Politicking the Welfare of a Nation

28 Tuesday Sep 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in The Debt Ceiling, The United States

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Anti-vaxxers, Charles Schumer, D-Day, Destroying President Biden, Division, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Janet Yellen., Republicans politicking, Samuel Barber, Self-harm, The Civil War, the debt, The Debt Ceiling

© J. Scott Applewhite/AP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell returns to the Senate chamber for a vote after attending a bipartisan barbecue luncheon, at the Capitol, Sept. 23, 2021.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services about the FY22 Treasury budget request on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, U.S., June 23, 2021. Shawn Thew/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo (Pool/Reuters)

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Republicans in Congress are opposing a rise in the debt ceiling, which they cannot do if they care for the citizens of the United States. It has been a terrible year. The Pandemic is costing a fortune; storms have bedevilled the United States and, after the Taliban takeover, the United States chose to leave Afghanistan. The debt has grown.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/23/government-shutdown/

Americans do not seem too frightened. In my opinion, they are used to the government rescuing itself. Based on experience, they perhaps feel that Democrats and Republicans will raise the debt ceiling. What if they don’t? They would be acting against their best interest, but it appears that polictiking brings immense pleasure. So, they will do it at the expense of Americans, and at their own expense. Their behaviour ressembles that of anti-vaxxers. Anti-vaxxers are, albeit unknowingly, in the process of destroying themselves.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a Tuesday letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that if the debt ceiling is not raised, “it is uncertain whether we could continue to meet all the nation’s commitments after that date.” (The New York Times, 28 September 2021.)

In the sorry days of Covid-19, glitches are possible. It seems that Republicans want to make United States President Joe Biden look as though he is destroying the United States. Everything he does is criticized. All Presidents make mistakes. They are human beings. If they make mistakes, good presidents apologize and go on to rectify matters, if that is possible.

But not raising the debt ceiling would be a big and largely “intentional” mistake that could affect an entire generation or two and spread abroad. Among Republicans, many have not recovered from the United States’ Civil War. The North won the Civil War (12 April 1861 – 9 May 1865), depriving the South (the Confederacy) of free labour, its slaves. But slavery had to be abolished. Republicans know this. The Civil War, however, happened a relatively short time ago and the past lingers in the mind of those who lost. Plantation owners were royalty. However, although the Civil War divided Americans, there is more to the United States’ mindset than the Civil War. Politicking is a source of pleasure, but the pleasure Republicans seek is greater power, and greater power alone. If they do not allow the government of the United States to raise its debt ceiling, there will ensue a financial debacle that will spare no one, which is nonsensical.

Politicking

In the days of Covid-19, one can expect a death. As well, climate changes are leading to major storms. Hurricanes, floods, and other calamities have plagued the United States. But it is clear that a game is being played aimed to make United States President Joe Biden look as though he is at fault in every instance. All Presidents make mistakes, some more consequential than others. They are human beings. If good presidents make mistakes, they apologize and go on to correct matters, if that is possible. But Joe Biden is not the source of all evil. Republicans use him as scapegoat, revealing a wish to replace him. That is politicking and an offence to the nation.

Great Days

Americans should remember that on 6 June 1944, they landed on the beaches and cliffs of Normandy to liberate Europe. They then marched North and ended the War and thus the persecution of millions of Jews and other “undesirable” populations. Canadians were part of that operation.

Remembering “great days” is inspirational. Republicans have a memory. They and all Americans are proud of Roosevelt‘s gift to an occupied Europe. After the war, Americans also set about rebuilding Europe. Today, the world is being tested by a catastrophic pandemic, climate changes, natural disasters, and other catastrophes. Better years will come, if we promote them. Americans must help themselves. They can and they will.

Love to everyone 💕
Congress must raise the debt ceiling.

Samuel Barber‘s Agnus Dei

web3-st-raphael-the-archangel-suffering-tobias-god-heals-remedy-of-god-pd — **The Archangel Raphael** (Photo credit: Aleteia)

The World Remembers

12 Monday Sep 2011

Posted by michelinewalker in Uncategorized

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Bourbeau-Walker, D-Day, fine minds, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Michele Bachmann, Sainte-Mère-Église, the debt, the stimulus package, WordPress

The world is watching, but it also remembers.

It remembers, for instance, that American soldiers died to liberate France. Sainte-Mère-Église remembers.

I once lived in Normandy, just across from the Isle of Jersey. At Christmas, a green Normandy Christmas, we had as guest a gentleman who was among the American soldiers who survived D-Day. We owned a car, so he guided us to all the sights.

Among the places we visited, one was extremely moving. We saw a vast field filled with little white crosses. There was a cross for each American soldier who died in or near Caen. And there was no end of crosses.

Our guest’s life had been saved by a French family, at Sainte-Mère-Église. He therefore visited with them. Members of that family had risked their lives to save one American life, and the American whose life they saved had risked his life to save the French. In the meantime, our friend had learned French. In fact, this former soldier had become a scholar in the area of French seventeenth-century literature.

Europe will never forget the US soldiers who came to their rescue. It will never forget Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President who met with Churchill in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and also met with him at the Château Frontenac, in Quebec City, so they could discuss how to put an end to the sorry state of Europe, dominated by Hitler. Freedom is dear, so Franklin Delano Roosevelt answered Churchill’s plea for help.

When Americans are united by a “common purpose” (Lt Gen [ret] Russel L Honoré), they rise to excellence. Therefore, there can be no doubt that Americans can have their nation if, once again, they are united by a “common purpose,” and if there is bread on every table now.

Turn you back on Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter and Arianna Huffington and the laughing-stock of the world. Also turn your back on people who are self- serving and might deny the planet is melting in order to sell expensive sun-blockers. They are the enemy within.

Do not fear the debt and, particularly, do not fear investing in a stimulus package proposed by President Obama. The US must remain operative. Consider instead, that you have a remarkable leader, a leader you have elected, and rally behind his administration, not to mention America’s finest minds (your President listens), and return America to its former self. In fact, make it better.

President Obama as Scapegoat

10 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by michelinewalker in Uncategorized

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Barack Obama, confidence, credit rating, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Scapegoat, the last days of July

From time immemorial, humans have blamed others to excuse their own misdeeds and the misdeeds of family and friends.

History repeats itself. I am now hearing the clamour and reading the commentaries. President Obama is being turned into a scapegoat. Yet, President Obama and his administration are not to blame for America’s current economic predicament. Nor are the President and his administration to blame for the downgrading of the United States’s credit rating.

If you wish to assign blame, please target the real culprit. Target the previous administration who acted as though there was no bottom to the national purse and gave tax cuts to the rich. Target also those Congressional leaders who waited until the eleventh hour before raising the debt ceiling.

I very much dislike pointing a guilty finger at anyone, but, with all due respect, as soon as Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, he had to request Congress to act responsibly and therefore borrow a huge amount of money so the United States could finance Bush’s wars and other financial commitments, such as his Prescription Drug Plan. This huge amount of money was not borrowed so the Democrats could pay a debt they had incurred. The debt that had to be paid was incurred by a former administration that mortgaged away future administrations.

Remember the months that preceded November 4th, 2008, the day Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. Ordinary Americans were losing their homes, the elderly feared they would not be able to retire. What little Social Security Americans had counted on since Franklyn Delano Roosevelt was in jeopardy and my pension fund was melting away more quickly than the confidence of investors.

And, it happened again during the last days of July. Confidence dropped again. It may be that the US will recover even if President Obama is not at the helm, but consider that if a dysfunctional America made him its scapegoat, it could trigger armageddon. That might be too strong a word, but…

“Volatility” is very upsetting, but it is better than bankruptcy. It could be matters are improving. The fact remains, however, that when the world banks on the US, it banks on good and reasoned stewardship of the economy of the United States. The world does not bank on the Tea Party and hardline Republicans.

Consequently, it would be my view, and perhaps the rest of the world’s view, that America cannot afford to make the Democrats and, particularly, their leader, a scapegoat. There are, of course, perfectly sensible Republicans, but where Republicans are concerned, facts point to a house divided.

Do not throw stones. Rebuild. It’s more constructive and stones will be needed.