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RANDOM THOUGHTS: THE DUMB DEFICIT

There are times when you incur debt to invest in the future - of your business, a house, a car, college or repairs. There are other times when you incur debt because you want something now and don’t want to wait, although it is not essential. When that kind of debt gets out-of-hand, you are causing problems for your future budget that are not necessary. Poor judgement in buying can also be bad news. 

HOWEVER, there is plenty of research and economists to tell you that the most important thing is VERY SELDOM your debt. Investment in education, for example, is more important. There are lots of things that are worth going into debt for. Right now, our Congress is all wrapped up in the budget deficit and believe that constraining spending is more important than spending on important resources for the future like infrastructure that is first class, education that is first class, teachers that are first class, and developing new businesses and research with an eye to the future like wind turbines (we now buy them from China) and other manufacturing and advanced technologies. 

The Republicans basic idea to solve the financial problems of our country is to NOT invest in research, education and infrastructure, but rather pay off the debt by cutting spending without doing anything other than REDUCING taxes on the upper class. So no revenue gaining from taxes or fixing loopholes in the tax code; just putting most of the burden on the poor, middle class and people who can’t afford to fight back with lobbyists. (BTW, the most important agenda for the Republicans is to eliminate abortions and dismantle Roe vs Wade. They have already brought to the  floor over 30 bills to do just that. They are just now getting around to concern over jobs. The long delay before getting to the reason they were elected - jobs - is because the delay will make it more likely that Obama will face high unemployment in 2012. They are playing dirty politics  with your money!) 

SCREW THE DEBT! Let’s get infrastructure projects going (jobs), education improvements (jobs), search out Medicare and Medicaid fraud and duplication (jobs), attract more Doctors to geriatric medicine and general medicine (jobs), build wind turbines (jobs), start high speed rail (jobs), eliminate many tax loopholes like oil company bonuses (IRS new jobs), and the deficit will begin to shrink by the fact that research development, education, and medical care for the baby boomers and many other constructive investments in our future will give people money to spend and thereby create demand for products and thereby make many new jobs.  The debt is NOT AS important. I agree we should examine programs for savings, eliminate programs that are useless or duplicated (There are over 100 different bureaus who deal in INTELLIGENCE GATHERING - A rather unintelligent state of affairs). 

OBAMA HAS BEEN DOING THE RIGHT THINGS BUT MY CRITICISM OF HIM IS THAT HE IS TOO TIMID ABOUT MUCH OF WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. But enough about Obama. There is the Congress to  lay the blame upon. A President can only control things a little bit. He has to deal with Congress, an organization that is supposed to represent the people who voted for them, but often completely ignores both that fact and the fact that they swore to uphold the Constitution. But that’s another Random Thought.-

Monday, 18 April 2011 09:43

Bolivia Set to Pass Historic 'Law of Mother Earth' Which Will Grant Nature Equal Rights to Humans

Written by Keph Senett

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Evo Morales speaks at the UN

Wikimedia Commons

With the cooperation of politicians and grassroots organizations, Bolivia is set to pass the Law of Mother Earth, which will grant nature the same rights and protections as humans. The piece of legislation, called la Ley de Derechos de la Madre Tierra, is intended to encourage a radical shift in conservation attitudes and actions, to enforce new control measures on industry, and to reduce environmental destruction.

The law redefines natural resources as blessings and confers the same rights to nature as to human beings, including: the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered. Perhaps the most controversial point is the right "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities".

In late 2005 Bolivia elected its first indigenous president, Evo Morales. Morales is an outspoken champion for environmental protection, petitioning for substantive change within his country and at the United Nations. Bolivia, one of South America's poorest countries, has long had to contend with the consequences of destructive industrial practices and climate change, but despite the best efforts of Morales and members of his administration, their concerns have largely been ignored at the UN.

Just last year, in 2010, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca expressed his distress "about the inadequacy of the greenhouse gas reduction commitments made by developed countries in the Copenhagen Accord." His remarks were punctuated by the claim that some experts forecasted a temperature increase "as high as four degrees above pre-industrial levels." "The situation is serious," Choquehuanca asserted. "An increase of temperature of more than one degree above pre-industrial levels would result in the disappearance of our glaciers in the Andes, and the flooding of various islands and coastal zones."

In 2009, directly following the resolution of the General Assembly to designate April 22 "International Mother Earth Day", Morales addressed the press, stating “If we want to safeguard mankind, then we need to safeguard the planet. That is the next major task of the United Nations”. A change to Bolivia's constitution in the same year resulted in an overhaul of the legal system - a shift from which this new law has sprung.

The Law of Mother Earth has as its foundation several of the tenets of indigenous belief, including that human are equal to all other entities. "Our grandparents taught us that we belong to a big family of plants and animals. We believe that everything in the planet forms part of a big family," Choquehuanca said. "We indigenous people can contribute to solving the energy, climate, food and financial crises with our values." The legislation will give the government new legal powers to monitor and control industry in the country. 

"Existing laws are not strong enough," said Undarico Pinto, leader of the 3.5m-strong Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia (a group that helped draft the law). "It will make industry more transparent. It will allow people to regulate industry at national, regional and local levels."

Bolivia will be establishing a Ministry of Mother Earth, but beyond that there are few details about how the legislation will be implemented. What is clear is that Bolivia will have to balance these environmental imperatives against industries - like mining - that contribute to the country's GDP.

Bolivia's successes or failures with implementation may well inform the policies of countries around the world. "It's going to have huge resonance around the world," said Canadian activist Maude Barlow. "It's going to start first with these southern countries trying to protect their land and their people from exploitation, but I think it will be grabbed onto by communities in our countries, for example, fighting the tarsands in Alberta." 

Ecuador has enshrined similar aims in its Constitution, and is among the countries that have already shown support for the Bolivian initiative. Other include Nicaragua, Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda.

National opposition to the law is not anticipated, as Morales' party - the Movement Towards Socialism - holds a majority in both houses of parliament. On April 20, two days before this year's "International Mother Earth Day", Morales will table a draft treaty with the UN, kicking off the debate with the international community.

Read the entire document (in Spanish) here.