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Letters on Politics

Another View

Where is Cardenas, the Florida Republican chairman coming from? [“Budgets and Tax Relief” Aug. 27 Monday Forum '01] His statistics are shady and meaningless — for no one in Florida would grant that there’s been tax-relief. As is the case nationally, the state Republicans gloat over having reduced taxes because of the fiscally responsible — government spending in behalf of the common good — Democrats who began to take Florida out of the dark ages. The Republican party is notoriously content to do very little for the people. They continually use the tiring phrase of government spending, intimating waste, while ignoring its intent to improve the quality of life.

The party’s budget cutting frenzy is a subterfuge for the upper class and laissez-faire to breathe freely. Republican politicians are breast-beating Americans who care not that schools are underfunded and understaffed, children are still trying to learn in dilapidated portable classrooms, pre-K learning is woefully lacking, and that instruction and learning take a back seat to questionable testing. Why should they care? They do not believe in public education any more than they believe in responsible, moral governance. They care not that roads, and highways take forever to be built, rather than to hire more contractors to do a two year project in two months. And universal health care? Forget it: they and the upper echelon followers are doing nicely with their elaborate health insurance. They are a myopic bunch that is totally unenlightened in broadening the common good. With their country club perceptions they care only for elitism and the rest of the working stiffs be damned.

Unfortunately, far too many authoritarian voters fall for this oligarchy [ malarkey?]; or the single-issue voter; fearful that the Democrats would over his cold dead body dare take away his gun or SUV, or that these New-Dealers would strip away the Cuban-Americans old guard dream of reinstating a Batista regime over Castro’s dead body.

Yes, these clever Republican image-builders have half the country believing that even the little guy with the help of a privatized social security will someday be driving a Lincoln Navigator to transport his grandchildren to private school.

Another to Senator Nelson of Florida

March 6, 2001

To the Honorable Senator Nelson:

Putting it mildly, I am disappointed in so many Democrats joining the “stampede” for tax-cuts. It appears that Sen. Byrd and you, together with all too few progressives, are the only ones who have demonstrated profiles in courage. With the infrastructure falling apart and education in shambles, not to mention the shame of neglect in health care, Democrats have been wimps in even suggesting a compromise of some $500 billion more than Gore advocated. Why should there be a tax-cut at all when Reagan’s damnable debt still looms?

Tax reform, yes. The gap from 15% to 28% , thanks to Senator Bradley in the late 80's, is an affront to the average working stiff. It should be incremental by one or two percentage points. The cap of 39.6% is the primary reason nothing of significance has been done in the way of putting people to work on meaningful projects. Nevertheless, it was better than the shameless 28% Reagan left us. The Democrats let the Republicans claim that we are paying more taxes than ever before. They throw in FICA and ever escalating state taxes, user tax, and corporate. But they never mention the windfall of the wealthy who have had their tax reduced by more than half! The wealthy did not suffer under FDR’s 90% marginal rate — even Eisenhower lived with it for eight years! — unfortunately JFK opened the Pandora's box that subsequently led to Congress overriding Carter’s veto and for Reagan to totally forage the tax code. As a result we have an embarrassing railway system, intolerable air traffic, shameful class-size and portables all over Florida’s school districts, what takes two years in widening Mc Nab or Samples roads, would have taken two months in the days of the WPA, talk of tunneling to Route US 1 is fantasy in light of absurd tax-cuts by J. Bush. The most precious right to vote is in dire need of total revamping across the nation, let alone Florida; we need mandatory health insurance, which could be aided by tax targeting if necessary.

It seems as though the minimum wage is dead; kiss good bye reinforcing the police on the beat and support for 100,000 new teachers; stripped from the agenda is protecting and enhancing social security for the baby-boomers; unless FICA increases the cap on the wealthy, the average worker will in the future be paying more payroll tax — incredibly regressive — than income tax. To ward off Bush’s determination to privatize social security Democrats must begin to talk up Gore’s “plus” alternative, or a mandatory deduction from the EIC into individual accounts for the poor.

It is obvious why there is a so-called surplus: very little is being done in truly rebuilding the nation and paying down the debt. Greenspan let the cat out of the bag when he expressed fears about eliminating the debt, lest the wealthy of the globe get upset in not being able to invest in this country. Just think of the nation’s rich that make untold millions in interest on government securities! The whole culture of sacrifice is dying with the “greatest generation.” Voters and politicians whine but are unwilling to pay the piper for a more perfect union. In fact, there is little left of the union — thirty red-neck states and the cowardly Blue Dogs rule and have in the end won the Civil War.

Democrats do nothing to counteract Bush W’s campaigning in states to scare the pants or skirts off Democratic Senators up for re-election; he’ll probably come down here in the predominantly red-neck counties just to shake up Graham — I trust Bob has the courage to hold on, though I frown upon his $650 billion tax-cut proposal. I think Gore, the populist, should be taken out of the closet to campaign against this railroading. Rubin, too, should speak out, along with the previous administration’s economic advisors. If Clinton is cleared by New York’s Southern District, he also would be an asset to remind people of the relative good times,

Moreover, I think it is strategic nonsense for the Democrats to mimic the Republicans’ conspiracy that we are entering a recession. Wall Street, corporations and Greenspan are playing games here. We are still in very good shape in spite of Wall Street. Hubert Humphrey used to say that his objective was to attain 4% unemployment. That is the key to healthy economics but Democrats let the press overplay reported layoffs in face of reality that most are overseas and in the US it is mainly by attrition.

I think the Democrats should launch a massive campaign to tell the average folks what’s at stake. Byrd’s marvelous laundry list he presented to Greenspan last week on the shame of America’s infrastructure should underline the slogan: Rebuild America First.

You know, whether Clinton dishonored us or not, one thing can be said for his character: he did indeed put “people first” where it mattered most. But the real dishonor is the amoral principles of the Republican Party whose objective is to protect the wealthy and unravel the sense of decency and fairness the Democratic Party has worked so hard to prioritize.

9/5/01

Dear Congressman Wexler:

Even though I know you fought for the amendment that would favor the average taxpayer, I was extremely disappointed in your vote to add even more to the obscene tax-cut by passing the IRA bill that is not going to mean anything except for the wealthy. There goes another $60 billion that could be earmarked for education. Isn’t there a Democrat caucus anymore to develop counter strategies? A sensible proposal would have been to help the low-income and youthful taxpayer with a matching fund of some 50% to get our young people and the poor to take advantage of the IRA, which most do not. It would be similar to Gore’s social security plus, which incidentally you had better counter with when the Bush’s commission hands down its verdict.

You have to start hitting the talk shows and Sunday shows to spread the sprawling flaws of this administration, particularly the disastrous implications of this tax-cut leaving no room even for the so-called education priority. Let Floridians know that it’s deja vu — the Republicans as with Reaganomics have trapped the Democrats to be the big spenders because of their sensitivity to the needs of the people while the opponents true to form don’t really want to govern in behalf of the general welfare.

Letter to Sun-Sentinel

‘01

Texan Stampede

I am fed up with the tax cut "stampede". Pundits and politicians look at the cut as though it were a reasonable given. This is totally ridiculous when we still have a $5 trillion debt and scores of needs for the nation. It is clear that the stampede is to thwart and deceive for the benefit of the rich. The Republicans hate for the government to spend when it is targeted to the needy whom they regard as worthless beings unwilling to help themselves. Of course, the GOP never objects to government spending when it comes to awarding megabucks to defense contractors, but God forbid awarding, say, GE or Sun Micro Systems, a contract to develop secure, accurate, nationwide voting machines; or massive aid to so-called failing schools that are in reality are failing because of the government's failure to rebuild, renovate and supply necessary tools and human resources to insure against failure. Republicans, along with the phony Democrats, mainly of the south, talk about education as a priority, but hate public school teachers, even though they are better trained than the staff in most private schools--including the elite. Republicans are notorious for being oblivious to infrastructure--public works be damned--let the States' user tax take care of everything. They are quick to blame the environmentalists for the power shortage, but the price-manipulations of the big power companies are, after all, just American capitalists doing their thing. They want to drill for more oil in sensitive areas when there are all too many oil rigs idle in the nation because we are unwilling to compete with the relatively low prices of OPEC. They laud the auto industry for creating monsters on wheels, even though playing right into the hands of OPEC. These are the same politicians or offspring thereof who criticized Carter for wearing a cardigan and keeping the thermostat on 68 at the White House.

What to do with $1.6 trillion?--a no brainer:

$200 billion Transportation and Highways

$400 billion Public Education

$200 billion Alternative Energy

$100 billion Energy subsidies to the poor

$200 billion Mandatory Health Insurance subsidy for the 45 million

uninsured

$250 billion Debt pay-down

$250 billion Social Security/Medicare Reserve

To The Nation Magazine

9/4‘01

"An act of moral arrogance seldom seen" [Mark Shields] is quoted in J.Schell’s article, which in itself has a bit of the same tone. It goes without saying a night time commando-like raid is hair-raising and unpredictable. To compare that with masterminding genocide is indeed arrogance.

In today’s media madness, with reporters and witnesses alike hell-bent on fame or notoriety, contrary to Schell’s confidence:

“Klann’s [under Kerrey’s command] testimony obviously deserves special weight, because it was not in the interest of the testifier and also independently [I might add ,conveniently] confirmed by the Vietnamese eyewitnesses.”

But if indeed during the heat of the raid, Kerrey actually had ordered that civilians be lined up and executed, rather than bound and gagged to sustain further silent incursion, then he and his unit should be stripped, except the purple heart, of medals and commendations—in spite of their otherwise courageous spirits. Frankly, I for one would prefer that the rest of the unit back up Kerrey, even if they have to lie about it, for who am I to judge fighting men under such ambiguous conditions?

leaders should go down in history as criminal conspirators in a war of terrorism. Moreover, the United States should indeed announce regret for willfully engaging in this infamous war, even though the enemy at the time was as ruthless. Hopefully, there is no media frenzy on this sensitive epoch: the horror should be put to rest as quickly and judiciously as possible. This in no way reflects on the honor of those who served, but it must be nationally acknowledged that they too were victims of a woefully inadequate and callous leadership. Consequently, the international finger of blame must close. The vindictive search for sterner justice serves no purpose in the moral rearmament of a people. Acknowledgment and condemnation of historical and contemporary nightmares should be instituted to mend the moral fabric as have Russia and Serbia. This is why the United States must desist from its righteous indignation because of the litter in it own backyard. The last thing we want is to open old wounds of terrible wrongdoing in our history’s conscience to the exploitative media. What to do with that elusive Bronze Star?—I would say, but for the controversy. award it to Jane Fonda. 11pt">If, ;

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