Anonymous Comrade writes:

"Fall of the American Empire"

I found myself facinated by C-Span's coverage of the Senate today. A HUGE bill hit the desks of Congress and the Senate this weekend. Actually, the Omnibus Appropiations Bill is over 3000 pages filled with varied legislation of all kinds that requires just one vote, yes or no. It includes everything from funding for charities that sound strangely like Bush supporters to appropriating money for education, cops and all those important community services. As some of you are aware, this is a political ploy to sneak through laws hoping no one will notice or forcing them through along with the necessary laws. In fact the Congress has already passed this bill and sent it to the Senate urging them to pass it right away so they could adjourn for the holidays.

Funny thing....somebody DID notice that included, or should I say, slipped in at the last minute, was something called "Provision 222" This little ditty would allow the govt...read carefully...to assign an agent of their choice (anyone) to have access to any citizens tax returns, make them public and use the information against them, (ex: in a political campaign) and NOT HAVE TO PAY ANY PENALTY OR BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE for this disclosure.

This law would SUPERCEDE any previous laws on our rights to privacy. On top of this outrage, the government would have access to all personal records, political associations, charitable donations and just about everything we do including the internet. I heard words like, "Big Brother", "Soviet Union" "Stripping citizens of their right to privacy" coming from our senators. If you hear about this not passing it is because of the few sane senators that voted against passing this ridiculous provision included in the massive Omnibus bill. If it does pass....be afraid, be very afraid.On a lighter note,

Economically the US is in the toilet. Listen to the news. Not just American network news. To get a better perspective watch International World News.

Besides having the largest deficit ever thanks to George Bush, (who also squandered the surplus his first few months in office by "returning it to the taxpayers" i.e. mostly him and his buddies), we are getting deeper into debt with no end in sight and no plan to replenish the kitty. Raise taxes on all those poor rich people who have to pay a mere fraction of their income tax after taking advantage of all the shelters, offshore banking opportunities, tax-deferred investments and dozens of other well-known tricks by estate and tax lawyers? OH NO, NEVER!

Wake up people, we middle to lower class they throw a few crumbs, call it a tax reduction while they are saving millions. Meanwhile, they want war but they do not want to pay for it. Well, guess what? SOMEbody has to.

If you spent a few minutes listening to the world financial reports you would realize that the dollar is at its LOWEST value in HISTORY. The rest of the world is very nervous about this. The situation is similar to what happened in Argentina not long ago however our lenders have been giving us the slack due the most powerful nation in the world, but that will not last forever.

Do you think Russia and Putin are happy about no longer being the second super power? They are developing their large oil reserves and industry and will be a major player soon enough. They are working on their own military weapons and if we (Rumsfeld and Co.) need to outpace them that will increase our military spending sending us only deeper into debt. How convenient for the Russians. Don't underestimate them. They are smart....and brutal.

Right now the foreign money is investing in the Pacific Rim, the hottest emerging market in the world. Throw in the outsourcing of our own technical jobs which has helped to increase the standard of living in China and India among other Asia countries while ours is plummeting.

Here is what the lastest government report out of Washington November 20, 2004 said concerning our economic situation:

"Inflationary pressures have led some economists to worry about a possible nightmare scenario: The dollar weakens dramatically, which drives up import prices; as terrorists attack overseas oil production facilities, which drives up energy prices; and like that, America's productivity miracle, a main reason for moderate inflation in recent years, disappears "

It goes on to say "Some economists see inflationary pressures next year that will result directly from Bush administration policies on the dollar. The administration insists it favors a strong dollar yet has done nothing to check the greenback's slide over the past three years. After years of relative calm on the inflation front, Americans are being battered by $2-a-gallon gasoline, rising food prices and higher medical bills. And there are fears that price pressures could worsen in 2005."

If you know your history all this adds up to a familiar replay of a common story. An extremely scary one. There are no guarantees in life. We are the most powerful nation on earth. At the moment. People, stay very aware of what is going on. This is not paronoia, this is reality. We cannot afford to sit back and assume everything is ok. These are not the Clinton years. We no longer have a president or executive branch that is looking out for us or our best interests.

Please, read the boring stuff, turn on international news, watch C-Span if you have it when the Congress, the Senate, even England's Parliment are in session. You will hear the truth that way.