| Political Commentary Then& Now |
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Learning through the history of great thought and its sensitive arguments for enrichment of life would go along way in enlightening the young potential voter, essential to a more democratic nation. rrk |
Copyright © 2001 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: March 30, 2002 .
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To Florida Senators May 3, 2001 There are two issues you will be facing: social security commission and the IRA and 401(k) retirement bill passed in the House. I am outraged that the tax stampede has even reached the likes of Wexler and Deutshe. Although the Democrats tried to amend it by targeting low and middle income groups, together with small business, they should have brought to the floor a bill that would help the low and average income youth to take advantage of the current IRA deduction by perhaps the government matching 50% of contributions. The House’s bill will only further favor the wealthy and dip more into the “surplus” — there goes another $60 billion that could be earmarked for education. The Democratic party is comatose: it is clear that the Republicans are on a rampage to ultimately destroy social security — that’s what this all about. Moynihan is just dead wrong — unless he is on the commission as an advocate of social security plus — to engage in the stripping down of social security. Democrats must be put on the alert to head this off which will only further diminish the fund. Why do you allow pundits, reporters, talking heads, Fox channel to go unchallenged with their fuzzy math of “2% return”? It is absurd to average in widow’s pension and disability outlay, early death between 66-70. The fact is social security is invested in Gov’t Securities that yield with guarantees some 5-6% — that is, if truly put in a lockbox. The fact that a wealthy couple can get back as much as $3000 per month is a damned good return. The idiotic proposition that individuals should invest in the marketwith social security money is bogus. What willthat do to the market in light of Greenspansparanoia over the government paying off thedebt and thus entering the market? Actually ifthe government, say, devoted 30% of itssurplus in reliable balanced mutual funds or inthe S&P 500 perhaps monitored by a Rubin the fund would grow without leaving it torisky individuated whims. Social Security, by the market with social security money is bogus. What will that do to the market in light of Greenspan’s paranoia over the government paying off the debt and thus entering the market? Actually if the government, say, devoted 30% of its surplus in reliable balanced mutual funds or in the S&P 500 — perhaps monitored by a Rubin — the fund would grow without leaving it to risky individuated whims. Social Security, by the way, and not unlike the Constitution, is not inscribed in biblical tablet. Surely, a proven entity that actually creates more jobs and national wealth than it actually costs, should not be abandoned. I hate to repeat the old cliche but where would Florida be without it? It is a no brainer that when push comes to shove new new money must be allocated by other means than the payroll tax which has reached saturation. I suggest that a 1% surtax for retirement be affixed to every tax return on the total tax of line 57 of 1040 form. Of course there are other ways, such as an arbitrary allocation of $X billions from the general revenue; social security tax-exempt 30yr.low interest bond issue, stiffer tax on social security recipients, IRA and Retirement shelters deduction minus 4% for social security fund, an increase of employers’ share for those that have no employee retirement fund. So raise the party from its coma, lambaste guys like Breau and Miller and berate the blue-yellow dogs in the House; put on your boxing gloves. |
Strange
Politics 2001
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Burn the Burqas - Oct. ’01 Anthony Lewis of the N.Y. Times in his Oct 23 column proposed reducing resentment with the same old rubbish of foreign aid. With reservation I agree that American foreign aid is lacking, but it should be targeted at nations unabatedly willing to democratize secular governance and enrich modern lifestyle. Were the PLO willing to set up a modern democratic nation free of extreme Islamic influence and grant equality to women, then it would be entitled to equal aid that Israel now enjoys; provided, of course, the violence were terminated. Lewis’ contention that violence in the Middle East is somehow linked to the U.S. ignoring the huge gap between the haves and have-nots there is absurd. Forgiving loans that will never be paid anyway is a non sequitur. What has the $40 billion World Bank loan done for the Pakistanis? — half of the adults are illiterate, less than half of the girls attend primary school; not to mention political instability since inception, culminating in Musharrif’s suspension of constitutional law, which, incidentally, is primarily Islamic law. Aside from regretting they had a hand in the rise of the Taliban, Pakistan is currently cooperating — not because of their gratitude for foreign aid and investment — but that the U.S. has already forgiven its $3billion loan and has lifted sanctions. The major problem lies with the Islamic religion as practiced in that it refuses to take a back seat to politics. With every stitch of its ancient robes, it dictates how believers are to live in the material world, rather than to lend spiritual comfort and encourage determination to survive by secular education — not hypnotically memorizing the Koran — and labor geared to modern infrastructure. Islam is in the dark ages that Christianity itself had to be wedged out of by Western enlightenment, to which ironically some of the great medieval philosophers of Islam’s own heritage had in part contributed. The British political and philosophic tradition weighed heavily on the Founding Fathers to forge the separation of church and state. Freedom to worship does not mean that it is brought dominantly into public domain — it is still essentially a private matter between God and believer. Politics and humanity within the societal realm have their own sanctity, and until the Middle East grasps the value of individual liberty and equal justice for all, throwing humanitarian and foreign aid its way is nonproductive. In the case of Afghanistan, the humanitarian aid already under way should come with a price: burn the burqa, not the American flag, ancient fragmented tribes and religious sects are to leave behind in the caves their medieval motives and create constitutional government free of authoritarian religious dicta. If Islam continues to barricade the political will of moderate Muslims itching for prosperity and pragmatic education — Iran is a classical example — Western diplomacy and aid are futile efforts. Another example is Yasir Arafat who is either an Academy Award winner for pretending peace negotiations for five years during the Clinton Administration, or he is a mere puppet manipulated by fundamentalists who do not wish to coexist with Israel under any circumstances and despise even more Palestine’s will to be a modern secular nation. Lewis’ overreaction is really calling for Western countries to forge a Marshall Plan for Muslim nations. But why just the west? Surely, OPEC has sufficient wealth to do it alone but for the fact it does not care. Putting aside the need for one in our own backyard, Muslims who have no inclination to join the community of modern nations does not deserve a commitment of such magnitude. The Marshall Plan was predicated on the principle of non-vindictiveness with the prima facie condition that thriving democracy is the keystone to rebuilding a nation. The very same principle was established by MacArthur in Japan, sweeping away its feudalism. Lewis would have us believe that Islam hates America for being smug and indifferent to the Middle East’s sordid existence. The truth is Muslims are taught to hate by dictatorial or Machiavellian leaders who conspire to divert the peoples’ anger from the shameless governance responsible for their misery. If this generation could recapture the liberating spirit of World War II, another cold war — if for no other reason than to liberate the fairer sex — would emerge to put an end to the Iron Veil surrounding Islam’s misconception that all who do not believe in Muhammad are infidels. At one time Catholicism reigned as the professed one true religion; though painfully reluctant, through gradual enlightenment, it learned to tolerate and accept the validity of all faiths that demonstrate spiritual tolerance. Granted much of Islamic beliefs are peace-loving and capable of shaping noble character but it should not deter character from nobly pursuing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in this world. December 5, 2001 To the Honorable Senator Wellstone:I have always been grateful to the people of Minnesota for sending the likes of Humphrey, Mondale and you to the U.S. Senate. Your impact is felt even more than theirs because you are up against far more conservatives in both parties. You serve as the conscience of many Democrat Senators that fear their own constituency because of its flirtation with the unspeakable prostitution of the Republican Party. We the people can no longer be relied on because of our fickle nature. Before Truman’s push for civil rights, the Solid South came through because the people were indebted to the Democrats for taking them out of Afghan subsistence and supplanting the kerosene lamp with the electric bulb. Of course, the white supremacists pressured the average white struggling for a living to cut off his nose to spite his face and join them in their terroristic path. Then came the turncoat union members who enjoyed the advantages of their locals that edged them up to the middle class: suddenly they owned a home, two cars, could save for education and retirement and therefore injuriously voted Republican. You may or may not appreciate the following opinion a couple of years after WWII in Levittown of Long Island: Catholics, fresh from the city, used to joke that when the city Jews became suburbanites, they burned their treasured FDR slogans and election posters. Little did the Catholics know that nationally they would shamelessly become the biggest supporters — with the exception of Irish town in Boston — of Reagan and the Republican party! Then came the unfortunate rise of the service industry at the expense of good paying jobs during Reaganomics and the merciless firing of air-traffic controllers insuring the demise of further union growth. Democrats in ‘92 won by default and to boot a compromising president. Where he did not compromise — Haiti, universal health care, gays [well maybe a little here] in the service, some notable vetoes — the Gingrich Gang was propelled into power. If you have stayed with me this long — Hillary obviously didn’t when I sent her a treatise on public education — I should like to comment on your agreeable eleven points. 1. Universal health is as prima facie as when Truman failed in the bid for national health coverage in his second term; that time could not have been riper because the AMA had not yet been militant protectors of entrepreneurial members. Thousands of doctors that served in the armed services were still civic-minded and ready to accept common sense, symbolizing the right to good health. Today you are dealing with a profession of six and seven figure capitalists. Nevertheless, the great majority of doctors have indeed endorsed Medicare and to a lesser degree Medicaid owing to less cumbersome paper work, fewer restrictions and faster payment than insurance companies. Why then is there resistance — aside from the propagandists of the Republican Party? A single payer is the only way to go, deleting insurance bureaucracy and profit-motive from the scene. Hillary was totally correct in excoriating the moguls of the insurance and pharmaceutical domains. The old senator [since cast out by voters who don’t listen] from Pennsylvania was noble when he stood up, flashing his insurance card before the Senate, vowing not to use it ever again until all the American people had the same privilege or right as federal employees. Hillary at least had struck fear into their greedy hearts and helped curb rising costs for a time. Alas, the proud old man from Pennsylvania lost the election the next year to a snide brat. We not only must rid medicine of insurance companies but litigation as well: just as the G.I. on the front lines had no recourse to question medical action, so too anyone else. This, however, does not rule out government-professional oversight to weed out incompetence and extend truly legitimate compensation for the injured. 2. Minimum wage is a given. In an unpublished work I had suggested that part-timers be hired at $7 an hour for six months at which time they gain $2 more and given full benefits of full time workers. If they are fired before the six months, the Labor Department intervenes to review the case. The minimum wage for full time workers should be at least $10. 3. My siblings were given a Catholic education for a nominal charge. When my father died the diocese kindly overlooked the fees. When I came of age I was admitted free of charge until we moved out of the diocese. I was still young enough not to know the difference. My sister and brother seemed traumatized but soon got used to the new school environment. Of course, my mother thought that her children were now reduced to a second rate education until she attended meetings with teachers, who at that time had been working in an atmosphere almost totally conducive to learning., and Mom realized, with the exception of chapel, it was equal, if not better. The primary reason that New York Catholic schools were comparable is that they had to cover every aspect of the state curriculum. All my Jewish chums — their parents being great supporters of the public system — had to go to Hebrew school several times a week after hours. To me that is how it should be: a universal after hours schooling for religion, extra-tutoring, enrichment, or the arts. If parents want their own schools then that is the price of elitism — whether for religious convictions or snob appeal. Vouchers — and dare I say it? — charter schools are unfortunately for those who do not wish to espouse the principle of free public education designed to open the mind to the beauty and challenges of democracy. This unnecessary complication, in lieu of simply extending resources to public schools, is bent on doing away altogether with public education and in truth is racially and ideologically motivated. What if the growing Islamic population in America demanded vouchers or charters for the purpose of rote memorization of the Quran and extra curricular activities in terrorism and hate? 4. I agree that there is overkill in the development of new weapons. As a marine I took pride in its principle of traveling light. The cry during the past presidential election that the armed services were not “ready” was, of course, bogus what with the apparent success in Afghanistan and in face of the victory in Kosova. As a WWII vet, however, I still believe in a citizen army or at least compulsory time in the national guard, particularly now with national security at stake.. 5. A return to the Marshall Plan is the preferred foreign policy for nations willing to forge human rights and democracy. Evidence of human rights and religious freedom and tolerance in all nations must be demonstrated within a specified time or trade is cut off, including an oil embargo — make no mistake about it they need us more than we need them — against offending OPEC nations. The “war” against terrorism should include cleaning up mobsters, drug dealers, religious and militia groups running contrary to human rights, and paranoid over our legitimate governance, together with insisting that military help in the defense against terrorism come from Islamic nations as well. In the case of Cuba, we should begin open trade with the stipulation that Castro renounce the totalitarian aspect of communism and permit President Carter to officiate democratic elections within one year. To prove to the world that we do not hold to dual standards, all of northern Ireland must disarm, including cells of IRA in Ireland or face the force of British Commandos and U.S. Marines. Except for verifiable “freedom fighters” engaged in overthrowing dictatorships with limited collateral damage, all others will be accused of terrorism and face the consequence of coalition’s action economically and/or militarily. Because the Philippines has always had strategic value, we “shall return” to assist in ridding the islands of thugs and to free the hostages. Any religion here or abroad that does not extend equality to women, or preaches hatred, violence and revenge, will no longer be under the aegis of freedom of religion and lose tax exemptions here, and abroad, diplomatic relations severely curtailed, if not terminated. 6. I grew up convinced that FDR’s 90+% progressive index was the nation’s salvation. I still think that the redistribution of wealth, top to bottom, is the only kind of “economic stimulus.” However, with the increasing selfishness among voters, this is impossible, thus the income tax should give way to — never in my wildest dreams would I have yielded to this — a National sales tax of 2-5 % on all goods and services, together with a sharply graduated excise tax above their respective median, not to exceed, perhaps, 40% on such as gourmet foods, gas guzzlers, guns, elaborate toys, exercisers, boats, houses, buildings, vacation homes, broker transactions, say, above $3,000, all forms of entertainment and sports, including participating sports, gambling, foreign travel, ad infinitum; and possibly a surplus tariff on countries violating human rights. Furthermore, an annual business and corporate license be levied based on the degree of activity and which cannot be passed onto the consumer. Lower license fees to be granted to environmentally sensitive activity, and those engaged in approved infra-structure public works. Under no circumstances would lobbying be permitted during the structuring of this new tax. 7. Big Oil producers should be made to revitalized the thousands of abandoned rigs within the country because of cheaper foreign oil even if the government has to subsidize them to keep prices at fair market value. Decentralization of energy must end. The government should subsidize the coal companies to genuinely meet environmental standards while a national commitment to environmental friendly resources are developed. 8. Social Security is a public trust, not private. I should suggest only that a Czar, such as the former secretary of treasury, invest a small percentage of social security in iron-clad stocks or bonds to enhance the general fund — far better than to leave it to the schemers in brokerage houses to fleece individuals. To ease the wariness of future retirees — under the current tax base — make IRAs mandatory in pre-approved mutual funds for the little people and perhaps met by the federal government at 25¢ on the dollar; or Gore’s social security plus. 9. “Soft” and “Hard” should be eliminated; for years now I have been checking off the $3 box for funding presidential campaigns, thinking perhaps the next year they will actually increase my tax by that amount. Campaign reform will never happen unless all taxpayers are directly taxed, perhaps, $10 for all federal election campaigns. States should do the same by adding a dollar or two to the license tag or whatever for their own elections. Politicians are supposed to be leaders, not beggars — spare them the indignity. Moreover, free air waves should be given back to the people: under no circumstances should broadcast-profiteers accept negative ads, nor be allowed to charge for positive ads [extolling carefully screened merits of the candidate, not the other guy] and further be forced set aside equal time for all contenders to debate. National debates and town meetings should be equally divided among the major networks and cable news. 10. The arms-race is indeed over: There are enough natural disasters without our contributing to one that will end in total destruction. Along with global warming we should be concerned about flooding and forest fires. If Holland could build docks centuries ago, are we so backward that we cannot control flooding? And explain to me when we have B52 carpet bombing, we cannot utilize them in bombing the fires with millions of gallons of water or fire extinguisher material, in lieu of the pathetic image of helicopters dropping single bags of water at a time? In this day and age is it impossible to drill down into cataclysmic faults and extinguish the coming fury below? Is it far-fetched to bomb the hell out of tornadoes and hurricanes with those horizontal people killers? All this is fantasy because the Republican Party — star wars being the exception — will never let go its foothold on the 19th century, let alone the 20th . As my Uncle Pete from Jersey City often said at his favorite pub: show me a Republican and I’ll show you his selfish streak. 11. I should have no objection to “star wars” if it were feasible and sensibly priced; but for a dummy test at $100million is ridiculous. Leave it to science some fifty years hence. In the meantime let us set up a defense against poverty and indifference to health care. Dick Kennedy Tamarac FL
PS Only a few weeks ago I sent you a colossal $2.34. I try not to show favorites and gave the same to other Senators up for re-election. But because you are my kind of guy, I’ll send you $5.34 more.
November 21, 2002 To The Honorable Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi: First, congratulations on your new position. Already the pundits and Republicans are licking their chops over the mincemeat the “new” left will serve them. Odd, isn’t it, that San Francisco Liberal is splattered all over the TV and newspaper columns, but there is never a peep about DeLay the Storm Trooper? Already you have been cautioned to do precisely what you have been chosen not to do! Obviously you know that a party of principle cannot have it both ways. We got our butts kicked because the party was intimidated by the president’s popularity and his deception to continue indefinitely the status of warrior. Yet it was clear last summer that his popularity was falling, so Rove developed the diversion. The House Democrats didn’t play into it; unfortunately the Senate did. From that point on Nader’s echo “there’s no difference between the major parties” haunted the ‘02 election.
The Democrats did have a message — Gore, Kennedy, Wellstone, Byrne, Graham, and Levin spoke loud and clear. Moreover, numerous Democratic members of the House voted against the war and homeland security, yet did not get coverage as to why — Kusinich did get some air time; apparently you didn’t. Voters are hard of hearing in the left ear when decisions are complicated and prefer the... duh... simplistic deception of the President — what the Georgia voters did to a heroic senator is despicable, let alone Minnesota turning a deaf ear to a venerable statesman and besmirched the memory of the Little Champion. The crucial deception should have been exposed for what it was in truth: the president was more interested in union-busting than security and made it an issue as though civil employees were allowed to strike when it goes without saying a president in time of war has built-in flexibility to shut down restive employees. Thus, Bush made an issue of a non-existent scenario; the Democrats let him get away with it. Also during the campaign the Democrats in the senate failed to stress that because of their persistence the probable war with Iraq will be far different from the approach the administration took when it arrogantly argued that the UN and congress need not be a part of it. Of course, we all know that “Democrats” — Blue Dogs and others in “red states” — have no choice but to walk on eggs, but there is no excuse for the likes of Hillary and Kerry to do likewise — though in all fairness, Hillary, in particular, made it clear that she expects the administration to exercise wisdom in its venture. Even now you in your new position has had to water down your progressiveness by voting for the outrageous midnight incursion of the new homeland security bill. I trust your thinking is that it will take years for the department to take effect and by that time you she will have led the “new” party to make changes. Nevertheless, the simple voter does not engage in such subtleties and Nader’s outrageous chant drowns out common sense. What the Democrats need — instead of trying to get out the vote which will be even more difficult with campaign reform unless they adopt Wellstone’s “ground” campaign — is to try to induce unions, liberal magazines, concerned citizens, pro-choice, NCPSSM, AARP, and NOW to pool resources and purchase a cable channel. Why should there be so many religious channels, Fox and CNBC that are in varying degrees rightist when the left is glaringly missing from the spectrum? — not to mention radio stations. Furthermore, high-profile liberals from both houses should far more often appear on Sunday talk shows, and join cable talking heads in order to counter outlandish comments from the right. To expect the Donahue show to do it alone is absurd. The era of the New York Post being more liberal than the Times is long lost — the only redeeming factor is that the American Journal and Herald Tribune are gone too. Even without its own channel the Democrats need to voice its tried and true objectives suitable to the new millennium. Gore it seems is beginning to this — Christopher Hitchens, the reprobate, notwithstanding. Perhaps Gore — despite his half million plurality — is not an ideal candidate, but for now he’s the only voice in town to counter the runaway president and to bolster the party to give birth to a vision. Of course, there is the prevailing problem of the voter — as Andy Rooney might say most who do vote don’t know why they do and those that don’t vote are comatose. For true democracy to work they must be educated and awakened: the same can be said of the Democratic congress. If they continue to fail in reaching the masses, the consequences will not just be a Republican majority well into the century but an oppressive oligarchy. The Democrats must eradicate the perception that the voter does not feel secure with them. The party should remind the voter that it was the Clinton administration that secured Bosnia and Kosova and made headway with North Korea until Bush botched it up. It was Clinton that modernized the armed services that made it possible for Rumsfeld to contemplate two fronts, even though in the 2000 campaign Bush outrageously and ironically claimed the military was unprepared even for one front. Frontline troops — oblivious to Clinton’s achievements — in preparation for Iraq marvel at the vast technological improvements in contrast to Gulf I. Given that Clinton did not have the patriotic thrust of 9/11, he nevertheless should have been more relentless in trying to reach Iraqi solution through diplomacy to ease the embargo and no-fly zones in exchange for disarmament and no-nonsense inspections. Still, the Republican attack that he did nothing should be countered with the glaring evidence that he by no means handled Saddam with kid-gloves. Moreover, Bush himself shares the blame for not first making a diplomatic attempt by suggesting ways the three alienated, fractious zones within Iraq be united before he embarked on warmongering and threatening the UN. In light of the elections, The Emerging Democratic Majority by Juris and Teixira previewed in the New Republic could be laughable except the growing Democratic “ideopolis” vote jeopardizing the Republican Red States has substance and the war and security anomaly postponed the trend. Still, the party must be diplomatic and yet firm with the Democrats in the southern belt. Of course, Zell Miller is hopeless; let him go Republican with good riddance. Allow the south to be pro-gun, pro-life, and soft on civil rights, but tolerating their stance on the war without skepticism, their disregard for health care, unions and job protection, indifference to poverty, rural plight and progressive taxation cannot be tolerated. The party must be unrelenting in giving the whys and wherefores of a rollback on taxes for the rich. It must — as Hillary is beginning to launch — an appeal to patriotism whereby the top percentile must make sacrifices in time of war. Recall the dollar- a- year patriots of WWII. To safeguard the economy a modest tax cut for consumers will stimulate the marketplace. The balance, say, some $750 million must be earmarked for home defense and infrastructure to create jobs. Obviously, this will not come to fruition, but with enough strategic publicity it will eventually seep into the voters’ collective consciousness and conscience. Where is the patriotism in the medical insurance industry? They should be attacked daily for their unconscionable annual double digit increases in face of economic growth at a halt. A decade ago Hillary scared the hell out of them, and they held the line for a time. Where is the sacrifice of the bank’s cash cow, the credit card branch? Challenge them to lower rates that would significantly help in restoring the economy. Insist they declare a moratorium on interest payments for those bordering on bankruptcy, provided the customers make payments on the principal. Set up a commission of senior citizens to promote Medicare for their children and grandchildren. Have them demonstrate how the single payer actually works well. As an alternative congressmen should flood the mails with the benefits of low cost federal health insurance because of vast pooling in contrast to the high cost of other insurance, especially offered by small business.
The Democrats should waste no time in developing a multi- point program to offset the runaway of the conservatives: ● Since everyone is payroll taxed for Medicare, it should be phased in for all ages beginning with the uninsured who must be additionally taxed on their medicare at triple the current rate or 4.35%., netting approximately $23 billion to the coffers. Businesses not offering reasonable insurance would have to match the increased tax. ● Prescription drugs for seniors rather than a nominal fee withheld annually would be simply a $5 co-pay for mail-in 90 day prescriptions and $15 at the pharmacy. ● Minimum wage increased to $9 for full time workers and $7.50 for part-timers. ● All non-frontline employees in the new homeland security department are to retain their full civil employee rights. Legitimate transfer hardships — except for high alert — must be given a hearing. ● Coupled with strong accountability, public education is given preferential appropriations in relationship to charter schools and vouchers with the aim of phasing out all vouchers and charters — including Jerry Brown’s outrageous military school. Except for approved texts, transportation, and remediation no allocations are granted to private and religious schools. “100,000 more teachers in the classrooms” should be re-echoed. And whatever happened to “No child left behind”? When home, congresspersons should make a point to visit local schools. ● Armed intervention, unless approved by the UN, or NATO, or a clear matter of self-defense declared by Congress, shall not be tolerated. ● A voluntary youth organization should be introduced for the express purpose of homeland defense and trained by local hospitals, public safety and rescue operations. ● Foreign policy should emphasize peaceful problem-solving in conjunction with a pervasive Marshall Plan for nations willing to embrace human rights and democracy. ● The party can no longer be beholden to environmentalist without exercising common sense in minimizing job loss and industry disruptions. Suggest a fool-proof ANWR geological report on its potential. If the reservoirs are minuscule it is not worth ecological damage. However, if in fact it can soon lead significantly in curtailing imports, then careful government drilling oversight in protecting wildlife is necessary. Moreover there are many abandoned rigs within the states that should be revitalized even if the government has to subsidize them. In addition, the government should subsidize the coal industry to genuinely meet environmental standards while pursuing aggressively developing environmentally friendly resources. There must be negotiations on how best to protect our forests. Environmentalists must be willing to accept the reality of the chain-saw to rid the rot infesting forests. The party must not relent on the partnership with the auto industry established by Clinton [PNGV] to put into production new hybrid engines; particularly it must hammer away at the American auto producers, lest they fall behind the foreign makers, and stress that rather than job loss, the industry will create more jobs. ● To counter the “privatization” right, with a Czar, such as former Secretary Rubin, to oversee a small percentage in iron-clad stocks or bonds to enhance the general fund; or simply as McIntyre of Citizens for Tax Justice suggests raise the interest rate when government taps into it. For individual accounts offer Gore’s social security Plus option. For the very poor and disinterested youth of low income, offer a $25 US Bond for every three purchased. For those fortunate to have pensions, it goes without saying that protection reform is paramount, meaning corporate pensions will be managed by a board of trustees. Another thing: I am sick and tired of hearing about the cost of Social Security, which is nil — stop the monthly checks and Jeb Bush would have no state to govern. The beauty of these check is that they are immediately cashed and circulated for the extraordinary prosperity of every single community in the nation and ultimately returned as taxation. Conduct a survey on just how many jobs are directly generated by social security. ● In face of the inevitability of more tax-cuts to come, appeal to patriotism and begin a War Bond drive to help finance the war on terrorism and home defense. ● Campaign reform is going to prove disaster for the Democrats. Counter with eliminating all private financial support by changing the Presidential election check off box on the tax return to read Campaign reform for all national elections — increase it to $5, then actually add it to tax owed or deducted from refund. This should appeal to the vast majority that claim to be fed up with high-roll lobbying, and the funds could be apportioned to the presidential and congressional elections. However, to excite the voters, legislation must be passed to take back the free air waves and insist on free positive ads only and demand free debates and town meetings from all broadcasters, national and local. In addition limit mailing expense, particularly the annoying junk-mail manner in which practically every senator solicited voters across the country — there is e-mail, as you know — better, would be to place ads in heralding Democratic websites and hopefully facilitating contributions by credit card. I know you are wealthy and a great fund-raiser, but McAuliffese has to go — somehow you must hold fund raisers for Middle America — picnics, county fairs, campus booster clubs, PTA, assorted benevolent associations, senior clubs, hospitals and share in the take. Encourage Congress to air their views to their constituents in local papers’ op-ed pages and to hold frequent town meetings and cajole local channels to cover them, at least in part. ● The time has come for the national guard and the airforce to fight forest fires. It is pathetic to see helicopters flying over and releasing a paltry amount of water or extinguisher matter. Put the B-52s to work and more hands at the hoses. Army engineers should be directed toward flood areas and engaged in preventive measures. ● Missile defense [star wars] tests at $100 million a clip should be stopped until more research is achieved to make it practicable. ● In the current economy, welfare reform is not going to work, unless jobs are created. The unemployed must be put to work vis-a-vis WPA, and women with children could be mobilized into day care centers and others freed to do other community work. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander — if deficits are okay for tax-cuts and war, then so it is for prosperity. ● JFK’s reduction of the marginal rate from 90% — that worked well from FDR to Eisenhower — to 70% marked the beginning of the end for progressive taxation. The only way to defeat Republican tax cuts is to scrap the present tax code and — never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever call for this — push for a progressive national tax beginning at 5% on all goods and services, together with sharply graduated excise rate up to perhaps 40% on luxury items anywhere from fashions, gourmet foods, mansions, elaborate toys, exercisers, sports and entertainment, gambling, guns, foreign travel, ad-infinitum. To offset loss of corporate tax, annual license fees on all businesses geared to level of activity and revenue. Lower fees to businesses engaged in approved infrastructure and public works and those engaged in environmentally sensitive activity. The party must turn away lobbyists during the formation of a new tax structure. Pay roll tax with the exception of income would be retained, along with the self-employed. An alternative could be a throw back to Jerry Brown and his flat tax modified so that it maxes out [for the time being] at 40%. ● Democrats must push for a UN intervention as mediator and peace-keeper in the Palestine-Israel catastrophe. ● Above all, the Democratic party can no longer be intimidated by wavering centrists bordering on me-too-ism. It should be aggressive on its traditional governance of justice and prosperity for all without biting off more than it can chew. Trial lawyers have had their honeymoon now it is time to compensate victims passionately but reasonably by a guaranteed right to petition the justice department, state and federal. Gun laws have run its course; now the party must be forceful in enforcing existing ones and perceiving the NRA as irrelevant. The party must champion agricultural matters by the likes of Harkin giving it a high profile in national discussions equal to crime and narcotics. Pro-choice, though key to the party, must nevertheless not be made an issue unless grossly and directly challenged by the right — let them rant and rave and the women’s vote will resist. ● Gore, taking a cue from The Nation [“Operation Endless Deployment”], fears the trend toward world dominance and scattering our troops in harm’s way in particularly dangerous areas. Terrorists will not have to fly planes into American buildings with so many US bivouacs conveniently located. The party must not only urge Marshall Plan thinking in foreign policy, but to take umbrage at the arrogant bellicose language of the administration. The nation would be far better off concentrating on enhancing the armament of NATO for a strong defense against terrorism and rogue states. Further it is imperative that Russia become a member in order to ease its understandable fear of US troops so close to its borders. The war on terrorism should be mainly defensive. The Navy should be more concerned over protecting our ports than the Persian Gulf by intercepting suspected ships twelve miles out. The Army would be of greater value protecting our borders. Even in Afghanistan, now that the Taliban is eradicated in so far as harboring terrorists goes, special forces should not be trying to ferret out terrorists but rather more garrisons should be placed there to set up a defensive line around Kabul and steadily edge toward securing the entire nation while the coalition builds a modern infrastructure. When the new national army is forged, its function should be to rout out recalcitrant war lords and Al Qaeda. In the meantime Pakistan should be encouraged to clean up the havens for Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists. The Middle East should clean up its own act by aggressively — as did Egypt with some success — developing its own special forces to terminate terrorists. The US attitude should not be if you don’t do it we will, but rather, as in the Philippines, we will advise for a brief duration. The party must draw up a plan of withdrawal from the Middle East, beginning with Saudi Arabia. If it turns out that we have invaded Iraq, we must be a minuscule part of a coalition of occupation. A full diplomatic press with the aid of China and Russia must be made in Korea to unite the country so that our troops are withdrawn — a fifty year truce is absurd. Finally we must end the paranoia over Castro — the hell with Miami — and restore diplomatic relations with Cuba. ● The Democratic party must emphasize the dire need for rebuilding America and restoring its prosperity. Infrastructure from transportation to cleaning up slums by massive public works, and zeroing in on ending rural poverty by developing communities with jobs and facilitating agricultural marketing and exports for small farms. ● A war on violence and drugs within the nation is essential. There should be the cry for another 100,000 policemen on the streets. The Coast Guard and Border Patrol must be beefed up to diminish incoming narcotics and illegal immigrants. Preferential treatment for Cuban immigrants must end. A commission on aid to Haiti, headed by President Carter, should be espoused in determining the countries needs and then funds appropriated with strict oversight. ● The party must no longer use phrases like getting out the black, immigrant, or minority vote, as though it is no longer a party of all the people. Profiling voters doesn’t work; dynamic ideas do. In short, Democrats, fight for what’s right, dammit!
Richard R. Kennedy Tamarac FL PS. When was the last time a President jawboned big business — JFK vs. the steel industry? I want a minority leader who will jawbone greedy lobbyists and shame them for their unpatriotic self-interests. December 19, 2002
Lott Has Lots of Company The problem isn’t Senator Lott; he has not only apologized for his gaffe in the enthusiasm of the moment but vows to reshape his inborn beliefs. The real problem is with the southern mentality dangerously spreading through out the country; it simply will not let the confederacy — and all the evil that is within it — fade away gracefully. The confederate flag is still with the southern tier in variable forms. The KKK is still alive, though surreptitiously. However, the Christian Right — including an alarming number of conservative Catholics and more moderate denominations — the so-called Moral Majority, is robust in planting seed for the demise of separation of church and state and is the catalyst of school choice and the elimination of a woman’s right to choose; it dominates the air-waves and cable to spread its twisted nationalism — such as boycotting Disney’s acceptance of homosexual employees and unconditionally supportive of war and defense spending — all in the name of Jesus. Having finally [1995!] redressed its pro-slavery past and resistance to civil rights, it nonetheless, shrewdly plays to the ancient paranoia of the southern whites to emasculate the black vote. Small wonder that Lott is nostalgic for Strom Thurmond’s insidious past — alas, he is not alone. December 24, 2002 Wake Up America
Will the egocentric voter ever take on responsibility to the nation? Will the politician ever see beyond his/her big donors? The egoists consoled themselves that in voting for “home security” at the expense of working civil employees giving up their rights was following JFK’s words: “ask not what the country can do for you...” as they left the polling place, hopped in their SUVs in following the president’s version of sacrifice to head for the shopping malls. The sound and fury of the Democratic politicians ended in a whimper by voting for another war. Senator Graham was one of the few exceptions because we were already in a war that required untiring focus. Soon after 9/11 Congress appropriated billions for home defense, yet went unspent while the administration wrapped themselves in the Iraqi threat. Senator Lieberman created another diversion by insisting on a home security department equal to cabinet level status in face of knowing it would take years to be put into practice. Meanwhile Graham is trying desperately to get the administration’s attention in safeguarding our ports, and transportation infrastructure. The nation didn’t care because it was caught up in the fantasy of a new threat from Iraq; our great republic stopped waving the flag for the troops in Afghanistan in favor of the anticipation of draping the land in new yellow ribbons. After elections the lame-duck congress voted for union-busting home security in order to pave the way for the president to hand out bonuses for his sacrificing appointees. Few voters recall the dollar- a- year- patriots of WWII. Even fewer recall the Herculean union sweathogs that worked the homefront round the clock to defeat the real Axis. The nation heralded the courageous union fire-fighters and policemen at ground zero, then went back to its old ways of Reaganism and revived its hatred for unions, upstaging the scandalous corporations. The new majority of voters are unconscionable and goose-stepping the nation back to the 19th Century’s robber barons and the ghastly untouchable masses: Minimum wage is a dirty word, after all, low life should stay that way; were it not for pro-life, welfare mothers would have had their tubes tied; Haitian immigration is geared to the demand for weed-cutters; income tax must be cut but insurance rates can touch the sun, and sales and user tax can reach the moon; Medicare for everyone will not be realized until there are over 100 million uninsured; education for profit is the wherewithal to weed out union infested public schools; if breathing is a problem it is not the environment, stupid, just say no to cigarettes; since there is no longer a draft, it is okay to put the defense department’s toys to dramatic use. Women Democrats in New England do not belong in high positions; the deceased senator from Missouri was simply too much of a commoner; the Vietnam hero senator from Georgia was in bed with bin Laden; black candidates for senator and governor in Texas were Don Quixote and Sancho. Had Lincoln been privy to a crystal ball and saw the Deep South’s atrocious voting record that followed — spreading like cancer throughout the nation — he would have allowed secession. January 13, 2003 Economic Justice Why are we discussing tax cuts again when the country is ostensibly in a state of war and another to come? Apparently $1.3 trillion wasn’t enough for this irresponsible administration. If anything, Washington should be developing a tax increase for home defense and revenue sharing to states in dire need. The phony argument of tax free dividends encouraging investment is just another ploy by Bush. There are already $ trillions invested in the stock market which is in the main only interested in the bottom line and not thinking of true growth that would entail growing American jobs, not foreign. The nonsense from both parties, whether giving to the poor or the rich, does not address the enduring problem in how to develop decent living and affordable health care for the untold millions who are without and even more millions who are just getting by — on two incomes. Where’s the outrage when it comes to the robber barons of the insurance industry and credit card usurers? Why should the federal government always have to roll back while state government keeps piling it on? Why a $300 check to the average person when he is shelling out megabucks in insurance and credit card interest? In lieu of Congressman Wexler’s wanting a moratorium on payroll tax — putting the government in a deeper hole — it is time to pressure the insurance companies and banks to do their share. Also, why not raise the minimum wage a couple of bucks? Small businesses that can’t face up to it shouldn’t be in business; nor, for that matter should corporations that cannot grow the nation. The shadows being cast are ghosts of the Depression when the business world failed a nation. If industry’s magnates are not careful the New Deal will be back to direct the nation toward purposeful action and labor. Had the sense of economic justice and selfless activity been allowed to go unhindered throughout the 20th Century there would not be the shame of education unraveling, homelessness growing, drug addiction spreading, infrastructure deteriorating, entertainment going mad, criminally wasteful campaign spending, and the selfish obsession with driving down income tax that is the first line of defense against those who want only a divided and weak nation. A truly inspired administration — cleansed of warmongering — would be leading the nation to greatness by a national reconstruction act, a Marshall plan for the domestic front, together with global leadership through moral persuasion in tandem with relentless commitment to terminating terrorists . front {pro& con] |
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