A LIBERAL VIEW OF THINGS: Who does the GOP like?
Have you ever noticed how many people and groups Republicans say they don’t like or are against in some way? If you listen to the oracle of self, U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., you hear the word “mob” used to describe the Occupy Wall Street groups around the country.
What did he call the tea party rallies before last November’s election? Well organized, peaceful demonstrations. I guess he missed the part where some of those “peaceful” demonstrators brought loaded M-16 assault rifles.
The “mob” represents a wide cross-section of America that is unemployed, under-employed, bankrupt, foreclosed, under water on mortgages and college loans, gay, liberal, progressive, union members, teachers, retired military veterans and skilled trade people displaced by exported jobs.
Yes, some of these categories overlap, but it does beg the question: Who is left? Who does the GOP like?
Well, they’ve got those tea partiers. Then there are the 400 top rich people who own more wealth than any other 50 percent of Americans you can put together. Who can forget those banking executives and their caddy, Tim Geithner, the guy they got into the Obama administration as secretary of the treasury? Certainly the corporate leaders of America are part of the GOP “base” of appreciators. These are the guys sitting, collectively, on $4 trillion of capital that is not doing anything except earning more interest for the banks and the corporations.
Jobs? What jobs?
When I see the signs on TV or in the newspaper that say, “We are the 99 percent,” I understand better what they mean. What is left for the GOP to like is the 1 percent that sends them all that money for them to get re-elected. Now, I’m not so narrow-minded that I assume the 1 percent aren’t hedging (pun intended) their bets by not funding Democrats, too. After all, more than half the Senate and the president are Democrats.
What the 99 percent are beginning to act upon is the 1 percent who own and operate the government are not serving their interests. Wall Street is merely the symbolic gathering place for protest against the big-money interests running the show. Meanwhile, the 99 percent are left with barely enough to live on (never mind aspiring to an improved lifestyle) whether they’re willing to work hard or not.
To them, it doesn’t seem to matter. All the money is locked up with the top 1 percent. In fact, 80 percent of all the money is held by that 1 percent. The top 5 percent own more than 90 percent of the money and wealth.
This doesn’t add up to a happy scenario for those who are left to scramble for the rest.
This situation has been festering for a long time. Working people have generally kept their heads down and tried to improve their lot within the existing system. But after bank deregulation, unfair (to American workers) trade agreements, union busting and lax tax loophole exploitation, there was little left for the majority of our residents to work for. They began to realize they were becoming the serfs of yore. What is equally amazing is that many who vote strictly and repeatedly Republican are in this group of scramblers, too. That is certainly their choice, but one might ask why they’d vote against their own interests.
The current demonstrations around the world signify people have had enough. They want to take their country back from the money changers in the temples of greed in New York and around the world. They are demanding a fair share. We’ve heard this before.
The right-wing media and politicians will demonize the demonstrators and trivialize the demonstrations. They do so at their own peril. This movement isn’t going away until the guaranteed rights to have grievances redressed are enacted.
The demonstrations in the occupy movements are conducted peacefully right now. The people in them can add up their chances of living the American dream and appreciating the social promises made them from previous generations of citizens demonstrating that their voices be heard by their representatives. They are trying to heal the rending of the social fabric made by Republican intransigence and favoritism toward the wealthy.
In the end, they will be responsible for sweeping the Republican Party hacks out of office next November.
Turner is a retired teacher and industrial engineer who lives near Marble Falls. He is an independent columnist, not a staff member, and his views do not necessarily reflect those of The Tribune or its parent company. "The Voter’s Guide to National Salvation" is a newly published e-book from Turner. You can find it at www.barnesandnoble.com/ebooks. He can be reached by email at vtgolf@zeecon.com.