The Only "Change" Americans Will Get From This Corporate Political Process is "Chump Change"

[arendt]

Four tiny, atypical states and its all over - according to the Corporate Media. The "people" have spoken. Never mind that two of these results were from caucuses whose rules would make a Jesuit look stupid.

The campaign coverage has nothing to do with real ISSUES - because just mentioning real issues would be a damning indictment of the utter triviality of the corporate version of the presidential campaign. The coverage has everything to do with identity politics, celebrity endorsements, hurt feelings, charges of improper tactics by thin-skinned groupies who think politics is smurfball, the beyond-biased corporate perspective of what issues "resonate with the voters", and over it all - the cult of PERSONALITY.

A real issue would be: how are we going to begin to dismantle the corporate outsourcing machine and the Fed/Wall Street crowd that fed the suckers cheap money as a narcotic while their jobs were sent to China.

But, America doesn't do real issues anymore. So, we will argue who should get yet another irresponsible band-aid tax cut ( a r-e-a-l-l-y big one this time) that we will just add onto the debt of our children. We won't talk structural fixes. Bush will take another swig of Ol' Trickle Down; the Dems will point out that people too poor to pay taxes don't get the rebate.

Eventually, some useless "mop up the flood with a hand sponge" approach will be approved. Chump change for suckers. Meantime, what remains of the middle class will go to the abbatoir, one skull-cracking mortgage default at a time while Judas goat Alan Greenspan collects royalties for his autobiography.

Never have I seen political discourse so utterly SHALLOW, so totally unaware of the unprecedented context of the outright looting of our country. What passes for political analysis is mostly deck chair rearranging as the fiscal iceberg rips our guts out.

The only consolation for the issue-aware minority locked below decks will be if, as on the Titanic, there are not enough lifeboats for the rich assholes who piloted us into this disaster.

Écrasez l'Infâme and Screw the Horse Race

[DJ13]

1. Great post, but it leads to a question..........

If Hillary becomes President, will she be the last President of our failed country?

[arendt]

2. I sure hope that Q was sarcasm...

because I really don't want to talk about ANY candidate or their personality in this thread.

arendt

[antigop]

3. From what I have seen, most DU'ers don't care about outsourcing...

I sure as hell would like to know what they do for a living, because a LOT more jobs can be outsourced.

--antigop
who has seen waaay too many lives destroyed by outsourcing and h1-b replacements.

[arendt]

4. No offense, but: Can you cite a stat? Or is that your personal observation?

I mean, Democrats at DU don't care about a fundamental jobs issue? What are they waiting for - the ghost of George Meany to show up on Christmas Eve?

If what you say is true, then DU ain't no democrat.

arendt

[antigop]

5. personal observation...I've raised the issue...they don't seem to care. n/t

[arendt]

6. Then DU has devolved into nothing more than Byzantine "Green vs Blue" hooliganism...

just thought that, since people don't care about issues, they won't even understand that insult. :-)

arendt

[antigop]

7. I think it's like health insurance...if you haven't been burned by it or know someone who has...

then they are not worried about it.

[DemBones DemBones]

9. A lot of people are just here to push one candidate, not

to discuss issues. Outsourcing is horrible and I didn't have to be burned by it to know that. The trend toward outsourcing and employing temporary and/or part-time workers has been going on for fifteen years or more. Companies declare bankruptcy and leave workers with no pension, workers who had thirty years on the job or more. It's an outrage.

The unemployment statistics are a joke; I know a fair number of people who are among the permanently unemployed, who are not counted. As you no doubt know but some here may not, you're only counted as unemployed for the six months you can receive unemploymeny compensation. After that, you're off the list, replaced by some newly unemployed person. And the government says unemployment is at a manageable level.

[antigop]

12. .."I didn't have to be burned by it (outsourcing) to know that." Thank you.

I can only relate my experiences as to what has been posted here and what I have encountered outside of DU.

I have found that a lot of people really don't care and really don't think it will happen to them.

Nice to know there are some (like you) that understand.

Yes, I was aware of the unemployment statistics, but thanks for posting...others may not know.

[leftchick]

35. on health care

right now, we have great coverage, but reading the stories here on DU of the horrors some people have gone through gives me pause. I am trying to get my hubby to up his Life Insurance policy just because of the health insurance issue. I can not believe more people are not taking notice.

[BeHereNow]

19. I'll go you one further... They don't UNDERSTAND or COMPREHEND the REAL issues

You know me well enough to know that is what
I have been repeating for years on DU...

As I have said before, we have become the equivalent of
and American Idol audience when it comes to discerning
anything that actually MATTERS.

BHN

[blindpig]

39. They're not supposed to...

Doncha see how well the system works, for those that own it.

[Karenina]

49. Nor do too many have ANY desire to...

and will get quite testy if things are brought to their attention.

[blindpig]

51. such has been the case

but I think that is starting to change, a crumbling economy has way of doing that. Edwards's rhetoric has been helpful in that regard.

[blindpig]

38. Perfect

'cept I think that might as well apply to the dog and pony show of national electoral politics. Just when I think I've run out of Roman analogies....thanks!

[arendt]

40. Important to distinguish Roman (western) from Byzantine (eastern) empires

I'm not sure if the Blue-Green rivalry started in Rome or not. It definitely became an important political rivalry in Byzantium. In fact, I think there were several Byzantine emperors who got their start in the arena. Definitely Theodora was an ?exotic dancer? in the arena before she became empress.

arendt

[blindpig]

46. No prob

Nero, Caligula, Caracalla(the usual suspects) were all involved in faction nonsense, though it did get really out of hand in Constantinople.

[rAVES]

43. They do, but its difficult to be sincere AND Shill for the people that brought us NAFTA.

[HughMoran]

16. I care more about outsourcing and H1B's stealing jobs than anything else

other than healthcare. It's true that discussing this topic here is not popular for some reason. My whole department is gone to Asia now - I am so depressed now working with a skeleton crew here.

[arendt]

21. Another topic that the corporate media has pronounced not fit for consumption n/t

[Elspeth]

17. I posted a thread on outsourcing today, but Primary threads keep hogging the bandwidth

:(

[stravu9]

8. Oh, God, I know you are Right!

so sick!

[Two Americas]

10. excellent post

Thank you.

[Uncle Joe]

11. The real issues are what the corporate media are afraid of.

In depth analysis might wake the people up and that's why they're so quick in wanting to shut down candidacies that threaten corporate supremacy. Whenever a candidate speaks of corporate corruption, notice how quickly they're interrupted by the moderator or pundit, during a debate or interview. It's as if the media want to shut down the message, on the other hand, a corporate loving candidate can speak until their heart is content.

Thanks for the thread, arendt.

[BeHereNow]

22. The same is true on C-Span... "click" they hang up on any caller who starts in on corporatism

I haven't slept a whole night in years- you guys know why,
so I usually turn on C-Span to watch Washington Journal
and listen to the callers because now and then, someone calls
in who GETS it. Unfortunately, the C-Span hosts always
cut them off when they start talking about FACTS that MATTER.

Even C-Span has become another stage for political Kabuki
to appease and convince the masses that there is a two-party
system.

BHN

[warren pease]

28. They're not afraid of a damn thing...

Except maybe a progressive congress and administration who will use anti-trust legislation to break up their monopoly on virtually everything Americans see, hear and read. But that can't happen because media is there at the outset of any major election campaign to weed out any hint of progressive ideology, keep progressives muzzled and off camera and actively promote only the most vanilla, corporate-approved, useless degenerates of the bunch.

This ensures that the status quo will be maintained and the country will go on as a debt-slave banana republic where politicians no longer pitch dreams, but nightmares, and then sell themselves as our protectors from the dark forces coming to get us. And behind the curtain, the corporate gnomes are dancing and drinking and laughing their asses off at the mindless gullibility of the American voter, who can always be scared by phantoms but never really understands where the real threats come from.

And so mass media really has nothing to worry about. They're doing exactly what was expected of them when giant companies like GE and Disney and Time Warner went on a media buying frenzy about a decade ago. They didn't grab up media outlets and entire networks because they wanted to spread the truth and shine a light into the dark corners of political intrigue. Anything but.

They assembled the components of the greatest propaganda delivery tool in history so that their "on-air talent" could pollute the airwaves shilling and cheerleading for the corporations that own them, conning people into supporting status quo candidates despite the fact that these corporatists will inevitably become part of the problem, and advocating for the righteousness and cosmic correctness of forcing the American corporate model down the throats of the entire planet.

And the principals involved couldn't be happier with the way things have turned out. They can afford to leave reality based news and comment to the Internet and the international press.

Traditional financial measurements of corporate success are out the window with this bunch. They're not there to make money for their corporate masters; they're there to legitimize the corporate takeover of the political process, excuse massive war profiteering by invoking phony patriotism, divert attention from the rapid slide toward totalitarianism using the incessant chirping of stylish, perfectly coiffed nitwits to slime the world with American pop culture. Then producers and editors salvage what little news remains once it goes through the corporate censorship desk so they can present the illusion of information without the nasty reality of dealing with objective truth.

And even though profitability is far less important than corporate proselytizing, there's still plenty of gullible idiots around to make their ratings and share numbers, even as the programming content sinks to new uncharted depths every single season. The Murdoch effect.

Then, when it's all over and the least offensive of these two awful people emerges as the winner -- a questionable title given the Diebold factor -- mass media is there to commiserate and calm.

It's also there to hold and aim the shotgun as we pull the trigger and blow another hole in our feet. It's amazing that this entire country isn't in wheel chairs given the amount of self-inflicted damage we manage to do each election cycle.


wp

[BeHereNow]

31. DAMN WP!!! That post deserves it's own thread!!!

:toast: :kick: :yourock:
BHN

[warren pease]

33. Go ahead and use it yourself if you want to...

I'm going out for awhile and I hate to start a thread and not be around to deal with the flames.

And back atcha: :toast:



wp

[Binka]

45. It Made Me Cry

But damn near everything these days does that to me. I need to find a lover this world is too damn harsh alone.

[Joe Fields]

44. well said, warren!

[Uncle Joe]

50. You said it far more eloquently than I , but

I believe we said the same thing.:thumbsup:

[TahitiNut]

13. How many people think Voltaire is a brand of electric heater?

:dunce:

Personally, I'm ready to erect a gallows in the City Hall Plaza ... and on The Mall.

[arendt]

20. Hey, I was trying to keep it subtle w that quote. :-) n/t

[Yuugal]

24. Voltaire rox!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pfdsnRwX0p4

[arendt]

25. Huh? The Corpse Bride? Is that the right link? n/t

[Yuugal]

26. The song is by Voltaire

Those lyrics describe my feelings about the dem party.

"I don't expect you to understand me
I'm not an ordinary man
and I have seen things with these eyes
you'd never comprehend
see for yourself now
take those living women
they have never shown me any kindness of any kind
its not my fault i look this way
I try to talk to them
they look at me and walk away
so really is it so strange that

dead girls like me
can't you see?
only dead girls like me
oh, dead girls like me
can't you see?
only dead girls don't walk away from me
sad as it seems

have you ever tasted love like this?
cool and smooth have you ever been accepted unconditionally?
have you ever loved someone who didn't hurt you, didn't harm you?

There's no pain and there's no pressure
no humiliation
there's no fear and there's no shame
there's no pulse now is it so strange?

dead girls like me
can't you see?
only dead girls like me
oh, dead girls like me
can't you see?
only dead girls don't walk away from me
sad as it seems "

Only dead democrats don't walk away from me, sad as it seems. I feel like a necrophiliac loving the long dead corpse of a party that used to try hard not to hurt me.

[arendt]

27. Blow me away! I didn't know that. Thanks. n/t

[warren pease]

30. I don't know, but...

...wasn't Rousseau the name of that actress in "Get Shortie?"

And I'd settle for stocks in the public square, plentiful supplies of rotten vegetables and a couple hundred furious villagers with cannons for arms. One BushCo member, then a squawking head from CNN or Fux. Alternating until every last BushCo criminal and lying media accomplice has his or her turn. Maybe toss in Novak or O'Reilly for an extra session now and then.

It would only have to last a month or two per perp. That's not much after seven years of this shit. I'm not a sadist, after all, just a little pissed off.


wp

[Zhade]

14. That, and the likely winners are hardly liberal.

And they admire REAGAN, of all the scumsucking fascists they could name.

[Pastiche423]

15. Another great arendt post

Spot on!

[ProgressIn2008]

18. Excellent post -- who will address the looting of the country? News at thirteen o'clock.

[BeHereNow]

23. Recommend # 10

BHN

[Initech]

29. Pennies to the dollar.

And what sucks is that the people dont seem to give a shit. Here we have what is the worst administration ever to (mis)lead the country and all the candidates who could potentially replace him suck. We need serious change in this country but you are right, we're not going to get it.

[arendt]

36. 75% want out of Iraq, and we get to choose between "100 years" McCain and Kyl-Lieberman HRC n/t

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

32. It's pretty discouragining. Sheesh, nominal tax rebates are going to save the economy?

Maybe, just maybe, it'll give a short-term shot of continued "feel goodism" so the neocons can finish the job of tanking this nation and putting the big players in power, perpetually.

It's really REALLY scary to watch this disaster unfold.

[BeHereNow]

34. kicking

bhn

[arendt]

37. Morning kick n/t

[catmandu57]

41. I guess maybe I'm just too fucking tired

After fighting these bastards for the past eight years, finding my voice muted by the noise machine, the wall of apathy growing higher than ever I'm tired of beating my bloody head against the hard stone wall.
People should be gathering in huge numbers sharpening their pitchforks and ready to affect a violent change. I just can't believe the level of acceptance when the the number of displaced and trampled people grow daily, their jobs gone, their retirement gone, thievery on a massive unbelievable scale, denied health care, turned out into the streets, children's futures stolen, fuck it's a wonder i don't blow my fucking brains out in the middle of the town square.

The only solace I'm finding is knowing that this can't go on much longer, the power establishment has already over reached, they killed the golden goose, and soon the whirlwind will follow.
So go right on ahead, install a corporate stooge, better yet put another repug in office, I'm going to sit right here and watch and laugh like a fucking lunatic when it all goes to hell.

[arendt]

42. I have my "King of Hearts" days, where I just want to check into a loony bin and...

let the nuts OUTSIDE kill each other.

arendt

[Binka]

47. If I Didn't Have My Six Year Old I Would Have Killed Myself Two Years Ago

I am dead and I mean dead serious. One of the worst things about these "days" is my family is living BIG TIME WEALTHY and they insist on dragging me around in their fantasy world. I hate it, I can't breathe, I am usually in the bathroom crying after 20 minutes. Me, I am working poor, and of course it is my fault because, well because it must be. I have never chased money, I have always been into teaching, children, and social causes. Well fuck me for being so compassionate, I coulda had the G8!

Jesus I need to get off the planet for awhile.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

52. O'mygosh!

:cry:

I am very familiar with those thoughts/feelings.

One thing I have learned, though, is, although the thoughtful and generous, the compassionate and concerned are rarely EVER financially rewarded, they are held in great esteem and valued. There are few you will encounter in this nation who reject caring people or deny how greedy and selfish the culture has become to the detriment of every human being.

Nevertheless, there is little comfort for those who have the strength to dissent the game of greed because they are burdened with a sense of isolation, even if it's as manufactured as the "greed is good" mantra. In other words, no matter how you may feel, the truth is you are not alone but rather a member of greater humanity who suffers the same basic conflicts.

:hug:

[Binka]

61. Thank You I Needed To Hear That

I know it is true because I have encountered too much goodness as the result of my kindness. But it is easy to get overwhelmed and forget sometimes.

[catmandu57]

53. You and me both

Want to go to Tralfamador?

[Binka]

54. Yes

I'm nice and pretty and smell good too.

[catmandu57]

55. Sounds good

but my wife would kill me}(

[Binka]

56. Oh Her

She'll get over it.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

48. Considering the way the economy is going, they'll be asking for spare "change".

[bbgrunt]

57. the hardest thing for me is to figure

out is how is it that so many are so blind. I read John Dean's "Conservatives without Conscience" and understood that in any population there were bound to be about 20% who by nature were authoritarian followers. I've read the "Shock Doctrine" and understand how we all temporarily lost our bearings after 9-11. (and of course, the shocks just keep coming) but I really thought there was more intellectual capital in this country than what we have been witnessing. If it is this easy to program us, I wonder they didn't do it sooner.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

58. Maybe, we're denying how difficult it is to keep up, here in the U.S.A.

I vaguely remember Ronald Reagan, somewhat enamored with him but with a sense that something was wrong. At that time, I was spending every waking moment just trying to get on my own two feet. Heck, that was when I was still young, moving into early twenties, BEFORE I broke into the rat race.

Most people have little to no spare time on their hands, rushing to get ready for a day's work; then, coming home rushing to get daily stuff done so there's time to rest and sleep. Life is difficult and it's very easy to get locked up in the day-to-day difficulties.

I'm just offering one possible alternative explanation. I don't believe the reason the country is faltering or failing as a compassionate, democratic nation is because the people in it lack intelligence or concern. I think the greatest obstacles are the people who have taken charge of and control over this nation.

[lisainmilo]

59. Nice post! That's the same thing we got in 2001, isn't it?

Sometime in the next few months, millions of American taxpayers will receive an advance refund check for 2001. The refund is due to the new 10% tax bracket created by The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 which became law on June 7, 2001.

How much will it be? The new 10% tax rate is retroactive to January 1, 2001. The 10% rate applies to the first $6,000 of income for single taxpayers, $10,000 for heads of household, and $12,000 for married couples filing joint returns. Therefore, taxpayers are entitled to a 5% refund (that's the difference between the prior-law 15% rate and the new 10% rate) for 2001. That translates to a refund up to a maximum $300 for single taxpayers, $500 for heads of household, and $600 for joint filers.

Tax tip of the week:http://www.alloysilverstein.com/tips/tax/2001/0611.htm

So in 2001 we, most, not all got a tax rebate check. In exchange for that check I have recieved:

1.

When President Bush II came into office in 2001 he quickly turned all that progress around. With the help of a Republican controlled Congress he immediately gave a massive tax cut based on a failed economic policy; perhaps an economic fantasy describes it better. The last year Mr. Clinton was in office the nation borrowed 18 billion dollars. The first year Mr. Bush II was in office he had to borrow 133 billion<8>. The first tax cut Bush pushed through a willing Republican Congress caused an upswing in government borrowing that was supposed to stimulate the economy, but two years later Bush had to push through yet another tax cut. The second tax cut was needed because it was clear that the first one did not work. Economic history tells us the second did not work either. As a result of all his tax cutting with no cutting in spending, in 2003 President Bush set a record for the biggest single yearly dollar increase in debt in the nation’s history. He did it again in 2004, increasing the debt more than half a trillion dollars. Since 2003 total borrowing has exceeded $500,000,000,000 per year. Even Mr. Reagan never increased the debt that much in a single year; Mr. Reagan’s biggest increase was only 282 billion, half of GWB’s outrageous spending. As a result of the fact that the debt was already pretty high when Bush II entered office, his annual rate of increase is only averaging 7% per year so far. In 2006 he was holding press conferences bragging that the debt was increasing at the rate of only 300 billion dollars a year, yet in reality it was twice that. Again the facts do not match Neo-Con rhetoric.

<snip>

United States National Debt: http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm


2.

Driving into Debt?
May 23, 2001


Traveling by car these days will cost you more this summer-- at least $1.70 a gallon for gas. That's the average price at the pump this month, up 13 percent from just a year ago.

An estimated 30 million drivers will hit the road for Memorial Day weekend. If each one buys just a gallon of gas, they'll have spent about 51 million bucks

<snip>

Newhour Extra:http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june01/gas_prices.html



Of course we know it is now up to about $3.00 a gallon and should hit near $4.00 this summer. Of course the price of gas affects the price of food and other products relying on oil.



3.

Food Price Rise Continues Pressure on Families
Monday, 13 August 2007, 2:10 pm
Press Release: Family First

MEDIA RELEASE
13 AUGUST 2007

Rise in Food Prices Continues to Put Pressure on Families

The latest Food Price Index continues to put the pressure on families in their ongoing battle to meet their weekly bills and one-off major costs such as car repairs and children’s uniform costs.

“The latest Food Price Index reveals that food prices have increased by 3.4% in the last 12 months,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“The Working for Families package seems to have been swallowed up in the increasing costs of rents (3%), gas (10.6%), electricity (6.9%), increasing house prices, rates, and interest rates, and now food prices. Cumulative inflation for the last 8 years has been over 22%. Low and middle income families are being the hardest hit.”

<snip>


Scoop: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0708/S00167.htm


Yes....pennies on the dollar returned to the taxpayer......


How much will these rebates cost us?????

[kineneb]

60. and some of us, not even the change

the BushCo "bailout" does not go to those who do not pay taxes...because they make under the income cutoff to file. We live on under $15K./yr. from SSDI. Of all people who should get a "bailout" it is the very poor. Costs have gone up far beyond the puny cost-of-living increase we got.

been through hell...

layoff -WorldCom, 2002
no jobs -outsourced
no healthcare - falling between the cracks
dumping all cash assets to get healthcare
Chapter 7 bankruptcy

and on...