So I get an email from DCCC signed by Rahm Emmanuel. Great charts showing the hypocrisy of Republican talking points about deficits and job losses. But according to the letter, the charts are supposed to send a message to Sarah Palin. I understand she is the stand-in for conservatives, but, a message to Sarah Palin? Really? Since when is she actually voting in Washington. Here is my response:
We don't need to send a message to Sarah Palin. We need these graphs on billboards and newspapers all over the country. I'll send money when we take the fight to the streets and to the Senate. You are surrounded by folks intent on destroying you. They are your fellow citizens, yes, but sadly they don't have your interests and success at heart, and you are still trying to pretend it's a pleasant bi-partisan cocktail party.
I'm a solid Democrat and have always thought of myself as a moderate. I am partial owner of a successful small company and tend toward fiscal conservatism--which is why I support a more aggressive German style reform of health care. It simply costs less and delivers better results. I was stunned to find myself lumped in with the "liberal retards" disparaged by Rahm Emmanuel for questioning whether the HCR bill being considered in the Senate is going to actually improve access and quality enough to justify the lack of meaningful mechanisms to control cost and loosen corporate insurance control over health care decision making. So, after donating thousands to Democratic party organizations over the years, I've decided to sit out for awhile, as have many of my friends. I don't need to pick a fight with Sarah Palin. I want you to stand up to the Republicans in the Senate who are running rough shod over the middle class Dems who sacrificed to build a Democratic majority.
I'll send money to Grayson, Ellison, Franken and any other individual who will stop pretending that there is a "bipartisan" solution when the opposition's ideas have bankrupted the country and when they pander to radical extremists and overly selfish corporate interests. Seeing Obama pallin' around with the likes of Boehner and company is repugnant to me.
I know. I'll be labeled as anti-business and overly partisan. An impractical liberal (a laughable characterization to anyone who knows me). I 'm none of these things. I just want some straight talk. How's this: How much more money do we need to give the wealthiest individuals and corporations before they can start to create living wage jobs? How many more tax breaks, write offs, favors and protections? How much do they need? We've been doing this for 20+ years and they never seem to have enough deregulation, favoritism, or low enough taxes. Well, how much is enough? Why can I succeed financially (modest, but comfortable) while still paying my taxes, providing health insurance, and paying the ever increasing costs of sending my kids to a state college--and still create jobs--while people with corporate resources well beyond mine, and making 10-20 times more personal income than me and my family, continue to whine about the burdens they face? I don't get it. Stop coddling the fools.
I understand the Tea Party frustration. A lot of their rants are just hateful bluster and ignorance, but the sense that we are being sold down the river is real. I'm smart enough to understand that the political bill of goods they have been sold will not address the grievances they hold. I am waiting for Democrats to boldly assert themselves against the bad ideas and general economic insanity of the right and of the parasites who suck money off our financial and healthcare industries without creating an ounce of value for consumers or their fellow Americans.