[DeTomaso] NPC-The balance of power

[Larry Weston]

I used to be as red as they get, but to my disappointment I watched my team use the populist/religious pulpit to advance policies that seem to sound so good they ought to be true, and if we want them to be true, we just have to believe and faith will overcome fact. You know, "truthiness".  Don't try and look behind the curtain, refuse any real debate on the issue, and just repeat the mantra. Here's one: Tax cuts create jobs. OK, ten years after the biggest tax cut in history, where's the jobs? What, not enough tax cuts yet? How much more do you need? Rates are as low as they've been in our lifetimes. 
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome. I see really rich folks getting richer. What is it, something like 90% of the national income goes to 10% of the population and and most of that goes to the top 2 or 3% of "earners"? Many of them don't create any real value or earn anything at all, they just skim a off a percentage of what passes through their hands, regardless of whether it profited or broke the principals. So far, they don't seem to real interested in using it to create any opportunities for others, just more for themselves. There's an undeniable, trackable redistribution of wealth for you. Or was that how it was supposed to work?
Corporations? BofA sent me a notice that when I finally pay off my mortgage (less than 60K left to go!), I will have to pay for the release of lien document. There's some real value they created, huh?  Would you pay extra for a purchase receipt at Wal-Mart? I called my state banking department to ask if this was legal, they told me that as a nationally chartered bank BofA can do whatever they want. I didn't open this mortgage with BofA, they bought my loan. I guess someone's got to pay for the golden parachute of the president that ran the bank into the ground. No, I don't believe corporations can or should regulate themselves. 
Here in New Hampshire, our Teabagger legislature is quite proud of itself for slashing millions from the budget of one of the most fiscally responsible states in the Union. I suppose you'd consider that to be a good thing, until you consider some of what happened. Legal services for domestic abuse chopped, to be replaced by a proposal to provide a firearm, a box of ammunition and shooting lessons to a spouse seeking a restraining order against an abusive partner. Don't get cute, this is not a good idea. Let kids quit school at 16. That should help develop a powerful and competitive workforce to carry us forward. Taxes on cigarettes cut $.50 a pack (NH already has the cheapest butts in the region). Encourage smoking and fight health care. Eliminated a tax on lottery winnings over $500 that was used to support education. A tax on free money was too much to bear? As is so typical, those that need help the most will suffer. Since NH has no sales or income taxes to help distribute those losses of state revenues among everyone that lives and works here, it all goes back onto the shoulders of the landowners (like me), again. The reduction in the state portion of my tax bill will not come close to the increase I'll see in my local (school) taxes. There is no free lunch.
Nationally, we're a disgrace. Our parents built grand things, amazing civil engineering projects, soaring bridges and beautiful buildings. The infrastructure was built to serve everyone and grow the country. They passed it all down to us to use and to inspire greater things, but we can't even be bothered to take care of it until it caves in or breaks and we need it too badly to close or abandon it. The idea of a greater good has been replaced by "what's in it for me?".  Fact is, we are all interdependent now, no one goes it alone. We need each other. There is no open frontier, this is not the wild west. Everything that happens affects many others up and down the chain. It's not fair to wear out our national resources just because they're there, without considering how we will maintain or improve them. Compensating the owners (us citizens), by paying a fair share of taxes is what it takes. 
An educated, healthy and secure general population with a progressive government will build the future I want to see. Business people that create real value will find a marketplace full of people that can afford their products. I cannot see how the present conservative agenda will make any of that happen. The course of history seems to favor liberal thinking. You'll find me sitting somewhere to the left of Barney Frank. I got to help with the balance thing.
I'd rather talk about cars.
Larry from NH (neolefty on the right coast)