EQUAL OPPORTUNITY GOP VERSION
Jim Demint, ex-Senator from South Carolina, was a guest on +Joe Scarborough’s MSNBC show this morning. He is now head of the Heritage Foundation, one of the most radical right wing organizations in the United States. The expression “the most radical” may sound like a redundancy but it is not . . . no other group is more radical. There is a question; is it the most radical organization because of +Jim Demint or is it that they hired him because of their extreme radicalism. Either way, he heads an organization that is like a lobbying firm for an industry or group of industries. They hire people they think can have access to other law makes and Demint’s status as an ex-Senator gives him that access. They pay him somewhat over $1,000,000 per year—he must be worth it because he is still there. Industries hire people as lobbyists who can promote their product or services. I had a question about what Demint promotes and who benefits from what he and his organization does were unanswered until I heard him on Joe this morning—he is there to tell lies that are so brazen elected right-wing politicians could never tell them from a campaign stump. The only people who benefit from the lies are in that small group of people—the economic elite—who do not want a government of the people. In their mind, if there were no government “of the people”, then leadership would come from them, the rich. It reminds me of the concept of a “black horse” candidate that is someone one no one wants but because of our innate tendency to requires a peck order, we recognizes we do need a leader, even a bad one.
Not one thing the man said this morning was the truth and Joe sat there nodding in agreement at every pronouncement. Of course, what should happen on a discussion show is both sides of every question are explored, not that Morning Joe is ever a discussion show or even close to being one. +Demint made grossly lopsided ridiculous pronouncements after ridiculous pronouncement. You or I will never hear a reporter, or group moderator, force politicians to answer hard questions. Interviews are always guarded by the reporters’ fear of lost access and those being interviewed have the right to walk away or not to answer and use these things to avoid questions that should be asked. Although Joe bases his show on having guests as radical as he is, the same rule applies. If they do not espouse the radicalism he is looking for he shuts them up.
Rachael +Maddow show is an example of what happens if you attack a politician for their beliefs as she did to Rand +Paul; he will never com back. She finds it almost impossible to have a “conservative” politician on her show. She invites them, but they don’t come. Last night she had radical Senator +Isakson of Georgia, Republican chair of the arms services committee. His unusual appearance on the show was coupled with an unusual bit of legislation; he passed a bill out of committee that would spend tax money to protect veterans from suicide. Tom +Colburn, a single senator, who is also a Republican, had blocked the legislation because it cost money, but he retired from the Senate. This story was especially newsworthy because Senate rules allowed one man had the power blocked the bill all 100 other Senators wanted. Isakson slipped in the statement that they found a way of paying for the program by transferring money from something else in the veterans’ program.
The call to destroy all entitlements, which Demint was advocating, has no logical foundation. We pay for insurance for health care and we pay for social security. Where are the questions such as what would you do about massive old age poverty without Social Security? What would you do about sick people who cannot afford health care without insurance? What do we as a society do about paraplegic veterans? The Ayn Rand answer to these questions is there, but they will not say it; these people just don’t matter. Demint will tell you that they can go to hell. Joe will think that but will not say it. That is what Demint does to earns his million dollars a year. Who benefits? Privatized social security will put trillions of dollars in the hand of financial institutions; however, everyone knows that people working at minimum wage jobs cannot afford to save for retirement. As the expression goes; “they fall through the cracks;” however, do you think Jim Demint and Joe care one way or the other?
As he said this morning, Demint is fighting for equal opportunity. We as Americans all love that. His statement is like a sweet drink with at lemon twist, it looks good but it still has a sour lemon twist. The sweetness is that politicians can cut taxes after getting rid of all entitlement programs. Cut taxes and state politicians cut support for state support for universities. University administrators raise student tuition to pay for the difference, which is the cost of education. The sour twist is that tuition is $50,000 a year, which everyone puts up. Everyone now has equal opportunity to pay tuition. How many student loans do you suppose Romney five boys took out? After they have their degree, what is the competition in the workplace? It is only among those who could afford the tuition and not the most brilliant in society. It is like inbred royalty; the smartest person in society is not the king.
According to Demint, there are no restrictions to upward mobility, which is of course, the biggest lie. In his mind, everyone has “equal” opportunity; this is the great free individualist society—of the economic elite. Can anyone tell me what is happening to the cost of student loans or what the average student debt is when they graduate if they do go to college? Ridiculous!
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