Gilded Age

The Multiple Problems Of Rick Santorum: Why He Would Be A Nightmare For America!

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Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum comes across as handsome, personable, a good speaker, and willing to look people directly in the eye when he meets them.

But these strengths are outweighed by his many shortcomings, as witness:

Rick Santorum was extremely unpopular among his Republican colleagues in the US House of Representatives and US Senate, from John McCain to Jim DeMint, a wide range within a narrow based party.

Rick Santorum became the biggest promoter of “pork”, known as “earmarks”, and made all the right connections with business people so that he has enriched himself since his defeat in the Senate reelection contest of 2006, where he lost by the massive margin of 17 points, despite his 12 years of Senate seniority.

Rick Santorum has a confrontational, take no prisoners approach to his “enemies”, and has absolutist views on many issues, which means he would not unite the American people, and would cause a bigger rift, a bigger chasm, a bigger division, than has existed under Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. He does not have the personality or nature to compromise, or to promote unity. The political atmosphere would be far worse, much more poisonous in a Santorum Presidency, and antagonistic to his “enemies”, more anti media than anyone since Richard Nixon!

Rick Santorum believes in a muscular foreign policy, and would engage America in more overseas military adventures without any pause, which makes him very dangerous.

Rick Santorum has no concern for the poor or the struggling middle class, as he has demonstrated so often, since he believes that no one is responsible to pay more taxes to help the sick, the poor, the disadvantaged, and that we have no social responsibility to each other. He would be the most right wing candidate since Barry Goldwater, but worse than Goldwater, who was a libertarian in many ways, and would not approve of Santorum’s invocation of “Jesus”, and Santorum’s narrow view of Christianity. Santorum would have no problem going back to a theory of Social Darwinism, prevalent in the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

Rick Santorum believes there is no right to privacy including his opposition to abortion in all circumstances; his extreme condemnation of gay rights in all of its forms; his opposition even to contraception; and his desire to have divorce made more difficult, forcing unhappy couples to stay together as long as they have children under the age of 18. He also believes that consenting adults do not have the right to consensual sex in their own homes!

Rick Santorum claims to speak for the working class, because of his own blue collar family background, including his grandfather, who migrated from Italy and worked in the coal mines, but really he is personally quite wealthy, and only really has shown political concern for WHITE working class, which he is appealing to, and not concern for African Americans or Hispanics, with his statements and actions attacking any assistance or support of the advancements of these minority groups, which have been left behind.

Rick Santorum showed he was not a “compassionate” conservative as President George W. Bush claimed to be, when he said that “pre-existing” conditions involving health care should be given higher premium rates because their “habits” led to the pre-existing conditions, even when a mother saying her child had developed health issues and could not get insurance, questioned him this week at a campaign rally in New Hampshire. Santorum has no compassion or concern for anyone not wealthy, and this is supposed to be a “good Christian”? This is the true hypocrisy of Rick Santorum, promoting selfishness and greed, not what Jesus Christ promoted! And yet, Santorum claims he is the “JESUS” candidate! What an outrage!

Rick Santorum is dangerous to America, as he would promote a repeal of the New Deal and Great Society; would advocate military interventions overseas; would destroy the safety net that exists for those less fortunate and less healthy; and would promote government intrusion in the private lives of Americans, including their sexual behavior.

This is a prescription for a totalitarian government socially, but laissez faire economically, all in the name of JESUS! Just what the Founding Fathers worked so strongly against! We are NOT a theocracy, and the thought of it is enough to make one terrified!

Newt Gingrich’s Attack On Activist Judges: Hypocrisy, Since Only Against Progressive “Activists” But NOT Conservative “Activists”!

Ronald 1 Comment

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is already showing signs of decline from his “surge” two weeks ago!

Not soon enough, as Gingrich is declaring “war” on “activist” judges, but is totally hypocritical in that he is only attacking “progressive” activists, and not “conservative” activists!

He would wish for a court system which was one sided, only promoting conservative advocacy, and setting America back to the 19th century Gilded Age!

He claims to know history, since he has a History Ph.D. from Tulane University in European History, but he boasts too much of his knowledge about American History and the American Constitution!

If it was up to Gingrich, he would wipe out Warren and Burger Court decisions that have transformed this country politically and socially, and really would wish to wipe out the “judicial review” established by the Supreme Court under John Marshall in the early 19th century!

To claim that only “progressives” are activists is totally ridiculous, as ALL Justices are “activist” in different ways, as they are INTERPRETING the Constitution, which is meant to be a “living” document, adaptable to changing times!

Just one example of conservative “activism” on the Supreme Court is Bush V Gore, where the conservative majority Court in 2000 decided to intervene, stop the ballot recount in Florida, and decided the Presidential Election Of 2000. What gave them the right to do that? And look at what it led to, eight years of foreign and domestic disasters that will reverberate for many generations on our nation!

So Gingrich, as usual, is acting as a demagogue, also demonstrated by his demand that lower federal court judges be required to explain their decisions to the Congress in committees, or be arrested! What a revolutionary, radical grab of power such a requirement would be!

The Republican Condemnation Of The Poor: Adding Insult To Injury!

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The Republican Party has become more venal, more disgraceful, than ever in their 157 year history, with their new tactic of condemning the poor, bringing back reminders of the nineteenth century Gilded Age and the philosophy of Social Darwinism.

Not only are poor people already subjugated by poverty with inadequate or no housing, poor food supply, lack of decent living conditions, and little hope and optimism about the future, with two thirds of the poor being children unfortunate enough to be born into the “wrong” families, but now they are being condemned with the old conservative belief that they are lazy, shiftless “losers” who don’t wish to work for a living, and instead wish to be supported by taxpayers with “luxurious” welfare packages, including Medicaid and Food Stamps, and support for each child born to them.

The fact that Medicaid provides inadequate medical care; that Food Stamps do not provide the means for a nutritional diet; that the amount given for each child’s support is miniscule, and that living in slums, often rat infested and crime ridden, has a psychological effect on children is not considered.

Also, the fact that three out of four adults in poverty actually work, but cannot make enough to get out of poverty and give their children hope for the future, is not pointed out by the critics.

To be poor is a terrible thing, but to be condemned and denounced by people who claim often to be “religious” is enough to make one wish to vomit at the disgrace of many people’s false beliefs and terrible attitudes toward those less fortunate. To kick one symbolically when they are down is reprehensible beyond belief! And it brings up the old saying: “There but for the grace of God go I!”

Herman Cain: A “Clarence Thomas” Presidency America Cannot Afford!

Ronald 1 Comment

Godfather Pizza CEO Herman Cain may be the “Flavor of the Week” or the “Flavor of the Month” in the Republican Presidential race, but he represents a great threat to social justice, racial reconciliation, and political democratization as he has revealed that he is an admirer of Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his constitutional views; agrees with the neo-conservatives who advised George W. Bush to engage in war in Iraq; and is ready to raise taxes on the middle class and the poor, and further skew the acquisition of wealth by the elite top one percent, making him a favorite of the extreme right wing Koch Brothers!

This man is displaying a desire to take America back to the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, as he rejects Social Security and Medicare as we know it, and basically the whole substance of the New Deal and Great Society!

Without ANY experience in government, he has the nerve to expect that we will elect him to the Presidency, without any concept of world affairs, not even understanding, when asked, what a neo-conservative is; with the belief that simplification of taxes will somehow magically solve the economic crisis; with a cockiness and arrogance that he is best qualified to lead over people who have been in the public sphere for years; with a willingness to attack his own racial group as “brainwashed” and undermining their role or significance, therefore, in American society; and with a narrow minded view about illegal immigrants and Muslims, designed to draw conservative support from the bigots and the extreme right wingers who would not have given Herman Cain the time of day in the past, and are now using him in an attempt to convince the country that they are not outside the mainstream!

Herman Cain is dangerous in that he would set back all of the human rights, social justice, and common decency that has made America a beacon for the world, in favor of greed, selfishness, and the worship of wealth without responsibility to the body politic! A President Herman Cain would be the ultimate irony, that after centuries of struggle by African Americans, that two of the three branches of government would be controlled or influenced by people who are self hating, and are joining those who would harm the progress that has been made with blood, sweat and tears, including that of Martin Luther King, Jr, who is being honored today with the dedication of the King National Memorial in Washington, DC!

A Great Campaign Line For Barack Obama In 2012: The “Romney Rule”!

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A great idea that is developing as a likely campaign slogan for President Obama and the Democrats in 2012 is to use the “Buffett Rule”, also known as the “Reagan Rule”, against Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, if he ends up as the Republican nominee for President!

Romney is by far the wealthiest candidate, worth at least $250 million, and he has made it clear that he is opposed to the “Buffett Rule”, which would make millionaires and billionaires pay more than their staff members, and would be based on capital gains, not just income!

Romney, who laid off many employees as the head of Bain Capital, and has joked about being unemployed, having many Cadillacs, and boasted about increasing the size of his mansion, is against any more taxation of his wealth. despite the fact the he has paid a very low level of taxation and has seen his wealth multiply due to the Bush tax cuts.

He has also come out against the “Occupy Wall Street” movement as something dangerous, refusing to understand the purpose of the growing movement against corporate greed, which has decimated the middle class, exploiting home owners, pensioners, college students, and millions of people unemployed by the crooked, corrupt actions of Wall Street bankers and corporations!

Romney is really the exemplar of the GILDED AGE mentality, and Barack Obama is the PROGRESSIVE ERA, NEW DEAL and GREAT SOCIETY representative, and despite many who think that the Tea Party Movement, which wishes to take us back to the 19th century, is growing, in actual fact, the “Occupy Wall Street” movement could very well be the challenger to that reactionary group!

It could be the beginning of a new reform movement determined to take back the nation for the middle and lower classes, and out of the hands of the rich and powerful who have been exploiting us since the 1980s!

So utilizing what could be called the “Romney Rule” against Romney or any other Republican in the Presidential race of 2012, could be very effective as a political weapon!

The “Occupy Wall Street” Protests: Their Meaning!

Ronald 2 Comments

For the past two weeks, we have seen people of all ages committing themselves long term to an “Occupy Wall Street” protest movement, and it has now spread all over the country, and even overseas.

There is the temptation to say that this is a group of “losers”, who have nothing better to do than cause “trouble”, and among the elite wealthy, they are certainly comparing it to the anti war movement of the 1960s and 1970s, with the image of scruffy “hippies” causing a ruckus because they were “cowards”.

This protest movement, however, is of people of all backgrounds and age groups. Why are they protesting?

They are outraged at the corruption and greed of Wall Street, which caused this economic disaster in 2008.

They are outraged by the lack of bank investment in promotion of small business and mortgages after they were bailed out by taxpayers, instead sitting on $2 trillion.

They are outraged by the refusal of banks to help homeowners, and instead promote foreclosures, causing not only the loss of homes for millions of people, but also devaluing the properties of others who are able to pay their house mortgages.

They are outraged by the tremendous burden put upon young people by massive student loans that prevent them from being able to start their adult lives without massive debt, when in earlier generations, higher education was much more affordable and did not saddle graduates with unsustainable debt.

They are outraged by the lack of employment opportunities for young people, and also the inability of people in mid career to replace lost jobs due to the economic collapse.

They are outraged by politicians in Congress, and also the Supreme Court, who bend to the will of the wealthy few, with the top one percent having 20 percent of the income, double what it was ten years ago!

They are outraged by the loss of the “American Dream”, that anyone can succeed in this country, while the reality is far from that, and particularly for those of minority heritage, who have been devastated by the Great Recession of 2008.

What is it these people want? They want a return to a government of, by and for the people, not just the small percentage of wealthy! They want a return to social justice, concern about the sick, the poor, the aged, the disadvantaged! They want a return to competitive capitalism, with regulation and controls on Wall Street and the corporations in the name of fairness.

In other words, they want a return to the vision and goals of Progressivism, of the early 20th century, along with the aims of the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson!

Our peak of national economic prosperity and advancement came in 1973, interestingly the year that the Watergate scandal was revealed for what it was. Richard Nixon had expanded the Great Society, but that stopped as he was being investigated and eventually forced out of office.

Nothing has remained the same since, and it coincides with THIRTY FIVE years of conservative government!

One might say, hey, wait a minute, weren’t there periods of Democrats in the White House? The answer is YES, but both Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton pursued comparatively “conservative” administrations, along with Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and the two Presidents Bush!

So the decline has occurred during the triumphant period of CONSERVATIVE government, and the American people, at least those who are willing to be open minded, realize what has happened and are demanding CHANGE back to when life improved for all Americans!

So this is the meaning of the Wall Street protests, and is the answer to the Tea Party Movement, which wishes to take us back to the Gilded Age, while the “Occupy Wall Street” movement wishes to restore the advancements of the Progressive Era, New Deal, and Great Society! Anyone who thinks this will go away is living in the same illusions as the Tea Party Movement!

The American people are determined to take back their country from the elite wealthy who have no concern other than selfishness and greed. The battle for the future is WE against ME!

Rick Perry: Dangerous For The Republican Party And America’s Future! He Must Be Stopped!

Ronald 1 Comment

Texas Governor Rick Perry may have flubbed a bit in his debate performance in Tampa on Monday, but he remains the front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination as of today, and it is looking more likely that he really could end up as the nominee of the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Reagan!

This is dangerous for the party and the nation, as Perry has many shortcomings, as well as dangerous aspects in his background and viewpoints!

For the party, Perry represents a threat to the Establishment Republicans, the middle, the mainstream of the party in the past, and gives power to the extremists of the Tea Party Movement!

With Jon Huntsman apparently floundering, even though the author feels he came across very well in the past two debates, the only hope in the field of candidates is Mitt Romney, with all of his shortcomings and faults, but it will not be easy to overcome the Tea Party takeover of the party!

One could say that if the party nominates Perry, they will lose, and that will be, therefore, only their problem as to how to recover from a disastrous defeat in 2012.

But with the economy so bad right now, the idea is starting to develop that maybe, just maybe, Barack Obama COULD lose in 2012, giving us President Perry, and possibly a Tea Party Congress, enough to make one hysterical and give one nightmares, and the purpose here is NOT to joke, but be very serious!

Were Perry to win, we would face the following, with and without a Tea Party majority in Congress:

1. We would have a President who is not very smart, not very curious to learn, not open to new ideas, very rigid in his right wing beliefs, unwilling to compromise, arrogant, cocky, with a swagger about him, and not willing to be transparent in his activities in the White House!

2. We would have a complete takeover of right wing conservatism, leading to total deregulation, cutting of taxes even further on the rich, attempts to destroy several government agencies or make them ineffective in their work, and resulting in widespread corruption due to “cronyism”!

3. We would have a President who would be arrogant toward the outside world, create crises and possible interventions in other countries, and boast about “American exceptionalism”, undermining relations even with our allies and friends around the world.! The neoconservative view of foreign policy would dominate.

4. Civil Liberties would be violated worse than any President in modern times, and civil rights enforcement for Latinos, African Americans, women and gays would end!

5. We would see a theocracy develop, as Rick Perry would constantly invoke Jesus Christ, talk about God and religion more than any President, including Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush, and promote as much combination of church and state as one can imagine might happen.

6. The economy would NOT get better, and instead we would have more poverty, deprivation, and human suffering, similar to the reality in Texas under Governor Perry.

7. War would be declared on environmentalists, and scientists, in the name of industry and religion, undermining our education system nationally, as well as our health care programs.

8. Justice and fairness in the law would be undermined, as capital punishment would become a virtue, and the courts, including the Supreme Court, would become the most right wing in American history since the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

9. The goal of a Perry Administration would be the destruction of Social Security, Medicare, and all other social safety net programs, and basically the repeal of the Progressive Era of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and the other reforms under Richard Nixon in the early 1970s.

10. Fundamentally, America would go back a full century to the Gilded Age, with the total or near total repeal of the 20th century, which made America the envy of the free world!

This is serious stuff here, no joking, and all efforts must be made in the Republican Party to defeat Rick Perry, and if that fails, and even if it succeeds, do everything necessary to reelect Barack Obama as the only hope for moving forward in the second decade of the 21st century!

The “Social” Issues In The Presidential Campaign Of 2012: Are They Really Gay Marriage, Abortion, Affirmative Action, Gun Rights, School Prayer, And Immigration?

Ronald 2 Comments

If you listen to Republican Presidential candidates and “social” conservatives, many of whom claim to be “good Christians”, one would conclude that the social issues for the nation in 2012 are:

1. Gay Marriage
2. Abortion
3. Affirmative Action
4. Gun Rights
5. School Prayer
6. Immigration

All of these issues are extremely controversial, but what are the REAL social issues in America?

1. Homelessness of so many Americans, including those once middle class citizens.
2. Hunger, where many Americans, millions of them children, have inadequate nutrition, which will affect them long term.
3. Unemployment long term of millions, many of them over 40 and through the 50s and early 60s in age, who will never be able to gain employment at all at any time, or at the most, never make anywhere near the same income they had been earning in good times.
4. The destruction of the retirement funds and plans of millions of senior citizens, who now have to work many more years than planned just to survive.
5. The lack of health insurance and coverage of many millions of people who cannot afford to go to a doctor or hospital, or afford extremely expensive medication that would prolong life.
6. The lack of educational opportunity for those who are in poverty stricken neighborhoods, and receive an inferior education due to local property taxes being the main source of educational funding.
7. The discrimination against the children of undocumented immigrants, who discover when becoming adults, that they cannot attend college or join the military, and are threatened with deportation, along with discrimination visited against them and their parents and family members in states, such as Alabama and Arizona, because of illegal immigration laws which are being challenged in the federal courts.
8. The continuing challenge for disabled Americans, whether from birth or as a result of accidents or health problems, who, despite the Americans With Disabilities Act passed under President George H. W. Bush in 1990, still face barriers to equality of treatment.

These eight problems listed above are the REAL social challenges, but the Republican Party and so called “religious” people totally ignore these issues, instead promoting a new version of the old Social Darwinism and Laizzez Faire Economics prevalent in the Gilded Age of the late 19th century!

In other words, they want to go back to the 19th century, wipe out the 20th century, and promote good old “Christian” and “Unbridled Capitalism” values, which made America a nation ripe for reform and change, including the Progressive Era, The New Deal, and The Great Society!

This attempt to return to the old conservatism is a great evil which must be defeated by all good, really “religious” people of all faiths, who believe in equality of opportunity and fairness and consideration of others less fortunate than those of us who are lucky and successful, and do not experience the hardships of others!

The past is the past, and we need to look to the future, and realize if one American is homeless, hungry, denied health care and education, or discriminated against, then we are all worse off because of those realities!

This must be a country of WE, rather than simply ME!

Nostalgia For The 19th Century: The “Good Old Days” Of The Gilded Age?

Ronald 2 Comments

Here we are in the second decade of the 21st century, and yet the Tea Party Movement and the Republican Party contains within itself a great nostalgia for the past–the 19th century Gilded Age!

Why is the Gilded Age seen in such a positive light by the Right Wing of the Republican Party? Let us count the ways in no special order!

1. Labor unions were struggling to survive, and workers were working long hours under horrible work conditions with no protection and no basic rights for the working men, women and children. Yes, children as young as 6 were working for menial pay, as well as women being paid less than men.

2. Immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe and Asia were being discriminated against, and paid less than “native born” workers, and living in slums in the big cities.

3. Women had no rights legally and were not allowed to vote or control their work conditions.

4. No one had any health care, pension, minimum wage protection or sick leave or vacation leave, and could be fired on a whim of the employer.

5. African Americans mostly lived in the South and faced segregation, lynchings, and sharecropper poverty, and civil rights of any kind did not exist.

6. Corporations ruled in America, major monopolies which corrupted the political system on all levels–national, state and local.

7. State and local governments controlled just about every aspect of their population’s lives in a very inadequate manner, and the federal government was extremely minimal in its impact upon the people.

8. There was no social safety net of any kind, other than churches and other organizations which were unable to do much for those less fortunate, in poverty, or having serious medical ills.

9. Racial supremacy was a widely held belief, along with Laissez Faire Economics and Social Darwinism.

10. Education was minimal for the vast majority of the population, and therefore allowed little social mobility for the average American.

11. If natural disasters occurred, little assistance or aid was available, except to pray to God for divine guidance.

This nostalgia today is VERY SIMILAR to the above reality of the Gilded Age, but we have had a century of reform, including the Progressive Era, the New Deal, the Great Society and other reforms on specific issues at other times!

We have had reform oriented Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Barack Obama promote major changes that have made America a better nation!

Now the proposal of the Right Wing in the GOP is to reverse the reforms and changes that have made America an improved nation over the past century. The desire is to negate, to veto, to wipe out the social safety net, labor reforms, and so many other hard earned reforms. This is being offered as the GOP answer to the economic crisis we are in, as if making things worse and protecting the corporations and the extremely wealthy is the answer to our difficulties!

Returning to the Gilded Age is precisely the wrong thing to do! We cannot allow such a disaster to occur in 2011, or EVER!

Barack Obama Throws Down The Gauntlet To The Republicans In Congress: A Jobs Program Proposal In September Enacted, Or Used Against The GOP Next Year!

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President Obama came out swinging today in Minnesota, declaring that while he shares blame for the economic mess with the Republicans created by the Debt Ceiling Crisis, he will propose specific jobs legislation when Congress returns in September, and if the Republicans block action, he will use it against them in the 2012 Congressional and Presidential campaign!

It is wonderful to see Barack Obama sound like Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman, going after the Republicans, and it is certainly about time!

Since it is certain that the right wing Tea Party activists in Congress will NOT allow any legislation on jobs to pass into law, it is certain we will see fireworks over the next year!

This is the time and place for all progressives who care about the future to get over disappointment about specific shortcomings of Barack Obama, and realize it is a choice of Obama or going backward to the era of the 1920s or even the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.! We cannot allow ourselves to see the Great Society, New Deal, and even the reforms promoted during the administration of Richard Nixon, to be destroyed!