A victim in a system about cold cash
If you don’t make it then they treat you like trash
Dispose of you tonight if not in the morning
This is not a prophecy, this is just a warning
The midterm elections are approaching. So, what is really going on? Conservative ads are flooding social media. Politicians are spending unprecedented amounts of money on mid-term elections. What’s at stake? What could this all mean?
SUBVERSION OF DEMOCRACY
First of all, we have evidence of a subversion of the electoral process. A story ran in the New York Times recently with the title: “Republican Runs Street People on Green Ticket.” Many people respond with “So what?“ Well, this already came up in South Carolina with Alvin Greene. This case in Arizona is even more egregious because there is evidence. So what? Well, this is a subversion of democracy. Manipulation of elections is anti-democratic.
What really happened in Arizona? Well, it would appear that the GOP decided to elicit homeless people to run as (unqualified) Green Party Candidates. We saw in the 2000 Presidential Election that a Green Party vote can diminish the turnout for a Democratic Candidate. The people that are running on the Green Party ballot have a very unlikely chance of actually winning. They are inexperienced and ineffectual. This almost assures a Republican win in these elections. It is also dishonest and manipulative.
When a politician can win an election by manipulating the voter turnout, or the voting results, the result is not democratic. Democracy only works when people vote on representatives for their concerns. The winner of an election is supposed to be the candidate that best represents that majority of voters. (Checks and balances provide for protection from the “tyranny of the majority.”) If a politician is elected because they subverted this process, they do not represent their electorate. (This also throws off the checks and balances.)
ECONOMIC BLACKMAIL
At the same time, we have a federal government that is refusing progress. There are enough Republicans and “Democrats In Name Only” (DINO) that a large amount of proposed legislation by this Presidential administration is not getting passed. This is hindering any progress made for recover on the national economy, and any other area that needs reform.
People are already forgetting that the current situation was born out of the 8 years in which the last administration had control. Now, as time marches on, people are blaming this administration for the current economic and political climate. This is in tandem with the wealthy refusing to spend. In a system that is design for wealth to “trickle-down,” it works both ways. If the wealth does not trickle down, the lack of wealth trickles down. Today McDonald’s announced a price increase – they removed the dollar menu. The lack of wealth has “trickled down” to the homeless.
You used to be able to get a 390-calorie McDouble for 99 cents, said Nicholas Newhart, a 29-year-old with a Confederate flag tattooed on the back of his head. Without the Dollar Menu it now costs $1.49.
People are angry about the lack of jobs and the lack of wealth. They should be. The GOP and their elements have run an effective campaign convincing the American people that it is the fault of the current administration. The reality is that this is not true: There is plenty of blame for everyone. The decline of the middle class has been going on for nearly half a century. Robert Reich posted “The Real Lesson of Labor Day” on Friday, September 3. In it, he describes the origins of the current economic crisis. So, who is at fault for the situation we are in? Technically, the answer is: everyone. Majority of the population participated in the events that led to this. Blame and cause do not run along party lines.
Reich also mentions the widening wealth disparity between the wealthy and the not-so-wealthy:
Where have all the economic gains gone? Mostly to the top. The economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty examined tax returns from 1913 to 2008. They discovered an interesting pattern. In the late 1970s, the richest 1 percent of American families took in about 9 percent of the nation’s total income; by 2007, the top 1 percent took in 23.5 percent of total income.
I go a step farther than Reich. I am beginning to believe this is more calculated that we originally assumed. It seems that the refusal to let the wealth “trickle-down” is purposeful. The GOP candidates have pretty much stated that their policies will be tax cuts for the top 2%, (or top 20%) less regulations on industry, and “smaller government.” (More on “smaller government in a few days.) What motivation do corporations have to create more jobs and influence economic stimulus? If they create more jobs now, they won’t get their tax breaks and deregulation. If they make the situation more grim, more GOP candidates will win elections. If the GOP candidates get enough seats, businesses will get what they desire. (This is on top of the Supreme Court ruling that corporations can donate to political campaigns as individuals.)
This was made abundantly clear by the opposition to health care. Can someone please tell me why there was so much opposition to health care reform? Seriously. Did single-payer, universal health care destroy the UK? Or Germany? China? Economically, these are the United States’ biggest threats. They have health care. As far as standards of health care, I have mentioned previously, that only the top 1% of Americans get world-class health care, the rest of us get substandard care. How exactly does this hurt the population of the United States by attempting to provide health care for those that cannot afford health care themselves? I mentioned the other day that the average unemployment check is $293 per week, and COBRA cost an average of $12,000 annually. Now, I really hate maths. But, $293 per week is just $15,236 in one year. Subtract the cost of COBRA for the family, and we have $3,236 left over. Maybe if their mortgage is under $20 a month, they can afford food, too. This is what average unemployed citizens are living with, and politicians are sitting in Congress calling them lazy for not working. They say that unemployment insurance is letting them live comfortably without having to provide for themselves. That 3 grand a year is such an extravagant amount to live on for a family! And providing them with health care is such a disservice.
If they are lucky enough to not be unemployed: According to the US Census Bureau, the average income in the United States in 2008 was $52,029. As far as current insurance costs, I didn’t really find a great number, but according to a broken link to the Office of the Actuary in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services it cost about $7,439 per person for insurance in the United States. That’s about 14% of the average American’s income. (If my math is off, my apologies. I really hate math.) I found more than two sources that stated the public cost of healthcare is higher in the United States than in European countries that have single-payer healthcare. (US Census Bureau, WHO) Why are we outraged at health care reform? I did not really see any protesters that stated they only disliked the current plan of health care reform. Instead they have nicknamed it “Obamacare” and carry signs of socialist implications. Well, enough of that… my point was really that the concern for health care just seems to be misplaced. I have no seen one compelling reason from the Right on why this is a bad thing. (On the Left, I have seen a few good complaints, including not being inclusive enough, or pandering to big Pharm.)
A Plutocracy (rule of the wealthy) is not democratic. Allowing the wealthy individuals and corporations to dictate policy is counter to a democracy. If this is what is happening, it is a serious concern. If corporate interests are stalling economic recovery, at the cost to the population, than this runs counter to the will of the country, and counter to democracy.
Who exactly is against tax cuts for the rich? WalMart employees have a stake in tax cuts for the top 20%? Who is against Universal Health Care and regulations to stop insurance companies from increasing cost exponentially? Someone who is spending 30% of their income on insurance? Who is it that is against regulations that try to prevent oil spills? Are the fisherman in Louisiana against regulations on oil producers?
NEO-FASCISM MOVEMENT
I know. Many people find my labeling of the Tea Party as “Neo-fascist” to be divisive and disingenuous. [There are Radical Leftists that I also critique. For example, I often point out that Anarchist have valid complaints against the power structure, but very rarely offer and valid solutions. Instead they just want to make things messy and do not care who gets hurt in their way.] I really do have rational reasons for this label. The Tea Party movement has no shortage of intense nationalism and symbolism. They tend to espouse a social Darwinistic attitude, want to have an indoctrination process, and define citizenry on a racialist scale. Indeed the racial element of the fringe movement is quite strong. (I will refrain from calling it ‘racist,’ but racialism is definitely there.) The scapegoating element against Muslims has reached a particular climax recently. And economically, well, here’s a line from Mussolini:
I do not respect — I even hate — those men that leech a tenth of the riches produced by others.
p. 26 My rise and fall, Volumes 1-2,
Benito Mussolini, Richard Washburn Child, Max Ascoli, Richard Lamb
Freedomworks is one of the primary facilitators of the Tea Party Movement. They were born out of Citizens for a Sound Economy, which was established by David Koch, 42% owner in the conglomerate Koch Industries. [It should be noted that I have read that Koch Industries denies funding Freedomworks after 2005. An immediate source was not available.] All of this information is verifiable. Feel free to research it.
The reason I bring all this up, is not some “scary shadow government secret conspiracy to turn us into batteries or alien food.” What I contend is that it is likely that the Tea Party Movement was an orchestrated movement. There are too many continuous themes within the movement to have been an organic and spontaneous creation. It is even more concerning that there is no immediate source for this movement. Dick Armey was definitely involved. David Koch was definitely involved. Glenn Beck played a small part in spreading their message. But the reality is that the whole Tea Party Movement is so vague on actual principles that it is hard to pinpoint exactly what is going on with it. But here is what we do know:
- The Tea Party Movement hates President Barack Obama. No matter what he does, it is a failure in their eyes. Whatever he proposes is wrong. If he were to contact aliens and have us join an intergalactic confederation that could supply us with endless amounts of food and cure all disease, they would condemn it. In fact, they hate all democrats and will only be happy to see them all fail.
- The Tea Party Movement hates health care. Why? I’m still not sure. But they marched on the nation’s capital, some with weapons to show how much they hate poor children getting medical care.
- The Tea Party Movement loves tax cuts for the rich. Again, I do not know why. But they do. They find increasing taxes on the top 2% to be Communist.
- The Tea Party Movement hates Communism. And socialism. And anything they think may be Communist or Socialist. Except Jesus… who practiced Socialist ideals (according to Gorbachev).
- The Tea Party Movement loves guns. So much, they protested this president, who expanded gun rights, by showing their support of the second amendment against him… because, I have no idea why.
- The Tea Party Movement hates illegal immigrants. that are from Mexico. They only care about the illegal immigrants from Mexico and they hate them. They want to alter the Constitution to take away their chances of becoming citizens. For some reason, Mexicans are suddenly the enemy of America and allies of “Liberals.” Even though illegal labor is often employed by big, conservative organizations.
Everything else in the Tea Party Movement is really not coherent. I will say, they sound much less crazy than LaRouche, and even less organized than LaRouche, too. But, I do not see them as very rational. Their platforms are varied, they are more like common themes . . . like they typically are against allowing gays to marry, they are for Christian legislation, they a pro-nationalistic laws . . . and things like that, but it is nuanced from person to person. They do not concern themselves with in depth analysis of anything. Buzz words rule the discussion, talking of “progressives, Libs, Liburals, Socialists” and “second amendment solutions” and declaring their followers to “Reload.”
So back to Freedomworks. Dick Armey sponsors much of Freedomworks. Freedomworks sponsors much of the Tea Party Movement. Well, Armey and Freedomworks support a Flat Tax or a Fair Tax. Even Libertarian think-tanks have dismissed these as invalid options of taxation. The reality of a flat tax is that it benefits the wealthy tremendously, and punishes the less wealthy. (It is working tremendously well in Estonia and Russia.)
PRECEDENCE
In 2007, the nation of Kenya exploded. On December 27, 2007, there was a Presidential election between Mwai Kibaki (the incumbant) and Raila Odinga. Both declared themselves the winner. A the time, Kenya was in an interesting predicament. Odinga was the choice of many non-Kikuyu people in Kenya. (Kibaki was Kikuyu and Odinga Luo, with a coalition of other ethnic groups.) Both sides alleged the other side had manipulated the election results. (International observers agreed that both sides had done this.) The result was chaos and death. The country plunged into civil disorder for nearly a year. This is one possible result of subverting democracy. The other is Putin’s Russia. Either choice is less than pleasant.
INDICATORS
If a doctor examines a patient and find they have the indicators of heart disease, they treat the patient accordingly, to attempt to save them from cardiac failure. If a dentist finds a patient has early signs of gum disease, they treat them accordingly, to prevent gum and tooth loss. If a meteorologist sees the signs that a dangerous hurricane is likely to make landfall in a populated area, they warn accordingly in an attempt to minimize life and property loss. Military commanders look at scenarios and current situations and decide on which plans will minimize loss and maximize gains.
This is what a Political Scientist does. We examine the conditions and look at the possible results. And yet, no one wants to listen. The conditions are all present for disaster. Yet, when the political scientist points that there is concern of democratic subversion, they are treated as if they are Chicken Little screaming that the sky is falling.
It is time we started making informed decisions on these matters. Economists disagree on the best way to resolve the current economic crisis, but none of them are espousing “down home wisdom” to resolve it. They deploy economic analysis and theory. Majority of them indicate that we need some type of economic levers and programs to stimulate job growth. Even economists that worked for Ronald Reagan have spoken out against extending tax cuts. From Alan Greenspan to Robert Reich, the tax cuts are a bad idea. The GOP and the Tea Party are for tax cuts, especially cuts for the wealthy.
None of this was meant to be in defense of President Obama, or the Democratic Party, or anyone else. Pointing out what the GOP is doing, what the Tea Party is doing, and what the wealthy are doing is a separate issue than the faults of the Obama Administration. There have been significant shortfalls in this Administration’s response to situations. But, the problems I see arising in anti-democratic forces are concerning. One should take note, that in the case of stalling economic recovery in order to pass more business friendly policies, no single party was singled out, only ideology.
What is going to happen in November? If we are lucky, it will just be a test to democracy. If we are unlucky, democracy will be severely wounded.
