Edwards: System is "rigged" against all but super-rich

[JohnLocke]

Edwards: system is "rigged" against all but super rich
By O.Kay Henderson--Radio Iowa
Thursday, July 26, 2007
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Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards says American capitalism has been corrupted, ensuring the super-rich get richer while middle and lower-class Americans are stuck paying a higher share of taxes.

"We believe in capitalism. Capitalism is the heart and soul of the American economy, but the capital system needs to work in a fair way and there need to be rules and laws...so it's fair for everybody," Edwards says. "What's happened now is the whole system has been rigged by people who have the power and the money to rig it and somebody's got to stop 'em and that's exactly what I intend to do."

Edwards proposes a series of tax reforms that would provide tax cuts and tax credits for low- and middle-income Americans, while at the same time he'd increase taxes on America's richest citizens -- including himself.

"It strengthens the ability of middle class families to take care of their children, to be able to save. There's some clear middle income tax relief," Edwards says. "It is true that for the highest income taxpayers who make money from their investments that their taxes under this proposal will go up and they should go up because they're not paying their fair share right now."

Since the 2004 campaign, Edwards has been talking about what he refers to as "Two Americas" and Edwards returned to that theme during a speech this morning in Des Moines as he laid out his tax reform ideas.

"The press is constantly saying, 'Well, what you mean by "Two Americas" is you mean the rich and the poor.' No, that's not what I mean. What I mean is the very rich and multinational corporations and everybody else. Those are the 'Two Americas' that still exist in this country," Edwards said, as the audience applauded.

Afterwards, a reporter asked Edwards if he was engaging in class warfare.

"If you have money and you're highly educated in this country, you're well taken care of. The question is: what about everybody else?" Edwards said. "...Somebody needs to express the outrage about what's happening in this country. It's not right and it's not fair and I intend to express it and express it strongly and I'm going to do something about it as president of the United States."

Edwards plans campaign stops today in Winterset, Creston, Atlantic and Council Bluffs.

http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=039683DA-C99D-19B6-DAA279BDBBA02590

[Zensea]

1. Since when is engaging in class warfare a bad thing?

My pet peeve whenever I see such accusations being made or questions asked on the subject.
After all, the super-rich don't have any problem engaging in class warfare, why should the poor?
Particularly, given where they are stuck.

On another note, I can't figure out what is wrong with the Democratic electorate that Edwards isn't doing better than he is, given how he is staking out very traditional Democratic positions. Has the party on the voter level also been taken over by a bunch of DINOs?

[goodgd_yall]

2. Don't you know? There is no class system in the U.S.

:sarcasm:

I think most Americans have been brainwashed over the past 60 years to buy into the American Dream myth: if you work hard, you can make it (own a home, get the best education, health care, and so on). But not only brainwashed, scared into this thinking. If you are for any form of "spreading the wealth," you've been branded a red, a socialist, and (gasp!) a liberal.

[Joe Chi Minh]

4. It's over. The rich won. Or thought they had....

[Joe Chi Minh]

3. It's only OK if you're Mr Big kicking the little guy on the ground; and if he can, finishing him

off but good. That should have been his answer.

And by the way, I deplore the way the MSM and the rest of us keep referring to the sharks of capitalism as Fat Cats. Such a cuddly image, isn't it? Not quite reflecting the psychopathic reality of those snakes-in-suits.

[roseBudd]

11. in fact 8 of the Super Richest families are bankrolling the effort to doi away with the "death tax"

[DemBones DemBones]

19. There's a fact that should be widely publicized,

assuming there's documented proof so people can't deny it.

[roseBudd]

35. here is the fact so DUers can go forth & widely publicize...

http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3115

Elite Families Behind ‘Death Tax’ Campaignby Megan Tady Eighteen wealthy dynasties are part of a deceptive effort that targets ordinary Americans, urging them to help repeal a tax placed on a small number of extraordinary bequests.May 2, 2006 – Two public-advocacy groups have exposed the names of eighteen ultra-rich families driving a deceitful campaign to repeal the federal estate tax.


The report, published last week by Public Citizen and United for a Fair Economy (UFE), documents the strategy of a group of elites, together worth approximately $185.5 billion, to permanently repeal the estate tax using a marketing campaign that appeals to constituents unaffected by the tax: farmers, small businesses and the middle-income families.

The watchdog groups found the families they name in the report – including the owners of Campbell’s Soup, Gallo Wine, Mars, and Wal-Mart – through public-record searches. Both Public Citizen and UFE say the list is not comprehensive, but includes only the names of families they were able to uncover

[DemBones DemBones]

37. Great info, thanks for posting it!

:hi:

[KillCapitalism]

14. Edwards has it right.

We have a situation more like a caste system like India had hundreds of years ago instead of a class system.

[SnowCritter]

25. Warren Buffett was quoted as saying

"If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning."

It's my opinion that economic issues are being overshadowed by the shit-storm that is Iraq and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan.

I place part of the blame for that on the corporate media who only put forth a product that "sells". I put the rest of the blame on the electorate for buying what the corporate media put out; for not demanding more than "tabloid journalism".

[Greyhound]

47. Yes he did. He made the talk show circuit years ago and stated quite clearly,

over and over, that we are already in a class war and that only one side is fighting it and that they are winning. One of the variations is my sig line.

Problem is that the sheep don't want to be told they are sheep, they believe themselves to be wolves, right up to the point that they are dinner.

[JDPriestly]

49. You are right, but it is still the economy, stupid.

We need to give Edwards a louder voice.

[Strawman]

26. "Engaging" in class warfare against the super rich is warranted self-defense

Doesn't this reporter know who started it? Who engages everyday? The middle class and working class have been under attack in this country for 38 years.

[PoconoPragmatist]

30. Try And Get The "Goddam Liberal Media" To Report THAT!!

Good fuckin' luck!

WE know we workers have been under attack for the last 38 years, but the media won't report it.

It all started with busting the unions, and it's swirled progressively further down the porcelain log flume ever since!

[liberalmike27]

28. I agree with this

They always whine about class warfare, then they engage in trouncing the poor and middle class. Heck the whole agenda of NAFTA, GATT, and all of these free trade agreements pushed by our media, is antithetical to working people in our country. The war is on, and I say we can keep fighting back, or we will just lay down, and die, having our faces shoved in the crap by the damn cloud-minders.

One of the primary purposes of the media is to demonize Socialism and Communism. Americans have been subjects of this since birth, as have our parents, and somewhat, their parents. We're just talking about ideas though; Ideas that we've been taught to try to kill with bullets and bombs. You can't kill an idea with bullets and bombs, you kill people.

We need for Democrats to start saying that, each time someone brings up this stupid class warfare thing. Step up, and say, "HEy, we're just fighting back, as the rich have been attacking us for four decades now." It's always been that, really, it hasn't just been a few decades. History is replete with examples, and only a small period of poplism exists from the 30's to the 70's, where we had the greatest economic expansion in history. But, it seems, things have to get so bad that most people see squalor all around them, crime running rampant in the streets, before they understand that the very wealthy, and their media, do not support ordinary working folks. They've been kicking the supports out from under our economy for years now, and it has begun to collapse. The last thing we need is another republican-democrat in office, or worse yet, an actual republican. Everything hangs in the balance, at continuing to wake up the massive numbers that have been duped into thinking the media doesn't have a corporate, right-wing agenda.

[Progressive Friend]

38. Even the super-rich often admit that they are engaging in class warefare

American workers need to wake up and fight back!

[AJ9000]

42. No the right-wing propaganda machine has done it's job well.

[shance]

5. I think the truth is capitalism is in and of itself rigged.

n/t

[info being]

6. I think he just might take Iowa

[draft_mario_cuomo]

7. Edwards continues to speak truth to power, which is why Wall Street is not backing him... nt

[Common Sense Party]

32. Yeah, well, when he says he wants to "take away their power"

You don't expect Wall Street and big business to suck up to him, do you?

[Hydra]

8. sad when attempting to make a system fair and equitable

Even the smallest corrections are considered to be "rocking the boat"

:argh:

I used to wonder if I was the insane one, since this place didn't make any sense based on what I was taught. Then I realized that the other people were just louder, not saner.

[tex-wyo-dem]

9. If Edwards continues to speak truth to power like this...

and can really get his message out regarding economic reform and leveling the playing field between the wealthy and the rest of us, I truly believe there's not a candidate, Rethug or Dem, who could beat him.

[loudsue]

31. The key is "IF" he is ALLOWED to get his message out. Remember hair cuts?

THAT is what the "news" will report...not his message. The media so sucks in this country.

:kick:

[goodhue]

10. Excellent

[goodhue]

22. !

[goodhue]

27. .

[goodhue]

40. ,

[goodhue]

50. .

[Zorra]

12. So true. I'm liking John Edwards more every day. n/t

[Bread and Circus]

13. Edwards keeps saying the things I like to hear, damn him for his...

$400 haircut and his secret plan hatching with my most hated Dem Candidate (HIllarY). I want to support him, why can't he stop doing dumb little things along the way???

[draft_mario_cuomo]

15. What is more important? Building One America or a haircut?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1qG6m9SnWI

[Bread and Circus]

16. It's what the haircut represents to me.

But I know where you are coming from. Right now, it's a tossup between obama and edwards for me, but Gore all the way if he gets in.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

20. What does it represent to you? That he is rich? They are all rich

Ask yourself, would Hillary or Obama ever say "the system is rigged against all but the super-rich"?

[Bread and Circus]

21. I identify a lot with John Edwards, as my life story echoes his in some way...

so I hold him to the same standards I hold myself, if that makes any sense. So when he does/says something I ask myself if I could respect myself if I did it/said it the same way. If I can't, it creates cognitive dissonance for me.

I want to really, really believe in Obama or John Edwards, the same way I believe in Wes Clark and Al Gore. I've given up hope on Bill and Hillary Clinton because in my deepest heart I just believe they are in it for themselves.

These are my personal feelings, justified or not.

[benny05]

17. Come see the new video related to all of your post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x43657

[Bread and Circus]

18. John Edwards, make me believe. I want to believe in something again.

[Time for change]

23. It's great to hear someone talk about this

If Edwards gets elected president, I hope he has better Secret Service protection than JFK did.

[PoconoPragmatist]

24. NOW Do You Understand WHY I Support Edwards??

So, will the rest of you finally jump onboard? This is the man we need right now in this country! Someone who will fucking DO SOMETHING about the rotten state of affairs in this country!

http://www.namebase.org/richnote.html

[Connonym]

29. I'm liking Edwards more and more

I could get enthused about an Edwards Obama ticket.

[mconvente]

33. How anyone here doesn't like Edwards is beyond me...

Yeah, I know if you're an ardent Hillary or Obama person that you want to stick to your candidate, but speech after speech like this from Edwards and some of you still don't give him the light of day. I think any Dem will be better than the repuke nominee, but I'd prefer if it were Edwards.

[rabidchickens]

34. Yeah I jumped ship

From Obama to Edwards a long time ago, Gore has been getting a lot better lately but remember in the 90s and in 2000 he was just a DLC democrat, hes become far more progressive though (or has the country just became more skewed to the right)

Edwards/Obama would be a great ticket. Clinton will never be anyones V.P. i can tell you that for sure

[defendandprotect]

45. No -- I think the out of office Gore is more liberal . .. . but look at damage he's done previously

In particularly giving Liebermann the VP nod -- !!!
How in the hell did he do that???

Gore also totally folded on Election 2000 --
do we want to see any more of that kind of a non-response -- ????

Also Gore nodded "yes" when Clinton asked him about overturn 60 plus years of Welfare guarantees!!

Gore has also had a long time career of being backed by an oil company --
don't recall which --

OIL COMPANIES are something we have to move Congress to look to --
Windfall profits taxes???

Returning our natural resources to the control of citizens rather than a few private families?

Electric Cars -- ? See "Who Killed The Electric Car?"

[MrSlayer]

36. I'm going to go Edwards if Clark or Gore do not enter the race.

He's speaking truth and I like it.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

39. How does my dream ticket sound? Edwards-Clark=landslide

:bounce:

[AJ9000]

41. It's a critical point: Edwards is the guy who can actually win it in 08.

[defendandprotect]

46. Sounds good to me . .. only better would be Greg Palast/Michael Moore - !!!!

[Norrin Radd]

43. k+r

Great thread responses!

[defendandprotect]

44. Shouldn't Edwards response be that he is COMMENTING on our nation's class system -- ????

Let's get back to Huey Long --

[JDPriestly]

48. This decides it. Edwards is the only true Democrat running.

Edwards "gets it." This is just so, so, so true.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

51. And Edwards is the only "top-tier" candidate who has the audacity to say something like this

We need a nominee who is willing to speak the truth about the class system. To pretend there are no real differences between the parties, ideology is unimportant, and that there is only one undivided America is seriously flawed thinking and would be exactly the wrong course for our party to take at this critical juncture in American and world history. We need to fight for progressive principles and progressive change, not sacrifice progressive values on the altar of triangulation or consensus with Republicans.

[jzodda]

52. I like edwards more and more each day

I am starting to ask myself why I would not support him and I have no good reason not to. Not only is he articulate, he is also compelling. The best part about the debate was his thundering about the man who could not get his face fixed till he was 51. You could hear the anger in his voice, the outrage. That was the best moment in the debate for me.

I am leaning more and more toward this man and his ideas for this nation.