Big corporations are hoarding cash, refusing to hire, giving their executives huge salaries and bonuses while they outsource our jobs and demand record low taxes and less regulation. While the lower 98% of Americans are suffering and being asked to share the sacrifice, the richest 2% are richer than ever, they refuse to sacrifice a cent for this country that has given them every opportunity and advantage, and the response that millionaires and billionaires have given to the question of what they are willing to sacrifice for their country is to tell the rest of us to go eat cake and stop disturbing their fun ole money fight.
But for the other 98% of America, the working class, the small business owner, the student, the elderly, the poor and the sick, their's is a different story. There are 2 America's. One has an economy that sucks, the other has a plutonomy based on fraud that is booming again. One is exploited, the other has stock options. But the peasants are getting angry, and all is not well now that Mr. Burns has decided to block out the sun.
Our real story is below . . .
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Now, I understand that every Republican I have ever met is a wholly owned subsidiary of the rich bastards who are robbing us. I get that. I understand that the only thing Republicans care about is lower taxes for the rich and whatever else the crooks who bribed them demanded, so it comes as no surprise to me that the last thing Republican public servants want to do is to end up face to face with the working class people they are robbing. It comes as no surprise to me that a politician who is bribed that wants to enact tax loopholes for the guy who bribed him doesn't want to have to deal with the people who he is causing to suffer. It comes as no surprise to me that corrupt politicians look at their town halls as a place to "get his message out" because they are paid to carry that message, and the message sucks. Less social safety net for you, more tax breaks for the rich, yeah, that's a pretty hard sell, and it should be.
As Congress enjoys it's vacation time while the majority of Americans are without vacations, or even jobs, each member of Congress is supposed to go back to their district and listen to their constituents (like a boss), but many congressmen who have been bribed don't want to do that, so they are trying to take that bit of Democracy away from the people who they are helping the rich to fleece, which makes sense because any crook should be nervous when they go back to the scene of the crime. Your member of congress is supposed to represent YOU, not David Koch, YOUR best interests, not Goldman Sachs, so it makes sense that the last thing corrupt politicians want is to have to listen to the people they are screwing over, they'd rather listen to the voice that was bribing them.
With that said, I bring to you with a surprising amount of joy a simple victory that should be celebrated in these days of the Credit Default Swaps of Wrath, an instance where our Democracy works as it should. Forgive me for celebrating the smallest of victories, but I hope you'll join me in praise for good people after watching this video . . .
But first, let me take my hat off to Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA16), who shows in the video below exactly what a town hall meeting is supposed to look like.
And of course, transcript and details can be found below
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren: "The main reason for me being here tonight is not to give a speech to you, but to listen to you. It's not every day that I get to hear from people, what they're facing, ideas that they have for me to bring back to Washington."
Constituent #1: "One of my cousins at one time hired three people, dry wall company, but because people folding up, anti collecting, his company had to fold, three people too. And he's lucky if he works one or two days every three weeks. I took his family in, so I'm a household of eight now, and because of that my PG&E bill has gone up, and the reason why I'm saying that is because working families have been under attack more than ten years, anytime that gas prices go up, food goes up, rent goes up, the average working person suffers, and they've been suffering for ten, fifteen years. Uh, we need more jobs!"
Constituent #2: "A lot of people here, where I come to school, aren't working, because there is no jobs out there. So, you know, I don't know what has to take place or what needs to be done, but us at home, need to help us here to be able to support our families, and you know, that's my concern, charity work and help our own economy here, and all the wars and stuff across the ocean, again, I don't know nothing about, but we need just to focus here, and help our own people and help everybody else who is here . . . "
Constituent #3: "I'm Fred Hersh(sp?), I'm a member of the Executive ballroom, plumbers and fitters Local #393. We've had 30-40% unemployment for over 2 years, it goes up and down, within that range. Many of our members haven't seen a single paycheck in all that time. We need jobs and a healthy economy."
Constituent #4: "Uh, I have a lot of friends that have, they have jobs that are really not good jobs, temporary jobs and they don't get benefits, and others that don't have jobs at all, and I am concerned about them, their all a member of our communities and they need work. I'm lucky, like I said, because I'm retired, but, for the people, especially some of the older friends I have that need a job but they can not retire, um, and they're of an age bracket that no one wants to give them a job because they are maybe in their late 50's or something like that."
Constituent #5: "As CEO's from big corporations are giving huge amounts of money as compensation, compensations, we need to tax these CEO's so the nightmares end.
(Applause)
"The companies are giving these compensation and then the same companies asking for tax breaks."
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren: "I want to say I was inspired by you. This is about the tough times that have hit you, but your heroic actions, in response, as individuals, and as a community. And my job is to go back and to help do what I can to support the heroism that you show everyday."
Congresswoman Lofgren did not run and hide from her constituents, nor did she try to sell them on an agenda. On the other side of America, Republican members are hearing a ton of hell from their constituents, and as Thom Hartman reported today, though only 60% of members of Congress are holding town halls, 100% of them are holding fundraisers. Watch Thom's video to see some of the best quotes in print as working class people challenge Republicans to tax the rich, and boo as they say NO!.
In both videos you see that people are tried of the rich getting their tax bailouts while the rest of us are suffering. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs, and tax the damned rich. I don't think anyone who is out of work or worrying about paying the rent reallygives a fluck about the deficit.
As Thom Hartman says . . .
"There is a simple way to make members of congress more responsible to their voters again, and it's by getting corporate money out of politics as most healthy democracies have figured out a way to do."
As Republicans try, and FAIL, to sell working class people on a vision of the future that is worse for working class people and full of tax breaks for the rich that will eventually trickle down to the rest of us, we should constantly fight back and remind them that since the beginning of the enactment of the Bush tax cuts for the rich and back to the beginning of "trickle down" Reaganomics, the verdict is in, tax breaks for the rich is a total disaster for everyone who is not rich. As my late grandfather used to say "Figures never lie, but liars always try to figure."
And now Republicans want to take away even more of your democracy by charging you hard earned money for the right to attend these town halls, and once their they don't want to here from you, no, they want to sell you on their brilliant ideas, like ending Medicare and making you pay $8,000 more a year in health care costs, or ending regulations so your kids can drink unclean water, or cutting taxes for massively profitable corporations while cutting the services you depend on. It isn't working.
Did you notice a few things in the video from Rep. Lofgren's townhall? She listened. And her audience was diverse and focused on one issue, how can we help other working class people right now? Rep. Lofgren didn't charge anyone to attend, she wasn't trying to sell her constituents on anything, she showed up, was respectful, and then listened. I know that isn't a huge WIN, but it's a start, and I thank her for it.
The money fight MUST end. Trickle down is bullshit. It is your job as a citizen to be as loud and involved as possible, and at this point it is obvious, as the young man who attended Rep. Lofgren's town hall said "we need to tax these CEO's so the nightmares end." , because if we don't they will take in their greed everything we have left, including our democracy. The rich people have a plan, it looks like this.
It is our job to FIGHT BACK.
The reality is that the majority of Americans are suffering at a time when the rich have never had it better, and yet the super rich in their greed demand more, more, more from working class people who have gotten a shitty deal ever since Reagan told them that Government wasn't the answer. Since then, the richest among us have used the money saved with their tax cuts to buy the entire Republican party, and too many corrupted Democrats. It is our job to make our elected representatives listen to us, and if they will not, it is our job to give them hell. If the truth is on our side we can not lose, eventually we will win, but if those elected officials are on our side it is also our job to support them.
So cheers to Rep. Lofgren and the good people of her district who spoke out at her townhall. I sure as hell hope someone is listening.
Peace and love to all,
MoT
You can follow me on Twitter @JesseLaGreca