June 25, 2017 at 5:02 PM
The GOP has adopted a primary principal that they refuse to compromise on, period, for anything. In fact, they sign a private pledge to a private person, to never increase taxes, violated their oath of office swearing to unhold laws of the US, constitution and we the people are what they have to do first and foremost. If we had the majority on the SC which was illegally stopped because of a Black person was President and the GOP still considers anybody but white, male, wealthy land owners as the only ones eligible to hold office, the court probably would have stopped those other pledges conflicting with the legal one of office.
Most republicans are convinced that a free market will solve all problems a nation’s citizens face in modern society. This is so obviously wrong it is equivalent to believing the earth is flat, God chooses sides in wars or the Easter Bunny. Even our relatively short history has provided the evidence that many solutions that come from free enterprises are more expensive, complicated, unequal and biased in favor of the most wealthy and a host of social needs are never met or considered by private markets.
These same people, including the economists and policy wonks use simple assumptions that are untrue in the real world to justify their conclusions which is why they are usually wrong, Most of these believers think of a small town with one local Bank and local stores or businesses. Banks take deposits from the population almost as gifts without returning an adequate rate of return, then lend it to the local businesses who expand and create jobs. That is how most people view the economy. NEWS FLASH: Just read Griftopia or Paul Krugman’s articles to get an idea of what really happens to your deposit.
My point is that we have to have a government to provide services that private companies would charge more for or would not do it at all. A progressive tax system does that. Everybody has some gripe about costs, inefficiencies of government services but at least they don’t add in extra to make a profit. And their objectives are to solve the problem for the people, not make shareholders wealthy. The country and leaders had actually had figured this out when we were kids and one would have thought our generation would be more understanding of this that prior generations. But we have been just the opposite based upon effective marketing, advertising and plain lying about how the world functions. A list of decisions made in the 80’s has accumulated to create a dysfunctional population and government in America. Some were responses to global business and rapid technology changes. But others were pure power grans lead by Newt Gingrich in Congress and media figures and the fundamental religious getting into politics —in direct conflict with conservative principles of minimal government interference in people’s lives. The unspoken agreement that you don’t discuss religion or politics no longer applied and the country has split almost 50/50 on the issues. I find those numbers suspect. Elections that are won or lost on 100 votes or a rounding error? And now we have evidence of an arch rival Russia, hacking our major networks and elections. Conspiracy theories are no longer theories.
So the effective tax rate I pay is say 28%, a little more than 1/4 of my income. I expect the government to provide Mass transportation, healthcare at a quality and cost equal to the best of other countries with† paying for an extra net profit and millions in salary for one person that is likely in the 1% of biggest assholes in the world. Preservation of land and property that can be protected from a single person ruining something shared by everyone. Like beaches and views, rivers, lakes. Clean air and clean water. Education and a safety net from the harm caused by rapid changes in technology; collateral damage by private people trying to create something they believe people want and need, and if they don’t, at least can be taught to want and need, with lies in advertising. Actually, that is another myth because we all know that it is about finding a way to make money to live that is better/easier than washing dishes or peeling potatoes or laying sod or performing some repetitive task waiting to be replaced by machines and no help re-training.
The basic system of capitalism when properly restrained and kept within reasonable boundaries can be successful without consuming the resources of the planet. It is clear that if another 2 or 3 billion people consume at a rate Americans do, the world will eventually become inhabitable. Could be why going to Mars is so important to some. If you listen to Jackson Browne’s The Pretender, he comments on “becoming a happy idiot, and struggle for the legal tender(money) and believe in whatever may lie in whatever money can by, love could have been a contender.”
America has to take responsibility and lead in the change. Unfortunately, leaders have chosen to do just the opposite. Getting one more hit, before it all goes to hell. Oil companies, the Supreme Court, President all are trying to stop the changes necessary to build a good future by turning over public functions to the private sector. Private Prisons is the sickest, inhumane examples combined with a dysfunctional, injustice system. The Trump Attorney General is the best example of one man taking this perverted private prison scheme and abusing the legal system for profit at the cost of 10’s of thousands of people, the majority who are black, male, young and related to medication or drugs.
And what has the country done about it? Nothing.
