To assert, time and again, that socialism is hell-bent on taking control
of our lives is just another part of this Republican hyperbolic cry.
Olin and many of his political allies who have reached their mid-60s are
taking advantage of a social program appropriately called "Social
Security" as well as Medicare, and these "social" programs have not
resulted in our country falling into the type of socialism found in some
other countries.
SAFETY NET
These programs have not proven to be "destructive of the personal and
business freedoms ..." he refers to. They have provided a safety net for
the less fortunate among us. It would be admirable if the better-off -
the "rich," meaning those making millions off our backs with their
financial shenanigans -- would opt out of these systems so there would
be more money for the less fortunate among us. But that is not what is
happening. They are also taking advantage of the public trough while
crying "socialism." What irony!
How gentle is Olin's criticism of the Bush/Cheney years! "Yes, Bush
spent more than was prudent ..." If that isn't the understatement of the
year! Bush/Cheney got us into a war in Iraq that was totally irrelevant
to any claims of terrorism (even Bush's memoirs refer to this), instead
of finishing the job in Afghanistan and getting rid of bin Laden and
the Taliban once and for all.
The Iraq war and this far-longer-than-need-be war in Afghanistan is
costing us billions of dollars that contributed to a large deficit after
consuming all the surpluses left to them by a "Democratic president."
And what about the thousands of lives lost here and in these countries?
TWO PERCENT
Contrary to Olin's question, we all know who the rich are. They are the
ones making from over $250,000 a year to many millions on our backs by
scandalously cheating the rest of us of our savings through manipulating
the monetary system and bringing our nation to the brink of financial
ruin. They only represent 2 percent of the population and should not be
granted tax breaks.
The claim that the rich are the ones creating jobs by spending their
earnestly earned or ill-gotten gains on purchases that feed the rest of
us and create jobs is another pipe dream. It is the small businesses
that provide job growth, and whatever the rich spend there is no more
productive of jobs than the rest of us with moderate or lower incomes.
That is something well-documented by economists time and again.
As to the comment that President Obama added to the financial troubles
by rescuing GM and other industries from bankruptcy, has he forgotten
that FDR got this country out of the Depression by investing in
government programs that added a lot to the deficit but got people
working again? These steps had to be taken by the present administration
to prevent the loss of essential manufacturing facilities and thousands
of jobs.
The only dark side to these rescues are the financial institutions,
which, unfortunately, have developed the art of public rape to a fine
art.
ABSENCE OF REALISM
To say that the middle class has "graduated out of that sector due to an
improved economy created by the Bush tax cuts" smacks of total absence
of realism. Only those in total denial can make such absurd statements.
Just read the accounts in the press of reports from economists to the
contrary. The middle class has shrunk and fallen into near poverty.
Finally, I am greatly troubled by Olin's veiled insinuations that the
majority of those in need - the ones he refers to as "the non-producers"
-- may be so not because of their laziness but because they have fallen
victims to bad times brought about by the reckless policies of the
latest Republican administration aided by an obstructionist Republican
contingent in Congress - deregulation of the financial system and
environmental protections, to name just two.
I am presently working to help a middle-aged couple who lost their jobs,
are four months behind their mortgage payments, on the verge of losing
their home to one of the rapacious, heartless banks that have no
patience for the beleaguered. They do not deserve the name of
non-producers. They are the victims of a failed system greatly
responsible for their plight.
And what about the returning veterans who have become homeless because
of the unfortunate conditions wrought about by the former administration
and these same obstructionists in Congress? Such callous disregard for
the unfortunate among us is shocking!
Henri de Marne is a 40-year resident of Waitsfield who is now living in Essex.
