This whole “identity politics” versus “economic politics” is such baloney. Everyone has a lousy excuse for not voting or not working for Democrats. Or sitting around and blogging for that matter.
Indiana is about to go the way of Kansas. In fact, this whole darned country is poised to follow in the path of many early 20th Century European nations.
You think I'm joking? Watch The Orange Menace and his sidekick Ryan flood the economy with a trillion dollars a year, while they eviscerate the banking/financial system of all the controls meant to prevent systemic failure due to what Greenspan famously called irrational exuberance.
(You know, I’m talking “market bubbles.” Can you say Tulips? What do you think will happen if they put all that money in the hands of people who can already buy whatever they want?)
Let’s be clear about this. There are four distinct forms of tax cuts being contemplated, all of which will put gobs of money in the hands of very wealthy folks:
- Cutting the top personal income tax rate
- Cutting the tax on capital gains
- The “infrastructure” plan (read Krugman on that, if you haven’t already)
- Cutting the corporate tax rate
Let me remind you again that they intend to repeal Dodd-Frank, and will almost certainly reduce bank reserve capital requirements. Wall Street always finds it funny to play with other folks’ money, because they live off of “one-way bets.” (Have we seen this movie before?)
And then after the economy crashes, there’s a non-trivial risk that Trump will start a war with Iran to distract the public. Bring back conscription, maybe? How about an Enabling Act to stop the inevitable civil unrest? (It's been done before.)
(Oh yes, and what about those short-term interest rates that finance the debt? Where do you think the results of all this deficit spending to finance tax cuts and a massive defense build-up will go after the asset bubble bursts?)
I don't give a flying hoot whether a Democrat is pro-gun or pro-life. They can even be opposed to Civil Rights laws (within reason, and I say this because I understand that this will affect my own life since I’m a POC. I don’t want to work for any employer that doesn’t want to hire N-words or eat at any lunch counter that won’t serve us. As long as they don’t burn a cross in my back yard and smash my windows. Or actually pull out and/or shoot the guns that I’ve been threatened with as a “N-word loving Obama supporter.” Just don’t kill me, that’s all I ask.)
What I know is that just about any Democrat is much better than any Repub.
Why? Because we believe that government has a role to play in protecting workers, consumers, the environment, and (yes) free markets.
Robber-baron capitalism inevitably descends into fascism. Because unchecked economic power results in unchecked political power.
what we are now faced with is not a struggle for progressive values, but for the essence of democracy itself. Republicans and Libertarians believe that government should be drowned in a bathtub. So who gets the power after that?
"Progressive of the month," my left foot (pun intended on both "left" and in my case "foot,” because I count about 25K doors knocked over my life, and maybe the same number of calls).
This "progressive" stuff is such rubbish.
(And yes, your precious blue-state enclaves are about to be invaded by Federal preemption. Are you familiar with Pence’s signature piece of legislation, Indiana’s RFRA. If you want even more details about how this could occur, you can read my other Diary here, which explains how the Constitution permits the Federal Government to force states to allow open-carry laws and maybe even state religions.)
Oh, so Hillary didn't "earn" your vote? Like Gore didn't. (That ended well, didn't it?)
Do you vote in off-year elections? Down the ticket??
“When politics becomes a fashion statement, democracy becomes fascism.”
You can quote me on that.
Go out and knock some darned doors, or at least make calls. And then you'll see how many people take democracy for granted.
A quarter of the world's population is now (or will be) ruled by two fascists - one in India (Modi) and one in the U.S.
One's a Christian fascist, and the other is a Hindu fascist. They both came to power because they promised to support ethnic/religious majorities who blamed minorities and/or foreigners for their problems.
Study any European Twentieth-Century history? (Maybe you’ve spotted the trend already.)
This horrific stuff occurs because we take democracy for granted, and we don't understand that elections are about choices.
"Progressive of the month," my @ss. If you don't agree that government must stand with the people against the otherwise-unchecked power of capital, then you deserve to live in a company town.
Or a banana republic, which is basically the same thing.
(Yes, I already explained how Trump and Ryan will end up destroying our Democracy and our Republic, right here.)
You think Kansas is a poster child for dysfunctional government? Try Indiana. All the red states are going that way. And the rest of the nation and the world may follow. Even California can't be an enclave, because of Federal Preemption.
If you aren't out there working for Democrats, and you're sitting around debating about whether "Identity Politics" is more salient than "Economic Politics" then you're part of the bloody problem.
Good grief.
I support any Democrat who is loyal to the party, and who stands with the people against the unchecked power of capital — regardless of their positions on specific issues -— so long as they’re not a (proven) criminal or patently incompetent.
How about you?