TheLeaderInside.com

“I don’t presume to know the best course for our economy but I do know that after eight years of being in the hands of adolescents, I’m exhausted.”

~~~ Janet Ritz,

Yes, Janet, I feel the same way!

We are all fully aware by now that our Congress is working on a plan to give $700 Billion dollars the rich, New York financial institutions who have been riding their enormous greed on the backs of the citizens of this country — until Wall Street finally fell off into a ditch they couldn’t dig their way out of.

Now, we get to listen to the cries of woe — and the threats made by our administration about how dire this will be for all of us. We hear the pleading to move this forward immediately so that we can avoid a panic. They want those of us in the middle-class of America to stand idly by while we get ripped off for another $700 billion of our hard-earned dollars. This gets even more disturbing when you stop to realize that our administration wanted, initially, to just hand this amount of money over with no controls whatsoever.

Fortunately, thanks to the ability of being able to quickly contact our people in Congress, we were able to, at least, get some controls and guarantees worked into this plan. However, no matter what plan the Congress finally approves, it will still result in a horrendous burden on the taxpayers of this country, who, for the most part, had nothing to do with the mess to begin with. And in all likelihood, the House and Senate will pass a modified version of the $700 billion handout this week which will, once again, enable the fat cat Wall Street financiers.

The likely result, according to Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz: “The unemployment rate will still increase, growth will remain anemic, house prices will continue to fall, the number of houses in foreclosure will continue to rise, credit will be harder to get, states and localities will remain in a fiscal crisis, and there will be cutbacks in basic public services. …. Our living standards in the future will be lower than they otherwise would have been. “

As we’ve been talking about regularly here in this blog, the “Big Picture” is the result of the way we have been mislead. Just like the run-up to the war in Iraq and the passage of the Patriot Act, the media are compounding the problem rather than helping it. The TV, radio, newspapers and the Internet are feeding us only what they want us to hear.

We are getting virtually no hard economic analysis about what the so-called bailout will achieve or what the range of options truly are.

I read one commentator who thought maybe the administration should have called this a “loan ” instead of a “bailout“. All of us are familiar with loans. From the richest to the poorest of Americans we understand the principals of borrowing money. For the privilege of getting someone else’s money, we have to promise to pay it back with interest. Further, we usually have to offer collateral to the lender. When a marginal business loan is accepted, it also comes with terms such as limitations on company expenditures. Banks aren’t in business to lose money. We, the taxpayers, are the lender here! We are the ones making the loan. Yet Wall Street and their pawn, the Congress, continue to insist on conditions almost guaranteed to cause American taxpayers a monstrous financial loss.

I know, by the time I post this in the morning, the Senate will have voted and the House will be about to vote on Friday. I don’t know what the outcome will be — whatever it is it won’t be enough, and, as usual, all of us won’t be privy to the details thanks to the usual series of half-truths and misleading statements doled out by the media.

Oh, speaking of the media, did you notice how well informed you were about the defense authorization bill passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, September 24, right in the middle of the fight over the $700 Billion bailout package? They slipped that one right past us in the amount of $612 billion for 2009. Not a murmur of public protest — not any press coverage at all — (well, to be fair, the New York Times had it buried in another story) — nothing!

Did you know about it?

Here’s what’s in that bill … $68.6 billion to pursue wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is only a down payment on the full yearly cost of these wars. Also, 3.9 percent increase for military personnel (that’s the only good part about this bill) — another $5 billion in pork-barrel projects not even requested by the administration or the Secretary of Defense. It also fully funds the Pentagon’s request for a radar site in the Czech Republic, a harebrained scheme sure to infuriate the Russians. This bill passed the House by a vote of 392-39 and will certainly fly through the Senate.

Not one word about it to you. You’re about to cough up $700 billion for Wall Street not even knowing that you just spewed out another $612 billion for your children and grandchildren to pay back to China or wherever they go and borrow the money — that’s if anyone will even loan us money today. And, if they do agree to loan us, the interest rate will be a killer!

Here’s another quote from Janet Ritz that I completely agree with, and which ties in with the other quote at the start of this article:

“I want a grown-up government. I want representatives who take responsibility for their actions, even if it means losing their seat. And I want the finger-pointing and projection to stop (John McCain).

Barack Obama may have his detractors, but I know he’s the only one in this mess that makes the pit in the bottom of my stomach ease in that, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, way when he speaks about this financial mess.

Unlike his opponent.

I want a grown up in charge for a change. What we’ve seen now with Iraq, Katrina, Wall Street, is only the beginning if we fail to effect a change in leadership. The next crisis: a climate out of control.

Who do you want handling that?

If I hadn’t been voting Obama before (which I was), I would be voting for him after this.”

Folks, I know. This blog has veered way off the course for which it was intended. It wasn’t that long ago I was writing about meditation. I do meditate every day — and these days it’s become a vital practice. I know some of you may be disappointed by my on-going rant about how I feel we’re being treated by our government, the media, and big-money. I sincerely hope we’ll be able to get back on track before too much longer.

In the meantime — thanks for hanging in here with me. I appreciate it.

There’s more to come next week. Come back and help us to continue this important conversation. Invite your friends. We need many more people to be listening and sharing.
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Always remember this wonderful quote from Buddha ….

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

~~~ Buddha

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I meditate every day to help keep me sane in this crazy world we live in. Those glimpses we get of peace, love, acceptance and happiness when we’re meditating will soon grow into more than glimpses if we keep practicing. Keep those feelings alive. A meditation can be as simple as one, deep, conscious breath. When something happens in one of your moments to cause you to suffer, just stop and take one of those breaths and remember, “This too shall pass!” Another thing that is wonderful, especially at certain times of the year, is to have a fresh flower where you work. Just stop from time-to-time and look at it — don’t label it — don’t judge it — just be with it for a couple of moments. It really does work. I’m looking at mine as I write this.

“Each flower is a soul blossoming out to nature”

~~~ Gerard de Nerva

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“Those who really seek the path to Enlightenment dictate terms to their mind. Then they proceed with strong determination.”

~~~ Buddha

Namaste!

I share these words for you in closing — remember these words …

“Be happy now, my dear friends. Today is all we have. Be good to one another. Take comfort in whatever spirituality you are so inclined (or not), and learn to be happy despite your circumstances. Follow your path; pursue your dreams. Work hard, love your family be generous and forgiving. Do it today, while you still have the flicker of life, for one day your own candle will dim.”

You are special — and you are loved. You are the greatest gift you can be.

Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

~~~ Buddha

~~~ Ron
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