A conservative is someone who demands a square deal for the rich ~ David Frost (DOB 4/7/1939), a British journalist, comedian, writer and media personality, best known as a pioneer of political satire on television and for his serious interviews with various political figures, the most notable being Richard Nixon.
The party that represents the wealthy and corporations could hardly contain their disdain for the "lower classes" whenever initiatives aimed at helping anyone else were mentioned by the President during his State of the Union Address last Wednesday evening (1/27/2010). When President Obama said, "we all hated the bank bailout", the Democrats applauded in agreement. The Republicans also applauded, but their cheers were in approval for rewarding the Banksters who almost crashed our economy.
Yes, they speak out loudly against it, and attempt to lay the blame for the reviled action at the feet of President Obama and the Democrats, but it was their beloved President Doofus who actually signed the legislation. I say "beloved" because when President Obama truthfully pointed out that Bill Clinton left us with a budget surplus of over $200 billion, while George W. bush gifted us with a one year budget deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade - McCain could be seen whispering to Lindsey Graham (R-SC) "Blame it on Bush". Then they both laughed.
So while the Republicans may claim they were against the bank bailout, and even though some of them voted against it, secretly they supported it. Because the Banksters are the crème de la crème of the "have mores" that make up the Republican base. And, while the average Joe Republican voter may be oblivious to the Republican's support for the bank bailout, it was hardly something they did a good job concealing Wednesday night.
When President Obama mentioned the Bankster's big bonuses and claimed that "they can afford a modest fee to pay back the taxpayers who rescued them in their time of need", the Democrats cheered while the Republicans remained seated. President Obama was referring to a proposed 0.25 percent per transaction tax. A quarter of one percent tax would not be noticed by your average Joe investor, but Wall Street speculators who use computer programs to buy and sell thousands of shares per second? It's easy to understand why they would be opposed to such a tax. It's Main Street versus Wall Street, and the Republicans remaining seated while the Democrats stood and applauded clearly illustrated whose interests they (the Republicans) represent.
When President Obama pointed out that, thanks to the stimulus bill, "there are about two million Americans working right now who would otherwise be unemployed" - the Democrats applauded while the Republicans remained seated. Despite the fact that "Economists on the left and the right say this bill has helped save jobs and avert disaster".
When President Obama proclaimed "it is time to finally slash the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas, and give those tax breaks to companies that create jobs right here in the United States of America" - the Democrats applauded while the Republicans remained seated. Because outsourcing is good business as far as the multi-national corporations are concerned. Former head of Hewlett-Packard, and former McCain campaign advisor, Carly Fiorina referring to the practice as "right-sourcing" said, "there is no job that is America's God-given right anymore".
This is where the right-wing plutocrats reveal their extreme hubris - Corporations do business in the United States with the permission of it's citizens. We have the right to demand (or encourage through our government's tax policies) that, if they want to incorporate in the US, they must employ us - and pay decent wages. I say that it's a privilege to do business in the United States, and not a God-given right. If the corporatists don't like our rules they can get the hell out (instead of buying off our politicians which should be illegal).
Most perplexing of all, when President Obama said, "Now, let me repeat: We cut taxes. We cut taxes for 95 percent of working families. We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for first-time homebuyers. We cut taxes for parents trying to care for their children. We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college", the Republicans remained seated while the Democrats stood and cheered. I say "perplexing" because, as everyone knows, the Republicans are all about cutting taxes. Except that Obama's tax cuts were targeted at the middle class (rich people were excluded).
This is why Republicans always talk about "across the board" tax cuts - they only really give a damn about cutting the taxes of the rich. Cutting taxes for anyone else is simply to maintain the illusion that they aren't only representing the wealthy. Which of course they are.
Clearly the Republicans only give a damn about BIG business and BIG banks (cutting the taxes of, and leaving unregulated, respectively), because, when President Obama said, "I'm proposing that we take $30 billion of the money Wall Street banks have repaid and use it to help community banks give small businesses the credit they need to stay afloat. I'm also proposing a new small business tax credit", the Republicans again remained seated while the Democrats stood and cheered.
And, finally, was anyone else as outraged as I was when Justice Alito shouted "you lie" (a-la Joe Wilson during the President's speech on health care to joint session of Congress on 9/8/2009), when President Obama said, "...last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests... to spend without limit in our elections. I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people"?
OK, so Alito actually just mouthed the words "not true", but I was still outraged, given the fact that President Obama's remarks regarding the SCOTUS decision were 100 percent accurate. In 2003 and 1990 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of upholding restrictions on campaign spending by corporations.
This, by the way, means that both Alito and Roberts lied (while under oath) during their Senate confirmation hearings. Alito said that the Supreme Court "has to be equally vigilant about not stepping over its bounds and invading the authority of Congress", and Roberts said that he would "decide every case based on the record, according to the rule of law".
Invalidating campaign finance laws is invading the authority of Congress and overstepping your bounds, Alito. And overturning previous SCOTUS decisions is not deciding every case based on the record, Roberts. These lying fascists should be impeached, IMO. Their ruling in the Citizens United case, in addition to being fascist, is unconstitutional. The free speech protection, as outlined in the Bill of Rights, refers to individual rights not group rights. Free speech does not apply to groups! The only group whose right to free speech is protected in the Constitution is the press.
The SCOTUS ruling further shows that Republicans believe that our country should not be ruled by "we the people" but by the wealthy and corporations. As Keith Olbermann correctly noted on the 1/28/2010 episode of "Countdown", the Republicans remaining seated telegraphed to the President "all he needed to know about the opposition's willingness to work with him on the issues that really matter to most Americans". They are not willing to. So why the hell does anyone who makes under $250,000 a year vote Republican?
Image Description: President Obama gives the 2010 SOTU address (1/27/2010).
