The Big Sell-Out Must Stop Now

A Strategist For John Edwards Says Democrats Must Emphasize Economic Fairness

(CBS)  This column was written by Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, the Rural Liaison for John Edwards' presidential campaign. A longtime Democratic strategist, Saunders served as the personal adviser to Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., in his successful 2006 campaign and as rural strategist for Democrat Mark Warner's 2001 gubernatorial campaign in Virginia.

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As I get ready to head to Manchester, N.H., for this weekend's second Democratic presidential debate, I am already agitated at the thought that this one will mirror the first, with no talk of the "economic inequality" that is threatening to take down this country.

It is becoming painfully apparent that many of the Democratic candidates want to simply turn their back on the old Andrew Jackson staple of the Democratic Party — economic fairness.

It doesn't seem to matter that both the numbers and the leading economists are screaming that "economic disparity" will put this nation in the toilet much quicker than a nuke from Iran or North Korea.

Our not-so-far-off future is in grim danger unless "economic fairness" is restored to the American capitalistic system. Yet none of the top-tier candidates, other than John Edwards, seem to want to deal with it in strong fashion.

If you want to see what the shelving of economic fairness has already done to this country, get in a car and drive through rural and small town America. Edwards' own hometown has been creamed by job loss and funding cuts.

The economy of rural American and small towns and the once-attainable
"American Dream" have already been savaged by the cold-hearted realities of Republican deregulation, plundered with unfair trade treaties, and pillaged by big corporations operating under the immoral idea that nothing (or nobody) matters but their individual stock and dividend performance.

If the news this week that housing prices are beginning to drop makes the building boom (due to insane lending practices) come to an end, many of you in the middle-class will get a close look at the realities of a system "where democracy is subservient to capitalism, and not the other way around." Economic disparity will be coming to a suburb or exurb near you. What is a 20 percent to 25 percent drop in your home equity going to look like on your financial statement?

The economic numbers pointing to a calamity are endless. Income inequality has become a runaway train. For example, in 1980, the top 1 percent earned 8 percent of the country's income. Today, it's up to 21.8 percent. The richest 1 percent of U.S. households now own 34.7 percent of the nation's private wealth, more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent. In a nation where each generation used to do better than their parents, this is no longer the case.

Last week, a study was released by the Brookings Institute, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and other think tanks, which said that men in their 30s are now making (adjusted to inflation) 12 percent less than their fathers did in 1974.

What is even more alarming is that middle-class Americans can no longer afford to save. The personal savings rate declined from 11.2 percent in 1982 to a negative 1.1 percent in 2006. There are literally thousands of other numbers and affirmations from leading economists that serve as undeniable proof that "economic disparity," if not dealt with, will take us down. As Casey Stengel once said, "You can look it up."

The most mind-boggling political aspect of the lack of Democratic debate on "economic fairness" is that the Republicans actually concede the reality of the possible catastrophe they (with the help of a few Democrats) have created.

"Income inequality is where the capitalist system is most vulnerable. You can't have the capitalist system if an increasing number of people think it is unjust." — Alan Greenspan, March 13, 2007.

Note: According to the Pew Research Center, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of Americans now agree with this statement: "Today it's really true that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer."

"If we did not place some limits on the downside risks to individuals affected by economic change, the public at large might become less willing to accept the dynamism that is so essential to economic progress." — Benjamin Bernanke, Feb. 5, 2007.

Even "43" is saying it …

"The fact is that income inequality is real — it's been rising for more than 25 years." — President George W. Bush, Jan. 31, 2007

"And we're not kicking the Republicans' butts for it?" — Mudcat, May 31, 2007

It is well-documented that since the dawn of time the big boys have kicked the little boys if nobody was watching. For years, the Democrats watched out for the little boys (and the middle-sized boys for that matter), but this is no longer the case.

Why is John Edwards the only top-tier Democratic candidate even talking about the grim dangers of economic inequality?

(Note: Of course, when Edwards does bring it up, which is often, he gets bashed — expensive haircuts and a fine house and how a poor guy who lived the American Dream and got rich is "disingenuous" if he talks about economic fairness. You've got to be kidding me. If only the poor can talk about economic fairness, then only the uneducated should talk about education, and only the unhealthy should talk about healthcare.)

Many Democrats, buoyed by our successes in 2006, think that our success last year was due to something we did. While we did do better, I honestly believe that history will give the Republicans a lot of credit for it.

Not surprising, these are the same Democrats who still believe in the insanity of an 18-19 state presidential strategy that has been proven "wrong" and "wrong again" in the last two Presidential elections.

[peter776-2009]

We are fast becoming a third world country. One hallmark of a third world society is pronounced income inequality and concnetration. From this many ills follow: Lack of respect for the law. A corrupt judicial system. Brutalization of the poor. Naked police power.Trash on the streets. Few or no government services. Poor education. Infrastructure that is not maintained or repaired. Now with our country being invaded by illegal immigrants, nearly all of whom are unskilled, uneducated, poor and non-English speaking, the wealth concentration trend will accelerate, especially if the immigration bill backed by King George is enacted. Our very democracy is now in peril.And whose interests are served by what is now unfolding before our eyes? The wealthy few, and no one else (except for the 30 million illegal aliens who will wind up as citizens and who will push our social programs and government into bankruptcy in short order). We need to wake up and put a stop to both of these trends NOW if our democracy is to be preserved. King George has done so much damage to this country that we may never recover. But then, what would you expect from a "man" who has never had a real job, a real boss, or ever had to be accountable to anyone? It's great to be rich at everyone else's expense, isn't it?

[sharncedar]

How can the Democrats claim to be for economic fairness when they are backing open borders and unlimited immigration, which hurts those with few job skills the most? Clinton's immigration policies are the single most responsible element in the current crisis in the inner city, in which low-skilled males cannot get even a start at a decent wage paying job, and out of necessity get drawn into the only paying occupatinos in their community which is gang-related drug sales. Poor teenagers have the same problem.

The Democrats immigration policy, or lack thereof, punishes those with low skills or those new to the job market. Not everybody is a rocket scientist with a PhD, and even rocket scientists have to start somewhere usually with a low-skill summer job such as construction or agriculture. The Democrat's friends to Hispanics have taken all of the these jobs, pressuring an eual 30 million young and poor Americans out of the job market altogether.

I guess there is nothing more evil than a Democrat. At least George Bush is opne and up front about being a sleazy crook, Democrats like Pelosi make a lying, hypocritical pretense of condescending to the "poor" while they do everything they can to ruin their lives.

[sharncedar]

The article makes some nice points, it is true that Americans will flock to an economic fairness message. The trouble is that any candidate who dares to present an authentic message of this type will be attacked and destroyed by the elite media, who represent fully and only the interests of the most wealthy.

On of the aspects of concentration of wealth is that it has been achieved through concentratino of power, and the elections are solidly fixed at this point by the enormous disproportionate power of the wealthy. For example the power to control the message of all media outlets in a sychronized fashion, the power to hire the best and brightest and thereby use their mind the strategize against the public, the power to control the military, all branches of government, all quasi-governmental institutions such as insurance compaines or stock exchanges.

This kind of unbalance in power becomes self-perpetuating and only is dispersed through cataclysm. Which will be a series of events and struggles much greater and much worse than a presidential campaign.

[peter776-2009]

I agree with yuor comments, SarnCedar. The big problem with our current political system is that it has only two parties, and both parties have become ossified tools of the wealthy and loudmouthed. Our democarcy has essentially been hijacked by a tiny number of people, most of them wealthy. In pre-Civil War America, political parties formed around big issues like trade and slavery. Once the issue of the day had been resolved, the party would disappear. This is no longer possible because of the entrenched positions of the Republican and Democratic parties, whose only real goal is to perpetuate themselves at any cost. Voters need to take government back unto themselves by voting crony politicians out of office, regardless of party affiliation. Then maybe politicians will start doing the people's bidding instead of permitting themselves to be bought off (cheaply) at their constituents' expense.

[tylenol6]

Our dictator Bush knows EXACTLY what he is doing.
It is called the New World Order. Look it up.....
Everything seems to be falling into place. The
rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. We have no one to protect us - not even
the idiots in Congress. All I have to say is be
very careful who you vote for in the next election. Find out who voted for illegal immigration, free trade and the iraq war, and vote their big fat ***** out of office. That is, if the American people can get Hitler Bush out of office in the next election. Have you noticed Bushite doesn't go out in public?? Hmmmm....I wonder why?

[notime4lies]

Sharn, nobody cares about immigration except the Republican batwings. The majority of Americans think immigrants should be granted a path to citizenship.

The folks that are talking our jobs are not the lowly immigrants, but the corporate behemoths who outsource white collar, high paying jobs overseas.

Economic fairness means forcing companies to pay their fair share of taxes instead of giving them giveaways so they can take our jobs to India and China.

[davidlar2]

I lived in Scandinavia for 6 years. I didn't stay because I didn't want to live in a society where politicians decided everything about my personal finances. If John Edwards wants to turn America into such a society too, I am happy to leave the country again to live in some non-socialist society. The only problem is that unlike basically every other country, America taxes its citizens who live in other countries, so that John Edwards can redistribute my foreign salary to his voters. I'm sure that sounds fair in some way I don't understand to those of you who support this ....

[davidlar2]

Another comment:

Economic fairness= unskilled labor very expensive= we export less than we currently do since most things can be made better/cheaper elsewhere= high cost of living and lower salaries for skilled labor= high tech and educated workers won't move here (not wanted anyway by the advocates of this view)= we export even less= also equals less economic incentive for education= less well educated workforce, especially in sciences and engineering= less to export= declining standard of living for Americans- we become more equal, but less wealthy

Do we want to live in a position where we look at the rest of the world as wealthier than we are, with a greater diversity of products to buy, even though our salaries are more equally distributed?

Do we want to live in a country that is generally less well educated than the rest of the (developed) world, where our economy is based upon high salaries for domestically born unskilled uneducated labor?

I don't.

[Razzl]

Propaganda is successful when its perverted assumptions are so ingrained in speech that people can't even realize that there is another way of looking at the issue. Our public has been subjected to almost a century of pro-capitalist propaganda from Hearst to Murdoch and the Republican propaganda machine from 1980 forward has spoon-fed a generation of people in the press and media who can't see how absurd it is to say that flat-rate taxes are "fair" or that repealing inappropriate tax cuts isn't the same thing as "raising taxes". And of course the Clintonites have done their damage on the Democratic side by shutting down all specific discussion of beliefs and issues in favor of linguistic smokescreens that hide everything. (Ever notice how a Bill Clinton or pre-2003 Gore speech sound like a recording with all the key words edited out?)

It will take a long time to shake out the pro-capitalist slant that's been inserted into our public discussions, but given the public mood for change it might be possible with clever leadership to transform the country into the European-style democracy it needs to be in one quick season if the Dems can take the White House and Congress all at once in '08.

[davidlar2]

Why don't people who want to live in a "European style democracy" move to Europe rather than forcing this on people who don't want to live in such a society?

If there is one country on Earth that is supposed to value freedom over equality rather than equality over freedom, it is supposed to be the United States. I thought that was the point of why people came here. Land of the free, rather than land of the equal.

[willstark1]

This issue cuts across all lines of race, gender and religion. There are a lot of people in this country who work hard EVERY day and still find it hard to get ahead. This is not what my history and civics lessons taught me about the American experience.

I think we are in serious danger of losing what makes us great. We can't sustain this mountain of debt much longer.

I know people who once thought they were going to be much more successful than their parents who now are working at jobs much less stable and rewarding than their fathers.

One of the greatest expectations that a mother or father has is for their children to exceed the distance or success than that they thenselves achieved. A lot of people now and for some time now have begun to doubt this. It is very sad.

John Edwards may be a rich guy now but I remember hearing how he grew up in a poor household. I guess he did not forget it.

[JJASMAN]

Democrate and Republican politicians are owned by big business.
I guess there is nothing more evil than a Democrat. At least George Bush is opne and up front about being a sleazy crook, Democrats like Pelosi make a lying, hypocritical pretense of condescending to the "poor" while they do everything they can to ruin their lives.

[cfin5]

I just shake my head sometimes on issues like this. Both parties economic policies are so out of touch with the "SUM" of the impact it has on middle class folks. For example: The republicans still like to trumpet the "Trickle Down Economics" thing but forget to tell you where the end of the trickle is now,"OFF INTO THE GLOBAL BLUE YONDER", no thanks to them very much.......The democrats smooch up the union working man trying to give his family a decent standard of living yet have killed off 47 million of their "AMERICAN UNION-MADE PRODUCT PURCHASING CUSTOMERS" through the american abortion'olocaust. I think those Unions could use those "customers" now could'nt they?..........I don't have all the answers for this mess, but what was wrong with a well-balanced "isolationist" economic america first policy like in the past. It served us workers better then than what's going on now people!

[sharncedar]

It is better for individual business if unskilled labor costs less, but it is better for the country if unskilled labor costs more. Why is that? Because a country is different than a business in one very important way - you cannot rid yourself of unproductive workers. It's like if you had a business where you couldn't choose the workers you get, and you couldn't fire anyone. Then to maximize productivity per worker instead of firing the unproductive and incenting the most productive with bonueses and lots of cash, you would maximize profits rather by concentrating on getting productive work out of everyone by spreading the wealth out. the poor producers you must keep canb hurt you more than your top producers can help you. The whole economic modle changes.

Our problems com about when little minded people weaned on the lies of the Wall Street Journal try to apply their ruthless and stupid business theories to a whole country, which is not that much like a business. Because you can't fire anyone. You can't offshore your unskilled people. You can't divest of unproductive assets, so you must maximize them by pouring in more investment capital.

[omega39-2009]

Dennis Kucinich was the only presidential candidate, on either side of the isle that stood up and said if elected, he would do away with NAFTA.

[nottellin1]

2 pages of saying a lot of nothing. So John Edwards says we should address economic inequality but I don't see how anything stating how the issue would be addressed. Where is the plan. Oh, I guess we don;t get to hear about that until after we elect.

[nottellin1]

2 pages of saying a lot of nothing. So John Edwards says we should address economic inequality but I don't see how anything stating how the issue would be addressed. Where is the plan. Oh, I guess we don;t get to hear about that until after we elect.

[itwasntme000]

Sharn, nobody cares about immigration except the Republican batwings. The majority of Americans think immigrants should be granted a path to citizenship.
The folks that are talking our jobs are not the lowly immigrants, but the corporate behemoths who outsource white collar, high paying jobs overseas.
Posted by notime4lies at 06:04 PM : May 31, 2007

(((SMART ONE NOTIME4LIES... LET THE IMMIGRANTS COME IN, DRAIN OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, GIVE THEM FOOD STAMPS, AND LET THEM COLLECT SOCIAL SECURITY.)))

Why don't people who want to live in a "European style democracy" move to Europe rather than forcing this on people who don't want to live in such a society?

If there is one country on Earth that is supposed to value freedom over equality rather than equality over freedom, it is supposed to be the United States. I thought that was the point of why people came here. Land of the free, rather than land of the equal.
Posted by davidlar2 at 06:37 PM : May 31, 2007

(((DAVIDLAR2 SRRY TO TELL YOU BUT THIS IS NOT A FREE COUNTRY... EUROPE IS MORE FREE THEN WE ARE AFTER ALL WHICH COUNTRY MAKES CERTAIN SUBSTANCES ILLEGAL TO ITS CITIZENS. SUBSTANCES THAT IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM CAN HURT ANYONE BUT YOURSELF...

[heresmy2cent]

It longer matters who you vote for and hasn't for the past several decades.

All candidates are bought, paid for, and controlled by special interests.

Moreover, once they get in office they are then controlled by lobbyists (more special interests) who see to it that the laws are crafted to protect their interests.

America is hurtling toward an inevitable economic collapse. Only then, will you see a drastic change in our policies.

[heresmy2cent]

It no longer matters who you vote for and hasn't for the past several decades.

All candidates are bought, paid for, and controlled by special interests.

Moreover, once they get in office they are then controlled by lobbyists (more special interests) who see to it that the laws are crafted to protect their interests.

America is hurtling toward an inevitable economic collapse. Only then, will you see a drastic change in our policies.

[bobebenson]

I'm tired of Americans whining about our "terrible economic situation". People (most, not all) remind me of the enormously FAT lady I saw in one of those buffet-style restaurants who I heard say, "I need to stop, I'm watching my weight these days....but I just GOTTA have some of that BREAD PUDDING!".

I ride to work every day seeing giant SUV's and vans with only one person in them. People are taking home equity loans of 125 percent (!) in order to pay off their 19% credit balances for their sixty-inch televisions.

People have driven housing prices through the roof (this will change, starting soon.) because they were dumb enough to let banks talk them into some stupid teaser-rate, interest-only, no-credit-check, no-money-down mortgage. Soon-very soon, they will all be moaning about how they were "Duped" into their terrible financial situation by some low-life, rich person who is taking all the middle class's money. "GOLLY, I can't even afford the Electric bill! How am I gonna watch my digital-signal football game on my 60-inch plasma TV???".
Hey Americans, we're doing this to ourselves!

[nottellin1]

No special interest group is bigger than the American voting public. Want to be heard? Rather than contacting our legislators, contact their National Committee, RNC or DNC and tell them that the party will not get another cent from you until they have a candidate that is against this type of legislation, in any form. If they won't hear our voices I guarentee they will hear the lack of money.

[bobebenson]

We need to start:
Simplifying!
Living within our means.
Saving.
Carpooling.
Planting Gardens.
Renting (no mortgage, taxes, repairs, interest payments, homeowners insurance).
Using the Bus line or Subway. (No parking problems, no accidents, no road rage and WHO CARES WHAT GAS COSTS!).

We also just need to start helping each other out. When Americans see a need and get inspired to help, we are the most imaginative and motivated people in history. This is probably our greatest asset, and our truest natural resourse. Money-Schmoney.
Welcome to June :-)
End of Sermon.

[bobebenson]

Great point nottellin1!

Send them a dollar bill and a paper letter (not e-mail) and say, "I would have sent more, but...", and then let 'em have it!

[nottellin1]

BobEBenson

Right back at you, you're points are also very relevent.

[walt1944-2009]

Edwards was the only Democrat talking about the disappearing middle class in 2004, and the only one talking about it now. Everyone's priority is getting out of Iraq, before addressing anything else and restoring the middle class is at the bottom of the list.

There is only one answer to bringing back the middle class and that is bringing MEANINGFUL JOBS back to this country. Not jobs working part-time at Wal-Mart or Dunkin Donuts, but real manufacturing jobs. Look at India and China; their economies are booming because of manufacturing jobs and the growth of a strong middle class. But Bush and company won't have that here, as they are too busy making money from the "free trade" policy that Bush Senior started.

So get rid of "Free Trade", NAFTA, CAFTA, impose a stiff tarriff system, and levy penalties that can't be passed on to the consumer against companies farming out their manufacturing overseas. "Look for the union label" and the "Made in America" signs, or we will be wearing buckskin and hunting rabbit and possum for our supper with flintlocks.

[redwilma]

I hate the huge economic divide in the U.S.

I hate myself for staying on the dreary stressful treadmill so that I can have a house that is larger than I need or even want, buy the kids stuff they don't need (or even want), etc., etc., etc.

Changes must be made. From within and without.

[ubrew12]

"Why don't people who want to live in a "European style democracy" move to Europe rather than forcing this on people who don't want to live in such a society?" Posted by davidlar2 at 06:37 PM : May 31, 2007

That giant sucking sound you hear is the sound of your dollars being deposited in Europe (dollar down by 35% against the euro in the last 5 years and YOU KNOW its going to get worse). Why should the rich move to europe? They'll just put their wealth there while America slips into decline. In Europe that wouldn't be allowed. But I guess that's socialism and we can't have that.

Regarding economic freedom, ask yourself if the stock market is an example of a free market, or one that is FORCED BY LAW to be open and fair to all investors. Your answer should tell you all you need to know about whether economic 'freedom' is really what you want.

[bill1fj]

You know I hear a lot of talk from Edwarda, and the other professional politicians, but no action.
We are in a mess in the middle east that seems to have no end in sight. We have 15 million illegal aliens here and all the politicians want to do is grant them amnesty, when over 75% of the legal citizens want them out. Education and health care access is getting worse, not better. Waste and "pork" in the government grows every year.
What you gonna do John Edwards, or any of you people running for office?

[lorinkundert]

"economic inequality" that is threatening to take down this country. That will not take down the country, Socializing everything will take this country down, when you steal from the productive to give handouts to the unproductive you destroy incentive for the productive individuals to continue to be productive.

[sparks224]

"... when you steal from the productive to give handouts to the unproductive you destroy incentive for the productive individuals to continue to be productive."
Posted by lorinkundert

You mean like when you give away the money in the Treasury in the form of cost-plus no-bid contracts to corporate welfare recipients.

[brianbwb-2009]

to lorinkundert

Your argument rests on pure unsubstantiated, often-repeated jingoism, since when are the migrant harvesters unproductive, or the minimum wage workers? Or the unemployed, who are not jobless because of laziness, but because unemployment is maintained by the federal reserve chairman as tool used to moderate inflation?

When is a mother unproductive, who stays at home to raise her kids, while the father, even though working overtime, makes barely enough to pay for it? Unproductive?

The truly unproductive are trolls such as yourself, who have no ideas to contribute to finding solutions, but rather try to escape responsibility by "blaming the victims" of economic corruption...

[brianbwb-2009]

to Mr. BobEBenson

Your ideas, while useful, have problems of their own, for example;

Living within our means; ever hear of the "employed homeless", those who work at minimum wage jobs that cannot afford the deposit for an apartment? Should a laid off but willing worker simply give up and die because they cannot find work?

Saving; when ones' paycheck just almost covers hostelry and food, what is there left to save?

Carpooling: would you add two or more hours to your drive time to pick up co-workers? Assuming your minimum-wage job lets you afford a car, but still living within your means

Planting Gardens; on what land? Who will tend it? how will the harvest be used? will a garden in the inner-city even produce anything edible?

Renting; no gardens, no return for your hard earned money, no closer to ownership of anything, just more hard earned money going to the already well off landowners, who, history shows, don't bother to maintain the rented property, which, over time, become tenements and slums.

Like I said your ideas do have some merit, but how do you address the inherent weaknesses of each?

[toddpw01]

Right now we have government by, of, and for the Rich -- with very few exceptions. This really got underway about 30 years ago when Commercial Free Speech enabled the bacterial explosion of lobbyists on K Street.

I think the analysis in the book about the FairTax proposal makes one very good point -- we have accumulated so many taxes now, that it is very hard to understand the true distortions they cause in our economy.

For example, you wouldn't need minimum wage so much if your Rent wasn't inflated by your Landlord's property taxes, or if your food bill wasn't inflated by Fuel Ethanol incentives inflating the price of corn and many other crops.

You wouldn't be so worried about a deflationary Depression (like the 1930's) if you didn't have a 30-year mortgage whose cost would remain after the prices of everything (including your salary) had dropped.

The national savings rate wouldn't be so *** low if the Federal Reserve wasn't forcing interest rates down in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the 1930's. Of course, once they fix that you still have to pay full income tax on the bank interest, which punishes the upper-middle class for not tithing to Wall Street by investing in stocks, bonds, or funds.

[r9119111]

With the Republicans in control, it is every man for himself. What the consumer hasn't recognized yet is that they have a say in it also. Corporate advertising has made us all want more even if we don't need it. What you have isn't right and not enough, what you need is new, larger, bigger and better -- and we have all fallen for it. We live way beyond our means. Since our jobs are all being sent over-seas. We have been played for suckers.

The solution: Stop spending on unnecessary items.
economize in every way just like the corporations. Live within our means. Stop letting corporations suck the life blood right out of us. Demand more affordable homes.
Refuse to take out large mortgages. Don't accumulate high interest rates. Put savings in the bank. Refuse to elect people who will ignore the wishes of the people in favor of corporations. We do have a say in this. Demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share of taxes. I'm sure you can think of more -- so go ahead and do it.

[monkfellow]

some of these comments about government decision-making in our free market have that soviet union-style ring to them and it's scary.
I prefer to make my own decisions about what to buy(and I happily buy a vehicle with a domestic nameplate;it's such a joke anyway.It's a Chevy Tracker, made by Suzuki in Japan,with drivetrain assembled in China and vehicle assembled in Canada-that's it-Edwards' new campaign slogan:close the Canadian border to imports!!!)Actually,the whole foreign vehicle ruckus smacks of racism towards the Japanese.I don't hear the big bad AFL-CIO complaining about BMWs and Land Rovers, so I have to presume the leadership is simply pro-white and anti-Japanese,which I thought ended after World War II.
But,I digress.
Forced unionism is the underlying goal for all Democrats,and that WILL be our undoing. The Soviets had unions and it was required for workers, under pain of shunning. I will stop working before I am forced to support an organization at odds with my individual beliefs.

[r9119111]

monkfellow:

There is a happy medium and that has been lacking recently which forces people into extreme positions. Compromise has been lacking. We are too far to the right. America is in sad need of repair.

[neobrian-2009]

Huey Long pegged " Income Disparity " many years ago. Maybe some of his ideas were a bit radical. But the fact remains,this trend has to stop. Republicans have long fueled this economic tendency. It`s grossly unfair to the working people of our country.This real problem has sky-rocketed under our most corrupt administration ever assembled.
Justice must prevail over greed. Common sense is needed at every level of our government.Let`s get started,everyone needs to do their part. Remember one snow flake may melt,but look what happens when millions unite. Come on people,wake up !

[peacock5]

Mudcat is right on the mark!
Anyone who is in doubt as to what John Edwards stands for, can just look at his policy statements at johnedwards.com.

[cantshutup]

BRIANBWB wrote: "Planting Gardens; on what land? Who will tend it? how will the harvest be used? will a garden in the inner-city even produce anything edible?
Renting; no gardens, no return for your hard earned money, no closer to ownership of anything, just more hard earned money going to the already well off landowners, who, history shows, don't bother to maintain the rented property, which, over time, become tenements and slums."

Brian, my landlord lives in a victorian mansion right behind me. He's got a perfectly landscaped yard, huge pool, nice suv, and all the luxeries I can't stand to see over his 6' privacy fence. He is in essence a slum lord. He took care of his own property during last winters ice storm. I had no electricity, heat, nothing for 12 days while I heard his generator warming his mansion. I DO have a garden and I live right downtown in my city. I grow lettuces, spinache, tomatoes, cucuumbers, squash, corn and watermelon. I TEND IT,I plan on eating it. I work a 40 hr week at only 20,000 a yr and I'm a single parent. Life is hard, we go without a lot, the garden helps defray some costs and this summer I hope to build up more spaces for planting. If you are hungry and can't afford tomatoes, grow your own. It doesn't take a lot of brains to figure out how...google it. In my case I grew up on a self-sufficient farm...I sure miss it. As for the state of our country...it is the saddest and most unbelievable nonsense I've ever witnessed.

[sparks224]

The gutting of the middle class continues.
It won%u2019t stop until we reach neo-con Utopia (1% of the population owns 99%of the wealth).

[caldwellptr]

There is an American Dream ????

[bill1fj]

We, the people, need to vote out these professional politicians that have screwed up the system. Lets get them to simplify the tax laws, and other laws. Lets deport the illegal aliens and fine and/or jail any company or idividual that hires them. This should open up millions of jobs that should pay better once the illegals are not here to drive wages down.
Then lets each one of take more responsibility for our actions. Take care with what we spend. Learn to become more self sufficient. Teach our children about being self reliant, respectful, and able to deal with lifes ups and downs.
I don't believe its either political party to blame for this mess, but its the professional politicians of both parties that are driving this country down.
Thank You

[ubrew12]

I support a redistribution of wealth, such that the wealthiest 10% of the country don't own more than 60% of the countries wealth (based on our history in the 20th century). Within that broad directive, capitalisms 'invisible hand' is free to operate. If you think that would be bad for competition, consider the game of football. After each game, the wealth is redistributed; each new game proceeds as though the previous had never happened. Is this bad for competition? Far from it. If instead you allowed teams to ACCUMULATE points, like the accumulation of wealth in capitalism, the game would soon be a farce, with neither team particularly interested in showing up to play. That is what happens in our society when wealth concentrates too acutely. And it HAS been concentrating:
Income bracket_____% Change in income* (1970-2000):
Bottom 90%________-22.5%
90-95%______________0.4%
95-99%_____________19.5%
99-99.5%___________47.0%
99.5-99.9%_________90.0%
99.9-99.99%_______227.0%
Top 0.01%_________412.0%
*as a share of ALL U.S. income. Source: 'Perfectly legal' by David Cay Johnston

[bill1fj]

We, the people, need to decide if these professional politician in both parties and at all levels are really representing us.
If they are not representing us and are not doing there jobs lets vote them out of office.
I believe most of them have not been doing there jobs.
Just look at the mess we are in with millions of illegal aliens here and our borders open to anyone no matter what our laws say.
Look at the mess we are in in the middle east.
Look at our health care and education systems.
Its time to throw these rascals out and get some fresh representatives of the people, at all levels.