I am 86 years old...

[Playinghardball]

And the republicans are back at it again:

[lpbk2713]

1. You go girl!!

[whathehell]

2. Wow...Just wow.

She KNOWS what she's talking about!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

8. hell yes!

[question everything]

3. How wonderful!

The problem is that so many in red states, who are dependent on government payments cannot see the connection between their votes and their bank accounts.

Will we ever be able to explain it to them, in simple terms?

[WillyT]

4. Sounds Exactly Like My Mom... Also 86...

& Rec !!!

[pansypoo53219]

5. WHY DON'T PEOPLE GET THAT WHEN THE GOP IS IN POWER THE DEBT GOES UP, NEVER DOWN!!!!!

they CAN"T balance SHIT! the cut taxes and cut CIVILIZATION!

[staggerleem]

17. Of course debt rises when Republicans are in control!

This was a strategy laid out for the party by Jude Wanniski, way back in 1976. He called it the "2 Santa Claus Theory", and it goes like this - When Democrats are in office, they play Santa Claus to the poor. They give them "gifts" of Welfare, Unemployment Insurance, Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid, and the Republicans complain about how all this spending is allegedly "bankrupting" the Government.

Wanniski said that when Republicans take control, they have to play Santa Claus to the wealthy, by cutting social safety net spending and lowering taxes on the top incomes. They're VERY good at lowering taxes. Lowering spending, not so much ... because their tendency is to simply redirect the spending into things like subsidies for industry (another" "gift" to the rich). So gov't spending does NOT decrease significantly, but gov't INCOME does, which (of course) put us further in debt.

Then, when the public realizes that they've been had by the right YET AGAIN, and vote Democrats back in, they can semi-honestly claim that we ARE bankrupt (because that's where they left us!), and that the Democrats CAN'T increase safety net spending because the money just isn't there, and the debt (that THEY ran up) is MUCH too high to even THINK about borrowing any more.

But then the Democrats do find a way to borrow more, they do increase safety net spending, giving the people who spend every nickel they can get their hands on more to spend, which stimulates the economy from the BOTTOM UP (which is really the ONLY way that's ever worked!), and things get a little better - until the right gets into control again.

They've been doing this for nearly 40 years now. When will enough of us figure it out, so they can't pull it off again?

[Fla Dem]

6. That medicare one is gonna come back and bite them in the tush. You don't

want to fool around with the Senior's medicare.

[Enthusiast]

18. Not if the media tells the people otherwise.

60 Minutes will watch the Republican's backs. They will tell them it is the Democrats cutting the wasteful Medicare.

I want to see Democratic voices on my TV saying cuts to Social Security and Medicare are unacceptable. Anything less is a failure.

[planetc]

7. Happily adding the 46th R.

And her manifesto reminds me: Why aren't we pointing out just how unpatriotic companies are who offshore jobs, profits, and avoid taxes? Republicans are quick to impugn Democrats' patriotism (The Swiftboating of John Kerry still rankles with me), but we let American corporations get away with murder.

If we could attach this label to any company with a foreign tax haven, it might make them pay more attention.

[maddiemom]

11. Absolutely true. Elizabeth Warren said it best when she castigated the unwillingness

of the the one percent and all others who've "made it" in our system to "pay it forward." Those who lead a life of luxury and have all that they and their families will ever need should be more willing to pay back to this country. There are dozens of well-received documentaries out there showing the overwhelming responses to possible adequately paying jobs when they are available. There are never enough decently paying jobs for those wanting to fill them. How are the Repugs able to sell the idea that 47% or so want to laze around at home and have their (minimal) needs taken care of ? As for John Kerry: those purple bandaids at the 2004 Republican convention were not just an insult to Kerry, but to every veteran who's been awarded a Purple Heart.

[tblue37]

14. Even crappy jobs get huge numbers of willing applicants. People WANT to work! nt

[napkinz]

9. K&R

[world wide wally]

10. Based on American stupidity, it looks like a winning platform.

[Leith]

12. BRAVO!

Just one slight nitpick: that 80% tax rate is a marginal tax rate, not the rate of the entire amount. Millionaires pay 0% on the first 8,000 or so, 15% on the amount to the next cut-off, 25% between the first cut-off and the next one, and so on. The 80% doesn't kick in until an income of hundreds of thousands is reached.

Sorry. Carry on.

[asjr]

13. This old gal is right with you!

[JDPriestly]

15. The problem is that most Americans, especially those who live in the South and the

Midwest, never see the opulent lifestyles of the 1%. The 1% does not choose to live in large numbers amongst the low-level Republican voters in states like Mississippi, Alabama, Indiana and Nebraska. Thus, the low-level, middle-class (if that) Republican voters in many states think that they are rich. They may sell real estate or own an apartment building, and they think the Republicans are their friends. They have no idea. That is sad.

They see the mansions and the lifestyle on TV, but it might as well be Star Wars for as little as they understand the reality of it.

[classof56]

16. It finally came to me--the GOP Motto: Impoverish the Populace

Like this beautiful lady, I have seen a lot in my 77 years, but honestly never thought I'd see where the republicons have brought us. Shame on them!! As this lady says, NEVER TRUST THE REPUBLICANS. A big AMEN to that!

Courage and Peace!

[Enthusiast]

19. K&R! This post deserves hundreds of recommendations!

I want to hear Democratic Party voices speaking up against these Republican proposals.

I want to tell you. If the Democrats fail me on this issue, they can get fucked, forever.

The President has already proposed increasing the military budget. WTF? This country is fine with handing out money to foreign nations like Israel but wants to cut Real Security for American citizens? WTF?

[allan01]

20. you go girl

trust them ? buwhahahahahahahahah .time for this party to get off its keyster and start emulating the greeks and the icelanders .

[Tsiyu]

21. I wish more of the people of the South understood this

But they seem to have dug their heels in, aligned themselves with FOX Noos, and they are firmly committed to helping the rich get richer.

Because Jesus.

And Black people.

They seem willing here in TN to let their old people suffer and their young people suffer, as long as they can vote for the guy who SAYS he's more moral than those godless librulls.

It's so sad to see a population of people so ignorant and so self-destructive.

It IS making me work that much faster to get out of here. All of the maps paint the picture of the South as collapsing economically, while the rest of the US is moving forward. I want to live in the part of the US that is moving forward, thanks.

The Confederacy may live on in their hearts and minds, but it's not ever going to help the working people, and I don't even think they care.

Because Jesus.

And Black people.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

22. Kick

[mountain grammy]

23. That could be my husbands aunt

87and liberal in Ei Paso. Running unopposed for another 4 year term on the water board. May she live forever.

[Cha]

24. Great Letter! mahalo Play~

[onethatcares]

25. those need to be made

into handbills and pasted everywhere, especially #2

[House of Roberts]

26. When you cut taxes on the rich they keep more of their money.

When you cut taxes on the working class, they keep more of their money for a year or so, until their employer figures out how to siphon off the tax cut into their own pocket, leaving the worker no better off than before the tax cut.
High taxes mean you pay more into Social Security and Medicare, for the same disposable income, if you have any at all.

[ND-Dem]

27. kr. born 1928, an fdr democrat.

[katmondoo]

28. I am 85 and my life is almost a duplicate

We had problems in the 50's and 60's but life was better. Along came Reagan and it has been downhill ever since.

[DirkGently]

29. K and all the R's! n/t