Enough of this tea bagger crap !!!

Have you ever heard such whining and aliabing in your life? It ain’t our fault, we didn’t hold the country hostage over the debt ceiling crisis. I guess all of the interviews of Tea bagger Congressmen never happened. I won’t vote for raising the debt ceiling they said. Not me I’d rather have the country go into default than give in to that guy in the White house. Why weren’t they there to save the country from that lousy big spender George Bush – two wars not paid for, a prescription drug program not paid for and the largest tax cut for the rich in history and that stinking tarp program that bailed out the banks. George the slick ran up a 7 trillion deficit and then passed it and a horrible economy on to the next guy. What a deal!

With everyone’s 401k account going into the toilet and the financial system going haywire these same patriots proclaimed that we should let the financial system go bust, then maybe these guys in Washington will do the bidding of our benefactors--the Koch Brothers, the Chamber of Commerce and a number of other rich guys who came up with this plan to subvert the democratic process by making it look like there was a grassroots movement.  You have to ask yourself where did all this money come from that was able to launch a phony grassroots movement. It’s the same guys who are convincing the American people that all of our institutions are bad and we need to privatize everything.

Unless folks are independently wealthy, how can anyone afford to be stripped of their medicare or medicaid and their social security benefits. How about the pension plan you thought you were going to get? Who’s going to insure that you get that money? The answer is that the folks that put you up to this mischief will disappear or better yet they will tell you to get a minimum wage job. Don’t expect small government to come to your rescue. The safety net will be gone.

The John Birch Society tried to convince America in the sixties that the government was bad and that Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court should be impeached. It wasn’t until Bill Buckley the father of American Conservatism denounced the Bircher’s that they lost their hold on the conservative movement.  This Tea party movement is nothing more then the reenergizing of this right wing movement. America is being bought and paid for by the rich and the little people are making it possible.

I know you are a patriot with a free spirit so you will be able to survive on your own. But what about your old mom and dad or uncle Fester? Who’s going to take care of them? Oh, I know all of those churches and charitable groups that have shown in the past that they are ready and able to fill in the holes in the safety net. I will rest easy tonight knowing that you folks have got it all figured out and that the rest of us have nothing worry about.

Submitted by Bob Rann 

YOU ARE TO BLAME FOR AMERICA’S PROBLEM

Have you ever read some of the letters to the editor in which the writer strongly defends the right of the rich to be given large tax breaks because if they didn’t get them they would leave the state or they would get high priced accountants to figure out how to beat the tax man? How droll. What do these folks think the guys who are making the big bucks are already doing to beat the tax man? Putting their money in off shore accounts, influencing state and federal governments to provide loop holes in the tax code as well as lowering the taxable rates on folks making big bucks? What makes these middle class or even poor folks come to the defense of the wealthy. The Madison Avenue guys have done a great job of selling the “American Dream” to the masses-“you too can someday become rich like those other guys”. That’s how they have been able to con the hard working Americans into working hard for less and less pay.

Think about it, the average working stiff in America has lost ground in the disposable income department; his or her income has been declining since the 1970’s. The gap between the rich and the poor in the country has escalated so that in the last 20 years the upper 1% now controls 27% of the wealth. We could go on and on but it really doesn’t matter because most people aren’t listening. They are to busy trying to make ends meet and to keep their heads above water. However, if you ask them who and what place someone is in Dancing with the Stars or some other trivial information they are Johnny on the spot. Ask them to tell you if teachers are paid too much money and get too many benefits and they will tell you that these folks get way to much money for what they do and they certainly should have to pay more of their benefits. A follow-up question like how do you think the pension plan got in such bad shape and they will scratch their heads and say it’s the union’s fault but the governor is trying to fix what those bad workers did. So much for enlightenment! It never occurs to them that their elected officials put them in the hole by not appropriating the money to pay the governments fair share and to make matters worse, past governors have given tax breaks and to pay for them they took monies from the pension plan to make up for the budget shortfall. Now that we are in deep financial problems because we have not fairly taxed the wealthy and have provided large tax loop holes for corporations the blame game has begun.

It’s the middle class working stiff and people on social security and let’s not forget those people on Medicare and those poor kids on Medicaid that have brought America to financial ruin. Their greed and demands for more government services have put us where we are today. Do you realize that 52% of Americans pay no taxes because they don’t make enough taxable income?

However, we are told incessantly that the rich are the job creators, not factually true, but we buy into the myth while they laugh all the way to their off shore bank. Interesting tidbit-one hedge fund manager last year earned over $4,000,000,000 that’s the equivalent of the salaries of 186,000 workers earning $40,000 a year. He probably paid less than 15% in taxes unless he made the money overseas and then he would have no tax liability. Think about it tonight when you go to bed and have time to reflect on things before you go to sleep. Twenty two Americans made over a billion dollars last year and you paid more taxes on your income then they did. And you think about how the republicans are shielding these folks, people who make over a million dollars a year and pay less taxes as a percent of their income  then you do and ask yourself is this class warfare? Or are some folks in America able to buy the government so they can enjoy all the fruits of their labor while the rest of us pay the bill. And let’s not forget the United States Supreme Court is bought and paid for by these same rich folks. Just a thought, maybe we like royalty in America who knows? I think it’s time for Americans to wake up and tell the Tea Party to peddle their Bulls**t somewhere else we ain’t buying it.

Submitted by Bob Rann

REPUBLICANS RISK FINANCIAL DISASTER WITH OUR COUNTRY

Where is the out cry from every Democrat in America?  What in the hell are you doing to us? You are willing to bring financial ruin to this county of ours because you want to make things better for the rich and powerful. What is wrong with you, have you lost your sense of reason? This is not a game you are playing where if you cause the economy to go into a tail spin you can say oops I made a mistake, can we try this again. How dare you play Russian roulette with our country on the whim of a few crackpots?  Why don’t you want businesses and the rich to pay their fair share? And why are you so hell bent on destroying the economy for political power. And why did you signal Wall Street that you were just kidding when you said you would refuse to raise the debt ceiling unless the President and Democrats agree to massive cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security. Is this a sinister scheme by your benefactors to force the Democrats to give in and give you what you want; destruction of the safety net for millions of Americans. Probably a lot of your friends and relatives will suffer from this risky gamble.

Suppose, just suppose, with all your phony posturing you cause world markets to panic and refuse to invest in America and to begin demanding much higher rates of interest on their investments in the American Economy? How do you deal with this problem?  Even if you raise the debt ceiling the damage will have been done. No longer will our country be viewed as a stable place to invest, a safe haven for the world’s resources. This could happen even if we wait too long to raise the debt ceiling. Once this happens surely financial collapse is not far behind. You patriots who think you have the entire answers better think long and hard about what you are going to say to all the people who will want an explanation. It better be good, because you will get your wish, smaller government and a destroyed safety net.

Let’s assume for a moment that the Democrats refuse to bend to your will (your blackmail scheme). Are you then going to pull the plug and let the economy go into free fall? If you think the economy is suffering from what is now a slow recovery think about what will happen when the full faith and credit of US is ruined.  Does the term third world country ring a bell? Alas, remember the good old days when millions of retired folks got a check from the government every month, it was called Social Security. And how about medical care for millions of poor and the elderly, all gone. All at once we are no longer a military power protecting the world against enemies both real and imagined and how about the military industrial complex?  All those people out of work--what a shame. We shouldn’t forget all of those government and military retirees that will lose their pension while hundreds of thousands of government workers are sent home because they can’t be sustained under a contracted budget. Remember those banks that were in financial crisis, guess what, most of them will be forced to close. And last, but not least, you thought you took a financial licking in the last recession –you ain’t seen anything yet.

Welcome to the wonderful world of financial collapse, the 1930’s will look like a walk in the park. I think the Republicans and their supporters are totally out of control. The victory that they received in November has put them over the edge. Their attack on unions, workers’ collective bargaining rights, and the middle class are unprecedented. The Republicans, spurred on by their rich patrons, are leading this country to a class struggle that will take generations to recover from. Wake up America you are being hood winked by this band of mad men. We have to fight back.  Time is running out. Stand up Democrats, and in the words of the phony tea party, let us take our country back.

Submitted by Bob Rann

WHY THE ATTACK ON PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AMERICA

There are many reasons why the Republican Party is out to destroy public education in America. Just to name a few: they want to privatize the system so that corporate America can reap huge profits, segregate schools according to racial and economic status, to fund religious schools that are suffering from lack of resources, to weaken union participation by destroying collective bargaining rights for teacher organizations and finally of most importantly to propagandize the school curriculum.

While most people think that the effort by republicans is based on an economic issue, budgetary constraints etc., it is really an ideological issue. Most republicans think that too much money is being spent in poor minority neighborhoods thus depriving the rest of the system from their fair share of taxpayer funds. Let’s not kid ourselves-- the tax base in these poor ghettos need supplemental funds just to keep pace with the educational needs of the kids living in them. But let’s not focus on this issue let’s look at some of the ideological reasons behind this effort.  With the recent Supreme Court ruling which now makes it legal to use public monies to fund religious institutions it is reasonable to assume that one of the reasons for privatization and the charter movement is to use public funds to provide funding for religious schools, which is immensely popular in the evangelical wing of the Republican Party.  

It’s also important to remember that most right leaning republicans believe that public education and the curriculum being taught is manifestly socialistic and it must be changed to preserve the true values of this God fearing country, down with science. Who needs education anyway, look at Sarah Palin, she was almost Vice President of the United States and she doesn’t know anything about our history. But I would submit that the real push for charter and privatization is for corporate America to get their greedy little paws on all that government largesse. Think of the billions of dollars that are at stake. Private schools are in business to make a profit not educate kids. Educating kids is a by-product of the effort. Just remember when you privatize you give up control of the educational process. It’s out of your hands folks. Does anyone tell General Motors how to build a car; I think not.

The truth is we need the public schools to educate our kids. What is lacking is parental participation in the process. Most people have no idea what goes on in their local schools and could care less unless the kid gets in trouble. The only thing folks are really good at is blaming the schools for doing a terrible job with their kids. How many times have teachers faced a kid that is out of control and when confronted with the problem the    parent accuses the school of being at fault for the kids actions. Before we give away the public schools to this radical republican agenda we better think what we are in for. It will require parents, teachers and government to solve this perplexing issue.  But let us not take the easy way out and say oh well public schools are not working let’s try something else. That’s exactly what these ideologs are banking on. That, as usual, the American people will take the easy way out and allow the private and religious sector to take away the only thing that the people have to preserve their liberty--the right to a free public education. We need to find out what can be done to counter act this movement to privatize the public school system and convince the citizenry that it is worth preserving a public school system that has served us well for many years. The founding fathers would not believe what we are doing to their dream that to have a functioning democracy we must have an educated populous.  Let our voices be heard.   

Submitted by Bob Rann

Why isn’t the PDA supporting the Progressive Caucus Budget--“The Peoples Budget of 2012?

The best kept secret in Washington these days is the budget presented by the Congressional Progressive Caucus for Fiscal Year 2012. This budget eliminates the deficit by 2021. Far sooner than the Ryan budget in 2030 and much better than the Presidents budget which claims a soft date that can’t be relied on. It’s pretty obvious the People’s Budget supports all of the things the American people care about:

• It preserves Medicare and Medicaid as well as Social Security.
• It eliminates the Bush tax cuts which were the cause of the last recession
• It eliminates the funding of the wars overseas and brings the troops home
• Makes available funds to rebuild the US infrastructure, roads, bridges, and much needed dams.
• Provides additional funding for education and college tuition grants.
• Provides for massive job training and retraining.

The budget’s Bottom Line

• Deficit reduction of 5.6 trillion
• Primary spending cuts of 869 billion
• Net interest savings of  857 billion
• Total spending cuts of 1.7 trillion
• Revenue increase of 3.9 trillion
• Public investment of 1.7 trillion
• Budget surplus of 30.7 billion in 2021, debt at 64.1% of GDP

Guess why nobody wants to support this budget? It gores too many oxen. How could these guys get all of these rich guys and businesses to support their campaigns if they were to get behind this budget? The people in America need a voice that speaks with clarity. The little people are getting screwed while the rich get richer and the middle class disappears. The sad part of all this is that generally people support the right wing agenda. They believe the hype that the only way out of this mess is to drastically cut the budget.  They have listened to the Republicans and the Tea Party protesting against raising taxes and they have bought into this nonsense. That’s because the President and the Democratic Party continually agree with budget cutting misinformation and have not thrown their support behind a viable alternative. We need to show the people that there is a better way. We need to organize around this issue and raise hell. We can’t allow these folks to dumb down America so that the American worker is at the mercy of big business.

PROGRESSIVES STAND UP AND FIGHT.

COPY OF THE PEOPLES BUDGET:

http://grijalva.house.gov/uploads/The%20CPC%20FY2012%20Budget.pdf

Submitted by Bob Rann

REPUBLICANS ARE HELL BENT ON DESTROYING THE COUNTRY

Let’s be clear about this, the Republicans and the Tea Party – THE KNOW NOTHINGS, want to hold the debt ceiling hostage until the Democrats give in on the Ryan Medicare cuts. Back in the day they would not call it legislating they would call it blackmail. Since when does the Constitution suggest that if you don’t get your own way you bring the country to the brink of financial ruin. I also know that they have been selling the theory that if the debt ceiling is not raised it won’t make a hill of beans worth of difference. Life will go on and nothing will happen to precipitate a financial catastrophe. That sort of reasoning puts you and me in real danger because the full faith and credit of the US is at stake.  Now don’t get me wrong I understand that we have to do something about the massive debt the Republicans have run up. What puzzles me is why now, the Bush administration was running up massive debts to the tune of five trillion dollars in eight years. Were the Republicans worried about it when they were in charge and running up huge costs for both wars, as well of the prescription drug program without paying for them? Where were the Tea Party and all the rest of the right wing talking heads when this problem was created? Do you get the feeling that they are using this debt problem to get their own way and do great harm to the economy just so they can win the 2012 election? No party would be that cynical or would they?

Just a little information to show you how misinformed these right wingers are: the scream for lower taxes is a bogus one. Taxes today are comparable to the taxes paid in 1950--so much for over taxing by the federal government. The real culprit that these watch dogs conveniently miss are state taxes. With the shift in revenue from the federal government, states are being burdened more and more with programs they cannot pay for. The real problem is revenue fairness. Some states such as Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, are getting a much higher share of the federal tax dollar than they contribute, making it much harder for states in the northeast to make ends meet. They would have you believe that the less taxes we pay the more dollars come into the state and federal treasuries. How absurd.  This is the Ronald Reagan theory – it’s kind of the same thing as weaving straw into gold –it ain’t possible. Even David Stockman, the architect of the trickle down theory, has discredited it. We need to put taxes on the table and take Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security off the table.  Raise taxes on the rich who haven’t paid their fair share since Bill Clinton was President.  

Progressives need to pressure Democratic legislators not to cave in to these right wing demands and to have a back bone. If they won’t stand up to these folks then why support them. We should follow the lead of the AFL-CIO and let it be known that if you don’t support the will of the majority of Democratic voters then we need to get candidates who will.

LET’S PUT AMERICA’S HOUSE IN ORDER

Here we are facing an economic recovery that is being held back by greedy investors and bankers willing to run the country back into the ditch. Speculators are driving up the price of gasoline while storage tanks are overflowing with supply. We hear the drum beat of the right and the uninformed screaming “drill baby drill.”  It doesn’t seem to matter that the oil companies have 68,000 acres of oil leases that are not being utilized.  I encourage all of the drill baby drillers to write to the big oil companies and demand that they begin drilling in those potential oil fields. I’m sure they will begin immediately to drill baby drill. Believe me if the Tea Party and Rush Limbaugh get behind this effort it will be a sure winner.

There’s another problem that I think needs tackling by these folks and that is telling the business community that they need to use some of that two trillion dollars they’ve been hording and start to invest it in America not China. Again all it will take is some righteous indignation by the Republican Party and its affiliates like the Chamber of Commerce to get them moving. The goal being to destroy the working man’s right to organize, discontinue healthcare benefits and do away with worker pensions—that seems to be what they are aiming for. After all, as the Tea Party is famous for saying, “have you ever heard of a poor guy creating a job”, how about Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, John Rockefeller, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs, just to name a few of those poor guys who started companies that employed millions of people. The myth that the rich guys who fund these “grassroots movements” like the Tea Party, etc. have successfully conveyed to the masses is that the middle class needs to stop complaining and pay more taxes, so that the rich can get richer and the middle class will cease to exist. As Charles Dickens so aptly portrayed in his novels we have got to appreciate the efforts of our betters.  

Everybody knows that as soon as we can get rid of all those pesty regulations business will be able to flourish. Why just look at what they did to the economy over the previous ten years. I know--the real problem was Fannie May and Freddie Mack. + Those guys just pushed the banks and Wall Street to lend money to anybody who wanted it for a home mortgage. It’s common knowledge, as reported by Fox News, that Congress forced the investment community to make risky investments and over-leverage the market.  If not for that fact, we would be in great shape.

Alas, we need more right wingers in Congress so they can pass the Ryan budget which will do away with Medicare and Medicaid as a government program and give it to the private sector in the form of vouchers. Can you imagine how wonderful it will be for some 85 year old widow to have a choice of what insurance company she might want to deal with?  The possibility of that scenario makes your head spin. Not to worry--these folks have all the answers--cut federal taxes, cut the federal budget and raise a bigger army, problem solved. Who needs Liberals? 

Submitted by Bob Rann