The shouting is over and directions for the next four years selected. Judging by past behavior (the best predictor, psychologically, of future behavior), we can look forward to:
1. Continued and probably expanded tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and large Corporations. It is no surprise that the stock market soared on the election news: big business stands to gain greatly by the results. Predictions? A strong effort to curtail product lawsuits, no matter how valid, to protect bottom line profits and continued tax incentives to offshore jobs to third world countries where labor costs are low, worker protections minimal, and profitability unlimited.
2. Protection of drug companies by barring pharmaceutical imports from Canada and discouragement of the formation of purchasing cartels for Medicare and other public programs.
3. Semi-privatization of Social Security leading to the emigration of higher paid young employees into private plans, unavoidably diminishing the influx of money available for current and future recipients.
4. Expanded funding for the morass of Iraq and support for the new Afghani government, benefiting the Haliburtons of the world rather than the American worker.
5. Increasing isolation throughout the world as the perceived "big bully of the west" shuns any support which demands shared power and responsible accountability.
6. A decreasing emphasis on job creation as it is no longer a political football and therefore a dead horse. The hope is that the unemployed will eventually take minimum wage service and temporary jobs, the only widely available positions, and business will reap the rewards.
7. The jury is still out on what may happen to a woman's right of choice and committed homosexual unions but we would be well-served to fear cultural values legislated by anyone.
The Have-Nots - the jobless, the homeless, the powerless, and the poor - stand to lose what little they have in a nation where the wealthy gain ever more power while the working class, by the thousands, slips permanently below the poverty line.
"A society may be defined by how it treats its most vulnerable members."
Who said that and where is he when we need him?
Virginia Bola is a licensed clinical psychologist with deep interests in Social Psychology and politics. She has performed therapeutic services for more than 20 years and has studied the effects of cultural forces and employment on the individual. The author of an interactive workbook, The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a monthly ezine, The Worker's Edge, she can be reached at http://www.virginiabola.com
recurring cleaning service Mundelein .."Those who sacrifice essential liberty for temporary safety are not... Read More
President George W. Bush has unofficially won his re-election bid... Read More
Well we have certainly been reading a lot about prison... Read More
Last week, I began my look ahead to the 2008... Read More
A visitor to Moscow would be immediately struck by the... Read More
In many reports we see that the Federal Trade Commission... Read More
"The Jesuit priest John H. Surratt, proven to be the... Read More
In the future when we decide to help nations vote... Read More
The original vulgarity was bylined: ?The Constipation of America's Mid-East... Read More
The great leader and Senator from New York and wife... Read More
I am an incurably ill American male forced to leave... Read More
It is a law that we register deadly weapons with... Read More
Question: Dr. Vaknin ? is it true that you are... Read More
There is debate about the methodology of forestry and also... Read More
This is the third in a short series of four... Read More
As you can see from some of our previous articles,... Read More
IT'S NO LONGER NEWS THAT CHINA IS BECOMING A MAJOR... Read More
The newest pebble reactors are easy to build and manage... Read More
The FBI recently before Congress stated that Eco-Terrorism was on... Read More
Perhaps we should have printers with ink which has metallic... Read More
Tulipmania - this is the name coined for the first... Read More
Indonesia's Energy Minister, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, is unhappy with the modest... Read More
All countries have specific things that are abundant in the... Read More
Despite their signature on the Biological Weapons Convention of 1975,... Read More
Leave it to the Columbia City Police Officers Association in... Read More
tidy up service Buffalo Grove ..When you see hooded Klansmen walking up Pennsylvania Avenue to... Read More
Nothing could be more alarming for Americans than what I... Read More
Prison guards and corrections professionals are hard at work insuring... Read More
Many believe Al-Qaida already has nukes in the United States... Read More
Recently I got to talking with a gentleman at a... Read More
The UnbornWith all this cloning in the news one can't... Read More
Recently the FTC, Federal Trade Commission put forth a report... Read More
What is the so-called "nuclear option" that Senator Bill Frist... Read More
Rufus King: (Said to be the fifth most important person... Read More
Predicting the future is a tricky business. There have been... Read More
In today's Rants from Lance session I address the question... Read More
Industrial Recruiting. The absence of a state income tax in... Read More
Having been to every city in the country over the... Read More
We know that the International Terrorists like the idea of... Read More
The devastating loss in case of Elliot Spitzer for NY... Read More
I would like to discuss the blocked persons list of... Read More
The evacuation of Gaza is now completed, and the world... Read More
When you look at the news, immigrants are dying trying... Read More
Three years ago I published a book of short stories... Read More
Ohio's transportation sector seems to be strong, even with Ohio's... Read More
Perhaps a silent revolution is taking place, this time more... Read More
Well having studying the need for decreasing America's dependence on... Read More
Tulipmania - this is the name coined for the first... Read More
Many times our government regulatory over embellish problems in the... Read More
We presently have adequate sniffer devices in this country to... Read More
Political |