Another bad day for us....

When I say "us" I don't mean liberal, conservative, teabagger, or progressive. I don't mean Democrat or Republican. I'm none of those things. And I'm all of them. I certainly have day's when I say "vote all the bastards out." Guess that makes me a teabagger. Then I have days when I fear unions will run this country and I know how evil they can be. But most days I believe everyone in this incredible nation should have the right to a good quality of life (even at the cost of some of my good fortune.)

But this blog is not about me. Its about the world around us at this point in time. We. citizens of the U. S. had another bad day. The recession clumps along. The DOW went below 10,000 today before it came back up (barely). Unemployment numbers are down below 10% but that was because the most new hires were temporary workers.

So, even though they tell us the worst is over, we don't really believe it. What we do believe is that our "promise for change" won't lead, the Senate is at a standstill, and the only way you make a new friend is if you can agree on who you are going to hate.

The teabaggers are starting their convention today and right of the box, the first speaker recommends a literacy test to qualify for voting. Another time and this man would be booed off the stage, but there in Nashville, he is receiving positive applause. It's ironic to me because I think a lot of teabaggers wouldn't pass the test.

The Republican Senate has put a "hold" on all of the Presidents nominees to fill his administrative positions, thus locking any sense of leadership in the bureaucracy. There was one appointment passed this week after being nominated nine months ago. I guess the Republicans want to show some bipartisan cooperation.

The Republicans have also gone rabid on the President's budget that was delivered to Congress. Naturally, they oppose it and stress that it is a jobs killer. They feel so strong that they are developing a "shadow" budget to show people they offer an alternative. The funny thing about that, the "shadow" budget recommends slashing medicare and privatizing social security. When that got out, all of the Republican leadership distanced themselves from it until they see the finished product. Afterall, they brought healthcare to a halt because they argued it cut medicare, endangering their elderly loved ones. There is no doubt in my mind there will never be a finished product. What the Republicans have managed to do so well since they became a minority is to do nothing. That way they can not be criticized. While at the same time they can devote all their energy on criticizing anything that comes out of the Democrat camp. It's a good formula for success.

The jobs bill has also been introduce to Congress. It's now in the Senate. Guess what? The Republicans are threatening to filibuster it. Its going to be dead. A bill designed to create jobs during the worst recession since the Great Depression, and they are going to kill it with a filibuster.

Does the average citizen know that the filibuster has been used more in the past year than it has from 1950 to 2009? government is at a standstill. We, all of us, are being held hostage, until the Republican establishment party, gets its way and gets back the majority. This is democracy? Get rid of the filibuster, or modify it to something more reliable. Put a time limit on them. Do something. Things are falling apart.