MEANWHILE DEAD CATTLE ARE ROTTING IN SOUTH DAKOTA

Last I checked, the California federal tax dollars going to the feds is less than the federal tax dollars coming to California. This means we are helping the smaller states, like South Dakota. We do not mind doing this, as we think that the rich SHOULD help out the poor.

The tea party people generally come from smaller states, whose voters still think that politicians can be amateurs. Those of us in the bigger states know that a state wide problem that hasn't yet been solved is a complex problem with no simple answers. Complex problems with no simple answers need to be solved by people with experience in solving such complex problems.

It is much more satisfying to think that complex national problems have simple solutions. TRUST ME, THERE ARE NO SIMPLE SOLUTIONS TO COMPLEX PROBLEMS.

These amateurs seem to think that they can justify blackmail by repeating old lies.

It is a LIE that there is a problem with the US national debt. If the US were a corporation, pundits would say that it is not investing enough to be able to deal with the future. Our roads, bridges, and overpasses are an accident waiting to happen. But the tea party is upset because the Chinese buy US bonds.

It is a LIE that we should not give aid to other countries. If the people in other countries become desperate, then they take HUGE RISKS to smuggle themselves into richer countries. If we want them to stay home, we have to help them make their country a better place to live.

I am very tired of the tea party holding us all to ransome. I am also tired of the tea party people telling us that they are not crazy, because they BELIEVE in whatever incredibly stupid statement they are currently making.

WINNING BY CHANGING THE RULES

The TP Republicans changed the House rules so that only one person can bring a House vote on Senate proposals. This is like a football team being told that there can be only one defender during a play.

I wondered when all the TP people were saying, "We will invoke The Rule." As far as I knew, the House did not have a rule that could prevent a vote of the entire House. Well, on September 30, the rules committee quietly passed such a rule.

I honestly do not know what to say.

Have you noticed that it is always the incompetent people who try to win by changing the rules?

BOND VILLAINS

The TP Republicans are acting like the villains in a James Bond movie. "Ha! I will blow up the world so I can rule whoever survives! Braw! Ha! Ha!"

It has become clear that the TP Republicans WANT to risk bringing down the world wide economy, not once, but every two months until the next elections. Why? Every time idiots get the spotlight they get LOTS of money from other idiots.

I am not sorry for calling these people idiots. At least the James Bond villains had a plan to save themselves. The TP Republicans are still denying that they might be causing an economic problem. "You could be wrong," one of these num nuts says to the US Secretary of the Treasury, who seemed stunned that someone could be quite so stupid.

Of course, these were the people who thought that a certified birth certificate was acceptable for driver licences and passports, but did not actually mean that a Black President could be a US citizen. Did you know they appealed this stupid issue to the US Supreme Court THREE TIMES? When I read that, I knew I did not have the patience to be a justice.

These guys are extorting bullies. They need to be stopped.

DOUBLE OH SEVEN, WE NEED YOU!

WHERE IS SPOCK* WHEN WE NEED HIM?

Spock would be logical about the plan to risk the entire world in order to stop sick people from getting health insurance. Spock would fail to understand why anyone believes the incredibly illogical "facts" being spouted by the Tea Party.

Spock would understand that people who blackmail NEVER stop.

Spock would understand that if our President gives in to blackmail, then terrorists will also think that they can get away with blackmail.

Spock would understand that the world's financial markets know that eventually this confrontation will end.

However, the markets will eventually react to the crises. Spock would recommend that everyone hold on to their current stocks and bonds. The arbitrageurs are not going to be able to resist the incredible opportunities to make money during this crises. Spock would remind everyone that only those truly able to gamble away billions should be playing the markets at this time.

It is possible to assume that people are also being blackmailed regarding their misdeeds. (We all have misdeeds.) Spock would recommend the best advice ever given about blackmail. You just reply, "Publish and be damned."

* The original Star Trek taught most of us to THINK about how we treat other people. Mr. Roddenberry is a true bodisapa.

TP BULLIES ARE POOR LOSERS

It is like saying, "I know I lost at poker, but give me the entire pot or I will destroy the world." This is NOT compromising, or negotiating or having a dialog. This is the kind of blackmail that bullies use.

I have seen WAY too many domestic bullies. Many domestic bullies have threatened to crash a car containing the children. The TP Republicans are threatening to crash the world wide economy in order to stop people from being able to buy health insurance.

Just like domestic bullies, they will make this threat over and over again. DO YOU REALIZE THEY ARE ONLY OFFERING TO FUND THE US FOR TWO MONTHS? I think their idiot plan is to have this threat over and over again until the next election.

I have always known that the 2008 crash could have been caused by one person, running the home mortgage insurance coverage at AIG. I always wondered if the crash WAS deliberately caused in order to try to convince us that social progress should stop. It is easy to get frightened people to turn on their neighbors, especially if the neighbors are from a different culture.

We got through the 2008 mess, and we will get through whatever mess the TP bullies bring on.

But we can NOT give in to the TP bullies, because, "If you give a mouse a cookie...."

TEA PARTY IS NOT LIBERTARIAN

If the Tea Party Republicans were actually libertarians, then hemp would now be legal.

The ONLY thing the Tea Party and Libertarians agree on is smaller government. But the libertarians would NEVER choose to allow bridges and overpasses to fall down due to age and overuse.

Libertarians would NEVER allow marijuana to remain illegal, as they believe people should be allowed to indulge in activities that do not harm others.

Libertarians believe in a woman's right to make health care decisions for her own body.

The Tea Party wants to force the rest of the country to obey the religious beliefs of their conservative Christian base.

Many in the Tea Party are absolutely adamant that they will not take orders from a Black or a woman. So their lives get worse and worse, because this attitude make them almost unemployable. No modern US government or corporation can allow employees to discriminate in this way.

So WHY are libertarians supporting these people? Why not at least join with the liberal Democrats and legalize hemp?

REPUBLICAN "YES MEN"*

The House Republicans are certain that they are doing the right thing, because their "yes men" are cheering and patting them on the back.

They do not seem to realize how really angry the rest of us are. The Smithsonian is shut down. Yosemite is shut down. You not be able to close your house purchase if you are trying for an FHA approved loan. And, of course the vindictive Tea Party will NOT pay the Federal workers so that they do not lose their houses.

I hope they have fun drinking and partying. They are getting paid and have health care. Is is totally obvious that they do not care for anyone except themselves.

"Yes men" is a slang term for people who tell their boss how brilliant he is, even when the boss is driving the company over a cliff.