Republicans Think The Only Good Americans Are The Rich

“I think not having the estate tax recognizes the people that are investing — as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.” 

Those are the words of Republican Senator Chuck Grassley (pictured) in an interview with the Des Moines Register. His words are vile, but they ring true for him and his GOP congressional cohorts. For them, the only real Americans worth thinking about are the rich -- those who have at least $11 million. And it explains why the tax plan they are trying to pass ignores the plight of ordinary Americans to reward the rich.

Respected journalist Dan Rather has written the perfect response to Grassley's ridiculous statement. I'm posting Rather's response below, because I think it deserves to be read by as many Americans as possible (and I agree with every word he has written. Rather writes:

When the time comes, and I hope it comes soon, to bury this era of moral rot and the defiling of our communal, social, and democratic norms, the perfect epitaph for the gravestone of this age of unreason should be Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley's already infamous quote:

"I think not having the estate tax recognizes the people that are investing... as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.”

Grassley's vision of America, quite frankly, is one I do not recognize. I thought the heart of this great nation was not limited to the ranks of the plutocrats who are whisked through life in chauffeured cars and private jets, whose often inherited riches are passed along to children, many of whom no sacrifice or service is asked. I do not begrudge wealth, but it must come with a humility that money never is completely free of luck. And more importantly, wealth can never be a measure of worth.

I have seen the waitress working the overnight shift at a diner to give her children a better life, and yes maybe even take them to a movie once in awhile - and in her, I see America.

I have seen the public school teachers spending extra time with students who need help and who get no extra pay for their efforts, and in them I see America.

I have seen parents sitting around kitchen tables with stacks of pressing bills and wondering if they can afford a Christmas gift for their children, and in them I see America.

I have seen the young diplomat in a distant foreign capital and the young soldier in a battlefield foxhole, and in them I see America.

I have seen the brilliant graduates of the best law schools who forgo the riches of a corporate firm for the often thankless slog of a district attorney or public defender's office, and in them I see America.

I have seen the librarian reshelving books, the firefighter, police officer, and paramedic in service in trying times, the social worker helping the elderly and infirm, the youth sports coaches, the PTA presidents, and in them I see America.

I have seen the immigrants working a cash register at a gas station or trimming hedges in the frost of an early fall morning, or driving a cab through rush hour traffic to make better lives for their families, and in them I see America.

I have seen the science students unlocking the mysteries of life late at night in university laboratories for little or no pay, and in them I see America.

I have seen the families struggling with a cancer diagnosis, or dementia in a parent or spouse. Amid the struggles of mortality and dignity, in them I see America.

These, and so many other Americans, have every bit as much claim to a government working for them as the lobbyists and moneyed classes. And yet, the power brokers in Washington today seem deaf to these voices. It is a national disgrace of historic proportions.

And finally, what is so wrong about those who must worry about the cost of a drink with friends, or a date, or a little entertainment, to rephrase Senator Grassley's demeaning phrasings? Those who can't afford not to worry about food, shelter, healthcare, education for their children, and all the other costs of modern life, surely they too deserve to be able to spend some of their “darn pennies” on the simple joys of life.

Never mind that almost every reputable economist has called this tax bill a sham of handouts for the rich at the expense of the vast majority of Americans and the future economic health of this nation. Never mind that it is filled with loopholes written by lobbyists. Never mind that the wealthiest already speak with the loudest voices in Washington, and always have. Grassley’s comments open a window to the soul of the current national Republican Party and it it is not pretty. This is not a view of America that i think President Ronald Reagan let alone President Dwight Eisenhower or Teddy Roosevelt would have recognized. This is unadulterated cynicism and a version of top-down class warfare run amok.

No Going Back

Twain

Mark Twain offers an interesting question here. Personally I lean toward the "imbecile" option.

People Can Change

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is indicative of what has been happening in this country over the last decade or so. People all over this country are moving away from homophobic views and toward a common sense belief in equal rights for everyone. That's why a clear majority of Americans now support marriage rights for same-sex couples, when 10 years ago the clear majority opposed same-sex marriage. My point is that people can and do change. We live in a freer and more equal nation than ever before. But the fight is not over. We must continue to fight for the guarantees of the Constitution to be extended to all American citizens. But we can take hope in the fact that people can change.

Congress Is The Problem

The person who made this graph (which I found on the blog of Yellowdog Granny) applied it to to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (and that would exhibit the truth about McConnell) -- but wouldn't it apply equally to ALL congressional Republicans? Haven't they all ignored their duty to help the citizens of the United States in an effort to trash our elected (twice) president and block any attempts he has made to create jobs, improve the economy, and help Americans hurt by the Republican Recession?

I'm not saying the president could have solved all of the problems it took Republicans 30 years to create, but with just a little cooperation from Congress we could be much farther down the road to recovery. There is no doubt anymore -- Congress is the problem!

Jefferson Never Said It

"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."

Those are supposedly the words of the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence. The saying has appeared recently on many blogs and Facebook pages (including my own), and is used by gun lovers to try and convince Americans that Thomas Jefferson would have opposed current efforts to restrict the easy availability of guns. There is only one problem with that. Jefferson never said it.

That's the conclusion of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation on their website Monticello.org. That site says their staff "Have not found any evidence that Thomas Jefferson said or wrote" those words. One research librarian for the Jefferson Library (Anna Berkes) said the earliest reference she can find for the quote is a 1989 article on gun rights in The Orlando Sentinel. She has not been able to find it among Jefferson's writings. She also went on to say that Jefferson's style was very wordy and that this quote, like other spurious quotes attributed to Jefferson "sound like they were maybe composed by a 20th century speechwriter".

Church And State Must Remain Separate

The right-wing fundamentalists of today like to hold Ronald Reagan up as an example of presidential perfection. But to do so, they color their memory of him with stances he never really had. Reagan was for fair taxes, and did not believe the rich should pay a smaller rate than those in the middle class. He also was willing to raise taxes when necessary, and was not afraid to compromise with Democrats for the good of the country. And as the above quote from him shows, he was a believer that church and state should always remain separate.

Ten Atheist Quotes

The excellent blog The Atheist Missionary printed a list of 10 very good atheist quotes. I thought they were very good, so I have shamelessly stolen them and reprint them here for your pleasure (or indignation):

1. A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes. James Feibleman.


2. Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. Seneca the Younger.


3. I don't think we're here for anything, we're just products of evolution. You can say “Gee, your life must be pretty bleak if you don't think there's a purpose” but I'm anticipating a good lunch. Dr. James Watson (co-discoverer of DNA).


4.The idea, therefore, that religious faith is somehow a sacred human convention—distinguished, as it is, both by the extravagance of its claims and by the paucity of its evidence—is really too great a monstrosity to be appreciated in all its glory. Religious faith represents so uncompromising a misuse of the power of our minds that it forms a kind of perver se, cultural singularity—a vanishing point beyond which rational discourse proves impossible. Sam Harris.


5. Truth does not demand belief. Scientists do not join hands every Sunday, singing, yes, gravity is real! I will have faith! I will be strong! I believe in my heart that what goes up, up, up must come down, down, down. Amen! If they did, we would think they were pretty insecure about it. Dan Barker.


6. Out of all of the sects in the world, we notice an uncanny coincidence: the overwhelming majority just happen to choose the one that their parents belong to. Not the sect that has the best evidence in its favour, the best miracles, the best moral code, the best cathedral, the best stained glass, the best music: when it comes to choosing from the smorgasbord of available religions, their potential virtues seem to count for nothing, compared to the matter of heredity. This is an unmistakable fact; nobody could seriously deny it. Yet people with full knowledge of the arbitrary nature of this heredity, somehow manage to go on believing in their religion, often with such fanaticism that they are prepared to murder people who follow a different one. Richard Dawkins.


7. What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence. Christopher Hitchens.


8. When we don’t know something, the conclusion is not ‘Therefore, we know it is magic’ (from Zeus or from Jesus). When we don’t know something, the conclusion is ‘We don’t know.’ Luke Muehlhauser.


9. I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. Stephen Roberts.


10. We might enhance the respect others accord us if we are kind, considerate, peace-loving, courageous, truthful, loyal to friends, affectionate to our families, aspirants to knowledge, lovers of art and nature, seekers after the good of humankind, and the like; or we might forfeit that respect by being unkind, ungenerous, greedy, selfish, wilfully stupid or ignorant, small-minded, narrowly moralistic, superstitious, violent, and the like. Neither set of characteristics has any essential connection with the presence or absence of any specific belief systems, given that there are nice and nasty Christians, nicer and nasty Muslims, nice and nasty atheists. A.C. Grayling

Words From The Past - Still Very True

The picture above is of Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926), right before he was sent to prison for opposing war (specifically America's entry into World War I). Debs ran for president on the Socialist ticket in 1920 while serving his time in a federal prison -- and got nearly 1,000,000 votes. These are his words from nearly a century ago (June 16, 1918). They are as true today as they were then. I have only reposted a part of his speech and you can read more at Thurman's Notebook.

“Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder. In the Middle Ages when the feudal lords who inhabited the castles whose towers may still be seen along the Rhine concluded to enlarge their domains, to increase their power, their prestige and their wealth they declared war upon one another. But they themselves did not go to war any more than the modern feudal lords, the barons of Wall Street go to war. The feudal barons of the Middle Ages, the economic predecessors of the capitalists of our day, declared all wars. And their miserable serfs fought all the battles. The poor, ignorant serfs had been taught to revere their masters; to believe that when their masters declared war upon one another, it was their patriotic duty to fall upon one another and to cut one another’s throats for the profit and glory of the lords and barons who held them in contempt. And that is war in a nutshell. The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and all to lose—especially their lives.


They have always taught and trained you to believe it to be your patriotic duty to go to war and to have yourselves slaughtered at their command. But in all the history of the world you, the people, have never had a voice in declaring war, and strange as it certainly appears, no war by any nation in any age has ever been declared by the people.


And here let me emphasize the fact—and it cannot be repeated too often—that the working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish the corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they alone make peace.”

An 18th Century Quote Defines Today's Truth

“Don’t be deceived when they tell you things are better now. Even if there’s no poverty to be seen because the poverty’s been hidden. Even if you ever got more wages and could afford to buy more of these new and useless goods which industries foist on you and even if it seems to you that you never had so much, that is only the slogan of those who still have much more than you. Don’t be taken in when they paternally pat you on the shoulder and say that there’s no inequality worth speaking of and no more reason to fight because if you believe them they will be completely in charge in their marble homes and granite banks from which they rob the people of the world under the pretence of bringing them culture. Watch out, for as soon as it pleases them they’ll send you out to protect their gold in wars whose weapons, rapidly developed by servile scientists, will become more and more deadly until they can with a flick of the finger tear a million of you to pieces.”

Those words were written by Jean-Paul Marat in the latter part of the 18th century, but they are still so true that they could have been written today. Marat (1743-1793) was a physician, political scientist, journalist and one of the more radical leaders of the French Revolution.

A tip of the hat to MadMikesAmerica for the quote.