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Radaghast's avatar

Woody’s “Rulin’s” are great! They’d mostly work well for all of us 21st Century folks too. We’ve come a long way, I think: “Change socks,” “Take bath.” But we’re still stuck in that same mud patch: “Eat good - fruit - vegetables - milk,” “wake up and fight,” “beat Fascism.”

This land was made for you and me!

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Becca's avatar

AMEN!! Overdue for the D Party to stop with the money pandering and take care of us out here-the"little people"!

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edith fusillo's avatar

So long as the GOP relies solely on mega donors to win elections, the Dems really can't play by different rules. We need federally funded elections with a level playing field for all. Until we get Citizens United OUT of our elections, Democrats still have to raise the money to compete.

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Mike Lewis's avatar

Happy New Year Jim!

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Brian Marcum's avatar

Amen! Happy New Year everyone! 2025 will be an interesting year to say the least. We do have the Lowdown,and that is a good thing to be happy about.

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Dan Miller's avatar

Forget the bit about the plutocrats looking out for the common good. The whole reason for this exercise that we've been suffering under the Koch's and their ilk since Thurgood Marshall was on the SC is that they don't care about the common good and see no reason why they should lift a finger to support it. Their attitude is that if the commoners wanted things good, they needed to do it themselves. The oligarchs have every right to do whatever they want in order to look out for their own good. That includes controlling markets, polluting the environment, suppressing the vote, buying congressmen, destroying unions, etc.

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Jean Jacoby's avatar

Thanks Jim, and Happy New Year! When my kids were little I had a CD of Woody songs that I played for them frequently, especially in the car, including, of course, This land. That song never gets old.

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clinton & susanne hollister's avatar

Woody got it right. We liked all of the rulins, , but especially the ones about dreaming good, hope, and loving everybody. They are so darn hard to do right now. Everything else falls into place (like Mama said it would). Keep trying! Happy New Year Jim, Deanna, and all Lowdowners near and far!

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David Balfour's avatar

Uber wealthy folks and corporations spend their $$$ on lobbying to influence legislation and avoid paying their share of taxes.You can balance the budget and reduce the national debt by taxing those with unconscionable amounts of wealth.Oh my... what a revolutionary idea!I must be some sort of bolshevik/commie/pinko....nope...just a retired school teacher with common sense.

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Bo Bowley's avatar

Can’t imagine that you’ll be inundated by the messages of appreciation from those folks. I would like to see more consideration from the big Ds for the little ds, though. Maybe this year! Keep pluggin’, Hightower!

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HiLarious's avatar

Hey, Jim, go see the new Bob Dylan biopic - it’s fantastic and there’s lots of Woody Guthrie bits!

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John Camburn's avatar

I liked your written newsletter much better than the electronic version that you're sending now.

Happy new years anyways

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Gordon Kruse's avatar

Great resolutions, Jim. Too bad the people in power won't be reading them.

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Rafi Simonton's avatar

"...only right we be in the same leaky boat as our constituents." That sure IS right. But they believe they're not in the same boat as us; they think they've been granted boarding passes to the gilded megayachts of the 1%ers and their corporate CEO allies.

Vessels on which they plan to escape the inevitable collapse of an econ system requiring endless growth on a finite planet.

Elitists, oligarchs, and plutocrats forget they need the rest of the crew. They're especially unaware of us oil smeared engine room workers who keep the ship moving.

Apologists for econopathy love to claim a rising tide lifts all boat. Ignoring how so many, like the urban working class and rural people, are firmly anchored to the bottom. And not by personal failure, but by the deliberate structure of trickle up economics.

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edith fusillo's avatar

Lots of luck with these, Jim. Can't imagine the folks you made resolutions for doing any of this. I'm just hoping I can get through the next year or two without grinding me teeth, what's left of them, to a nub. Happy New Year, Lowdowners.

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Patricia Ann Rogers's avatar

Good one, Jim! Happy new year!

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Eugene Atkinson's avatar

Remember the old radio/tv drama "The Millionaire?" Each week the fictional John Beresford Tipton gave someone a million dollars tax free--just to see what woujld happen. Imagine toays' billionaires doing that. They would never miss the money, it would create more millioinaires, and what fun it would be to watch.

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