Our two party system in it's present state can be compared to old time comedy pairs like Abbott and Costello. The Republicans are the political version of Lou Costello, they say and do inane things like screaming for severe budget cuts while demanding tax breaks for the rich. Incredibly, the mainstream media actually gets many people to take them seriously and vote for them. The Democrats are the Bud Abbott, straight man half of this political comedy team, they give our political system credibility by saying all the things we want to hear like how they are against tax breaks for the rich, etc. Oops, didn't they extend tax cuts for the rich as a concession to the Repuiblicans?
The point of all this is that the same corporate lobbyists visit the politicians of BOTH parties. Democratic blue and Republican red always gets mixed with corporate green! The Republicans are the corporate shock troops that promote the wildest of corporate ideas, bouncing them off the wall to see which ones stick. The Democrats fit into the corporate big picture by acting as the Judas goat, telling us what we want to hear then compromising with the Republicans, giving the corporations what they really wanted in the first place. They tell unions that they are pro union, then support job killing "free" trade agreements that would make Reagan blush. Hey union people, did the Democrats get The Employee Free Choice Act passed yet? Didn't think so! I am writing this article exactly three hours before President Obama's State Of The Union speech. I am going to go out on a limb and say that he will proudly tell the world how the South Korea US Free Trade Agreement will create new jobs. Many union people have carefully examined this agreement and realize that it is another NAFTA! The President will also abandon many of his original supporters by saying things that establish him as a newly minted centrist President. Ladies and gentlemen, after carefully examining both parties, I think you'll want to establish a third party and do it before the middle class no longer exists! Flash!!! This Just In!! As of 8:26 PM EST, I have had a chance to look at the President's prepared State Of The Union speech. I want to take issue with his false assertion that Labor approves of the South Korea US Free Trade Agreement. Only a few unions approve, the AFL-CIO, labor's national organization strongly opposes it! Shame on you, Mr. President!
0 Comments
Chalk up a big win to President Obama for finally obliterating Bill Clinton's right wing pandering Don't Ask Don't Tell law. Getting that reprehensible law off the books is the first step in restoring sanity to our country. Removing DADT falls under the heading of being a social issue and is a definite win for the President. His attempts at getting the Dream act, also a social issue passed were admirable.
When it comes to pocket book issues, the issues that keep food on the table and people working, President Obama becomes quite a different person. His support of the South Korea U.S. "Free" Trade Agreement, an agreement that has the potential to become the NAFTA of our time is a slap in the face to unions and working people. That wolf in sheep's clothing agreement is not needed in this time of high unemployment. Most unions hate the agreement. Who likes it? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce loves it and praised President Obama for supporting it. President Obama is on the WRONG side of this issue, the pro-corporate side! President Obama has been on the corporate/big business side of so many pocketbook issues that I'm not going to enumerate them in this article. You know what those issues are, they started out looking like they could help us, but were compromised to death. What's important is that you know that they ALL have one common thread, in their final form, they favored corporate interests at OUR expense! Mr. President while supporting moral issues is the right thing to do, being on OUR side of pocketbook issues is putting your money where your mouth is. When President Obama was running for office and making those soaring "yes we can" speeches, he was inadvertently drawing a future line in the sand. That line was drawn when he made a constant reference to Bush's tax breaks for the rich. That reference was very different from a campaign promise casually tossed out in a speech by a politician trying to curry favor and win votes, it defined him as a man and represented who he was to become as an elected official. In other words, he wasn't a Republican and subconsciously, it was why we voted for him.
When Bill Clinton supported "free" trade agreements like NAFTA, it upset many union people who silently wondered how ANY Democrat could support something that would cost so many working Americans their jobs. They were agreements that the Republicans, always taking care of their corporate friends endorsed. He made a constant reference to those agreements creating "new" jobs and offering a bright future for all concerned. In other words, those agreements were there to help working people as well as corporate interests. Bill Clinton didn't know it then, but he was drawing a future line in the sand for the Democratic party. As we all know, President Obama is seemingly more eager to please the Republicans and get the unemployment extensions that they are holding hostage passed, than to live up to how he defined himself during his campaign and by extension, his integrity as a man. By extending tax breaks for the rich, he has crossed the line in the sand that defined him as being the antidote to Bush and joined his predecessor on the wrong side of that line. That will render him politically unacceptable to many of his core supporters. As we all know, President Obama is actively supporting the South Korea US Free Trade Agreement, an agreement that was originated by the Bush administration. Once again there are claims that the agreement will create many jobs due to an increase in exporting. Careful examination of the agreement by many unions and yours truly show that it has the potential to be a huge job killer, in other words NAFTA II. Unions have been in denial about Bill Clinton's support of NAFTA and have continued to support the Democrats for years. Obama's support of the South Korea US FTA just put the Democratic Party on the wrong side of the line that Bill Clinton drew in the sand years ago. Now that the lines of integrity have been crossed, we have two choices: 1- To go into denial and pretend that the President and the Democratic Party actually represents us, not corporations and the rich. 2- To help form a pro-labor third party that will restore the American dream to the 98% of us who aren't millionaires. The choice is yours, choose wisely! President Obama just announced that negotiations were completed on the South Korea United States Free Trade Agreement. This agreement was a product of the Bush administration and has been reworked by Obama's people to make it more palatable to Democrats. President Obama touts the exporting possibilities of the agreement as something that can help to bring jobs to the USA. I say that "free" trade agreements like Bill Clinton's NAFTA that were also hawked as job creators have always been job killers. Even if we do increase our imports, my Show No 56 - Exporting, Corporate Snake Oil For Working People, explains why exporting actually hurts working people by lowering their standard of living.
Democrats like to campaign against the Republican "free" market philosophy then, once elected, push for the passage of "free" trade agreements. The current agreement has earned President Obama accolades from The US Chamber Of Commerce and other pro corporate groups. The trickle down philosophy is alive and well in BOTH parties. Both parties do not deserve OUR support! A new third party will have to be created to genuinely represent working people and field candidates for 2012. There's more to economic recovery than "saving the country from a depression" by bailing out the banks and Wall Street. Those folks are now living high on the hog while the rest of us are still in a recession and the unemployed are in a depression. Visit my Listen Here! page to start chanting - Where's My New Deal?
|
AuthorHave you noticed that there's no one on Talk Radio who speaks for John and Jane Q. Public? I want to change that situation. When I go into the studio and get on the air, I say the things that you've always wanted to say. The big corporate interests have their lobbyists, I want to be your voice. Just think of me as your guy fighting for your interests. Proud To Be On:Archives
May 2017
Categories
All
|