Biden - Fact or Fiction

Tax increases - Biden said increases would only affect those earning one million dollars and more, but Obama's latest promise is no income tax increase in 2013 only for the households earning $250,000 or less

Cause of recession - he blames Republicans for putting wars in Iran and Afghanistan on credit card, but he actually voted for both wars

Auto bailout - Biden panned Romney for recommending private bankruptcy for auto industry - Chrysler and GM did go through a structured bankruptcy as Romney suggested, Ford turned down bail out and recovered on its own

Said Catholic church won't have to pay for abortions and contraception - Catholic institutions and groups serving non-Catholics will have to pay insurance policies covering both or be fined for lack of compliance with Obamacare

Biden came up with a new narrative on the Benghazi attack, saying the State department didn't inform the White House about security risks; but Hillary was supporting Administration's scenario that all was under control in Libya and turned down Benghazi Consulate request for more security

He blamed Benghazi's lack of security on Republican cutbacks in funding - actually funding was increased by $5,000,000 more than requested by the State Department for diplomatic security

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Lately I've been having a difficult time with my aging mother, who has NPD, and located resources online to help me deal with my issues. NPD is not a mental illness, it is a personality disorder, and may range from mild to dominant.

Some famous people, who have done great things, may have had this disorder. Steve Jobs, along with his "reality distortion field" may be one of the more successful public examples. People with NPD rarely seek psychological counseling - why mess with perfection? Right?

Earliest part of my childhood was spent with sitters, which probably was a good thing. I developed a healthy sense of self before my mother got a hold of me. My years with "Mommie Dearest" was pretty much a nightmare, interspersed with memory loss.

I copied just a few snippets in case the website goes away, as sometimes happens on the Internet. This site is a very information rich website, if interested in more details follow the link below:

See - http://bandbacktogether.com/adult-children-of-Narcissistic-parents-resources/

The symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder include the following:

• A grandiose sense of self-importance (may be shown as an exaggeration of abilities and talents, expectation that he or she will be seen as superior to all others).

• Is obsessed with him - or herself.

• Goals are almost always selfish and self-motivated.

• Has troubles with healthy, normal relationships.

• Becomes furious if criticized.

• Has fantasies of unbound success, power, intelligence, love, and beauty.

• Believes that he or she is unique and special, and therefore should only hang out with other special, high-status people.

• Requires extreme admiration for everything.

• Feels entitled - has unreasonable expectations of special treatment.

• Takes advantage of others to further his or her own needs.

• Has zero empathy - cannot (or will not) recognize the feelings of others.

• May be envious of others or believe that others are envious of him or her.

• Behaves arrogantly, haughtily.

How Do Narcissistic Parents Abuse Their Children?

Narcissistic Parents have many subtle - and some not-so-subtle- ways in which they abuse their children. These types of abuse include the following:

• Compulsively lying to children
• Ignores and/or overwhelms the children
• Neglects needs of the child
• Makes child feel as though he/she does not matter
• Puts parental needs far above those of the children
• Mold children to an "ideal" image
• Promotes and fosters a dependent relationship between parent and child
• Distorts the concept of "love"
• Manipulation for pleasure
• Says one thing one day, something else the next
• Untrustworthy
• Uses the child's vulnerabilities to exploit the child
• Subtly and not-subtly insults children
• Ignores personal boundaries 
• Treats others as objects, not people
• Makes child feel as though he or she is insane

Do I Stay In Contact With My Narcissistic Parent?

Separating yourself from the sort of codependency that's common from Narcissistic Parents may seem daunting. Sure, they were emotionally (or physically)(or both) abusive, but your Narcissistic Parent is STILL your parent.

As an Adult Child of a Narcissistic Parent, you have two options:

1) Total Estrangement - no contact, nothing, with your Narcissistic Parent.

2) Measured Contact - contact, but limited interaction with Narcissistic Parent.

If you choose to keep measured contact with your Narcissistic Parent, be very sure to follow some strict, clear guidelines:

• Create very clear boundaries. Don't reward your parent for crossing them. Be clear, but firm. If they show up unannounced, explain nicely that you are too busy to visit with them.
• Shield your own children from their Narcissistic Grandparent. They do not need to be exposed to their toxic behaviors.
• Rather than explain that you do not want to hear their advice, echo and mirror whatever the Narcissistic Parent says. Do whatever you'd planned to do anyway.
• Go through a third party as your Narcissistic Parent ages - do not allow them to rely upon you and you alone as they need care.
• Provide information on a "need to know" basis only. Just because your Narcissistic Parent tells you everything doesn't mean you must reciprocate.

Our New Utopia

Are we prepared for four more years of incompetence and dishonesty from our federal government? The media seems to be buying into this environment, but for what reason? 

Perhaps I'm cynical, but restructuring of society and redistribution of wealth is not going to save the middle classes or help the poor. The rich will survive. They may have to change their allegiances to the new power structure or take their money and run. Liberal entertainment, media, union leaders, and sports stars are safe. 

The poorest of the poor will be euthanized or allowed to die off. Health care will be doled out once the new structure is in place. Working classes and lower middle class will be the new poor and will be sustained as long as they perform menial tasks. The rest of the middle classes will experience a significant drop in their standard of living, functioning as lower bureaucrats, but rarely rising out of the masses.

We've had almost fifty years of dumbing down our educational system, reducing the influences of our most sacred institutions, and redefining our liberties. The Soviets said they would conquer from within, perhaps it just took them a bit longer. Heaven help us.

Recent 9-11 Deaths

According to Jay Carney and all the news outlets, an anti-Muslim movie trailer is the cause of the 9-11 American consulate deaths in Libya and escalating riots around the world despite the fact that quite a number of protesters were armed with machine guns and rocket grenade launchers.

This conclusion is ludicrous. This trailer was first released in July on YouTube, but Muslims waited until 9-11 to get upset enough to burn consulates and kill people?

Instead of asking hard questions the news media and White House spokes people are focusing on Romney's comments after Obama apologized for upsetting the religious sensitivities of Muslims. My religious sensitivities are insulted on a daily basis by films, TV, and the Internet, but I'm told that I have to accept it. It's one of the consequences of living in a free society, although I have a lot to say about courteous speech some other time.

I didn't know that Romney is responsible for our foreign policy? I thought President Obama was, but if that were true then the news media would have to be drilling him for answers.

Healthcare vouchers?

During the DNC Obama attacked Ryan's plan to give Seniors the option to select a voucher plan for healthcare. Conventioneers acted horrified, but at the very same time in Washington, Obama's Health and Human Services Department was launching a pilot program to shift two million poor seniors out of Medicare into private health insurance plans overseen by states.

Eighteen states have applied to participate in this program and Massachusetts has already been approved. States will be given federal funds to purchase managed-care plans for people who are either disabled or poor enough to qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. 

Ryan's plan is very similar to this and I'm very happy to see the federal government trying something new. Ryan's plan gives all future retirees currently under the age of 55 the choice to remain on Medicare or use a voucher to purchase private healthcare.

Right now Health and Human Services isn't giving those two million poor people any choice. I hope they will get better care than I'm receiving under Medicare. I'm going on three weeks now without a diagnosis or treatment for a blown out knee. 

Either Obama was playing to his audience during the convention or he doesn't know what's going on in his own administration. 

Welfare State

We have a welfare state, whether it's Reagan's 18% percent of GDP or Obama's 28% and climbing percentage of GDP.

Republicans want to protect the safety net by balancing the budget so that 2008 doesn't happen again, reduce taxes, reduce tax loopholes, and rethink business and industry regulations.

Democrats want to protect the safety net by increasing taxes on anyone earning more than $250,000 a year, tax fossil fuels out of existence, and borrow almost a trillion dollars a year more to pay for health care, infrastructure, and green energy.

If Democrats win back Congress and the Presidency, will anyone want to start a new business or hire new workers unless it's subsidized by the government?

We need at least a decade of fiscal conservatives to be elected and we voters need to hold them to a pledge of balancing the budget, cutting taxes, reducing loopholes, and preserving the safely nets of Social Security and Medicare. Duplication in government offices and services need to be identified, reduced by attrition, and then merged or eliminated.

We need to finish up these foreign wars, use returning troops to protect our borders and shores, pare down troops to peacetime numbers, and begin replacing outdated ships, planes, and equipment.

Empty Promises

Thursday night Obama made more empty promises. He's going to rebuild America by using money saved by ending war, the so called “Peace Dividend”.

NEWSFLASH – there is no pot of gold sitting around that was used to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan! We borrowed most of that money. Now we have to pay it back, or in the very least, pay back interest on those loans.

We are Broke! We are in Debt up to our great, great, great, great grandchildren's necks! What's it going to take to make politicians and regular folks understand that?

Open your frigging eyes people. Empty promises, cheering crowds, and slick speeches are not getting us anywhere.

We need to let loose the creative juices of this country to expand our economy with the most minimal restrictions possible. Government needs to step back a bit, release its death grip, and let this growth occur.