Capitalism

Romney Government: Captive Of The Koch Brothers, Donald Trump, Jack Welch, Sheldon Adelson, David Siegel

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Six billionaires, who are accustomed to bullying their employees, and buying their way to what they want from politicians, have found a willing partner in a fourth of a billionaire, Mitt Romney, whose only real interest is to become President to enrich himself further, and accomplish his insane goal to make himself a billionaire, as they are, before he passes on to the next world, leaving his five sons the opportunity to become, over their lifetimes, multibillionaires–unbridled capitalism at its best.

The willing collaborators, and there are, indeed, others in this category besides these six, are:

The Koch Brothers, Charles and David Koch
David Siegel
Jack Welch
Sheldon Adelson
Donald Trump (who is clearly the “poorest” of this bunch!)

These people are accustomed to mistreating their workers; harming the environment; participating in unethical and illegal activities that they expect to avoid prosecution by colluding with rich politicians, such as Mitt Romney; spending a minor portion of their fortunes to promote policies that harm all but their own class; and spreading rumors and hate to divide the population, as they realize the weapon of “divide and conquer.”

These plutocrats belong in the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, but sadly, they and others like them are the power brokers who could “buy” our government, and dictate the end of democracy and fair play for all Americans, the end of the American Dream.

So defeating Mitt Romney is an urgency for the future of the Republic as we know it!

The Republican Party Losing The Future: Suicidal Tendencies

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The Republican Party of 2012 is a shell of its old self, and has allowed itself to move out of the mainstream of American politics based on the extremism of religious zealots, greedy capitalists, and neoconservatives who believe American power must be waged everywhere no matter what the cost to the American economy.

The problem for the GOP is that the nation has changed so much from what it was, and the younger generation is alienated from these trends.

The younger generation is alienated from organized traditional religion that subjugates women.

The younger generation is alienated by the abuses of the wealthy, and are concerned what their future is in an economy that has decimated the middle class, and caused the loss of hope in the “American dream”.

The younger generation is alienated from the war machine mentality of neoconservatives and the Pentagon, which thinks that military force all over the globe is the only answer to world problems, and they want America focusing on its internal problems, rather than being a crusader all over the world, as they see American power as “imperialistic”.

The GOP is losing women, African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, college graduates, those under 35, the struggling middle class, most major metropolitan areas, and the coastlines with large electoral vote states.

All they can attract in majority numbers are Christian and other religious fundamentalists, blue collar whites who have not attended college, the wealthy top two percent of the population, and the military oriented hawkish foreign policy advocates.

The Republican Party is losing the future in a nation more socially moderate, believing in economic opportunity, and wishing for more direct democracy by the masses, instead of all power in the hands of a powerful wealthy elite.

In other words, the nation is more progressive than conservatives and Republicans want to believe!

How America Is “Socialist”, And We Would Not Want It Any Other Way!

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Many Americans are under the false assumption that “Socialism'” is a bad thing, and that it is the same thing as the former Soviet Union, or Castro’s Cuba, or Communist China, or Communist North Korea.

This is pure ignorance, and instead, one should look to the many democracies in Europe, who have “socialist” aspects of their political and economic systems.

But even beyond that, think about what it would be like if we did not have “socialism” in our political and economic system.

How would we like to do without the following:

1, Social Security
2. Medicare and Medicaid
3. The Post Office
4. Public Schools and Colleges and Universities
5. Libraries
6. Water Treatment Systems
7. Recreational Centers, including Gyms, Parks, Beaches
8. National Parks
9. Public Transit Systems, Trains, Subways, Buses
10.Police, Firefighters, Sanitation Services, Public Hospitals
11.Military Services and Protection
12.Labor Protections
13.Food and Drug Regulations
14.Environmental Protections
15.Financial Institutions Regulations
16.Transportation Safety Regulations
17.Housing Regulations
18.Energy Regulations
19.Military Veterans Protections
20.Homeland Security Protections

If one believes that all of the above should be privatized, as some conservatives and Republicans advocate, then we have a basic misunderstanding of what the best government is: a mixed socialist and capitalistic system in the public interest, instead of a business atmosphere which puts profits and business techniques above human beings and their welfare! Quality and cost efficiency require a combination of capitalism with socialism!

The 130th Anniversary Of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Birth: The Sustained Republican Attack On The New Deal’s Survival!

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Today marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of our second greatest President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served 12 years and 39 days in the Presidency, and took America through the Great Depression and most of World War II.

Rated the greatest President in most polls of scholars and experts after Abraham Lincoln, FDR personified the growth of big national government, including the recognition that the federal government was needed to deal with the crisis presented by the depression, the worst economic downturn in American history.

Now in 2012, we are being told by the opposition Republicans that the answer is to revert to the philosophy of Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, and keep the federal government out of the economy as much as possible. Mitt Romney can be seen as the new Herbert Hoover, aloof, imperial in nature, unable to relate to ordinary people’s problems and daily struggles, extremely rich, and believing that the private capitalistic system without government interference is the best for America’s future.

Even Herbert Hoover started to abandon that belief in laissez faire, and is called, therefore, the “forgotten progressive” by Joan Hoff and others. And maybe Mitt Romney, due to his past reputation of being a moderate to liberal as Governor of Massachusetts, might back away from his present promotion of a conservative image.

But the Republican Party, whether Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul or anyone else as the nominee, has fundamentally declared war on the New Deal!

The GOP wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare, and gut as many government departments and agencies as possible, along with destroying labor unions and showing lack of concern for the environment, all major tenets of the New Deal. When Republicans can claim that the New Deal was “socialism”, as some of them do, they are being ridiculous and setting out to end the laws and programs that have advanced America and helped to create the middle class!

Conservative scholars and propagandists have been advocating negatives about the New Deal as part of their aim to destroy the good programs that Barack Obama has achieved, and to go back to the mentality of the 1920s era and the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

We can be sure that if FDR was alive today, that he would be on the attack against the Republican Party and their aims of destroying his New Deal, and it is therefore the job of Barack Obama to go out and assault, rhetorically, those who wish to destroy not only the New Deal of FDR, but also the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and the other progressive, human oriented programs of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton.

This is the time to defend big government and FDR, not shrink from the challenge!

Mitt Romney, Free Enterprise, And Capitalism On Trial: Is The Future Of America ONLY For The Elite Wealthy?

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It is extremely ironic that we are seeing a bitter debate in the Republican Party over the virtues, morality and future of American free enterprise and capitalism, in the process of picking a Republican candidate for the Presidency in 2012.

Mitt Romney, a man who became obscenely wealthy at the expense of thousands of middle class workers who lost their jobs due to an equity company (Bain Capital) whose only purpose was PROFIT over people, and who now wishes to promote a tax plan much worse in its inequity than the tax cuts of George W. Bush, has caused a split with Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Sarah Palin demanding accountability, while Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh, Rudy Guiliani and just about everyone else wants this split and heated debate to end, as it only helps Barack Obama and the Democratic Party.

For the first time in memory, the whole concept of the goodness of unbridled capitalism is under the microscope, and this is good, as if the system continues without change and much greater regulation, there is the danger of violence and bloodshed by an aggrieved majority of the population, rather than peaceful recognition of the need for radical change to avoid such tragedy!

The great inequity of wealth, and the exploitation of the majority of Americans by a small, greedy group of entrepreneurs cannot continue, and this elite had better recognize that before a turning point is reached that will help no one, and hurt the social stability of America in the future!

Amazing How Republicans Are Attacking The “Religion” Of Capitalism, And Yet Claim Barack Obama Is A “Socialist”!

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It is actually quite hilarious how many Republicans, led by Newt Gingrich, are attacking Mitt Romney over his career with Bain Capital, and yet have enriched themselves in similar ways through Wall Street and other capitalistic interests without any shame, and at the same time, have no concern about the sufferings of the middle class and the poor, as a result of the Wall Street bank collapse of 2008-2009!

While attacking Barack Obama as a “Socialist”, the Republicans have been willing to support government aid to the corporations and the banks, a different form of “Socialism”, which benefits the wealthy and powerful at the expense of the middle class and the poor!

Without realizing it, the Republicans are presenting to us the evils of capitalism, and the dire need for MORE reform and regulation, which is actually “Progressivism”, as in the early 20th century, but is being labeled by them as “Socialism”!

But the same charges were leveled against “Progressives” in the early 20th century, and against the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a time when the government, instead of setting out to destroy capitalism at the peak of the Great Depression, instead SAVED capitalism from those who truly wanted to destroy it!

What Barack Obama is trying to do is also NOT revolutionary! It is the same purpose as FDR had, to save capitalism from its own shortcomings and weaknesses, by increasing government regulation and intervention in the public interest.

So the internal GOP debate over capitalism and its excesses can have the purpose of bringing about what needs to be done, a recognition that Barack Obama is NOT a revolutionary, but in the best progressive tradition of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton!

As 2011 Ends, “Progressivism” Term Grows In Popularity!

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As 2011 comes to an end, and we look ahead to the Presidential Election of 2012, the Pew Research Center For the People and the Press has come up with a new poll that demonstrates that the word “progressivism” is more positively seen than any other political term, an amazing development!

“Progressivism” has a rating of 67-22 positive while “Conservatism” has a rating of 62-30 positive; “Liberalism” 50-39 positive; “Capitalism” 50-40 positive; “Libertarian” 38-37 positive; and “Socialism” 60-31 negative!

Of course, Democrats overall look very differently at these words than Republicans, but also younger people under 30 are much more favorable to “Liberalism” than those over 65.

It is odd that “Progressivism” has a much more positive rating with 67 percent, as compared to “Liberalism” with 50 percent support!

The poll demonstrates that there is still great ignorance as to the meeting of all of the above terms, and that younger people in general are more likely to be “progressive” or “liberal”, and assuming they do not have a major change of view as they get older, as those now over 65 pass from the scene, the left side of the political spectrum has the prospect of greater support and success in the future!

And the fact that Republicans in the poll have much greater positive image of “progressivism” (55%) as compared to “Liberalism” (20%) shows particular confusion and lack of knowledge of the meaning of these words, which is NOT all that different!

In any case, as we enter 2012, let’s move forward with “Progressive” goals and values!

The Sober Reality: Half Of America Is Poor, Or “Near Poor”!

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The US Census Bureau has revealed that the economic conditions of the American people are far worse than ever recognized before now.

Along with 49 million below the poverty line, there are now 97 million Americans who have low income, defined as a family of four earning under $45,000 , due to loss of a job or a pay cut.

So that means HALF of the country is poor, or “near poor”!

This is serious business, a crisis of massive proportions, and the top one percent sit by and do not give a damn, and the corporations keep on holding onto money, enriching themselves and their stockholders, and claim they cannot hire people after they have been balled out by the government, or have lobbied for preferential treatment!

The country is becoming more plutocratic by the day, and it is dangerous for capitalism that this is going on, as it can turn average Americans against the whole concept of capitalism, as long as only a small percentage can benefit from it!

Under the circumstances, it is quite amazing that there are not more people out in the streets, involved in the “Occupy Wall Street’ movement!

It is also worrisome that as time goes on, and conditions become worse, that we might see mass violence on the part of desperate Americans, who will see no alternative.

The idea of mass demonstrations and demands for change is not being felt only in the Arab world, in Greece and Italy, and in the Russian Federation. It is becoming an issue of fairness and equity being felt in a country that considers itself democratic in nature, and yet allows the uninhibited acquisition of wealth on the back of millions of Americans who just want an equal opportunity for the “American Dream”!

The Ugly, Obscene Cultural Phenomenon Of “Black Friday”

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That fairly recent cultural phenomenon known as “Black Friday” has come and gone again.

Developed in the past decade to the point of obscenity, it is the worst part of the capitalistic system, as wealthy corporations entice and encourage mostly people who don’t have much money or who, in any case, should not be going into hock for merchandise they do not need or often don’t even truly want, to act like animals with the most rude behavior and social dysfunction possible!

In recent years, an employee was trampled to death at a Walmart ;yesterday, a woman at a Walmart used pepper spray on fellow shoppers to gain a so called “competitive advantage”; a Target employee, being overly tired from having Thanksgiving dinner and then going to work without sleep before midnight on Thanksgiving Day nearly drowned in a canal in Palm Beach Country, Florida; and some people were robbed and shot at a shopping mall!

All this for a so called “bargain”, while the wealthy stayed at home, either not needing the “deals”, or preferring to do it online rather than in a mob gathering for hours before the opening bell late on Thanksgiving or early on the day after!

It demonstrated again that the wealthy don’t have to go through what average people seem to think they need to go through. and also how corporations, particularly in a time of high unemployment, can exploit their low paid workers to have no right to even Thanksgiving and the early hours of the next day to be free from work. Sure, they get paid overtime, but is that worth the reality of them facing mobs and being overworked and overstressed for the few extra dollars they manage to be paid for their sacrifices?

Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, Best Buy, Kohls, Macy’s and J C Penney’s, and all the other retailers who have made this “Black Friday” idea the obscenity it is, should be condemned for their greediness and lack of concern for both labor and the public safety. But, after all, what matters is the ALMIGHTY DOLLAR, the PROFIT over humanity!

Sad and tragic, VERY SAD AND TRAGIC!

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute And Civic Literacy Testing

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The Intercollegiate Studies Institute is an organization which promotes civic literacy among the American people.

In a survey done in 2008, it was discovered that the average American taking a 33 question test scored 49 percent, and more shockingly, college educators only scored 55 percent! But those in public office scored lower than the average citizen, only 44 percent!

The test deals with American history, government, and economics, and it demonstrates how poorly our citizenry is knowledgeable about its own institutions and traditions.

79 percent of those in public office did not know that an official establishment of religion is banned in the Bill of Rights! 43 percent do not know the purpose of the Electoral College! 54 percent do not know that the power to declare war resides in the Congress! 27 percent cannot name one right or freedom guaranteed in the First Amendment! And 49 percent cannot name the three branches of government!

The author of this blog is proud to announce that he got a 90.91 percent result, 30 out of 33, matching his son David, on the exam, with both of us somewhat stumped by economics questions, but fortunately, only three of them!

By the way, IF such an exam was given to Rick Santorum, who this week condemned liberals for the poor knowledge of American history in America, it seems certain he might not even score the average of 49 percent of the typical American citizen who participated in the exam in 2008 or the average of 44 percent of officeholders. And it is clear that Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin would also fail miserably. Instead of them all blaming liberals, who have promoted an expansion of the American history curriculum to cover the history of minorities, women, and labor, from just the usual white male leaders of government and great business capitalists constantly idealized by conservatives, they might finally learn the truth and complete story of American history!