Democrats Cave on Torture

Can I please have a third party? One with some whatever dangling parts are required to stand up to a 24% President? It's no wonder young people are turning to radical alternatives like Ron Paul. In my youth they did too in Ross Perot.

I ask this question of our leadership: Do we condone torture? Even more fundamental, do we condone those who condone it? I realize Mukasey didn't say he endorsed waterboarding, he only refused to answer the question. Seems pretty suspicious to me, refusing to say that simulating drowning a person (a mock execution, by the way) is illegal.

But it doesn't matter. Our party caved in to a President with a 24% approval rating. I am willing to bet our DINO Ken Salazar doesn't join a filibuster, if one is even mounted. Our new party slogan: We're not as evil as the other guys?

(Obscenity removed)

How to Talk to a Republican #2: The Economy

One of the biggest truths of the Bush regime is that the economy is going well. Before the flame wars begin, let me qualify that. My stock investments are soaring, primarily because I have the majority of them invested overseas. The shrinking dollar is benefitting me so from that point of view, the Bush economy is doing just fine for me.

If you're a CEO or someone in the top 1% of income earners in the country, you're doing well, too. Your income is up - in fact, that top 1% of income earners now earn 21% of the income earned in this country. When the last Democrat was in office, that number was in single digits. Worse, the top 0.1% of income earners now earn 7% of all income earned in the country. That means the ultra-rich are getting ultra-richer and have been since Reagan invented "supply-side economics", otherwise known as trickle-down. Here's how that works. The ultra-rich shield a lot of their income in tax shelters known as corporations. Because they "own" these legal entities, they can deduct a large portion of their income. For example, if they own a rental property in Aspen and they go to Aspen and do anything at all with the property, the travel and part of the trip become tax deductible. Now at the beginning of Reagan's term, the highest marginal tax rate was 70%. Seems like a lot but remember those deductions! The few who reached the marginal tax rate level were making so much the pittance they were paying in taxes was quite insignificant.

But they didn't tell you that part when they sold you this bill of goods. You only heard that the poor rich were getting milked to pay for $400 toilet seats and so forth. Now what has happened since then is a simple miracle, compound interest. That money they're no longer paying in taxes is compounding. So now you have the hyper-rich, self-perpetuating fortunes that lead to aberations like Paris Hilton and George W. Bush.

But the rich invest, create jobs, you say. The entrepreneurial first generation does. Sometimes, if well-trained, the second generation does. But by now, most of the money is in stocks. Creates jobs, you say. Correct, but only if every penny is invested in an Initial Public Offering, or IPO or other investments such as real estate. The only jobs created by this is for stock brokers and real-estate agents. No one is making anything with this money, no company gets any benefit out of it, only the buyers and sellers see anything from it. Few jobs are created in proportion to the first-generation entrepreneurs, subsequent generations only get richer.

Now to your paycheck. Feeling wealthy? I'm not. Real incomes have dropped by about 3% since our Dear Leader took office. Meanwhile, oil has gone from $25 to about $100 per barrel, largely to do with erosion of the value of our currency. Housing prices, the Great American ATM, are seeing their biggest drop since George's daddy was in the White House in 1991. Food is more expensive because, in our thirst for 8MPG SUVs, we're burning it. China owns our currency now. The last time we had a budget surplus, peace, high wages and good health care was under a Democrat. I don't think a blow job negates all that good. Meanwhile Mr. Values Bubble-Boy continues to rule over one of the greatest economic train wrecks in our history. Every day conditions become a little more like 1929.

So tell me again how the Republican parti is the party of the economy?

How to Talk to a Republican #1

Sorry it's been so long between postings. Between a new job and life in general, not much time to devote. I want to change that.

Leading up to the next general election, we're once again faced with a dilemma. Democrats represent Americans' values by a large percentage but we seem to lose the values debate. We tend to be excited by ideals, by big-picture concepts. Unfortunately, a large number of the electorate isn't turned on by anything any more intellectual than the color commentary for Wrestlemania. Our challenge is to ensure that Joe Sixpack, Republican and Lee Greenwood patriot, learns what he needs to know in order to vote his own best interest.

If you've followed the news, you'll realize that a vast majority of the Republicans' positions have been proven wrong, not ideologically but by experiences in other countries. This series is designed to help express that incorrectness, to show what doesn't work and explain it in easy language and simple numbers.

Health care is a great one. We can talk about the need for single-payer health care, the Republicans talk about rationing. Now where's the truth, Joe? How much do you pay for health insurance, not just how much you pay but how much your company pays as well. We in the US pay the most for health care of any other country in the world. And what do you get for your money? Are we the best? We're 23rd in the world, behind even Cuba. In terms of life expectancy, Costa Rica at 39th beats us - we're 40th. And in the US, you'll wait longer to see an oncologist after having been diagnosed with cancer than you'll wait for elective surgery in Canada.

I used this on a Drudge-reading GOPer a few days ago and you could almost hear gears grinding in his head. Drudge didn't tell me this, the thought goes, he tells me we're number one....

Talk to them simply. Some may even understand.

Blog On

It has been daunting trying to get on to blog. But worth it. Please consider contacting Steve Stanley, the Blogmaster, stan20881@msn.com, to have him give you access to the blog.

How long will we fight to make those who make no sacrifice rich(er)?

The sentiment of the nation seems to have moved towards bringing our troops home and ending this illegal and immoral war in Iraq.

The problem seems to be, as we move in this direction those who support the war (despite their reasons) are being backed into a corner. The are digging in and using every trick they have to keep us fighting for reasons that are still unclear.

While I believe it is obvious we are there for three reasons:

1. to make Papa Bush proud

2. to steal the oil

3. to make those who invest in war and death richer

I also believe that we are finally understanding the lessons we should have learned after Vietnam. Those who stand to profit from war should have no place deciding whether we do or do not enter into wars.

As we are moving towards ending this farce, the battle will get tougher, not easier.

Please continue to keep up the fight, PEACE is always worth the struggle.

I hope this picture speaks the truth better that my words ever could.

Thanks to Stacey Farley....

Who Benefits from Whose Program

A strong nod to John Showalter, Chair of HD41 for the thoughts behind this post. We'd gone out and cleaned up parks and bike trails, trails I intend to use shortly. Passers-by stopped and thanked us for what we were doing and as it turned from sunny and warm to overcast and cool, we went back to the headquarters to, as Democrats do, kibitz about the action. Which led to a discussion of larger programs and which party's programs benefit the most Americans.

Large Democratic programs tend to benefit all Americans. Think Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, Pell grants, our programs tend to benefit the majority of the population. Of course, I'm sure there are a few dedicated Republicans out there who return their Social Security checks uncashed or who don't take advantage of the benefit programs offered them. The vast majority, I'm sure, cash the checks, apply for student aid, use Medicare. Lacking the intellectual honesty or firmness of conviction to turn them down, they use programs Democrats have developed for them while complaining all the while.

On the other hand, Republican programs tend to benefit Republicans. Tax cuts primarily benefit the wealthy, traditionally a Republican voting bloc. "No Child Left Behind" has benefited private educators and the bloc of Republican voters who, despite all evidence to the contrary, are convinced that public schools are failing. Republican environmental policy only benefits business. While it could be argued that benefiting business benefits us all, I don't think mercury poisoning is a good sacrifice nor do I think polluted rivers and air have great social and financial benefits to the greater public. Of course, the Republican-led wars on drugs and on terrorism benefit no one except those who profit from wars, Republican voters. In fact, I looked up IRAs, 401k plans, all tax-advantaged plans anyone can take advantage of, all passed by Democratic Congresses.

I may be wrong. There may be a Republican initiative out there designed to benefit all Americans without discriminating toward the Republican voters. Can't think of any at the moment which isn't that great a surprise but until I'm presented with such a plan, I think John's thesis holds: Republican programs benefit Republicans, Democratic programs benefit America.