I ran across this column from 2006 and felt the core argument deserved repeating: conservatism represents everything that is wrong with America-- and has for at least 200 years! You name the issue (slavery, women's suffrage, child labor, immigration, Civil Rights, McCarthyism, sexual liberation, environmental regulation, and on ad nauseum) and the conservative position was always wrong, always backward, always looking to the past to divide us instead of toward the future to unite us.
The original column by Paul Waldman ran at TomPaine.com in 2006. It's worth a read yet today.
21 July 2011
13 July 2011
Ever wonder where all that conservative legislation comes from?
Isn't it puzzling how one state legislature after another can suddenly produce very similar bills? And that they are almost always quite conservative, pro-business, anti-labor, and anti-regulation?
For those who didn't already know, the answer to that puzzle is ALEC: The American Legislative Exchange Council. For years they've operated as a sort of conservative back-bench, churning out "model legislation" which they hand to (mostly GOP) legislators on high-priced junkets. Then-- amazingly --this model legislation gets introduced around the country. What better law making process could ALEC's corporate funders hope to buy?
This year, due in part to the conservative overreach in Wisconsin, the media is finally paying attention to ALEC. Today a new site called ALEC Exposed was launched, literally exposing over 800 model bills funded by this conservative operation.
Take a look. It's certainly an example of the best government money can buy. Just keep in mind whose money is buying it-- and what they think of workers, kids, or the environment.
-Dr.DRL
For those who didn't already know, the answer to that puzzle is ALEC: The American Legislative Exchange Council. For years they've operated as a sort of conservative back-bench, churning out "model legislation" which they hand to (mostly GOP) legislators on high-priced junkets. Then-- amazingly --this model legislation gets introduced around the country. What better law making process could ALEC's corporate funders hope to buy?
This year, due in part to the conservative overreach in Wisconsin, the media is finally paying attention to ALEC. Today a new site called ALEC Exposed was launched, literally exposing over 800 model bills funded by this conservative operation.
Take a look. It's certainly an example of the best government money can buy. Just keep in mind whose money is buying it-- and what they think of workers, kids, or the environment.
-Dr.DRL
06 July 2011
My latest newspaper column: class warfare is real- and we're loosing!
Class warfare is real; we're losing
St. Cloud (MN) Times
July 6, 2011
Americans don’t like to talk about class. If pressed, the vast majority of us will identify as “middle class” and simply label those who are visibly more wealthy as “rich” and those who struggle to meet basic needs as “poor.”
Certainly very few Americans would accept the notion that we are somehow involved in class warfare. But in truth we are deeply engaged in an ongoing struggle between classes that pits the very wealthy against essentially everyone else.
The social contract that binds our common interests has, sadly, fallen apart. That is evident to some members of the upper class, including investment guru Warren Buffett, who in 2006 admitted “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
In the wake of the Great Recession, it’s actually surprising that more people aren’t talking about it. The impacts of the recession fell hardest upon working families. About 30 million people remain unemployed or underemployed despite the official declaration that the recession ended in 2010.
But in 2008, the year the Dow fell 38 percent, the richest 400 American taxpayers reported an average of $153 million in capital gains. Due to the lower tax rate on capital gains, these wealthy Americans paid a 15 percent rate on their millions while members of the “middle class,” who reported most of their income as wages, typically paid effective tax rates of 20 percent or more. During the Great Recession, the median wealth of American families dropped by 36 percent, while the wealth of the top 1 percent fell just 11 percent.
Teddy Roosevelt
A century ago, the 1912 presidential election was marked by open class conflict. Conservative Republican incumbent William Howard Taft was challenged not only by Democrat Woodrow Wilson, but by socialist Eugene Debs to his left. Theodore Roosevelt, unhappy with Taft’s abandonment of the progressive reforms that marked TR’s presidency, formed a fourth party. Roosevelt’s Progressive or “Bull Moose” Party platform included calls to establish a national health service, a program of social insurance to support the elderly and disabled, unemployment insurance, a minimum wage for women, workers’ compensation, new estate and income taxes, and the eight-hour workday.
In this case the middle class voted its interests; the Republican incumbent won only eight electoral votes that year and as we know most of the Progressive reforms were eventually adopted under Wilson’s Democratic administration.
Representing “us”?
The fact that power flows from wealth should be of no surprise. The cost of running today’s political campaigns — and the access to influential people that comes with money — means very few members of the “middle class” are elected to federal office any longer.
In 2009, when the unemployment rate exceeded 10 percent, one study found there were 261 millionaires in Congress. That these millionaires and the people they associate with favor policies that enhance their fortunes is not that shocking. One might expect a millionaires’ club to promote policies that focus on limiting inflation rather than job creation, prioritize debt reduction over providing public services, or favor tax cuts for themselves instead of investments in education, infrastructure, or the environment. What is surprising that the lack of outrage in response.
The puzzle today is not that the wealthy are organized to protect their own interests, or even that they have largely succeeded. Is is that the rest of us — the 99 percent who are not hedge fund managers, CEOs, or bank presidents — are not outraged. Both major parties are complicit. Our political debates have come down to not what can be done to help the middle class, but how we can best protect tax cuts for the very rich. The government of our state was shut down over that very issue. The Republican majority in Congress is pushing the country toward default on its debts for the same reason.
Why do we accept accusations of “class warfare” when someone suggests raising taxes on the wealthy, but are silent when policies punish the majority of Americans who make up the middle class as a matter of routine business?
Certainly Teddy Roosevelt would want to know.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Read the crazy comments at the SC Times for more fun!
St. Cloud (MN) Times
July 6, 2011
Americans don’t like to talk about class. If pressed, the vast majority of us will identify as “middle class” and simply label those who are visibly more wealthy as “rich” and those who struggle to meet basic needs as “poor.”
Certainly very few Americans would accept the notion that we are somehow involved in class warfare. But in truth we are deeply engaged in an ongoing struggle between classes that pits the very wealthy against essentially everyone else.
The social contract that binds our common interests has, sadly, fallen apart. That is evident to some members of the upper class, including investment guru Warren Buffett, who in 2006 admitted “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
In the wake of the Great Recession, it’s actually surprising that more people aren’t talking about it. The impacts of the recession fell hardest upon working families. About 30 million people remain unemployed or underemployed despite the official declaration that the recession ended in 2010.
But in 2008, the year the Dow fell 38 percent, the richest 400 American taxpayers reported an average of $153 million in capital gains. Due to the lower tax rate on capital gains, these wealthy Americans paid a 15 percent rate on their millions while members of the “middle class,” who reported most of their income as wages, typically paid effective tax rates of 20 percent or more. During the Great Recession, the median wealth of American families dropped by 36 percent, while the wealth of the top 1 percent fell just 11 percent.
Teddy Roosevelt
A century ago, the 1912 presidential election was marked by open class conflict. Conservative Republican incumbent William Howard Taft was challenged not only by Democrat Woodrow Wilson, but by socialist Eugene Debs to his left. Theodore Roosevelt, unhappy with Taft’s abandonment of the progressive reforms that marked TR’s presidency, formed a fourth party. Roosevelt’s Progressive or “Bull Moose” Party platform included calls to establish a national health service, a program of social insurance to support the elderly and disabled, unemployment insurance, a minimum wage for women, workers’ compensation, new estate and income taxes, and the eight-hour workday.
In this case the middle class voted its interests; the Republican incumbent won only eight electoral votes that year and as we know most of the Progressive reforms were eventually adopted under Wilson’s Democratic administration.
Representing “us”?
The fact that power flows from wealth should be of no surprise. The cost of running today’s political campaigns — and the access to influential people that comes with money — means very few members of the “middle class” are elected to federal office any longer.
In 2009, when the unemployment rate exceeded 10 percent, one study found there were 261 millionaires in Congress. That these millionaires and the people they associate with favor policies that enhance their fortunes is not that shocking. One might expect a millionaires’ club to promote policies that focus on limiting inflation rather than job creation, prioritize debt reduction over providing public services, or favor tax cuts for themselves instead of investments in education, infrastructure, or the environment. What is surprising that the lack of outrage in response.
The puzzle today is not that the wealthy are organized to protect their own interests, or even that they have largely succeeded. Is is that the rest of us — the 99 percent who are not hedge fund managers, CEOs, or bank presidents — are not outraged. Both major parties are complicit. Our political debates have come down to not what can be done to help the middle class, but how we can best protect tax cuts for the very rich. The government of our state was shut down over that very issue. The Republican majority in Congress is pushing the country toward default on its debts for the same reason.
Why do we accept accusations of “class warfare” when someone suggests raising taxes on the wealthy, but are silent when policies punish the majority of Americans who make up the middle class as a matter of routine business?
Certainly Teddy Roosevelt would want to know.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Read the crazy comments at the SC Times for more fun!
02 March 2011
My latest newspaper column: class warfare is back!
My regular column ran again today, March 2nd, under the header "Class warfare is nothing new." I've linked to the St. Cloud Times but their archive is only free for seven days after publication, so I've pasted the text in below as well.
-Dr.DRL
--------------------------------------------------
Class warfare is nothing new
St. Cloud (MN) Times March 2, 2011
Recent events in Wisconsin eerily echo those of a century ago, when progressive reformers in both political parties sought to constrain the power of corporations and the influence of money in politics for the good of the nation. They saw a healthy working class and a growing middle class as bulwarks of democracy and central to a strong economy. The consolidation of economic and political power by corporations representing a wealthy minority was seen as a threat to the very character of America. Fears of class warfare were not unfounded, as radical representatives of socialist and anarchist groups marched to protest the growing power of corporations while those who ran the corporations sought to cement their power over the working class.
Early 20th century
In his 1905 State of the Union message Republican President Theodore Roosevelt noted “The fortunes amassed through corporate organization are so large, and vest such power in those that wield them, as to make it a matter of necessity to give ... the government, which represents the people as a whole ... some effective power of supervision over their corporate use.” Antitrust laws and other regulations were enacted to constrain the power of corporations and to weigh their political and economic interests against those of the working and middle classes they employed.
Though widespread in the tumultuous years of the Great Depression, accusations of class warfare fell to the margins of American politics in the 1950s, reflecting an amicable truce made possible by a rapidly expanding economy, new opportunities for education and increasing geographical mobility that began to erode some of the historical barriers that separated the working class from the wealthy. The corresponding growth of the middle class — buoyed by rising wages, access to education, widespread home ownership and relative political stability — yielded a period of social and economic progress unmatched in our history.
Income disparity
Unfortunately we’ve lost much of the ground gained during the past half-century as political power and wealth have again become increasingly concentrated at the very top of pyramid, while the wages and rights of workers have been curtailed. Income disparity has risen to levels unseen since the 1920s. Today the top 1 percent own 38 percent of all wealth in the United States and the top 10 percent control 71 percent, leaving a relatively small piece of pie to be split among the 270 million Americans who don’t fit in either group.
Union membership was at its highest in the late 1950s; today only 15 percent of all workers are unionized and the collective voice of labor has become muted as a result. Nonunion workers have taking to questioning why unions receive “unfair” wages and benefits, instead of demanding more from their own employers.
In a shocking rebuke to Roosevelt, the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United last year effectively ended limits to political spending by corporations, handing them a massive cudgel to use against unions, politicians and even government agencies that might question their interests or motives.
It seems Roosevelt’s opinion that “in order to insure a healthy social and industrial life, every big corporation should be held responsible by, and be accountable to, some sovereign strong enough to control its conduct” has been forgotten. One result is the growing influence of corporations on elections, clearly evident in the financial support the anti-labor Koch Industries provided for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign in 2010.
Ongoing class warfare
Today we are seeing the results of this long process played out on the streets of Madison and other state capitals. Despite limited coverage by the mainstream media, hundreds of thousands of Americans have stood up to protest Wisconsin’s attempt to eliminate collective bargaining for public employees, knowing that once the public sector unions are gone the private sector comes next. Once the unions are gone, there is nothing to stand between the interests of working people and the power of corporations and the plutocrats who control them.
As protesters in Madison have been pointing out in recent days, “It’s only class warfare when the workers fight back.” The truth is that class warfare has been going on in America for decades, but we’ve all been too polite to talk about it.
###
-Dr.DRL
--------------------------------------------------
Class warfare is nothing new
St. Cloud (MN) Times March 2, 2011
Recent events in Wisconsin eerily echo those of a century ago, when progressive reformers in both political parties sought to constrain the power of corporations and the influence of money in politics for the good of the nation. They saw a healthy working class and a growing middle class as bulwarks of democracy and central to a strong economy. The consolidation of economic and political power by corporations representing a wealthy minority was seen as a threat to the very character of America. Fears of class warfare were not unfounded, as radical representatives of socialist and anarchist groups marched to protest the growing power of corporations while those who ran the corporations sought to cement their power over the working class.
Early 20th century
In his 1905 State of the Union message Republican President Theodore Roosevelt noted “The fortunes amassed through corporate organization are so large, and vest such power in those that wield them, as to make it a matter of necessity to give ... the government, which represents the people as a whole ... some effective power of supervision over their corporate use.” Antitrust laws and other regulations were enacted to constrain the power of corporations and to weigh their political and economic interests against those of the working and middle classes they employed.
Though widespread in the tumultuous years of the Great Depression, accusations of class warfare fell to the margins of American politics in the 1950s, reflecting an amicable truce made possible by a rapidly expanding economy, new opportunities for education and increasing geographical mobility that began to erode some of the historical barriers that separated the working class from the wealthy. The corresponding growth of the middle class — buoyed by rising wages, access to education, widespread home ownership and relative political stability — yielded a period of social and economic progress unmatched in our history.
Income disparity
Unfortunately we’ve lost much of the ground gained during the past half-century as political power and wealth have again become increasingly concentrated at the very top of pyramid, while the wages and rights of workers have been curtailed. Income disparity has risen to levels unseen since the 1920s. Today the top 1 percent own 38 percent of all wealth in the United States and the top 10 percent control 71 percent, leaving a relatively small piece of pie to be split among the 270 million Americans who don’t fit in either group.
Union membership was at its highest in the late 1950s; today only 15 percent of all workers are unionized and the collective voice of labor has become muted as a result. Nonunion workers have taking to questioning why unions receive “unfair” wages and benefits, instead of demanding more from their own employers.
It seems Roosevelt’s opinion that “in order to insure a healthy social and industrial life, every big corporation should be held responsible by, and be accountable to, some sovereign strong enough to control its conduct” has been forgotten. One result is the growing influence of corporations on elections, clearly evident in the financial support the anti-labor Koch Industries provided for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign in 2010.
Ongoing class warfare
Today we are seeing the results of this long process played out on the streets of Madison and other state capitals. Despite limited coverage by the mainstream media, hundreds of thousands of Americans have stood up to protest Wisconsin’s attempt to eliminate collective bargaining for public employees, knowing that once the public sector unions are gone the private sector comes next. Once the unions are gone, there is nothing to stand between the interests of working people and the power of corporations and the plutocrats who control them.
As protesters in Madison have been pointing out in recent days, “It’s only class warfare when the workers fight back.” The truth is that class warfare has been going on in America for decades, but we’ve all been too polite to talk about it.
###
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