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For the better part of post 2008 election period, we have been deluged with an almost non-stop rant about the failures of "progressive" ideas in America. Some have been so bold, or naive if you will, to suggest that the rise of the Tea Party Movement and the 2010 election have spelled the beginning of the end for "Progressives" and all that they stand for. According to this premise Americans now want to do away with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, Disability and Workers Compensation, the 40 hour Week, Workplace and Product Safety, Weekends and Holidays Off From Work, Environmental Safety, Financial Reform, ad infinitum. The "people" now want to return to a world where you work 12 hours a day, six days a week for straight time wages, no overtime, no retirement plans and no employer provided healthcare. Moreover, you will be happy to do so and even happier to forgo all of the workplace health and safety standards that you have enjoyed for the past half century or more. The "people" will now look forward to consumer products that are less safe, water and air that is more likely to harm one's health and rivers and seashores that are far less inviting on a hot summer afternoon due to the higher levels of pollution. Oh and least I forget, the "people" will spend half of their day off so they can go to church and thank God for the end of "progressive" ideas in America and a return to the unrestrained "free market system" that brought you economic inequality and the Great Depression. Of course, to some extent, I am being sarcastic in the above. But don't fool yourselves, there are those among us who have completely misread this historic election and are well along the way to furthering their self delusion in the process. What you have just witnessed is the biggest hustle job in American political history. The Tea Partiers are already being shunted off to the side as Boehner and his minions divvy up the committee chairmanships among seasoned and veteran politicos. And let's not forget all of the outside cash that flowed into the G.O.P. during the 2010 midterms, those donors will be up on Capitol Hill shortly looking for their payback. And this just out: "Michele Bachmann's Leadership Bid Gets Cool Reaction" -"Self-proclaimed tea party leader Michele Bachmann's bid for a top Republican post in the House received a cool reaction Thursday from Speaker-to-be John Boehner, an early test of how GOP leaders will treat the antiestablishment movement's winners in Tuesday's elections."( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/04/michele-bachmanns-leaders_n_779290.html) Thus, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Welcome to two more years of political gridlock, and it's brought to you by the folks who want to "take their country back." Steven J. Gulitti 11/6/10
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' ![[Linked Image from i158.photobucket.com]](http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/OnlyObvious/The_Wall/wealthgap.gif)
Last edited by numan; 11/07/10 03:46 AM.
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' Citigroup's Shocking 'Plutonomy' Reports[/b][b]PLUTONOMYn. An economy that is driven by or that disproportionately benefits wealthy people, or one where the creation of wealth is the principal goal. You see Michael Moore highlights a confidential report that Citigroup initially circulated only to it's wealthiest customers. Those reports, since leaked, plainly discuss the power of the Plutonomy in America, and how it would only strengthen, as long as the "the rest us" (the non-plutonics) could be kept in the dark about the Plutonomy existence, its role, and its over-arching control in the American Economy. Even though the Plutonomy (the top 1%) control over 50% of the net worth in America -- they don't control the Votes!
The thing they most fear is the principle of "one person -- one vote".
You see despite their extreme wealth and power, they only have 1% of the vote; "the rest us" control the other 99% of the votes. So if we ever caught on and, I don't know, maybe raised their taxes back to where it use to be (40-90% range), well maybe they couldn't have a Yacht in every city, or a Mansion in a half dozen states. Maybe they couldn't "lose count" of how many homes they owned.... ...like it or not, inequality isn’t going away and may become even more pronounced in the coming years. The best way for companies and businesspeople to survive in Plutonomies, Kapur implies, is to disregard the "mass" consumer and focus on the increasingly rich market of the rich. So if you want to get rich, satisfy the whims and desires of the super-rich---forget about the peasants. Investing in the brainwashing industies is a smart move, too. We'll be needing a lot more effective brainwashing to keep the "consumer unts" stunned.
Last edited by numan; 11/07/10 03:50 AM.
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Ah, the Liberal, Socialist, Communist, Progressive, Fascist minority in the United States will believe anything that puts hard-working Americans in a cartoonish, dastardly light. Plutonomy! The Daily Kos!?! Really?
How eager they are to be slaves - Tiberius Caesar
Coulda tripped out easy, but I've changed my ways - Donovan
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old hand
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old hand
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For the better part of post 2008 election period, we have been deluged with an almost non-stop rant about the failures of "progressive" ideas in America. Some have been so bold, or naive if you will, to suggest that the rise of the Tea Party Movement and the 2010 election have spelled the beginning of the end for "Progressives" and all that they stand for. According to this premise Americans now want to do away with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, Disability and Workers Compensation, the 40 hour Week, Workplace and Product Safety, Weekends and Holidays Off From Work, Environmental Safety, Financial Reform, ad infinitum. The "people" now want to return to a world where you work 12 hours a day, six days a week for straight time wages, no overtime, no retirement plans and no employer provided healthcare. Moreover, you will be happy to do so and even happier to forgo all of the workplace health and safety standards that you have enjoyed for the past half century or more. The "people" will now look forward to consumer products that are less safe, water and air that is more likely to harm one's health and rivers and seashores that are far less inviting on a hot summer afternoon due to the higher levels of pollution. Oh and least I forget, the "people" will spend half of their day off so they can go to church and thank God for the end of "progressive" ideas in America and a return to the unrestrained "free market system" that brought you economic inequality and the Great Depression. Of course, to some extent, I am being sarcastic in the above. But don't fool yourselves, there are those among us who have completely misread this historic election and are well along the way to furthering their self delusion in the process. What you have just witnessed is the biggest hustle job in American political history. The Tea Partiers are already being shunted off to the side as Boehner and his minions divvy up the committee chairmanships among seasoned and veteran politicos. And let's not forget all of the outside cash that flowed into the G.O.P. during the 2010 midterms, those donors will be up on Capitol Hill shortly looking for their payback. And this just out: "Michele Bachmann's Leadership Bid Gets Cool Reaction" -"Self-proclaimed tea party leader Michele Bachmann's bid for a top Republican post in the House received a cool reaction Thursday from Speaker-to-be John Boehner, an early test of how GOP leaders will treat the antiestablishment movement's winners in Tuesday's elections."( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/04/michele-bachmanns-leaders_n_779290.html) Thus, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Welcome to two more years of political gridlock, and it's brought to you by the folks who want to "take their country back." Steven J. Gulitti 11/6/10 You got the title wrong, it actually should read: The Absurdity of Progressive Blather!
A proud member of the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy, Massachusetts Chapter
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Thomas Jefferson
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' Oh, MaR! Such wit! · · 
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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Moderator Carpal Tunnel
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I've said it before, and I will say it again, unless you are in the top 1% of the wealthiest Americans (and even then, really), a vote for Republicans is a vote against self-interest. I have yet, ever, to find a positive idea proposed by a Republican leader (oh, let's limit it to the last half-century). It is not the party of "no" - it is the party of "never" "nix" "not yet" "let's go back" and "remember when...?" even though "when" never existed.
A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.
Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich
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old hand
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old hand
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I've said it before, and I will say it again, unless you are in the top 1% of the wealthiest Americans (and even then, really), a vote for Republicans is a vote against self-interest. I have yet, ever, to find a positive idea proposed by a Republican leader (oh, let's limit it to the last half-century). It is not the party of "no" - it is the party of "never" "nix" "not yet" "let's go back" and "remember when...?" even though "when" never existed. Just the idea that there is somebody who wants less government is enough. It may be just talk, but the idea is the only thing keeping America from a socialist dictatorship, or at the very least a Euro-quasi socialist society.
A proud member of the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy, Massachusetts Chapter
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Thomas Jefferson
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the idea is the only thing keeping America from a socialist dictatorship, or at the very least a Euro-quasi socialist society. Talk about blather ... the Constitution keeps America from being a dictatorship by voting every 4 years regardless of the attempts by some who believe in the unitary executive branch i.e. a euphemism for dictatorship ... ok my copy of the Constitution doesn't have that proviso which outlaws a "Euro-quasi socialist society" whatever that means ... care to list chapter and verse for us who don't use your copy of the constitution (yes a small "c" as i believe your copy is bogus)
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