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The GOP Doesn’t Want to Govern – They Want to Rule
Just in case anyone missed the title of this piece, allow me to repeat it. “The GOP doesn’t want to govern - they want to rule,” and anyone with an objective mind should be able to see it. But unfortunately, politics is much like religion - no matter how much evidence is brought to bear that a person’s preacher is a hypocrite, a crook, and a pedophile, many of the people in the church will refuse to believe their lying eyes, because it’s not what they want to see.
In such a case, all the preacher would have to say is, “The Lord came to me in a dream and commanded me to lay down with that 14-year-old girl. At first I couldn’t understand it. So I asked, ‘But Lord, how can you ask me to commit such a horrid offense? I have a family and a loving wife of 22 years, and this young girl is but a mere child!’ But the Lord said, ‘Let my will be done, my son. It is better for this child to learn the error of her ungodly ways under your gentle hand, than through the brutality of the street.’ So as a servant of God, I had no choice but to do his will.”
And by the time the preacher is done, half the people in the church would be saying, “Amen! You a servant of God – you gotta do his will.”
Sound ridiculous? Of course it does, but no more ridiculous than the GOP telling us that we must sacrifice the well being of our own families to subsidize international corporations and the top 2% of the wealthiest people in this country, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. The GOP has convinced a sizable number of Americans that the desire to protect their own families from corporate abuse is due to the socialist influences in society.
And many of us are buying into that nonsense, hook-line-and-sinker, in spite if the fact, that the facts are clear. The GOP could care less about the well being of poor and middle-class Americans. In fact, it is their intention to destroy the middle class, because a vibrant and educated middle class is an obstacle in the way of total corporate control of America. But just like the members of the church mentioned above, we’re refusing to believe our lying eyes.
In the 50′s, 60′s, and 70′s, big business and labor had a symbiotic relationship. American corporations would hire the poor and middle class and provide a job with a living wage and good benefits for life. As a result the working class had the money to purchase the products that the corporations produced, and spread money throughout the economy by going on vacations, and buying homes, cars, and appliances, etc. Thus, business and labor had forged a perfect relationship, and America thrived.
Then under the Ronald Reagan era of reckless deregulation the corporatists became greedy and began to embrace a scheme hatched by U.S.C. Professor, Arthur Laffer, called supply-side Economics, or “trickle down,” if you will.The theory behind this scheme that came to be known as “Reaganomics,” was ostensibly, if you cut taxes for business and people in the upper tax brackets, then deregulated business of such nuisances as safety regulations and environmental safeguards, the beneficiaries would invest their savings into creating new jobs. As a result, business would prosper, and the money would eventually “trickle down” to the rest of us. In addition, the resulting broadened tax base would not only help to bring down the deficit, but also subsidize the tremendously high defense budget.
When the plan was first floated, even George Bush Sr, Reagan’s vice president to be, called it “voodoo economics.”And Bush Sr was right. What actually happened was instead of taking the money and investing it into creating new jobs, the money was used in wild schemes and stock market speculation. One of these schemes, the leveraged buy out, involved buying up large companies with borrowed funds secured by the company’s assets, then paying off the loan by selling off the company one piece at a time. This practice was a major contributor to destroying our industrial base, and changed America from a producer nation with plenty of jobs, to a consumer nation with very few.
In addition, the bottom fell out of the stock market. On Monday, October 19, 1987 the Dow-Jones Average fell 508.32 points. It was the greatest one-day decline since 1914 – 15 years BEFORE the Great Depression (Isn’t it curious how these things always seem to happen under Republican presidents?).
Now our economy is no longer insular. We’re in a global economy. What’s left of formerly American corporations are now international, and spread out all over the world. That has brought about two major changes. First, corporations no longer have to depend on American workers to buy their goods. They now have markets all over the world, so they’re they’re much less concerned about the economic health of poor and middle class Americans. Our only value is as a piggy bank when they need to be bailed out, or to be squeezed - like now, by sending jobs overseas – when they want to manipulate our political system or want concessions from the government.
Secondly, corporations now have to compete with countries where workers make less a week than many American workers spend on lunch per day. So the standard of living of the American middle class has become a liability that must be corrected, and the GOP is being subsidized by the corporatists to do just that.
I’ve been discussing this issue for quite some time now. That’s one of the reasons that I’ve been so fixated on the United States Postal Service. I’ve long since recognized that the theft of wages, employee abuse, and the general mistreatment of postal workers with impunity represents a fundamental change in the U.S. government’s attitude toward the nation’s poor and middle-class workers. I started predicting several years ago that the postal service is a microcosm of what is in store for the rest of the nation, but I’ve found that trying to warn the public of a pending threat is like spitting in the wind. But now, in Wisconsin, the chickens are coming home to roost.
THE GOP: A ONE HUNDRED YEAR RECORD OF SWINDLING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Eric L. Wattree
http://wattree.blogspot.com/
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
Religious bigotry: It’s not that I hate everyone who doesn’t look, think, and act like me – it’s just that God does.
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=86102
Posted by Eric L. Wattree on Mar 10 2011, With 0 Reads, Filed under Corruption, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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[...] the original article at Veterans Today [...]
Corperations – didn’t the highest court in the USA rule a long time ago in D.C> land that they had the same rights as people?
Corperations and Republicans. King and Queen. Good mix, heh?
Regards
Dale R Suiter
I’m in a violent rage over what has happened in Wisconsin today and is happening all over the country. I was so impressed with the dignity and passion of those surrounding me at the capitol today protesting against total facism. I want heads to roll Dale! I’m so thankful that cooler heads are prevailing because my thoughts are going to dark places. When I look at the people around me keeping up the fight in such a peaceful manner, it really makes me proud but hungry for justice!!
Just remember Kelli, Wisconsin is one of the most beautiful places in the world. If you’re a native from Wisconsin, get out and vote next time. And get all your buds to do the same. If you’re not a Wisconsinite, get out and let the folks who voted express their will (after you’ve spent all your money, of course — tourism is big and needed up there).
Other than the above, maybe one of the folks we all saw wrestling around and peeing and pooping on the floor might have been you. I waved just in case.
Cheers and keep up your spunk.
T.G.
Kelli,
Stress not. What’s going on in Wisconsin is a blessing in disguise. It’s doing more to wake people up than any Democrat could ever do. It’s clearly demonstrating that the GOP is far too extreme to be trusted with power. They have absolutely no understanding of limits. Like you said, they’re fascist, at least the leadership is, and they’re going to lose much of their base.
And another thing, that Scott Walker looks like he’s such a whimp. I bet he used to get his lunch money taken from him in school. So it’s a simple case of revenge of the nerds. But the upside is, people all over the country are going to think about him every time they go to cast a ballad for a Republican.
I agree… the more political bullshit and unrest the quicker the awakening. Wisconsin is just Whitehouse politics arriving at the state level.
Since 911, Bill after Bill of 500 pages or more are written by lobbyist and lawyers and handed to the congress hours before the vote and they vote on things they never read or understand based on how they are dictated to vote by their constituents. It’s a Corporate coup d’état of the Federal Government that is now being implemented at the state level.
There is only corporate interests anymore, the only way people will get any representation is to protest or overthrow. Elections are a sham as 80-90% of those who are elected are chosen by the corporations to toe the corporate line.
Truth Seeker,
You can stop searching, because you’ve found the truth. Now you can change your handle to “Truth Teller.”
That’s right, Dale.
It was in the Citizens United case, and that was just last year. How dumb can they get. Don’t corporations incorporate so that can’t be held accountable as individual people? How can they have it both ways?
No, E. Incorporations incorporate to meet Federal Tax standards AND to allow those who guide the new corporate entity to make decisions that are best for a hopefully broad band of stockholders, not individuals.
The thugs that run large Unions have exactly the same benefits as Corporations. They toss individual member money (yours and mine) across state lines to influence (buy) elections that will give them sweetheart deals. Note that in Wisconsin, as soon as the Governor signed the bill, the Union money disappeared and the Statehouse became silent as a tomb.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, you know?
Are big Unions, big Corporations, big Government, big Banks, and big Wall Street (i.e., all big Money elitists) ALL out of control? I say yes. They are so out-of-control that only a nationwide grassroots effort will change that. Weenie politicians across the spectrum never will, without each of them (men and women) growing a set of politcical testacles. They wallowing as beneficiaries of status quo. Hence, the Tea Parties. Not perfect, yet, but a step in the correct direction.
As for Scott Walker, he did exactly what he was elected to do, by a MAJORITY of WISCONSIN residents. That little guy is tougher than nails. The union bosses can pay for and bus in all the screaming shills they want, but the fact is, they got their butts kicked by Walker and the Wisconsin elected majority.
End of story until the next election cycle.
T.V.
All of the polls say that your wrong, Tom.
According to the polls – even the most conservative polls – the people of Wisconsin are against the governor, and if the election were held today he would lose. And as we speak, the citizens are preparing to recall eight Republican senators, along with the governor, once he’s in for a year.
I really can’t understand why conservatives make these false claims. They obviously think the people are stupid, but the people are waking up. Did you hear Newt Gingrich trying to convince us that he cheated on his wife because he loved America so passionately? What a bunch of lying hypocrites.
I agree with that. The people didn’t elect him to make slaves of public employees. You can tell that by the amount of people protesting in front of the capitol building. The trouble is that Walker thought he would have support no matter what he did. Some of those public employees probably voted for him. They already negotiated higher payment for their medical insurance and gave up raises for years. Then, he screwed them. But he’s still going to tax them. He’s gonna take his salary, his perks from the corporations and the people and then pat himself on the back because he took care of the deficit.
Texas Vet, at least you’ve got one ally here. Regrettably, the others appear to labor under the misapprehension that money grows on trees, or at least other people’s money. The Market Oracle has a great post today by Jim Quinn with bulleted details of the economic, financial, and monetary woes facing this country. It’s at http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article26899.html, but of course these people are too busy attending feel-good rallies and being cynically propagandized to bother learning some simple truths about economics and the absolutely dire future ahead of us all regardless of which bought-and-paid-for political party is divvying up the spoils of exploitation.
[...] [...]
Hey E. I enjoyed the article, but be careful with the kool-aid! And did you check out the GPS story?
Tom
Hey Tom,
Yes I did. Great job! I pointed out in my comment that I hope you do more writing. You’re good at it. I hope you decide to do some political analysis.
E
I’m a hard core traditional conservative, America-First patriot, and a white nationalist and I find very little in this article to disagree with. I’ve long since concluded that the words ‘globalist’ and ‘globalism’ are merely elitist dreamed up acronyms which really translate into traitor and treason. Therefore, in order to take our country back from these greedy traitors and treasonous rats – the tag of globalist (or neo-con) must become a death sentence for the career of ANY politician, be they a D or an R or any other connotation that these vile rats might try to hide behind.
I totally agree with you, Luke.
The neocons don’t care about America, the American people, or American ideals. All they care about is money and power. Alexander Hamilton was their founding father, and he’d didn’t think people who were not “wellborn” should even be allowed to participate in governing the nation. He said:
“All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and wellborn, the other the mass of the people…. The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share in government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second, and as they cannot receive any advantage by a change, they therefore will ever maintain good government.”
Debates of the Federalist Convention (May 14-September 17, 1787).
I also agree that the Democrats are also a part of the problem. We’re currently knee-deep in a class war, and due to our apathy, and failure to be vigilant in protecting our democracy, we’ve allowed our politicians to become a class in themselves. They’re an arrogant subset of the upper-class enemy that we’re fighting.
Why was Nixon let off the hook for Watergate? Why was Reagan given a pass on trading arms with the enemy during the Iran/Contra episode, or when he flooded the inner city with drugs to support his private war in Nicaragua? Why is Obama give Bush and Cheney a pass after send our troops in to Iraq to die to enrich Halliburton and Exxon? And even now, why is both the administration and the media completely ignoring the fact that Justice Clarence Thomas falsified a government document saying that his wife brought in any outside income, when the fac is, she made $700,000 playing footsy with the corporatists? I’ll tell you why – because the political class has elevated themselves above the law, and both parties are involved.
Finally, with regard to our respective political dispositions, to a well trained mind the recognition of facts supercedes political orientation, because it recognizes that efficient thought requires that we first, see life as it is, and only them, as we would have it. In short, in order to think efficiently we must be working with valid data. If we only take in the garbage that makes us feel good, when we try to think, we’ll only get garbage out.
Eric, so well said! Unfortunately, I could not support the Dems. in Wisconsin because of the inaction of the national party in going after war criminals in the administration prior. In this local case, I should have supported them because look at what we got! You can bet I will be all over the recall efforts!!
Luke, I so agree! You must be horrified with how the Republican party has morphed into a monster over the last few decades. Don’t get me wrong, I’m mad as hell at the Dems. in power on a national level. I lean liberal but agree with some basic conservative ideologies. I think conservatives and liberals who have their hearts in the right place balance each other out beautifully when democracy is allowed to play out in a lawful manner.
Well said, Kelli. Unfortunately, we’ll always be stuck with quacks on the far wings of both sides. With that assumed burden, we plow forward.
T.V.
Tom,
Not always – at least, not if the American middle gets sick of the bullshit and decide to take control of the political debate. And when I say middle, I mean non-fringgies.
I agree with you. Our government could play out beautifully with the right balance. But as long as we have millionaires and corporate sponsored lackeys in there nothing will ever get done. I still say we need those hairdressers, farmers, housewives etc. in there. Send the rich back to their estates to sit on their asses, so we poor, working class and middle class can fix this country.
An issue folks. Collective bargaining has been removed from workers in Wisconsin. Many more working people will loose collective bargaining. What system will replace it? I believe (but do not know) that those who have lost collective bargining rights may be hired and fired at will. Senority may be lost too. Many in the news media like to rant: “Last hired first fired” and say schools systems loose their best teachers with seniority rules. What is lost in the media is the state picks and chooses. The state does not have to act rationally and may act in an abritrary and capricious manner.
Just a comment. We don’t know how this is going to play out. Take heart – we serfs get to make rich people richer. Should we not be greatful for crumbs from the Master’s table? We serfs really are inconsiderate folk are we not? Fox News has repeartedly pointed out we “on the dole”.
Take care
Dale R. Suiter