The End Of A Decade:

One decade is ending and another is about to begin. In the nineteen sixties there was a book entitled the Crucial Decade by Eric F. Goldman. The focus of this book was the Cold War and the bipartisan support for the policy of containing the Soviet Union. It was this bipartisan support that provided the continuity of our opposition to the Soviet threat and won the Cold War. I will say to you that the decade now dawning is another crucial decade because the one now ending is a decade of crises. The new decade is crucial not just in regard to the threat posed by terrorists but also in regard to our financial health and our where with all to carry on the fight against those terrorists. Military strength without financial strength cannot be sustained, which is why the Soviet Union collapsed. Our financial weakness will very likely result in our collapse unless we correct it.

In the decade now ending we took a hard turn to the right and wound up in a ditch. The Bush administration gave huge tax breaks to the wealthiest people in the nation, thereby turning a Federal surplus into a huge deficit. He got us involved in two wars, one of which was totally unnecessary and a drain on our diminishing resources. His anti-regulation philosophy contributed greatly to AIG becoming too large to fail, and allowed the risky behavior of our financial institutions that nearly resulted in another great depression. One of the very few things President Bush did right was to listen to the economists and propose a stimulus bill to keep the economy from totally collapsing. Even though we were in the midst of a Presidential election campaign the Democratic Party acted responsibly and provided bipartisan support for that bill. Ironically, John McCain refused to support the stimulus bill, and most of the Republican Party openly opposed it. Their refusal to support the stimulus bill was a failure to grasp the reality of the situation. They simply refused to accept the fact that their enrich the rich, small government, anti-regulation philosophy had failed as surly as it had failed in nineteen twenty-nine.

This failure has made the Republicans desperate and dangerous. They continue to pound the anti-government drum. They are denying that there is a problem the government must take steps to solve. They insist that still more tax cuts for large corporations and the wealthy are all that is needed. They are doing this in spite of the fact that median family income dropped from $63,099 in the year two thousand to $61,521 in the year two thousand and nine. Furthermore, top executives are still receiving obscene compensation even when their companies are failing, and unemployment is teetering at ten percent. The Republican Party has gone beyond the traditional role of the loyal opposition. They are using the filibuster in the senate to block any meaningful reforms. If our businesses are going to compete with foreign companies, we must do something to control the cost of the health insurance they provide to their employees. If we are going to prevent another economic meltdown, we must pass regulations that will prevent Wall Street and AIG from indulging in the risky behavior that caused this meltdown. If we are going to solve the unemployment problem we must provide some incentives for increasing production and hiring more workers.

The Republican Party has made a bipartisan effort impossible. Their use of the filibuster is a cynical attempt to make the Obama Administration fail regardless of how much that might damage the country. They are doing this while serving the special interests that provide them with campaign funds. They are hoping that the failure to get anything meaningful passed over their obstruction and the millions of dollars they collect from the insurance companies, drug companies, and other special interests will allow them to regain power. If they succeed, it will be at your expense. The elections of two thousand and ten are the starting point of this crucial decade. They will decide whether we move forward or whether we sink deeper into a Republican recession that will hinder our ability to provide for ourselves and protect ourselves. The ultimate decision is yours. If you want a government that represents your interests, you must put forth the effort to take your government back. If you cannot campaign, contribute money. Above all, make sure that you vote for Democrats who are loyal to their party and its agenda.

A Government Bought And Paid For.

I cannot believe the arrogance of the insurance lobby. I just saw an advertisement opposing health care reform. Sixty percent of the public favors a public insurance option yet the insurance industry actually listed and showed pictures of the senators who are blocking it. The Insurance companies are touting those senators as heroes. This is, in fact, a list of the insurance industry’s employees of the year. All of those senators are bought and paid for. They are not representing you; they are representing a very powerful special interest. Here is a hint for you. The insurance companies are not your friends. Those companies want to make as much money as possible. They want to provide their top executives with exorbitant bonuses, salaries and perks, and they do not care how many of you die or are forced into bankruptcy because you cannot afford health care. The advertisement I am referring to is a boast. The insurance industry is actually bragging about their ability to buy your government. If you are not outraged by this, you should be!

Everyone seems to be talking about voter disaffection and anger. Well, the voters should be angry, but they should take the time to find out who is to blame. I suggest to you that a good place to start is with the insurance industry’s list of employees of the year. Start with Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Blanch Lincoln of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and every senator who belongs to the Republican Party. Get on your computer and send them e-mails, tell your friends about them, and make damn sure that you vote against them when they come up for re-election. Let the word go out that you will no longer tolerate elected officials who represent the special interests rather than you. If you do not make an effort to take your government back, you have no one but yourself to blame.

I know many of you are saying there are other things that make you angrier than our broken health care system. I know you are upset about the sluggish economy and high unemployment. I know that the economy and unemployment have a more immediate impact on you unless you get sick, and that you want the economy and employment to be the priority. Unfortunately, the Republican Party is no longer the Grand Old Party. Instead it has degenerated into the party of DOB, which stands for Deny, Obstruct, and Blame. The Republicans are denying that it was their failed policies and the ineptitude of the Bush administration that caused the economy to collapse, and they are using the filibuster to prevent the government from dealing with the crises. The Republicans are hoping that you will forget about the gridlock that they and the blue dog Democrats are creating, and that you will blame the Democratic Party for not solving the problems the Republicans created. In this regard, health care reform is the opening battle in your war to take back your government and make it responsive to your needs. If you let the insurance industry win this battle, the Republicans and the blue dogs will be emboldened. The Republicans already plan to use the filibuster against any effort to further stimulate the economy or provide jobs.

You must make your stand now! The banks are hoping that the Republicans and blue dog Democrats can thwart meaningful reforms that will force them to get back into the business of providing loans to homeowners and small businesses rather than speculating on ventures that involve greater risks and greater potential profits. Investment firms are hoping they can still pass off the losses resulting from risky behavior to the small investors while providing their executives with obscene golden parachutes. Big businesses are hoping they can continue to outsource jobs to places with cheaper labor. The Republicans and special interests are hoping you will join the lunatic conventions called tea parties. They are counting on you losing your focus and joining the dupes who do not have the brains to recognize the real issues. The Republicans do not think you are smart enough to realize that they are to blame for the inability to pass meaningful legislation, and that you will vote against Democratic incumbents simply because they are incumbents. Do not let them get away with this. Direct your anger where it will do some good. You have the ability to determine who is representing you and who is representing the special interests. The ones representing the special interests are making that all too easy by opposing the public option. Now is the time to draw the line in the sand. Now is the time to let the blue dogs know that the threat of joining a filibuster to thwart the will of their party and a majority of their constituents will be punished. Now is the time to let the Republicans know that becoming the party of DOB will result in becoming an irrelevant party that will not have enough elected members to keep the senate from functioning! Do not wait until they defeat the next vital reform or program with a filibuster, make them hear you now!

The World According To Gop

The Republican Party strategist thought it was a wonderful coincident that his parents had named him Gop. GOP is, after all, another name for the Republican Party. GOP stands for grand old party, regardless of the fact that so many people now say the initials stand for “greedy old plutocrats.” The fact that he was named Gop allowed this Republican to name his political encyclopedia “The World According To Gop.” Here are some excerpts:

Articles and Definitions:

Business: The insurance companies, drug companies and other large corporations we really represent as opposed to the small businesses and people who think we represent them.

Deficit Spending: What liberals create with stimulus programs and such as opposed to the deficits we create by giving large tax breaks to the wealthy and getting into unnecessary wars.

Golden Parachute: Lucrative lobbying positions with the businesses we represented before our constituents finally figured out what we were doing to them.

Government Regulations and Programs: Pure evil. The government does not throw money at me. It does not contribute to my campaign or yours. The interests you and I represent do throw money at us, and they do not like regulations or government programs.

Liberal: Traditionally it means anyone favoring reform or progress. Now it means anyone who is more concerned with facts than beliefs. They will drive you crazy with the facts. They also want the rich to pay their fair share for the greater good. The rich do not like taxes, and they are the ones who have the money to support you and me. Always portray liberals as politicians who want to tax everyone to death.

Madoff: Originally the name of the man who ran a ponzi scheme that demonstrated the consequences of not enforcing even the most basic regulations. Some Republican senators are ignoring the fact that this lack of enforcement was typical of the Bush administration. Those clever senators are now accusing the Democrats of acting like Mr. Madoff by proposing a public health insurance option that would do the same thing that private insurance companies have been doing all these years. In other words, they are saying a government option would not provide the care consumers are purchasing and that the price of the care that is provided would rapidly escalate. This projection of the insurance industry’s behavior is a classic example of how to turn a double negative into a positive. Way to go guys!

Morality: The standard to which we hold our opponents while trying to hide or justify the transgressions of the members of our party.

Option: Forget the dictionary definition. Your constituents will not look it up or read the proposed legislation. Just tell them that if the government is involved in any way, shape or form, it is a government takeover or socialism.

Party Loyalty: We enforce party loyalty. We will tea party and primary any member of our party that will not join us in a filibuster. The Democrats appear to be too weak to do that to the insurance industry’s gang of four (Sen. Joe Lieberman, Con.; Sen. Blanch Lincoln, Ark; Sen. Ben Nelson, Neb.; and Sen. Mary Landrieu, LA).

Projection: Accuse your opponent of acting like you do. Your constituents believe all politicians are corrupt anyhow, and most people are inclined to vote for the whores they know.

Public Interest: Is whatever you say it is as long as you get re-elected.

Reality: It is only important if your constituents find out what it is. What is important is what your constituents believe or will believe.

Republican Health Care Reform: Allow the insurance companies to move to the state with the fewest regulations and consumer protections. Keep insurance companies exempt from anti-trust laws so they can continue to limit the consumers’ choices, and force everyone who is young and healthy to buy private health insurance coverage.

Republican Economic Solutions: Continue to enrich the rich and insist that they will make everything better.

Rich: The people we represent and hope to be.

Socialism: The bogyman we use to scare the gullible into thinking that any government regulation or program will result in the Government taking over every aspect of their lives.

Special Interest: Any person, company, or organization that supports our opponents.

Supply Side Economics: Tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations who do not need tax relief and will not spend the savings on things that create jobs. They will invest those savings, however, and doing so will artificially inflate the price of stock thereby giving the illusion of prosperity. Appearance is always more important than reality.

MOVING MY BLOG

This is a notice to those of you who frequently visit this blog and to those of who have a link to any of the writings contained herein. I am moving the stories, the entertaining columns and the entertaining essays to http://macsbackporch.foxtail-farms.com. I have already started entering those writings into the new address. I will delete those writings from macsbackporch.blogspot.com on December 29, 2009. My intention is to make the new blog what Mac’s Back Porch was intended to be. Which is to say a blog that simply entertains you. This blog, macsbackporch.blogspot.com, will then become the place where I post political comments and more serious commentaries. I hope this move does not inconvenience you too much. It is motivated by a strong desire to know how many people are reading my fiction.