One of the foundational documents of liberalism, John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, advocates the right of all persons to liberty, the greatest good for the greatest number, and maximum individual liberty consistent with these principles. Sound familiar? I’m sure it does, because these objectives are found in the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
and the Constitution, which was adopted
in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
Liberalism is on sound philosophical and historical grounds and is entirely consistent with the objectives established in our Constitution. Conservatism, however, is an ideology that is now at odds with these principles.
This position is leading to an economic and political situation that contradicts the fundamentals upon which the United States was founded as a liberal democracy. Conservatives have established a plutocratic oligarchy that has captured the reins of power and allocated wealth inordinately to the top, weakening the entire system.
The shocking extent to which Republicans have accomplished this subversion of the Constitution is detailed in a new study by University of California, Berkeley Professor Emmanuel Saez, which found what he calls "a staggering, unprecedented disparity in American incomes."
Most of us are acutely aware of the disparity in income that has been growing steadily since St. Ronnie undertook to remake America into a Conservative Utopia. However, the picture drawn by Saez is a disturbing portrait of wealth distribution in America that even Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman called "truly amazing."
In his paper, Striking it Rich: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States,Saez shows that in 2007 the top 0.01 percent of American earners took home 6 percent of total U.S. wages, a figure that has nearly doubled since 2000. Yes, you read that correctly -- one-tenth of one percent. And, according to Saez,
as of 2007, the top one percent of American earners pulled in 49.7 percent of total wages. He describes this as a level that's "higher than any other year since 1917 and even surpasses 1928, the peak of stock market bubble in the 'roaring 1920s’."
This income disparity, which grew throughout the 1990s, was exacerbated by shrub’s tenure as Resident:
"...while the bottom 99 percent of incomes grew at a solid pace of 2.7 percent per year from 1993-2000, these incomes grew only 1.3 percent per year from 2002-2007. As a result, in the economic expansion of 2002-2007, the top 1 percent captured two thirds of income growth."
Tom Hickey, in a comment at Krugman’s blog, astutely observes:
There is a difference between economics and political economy that conservatives and the wealthy have obscured to their advantage. They equate neoliberal economics (an ideology) with both policy and morality, and they measure national prosperity in terms of GDP alone, instead of taking distribution into account. Without considering income and asset distribution, it may seem that the country is doing very well when a large percentage of the people are not.
Liberals have not done enough to emphasize that economic neoliberalism is an ideology based on libertarian principles, not on evidence based facts and science.
You know what to do – keep reminding your congresscritters that you are watching and expecting them to represent the huge proportion of the American public that favors the public option and meaningful healthcare reform. And don’t miss occam’s hatchet’s outstanding new diary Helping Democrats remember who they are.
Before we head over to tonight’s comments, a word from our sponsor...
Before we get to tonight’s Top Comment nominees, a word from our sponsor...
We have so many insightful and powerful diaries written here at Daily Kos. Our diaries inform, inflame, impassion, and even entertain. We Kossacks have strong voices and an even stronger will to be the change we wish to see in this country.
One of the richest, and perhaps most under-appreciated, areas of thought come in the form of comments attached to these diaries.
Here at Top Comments we strive to recognize and promote the talent of this community by highlighting outstanding comments found throughout the day by the diarist, and through nominations at made at topcomments at gmail dot com by your fellow Kossacks.
These nominations are subjective, and certainly not complete (as no one can read the complete site on a daily basis!). But hopefully they will serve to shine a light where deserved, and to give the reader a good starting point in finding conversation on the site.
As is often the case during Netroots Nation, comment nominations were a little light, so lets begin with an emailed comment:
From Netroots Nation:
Make plans to join us July 22-25, 2010, for the fifth annual Netroots Nation convention in Las Vegas, the place where this gathering of progressive minds first began.
Tonights’s Top Comments....
From Dump Terry McAuliffe:
On this week's hate mail thread, annieli tries to parse Wingnut English. Hilarity ensues.
From me:
Geiiga announces a potential run for KS-Sen, complete with a catchy slogan in billybam's excellent O'Donnel strikes nerve diary.
rennert reminds us of the problem with feeding the crazies with the image of a flyer distributed in Dallas the day before JFK was assassinated.
Top Mojo... excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, and C&J comments:
1 - It hasn't always been that way......Geiiga.....201
2 - Rec'd.....o the umanity.....154
3 - He had to cross out the swastika so.....Yoshimi.....131
4 - So he was FOR the Nazis.....OleHippieChick.....124
5 - How many of you get the sense.....beltane.....122
6 - What's with the "no one watches MSNBC" cracks?.....WinSmith.....107
7 - He. shut. it. down......grannyhelen.....106
8 - Even simpler explaination.....WSComn.....91
9 - You have to understand........wiscmass.....90
10 - Mackey's politics aside.....Blank Frank.....89
11 - I'll bet.....Blank Frank.....89
12 - Formerly Knight-Ridder, McClatchy is still the.....Jacques.....87
13 - Rachel has done the heavy lifting.....crystal eyes.....87
14 - what a multi-tasker you are!.....lapis.....80
15 - "How does it feel? To be a complete unknown?.....Jacques.....74
16 - I thought he was masterful in the way he.....collardgreens.....73
17 - Katie Couric weighed in too.....BlueSue.....72
18 - Places like Whole Foods.....beltane.....72
19 - Same here from fellow Nashvillian.....ourhispanicvoices.....71
20 - Here's what I wrote to Seattle's Whole Foods.....tbkd.....71
21 - I thought he was outstanding on that answer.....demkat620.....71
22 - Hooray!.....Benintn.....70
23 - don't fuck with my president!!!.....nevadadem.....70
24 - That's because each comment.....PeterHug.....68
25 - Two guys walk into a bar.....legadillo.....66
26 - Wonderful diary......classico.....65
27 - My husband is a doctor too and a strong.....lecsmith.....62
28 - Tell me this overheated rhetoric doesn't look.....rennert.....61
29 - There is probably an unsubscribe........KingOneEye.....60
30 - Yeah, right.....o the umanity.....60
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1 - Tips for O'Donnell.....billybam.....690
2 - Tip Jar.....shellac.....544
3 - Tip Jar.....johnnygunn.....522
4 - Tip Jar.....nandssmith.....478
5 - Tip Jar.....Eclectablog.....421
6 - You have to hand it to Fox News........KingOneEye.....339
7 - Tip Jar.....Muzikal203.....329
8 - Tip Jar.....smileyman.....279
9 - Tip Jar.....Jill Richardson.....226
10 - Tips for citizen involvement. :).....NCrissieB.....224
11 - Tips to McClatchy, too . . ......deep.....217
12 - It hasn't always been that way......Geiiga.....201
13 - Mojo Mug/Tip Jar.....Dania Audax.....199
14 - Rec'd.....o the umanity.....154
15 - Tip Jar.....Joe Sestak.....140
16 - He had to cross out the swastika so.....Yoshimi.....131
17 - So he was FOR the Nazis.....OleHippieChick.....124
18 - How many of you get the sense.....beltane.....122
19 - Tip Jar.....panicbean.....108
20 - Tip Jar.....sable.....107
21 - What's with the "no one watches MSNBC" cracks?.....WinSmith.....107
22 - He. shut. it. down......grannyhelen.....106
23 - Tip Jar.....liberal shopper.....99
24 - Tip Jar.....Keep Oregon Blue.....97
25 - Tip Jar.....Hail To the Chimp.....92
26 - I'll bet.....Blank Frank.....92
27 - Even simpler explaination.....WSComn.....91
28 - You have to understand........wiscmass.....90
29 - Mackey's politics aside.....Blank Frank.....89
30 - Rachel has done the heavy lifting.....crystal eyes.....87