DEBT CEILING, IT'S BUSINESS AS USUAL DUMMY!

DEBT CEILING, IT'S BUSINESS AS USUAL DUMMY!  (Frazer Chronicles)

You know, I'm old enough to remember when I've said, "this is the worst it's ever been," or, "they have finally lost their minds," or, "those jerks have made a mess that will never be repaired." When gas prices suddenly spiked in 1974 and there were long lines at the gas pump, everybody said, "things will never be the same."  Maybe they were right, but we recovered and went about our business.

In the late afternoon of September 11, 2001, after my wife and I had consumed an adequate amount of alcohol, when we were sitting on our front porch, my wife suddenly got up, walked to the street, and with  tears in her beautiful big brown eyes, she looked at me and said something that has proven to be prophetic,  "things will never be the same," and she was right.

America no longer is the "land of the free and the home of the brave," and maybe it never was.  We struggle to gain a "handle" on  almost ever aspect of our lives, our government, our place in the world, and how we deal with issues here at home.

The debt ceiling has been around since, forever, here in the United States, in fact, since the country's inception. Debt occurred during the American Revolutionary War. Between 1796 to 1811 the country had 14 surpluses and only 2 debts. Of course the war of 1812 and then  the Civil War 49 years later again plunged the nation back into a debt mode. And the first and second world wars did nothing good for our debt ceiling.

A national, or public debt has been with the country throughout our history, but until 2011, and the Republican and Tea Party's, Grover Nordquist, Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan has tied all sorts of cost cutting addendum's to any raising of the country's debt ceiling, so that the country can continue to pay it's bills. I can find nothing to compare with what these people want to do.

Relax everybody, our elected political leaders will raise the debt levels, governmental payments will continue, and grumblings will be heard from both sides. People will still be taken care of, and the global economy will continue to put money into the hands of those people that our system of government is designed to do.

In recent history, since 1996, the U.S. debt ceiling has been raised an astounding 11 times, mostly to cover war and entitlement spending. It's almost like our government is trying to "eat itself skinny." The Accountability Office has not be able to sign off on the government's books for 14 straight years because of some very creative book-keeping practices.

The train continues folks, happy hour is almost here, complete with a huge banquet table of all sorts of delicious food, guaranteed to continue the fest to make us skinny, you dummies.

FEDERAL LAW AND HEALTH CARE!

FEDERAL LAW AND HEALTH CARE! (Frazer Chronicles)

I know of several people who have in the past, or currently are relying on emergency room medical care much the same as folks with full medical coverage do with their regular care giver. I have wondered about this practice, if the expense was carried over to either the general public "taxpayers" or those medically covered patients.

The majority of the people that use emergency service care, who don't have enough medical insurance, or none at all come from 3 different areas of American society, low income, no income, or those people who either aren't interested in getting a job, or can't work for medical or mental reasons.

To not allow people access to medical treatment would be the worst kind of degradating activity by the medical care industry, political programs, or society attitude. Medical care in the United States is not, I repeat, not a constitutional right. Nowhere in the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or any other governmental act, or law does it proclaim that "American citizens have the right to medical health care."

What the federal law does require is that hospitals must treat people whether they can pay or not. In today's United States of America, there is a growing practice of "insurance dropping," because the premiums are becoming so costly, people are unable to afford private insurance coverage. Their health issues are put off, "in many cases," until they are emergencies, and they then use emergency room medical care.

This practice causes several different issues that eventually increase the cost of health care, not only to the hospital, but to the insurance companies and the general public as well, unless you believe that hospitals are willing to just "eat" the lack of payment for a service.

Most hospitals today are in the business of making a bottom line profit, just like General Motors, or Wal Mart. Doctors drive BMW's, hospital administrators drive Cadillacs and new hospitals have an air of marble, brick and steel palaces.

So who pays for the free health care, we all do, through all sorts of programs, hidden as well as publicly declared charges written right into either your hospital billing, or your health insurance premium payment billing receipts. Nothing is free, "they don't pay for a freebie,"  we all pay!

However there is a "catch" in the free health care that people receive at an emergency room facility, and it can be dangerous as hell. Like the man said, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," emergency's are also under the interpretation of the emergency room personal.

A cut, a tooth ache, minor cuts, bruises, sprains, or dislocations all can be deemed as "non-emergency," and medical care can be refused. Other health issues can be lightly treated and turn into a fatal issue that a regular doctor's office visit would catch, and treat.

The most important medical treatment is preventative, and emergency rooms do not, nor are they required to give this type of health care. So in the long run, when people rely on "free" medical treatment, they usually get what they pay for. Hospitals in many cases do go the extra mile, after all, staff members are trained to give relief, or assistance, but done at the end of the line of health care, that is exactly where this type of patient is, "down at the end of medical treatment." 

Who suffers the most in this type of medical treatment, seniors and kids, usually when neither can afford to be treated with anything other then the best of care. One is nearing the end, the other, just beginning. Young, old and the "in-betweens" are stabilized, and if necessary, hospitalized and are not entitled to primary care. Neither are they entitled to preventive care, or follow-up care.

Any politician who says that poor people, indigent people, sick, injured, or just plain scammers are entitled to "extensive" free care because they can't afford it is not telling the true, either for a self serving reason, or they have their facts wrong, in many cases, dead wrong.

I firmly believe that every American deserves the right to  expect  medical care, whether extensive, or superficial. As long as the United States founds foreign countries medical care programs, "for free," we need to demand the same service. 

DRUG "BUST"

DRUG "BUST" (San Diego Red)
Searching for a unique story for today's blog attempt, I ran across a small article in the San Diego Red about boarder drug enforcement that made me stop. Never having smuggled anything across any boarder, through any check-point, in a car, truck, or suit case, I found the headline, "Boarder Drug Busts Begin With Odd Bra and Helmet."

My immediate reaction was that some women was stuffing drugs in her helmet, and her brassier, but I couldn't figure out how the helmet came into the equation. Maybe she was a biker chick, or was wearing a batting helmet or construction workers hard hat.

Come to find out, some jerk-off tried to smuggle cocaine in his motorcycle helmet through customs, like wearing a helmet wouldn't draw any attention. The tip off, the American citizen's helmet was unusually heavy and further inspection discovered more then  4 pounds of methamphetamine with a street value of more then $92,000.

Let that be a lesson to all you drug smuggling coyotes, "do not put 4 pounds of an illicit drugs in your motorcycle helmet." The boarder cops have X-ray machines that can see right through you and everything that you ware, "I sure would like one of those machines."

The second case, "one I wish I could have conducted," involved a 22 year old women who was stopped by boarder security at San Ysidro. The women attempted to fool authorities by packing her bra with 2 pounds of methamphetamine worth more then $30,000.

The women was tripped up by one of the oldest problems that well endowed young women have, a syndrome called "bigger boob on one side." It is true that men, since the invention of the brassier, have made a sport out of what is called "sizing." Men continual compare the size, usually from the left to the right, to check for any disparities in boob size, it has to be true, "I do it."

To think that an able bodied, healthy male would not see a boob weighing 2 pounds more then the other is actually what probably did the young "Conchita" in. I'm not sure how the investigation went, or who did the "pat down," but I sure as hell would have loved to have been there.

"Oh, by the way, both were turned over to the F.B.I." Have a good day.

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, IF YOU CAN SPEAK LATER!

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, IF YOU CAN SPEAK LATER! 

(Frazer Chronicles)

Kids really got it easy, they should thank their lucky stars for everything that is handed to them on a silver platter, "I sure did." I mean, the house, the love, the guidance, the food and an allowance to boot, could anything be better. It's almost like kids show up, and for the next 18 or so years, everything is supposed to revolve around that kid. "I wanna go back, I miss those days."

We now fast forward to 2011, the summertime of the year, and take a look at some of these kids lives, these kids born into such affluent surroundings, in a time of enlightenment, in a time where justice "rings" true for all. The skate parks, the roller board runs, ball diamonds, and all the kids summer activity programs that children can be amerced in.

During the just complete 2010-2011 school year, after  graduations, the graduation parties and all the fan-fare that goes along with the most important event in those young people's lives, "to date." They are left to ponder their recently gained Independence, what to do with it, and what first steps to take in the long struggle that for some, will continue their entire lives.

What happens to these bright, shining, eager young folks is a story in and of itself, the life's wins, losses, and the finding of one's self, realizing why, "to a degree" they are here. That story is  happy and sad at the same time. This story however, is for a different time and a different place.

What we are concerned with today, on July 18th. 2011 is some of the things that go into molding young people, their morals and their perception of power and who welds that power. Kids are impressionable, of that I have no doubt, kids fall into love and out of love at least three times a week, hell, I used to fall into and then out of love once or twice a day, sometimes in just an hour.

However when a kid is lead, oft times by the scruff of the neck into some windowless room where a battery of school officials and a couple of cops, the hair on the back of my neck, "the hair I have left there," raises, and I start a twitching nervousness and a sense of fear mixed with a twinge of anger, my heart starts pumping just a bit faster, and I ask the question, "what in hell is going on here, who did this kid molest, or kill?

Kids however, it turns out, have little or no rights when it comes to the Gestapo type actions that are arbitrarily taken by school authority's and the police. Kids are not Mirandized, given and listing of any of their rights, and are usually "bully-boyed" by school officials,  the cops, or both. Parents are called, usually after interrogation type questioning and whatever verdict the officials want has been gained.

I remember talking with a cop many years ago about a neighborhood tough, a 12 or 13 year old who was a royal pain in the ass, not only for me, but for the rest of the neighborhood as well. The cop told me to "just put up with the little punks activity, after he turned 16, they would (rain) on him." And you know, they did, he was arrested for murder and is spending most of the rest of his life in jail.

For some of these kids who act out, for whatever reason, the attitude is "wait, you'll get yours." With little exception, the help that many of these kids get is "lip service." As one cop put it, "the juvenile system is screwed up and social workers who administer services are a basic joke.

The above commentary brings us to the meat of today's subject, careful justice for kids, delivered with a firm, fair and honest hand. Just because a kid says something to another kid, or tells them that "he has a gun at home," or brings a pornographic magazine, book and some sexual adult toy to school does not mean that the kid intends to do wrong, or to do somebody harm.

What that should tell school administrators is that, that kid is acting out and needs some sort of professional help. The family should immediately be brought into the equation, and probably also is in need of clinical help. For God sake, get the kid as well as the parents into a help program and monitor the kid.

Police are absolutely no help in these types of matters, what with their cynical attitude, and assumption that everybody is guilty until they prove themselves innocent. The "in your face" behavior that cops bring to the table in many cases is unwarranted, and causes more harm then help. Believe it or not, most kids want guidance and welcome advice, the "know it all attitude" comes after a kid reaches about 15 or 16, and I am talking about kids under that age.

Give the kid and whatever system has been instituted a chance to work, give the kid an even break, and you'll be surprised at how easily a kid will respond to love and understanding as apposed to a backhand by some hairy knuckled Gestapo type cop.

MY KIND OF WOMEN!

MY KIND OF WOMEN! (Frazer Chronicles)
The most important goal of the  Frazer Chronicles is to "Print All The News That Nobody Else Will Print," and we attempt to live by that goal every day. Top news stories as   well as those hidden in section "E'" of obscure "home town" newspapers are routinely searched on a daily basis. I am up, usually by 4:00 A.M. to began the search, or to research for an Opp Ed that I will write that day.

The early hours gives me a chance to scan the wire services to catch either a most important story, or to catch an issue that probably won't make national headlines. I use as a "core basis" the story that appears, and expand and articulate that story, with generous amounts of my unique humor, or intertwine my opinions with the story line. I do not, nor have I ever deviated from what the story subject matter attempts to deliver, I simply (expand.)

That said, I simply couldn't pass up a story of a 70 year old grandma type who is being sued for allegedly downloading adult pornography, "is there any other kind." The poor widowed grandmother is beside herself about the pressure that she is getting to pay a law firm a substantial "stay out of court fee."

Actually the law firm, who represents an on line adult entertainment company  isn't really interested in taking offenders to court, but to get alleged infringers of downloading the material, to pay a substantial cash settlement to make legal action go away.These settlements range from $3,000 to as much as $12,000.

The grandmother in question says that "she has never heard of the entertainment company and further never downloaded anything on her computer. The women did not know whether computer was password protected, but did know that several young men lived next door.

The lawyer handling the case said that "unprotected wireless use" was "wildlessly irresponsible," and likened it to the same as a loaded gun left out in the open where children are. Wow, I didn't know adult entertainment, and, I guess gun control were in the same ball park, "legally speaking." Just goes to show, in this day and age, winning is everything. I didn't even know about "unprotected wireless."


BACHMANN LEFT CHURCH, OR WAS SHE KICKED OUT?
A conservative Evangelical Lutheran Church which the Michele Bachmann family attended until just before the Minnesota politician declared that she was entering the presidential campaign has issued a statement that they "church" had asked the Congress-women "where she stood with regards to her membership with the church."

The Bachmann family had stopped attending the church almost 2 years ago, "which in my mind would be a strong clue that they were no longer interested in the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Synod with headquarters in Wisconsin, the denominaltonal organization that includes the Salem church.

The glitz apparently came about because the Bachmann family did not address their lack of attendance, and whether they still considered themselves active members of the Salem church. According to the church, the "impetus came from the church" with regards to membership, as the Salem pastor wanted to know "where he stood" with the family." I can answer that one, "you had no standing."


Religion has often been a question during political campaigns, with candidates coming under fire for the religious company that they have kept. The Salem church, apparently has taken some "controversial" stances with regards to gay issues and some of the sermons that have been delivered. There also is a "feeling" within the church that the Pope is the "Antichrist."

The Bachmann family now attends an all faiths church on the Minnesota-Wisconsin boarder in Stillwater, Minnesota. The reason Michele Bachmann gave for changing churches, the family had moved to a different part of town. I find that kind of hard to understand, since Stillwater is just a tad over 18,000 residents, "oh well, that question is for a different blog."

I do not agree with much of what Michele Bachmann says, advocates, or I guess, believes in, however her choice of churches, "to me," is inconsequential. Whatever God she prays to, or believes in, is her own business and the quicker the press and those busy bodies that raise these silly issues shut their mouths, or their printing presses, the better off we will all be and the quicker we can address the really important issues, you know, like jobs, debt and getting out of foreign country's with our war machinery.


SLEEPY'S AT IT AGAIN!
Wisconsin governor Scott "Sleepy" Walker is at it again, making national headlines, again with his stance on collective bargaining for the states union employees. However this time, I personally have proof that Ole Scotty is full of feathers. He admitted on MSNBC that "getting ride of collective bargaining in Wisconsin would not save the taxpayers of the state any money. I heard it on television, so it's gotta be true.

I will say one thing for this career politician, "he has a big set of cahonides," he approached this issues, "like he was the head of a small business," he saw a problem, saw a solution, and went out and got it done. I guess that "Sleepy" figures that Wisconsin politics can be equated to a small business. Well, that's just great, now "Scotty," what's your next target, street-side garbage.....wait, he already addressed that issue, and took cuts to it.

Walker accused "outside" union interests in fanning the fires of discontent, and were responsible for the massive protests at the capital building in Madison. He also cites not building enough of a political case for his action. Excuse me, I must be dumb, but what does that really mean, like talking to Democrats, or talking to unions, or talking to union rank and file, or addressing the issue in the press, or over the airwaves. None of that would have done any good, they were all against any kind of that eliminational action.

Maybe he meant that he should have talked in detail to his own party.....wait a minute, he did that, or talk to business, or metropolitan hierarchy, he did that also, and his ideas were basically received with a warm handshake and a clap on the back.

What the "Sleepy one" can't get over is the fact that everybody, even his own backers saw what his proposal was, "a union buster" not only for the public secter, but a possible death nill for unions at large, not only in Wisconsin, but for the entire United States. You can take a nap now, "Sleepy."



AND AWAY WE GO?

AND AWAY WE GO? (Frazer Chronicles)
I haven't blogged much about the financial crises which seems to be engulfing the nation in an ever increasing vice-like grip. All sorts of accusations, finger pointing and the blame game have dominated the newspaper headlines for months. It's almost like a "he said, she said," or a "he did or didn't, or," well you get the idea. It's hard to keep up with, when you know that those people making statements on a daily basis have several advisers either on their left or right shoulder, or sometimes both.

Here is the bottom line in a straight forward, no nonsense way, "if you don't have enough money to pay your bills, your in a tough financial spot and you'd better get a second job to make up the difference." All the crap that is said by either Republicans or Democrats doesn't mean a thing, "if you ain't got the bread to pay your bills, your a dead beat, and a piss poor risk, and will pay a higher interest rate," it's how the financial system, (in the world) works.

Is the United States to big to fail, absolutely, might we get bailed out, possibly, but that will not alter the fact that, if we don't pay our bills, "all of our bills," those loan holders will be taking some sort of action  to safeguard their interests. Do not forget the fact that America isn't the "sweetheart" of the world, there are people out there that would love to see the United States fail, no matter the consequences to the rest of the world.

The dispute between political parties and the fractions within each, the egos, the power trips and the "tugging" by special interest groups all serve to disrupt progress towards what has to happen "at this point in time." The debt ceiling simply has to be raised so that the country can continue along it's probable ride into financial oblivion.

Republicans staunchly oppose raising taxes, closing loop-holes or bending in their convection's with regards to this issue. The Republican party as well as the Tea Party apparently figure to cut programs in a major way, changing completely the lifestyles of many U.S. citizens, and the landscape of governmental processes during the 2nd. decade of the 21st. century.

Republicans seem to not care who is effected, how they are effected, or how many will continue their journey through life. Many of the entitlement programs that are "on the books" at the present time, are used by many low income or indigents to live on. There very existence depends on these taxpayer "give-away" programs that some politely call "entitlement programs."

Let's be frank and clear, many entitlement programs are nothing more then give-aways to the poor, disabled, or those folks who are unwilling to work. For whatever reason, many of the people that take advantage of these programs have some sort of idea that "the government" is a 2rd. party, and they are completely divorced from "them," government. Some in government intimate the same, saying "they" when talking about the government.

"We is they, and they is us," is actually how it works, there is no magic money tree, or babbling brook that money flows down, government relies on tax revenues for it's operations. We elect people to do our bidding, it's not the other way around. Political parties and elected officials do not have agendas in and of themselves, they are supposed to carry out whatever mandate that the people dictate to them.

That's right, "I said, DICTATE," the majority voice of the people is the only voice that matters, and therein lies the dictatorial part of a democracy, it's people demanding it's elected officials to do what they figure is right and just for them.

The fringe has taken over the American political system, the special groups, the lobbyists that represent this fringe who figure they "know" what is good for the nation, for an entire region and in the end, the world.

The United States is headed for the last round-up, Armageddon,  a loss of biblical proportion, a "shut the lights out when you leave," kind of plight. I have never been a good manager of money, but only my immediate family suffered, my foolhardy impulse buying  only effected a small unit of people, 5 to be exact.

When the United States spends trillions in foreign investments, and cuts benefits to it's own people, the same people who paid taxes so that these trillions could be spent, makes no sense. Not one American should go hungry, not one American should have to sleep under a bridge, or in a cardboard box for the lack of a bed.

We are almost past a great depression, a depression like there was in 1929, the one that had lingering effects until 1940. There have been other depressions, they used to be called "panics," the country suffered many financial downturns for a mired of reasons. 1873, 1892 and other depressed periods during our history.

None however was for the reasons that we, as a country now  face, sheer and utter stupidity which is exhibited by peoples of all political parties. Egos, political agendas and partisan activity on a level unprecedented in our history threatens to take us to where none wants to be, a depressed financial situation that just might break our country's sole.

It's time for all of us to "get off our collective asses, get into the heat," and once and for all, settle this democracy that we all live under. We need to raise taxes, close all loop-holes, streamline our taxpayer giveaways, and get on with sensible governance.

IT'S GETTING TOUGHER AND TOUGHER OUT THERE!

IT'S GETTING TOUGHER AND TOUGHER OUT THERE! (Frazer Chronicles)

Man, it's tough in the workplace today, I'm glad I retired a couple years ago, and hope that I don't have to rejoin the workforce again in my lifetime. I tried a whole bunch of different jobs in my attempts to eek out some sort of existence during the 40 some years when I was working.

Today there are many, many writers, journalists, interested writers and bloggers that write about how the job market is for the average worker in the United States. Sadly many of these writers have less then no clue about what it means to be a low paid employee in the work a day world. The daily degradation, the humiliation and the constant fear of reprisal from supervisors, or worse, of losing the job.

Very seldom does an actual laborer speak up "in print by his/her own hand" about personal experiences, about the anger, about the fear and about the humiliation that one feels in a dead-end job. The feelings that one can experiences go beyond humiliation, into a sort of constant state of sadness and self petty, sadness for your way of life, and petty for the overbearing supervisor or company that you are working for.

For most, there is a feeling of unfulfilled potential, a frustrating feeling of failure, a feeling of being taken advantage of and a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. For many workers in America today, some or all of these feelings accurately describe their working career. It is not a phenomena of today's working society, rather a cycle of low wages that was triggered by the 2008 financial problems that gripped the United States when the housing bubble burst. 

The cycle that I am talking about has happened in the past, in the United States as well as the world at large, but I don't really care about the world at large, that is part of Americas problems today. I link Americas problems, first to NAFTA, and then to the global economy that we are "enjoying" today. The Wal Mart "T" shirts for $3.99 that were made in China for $2 including shipping.

NAFTA took effect in 1994 amidst claims that the North American Free Trade Agreement would improve the U.S. trade balance with Mexico and Canada, which would result in more then 200,000 new jobs in the United States. The reality was that there weren't nearly the 200,000 jobs, and that  NAFTA has created a trade deficit which in fact displaced more then 1 million jobs in America.

What exports do for the American worker is really simple, it creates more jobs, decent paying jobs, jobs with benefits. The trade deficit between the 3 country's has varied from 1 to 2 billion dollars while some states have suffered more then 100,000 jobs lost.

To say that NAFTA has been a failure, "at least for American workers," is an understatement, and what the act has meant for industry is easy to see, "more profit," and a ever widening disparage in income for the upper percentages of Americans compared to the middle class.

A global economy has preformed even worse for Americans work force, basically eliminating any sort of competition for manufactured goods and worker wages. A factory worker in China cannot be compared to an American worker for several reasons, overtime, benefits, working conditions and worker related programs.

Globalization has been around for a long time, years ago, governmental leaders began to talk about eliminating worker rights groups and organizations. Private sector business has always looked for ways to increase productivity while downsizing it's work force either through attrition or innovative systems that can replace workers.

It has never been the responsibility of business to create more jobs, rather it has been their job to create more production, through whatever means necessary. Actually it is not the place for government to create jobs, rather to produce entitlement programs that  either the electorate wants, or that elected officials deem necessary. The affordability of these entitlements are also the responsibility of elected officials, through tax revenues.

Why is it tougher out there in the work place, business has discovered that outsourcing either portions of their manufacturing, or all of it, makes their product more affordable for American  consumers, meaning that these same corporations do not have to charge as much, therefore do not have to pay a high wage to their workers here in America.

Innovation has been an American trademark, it was a reason why America was head and shoulders above the rest of the world. This innovative mentality came from all corners of America, and from people that could have been commoners, or highly educated engineers or scientists. But that innovative spirit and thinking is being retarded and in fact being outsourced along with millions of jobs.

Americans are working longer, harder and for stagnant wages today, a trend that started not in 2007 or 2010, rather in the 1980's. Business began to discover that they could make money more and more on the backs of their workers without reimbursing them. Whoever said that cleaning a motel room or washing dishes in a restaurant was not worth a living wage? Whoever said that waiting tables wasn't worth $12 an hour.

Cleaning a motel room is an important service, waitress's tables is an important job, jobs that not everybody can do, yet they are at the bottom of the totum pole with regards to wages. These jobs aren't worth what a doctor makes, but they sure as hell are worth more then minimum wages.

I used to drive commercially, I liked my job and always did the best job that I could. I have loaded my trailer, unloaded my trailer and driven well over the legal number of hours, "11 hours in a 24 hour period," to get to a stop on time. I didn't make any more money, a time sensitive load was just a part of my job.

Do you know what I got for my effort, zip, zero, nada, unless you count not getting paid for miles that I drove, or stops that I was supposed to get paid for but didn't. Why, because the truck company I was working for wanted that extra buck and because they knew that I had little recourse. I have also driven for truck companies with sub-standard, unsafe, dangerous and illeagl equipment, why, because I needed a paycheck. Many times I have driven around the country in unsafe and under maintained trucks and trailers, weighing more then 35 ton for a paycheck.

Governmental regulations do not work, they do not cover all the dangerous eliments that happen every day in America, and now the American working men and women are being asked, no demanded to go above and beyond.

With little exception, the people that write about the ills of America worker plights need to simply stop, write about movie reviews, or a garden party. Cycles continue, the wheel keeps going around and the American worker is facing tougher and tougher times out there, and I have never been happier in my retirement.