Plutocracy

TIME Magazine “Person Of The Year” Should NOT Be Elon Musk, Rather Capitol Hill Police Officer Eugene Goodman!

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It is a total disgrace that TIME Magazine chose to name Billionaire Elon Musk, the wealthiest person on earth, as “Person of the Year”, even considering his business activities at Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and other activities as being significant!

The man is totally greedy, an arrogant plutocrat, who has not paid a fair share of his wealth in taxes, and loves to brag!

Musk has also spread misinformation about the COVID 19 Pandemic, totally reprehensible!

Instead, the “Person of the Year” should be Capitol Hill African American Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who steered the mob that attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 away from the US Senate chamber, and specifically saved Utah Senator Mitt Romney from being imminently attacked!

This is a true hero, who is a model for good and committed public service!

Mitt Romney Lacks Dignity And Class, Proving He Is The Worst Republican Nominee For President Since Barry Goldwater In 1964!

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Former Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has managed to reach a new low, in stating that Barack Obama won the election because of “gifts” to African Americans, Hispanics, women, and young people.

What gall and nerve this man has, and it proves he is a sore loser, as much as his running mate, Paul Ryan!

Romney was very willing to give “gifts” to corporations and wealthy people, had he been elected President. He had no shame in condemning the “47 Percent” in his Boca Raton statement, unaware that it was being taped. He later apologized for it, but now we know it was a false apology.

So Romney, again, proves he is a damned liar, a phony, a person who has no concern for anyone unless they are rich and powerful. He was not running to do what was best for the American people, but instead for the chance to add to his wealth, and have power to further promote the plutocracy, which already has too much power in this country!

Mitt Romney lacks dignity and class, and is, without doubt, the worst Republican nominee for President since Barry Goldwater in 1964!

And even Goldwater, at the least, had PRINCIPLES, while Romney has none, except his own aggrandizement!

Plutocracy Vs Representative Government: 1896 And 2012 Presidential Elections

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In the last election of the 19th century, the Presidential Election Of 1896, the corporate plutocrats of the time period—John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J P Morgan—gave financial support to the Republican Presidential nominee, William McKinley, to defeat Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan, and threatened their workers with lost jobs and closed down industries if Bryan won. They succeeded in electing McKinley, but fortunately within five years, with the assassination of McKinley in 1901, they met their match in the new President, Theodore Roosevelt, who ushered in the Progressive Era, setting the standard for progressives and the later evolution of liberalism among members of Congress and numerous Presidents of both parties, who would work to copy TR’s vision of leadership for the people against the special interests, the powerful corporations. TR also made sure that corporations were unable, ever again, to wield the spending power in campaigns as they had done in 1896.

116 years later, the corporate plutocrats of 2012—including the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, Donald Trump and a small group of others led by Karl Rove—emboldened by a Supreme Court decision (Citizens United Case) allowing corporations unchecked power to do what was done in 1896, unlimited spending in political campaigns, set out to buy an election, as had occurred in 1896.

So corporate leaders threatened to lay off people if Barack Obama won, and they fully supported the ultimate plutocrat, Mitt Romney, a man who made his fortune destroying jobs and companies, a true Robber Baron, who did not contribute anything to American economic growth, but only his own economic growth!

And despite their massive spending and intrusion into the political process, these plutocrats FAILED MISERABLY!

Democracy won out with the second term victory of Barack Obama, who by winning a second majority popular vote victory, insured the legacy of what he had done on national health care, as well as all of the ideas and visions of TR and every progressive President and program ever since the time of TR, including the New Deal and Great Society.

So TR, belatedly, a century ago, and particularly in 1912, as well as Barack Obama in 2012, reaffirmed the massive victory of progressive ideas and programs, and sent a warning to the corporate plutocrats—YOUR DAYS OF ABSOLUTE CONTROL AND LAWLESSNESS ARE OVER! More government regulation and oversight is on the horizon! The people have won over special interests!

2012 Presidential Campaign Proved That Billionaires Could NOT Control Result!

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The Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, and other billionaires spent tens of millions of dollars in 2012 to make our country a plutocracy, and failed.

Linda McMahon spent $100 million to “buy” a Senate seat in Connecticut and failed.

Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman spent $100 million each to “buy” the Senate seat and Governor’s chair in California in 2010 and failed.

So the Citizens United Case in 2010 failed to change our system as much as we feared, and the Court looks horrible, and it is time for them to accept a case and reverse themselves IMMEDIATELY!

Theodore Roosevelt was right 100 years ago—the powerful plutocracy should NOT control our political system!

BIG Government IS Essential In The 21st Century In Third Largest Nation On Earth!

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The tragedy of Hurricane Sandy has brought to the forefront a reality that many Republicans and conservatives have refused to recognize—BIG government IS essential in the 21st century in the third largest nation on earth, and we cannot go back to the past concept of small government, and leaving everything to Mitt Romney’s concept of privatization!

We are a nation of 315 million people and counting, and this is very different than when America was a nation of 4 million in 1790; or 31 million in 1860; or 125 million in 1930; or 200 million in 1970!

The states have proved over and over again that they are incapable of handling the issues and problems of their population, without assistance from the federal government.

It is time to say that states rights is dead, in the sense that states cannot be allowed to stand in the way of progress, cannot be allowed to dictate differing policies that affect the American people in a detrimental way!

The Civil War was fought over states rights, as one of the issues, and we have had problems with states rights advocates ever since, who choose to use state power to promote racism, discrimination, and prejudice. The time for state leaders to understand that such policies are no longer acceptable is now, at a time when states fully understand that it is the national government and its bureaucrats who are the only ones who can be relied on to deal with man made or natural crises.

The only thing that is obvious is that the BEST people must be hired to run federal agencies that deal with crisis, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that we must have Presidents who realize the need to prioritize such activities, rather than those, such as George W. Bush, himself incompetent, who allowed FEMA to fail to react properly to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, or his dad, George H. W. Bush, who failed to react properly to Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

This is proof that what we need in the Presidency is a person who understands the role and need for national government, not someone such as Mitt Romney, who only thinks of money and privatization every day of his life, and does not give a damn about ordinary people and the struggles they face every day of their lives!

We need a leader, such as Barack Obama, who has empathy and compassion and concern, not a plutocrat, who is only concerned about the power of the Presidency, and wants to bring us back to the Gilded Age, when we were a nation of 50 million people!

The need for government has been so well displayed now, that for anyone to advocate small government, and returning power to the corrupt state and local governments, or to privatization, needs to be repudiated in as strong a manner as possible!

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!

Mitt Romney Decides To Copy Barack Obama: Hypocrisy In Action!

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Mitt Romney has now declared he is out to bring “change”, despite the fact that he and his Republican party have constantly ridiculed Barack Obama for promoting “hope and change”.

The difference is that Barack Obama has accomplished a great deal in his time in office, arguably the most domestically since Lyndon B. Johnson, and has also accomplished a great amount in foreign policy, and national security, and the fight against terrorism.

Mitt Romney offers no such potential for success, as his one term as Governor of Massachusetts was so unpopular that he could not consider running for reelection, and in any case, he was just using the Governorship as a stepping stone to run for President.

Mitt Romney has run a negative, nasty campaign, and has embraced despicable people who promote attacks on women, minorities, labor, the poor, the middle class, the environment, veterans, gays, senior citizens, young people, and the disabled; and also has backed neoconservatives in their quest to engage America in more wars, even though most of them have never been in the military!

Romney using the term “change” is a mockery, and hopefully, the majority of Americans realize Romney for the charlatan, the chameleon, the phony, the insincere person that he is.

Romney is only running for President to enrich himself to an obscene level, advance a plutocracy similar to the late 19th century Gilded Age, promote his Mormon faith, and to stroke his own ego!

Mitt Romney needs to be given a resounding slap in the face, and told how much we detest everything he represents, as a danger to the American people and their future!

The Death Of Paul Wellstone Ten Years Ago Today: Still Difficult To Recover From After A Decade!

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Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone was tragically killed in a small plane crash ten years ago today, along with his wife, a daughter, and campaign staff, as he was seeking election to a third term in the Senate.

It is hard to believe that it is a decade since his tragic death, and for many, including this author, it is still difficult to recover from his loss.

This author was so shocked at the news of the death of Senator Wellstone, at the age of 57, his own exact age at the time, that he cried as if Wellstone was a member of his own family or a close friend.

This author felt that Paul Wellstone was, in many ways, family or friend, even though he never had the honor of meeting him personally.

But this author felt that Paul Wellstone understood his problems and goals and beliefs, and that he CARED about those of us who were his fellow Americans, but were not rich and powerful and part of the plutocracy.

Paul Wellstone was a critic of the plutocracy, and a reformer of massive proportions, who planned to run for President in 2004 or later. Whether he would have succeeded in that goal or not, all of us who loved him knew he wanted the best for us, and would always be principled, and fight the good fight for political, social, and economic reform.

Paul Wellstone was one of those rare politicians, who very seldom come along, who has the ability to inspire people and make them unwilling to be cynical or give up on politics as a way to bring change.

God bless Paul Wellstone, who will always be one of my favorite political leaders of my lifetime, joining his fellow Minnesotan, Hubert Humphrey, who, when he died, the author also wept over his loss.

But the loss of Humphrey to cancer in 1978 was foreordained, while the sudden, tragic death of Wellstone was one of the biggest shocks ot the author’s life, bringing about his massive emotional response.

The author is not embarrassed at his reaction to Wellstone’s death, but continues to wonder—WHY do bad things happen to good people, who are here for us, who care, who are totally transparent and decent? The answer to that is not going to be discovered, but it tears at one’s rational being, and remains a sore in one’s life experiences!

Foreign Policy Debate Tonight Is Crucial In So Many Ways!

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There is a tendency among many observers to think that foreign policy is not an important campaign issue this year, but they are wrong.

Foreign policy affects the American economy and its future, as it often adds massively to the national debt.

Foreign policy affects civil liberties, much more than we realize, as our rights are being chipped away in the name of “national security”.

Foreign policy affects the military, and the likelihood of more military engagements and military spending, in a nation which already spends more on the military than the next 10 nations combined.

Foreign policy under Mitt Romney is more likely to bring about a revival of the “neoconservative” influence, and intervention in Iran, Syria and elsewhere, which only benefits the war industries and wealthy people, who are too willing to send poor, unemployed men and women in as cannon fodder for economic gains that make the plutocracy ever more powerful.

What we need is a measured and rational hand on foreign policy, and the record of Barack Obama makes him far better qualified to be our Commander in Chief and our Chief Diplomat.

Mitt Romney would be a massive gamble, a man who knows little about foreign policy, leans on George W. Bush advisers too heavily, and loves to shoot at the hip with his rhetoric, antagonizing even our friends, as well as our rivals. He does not deserve to be in charge of America’s role with the outside world!

Corporate Bully David Siegel Threatens To Fire Workers If Obama Wins: The Plutocracy Out Of Control!

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News has come that some corporate bullies, most notably David Siegel, owner of Westgate Resorts, the largest privately owned time share company in the world, has threatened to fire his workers if they do not vote for Mitt Romney in the upcoming election, and if Romney loses the election to Barack Obama. This could, in theory, affect the election results, and Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor in the administration of Bill Clinton, has condemned it!

This is plutocracy run amuck, as somehow, people like Siegel seem to think they have a right to threaten their workers, as if they run a dictatorship!

There has to be some way to hold these corporate bullies accountable for their behavior, as they are nothing less than hoodlums in their approach to their work force, as if the workers are the slaves of their owners!

Slavery was outlawed in 1865, and we have passed labor laws and corporate regulations and taxes on the wealthy before, and we cannot allow corporate bullies to think they can do whatever they wish to their workers, and get away with such outrageous abuse!