We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
(bold added, of course)
* * *
This isn't a surprise to some of you, but I think it best I clear the air and let everyone know the more and more I see the incredible greed of the GOP, the insanity of the TEA Party, and the ineffective Valium-laced inactivity of the DNC, I really think I need to be a socialist.
First off, I do not define $250K/year as wealthy, but I do know it's a number I will never earn in my lifetime, which means there are entirely too many people who simply don't make enough to even call themselves comfortable. The other day I posted a video of Matt Damon defending teachers. In the video, he goes on to talk about the need for wealthy people and his willingness to pay higher taxes. Even before I saw that video yesterday, I have been asking myself some very real questions about this nation's wealthy population.
When the GOP and Tea Party explain taxes, they make it sound like the wealthy have to surrender that 36% of their income, never to get any back. What garbage! Everyone complying with the laws of this land files a tax return and is entitled to deductions. If you are in the wealthiest 3% of this nation and you don't have a good accountant and tax lawyer, then you don't deserve ANY of your money, let alone the millions you are hoarding. The real issue at hand is that 3% increase. With the wealthy still getting all of their loopholes, deferments, and deductions, they will be getting about 3-5% less money back from the government than they were with the Bush tax cuts. Yet with record high debt, unemployment, foreclosures, social security, and Medicare at risk, the GOP and TEA Party have tried to make that 3% increase the worst sin an American could commit.
And what are the wealthy doing with that extra money? Are they the job creating force the GOP claims them to be? No. Well, that's not entirely correct.
From an article in today's New York Times: "Nordstrom has a waiting list for a Chanel sequined tweed coat with a $9,010 price. Neiman Marcus has sold out in almost every size of Christian Louboutin 'Bianca' platform pumps, at $775 a pair. Mercedes-Benz said it sold more cars last month in the United States than it had in any July in five years."
So the wealthy are creating jobs, just not American jobs. Thanks a lot, Job Creators.
What makes me more angry than that is how the GOP and Tea Party have forgotten about the bolded clauses of the U.S. Constitution's Preamble at the top of this post. Justice. Welfare. These are abstract nouns but they are not impossible to define.
What's even more irritating is the Democrats aren't doing anything about it. For the past two and a half year they have done nothing but to successively shoot themselves in the foot, day after day. I have spoken about how the GOP needs to get the TEA party in hand or it will be the destruction of their entire party. However, I am now inclined to believe that if the Dems don't grow a pair, they will self destruct.
Henry Adams was right:
"We have a single system. In that system the only question is the price at which the proletariat is to be bought and sold, the bread and circuses."
Stop the world. I want to get off.
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