Republicans Against Science: Boast Willful Ignorance as their Trademark

[buckethead]

You know, it really comes down to what the conservative (white) establishment sees as the end of a white majority  that has been in place for the first 240 years of this country's existence.  It is a major demographic upheaval, and the ruling class won't give it up without a fight. What you are seeing on Fox News is that fight, labeled as a return to "traditional values", like say for instance segregated schools, that's a "traditional" value. Or perhaps a poll tax, that's very "traditional".

Ya... it's whitey trying to keep everyone else down.

Race might be used against rank and file Americans as a means of dividing peoples with otherwise common interests, but race is not the driving force behind any major policy initiatives.

Economics, however...

[Midway ®]

Take the bucket off of your head.

There are only a few thousand people, probably much less than that, that really run the country, and its not the president or congress.

[buckethead]

We almost agree there, but the President and Congress are complicit in "running" the country.
along with those "few thousand".

[Midway ®]

They are not complicit, they act on orders, they are foot soldiers.

[buckethead]

As if they are soldiers? Bound by an oath of loyalty? Duty? Honor?

I disagree.

Another difference is the fact that they actually wield power whereas a foot soldier may ONLY obey orders.

Absolve politicians if you wish, but that absolution exists only within your mind.

Our dilemma is solvable within the confines of our current governmental system, if only the voters stop voting for the machine which threatens us.

You already know my guy is part of the threat   (That's the easy part)... Now you must ask yourself whether your guy is as well.

[FayeforCure]

Faye; I believe you meant to say a bigger piece of an ever smaller pie?

No actually the pie is getting bigger all the time...........ie record profits.

It's just that the ordinary worker is getting a lesser share of an ever increasing pie.

THAT is our fundamental structural problem. See graph below:

[buckethead]

What you are seeing is "workers" by which I assume you mean laborers as opposed to white collar types and investors, are not participating in an ever increasing portion of the economy coupled with stagnant real wage growth.

The globalization genie is out of the bottle.

Do you offer a solution to put the genie back into the bottle? Perhaps some suggestions for ways of adapting?

[BridgeTroll]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/ever-increasing-tax-breaks-for-us-families-eclipse-benefits-for-special-interests/2011/09/15/gIQAgdjcaK_story.html?hpid=z1

As President Obama and congressional Republicans argue over how to rewrite the U.S. tax code, the debate has revolved around “loopholes” for corporate jets and ending “carve-outs” for well-heeled special interests. But if the goal is debt reduction, that’s not where the money is.

Broad tax breaks granted to millions of families at all income levels dwarf the corporate giveaways. Over the past two years, largely because of these popular benefits in the federal income tax code, the government has reached a rare milestone in tax collection â€" it has given away nearly as much as it takes in....

[KuroiKetsunoHana]

Our dilemma is solvable within the confines of our current governmental system, if only the voters stop voting for the machine which threatens us.

prove it.

[buckethead]

Join me, and together we will.

[ronchamblin]

This “tax the rich” question interests me, as it brings forth another question concerning what the rich might “owe” to the society within which they made their millbillions.  It’s much like the individual who drives upon the road, enjoying its smoothness, and then doesn’t wish to contribute payment for it through taxes, or perhaps demands a payment of only pennies.

A modern society, stabilized in citizen behavior, economic function and transportation infrastructure; and a society safe from foreign intrusion, from epidemics, can be created and maintained only through great cost and sacrifice.  While it is true that the individual millbillionaires, and the multibillionaire corporations made their seemingly obscene wealth by means of legitimate hard work and creative use of their initial assets, and in some cases via unethical operations, one might ask how much do these moneyed giants owe in taxes to their society, their nation, and their fellow citizens who provide the necessary consumer base for their products and services â€" all being contributors to the establishment and maintenance of the stable environment and infrastructure within which these giant money makers can make their millions and billions.

As a part of their gross income, should these millbillionaires pay a smaller percentage of gross income in taxes than the middle class?  A friend, who grossed some gross amount of income per year complained to me about four years ago that his net income would be only about $890,000 for that year, and that he was maneuvering methods to pay less taxes.   I sort of lost it for a moment, and said to him, “You mean that you can’t live on a TAKE HOME pay of $890,000?”  I asked him about his concern for the families and individuals on the edge of poverty.  What is this mentality?

In any case, the very fact that most of the millbillionaires currently pay in taxes via percentage of gross income about the same as the middle class, or even less in many cases, is obscene, and indicates that they believe they make their money in isolation, apart from the society within which their wealth is made, and certainly without regard for the costs of creating and maintaining that stable society.  The current tax rate distribution also indicates that there are far too many legislators in office who have little concern for our nation as whole, little concern for our fellow citizens who by misfortune or other causes, are being forced to endure poverty, or to endure an unnecessarily heavy tax burden.

The obscenely wealthy.  The privileged elite, secret power.  The real government.  The greedy.  The ignorant.  The deluded.  The complacent.  The flawed governmental structure.  I began this evening to sketch my design for a guillotine.
 
But seriously.  How is it that we have a power structure, a government, in this country that obviously is simply incompetent, or non-functional?  How or why has this happened?  How can it be?  This two-party stalemate and infighting is insane.  Is it simply that too many legislators give in to greed, and to the lobbyist pressures?  Is there a racial component?  Is there a religious component?  Is there too little knowledge of the sciences, a resolution of which would at least reduce the religious component, which in turn would reduce the level of hogwash, delusions, and lying, which in turn might allow for sensible legislation and cooperation, which in turn might save this economy, and this country from further deterioration. 

Our governmental structure has been allowed to evolve to a flawed structure wherein there is no way to get out of the mess we are in.  There is no mechanism for efficient and effective debate and consensus.  There is no mechanism for making the right decisions to achieve the best direction for our country, or to accommodate the needs of our citizens.  We float in a sea of an ineffective flipflopping of congressional control which results in nonsense and an insane condition of stagnation.  We are dead in the water, polluted water, and have no functioning engine to move us on.             

[ronchamblin]

I just found this interesting short video of Robert Reich's talk about the economy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTzMqm2TwgE&feature=player_embedded

[FayeforCure]

I just found this interesting short video of Robert Reich's talk about the economy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTzMqm2TwgE&feature=player_embedded

Yup, the economy explained in just 2 min. and 15 seconds, for everone to understand.

[ChriswUfGator]

Faye, I must tell you, for several years you appeared to be kind of a loon with your political views. It just didn't seem like any of that was actually possible, and there were probably better explanations for what was going on with any given thing. But the more I've learned, that we've all learned I think, about the agenda in Washington, and the agenda in our own state under Rick Scott, the cheering for the "freedom" to die of curable diseases because you can't afford health insurance, etc., the more I've realized that you were actually right all along. I'm about as liberal in many ways as it gets, and I still didn't think what's actually happening was really possible. But it is.

I suspect much of this country is in for a very rude awakening.

[ronchamblin]

Thanks Stephen.  When you get a chance, and if you are willing to give me secret info, would you please convey to me the method of placing the video as you did?  This would be better than my simply placing the url.