Republicans: “No, the Constitution is NOT some sort of living breathing always-relevant entity. And Neither Are We.”

No wonder the GOP insists the Constitution is just an old dead fixed cobweb-covered item.  That description fits today’s Republican Party to a T.

Robert Reich nailed it in his article titled R.I.P. GOP.

He wrote that the Republican Party has died and has been “replaced by warring tribes.”

According to Robert Reich, these six warring tribes are:

“Evangelicals opposed to abortion, gay marriage, and science.

Libertarians opposed to any government constraint on private behavior.

Market fundamentalists convinced the “free market” can do no wrong.

Corporate and Wall Street titans seeking bailouts, subsidies, special tax loopholes, and other forms of crony capitalism.

Billionaires craving even more of the nation’s wealth than they already own.s

And white working-class Trumpoids who love Donald. and are becoming convinced the greatest threats to their wellbeing are Muslims, blacks, and Mexicans.”

And each one of these tribes is “its own distinct political entity, complete with their own separate sources of funding, their own specific whack-job ideologies, and even their own presidential candidates.  What’s left is a lifeless shell called the Republican Party. But the Grand Old Party inside the shell is no more.”

Inequality For All

Inequality For All is sooo good, it should be on everyone's required viewing list.  Robert Reich brings us some alarming, infuriating facts; facts we all need to know.

Even if you're liberal, even if you're already aware that America's gargantuan wealth gap is a threat to the entire country — this movie will tell you things you didn't know.  It's worse than you thought.

The people who would benefit most from this movie — the I'm so dumb I keep voting against my own interests crowd — will of course not see it.

We've all heard that there are some eerie parallels between the late 1920s — leading up to the 1929 Crash — and the years leading up to the 2008 global meltdown.  But Robert Reich shows some charts and pictures that bring home just how striking these parallels are.  1928 and 2007 look almost interchangeable.  Talking about repeating history because we didn't learn from it.

Our lopsided wealth gap — i.e. the 400 richest Americans have more wealth than the bottom half of the country put together — creates massive social problems in addition to all the economic suffering.  There's a close correlation between income inequality and political polarization.  In the late 1920s, polarization and mutual hatred were as prevalent as they are today.

On the other hand, from the end of World War II through the mid 1970s — when labor unions were at their peak, the middle class was thriving and the income gap was at its lowest — political polarization was also at its lowest.

Deregulation of large industries, and the resulting income inequality, started increasing again in 1978.  Come to think of it, that's around the time that rightwing Biblehumping demagogues started whipping up their inbreds and getting them all riled up over gay rights.  Anita Bryant, Jerry Falwell — where are they now?  But I digress...

When the wealth gap started rearing its head again in the late 1970s, the effects were less noticeable for several reasons.  Right around this time, women started entering the workforce in record numbers.  The huge increase in dual/multiple-family incomes helped stave off the approaching economic Armageddon.  Also, housing prices started increasing faster around this time, which was a boon to anyone who owned property.  At least until the bubble burst...

Anyway, this movie is very informative, fast-moving and well presented.  It's not the dry documentary I was afraid it would be.  And it's short — just under an hour and a half.

Also, please check out the Inequality For All website, which they talked about at the end of the movie.

A “People’s Tax Cut”

Not only is this a populist idea that could bring the Democrats back to life — it’s already a soundbite. For a party that’s long on ideas and short on ways to communicate those same ideas to John Q. Public, this could be a Godsend.

The People’s Tax Cut would mean making the Bush tax cuts permanent for everybody EXCEPT the richest three percent of the population.

This article — based on a column by Robert Reich — says:

“Letting the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest 3 percent of Americans expire should be a political no-brainer for Democrats. But Republicans, once again, have proved more adept at framing tax policy. Democrats should beat them at their own game by proposing a ‘People's Tax Cut’ and then let Republicans explain why they’re against it.”

Here’s a link to the Robert Reich column.

In addition to keeping the Bush tax cuts for the bottom 97%, Reich also proposes abolishing payroll taxes on the first $20,000 of a person’s income, AND applying the payroll tax to incomes over $250,000.

I think it’s great. The plan itself is excellent, and it gives the Democrats a few powerful slogans that reach right out, grab the listener by the collar and scream “Listen!”

What say you?