Re: political -- THE PROBLEM WITH RINOs IS...



Experience brings an interesting perspective.

Yes it does but when the people running the show are so politically wedded
to a specific doctrine they act as if nothing that happened in the past is
of any importance at all or applies to them.

Back in the 1960s the general feeling was that we would be lucky
to get a Republican government to end an unpopular war, clean up
the ethics mess in Washington and get governmental spending under
control. I worked very hard to achieve this. What we got was
*** Nixon, secret plans, enemies lists, wage and price controls,
abandonment of the gold standard, "the plumbers," and Watergate.

I am more than ever convinced that a, if not *THE*, major problem
is the political duopoly of the Republicans and Democrats. Both
parties are bankrupt intellectually, bankrupt ideologically, and
most important, bankrupt ethically. Even a socio-economic
disaster such as the great depression in the United States was
not enough to break this political duopoly.

I disagree with this because I see the problem not with the two party
system. That is fine. The problem is with this particular batch of people
running these parties, the American people, the lobbyists and the people who
pay them.


This is compounded by a Washington cesspool that either corrupts
and pre-empts, or marginalized everyone elected or appointed to
positions of power there. These individuals are totally isolated
from normal civil society by not only their salary and benefits,
but also by an environment where their jokes are always funny,
their social, political and economic "insights" are always
profound, and they are the sexiest thing on two legs and everyone
wants to hop in the sack with them [gender and age optional].

Where is the candidate and/or political party that is *NOT*
offering the same old snake oil, and "more of the same only
better?"

Everybody knows the problems. The question is how can you solve them? The
parties are in the grip of the corporations and the wealthy. As long as that
condition persists the problems simply cannot be solved. A good example is
the ethanol lobby. By now most people know that the government mandate to
use ethanol as a motor fuel was a mistake and should be reversed. We keep
Brazilian ethanol out by high tarriffs on it. We are driving up the cost of
everything you can think of by using food for fuel. We all know that we
should stop doing this. But we don't because the lobbying effort by the
ethanol lobby has stopped any change in its tracks. So a small, wealthy,
powerful, minority is preventing the country from doing what is right. The
same scenario is being played out in countless other areas. Until we find a
way to stop these special interests from thwarting what's best for the
majority the status quo will remain in place.

For example:

* Why should a multinational corporation get a break on their US
taxes for an investment they make in another country, that
exports US jobs?

It shouldn't, but because of the money they spend on lobbying they can
guarantee that whatever they want they will get and the hell with anyone
else's interest.

* Why should a dollar "earned" by stock market "investment,"
commodity/currency speculation or hedge fund management [carry
interest] be taxed at less than one-half of the rate that a
working single mother must pay on the dollar she earns working
nights at a 7-11 and days in a WalMart?

This one is easy. Because the investor class regards earning income from a
capital gain as superior to laboring for income. They think that they
shouldn't pay any taxes on money they earn from the sale of stocks, bonds,
and real estate. Because of their wealth they obviously have the power to
make the government distinguish between money made from labor compared to
money made from investing.


* WWII ended in 1945, the Korean cease-fire was signed in 1953,
and the USSR was dissolved in 1991. Why then do we continue to
deploy *ANY* US troops in Germany, Italy, Japan, or Korea, when
they are needed at home for border security? Lets declare
victory, have a nice parade and come home....

Once you bring home the troops, demobilize them, and return to peace time
conditions, there is a fundamental change in the position of the military in
a society. They lose their preeminent place once peace is the norm again.
The second part of the military industrial complex also is a loser because a
huge source of its income is no longer going to come from a nation at peace.
Neither of these groups wants a return to peace. Then there is the group
that wants the power from having an American empire. You bring home all
those troops, end the war time state, and the empire is irrevocably
diminished. I mean, without a huge military how could the U.S. be the
world's dominant player? Too many people in high places want to keep the old
ball rolling just like it was 1955 and we ruled the world. But then, until
we change back to a peace loving nation that avoids war except in a real
emergency those in power are going to try to maintain the empire that was
created during WWII. That's why the troops never come home. Without them all
over the world the empire would fall.

Hawke


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