BLACK PRESIDENT- Chapter 81. Fake President John-as-Jackson Little gets real about problems in America, before and after 9/11.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4iY1TtS3s

CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE

Vice President Holstead had enjoyed the powerful aphrodisiac of running the country while Jackson Little was bedridden, and had wasted no time introducing into law a couple of crucial bills his secret backers had wanted settled. Little did he know that when the Little President returned to power he would make a speech that not only reversed all his shady decisions, but would make history for the multitude of sensitive topics it covered.

The President’s forthcoming speech – at least what the Vice President and world press knew of it through the incomplete pre-released printout, distributed to world news agencies two hours before the broadcast – was ostensibly set to be some basic “thank you’s,” and a simple “return from hospital stay” hello. That’s all. But John Little, the imposter, pretender to the American throne of his dead brother, had a quite different idea. He let speechwriters concoct his “Mr. Nice Guy” script while he, in secret, scribed a ground-breaking oration that addressed many of the ills of present-day society. He figured that, given the rising tempo of assassination attempts, that one speech might be the last chance he’d ever get to be heard. So, with ballpoint pen in hand (no way to trace a computer file from his thoughts), he’d let rip on his major concerns. His biggest problem before starting to write had been deciding which problem to tackle first. Finally, with a directive to White House personnel not to disturb his “doctor-ordered rest,” he began.

“Dear fellow Americans, ladies, gentlemen, members of the press and those of you around the world, watching on TV, handheld devices, iPads, other computer screens not to mention devoted radio listeners. It is a distinct honor to be addressing you tonight. As you know, I’ve been a victim of several assassination attempts, and narrowly escaped the last attack in my hospital room. I must say that these recent events have brought the ‘promised land’ into clearer focus. Martin Luther King made mention of this when he expressed his doubt that he ‘may not get there with you’ and I’ve been experiencing the same emotion. The men trying to end my presidency and my life will obviously stop at nothing. But who of us truly understands God’s will? For those who don’t believe in religion, I’ll just say, who knows what the future has in store?

“At any rate, the odds seem poor that we’ll be able to meet like this on a regular basis and have this little chat again. So, if I may, I’d like to discuss some pressing problems that we have here in America, with the hope that when everyone gets some new information they’ll be encouraged to actually solve problems and make their lives better.

“To begin with, I’d like to point out that the United States of America, the wealthiest nation on planet earth, is 34th in child mortality – actually getting a worse rating all the time. That means that there are 34 nations that better serve mothers giving birth. That’s children dying before the age of one. Here are the names of some nations who do a better job than us in this regard: Portugal, Croatia, Cuba, New Caledonia, Brunei, even the island of Cyprus. Isn’t that pathetic?

“Now why is this, you ask? Why is this true? How can this ridiculous statistic be changed? Well, the answer is simple. There are individuals in this country who put their ever-expanding lust for wealth above and beyond the consideration of the common man. Four hundred people in the US have more combined wealth than 150 million of you. That is why nothing trickles down to the middle class, lower middle class, or those below the poverty line, where a family of four is trying to survive on less than $22,500 per year.

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It was time to take a break from his furious handwriting. He imagined giving the real speech, looking out at a sea of confused reporters and commentators as he launched into the particulars about infant mortality rate and statistics about the wealthiest Americans. They would be desperately revising their after-speech programming, whatever chatter they planned to generate from the printout he’d distributed as a decoy. Yes, it would be a zoo, thought John as he leaned back in his Chippendale chair. Reporters would be making frantic iphone calls to their producers and media bosses, complaining that the speech was completely different than the text. Suddenly, all their preplanned feedback and politically motivated commentary would be useless. As that ripple of awareness spread worldwide, John Little promised himself to hold up to the pressure. With a laugh to himself, followed by a drink of soda, he continued to rehearse his secret speechwriting.

“Without question, lack of health insurance for lower-income families and individuals is to blame. It’s not about the issue of abortion. And it’s not about states’ rights. This is an across-the-board issue. There must be an allocation of properly trained doctors and nurses, affordable prescription medications, and adequate facilities in hospitals and clinics, no matter what state you live in, and no matter which party won the last election in your town. Anyone who has followed the healthcare debate since the new Millennium has heard promises that weren’t kept, and a multitude of reasons why this program or that program is too expensive and should be overturned. Well, I’m here to say that we need to cut to the chase. We need to dismantle the entire system – drug companies, insurance companies, for-profit hospitals – if we, the wealthiest nation, can’t guarantee the live birth of our children. Finland is better than us, with half the death rate. It’s #5 on the list. So is Iceland, at #2. How come? What’s wrong? If you visit the statistics off your computer you’ll learn the answer. This country has too wide a gulf between rich and poor.

“Many inner-city dwellings in American still have lead pipes feeding in lead-contaminated water to its inhabitants. Since 1897, when lead pipes were first introduced, over 50% of the US cities have this problem. And the people who live in these tenements can’t afford to move to the suburbs, and probably have no inkling that they are slowly being poisoned to death, along with their children. Take Flint, Michigan,** for example.

“So, my first decision is to re-plumb every single structure that still has lead pipes, replacing this archaic system with modern, non-toxic plastic tubing. For those currently unemployed, this will be a chance to get back into the workforce, on a first-come, first-served basis. Whoever signs up for this minimum wage job will (a) be able to get off of the dole, (b) learn the plumbing trade, and (c) help secure healthy water for their neighborhoods. These untrained workers can earn a salary working right next to the very plumbers who will fix their own house and apartments, to supply top-grade water to their faucets.

“Beyond that, each family with a verifiable address, and each homeless man and woman who can travel to a central distribution center in their present location, will receive a portable water filtration system – a plastic pitcher that purifies water a half-gallon at a time – so that this ‘water problem’ will be contained once and for all.”

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Taking another breather, President John-as-Jackson imagined a strong applause, at least from half the Senate. Republicans would, of course, remain seated, since any change to the status-quo threatened their programs and their stranglehold on the business of America. Reporters in the White House press room would continue to furiously scribble notes, trying to keep up, while he paused to check his notes. John then quickly dove in again, as his spirit moved him to do.

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“Another cause of infant mortality in America is lack of education. The parents of these infants are, more often than not, out of work because they lack necessary skills. And often they are of a minority race – Latino or black, like me. This disparity has got to stop, and it will end today!

“What I propose is that anyone who has not received a high school diploma be given a chance to attain one, by means of the world-wide web. Of course, we first need to identify the level of education of each person before we slap advanced algebra on them!

“So, step one: set the learning level for beginning classes; step two; supply computers and wireless internet service to each building and apartment in this country. Many cities already have a wireless system, so all we need to do is continue this good work. Bottom line; we need to make this internet a free service, so no one without funds will be denied the chance to learn and succeed in America. And, by the way, this free service will be available to anyone who has resided in this country for over one year, not just permanent residents.

“This massive educational program, to bring everyone up in the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, will cost a fortune. To be exact, it will set the government back two F-84 bombers. That’s right. At $125 million per plane, that $250 million dollars will cover the cost of the entire Eastern seaboard program, over thirteen states and countless cities where such an improvement in education will give low- income children new opportunities for employment. Lets start spending the five trillion that taxes supply each year more wisely. Let’s start being responsible.

“And make no mistake, Capitalism is not dead. It’s been a raving success. Our only failure has been how the money is allocated. These new priorities are way overdue. I, as your President, will demand that Congress start getting it right during the Little Presidency.”

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Good job, bro, said John, softly to himself. He dropped his pen and stretched the fingers on his right hand, then formed it into a fist and back several times, to loosen up the tendons. His writing had been a burst of inspiration, but had used some new muscles beyond the normal typing kind. So just for a moment he allowed himself to remember his dead brother. He could feel Jackson’s presence somewhere in the room. Was that possible? Could a dead person still be living in some way? John didn’t use up much time on this hypothetical question. All he knew was, he'd been feeling the full twin energy ever since he’d decided to write the speech. Reaching for his pen, he pledged to carry on his brother’s work. The next topic was to reverse trends in the monetary systems that had undercut the viability of middle class since the Vietnam War:

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“On the broader economic front, inflation has taken its toll and must be neutralized. Since the 1970s, prices have risen to levels seven times higher than previously established. An apartment you could have rented for $100 back then, now costs at least $700, maybe even double that in metropolitan areas.

“If you don’t have enough money to care for your family at present rates, what happens when costs increase?” Make no mistake, this excessive inflation has a way of demoralizing the low-income family, hurting them more than any other group.”
Stopping for a second, John wondered whether he’d used the phrase “make no mistake” earlier in the text. Maybe. He jotted a note to the side, to check on that over-usage.

“So what I propose, to curb inflation in the US, is make a 25% reduction to all costs and services across-the-board, to reduce everything to a more manageable level. For this inflation hedge to work, each and every business must reduce it’s pricing of products, each store and restaurant following suit. The prices of houses currently on the market must immediately be reduced by 25%, as will all executive salaries in the private and public sector. Again, for this to work we will need 100% cooperation from all citizens. Please understand that if every price is reduced, you will not lose money or be in some way cheated. What we’re doing here is dropping the living index which, in turn, will bring a new vitality to our marketplaces. Our goods and services will suddenly be more affordable to China and other countries. The sooner we get a good restaurant breakfast back to 50 cents for two eggs, hash browns and toast, the better. And believe me, even though the change will not really affect your actual pocketbook, the falling prices will give a certain boost, emotionally. There will be less dread in the air, less runaway inflation that kills value.

“You’ll need less money to purchase food and pay rent, but at the same time you’ll be earning less. In the end, all the ratios will remain of equal value to the present ones. Here’s some examples: If your current rent is $1000, then the landlord must, by this new bill, reduce it to $750. If your salary at work is $2000 per month, the company must reduce it to $1500. All the restaurants and food establishments in your neighborhood must reduce the cost of their dinners, drinks, and so on. If college tuition is now $40,000 a year – yes, many colleges cost that and more– it will now be $30,000. The only exception in this reduction plan will be that of teachers’ salaries, whether college level, high school or elementary and kindergarten level. They have been at the bottom of earnings way too long. Please allow me to reiterate. No teacher, whether working in a private or public institution, will see their current salary reduced. To reiterate, all teachers will remain at full salary.

“To have this economic rollback operate fairly for all, this reduction in costs must take place on the same date and time. I propose that this 25% reduction occur at midnight, upcoming New Years Eve, Dec, 31, 2015.

“For those who remain leery of this proposal, are a bit frightened by it, let’s remember what happened in Russia when capitalism was restored. Under Socialism, rents for a three-room apartment were in the neighborhood of $60 US. Wages there were around $150 per month. So rent was a little less than half of the family income. When the Soviet regime collapsed, rents soared – hundreds, even thousands of rubles more. Did the wages keep up? They did not, creating an instant lower class, way beyond that of the nineteenth century Russian serfdom, where rural communities could rely on each other in hard times.

“In America, our costs have simply outrun our ability to serve our constituents, and that has increased the gulf between rich and poor. I plan to reverse this trend. To do so, means we must take a new, hard look at where our tax dollars actually go, starting with the military.

“America has become a militarized society. What we spend on so- called ‘defense’ is outrageous. First, lets wake up to the real costs of the military in this country. It’s not just 20% as the past administrations want you to believe. It’s somewhere past half of each year’s budget if you take into account: (a) expenditures of past military costs, like veterans benefits – about $100 billion, and (b) interest on military expenditures decades old – almost $400 billion. When you add on the costs of our current escapades in Iraq and Afghanistan ($200 billion), and the current military operations and maintenance budget ($370 billion), R&D (80 billion), retired pay (70 billion), homeland security (5 billion and rising), NASA (10 billion), goods and services (150 billion), family housing (3 billion), nuclear weapons (17 billion), plus, last but not least, the war on terror (200+ billion), you’re now up around 970 billion for current military spending. Adding to that figure the past military override of $400 billion, you get a trillion and a quarter of our tax dollars spent on war, out of the two-plus trillion dollars per year received in taxes.

“The US government receives over two-and-a-half-trillion tax dollars at the treasury each year. Our population is at around 330,000,000, with just about half actually paying taxes. The interest we pay on the national debt is in the neighborhood of 200 billion each year. Go to the website www.usdebtclock.com (<https://www.pgpf.org/national-debt-clock?gad_source=5&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1uqZ6-LjhQMVWjjUAR0TmwZHEAAYASACEgJVyfD_BwE#the-national-debt>. if you want to watch the numbers rising by the second. My point is, we are being held hostage by the military industrial complex, and this must stop.

“Our national debt, to which certain politicians want to sacrifice such programs as Medicare and Social Security, is $14 trillion. That comes down to about $47,000 per citizen, counting newborns, if that sum were called due tomorrow. Your children are born owing that amount of money.

“So, I will authorized congress to vote on a measure to also cut the military budget by 25%. They’ll only get a trillion dollars in 2018. The $250 billion shaved from the military will be used to do a number of important things, including, but not limited to, rebuilding our infrastructure of schools, bridges, highway overpasses, country roads and city streets. Also, that additional money will help to pay off the national debt, which certain politicians have been squawking about, more and more lately. We really do have the defense of America covered; including stockpiles of armaments, rockets, nuclear warheads fill our storage facilities to capacity, coast to coast. We can certainly afford to drop the budget in this area.

“We all have mourned the loss of innocent lives on 9/11. I also feel for those families and their close friends who have experienced this devastation. Nothing can bring those victims back, any more than we can return all the fatalities from deadly auto accidents each year. By the way, do you know that out of the yearly 30,000 auto deaths, half are alcohol related? Where is the monument for all those dead Americans? The big question now is, how can these senseless traffic fatalities – the equivalent of ten 9/11s each year – be avoided? And who do we attack, who do we punish for that?

“9/11 convinced the citizenry of the United States to expand war powers, over-fund the military, create entirely new branches of military defense, including Homeland Security and other secret branches, ‘dark ops’ you don’t see in the news. The military budget was increased by almost 20% due to ever-expanding actions in the Middle East. Their profits rose, their politicians were re-elected, and their lobbyists received huge commissions and bonuses – all under the table, of course. The only problem was, none of this benefited either the families of the dead, or the interests of America at large. This 9/11 tragedy only brought this country closer to defaulting on numerous fronts.

“Remember 2011? Schools closing. Factories closing. Banks failing. And over a million families a year losing their homes to foreclosure? The foreign wars had just about bankrupted this country. All for the 3,000 dead in New York. Not the best way to celebrate their sacrifice, was it? 9/11 made us think we needed to go to war, when in fact the REAL enemy was our own ignorance, not a bunch of tribal people in some faraway land.”

Funny, thought John as he wrapped things up, how it was all there on the internet for anyone to see. Weren’t people curious? He guessed that most just wait for some kind of leadership that never comes. Well, he vowed to change all that.

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<https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/us/flint-michigan-lead-pipes-court-contempt/index.html>.