Shooting One's Foot Off
Today, on the way to Mother's Day Brunch, I casually picked up a Tea Party Newsletter in our local restaurant. As I read it briefly, my wife warned me to, "Put it down, it will only make you mad."
I read a couple articles briefly. One was lamenting the "true cause" of the economic recession we are in.
The other lamented the huge tax burden Americans are laboring under.
Both topics are standard stuff for the tea party crowd.
But, I know both authors. They are regular working class people; not store owners, nor are they "professionals".
Redding, my home town, is a small city, very conservative since about 1970, and home to quite a large tea party contingent. Currently a big news item concerns a tea party member who was handing out leaflets at the city library. Some citizens protested, wanting to be left alone when they visited the public library. The ACLU and the Tea Party are both arguing that it is free speech, and cannot be restricted. I suppose they will win out, First Amendment and all.
I digress; the topics of the two articles in the newsletter was what most caught my eye; and ire!
The reason for the Great Recession is (are you ready?) THE UNIONS!
In spite of the fact that union membership is at its lowest point in fifty years, unions caused the Great Recession.
Of course this is utter nonsense. But, it echoes the propaganda of Fox News right down the line.
The other article lambasted the size of government, calling for immediate and deep spending cuts to "balance the budget".
Nowhere was there any mention of the true cause of the "deficit". Of course, it all is Obama and the Democrat's fault.
Wrong again. Over 70% of the federal deficit was developed during the Bush Presidency because of the tax cuts, and fighting two wars at the same time (plus spending like there was no tomorrow, giving tax benefits to every corporation on earth, deregulation of the financial sector; etc.).
Without wasting time refuting the same old garbage that Fox regurgitates every day, something else is really bothersome.
The people who wrote these articles are regular people like me, except not college graduates. They are parroting what they hear on Fox News almost like robots.
This robotic allegiance to untruth and lies is alarming. I see it everyday, when I approach conservatives they are united in their allegiance to Fox News talking points.
The power of propaganda is amazing.
These people are arguing exactly against their own self interest. Redding used to be a union town. Wages were good. In the last twenty years unions have been broken, poverty has exploded, unemployment is over twenty percent, and the tea party blames the unions?
There are no unions to blame!
And, what is worse, is a total misunderstanding of the tax burden in California and the nation. All statistics point to the current tax burden in the United States as being the LOWEST IN SIXTY YEARS!
You would never know that if you listen to Fox News, or the the tea party. California's overall tax burden is something like fifteenth in the U.S., remarkable since California is the most populous state. A conservative legislative minority, thanks to the 2/3 requirement to raise taxes, is right now stopping all constructive efforts to deal with the state's deficit, leaving only huge spending cuts as a remedy.
All of this will dramatically and negatively affect Redding, California, since state government and education are a mainstay of the economy. Hundreds of teachers have received pink slips. If that payroll is reduced, the effect on the local economy will be devastating.
In a very real sense, the tea party is shooting its members' feet off to spite their faces.
They are so brainwashed that they are literally working against themselves. And, they are working very hard, water carriers for the rich (who they detest by the way). But, they trust Fox News implicitly.
Which, of course, is exactly what Fox News works for. Fool all the people all the time, get them to vote against themselves, and the rich will get richer.
Pathetic!
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