Day: June 23, 2014

Joe Biden, The True “Common Man” Of The Present Age!

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It has been well known for a long time that Vice President Joe Biden was the “poorest” US Senator for many years, and that he lived on his salary as a Senator, plus the teaching salary of his wife, and that they only had one home in Delaware, and that he rode to work regularly on Amtrak. His assets were only his house, and their salaries, and that they did not have any real wealth! It was clear that he was worth far less than a million dollars in total assets, an amazing statement when more than half of the Congress is shown to be millionaires and more.

Biden has just pointed out that he has no savings account, and no stocks and bonds, but admits he has a good pension awaiting him, and is not complaining about his salary as a US Senator in the past, and as Vice President now.

He is doing this, quite frankly, to contrast himself with Hillary Clinton, who complained that she and her husband were “broke” when they left the White House, and that they are not privileged like some wealthy people, but yet with more than $100 million earned in speeches and books by both the Clintons, it seems strange to talk about their finances as if they are one of us, although they have committed their careers to doing good deeds for others!

The point is that if the American people want a person close to themselves in financial status, although still better than most average Americans, then they will want Joe Biden as their next President!

Complaints Against Government Bureaucracy Directly Related To Loss Of Government Funding As Public Demands Grow!

Ronald 1 Comment

The American people are told constantly by Republicans and conservatives, and the media willing to report falsehoods rather than truth, that the government bureaucracy is a disgrace, that we are not being served well by those who work in the federal government agencies.

So we have complaints about the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and really, every other government agency, declaring them incompetent, corrupt, tone deaf to public needs.

Are there government bureaucrats in many agencies who are incompetent, corrupt, tone deaf to the public? Absolutely, but that is endemic to “bureaucrats” in every corporation as well in this nation!

The people at the top of any government agency or private corporation are generally arrogant, cocky, only too willing to enrich themselves at the expense of their “bureaucracy”!

There is a need to clean up government agencies of those who have lost the purpose of their employment, to serve the American people with compassion and competence!

But that alone will not solve the problem of government services, as it is the Republicans and conservatives who are ultimately responsible for the problems created over time!

These groups hate government, except where they can benefit from it themselves, and are only too willing to cut government funding and personnel as the population of the nation, and the aging of the population, and the growing economic decline of the middle class and the poor due to the growing wealth of the top two percent, continues to escalate.

If one wants good government services, we must pay for it and expand bureaucracy, not cut it, as we only perpetuate the incompetence and lack of solution of major issues that arise.

Instead of attacking “bureaucracy”, let us recognize its significance and show respect for those, over 95 percent of “bureaucrats”, who do a competent, caring job every day, but never get credit for it, as the headlines dramatize the examples of incompetency and corruption that are exaggerated as being a statement on all “bureaucracy”!

Wealth Is Not Issue, Hillary Clinton! Commitment To Those Less Fortunate Is The Issue, So Stop Protesting Your Wealth!

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Hillary Clinton is causing all kinds of grief and problems for herself by stating that she is not “truly rich”!

Sorry, Hillary, you and your husband have over $100 million in wealth, gained mostly through books and lectures, and just being famous, where people are willing to pay you and your husband large amounts for your thoughts and insights!

This is nothing to be ashamed of!

What would be something to be ashamed of is a wealthy person who did not earn their wealth through hard work, but simply lived off their parents or other relatives, and never knew what hard work was, and there are plenty of such people among the top one percent!

What is also to be ashamed of is a wealthy person who does not give a damn about others, about the middle class and the poor, who does nothing to try to make the lives of other Americans better.

Such is the case with most Republicans and conservatives, who flaunt their wealth, and do not care one iota about the future of the nation, only about their own selfish welfare!

The Clintons are not such people, as they have worked to help the advancement of those who are not as fortunate as them, both in America and the world, through the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Initiative.

Other such people in the past included Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and numerous other Democrats and some Republicans who devoted their public lives to making life better for the American people in a myriad of ways. These are people with progressive and liberal values as part of their basic commitment.

So having wealth is not the issue, but whether one, by his or her words and actions, is committed to public service in a way which advances the lives of those less fortunate!