As I watch the conflict which is imploding the United States of America internally play itself out, superficially it appears to be a conflict between republicans and democrats.  I’ve been watching the evolution of this for years, closely since especially in 2006 “we the people” voted for democrats in order to end the “war” in Iraq.  Of course, that “war” is still alive and well and who knows when it’s going to come to an end.  Then we voted in 2008 to reverse the abuses of the Bush administration and what we got was a continuation of the worst ones.  In the process of all this I’ve come to realize what the true conflict is and it’s the corporate interests of America vs. the aforementioned “we the people.”  Now, if you’ve been reading any of my many posts on the subject this would come as no surprise.  It’s just that the more I read about “what’s going on” the more I realize how many Americans DON’T understand the source of the actual conflict.

Over the past few days I’ve been thinking about why is it that I feel this is so important – that I keep writing about it.  And, the “it” is the corporate takeover of the American system of government.  Of course, the end result if “we the people” don’t “wake up” – and soon – will be what myself, and I’m sure almost every other American who has grown up in this great nation, thought (and thinks, for many) impossible, and that is the evolution of America into a fascist state.  Honestly, it feels to me as if we have one leg in the “pants,” so to speak already.  I think the reason this has become so profound an issue to me of late is because I’ve struggled over the past few years in my feelings of disgust for the republicans which go along with my feelings of disappointment with the democrats.  I mean, realistically, those are your options if you want to participate in the American political process – at least nationally. 

The republicans certainly make no secrets about where they’re coming from – it started back when I was in my 30’s with the “Reagan revolution” and it has hit it’s extreme level of absurdity with the recently passed republican budget, the so-called “Ryan budget,” by the “tea party” manipulated House of Representatives.  As I’ve been saying for years, they (republicans) have their sights set on destroying Medicare and Medicaid (at the moment) with the ultimate target being Social Security.  They won’t rest until they’ve reversed EVERY benefit the middle class received from Roosevelt’s “New Deal.”  The corporate elite don’t want “middle class” workers, they wan’t workers who are grovelling for every cent they can get and they want a workforce that exceeds the demands for available work – they want to push wages down to the point where we can be competitive with the OTHER second tier countries – and, even then, I don’t expect them to bring jobs back to America unless there’s a “bottom line” reason for them to do so.  Plus, they want a stranglehold on the government they “hate” so that true competition will never derail their ambitions.  Yes, you could sum all this up as MONUMENTAL greed!

For years now, and VERY apparent since 2006, the democrats have shown that they are “owned” by the corporate interests as well as the republicans.  This “battle” never should have gotten to the point it has – which, I might add appears at a critical stage to me, had the democrats been the “counter” force to the corporate ONSLAUGHT wrought upon us by the republican party since the days of Reagan.  And, they’ve (republicans) managed to brainwash the American public into believing their ABSURD argument about how “cutting taxes” for the rich and for corporations “creates jobs” and how “cutting spending” (in social programs, of course) will “balance the budget.”  Ryan’s proposed budget continues to do just that, CUT TAXES (even more than the “Bush tax cuts” – I tried to tell President Obama this is what would happen if he agreed to extend those tax cuts – you can NEVER “give” these republicans enough) for the wealthiest corporations and individuals, and attack the “safety net” for the average American that so many of our forefathers fought so hard to get in the first place – PLUS – as per usual with republican budgets – ADD TRILLIONS to the national debt.  Believe me, it will be much easier to lose these benefits they’re going after than is was to get them or than it will be to get them back if the republicans succeed.  It is for this reason that I believe my MAJOR disappointment is with the democrats – because, even though I’ve always been an independent, I’ve always figured that there was NO WAY they (democrats) would ever allow what is happening today in America to actually HAPPEN!  They (democrats) were supposed to be the “backstop.”

I’ve been trying to tell Barack Obama for over two years now that the republicans will keep PUSHING until he PUSHES back HARDER! :o)  I realize President Obama will NEVER know what I’m proposing – but, I’m going to keep speaking out in the hopes that someone is influenced and encouraged to speak out and so on – until the “wave” of unrest that has started in Wisconsin becomes a national phenomenom.  I also realize that “we the people” can’t wait for Obama to figure out what’s going on (I’m giving the president the benefit of the doubt and assuming he really is a “progressive” and doesn’t want to be the democratic president who was in office when the final nail was driven into the “coffin” of the New Deal) – one by one, those of us who are members of the working class in America need to encourage each other to participate in the process of “taking this country back.”  Doesn’t that sound like the “tea party?”  Well, if they weren’t funded by the corporate interests who are the “enemy” of “we the people” I could see a lot of room for discussion with many members of that “movement.” (Not the ones who are motivated by racism)

For example, I don’t believe dealing with the budget deficit and the national debt is a partisan issue.  And, saving Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security for the “long haul” wouldn’t be so difficult a problem that well meaning people couldn’t sit down and discuss the issues and “fix” them without the BILLIONS in lobbyists cramming the corporate “way” down everyone’s throats.  I mean, simply raise the limit on Social Security taxes to even $130,000 solves that problem.  And, I might add, raising taxes is not ALWAYS a bad idea.  Barack Obama would have done himself and every other working class person a favor had he done what I expected him to do and cancelled the “Bush Tax cuts” the day he was inaugurated.  There have been several opportunities to raise revenue that would have mitigated the present nightmare that almost every state in the union is dealing with as I type.  And, the result would be more people working and there wouldn’t be a big “fight” looming over “raising the debt ceiling.”

I’m not for a minute suggesting that there aren’t significant ways to cut the spending of our federal government.  But, is anyone else out there amazed that our leaders continue EVERY discussion of “cutting spending” with this phrase, “Everything but the defense budget is on the table.”  You’ve got to be kidding me!  That’s where MOST of the WASTE occurs and our leaders continue to look the other way as the lobbyists keep funneling unlimited amounts of CASH into their campaign coffers so that they continue this militaristically absurd philosophy.  And, it’s going to get FAR WORSE now that the republicans have managed to get John Roberts and Sam Alito on the Supreme Court to make decisions like “Citizens United.”  That’s the WORST Supreme Court decision in my lifetime and I believe it may ultimately be regarded as the worst decision in the history of the court.  I’ll never forget Samuel Alito shaking his head as President Obama was pointing out that the decision would allow FOREIGN MONEY to FLOW into our election process.  Seriously, is Alito that DUMB to actually think there won’t be foreign money involved in all the non-traceable TV adds we’re going to be BOMBARDED with in the elctions to come?  GE, which now has $14 BILLION (plus the $3.2 BILLION in tax credits) to spend in upcoming elections in order to continue policies which allow large corporate interests to make BILLIONS and pay NO TAXES – gained over half of their income “overseas.”  Is Alito trying to tell us that multinational corporations aren’t “foreign?” 

Do you remember Rupert Murdoch – who owns NewsCorp (Fox “news,” Wall Street Journal, NY Post, etc.) – paying over $1 MILLION to the republican party in 2010?  Well, he’s an Australian and the second most prominent shareholder in his company is a Saudi Prince who helped fund Osama bin Laden pre 9/11 (and probably since).  Do you really want Aussies and Saudi’s influencing our elections?  If we really knew how many of America’s corporations had been bought up by foreign interests it would, I’m sure, make those of us who are “Mad as Hell” about this even MADDER!  Karl Rove alone was entrusted with something approaching half a BILLION dollars for the MID TERM election through “secret” corporate “donations.”  I’ve heard estimates that Barack Obama is planning on raising over ONE BILLION dollars for the 2012 campaign.  Where do you think all this money is coming from?  And, is it any wonder that the legislation that does make it out of congress is continually slanted toward the corporate interests and away from “we the people.”  I didn’t think it would take long for BOTH parties to be sucked in by “Citizens United” and it didn’t – I believe that politicians who want to succeed in 2012 will believe they HAVE to take the corporate money to have a chance.  That is, unless …………

Unless, “we the people” rise up and DEMAND “the change we can all believe in!”  Sound familiar?  Isn’t that what we thought we were voting for in 2008?  I’m hoping that Wisconsin will be ALWAYS remembered as the place where the “push back” started.  I believe that if somehow we can overcome the propaganda campaign that’s been levied on the American public for the past 30+ years we can get more and more people every day to realize that the problem is the takeover of our government by the corporate interests.  I urge anyone reading this to send what you can to “Wisdems” to help with the recalls in Wisconsin.  We ALL need to keep the momentum going – until Scott Walker himself is recalled after the first of next year (he can’t be recalled until he’s been in office at least one year – so after January 6th, all “bets” are off :o)  Call me idealistic, but I believe “conservatives” and “liberals” could sit down and figure out the best way to solve the problems of today if we could somehow get rid of the lobbyists and the corporate “shills” (like Walker) in addition to overcomomg our “need” to have enough of EVERY weapon ever designed to kill EVERYONE in the world several times over.

The democrats of Wisconsin have shown the rest of us that there are still people out there who are willing to stand up for what’s in the best interests of our fundamental middle class values – the values that permeated America for most of my lifetime.  Even under George W Bush I didn’t imagine how far the republicans were willing to push “things.”  However, Scott Walker and the other right wing governors who are taking their dismantling agenda from state to state have demonstrated that the “gloves” are truly off.  While I’m angry at the democratic leadership in Washington DC (mainly in the Senate) and in President Obama’s “caving” into republicans and the military on issue after issue, I’ve been re-energized by those Wisconsinites.  And, I believe it’s not just Wisconsin democrats who are opposed to Scott Walker and his hijacking plan for their state – I believe when “push comes to shove” there will be plenty of republicans lined up against him as well.  I’m pretty old, but not so old that I can’t remember a day when republicans and democrats could come to agreement on important legislation.  Unfortunately, today’s republican party has shown itself to be nothing more than a “middleman” to a HUGE corporate RAID on America’s treasury!