And the beat goes on

[TheMercenary]

Not much different than Obama using "teachers, firemen, policemen" ad nauseum, or "Millionaires and Billionaires" and "Owners of Airplane manufacturing complanies" when he really is talking about anyone who makes more than 200K a year, middle class in many large cities in the US.... When he starts attacking rich lawyers and the uber rich in Hollywood he might gain a gram of credibility.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

...when he really is talking about anyone who makes more than 200K a year, middle class in many large cities in the US.....

I'll buy that.

When he starts attacking rich lawyers and the uber rich in Hollywood he might gain a gram of credibility.

Isn't that exactly what you say he's doing above?

Everyone who is a millionaire has suddenly become either a “producer” or a “job creator.”

This is such a joke. Right now US Corporations are sitting on hundreds of billions in cash. Why aren't they using it to buy equipment and hire more people? One valid reason, there's no increase in market demand, it's just good business sense.

OK, that begs the question, why is there no increase market demand? Easy answer... "it's the economy, stupid". Expanding on that, there are too many people out of work, too many people working but making less than they were 10 years ago, too many people with less buying power than they had 20 years ago.

Seems like a vicious circle, doesn't it? How do we fix it?

I'm really pissed off how the "1%", and big corporations, have corrupted our government. But honestly, that's not the cause of our demise. I've often bitched that the rich only care about money, and don't give a shit about the country. I still believe that, but the bigger problem is YOU, walmart shoppers.

Blue Light Special! Aisle 3! Don't miss out on a chance to buy some Chinese stuff, saving 39 cents and fucking your country. Hurry hurry hurry!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. You couldn't possibly make ends meet without buying the cheapest crap you can find. You couldn't possibly get by with less crap. Plus you'll need those savings to replace it in a few months, because it was made cheap so it can't be repaired.

OK, I'm a dinosaur, a retiree. My "contributing" span was from 1964 through 2009, although I worked part time/paid taxes, for 10 years before that and still pay plenty of taxes. During that 45 year span and from WW II up until then, the economy had ups and downs but there was usually work at a living wage, mostly thanks to the unions.

Oh noes, not those terrible unions that sucked the profits from the benevolent bosses. Yeah those unions, warts and all, that practically created the middle class consumer base which allowed the bosses and the country to prosper.

Nope, technology, high or not, will not save us. Coming up with a brilliant innovation doesn't put people to work... except offshore. Even if the inventor manages to collect a small portion of the royalties due, that makes one more rich person... big whoop for him, his creditors and his gardener, but that doesn't help the millions of unemployed.

Of course I've heard how you, or your cousin's neighbor, became rich by clawing to the top through hard work and sacrifice. Kudos. But it's only possible to do that when you are living in a stable manufacturing/consumer society. Now that we, as a society, only care about me me me, more more more, we've screwed up that stability and ourselves.

By rallying around the extreme left and right political poles, fighting each other, we're distracted from the real problem. Yes, there are welfare cheats. Yes, there are billionaire tax cheats. But they are both peanuts compared to our real problems. Remember the enemy is us.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to drag this soap box to recycling. bump... scrape... screech...

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Isn't that exactly what you say he's doing above?

Not at all, because he is singling out a few big businesses but refuses to attack those uber rich that support him, even if he is de facto including them through his broad generalization.

[xoxoxoBruce]

OK. Yes, stumping speeches are tailored to the audience. Instead of referring to the bogeymen, they point out the ones the crowd are familiar with.

The Huffpost says;

What amuses me is the double speak that legislators are employing to describe the rich. Everyone who is a millionaire has suddenly become either a “producer” or a “job creator.”

Certainly not all legislators are doing that, so it should have been a little more specific. But I think Huffpost is right about the "job creator" bullshit, as I pointed out in my last post.

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I'm really pissed off how the "1%", and big corporations, have corrupted our government. But honestly, that's not the cause of our demise. I've often bitched that the rich only care about money, and don't give a shit about the country. I still believe that, but the bigger problem is YOU, walmart shoppers.

Blue Light Special! Aisle 3! Don't miss out on a chance to buy some Chinese stuff, saving 39 cents and fucking your country. Hurry hurry hurry!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. You couldn't possibly make ends meet without buying the cheapest crap you can find. You couldn't possibly get by with less crap. Plus you'll need those savings to replace it in a few months, because it was made cheap so it can't be repaired.

Bruce, its wonderful to read one of your posts again. As always, your thoughts are much appreciated.

I would like to address the Wall Mart issue you raised. Wall Mart has the nasty habit of moving into smaller communities and driving the small business man out of business. I agree that the members of the community should never have supported Wally World in the first place, but they did, and here we are. In my town Wall Mart got rid of Main Street so fast, it made your head spin.

People who live here have the choice of shopping at Wall Mart or the Dollar Store. We do have one independent hardware store remaining and I try to support them, but they don't carry all the items that Wall Mart does. The only other alternative people in this area have is driving 75 miles to the nearest town of any size or shopping via the Internet.

I try my hardest to buy items made in the US. I just purchased via the Internet a pair of clogs made by Merrill which I thought was a true blue American outfit. Wrong! My clogs were made in China. I notice that both catalogs and the Internet have a way of not telling you where something is manufactured. I would love to hear of a laptop computer made in the USA. I'm in the market for one and have been researching them on the Net - none seem to be American made.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

The Huffpost says;

Quote:
What amuses me is the double speak that legislators are employing to describe the rich. Everyone who is a millionaire has suddenly become either a “producer” or a “job creator.” End Quote

Certainly not all legislators are doing that, so it should have been a little more specific. But I think Huffpost is right about the "job creator" bullshit, as I pointed out in my last post.

Just to set the record straight, I was the one who said that - not the Huffpost. And thank-you.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by SamIam

Just to set the record straight, I was the one who said that - not the Huffpost. And thank-you.

My bad, sorry.

I tried to use wallmart generically by referring to the blue light special which I think is Kmart. Of course wallmart took the evil to a whole new level, but they would not have been successful without the cooperation of the sheeple that haven't a clue how, or how much, they're getting fucked.

Unfortunately, we've slid the slippery slope so far, even the people that loathe wallmart with every fiber of their being, have lost most of their options.
The bigger problem is the majority still haven't a clue, and now walmart has the money to change legislation to reinforce their choke hold on America.

We as a nation may have lost, and even if not, my actions don't amount to diddly squat. But as a matter of personal pride, I'll never surrender.