Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Time for a little TRUTH about government, jobs, and the Republican party's attempt to negatively impact both.

The GOP has been a cult for a while, and Grover Norquist is Jim Jones.

Republicans love to wrap themselves in the American flag, and profess their unending, deep love for their country, yet hate the US Government with every fiber of their being. That, in and of itself, is the ultimate CULT disconnect.

These people have drunk so much GOPKool-aid™ they think all science is a myth, and the world is only 6,000 years old. How on Earth do you have a rational conversation with people like that?

Perhaps we need to start with something they can wrap their heads around: JOBS.

Let me lay down some facts that EVERYONE needs to spread far and wide:

One of the biggest GOP lies going around is, “The Government doesn’t create jobs.” When, in fact, the US Government (Fed/State/Local) is the largest employer on PLANET EARTH, with more employees world-wide than any privately held company. Not only does “The Government” CREATE jobs, it does it in the most economical/cost-effective way possible, because it is NOT a private company who has $12 million (+ annual bonuses) CEOs to feed and care for (United Health Care), but doesn’t sell stock, and profit isn’t the bottom line, only the QUALITY of it’s services.

All the Republicans want to do is CUT GOVERNMENT. Think about that for a minute. Why would they want to do that? Because their donors KNOW that the USGov is the largest employer, and they want some of that action.

One of the main Republican mantras is “Leave it alone and the Free Market will take care of it.” The only thing is, the free market already has, which is why the USGov has all those jobs – they’re the ones who can do it the most cost effective way, and protect the people/give high quality service at the same time, because there is no PROFIT.

So the GOP wants to cut government spending so it CANNOT do it’s job, and it becomes ineffective at funding those jobs, so some private company can come in and take it over, and MAKE A PROFIT.  But then, that leads to shortcuts, outsourcing, DEREGULATION, and a lack of on the job safety in a race to the bottom. Fewer and fewer people doing the work of many, so that corners are cut, people are overworked, all for corporate profit – and the result can be deadly on a massive scale (please see 9/11 and 19 men boarding aircraft with box cutters when airport security was contracted with private companies.)

The GOP wants to privatize everything so they and their corporate masters can make more money. This is NOT about creating jobs. This is about CUTTING them, and shipping them to India, China, or anywhere where the pay is the lowest.

FACT: American infrastructure is crumbling. There are millions of people who could go to work tomorrow fixing all of that – and not just construction work, but the administrative workforce that goes along with those jobs locally. Those jobs are in the Government’s purview, but it needs funding.

FACT: We have a doctor shortage. There are millions of students who would go into the medical field if they could only afford it. The Government could easily fund these students if there was the tax money to do it. However, the GOP is all about privatizing our Universities, and that doesn’t bode well for students, since grants and scholarships are only available to students who can generate cash – mostly athletes.

FACT: We have fallen behind in the tech and science sectors because of lack of funding. Again, the private sector (PHARMA) has pulled ahead because of lack of funds to government funded programs. This has also resulted in placing money and profit over safety and human lives. It’s more cost-effective to make a drug that kills than test it properly, (made even easier by a Supreme Court that is ruling against being able to even file a class-action suit, and giving corporations more rights that human beings in who they can sue for damages and death.) Manufacture a tire that falls apart, and pay the fine. The profit is more, so where is the incentive to strive for better quality or save lives?

When profit wins over quality of the product or service, we all lose. But the GOP has been dismantling and underfunding our education system for decades to the point we have one of the highest illiteracy rates of any industrialized nation. Civics and government are no longer taught in schools, only a fraction of a watered-down history ever sees the light of day, and now school books are being printed that inserts Creationism, and Intelligent Design into the curriculum. Mythology taught as fact.

FACT: People need jobs. We need things fixed. The Government can hire people and put them to work. The more people who work, the more people are spending money thus stimulating the economy and paying taxes. The more tax revenues the Government collects the more money Government has to create programs and services we need to hire more people to run them, who then spend more money into the economy, creating more demand for goods and services – EVERYONE WINS, except the über-greedy who have sold their soul to the highest bidder. They won’t lose anything except perhaps their write-off on their second and third homes. They will however, stop being carried on the backs of the rest of us, and have to pull more of their own weight. Boo-frakkin-hoo.

If deregulation, tax cuts for the super-rich,tax loopholes, and corporate tax rebates created jobs, we’d have zero unemployment and the most vibrant economy on the planet by now because these policies have been in place for over a decade, yet anyone with a functioning brain stem can see that is not the case, and our folly has melted over into a global crisis. Still the Republicans makes an art form of denial and want to double down on all of it.

The GOP has no interest in people, or investing in in America’s future. It’s only interested in MONEY, and is not only trashing it’s own house, it’s hell-bent on burning down the entire neighborhood, and surrounding villages, all because of their blinding, personal greed and poisonous hatred for one man.

(Eloquently, and passionately written by Tally.)

29 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:23 AM

    AMEN!! When will people wake up to the gop swindlers? Working people who vote repub. need their heads examined. The democratic party is the one who looks out for ordinary people, not the wealthy. Ina just world, the entire repub. party would be voted out of office in the next election. They recyle failed pols like Gingrich, Rudy and others. When will Fred Thompson drive up in his red truck, to save the day like he did before? (yeah, right)

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  2. Anonymous5:26 AM

    Look at David Brook's column in the New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/opinion/05brooks.html?_r=1

    He admits that the new GOP is not normal.

    "[T]he Republican Party may no longer be a normal party. Over the past few years, it has been infected by a faction that is more of a psychological protest than a practical, governing alternative."

    They are more like aging High School football and cheerleading stars angry at their thickening waistline, receding hairline - jealous and raging against the maturity their Lessers have gained in a matter of years that make them more attractive, successful and healthy families contributing to society.

    We can't let the Tea Party and the GOP hijack and define "American" values anymore, we are America, that means IM'ers and even people with fresh new papers - we don't have to be perfect, we don't have to be 'exceptional.' We don't have to go to church or profess our allegiance to this country - we can just be and do what we can to make this a good country for ourselves and our children.

    How about we quit letting the GOP think they are the only defining characteristics of Americans?

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  3. Anonymous5:28 AM

    And I repeat that AMEN. Perfectly described discussion of what really goes on. And Fred Thompson? He's too busy doing tv ads for federally subsidized reverse mortgages...wouldn't you think he'd have been against those?
    (Also, it's means it is; its is possessive.) But excellent article!

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  4. cuppajoe5:38 AM

    Outstanding. If it hadn't already been named "Truth", then that's the name I'd have chosen for it.

    Brilliant.

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  5. Anonymous5:38 AM

    personally, i found this post to be a little over the top in it's certitude that the GOP is all bad, and the Govt. the only good solution to our jobs problems. i feel that by being so one sided, it loses credibility; and by the tone of it (sneering) it alienates.

    we are not on opposite sides in every "battle". we are not at war with eachother. we are looking for solutions; not new ways to gin up a fignt. SPAK gins up fights.

    i am Sick of the Endless Anger, which is why i have a sticker on my car that says "I am a Happy Member of the SEA Party"

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  6. Anonymous6:00 AM

    Wonderful! And as A - 5:23 AM said, the working people who vote for Republicans need to have their heads examined and in the light of taxing the rich???? In trickle-down economics??? Where are the jobs?

    I have a family member who is STILL a repub, but with a degree, no teaching job (working as a waitress)because of educational cuts. She pays less percentage of taxes as a middle class person under the current administratio than with Bush. She is hung-up on that three-letter word (TAX) they toss out to give the rich more, and take from the poor. Of course, there is another three-letter word that works too and that would be LIE's and let's multiply that to lies, lies and more lies.

    'scuse me but would you like ice in your koolaid?

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  7. This is what intelligent people inherently know....without even really thinking about it.
    Great post.

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  8. Anonymous6:06 AM

    It doesn't matter whether the employer is the government or the corporations. What matters is that the jobs produce valuable goods and services - that move the economy forward.

    So what produces more value? a government paid nurse who looks in on your aging parent so you can work or the 1000th missile buried in the ground that already has enough missiles to destroy the world 8 times over?

    Corps don't like gov't jobs because they want job seekers on their knees to corps - for low wages and zero benefits. That's why they hate unions too. They know that while unions provide some benefits, they have to also, to compete. They'd rather have us all groveling for the lowest wages and the least benefits - right before they outsource the jobs to China anyway.

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  9. Anonymous6:19 AM

    Hey Gryphen you're getting famous!

    "Sarah Palin in tears as husband rages over Hollywood stars ripping her in new film"

    "Jesse Griffin, who runs the Alaska-based website theimmoralminority.blogspot.com, told the Enquirer: 'Sarah Palin blasts the Hollywood elite as horrible people, but there's a danger voters will laugh at the jokes celebrities make about her in the movie.'"

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2011829/The-Undefeated-Sarah-Palin-tears-Hollywood-stars-ripping-new-film.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

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  10. Anonymous6:31 AM

    Great post.

    Years ago, my husband lost his second job in one year. Having only worked 3 months at the newest job, the company downsized and he was let go. We were locked into a one-year rental agreement; in the area, rentals were extremely high.

    With no health insurance, no job prospects in that area, and having just moved from another location due to the first job loss, we kindly asked the landlord to allow us to break the lease with no penalty. He, however, kept the $1400 deposit. That rental property was in high damand and he found tenants soon after. He was a well-established retiree. We had kids and no where to go.

    To this day, I wonder about the greed that has taken hold of people. It's their right, their entitlement to profit, to make money off of those in dire need. Charity and compassion don't always play a role in this society. So, those republicans who say "less government" and expect taxpayers to rely on the goodness and kindness of neighbors and the "christian" values of this society, I say, BS.

    If it weren't for the government safety nets, many would be homeless and begging in the street. Would John Boehner be willing to pay a needy family's grocery bills, electric bills, rent for a month? Does he hang around those poor and middle class to even know what goes on in their lives, so he and his buddies can utilize their compassion? These guys are too busy on the golf course to even know what goes on beyond the walls of their elitist lifestyles.

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  11. Sally in MI6:35 AM

    Amen Amen Amen! This post needs to be read by millions of people...you have just described exactly what is wrong in this country and how to fix it! I am sending this to everyone I know! Perfect post!

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  12. Anonymous7:08 AM

    The GOP said they wanted POTUS to fail even if it meant taking all of us and our country down with him.
    They are not patriotic needless to say. They are extreme to say the least. POTUS avoids confrontation
    and lacks the desire to prove his case and fight the good fight for those that voted for the change he promised.

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  13. Anonymous7:18 AM

    Yep! Great post!

    I heard some guy the other day say on teevee the GOP wanted to "ruin to rule."

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  14. Anonymous7:31 AM

    Thank You, and Thank Tally, this is why we need to make sure Barack Obama becomes a two term president.

    Best thing I read all day!

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  15. SusieQ7:40 AM

    You can't explain reality to people who choose to ignore it. Yes, the Federal Government is our largest employer. Remember all the Tea Baggers who were complaining about our government yet gladly took a job with the Census Bureau? Government is good when it gives you a paycheck.

    What I don't get is how one can defile and hate their very own freely elected and democratic government so much.

    Listening to the GOP's stance on how bad our big government is will only accomplish what the GOP wants to accomplish which is:
    The handing over of Social Security and Medicare (our tax dollars) to Wall Street and the health insurance industry.

    The GOP wants to privatize these programs to give our money to corporations. Why? Because it's a lot of money.

    So the next time one of your GOP friends agrees with the handing over of our dollars to private companies, ask them this: "If Medicare and Social Security are so badly run, are going bankrupt, why would any private company want to take that risk on?"

    Answer is: Because it's a lie and we'd be handing over billions of our tax dollars to greedy corporations based on a lie.

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  16. ibwilliamsi8:32 AM

    Tally - thank you for pointing out what should be obvious to so many of us! Those sheeple as SOOO confused and greedy!

    I had dinner the other night with an R, who told me in one conversation that Europe had fallen apart because of "socialism, and free health care, and everyone takes 6 weeks vacation every year." (He takes 12 by owning the license on a government run liquor store.) USA will be next. Well, yes, the USA will be next but not because of people taking vacations, it will be next because we don't produce anything the world needs anymore. We're a consumer driven society.

    THEN he told me that he negotiating to buy 720 acres of scrub land on the other side of the state. I asked him what he wanted 720 acres for, and he said he didn't, but the smallest parcel you can get is 160, and he'll subdivide it. And while waiting to sell it, the government will give him $5,200 a year to NOT plant a crop - which he never would even if the land WERE fertile - and since the property taxes are only about $400 he comes out way ahead. And he is looking for the right plot right next to BLM land so he can get them to install plow and maintain the mile and half road he'll need to get in most times of the year. And to his mind I'm a socialist.

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  17. hedgewytch8:39 AM

    You would think the Republican party's sell out to Corporate Faschism would be as plain as the nose on your face - but too many supposedly "smart" people are walking around looking for butcher knives to give themselves a self-inflicted nose job.

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  18. Anonymous8:41 AM

    Anon @ 6:19, I read that article at the Daily Mail, but I had difficulty figuring it out. Do the first ten minutes of "Undefeated" really just contain "Swipes by Hollywood Types"? And she was too stupid to screen it before she went to watch it with a crowd? Seriously? What a maroon that woman is!

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  19. Anonymous8:48 AM

    5:38 AM

    Well, how nice for smug lil' ol' you. Floating on your little cloud Above It All...

    Voting for _anyone_ connected with the current Republican party is immoral.

    Easy choice once you recognize that. No third party needed.

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  20. Anonymous9:17 AM

    This part is really hilarious:

    "Not only does “The Government” CREATE jobs, it does it in the most economical/cost-effective way possible, because it is NOT a private company who has $12 million (+ annual bonuses) CEOs to feed and care for (United Health Care), but doesn’t sell stock, and profit isn’t the bottom line, only the QUALITY of it’s services."

    Unintentionally hilarious, probably? :)

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  21. Anonymous9:52 AM

    It is madness to use the term "conservative" as a label for the people who are trying desperately to destroy, not conserve, our nation.
    A better (more accurate) word would be "terrorists".
    Please do not refer to the useful idiots as "conservatives". Teabaggers are delusional morons, not patriotic Americans.

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  22. Anonymous9:56 AM

    Bravo!

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  23. Anonymous10:39 AM

    I don't understand why repubaggers and President Obama don't realize this. They are after him like white on rice. G you nailed this one.

    We all understand that the repubaggers will do/say/act/make up/pretend anything that will undermined/cause grief/mock/marginalized our President because he's an African American/Black/Person of Color.

    GoL

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  24. Anonymous10:52 AM

    Great article, HOWEVER we need to keep in mind that a robust private sector is also necessary. Come on, we ALL can't work for the government.

    Since the government uses taxpayer funds to pay for goods and services, it must consider the best use of funds...and in-source when necessary and out-source when not.

    Both the government and private sector are necessary.

    Moreover, in the interest of a healthy and educated populace, many government services are vital (this is the big difference between left and right).

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  25. Anonymous10:59 AM

    8:32, the delusional right abuses government programs out of greed. The left recognizes those programs are for those in need. If greedy right wingers didn't abuse gov programs, they wouldn't have to cut them. It's really an act of self-hatred: stop me before I abuse my fellow tax payers again!

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  26. Anonymous11:10 AM

    I hear maddow say how we need a two party system; how great it is to have a two party system.

    I believe we need a system that doesn't encourages undue advantage to the rich repubaggers or foreign aid into our voting process.

    We don't necessary have to have a two party system with the repubs being one of them.

    The repubagger part of SCOTUS should know that companies and people aren't the same damn thing, neither are comparing Unions (real people) with the big companies (koch). Money can count for many votes unlike people. One vote one person (suppose to be.)

    repubaggers have stated very clearly their positions (which G has written very clearly.)

    Only a racist idiot would vote against their own interest.

    It was never a choice to me. bachmann? Really? cain? Are you kidding me? pawlenty? For real? mitt? Are you crazy?

    GoL

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  27. Anonymous11:17 AM

    "Anonymous said...
    personally, i found this post to be a little over the top in it's certitude that the GOP is all bad,

    5:38 AM"

    Name one good "GOP."

    GoL

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  28. Anonymous2:24 PM

    one potentially decent, moderate GOP: Jon Huntsman?
    can any one group be 100% Bad?
    can any person be entirely bad?
    just saying; balance in all things leads to greater understanding
    ---cloud floater

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  29. Anonymous7:09 PM

    T he repukes want the government to shut down so that corporations can begin to buy all government properties, as well as foreclosed homes. They want to cut higher education so that they don't have educated minorities in the white house. They fool the tea party racist to think that they are all on the same level of the rich white folks and the Tea party racist think that one day the white rich elite will let them be on the same level as them. They are STUPID!!!!!

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