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The Michigan Messenger going forward

By Staff Report | 11.16.11

I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]

Colorado-based abstinence program provided false and misleading information to Michigan students

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.16.11

An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.

Class action lawsuit filed against MERS over unpaid taxes

foreclosure
By Todd A. Heywood | 11.15.11

Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.

Schuette fights important mercury regulations

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By Eartha Jane Melzer | 11.14.11

Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.

Deal reached on unemployment extension, tax cuts

By Ed Brayton | 12.07.10 | 7:08 am

President Obama said Monday night that an agreement had been reached with the Republican leadership to extend both the Bush tax cuts and federal unemployment benefits. The Bush tax cuts, including the cuts for the richest taxpayers, would be extended by two years; federal unemployment benefits would be extended until the end of 2011.

The deal also evidently extends some of the tax breaks in last year’s stimulus package.

Democrats reacted to this announcement with mostly disappointment. Rep. Anthony Weiner criticized Obama for “punting on third down” and failing to use his office to lobby for a more progressive package that would have extended the unemployment benefits and all the tax cuts except those for the wealthiest taxpayers.

What continues to be obvious is the internal incoherence of the Republicans’ positions on the subject:

Position 1: We support extending unemployment benefits but only if an extension is offset by budget cuts so it doesn’t increase the deficit.

Position 2: We’ll go along with extending unemployment benefits but only if you agree to extend tax cuts for the rich that will increase the deficit by an additional $700 billion.

There’s an old saying in D.C. and it goes like this: No one cares about the deficit and those who complain about it the most care about it the least. It seems to be coming true before our eyes.

Comments

  • Anonymous

    Want a new proactive approach to being unemployed? At From the Trenches World Report we have an Entrepreneur’s Page to start a new business, a Think Tank to come up with new ideas, and a Nationwide Rally to Extend Unemployment Insurance where all you need to do is put your address to your nearest unemployment office. When we have enough people we will schedule a rally. This site belongs to all of us.

  • Anonymous

    So were all good for another year if we are unemployed? After this is voted on of course

    • Anonymous

      oh, come on people. get up to find work. don’t be lazy like that.

      • Anonymous

        Careful you don’t tempt fate, my friend… there are over 14 million unemployed Americans right now. How many jobs are available currently??? And of those jobs, how many are even remotely comparable to the job they lost? -mostly to companies who moved to another country. Rather than judge others, be thankful that TODAY you have a job, because there are many waiting to take your position when you slip.

    • Anonymous

      oh, come on people. don’t be lazy, get up to find work, earn money, and spend it. Just don’t get only that unemployment benefit check just enough for the rent and food. what about money to spend on other things to get the economy getting better????

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_72BLKBWPI5ZJNYKNXDTNV3ALKM par5doubleeagle

        LAZY…..wtf…..are you serious…..I have sent out over 600 resumes over the past 20 months….received .6 in person interviews…..Dont even go there. I am a business professional with over 20 years industry experience with 2 degrees. I have worked for 2 of the largest companies in the world…..He needs to clean up the mess that was created.

  • Anonymous

    Good being loosely used

  • Anonymous

    Dont be fooled by this cause its mostly not true. Just got off the phone with unemployment office and they told me it all depends on the states unemployment rate. So those of us in Utah are still screwed for the Christmas season. Thanks Repubs. for screwing the lower classes…AGAIN!!!

    • Anonymous

      look moron, the republicans are not at fault. Watch something else besides Joy beher or Cnn. All they wanted was for it to be paid for up front and not adden to the national debt! Gee what are you going to do when we as a country file bankruptcy and suddenly every square inch of american soil is owned by China. you wont have a job then either as China will use tyheir own workers for the higher paying jobs. Oh yeah I am a 99er! Blame Your stae if you need to, who is your congressman!

      • http://twitter.com/ronharmon2k Ron Harmon

        LOL mugs101, We all know that China holds much US debt, but devaluation of the dollar due to “money printing practices”, will not lead to anything except the US repaying more valuable dollars with less valuable dollars.

      • Anonymous

        You have to know you are being as intellectually dishonest as possible with that argument, right? The GOP wanted the unemployment benefit extension paid for, but finally decided to accept them if we added 10x as much to the debt for new tax cuts for income over $250,000.

        Here’s how to pay for the unemployment benefit extension: take the deal that is on the table right now, get rid of the new tax cuts for the top income brackets, and use that revenue to pay for the unemployment benefits. You would be on board with that, correct? Since your only objection seems to be they are not paid for, well… now they are.

      • Anonymous

        The unemployment extension needs to be paid for so as not to add to the national deficit but extending tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires doesn’t have to be paid for? Who’s the moron? BTW, use your spell checker…

      • Anonymous

        to mugs101 did you forget that your president bush caused a fake war that we all are paying on $%^& and people have lost there lives for too!! I know you want to blame the current pres for everything but you republicans need to be remindid all the time because you forget so much. you need a reality check as do some of these senators & congressmen

        • Anonymous

          Wow I didnt say anything about Bush. I did not blame the current president fro anything. We will not feel the affects of his presidency for another year or so. I agreee the extension needs to be passed but it also needs to be paid for!!! not added to the debt. Wow thats how companies og under, keep running up the debt it is just bad business practices.

          • Anonymous

            You reply to the person who mentioned President Bush, but for those who countered your position with arguments that didn’t provide you a red herring, you remain silent.

    • Anonymous

      do your homework before quoting Joy beher or Cnn. The republicans just want the extesnsion paid for and not added to the national debt. If not then we will be owned financially by China, try getting a job then, You cant just keep printing money without consiquences. Oh yeah I am a 99er so i know what I am talking about.Just do some research

      • Anonymous

        The 2% that own businesses that provide goods and services that people use on a daily basis (farmers, doctors, etc.) should get an extension. The rest of the 2% that produce nothing (CEOs, CFOs, lawyers, etc.) need to pay their share. They’ve had a free ride for 9 years now while the economy goes into the toilet, the children of the working class and poor die in their imperialistic wars and the ranks of the long term unemployed grows into an angry army. What if people start to steal products instead of paying for them? These 2% would have less cash flow coming in from business operations. The legal system will be tied up with all the new cases for crime committed out of need. These will be people taking the items what they need to survive. They will not let their families starve because of a few mean-spirited and morally corrupt supposed “public servants”. Then you will have the Robin Hood option. Businesses will be looted in the middle of the night. Store owners will be staying overnight to guard their wares. People will be hurt. Larger businesses will hire security to watch their wares. Large groups of organized people versus small security teams. Good luck to the security team. Bottom line is this. Unemployment Extensions and Job Creation is what this country needs NOW.

        Bush Era Tax Cuts should expire but in its place tax cuts should be created for companies that hired the unemployed. Tax cuts for businesses that will create jobs that this country needs. Tax cuts for individuals that make a certain dollar amount only benefit those people.

      • Anonymous

        If all they wanted was for the cuts to be paid for so as not to increase the deficit, why did they demand that $800 billion more be added to the deficit before they would allow the unemployment extension? There is an obvious contradiction here and you’re missing it.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SNFXC5ZGMJFZ6YUUEKH6CGOFFA Justice

    mugs101 you brained washed douch bag, ppl like you is why the republicans can hold the countries unemployed hostage to save the rich money, while ppl loose there homes and have no food to put on the table. You think Bill Meher is the only one who see thru the repub bunch of crock? Why don’t u pick up a book get the GOP track records and see how they destroyed the country and middle class and made the rich richer.

    • Anonymous

      The unemployment extension needs to be paid for so as not to add to the national deficit but extending tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires doesn’t have to be paid for? Who’s the moron? BTW, use your spell checker…

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SNFXC5ZGMJFZ6YUUEKH6CGOFFA Justice

        Its so amazing how dumb you people are? I’ve been working and paying UI for over 15 years into to system, everyone does, so a percentage of that money of what EVERYONE pays needs to go back to helping the citizens, and the Republicans want to speak of deficit conveniently? I guess when they tell you Cow gave birth to a sheep, you will be first in line to pay to see it at a theme park. Unbelievable.

  • BELLE

    GOP boys BLACKMAILED the Dems while taking the American ppl hostage; what a da*@ shame what SAVAGES that this country has mutated; always thought that America was the GREATEST country, ever! GOP has sanked to a new level while turning their backs on the American ppl in the process! Not looking fwd to see what these EMBICLES of the Hill are planning next! Hey GOP supporters, hoped you got what you voted for while holding your own families!!!! Karma!!!! 2012!

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_72BLKBWPI5ZJNYKNXDTNV3ALKM par5doubleeagle

      Belle…..You really need to get a clue…..seriously….this is why our country is in the condition it is. The dems gained total control for the last 2 years of the Bush admin and the first 2 years of the Obama admin…..LOOK WHAT THEY DID…..Our National Debt went up to 18 trillion…….wtf……Excuse me when our president and first lady take vacations…not business trips…but family vacations that cost the tax payers in excess of 30 billion dollars…..yes over 30 billion…for vacations…..where do you think the problem lays….seriously. Let me ask you this……would you rather have a Lawyer or a Business Executive run and try to figure out this countrys debt situation….I know if your honest how you will reply…..

      • Anonymous

        “where do you think the problem lays…”

        I think the problem lays with people who make up a bunch of lies. When did our national debt reach $18 trillion? What source do you have for the $30 billion in vacation costs? And how would that compare to previous Presidents?

        If the adults in the room didn’t have to spend so much time dealing with pathetic lies that only an idiot could believe, then solutions could be reached.

        And as for your lawyer v. business exec question, I choose option C: Intellectual.

  • Anonymous

    Since July 2008, the extensions have paid out almost $120 billion throughout the country. Every dollar spent on unemployment insurance is estimated to generate $1.61 of economic activity. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that if Congress extends the benefits, it will add $104 billion to the GDP and generate 723,000 full-time jobs.

    Meanwhile, Afghanistan cost nearly $105 billion in the 2010 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, including $33 billion in additional spending. Iraq cost about $66 billion. In fiscal 2011, Afghanistan is projected to cost $117 billion, Iraq $46 billion. To date, Pentagon spending in Iraq has reached $620 billion, compared with $190 billion in Afghanistan.

    Am I the only one to sense the moral bankruptcy of those who will spend blood (not theirs) and treasure (also not theirs) on an unjustified and extended war but will deny the basic essentials to 15 million of their fellow citizens. The same hypocrites who support making permanent the Bush tax cuts to the top 2% earners (which by the way is basically themselves, their friends, their lobbyists and their country club buddies) at a cost of almost $700 billion, say that the lazy, drug-addicted bums that need an extension of benefits should just get a job at McDonald’s and shut the fuck up! What’s more, if the Bush tax cuts were effective at creating jobs they would have done so already. Since the major tax cuts were enacted in 2001 the economy has lost jobs despite a growing population. Conservatives have been repeating the mantra that no one’s taxes can be raised during a recession. That’s fundamentally misleading in two ways.

    First, if only the misnamed “middle-class tax cuts” are extended; all taxpayers would receive a tax cut compared to what they will pay if the law doesn’t change—even the rich. Second, there’s no fundamental reason why wealthy people can’t pay slightly higher taxes as the economy climbs out of a recession. Top-bracket tax rates were raised twice during the early 1990s, shortly before and shortly after a recession. The top rates were raised from 28 percent to 31 percent in 1990, and then again to 39.6 percent in 1993—a much steeper rate hike than simply allowing the current 35 percent top rate to revert to 39.6 percent.

    What followed was an unprecedented economic expansion, notwithstanding doomsday predictions by conservatives. 18.2 million private sector jobs were created in the corresponding period after the Clinton-era tax increases were enacted in 1993.

    Public opinion is clear on this issue, and it reflects common sense. It is sheer lunacy to dig even deeper into debt to give tax breaks to a narrow sliver of people whose incomes average $800,000 per year. President Obama and Congress should’ve let the bonus tax cuts fade into the sunset with the other unfortunate economic legacies of the Bush years.

  • Anonymous

    So what about it being based on the state? I knew it would be based on the states overall percentage but I don’t know what the number will be? I live in Colorado but am receiving Texas UI

  • Anonymous

    And we all know are government is screwed (on both sides)and there’s nothing we can do. BUT when one side says they will block any progress until they get what they want they need to be removed from office bar none!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5EDEAQZK4L6IKGLCC5NY7WHAYU Kelly Jo

    I hate to burst the bubble of the people that want to play the rich vs poor class war. Do you really think someone running a business is going to hire any additional people if his taxes are being increased?

    Look at it this way – they aren’t voting on extending tax cuts at all. They are voting to not raise them. It means that the country takes in less tax dollars, yes, but do you consider it a tax cut to keep your money or just that this is your tax rate, and the government better learn to live within the means of the revenue they collect?

    • Anonymous

      This was never intended to be a tax hike but a reversal of the Bush tax cuts that took us from a surplus to deficit with the stroke of a pen in 2001. Do you really believe that giving a tax cut to the highest brackets the moment he was sworn into office was a coincidence? How naïve are you? And as I explained before, if the Bush tax cuts were going to “create” jobs, where are they? We lost jobs while reducing the government’s revenue which just reduced it more. This is just a rehashing of the Reagan Era “trickle down” theory which Dubya’s own father called voodoo economics before he became their biggest cheerleader because Reagan picked him as his running mate. As for class war, guess what? It’s already here. When unemployment offices are hiring armed security guards in anticipation of the anger of the working class, it is but the first salvo of things to come… Wake up and smell the Revolution!!

    • Anonymous

      So if they pass a one-time tax credit (like President Bush did in 2003 IIRC), does that mean that it is a tax increase the following year?

      There is a default tax rate. You can provide a temporary cut/increase to that rate, but when it goes back to the default, you can not argue that it is a tax increase/cut unless you want to be intellectually dishonest.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5EDEAQZK4L6IKGLCC5NY7WHAYU Kelly Jo

    I think it was Thomas Jefferson that said trying to tax ourself into prosperity is like trying to lift a bucket while standing in it.

    • Anonymous

      So let’s have absolutely no taxes for anyone! Since if we tax ourselves, our prosperity is hurt, therefore to get maximum prosperity, we need minimum taxes!

      Or you know that that sentence has nothing to do with the issue we are discussing, and is instead a random conservative talking point/quote that tries to interject authority by quoting a Founding Father, yet has no logical basis for being used.

      Where are the intelligent conservatives!?!

      • Anonymous

        To bad you don’t understand the quote.

        • Anonymous

          I understand the quote just fine. It says that prosperity can’t be gained through taxation.

          Do you really think that Thomas Jefferson would support the new tax cuts that add around $800 billion to the debt? I’m sorry, I have a much higher opinion of his intelligence than that.

          Tax cuts with equivalent spending cuts can be good for the country. And even tax cuts that add a small amount to the debt but are given to those who will spend the extra income can be good for the country. But tax cuts that will add $800 billion to the debt and are given to the wealthy so they can save more of their income, that is not good for the country.

          Try to argue otherwise.

      • Anonymous

        The idea of no taxes in the 21st century goes against reason and common sense. We have need to pay for police, firemen, teachers, road improvements, courthouses, judges, etc. that are all part of sociopolitical machine of the modern state. As the cost of these essential services goes up, so does the demand for revenues to the state increase exponentially.

        But we must not go meekly into the night. It is time to let the Repugnican Party know that we have not forgotten their despicable attempts to turn the Recession into a campaign tool. Now it is our turn to say NO!! No to the legislators who jeopardize our family’s finances, health, housing, sustenance and emotional well-being in order to take cheap shots at our President. No to the agents of the plutocracy that hid behind a misguided Supreme Court decision and funneled undisclosed millions into their confabulated campaign coffers and paid for spurious and misleading advertisement in order to get their water carriers, political whores and puppets elected. No to their unfair and unbalanced talking heads spewing their xenophobic, homophobic, anti-working class diatribes over the TV, radio and Internet. No to the Mad Hatters of the Tea Party who would take us back to the days of back alley abortions, Jim Crow laws, internment camps, unfair immigrant labor practices and union busting.

        The party of NO will do everything they can to make the President look bad and they don’t care whether the economy, the country or the citizens get hurt in the process. Big business will wait until their marionettes are the majority in power in both houses and even then they might not begin to hire. As long as they get tax breaks to send the factory and manufacturing jobs overseas where cheap labor, no OSHA/EPA oversight and corrupt local governments insure that they get the most bang for their buck, they will not hire American workers or expand operations in the U.S. Until they are so severely fined and penalized that the cost of taking their business overseas threatens their bottom line, they will continue in cahoots with their buddies in the Repugnican Party. Their sole purpose and goal is to insure that President Obama is a one-term president. They are willing to sacrifice the American worker on the altar of greed in order to get their way.

        And if it’s Class Warfare you want, Class Warfare you’ll get. And for those so very fond of quoting Thomas Jefferson, you must understand that some of us know the context of the quote! “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” Only in this case we know that the tyrants are those that would usurp the will of the people and try to buy their way into power so they can continue to exploit the American working class. And the manure are the creatures and tools of those who would exercise power by virtue of wealth.

    • Anonymous

      Since you like to quote good old Thomas, try this one:

      God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
      The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
      wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
      they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
      it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. …
      And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not
      warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
      resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
      to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
      in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
      time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
      It is its natural manure…

      • Anonymous

        The next war for independence won’t be fought with muskets.
        Go spend your UI checks at you local gun dealer?

        • Anonymous

          When certain elements of our politaical spectrum don’t get their way, they threaten with a “2nd Amendment solution”… Well guess what? We have guns too. While the wealthy elite was busy golfing at their exclusive country clubs, attending prep schools and Ivy League colleges through legacy and choking on their silver spoons, many of us were in the real world. Working in the factories, warehouses, plants, mines and trenches. Many of us were drafted. Many of us volunteered to repay a country that had given so much to us and our families. Many more volunteered in order to get a chance at a college education that would be denied otherwise. We did not join the weekend warriors of the National Guard. We did not seek deferments.

          • Anonymous

            So what does that mean?
            I’ve put in my volunteer time. Then I worked in refineries until a bill was passed the ended lots of offshore drilling. So the refinery I was working at laid of everyone and sold out to china. Out of everything I’ve lost to a pawn shop since then none of my guns have gone!

          • Anonymous

            Not trying to get into a personal argument here but if the job that you cherish is detrimental to thousands who depend on fishing for a living and those that eat those fish, poisonous to those who live along the coast and nearby, devastating to the planet and the future of humanity, why would you want that job? The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was never a matter of if but when. And there are thousands of future Deepwaters out there. With the national unemployment rate continuing to stay high and dismal economic news stealing the headlines daily, a record number of Americans are deciding to hit the books. Post-secondary education is luring thousands of laid-off workers with the promise of readying them for jobs in the highly touted “green” jobs sector.

          • Anonymous

            How many times in the past has BP had catastrophic accidents. Vs the rest of the petroleum companies. Don’t blame the industry blame the company the fu@ks up on a regular basis

          • Anonymous

            It’s the nature of the beast. You are sucking out fossil fuels from the core of the planet and because of corporate greed and higher profit margins, shortcuts are taken, lives are endangered and accidents are inevitable.

          • Anonymous

            The question was, How mant times has BP had catastrophic accidents vs. the rest on the other petroleum companies.

            Remember the BP Texas City explosion before Deepwater Horizon? Or the Chinese pipeline rupture that was a few months after. Once again with BP’s name on it?

            The petroleum industry is one of the most safety conscious. The problem is BP owns governments so they get away with stuff nobody else would.

          • Anonymous

            So the oil spill in the Kalamazoo River… that was BP? The Exxon-Valdez spill… was BP?

            If you’re making the claim that BP is the only oil company that has spills, your argument won’t last long. It may be true that BP is the worst offender in the industry (or may not be true), but that doesn’t mean you can put all of the industry problems on BP.

          • Anonymous
          • Anonymous

            I think unless your living in a cave somehere off the “grid” your helping destroy mother earth too.
            Humans destroy their souroundings in order to make themselves better I’m just saying dont punish the whole for the actions of a few.

            What percentage of the American job force centers off the Petroleum Industry – That has a direct effect on the unemployment rate. I’m seeking training in the new Eco-Friendly economy ( wind turbine tech) But the waiting list is so long it will be years before I get my foot in the door

  • Anonymous

    Who will this extension apply to. What about the 99ers

  • Anonymous

    As a Carpenter and struggling small business owner, I have paid my dues and taxes in true take_it_in_the_A$$_if_you’re_a_small_business_owner_who’s_actually_
    providing_jobs_to_Unemployed_people_per_republican_policy form.

    My business failed due to economic hardships that were created in this country via rampant corruption and extortion of AMERICAN people by the SUPPOSED leaders of this country as well as uber_corrupt financial and lending institutions, whom were allowed to run rampant on the American Population, and impose EVERY SINGLE IMMORAL OR UN-ETHICAL BUSINESS STANDARD that they could possibly imagine, regardless of the impact or devastation it causes on the human/individual family level.

    When these institutions and individuals were at their worst, fiscally robbing, raping and pillaging the poor and middle class of this country, what else could congress do but *POOF* HERE’S $800BILLION DOLLARS for the ultra-greedy ultra-unethical ultra-wealthy. No thought taken as to where this money is going to come from just the FINAL DESTINATION of ALREADY WEALTHY POCKETS MATTERED.

    Now with nearly 10% of all AMERICANS unemployed, and an even larger percentage under educated, under nourished, possibly homeless with current record foreclosure rates, possibly battling a “poor person’s disease” which could easily be treated via adequate health care the rich can so easily provide themselves, possibly contemplating “Do I take my children’s Christmas Toys back to Wal-Mart so that I can put food on the table or do we starve so that my son or daughter can smile instead of cry and think that Santa hates them on Christmas Morning?”

    Now with all this happening in our own country the obvious answer, when the question is “Will we allow poor people to starve and live in sub-poverty levels instead of extending unemployment benefits?” is TO TIE IN THE EXTENSION OF TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHIEST PERCENTAGE OF OUR POPULATION TO THE TUNE OF $700BILLION, WHILE WE HAVE THE POOREST PEOPLE IN OUR NATION BY THE BALLS.

    I strongly believe that in order to attain great wealth and prestige you pretty much have to take advantage of someone or some situation. I also strongly believe that in order to maintain that personal wealth in excess you must continue to take advantage of people.

    When are we, THE FREE AMERICAN PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WHICH WAS FOUNDED AS ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISABLE WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, Going to stand up and say “ENOUGH, ENOUGH, ENOUGH!”

    EDUCATE OUR YOUNG, MAINTAIN HIGHER HEALTHCARE STANDARDS, TAKE CARE OF OUR ELDERLY, STOP TAKING OUR HOMES, AND LET US WORK TOWARD A BETTER FUTURE.

    AS LONG AS WE CONTINUE TO REWARD CORRUPTION AND DISHONESTY IN THIS COUNTRY, THE TREE OF LIBERTY WILL PERISH IN A STREAM OF TEARS AND THE BLOOD OF OUR POOR, HARD WORKING, POVERTY STRICKEN, HONEST AMERICANS!

    ADAM LEWIS
    AGE:26

  • Anonymous

    As a Carpenter and struggling small business owner, I have paid my dues and taxes in true take_it_in_the_A$$_if_you’re_a_small_business_owner_who’s_actually_
    providing_jobs_to_Unemployed_people_per_republican_policy form.

    My business failed due to economic hardships that were created in this country via rampant corruption and extortion of AMERICAN people by the SUPPOSED leaders of this country as well as uber_corrupt financial and lending institutions, whom were allowed to run rampant on the American Population, and impose EVERY SINGLE IMMORAL OR UN-ETHICAL BUSINESS STANDARD that they could possibly imagine, regardless of the impact or devastation it causes on the human/individual family level.

    When these institutions and individuals were at their worst, fiscally robbing, raping and pillaging the poor and middle class of this country, what else could congress do but *POOF* HERE’S $800BILLION DOLLARS for the ultra-greedy ultra-unethical ultra-wealthy. No thought taken as to where this money is going to come from just the FINAL DESTINATION of ALREADY WEALTHY POCKETS MATTERED.

    Now with nearly 10% of all AMERICANS unemployed, and an even larger percentage under educated, under nourished, possibly homeless with current record foreclosure rates, possibly battling a “poor person’s disease” which could easily be treated via adequate health care the rich can so easily provide themselves, possibly contemplating “Do I take my children’s Christmas Toys back to Wal-Mart so that I can put food on the table or do we starve so that my son or daughter can smile instead of cry and think that Santa hates them on Christmas Morning?”

    Now with all this happening in our own country the obvious answer, when the question is “Will we allow poor people to starve and live in sub-poverty levels instead of extending unemployment benefits?” is TO TIE IN THE EXTENSION OF TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHIEST PERCENTAGE OF OUR POPULATION TO THE TUNE OF $700BILLION, WHILE WE HAVE THE POOREST PEOPLE IN OUR NATION BY THE BALLS.

    I strongly believe that in order to attain great wealth and prestige you pretty much have to take advantage of someone or some situation. I also strongly believe that in order to maintain that personal wealth in excess you must continue to take advantage of people.

    When are we, THE FREE AMERICAN PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WHICH WAS FOUNDED AS ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISABLE WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, Going to stand up and say “ENOUGH, ENOUGH, ENOUGH!”

    EDUCATE OUR YOUNG, MAINTAIN HIGHER HEALTHCARE STANDARDS, TAKE CARE OF OUR ELDERLY, STOP TAKING OUR HOMES, AND LET US WORK TOWARD A BETTER FUTURE.

    AS LONG AS WE CONTINUE TO REWARD CORRUPTION AND DISHONESTY IN THIS COUNTRY, THE TREE OF LIBERTY WILL PERISH IN A STREAM OF TEARS AND THE BLOOD OF OUR POOR, HARD WORKING, POVERTY STRICKEN, HONEST AMERICANS!

    ADAM LEWIS
    AGE:26

    • Anonymous

      In order to attain wealth we have to take advantage of something or someone. I concur so were going down because we hand or money and military to other countries that we should care less about. Then turn our back on American people. Then open our arms to immigrants.

      No wonder China is doing great! Were being A$$ raped by them

  • Anonymous

    3% Tax for all.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5IFE57LTXLI5S6XCVDKKGLFX3I Opinion maker

    The Barack Obama administartion is a failure. He must resign.

    • Anonymous

      -you are an idiot -and either a Republican or a white trash bigot. Go read a book or something and open your mind!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5IFE57LTXLI5S6XCVDKKGLFX3I Opinion maker

    What we are going through is bunch of problems a Black manager is facing in a white establishment. I don’t understand why Democrats put someone like Obama when the country was in a mess ! In 2012, think twice before you vote. No hope and change to go through hoops.

    • Anonymous

      And the bigots and racists show their ugly heads… This “Black manager” is a highly intelligent, well-educated, sincere and dedicated American who is trying to do the best he can while being confronted by a rabid, hateful and reactionary opposition. The “white establishment” is the country we all love: multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious. And the Democrats didn’t put him anywhere. He sought the candidacy, won it and defeated his opponent. The “mess” he inherited was caused by the same haters that are trying to sink him now. As for 2012, vote for the best candidate that has the interest of the American people at heart and mind regardless of political party, race or gender. It’s a good thing that certain prejudiced elements in our society are dying out and leaving room for a new generation that embodies the American Dream and American Ideals…

  • http://twitter.com/jamestylerTV James Tyler

    Not extending the tax cuts is not costing anything; that presumes that those people’s money was yours to begin with.

  • Anonymous

    With the “No Worker Left Behind” credit, I have been able to go back to school to hopefully obtain a better job. Unfortunately, my schooling won’t be finished until April or May and my unemployment runs out the end of this month.
    I am no spring chicken and with going to school two days a week takes up most of my spare time, therefore, when I find a job, it will be nearly impossible for me to pass the tests I need to be able to look for that type of job, which would enrich my life so much more. Working in a job where you are not appreciated and just a number gets old fast. I had hoped to find a job that I half-way enjoyed with better pay, but it looks like that’s not going to happen. I bet I’m not the only one out there trying to better themselves with better skills that will be in the same boat as I.
    I am also concerned as to whether I will be able to keep my apartment or car if I am unable to find a job. As mentioned above, many more people with much more experience have been unsuccessful and the jobs at McDonald’s don’t pay enough to pay the bills. I know I am not alone but that is little comfort when I have to ask my children if I can live with them because I cannot make ends meet.

Categories & Tags: Budget| Unemployment| | |