When I was a kid one of my many brothers would climb up on our huge Maple tree and throw sticks and stones down on anyone that tried to claim his roost in HIS tree. I mention this here today because it’s a good analogy for Republican politicians and their huge attempts at limiting the power of the poor and the middle class. The buzzword is “reform”. However, the reform is ONLY about limiting the power and ability of the poor and the middle class. There is no mention of any kind of reform that really will have an effect on the wealthy or upper classes. These reforms can be anything from workers’ rights to health care to even the judicial system. The tort reform we always hear them talk about is set up to limit the ability of the disenfranchised to make a claim against anyone above their stature, which would be most people and corporations. The Republicans have tried for years to limit the amount that can be received in a lawsuit for inadequate health care claiming that this is the reason health insurance costs so much. I noticed the steep change in the cost of health insurance right after September 11th 2001. Do you really think it had something to do with the changes in our health care providers or was it something to do with the drop in revenue the insurance companies felt from investments that tanked after that time? Just remember that the health insurance industry is a for “profit” industry. They exist to make a profit. There may be some like Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, my company, which are supposed to be non-profit. However, they still pay their CEO a huge compensation. http://blogpublic.lib.msu.edu/index.php/2008/05/19/are-blue-cross-blue-shield-of-michigan-o?blog=5
Republicans like to claim that it’s all about personal responsibility and the need for people to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and of course that they, themselves, never had a helping hand. We all know that is ludicrous because so many of them have been groomed for the positions and posts that they currently hold. Sometimes it’s not what you know but who you know that gets you to the top of that tree. Most of us sitting under the branches of that proverbial Maple tree are lucky enough if we can get a small perch we can claim as our own. However, those at the top aren’t very willing to share their perch because they feel a sense of indignation that anyone would want to claim what is rightfully “their” perch. They earned it! They are the self satisfied, bloated, corrupt individuals we all know that don’t care about what is in the best interest of the common good of all the people. It’s what is in “their” best interest that really matters. By golly they clawed their way to the top and you better too. However, once they get to the top they work very hard at taking all of the supporting branches away that helped them get to the top. You know those things like low interest student loans, Pell grants, public education, and any aid programs like heating assistance for the poor.
Many people have talked about class warfare for years. The Republicans have accused Democrats of creating this warfare to get votes. That part might be true because Democrats always talk about these things around election time. However, neither party has done enough of what they could to elevate our society so that everyone can get a little branch on that tree. True class warfare is really happening right now and it is being instigated by Republican politics. We have been pressured into believing that we all have to “share” in some kind of sacrifice for the good of the country. We have been living way beyond our means and we must pay the piper what is due.
No one has really pointed out something that I can see so clearly. Most of us people sitting under the Maple tree don’t use much resources of any kind in our country. Most of us are not flying off in our private jet wasting tons of fuel. Most of us haven’t been to a government created airport in the last month. We might fly once in awhile for a family vacation but we aren’t the ones using that airport like it’s our own home base. However, we are paying for it. Most of us aren’t living in gigantic houses sucking up our natural resources with our rich and famous lifestyles. Most of us live quite conservatively by shutting off our lights and dialing down our furnace in the winter and up in the summer months. Most of us pay our bills and do everything we can to not declare bankruptcy. However, for the rich and famous, it can be done any time they get in a tight pinch. The rest of us will pay for it because the banking industry will get their money back one way or another. That famous rich guy will eventually think he should run for the presidency because he knows how to run a business, so how about doing the same with our country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump
In my opinion the great leveler in society is a good education. If you have a good education, you can go far in life. You may not become a millionaire sitting at the top of that proverbial Maple tree but more than likely you will be able to create a decent life for you and your family. The true key to solving poverty is in education. The statistics here from my state are interesting. As the education level goes up the poverty level goes down. That makes a lot of sense, so why do all of these new Republican governors seem to want to take away from education to pay for their tax breaks for the corporations? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.
You can check your own state levels at these next two websites: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STGeoSearchByListServlet?ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&state=st&qr_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_S1701&_lang=en&_ts=317767762496
http://www.justneighbors.net/poverty-facts-your-neighborhood-who-my-neighbor
43 million people are below the poverty line in this country. If you head on over here you will find some fascinating things to read but it won’t be surprising to most of you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient
The Gini coefficient is a mathematical equation that basically shows the disparity between the income of the rich and the poor. The closer the number is to zero, the more equal things are. The closer the number is to 100, the more unequal things tend to be. In 1929, you know during the times of the stock market fall and the beginning of the great depression the estimated number for the United States was 45. We had a period after World War II when this number declined considerably. This was a time when the middle class was really built and unions were a big part of that. Since around 1980 we have gone back in decline with numbers as high as 46.9. Most of us know there has been a change in who has more money and who has less. This site just makes you think about things. The rich just keep on getting richer and the poor keep trying to figure out how to strap those gold laced boots on to get to the top of that proverbial tree.
I always wonder why the wealthy seem to always want more. They are already at the top of the tree, so you would think they wouldn’t mind letting some of that wealth trickle on down like Reagan assured us it was supposed to. However, it turns out most millionaires don’t feel wealthy.
I want all of you to stop laughing. I know you are because it really is unbelievable. Even those workers at Ford are sharing in the profits these days. That would sound great if they hadn’t already given up so much. The real slap in the face for Ford workers is that CEO pay! Just check this article out. The rich get richer and the rest of us get whatever happens to land our way and we thankfully take it!
Finally, here is more information that those Bush tax cuts really aren’t all their purported to be. It turns out if you are in the top 10%, you probably did all right. The rest of us, not so much! This has the gap in income tax and it’s a great site to really research.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=106
Unfortunately, we do have class warfare in this country. The politicians take care of the corporations and the wealthy with the many tax loopholes and tax incentive plans while the rest of us are left to “share a sacrifice”, whatever the hell that means. What it really means is that we will get less and the rich will continue to get whatever they want and need built off the backs of the middle class and dare I say the poor. Those of us in the 90% are the ones that prop up everyone else. We do our jobs whether it is teaching children, policing the world, scanning goods at the airport so the wealthy can continue to feel safe, or assisting them in their pursuit of more wealth. We are factory workers, nannies, waiters and bus boys but the one thing we all have in common is proportionately we are greatly under paid, over worked and abused by a system that asks for continual sacrifice from us when the rich are expected to just get richer!
