What do people do when there's no democracy?

The Senate Democrats' continuing resolution bill that would keep the Federal Government open already includes the next round of the Sequester, another outrageous 10% cut to practically anything in the Federal budget that's important or useful to regular people except for Social Security and Medicare. 

They did this without a fight. We let them do it with no resistance. Everyone's eyes were on Syria and the possibility of a major Middle East war, which suddenly went away. (Was it real? Did that really almost happen?)

The Republicans should have been have been crowing about their win on the Sequester - that's what they wanted, right? - but because they didn't have to fight for it, they just put it in their pockets and went on to the next thing. Now they're supposedly trying to repeal Obamacare, which they can't, and turning this into a national and world economic crisis. Why? 

Our great Democratic President now is calling for a new Grand Bargain negotiation, code for going after Social Security and Medicare, both of which the insurance companies are lusting over. 

We're told there's nothing we can do here in Massachusetts; this issue will be decided by 50 non-Tea-Party Republican Congressmen in places like Georgia, Tennessee and Idaho, by what will it take to split them from the Tea Partiers and give the Senate bill an up or down vote. 

That's 50 Congressmen we don't get to vote for and who don't give a hoot what we think or say. 

So that makes us spectators. Helpless victims. Again. This is democracy? 

Are we going to leave it at this? Are we just going to take it? What do people do when there's no democracy? 

Hadn't we better do something to send a warning to Barack's golfing buddies that the peasants are getting restless out here? 

Budget cutting "compromise"

Comment in the T&G online, 4/12/11:

So, spending on the small part of the Federal budget that is non-military and discretionary - the part that often involves our tax dollars being spent on things that are actually useful - are taking a huge hit, while military spending goes up, for no net reduction in spending! And Obama calls it a win because it could have been worse! This isn't deficit reduction, it's "everything overboard to support the wars!" Stand by to watch all kinds of things you value that you never knew were your tax dollars at work go under!

Obama spoke in his Nobel Peace Prize voice - a stirring roar of defiance to the Republicans in defense of Social Security and Medicare - while also saying that "everything is on the table." I can feel in my gut that he is already planning to cut both programs, and make it look like a compromise.

The sanest thing I've heard today was Jesse Ventura's comment:

"You control our world. You've poisoned the air we breathe, contaminated the water we drink, and copyrighted the food we eat. We fight in your wars, die for your causes, and sacrifice our freedoms to protect you. You've liquidated our savings, destroyed our middle class, and used our tax dollars to bailout your unending greed. We are slaves to your corporations, zombies to your airwaves, servants to your decadence. You've stolen our elections, assassinated our leaders, and abolished our basic rights as human beings. You own our property, shipped away our jobs, and shredded our unions. You've profited off of disaster, destabilized our currencies, and raised our cost of living. You've monopolized our freedom, stripped away our education, and have almost extinguished our flame. We are hit...we are bleeding...but we ain't got time to bleed. We will bring the giants to their knees and you will witness our revolution! "

-Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, April 12, 2011