The Republican Party has chopped the legs off every American...

[kentuck]

And they are hoping that by the next election we will have learned to walk once again. And once we learn to walk, we will forget what happened to our legs in the first place.

They are now "fiscal" conservatives, in the mold of Ronald Reagan. They want a balanced budget by 2012 - it's always when someone else is in charge but never on their watch. They want to take away the crutches of those that are learning to walk once again, in order to fund their special interests and their military games. At the same time, they speak passionately about "cutting" spending - not raising taxes.

As poor working folks that contributed to their 401-K's, in hopes of having some security at retirement, have taken out their funds at record pace to keep their heads above the water, the Treasury has reported a significant increase in revenues. So much so, that they brag about the "deficit" being cut in half - to "only" $250 billion dollars. It's a sham and a fraud, but one that they have been successful at perpetrating on the gullible public.

The Democrats, rejoicing in their new-found power and majority, have not yet figured out what to do with it. The Republicans, whose very existence depends on their ability to deceive the people, have adapted quickly to their "minority" position of blocking and defining the issues. The Democrats need a "new" majority but should be careful not to nominate "moderates" like Joe Lieberman a few others that will side with the Republicans every damn time on important votes. It is up to the Democrats in the several states to nominate "real" Democrats - not Republicans disguising themselves as Democrats.

[saltpoint]

1. Good point on the GOP gamble that voters will forget their current

actions.

I have a feeling their gamble is not going to pay off.

It was a gamble, and I believe a huge mistake, for the Republican leadership to instigate a block on the recent Resolution.

[kentuck]

2. I agree.

However, they have been so successful at steering the debate, they believe they will have no problem in diverting the public's attention away from this vote, even if Iraq turns out to be even a bigger disaster, which it probably will.

[SharonAnn]

6. AP Article, Dec. 29, 2000: "America Could Pay Off Public Debt By 2009", Clinton says.

Whatever happened to that?

First of all, we have to replenish the money that the GOP stole. That will mean cutting corporate subsidies, implementing taxes on corporation for offshore HQ and operations, raising the marginal rate on high-end incomes, raising the capital gains rate.

1. Income from Labor should not be taxed more heavily that income from investments or income from corporate profits.

2. Social Security and Medicare are, in fact, entitlements. Citizens are entitled to what they've paid for. Corporations and the wealthy are not entitled to steal from citizens Social Security and Medicare just because they want to.

Lots more, but here we are, two years from where we could've had public debt paid off. Instead, we're bankrupt and * and company want to steal what little we've got left.

"Hogwash!"

[saltpoint]

8. The Bush administration is what happened to the Clinton surplus.

Does that answer your question?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Right, if you dip into your 401(k), as I had to one year, you

pay not only income tax but a 10% surcharge.

If large numbers of people are doing this (and I know two besides me who have), then it's a bonanza for the Treasury.

[kentuck]

4. I think it's about 25% surcharge?

On top of your "usual" tax charges?

[Dhalgren]

5. Once more milking the poor and middle class for the benefit of

the wealthy. God Bless Amerika...

[Skidmore]

7. kentuck, we need ourselves a group of really moving people to

stand on street corners like those preachers or town criers to talk to people directly--a Truth Squad to hit every city neighborhood and village in the nation. We need a pot of money to buy permits for them, if necessary, to stand and teach the truth. Can the Democratic Party do anything this innovative for the nation? Can we talk to the people directly and not just invest money in producing the slick commercials that fill the coffers of the media?

[kentuck]

9. I think it is becoming more obvious that it is up to us...

We cannot depend on politicians, even those of our own Party, to lead. We must lead them.

[Skidmore]

10. It makes you heartsick, doesn't it?

Yet, when you bring this up here and say that if the party will not give voice to the people and make real changes with the people in mind, you get jumped on with both feet and stomped. Someone tell me why any of us should vote for more of the same?

[kentuck]

11. Yes, it does...

In my opinion, we need to do less cheer-leading and do more truth-telling. I fear many here are falling for the media and the Republican plan to destroy each Democratic candidate one at a time, like they tried to do with Joe Biden the other day. Who will be next? Will anyone be left on election day? We should be careful about cheer-leading for one candidate over another at this time, in my humble opinion.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Let's concentrate on truth rather than on hype

I've said several times how I hate this cheerleading for candidates.

The majority of people here have it backwards. They get all worked up about their pet candidates, mostly for all the wrong reasons. It's all personalities and party factions and kowtowing to the corporate contributors--and no principles.

This country is in the worst shape it has been in since the Depression, and I swear, the majority of the people on this board talk as if they're touting candidates for senior class president, not president of the United States.

No wonder this country is in the shape it's in. Everybody's brains are rotted from too much celebrity "journalism," so that they think it's the looks and personality and demographic appeal that count.

I'll tell you what I miss about the 1960s. It's not the sex and drugs (I was a strictly raised preacher's kid living at home for most of the decade) or the music (well, maybe the music a little bit), or the fashions (they're back), but it's the HOPE and the CREATIVITY and the DESIRE to make this country better.

America's politicians actually got together and said, "Let's start pre-kindergarten programs for poor children. Let's send our ordinary citizens into foreign countries or our own poverty pockets to help improve people's lives. Let's make sure that poor people have adequate legal representation. Let's use the energies and experience of the elderly to mentor children and young people. Let's make sure that the elderly don't have to choose between food and medical care. Let's make sure that every capable young person can go to college, and let's make their loans 100% forgivable if they teach in a poverty area. Let's make sure all our citizens are truly equal under the law, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. Let's support the arts and humanities and the sciencies. Let's create television and radio networks that provide intelligent information and entertainment. And while we're at it, let's explore space."

We were on a roll, headed toward a more European-style model of society, a journey derailed by the Vietnam War, the assassinations in 1968 of two of our most inspiring leaders, and the regrouping of the hard-right Republicans.

I don't see VISION anymore. I see feel-good platitudes that are short on specifics and long on brain-numbing. I see fights over trivia. I see possibly constructive policies hidden in wonkish position papers that are inaccessible to the average reader. I see "new proposals" that are actually just more of the same. I see candidates who are afraid to say anything that the others aren't saying, so as not to upset the corporate donors.

I see Democrats tip-toeing around and trying to play nicey-poo with a sociopathic liar and war criminal and acting as if they are afraid to undertake the job they were elected to do, even with public opinion solidly behind them. Nonbinding resolution indeed!

In short, I don't hold out a lot of hope for this country. If we're lucky, we'll simply decline into irrelevance.