Politicians, Conservatives, Liberals, and the First Black President

There are so many discussions about conservatives and liberals in the political arena. Conservatives are now synonymous with Republicans and Liberals are synonymous with Democrats.

Not sure how this came about. Republicans use the word “liberals” like it’s a four-letter word. I’m not sure why being open minded and wanting fairness for all people—rich, middle class, lower middle class, poor—is such a bad thing.

Conservatives or Republicans seem to think that there is a different set of rules for the wealthy and for the not wealthy. They argue that the deficit wouldn’t be changed significantly if the wealthy had to pay their fair share of taxes as the middle class and the poor.

That’s not really the point. It’s about fairness. Why should the wealthy get a different tax rate than the not wealthy? I know Republicans have used the “trickle down” argument for years. They have stopped doing that. It’s obvious that there is no trickle down. The wealthy keep whatever they get and reinvest it so that they can make even more money. They downsize their enterprises and cut salaries, which causes the people still working there to have to work twice as hard to keep up with production. Yet, the CEOs, presidents, and executives have 8 figure salaries and higher and astronomical bonuses. Is that fair? The people doing the work get 5 figure salaries and enough to get by on and the executives just keep raking in the cash. Aggravates the hell out of me. Is that what a Conservative is?

To be honest, I suspect that it’s more about racism than it is about outrage regarding the Healthcare law. I've heard these people go on and on about how the President was ruining the country. I heard one of these people say that they would vote for anyone for President other than Obama. This person said he would even vote for Sarah Palin. That was a pretty solid tip off that this person was basing his opinions on race and nothing else. Anyone who would consider voting for a woman who has shown herself to be a ditz over and over again has to be off the deep end about the race of the President.

While I’m musing about politics, I would like to address one final pet peeve. If people are so against the President and have so many reasons to be anti-Obama, why are there never any accurate claims against him? The Republicans keep dragging out the birth certificate thing. That has been resolved over and over again. Anderson Cooper had Ted Nugent (a very far-right Republican) on his show to prove to Nugent that President Obama was a U.S. citizen. Cooper interviewed officials in Hawaii who knew the President when he was growing up, people who lived in his neighborhood, and they had an official with Obama’s birth certificate present it on air. Anderson Cooper asked Nugent if it finally put to rest the fact that Obama was a citizen. Nugent, with a sheepish grin, acknowledged that if Anderson Cooper says Obama is a citizen (and he proved it), then he (Nugent) believed Obama was a citizen.

Anti-Obama propaganda is all over the Internet. I will have to say from my experience that the propaganda is either an outright lie, or taken out of context, or full of half-truths. If the only thing that these people can come up with are lies against the President, then what is really the reason they don’t want him in office? They claim that he is ruining the country, but no one has presented anything to support those allegations. If they did, my guess is that their representatives in Congress would also be implicated.

True, the economy hasn’t made much progress in getting fixed. But, again, if there is an obstructionist Congress blocking most of the legislation that the President is trying to get passed to fix the economy, whose fault is it that the economy isn’t getting fixed faster? If Republicans think the President’s policies are going to fail, why not pass the legislation and see whether it flops? In the long run it would be a concrete example of the President’s ideas failing and would give the Republicans something solid and actually true about the President that they could use in their election strategies. Maybe the reason they don’t want to pass the legislation to improve the economy is because it may make the President look good if the legislation works and would jeopardize their election possibilities in November. Sound cynical? I have a feeling it is more fact than cynicism.

I think our politicians have lost their way. Not all, but most, are looking out first for themselves and secondly, if at all, for their constituents. Politicians should not be getting funds from special interests and lobby groups. Yet, that is exactly what is happening. Oil companies, special interest groups, corporations, utility companies all buy politicians by contributing to their political campaigns or by out and out giving them money and lucrative deals. If we are going to have a Congress that functions for the people, then the special interests need to be banned from buying politicians.

In closing, I would like to say I like the Buffet plan that has been circulating on the Internet (not sure of its accuracy, by the way):

  Congressional Reform Act of 2011--or 2012:       

        1. No Tenure / No Pension.

        A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no
        pay when they're out of office.

        2.  Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social
         Security.

        All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the
        Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into
        the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the
        American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

        3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all
       Americans do.

       4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
        Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

       5. Congress loses their current health care system and
        participates in the same health care system as the American people.

        6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the
        American people.

       7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void
        effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this
        contract with Congressmen/women.
 

As if any politician will promote this bill. They are, first and foremost, in Congress to serve themselves, their special interests, and then their constituents (maybe).