop the sequester. However, federal officials, appearing at a hearing on Capital Hill, “acknowledged the cuts would be damaging but also said contractor worries may be overstated”. (censerm@washpost.com)

A Vote for The Sequester

From Wiley’s point of view, the sequester is the one (and only) currently available tool that will cut spending and reduce the deficit in a manner WHERE EVERYBODY SHARES THE PAIN! If there is a DO OVER AND NO SEQUESTER, and the Republican Party maintains control of the House after the elections, they will demand and get cuts in line with the Paul Ryan Budget Plan that maintains the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, converts Medicare to a fixed amount Voucher Program and cuts the Medicaid payments to the states.   FEAR NOT!  THE 47 PERCENT CAN HANDLE WHATEVER HARDSHIPS ARISE AND BE BETTER FOR IT TOMORROW.

So, mobilize the voters! Organize and assign voter-supporters to all areas where surveys and voting patterns indicate Poll Watchers will attempt to intimidate voters and/or attempt to bully Poll Workers to unjustifiably deny SOME AMERICANS their right to vote! The challenges are to win the election, reduce the debt, and make the investments to grow the economy.

NOW is the time to just say “YES” TO THE SEQUESTER! When the American people are faced with a fair challenge, they will rise to meet it. We rose out of the Great Depression, went to the moon, and have now experienced a spectacular landing on Mars. We have the ingenuity and the ability to not only survive but to strive in adverse conditions. Now is the time to take a stand.  It’s time to walk up to the “Fiscal Cliff”,  STEP OFF, and sing out to the people:

                            Tell those, ol’ Pharaohs (Mitch, Mitt, and John), to
                                        “let the rich folks tax cuts go!”

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