an Open Letter to the Clueless Democratic Party

[welshTerrier2]

Teddy Roosevelt: "Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day."

it is a very sad business to label such talk as "left" ...

think about this ... the "corporations are dangerous" message has come to be labelled as "left wing" ... the idea that corporations can readily corrupt our democracy has come to be viewed as "radical" ...

i see this this as the central issue of our times ... we're so busy arguing about social security or gay rights or the war in Iraq that we have failed to recognize that we have lost our democracy ... our great institutions have been poisoned by corporate greed and corporate power ...

this is the central "story" that the Democratic Party needs to start telling ... the Party needs to start making "democracy" the central issue ... all the other battles we fight become meaningless because we have no voice in our own government ... any victory we win today can be taken away at any time because the upper echelons of government are nothing but corporate puppets ... it's not that the individual issue battles we're fighting are unimportant ... but without a central theme that ties them together, we lack a "unity of thought", a "story", that puts the many battles we fight in context for the voters to understand ...

the Democratic Party is such a total mess right now ... look at the idiotic arguing that goes on right here on DU ... the "lefties" are so out of touch and impractical that we couldn't possibly listen to their Marxist ramblings ... it really is crazy ... i don't know about the other "lefties", but my simple message is we need to fight like hell to restore our democracy ...

what we call the "left" are a bunch of people who believe in democracy ... they believe our government no longer represents the best interests of the people ... we all should follow the issues and stake out our positions on the current issues of the day ... but every issue, every single issue, is subsumed by the loss of our democracy ...

until Democrats recognize this central truth and make it their battle cry, we are not a progressive party ... we are not the party of reform ... we are not the party of the people ... this is where the battle lies ... it does not lie with this politician or that one ... it lies in the central truth that our country which once embodied such high ideals, has lost its way ... it is time for the Democratic Party to call for a new American revolution ... a revolution that seizes power away from the greedy and the corrupt and restores power to its rightful owners, the American people ...

the Party moderates have pushed so hard to bring moderate republicans on board by moving the Party to the right ... but what if the way to attract "real" conservatives is to ask them to join us in a new American revolution to restore our democracy to the one envisioned in the Constitution ...

there is nothing "conservative" about the corporatocracy's radical agenda for global domination ... it's time for real American patriots, of both parties, to step forward and say ENOUGH !!! The Democratic Party is the natural home for this movement ... they will not reclaim a majority status until they embrace it ...

James Madison: "There is an evil which ought to be guarded against ... The power of all corporations ought to be limited ... The growing wealth acquired by them never fails to be a source of abuses."

what once was a common sense defense of our democracy and good old fashioned American values seems today to have become some kind of left-wing, Marxist conspiracy theory ... the Democratic Party needs to put the battle for our democracy against the corporate state on the front burner ...

we either have power as citizens or we do not ...

absent a voice, ALL the other issues we fight for are just pretend ... left and right battling back and forth while our government sells us down the river to the highest bidder ... the entire paradigm we're trapped in is a massive distraction from aiming our guns at our corporate overlords ... again, it's not that the issues we fight for are unimportant; it's that in the context of having no real voice, both winning and losing are nothing but illusions ...

[Erika]

1. Dr. Dean is doing an incredible job

I see the schism in the GOP, not the Democratic party.

[realFedUp]

2. I hope you do as good a job on the ground for the party

as you do in here...

[Name removed]

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[Dr.Phool]

7. Since when is a sales tax "progressive"?

I spend just about all of my money to survive. Housing, food, transportation, clothing, etc.

Ted Turner, Bill Gates, George Soros, et al spend a pittance of their total income on anything. The rest is invested or just squirreled away. As far as I'm concerned a progressive income tax, on all income is the fairest way.

No means testing for Social Security. I had a few good years, and actually paid the max once. I paid the taxes, including the increase since '83, and I want my benefits.

The cheapest way to contain healthcare costs, is to provide a single-payer insurance system for everyone. Plus it would take a huge burden off the auto, manufacturing, airline industries.

[georgian2006]

17. Healthcare

My only problem with single payer plans is that it forces you to go to the government for your healthcare, and I do not trust the government to do anything well. If people can afford it, they should be allowed the choice.

[RoyGBiv]

8. Welcome to DU!!!

:hi:

Now, as to some comments.

Sales taxes are not progressive, no matter how you spin it. They make goods and services more expensive, which the rich can afford and the poor cannot. The poor end up spending a larger percentage of their income on taxes than the wealthy do. Indeed, the lower your income, the larger percentage of that income you pay in taxes, to the point that those who are currently expempt from income tax due to their extreme poverty would suddenly be taxed, the very definition of regressive taxation. In total dollars, sure, the wealthy might pay more in taxes, but that's not how you define progressive versus regressive taxation.

That said, we might have something to talk about if this tax were waived for food, health care, basic services, and other "essential" goods. Part of this of course turns on how one defines an "essential" good. But, in the end, what you have is yet another complicated tax system subjected to the lobbying efforts of corporations and the wealthy to tweak its elements so that they benefit the most, and again, no matter how it is constructed, the system is still regressive since those with less income will still spend a greater percentage in taxes than the wealthy.

[georgian2006]

15. Sales Tax

It's not progressive but it's most of the rich spend more money so they will still pay more. And the cost savings that companies will enjoy by not having to worry about filing and avoid paying taxes will cause a reduction in price.

The plans I have seen do include a basic or essential goods allowance that you would be reimbursed for. Maybe means test this as well?

It will definitely cause new problems but IMO it will be much simpler than the current system and harder to avoid.

[RoyGBiv]

18. Price reductions ...

I'm sorry. Price reductions? On what economic theory do you base this? Or is it that you propose doing away with all forms of taxation other than a sales tax? If so, what level of national sales taxation would you theorize would be necessary to offset the loss in federal revenue? Then please tell me again that fun story about lowered prices.

Enjoy your stay.

[Mythsaje]

12. Point by point

DEA-More interested in promoting itself than solving any problem. Not the agents, specifically, but the agency. Agreed.

IRS-Either go to a national sales tax or return taxation responsibilities to the states, so the federal government can't use tax re-distribution to bully the states into acquiescing to its demands.

Department of Education- Again, operation on a state level would make it more responsive to the voters.

NEA-I don't have a problem with the government spending money on the arts. The arts are more than just a boondoggle--they're necessary for cultural advancement and economic growth. So far government subsidies to the arts has allowed greater artistic freedom than the free market would. (Not that this is always a GOOD thing, but I think the trade-off is worth it regardless).

Welfare-Personally I think it should be tied DIRECTLY to education...being on welfare should require and enable a person to get an education so as to enter the workforce as a PRODUCTIVE tax-payer, rather than a continuing drain on the system.

Social Security-I agree with means testing. Those who don't need it should voluntarily give it up for those who do. This isn't necessarily something that should be legislated--it should be culturally promoted as a "don't be greedy, help out your less-fortunate neighbor" initiative.

Healthcare-Sin taxes on alcohol, tabacco, cannabis, and other drugs should be spent directly to create and aid in continually funding a single-payer healthcare system. I think your plan is pretty sound as well.

Welcome to DU, CPV. You'll be able to create your own posts pretty quickly (I think it's 25 posts).

Enjoy.

[Dr.Phool]

9. Boy, is that moderator quick

I typed a reply to a post, and by the time I posted it, all the replies were gone, and mine now makes no sense.

But I think I know why they're gone.

[janx]

10. It was fairly obvious. n/t

[HuskiesHowls]

11. And TR was a Republican!!

And here is what he had to say about the presidency:

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."

"Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star", 149
May 7, 1918
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/Quotes.htm

[Donna Zen]

13. We won our freedoms nobody gave them to us.

Federalist #51:

It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.

We have been asleep at the wheel.

When talking to republicans, regular everyday folks religious and not so religious, I always start by telling them that we agree about many things, and then I mention "special interests." Everyone gets it. There is a reason that they--both parties--keep us divided.

[Name removed]

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[understandinglife]

14. Bravo! Simply, BRAVO!

Peace.


Emad Hajjaj, Al-Ghad Newspaper, Amman, Jordan


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - How ever long it takes, the day must come when tens of millions of caring individuals peacefully but persistently defy the dictator, deny the corporatists cash flow, and halt the evil being done in Iraq, and in all the other places the Bu$h neoconster regime is destroying civilization and the environment in the name of "America."

[BeFree]

19. We lost the election...

...because the corporate owners of the machines used to count the votes stole many millions of those votes.

The Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex is robbing America blind.

The corporations are running this country without a bit of accountability or responsibility. Just about every purchase we make fattens the coffers of said corporations and enables their rule a little bit more.

Indeed, we must have better control over corporations. It is sickening the way we have allowed them to control our country and the world.

How do we go about taking corporations down a notch or two? As far back as we can see corps have been a problem to democracy, what is the modern answer?

[welshTerrier2]

20. and the answer is ...

those are all excellent points ...

i don't know if it's a "modern answer" but it seems like the answer, at least the place to start, is fairly obvious ...

those who represent us need to start representing us ... it may take a long-time to educate the American people on just how insidious the corporate state has become ... it is time to start pushing back against the drumbeat of "Democrats are liberals; liberals are all socialists; socialists are all Communists" ... i actually heard a C-Span caller say this a few days ago ...

these labels are tossed around as if there is some kind of evil plot to have Communists take over the US ... the reality is, however, that the US has been conquered by a hidden force that does not honor our democracy ... so, the modern answer is to shine some bright lights on the evil that is being done behind the scenes ...

unfortunately, there's been far too little light coming from those who represent us ...