Class Warfare and the Social Contract

Friday's Washington Post article by Sally Kohn dives into the history of our current bout of "class warfare".  It has always existed but she maintains this come-to-fruition edition began in 1971.

The class war began in 1971. That year, soon-to-be Supreme Court justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. wrote a confidential memorandum to a friend at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about the “Attack of the American Free Enterprise System.” In the mid-20th century — from the New Dealto Social Security to environmental and civil rights laws — the government had cut into corporate profits while creating middle-class prosperity. Falsely believing that capitalism was under attack, Powell wrote: “It must be recognized that businessmen have not been trained or equipped to conduct guerrilla warfare with those who propagandize against the system.” His proposal, from which the modern conservative movement grew, was to equip business elites for that battle with aggressive policies to make Americans believe that what’s good for wealthy chief executives is good for them, too.

She goes on to cite statistics detailing the growth of the income gap, corporate profit and executive pay.  It's succinct and worth the read.  According to the article, it is all according to plan.

Paul Krugman writes about the "social contract" applying to everyone but the lucky few in his New York Times Thursday op-ed:

To be fair, there is argument about the extent to which government policy was responsible for the spectacular disparity in income growth. What we know for sure, however, is that policy has consistently tilted to the advantage of the wealthy as opposed to the middle class.

Some of the most important aspects of that tilt involved such things as the sustained attack on organized labor and financial deregulation, which created huge fortunes even as it paved the way for economic disaster. For today, however, let’s focus just on taxes.

The budget office’s numbers show that the federal tax burden has fallen for all income classes, which itself runs counter to the rhetoric you hear from the usual suspects. But that burden has fallen much more, as a percentage of income, for the wealthy. Partly this reflects big cuts in top income tax rates, but, beyond that, there has been a major shift of taxation away from wealth and toward work: tax rates on corporate profits, capital gains and dividends have all fallen, while the payroll tax — the main tax paid by most workers — has gone up.

Krugman goes on to quote Elizabeth Warren saying "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own.  Nobody."   

That was so good I had to find the video.

I still believe President Obama made a HUGE mistake not making her head of the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau she helped create.   That said, perhaps it is kismet.  She's now running for the former U.S. Senate seat held for decades by the late, liberal Ted Kennedy, now occupied by Republican Scott Brown.   Perhaps the balance of power will shift...again.

Writer's Block or Depression?

Caribbean Holiday by Laura Trevey

I have been unable to find a topic I wanted to write about this past week.  I may have writer's block.  I may just be depressed.  I usually have so much I want to write I keep a list so as not to forget my topics.  However, that is not the case of late.  I post once a week to Empty Next Evolution thanks to Theme Thursday. But that blog is suffering too. This blog, so often a mixture of political POV from the female perspective, is stumping me right now.

I am still reading the book "Game Change" but it's slow going as I come home tired from work and just flake out.  The news has been so depressing of late, what with Haiti, the President's many dilemmas, the economy.  I find work to be difficult as well.  We've had strange weather in the east, heavy snow followed by torrential rain.  Doesn't do much for the economy in our ski town.  People seem to be walking about in a daze, unsure of tomorrow and worrying, worrying, worrying.  Me too.

I need a vacation.  I chose this piece of art by Laura Trevey because the title  reflects my desire to get away from it all.  I'm getting ready to watch the State of the Union.  I don't expect to hear anything I don't already know.  But I would like to hear that the vision is there and a plan is in place.    One constantly has to reinforce one's sense of values. This goes ten fold for the President.

You know, if you look closely at this water color, it has a very stormy appearance.  Trees in a strong wind.  Perhaps I picked an appropos painting after all.

No Apology Necessary

My husband just made a very good point after listening to Rachel Maddow's defense of President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

"The Nobel Peace Prize is an expectation and that is being acknowledged.  Above and beyond that, the President is in a unique position because of these things:

   1.  His express desire to achieve world peace.
   2.  He occupies the most powerful office in the world.
   3.  He is a man of color which is relatable to the majority of the rest of the world

These facts put him in the unique position of getting closer to achieving world peace than anyone else in the world.  On a relay team, the strongest runner always takes the anchor position even tho' he hasn't yet won the race.  Giving Obama the Nobel Peace Prize acknowledges he is in the "anchor" position to achieve world peace."

No apology necessary.

Obama: I Just Can't Get Enough of This Guy!

Hope springs eternal. The stock market is awry, the country is struggling, jobs are being eliminated and people are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I hate to sound like Pollyanna but I really cannot wait for the new President and his cabinet to take over and "fix" things.

Will they? Won't they? It's anyone's guess. But we will begin a new year with hope and faith in our country, our leaders and our ability to bounce back. Will it ever again be the same? Doubtful. Nor should it. I think we can all pull back on our reckless spending and adapt to a more frugal lifestyle. A year ago I was lamenting I didn't have the money to take a vacation each of the three weeks I had off. Now, I'm just happy I have a job!

First Do No Harm...you betcha!

The Hippocratic oath charges medical doctors to "First, do no harm." I'd say Sarah Palin achieved that goal for the McCain campaign. She didn't stumble; she survived.

I had approached the Vice Presidential debates feeling somewhat sorry for Gov. Palin.She had been the brunt of so many jokes and such relentless media scrutiny emphasizing her lack of preparedness. I admit it; I felt empathy.

What was I thinking?

My husband and I were amused, amazed and finally annoyed by the quixotic twists and turns of her responses; the dogged persistance to stay on point, regardless of relevance to the questions asked. It was so Karl Rove.

I failed to keep count of how many times she used the words or phrases: "Gosh darn it", "golly": "maverick"; "nuculer" (a bush speech impediment) and "Eye-ran". Where was Amy Poehler/Hillary to say "The less you know, the more adorable you get."

I now look forward to the next Tina Fey send-up. "Expanding the vice presidential powers" is a good for a laugh. We need some humor during this most serious of presidential races. I just hope we aren't humoring ourselves into another Republican administration with Citizen McCain at the helm and Sarah "the Maverick's little sidekick" Palin waiting in the wings for him to expire. Heigh-ho Silver!

Hard Hitting Journalism or Just Another Softball Game?

Charles Gibson has been throwing softballs in interviews for too long. What the heck was the powder puff interview with Sarah Palin he conducted on ABC News last night? For Pete's sake, this woman is one heartbeat away if they are elected and she's basically saying she's "ready to be President"??? She's implying they're on a "mission from God"??? We know all about those missions. "W" has been on one for 8 years.

With Apologies to Pigs & Sarah Palin

Great web site with funny stuff. Double click the 23/6 logo to see their take on ways to apologize to McCain, Palin and, most of all, pigs in general!

We're Gonna Frickin' Lose this Thing

I took this headline off The Huffington Post today. It links to the article, written by Adam McKay, about Obama's vulnerability in the face of Republican tactics. The post title caught my eye because my husband has been saying the exact same thing since the RNC. I respond to him the same way McKay's wife does, "Stop saying that!" But in my heart of hearts, I am really scared.

I thought the country was smart enough not to fall for "four more years" of any Republican candidate. Now, I'm not so sure. As if the war, now five years and counting, isn't enough of a deterrent, the economy is in the toilet, the middle class is disappearing, inflation is escalating, unemployment is at a five year high and the dollar at a low.

The U.S. is the laughingstock of the world and we're gonna elect John McCain???? I can't take it. Neither can this country. Four more years of people like this, people who support war and invading other countries; people who give tax breaks to big oil, big pharmaceuticals & the top 1% of income earners; people who want to spy on their own countrymen through illegal wiretapping; people who believe in waterboarding and torture despite the Geneva convention; people who want to destroy the environment when no reliable scientific study supports further drilling; people who don't believe in global warming despite all evidence to the contrary; people who believe in no abortion at any cost, including rape and incest...these are the people the country is leaning towards?

Instead of "God bless America", we'd better start saying "God help America."

The Gloves Are Off...

...and they aren't elbow length. Sarah Palin came out boxing last night and delivered a powerful but empty speech full of Republican rhetoric, Americana, patriotism and sarcasm. While I was impressed with her delivery I was careful to pay attention to what she was really saying. I did not hear anything about a plan for our economy, health care or the war in Iraq & Afghanistan. I heard alot about John McCain's patriotism, Obama's lack thereof (implied but barely concealed), her disdain for the Democratic ticket, her condescension towards anyone who thinks other than herself...that is, small town flag waving support-the-war-at-any-cost: good; everybody else: bad.

She;s an attractive woman who downplays her looks. Nothing wrong with that. But I kept asking myself, "Where's the red meat?", a favorite Republican phrase. I didn't hear a single thing about fixing what's wrong with this country. All I heard was support for the war, drill in Alaska (because she's "chief executive" so she knows it best) and what a hero McCain was/is. There was absolutely no substance to her speech. Anyone who disagrees with this should get a transcript and see for themselves.

It will be interesting to see her debate Joe Biden. She's already started down the proverbial "low road" the Republicans love to take. She's come out swinging and she'll find a worthy opponent in the experienced Senator Biden, for all her one year experience as chief executive.

Peggy Noonan is SUCH a bitch

Right now she's on MSNBC complaining about the"pedestrian" quality of Barack Obama's speech last night. She's saying it's everything we've heard before. Oh really? Being the wonderful speech writer for that over-hyped undeserving of the acclaim president, Ronald Reagan, she isn't about to throw kudos anywhere but in the Republican direction. She gets her points across but they are always framed in that bitchy delivery of hers which, I think, deflates her credibility. If she were measured, she might be more effective. Unfortunately, she has a platform due her to Reagan credentials. BTW, is she counting the number of times McCain has now used his POW experience and will continue to do so?????