Will Rogers joked that when thousands of rural Oklahomans fled the 1930s Dust Bowl and migrated to California: “It raised the intellectual level of both states.”
America is not the only corrupt society, but it may be the only one that has glorified greed and elevated corruption. It has also given it a face that the whole world recognizes. That face is a lovely shade of glow-in-the-dark orange. Democrats are as easily seduced by the empty promises of wealth and power as the next person, being human. But give them credit, they are at least not trying to destroy democracy. Let's hear it for the good apples.
Yay for an interim Presidential Administration that is representative of the registered voters! Acting President for the lndependents l nominate U.S. Senator Bernard Sanders I-VT, acting Vice President to represent the Republicans l nominate Vance and to represent the Democrats l nominate Walz. Dump Trump
Standing behind the president at the innauguration were the oligarch of communcation,the oligarch of delivery,the oligarch ofsocial media etc.. oligarchy is a mafia based system where oligarchs control aterritory like mafia capos and give kickbacks to the don,that is why our president going down that path.
Yes. That, and the worship of people who have money. The toxic personality cult based on wealth and power, and the idiotic belief that the richest people must also be the best, is deeply disturbing. The result is that such "geniuses" are seen as the leaders we need. and they can do "whatever the hell they want to."
I'm a gay male, and I remember all the way back in the 1970s when, before elections, the Democrats insisted that they supported gay rights, and we would get equality before the law -- only to be told AFTER the election that there were "more pressing issues" but the Democratic Party was listening to us and would get back to us on equality.
The next election cycle came up; and once again we were told that the Democrats insisted that they supported gay rights, and we would get equality before the law. After the election, we were told once again that there were "more pressing issues" but the Democratic Party was listening to us and would get back to us on equality. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Five rounds of that, and I pretty much wrote off the Democratic Party. They let me down again when they enthusiastically supported "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" -- until they didn't support it; and then the Democrats enthusiastically supported the "Defense of Marriage Act" -- until they didn't support it. (Ask Hillary and Bill Clinton.)
I lived in Austin, Texas at the time -- Texas' supposedly "liberal" city. FYI: Austin is not really "liberal" -- it's LIBERTARIAN, and there's a big difference between the two political systems. Austin is kind of, sort of nice to us LGBT folk, unless we ask for something or we're the victims of a crime. Then, we're on our own. I found that out quickly enough when I lived in Austin.
I look at Chuck Schumer and how he's "countering" Donald Trump. He might as well place his hands against his ribs, with his elbows sticking out like chicken wings, and flap his elbows while chanting in a high, Tweetie-bird voice, "WE WILL WIN!" "WE WILL WIN!"
Now - there ARE Democrats I vote for. I am very, very happy with Lloyd Doggett, who has the courage of his convictions. I have the greatest respect for Greg Casar. I thought you were an awesome boss back in 1985 when you were running the Texas Department of Agriculture and I worked there; and a pleasant neighbor (I lived three blocks away from you and I would wave "hi" to you and we'd occasionally have a conversation.) I am helping to fund the "Killer D's" who left Texas to stop redistricting. I hope Boss Abbott reads this and tries to have me arrested. I DARE Boss Abbott to try to have me arrested. I support AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
I hate to say it, but at least 70 percent of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House are not worth a bucket of spit. I get the feeling they do as they're told to do; vote the way they're told to do; and are completely out of touch with their constituents. They're entrenched: they're there for the prestige and the perks.
I will not give so much as ONE NICKEL to the DSCC, the DCCC or the DNC. I saw what they did in red states during 2024 -- leaving Democratic candidates to fund themselves while they funded shoo-in Democratic candidates and,as a result, the Democratic Party lost BIGLY. They pulled defeat out of the jaws of victory, and this is what we got as a result.
Ya basta! Enough, already! I am through with corporate Democrats and a corporate DNC who are in this to serve themselves. If they want my vote, and my money -- they'd damn well better figure out exactly WHAT they stand for: "We hate Donald Trump" isn't cutting it.
Overturn Citizens United which opened the floodgate of Corporate Henchmen. My $5 donation can't compete with Corporations billions. We need at least a 3 party system. Progressives must
break away from Corporate Democrats. A Green Party is also needed. Why are we so far behind the rest of the World? A 2-party system is a non-starter.
We need a party that can pay down the deficit, that will benefit all taxpayers. It was disappointing that climate change was left out of the 24 election. The costs of natural disasters are costing taxpayers a lot of money and highlight the need for democrats clean energy policies. Democrats should stick with health care, workers wages, ecological sanity and please pay off the deficit, it won't be easy after the sequel of the bankrupt sore loser.
The federal deficit is different because the Treasury is the source of money. Besides, unlike business accounting, only fed debits are counted, not assets. What's a national park, aircraft carrier, or publicly funded medical research worth?
Dogmatic economics called neo-classical (neolib if Dem) are now almost totally dominant. With assumptions like banks merely facilitate exchanges between buyer and seller. Not true; with loans, banks create money--up to 90% more than what they have as assets. Obviously a huge factor. Or that ignore personal debt, the total of which is far greater than the national debt. But because of wages being flat, the same in constant $ since the late '70s, we peasants have to be in debt if we want things like food and somewhere to live.
There are of course limits because there is a relation between monstrous deficits and inflation. But paying off the national debt entirely only benefits the 1%ers and leads to deflation plus a stagnant economy if not a full on Depression.
Examples of optimal economics, good for us, the working class majority, are the New Deal and Keynesian plans elsewhere. Plenty of stats to prove that. The current system comes from Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of Economics. Based on little more than a hatred of the New Deal, but favored by 1%ers and corporations. And you know whose beliefs count.
This peasant has been debt free for 13 years. Our tax dollars could be used for something besides paying interest on the debt which is a large percentage of where our taxes go. Paying interest is counter productive plain and simple .
You're conflating two different things--the (alleged) national debt and interest payments. Conservatives and other defenders of econopathy encourage us to think of the U.S. budget as like a personal household one. It isn't; I've listed some reasons why.
But it gives right wingers justification for cuts to beneficial programs like Social Security with their alarming claim "we're spending beyond our means." As if taxes were like deposits in some bank that are drawn on to pay the bills. So if not enough to cover expenses, then borrowing with interest happens. But this assumes the govt. is a currency user. It's not--it's the source; it spends first, making dollars available to pay taxes, buy bonds, expand a business, whatever.
Furthermore, when the govt. spends, supposedly a loss, others in the community gain. Like $ for a federal highway go to a contracting business and to the workers building it. Who in turn spend in their local community. Also, say you pay $500 in taxes. That's subtracted from your bank acct, and the Federal Reserve Bank subtracts $500 from the bank's reserves. When the govt. spends more than it taxes, the banking system has larger reserve balances; i.e. fiscal deficits increase the aggregate reserve supply.
Interest IS paid on federal bonds. How they're issued is complex. But the basic reason is to support interest rates, not to provide money to run govt. Interest rates set by the Fed determine the operations of the entire economy.
Hyman Minsky was first to see this form of alt. economics, especially in relation to financial instability--crashes. Also its benefit for labor. The contemporary version is called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT.) The best intro, which pretty much avoids econ jargon, is //The Deficit Myth// by Stephanie Kelton. Other useful sources are //Modern Monetary Theory and Its Critics// by Fulbrook and Morgan, and //Why Minsky Matters// by L. Randall Wray. There are also alt. economists with some other relevant ideas, but too much to continue here.
If your money is spent on interest it isn't buying tangible finite products. If you know anyone who desires to buy interest instead of products I have millions in interest to sell. Please respond with how much interest you are interested in buying and bank account info.
You haven't understood what I wrote. Or maybe you support this econopathy so beloved of banksters and 1%ers. Read carefully, especially about gov finance. You're NOT '"spending money on interest." For clarity, read Kelton. It's easy to react to what seems like common sense. But that's faulty, and I explained in detail why. It takes more than a few seconds to process econ material. It took me years; I'm just trying to get people to realize the fallacies of this econ system and its right wing propagandists.
If reading Kelton makes me think I should spend my money on interest instead of paying cash for houses I'm not interested. China just sold a lot of American debt, with our credit rating going down and the country being run by a bankrupt insurrectionist I don't want to buy government bills either.
I was pretty middle of the road politically in the 1980s, but everyone moved to right since then, including the Dem Party. I stayed in the same place - I want now what I wanted then - but now I'm considered "far left."
By people who don't know history. The ignorant proclaim Dem as "far left" when today's tepid D party in context is center-right. Left should mean socialist, including democratic socialists and the old CIO labor movement; far left meant communist--and they're not monolithic, either. Truth is the presence of a strong real left in the 30s-70s kept the D party and similar throughout the world on their toes. They had to do things for us, the majority working class, or risk political defeat or worse.
The D party elite no longer fears us, the masses. They assume we who vote have no choice. The disillusioned vote NO by not voting at all. By shifting to the right, the Ds helped enable the Rs, who actually had progressives into the late 70s, shift to a party only for plutocrats, techie anarcho-capitalists, and Christofascists. Whereas the D party settled for representing the upper middle class 20% professionals and administrators. Both parties corporate funded.
Can you imagine any of this sorry lot speaking like FDR? Who in 1936 said about the banksters, war profiteers, and heirs of the Robber Barons "I welcome their hatred." Or in a 1944 speech called for an economic Bill of Rights. Rights to a job, decent pay, housing, and good education. I want what was our party back, and I want New Deal Democrats!
You can't eat, breathe or drink gold or money. The government speaks big numbers of dollars which is all that matters to a corporation, it being a government sanctioned legal fiction of non-responsibility that exists for no other purpose than to turn a pecuniary profit. The entire corporate structure needs to be changed.
It's not that simple. Unlike Democrat capitalists, the MAGA Republican capitalists - at least the ones behind Project 2025 now in control of all three branches of government, are far worse.
They are not stupid, so they must know perfectly well that climate change is caused by fossil fuel emissions. If that is true, then why do they want to ramp up fossil fuel emissions and dismantle FEMA, NOAA, and other agencies whose alerts protect people from floods, fires, and violent weather events made worse by climate change? And why do they want to shred social safety nets and deport immigrants back to places that are likely to kill them?
All their intentions make it obvious to me that they want people to die. Lots of people. Maybe even most. I think they believe the world is overpopulated and Project 2025's unwritten goal is to depopulate the Earth, leaving its resources to people rich enough to protect themselves from global warming, a population small enough to live sustainably on Earth's limited resources.
How can demands that they stop selling out our futures in so many ways change their behavior? Selling out our futures is exactly what they're trying to do, and they know Trump's totalitarian takeover leaves us powerless to stop them.
Our only hope is for the House to introduce another article of impeachment against Trump every time he commits another high crime or misdemeanor, which is practically every day. Eventually House Republicans will get tired of going on record all the time defending his treason, and they will eventually vote to impeach him. Republicans in the Senate will get tired of going on record defending his treason, and eventually convict him. If Republicans in Congress want to improve their chances of keeping their jobs, Trump will be impeached and convicted before the midterm elections.
Project 2025 is a late chapter of a playbook that started in 1971 with the Powell Memo (easily found w/ search.) Powell then was a corporate atty who became a Supreme Court judge. He was part of the '76 decision Buckley v. Valeo defining limits on campaign spending as a restriction of free speech.
The Powell memo was corporate whining about the New Deal, still dominant with Dems. By the late '70s, the D party was usurped by neolibs who abandoned labor and dumped the New Deal. I know because as a rank and file blue collar union activist and local D campaign mgr. I fought them. Under Clinton, New Deal financial regs were repealed, leading to the meltdown of '08. Under Obama, Wall St. was bailed out while the millions who lost jobs, pensions, houses got nothing. Their anger lingers.
This econopathy says nature is without value until processed. So bottled water has value, as does its petrochem container, but not the water's source. Corporate accounting defines away devastated human communities and destroyed ecosystems as 'externalities.' We older folks remember when we were personnel; you know, people. Now we're "human resources," things like natural resources to be used up and the remnants tossed aside. That the D elite says nothing means they're just the softer face of the same deadly system. Maybe a nicer, slower way to reduce us, the majority working class, to serfdom and simmer the Earth until cooked. All because corporations must by law focus only on profit and therefore must keep growing.
I waver sometimes, but it's better to bet on hope than give up completely. As Jim has pointed out repeatedly, the old Populists (farmer-labor alliance) won despite their heavy repression by the powerful. They organized real grassroots groups, built coalitions, and when they won elections, did what they said they would.
Jim, I think you misread the history of the Democratic and Republican Parties. Throughout the Democratic Party's history, it has been ruled by monied elites. (Just a couple of examples, Tammany Hall, The Daley Machine.) The Party was founded by a pre-corporate elite, Thomas Jefferson. I've got nothing against Jefferson. I think he was the closest thing to an actual embodiment of the Enlightment ideals that has ever lived. On the other hand, when the Republican Party started, it was more of a people's party than the Democrats. (i.e. the party of Lincoln) As is usual for the rich, they slowly but surely used their money to gain control of the Republican Party. (it didn't take long, e.g. the teapot dome scandal) The only time the Democrats became the party of the people, in the modern era, was during the depression. The depression caused people to flock to the Democratic Party and because FDR was smart enough to appeal to the newly empoverished, they became the party of the people. Once he got elected and started implementing reforms, even more people flocked to the Democratic Party. Reformers were able to gain influence within the party because the wealthy elites were severally weakened due to the depression. There was still tension between the corporate elites of that time and FDR's administration. He was even accused of being a class traitor my some elites. But, as soon as FDR died, the corporate elites, who had recovered from the depression, as had most of the country, started working to take back the government. Today, the corporate elites control both parties and they will never relinquish control. It's no accident that the majority of members in the House and Senate are millionaires. It's not surprising that the Supreme Court always rules in favor of the wealthy (except for a brief period in time at the end of the 20th century. If you look at the history of the Court, it almost always ruled in favor of the wealthy.) This country's need for a party that represents working people has always existed from the birth of our founding. This problem will continue to exist until the people are able to take control of the government and threaten the wealth of the corporate elites. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening in our lifetime.
The big question here that is not adequately being addressed is what do democrats and independents going to do if and when this administration declares martial law and suspends the midterm elections? We have no power, no control over any police or military and the courts have no power when Republicans give them the big middle finger. The process has begun with the deployment of national guard to DC and the federalization of the DC police. No real push back? Move on to the next big city until they have control over the major population areas. I fear it is already too late to head this off without major, major protests and its resulting bloodshed.
Of course, a corporation is not really a living, breathing, eating, drinking organism, despite the S.C.O.T.U.S. opinion that it is and that the money that the government speaks is the ticket to the Corporations freedom of speech in our U.S.A. Elections.
There must be a middle ground for everyone soon or we will continue to slide into an Autocracy, and it will take decades to recover any semblance of Democracy, Freedom , and the Constitutional Order.
America is not the only corrupt society, but it may be the only one that has glorified greed and elevated corruption. It has also given it a face that the whole world recognizes. That face is a lovely shade of glow-in-the-dark orange. Democrats are as easily seduced by the empty promises of wealth and power as the next person, being human. But give them credit, they are at least not trying to destroy democracy. Let's hear it for the good apples.
Yay for an interim Presidential Administration that is representative of the registered voters! Acting President for the lndependents l nominate U.S. Senator Bernard Sanders I-VT, acting Vice President to represent the Republicans l nominate Vance and to represent the Democrats l nominate Walz. Dump Trump
We need open primaries so independents can participate. Till then it will be a contest between the right wing nuts v. The left wing nuts
Yes!
Right on!
In my opinion our economic system has morphed into Corporate Socialism. A government for, of and by the Corporation.
I think you're thinking of "oligarchy" -- and we are no longer a representative democracy. The United States is very much an oligarchy.
Standing behind the president at the innauguration were the oligarch of communcation,the oligarch of delivery,the oligarch ofsocial media etc.. oligarchy is a mafia based system where oligarchs control aterritory like mafia capos and give kickbacks to the don,that is why our president going down that path.
As is your custom, you nailed the problem: The Democratic party must give up being ‘RepubliCON Light’ and return to being actual ‘Democrats’.
Worship of money is the phenomenon in America that I find most disappointing. We can and must do better.
Yes. That, and the worship of people who have money. The toxic personality cult based on wealth and power, and the idiotic belief that the richest people must also be the best, is deeply disturbing. The result is that such "geniuses" are seen as the leaders we need. and they can do "whatever the hell they want to."
We Liberal Old Ladies need to stick together🧓
Their Bible calls it "Mammon."
I have been a Democratic Socialist for decades.
I'm a gay male, and I remember all the way back in the 1970s when, before elections, the Democrats insisted that they supported gay rights, and we would get equality before the law -- only to be told AFTER the election that there were "more pressing issues" but the Democratic Party was listening to us and would get back to us on equality.
The next election cycle came up; and once again we were told that the Democrats insisted that they supported gay rights, and we would get equality before the law. After the election, we were told once again that there were "more pressing issues" but the Democratic Party was listening to us and would get back to us on equality. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Five rounds of that, and I pretty much wrote off the Democratic Party. They let me down again when they enthusiastically supported "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" -- until they didn't support it; and then the Democrats enthusiastically supported the "Defense of Marriage Act" -- until they didn't support it. (Ask Hillary and Bill Clinton.)
I lived in Austin, Texas at the time -- Texas' supposedly "liberal" city. FYI: Austin is not really "liberal" -- it's LIBERTARIAN, and there's a big difference between the two political systems. Austin is kind of, sort of nice to us LGBT folk, unless we ask for something or we're the victims of a crime. Then, we're on our own. I found that out quickly enough when I lived in Austin.
I look at Chuck Schumer and how he's "countering" Donald Trump. He might as well place his hands against his ribs, with his elbows sticking out like chicken wings, and flap his elbows while chanting in a high, Tweetie-bird voice, "WE WILL WIN!" "WE WILL WIN!"
Now - there ARE Democrats I vote for. I am very, very happy with Lloyd Doggett, who has the courage of his convictions. I have the greatest respect for Greg Casar. I thought you were an awesome boss back in 1985 when you were running the Texas Department of Agriculture and I worked there; and a pleasant neighbor (I lived three blocks away from you and I would wave "hi" to you and we'd occasionally have a conversation.) I am helping to fund the "Killer D's" who left Texas to stop redistricting. I hope Boss Abbott reads this and tries to have me arrested. I DARE Boss Abbott to try to have me arrested. I support AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
I hate to say it, but at least 70 percent of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House are not worth a bucket of spit. I get the feeling they do as they're told to do; vote the way they're told to do; and are completely out of touch with their constituents. They're entrenched: they're there for the prestige and the perks.
I will not give so much as ONE NICKEL to the DSCC, the DCCC or the DNC. I saw what they did in red states during 2024 -- leaving Democratic candidates to fund themselves while they funded shoo-in Democratic candidates and,as a result, the Democratic Party lost BIGLY. They pulled defeat out of the jaws of victory, and this is what we got as a result.
Ya basta! Enough, already! I am through with corporate Democrats and a corporate DNC who are in this to serve themselves. If they want my vote, and my money -- they'd damn well better figure out exactly WHAT they stand for: "We hate Donald Trump" isn't cutting it.
Overturn Citizens United which opened the floodgate of Corporate Henchmen. My $5 donation can't compete with Corporations billions. We need at least a 3 party system. Progressives must
break away from Corporate Democrats. A Green Party is also needed. Why are we so far behind the rest of the World? A 2-party system is a non-starter.
We need a party that can pay down the deficit, that will benefit all taxpayers. It was disappointing that climate change was left out of the 24 election. The costs of natural disasters are costing taxpayers a lot of money and highlight the need for democrats clean energy policies. Democrats should stick with health care, workers wages, ecological sanity and please pay off the deficit, it won't be easy after the sequel of the bankrupt sore loser.
The federal deficit is different because the Treasury is the source of money. Besides, unlike business accounting, only fed debits are counted, not assets. What's a national park, aircraft carrier, or publicly funded medical research worth?
Dogmatic economics called neo-classical (neolib if Dem) are now almost totally dominant. With assumptions like banks merely facilitate exchanges between buyer and seller. Not true; with loans, banks create money--up to 90% more than what they have as assets. Obviously a huge factor. Or that ignore personal debt, the total of which is far greater than the national debt. But because of wages being flat, the same in constant $ since the late '70s, we peasants have to be in debt if we want things like food and somewhere to live.
There are of course limits because there is a relation between monstrous deficits and inflation. But paying off the national debt entirely only benefits the 1%ers and leads to deflation plus a stagnant economy if not a full on Depression.
Examples of optimal economics, good for us, the working class majority, are the New Deal and Keynesian plans elsewhere. Plenty of stats to prove that. The current system comes from Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of Economics. Based on little more than a hatred of the New Deal, but favored by 1%ers and corporations. And you know whose beliefs count.
This peasant has been debt free for 13 years. Our tax dollars could be used for something besides paying interest on the debt which is a large percentage of where our taxes go. Paying interest is counter productive plain and simple .
You're conflating two different things--the (alleged) national debt and interest payments. Conservatives and other defenders of econopathy encourage us to think of the U.S. budget as like a personal household one. It isn't; I've listed some reasons why.
But it gives right wingers justification for cuts to beneficial programs like Social Security with their alarming claim "we're spending beyond our means." As if taxes were like deposits in some bank that are drawn on to pay the bills. So if not enough to cover expenses, then borrowing with interest happens. But this assumes the govt. is a currency user. It's not--it's the source; it spends first, making dollars available to pay taxes, buy bonds, expand a business, whatever.
Furthermore, when the govt. spends, supposedly a loss, others in the community gain. Like $ for a federal highway go to a contracting business and to the workers building it. Who in turn spend in their local community. Also, say you pay $500 in taxes. That's subtracted from your bank acct, and the Federal Reserve Bank subtracts $500 from the bank's reserves. When the govt. spends more than it taxes, the banking system has larger reserve balances; i.e. fiscal deficits increase the aggregate reserve supply.
Interest IS paid on federal bonds. How they're issued is complex. But the basic reason is to support interest rates, not to provide money to run govt. Interest rates set by the Fed determine the operations of the entire economy.
Hyman Minsky was first to see this form of alt. economics, especially in relation to financial instability--crashes. Also its benefit for labor. The contemporary version is called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT.) The best intro, which pretty much avoids econ jargon, is //The Deficit Myth// by Stephanie Kelton. Other useful sources are //Modern Monetary Theory and Its Critics// by Fulbrook and Morgan, and //Why Minsky Matters// by L. Randall Wray. There are also alt. economists with some other relevant ideas, but too much to continue here.
If your money is spent on interest it isn't buying tangible finite products. If you know anyone who desires to buy interest instead of products I have millions in interest to sell. Please respond with how much interest you are interested in buying and bank account info.
You haven't understood what I wrote. Or maybe you support this econopathy so beloved of banksters and 1%ers. Read carefully, especially about gov finance. You're NOT '"spending money on interest." For clarity, read Kelton. It's easy to react to what seems like common sense. But that's faulty, and I explained in detail why. It takes more than a few seconds to process econ material. It took me years; I'm just trying to get people to realize the fallacies of this econ system and its right wing propagandists.
If reading Kelton makes me think I should spend my money on interest instead of paying cash for houses I'm not interested. China just sold a lot of American debt, with our credit rating going down and the country being run by a bankrupt insurrectionist I don't want to buy government bills either.
For A Better America, We Must Help Elect Progressives!
I was pretty middle of the road politically in the 1980s, but everyone moved to right since then, including the Dem Party. I stayed in the same place - I want now what I wanted then - but now I'm considered "far left."
By people who don't know history. The ignorant proclaim Dem as "far left" when today's tepid D party in context is center-right. Left should mean socialist, including democratic socialists and the old CIO labor movement; far left meant communist--and they're not monolithic, either. Truth is the presence of a strong real left in the 30s-70s kept the D party and similar throughout the world on their toes. They had to do things for us, the majority working class, or risk political defeat or worse.
The D party elite no longer fears us, the masses. They assume we who vote have no choice. The disillusioned vote NO by not voting at all. By shifting to the right, the Ds helped enable the Rs, who actually had progressives into the late 70s, shift to a party only for plutocrats, techie anarcho-capitalists, and Christofascists. Whereas the D party settled for representing the upper middle class 20% professionals and administrators. Both parties corporate funded.
Can you imagine any of this sorry lot speaking like FDR? Who in 1936 said about the banksters, war profiteers, and heirs of the Robber Barons "I welcome their hatred." Or in a 1944 speech called for an economic Bill of Rights. Rights to a job, decent pay, housing, and good education. I want what was our party back, and I want New Deal Democrats!
So do we! Oh, how we wish!
Money rules!
The Golden Rule: "He who has the most gold, rules".
You can't eat, breathe or drink gold or money. The government speaks big numbers of dollars which is all that matters to a corporation, it being a government sanctioned legal fiction of non-responsibility that exists for no other purpose than to turn a pecuniary profit. The entire corporate structure needs to be changed.
It's not that simple. Unlike Democrat capitalists, the MAGA Republican capitalists - at least the ones behind Project 2025 now in control of all three branches of government, are far worse.
They are not stupid, so they must know perfectly well that climate change is caused by fossil fuel emissions. If that is true, then why do they want to ramp up fossil fuel emissions and dismantle FEMA, NOAA, and other agencies whose alerts protect people from floods, fires, and violent weather events made worse by climate change? And why do they want to shred social safety nets and deport immigrants back to places that are likely to kill them?
All their intentions make it obvious to me that they want people to die. Lots of people. Maybe even most. I think they believe the world is overpopulated and Project 2025's unwritten goal is to depopulate the Earth, leaving its resources to people rich enough to protect themselves from global warming, a population small enough to live sustainably on Earth's limited resources.
How can demands that they stop selling out our futures in so many ways change their behavior? Selling out our futures is exactly what they're trying to do, and they know Trump's totalitarian takeover leaves us powerless to stop them.
Our only hope is for the House to introduce another article of impeachment against Trump every time he commits another high crime or misdemeanor, which is practically every day. Eventually House Republicans will get tired of going on record all the time defending his treason, and they will eventually vote to impeach him. Republicans in the Senate will get tired of going on record defending his treason, and eventually convict him. If Republicans in Congress want to improve their chances of keeping their jobs, Trump will be impeached and convicted before the midterm elections.
If this hope is delusional, please tell me why.
Project 2025 is a late chapter of a playbook that started in 1971 with the Powell Memo (easily found w/ search.) Powell then was a corporate atty who became a Supreme Court judge. He was part of the '76 decision Buckley v. Valeo defining limits on campaign spending as a restriction of free speech.
The Powell memo was corporate whining about the New Deal, still dominant with Dems. By the late '70s, the D party was usurped by neolibs who abandoned labor and dumped the New Deal. I know because as a rank and file blue collar union activist and local D campaign mgr. I fought them. Under Clinton, New Deal financial regs were repealed, leading to the meltdown of '08. Under Obama, Wall St. was bailed out while the millions who lost jobs, pensions, houses got nothing. Their anger lingers.
This econopathy says nature is without value until processed. So bottled water has value, as does its petrochem container, but not the water's source. Corporate accounting defines away devastated human communities and destroyed ecosystems as 'externalities.' We older folks remember when we were personnel; you know, people. Now we're "human resources," things like natural resources to be used up and the remnants tossed aside. That the D elite says nothing means they're just the softer face of the same deadly system. Maybe a nicer, slower way to reduce us, the majority working class, to serfdom and simmer the Earth until cooked. All because corporations must by law focus only on profit and therefore must keep growing.
I waver sometimes, but it's better to bet on hope than give up completely. As Jim has pointed out repeatedly, the old Populists (farmer-labor alliance) won despite their heavy repression by the powerful. They organized real grassroots groups, built coalitions, and when they won elections, did what they said they would.
Jim, I think you misread the history of the Democratic and Republican Parties. Throughout the Democratic Party's history, it has been ruled by monied elites. (Just a couple of examples, Tammany Hall, The Daley Machine.) The Party was founded by a pre-corporate elite, Thomas Jefferson. I've got nothing against Jefferson. I think he was the closest thing to an actual embodiment of the Enlightment ideals that has ever lived. On the other hand, when the Republican Party started, it was more of a people's party than the Democrats. (i.e. the party of Lincoln) As is usual for the rich, they slowly but surely used their money to gain control of the Republican Party. (it didn't take long, e.g. the teapot dome scandal) The only time the Democrats became the party of the people, in the modern era, was during the depression. The depression caused people to flock to the Democratic Party and because FDR was smart enough to appeal to the newly empoverished, they became the party of the people. Once he got elected and started implementing reforms, even more people flocked to the Democratic Party. Reformers were able to gain influence within the party because the wealthy elites were severally weakened due to the depression. There was still tension between the corporate elites of that time and FDR's administration. He was even accused of being a class traitor my some elites. But, as soon as FDR died, the corporate elites, who had recovered from the depression, as had most of the country, started working to take back the government. Today, the corporate elites control both parties and they will never relinquish control. It's no accident that the majority of members in the House and Senate are millionaires. It's not surprising that the Supreme Court always rules in favor of the wealthy (except for a brief period in time at the end of the 20th century. If you look at the history of the Court, it almost always ruled in favor of the wealthy.) This country's need for a party that represents working people has always existed from the birth of our founding. This problem will continue to exist until the people are able to take control of the government and threaten the wealth of the corporate elites. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening in our lifetime.
The big question here that is not adequately being addressed is what do democrats and independents going to do if and when this administration declares martial law and suspends the midterm elections? We have no power, no control over any police or military and the courts have no power when Republicans give them the big middle finger. The process has begun with the deployment of national guard to DC and the federalization of the DC police. No real push back? Move on to the next big city until they have control over the major population areas. I fear it is already too late to head this off without major, major protests and its resulting bloodshed.
Yup
I think some very bad things might happen. (sigh) Maybe they need to happen. 😔
Thank you for this! I want to believe that there is still some hope for the Democratic Party, but instead I feel betrayed.
Of course, a corporation is not really a living, breathing, eating, drinking organism, despite the S.C.O.T.U.S. opinion that it is and that the money that the government speaks is the ticket to the Corporations freedom of speech in our U.S.A. Elections.
There must be a middle ground for everyone soon or we will continue to slide into an Autocracy, and it will take decades to recover any semblance of Democracy, Freedom , and the Constitutional Order.