The purpose of free speech isn’t to protect speech that is pleasant, agreeable, kind, nice, friendly, and popular.
Instead, the purpose of free speech is to protect speech that is rude, offensive, unpleasant, vulgar, unpopular, and controversial, and which goes against the narrative of the people who are in charge.
Therefore, I support free speech for Whoopi Goldberg, Joe Rogan, Roseanne Barr, J. K. Rowling, Gina Carano, Ann Coulter, Ilhan Omar, Milo Yiannopoulos, Louis Farrakhan, David Duke, Bill Maher, Paul Joseph Watson, Cenk Uygur, Al Sharpton, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Chris Rock, George Carlin’s ghost, Muhammad cartoonists, American flag burners, communists, socialists, fascists, Nazis, liberals, conservatives, libertarians, abortion activists, anti-abortion activists, Black Lives Matter, Antifa, the Proud Boys, Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, atheists, you, me, and everyone else.
I am thankful for being a middle class person today instead of the richest person in the world 200 years ago.
I can have a real time conversation with someone who is 1,000 miles away.
I have light bulbs.
I can get from New York to California in hours instead of weeks.
Antibiotics will save my life if I step on a rock and cut my foot.
I don’t have to worry about getting smallpox, measles, or polio.
I can eat ice cream in July, without having to hire an expedition to climb a mountain to bring back ice.
I could buy an air conditioner if I wanted one (although I don’t actually have or want one. I live in Pittsburgh, and don’t think it’s necessary). But think about being a rich person living in Atlanta in July before air conditioning was invented – that would have sucked.
I can listen to just about any music, watch just about any movie, or watch just about any episode of just about any TV show, whenever I want.
My access to information online is bigger than any library that the richest person owned in the past.
I have a flush toilet.
I can take a hot shower whenever I want.
I don’t have to worry about my drinking water being infected with deadly bacteria or parasites.
My clothing is more comfortable than any that existed in the past.
I have zero problem with the fact that there are some people today who have thousands of times as much money as me.
I am grateful for what I do have. I am not resentful for the fact that other people have way more money than me.
This article from Reuters shows that Wall St. loves Hillary, not Trump. It says:
Employees of the 17 largest bank holding companies and their subsidiaries have been sending her $10 for every $1 they contributed to Trump, according to a Reuters analysis.
In addition, Goldman Sachs paid Hillary a combined total of $675,000 for three speeches.
Also, While Senator, Hillary voted for the $700 billion TARP Wall St. corporate welfare bank bailout bill.
And finally, as last night’s election results came in, Salon published this article, which is called “Global markets plunge as prospect of Trump winning the presidency becomes more plausible.”
I really don’t see how anyone who voted for Hillary can honestly say they support the Occupy Wall St. movement.
During the Chrysler bankruptcy, Obama violated the Fifth Amendment and more than 150 years of bankruptcy law by illegally treating secured creditors worse than unsecured creditors. Some of these secured creditors were retired teachers and police officers from Indiana. (more…)
Obama’s State of the Union speech to include $320B tax hike proposal
President wants capital gains rate, bank fees raised
President Obama will propose $320 billion in higher taxes in his State of the Union address, mostly by raising the rate on capital gains and closing tax loopholes for wealthier families, senior administration officials said Saturday.
Previewing Mr. Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night, aides said the president will propose raising the top tax rate on capital gains to 28 percent, from the current 23.8 percent (20 percent, plus a 3.8 percent tax on unearned income to fund Obamacare) for individual taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of $200,000 or more.
Obama is ignoring the fact that in the real world, raising the capital gains tax in the past has resulted in lower tax revenues. (more…)
Ivanpah is a solar power company owned by Google, BrightSource Energy, and NRG.
In April 2011, as part of Obama’s “stimulus,” Obama gave Ivanpah a $1.6 billion loan guarantee to build a solar power plant.
In November 2014, when the plant was up and running, Associated Press reported that it was producing only “about half of its expected annual output.” The California Energy Commission blamed this failure on “clouds, jet contrails, and weather.”
In November 2014, Ivanpah asked Obama for a $539 million bailout.
Google is owned by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. At the time they requested this $539 million bailout, Page was the 19th richest person in the world, with assets of $30.4 billion, and Brin was the 20th richest person in the world, with assets of $30 billion.
I’m against the cozy relationship between Wall St. and the government, which is one of the reasons why I voted for Ron Paul for President in 2008, and Libertarian Gary Johnson in 2012.
A very small percentage of Occupy Wall St. protestors voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein or Libertarian Gary Johnson in 2012, so the question posed by me in the title of this blog post is not directed at them.
Instead, my question is directed at those who claim to be against the close ties between Wall St. and the government, but who simultaneously helped to reelect President Obama, Wall St.’s #1 favorite politician of all time. Why did you do that?
As of October 2011, Obama had raised more money from Wall St. than any other candidate during the past 20 years.
In early 2012, Obama held a fundraiser where Wall St. investment bankers and hedge fund managers each paid $35,800 to attend.
In October 2011, Obama hired Broderick Johnson, a longtime Wall Street lobbyist, to be his new senior campaign adviser. Johnson had worked as a lobbyist for JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Fannie Mae, Comcast, Microsoft, and the oil industry.
While Senator, Obama voted for the $700 billion TARP Wall St. bailout bill. The bailout rewarded irresponsible and illegal behavior. It redirected resources from more productive uses to less productive uses. It punished the hard working taxpayers who had played by the rules and obeyed the law. It created horrible incentives, and sent the wrong message. The bailout was evil because it rewarded the bad people and punished the good people. No society that does this can expect to remain free or prosperous. Instead of bailing out these corrupt Wall St. corporations, we should have let them cease to exist, like we did with Enron.
Obama signed a bill that spent money on bonuses for AIG executives. Prior to signing this bill, Obama had said, “when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.” However, after reading “line by line” and signing the bill that protected the AIG bonuses, Obama pretended to be shocked and outraged at the bonuses, and said, “Under these circumstances, it’s hard to understand how derivative traders at A.I.G. warranted any bonuses at all, much less $165 million in extra pay… How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?” and also said that he would “pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses.” Apparently, Obama does not think that “every single legal avenue” includes his Presidential veto power.
Obama went his entire first term without prosecuting any of the top Wall St. criminals. PBS has a brand new 54 minute documentary on Obama’s refusal to prosecute the top Wall St. criminals, which you can watch at this link.
So, again, my question is not directed at the small percentage of Occupy Wall St. protestors who voted for third party candidates. Instead, my question is directed at the Occupiers who helped to reelect President Obama, Wall St.’s #1 favorite politician of all time. Why did you do it?
This guy’s tone of voice and calm demeanor make him sound like he could be a trusted teacher, friend, or relative. I think if I knew him in real life, we could be friends, and enjoy each other’s company. He certainly seems well intentioned. (more…)
In the 2008 United States election, I wrote in Ron Paul for President. In the 2012 election, I will be voting for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson. Those who are of a more leftist persuasion than myself might want to consider voting for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Here are 93 things that Barack Obama has done, that should cause his supporters to switch to Gary Johnson or Jill Stein:
Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog 