Joe the Plutocrat

plu'to·crat' (plōō'tə-krāt') n., One who exercises power by virtue of wealth. A member of the plutocracy.

plu·toc·ra·cy (plōō-tŏk'rə-sē) n., 1. Government by the wealthy. 2. A wealthy class that controls a government. 3. A government or state in which the wealthy rule.

Is the Republican Party really the party of Joe the Plumber? Really? Since when are the Republicans on the side of working class people? Since the year 2000, the gap is not only growing between the rich and the poor, but the gap is also growing between the rich and the middle-class. When adjusted for inflation, the median household income of the average Joe out there is lower today than it was in the year 2000. In the year 2000, 57% of companies with fewer than 10 employees offered health benefits. Today, only 45% of those same-sized companies do so.

Are you Better Off Now?

According to a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, the gap is not only growing between the rich and the poor, but the gap is also growing between the rich and the middle-class. Here are a few quotes from the study regarding the United States.

“…nowhere has this trend been so stark as in the United States. The average income of the richest 10% is $93,000…the highest level in the OECD. However, the poorest 10% of the US citizens have an income of $5,800 per year – about 20% lower than the average for OECD countries.”

Did you see that? The top income in the US is the highest of the 30 countries studied, while at the same time, our low-income citizens earn 20% lower than the average.

“Social mobility is lower in the United States than in other countries like Denmark,
Sweden and Australia. Children of poor parents are less likely to become rich than children of rich parents.”

This says that the poor in the US have less chance to become middle-class and the middle-class have less chance of becoming rich than in many countries in the study.

Switching from the topic of income to the topic of accumulated wealth, the study points out the top 1% controls about one third of all of the wealth in our nation.

“Wealth is distributed much more unequally than income: the top 1% control some 25-33% of total net worth and the top 10% hold 71%.”

Stunningly, the report says:

“The United States is the country with the highest inequality level and poverty rate across the OECD, Mexico and Turkey excepted. Since 2000, income inequality has increased rapidly.”

Since 2000, the year that George W. Bush won the White House, income inequality has increased rapidly.

The Gini Out of the Bottle

The OECD study also looked at the Gini-coefficient of inequality, a commonly used measure of the gap between the incomes of people within a society. The coefficient ranks inequality on a scale between 0, which is complete equality (everyone has the same income) and 1, which is complete inequality (one person has all the income and all others have none).

They ranked 30 countries by their Gini-coefficient. Out of the 30 countries studied, the US ranked 28th in income equality. As the chart below indicates, not only is the gap between the rich and poor in the US widening, but it is widening at a much higher rate than the other 29 countries in the study.





Notice the slightly downward slope of the line from 1992 - 2000, the last time we had a Democratic president and the sharp upturn in 2000, the first year that George W. Bush was in office.

Party of the Working Class?

Obviously the Republican Party is here to enrich the already-rich by “spreading the wealth around” from the poor and the middle class to the rich. The Party of Joe the Plumber? Would Joe the Plumber spend $150,000 for clothes for a six-week campaign? I don’t think so. Working people need change. Working people need Barack Obama.

Words Have Consequences – 800,000 Consequences

It used to be that if a politician said something stupid, he or she could deny, deny, deny. In the age of YouTube, that is no longer true.

First, Gov. Sarah Palin talked about the “pro-America areas of this great nation” as if some parts of America are anti-American.

Then Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) accused Sen. Barack Obama of having anti-American views. She also said “I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America?” Rep. Bachmann has tried several times to deny that she made the statement, despite the fact that anyone with a computer and internet connection can watch her statement on YouTube. As a result of Rep. Bachmann’s statement, over $800,000 in new contributions from over 31,000 people have poured into the coffers of Democrat El Tinklenberg.

Now Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC) just said something equally dumb. He said "liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God." After denying repeatedly that he had made the statement, an audio recording turned up and he was forced to say that, yes, he had made the statement after all. It will be interesting to see the increase in fund raising by Rep. Hayes' opponent, Larry Kissell.

In the age of YouTube and ActBlue, it is easy for voters to be informed and then to express their outrage in a tsunami of fund-raising. I would suspect that one of the reasons that Barack Obama raised $150 million in September is because of the lethal combination of the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican VP candidate and the McCain attack ads.

Words have consequences - sometimes 800,000 consequences and sometimes even more.

The Times, They are a Changin'

In the words of Bob Dylan, “The times, they are a changin’.”

• As I write this, 100,000 people are attending a rally in St. Louis in support of Barack Obama.
  
• More than 60,000 Indiana residents cast absentee ballots in the first week of early voting.
  
• Illinois is seeing record turnouts in early voting. In suburban Cook County 25,000 people have already voted.
  
• On the first day of early voting North Carolina more than 100,000 voted.
  
• In Georgia, more then 540,000 people have already voted, 37 percent of whom are African Americans.

Everywhere I look there is something to celebrate. Today in Racine, WI over 150 people went out to canvas in an early “Get out the Vote” effort. People walked in to the Racine headquarters from the local neighborhood and drove all the way from Chicago. People walked and called and volunteered.

People, get ready because the times, they are a changin’.

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

On February 10, 2007 Barack Obama stopped by Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, IA to launch his presidential campaign. He made an important statement then that I think we need to remember today. He said:

“People ask me, ‘Who is your most important rival in this campaign? I would say it is cynicism. And I mean that because if people are opting out of the process, that benefits the insiders.’”

You can see the 2-minute video here.

Now, 20 months later, with 17 days left in this campaign, we see the most bitter of cynicism in its ugliest forms:

• Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann called for an investigation of members of Congress to "find out if they are pro-America or anti-America."
  
• The Sacramento GOP released an ad declaring “Waterboard Obama.”
  
• Another GOP group in California released a graphic of Obama’s picture on a foodstamp along with pictures of watermelon, fried chicken, ribs and Kool-Aid.
  
• Virginia State GOP Chairman Jeffrey M. Frederick recently encouraged a crowd of canvassers by drawing a connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden: "Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon," he said. "That is scary."
  
• John McCain’s campaign is robocalling into several states saying “Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.”

In this environment it is easy become distracted.

When Lincoln was elected he was deeply loathed by the Southerners and viewed with suspicion by many Northerners. The south was just days from seceding from the union. And yet in this cynical environment, Lincoln closed his inaugural address by appealing to “the better angels of our nature.”

We don’t have to fall into this trap. We don’t have to be caught up in the Republican’s fake rage machine whether they are raging over ACORN or lipstick on a pig. We can remain above the fray.

In the civil rights movement in the 1960’s, we used to sing the song “Keep your Eyes on the Prize.” That’s good advice for us today. With merely 17 days to go, let’s keep our eyes on the prize and not be distracted by the noise.

The McCain End Game - ACORN

The McCain campaign has just launched a new campaign with two goals:

1. They want to “turn the page” from the subject of the economy. To do this, they are creating a Boogey Man out of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.
   
2. At the same time they are trying to justify why they will not accept the results of the election if Barack Obama wins.

The Creation of a Boogey Man: ACORN

Here’s the story. According to a Washington Post article,

“On the way into the event [in Waukesha, WI], the Republican Party of Wisconsin handed out fliers reading ‘Your Vote Is Being Stolen,’ an anti-ACORN leaflet that concluded, ‘Why is vote fraud allowed? Vote fraud is allowed since it
benefits Democrats.’”

In the next week you’re going to hear plenty about ACORN. You’re going to hear about raids on their headquarters and suspected voter fraud. For example, in Las Vegas, the police raided the ACORN headquarters and seized computers and papers. If you just read the headline, you feel sure the local ACORN office must have been up to no good. But read this press release from ACORN that tells their side of the story. According to the press release:

Anytime ACORN quality control staff has identified a suspicious application, we have separated that application out and flagged it for election officials. We turn any suspicious applications to election officials separately, along with a cover sheet identifying the nature of the problem and an offer to provide election officials with the information they would need to pursue an investigation or prosecution of the individual. (Note that civic organizations are required by law to turn over ANY signed voter registration applications even when they are known to have problems). We immediately dismiss any employees we suspect of submitting fraudulent registrations.

Let’s be clear. ACORN has had some serious issues with overzealous workers who falsified voter registrations. This is tragic and alarming. But it does not mean that all of the millions of voters that were registered by ACORN are invalid.

A Campaign to Create Noise around ACORN

What is behind the sudden surge of stories on ACORN? Ask Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner who said on Fox News:

…these rumblings that you're hearing, it's quite interesting. Our office is being barraged by numerous, numerous, tens, dozens, hundreds of phone calls. In addition, people close to me who do not work in the secretary of state's office are getting calls from random callers about one issue after another concerning voter fraud, even at 2:00 in the morning.

So there is a concentrated effort going on out there to try to build the noise that you're discussing. And it's unfortunate because if we can find a specific allegation, we'll deal with it directly. But again, this creating fear in the minds of law-abiding citizens that somehow their vote is not going to count or that it's going to be diluted is a huge disservice to the voters of Ohio and to the rest of the country.

You can see the video here. Obviously, Republican operatives are fanning the flames of this story. Watch for propaganda against ACORN to spring up on blogs, YouTube and other outlets, including the mainstream media.

But what’s the end game? Besides distracting us from the economy, what’s the point of all of this noise about ACORN?

The Nuclear Option: Reject the Election Results

According to a story by Tom Curry at MSNBC:

The co-chairman of the McCain advisory team in charge of monitoring alleged voter fraud, former Missouri Sen. John Danforth, hinted this week at potential post-Nov. 4 litigation if Obama wins due to suspect voters who had been registered by ACORN. “The contest could go on for a very long time,” he told reporters.

So, the McCain campaign is trying to simultaneously distract you from the financial crisis, while preparing to contest the election if Barack Obama wins.

This is nothing more than a preemptive strike by the Republicans to reject the results of an election that they have already lost. If the McCain campaign is so concerned about your right to vote, why are they not talking about is the illegal purging of voter rolls? The Republicans are not interested in talking about voters who are being disenfranchised. They’re too busy setting up their cover story for rejecting the election.

Here’s What We can Do

First, don’t let them change the subject. Keep the conversation focused on what everyday Americans need: the kind of change in Washington that Barack Obama can bring.

Second, the best way to ensure we prevent a long contracted legal battle over the election is to win by a landslide. If we win every swing state by a significant margin, the Republicans will have a harder time crying foul.

Call your local Obama headquarters and volunteer.

Call someone and ask them to vote.

Canvas your neighborhood.

Vote. In many states you can vote today. Check http://www.voteforchange.com/ for details of where and when you can vote.

Most importantly, get out the vote. Take election day off as a vacation day and work for change.

Don’t let the Republicans turn the page on us. Don’t let them steal the election with allegations of voter fraud. Get out and work today.

Whipping up Hate

John McCain and Sarah Palin are inciting violence against Barack Obama. Salon Magazine reported on the rage at yesterday’s McCain rally in Waukesha, WI, calling it a Republican Mob. The Washington Post reported the effect Palin has had on crowds, bringing one man to shot “kill him,” while other crowd members told an African American member of the press to “sit down boy.” BloggerInterrputed.com has documented people at John McCain rallies in Ohio saying Barack Obama is a terrorist.

These flames of hate are fanned by McCain’s ad campaign which are, according to the Associated Press, are 100% negative.

This is out of hand and John McCain is responsible. If his rallies have become havens for hate speech, he has to intervene. He has to end his mischaracterizations of Obama. He has to own his rallies and insist on civility.

The John McCain I’ve known and admired would not tolerate this type of blood sport. I hope the John McCain of old shows up at a rally soon before this gets out of hand.

That One

Was it just me, or did John McCain seem dismissive when he called Barack Obama “that one”?

If I had to choose between John McCain and Barack Obama, I would choose THAT one. When it comes to Barack Obama:

• That one will get us out of Iraq with honor.
  
• That one will raise our standing in the world.
  
• That one will end corporate welfare and tax cuts for the Exxon Mobil’s of the world.
  
• That one will focus on helping the middle class deal with their every day problems.
  
• That one will deal directly with our healthcare crisis.
  
• That one will focus on green energy, creating five million new jobs.
  
• That one will restore civil liberties after the dark days of extraordinary rendition, suspension of habeas corpus and Guantanamo Bay.
  
• That one will restore dignity and honor to the White House after eight years of heartbreak.

Maybe John McCain is right. Barack Obama is the one. That’s the one for me.

McCain vs. Palin

Here’s an idea for a debate. Let’s get John McCain and Governor Palin to debate one another. They should have plenty to argue about. After all, they are on opposite sides on several issues.

Stem cell research: McCain For; Palin Against; More…
Allow abortion in cases of rape, incest: McCain For; Palin Against; More…
The use of school vouchers: McCain For; Palin Against; More…
Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: McCain Against; Palin For; More…
Protecting polar bears: McCain For; Palin Against; More…
Windfall profit tax on oil companies: McCain Against; Palin For; More…
Real ID: McCain For; Palin Against; More…
Teaching creationism in our schools: McCain For/Against; Palin For; More…

It makes you wonder, with this many issues separating them, if they could be elected, whose agenda would drive policy decisions in the White House?

Palin’s Problem: Inauthentic

Let’s give Governor Palin her dues. She came prepared and she performed brilliantly in the debates. She was on message and she got in her shots where she could. Well done Gov. Palin.

Here’s what bothered me. She seemed strikingly inauthentic. Her “oh, shucks by golly” act seemed put on. Did anyone respond positively when she winked at the camera? It didn’t have the desired affect on me. It seemed like pandering.

Her false-folksy comment “Say it ain’t so, Joe,” was obviously rehearsed. It was a sound-bite wanna-be. And what was it that Joe Biden said that caused Gov. Palin to react so? He mentioned George Bush; a president Gov. Palin insists should only be spoken of in past tense. Trying to burry a sitting president so he doesn’t stink up the hopes of his party is truly inauthentic.

Let’s be clear – John McCain and Sarah Palin are Republicans, the same party that brought you the last eight years of failed policies. To pretend otherwise is the ultimate in insincerity.

When she claimed that John McCain was talking about the American workforce when he said the “fundamentals of the economy are strong,” it seemed disingenuous. Did you believe her?

It seemed contrived when she blamed predator lenders for forcing people to buy houses that they could not afford. After all, it was John McCain who pushed through the deregulation to allow the financial system to get out of hand. When she outright refused to answer the question about deregulation, her words rang hollow.

Her “facts” about Obama’s plans to raise taxes were spurious and will not stand to any fair fact-check. Saying that Obama is proposing nearly a trillion dollars in new spending is patently false.

Governor Palin’s defense of John McCain’s healthcare plan was…well, indefensible. Joe Biden pointed out that John McCain’s plan is to tax our healthcare benefits to the tune of $3.6 trillion. McCain’s plan will cause 20 million people to be dropped from their employer’s healthcare coverage, forcing them to try to replace a $12,000 healthcare policy with a $5,000 tax deduction.

Putting aside for a moment the McCain-Palin plan to continue the legacy of George W. Bush, I have a bigger problem with Sarah Palin. She is inauthentic.