Caught Red Handed

“Caught red handed,” is a cliche’ that refers to a killer found with blood on their hands. Recent revelations that the Republican Party ( GOP ) employees have been eligible for elective abortions under their Health Care Insurance policies are a perfect example of that cliche’. Which is all the more relevant as the House of Representatives has sent a Health Care Reform Bill to the Senate. A Bill that is being hotly debated on the issue of publicly funded, elective abortions.

Consider that this insurance policy has been in effect since George Bush Sr. was President, and that Democrat politicians ( including the current President ) have been criticised in every election since then by a party seemingly aligned with a political faction that was named back then, “The Moral Majority”. Many Christian Americans, and most Fundamentalist Christian Americans where drawn to the Republican Party on this major issue alone. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele;

“Money from our loyal donors should not be used for this purpose,” Steele said in a statement late Thursday after learning of the abortion coverage from a news report. “I don’t know why this policy existed in the past, but it will not exist under my administration. Consider this issue settled.”

Steele is the new face of the GOP, appointed immediately after their defeat in the last election. Can he move the GOP away from this blatant hypocrisy fast enough to dodge the accusations that will no doubt be made by the opposition in the Senate debate?

Another issue is the survivability of the GOP itself. Ben Smith, writing at Politico has a few sharp words, some great quotes on this issue of, “Do as I say, not as I do.”

“…In order for the RNC to regain the trust of their donors, they must disclose the names of all people involved in any way of the selection of their health care plan. And those people must be summarily fired. No severance packages, no golden parachutes; fired. For cause.

No pro-lifer in good conscience can give them a dime until this happens…more…”

The GOP has enjoyed the financial support directed to them by the pulpit, but they require only the votes from that right wing of their rank and file. Their finances depend on lobbyists from Big Business…like the Insurance Industry that is obviously behind the opposition to Health Care Reform.

There’s an election coming up, and many GOP Senators will have to decide between the Truth, and lies. Republican voters will be facing the same choice. Fundamentalist Christians have always embraced the contradiction between The Right to Life and the realities of business, it’s known as The Puritan Dilemma. Or, as my Grandmother would say;

“If you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?”

About the title of this post. It refers to the blood of the innocents sacrificed on the altar of profit.

I, Government

I’m wondering if Assimov’s ‘Laws of Robotics’ should be applied to Government ( as if the Government was an artificial person ). Our Government isn’t really alive you know, but it does present that illusion. That illusion does have power though, and power must be managed well. So, why not manage Government as Assimov suggests?

I would rewrite the laws to state;

Government may not injure a human, or through inaction allow a human to come to harm while it obeys the will of the people. Nor should Government allow itself to be altered or abolished as long as it protects and serves the people above it’s own interest.

These principles could marry the American Conservatives passion for the individual, and the American Liberals desire for a Nanny-State.

This, of course assumes that Government has it’s own interests, identity and spirit.

Subterranean Economic Blues

With huge bonuses going to executives of many large corporations, I have to as, “What do they do with all that money?” My personal contact with the wealthy is limited to short trips in the taxi that I drove for twenty years, so my understanding of that social class is limited to that perspective. Those folks do tip big.

I left that job eight years ago when I returned to the agricultural community where I was born and raised. Most of all I miss the tips, that little bit of ‘dash’ that provides the instant gratification that is practically non-existant in a rural setting. Tips are a large part of the under-ground economy that you will find in any city, subterranean so to speak. I liken my sense of loss to Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues. So, what is the connection between the underground, Bob Dylan, corporate bonuses and my blues? Let me explain;

There is a line in Bob’s song ( click on link above ), ‘…the pump don’t work, cause the vandals took the handles…’ That particular lyric has mystified myself and many others for years. Now I understand; Without the bonuses, corporate executives can’t support the thousands of low-lifes ( like myself ) that depend so much on their filthy lucre. The pump is the economy, and the handle is instant gratification ( TIPS = to insure prompt service ).

When those executives left their homes to appear before the US Congress, I have no doubt that they tipped everybody they met along their route to those hallowed halls. I’m just guessing, but I’ll bet they laid out thousands of dollars in largess that they fully expected to ‘trickle down’ through the economy, and thus ’stimulate’ that same economy. Limo drivers, sky-caps, and valet parking assistants are just a few of those that benifit from their ‘cash flow’. That is just the way the weathy contribute to society ( except for wealthy Canadians, they don’t tip ).

How much of our lives, our jobs and our Government is dependent on an under-ground economy? For the last eight years, my wife and I have supported ourselves with minimum wage jobs, so we really don’t feal the pinch like we would have ‘back in the day’. The blues I feel are more nostalgic, than financial.

I’m also grateful that circumstances put disance between myself, and a very corrupt system that depends so much on instant gratification.

And about that pump, my neighbor has an old one in his back yard that works well ( if you work it )