Money Money Money…Sweet, Ryan and Phony
Note: I wrote this article on my own, using my own time and resources. This is a purely personal opinion.
Also, please read these related posts.
http://onefinalblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/an-urgent-call-to-occupy-wall-street/
and
Questions Media Won’t Ask Romney and Ryan
http://onefinalblog.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/questions-media-wont-ask-romney-and-ryan/
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I am never going to vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. But my vote would not matter. Romney and Ryan are going to win in November, 2012.
Let me tell you why.
But before I do that, let me tell you this. I am terribly worried that a Romney administration, with help from someone like Paul Ryan, is going to destroy the last remnant of the New Deal economic system — an FDR-established, time-tested fiscal policy that saved and prospered the working people and middle-class families of America for decades.
I am scared to think about the future of America and its new generation of working people and families that’s going to suffer the most. Irony is that, many of these young men and women this time wouldn’t even come out to vote. I am frozen to imagine how their lives will shatter into pieces. I am frozen to imagine how the top 1 percent in America will now be even more powerful and richer — at the expense of the poor and middle class. Occupy Wall Street’s worst nightmare will come true! Sadly. Scarily!
The new Romney-Ryan (and Rove) administration also will, in all likelihood, begin a new war in a matter of months. Another ancient civilization will be erased from the face of the earth. Millions of innocent lives and dreams will be destroyed in that new, massive bloodshed.
Because I understand the looming destruction and doom and cannot ever accept it, I shall not vote for Romney and Ryan. But my vote won’t matter. With help from U.S. corporations, think tanks and media, as well as Karl Rove and Koch Brothers, they will win the elections this November.
War, Profit and Propaganda…All in the Name of Democracy.
Let me tell you why.
I shall be brief. After all, with all these big-name political pundits and their big-name media spouting foam-in-the-mouth, who’s going to listen to what a no-name neophyte says on his little, obscure blog?
I quote this from CNN today.
“Congressman Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney are a match made in millionaires’ heaven, but they’ll be a nightmare for seniors who’ve earned their Medicare benefits,” said New York Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, “For the last 18 months, we’ve said Republicans will have to defend the indefensible — their vote to end Medicare. Now with Congressman Ryan on the ticket, House Republicans face the one thing they hoped to avoid — a national debate on their budget that puts millionaires first and Medicare and the middle class last.”
I think that quote says it all. Let’s see what it really says — section by section.
Section 1. “Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney are a match made in millionaires’ heaven.” Okay, great point, Mr. Israel. We all know Republicans’ crocodile tears for the working people and middle class, especially at election times, are phony. But do you know what’s phony about your quote? Democratic Party has done exactly the same thing over the past two presidencies — of Clinton and Obama. You have not done a thing to bring the economy back to the direction of the poor and middle class, who voted you in with so much hope and expectation. You have worked with the rich bankers and financial institutions, and have not held them accountable for their destruction and looting of the American economy.
And just two days ago, in spite of a scathing Congressional hearing that completely, unequivocally exposed the criminal activities of Goldman Sachs and its billionaire executives, your administration has let them off the hook — silently.
If the Republicans are hypocrites, at least we always knew they were. But Mr. Israel, you can’t project a different, clean image for your party and your administration. As far as I am — a registered Democrat voter — concerned, I feel cheated.
Clinton Destroyed Welfare. Even Reagan Couldn’t Do It.
Secton 1: post script. Bill Clinton destroyed the welfare system in a way even Ronald Reagan or George Bush Senior couldn’t do. See, we’ve heard a lot of talk from the Dems about Republicans’ destruction of Medicare and Social Security. I’m sure some of it is true. But again, they don’t make any pretension about it. They tell us that Medicare and Social Security are wasteful expenses and they want to get rid of them. They tell us that they want to privatize Social Security (which will really be the end of the last remnant of New Deal economics), and I am sure Romney and Ryan will keep their promises. They will also destroy America’s once-prized public education system, once and for all.
But think about it. Clinton destroyed American welfare that was so critical for so many poor people especially poor women and single mothers. You Democrats named it welfare reform. Corporate media was handy again to spin on it and middle class people who didn’t know much about the devastating impact of this “reform” bought your spin. Clinton won in 1996, with help from Southern moderates and Northern conservatives.
At the same time, Clinton put Greenspan, Larry Summers and Robert Rubin in power, who with help from Phil Gramm, et al. in Congress, overturned the landmark Glass-Stegall Act and deregulated financial derivatives. Basically, the Clinton administration privatized the U.S. economy and promoted deregulation — going against the New Deal principles of the Democratic Party.
Section 2. “Now with Congressman Ryan on the ticket, House Republicans face the one thing they hoped to avoid — a national debate on their budget that puts millionaires first and Medicare and the middle class last.” Great again, Mr. Israel. But what if someone like me challenges you and the Obama Democrats how you have performed over the past four years when you bailed out the richest corporations (and let off the hook Goldman Sachs, etc.), took in some of the biggest Wall Street crooks on your administration, and did not do anything significant to drive the economy back in the direction of the working people and families.
What answer would you have for them: like, “Well, I know we have not done anything significantly different from Clinton or Bush W., but see we are really significantly different? Just trust us?”
Well, Mr. Israel, I am definitely not going to vote for Mitt Romey and Paul Ryan, because I just know them all too well. But guess what, a LOT of ordinary Americans, who are sick and tired of your party’s and administration’s false promises for Change We Can Believe In, will vote for them.
I work with American labor and immigrants — all poor and middle class. I know for the fact that a large number of these people will vote Republican this time. Not because they don’t like Barack Obama. They do. Barack Obama is a likeable guy: he is smart, he is extremely articulate, and he is I believe much more caring than some of his predecessors.
But his personal qualities and his administrative records simply do not match.
Rats! They are Republocrats!
So, to keep it brief, here’s some of the reasons Romney and Ryan will win.
Bullet Point 1. The Republicans and Democrats are now really flip sides of the same, old coin (or you can use the other cliché and call them same-old wine in a new bottle). People now call them Republocrats, and how much ever you’d dislike to hear it, they have truly become just that.
Bullet Point 2. The Koch Brothers, ALEC, NRA, right wing think tanks such Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, Center for Immigration Studies, Eagle Forum, and the billionaire Super PAC’s are now going to work extra hard to pump in an historic amount of campaign money to the Romney-Ryan ticket. With U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Citizen United verdict, nobody can prevent them from doing that, and they don’t even have to disclose their identity.
Bullet Point 3.We have seen a small version of that enormous campaign cash in the Wisconsin Scott Walker recall election. It’s going to be deja vu, thousand times multiplied.
2012 Super-PAC Contributions
Bullet Point 4. Labor and youth will vote in a drastically smaller number because they have lost their enthusiasm for Obama. If anything, a large number of working people — especially non-union people — will vote Republican this time. Even a significantly higher number of union members will vote Romney-Ryan. Congressional elections this November will also be a Republican landslide. Hate me for saying this, and I hope to be proven wrong.
Bullet Point 5. Contrary to the above, Tea Party will come out in full force and with help from white supremacists who absolutely want to see Obama eliminated, will work Romney-Ryan with the same enthusiasm we had for Obama in 2008. They do not believe in government, they hate Obama, and they’ve found their best spokesperson now in Ryan (and Joe Biden is…well, I don’t know what he really is). Government programs, whatever is left for the poor and needy, are going to be history. In fact, chances are, the U.S. government as an institution is going to be history too! And that would be the ultimate victory for Ayn Rand and Frederich Von Hayek and their disciples such as Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin.
Bullet Point 6. The war lobby, especially the Middle East war lobby and their known spokespersons in the media, will make sure Romney wins. Romney’s announcement today on the V.P. pick in front a Norfolk war ship is not a missed point, especially for these powers and their big friends in big media. Romney presidency will start a new Middle East war very soon. In spite of Obama’s so-called terrorist kill list (one that President Carter denounced recently), there has not been a new full-scale war in four years; in fact, people are coming out on the streets of Egypt, Yemen and those places, and are throwing off U.S.-supported dictators. The Middle East war lobby and their media are deeply disturbed.
I shall come back and write more. I hope you come back and send your comments and criticism too.
Sincerely (and Scared’ly) Writing,
Partha
Brooklyn, New York
Arab Spring. We need a nonviolent American revolution, now!
Reblogged this on TeMe.
Thank you for reblogging it. I hope more people notice the reasons I outlined and reflect with a sense of urgency.
I like your post, but I disagree with two of your points:
Number 1: The Republicans and Democrats are now really flip sides of the same, old coin. . .’
At one point in history, when there were GOP moderates, a case could of been made for there not being a ‘dimes worth of difference’.
However, with people like Ryan, Santorum, Bachmann, Palin, Gingrich; the difference is not only striking, but permanent.
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Number 2: I think Obama is going to end up with a HUGE electoral college victory.
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thanks,
seattle98
Thank you for your comments. On social issues, far right has now dominated the Republican Party, and there is no doubt about it. But on economic and international policy issues — issues that affect the poor and the middle class the most — there is now practically no difference. This November, people will vote on economic issues, and their frustration will show. Plus corporate media and Koch Brothers will take big advantage of this frustration of the average people who can’t pay their bills.
The Obana enthusiasts will vote for Obama and hence you will vote for him. He is likeable, smart, not of billionaire enviornment and caring besides very articulate. So you must vote for him since you like him, even if his administration did not yield the results you expected. Your reason why Romney will win, especially the one that the youth may abstan from voting and the number of Obama enthuasists has declined, are well taken. But I still think that there may not be mucny Romney enthusists turninh up to polling booths given your analysis. The most important point that you have made is that the Repubs and Dems are nothing but essentially same however pro-people they might like to pose with promiss that are most unlikely to be kept. This realisation is just a short step from the Truth that Governments are most unlikely to be pro-people, except for rare, short periods of time. The US economy is in a mess and there is no chance of its recovering rapidly soon irrespective of who becomes the President or control Senate and Congress. Either the market will correct itself over a longer period of time (4 years since Lehman Bris, fall has not seen adequate adjustment to rake place) or the common people must wait scientists and technologists doing something that makes the American economy competitive enough and attract investments. Common pople can only contribute through some sort of a revolution that would bring in real pro-people political parties tho the fore and get both Dems and Repubs out of the political space. And, the new political party’s should establish their credntials by proving that indeed they have an Alternative Economic Theory that can can deliver continuous , sustainable prosperity of the poor.
partha, I agree with you in a lot of areas, and disagree with you on many others. On balance, I disagree with your conclusion, although it could happen because of one more negative that you did not mention: election fraud (many methods, all on the local level) can allow the republicans to steal the election the way they stole it from Al Gore in 2000.
You indicated that many poor and immigrants will vote republican this time: From what I can see around here, which is like a microcosm of the country, the disillusioned poor will not vote, and the only immigrants that will tend to vote republican are business owners who usually lean that way anyway.
Your comment about Clinton is true and false: he is a fiscally conservative democrat, in spite of being called a communist and socialist by the talking heads of the right. Before he ran against Bush I, he had a breakfast meeting early in the year with many Orange County, CA financial backers of Ronald Reagan, and came away with the support of most of them (promises like a Pacific Rim NAFTA probably swayed them). However, as hard as the welfare cuts of his term were on many who needed them, he at least kept them from being totally catastrophic, which is what Newt Gingrich was pushing for at the time. He also attempted health care reform, and took a major hit for the attempt.
He was not perfect, but for a democrat who was not really a liberal, in sum he did the best he could do.
with regard to the criticism of Obama on the issue of war, where you said he has a hit list but there are no new wars, the devils advocate would respond that perhaps there are no new wars because the hit list was effective, removing some individuals who openly and avowedly were working on attacking, and avoiding the broader casualties of war, on both sides, had they succeeded.
I am disappointed in the gentle treatment of Wall Street by this administration, and the previous administration, and the current Congress, but that is bi-partisan absolution of wall street, and, all small attempts by the administration to correct things were brutally blocked by the Congress.
You are correct and I am disappointed by the President not using the bully pulpit more as a club to attack the republicans who blocked EVERY attempt to improve the economy and add jobs. He spent too many years trying to play the moderate when it was obvious that republicans wanted no compromise. If he had said he would sign one of their proposed bills, they would have retracted it and amended it further to the right.
I agree that the super packs have been, are, and will continue to get and spend outrageous amounts of money, that many voters are disillusioned and will sit on their hands, and that the tea party fringe and so-called evangelicals will be mobilized, but these things are already factored into the current polling, and Obama is still likely to win. As I mentioned in FaceBook, Only certain swing states are still in play, and, given the electoral college system, Romney will have to win almost all of the current swing states to win the election. He is losing in over half of them. Only 7% of voters are undecided, which means Romney must convince these moderate and independent voters that a polarizing Ryan is a moderate choice. 7% of 5 states. This election is over, and Obama will win. Unless the super pack money is used to literally steal the election in key precincts in some key states.
Those are my thoughts, Partha.
Thank you for your valuable and detailed comments, Bill. I’ll try to respond as soon as possible. But briefly, my point is that in this forced two-party system, the ordinary people simply have no voice anymore. The people in power have hijacked the system (and money, military and media) in the name of democracy. We expected a lot from Obama, and I personally worked very hard for his victory in 2008, but he has disappointed me terribly. I see ordinary, working people every single day who are equally disappointed in his administration. Either they will not vote, or they will vote Republican. Both go against any possibility of an Obama victory. Congressional elections this November will see even worse results, in favor of the right wing.
Partha, please don’t let your disappointment influence others. We have to get Obama re-elected! Please start campaigning for him again. His heart (and definitely Michelle’s) is in the right place! We can’t let this negativity permeate the electorate and the previous Obama supporters. Emphasize the good he’s done not the things you’re disappointed in. The fallout will be too costly if you allow apathy and disappointment to set in and overshadow the disaster if Romney/Ryan win.
Marsha, Thank you for your honest and thoughtful comments. I appreciate what you have to say; yet, I can’t be dishonest to myself by showing enthusiasm for Obama that I had four years ago, but not today. (Even in 2010, I wrote a number of articles supporting Dems for Congress.) Expressing my views and opinions and analyses — in the best possible, factual and honest way — is not negativity. In fact, dissent is healthy for democracy; that’s what I learned also at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism (whether American media practice that Pulitzerian teaching — that’s another story). Imposing, forcing or arm twisting — worse, brainwashing — to show enthusiasm and vote for short-term political gains (and to perpetuate pyramidal powers for the one percent) would be against the principles of democracy. Maybe, I am not such a “mainstream” Democrat, after all. Maybe, I am not such a “mainstream” American, either. But I know deep inside I am honest and I choose to speak my mind — going against the grain of conformity and forced agreement. Educated, intelligent and conscientious people should do it too.
Your whole premise is completely off base, the differences between the two choices for our country couldn’t be more stark. The GOP/Republican vision for our country is no where near appropriate for our current situation, or the 21st century. Just look at the Energy proposal from the right – it would completely scrap renewable energy, and put our country on a short sighted fossil fuel based path that would only exacerbate the climate changing repercussions already facing our environment. More importantly, the simple fact that fossil fuels are a completely finite source, we are only whistling past the graveyard of the inevitable shortages as supplies cannot keep with demand. This alone is reason enough make sure the POTUS is re-elected.
Thank you for your comments. Obviously, you are a more staunch Democrat than I am. I’d rather side with the 99% who both parties have taken advantage of. Like I said, I will never vote for the RRR gang, but sigh, people have short memory and they’re hurting. They will either vote for the Reps or more likely, not come out to vote. And it’s not their fault.