Tuesday, September 28, 2010

It's Actually Been A Pretty Good Decade For Some Of Us

Terror Mosque! Gay Attack On Marriage! Sharia Law In The USA! Immigrants! Marijuana! Social Security Insolvency! Death Panels! (Remember that one? Seems like old times.) These are not things reasonable people are afraid of. However, that is not to say there aren't things reasonable people should be afraid of.

These following two things, taken together, are a dose of terror scarier than any of the above. Scarier, in fact, than all of the above (which is to say, "not at all") combined, plus sharks.


  • 131 Million Non-Farm Jobs in Q1 2000, 130 Million in Q1 2010 [1]
  • Increase in Corporate Profits over that same period: 108% [2]


Think about that. Over the last decade we've lost 1M jobs. Meanwhile, corporate profits have more than doubled.

When the wealthy whine about taxes. Think about that. When businesses say they can't hire because of "uncertainty." Think about that.

When thinking about whether or not it matters that the Supreme Court has, in effect, ruled that money is speech, consider who's got all the money.

When somebody refers to the Tea Party as a "grassroots" movement, follow the money.

If you're afraid of the government, what is it that scares you? Is it eroding civil liberties? Fair enough. Is it taxes and socialism? If that's what scares you, friend, you've been duped. Bamboozled. Hoodwinked. That anger you're feeling? Misdirected.

If you still self-identify as a Republican and/or are thinking of voting Republican this fall, you're asking for more of the same. Is that really what you want? Another decade of the corporate boot on the throats of the middle class? Now look, I'm not saying the Democrats are that much better, but until we get a proper progressive movement up and running in this country, they're the best we've got. Our livelihoods are on the line and these Tea Party knob-shiners want to gut Social Security so there's no safety net waiting at the end of the line for those of us lucky enough to have jobs now, but don't have a pension to look forward to, and whose 401(k)s rise and fall with Wall Street. (So, basically, the biggest part of our retirement savings can be wiped out with the next wave of corporate scandals and fraud that inevitably follow Republican deregulation fits.)

Obama's problematic enough as a Democrat. We can't afford to turn Congress over to the GOP. Those guys are losing the internal struggle with their lunatic fringe. If you think of yourself as "fiscally conservative, social moderate," ask yourself, is the Tea Party either of those things? Is the GOP either of things?




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