Wednesday, November 3, 2010

KNOW THY ENEMY.

With the election now behind us, and with what appears to be a new crop of Republicans heading to Washington, I hope Republicans have learned the lesson of the last 2 years. This administration and Democrats spat in your face and not once reached out or tried to seek consensus. NOT ONCE!
As expected, we are now hearing that Obama/Democrats will move to the center and reach out. DON’T BUY IT!
Obama and these Democrats are ideologues. Hard-core, unbending, unyielding, ideologues.
Don’t believe me. Ok, then take a look at the marching order coming from the left.

"The Republicans have framed the issue as government vs. the people, and people feeling bogged down and oppressed are all too willing to find the easy enemy that has been presented to them. Government, however, is not the reason why budgets are short and times are tough, it's not government that keeps reaching its hand into our pockets by jacking up the prices we pay for the things we need to stay alive, it's not government that cuts our pay and increases our hours. It's business.

Government, in fact, restricts business's ability to take us to the cleaners. As income inequality in our nation (but not in the world) reaches obscene levels seen only before in the 1920s and 1880s, as the new plutocracy consolidates its power over every single walk of American life, government is the only social institution big enough and powerful enough to stand in its way.

What is government? It is the organized representation of the people. In theory and in law, government works for us, for all of us. Its interest is the national interest, elected representatives are expected to represent the interests of their constituents, and national officials are expected to work for the common good. Government is a social enterprise whose only purpose is to make society work better.

What is business? It's only purpose is to maximize the profit returned to shareholders. Most people don't even realize that corporate boards have a fiduciary responsibility, that is a legal obligation, to return the greatest amount of profit possible to the individuals who own stock in the corporation. It's the only reason companies exist: to make a profit.

How do they make their profits? Well, by lowering costs and raising prices. For me, as either a consumer of their products or a worker in their employ, both lowered costs and increased prices have a negative impact on my quality of life.

The Republicans want to cut corporations loose from government regulation, but government is the only thing I have preventing corporations from raping me. Democrats stand for activist government, a government that protects my quality of life and can guarantee solid economic growth.

That's the frame we need, folks. It's us against them, and we need to stand firm."

2 comments:

Murali said...

Typical.

Where is that quote from? Who said it?

Joaquin said...

It was posted on Kos and has since been taken down.