Dear President Obama,
I voted for you and worked hard for your election. I have been happy with some of the things you have done but not very happy with much of it. Where I usually disagree with you is when you move too far toward the Republican position on an issue. Dropping your support for a public option during the health care debate was a perfect example.
Now we have a debate happening in our country that cuts to the root of what I see as the difference between the Republican and Democratic parties. In the economic debate leading up to the need to raise the debt ceiling, we have seen the Republicans stand firm in their demand for lowering taxes on the wealthy while making cuts that will hurt working class families. This is an ideological position of theirs. They faught medicare and social security from the beginning. Their position that lower taxes for the wealthy creates jobs is contradicted by the historical facts. The wealthy have in the past decade made more money then ever before, payed the lowest taxes in 60 years, and job growth was the worst in the same time period.
I am a teacher and father of two small children. I recently bought a house (it is in escrow) and while it was the cheapest house in our neighborhood, we will just be able to afford it. I am surprised to hear that you are supporting a "bipartisan" plan to overhaul medicare and social security (which contributes ZERO to the deficit) and to lower even further the taxes for the wealthy. To pay for these tax breaks, the plan is to get rid of tax breaks for home owners and for employer provided health care. I find it incredible that while I am going to be squeezed to the point of possibly not being able to afford my new house, people making hundreds of millions of dollars a year are going to get a further tax break.
I would find a way to make it work and not complain too much if EVERYONE was paying more taxes but if the wealthiest Americans get a further tax break while the Democrats are in the White House and control the Senate and working class families pay more in taxes, then I promise you, I will go back to voting for the Green Party, for I do not see how having the Democratic party in control is helping the American people on the major issues of the economy, health care, and the wars (drone strikes in Pakistan are another major area where I disagree with your policies).
Please stand up for the American people and do not let the Republicans walk all over you! 79% of Americans support raising taxes on the wealthy to help pay down the defecit. Which side of the debate will you come down on?
Losing Hope,
Danny Boyer
Friday, July 22, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
why the Republicans are giving me hope
So I gotta say the Republicans these days are giving me a little more hope than I had just a few months ago. The Republicans have gained control of the House and of a number of state governments. With that new found power they are aggressively pursuing their legislative agenda. As the American people watch, it should be all too clear what the Republican Party's priorities are and that these priorities in every case go against what the majority of people in this country want, in fact their agenda goes against what the majority of Republican voters want. Not only that, their positions disregard evidence and fact, their actions are destroying our power around the world, they are killing jobs, and putting in jeapordy the future of this country and in fact endangering people's lives around the world.
This all gives me hope. Hope that at some point the American people will realize that the Republican politicians are not doing what is good for the country and they will stop electing them! This of course applies to many conservative Democrats as well.
So what are the priorities of the Republicans politicians? The first thing they did when they took over the House in January was disband the committee to study climate change and attack climate change legislation and regulation from all angles. Next they went after funding for womens health and family planning, most notably defunding Planned Parenthood. And of course their two main priorities - we can see it in their campaign promises and their current actions all over the country - decrease taxes for the wealthy and further deregulate the actions of corporations.
It is ironic - the cause of our current economic problem (high debt, the recession, low emplyment) were all cause by lowering taxes on the wealthy (while starting wars which are now predicited to cost 4 trillion dollars) and by deregulating the banking industry.
The debt ceiling and economic debate going on right now is a perfect example of all this. Our government is running up a debt. Thanks to wars and tax breaks, exasperated by the housing bubble collapse and the current recession. In order to reduce the debt there are two things we can do - cut spending and increase taxes. The majority of Americans think we should do a combination of both of these things. The majority of Republican voters thing we should do both. Yet the Republicans in the House have actually pledged to not ever raise any taxes. They have gone as far as saying they will not close tax loopholes that are exploited by corporations because that will in effect raise taxes. Now comes the debt ceiling issue. We need to raise the debt ceiling or risk defaulting on out debt. Republicans say they will not vote to do this without deep spending cuts to medicare, social security (which does not even add to our debt), education, etc (something else the American people disagree with the Republicans on). America is actually losing credibility in the world because the global economy could be dealt such a blow by a default on our payments and the Republicans are threatening to let it happen because they are completely unwilling to comprimise on the tax issue. The world thinks we are crazy! The obvious answer to our problem is that we cut spending and raise taxes.
We currently have the 2nd lowest tax rate of developed nations and the lowest taxes in 70 years. Some of the most profitable corporations pay little or no taxes at all thanks to all sorts of loop holes which were put in by politicians for hire. The Republicans claim you can't raise taxes or it will kill jobs. The fact is when taxes were highest in the 50's and 60's (over 70% for the wealthiest people) we had the highest rate of job growth and the worst job growth ever was during the Bush years when we had the lowest taxes. So there is no evidence for the Republican claim, in fact the evidence suggests the opposite of what they say is true.
Regardless of who you believe, this is a democracy and in a democracy you must compromise. The fact that the Republicans won't compromise is astounding. The bipartisan deficit commission actally laid out a plan that lowers taxes but closes loopholes, cuts spending, and solves our debt problem. The Republicans in power will not even agree to this plan.
Throughout the country we see states slashing spending, teachers being fired, unions under attack, while at the SAME TIME cutting even further the taxes for the wealthy. It is insane.
Switch gears. The Republican attack on Planned Parenthood. A Republican congressman gave a speech in congress saying that "90% of what planned parenthood does is give abortions". When he was later called on this lie (the truth is that 10% of what they do are abortions) his spokesperson said that his speech "was not intended to be factual". That so well illustrates what kind of people we are dealing with. Facts don't mean anything to them! The are basically trying to run the country like a theocracy. They have their belief system and they will make decisions based on that belief system not matter what the facts are.
Climate change is another example, and a serious one. At the request of congress the National Academy of Sciences wrote up a report outlining the scientific communities ideas about climate change. They concluded that the science is settled. 97% of scientists agree climate change is real and most likely caused by humans. The Republican party is the only major political party on EARTH that denies the reality of climate change. Sure, in other countries parties disagree on what should be done about it, but they all accept that it is most likely happening. Here we have the most severe droughts, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, cold spells, heat waves, in decades or even centuries, all happening around the world with more frequency. Shouldn't we at least consider that the scientist might be right? Well not if you have faith in the story that the Republican party is telling.
Of course climate change hurts our economy, and makes the world less safe, endangering our national security. And combating climate change would create jobs and make us competitive in the world (we are falling WAY behind in what Obama called the new Sputnick moment of our generation - new energy technologies). And all thanks to the Republicans who kill anything that could help develop new energy and combat the threat of climate change.
The last pillar of the Republican party - deregulation. Just as natual disasters give us evidence of climate change, human caused diasters show us that industry MUST be regulated. Massy energy - coal mines that kill miners in America - they keep fake safety reports and are guilty of tens of thousands of safety violations. The BP oil spill, turns out BP has a terrible record of cutting corners to save money at the cost of safety. The nuclear melt down in Japan - turns out the nuclear industry there had been faking safety records. The banking industry here was guilty if widespread fraud and criminal activity that led to our current recession, people losing their homes, etc. Over and over again we have been shown that the corporations will try to make money regardless of the cost to human lives, the economy, the environment, etc. The job of the government is to regulate these industries to make sure they act responsibly. Of course the Republicans don't think so.
I can go on and on, look at health care. The Republicans are running for office with the promise to repeal "Obamacare". Our expensive health care industry is helping to destroy the middle class as well as making manufacturing in this country unable to compete with other countries that have national health care.
I lost the end of my rant, but you get the point,
peace out
This all gives me hope. Hope that at some point the American people will realize that the Republican politicians are not doing what is good for the country and they will stop electing them! This of course applies to many conservative Democrats as well.
So what are the priorities of the Republicans politicians? The first thing they did when they took over the House in January was disband the committee to study climate change and attack climate change legislation and regulation from all angles. Next they went after funding for womens health and family planning, most notably defunding Planned Parenthood. And of course their two main priorities - we can see it in their campaign promises and their current actions all over the country - decrease taxes for the wealthy and further deregulate the actions of corporations.
It is ironic - the cause of our current economic problem (high debt, the recession, low emplyment) were all cause by lowering taxes on the wealthy (while starting wars which are now predicited to cost 4 trillion dollars) and by deregulating the banking industry.
The debt ceiling and economic debate going on right now is a perfect example of all this. Our government is running up a debt. Thanks to wars and tax breaks, exasperated by the housing bubble collapse and the current recession. In order to reduce the debt there are two things we can do - cut spending and increase taxes. The majority of Americans think we should do a combination of both of these things. The majority of Republican voters thing we should do both. Yet the Republicans in the House have actually pledged to not ever raise any taxes. They have gone as far as saying they will not close tax loopholes that are exploited by corporations because that will in effect raise taxes. Now comes the debt ceiling issue. We need to raise the debt ceiling or risk defaulting on out debt. Republicans say they will not vote to do this without deep spending cuts to medicare, social security (which does not even add to our debt), education, etc (something else the American people disagree with the Republicans on). America is actually losing credibility in the world because the global economy could be dealt such a blow by a default on our payments and the Republicans are threatening to let it happen because they are completely unwilling to comprimise on the tax issue. The world thinks we are crazy! The obvious answer to our problem is that we cut spending and raise taxes.
We currently have the 2nd lowest tax rate of developed nations and the lowest taxes in 70 years. Some of the most profitable corporations pay little or no taxes at all thanks to all sorts of loop holes which were put in by politicians for hire. The Republicans claim you can't raise taxes or it will kill jobs. The fact is when taxes were highest in the 50's and 60's (over 70% for the wealthiest people) we had the highest rate of job growth and the worst job growth ever was during the Bush years when we had the lowest taxes. So there is no evidence for the Republican claim, in fact the evidence suggests the opposite of what they say is true.
Regardless of who you believe, this is a democracy and in a democracy you must compromise. The fact that the Republicans won't compromise is astounding. The bipartisan deficit commission actally laid out a plan that lowers taxes but closes loopholes, cuts spending, and solves our debt problem. The Republicans in power will not even agree to this plan.
Throughout the country we see states slashing spending, teachers being fired, unions under attack, while at the SAME TIME cutting even further the taxes for the wealthy. It is insane.
Switch gears. The Republican attack on Planned Parenthood. A Republican congressman gave a speech in congress saying that "90% of what planned parenthood does is give abortions". When he was later called on this lie (the truth is that 10% of what they do are abortions) his spokesperson said that his speech "was not intended to be factual". That so well illustrates what kind of people we are dealing with. Facts don't mean anything to them! The are basically trying to run the country like a theocracy. They have their belief system and they will make decisions based on that belief system not matter what the facts are.
Climate change is another example, and a serious one. At the request of congress the National Academy of Sciences wrote up a report outlining the scientific communities ideas about climate change. They concluded that the science is settled. 97% of scientists agree climate change is real and most likely caused by humans. The Republican party is the only major political party on EARTH that denies the reality of climate change. Sure, in other countries parties disagree on what should be done about it, but they all accept that it is most likely happening. Here we have the most severe droughts, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, cold spells, heat waves, in decades or even centuries, all happening around the world with more frequency. Shouldn't we at least consider that the scientist might be right? Well not if you have faith in the story that the Republican party is telling.
Of course climate change hurts our economy, and makes the world less safe, endangering our national security. And combating climate change would create jobs and make us competitive in the world (we are falling WAY behind in what Obama called the new Sputnick moment of our generation - new energy technologies). And all thanks to the Republicans who kill anything that could help develop new energy and combat the threat of climate change.
The last pillar of the Republican party - deregulation. Just as natual disasters give us evidence of climate change, human caused diasters show us that industry MUST be regulated. Massy energy - coal mines that kill miners in America - they keep fake safety reports and are guilty of tens of thousands of safety violations. The BP oil spill, turns out BP has a terrible record of cutting corners to save money at the cost of safety. The nuclear melt down in Japan - turns out the nuclear industry there had been faking safety records. The banking industry here was guilty if widespread fraud and criminal activity that led to our current recession, people losing their homes, etc. Over and over again we have been shown that the corporations will try to make money regardless of the cost to human lives, the economy, the environment, etc. The job of the government is to regulate these industries to make sure they act responsibly. Of course the Republicans don't think so.
I can go on and on, look at health care. The Republicans are running for office with the promise to repeal "Obamacare". Our expensive health care industry is helping to destroy the middle class as well as making manufacturing in this country unable to compete with other countries that have national health care.
I lost the end of my rant, but you get the point,
peace out
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
