Sunday, October 9, 2011

Happy Days Are Here Again?



The race for the Presidency of the United States is in full swing.  The candidates for the Republican nomination have been busy traveling the country, participating in debates, giving media interviews and just plain speechifying.  What have we learned so far?  Here’s my take on The Issues:
  • They are pro-life.  Translation:  they are pro-fetal life and anti-abortion.  To see their positions on the already living, see the other points below.
o   Rick Perry loves to hunt.  In fact, he’s gone hunting with the Champion of Thrill Killing, Ted Nugent.  Apparently his pro-life stance doesn’t extend to other species.


o   Mitt Romney, many years ago, put the family Irish Setter in a crate and tied the crate to the top of the family station wagon for a road trip to Canada from Massachusetts.  Back then, though, he was pro-choice.  I’m willing to bet, had the dog been given a choice, he would have preferred to ride inside the car.  


  • The Federal Government spends too much money.  Translation:  social problems, education, Social Security and Medicare are bankrupting our country.  The wars and the Department of Defense, on the other hand, need even more money. 
o   Mitt Romney has four grown sons, none of whom have served in the military.  Even one of England’s princes has served in the Afghan/Iraq wars.
o   The wars in Afghanistan & Iraq (money only, not lives) is approaching $ 1.3 trillion dollars
o   The latest budget for the Defense Department is $ 680 billion dollars.
  • The Department of Education is bad.  Michelle Bachman wants to dismantle it and the others want to decrease its budget.
  • Climate change isn’t real.  Rick Perry accuses scientists of making it up to obtain grant money.
  • Obamacare is bad.  I abhor this moniker.  The health care plan was negotiated in Congress and passed by Congress, it was not a Presidential order, nor written by the President.  In 2010, 26% of Americans do not have health care coverage. 
  •  The issue that is the top concern of most Americans, jobs, is an issue that most of the candidates agree on.  They want to cut corporate taxes (even though many corporations, because of allowed deductions and write-offs, tax loopholes and savvy accountants, pay little or no taxes already) and lower the tax rates for the “job creators.”  Of course after 10 years of the Bush tax cuts, those so-called job creators have slashed jobs instead of creating them.  Wealth is more heavily concentrated in the top 2% now than it has been since the period preceding the 1929 stock market crash.  If 10 years of lower taxes on the top income brackets has led to the highest unemployment numbers in nearly 100 years, why extend this failed policy? 
o   And this is Ron Paul during one of the Republican debates:
“Do you advocate getting rid of the minimum wage, would that create more jobs?” Politico’s John Harris asked Paul during Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate.

“Absolutely,” Paul declared. “It would help the poor people who need jobs. Minimum wage is a mandate. We’re against mandates so why should we have it? It would be very beneficial.”


Additionally, to spur job growth, the candidates blame the cost of over regulation on the lack of job creation.  Having to meet minimum safety requirements or environmental regulations (like Clean Air & Clean Water standards) hampers businesses and prevents them from being able to afford to add more employees.  In their minds, government intervention is to blame for the high unemployment rate in the U.S. 

So where exactly is the concern for the American people who are out of work?  Well, here’s Herman Cain’s take on Occupy Wall Street and the unemployed:


CAIN: I don’t have facts to back this up, but I happen to believe that these demonstrations are planned and orchestrated to distract from the failed policies of the Obama administration. Don’t blame Wall Street, don’t blame the big banks, if you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself! [...] It is not someone’s fault if they succeeded, it is someone’s fault if they failed.


I guess that the “Compassionate Conservative” days are over.  Let’s all sing that upbeat standard from the Great Depression, “Happy Days Are Here Again.”  


 I’m beginning to feel that the movie Soylent Green isn’t far from becoming Science Fact instead of Science Fiction.  



If these are the faces of democracy in word and action, they are making socialism look pretty damn good.

5 comments:

  1. Excellent post! I could write a novel on this topic, but I fear it would ruin my morning. I'm starting to think that these folks must know that the people aren't behind them... otherwise why would the GOP be putting so much effort into voter suppression?

    I only hope that the Occupy Wall Street folks understand that it's not that "our government is bad" per se... I get really tired of hearing that, and that's the sort of thinking that has led to disastrous consequences in the past - thank you Ralph Nader. If people don't turn their anger into political will, we're all sunk for sure.

    Soylent Green is people.... it's PEEEEEEEEEEEPLE!!!!!!

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  2. The voter suppression movement - although "I don't have facts to back this up" - is designed to keep those most likely to vote Democratic from voting. Limited early voting, so those who have to use public transportation or no paid time off are less likely to be able to vote. Photo ID - students, women (recently married or divorced who haven't changed their licenses), elderly - also unable to vote. Check out these links, one of which is shockingly Fox News: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/11778/suppressing_the_vote/ & http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/24/voter-id-laws-target-rarely-occurring-voter-fraud/

    While our government isn't bad, per se, it's certainly flawed. IMHO because it's mostly controlled by our Corporate Overlords. I highly recommend watching Ken Burns' new documentary Prohibition. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Immigrants, wealthy businessmen, Christian churches, corruption on all levels - it could be today with folks dressing in period clothing and fewer cars. I especially liked this quote from Justice Brandeis: The government is the potent omnipresent teacher. For good or ill it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that the end justifies the means -- to declare that the government may commit crimes -- would bring terrible retribution.

    Ahh, the legacy of Bush/Cheney.

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  3. I followed your home from 'Strayer'. She scared me, you terrify me. Here in Oz we have had health care for all for more than twenty years. It is not perfect (dental care is not covered), but in an emergency you can go to the hospital, receive treatment, and not be bankrupted.
    And the pro-lifers across the world scare me. And I firmly believe that money spent on education is money well spent.
    Thank you for a wonderful post even if, it did as I said, scare me.

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  4. Welcome The Elephant's Child. I am sorry to have terrified you, but imagine if you were living in the U.S. instead of Australia. Granted the U.S's reach extends around the world, but craziness is generally mostly confined within our own borders. As a cat loving, agnostic, feminist I imagine there will be a stake with my name on it in my future. Burn the witch! Been anticipating that outcome for years & it seems closer to a reality with each day with the far right Christians & Tea Partiers.

    I agree with you on education. It should be every country's top priority. As the high school graduation rate increases, crime rates decrease. And it's cheaper to educate children than it is to imprison felons. And it's cheaper & easier to promote health than it is to try to treat and/or cure serious illnesses. But logic rarely plays a part in political thinking. Killing seems to be the go to solution to nearly every problem where governments are concerned.

    Again, sorry for being such a Debby Downer and fearmonger. Just had to get all that crap off my chest. I haven't posted a good rant in quite a while. I do have some older more upbeat posts with kitties in them.

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  5. As another cat loving agnostic feminist perhaps I will join you at the stake or on the barbeque.

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