Dicky's Doodles &Scribbles

Cartoons,editorials and comment about current events and more.

Monday, March 30, 2009

No Help From The GOP

GOP's Desperate Budget Ploy!



If times weren't so bad this would be funny but now it is just pathetic!
After President Obama unveiled his budget plan last week the GOP and their big money supporters have been going ballistic! They seem unfazed and uncooperative in trying to fix the economy and budget process which they have screwed up for the past eight years!
President Obama recognized there would be criticism and he offered to his opponents in Congress a meeting to scrutinize their plan. The only problem, he said, is that they don't have one!
The Congressional House minority leader, John Boehner (R Ohio) quickly got into his usual huff and appeared before reporters the next day and said the president was wrong! They do have a plan "And here it is!" said Boehner as he waved a thin but official looking pamphlet in the air.
Afterwards reporters asked to see the plan or at least be given some details.
Boehner refused saying that the substance of their plan would be released at a later date.
Someone who had seen the so called "plan" did leak to reporters that the pamphlet Boehner displayed had only two pages with some kind of a simplistic graph on it and a few cartoonish pictures of a windmill and other things.
This was a sham to mask the utter inability of the current Congressional GOP to come to grips with reality!
Even G.W. Bush was smarter than that! Once he was asked about his proposed budget and he replied "It's a budget! There are a lot of numbers in it!"

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Time To Stop Squabbling And Start Thinking



For years there has been a school of thought which said that unbridled free market systems were the answer for all of the nation’s needs. Those arguments, to a large part, held sway through the eight years in the wilderness of the G.W. Bush presidency.
Now many say that it was exactly this approach which has led to the current economic crisis.
Unbridled capitalism left open the doors for unprincipled greed and those who knew how to game the system used all their insider guile and knowledge to create new financial vehicles and products in order to stack up a financial house of cards which left them well off as the structure collapsed.
And then others, acting in an unregulated vacuum, like Bernie Madoff, just created a financial empire which existed only on paper upon which the most fanciful financial fiction was composed.
The scales have been tipping towards the wealthy for a long time and the result has been stagnant working class wages and the great disparity of wealth we now experience.
Corporations have become bigger and more powerful and owe no allegiance to any nation.
It is this unbridled capitalism which has led to the pollution which now may endanger the continued existence of life on earth.
The goal of making money has long ago trumped the goal of environmental responsibility.
Combined with the lack of financial oversight has been a lack of scrutiny at the Justice Department in recent years. Gone are the trust busting days and the idea that corporations should not become so large and all powerful that they overshadow the governments of countries and lose all touch with the interests of the common man. The corporate culture needs to rekindle seemingly lost qualities of fairness and ethics and to disavow illegal practices, like Ponzi schemes!
The media, which is so powerful as a shaper of public opinion and as a reporter of current events is continuing to shrink into the ownership of fewer hands which don’t always have journalistic principles as their motivation.
The lack of comprehensive health care and the rising costs of health care has contributed mightily to put us where are now. The idea that the free market should rule medical costs means that many will not get health care and thus add another dimension to the social Darwinism free market thought has created.
Some things are necessities. Electric power, water and sewage are necessities. People need these services to be reliable, clean and affordable. Deregulation has led to sky high electric rates which are beginning to be beyond the reach of the poor. This is something which should be avoided. Electric power should not be a commodity sold for profit but a public co-op which works to maintain low cost power, even if it needs to be subsidized by a combination of governmental entities.
So what works? Common sense says that, in a country that values freedom as does the United States, free markets and individualism are going to be part of the solution. Another part of the solution is going to be strict regulations where needed.
The far right is wholly invested in the trickle down economic theory. If the rich get richer it will trickle down to lower classes.
It is time for a new type of approach, a grass roots economics. Water the roots and enrich the soil to grow a more sound economy and nation.
The political culture needs to move into the 21st century! The hyper partisanship we have witnessed for the past 15 years or so has to stop. The mean spirited, all out warfare, continuous campaign style of politics is doing immeasurable damage to the country.
George W. Bush had his macho, swaggering style and a “My way or the highway philosophy!” With impetus from Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, the Bush administration, and the current GOP, engaged a scorched earth strategy all the time. It worked for him long enough to get another term and then the bottom fell out of the Bush presidency as the many shortcomings of the President’s policies and proclamations became exposed.
Now, instead of working with the new President to consider his hugely ambitious agenda, or to proffer alternatives, they choose to declare war on President Obama and work to undermine him. This is an irresponsibly dangerous game they are playing.
The Republican party lost a lot of ground in the last elections and now they have put themselves out on a limb.


Please check out the banner on the bottom of the page. This worthwhile group is
seeking counselors and other positions for their summer programs. Here is a link for
more information.
http://freshairfundcounselors.smnr.us/
The Fresh Air Fund is also in need of hosts for this summer. Host families are
volunteers who open their hearts and home to a child from the city to give a fresh air experience that disadvantaged children never forget. Below is a link which explains everything.
http://freshair.smnr.us/

Here are some links to a nice Polish lady's blogs with pictures from Poland, her dogs and other things.
http://foto-donata.blogspot.com/
http://foto-dona.blogspot.com/

Lamar Alexander, One Of The Dimmest Bulbs In the Senate


Some Republican twits in the Senate have criticized president Obama for taking the time to fill out his NCAA March Madness brackets.
Really! How stupid can you get?!
“He even has time to fill out his NCAA basketball bracket," said Senate GOP Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (R Tenn.)
Alexander is to be remembered for his run for the presidency years ago when he and campaign director Mike Murphy took to wearing red pendleton jackets to demonstrate
their empathy for "the common man!" That was the silliest campaign gambit in memory!




Please check out the banner on the bottom of the page. This worthwhile group is seeking counselors and other positions for their summer programs. Here is a link for more information.
http://freshairfundcounselors.smnr.us/
The Fresh Air Fund is also in need of hosts for this summer. Host families are volunteers who open their hearts and home to a child from the city to give a fresh air experience that disadvantaged children never forget. Below is a link which explains everything.
http://freshair.smnr.us/

Here are some links to a nice Polish lady's blogs with pictures from Poland, her dogs and other things.
http://foto-donata.blogspot.com/
http://foto-dona.blogspot.com/

Thursday, March 19, 2009

GOP Out On A Limb

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Darth Cheney




Former Vice President Dick Cheney appeared on TV this morning, Sunday, March 15, and covered himself and the G.W, Bush administration with praise for their ‘accomplishments’ and warning that President Barack Obama is pursuing policies that are setting the United States up for another attack.
This is quite a claim for a Vice president of an administration which probably converted more Muslims to extremism than any single factor.
"We've accomplished nearly everything we set out to do," said Cheney.
Cheney said the use of interrogation techniques which everyone in the world considers torture was “absolutely essential.”
"President Obama campaigned against it all across the country, and now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack," Cheney said.
Talking about the problems which arose during the G.W. Bush administration Cheney said “Stuff happens.”




Please check out the banner on the bottom of the page. This worthwhile group is seeking counselors and other positions for their summer programs. Here is a link for more information.
http://freshairfundcounselors.smnr.us/
The Fresh Air Fund is also in need of hosts for this summer. Host families are volunteers who open their hearts and home to a child from the city to give a fresh air experience that disadvantaged children never forget. Below is a link which explains everything.
http://freshair.smnr.us/

Here are some links to a nice Polish lady's blogs with pictures from Poland, her dogs and other things.
http://foto-donata.blogspot.com/
http://foto-dona.blogspot.com/

Monday, March 09, 2009

Rich Up In Armchairs Over 3% Tax Increase!

Friday, March 06, 2009

Sibelius Under Fire From Far Right Catholic League




President Obama has nominated Kansas Governor Kathleen Sibelius to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Sibelius is an excellent choice with a strong record in her state of defending woman's rights and standing up for health issues.
Sibelius is a Catholic and she has drawn heavy fire from Catholic clerics and other groups for her support of abortion rights.
Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League and a self-appointed social morals watchdog, called Sibelius an "enemy of the unborn." Donohue is an example of the "American Taliban," always ready to dictate to everyone else how they should live and always ready to judge on religion and morality.
Archbishop Joseph F. Nauman, of Kansas City, said that Sebelius' support for abortion had "grave spiritual and moral consequences." He asked that Sebelius no longer receive Communion until she repudiated her stance and made a "worthy sacramental confession."
Sibelius vetoed SB 389 in April, Sebelius wrote that the bill was problematic because it included no exceptions for pregnancies that endanger a woman's life
and it allowed for individuals to seek court orders preventing a woman from
obtaining an abortion, even if the procedure was necessary to save her life.
"I am concerned that the bill is likely unconstitutional, or even worse,
endangers the lives of women," Sebelius said in a statement.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Rush Shows Michael Steele Who Is The Boss Of The GOP!

Monday, March 02, 2009

Growth Is Unsustainable




Today, Monday, Mar. 2, ‘09, the economic news took another downturn. The Dow Jones dipped below 7,000 for the first time since the early ‘90’s.
Among other frightful news is the fall of the California economy and the drag that creates on the world economy. Before the recent downturn California boasted the eighth largest economy in the world. For decades California led the world in trends, social and economic. Now the state is in dire financial straits. For the first time in over a century more people are leaving California than are moving there.
Last year’s housing market collapse was the spark that ignited an economy based on bubbles filled with flammable gasses! The economy had swelled to dizzying heights buoyed by the rush of realty gambling pursued by developers, wealthy and middle class investors betting too many chips on a continuously rising real estate market. Previous warnings of the bubble bursting were ignored or pooh poohed.
Now more than the real estate bubble is bursting. Our entire economic system and our standard of living is going to need a major change, or at least a major overhaul.
All of this was exacerbated by the fact that the United States, with around 5 percent of the world’s population consumed more than 24 percent of the world’s energy resources.
Americans became convinced that the sign of “making it” in our society meant that you and your family must live in a 6,000 sq. ft. McMansion, must have at least one big SUV, pickup truck or more and must have a prestigious zip code.
For more than 100 years Americans have been developing our towns and highways and putting more and more of the earth under asphalt and concrete. We seem to forget that beautiful green forests and valleys are important for more than just nice scenery. They are, as indigenous peoples in the Amazon put it, “the lungs of the earth.”
As the threat of global warming looms in the near future the threat of electric brownouts and shortages is going to make things more difficult. The effects of pollution may become worse as economics trumps environmentalism in the western world and even more so in the developing world.
Water may become the biggest factor. California and other areas of the South West are right now in the throes of prolonged drought. Many crops are failing or not even being planted. Water supplies will be shrinking still.
Global warming is said to make more and larger cyclonic storms occur and to cause more areas to become arid and dry. Some places will flood and others parch. Increasing global temperatures could eventually cause a mass migration toward the poles.
Americans may have to concede that the new generations may not have the same standard of living as the previous ones.
These are tough times, many are losing their homes, their jobs, their businesses, giving up on their dreams of ever having their own homes, getting an education and other things.
There are possible solutions but time is wasting. They need to be implemented. Tough questions must be asked. Do Big Macs and other such fast fare really need to come in boxes wrapped in layers of paper and then in a paper bag as well?
Future employment and technologies will arise from this period of transition, There will be opportunities for some as many fall through the cracks of the changing times.
Mass transit will become a reality as automobiles become prohibitively expensive and their destruction of air quality and excessive use of raw materials will doom them.
And growth as an economic model and as a plan for cities and communities is no longer a sustainable model, we are just about at the end of that ride. Unlimited growth cannot continue forever. You will run out of places to build things!
This could mark the transition into a new era, maybe for the better, maybe not.
The land, the seas and the sky are not impervious to damage from
human activity! We don’t need larger cities, higher populations or bigger anything any more.
The oil reserves in the world are finite. There won’t be any new ones for at least several million years and with few and smaller carboniferous forests these future reserve possibilities will be much less than we had at the beginning of the twentieth century anyway.
Polluted air and polluted water already kills millions. What will a lack of water supplies do?
Technology and advanced science and physics will be the way to find a bright future. Our educational system is widely viewed as a failure now. That will have to change too.
Perhaps this period can result in a new way to approach life, a simpler and more efficient way of life. If necessity is indeed the mother of invention perhaps more communities will turn to wind, solar and other renewable power sources. Perhaps wiser water management will result from the impending crises. Conservation may become a way of life as conspicuous consumerism disappears and people become more conscious of how they spend their money. The very existence of life on Earth is in the balance. Will Earth become just another dry, crater pocked, lifeless, dead planet orbiting the sun?
Could the threat of the destruction of the planet be the impetus for humans to clean up their act? We can only hope that the people of planet Earth can unite in the face of impending global disaster just as they have done in one science fiction disaster movie after another. Can we be inspired to do it for real?

Mexican Drug Cartels Buy Weapons Wholesale In The U.S.A.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Rush Limbaugh At CPAC Conference



Bottom pic: Rush in the 70's as an east coast DJ, known in those days as Jeff Christie.

The right wing bloviating blowhard Rush Limbaugh made an address the other day to the Conservative Political Action Conference.
"We can take this country back," Limbaugh told them. "All we need is to nominate the right candidate."
He means the right wing candidate, the far right wing candidate of course. Now days he seems to consider himself as the de facto leader of the Republican Party.
Rush and the others of his ilk forget this is not just "his" or "their" country to take back. He can't have it!
It is the country of a huge and disparate population and all have rights, not just the ones Rush appeals to.
Rush also claims that President Obama is filling the nation with fear.
"He wants people in fear, angst and crisis, fearing the worst each and every day because that clears the decks for President Obama and his pals to come in with the answers which are abject failures, historically shown and demonstrated. Doesn't matter. They'll have control of it when it's all over. And that's what they want," Limbaugh said.
"They see these inequalities, these inequities that capitalism produces. How do they try to fix it? Do they try to elevate those at the bottom? No, they try to tear down the people at the top. "
That is such a ridiculous statement when it is Limbaugh and many others on the right that have long made the propagation of fear and resentment as part of their stock and trade.