State of the Onion - (it makes me cry)

You are spared a long winded blog here for I do not have the time. But I gotta just weigh in on the lunacy of it all - it does make me want to cry.

So Obama , in his State of the Union address, laid out some lofty goals to help the US remain a world leader. Improve our education, invest in green energy and technologies, and spur innovation. Yes, exactly what we need, a new industrial revolution that will allow for an improved environment, and improved economy, and improved national security!

But wait, where is the money for all this gonna come from? Obama also said he wants to freeze domestic spending for 5 years. And of course the Republicans control the House of Representatives so what do they want to do? Well in the face of our largest budget deficit ever - massive spending cuts across the board.

The Federal Budget Office said we will have the largest deficit and the number one contributor to that - the renewal of the Bush tax cuts which Republicans INSISTED on. Tax cuts for Billionaires one day and then the next - oh we are so broke we need to cut spending on things like medical care for seniors and social security and ...how about more tax breaks for the oil industry. The Republicans talk about Americans 'tightening their belts' and 'watching their spending' so the government should do the same. First of all the top 1% are earning more money than ever before - there is no belt tightening for them. Second of all if everyone tightens their belts then the government better spend some money and get it out there.

The Republicans argue that government spending has never fostered innovation or helped the economy. That is ridiculous. They mentioned that our federal spending has not been so high since WWII. Wasn't the spending of WWII what finally shook us of the Great Depression - that is what they argue when they want to spend money on wars - 'its good for the economy'. Others argue that the economy was recovering before WWII, thanks to government investment here at home.

Austerity will only lead to a shrinking of the economy. DUH. Cuts will lay people off, increase the number of homeless, increase the number without medical care, these all become burdens on the system - costing more in the end. 'Obamacare" which Republicans want to repeal will REDUCE the deficit. Most budget cuts mean people lose their jobs, how does this help the economy recover?

Of course the Republicans DO NOT WANT THE ECONOMY TO RECOVER!!! A recovering economy will mean Obama gets reelected and a tanking or still stagnant economy may very well mean Republicans can take back the White House. Which is the only thing they want. Then they can further deregulate, cut taxes for the rich even more, and put people on the supreme court that will further entrench the rights of corporations to control this democracy or should I say Plutocracy.

The congressional Financial Crisis Inquiry determined that the recession could have been prevented and that is was caused by a failure of our government to regulate the banks and by risky and irresponsible actions by Wall Street. But of course the Republicans want less regulations and tax breaks for the bankers who are making hundreds of millions of dollars in profit while families lose their homes and small businesses go under.

I hope the American people see how much the next two years are going to suck thanks to the Republicans and get rid of them the next time around. For that to happen Obama has to stand up and take a stand for Democratic principles and not continue with this bipartisanship crap. The Republicans are going to fight Obama's agenda to the bitter end (we saw this in their UNANIMOUS vote to repeal 'Obamacare') Obama better stand up as an alternative to the Republicans or he will most likely be a one term President.

Well maybe it was a little long winded - medium winded - but once I get started you know how it goes. It feels good to get it off my chest so I can get back to educating these students to save the world.

During our current unit on Climate Change we had a nice discussion about the new Republican controlled House getting rid of the committee on Energy Security and Climate Change. Why if they did something like, that they must have good reason! So we looked at those reasons - and I let the students, of course, make up their own minds. Do they choose to believe the National Academy of Sciences, NOAA, and NASA or do they believe the Republican politicians, it is up to them to decide what they believe (and who they will vote for when they are old enough).

I am sure some of their parents loved that lesson. But hey when you have national politicians talking about the very subject you are studying in class, how can you not check out what they are saying.