Let’s Get Realistic!

Many may ask, "Why bother"?   Some may also feel that we are being "presumptuous" by trying to present these "facts" and viewpoints. Be that as it may! Regardless, the issues that Fogcutters.net is presenting are affecting you now and will in the future! Politicians are asking for your support. Just what are you going to ask of them?  How are you going to know when politicians and political activists are feeding you half-truths and ignoring greater issues? Politicians are trying to appeal to voters who are clinging to a single-issue perspective (litmus test) like government debt or abortion or social programs.  Selection of politicians on single-issue perspectives ignores a greater field of problems. At Fogcutters.net we seek to raise awareness to a greater, holistic level.

Fogcutters.net was established as a source for those seeking facts and not willing to be swayed by erroneous emails, rumors and political half-truths.    
     We are advocates for those who feel that they deserve better!

Fogcutters.net does not make political judgments based upon party or the liberal/conservative continuum – abortion and firearms, etc.  That is your responsibility!  However, when political posturing starts spewing out distortions and half-truths it becomes time to take a stand and stress the many “facts” that politicians are avoiding as they rigidly pursue their own and /or their party’s agenda. 

 Three clear and consistent facts have emerged:

A. The level of venom in political and private circles has risen to levels that are fracturing the country.  All sides are standing firm with near religious fervor while condemning others who fail to agree. 

B. For the most part, our political leadership is damn near clueless and in near total denial regarding their own culpability in regards to the dissention and public disgust they are creating. 

C. Our country as we know it, and hope it to be in the future, must absolutely reject ridged political dogma and find a workable common ground devoid of scare tactics and divisive posturing.  Compromise and flexibility is not a betrayal of values but the only way to establish a viable future for our nation.

 All of the recent talk about debt, entitlements, taxes, unemployment and other major issues seem to lose sight of several facts that we all must consider and issues that our political leadership is side-stepping. 

 The following 10 talking points are but a brief summary of a near unbelievable set of broad, complex issues.  Please review each point of interest and check out the link, “Details,” for more information and documented sources.  Don’t try to digest all of this stuff at one time.  There is a lot of material here.  Regardless, these are issues that will materially affect you and your family’s future. 

  Read at Your Own Pace.    Ignore at Your Own Risk!

1. (Important!) No matter how one slices it or dices it, there will always be a lower quartile, a lower half – those persons in our national community who do not have the capacity - intellectual, educational, experiential and/or motivational to successfully manage long term financial planning.  Proposals now in Congress regarding Social Security, Medicare and individual investing threaten to further erode protection for individuals and their ability to have a secure future. This "theme" will be repeated frequently on this site.   Details >>
2. (Important!) The United States “ship of state” is still the largest ship of state in the world.  Changing the course of this ship cannot be yanked around without the risk of capsizing the entire ship.  We need patience! These World Bank links offer a great perspective. Details >>  (Compare nations as of 2009 for many data sets.)  Also GDP of nations:  Details >>  (U.S. debt has now surpassed our annual Gross National Product!)  If any solutions are to be reached regarding the many economic or social issues it will take years to resolve in both the U.S. and the world.
3. (Important!) Let’s take a hard look at “Entitlements”.  This topic is far more pervasive than the government programs politicians are touting!  There are a lot of scare tactics orbiting around this subject!  First of all Social Security is not broke.  Even Medicare, while in trouble is still fixable.  Medicaid?  Yeah, it’s a real mess!  There are basically two sides in the entitlements issue. One side wants to dismantle entitlements altogether while the other side seeks to expand government’s involvement in our lives.  Details >>
4. (Important!) The political arena is out of our control! If you still think that we basically still have a “Two Party” system in Congress, Think Again!  Our political system is severely split between four distinct groups. Both extreme factions rigidly hold their positions and none of these factions seem to understand that the nation is getting totally fed up with the stalemate!  Consider these following factions:     Details >>
   Worse still, Campaign Finance Reforms have only centralized political control and disenfranchised grass roots control over our elected officials.    Details >>   
5. It is generally acknowledged that the first order for Congressional members is re-election!  Also, it is generally acknowledged that, while we don’t like it, negative campaigning works.  Witness the proliferation of emotionally charged political speeches and emails containing falsehoods, half truths and finger pointing.  Is it any wonder that our political landscape is polluted with so much anger, hostility and defensive denial?  Details >>
6. Through a number of treaties, unfair trading relationships, political policies, seeking increased profits and efforts to suppress inflation, the United States has allowed an excessive number of jobs to be exported overseas. Unemployment is now becoming endemic in the U.S.
7. National and consumer debt has risen to such levels that it threatens our capacity to respond to critical changes in our economy.  Details >>
8. Past financial liberalism, extravagancies and uncontrolled spending (regardless of political priorities) has crippled the Free World’s capacity to combat terrorism and almost threatened to allow Gadhafi to remain in power!  Details >>  If our “budget hawks”, spending opponents, persist we will be sending a message to terrorist nations that the United States has become a weak and impotent nation!  Actually, this applies to most industrialized western nations.  This is an enormously complex set of issues and the total scope is beyond this presentation. 
9. Theoretically there are now 7 billion people on the planet. Not long ago there were about 6.3 billion people on this planet.  See that fraction to the right of the decimal place? That’s us!  - The United States!  If we still think we are the only “big stick” on the international stage we strongly suggest that you Get Real!  If we don’t get really, serious about our policies our national eclipse will swiftly descend upon us regardless of our political desires!  Please do NOT be beguiled into the theme of “Good Ol’ American Values.”  The world is changing whether we like it or not!  We have ticked off a lot of folks around the world and they are fed up with the United States.   Details >>
10. Specific issues like Social Security, Medicare, Housing Crisis and Unemployment will be addressed separately elsewhere at this site.
    
    The bottom line facts are that the world’s financial community has expressed significant concern about the political deadlock in the United States as well as in Europe.  It is far more than the downgrade of the United States debt by Standard & Poor's. At this writing another downgrade is pending at another rating agency. Other rating agencies and trading partners around the globe have expressed deep concerns about the ability of the United States to find the will to make the tough decisions.  At this writing there remains little optimism for compromise.

 Okay! Okay!  Are we doomed? Nah!  We’ve been here before.  All the traumas besetting our nation and the world have been visited upon us before.  The question is: “Can we still muster the resolve to cooperatively fix the problems plaguing us today?”  Sooo… Turn up your volume and check out where we have already been! (Names & places may change, sort of....)

In 1968 Buffalo Springfield,  In 1958 Kingston Trio, and In 1950  Pete Seeger

Feel a bit more positive that we can deal with global problems?  Maybe.  Just know this- We, our nation, and the world, does have the capacity to alleviate some but never all of the world’s problems.  Now the first order of business must be for anyone who cares about their future to learn how to see past political demagoguery and work to remove rigid dogma from the political arena. 

While preparing these new pages we have spent hundreds of hours reviewing blogs, posts and individual emails across the political spectrum.  We have monitored political surveys and announcements from both political parties.  This IS serous stuff! A complete bibliography of sources will be added at a later date containing the resources examined and/or used for this study.

 Fogcutters.net - Finding Where Truth Hides

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