My Reply to My Conservative Friend
Today I got an email from a conservative friend who implored me to go watch the movie “2016 Obama’s America.” Here is my response to her.
Please bear with me. Here is my take on the history of what has happened to our country.
Back in 1971, a corporate lawyer by the name of Lewis Powell penned a document that is known as the “Powell Memorandum.” In this document, which was sent to his friend at the US Chamber of Commerce, Powell extolled the virtues of blending business interests with political interests…attacked the hard work of people like you and me who care about our environment, attacked the education system, arts and sciences, in that they impede business interests. That memorandum eventually spawned right wing “think tanks” and created a massive lobbying effort that we are paying for today. Literally. With our tax dollars.
http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate_accountability/powell_memo_lewis.html
In the later 70’s, the Republican party initiated an agenda that they called “Starve the Beast.” The purpose of the agenda was to intentionally run up the debt to a point where the cutting of social programs would be a necessity. Reagan bought in and ran up deficit and debt to previously unequaled levels. It would take a president and congress that subscribed to this doctrine to bring it to fruition. We lived that reality during the Bush tenure. Massive tax cuts for the wealthy, a trillion dollar big pharma giveaway, and a couple of wars ensured that the beast would indeed be starved. The deficit accumulated under Republican “leadership” amounts to approximately $12 trillion dollars. Here’s proof:
http://zfacts.com/p/1170.html
Starve the Beast analysis:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/perspectives/paul-krugman-starve-the-beast-fiscal-calamity-is-the-gops-plan-to-shrink-government-234845/
Combined with the starve the beast mentality, came the part two of the double whammy - deregulation of the financial markets. During the first decade of the 21st century, we realized a fraud perpetrated against all the participants of Capitalism that dwarfs any fraud previously. Trillions of (non-existent) dollars were literally scooped up from the global public and created a breathtakingly unimaginable debt vacuum. Cheap credit, loans to anyone who could fog a mirror were made, and we (and nearly every Capitalist country on earth) are living the results of this mentality. State and local government who invested deeply are bankrupt. Ratings agencies rated these packaged bundles of garbage at triple A (why? Because they could) and everybody bought in.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-last-mystery-of-the-financial-crisis-20130619
By 2007, everything was in place. The US debt had run up into the multi-trillions. The financial markets were ready to implode. Then, it happened. The global recession, brought on by conservative economic and regulatory policies, hit with a force that we still reel from. State and local governments that invested heavily started to financially collapse. Millions of Americans who trusted in our economic system were left bankrupt from the fraud. State and local governments were left in a vacuum. International governments imploded from the financial toll. Millions and millions of people are suffering from this outright fraud perpetrated against humanity.
When President Obama was elected, within the first days of his leadership, Mitch McConnell made it clear. The first thing on his agenda was not reversing the massive unemployment brought on by this fraud. It was not turning around a battered economy. It was to make President Obama a one term president. Republicans in Congress agreed. The evidence is there for all to see. The number of filibusters in Congress is unequaled. Nothing, repeat NOTHING the president has done to help our citizens has been embraced by the Republican party. The level of vile hatred generated against our president is absolutely unprecedented via unsubstantiated lies and repeated via chain email, and talking points. A record number of anti-citizen’s rights bills have been penned by Republicans at the state and federal levels. This information is all out there, Marilyn. Women’s reproductive rights, equal pay for equal work, gay equality.
I won’t even go into the fact that Republicans have made every effort to undermine our government from within. Unqualified appointments, making decisions against the best interests of the country to “prove” that “government doesn’t work.” It’s nothing but a corporate sell-out, with the blue-print being the Powell Memorandum.
Needless to say, I am passionate about this. I am absolutely disgusted that America has come from being number one in the world on nearly every aspect, to trailing far behind other western countries. Health care, public education, the list is nearly endless. By every measure, our country has suffered from the conservative-corporate collusion. We are literally living the results of an agenda that has taken 40 years to complete.
I, for one, want to see the United States Republican party outlawed as a treasonous entity. Their successes have brought on the failure of the American institution. I am thoroughly disgusted with the lies, the hypocrisy, the outright fraud perpetrated against you, me and every participant of Capitalism. Capitalism is a failure, Marilyn, it is a failure that was ensured by a deliberate stacking of the deck AGAINST the participants.
I will never support another Republican at any level of government. The Republican agenda is poison.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. If feels good to finally get this off my chest in one sitting.
Bruce
Update: 18 May 2014 - I've seen a lot of "hate Bush" memes on FB recently and would like to comment on that. Understand this: Bush really just executed the Republican game plan. Any "good" Republican would have done exactly the same thing. That's why we need to hate the party, and not necessarily the person. That game plan included leveraging tragedy to perform a massive transfer of public wealth to private interests leaving the taxpayers holding the bag. Once you wrap your head around the depth and breadth of the fraud perpetrated against us (and continues to be perpetrated against us) you either throw your hands up in the air with disgust and say "I quit" or you choose to spread the truth. I choose the latter. And please, vote blue like your life depends on it. Because it does.
Update 1 June 2014 - I'd like to add one more point. How could they pull something like this over on us, and brainwash a large percentage of the population that EVERYTHING is "Government's Fault"? How could outright lying in broadcasting be tolerated? No opposing voice? This is the last piece of the puzzle. Repealing the Fairness Doctrine is what created today's American right wing:http://articles.latimes.com/1987-06-21/news/mn-8908_1_fairness-doctrine And these are the people we need to get through to.
Please bear with me. Here is my take on the history of what has happened to our country.
Back in 1971, a corporate lawyer by the name of Lewis Powell penned a document that is known as the “Powell Memorandum.” In this document, which was sent to his friend at the US Chamber of Commerce, Powell extolled the virtues of blending business interests with political interests…attacked the hard work of people like you and me who care about our environment, attacked the education system, arts and sciences, in that they impede business interests. That memorandum eventually spawned right wing “think tanks” and created a massive lobbying effort that we are paying for today. Literally. With our tax dollars.
http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate_accountability/powell_memo_lewis.html
In the later 70’s, the Republican party initiated an agenda that they called “Starve the Beast.” The purpose of the agenda was to intentionally run up the debt to a point where the cutting of social programs would be a necessity. Reagan bought in and ran up deficit and debt to previously unequaled levels. It would take a president and congress that subscribed to this doctrine to bring it to fruition. We lived that reality during the Bush tenure. Massive tax cuts for the wealthy, a trillion dollar big pharma giveaway, and a couple of wars ensured that the beast would indeed be starved. The deficit accumulated under Republican “leadership” amounts to approximately $12 trillion dollars. Here’s proof:
http://zfacts.com/p/1170.html
Starve the Beast analysis:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/perspectives/paul-krugman-starve-the-beast-fiscal-calamity-is-the-gops-plan-to-shrink-government-234845/
Combined with the starve the beast mentality, came the part two of the double whammy - deregulation of the financial markets. During the first decade of the 21st century, we realized a fraud perpetrated against all the participants of Capitalism that dwarfs any fraud previously. Trillions of (non-existent) dollars were literally scooped up from the global public and created a breathtakingly unimaginable debt vacuum. Cheap credit, loans to anyone who could fog a mirror were made, and we (and nearly every Capitalist country on earth) are living the results of this mentality. State and local government who invested deeply are bankrupt. Ratings agencies rated these packaged bundles of garbage at triple A (why? Because they could) and everybody bought in.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-last-mystery-of-the-financial-crisis-20130619
By 2007, everything was in place. The US debt had run up into the multi-trillions. The financial markets were ready to implode. Then, it happened. The global recession, brought on by conservative economic and regulatory policies, hit with a force that we still reel from. State and local governments that invested heavily started to financially collapse. Millions of Americans who trusted in our economic system were left bankrupt from the fraud. State and local governments were left in a vacuum. International governments imploded from the financial toll. Millions and millions of people are suffering from this outright fraud perpetrated against humanity.
When President Obama was elected, within the first days of his leadership, Mitch McConnell made it clear. The first thing on his agenda was not reversing the massive unemployment brought on by this fraud. It was not turning around a battered economy. It was to make President Obama a one term president. Republicans in Congress agreed. The evidence is there for all to see. The number of filibusters in Congress is unequaled. Nothing, repeat NOTHING the president has done to help our citizens has been embraced by the Republican party. The level of vile hatred generated against our president is absolutely unprecedented via unsubstantiated lies and repeated via chain email, and talking points. A record number of anti-citizen’s rights bills have been penned by Republicans at the state and federal levels. This information is all out there, Marilyn. Women’s reproductive rights, equal pay for equal work, gay equality.
I won’t even go into the fact that Republicans have made every effort to undermine our government from within. Unqualified appointments, making decisions against the best interests of the country to “prove” that “government doesn’t work.” It’s nothing but a corporate sell-out, with the blue-print being the Powell Memorandum.
Needless to say, I am passionate about this. I am absolutely disgusted that America has come from being number one in the world on nearly every aspect, to trailing far behind other western countries. Health care, public education, the list is nearly endless. By every measure, our country has suffered from the conservative-corporate collusion. We are literally living the results of an agenda that has taken 40 years to complete.
I, for one, want to see the United States Republican party outlawed as a treasonous entity. Their successes have brought on the failure of the American institution. I am thoroughly disgusted with the lies, the hypocrisy, the outright fraud perpetrated against you, me and every participant of Capitalism. Capitalism is a failure, Marilyn, it is a failure that was ensured by a deliberate stacking of the deck AGAINST the participants.
I will never support another Republican at any level of government. The Republican agenda is poison.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. If feels good to finally get this off my chest in one sitting.
Bruce
Update: 18 May 2014 - I've seen a lot of "hate Bush" memes on FB recently and would like to comment on that. Understand this: Bush really just executed the Republican game plan. Any "good" Republican would have done exactly the same thing. That's why we need to hate the party, and not necessarily the person. That game plan included leveraging tragedy to perform a massive transfer of public wealth to private interests leaving the taxpayers holding the bag. Once you wrap your head around the depth and breadth of the fraud perpetrated against us (and continues to be perpetrated against us) you either throw your hands up in the air with disgust and say "I quit" or you choose to spread the truth. I choose the latter. And please, vote blue like your life depends on it. Because it does.
Update 1 June 2014 - I'd like to add one more point. How could they pull something like this over on us, and brainwash a large percentage of the population that EVERYTHING is "Government's Fault"? How could outright lying in broadcasting be tolerated? No opposing voice? This is the last piece of the puzzle. Repealing the Fairness Doctrine is what created today's American right wing:http://articles.latimes.com/1987-06-21/news/mn-8908_1_fairness-doctrine And these are the people we need to get through to.
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