Our government within our government wants war to continue. Bush years saw no growth in wealth for average Americans – NYT

The New York Times today ran several articles and editorials that show clearly the dangers of the American problem of "government within our government".  President Clinton on at least one occasion clearly stated that no President has any control over this "government within government".  That is a startling statement.

To state this bluntly, you and I pay the bills while various factions within government spend that money on whatever they want.  You and I have no say in the matter.  Veterans are directly affected by this.  There are thousands of examples but I am sure any American veteran can name two or three right off the top of his head.

First case in point: the chairman of the Joint Chiefs wants this war in Afghanistan to continue even though it is now abundantly clear that the taxpayer wants those people, those resources and that money brought home.  We have bigger problems here that we need that money to fix.  The story is here.  But nobody in the Pentagon seems to be listening to the taxpayer.

But it gets worse.

Second case in point:

It seems that the United Nations Human Rights Council has found that both Israel and Palestinian militants are guilty of war crimes against each other’s people in the last flare-up in Gaza.  The harshest language is used against Israel which is basically accused of genocide against the Palestinians. 

This is odd because the Palestinians are genetically identical to Sephardic Jews using mitochondrial DNA as a marker.  They are the same people using genetics as a basis.  They are each literally killing their brothers and sisters over there.

Israel rejects the report hotly claiming the the U.N. HRC has always been radically anti-Israel.  The United States just this year joined that council as a member.  The U.S. is largely silent on the issue.  The story is here.

U.S. silence here is important because once again U.S. taxpayer money is being used in huge amounts to support humanitarian aid to Palestinians and military aid to Israel and the two of them are bashing the hell out of each other at every turn.  This is American money in the billions of dollars. We are talking about our money being sent to yet another place in the Middle East in great big bundles.  And it is having little effect.

Its your money.  When do you get to say, "Enough is enough.  I want my money drain to stop now!" and then have your government listen to you?  You do not. 

You are not surprised.  I can tell.  I can hear you yawning from here.

Third case in point:

A huge number of us are now living in poverty.  Essentially the economic "growth" touted by the Bush Administration helped only the wealthy few.  The numbers are now in.  The story is here.  Here is one startling quote from the editorial article which is based on the  U.S. Census Bureau report of last week:

"The Census Bureau reported last week that the nation’s poverty rate rose to 13.2 percent in 2008, the highest level since 1997 and a significant increase from 12.5 percent in 2007. That means that some 40 million people in this country are living below the poverty line, defined as an income of $22,205 for a family of four.

The middle class also took a major hit. Median household income fell in 2008 to $50,300 from $52,200 in 2007. That is the steepest year-to-year drop since the government began keeping track four decades ago; adjusted for inflation, median income was lower in 2008 than in 1998 and every year since then.

Clearly, the recession has been brutal. But even before the recession, far too many Americans were already living far too close to the edge.

As is now painfully evident, the economic growth of the Bush era was largely an illusion. Poverty worsened during most of the boom years and middle-class pay stagnated, as most gains flowed to the top. In a recent update of their groundbreaking series on income trends, the economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez found that from 2002 to 2007, the top 1 percent of households — those making more than $400,000 a year — received two-thirds of the nation’s total income gains, their largest share of the spoils since the 1920s."

The article continues and is worth a very slow and very deliberate read by all veterans.

Once again, we have been schnookered by our government within a government.  The Bush people told us over and over again that wealth was growing and the middle class was expanding.  Exactly the opposite was true. 

Only the super wealthy were gaining and the rest of us were clearly slipping backwards.  We were lied to…it is that simple.

We were deliberately being robbed blind by incredibly expensive wars in western Asia that were benefitting military industrial complex invested cronies of the Bushites when we could least afford to do so.  It has been the greatest shift of wealth from working class Americans to wealthy Americans since the 1920s.  This is startling.  Think of what this really means.

Once again, our "government within a government" was operating out of control of the taxpayer and in its own interests and we now have over 40 million Americans living in official poverty while the super wealthy got even wealthier at your expense!

That is the legacy of having a powerful and hidden "government within a government".  It does what it wants for the sole benefit of the other parasites that it secretly represents.

Now go ahead, write your comments.  Tell me once again that I am off-track and that we need to spend this money on wars in western Asia and supporting wars throughout the Middle East.  Tell me again how this critical lifeblood to the average American’s quality of life needs to be spilled all over the desolate sands of a dozen countries so that the American war industries can prosper.  Tell me.  I am listening.

But before you tell me go into the bathroom and look at the person in the mirror. Ask yourself a question.

"Do I truly understand how I am screwing myself here?"

Demand that your money return home so that you can have the hope of a better America again.

CWO3 Tom Barnes, USCG (Ret.)