A voice from the 1 percent

"Many of the 53% crowd seem quite proud of their Christian faith.  I am not religious myself, but I am reasonably certain that Jesus would not respond to the poor and unemployed with shouts of "Get a job!"  I vividly remember what it was like to be poor. To be concise, it sucked, and my heartfelt sympathies automatically go out to anyone who has to experience it, especially children who are blameless for their circumstances. Whenever I meet someone who has not been as lucky as I have been, I recognize how easily our roles could have been reversed by the random forces of fate. And despite my lack of religion, I instinctively think "There but for the grace of God go I."


The above paragraph was written by someone in the 1 percent. Not a mega-wealthy person, but someone who makes enough money to be economically excluded from the 99 percent. Click here to read the entire text.


Not everyone in the 1 percent is evil or greedy. Many in the top percent want to pay their fair share of taxes in order to create a better society. Some want to hire people and expand their businesses. And few might even see that it is the Republican Party and certain corporate forces that are preventing a more fair and equitable system that would eventually improve the overall economy. I hope more 1 percenters speak out and support the movement to clean up a corrupt system that they have benefitted from but know is morally wrong.


To counter the 99 percent movement and prop up the Tea Party, a new group is forming on the right. They consider themselves in the 53 percent -- which I am still not certain what that number represents or if it's even accurate. Much that comes from the right never checks out factually, but I think their point is that they are employed, tax-paying citizens who want to put themselves above the protesters. To me, it seems the only purpose of this group is to place blame on the unemployed rather than the system that has led to mass layoffs over the last three years. These 53 percent live in an imaginary country based on a world that hasn't existed for decades. To them, everything is just fine. Opportunities for all still exist. All you have to do is work hard and pursue your dreams. Gosh, what a naive view.


Those who followed the rules -- worked hard and were loyal -- found out the system was rigged. Many of them lost their jobs. They are denied re-entry into the workplace because of the lack of openings, age discrimination or skills that are no longer needed. Those who are working are hit with furloughs so that massive bonuses can be paid out to top-level executives. Meanwhile, the people most responsible for the collapse of the economy remain free from prosecution and continue to profit from their unethical practices. 


This doesn't feel like class warfare. This feels like class surrender. Yet, maybe the surrender was premature. There is an awakening in America -- one that hopefully can't be stopped by Wall Street dollars, political liars like Eric Cantor and John Boehner, or even police brutality. It's sadly ironic that police, who have been hit hard by layoffs and flat wages, are turning against the very people protesting to help them get back on track. I wonder if police officers will eventually realize that they are a part of the 99 percent -- part of the population screwed over by some in the 1 percent -- and join the protesters? Imagine how Wall Street and extreme right-wing conservatives will tremble at the site of the blue marching with demonstrators?


I don't think the 53 percent will get much traction, but then again, I never thought the Tea Party would actually sway elections in 2010 and create a Republican field of presidential candidates that is so scary, so intellectually inferior to any presidential field I've ever seen in my lifetime, that it makes me wonder if we are indeed done as a country.


The Occupy Wall Street folks are exposing some ugly truths about America and are ruffling the feathers of those in power who will use groups like the 53 percent and Tea Party to create smoke screens. But the OWS demonstrators have the truth and numbers on their side. They have the data and the facts that show how the political system in this country has catered to the elite at the expense of everyone else. Bad policies drove us into the recession and mass unemployment -- policies created by and for the 1 percent. No amount of b.s. or high-paid lobbying from the far right will be able to extinguish what most of us know to be true intellectually and what we feel in our hearts every single day.


The chart below shows the problem. Since about the Reagan-era, the top one percent (red line) has seen their income skyrocket. Everyone else has been relatively flat. What this chart doesn't show is the timeline of public policies that created the gross advantages for the one percent while everyone else was losing their jobs or not getting raises. That, in a nutshell, is what needs to change and why people are protesting.

Class warfare vs. class surrender. Watch YouTube video

Political feud sinks to a new low

Politicians in Washington are now arguing about when the President of the United States can address Congress.

Unbelievable.

Not only does the Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, continue to disrespect Barack Obama the man, he is now disrespecting the office, and one could even argue he's trashing the country with his latest obstructionist behavior.

Democrats hated George W. Bush, but they didn't try to tear down the entire executive branch. For the good of the country, certain traditions were respected despite major political differences, even while Bush was attacking countries that didn't attack us and neglecting an economy that was in a free fall. For some reason, Republicans haven't been able to show that same respect for this president. Wonder why?

Despite the garbage spun by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Tea Party lunatics, Obama isn't a particularly radical president as far as presidents go. He's actually fairly moderate -- much more so than liberals wanted. In some ways, he's more Republican than Ronald Reagan was. So why the hate from the right? Hate that has made Republicans so insanely petty that one has to wonder what's in the filtered water at their country clubs.

The president wanted to give an address about jobs on Sept. 7 -- something we've been waiting three years to hear. However, Republicans didn't want their candidates' debate (scheduled for the same night) to be overshadowed by something as "trivial" as a major jobs address from the leader of the free world. The debate is one of many and will be filled with nothing but idiotic rhetoric from a field of candidates so weak that they make most fair-minded, thinking human beings cringe just to hear the nonsense that flows from their mouths.

Sure, Obama's jobs speech is way overdue and could turn into a campaign moment, but that's the privilege we give to sitting presidents. We give them the benefit of the doubt in hopes that what they are proposing is a real solution to what ails us. Or at least that was the perk given to every president prior to this one.

Well, Obama relented and moved his speech to Sept. 8. Again, this is just stunning that a president has to back down from a handful of fringe nuts in Congress over something as routine as scheduling a talk to the nation about our No. 1 problem.

Given a choice between listening to Michelle Bachmann drone on about subjects she knows nothing about or listening to whatever glimmer of hope the president might offer to the unemployed, I will tune into the latter, probably like most Americans. The Republicans knew that and successfully blocked it in an unprecedented and disrespectful manner, similar to the debt ceiling fiasco that they created and that led to our credit rating being downgraded for the first time in our history.

Despite pleas from the public for politicians to work together, it seems the GOP refuses to listen and is picking fights over the silliest issues that are leading us into total paralysis and worse. These are fights that were never fights before. Fights that only bring me to one conclusion about these renegade, unpatriotic Republicans. Destroying a black president is more important than saving a country. That's not playing the race card, it's just calling a duck a duck.

Smirk is worth a thousand words

Today's jobs numbers are disappointing and yesterday's passing of the debt-ceiling/deficit bill will, by all accounts, make things worse. Reports of mass layoffs and businesses closing are beginning to trickle in again, as they did in 2008, and Wall Street seems unimpressed by the legislative actions in Washington this week. The news is quite dire and confidence in government is about as low as it can get.

Yet, there was Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, smirking on television on Tuesday, expressing how happy he was that he and the GOP got "98 percent" of what they wanted in the debt-ceiling deal. Within hours of Boehner's bragging, objective economists were lined up warning us that the pulling of billions of dollars out of the economy at this fragile point could send us into a second recession. As the GOP-owned bill was examined, it became clearer that the economy was about to take another hit.

Many experts believe that whatever improvements we saw in the economy in the last year were undone by bickering politicians in recent weeks. The debate, of course, was caused by Republicans bent on ruining a presidency that was beginning to be bolstered by improving economic numbers, not to mention the killing of the architect of the 9/11 attacks and the plans for a drawdown in two wars.

Things were looking up, but Republicans couldn't allow that modest trend to continue. They knew that the one way to beat President Obama in 2012 was for the economy to tank. The way to do that, without bringing America totally to its knees, was to prolong a debate about the debt ceiling that never should have taken more than a few minutes of anyone's time, and to pass a bill that removes just enough money and jobs from the economy to spark more voter fear but avoids a catastrophic depression. It was a brilliant ploy by a Republican Party that has completely lost its soul.

When the recession returns and job numbers continue to fall, who will voters blame? Will they look at the facts and remember how Boehner and his right-wing posse forced a positive momentum-killing bill upon us (and smirked about it on national TV), or will they just continue to believe the mindless, self-centered talking points that Republicans have taken to new lows in this current, Tea Party-driven Congress? Will voters remember how the Republicans said jobs were priority No. 1 after the 2010 election, then proceeded to talk about everything except jobs once elected?

This bill, job growth and the economy from here until the 2012 election is on the Republicans. Period.

Loose lips sink Boehner's credibility

When George H.W. Bush used the "Read my lips" comment to proclaim that he wouldn't raise taxes during his presidency, well, you know how that turned out. His reversing course cost him a second term.

So why would the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, use the same phrase this week to claim he is serious about cutting spending? Essentially, it's a tarnished political cliche and should be shelved for the next few decades. Plus, does anyone believe a politician who excludes the military budget and gives massive tax breaks to billionaires is serious about the deficit or the federal budget? Most people understand the need to cut government spending, but I can't believe Americans want to do it in the way Republicans are suggesting.

I am beginning to think that Boehner just isn't very bright, something some Republicans seem to pride themselves on in recent years. The other day Boehner bragged about his desire to cut government jobs, after first lying about how many federal positions have been created in the last two years by the evil Obama administration. He used the heavy-handed phrase "so be it" to explain how he didn't really care whether federal employees lost their jobs. You would think a guy representing a party that claims to have all the answers to the unemployment problem would be more careful with his words. Putting tens of thousands out of work -- regardless of whether that work is done in the private or public sector -- is not very intelligent or responsible, let alone caring. We don't need for a more competitive job market by displacing thousands of workers. Those federal employees pay taxes just like private-sector employees. I am not saying that some federal jobs aren't a waste of taxpayer dollars or shouldn't be trimmed, but the majority of government positions help to protect our food supply, teach our kids and patrol our streets. C'mon Mr. Boehner, don't kill what little credibility you might have by making Palin-like comments that show no insight or willingness to address the facts. Don't attack PBS (another GOP target) like it's the main reason for our deficit. Don't ask me to read your lips if you aren't serious about cutting from your pet projects.

Here's a fact: The rich are getting richer, the middle class is getting poorer, and the money and jobs are not trickling down as wealthy conservatives continually claim will happen but never does. The dwindling middle class needs to wake up and read the facts.

As I watched a documentary about Ronald Reagan recently, I wondered how Reagan could have turned his back on people who needed a hand when in fact his own family, as he was growing up, received government assistance to weather the economic storm of his childhood. Without that government intervention, Reagan might not have gone very far in life. Heck, he and his family might have found it hard to simply survive or put food on the table. Many people need a helping hand at some point in their lives, something Republicans fail to comprehend. They see it as a weakness. It was Reagan, the first Democrat-turned-Republican to make it to the White House, who made it OK to turn away from those down on their luck. But even Reagan wasn't quite as ruthless or dishonest as the current crop of conservatives. He had some redeeming qualities, unlike today's hardcore conservatives who seemingly want the middle class to go away so that the fat cats can get fatter.

Then there is the military and the funding for our policing the world.

Look, I am all for a strong defense. But I am not for overkill, especially in lean times. We already have enough explosives and war machinery to destroy the entire world multiple times. How many aircraft carriers do we need to stop underwear bombers? But hold onto your wallets because the Republicans, not the Democrats, are aiming to take your Social Security away or delay benefits until you're too old or dead to collect much of anything. Yup, Social Security is just one of those old, nasty government programs that new Republicans hate. In their eyes, the money would be better spent on occupying some foreign land.

So no, I won't support Boehner's selfish beliefs and inarticulate cliches. If Republicans and Tea Party radicals want to make a case for turning off grandma's heating (a miniscule savings at best), they better first find a way to milk their own sacred cows -- the extremely wealthy, the oil companies, the military. That's where the real recovery could occur without breaking the back of Americans who have nothing left to give. That's not class warfare, that's just a sense of fairness -- something we are losing in recent years as we allow one political party to fuel the flames of hatred towards the unemployed, the elderly and anyone else who isn't in a position of power.

And please, let's not even get into Boehner's so-called humble background. As I mentioned, Reagan also forgot where he came from as he stuck a dagger into union workers -- this from a man who was the head of a union early in his career. You would think these types of self-made human beings would help lift others up, but they don't. It's not in their nature. They believe that hard work was solely responsible for their success and that unsuccessful people just aren't vigilant enough.

Any talk of addressing the deficit must begin with where the money really lies, not with nickel and diming the middle class to death and robbing folks of their benefits that they worked for a lifetime to obtain. Not investing in clean energy and education, while continuing to cater to big oil and rich bankers, is short-sighted at best. If Republicans want to act as patriotic as they claim to be, they can start by demanding more from their entitled friends who rarely give back to society in any meaningful manner but seemingly get every tax break known to humankind.

Since becoming the leader of the House of Representatives, Boehner has displayed almost no leadership ability or big-picture thinking. His tone is often hyper-political and confrontational, and could lead to the government shutting down in March if the budget debate worsens. Boehner shoots from the hip and only has the back of the most privileged people in society -- the people and corporations who financially support his campaigns. He is, like so many Republicans these days, a political machine, void of any sense of fair play or fresh ideas. He is the perfect modern-day Republican -- a visionless version of Ronald Reagan with lots of tears and no heart. His shining city on a hill is gated and consists of CEOs driving around in large SUVs while their employees watch their health-care premiums go up.

Republicans are exposing their true identity and lack of intellect lately. You don't have to read between the lines to see it. You just need to read their lips.

Health care a distant second to jobs

Republicans like to refer to the U.S. House of Representatives as the “people’s house.” Ever since the election in November, they have been on a mission to conduct what they say is the No. 1 priority of the people – repealing health insurance reform.

There is only one problem with that. It’s not true.

According to every legitimate poll, including the recent CBS News/New York Times survey, unemployment (still over 9 percent and much higher in some parts of the country) continues to be the top concern of the majority of Americans. Joblessness is causing cities, towns and local governments to decay. Buildings are still boarded up. Foreclosure signs continue to litter many neighborhoods. Yet, the new House of Representatives, led by John Boehner of Ohio, charged ahead last week and voted to repeal the recent health-care reform package, labeled “Obamacare” by radio talk show hosts, as well as Boehner himself, who should be above this sort of parochial nonsense.

It is appalling that the House has chosen to make this symbolic repeal vote its first major piece of business, particularly when millions of folks are still out of work. And to be fair, I have also stated in this blog that President Obama was wrong in highlighting health care while unemployment was seemingly on the back burner during his first several months in office. Only now has Obama, with his upcoming State of the Union address, seemed to have shifted his full attention to jobs.

Little has changed in American politics in recent months. Republicans won big in November for one reason and one reason only: They were not the party in power while unemployment hovered around 10 percent. Somehow they took what American voters told them (fix unemployment) and twisted it into some sort of mandate to attack everything Obama, including needed financial and health-care reforms.

Trying to tie unemployment rates to health care legislation, as Republicans are now doing, is not only contrary to every objective economic study, but it is also proven to be incorrect by recent history.

We didn’t have insurance reforms when we got into this economic mess three years ago. We didn’t even have the law for the first part of the Obama presidency. So repealing the act and expecting jobs to miraculously reappear is not only wrong, it’s ignoring the need for feasible economic solutions.

Where are the studies showing that repealing health reform will reduce unemployment? Probably in the same file that suggests the wealthy create jobs with the extra money they get back from Uncle Sam. Instead of making these broad and often outdated assumptions, Republicans (and GOP-slanted media outlets) should produce facts based on objective research. Show me sound data that says for every $50,000 a billionaire saves on taxes, that money is used to hire someone. Until then, I have a hard time accepting these trickle-down theories, particularly when the income gap between the wealthiest Americans and the middle class continues to widen.

Going back to a system that allows insurance companies to gouge customers, or worse, lets people needlessly die, is not going to put America back to work in jobs that pay livable wages. Losing one’s house because they got sick isn’t going to improve the real estate market. The mood of the country isn’t going to get better by funding unjust wars or continuing to ship jobs overseas.

Congress needs to do better, act with more dignity and intelligence, while attending to the real-life issues that continue to confront our nation. Getting sucked into a Palin/Limbaugh universe is a recipe for further economic and personal disaster. Jobs not only propel the economy, but they also fuel individual self esteem and tighten the moral fabric of this country.

It is time for politicians to turn off Fox News and pay attention to what real journalists and pollsters are reporting. The margin of error for most scientific polls is 5 percentage points or fewer. With health care well behind jobs in most polls in the last two years, there should be no excuses to not make the economy the No. 1 priority in Washington, state houses and the media. The people have spoken. Will Mr. Boehner and others listen, or will they continue to misinterpret the message from the 2010 elections?