Taking the War on the Middle Class to the other side

[Parisle]

--- When Ronald Reagan managed to incite a shooting incident over the skies of Libya, our planes downing two of theirs, a spokesman explained it by saying that when you talk tough, you occasionally have to take one of the other side's pieces off the board.

--- Now let's apply that reasoning to the current class war being waged in the US by corporatist wealth against the poor and middle classes,... a seeming effort to push American society back to a point somewhere between feudalism and the "company store." For my money, this effort has been sufficiently exposed, demonstrated and delineated. It is inarguable. When you add up all the significant actions of the Bush administration, you do not come up with even a rational attempt at foreign or domestic policy, but rather the fulfillment of a corporatist wish-list. War-for-oil,.. profligate reconstruction contracts,.. deregulation,.. the $2B Katrina rip-off,.. tax cut after tax cut,.. cheap illegal alien labor,.. the revolving door,.. outsourcing and offshoring in high gear,.. major idustries (like Pharma) writing their own legislation,.... in short, a virtual effort to "privatize" government, itself, in the hands of the super-rich and powerful. Hell,.. the sons-of-bitches tried to take Social Security,.. and want to privatize the water supply.

--- It doesn't take Columbo to see through all this. But the other side is still going strong. In spite of the many "investigations" underway, zero accountability is still the order of the day. That has to change, and the democrats have to be the ones to change it. Where are the opportunities?

--- Well,.. since Iraq was their big venture,.. make the investigations into "deliberate" malfeasance there a "blood quest" in the harshest sense possible. Account for every dollar. Maximum penalties,.. no deals,.. and NO inconsequential scapegoats. Go for the biggest fish in the tank. Rip those secret Energy Panel meetings wide open. No fewer than a dozen CEO's, etc should go to prison for not less than 20 years. Make that the objective. The theme of the private sector acting AGAINST America's best interests should never be left out of any argument. Same for the Katrina scams, eh? Eye of the Tiger.

--- Corporate taxes & tax-cuts for the rich: Turn 'em around pronto. Come down hard on the GOP move towards deregulation. Send out an army of investigators and prosecutors. Put as many people in jail as you possibly can. Fines should be purposefully excessive. Scald them.

--- For companies that lay off US workers and outsource their jobs: A fee equal to one year's unemployment benefits for every employee position outsourced. And a special surtax on profits from outsourced activities. Offshoring tax-evaders is a no-brainer. Cancel the tax exclusion. And who said the oil companies didn't reap windfall profits as a result of Iraq? Go to the oil companies and "make them a deal they can't refuse." Illegal aliens in the corporate work force? $10K fine per worker,... or maybe $1,000 per day worked.

--- You will meet with some resistance, to be sure,... both political, and from corporate legal departments. When that happens, be prepared to put one attorney and two investigators on the trail of anyone who objects. These people have plenty of dirt to be dug up. Ruin them. Make their lives hell. Make them fear you.

--- It's time that the War on the Middle Class saw a counter-attack. And you have to take some of the other side's pieces off the board.

[Union Thug]

1. It is a class war and I'm not so sure it can be won

in the congress or senate. The problem now is that many of the tactics workers have used in the past to secure their rights is now somehow connected to terrorism and can get people shipped to gitmo or worse. It will take massive organization, loyalty to one another, and the courage to take back everything that's been lost. Think huge numbers of people in the streets, volunteer soup lines, and strategic and tactical teams made up of experienced labor organizers (ILWU is probably the most effective currently), sympathetic legal counsel, and negotiators to change the system. In my opinion, workers need to flex their muscles; the congress and senate are composed mostly of the rich and, more often than not, are incapable of understanding the plight of the working person.

[Solo_in_MD]

2. You might find a more accurate example

When Ronald Reagan managed to incite a shooting incident over the skies of Libya...

Is not how it happened...

[leftofthedial]

3. I'm all for your approach

but the real enemy in the class war are the 1200 or so super-wealthy families, not the corporations that are in effect their muscle.

[Parisle]

4. Thank you,... and Yes, I know,....

--- It's the "families," alright. I read somewhere recently that as few as 7,000 individuals may be seen as effectively "running the country." And I can believe it. (The PNAC, for example, was essentially financed by three families, including the Mellon-Scaife family.) But I don't see a total disconnect between these individuals and the big companies who do their bidding. In fact, with the right judicial approach, that would just be another form of corporate "veil" to pierce. And while our US legislators are unlikely ever to take these people seriously to task for any of their misdeeds and subversiveness, I doubt that these families would care to see 50 million angry, armed citizens approaching their gated complexes. They will leave the country before that happens, I suspect. We need to see to it that they cannot take their ill-gotten gains with them.