I’ve been in an e-mail thread with a couple friends about this report that shows poverty is up in NY, while welfare rolls continue to decline.

One of them pointed out:

• average incomes; those that the average joe is making, actually *declined* between 2001 and 2004 despite the purported “growing economy”
• tax breaks on passive income ALL went to the wealthiest.

gee, what a shock. and it’s that top 20% that has kept the economy humming by spending lots of money. but it’s plainly not trickling down in light of the first stat. this shit’s just wrong. so when i tell my kids that republicans hate poor folks, i’m actually spot on. You hate to over generalize, but in this case, all evidence indicates that it’s warranted. They are a truly mean and hateful party. I cant figure out why the occasional seemingly decent person, like John McCain or Colin Powell, would ever want to be associated with such a group of hatemongers.

Then the discussion turned to trickle-down economics, that collection of policies that allows the rich to become ever richer and the poor to become ever poorer by convincing massive amounts of people to vote against their best interests.

No matter how many times these assholes get in power and try it, they will just rename the whole process and people will buy it all over again because they think they will get money back in their pockets.

I doubt very much you will hear “trickle down theory” anymore in the press or propaganda from the GOP, but it’s what they espouse every time they get in power.

The Democrats need to seize on this like the GOP did with the words “tax and spend.” They need to come up with some immediate dismissal of ANY presentation of the trickle-down theory… “Voodoo economics” was good for a while, but people don’t know what it means anymore. “Tax and spend” is a very clear-cut phrase.

The Democrats need to come up with some great marketing catch-phrase that encapsulates all that the modern GOP stands for on the economic front — tax cuts for the wealthy, shifting the majority of the tax burden to EARNED income, spending like there’s no tomorrow, and increasing the size and cost of government to keep closer tabs on you and your family.

It just amazes me as well that all these republican pundits are talking like they’re victims of some democratic/atheistic conspiracy. They’re always the underdogs, aren’t they? They rally against the “mainstream media,” when guys like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity get the highest ratings on terrestrial radio, and FOX News has more viewers than CNN and MSNBC. Recently, they have started crying about the “War on Christianity.” Um, isn’t it true that some 80% of Americans consider themselves “Christian??” Yeah, you poor oppressed souls.

This is not even talking about the fact that the Republicans have now been in TOTAL CONTROL of the government for a few years now, and yet take no responsibility at all for their numerous disasterous missteps, pure-out blunders, and the general overall state that this country is in at the moment. And they still drone on and on about the Ted Kennedys who are just trying to get them to throw some bread to the poor. Honestly. How much longer can they claim to be the “persecuted minority??” It’s total bullshit.

It’s like a bunch of grade-school kids playing “king of the mountain.” The bully at the top isn’t content with holding his ground and fighting for it, no… He just wants everyone else to SIT DOWN and be subject to his rule. Don’t oppress me, you snot-nosed little punks, because I’ll cry like the baby that I am if you even attempt to push me over. I’m the king, and you should respect me just because I’m king, and don’t challenge me or I’ll call the teacher over. Meanwhile, I know you all think I’m the bully, but I’m going to cry and cry and cry about how YOU’RE really the bullies, all trying to push poor little me off this here mountain.

Never mind the fact that the teacher would NOT approve of this bully sitting on top of the mountain, any more than god would approve of the way the GOP is treating the poor and middle-class of this country.

“They’re just lucky we let them buy our oil at $3 a gallon.”

On the way to Subway for lunch today, I tuned into the Randi Rhodes Show and she was reading off count after count of Republicans who had been outspoken against gays, teen sex, etc., and who suddenly found themselves in jail due to sex crimes against minors… You know, that “do as I say not as I do” sort of thing. It was amazing. Name after name after name. Here’s the site from which she was reading. Listed are names of mostly high-ranking GOP-ers who were caught doing some pretty repugnant things. Here’s a couple quotes from the site. Links to the stories are on the site itself:

Ed Schrock, two-term republican congressman, with a 92% approval rating from the Christian Coalition. Cosponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, consistently opposed gay rights. Married, with wife and kids. Withdrew his candidacy for a third term after tapes of him soliciting for gay sex were circulated.

Rick Roach, West Texas Republican district attorney who was elected in 2000 after running a “strong anti-drug campaign.” According to the Washington Times, he was “once publicly praised for his efforts to stamp out narcotics in his part of the Panhandle.” 2205: FBI agents confiscated two handguns from Roach’s briefcase, before raiding his home and discovering “35 more guns, along with a cache of cocaine, methamphetamines, marijuana, scales and syringes.”

Jeffrey Patti, Republican Committee Chairman, was arrested for distributing what experts call “some of the most offensive material in the child pornography world” – a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.

Donald Lukens, Republican Congressman, was found guilty of having sex with a minor – a girl he was accused of sleeping with since she was 13.

Paul Ingram, Republican Party leader of Thurston County, Washington, pleaded guilty to six counts of raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison.

John Fund, of the Wall Street Journal, a prominent anti-abortion columnist and GOP fund raiser. He lost his position after it was revealed that he impregnated the daughter of an old girlfriend and then encouraged her to abort his child.

That is some heavy, heavy stuff… And this is not the worst of it. I highly encourage you to take a look at the site.

It turns out that the reason Randi was brining all this up is because a bigwig in our very own Department of Homeland Security has been caught in the act of soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl over the internet. DHS Deputy Press Secretary, Brian J. Doyle, was just arrested and charged with 23 counts “related to the use of a computer to seduce a child and transmitting harmful materials to a minor.” Turns out this 14-year-old girl he was sending obscene material to and attempting to seduce was actually a Polk County, FL detective. You just gotta love it. I’m hearing more and more people are actually pretending to be children on the internet in order to flush these predators out.

Talk about republican corruption… Yesterday Tom Delay steps down, but he still got some parting shots in and claimed he was going to take down the Texas prosecutor that’s been investigating him and his buddies-in-crime. Then there’s all the criminal activity in the White House that’s bubbling beneath the surface (and that will finally be revealed when the Democrats take over the House & Senate in November).

You have to wonder if this whole “moral values” issue for Republicans is so important to them because they’re repressed? Or because they’re trying to cover up for their activities? Is it just the power that gets to them and makes them think they’re above the law? And even if they’re financially criminal, like so many in this administration, what could possibly ever lead someone to believe that it’s OK to abuse a child in ANY way? What happens to that person’s mind when one of these GOP-ers crosses that line? I mean, they have to know it’s wrong if they’re jumping up on the stump and claiming how bad gays are and how bad sex offenders are, right?

Most of all, why would anyone decide to be a member of the Republican party and thereby align themselves with these kinds of people?

Makes you wonder.

Oh man, you gotta see this story from thinkprogress.org. What did NeoCon Commentator Supreme, Dr. Daniel Pipes, say when asked by a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writer what was the biggest lesson he’s learned from the Iraq war he promoted so strongly? The answer: “The ingratitude of the Iraqis for the extraordinary favor we gave them — to release them from the bondage of Saddam Hussein’s tyranny.” Just defies comment, doesn’t it… And this, from a guy who was Bush’s recess appointment for Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace. Imagine that… warmongers for peace.

But that didn’t stop a few people from stating some pointed comments on the ThinkProgress website on Pipes’ answer.

Presznit Pinhead wrote: “I’m sure we ‘mericans would be really grateful if some other country came in and ‘liberated’ us with bombs ‘n’ stuff.” Skeptic notes: “Make him live for three years in a lawless anarcy without running water, electricity, medicine, schools, jobs and very little food and see how grateful he is for the opportunity!” Tigris Lily perhaps put it best: “I especially like the one about ‘fighting the terrorists over there so we won’t have to fight them here.’ Apparently, we neglected to ask the Iraqis permission to become our sacrificial lambs. And we wonder why they’re not grateful.”

From the absurd to the sublime. How can these NeoCons be SO detached from reality? It’s like there’s this giant tainted Kool-Aid pot somewhere from which they’re all drinking. Perhaps all we have to do is find it and drain it, and then we can have our country back.

What is up with this guy? I mean, how can he possibly even attempt to justify saying something so horrible? Check out this article at Media Matters that details the whole shameful incident. Rush noted that he apologized profusely, but then went on to complain about some statements made about Keanu Reeves, as if to say, “well, he said something bad too!” He said he was running on fumes, which is his excuse. Does that mean he was coming down off some kind of high? Given his history of massive drug use, you have to wonder.

What ever happened to personal accountability, Rush? Why not just apologize for what you said and leave it at that? Or better yet, why don’t you just stop saying things that keep proving what an uncaring, unfunny, obnoxious racist you are.

I seem to be averaging about seven posts a month on this here site, and every time I think that I’m not really doing myself or anyone else justice by writing so infrequently, I look back and realize that at least I’m writing SOMETHING. But is that enough? I mean, nothing here is terribly original. All the stories I call attention to can be found somewhere else, like at Buzzflash, for example, or LegitGov.org, which I haven’t been to in quite a while. And there are certainly people out there who can write a hell of a lot better than I can… Check out the writing at That Colored Fella’s Weblog, or the well-travelled Eschaton, or a host of others.

I guess I’m calling your attention to these as alternate recommended reading in case I decide to shut this place down. But if you’re the type of person who is reading here, you’re probably reading those already as well.

Or perhaps it’s just another dreary, rainy Monday on Long Island and I’m feeling it just a little too much right now.

Or it could be the hour of sleep I lost this weekend to DST (honestly, do we still need to mess up our internal clocks twice a year in this day and age?)…