Our Lives Have Value

Reading Mr. Trump's budget reminded me that we have a choice.

We can choose to accept the same-old-same-old... more spending for the Republican Defense Industry Global Corporations and much less for what matters most for us, such as Environmental Protection, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Transportation, Education, Medicare, Social Security, and diplomacy.

Or, we can make our government work for us by, "not taking it anymore".

Why? Because our lives have value. Government must begin to spend our money to help us.

Let's make change happen for us rather than continuing to accept the same-old-same-old again.

I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! Speech from Network - 1976

lbtve
Published on Aug 17, 2013
"I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression."

"Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it."

"We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be."

"We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.'"

"Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street."

"All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, God damn it! My life has VALUE!' 

So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!'

Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

Who Hates Americans the Most?

Often, we hear that so-and-so in some faraway place really hates us.

The story goes… they hate so much because we have democracy, McDonald’s, drive SUVs or have such a high standard of living. Whatever the reason, they really, really hate us! That’s why they are anti-American or even terrorists.

Have you ever wondered who actually hates Americans the most?

Well, I have, too.

I’ve done a massive amount of research to cipher it out. And, you will be surprised because I’ve discovered something I never thought I’d find. I’ve uncovered that the people who hate Americans the most are… Americans! Yes, those very same people who proudly proclaim to be loyal Americans and steadfast defenders of the Constitution!

Amazing!

Of course, I had to extrapolate my findings by choosing from among those countless people from around the world whom we think will do us harm and only include those who have actually done or plan to do us harm. So, I concluded that only the harm-doers can be counted as the people who actually hate Americans.

The result? There is only one group… the Republicans… and only one person, in particular, President Trump… who qualify as American haters.

The proof? Well, just take a gander at the President’s budget and determine for yourself who is hurt the most.

Here are just a few highlights from Pres. Trump’s budget:

• Throw 24 million struggling Americans off the health insurance rolls
• Slash job training programs for the very same jobless white folks Pres. Trump claimed to represent
• Cut Meals on Wheels, hurting disabled and elderly white folks Pres. Trump claimed to represent
• Cut child care, hurting jobless white folks Pres. Trump claimed to represent
• Cut after-school programs and learning centers for the poor, hurting jobless white folks Pres. Trump claimed to represent
• Cut affordable housing and aid to the homeless, hurting jobless white folks Pres. Trump claimed to represent
• “Zero out” occupational safety training and economic growth assistance in distressed communities in Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta… hurting jobless white folks Pres. Trump claimed to represent
• Cut 23 of 46 long-distance Amtrak routes (mostly in rural areas) as well as Amtrak's Crescent train line, out of service since Hurricane Katrina wiped it out in late August 2005… hurting jobless white folks Pres. Trump claimed to represent*

Oh, yes, there is something more… slash every federal department budget that has anything to do with protecting Americans from the outrages of predatory capitalism and air / water pollution.

There you have it… more harm done to average Americans in one budget proffered by our own President and his Congress than could possibly be accomplished by any terrorist group in 100 years.

* Has the Trump budget blown Republican’s cover?, Neal Gabler, Bill Moyers, billmoyers.com, 25 Mar 2017.

** Who Wins and Loses in Trump’s Proposed Budget, Alicia Parlapiano, Gregor Aisch, New York Times, 16 Mar 2017.

Go here for Trump's budget compared with other recent presidents