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Honor thy Neighbor!
PLEASE read page 1 of ïnsert¨Nica Times¨, in yesterdays Tico Times! Aug. 10 HINT $10.00 per cigar taxNicaragua was ¨smart enough¨to pass the CAFTA agreement….Sales of Cigar and tobacco products skyrocked…just as Promised by the ¨GREAT U.S. /WORLD LEADER promised with wealth and untold prosperity.
Less than 1 year later the U.S. government is passing a NEW ¨TAX¨on tobacco products including of course IMports protected supposidly by Free trade agreement. See later comment. THIS is not a proposal but already passed by the U.S. Senate Aug. 2 and Roaring forward for Bush Approval (which he says he will veto but the Senate has pleanty of votes to over-ride)
Now Ready to Screw notly Nicaragua but Dominican Republic, Honderas et all who bought into CAFTA and the GREAT FRee trade concept.As I have said soooo many times ¨Promise them anything, set the Hook, give them enough rope so they do not realize they are actually at a ¨hanging¨then Rape and Pilage those ¨stupid Bastrds who actually thought the U:S. ever intended anything but money grubbing, political control over another ¨non-entity¨3rd world country(s)
I love the part where the U.S. says this is not a violation of the agreement because the tax is ´FAIR because it is equally charged to U.S. producers….The HE.. with free trade agreement. WE have you by the Ba–s and there is not a dam- thing you can do about it! BIG Brother has spoken and you will OBEY!!!
Oh I missed in the article where the U.S agreed to send back at least half of the tax money gained..the check is in the mail ya right!
RIPPLE 33 this can not help but not make your point more clear. I make sure this and all other things like this are told to the local people as ofen as I can to they can hear what it really is about…U.S. greedand need for money.
Scott is this in the local papers La Nation or what ever JUST one of a million examples of what the U.S WILL DO once they get their hooks into us And I do mean Costa Rica the new and improved me.
Terry Cooks
Terry CookEdited on Aug 11, 2007 10:49
Terry,
I read that article just a few minutes ago and was getting ready to do some posting, you beat me to it, good for you. Just goes to show that old saying is so true, “if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance them baffle them with B.S.” CAFTA will strip Costa Rica of everything they have gained by hard work on their own. I sure hope the Ticos get these articles so they will know what CAFTA will bring for them. I am surprised that the Tico Times printed that article as I’ve heard from several sources that they are pro-CAFTA (I hope this proves me wrong).
Arthave you ever figured out just WHO keeps electing the kind of governments we get in the U.S.? What makes a hard working man or woman making less than $100k per year continue to vote for republican representation? And the other party is only marginally better.
The same principals that keep a corrupt and harmful government in power in the U.S. will also ensure a CAFTA victory in Costa Rica. The money is in control. It always has been and probably always will be.
If you are looking for a government NOT motivated by money, you can find one (Hint: look in the Caribbean). But you probably won’t like what you see there either.Sprite, I’ve recently read _What’s_the_Matter_with_Kansas?_ (How Conservatives Won the Heart of America), by Thomas Frank. If you feeling good about things and need a change of outlook, go get it.
Frank examines state politics in his home state of Kansas in a polemic style that gets old quickly, but his insights seem to be very accurate. If I can boil it down to a fairly few words, his conclusion goes something like this:
The ultra-conservatives in the Republican party in Kansas (and elsewhere, by implication) target topics and craft political messages which will appeal to a wide segment of conservative and moderate Republicans and to a broad segment of independents. They campaign on family value issues, the right to life of unborn babies, the growth of government, prayer in the schools, taxes, the encroachment of the federal government, the demise of family farming, the inheritance tax, gun control, supposed attacks on Christianity (“They want to take away your Bibles!”), defense, crime and punishment, term limits, and whatever else they think will hook voters emotionally. And there is no question that they’re very, very good at it.
So (still distilling Frank here) the voters vote them in because everyone has something on the list to get worked up about and the legislators do . . . nothing about any of those issues. What they do do is lower their own taxes and otherwise craft legislation that favors their big money/big influence supporters. And next election cycle, they drag out the same issues, wipe off the dust (remember, nothing has changed), and do it all again.
And they’re successful again.
Frank’s bottom line (still quoting here) is that the voters are saying, in effect, “We’re mad as h_ll about these issues and we’re going to reward your inaction by lowering your taxes! And here’s my vote.”
This book could as well have been written about Michigan.
So Thomas Frank’s answer to your question, Sprite, is, “Us”.
David,
In my humble opinion there is no two party system anymore, there is only the “rebulicrats” (Republican + Democrats). Have you ever noticed that no matter what one party says the other makes fun of it, delays it but they always get just what they were looking for in the first place, more control. Either party drags things around until the bill or whatever never resembles what it was to begin with and has added things that ultimately take away more of our freedoms. The repulicrats use smoke and mirrors to baffle the public while they slide things through without the people feeling a thing (bend over, you’re going to get it again). Remember Nam, anything going on today that resembles that??? Who was on what side and who did what to the other party to get the things they wanted, more money for the political machine and their pockets. They all share in the power………. nuff said?
ArtAnd people deserve the government they get…But please don;t include me in the “US” of the U.S. I vote independent but that is a waste of time. I don;t know why I bother. The only thing to do is get out of town, which is my big plan. I feel completely divorced from the U.S….I don’t want to belong here. The average american is arrogant, ignorant and naive. And the moneyed power is just plain evil. Man do I miss the naivete we had in the late 60’s when we saw all this and thought we would change it. Instead, we embraced it.
David, That dust it off and bring it back out every election cycle, goes for the liberals as well. Healthcare reform will undoubtedly be a main topic this go around. And what will come of it? Nada. We can’t blame political parties for the mess we have. Ultimately it is “Us,” and our thinking that voting for the political party we love, will change anything. Conservatives and liberal politicians both accept campaign contributions from the same corporate entities. Until we have some campaign reform we will only get the government “They” want. Will we get campaign reform? I doubt it. Candidates from the independent, and other parties, cannot raise enough money to fund a good fight against the entrenched political hacks we have today.
There are most likely a hundred other reasons why we can’t seem to get politicians that are not always concerned about the next election and winning a popularity contest. The electorate, myself included, seems to blindly follow the party we have chosen long ago. New thinking unsettles some of us, and we refuse to change party affiliation, or look to new candidates to support. This election season seems to have started way too early, and seems to be more of the same old, same old. I don’t think we will ever see any meaningful change in the way we vote, or the officials we elect. I certainly do not want to be pessimistic. But what else can I be?
It is unfortunate to feel this way, but I do. The last local election, I stood home. In the upcoming presidential one, I may stay home, or hold my nose when I pull the lever.Artedewards and sprite, I take no issue whatsoever with anything either of you said. I, too, feel very alienated. I feel alienated from America and I feel alienated from the majority of Americans. The first Wednesday in November 2005, when Ohio was declared for Bush which gave him the election, I started looking for an out.
I remain elibible to vote in the national elections in North Carolina but I have opted not to register.
La pura vide aqui este mucho mejor.
Gentlemen,
I forgot to mention something very, very important. Back in the 70s I worked for a heavy equipment dealership in Wisconsin. Part of duties I had involved going to some of the highway lettings (where the contractors made their bids for highway and and the awarding of those contracts), the company also sold and mounted 70% of the snow plows used in Wisconsin. After the lettings I heard contractors complaining on radio phones that a bid they had rigged (different words but meant the same) had been underbid by an outsider and he won the bid. This was on those radio phones that anyone could listen to, very bold you think? I was privy to the cost figures for the snow plows and the mounting of the same. Something I wondered about was a $250.00 miscellaneous charge, what I found out, it was for payola, you know the winning and dining of plow operators and their bosses. The real thing that set me back was everyone knew about this practice. The government we have today is a result of the neighbor that knew his friend was getting these free things and then doing nothing about it. Gentlemen, unless the bottom of the government pile is cleaned up the top will always be as corrupt as the bottom (stench rises). We get what we ignore. Our vote means nothing because we have allowed it to become worthless.
ArtPS, I’m leaving this mess too, I couldn’t get anyone to listen to me either.
Artewards, It also means, the contractors were as corrupt as the gov’t.
We’re all bailing water on a sinking ship.Alfred….wish you were right about us ALL bailing water…maybe 2%, the rest are cows and just waiting to sink. Wish that were not true but until we have a VOCAL Majority we will definately sink.
Terry CookAlfred, I think your assertion above that the liberals are as bad as the conservatives is pretty much spot on. The one point of divergence would be your assertion that there really are any liberals left. Seems to me they’ve all gone down the Clinton path and turned themselves into conservatives. Regardless, it’s certainly true that they’ve become beholden to the same controllers, the big money interests.
What strikes me, however, is how much more adept the conservatives are at framing the issues. In 2004, I wrote a dozen e-mails to the Kerry campaign to complain that, while they raised legitimate issues, they never told me why they were important. Yes, I’m generally sensitive to (say) education or environmental issues, but Kerry never told the punch line — why is this important to me?
Heaven help us! You don’t suppose they don’t know, do you???
David, It would appear that both parties try to move towards the center as the election nears. Also they get really centrist after they are in office. I don’t know why, it just seems that way. Bush started off as what most think was conservative, then became more centrist when he assumed office. He has not vetoed any spending.
Bill Clinton, some hoped, would be liberal. Then he moved to the middle, and gave us the welfare reform act. You never can tell what they will do, but you can be sure our interests are not high on their list.They go to the same tailors. Their kids go to the same schools. They all vocalize how they are the defenders of the last bastion of democracy. Do you know the difference between a republican and a democrat in D.C.? (my humble opinion). As they sit in their chairs in their oak paneled rooms sipping their VSOP and smoking their Cuban cigars, the democrats say “If we don’t give them something…they’ll revolt!” The republicans reply “Screw them”.
eldreed, that is hilarious. I second that!! I do think the republicans would more likely just create more of a police state. This is not a republican or democrat issue. They are all bad in their own ways. One of the main problems is that it appears that the folks they give us a option to elect are all hand picked by the elite. The media pushes them. Both republican canidates they want and dems that they want. Either way the people lose. In my opinion Ron Paul is the only presidential canidate that makes any sense and one that I dont think is controlled like the rest.
On another note. Thanks for pointing out the CAFTA article. More needs to be learned about this and the knowledge does need to be spread to the Tico people so that they have a chance to make a educated decision and not be spoon fed stuff from Arias and others who stand to profit from this agreement at their expense and at the expense of the costa rican people. Another point to note is if you look at import and exports from the countries that recently signed on to CAFTA, you will note that all of their exports went down and their imports went up. Are they making money from this deal? I dont think so. Also note how Mexico has been effected after over 10 years of CAFTA. Sure some are getting rich but what does that mean for the average mexican citizen. Better wages? Better Jobs? Better life? I dont think so when they are crawling over the Texas border to pick tomatoes for a slave wage and no benefits. Spread the word far and wide people and make sure that the Ticos know how this agreement will effect CR and the Tico people. Ticos are eager to learn and do listen to what gringos have to say on this issue especially if is presented right to them in a way they can understand.
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