Rightward Bound

I am getting old. You know you're getting old when you wake up in the morning with a six inch hair growing out of your ear. They say with age comes wisdom, hummm... maybe not. But advancing years gives us a perspective on the changes in our society and politics over time simply because we were there back then and we remember.

Some quotes from the President of the United States:

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history."

" . . . Workers have a right to organize into unions and to bargain collectively with their employers, and . . . a strong, free labor movement is an invigorating and necessary part of our industrial society."

"Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice."

No, these are not the words of Barack Obama, but of Dwight D. Eisenhower circa 1956, a Republican, and the 34th President of the United States. Following WWII unions helped create the modern middle class in America. About 30% of workers became unionized (compare that to less than10% today). Unions provided job security, health benefits, decent wage & pensions. What's interesting is that most other industrialized countries, including Canada, have maintained high levels of union membership.

Compare IKE's words with those below of Paul Ryan who gave the Republican response to Obama's State of the Union address:

"Our nation is approaching a tipping point.

We are at a moment, where if government’s growth is left unchecked and unchallenged, America’s best century will be considered our past century. This is a future in which we will transform our social safety net into a hammock, which lulls able-bodied people into lives of complacency and dependency."

This is an old Republican refrain, going all the way back to Hoover. "Social safety net" is a euphemism for Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, minimum wage, all those nasty socialist programs that were supported under Eisenhower.

Progressives had reason to be happy with the Eisenhower administration. Republicans had finally accepted FDR's New Deal. The GOP platform of 1956 called for expansion of Social Security and unemployment insurance. It called for expanding the minimum wage to more workers and called for equal pay regardless of sex.

It wasn't just Eisenhower. Ronald Reagan, who was famous for cutting taxes in his first year, less famously presided over the largest peacetime tax increase in U.S. history in 1982. That "trickle-down" theory wasn't working out for him. Richard Nixon in his 1974 State of the Union address, proposed comprehensive health reform that was well to left of Clinton or Obama.

The post war period was one of the most prosperous in U.S. history. It was also a time when income disparity declined drastically. Unions, a decent minimum wage and a progressive tax system helped to limit extremes of wealth and poverty. Middle Americans saw unprecedented gains while the rich lost ground. The top tax bracket for the very rich during the Eisenhower years was 92%. IKE said we cannot afford to reduce taxes until we balance the budget and the way to balance the budget is taxes on the rich. And it worked.

Sadly, since about 1980, income disparity between rich & poor has once again started climbing. Between 1979 and 2005 real income of the median household has risen only 13% but the income of the very rich  rose 296%. Partly to blame of course is the precipitous decline in union membership. Ronald Reagan made union bashing a national sport.

This was also the era of "movement conservatism" which embraced the concept of small government, low taxes and reduced public spending. Just how well has movement conservatism served the public. Reagan, despite cutting taxes his first year in office, raised taxes every year after that; he tripled the national debt; he increased spending by 25% in 8 years; he ballooned the size of government.

George W. Bush was handed a huge surplus by Bill Clinton amounting to 2.8% of GDP. Within 4 years Dubya turned that surplus into a deficit amounting to 3.4% of GDP and he wasn't finished. His was the most reckless expansion of government spending in decades. He handed his successor a 1.2 trillion deficit.

The average American seems to take some kind of masochistic pleasure in voting against their own self interest because the usual suspects are back in charge of the House. I suppose you can't really blame the voters. They are bombarded with propaganda, innuendo and outright lies by the right.

Some examples:

A clear majority of Americans, 54%, think taxes have gone up under Obama. Only 19% think taxes went down.
Fact: President Obama and Congress passed the largest middle-class tax increase in U.S. history as part of the stimulus.

61% think the economy is shrinking.
Fact: It's expanding, albeit slowly.

60 % think the money that went toward the bank bailout (TARP) has been lost.
Fact: according to the non-partisan congressional budget office (CBO) the government will make money on TARP. Most of the money has already been paid back (with interest)

It seems obvious to me, an outsider, that America has two flavors of Democracy. The first and foremost is the domain of business. America is truly government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations. Ronald Reagan may have given lip service to the less advantaged but his real passion was for unfettered capitalism free of corporate taxes and capital gains taxes. Corporations have taken over Congress by the simple expedient of buying its members, mostly, but not limited to, Republican members.

The other democracy (i.e., for the people) has more to do with family values, freedom of speech & religion, etc., as long as it doesn't affect the corporate bottom line.

Another quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower puts the present political climate in perspective:

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

The 45th President of the United States of America

January 20, 2017, the second inauguration of the 45^th president of the United States. Because of the smog that now covers much of the eastern seaboard the inauguration was moved indoors for the first time in U.S. history. “Pay it no mind”, said the President, “smog is a sign of prosperity, also”. A conspicuous absentee was the First Dude. Todd Palin, Secretary of the Environment was called back to Alaska on a matter of some urgency. The last remaining polar bear still living in the wild was spotted on an ice floe off the north slope of Alaska. The bear looked weak & emaciated which was why Todd only needed ten bullets from his trusty AK-47 to bring him down. “Thank God we got to it before those Russkies”, he said. “We’d never live it down.”

President Sarah Palin’s inauguration speech highlighted her remarkable achievements over the past four years. The impeachment of President Barack Hussein Obama in 2011 opened the floodgates for Republicans. All the levers of power, including the Supreme Court, were now in the hands of conservatives. There were a few bleeding-heart liberals who disputed the charge that Obama was secretly a Muslim, but it was left to Chief Justice Clarence Thomas to have the last word. “This man is obviously guilty. Would a true Patriot & Christian have ‘Hussein’ as a middle name? Hello!”

After her landslide victory in 2012, President Palin used Obama’s impeachment as reason enough to rewrite the 1^st Amendment to the Constitution to make Christianity the official national religion. It is now illegal for non-Christians, heretofore known as “nonfidels” to hold elected office or get married.

Although unemployment is close to 20%, most of the unemployed are disgruntled unionists who refuse to accept new laws outlawing unions and eliminating the minimum wage. That landmark legislation brought about huge increases in productivity. Workers are happily putting in 60-80 hour weeks and corporate profits are at all-time highs.

The war with Iran, now entering its fourth year is going extremely well according to Donald Rumsfield. Rummy, as he is affectionately known, was brought back as Secretary of Defence because of his masterful execution of the Iraq war during the Bush Administration. President Palin regretted having to use nuclear weapons against the Iranians, but there was really no choice. Now, because of high levels of radiation, the State Dept. has issued a travel advisory to the Middle East, including Israel which, unfortunately, has been reduced to rubble. But as Rummy likes to say “stuff happens!”

President Palin was very upbeat about the future. “Are we heading in the right direction, you betcha”, she said with a wink before heading to Alaska to celebrate Todd’s hunting prowess. A white bearskin rug will be just perfect for the oval office.