Hikes, Depression and Day 319

The weather has been great, we’ve been hiking a bunch.  It’ll be good when we put some muscle back on the legs.  This is Pima Canyon, a very steep and rocky trail.

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Yesterday we did both sides of Lower Javelina clock-wise.  There is much up down for your hiking pleasure.  We were both fairly whooped afterwards, but it was good to have increased mileage.

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We’re also spending a lot of time witnessing the destruction of this country.   The courts are being stacked with conservatives who do not believe in case law or precedence, but instead believe in their religion and their gut.  This is the worst of the terrible legacy the current administration will leave behind, these people will be on the benches for decades. 

By now, everyone knows that the Republican Senate passed a new tax bill.  The House passed a similar bill.  This year they are not even pretending that this bill will be good for anyone but the one percenters.  The “donors” told them to get this done or there would be no more money for campaigns.  And so they have.  Corporations have no plans to build new plants or add to payrolls.  Instead they will pay dividends to shareholders and buy back their stock.  I continue to wonder why people vote for the Republicans, they do nothing for the poor or middle class.  Their only allegiance is to the wealthy. 

Now that the tax bill will pass, the legislators have discovered that there will be a deficit.  SOMETHING must be done.  That something will be an attack on Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.  Maybe a direct impact on people receiving benefits will alert them that they are not voting their self interest.

I also wonder why the Republicans are so heartless.  This is a quote from Orrin Hatch, old white guy from Utah.  He’s attacking poor sick children.  The CHIP budget is small, it doesn’t approach billions and billions and trillions.

Then there is this, from Senator Grassley, defending the end of estate taxes in an interview with the Des Moines Register.

“I think not having the estate tax recognizes the people that are investing,” Grassley said, “as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.”

The wealthy invest, the rest of us blow our money on booze, women and movies.  I don’t know about you, but I have not bought any women lately.  One of the multiple articles on his statement can be found here.

The outright condescension these men are displaying towards the American people is disheartening.  They seem to view us as “other.”

Just today, the president announced he’s cutting the size of Bear’s Ears by 85% and Grand Staircase Escalante by half.  Hopefully this will stay tied up in court for decades.  Once that land is scraped for oil, gas or coal, it will never recover.

So, yeah, I am fairly depressed about the state of things.  It makes it difficult to plan for the future.  We’ve been thinking about buying a house, but now I wonder if we should just hang on to all of our cash for that time when there is no SocSec and Medicare.   At least we’ll have a roof if we hang on to the bus.  Heaven help us if we get some dread disease.

I know it’s a bummer of a post, but if I don’t write it down, it doesn’t get remembered.