Neither the GOP or the "Third Way" Democrats (like Hillary Clinton) will save this country. Only those in the Progressive Caucus have a REAL plan to restore America's middle-class. The progressive's “Better Off Budget” sounds like something everyone could get behind: 8.8 million new jobs by 2017, $4 trillion in deficit reduction over ten years and the end of the universally-maligned sequestration cuts.
But that makes too much damn sense! The political propaganda machinery has gotten another friggin' Republican elected in Florida's 13th district (a damn lobbyist, no less)—thanks to a bunch of old and angry white people voting against their own best interests, because the GOP would privatize Social Security and Medicare if they could...but only for younger people. It seems that so long as Florida's seniors aren't affected, they're OK with this—cut food stamps, Medicaid, unemployment benefits and welfare (etc.), but keep your damn hands off my Medicare! (And screw everybody else.)
But who would fund their retirement checks if Social Security ever goes broke and millions remain unemployed and under-paid? And don't Florida's old and angry white people give a damn about their own grand-children's future? Has the Tea Party co-opted their fragile, senile, frail and insecure minds? They voted for a governor (Rick Scott) whose company defrauded Medicare!
Why are seniors so dumbed down in Florida? Because they're all Fox News viewers? Do these old and angry white people fear they are losing their country to illegal alien Mexican (and Cuban) immigrants? Do these old and angry white people fear they are losing their country to lazy and crack-addicted black thugs? Do these old and angry white people fear they are losing their country to young, spoiled and selfish Millennials who only want "free stuff" (like food stamps and Medicaid when they're only being paid minimum wage or working part time at McDonalds and Walmart).
WTF is wrong with all these old and angry white people in Florida? Don't those fools know that the GOP will sell them down the river just as fast as all those other "undesirables"? Why can't they understand that they are losing their country to corporate greed and corrupt politicians, not to people less fortunate than they are!
The "good old days" these old fools wish they could have back where in the 1950s and 60s—when we used to tax corporations and the very rich—when Social Security and Medicare was born. When people worked making decent wages; when unions were strong; before jobs were offshored overseas; when civil rights and voting laws were enacted; when elections were publicly funded; when a Republican (Dwight D. Eisenhower) was more like a progressive Democrat (FDR). Now these old fools want Dixiecrats like Joe McCarthy (aka Ted Cruz) in office. Those old and angry white people really piss me off!
* Full disclosure: I am also an old and angry white person.
Update from an email I received:
I lived in Orlando and have been in Miami hundreds of times. It's not just old white people, it's also younger white people who are brain dead and racist. It's the South, and the KKK is alive and well (and I'm not kidding). So there's not much hope.
Statistically, Florida is no longer dominated by retired folks, but rather by young couples w/pre-school kids or newlyweds. As a FL realtor, I keep track of these numbers.
Those angry old white folks who were born and bred in FL are beyond dumb—they're pathetic and fly Confederate flags on the tips of their shot guns (And that's what they teach in their schools and pass on to their kids.)
Hate and ignorance beget the same results.
[Editor's note: Then I suppose young white bigots don't believe they'll ever be old enough to quality for Social Security or Medicare....or they think that they'll never lose their job and need unemployment benefits or food stamps...or that they'll ever become sick and need Medicaid or Obamacare...or that they'll never have their job outsourced to China.]
According to a new study released from the Economic Policy Institute, if currency manipulation was stopped, the U.S. trade deficit would shrink by up to $500 billion in three years, annual GDP would increase up to $720 billion, the federal budget deficit would be reduced by $100 billion each year and create up to 5.8 million jobs in three years -- with 40% of the new jobs being in manufacturing.
By manufacturing in China with a highly manipulated exchange rate, U.S. multinationals make out like bandits. Corporate lobbyists run the nation, so don't expect currency manipulation to actually be confronted by the administration or legislation passed by Congress. It is truly outrageous since America is literally sliding down the economic slope and by allowing such manipulations to continue has destroyed the American middle class.
Maybe the problem is that these grumpy old white men are actually too young to remember the GOP in its heyday: The GOP can trace its proud history to Lincoln (as in preserving the union and freeing slaves) or Teddy Roosevelt (associated with monopoly busting and protecting public lands). Earlier Republicans included Wendell Willkie who promoted racial justice, unionization and a peaceful and respectful approach to foreign policy.
ReplyDeleteHow about Eisenhower?... his call for caring for basic human needs, expanding Social Security and unemployment insurance. He promoted health insurance, unions and collective bargaining. He supported spending federal money to improve schools, hospitals and public housing, while warning against government alignment with “economic elites and industries.”
Instead, these grumpy old white males of today have allied with a more destructive force in the Republican party. They are still trying to control women’s choices in contraception. They rail against public programs, like Social Security and Medicare entitlements that sustain them. They are appalled that we would provide healthcare to their children and grandchildren. They oppose unionization that helped make their generation comfortable. They support tax breaks for the wealthy.
In the mid 1950s when they were young, 40% of the working population was represented by unions (today it is less than 20%). The tax rate on top earners was 90%. The economy and middle class grew. Now the tax rate for the top 1 percent is around 25% - As a result, the middle class has shrunken, the wealthy have amassed more power, public education has suffered and rampant deregulation has put us all at risk.
This battle will continue, maybe for years, maybe even decades. However, America has already rendered its judgement. The GOP can do nothing more but dig their heels in and fight a lost cause. No doubt with self-righteous fervor they will continue to fight to the bitter end, enduring one humiliating defeat after another in the years ahead, as America moves further and further away from their outdated prejudices.