FLUSHING AMERICA DOWN THE TOILET

We hear it every day. Tax and spend liberals are wrecking America. We need to cut taxes even more (never mind that they've already been slashed to the bone). And we must slash or eliminate entitlements (never mind that, by definition, entitlements are something we have coming to us, that we're entitled to, that we've earned by paying into the Trust Fund over the course of our working lives). There's very little mention by the most vocal of the right-wing talking heads, pundits, politicians, and Big Business tycoons on cable TV (Fox News, anyone?) that we just spent nearly a trillion dollars on an unnecessary war and are still flooding hundreds of billions on the building up of other countries while our own country is falling apart. There's virtually NO mention that the Social Security Trust Fund, on paper, has positive balance of $3.2 trillion, but which was stolen over the years - actually replaced by I.O.Us - by politicians to fund pet projects and give massive tax cuts to their rich cronies. Not many people know that - they think the Trust Fund has been used up by beneficiaries.
So that's where we are today, as we approach the 2010 Mid-term Elections amidst a cacophony of accusations and counter-accusations by candidates for Congress, many of which are obvious nutflakes by any sane standard. So how did we get into this mess, this cesspool of hate, rancor, racial and class hatred. Where did it all go wrong?

Back in our heyday, the 1950s, there was massive government spending on things like the Interstate System, the moon program. These programs resulted in enormous benefits to us as a people and country. There was a thriving middle class, much of which worked in the manufacturing sector or in construction, and the top marginal tax rate was 91%. The middle class had plenty of money to spend on things made in the U.S.A and drive nice cars and drive the economy to boot. While taxes were higher, people had more spending power. And despite the high tax rate for the rich, there were still plenty of rich people, although there were few if any billionaires then. Now there are more than four hundred in the U.S. alone, and hundreds more in other countries according to the Forbes Riches List.

So what's changed?

Reagan tax cuts. Bush tax cuts. And then there was NAFTA in 1993 during the Clinton Administration. NAFTA was followed by an assortment of other free-trade agreements with Europe, South America, and Asia which were certain to transfer jobs out of the country. Alan Greenspan’s and Larry Summers’ deregulation agenda during the Clinton years laid the groundwork for the collapse of 2008. Wall Street tycoons such as Summers-dictated government financial policies intended to enrich their cronies on Wall Street and elsewhere. We were told that de-regulated free-market principles would increase competition and lower prices. What we got was collusion by Big Business to keep prices high, not competition. Big business is getting rid of people by the tens of millions. Farming out jobs overseas is great for the bottom line, CEO bonuses, and the investors holding stocks, but not so great for the workers whose jobs have been outsourced. Further, conservative government financial policymakers are deliberately driving the value of the dollar down. That's great for the multinationals and exporters - not so great for the price of gas. When the dollar loses value, oil and other imported goods cost more. More money spent on gas and everything else translates into less money to drive the economy.

The good wages in the manufacturing sector are no longer here, largely because the manufacturing sector is disappearing. Those who have been displaced are now working at lower-tier jobs as convenience store sales clerks, bartenders, etc., that is, if they're lucky enough to even have a job. Since the unwashed masses are not making as much money anymore, they have less to spend. Less money = less demand = fewer jobs.

I believe we have already passed the point of no return on the slippery slope to oblivion. We are already a full-blown plutocracy like that of the banana republics of Central America - we are no longer a true democracy. The rich and powerful determine who we can vote for, they finance the politicians' campaigns, and there is an implicit quid-pro-quo when financing political candidates. They’ll say: “Look, I’ll finance your campaign and get you elected, but then you owe me your allegiance and you will sponsor legislation favorable to my business or industry”. In short, Congress is nothing more than a policy-making front for the titans of industry behind the scenes.
A lot of people can see this, but I'm afraid the knee-jerk idiots will vote into office a bunch of Tea Partiers and ultra-conservatives backed by the mega-rich who have brainwashed large numbers of voters, and these politicians will proceed to further the destruction of our once-great country.