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Stop Stealing Money from My Kids
I know this isn't news to this community, but anyone that takes an
honest intellectual look at the Bush tax cuts knows that they have
basically been a transfer of wealth from one generation (my kids) to
another (my parents). Mr. Bush has borrowed enormous sums of money from
China in order to keep the war going while extending his tax cuts in
the biggest shell game of all time, these loans will eventually have to
be paid off...blah, blah, blah. There have been many articles, white
papers, and a few books written on this subject.
The problem,
sadly, is that not many Americans are willing to listen to an argument
until it's put into a bumper sticker. The most effective political
arguments can always be summed up on a bumper sticker. I don't like it.
I wish that the average American had an attention span greater than the
average fruit fly - but hey - If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.
I
know that we Democrats think that our positions are too nuanced and
sophisticated to be summed up in 10 words or less, but we need to start
trying. Think about all of the bumper sticker policies we've had rammed
down our throats over the last 7 years, and imagine if we embraced this
rhetorical tool for reaching our goals. Remember the "Patriot Act", the
"Clean Air Act", the "Defense of Marriage Act","Death Tax Reform", the
"Gulf Opportunity Zone","Shock and Awe","Cut and Run"? The list is
endless, and most of them have two common traits: They promoted bad
ideas and they promoted them effectively.
We need to
get over our intellectual biases and start distilling our ideas into
bumper stickers. Like Barack tried to say the other day, we don't want
to bring a knife to a gunfight anymore. Bumper sticker slogans are
powerful political tools, and right now, Republicans are way better at
using them. My post title is one example I heard and liked, here is
another:
Democratic Position: Most of the key players in the
Bush Administration actively avoided military service but had no
problem taking the country to war.
Bumper Sticker used to great effect by Jim Webb and others: These Guys are Chicken Hawks.
Democratic Position (Directly from the DNC Site):
We will end the Republican culture of corruption and restore a
government as good as the people it serves, starting with real ethics
reform.
How would you put this into a bumper Sticker?
Try it, I bet we could come up with a few good ones, don't stop at this policy goal, there are five more on the DNC site, to start with.
Comments (38)
MassDem:
Nice blog topic!
The GOP thinktanks in the 70's, frustrated over the counter culture, etc., spent a lot of time sorting out issues for their constituencies. This is where the concept of "family values" gathered hold.
Of course, they were also clever in taking an already bad concept "politically correct" from the left and making it doubly bad to use against the left.
This had nothing to do with bumper stickers... only money for funding the thinktanks. That's assuming, of course, you feel that this type of mind share game is worth playing.
You are right about borrowing from tomorrow to pay for today.
Humans have a tendency to do this. Even without any tax issues, look at the US consumption of gas go up after we reduced consumption in the 70's/early 80s due to the oil shocks.
I maintain that every generation tends to use up the earth without thinking about future generations. This has nothing to do with taxes, the GOP, or political parties.
The issue is how humans, collectively, view the environment around them. And we, as a group, are mostly motivated by fear and greed.
Sad, but true.
June 16, 2008 10:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Birth Tax. (As has been suggested around here in the past...)
June 16, 2008 10:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
GOP = Bad For Business.
June 16, 2008 10:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not true. The Dems are just as bad. The regulations coming out of Congress are rather oppressive and hurt exactly the type of person that neither party wants to harm: the small business guy.
As a more twisted example: some of the federal regs on workman's insurance coverage are so crazy that it's literally impossible to find anyway to satisfy them if you are in the state of CA (where no insurance company will uphold a policy in line with the fed regs)!
June 16, 2008 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
clearthinker - What insurance coverage ISN'T completely FUBAR for every segment of business?
My point is to come up with a slogan that sticks, and works for Electing Barack Obama President. My opinion is that on-balance, Democrats are better for business. I happen to think the definition of business also includes "work" and "worker's experiences" at their places of business. So, for the Wal-Mart employee, Republicans have been more oppressive than any regulations or paperwork.
And you definitely can't say that Republicans don't want to harm the small business guy. Wal-Mart & Cabellas & BassPro, et al. are specifically designed to systematically destroy small businesses, all while funneling tax dollars into ownership's pockets.
See "Tax Increment Financing" (George W. Bush's bread & butter...)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_increment_financing)
See "Free Lunch", by David Cay Johnston: (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17808622)
June 17, 2008 12:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wal-Mart only affects certain sectors. Let's be honest, however: it isn't the GOP that destroys communities this way, it's the patrons of the stores!
http://www.jibjab.com/originals/big_box_mart
Truthfully, I've never met a politician that hasn't fallen all over themselves to help small businesses... because small businesses are the ones that truly create local jobs -- and the politicians know it.
Much of the legislation that cripples small business started off as being well intentioned.
June 17, 2008 12:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Anyway, Clearthinker, I don't know the exact nuts & bolts of what's good and bad for small business. But I really wish we could make a dent in the myth that Democrats are toxic for business. Now seems like a good time to come up with a pithy, long-lasting slogan that strikes at the heart of that myth.
June 17, 2008 2:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
It would be nice to puncture what you call the myth. The problem is that many Dems really do like to push worker benefits that small companies can't handle. In CA, for example, you are required by law to provide healthcare as soon as the business is more than a single person.
George Bush was a small business the way I am an oil tycoon!
I would like issues of small business and support of the middle class to be bipartisan. After all, it's always been on the backs of the middle class that the economy has run.
Strengthening the dollar would help us all out -- but that would imply spreading some hardship around and that becomes problematic as well.
June 17, 2008 2:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Support of small businesses is an important issue and one I believe the Republicans have successfully captured in years past.
I'm unfamiliar with California small business laws. Do they require the employer to pay a specific percentage of the one employee's health benefits?
As with everything, this is all interrelated. People shop at Wal-mart because their products are inexpensive. Perhaps they need to save money somewhere as gas prices rise, or health premiums go up, or health care expenses in general rise as the value of the dollar continues to fall. Faulting those who shop at Wal-mart may be easy, but it doesn't capture the entire picture. Indeed, I know several other small business owners who not only shop there for privately used goods, but for their business goods as well.
Creating an environment that has encouraged large corporations without nurturing additional entrepreneurship and small business start-ups is part of the reason we have come to live in country increasingly dominated by corporations. The demand in the market for cheap goods another part. Many factors need to be first recognized and then addressed in crafting legislation and regulations that will best serve all interested parties.
June 17, 2008 12:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
C'mon...nice way to mix in issues! Most people are cheap. They go for the cheapest prices -- even in the 1990's which were supposedly great economic times. This is when Wal-Mart did much of their damage to local communities.
I've always shopped and supported those who provide service. But I know people, for example, who will go into a Mom-and-Pop store (hardware, electronic equipment, you name it), talk the ear off the educated floor-walker to get lots of free advice -- and then run to Wal-Mart/Best Buy/etc to purchase.
You have to practice your business the way you hope others will respond!
Again, this is greed. Most VCs today, for example, would prefer to invest in a software business where there is little overhead and maximum gain. In addition, I've talked to many VCs on Sand Hill Rd and have learned that much of their investment dollars go to fund the up-and-coming companies in China.
Yep, they will nurture where they get the most bang for the buck.
Bottom line: You have to act like you care about your local environment (including business culture). But people are driven by fear and greed.
If they can't overcome that instinct, no amount of legislation will help.
June 17, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think you may underestimate the extent to which people are simply, for lack of a better word, squeezed. Separating the issues does not get to the heart of the problem, arguably the first step in reaching a solution.
Yes, the 90s gave us a strong economy, in no small part because of the technology boom. However, if you look back at the numbers, some studies have shown that the poor actually got poorer, while the middle class either stayed put or were slightly worse off. This was a trend more noticeable in certain geographic areas than others. The rich, of course, got much richer.
It is not the rich however who need worry about living on a budget as the lower-to-middle classes do. Of course people like cheap things. Why do you think that is? Are people inherently cheap? Of course not. Money is a created thing. Something we grow up around and our views on money are created in the environment in which we exist.
Many of America's middle class families are seeing their home values plummet right now, the value of the dollar is falling as everything from gas prices to food prices skyrocket. It should come as no surprise that people are going to try to cut costs where they can to pay for what they need. And of course, this comes full circle, and demonstrates the interrelatedness of all these issues, in that many small business owners who aren't in the business of selling "needs" are suffering. What do you think will be the first thing to go? Milk? Bread? Gasoline? Gym membership? Yoga class? That extra coffee and bagel? A nice gourmet dinner out?
In the end, if you're trying to put food on the table for your family on an increasingly tight budget, whether or not you think its ethical to shop at Walmart will be a moot point.
June 17, 2008 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
But I digress. I didn't intend to start this discussion over the reasons and merits of shopping at Walmart. I'm more interested in talking of ways of moving the Democrats towards a platform that encourages and nurtures small-businesses and entrepreneurs while still protecting the needs and rights of workers.
Also, I'm very curious about the California laws regarding employer provided healthcare - could you tell me a bit more?
June 17, 2008 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/09/business/09sbiz.html
It's worse since 2004 (when this article was published). In fact, it's so bad that despite the great weather and a more aggressive attitude towards investment, businesses are leaving CA.
June 18, 2008 1:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Fear and Greed?" See, this all came back full circle to...
---> GOP = Bad For Business. :)
June 17, 2008 6:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Get Free Gas!! Hug a Republican!!
June 16, 2008 10:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, shoot. It's supposed to be: Squeeze a Republican!
I've just been so busy hugging people lately...
Sorry.
June 16, 2008 10:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
I read somewhere today that people with bumper stickers were more territorial and more likely to be involved in road rage. Nevertheless, how about,
"Stop Giving to the Rich!"
I think the problem with that approach, though, is that middle class Americans are just as resentful of the government giving money to the poor, as to the rich. Perhaps even more so.
June 16, 2008 11:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Correct. One of the things I see the sloganeers here forget is that the middle class is very much screwed -- not poor enough to qualify for assistance and not rich enough not to care.
There's a reason why Obama has that donut hole.
For what it's worth, the middle class is fairly large, especially when you consider this definition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_class#Current_usage
I will also point out that the middle class comes from the mercantile class and really is what drove the structure of the civilization we take for granted today.
June 16, 2008 11:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
And indeed they have stolen from our children. The "birth tax" is now $31,000 with interest of $325 per month. We either pay it with tax money or add it to the kids' tab.
Ok, my bumper sticker:
Manage Public Resources for the Public Good
clearthinker, in terms of racking up debt, the GOP has been worse. Actually, since WWII, every president has reduced debt as a % of GDP except Reagan, Bush and Bush.
Plus, under the GOP we've become endebted ($1 billion a day) to China, which is now also our manufacturing sector. We're losing ground in a highly competitive world.
June 17, 2008 12:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, those are *today's* numbers. For tomorrow's keep checking:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
I agree that the GOP has racked up more debt... did I say they haven't?
One of my biggest complaints about the GOP is that the so-called conservative people aren't any more fiscally conservative than the liberal spenders.
However, the Clinton's didn't help much: the financial sector overtook manufacturing as the dominate sector in the US economy under them.
Which explains their many tight ties to Wall Street (as the Bushes have with oil).
You are correct about China. Here is my doomsday scenario: The Chinese are buying up our debt at a huge rate to keep our markets propped up as they develop their manufacturing. At some point, their per capita income rises enough that the Chinese can sell to themselves (a *huge* marketplace) and dump all that US debt and meanwhile stop hoarding their Yuan.
That puts them fairly wealthy and knocks off the US at the same time (they won't need our markets anymore and with the US economy in chaos, we won't be able to cause mischief in their desired spheres of influence).
The only thing that will stop this scenario is that we are at peak oil.
However, they will still be better off then us.
By the way, I wish *this* type of analysis was on TPM -- not whether Hillary got treated fair during the primary season...
June 17, 2008 1:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans pawn kids for guns.
June 17, 2008 4:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Help Control Deficit Spending: Spay or Neuter Your Local Republican"
June 17, 2008 10:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!!
June 17, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Less Jobs,More Wars,McCain 08'.
June 17, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Death to freedom: the Republican way"
June 17, 2008 2:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
MassDem, you make a really great point. It makes sense, after all...
The more educated usually vote Democratic.
The less educated usually vote Republican.
The Democrats' messages are targeted at the higher-educated.
The Republicans' messages are targeted at the less-educated.
Since 1980, Republicans have won 5/7 Elections.
Conclusion: the population really is less educated and more stupid than we give them credit for.
June 17, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Careful - critics will say you're being elitist...
June 17, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Haha! Yes, well, if what the GOP labels as "elitist" is "elitist", I'm glad to be a part of the club.
June 18, 2008 1:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Less educated vote Republican... or Hillary.
Just saying (according to our recent demographical exercises)...!
June 17, 2008 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Probably better on posters than bumper stickers:
"Robin Hood and His Merry Men - Exposing Republicans Since the Middle Ages"
"Republicans - Did They Read Robin Hood BACKWARDS or Something?"
June 17, 2008 2:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I got one - "We work for you, not your boss."
June 17, 2008 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a great one. Really.
June 17, 2008 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just barely short enough for a bumper sticker:
"Vote Republican: Paris Hilton needs another tax cut!"
Way too subtle for a bumper sticker:
"Let's Privatize the National Debt!"
The way Dick and Dubya have stolen from MassDem's kids amounts to this: instead of taxing rich people, they have BORROWED from rich people. Thus, Paris Hilton's daddy's daughter will be owed money by MassDem's daughter in the future. The GOP has sold this scam on the grounds that "people make better decisions about their own money". We should take them at their word, and challenge them to privatize the national debt. Split the check. Assign every American his own share of the debt, to service or pay down as he sees fit. The "average" American now services about $30K of debt, implicitly, through taxes. Under my modest proposal, the average American could just keep servicing his privatized share of the debt, but he would have the additional choice to kick in a bit more and pay down his debt balance. Note: HIS balance, not mine. Should he die with an outstanding balance, it would be HIS kids, not mine, who inherit it. Individual choice! About your own money!! What's not to like?
The answer, of course, is that we would have to figure out how to divvy up the "national" debt into 300 million privatized debt balances. A straight per-capita allocation would lead to absolute rebellion: neither the poor nor the bondholders would stand for it, and for the same reason -- the poor could not afford to pay the interest the bondholders demand. So the allocation would have to be done in some progressive way. Progressivity is to the GOP what garlic is to Dracula. But "privatization" is their answer to everything. By making them discuss "privatizing the national debt" we would, possibly, make the internal inconsistency of their philosophy so blatant that even the "average" American would laugh at them.
-- TP
June 17, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
my bumper sticker would be: GOP to America, "I've got mine, f**k you"
June 17, 2008 7:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let Me Tell You About My Grandchildren's War Debt.
June 17, 2008 7:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Another good one.
June 17, 2008 7:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
How about "F*&k the GOP, because they surely are Fu%&ing you and me!
June 17, 2008 8:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Democrats = Free Lunch?
Republicans = NO Lunch!
June 18, 2008 7:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
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