“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”- Teddy Roosevelt
It’s a merry happy Christmas for the idle rich with a bitch slap and a lump of coal extended to the long-term unemployed! As much as I supported President Obama and fought for his election in 2008, I now am totally appalled by his actions with regards to the plight of the so-called 99ers. This, in itself is a misnomer as many of these American tax paying, voting, citizens have been without any form of income for much more than 99 weeks. They have been overlooked and disregarded by both the Democrats and Republicans, through two ridiculously contentious extension battles. As of July, with 15 million unemployed (and this is just the people who are actually counted. The real figure is more like 30 million), 56% have already exhausted their benefits and that number has been growing at a rate of 50,00 per day since! Yet, inexplicably, Obama and his minions kept claiming that they were “helping the 2 million unemployed” by selling out to the rich, as if this was laudable.
The only way that any deal should have been made is if it provided a Tier 5, for the long-term unemployed. Because as these tax cuts stand, they represent a serious bend over by Obama and a selling out of the American people. Purportedly, Republican Mitch McConnell could be seen happily licking his lips as Obama signed the bill and led himself to political slaughter! (Oddly, the Reverend Al Sharpton was also present! So much for being an advocate for the people, Al! A large majority of the long-termed unemployed are people of color and your base.) The following Sunday, Joe Biden continued this assault on the unemployed in his appearance on “Meet The Press” where he once again dropped the erroneous 2 million number. I predict that without some kind of immediate relief, this glaring disregard for the poor is going to help make Obama, a one term President. A pox on the White House for basically saying “let ’em eat cake” to millions of unemployed Americans while patting themselves on the back for helping a handful. There is a new bill, H6556 “in committee” to help the 99ers. Let’s hope that since their Christmas is ruined, it can be passed immediately and retroactively for the 99ers, once Congress returns from stuffing their gluttonous faces with Christmas figgy puddin’!
Interestingly, while on my visit to Mexico, many of the citizens I talked to expressed the same disappointment with President Obama. They felt that he is not the dynamic Man that the whole world supported and not fulfilling his promise. The next two years will be very interesting politically.
As for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” thank Goddess that that idiocy was finally repealed. If any person is brave enough (or crazy enough) to want to serve in the armed forces then they should be allowed to. Now let’s just hope we can stop violating people’s civil rights and allow everyone who wants to, to marry! The televised Proposition 8 appeal case in California provided moments of pure hilarity as the opposing attorney tried to argue his case. His statements were ridiculous and he clearly had problems making sense of it even to himself.
I love Sandra Bullock. But why does merely surviving a bad marriage make her People’s 2010 “Women Of the Year”? There are tons of women, with far less resources, that have done far more extraordinary things than Sandra this year. Again, love Sandra but I’m just saying. Losing a schmuck hubby is NOT curing cancer!
Wow just fell in love with Gwyneth Paltrow after watching her performance on “Glee”. Gwyneth has always been on the TGATP radar, especially after her ELLE interview in which she recognized the ongoing racism that is prevalent in America, something that is rarely mentioned outside the African-American community. She was excellent and who knew she had such a great set of pipes! Bravo Gwyneth!
This season when you donate to the food drives., don’t forget the pet food for the animals. America is in a second Great Depression and with so many folks struggling, there have to be a lot of hungry pets as well.
And finally, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE NBC’s show, the Sing-Off! Just wish the NBC development and programming execs would get it right! This show is one of the best of the reality genre, and as such, should be a 13-episode series with the AUDIENCE deciding the winners! The judging is too all over the place. Particularly annoying is Ben Folds, who is often grappling for an appropriate opinion and annoyingly random. His summations mean nil to TGATP.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and look for TGATP’s Take On next week, which will feature a round-up of TGATP’s best and worst of 2010!
