Sunday, June 26, 2016

A Little History

A century ago, the US economy and government was in the grip of what were called Robber Barons.  People so wealthy and powerful that they formed business monopolies, chose political leaders by themselves, decided what laws would be passed and considered everyone else but themselves "losers".  Working people were poverty-stricken, there was no "Middle Class".  You were either rich or broke.

People had few legal rights to complain.  Courts were packed by judges appointed by the rich to defend their overbearing methods.  Does that term "losers" ring a bell when you listen to a Trump speech?  It should.  Trump wants to return to those years.

The Republican party is to blame for this.  They have denigrated the value of government for years.  They refused to admit that government for the People is a good thing.  They desired that political success go only to the rich and powerful, so that they could get more than any human could possibly need to thrive in the world.

The Republican party has yelled for several decades that all we need to succeed is to have no government regulation.  That outsiders "know best".  That inexperience in world affairs is somehow "purer" than experience.  Basically, that ignorance is better than knowledge.  Now they have their purfect candidte for an upcoming humiliation of that view.  Trump will be crushed, and they might lose both the Senate and the House.  And later, the Supreme Court, as vacancies will be filled in the next 8 years.

The Republicans hate government so bad that they slashed the budget of the IRS, whose only function is to collect taxes and make sure we all pay what we owe.  They call it "starving the beast".

But the IRS is merely the agency that collects taxes declared by Congress.  The audit function doesn't bother most of us.  What they look for is very rich people who aren't paying their fair share.  They aren't after those of us earning $30,000-100,000.  They are after those multi-millionaires and billionaires who are paying nothing in taxes by gaming the system with secret accounts overseas or claiming massive business losses through indirect multiple company tricks.

We WANT more IRS agents to find those cheaters and get the Government revenue for schools, military support, VA hospitals, and roads and bridges!  What we don't want is the Donald Trumps of the world to get richer by cheating on their taxes.

More IRS agents don't threaten me or you.  They threaten the most wealthy who have been cheating us all.  We should SUPPORT more IRS funding for auditors.

The government does a lot of good things.  Defense, education, infrastructure, personal rights, helping poor States, assuring honest elections, managing the general economy, protecting the right to religious freedom, the whole Bill Of Rights...

That takes some money.  Not much in exchange for the common good.  In some countries, it is more; in some it is less.  I think we are doing pretty well where we are.

The Republicans want to lessen Government to enfeeblement; Democrats want to expand it in some few directions.  That's general human progress.

Let's consider insurance.  The theory of insurance is that the larger the group, the less risk there is to any member of the insurance group.  Doesn't it therefore make sense to increase the insurance pool?  YOUR medical costs go up everytime an uninsured person needs medical care.  So shouldn't we increase the number of insured people?  Fewer uninsured people mean lower costs for the rest of us.

Now let's say that the roads are failing in your area.  And in other areas.  And will fail in the future in other areas.  Isn't it a better idea to all get together and share the expenses gradually overall instead of all at once locally?

Isn't that what helping your neighbors now so that they can help you tomorrow is all about?  Government is merely the organized method of sharing todays costs with your neighbor tomorrow.  What you need to accept is that your neighbor might be several States away.

We understand that when some community many States away suffers a natural disaster.  A hurricane, an earthquake, a tornado.  We help them then.  That's what government is.  Society agreeing to hel each other in bad times...

And the Republicans fight against THAT!


3 comments:

Megan said...

I don't object to paying taxes and make very few efforts to reduce the amount of tax I pay. I find it bizarre to listen to people skite at dinner parties about the 'clever' things they're doing to avoid paying tax. Why? Don't they want good roads, police service, public hospitals?

Megan
Sydney, Australia

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

I think you have mischaracterized both Democrats and Republicans. It is this type of caricature that has done harm to both parties. For you as a Democrat or Progressive to think Republicans are losers and are to blame for "all of this" is inaccurate. To say Republicans fight against helping the poor, or wanting not to help during natural disasters is simply not true. It is also inaccurate for any Republican to think all Democrats are to blame for more regulations, more government intrusion, and making more people depend on the Government instead of being self sufficient. I don't know where it became wrong to have disagreements or where it became wrong to want to compromise with one another? What I see is 'the people' are tired of both parties not doing the will of people, and then being demagogued for expressing how they feel.

Mark's Mews (Marley, Lori, Loki, and Binq) said...

Angel AbbyGrace, I hear your words. I read them carefully. I think you mischaracterize what *I* said.

I gave facts about the past history of the US and brought them to the present day. And I know of the early 1900s. I majored in history at college. I presented some information that *I* think fits Donald Trump today and the members of his party who agree with him.

And it is worth noting that many members of his party very much do not agree with his statements...

Speaker Paul Ryan, Convention Leader, cannot get himself to endorse Trump.

Both Bush Presidents and not backing Trump.

Fl Governor Jeb bush said "In November, I will not vote for Donald Trump..."

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a solid Republican as there can be is not supporting Trump.

Former Republican candidate Mitt Romney has called Trump a phony and a fraud.

Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse called for a third-party challenger to Donald Trump in May.

Former New Jersey Governor and Republican Christine Todd Whitman has said she won't support Trump.

Bill Kristol, editor of the (conservative and Republican) Weekly Standard, has been trying to recruit a candidate for a third-party run against Trump.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has called Trump "an embarrassment" to the Republican party and says that he will never vote for Trump.

Former Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts told the Wall Street Journal in February, "It's going to be a tremendous setback for the party if he wins."

Former Florida Sen. and former RNC chairman Mel Martinez rejects the idea of voting for Trump.

"If there is any, any, any other choice, a living, breathing person with a pulse, I would be there," he told the Wall Street Journal in February.

It is Trump who thinks we are all "losers", not me. I don't think we are "losers". But Trump has a very specific view of the world where there are very few winners and lot of losers, and he intends to be one of the winners.

Many many elected Republicans (and most Democrats) disagree with him and have better hopes for "us". There has never been a more thoroughly and generally despised candidate for the US Presidency.

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