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Of course the Democrats are now a right wing party. Since Clinton, Dems enacted more of the right wing agenda than decades of Republicans were able to achieve. Clinton wiped out the Great Society as a necessary step toward ending the New Deal, while stripping a segment of the population (by reason of class alone) of such fundamental rights as the right to the minimum wage, the right to reasonable legal representation, equaokl protection under the law, etc. He still had time to begin dismantling the New Deal directly, targeting Social Security/disability. Clinton achieved what decades of hard core right-wingers had only dreamed was possible. The "icing on the cake:" Clinton deeply fractured the "left," pitting the middle class against the rest (former middle class/poor), ensuring that this time, there will be no "populist uprising" (by any other name) -- no push-back against the right wing.
There's nothing even remotely left about giving another tax cut to the middle class, the bourgeoisie, the main Dem. Party campaign donors. It doesn't trickle down. Much of your list sounds fine on paper, and means little or nothing in real life, such as any notion that we now enjoy equal pay. The bottom line is that our form of govt cannot survive the extreme economic disparities/poverty we have today. The Chrysler and GM jobs that were saved protect a number of middle classers, mostly male (although as I understand it, with reduced wages). Etc., etc. Nice enough policies, very middle-of-the-road, but they avoid the most critical, urgent issues. Legislators are going to great lengths to appease middle class donors as the 2014 elections approach.Nothing has been done to revserve the agenda that brought the US to this miserable point.
Chuckle8 - Do you really think the Left is any more concerned than the Right is? Sounds like it could all be window dressing for the next 2014 election cycle. Would Obama and the Left really be concerned about the middle and lower class if they made sure the Sequestration was part of the Budget Act? And have no doubt they made sure it was part of the Budget Act, not just the politicians on the Right. I really have my doubts about either side of the political isle and how much they really care about the American Public or what is supposedly left of it...I really believe their main concern is how much power they will retain and in the case of Obama, how his legacy will look in the future....K.W.
Democracy? The role any individual plays in this "democracy" is determined by economic/class status. Consider a most basic and obvious point, our idea of representative government today: Each election brings only two viable candidates, a Democrat and a Republican. Neither party represents the interests of the now-huge chunk of the population that is not as well off as middle class. For whom can they vote? This chunk of the population is the target of considerable legislation without representation. Since the 1980s, our poor have been stripped of a number of fundamental legal and human rights solely by reason of class. Americans actually did reach the point where it is employers/corporations alone who determine human worth, and Americans do believe that those who are not of current use to employers are disqualified from participatory democracy (as well as fundamental civil and human rights). Actually, as those who regularly read international news media know, Americans are the only ones today who regard us as an "authority on democracy." To the international community, the US increasingly looks more like a feudal state.
A quick study of The Power Elite by Mills can be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Elite Really interesting and somewhat scary concerning our present circumstances that surround our daily lives and what we think we know about our country and what actually is the truth...K.W.
DHB -- Now you have made me bring out how much the dems are not right wing. In the 13 weeks of the 5 years of the Obama administration that the dems had control of both houses the following happened:
1 Chrysler saved
2 GM Saved
3 AHCA passed (AKA Obamacare); (because of blue dogs like Max Baucus it was not a single player plan; to get Sen Baucus to sign it, Max's county got single payer.)
4 Middle class tax cut
5 Went from losing 750,000 per month to 30 straight months of job gains (in spite of Republican governors cutting 4.5 million jobs)
6 Education spending increased
7 Laws against hate crimes strengthened
8 CHIPS expanded (Children’s Health Insurance Program)
9 Forced through Child Labor Laws
10 consumer protection agency formed
11 Credit card reform
12 Predatory lending to soldiers restricted
13 Troops paid for stop loss time
14 Torture stopped
15 VA spending increased
16 Women allowed to serve on subs
17 Equal pay for women
18 Nuclear arms reduction proposal
19 BP cleanup fund
20 EPA strengthened
21 FDA powers broadened
22 Healthcare for 9-11 responders funded (during Bush Term it was ignored)
23 DADT was repealed
24 Within 24 hours of his inauguration in 2009, he ordered that the financial statistics of the top 400 families should be treated like everyone else's; that is, they should not be a classified government document.
25 When the congress was adding Part D to Medicare (the prescription drug assist; I think it was in 2004) the democrats tried to pass an amendment to help fund it by a 1% income tax on incomes over 1 million.
26 In 2009-10 when Obama lost his filibuster proof senate, the senate had a record number of filibusters (380 or so); during LBJ's 6 year reign as senate majority leader there was one.
27 The bills that were filibustered would have helped our economy for both the long and short term. My favorites were the card check bill, the Disclose Act, stopping waivers for the Buy American Act of 1936 and the credits for bringing jobs back (no credits for tearing down factories to send jobs overseas.
28 Republicans supported the Reinhart-Rogoff Study used to push austerity throughout the world; The study was a total scam supported by Pete Peterson who wants all the social security money invested on wall street. It was easy to suck in democrats and the general public because too much debt being a bad thing makes intuitive sense.
DHBranski -- The middle class was being manipulated by the billionaires per the methods outlined in Powell doctrine. Carter was still leading in the polls. They then came up with the Iran-Contra thing and agreement with Iran to not free the hostages. Have you heard about Lee Atwater's confessing and asking for forgiveness on his deathbed? A significant amount of critical thinking by the middle class could have overcome these proganda ploys, but Reagan and others had already started fighting critical thinking in the 60's. That is, he did away with free college education in California. Interestingly, the texas repug party had has a plank in their platform in 2012 for the elimination of teaching critical thinking. When the press found out, the plank was immediately removed.
Aliceinwonderland, I too prefer a bloodless revolution like that of 1688 in England, but I think without mass media support, all may be lost....unless progressive media like Thom's and in general the social media are able to leak enough truth to the populous.
10-K, Branski, I couldn't agree more. I vividly recall all those middle class idiots voting for Reagan, applauding him, and it made me sick. I hope they're enjoying their "just desserts", as it were... fucking fools. But there WILL come a point where the 315 million have finally had enough and all hell breaks loose. I hope I live to see it. I also hope it transpires without bloodshed.
Most economists put me to sleep... Ravi Batra is among the few exceptions. - AIW
pslebow -- What do you think is primary? What does Steven Keen think is primary? Any country that has tried protectionism (tariffs) always helps the economy of that country (per Thom). Whenever the top tax rate exceeds 50% in the US the economy improves (per Thom and Larry Beinhart). The problem with listening to economists is that they always want to apply a mathematical model. In addition they want the mathematical model to be tractable. Paul Krugman pointed out in the NY Times sunday magazine in Sept of 2008, that this attraction to a mathematical model always leads to cherry picking the data (he said mea culpa). With regard to concensus on the economy the following quote would be useful for you to absorb.
In economics, the majority is always wrong.
John Kenneth Galbraith
Agree. Congress became a bird with two right wings, which probably explains why it are flailing around insanely, crashing into walls... Still, when all is said and done, we can look back as far as 1980 and see that we're in this mess because, every step of the way, government actually did give the middle class what they demanded, from corporate deregulation to NAFTA to wiping out basic humanitarian aid to Americans who were pushed out of our shrinking job market.
I agree it's time to change the Teagressional pattern of billionaires first and the rest of you losers can go to hell. But first we need to identify the forces behind this pattern and then make sure that whoever we elect both understands and targets those forces. It's a relatively small group of dangerous citizens, the type who find it highly acceptable to make billions off the back of society without they themselves lifting a finger. Programs like Social Security, Food Stamps, and Unemployment insurance piss them off because these programs aren't part of their free market piggery.
They're able to force their austerity lie on the unsuspecting public in large part by funding a multitude of think tanks and ALEC. Through ALEC they get states to pass laws that ensure more wealth for the already wealthy and austerity for working people.....look it up. They also control the message through a vast majority control of political media. Ultimately they purchase Tea Party House members and use these imbeciles to distract with political obstruction while they pick, we the workers, pockets clean.
Always remember...it's 315 million of us and maybe 400 of them....I'm willing to bet that no more than 400 Fascists are responsible for the overthrow of our representative democracy. Expose and target them with counter legislation.....reverse legislation like free trade, legislation these impertinent bastards have forced on us. Tax the holy crap out of them.. God dammit, we need to elect dozens more like Alan Grayson or it's violent revolution, take your pick.
Poverty relief programs never were a gift from the rich or a sacrifice forced on the middle class. US poverty relief benefits were well below those provided by the modern nations to their poor. With the exception of a brief time in the 1970s, welfare benefits remained far below the poverty line. Before "reform," over 80% of welfare recipients voluntarily quit welfare for jobs in well under 6 years, working their way up, earning wages, paying taxes, ultimately repaying all the aid they had received -- and more. They paid for it. That said, what has been phasing out the middle class is the middle class, itself. The votes of the middle class gave us the politics and policies we've been "enjoying." The US began its Great Job Drain with the Reagan administration, and the middle class wildly applauded Reagan's deregulation, supported massive corporate tax cuts, etc. We have lost the bulk of our working class jobs since then. Instead of speaking up against the policies resulting in this massive reduction of jobs, the middle class chose to target the very poor. Clinton ended welfare itself (general assistance and AFDC) and implemented mandatory workfare replacement labor for those with minor children, replacing other workers (at a fraction of the wages). This created a situation of far fewer jobs, far more people in desperate need of a job, serving powerfully to help end/prevent unions, suppress wages, maximize corporate profits, and shrink the middle class -- all with the support of the middle class.
"Bluseyinohio", welcome to Thom's blog. I'd love to hear your music. Sounds like you've plenty the sing the blues about.
Your home environment sounds pretty grim. I hope you've been able to create a cozy nook for yourself there, where you can feel safe and sleep soundly at night. You're right; our country is falling apart. Whenever I hear about sub-zero snow storms in various parts of the U.S. I always think about the homeless and wonder how they survive it. Some of them don't.
I play piano and keyboards, by the way. Have played lots of blues through the years, both solo and in bands. What I love about that genre is all the emphasis on keys; mainly piano & organ. I got bored with rock because most of it is so guitar-oriented, with not-so-interesting harmonies... Jazz harmonies send me to heaven.
If I reincarnate after this lifetime, I hope I come back as a wild parrot, preferably someplace like Costa Rica. No car insurance, utility bills or taxes... And I've always wanted to fly like a bird! But for now, it's music and blogging that keep me sane. - Aliceinwonderland
Thom's heart is in the right place but his economic solutions come more from feelings rather than a basis for how the economy really works. Yes, taxing the rich feels good. Putting tarrifs on imports feels good. But these concepts are secondary and emphasizing them is just as misplaced and wrong-headed as Rand Paul, Paul Ryan, Simpson and Bowles. Until he is able to digest the simple concepts of modern monetary theory and to understand the difference betweeen the federal government which runs on limiteless sovereign currency verses a household budget, he should, pardon the language, just shut up and get educated. He's just fueling an ugly partisan debate and not raiseing the level of understanding among folks like you and me one iota.
The issues of inequality, interlocking boards and all the other symptoms of a twisted economy cannot be unraveled unless there is concensus on what the economy really is. Then we can decide, through politics, what is fair and just.
See, for instance -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba8XdDqZ-Jg
Its not for the short-attention spanners out there.
chuckle8 - I checked with Forbes and from what I can gather the Military is still getting a 5% cut, but the way it is handled it will not affect the Industrial Military Complex until 2015. It states the budget for the Military is still $500 billion for 2014. Here is the website if you would like to check for yourself, I could be wrong. copy/paste http://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2013/12/11/budget-deal-is-good-news-for-defense-industry/
For some reason when I save this in comments it goes all over the page. I hope it works!
Unfortunately, congress is made up of two parties. From what I have seen over the last 40 years, both parties are to blame.
anarchists cop out: although before Constantine, and the 2nd Council of Nicea, there were many versions of Christianity..all these churches were competing with each other in trying to win converts...squabbling over whether Jesus was a man or a god or something in between, for example..or whether he was married... What's a poor Pagan emperor to do with his empire falling apart by a bunch of squabbling ninnies. He merged Paganism with the forced new version of Christianity.
If Jesus was anything more than a myth then he probably would be rolling over in his grave at all the heretics that now call themselves Christians. I think he would be pissed!
Jesus: "What? You so-called Christians are wearing gold jewelry of an instrument of Roman torture they used to murder me? What imbeciles!" And..."Why aren't you morons not Jews..isn't my religion good enough for you?" And: "I did so have sexual relations with Mary Magdalene--kissed her on the mouth, and every thing..really ticked off all those gay disciples that thought I was gay as well!" And: "By the way, why do you people keep calling me Jesus...that's not my real name...don't I, at least deserve to be called by my real name in Aramaic or Hebrew but no...you have to use the Greek version...right along with all those other Greek gods and goddesses like Thor and Poseidon...curse ye all ye Pagan idolators who debauch my name?"
Tom Ardavany, reading your informative post, the thought that keeps coming back to me: the USA thinks nothing about posturing to the rest of the world as some sort of final authority on "democracy" and how to be a democratic society! What a crock.
"uncbros"- let's face it, this country has been taken over by thugs. And hacks and quacks. - AIW
Bluesy - I do not know how you do it. When I mentioned they throw Seniors a bone by not cutting any of their programs, it was not in disrespect. Congress is still afraid of the older vote and they should be. It will not be long before I too will be living on Social Security and Medicare in a few years! Good luck and have a healthy and happy week...K.W.
Norman Goldman once said, "Social Security is not government spending." but I say, "Government spending is good (in a democratic society)."
I should have realized those asses in Washington would throw the older voters on Social Security a bone (since they seem to be the largest voting block at present time) while they keep feeding the military machine. I think I will double check that, because if your right and you probably are, that just sends me off the charts in my hatred and disgust for the politicians in Washington! With the Supreme (IDIOT) Court's decision that money is free speech and corporations are people, we know who the politicians in Washington are looking out for. First and foremost themselves and then the Wealthy and Multi-National Corporations who feed the "kitty" or the election contributions that feed the frenzy of lies that come out of their lying mouths each election cycle. I truly hope I am wrong, because of my daughter, grandson and son-law who will inherit this country when we (I am gone, many of you are a lot younger!) are gone. It seems the freedom and the government that we fought for and died for over the centuries has been purchased by the wealthy elitist and our form of democracy is all but finished. If I wrote what I would like to write about this government, I would end up in GITMO and tagged a terrorist. (I know A.L.W. you think that would be good! ha.) I get nervous even saying that much! Until the citizens of this country start to THINK FOR THEMSELVES and not believe every sound bite they hear, our Country, Freedom and standard of living is gone...How does it feel to live in a Stalinist country, run by the wealthy? How does that song by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to, STEP OUT OF LINE AND THE MAN COME TAKE YOU AWAY....Sorry, there I go ranting again. K.W.
My debate with that bilingual dirtbag didn't go that far. After I told him to take estrogen pills, grow some tits and be a "wet nurse", I never heard back from him. Heh-heh.
Mark, EXCELLENT! I couldn't have done a better job of explaining all that to Kend. Thank you. And by the way, I love your new avatar. - AIW
As Liberation Theologists would say, Christianity went wrong because of "Constantinianism", i.e., Roman Emperor Constantine's declaring Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire. That's when Christianity became gentrified, went "from the streets to the suites", did as most any revolutionary movement that succeeds, becomes the ruling party and starts to resemble the tyranny it overthrew. It went from persecuted to persecutor. The anarchists have a saying, "As soon as something becomes institutionalized it becomes so much bullshit."