Personalized Marketing at AC Katt's BlogTalk Radio

AC Katt is also accepting Blog Talk Radio Show Guest Authors. Want to be one? Contact Dee at pr_marketing@live.com

Dedicated to helping others reach their goals with a Personalized Touch.

For more information
Contact Dee at
Personalized Marketing
http://personalizedmarketing.info
pr_marketing(at)live.com

They Want to Do What to Social Security?

Look closely at the photo below.  If the Republican Party has its way you will see much more of this...

The Republican Senate have suddenly become deficit hawks. This is a surprise to those of us who watched the Bush Administration turn the Clinton budget surplus into the biggest deficit in our nation's history leaving President Obama, with not only a huge deficit, but also with an economy on the brink of collapse.

What isn't surprising is their idea of a solution. They have put "everything" on the table, including Social Security and Medicare. They insist on spending seven hundred billion over ten years by keeping the Bush tax cut for millionaires, yet they have no pang of conscience cutting cost of living increases for the elderly, raising the retirement age or greatly reducing Medicare benefits.

There is a solution to the entitlement problem without resorting to breaking the promise the government made to their senior citizens.

I spoke to Dr. Donna Tillman, Professor Emeritus, International Business and Marketing of California State University, Pomona.  She told me, "The way to make Social Security solvent for the future is to raise the upper limit upon which people have to pay into the system. Currently the limit is about $106,800.  Therefore, if you make more than that, no social security tax is taken out.  Both left and right think tanks agree that this one solution would make the system solvent into the far distant future.  If you make five billion dollars a year you still only pay (Social Security Taxes) on the first $106,800.  That is the problem.

The way to make Medicare solvent is to allow everyone participate voluntarily.  (Thereby enlarging the pool of beneficiaries with healthy payees and reducing the cost per person).  

Raising the retirement age is exactly the wrong thing to do.  Lowering the retirement age makes far more sense in a country with nearly ten percent unemployment.  This one act would open hundreds of thousands of jobs to the jobless."

Naturally, none of this information was released prior to the November 4th election.  Social Security is a promissory note issued by the United States government to every American worker when they first become employed.  It tells them that by paying the FICA tax, they are paying into a retirement fund that is guaranteed to be there when they need it at sixty-five.  Yes, there are some very healthy senior citizens who can and want to work beyond retirement age.  If they continue to work, they continue to pay into the system.  If, however, they are not able to work, or choose not to work, the promise that the government made to them when they signed up for social security should be honored.  If it is not, the government is perpetrating fraud. 

You can find out more about my views on my website at www.ackatt.com. 

    

Buyer's Remorse...

Buyer's Remorse...

On Tuesday, November 2nd, the United States electorate spoke or at least 41.5% of the spoke.  The Democrats held on to the Senate, barely, and the Republicans took back the House of Representatives. The question now becomes what do the Republicans intend to do with their partial victory.

Tea Party Candidates were elected to both houses of Congress and far-right enthusiasts like Senator Elect Rand Paul from Kentucky want to roll back all of the legislation passed by the last Congress.

For your information, this includes bills on Wall Street Regulation and the Health Care Legislation. Republican Minority Leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell has already made an appearance at the Heritage Foundation (the Republican Think Tank) stating that Cap and Trade, the legislation to prevent Global Warming was DOA.  You can expect attempts to freeze or diminish Social Security, lower payments to Doctors accepting Medicare, an attempt to raise the retirement age, again, as well as a push to privatize the Social Security Program putting it in the hands of Wall Street, the denizens of which did so well with your 401K and pension plans in 2008. You can also expect no more unemployment extensions for those of you who have been out of work since the beginning of the recession and no proposals passed to provide good paying construction jobs by financing public works to improve our aging and failing infrastructure.

The push to have the United States regain technological superiority by funding research into energy alternatives is also up on the chopping block.  The oil and energy companies who funded all those Republican PACs and SUPERPACs will want a return on their millions invested.  The United States Chamber of Commerce will make sure their dollars speak loudly and there will be no hikes in minimum wage. The repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell will be under attack as well as the court decision Roe vrs Wade which gave a woman the right to choose what to do with their own body.  In fact, if enough Blue Dog Democrats in the Senate join with the Republican Party you can basically look forward to a return of the Bush years which brought you two vastly expensive wars, deregulation of any environmental legislation, zero quality control and repeal of  some of the OSHA laws that protect worker safety.

The Department of Education could be dismantled in an era where American Schools trail fifteen countries in math and science.  The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy could be dismantled when all the rest of the globe is worried about climate change.  Did the average American voter realize what they brought upon themselves by a vote for the Republican Party in 2010, probably not.

The fault here lies with the Democratic Party and its nominal head, President Barrack Obama.  The Democrats did a terrible job of marketing their accomplishments and let the Republicans control the message delivered.  Lies like calling the Health Care Legislation, "Death Panels," misrepresenting the cost estimates of programs like the auto bailout which has resulted in a profit for the Government as soon as GM completes their IPO. The President did come out of the Oval Office late in the election cycle, but unfortunately too late to move the electorate back to the Democratic column.  What the Democrats needed was an organized, on message campaign, touting their accomplishments.  What they got was individual races with no central theme where the candidates ran like herds of buffalo away from legislation that was beneficial to the general public. The Democrats need to wake up and learn how to present their successes.  They need to know how to frame the conversation before their opponents do and they need to do this before 2012.

You can follow my blogs on my website www.ackatt.com, or fan my block talk radio show, AC Katt's Books and Politics on Thursdays at noon-eastern, eleven-central, ten-mountain and nine-pacific time at www.blogtalkradio.com/ackatt.

If you like my blog, read my books...

Today I noticed that I have 1,647 comments on my blogs, the great majority of them compliments on my writing.  My blogging activity is dependent upon the sale of my books which cover the same subjects in fiction that the blogs cover in fact. So here it comes, the sales pitch. 

I currently have two books in print.  The first is Shattered Glass. The following is a blurb for the book:

Can love survive and be rekindled when a heart is broken like Shattered Glass?

Milo grew up in fear, hiding the fact that he was gay. Becoming a rock star with his band Shattered Glass was a dream come true. Finally lovers with Liam, the friend he’d desired since childhood, Milo worries about his image and keeping their relationship a secret.

Liam knew he loved Milo, even as a kid. But their fame and fortune can’t buy him the happiness of talking Milo out of the closet, able to freely express their love. Unfortunately, a fellow band-mate with vengeance on his mind conspires to break the lovers up in the most vicious way possible, destroying the couple’s relationship and shredding Liam’s peace of mind.

Six years later, Liam is older, wiser, and has rebuilt his life after the devastating loss of Milo and the band. Forced into a tenuous working reunion, Liam knows his heart still belongs to Milo. Working together to uncover the web of lies that pulled them apart, now all they have to do is survive the psychopath intent on silencing Liam and his music forever.

The plot includes the social and political positions that I discuss in my blogs.  The blogs are the effect of my book and if you want to understand them more throughly, read the book.  Shattered Glass is available from Captiva Press and can be bought at www.captivapress.com and from Amazon's Kindle Store at www.amazon.com.  There is also a buy link on my website www.ackatt.com, with the cover of the book and the words Click to Buy. C licking on this will bring you directly to the buy link on the publisher's website.

My second book is A Matter of Trust from XOXO Publishing. The theme of this book is trust and acceptance of who and what you are.  The following is a blurb for the book:

Donald Bear Drummond has everything, a commercial real estate empire, part ownership of Indiscreet, BDS&M club and status as a Master Dominant. Now he is looking for a special boy to share it with, but Donald is short on trust. Burned before, he is reluctant to take on just any boy. Donald wants the perfect boy, his boy. Can he find happiness with the troubled, Brian, the clumsy boy with horned rimmed glasses and a pocket protector who walks into his office and spills a bottle of Bordeaux on his Persian rug? Can he protect Brian from his enemies and well as Brian's own demons?

It's all A Matter of Trust.

The plot in A Matter of Trust tells of a different lifestyle than most of are accustomed to living.  But the world of Dominance and Submission is not all about pain.  It is about subverting your will to another because you want to please them.  It is about accepting another's complete trust and being worthy of what is given to you. A Matter of Trust can be purchased through its publisher XOXO Publishing at www.xoxopublishing.com.  There is also a direct buy link on my website, www.ackatt.com. where you can click the book cover and go to the publisher's page to buy the book.

Shattered Glass will be out in paperback in late November and again, be available from the publisher and other outlets.  I will keep you posted as to when this will occur.  Both books are relatively inexpensive and they support my blogging activities.  For those of you who enjoy my blogs, you will enjoy my books.

NEWS:  My original novel, The Sarran Plague, a menage a trois is being re-released by Captiva Press, I will keep you apprised of the progress on the new chapters, edits and release dates.

Don't forget my new show on Blog Talk Radio.  My page is www.blogtalkradio.com/ackatt. From my page you can listen to previous shows or catch the upcoming show on Thursday, November 4 at 12:00 noon Eastern, 11:00 am Central, 10:00 am Mountain and 9:00 am Pacific.  

Have a great week everyone and don't forget to VOTE!

Just Do it ---VOTE

It's Time to Vote...

Today we are talking politics and it is time for you, the electorate, to make a decision.  Now, I know quite a few of you will be sitting back in your lounge chair telling yourself that you are not going to vote because all of your choices are nasty.  Too bad.  Vote anyway. If you didn't vote in the primary elections, it is your fault that your choices are limited.  Now it time to "man up" and vote for any of the candidates who you feel can, at least, partially represent your viewpoints.

The privilege and right to vote is one of America's most cherished freedoms and like most of our freedoms it is a use it or lose it proposition.  Due to the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United Case, major corporations have been  able to pour millions of dollars in this election cycle.  They have distracted the voter from the issues and in some cases printed outright lies.  Now it is up to you, the voter to decide whether or not corporate money rules the outcome of this election, or your vote does.  The only way you can defeat the corporate money is to vote.  Vote you conscience, vote your pocketbook.  I don't care why you vote, just do it!

The Boy Scouts are no "Boy Scouts..."

The Boy Scouts are no "Boy Scouts..."

When Jon Langbert enrolled his son in the local Dallas Cub Scout Chapter of the Boy Scouts of America he told them he was gay.  "No problem" was the response he received.  Now, a few years later, he has been stripped of his uniform, yet asked to continue to perform the same service for the local Cub Scout Pack that he performed when he was awarded the shirt.

Jon performed the duty of Popcorn Colonel for the local Cub Scout pack.  As a leader, he encouraged the cubs to sell popcorn to earn gifts and gift cards in the competition to raise money for the pack and its parent organization.  Although Jon and his son, Carter, belonged to the pack for a number of years, it was only a week ago that officials from the State and National organization ordered the local pack to "defrock" Mr. Langbert.  The local pack, however, wants Mr. Langbert to retain his now, untitled, position.

All reports indicate that Mr. Langbert is a good father and performed well in his position with the Cub Scouts.  In a world where the military currently sits under judicial injunction for its DADT policy because this position actually damages the function of the armed forces by preventing the retention of experienced personnel, and laws that discriminate against the LGBT population are being challenged daily in the courts; the position of the Boy Scouts is antiquated and a blatant disregard of first amendment rights.

I am aware that the Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the Boy Scouts were allowed as a private organization to continue their discriminatory practices, however, my points remains.  Country Clubs, restaurants and stores are not allowed to practice overt discrimination, why make an exception for the Boy Scouts?  For a country that advocates liberty and justice for all, we are very lax in putting our principles into practice.

There was a time when...

One more US Institution falls to the politics of greed...

I'm turning sixty in January.  Despite the vagaries of age there are some benefits that accrue, such as a sense of perspective.  When I was in my teens and twenties, growing up in a small town in New Jersey, the Chamber of Commerce stirred a sense of pride in community.  The Chamber of Commerce was your town's biggest booster.  They ran festivals, parades, community charity drives and engineered the continued prosperity of the town's business district.  The members were composed of small business owners, lawyers, bankers and the presidents or CEOs of any factory or large retailer that operated within the limits of the town's borders. To be listed on the rolls of membership of your local Chamber was a source of immense pride both to the member and their family.  A member of the Chamber of Commerce was a well-respected pillar of the community charged with the responsibility of ensuring the success of local business and therefore the success of the town.  My how things have changed.

Revelations this week have astounded Americans like myself who remember the old Chamber and its charter.  The new Chamber of Commerce is a multi-national organization no longer charged with local interest, but seriously invested in the welfare of multi-national corporations to the detriment of local and United States businesses.  Recent revelations show that the Chamber solicited and accepted at least $885,000 disclosed donations from over eighty foreign corporations.  Some of the countries involved were India, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Dubai, Singapore, the Kingdom of Bahrain and Canada.  This money was to be used to promote unrestrained free trade, policies that outsource American jobs overseas to these countries.

In a world where corporate donations to political campaigns through political action committees (PACS), run in the hundreds of millions $885,000 does not seem to be a lot of money.  But, since the Chamber of Commerce and many PACs are not required to name their donors, this amount is likely to be just the tip of the international monetary iceberg that is in the process of sinking the American Political System.  Seriously, does any American citizen want their congressman, senator or President elected due to the impact of money contributed by businessmen and politicians in India, Bahrain, Israel, etc?

The Supreme Court ruled this past year in the Citizens United case that corporations had all the rights and privileges of individuals. And, there was no distinction between local US corporations and multi-national corporations in the court's decision. One effect of this ruling is that large - in some cases multi-billion dollar - corporations are encouraged to think of their ability to make political donations as equal to that of an individual US citizen.  Think millions of dollars worth of contributions versus the hundred dollar donation of the average citizen to a political campaign and all of their dollars promote their interests, not yours.

As an example, the US Chamber of Commerce is using donations from foreign countries to promote foreign interests by paying for nation-wide attack ads on political figures that stand against legislative policies that are designed to ship millions of jobs overseas.

In general, during the midterm elections, donations to Republican politicians' reelection coffers overflowed making passage of good laws that would benefit the health and welfare of United States citizens impossible to enact because those politicians are owned by their corporate friends.

Together with the Chamber of Commerce, many well placed Republican PACs are funding deadly attack ads against congressional proponents of such issues as: universal health care legislation, mine safety legislation, oil drilling lease and drilling regulation reform legislation, government services legislation which ensure and promote the well being of hundreds of millions of US citizens.

For instance, during the last thirty years of mainly Republican administrations, the US Congress quietly repealed the Glas-Stegall Act, rolled back environmental protection legislation, and loosened restrictions on oil and gas regulation.  This was all done to promote the special interests of multi-national corporate, financial, mining, and oil company profit objectives. Now, after all these years of bad legislation and rule-making, any attempt to right these policies runs straight into the jaws of the Citizens United court ruling.  Pity the Congressman or Senator who chooses to cross swords with an involved corporate interest. Now, in 2010, they face the funding realities of the current election cycle with millions of dollars in attack ads being donated to their opponent.  However, after the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case those dollars have become virtually unlimited.  The campaign coffers of radical right wing conservative candidates have been the chief beneficiaries of both corporate and foreign influences, bought and paid for by undisclosed donors.  This, the first election since the Supreme Court decision, is floating in contributions from undisclosed donors whose agenda may not be in the best interests of United States citizens.


Finally, consider that, as Republicans stuff their reelection campaign pockets with foreign and corporate money, the average unemployment rate in this country in the United States is over nine percent.  If these Radical Conservatives win their proposed agenda, taking the country back to the Bush policies, two-hundred fifty plus million ordinary citizens will suffer greatly. Some of the prospects that loom are the elimination of minimum wage, privatization of Social Security and Medicare, removal of the remaining regulations and restrictions in such agencies as the Federal Food and Drug Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Funding initiatives such as green energy technology, stem cell research, renewal of our aging infrastructure, social programs such as unemployment, food stamps will all go under the axe.  Is this the forward direction our country should take, or is a trip back to Dickensonian England where Oliver dared to ask for more?

If you wish additional information on this blog or my books, I am debuting a fifteen minute segment on Blogtalk Radio (http://www.Blogtalkradio.com/ackatt) on Thursday, October 21 at 10:00 am Mountain Time.  In this segment I will be discussing my book, Shattered Glass, the creative process and how some of its themes relate to contemporary life.

Additionally, you could subscribe to my political blog by RSS feed at http://www.ackattspolitics.blogspot.com or to my book blog at http://www.ackattsjournal.blogspot.com.  Links to my website at http://www.ackatt.com are welcome as well as "follows" for my blog.  I have two new blog outlets at http://Blogs.FanBox.com/ShatteredGlass1, and http://www.ackatt.weebly.com.  I have also created a Ning Network at http://ackatonning.ning.com which you are invited to join.

Please remember that Shattered Glass is available from Captiva Press at www.captivapress.com and from the Kindle Store at Amazon.com.  A Matter of Trust is available from XOXO Publishing at www.XOXOpublishing.com.

Look for the re-release of my first novel, The Sarran Plague which has been re-worked and re-edited to be released by Captiva Press late fall or early winter.