Letter to Modern (Villainous) King John: Jaime Dimon, JP Morgan

History repeats itself ever and again, tyrants come and go by name, but the injury to Others remains the same. Here is a letter I edited and added to (italics meaning my addition to their suggested text) from a boilerplate letter by Roots Action America as part of an email campaign to one of Wall Streets Villains... I mean, Corporate Raiders. Ahem.

"It was 797 years ago this week that King John was confronted and forced to share power and wealth, forced to concede rights to others through the Magna Carta.
Yes, that was me. I did that. And I'm back. 
You and your villainous fellow Wall Street rable who call yourselves royalty have pushed The People too far this time. Yet again.

You will not be shot at, nor will you be hung for treason (at least, not yet), but you will be rightfully taxed for all that you and your fellow Robber Traders have fattened yourselves at the expense of the Common Man. While you sit behind your computer screens making millions each day (unrigthfully with Other Peoples Money to which you have no conscience to plunder), I'm going to tax you 50 cents on every $100 you trade.
I can raise $350 billion with which to save lives. and redress the wrongs that you and your cohorts have so willfully created through your short sighted and ill-gained dealings. I'll invest in healthcare, jobs, education, and other basic needs, while you and your court won't even notice the missing bags of gold.
Wall Street has laid waste the economy, and the People were forced to bail you out at knife point. And yet you demanded more.

Now I and those whom you have plundered say No More. It's time for a Robin Hood Tax, a financial transactions tax, a little bit of modern justice, and a siege against misappropriate dealings and scurilous activities..
I'm coming. And this time, I have a million faces not just a small faithful band of brothers.

Sincerely,
Robin Hood

(formerly known as Robert, Earl of Locksley)

Time for a Real Change

On this New Years Day I was going through my email 'drafts' in hotmail, when I came across this. Especially now as we are already deep in the "dialogue" and the compostable rhetoric, this Amendment needs to be brought out and be brought about.

Please email/post it widely. It's time for a Real Change in this Country. Doncha think?

--The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified. Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

Forward this [email] post to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours need to serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

8. Any congressman resigning due to unlawful acts receives NO benefits.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people, it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. Maybe it is time.

"Class Warfare" vs. Crass Warfare

So. President Obama calling on Taxing The Rich is "Class Warfare," as if the Rich don't know a thing or two about Class Warfare.

When did things get so crazy that the Poor and the Middle Class have to pay full taxes, but for some reason, The Rich need to be exempt? The reason usually given is that; "The Rich are creating jobs for Americans, and that's why..." Nonsense (and my language is cleaned up here for a general audience). The Rich don't create jobs for Americans, they create jobs for their companies. And when it suits them to ship those jobs to foreign shores for slave wage employees, they do it. In a heartbeat. Except for my mind, their having a heartbeat is questionable.

The Rich make often many times (millions to billions of times) the amount of the average American Worker. And to top it off, many of their industries would not exist in this "Capitalistic" society if they hadn't received massive subsidies to build those very same industries (the most egregious examples being the Oil and Nuclear Power companies). And to top even that off, not only do they pay no taxes on their massive incomes, most of these "Captains of Industry" continue to get major subsidies.

Which never, by the way, get talked of being cut by the lackies of The Rich from the US Budget in any way like those elements of/programs for "...the least of these" -- "The Poor will always be with You."

Yes, it's time for The Rich to pay their fair share of taxes. And while we're at it, let's cut their entitlement programs. Let their  business rise or fall by their economic standards, losses, and gargantuan egotistical mistakes. If we need to rise and fall by our personal capitol and mistakes, then so should they.

Tax The Rich and Cut their subsidies, Mr. President. No more Entitlements for those who don't 'need' them becasue of their business expertise (or lack thereof).

Bake Sale for Billionaires

Welcome to those thirlling days of Yesteryear! Where the Rich were Rich because God Blessed them (even though they were cursing the Not Rich). If the rest of the Country is Poor, that just means that they need to pull themselves up by the bootsraps, and get some Gumption, by God!

Now let's take you to to our radio show in progress. (What's that? What's a Radio? You know, those things you listened to before you had the Internet and iPods and Mp3 players, oh my? I know; that's so last Century.)

The Poor:

Let's have a moment of silence here... for the poor Billionaires of This Country. Seems that they don't have enough money in their bank accounts.

I know! Let's have a Bake Sale for Billionaires! They don't seem to have enough money, poor dears. Well, we'll give them even more of Ours! Whaddaya say, Kids? Aw, come on...

Those Poor Billionaires are going to bed hungry.

Yeah. Hungry for more. MONEY, Power. By Gosh, I guess they don't have it all just yet. I guess we'll have to help them out.

The Rich:

Whaddaya mean, we don't have ALL your money yet? That's not enough in my book!

Poor People? We don't have any Poor People in this Great Country of Ours, do we? [pause for brilliant idea here] Oh, you mean the Welfare Cheats?! The Under-Taxed Class. Yes. They should pay their taxes, by Gumption!

What's this? They don't have any jobs? Well, that's not Our Fault, is it? They just need to go out and get a Job. This is America, where everyone should work (so they can continue to pay Our Taxes for Us). Isn't there a McDonalds or Walmart close by for them to work in? That's what we made those jobs for.

What's that, you say? You're saying this isn't funny? Well, how about Wisconsin? The Demoncrats leave the State in order to not rubber-stamp our fully elected Tea Party Guvner's plan to slash and burn the State Budget. That's not fair! They're Criminals, Criminals I tell you! Get those arrest warrants out already and bring them back to do Our Civic Duty! What do they think this is? A Democracy?

Taxes, Welfare and Socialism! Oh, My!

[Sorry I didn't finish this the other day...]

The Hue and Cry among the Far Reich, is that any money going out to anything that they don't agree on (Welfare Cheats, "bogus" Art Programs, NPR) should not be funded by our Guvment. That of course doesn't apply to our Foreign Wars Programs (like Iraq, that is still costing us upwards of 300 million per day) or to other things that they want funded (like when a hurricane or a flood stikes where They Live). What they sdon't agree on is "Socialism." What They do agree on is Americans.

And yet, those persons who live in the state of Alaska (which I will now refer to as the Socialist State of Alaska), get a check from the very Guvment that they seem to so dislike that is their 'fair share' of the oil revenues from their states oil production (never mind that said oil production comes from oil fields that were funded in large part by Guvment Money). Guvment is good when we get Our Fare Share; Guvment is bad when it goes to others living here who don't deserve it.

I am of course, simplyfying this whole senario, but not by much. And the simplification of our countries issues and solutions by those who would, yes, tend to use Guvment, or Big Guvment, or Big, Bad... Well, you know. And they are the ones that think that They Are in Charge Now (as holy ordained).

I don't want to rise to these judgments, but my rage is rising and I need to have my fair share in the venting process.

They Just Don't Get It

The Republicants rail against "no new taxes" (including the infamous "death tax") and yet continue to want to raise new programs from the dead and pay for them by cutting other services (like social services). They don't want to raise taxes on the Filthy Rich because that is who backs/controls them and their "Tea Party" (may they be dumped in the severly poluted rivers and bays of our major cities).

They want their cake (like the infamous, and apparently incorrect Marie Antoinette quote) and they want us -- the rest of Us; the middle and lower classes -- to pay for it.

And they got "Them" "thrown out" in the last election ("Them" being Democratic long time members of Congress) whilst neglecting their own "Us" (Republicant long term members).

No, Elephants, you can't have your massive cake (or portion of the pie) and eat it too. It's Tax the Rich time.