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
disinfecting cleaning services Winnetka ..In discussing the OODA Loop theory on Limited War by... Read More
The UnbornWith all this cloning in the news one can't... Read More
All UAVs Need a Self Destruct BLOS DeviceWhat do you... Read More
After 9-11 insurance rates on Independent Truck Drivers and smaller... Read More
PolicyFederal Fair Housing accessibility requirements for new multifamily buildings should... Read More
After the dance the piper must be paid. To help... Read More
Sizing up North Korea is important for a war there.... Read More
We are slowing the transportation flows of our civilization by... Read More
The official figures are staggering: 35% of the workforce -... Read More
I would like to discuss a few issues we have... Read More
We are currently seeing a build up in China of... Read More
An irresponsible Chinese General made a very telling comment recently.... Read More
Having redundancies and today's technologies in transportation we have protected... Read More
Journalism, as it is often said, is the 'fourth branch... Read More
Many are very impressed with the NIMA (National Imagery and... Read More
Fearful that terrorists will next target Australia, Prime Minister John... Read More
All government regulators or diplomat who are in high risk... Read More
Bosnia-Herzegovina (heretofore "Bosnia") is an artificial polity with four, tangentially... Read More
ACCREDITATION: - Scholastic regimentation from the post WWII period has... Read More
In this day and age of tattletale, whistleblower heroes and... Read More
IN A DAY AND AGE where one voice screaming among... Read More
The official working week is being reduced to 35 hours... Read More
While many Pennsylvanians are struggling to figure out how they... Read More
We are seeing some trade wars brewing as American trade... Read More
The use of homosexual men in the area of espionage... Read More
last minute cleaning help Highland Park ..In what the Americans love to describe as the war... Read More
China maybe stopping some of the SPAM coming into the... Read More
Recently the CIA staged a practice simulation of a cyber... Read More
Are you happy with all this so-called security after 9-11?... Read More
The Carl Rove issue is definitely interesting and distracting. The... Read More
The Palestinian Fatah Movement is doing whatever it can to... Read More
When you see hooded Klansmen walking up Pennsylvania Avenue to... Read More
With respect to the States' databases, you may not locate... Read More
Kudos goes out to the George Walker Bush's Administration and... Read More
The Federal Trade Commission has very important Anti-trust Laws. They... Read More
When Boris Yeltsin spoke about an experiment that 'they' wrought... Read More
Well here is a great new product, we first saw... Read More
The CBR taxes the Pakistani source income of nonresident individuals... Read More
Presently Universities and Private Enterprise are working to build more... Read More
The great people of the United States of America deserve... Read More
The prosecutors in the Martha Stewart Case used testimony from... Read More
Often we see protests at the sites of global leader... Read More
IntroductionThe way one lyrist has written, "Hum logo ko samajh... Read More
Predicting the future is a tricky business. There have been... Read More
Why President Bush should have his second term? The arguments... Read More
We recently saw another ferry accident, this one in NY... Read More
The FBI recently before Congress stated that Eco-Terrorism was on... Read More
The filibuster has been a tool available to U.S. Senators... Read More
As concerns grow over the threat of bioterrorism and weapons... Read More
All to often law makers and regulators create rules and... Read More
Political |