Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Thu, Sep 11 2008
From paycheck to pork
September 11 brings to mind the horrific events of this day several years ago. I've been hearing all the hoopla about lipstick on a pig in recent days. And the other night I watched as a PBS station silently rolled the photos and names of 18 service men and women who had recently been killed in the conflict in Iraq. I wondered what their families must think when they watch politicians tossing puns and silly accusations back and forth with such passion, while the families grieve for loved ones who have died while campaign teams worked hard to sling mud.
When I consider all the things we could be addressing on this planet, the whole matter of who called who which name tells me that, in spite of both major parties talking a great deal about change, very little has actually changed when it comes to politics. And, in spite of most voters claiming we want change in our country, we're very likely to keep right on voting for one of two major party candidates while more and more taxes are extracted from us, until some of us see nearly half our personal income going for either foreign conflicts or for domestic programs that we don't support and that benefit very few people except lobbyists and already-wealthy politicians.
We must not be tired enough of the way things are, or we'd make certain that we opened the political playing field up to people who desire to do more than spend money (theirs and ours), on the same wars, the same pet projects and the same bureaucratic briar patches. Have you sat down and figured out just much of your income goes to help finance local, state and federal pork these days? How much did taxes take from your paycheck last year against what you were able to save for old age or your children's education? The lipstick is on the political pig all right, and we've got the stuff smeared all over our faces too, since we keep smooching up this little piggy all the way to the bank.
posted at: 11:54 | category: /Politics | link to this entry
September 11 brings to mind the horrific events of this day several years ago. I've been hearing all the hoopla about lipstick on a pig in recent days. And the other night I watched as a PBS station silently rolled the photos and names of 18 service men and women who had recently been killed in the conflict in Iraq. I wondered what their families must think when they watch politicians tossing puns and silly accusations back and forth with such passion, while the families grieve for loved ones who have died while campaign teams worked hard to sling mud.
When I consider all the things we could be addressing on this planet, the whole matter of who called who which name tells me that, in spite of both major parties talking a great deal about change, very little has actually changed when it comes to politics. And, in spite of most voters claiming we want change in our country, we're very likely to keep right on voting for one of two major party candidates while more and more taxes are extracted from us, until some of us see nearly half our personal income going for either foreign conflicts or for domestic programs that we don't support and that benefit very few people except lobbyists and already-wealthy politicians.
We must not be tired enough of the way things are, or we'd make certain that we opened the political playing field up to people who desire to do more than spend money (theirs and ours), on the same wars, the same pet projects and the same bureaucratic briar patches. Have you sat down and figured out just much of your income goes to help finance local, state and federal pork these days? How much did taxes take from your paycheck last year against what you were able to save for old age or your children's education? The lipstick is on the political pig all right, and we've got the stuff smeared all over our faces too, since we keep smooching up this little piggy all the way to the bank.
posted at: 11:54 | category: /Politics | link to this entry
