POLITICS IN AMERICA

• Hurricane Earl is heading toward Maine. We are expected to get heavy winds and rain. We need the rain but this will likely be a gusher. It is supposed to hit us tonight. In the morning we are supposed to take the train to New York City to go to a ball game (Yankess against the Orioles) with my son. My late birthday present from Mary Beth. Hope the train is running on schedule.

• I looked today for the first time at the stats of who looks at this blog. Some big surprises. Here is the list of places that folks live who have been reading the blog since I started it. Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit.

1) United States

2) South Korea

3) Russia

4) Canada

5) Germany

6) Netherlands

7) Japan

8) United Kingdom

9) Kenya

10) India

• The Washington Post reports this morning, "With just two months until the November elections, the White House is seriously weighing a package of business tax breaks - potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars - to spur hiring and combat Republican charges that Democratic tax policies hurt small businesses."

This is very interesting because just the other day I heard a report that the investor community in the U.S. was doing quite well financially at this time (they are the ones during this so-called "recovery" who are not hurting) but they are not creating new jobs. They are sitting on their cash. So now Obama is thinking to give them more tax breaks at a time when the government should be spending that same money creating jobs in local communities doing things that are needed to be done - hiring teachers, upgrading water systems, fixing bridges, remodeling schools, building public transit, etc. The truth is that once he gives these new tax breaks few new jobs will be created.

In fact most big corporations are laying off workers. The figures show that those CEO's who fire the most workers tend to get paid the most - some as much as $20 million per year. The 50 top companies that have fired the most workers have CEO's that average $12 million each year. Obama's plan to give them even more tax breaks is sick.

• The governors race in the state of Arizona is heating up as we approach November. Current Gov. Jan Brewer, who has become well known for passing the racist anti-immigration bill in that state that basically makes all Latinos criminal suspects, had some problems speaking during a recent debate. Those who say we are "dumbing things down" here in America are correct. See below for yourself.