Conjecture Becomes Fact Becomes HOLY CRAP!

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. I trust that you all had a safe and happy holiday. Mt Hamster Partner, the Queen, and I spent Christmas in Colorado with family and had a great time. I'll have you know that for that entire week, I didn't watch any news programs and, once the withdrawls calmed down, I found myself blissfully ignorant.

The cold reality of January has sunk in, and I return to my post as Hamster Prez to help make sense of the senseless. To shine a bright light on the asylum that is Washington, DC. To take my shovel to the heaping pile of crap that we have put ourselves in and dig the tunnel out. As POW's (Prisoners of Washington) it is our duty to try to escape or at least to modify the terms of our imprisonment.

Birds are falling out of the sky by the thousands. Fish are washing up on the shore in the hundreds. And John Boehner is Speaker of the House. Maybe the Mayans were on to something after all. Nah, 12/12 is too far away for the apocalypse to be starting now. It's that trouble comes in three's.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the 2-party system as it relates to our current political climate. I opined that the two parties were now the Governing Party and the Ruling Party. I was ill-prepared for just how far the Ruling Party would go, and how great the retreat of the Governing Party.

First the bad news: Senate Democrats are wusses. They are more timid than my neurotic cat Nyla who runs from her own shadow and apparently believes that every sound ever heard was meant to harm her. The only real redeeming quality that she has is that she loves to watch football on TV. Democrats have sacrificed policy for politics too often. While it is true that some really cool and major stuff got passed while the Hamster hibernated, they are throwing away even as we speak.

Changing the rules of the Senate is an absolutely essential task. We cannot continue to have a government that is hamstrung by itself. Rule changes are subject only to majority vote, and with 56 democrats any rules they wanted to change is pretty much a done deal. So, what are they proposing? Something that will end the gridlock? Rules that would prevent further delaying tactics? Procedures for eliminating Senate holds on legislation and appointments? No, no, and no.

Singularly most important among the changes was the idea to return the Senate to its Constitutionally mandated majority rule. It will still take a super majority to pass any legislation which is the cause of the gridlock. Not changing that negates the changes they are proposing. They are willing to modify the process of getting bills to the floor, which does no good if they can't pass. They aren't eliminating the hold, like Jim Bunning did to delay unemployment benefits and like countless other have done to prevent judicial and administration appointees. They are only eliminating the anonymous holds. They have the chance to fix it, and they aren't going to. Why?

Because they've already conceded 2012.

The political calculation is simple: We're going to be in the minority and we'll want to be able to do the same thing when the Ruling Party takes control. Except that Ruling Party will change the rules when they take over and eliminate any threat the Dems might pose. Majority Rule worked for over 200 years but isn't good enough now? C'mon. Grow a set and do the right thing.

And the worse news? Weeping Juan is now Speaker of the House. Before I get into the very scary things that he's doing, let me digress for a moment to a couple of the big ticket items on his agenda. The repeal of health care will pass the House, but never the Senate and Obama would veto it if it did. Many pundits are calling this a "symbolic" vote, one that allows them to appear interested in their Tea Party colleagues. They are also planning to repeal the financial reforms as payback to their Wall Street benefactors. That won't pass the Senate or the White House, either.

Far more nefarious is their plan. Yes, these are symbolic votes but they also set the stage for the just-as-effective plot to defund the programs, thereby making them moot. They could and will defund the Consumer Protection Agency. The guy that is about to become the chairman of the committee that will oversee the banks, financial institutions, and hedge funds received more than 90% of his campaign money from those very same people. The new chairman-likey of the committee that oversees the oil, gas, and coal industries is the same guy who apologized to BP for having to pay $20B dollars to guarantee payments were made to its victims. In a Congressional hearing. On national TV.

Speaking of Rule changes: Boehner and company are embarking on a power-grab like no other in the history of this country. They are proposing to eliminate the CBO budget or any of its analysis and instead have determined that Paul Ryan (R-WI) will have complete authority in determining what affect or effect a budget item has on the debt and deficit. Republicans will have complete autonomy over all matters financial. And the House democrats are salivating.

Their much saner political calculation is just as simple: stand back and let them fail. The American people are beginning to understand that the financial crisis was created solely by Wall Street and that the Republican Party is wholly and completely owned by the very people who got us all here in the first place. And their blatant pandering will ultimately cost them.

If it doesn't destroy us first.

Write to Senators Boxer, Weinstein, and Reid. Hell, write to all of them. Urge them to change the Senate rules to restore Majority Rule, end holds, and close the loopholes that prevent the legislature from legislating.

I am.

Hamster Prez

Hibernating Hamster Hiatus

Yes, I know that hamsters don't hibernate, but I'm still taking a hiatus. With the holidays approaching, and preparations to travel to Colorado for Christmas and the fact that the lame duck congress is just making me crazy, I've decided to park the blog until the first of the year.

If something really critical comes up, or something that I just can't ignore, you'll be hearing from me. I'm also considering changing things up a bit...ideas still in their infancy. I'll let you know when I know.

Until next time,

Hamster Prez

I Almost Quit

Frustration started to get the best of me last week. I had about reached the point of hopeless. It just seemed to me like there really wasn't any point. I write about what's going on because it's what's going on, and it seems to me like what's going on is pretty important. And scary and stupid. I asked myself why I bothered.

I bother because it is our silence, our distraction by all the shiny objects that have been laid at our feet, that caused this mess in the first place. We have become so absorbed in our technology that it's almost as if the machines have taken over. A young man's father recently said to him, "You're always chasing technology," after he had replaced yet another cell phone to the next greatest thing.

We have cell phones that do everything except provide real human contact (interaction is not the same thing as contact) and a hot cup of coffee. Video games that not only keep our kids occupied and out of our collective hair but will also produce a race of humans with the strongest thumbs mankind has ever seen. Five hundred cable channels of pure crap, and some occasionally decent entertainment. And the Blessed Internet where we can do all of our Christmas shopping (well, those of us who still have jobs, anyway) while simultaneously checking emails (more interaction without contact) or cultivate imaginary broccoli on our Facebook farm. You Tube is an archive of our stupidity for all the world to see.

I almost quit because I didn't think I could compete with that. Maybe I can't. But I refuse to be just another hamster on the wheel. I will not just sit idly by as my government and the wealthy ruling class steal what's left of my life. Not without a fight. To that end, since it's tough to get anyone to read anymore, I'm going live next year.

More details to follow, but in one form or another, this hamster shaking up the cage. Whether its through You Tube or an Internet radio program or an interactive website...or all of them...remains foggy. But as soon as I know, you'll know.

I cannot just sit here and suffer in silence. I cannot go quietly into that long goodnight. I will not share a bowl of food with my cats. I hope you'll come along for the ride, and bring some friends too. The more, the better.

Hamster Prez

Wonder If This Message Would Be Clear Enough...

Want to take back control of the government? Here's an idea:

Petition drives to either recall or impeach every Senator and Representative who voted or is about to vote No on the tax bills.

That No vote is a Yes vote for raising taxes on all of us. That No vote is a Yes vote for politics over policy. That No vote is antithetical to the Republican platform, the Tea Party platform, and all common sense. That No vote, if it comes in the Senate, will ensure that the Bush Tax Cuts expire which raises taxes on everyone.

Glad I'm on this side of the aisle.

Hamster Prez

Cake Eating 101

Democracy or Plutocracy: Which do you prefer?

If the Republicans get their way, your preference won't matter.

Deifinitions:

Democracy:
  1. Government by the people, exercized either directly or through elected representatives.
  2. A poltical unit that has such a government.
  3. Majority rule.
  4. The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.

Plutocracy:
  1. Government by the wealthy.
  2. A wealthy class that controls a government.

If WE do not insist on the Democracy, we WILL get the Plutocracy. If you know your history, then you'll recognize that soon you'll be eating cake (which was the word for bread in 18th century France).

Bon apetite!

Hamster Prez

Major Announcement Announcement

Well, Hamsters, there is no major announcement forthcoming. I had planned on doing something different, but a quick internet search turned up exactly what I was planning to do. You may have noticed the new banner on the page from One Nation Working Together and it's there because their message is the same as mine. I will blog more about that later.

So, the Less Than Major Announcement is that the blog posts will continue forthwith! Tell your neighbors, your friends, people you don't like, your parakeet, and Hummer driving dumpster divers to get on board!

Thanks for you patience and continued support.

Hamster Prez

Sign of the Times...

Just saw this a few minutes ago:

Dumpster Diver Driving Hummer! It'll take a lot of cans to fill that puppy up!