whitnebrat Loc: In the wilds of Oregon

There's a saying I heard years ago about progress and human nature:

'Many times, making progress is like slugging a sack of peanut butter. Your fist goes in, makes an impact, you think you made a dent in the sack, and go away feeling good. When you come back a few hours later, the sack has sagged right back to be the way it was before you started.'

I was reminded of this when I read this morning that Congress was relaxing the rules on most banks about mortgage lending, thus allowing them to make the predatory and high risk loans more easily to minority populations. Also in the mix, reducing the capital retention requirements on many banks, thus allowing them to invest depositor funds in risky deals, which brought about the last financial meltdown. They are also repealing many of the reporting requirements and gutting the Consumer Fraud Protection Bureau, which was making progress in forcing banks to compensate their depositors when they do such things as open fraudulent accounts in their name (think Wells Fargo).
This, of course, opens the door significantly to another housing loan crisis, and the subsequent foreclosure spurt that we experienced last time.

The economic bubble is approaching the 2008 levels with speculation running rampant. Companies are buying back their stock at an increased level, due to the tax relief package, while not increasing wages or investing much in capital improvement.

Legal marijuana will be illegal once again if the Attorney General has his way.

Civil rights cases will not be prosecuted much under this Justice Department.

Gay, lesbian and t*********r rights are returning to pre-1977 levels (Stonewall R**ts) and gay marriage will be a thing of the past with one more conservative appointment to the Supreme Court.

A******n rights will also go the way of the dodo, becoming extinct when the Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade, and back-alley a******ns once again become the norm.

The number of people with affordable health care will continue to diminish, and what insurance they can afford to buy will be effectively worthless.

Environmental protections will continue to be repealed, with air and water requirements being severely impacted. Power plant ash ponds will no longer be regulated, opening the probability that more major rivers and water supplies will be severely affected. The air pollution at the Grand Canyon will go back to being a visibility limiter, smog in Los Angeles will rise again, new car emission standards will be relaxed, and acid rain in the northeast is once again problematic.

In the recent past, all these areas have made 'progress' in either making our society better, making our lives better, or making our government better.

We have come back to the sack of peanut butter and found it sagging back to the same old shape. Everything changes and everything stays the same. So much for progress.

JRumeryjr

Jeff Sessions is looking out for us?

proud republican Loc: RED CALIFORNIA

BS as usual......The world is not gonna end...in fact it will be better under this Administration!!!....You and your ilk are sooooo full of it!!!!

whitnebrat Loc: In the wilds of Oregon

I forgot to mention that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are under fire and slated to be reduced/eliminated. As is public education.
I'm sure there are many others, but I don't remember the lesser ones.

If you think it won't affect you, think again.

"And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."
John Donne 1624 Meditation #23

whitnebrat Loc: In the wilds of Oregon

Ummmmmmmm....... just remember that 'denial' is not a river in Egypt. But since geography probably isn't your strong suit, this doesn't apply.

proud republican Loc: RED CALIFORNIA

They are not touching Medicare,Medicaid or SSI if you are an American citizen....If you here illegaly you are SOOL(S**T OUT OF LUCK!!) as you should be!!!...probably....Im not even sure they are gonna do that for anyone!!1

whitnebrat Loc: In the wilds of Oregon

Just hold that thought and see how it flies. With a massive deficit it's the only place they have to go to try to cut it. Plus, they've been threatening to do this since the start of the New Deal. This is their last chance for a while. I'll take odds on seeing it cut. But I wish you luck in your delusion.

proud republican Loc: RED CALIFORNIA

If they stop i******s using our system,then we wont have to cut anything down.....Close the damn borders and let the moochers out of our country!!!......I understand immigration..Im an immigrant myself..But we came here LEGALLY!!!!!!...We waited for yrs we didnt have any money....We were escaping prejudice (being jewish), so i understand all this!!!I do!!But you have to come here legally,its only fair for everybody who did like my family!!!

whitnebrat Loc: In the wilds of Oregon

I totally agree with you in principle, but that is theory that doesn't fit the current pragmatic situation.
First, I don't like the idea of undocumenteds in the country ... regardless of how they got here. But they're here, sometimes for decades for some individuals; they're married with American citizen children and have a good job or in many cases have their own businesses. Yes, they broke the law, but they've contributed a lot in the time they've been here. Doesn't that matter?
Second, there are a lot of jobs in agriculture and hotel/restaurant industries that almost no Americans will do. If you want to go out into the fields of central California and pull carrots or cauliflower for a living, you'd better have a strong back and nowhere else to go. But these 'undocumenteds' do it. I'm sure they'd prefer something else, but they do it. If we waved our magic wand and they all disappeared all of a sudden, the crops would rot in the field, and your grocery prices would skyrocket. Is that what you want?
Third, what about the DACA kids who in some cases have been here through no fault of their own for ten, twenty and in some cases forty years. They've gone to college, gotten degrees and families, paid taxes and generally contributed to their communities. One was even in his forties, had gotten a medical degree and was a valued medical doctor at a clinic. He was deported to Poland, where he doesn't understand the culture, isn't licensed, and doesn't speak Polish. The clinic is now short a badly needed doctor. Is this fair?
Yes, the gang members and those that break the law once they get here should be kicked back to whereever they came from. But the ones that have assimilated and are useful members of the community or society deserve something better than to be summarily thrown out.

My opinion ... your mileage may vary.

JRumeryjr

'Uncle' Donnie and his strange ideas!

Weasel Loc: In the Great State Of Indiana!!

So Sad.
Nobody likes to be told that they are stupid. Go look in the mirror.

JRumeryjr

You're right I never should have used that word...how about ignorant?

Weasel Loc: In the Great State Of Indiana!!

Or Dumb Ass.

buffalo Loc: Texas

I have to agree with you, whitnebrat. The naysayer Trumpy and repulsive OPP apparatchiks apparently do not listen to their heroes. Otherwise, why are they in denial and not Egypt? Of course, NEVER contemplate cutting the military bloat! I think the peanut butter is in their ears...

Update | Florida Senator Marco Rubio admits that the Republican tax cut plan, which benefits corporations and the wealthy, will require cuts to Social Security and Medicare to pay for it.

http://www.newsweek.com/tax-plan-social-security-medicare-welfare-republicans-rubio-729133

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) laid out the plan in an interview Wednesday on Ross Kaminsky’s radio show. “We’re going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit,” Ryan said, adding that health care entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid are “the big drivers of our debt.”

http://thinkprogress.org/paul-ryan-tax-cuts-medicare-medicaid-f87d810ad5b9/

By creating a fiscal straitjacket through lower taxes benefiting the wealthiest and big corporations, conservatives leave Washington with less money and raise the specter of deficits damaging the economy as a rationale to take away the benefits that millions of Americans depend on. If they are not fiscally conservative right now, they can be when it comes time to talk about spending on the poor and disadvantaged.

JRumeryjr

I agree, it seems as though the screwing of the US people is more to their liking than ANY other price cut!