This has no real direction for a post. This is just a series of crazy ramblings that went through my head over the course of today.
I think that I could be a very dangerous person if I were someone who was say... unemployed or a stay at home mom and watched news all day. Seriously- I would be an enraged vigilante all of the time. I watched the news for about 30 minutes at my mom's house today and by the time I left there I felt like brandishing a weapon and joining a protest.
I don't know if you have noticed but the majority of Wisconsin had their heads lodged all the way up their asses in November when they elected Scott Walker as Governor. Now, I know that voting is part of democracy. I get it. But there should be some baseline qualifications for a person before they can vote. Reading and reading comprehension should be minimum. Common sense, money management skills, logic and theory, etc. All of these things should be skills a person has before they can even register to vote. OK. Because without these skills...
... you vote in someone like... oh let's just use Scott Walker.
If you have seen the news you will notice that Wisconsin is on the brink of turning into Egypt. Seriously. We have picketers with signs such as "Walk Like An Egyptian" and they are not talking about one of those surprise dance mobs. It's really a bad situation up in here. Basically, the quick and dirty is that Walker, along with other Republican state legislators are proposing budget stuff that basically would eliminate all bargaining leverage for state employees. So in dumb speak- unions would be shit out of luck.
Now, I'm not a big union supporter. Not because I don't think police departments, fire departments, nurses, teachers, etc are not worth their salaries. Quite the contrary- most of them aren't being paid enough. But what I DO have a problem with are trades workers who are demanding HIGH salaries for little work. I'm sorry- but try hiring a plumber... and compare union versus non union. Holy fucking hell. Huge difference there. And I don't think it's right that, depending on what trade you are in, you could be making $40/hour. Seriously?? Is that necessary? Um, no. I understand inflation and all that shit but HELLO- look at the rest of Middle America. We're making much less than that and we can pay our bills.
OK, some can't but that's not the point.
So while I'm not pro-Union... I'm against these budget cutting measures. They are so radical that for this to pass would be such a dramatic domino effect not just for Wisconsin, but for the Country. There are already several states watching us closely because if this goes into effect, you bet others will follow. I can't think of one state that isn't facing some kind of budget shortfall so this could be a problem for everyone. And it's not just unions. Oh no. You better bet if this passes with unions, us folk not in a union are going to feel the pinch next.
But it's not just Wisconsin who is having budget problems. I saw today that a legislator from Minnesota proposed that the Pentagon stop advertising on NASCAR cars/billboards/etc because it's a waste of tax payer money. And while EVERYONE is bitching about the deficit and how nobody wants more taxes etc... people are UP IN ARMS that this woman had the balls to say, "hey- let's stop advertising the military on cars". Um, makes perfect fucking sense, people.
Honestly. How many of you who are in the military joined because you saw a National Guard ad on the side of a race car? Anyone?
*crickets*
That's what I thought. I get that we need men and women to serve the country. I GET IT. But send a recruiter to colleges, do your tv campaigns, etc. But let's be realistic- advertising should be done when it's effective. Surely somewhere there is some office in our government who's job it is to track this shit. If you haven't recruited a shit ton of people from race cars, let's stop plugging money (that we surely don't have) into something so stupid. And sorry for the redneck nation of NASCAR lovers, I'm sure Budweiser would love more ad space.
And can I just say... that I think we should stop welfare? Like all of it? I know. It's drastic and awful to think about the people who would legitimately be hit hard with that. But just today, I stopped at the grocery store for a few things, hoping that it doesn't go over $20, and the lady in front of me with a bazillion kids, all decked out in the latest stuff and she's carrying a $500 Prada bag, has her nails done, and Gucci sunglasses whips out her food stamp card.
MAKES MY BLOOD FUCKING BOIL.
People like that should not be on food stamps. Hi. Sell your fucking purse. Stop getting your nails done. Get knock off glasses. Something so you aren't such a boil on society. Then I bag my stuff and I'm walking out behind her and here comes the ride- a fucking H2 Hummer with rims and a sound system I can hear from the next town over. Are you serious right now?
I don't think the welfare system (food stamps, heat assistance, daycare assistance, all of it) can be reformed. The loop holes are all over the place, nobody is accountable to check up on people, nobody really cares, and it's a mess. So I say scrap it. I always look at charity (because essentially- this is charity we are all paying for) as something you give
when you have it. Our country doesn't have it.
Oh- and I'm so EFFING TIRED of listening to rich people say "Wah- I don't want higher taxes". Aw.. poor baby. I'm sure you're not at the brink of starvation. Sell a condo. Sell a summer house. A boat. Tell your mistress you can't do a date every weekend. Cut back like the rest of us. The problem with the really rich people in this country is that they don't really know what it's like to have to cut coupons. Or turn their heat down so they can feed their kids. Or not pay the phone bill so they can get their daughter new shoes because she grew. Or sell their possessions to fix a window vandals broke for no reason. They don't know that and it's unfortunate. It's unfortunate because until they really understand what that's like the rest of Middle America will just keep taking the hits. And people like Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans don't have a real grip of what the economy is really like for the rest of us.
So yeah. No more CNN or MSNBC for me for awhile. Seriously. My blood pressure was just going through the roof over the span of 30 minutes it's a miracle I didn't have a coronary on my mom's couch. And I'm going to say- I'm not a strict Democrat or Republican. But I consider myself an adult with reasonable social skills and I can work through an issue with others I disagree on. It's called
compromise. If you can't compromise like a reasonable adult, you should not be in an elected office. And I'm sick of hearing each party blame the other party as a whole when that's not working, clearly. It's just so depressing. And every time I think things can't possibly get worse, that the economy has to turn around again.... shit like this happens and I think, maybe I should just move to Canada or something. Dang.