The Terrorists Within
That makes next week's recall elections of six Republican state senators the first vote to restore a positive future not only for Wisconsin, but also for the entire nation.
That point was brought home over the weekend as domestic terrorists in the U.S. House of Representatives threatened economic destruction of the United States unless they received trillions of dollars in budget cuts without raising taxes for millionaires and billionaires.
The threat by Republicans to force the United States into default, kill the fragile recovery and plunge America back into economic depression springs from exactly the same source as Republican Gov. Scott Walker's budget that ravages education, transportation and employment throughout Wisconsin. That was the election in 2010 of tea party extremists who literally do not care about government serving the people.
They are the modern-day equivalent of the Vietnam general who proclaimed he had to destroy a village in order to save it.
They have absolutely no qualms about destroying America in order to eviscerate government and prevent President Barack Obama from being re-elected.
Their long-term goal is to dismantle every government social program since President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, including Social Security, Medicare and their newest bugaboo of—oh, my god—affordable health care for everyone.
The Washington debate demonstrated graphically just how far the tea party was willing to go to try to destroy government by forcing the United States to default on its debts and triggering another collapse of the American economy.
The only reason that economic disaster didn't happen was that irresponsible right-wing extremists controlled only the House of Representatives. All that prevented the terrorists within from doing their worst was that Democrats still controlled the presidency and the Senate.
If the 2010 elections had done to the United States what it did to Wisconsin—put extreme right-wing Republicans in control of the executive branch and both houses of the legislative branch—there wouldn't even have been a debate.
The entire country would be experiencing the wholesale destruction of democratic institutions that is taking place in Wisconsin right now.
Imagine a country in which Congressman Paul Ryan's vicious plan to destroy Medicare and replace it with a voucher system forcing seniors to pay two-thirds of the cost of their own health care would pass overwhelmingly and be signed into law gleefully by a Republican president.
Tea party Republicans passed that plan in the House of Representatives to loud cheers from Wisconsin state Sen. Alberta Darling, one of the chief legislative architects of Walker's right-wing budget.
All that prevents the destruction of Medicare and Social Security proposed by Ryan are President Obama and Democratic senators who still believe government should provide economic protection for aging Americans.
Living the Nightmare
In Wisconsin, we don't have to imagine what it would be like living under a government in which right-wing Republicans hold unchecked power to destroy government to their hearts' content. We already are living in the worst-case scenario.
Taking advantage of an off-year election, tea party extremists revved up on racial hatred after Obama's election as president succeeded in pulling off a clean sweep in Wisconsin, electing not only Walker, but also a majority in both houses of the Legislature.
Under the radar, the extremists even bought themselves a majority of blatantly unethical Supreme Court justices who—unlike true conservatives—don't even require Walker and legislative Republicans to obey the law.
The result has been a radical right-wing revision of government almost overnight that Republicans didn't dare reveal to the voters before their election. Half a century of employment rights were repealed. Taxes were raised on the working poor and slashed for corporations and the rich.
When you hand out $2.3 billion in tax breaks to millionaires and corporations, the money has to come from somewhere. That's why Walker's budget guts funding of public education by $1.6 billion and cuts hundreds of millions more from local government, transportation and jobs.
The good news is that when political extremists seize power and start carrying out scorched-earth policies without the consent of the voters, democracy provides a remedy in recall elections.
And, make no mistake, repealing rights for working people, instituting massive layoffs of teachers and other job-killing moves, ravaging local governmental services, wrecking transportation and eliminating health care for the poor and disabled are not supported by the people of Wisconsin.
A recent University of Wisconsin poll showed 59% disapprove of Walker's performance as governor and 56% disapprove of Republicans controlling the Legislature.
Tuesday's recall elections to end Republican control of the state Senate are the first opportunity for decent Wisconsinites to stand up against the terror tactics of right-wing extremists in Madison and Washington.
The nation is watching.
Yes, I agree completely. We should value the pre-welfar generation and learn from their enriched life of poverty free of welfare checks and foodstamps. Some of these lower class folk today walk around with Nikes, excuse me, that should not be. If they want to truly contribute to our society, they should earn it, not be handed out money to them for doing nothing and then buy some Nikes with all the scam money they're getting.
We need to send them back to the stone age! Tell them "you are not allowed to receive any money from me for you to buy a new antena for your digital converter box." And if they've got Time Warner or ATT U-verse, all the more shame to them! We treat the lower classes like gold, time to tell them we don't want that anymore, and also that they should sell their gold, posibly to Goldline as adertised on FoxNews.
And don't even talk to me about the top ramen issue. I see these famlies with their fat kids walking into supermarkets to buy 6 packs of the stuff, and I'm like "Aren't we the general public supposed to stop you gluttons from buying the six packs?" A family of 4 can easily spread out 3 top ramens in a day, interspersed with jiffypop popcorn to fill in any more calories. There, hunger solved, then we can move on to shutting down those food banks and hunger task force.
I suppose when you are in the hammock getting a welfare check to pay for your tatoos and cable TV, the Republicans do look like terroists.
Want to fix the deficit - no more welfare but hard work in the farm fields. We would not need illegal immigrants any more. No more food stamps but a ration of beans and rice. Anyone receiveing Earned Income Credit, welfare, or food stamps - YOU CANT VOTE. It would be a conflict of interest. No more collective bargaining. Cancel or reduce government pensions. Mandetory permanent birth control for anyone on welfare. I'd start it around age 11. Violent crimimals and drunk drivers will be neutralized and returned to their homes. Sell off the Iraqi oil fields to the highest bidders. No more free lunch in school. The kids can work it off with either good grades or janitorial work. No welfare checks unless you are drug free and your home is spic and span clean.
Schools should be turned into profit centers and not drains for tax money. I've seen school systems in other countries have their own lotteries and sell tickets. They could have on-site wagering for school sports events.
Prisons need to be turned into profit centers with their labor being sold to farms and manufacturers. Prisoners could perform many tasks currently being done by state workers.
The Republicans have many good ideas but they arn't going far enough.
I've got a good Hunger Task Force story. I was at a grocery convention and they had a silent auction where you could have dinner with the CEO or various grocery companies. Minimum bid was like $400. No one every bids except the Hunger Task Force. They are willing to blow $400 each to have dinner with 4-5 different CEOs. I can just see Mr. Non Profit acting like a big shot, putting on his monkey suit and taking some disinterested CEO to dinner. Yeah, maybe I can talk them into giving us more outdated bags of chips!!!
If the non-negotiable requirement is that all those who now have the money must be allowed to keep every penny, then the only solution is to chop off the segment that failed to succeed, no such thing as an "A for effort". By chop off, this means removal from the system... no food, no medicine, no shelter, not even a ticket elsewhere. Can't (or won't) afford to sustain "them" anymore. Won't matter if the ones chopped off are black, white, democrat, republican, liberal, conservative, christian, muslim, whatever. If you cannot afford to take care of yourself (and your family) without help, then you need to say goodbye... "report to the extermination chambers!"
That's IF the non-negotiable requirement is that all those who now have the money must be allowed to keep every penny. And it will not matter if the way they got there money was off the labor and loss of others... just like the plantation owners made theirs. Who said life was fair?
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The American business economy is like a game of musical chairs (a lot of it is luck, it's not all skill). Normally, the chairs are gradually removed, and the losers left standing are gradually outed as well. But, in this last round, the host got impatient, and chose to end the game by removing half the chairs at once. All this crowd of losing guests can just go to the next room... but where is that next room? How far away is it? What if you did not hold enough back to pay for the journey?... then you perish on the journey! Oh, that was smart marketing to get the players to spend their last dollar, they are not permitted to take any wealth with them. (The House always wins)
Last night I was at a Brewers game and I realized how great our economy is. First there were over 41,000 at the game. People have money to burn and the lines were long for $7 beers and expensive food. But out in the parking lot is what I really admired. A young man was buying and selling tickets. We negotiated for about 5 minutes with him eventually coming down on his price. But the man was working. He created his own job. The government didn't give him that job, he got it on his own gumption. There were a few girls working the parking lot too lookng for lonely tailgating guys. They were creating their own job. Not the most respectful work but they were off the porch and on the street pulling down an income.
I agree with you! I buy food for the homeless too. Thats the way it should be. The poor and desperate should rely on the kindness of strangers, but not the government. When a homeless person accepts a $1 burger from McDonalds, I believe he is truly needy. But if they are just wanting spare change to get high - screw'm. There is nothing wrong with showing compassion to the truly needy. But never give a needy person money. Thats the worst thing you do and it only hurts them more. That homeless person has the option of going down to Home Depot parking and holding up a sigh that he will do work. Its great to the the helpless. But 90% of those who are homelss or on welfare, its a personal lifestyle choice fuel by the government.
David so glad you can spare a $1.00 for a burger from McDonalds. I don't buy food from McDonald's for the homeless. Home Depot wages.. you can't live on and you know that. 90% of people on welfare aren't on it by choice. Some have ALS, AIDS, MS, and the list could go on. You don't live in the real world. Life isn't always a bouquet of roses. Some have abused the system. Not everyone has a trust to live on or come from OLD money. Karen
I was threaten that if I ever came home pregnant...I thought they would murder me. Darn wish I knew what I know now. I would of had some save fun. Today we should all quit work and join the rest of the world that feel we should support them. I shall let that CEO's, CFO's and the exclusive rest support me. They stoled from me and so they can support me. I'm sure that I have very little left in my investments. Have fun be happy and sleep in tomorrow!!!!!