A Week of Republican Hand Holding

The face on the tiki tissue box at left, sold in many stores, looks eerily familiar.

Can I get you a tissue? Would you like a shoulder to cry on? Yes, I know, I know. You really don’t like the Democrats. Sigh…

It was this week that I discovered what sore losers Republicans are after losing the “big race,” the Presidential election. Come on, guys, get a grip! Everything’s going to be great! Relax. Just wait and see!

My father was the first grumbler to contact me, by emailing me that McCain and Palin were “lucky” to not win the election since the economy is in such horrific shambles. Hmmm. Sour grapes?

My friend, Selma, who works for me in Seattle, told me she was wearing the American Flag pinned upside down on a red sweatshirt. “It’s a sign of distress,” she said, “Because that’s what we’re in, a time of distress.” Poor Selma, Bless her heart!

My Cousin, Carla, who lives in hurricane ravaged New Orleans, sent me an article from the ultra conservative, Carolina Journal online, dated Nov. 4, about how the Democrats want to “spread the wealth,” by seizing private 401Ks and IRAs and roll them into the social security program. Gullible, you say? Since when did Democrats become Socialists? I consoled Carla – there’s no way this will happen.

I reminded Carla that I had just lost a substantial bit of money when the Bush administration seized Washington Mutual Bank, dissolved the stocks *poof!* and turned over the assets to JP Morgan Chase. Talk about socialization! Talk about spreading the wealth! “This is real,” I reminded her, not just an opinion, such as the doom and gloom in the article you sent me. (See the Nov. 9 Seattle Times.)

Since before the election, hundreds of fear mongering emails have circulated claiming that if Obama is elected, his administration will come into your house, take away your guns, rip the babies from your teenage daughter’s wombs, suck dry your bank account, dissolve the military, and make Islam this country’s national religion. All I can ask, is please consider the news source. Is it the New York Times where you heard this? How about the Washington Post? USA Today? A major metropolitan newspaper? Was it even a real newspaper? Or was it a blog, such as this one? Or an email? Or, God forbid, FOX News?

A “legitimate” news source will be part of the “mainstream media,” (MSM) and most likely be a contributing member to a newswire service, such as the Associated Press, which requires their reporters to be, “dedicated to the same standards – fairness, balance, and accuracy.” Before the election season, the newspaper where my husband works issued this reminder: “News staffers are encouraged to be involved in their communities to the extent that such activities don't create real or apparent conflicts or interest. Involvement in politics, demonstrations, and social causes that would create conflicts of interest or the appearance of such conflicts should be avoided. News staffers should avoid any public political activity, including contributions. They should not run for office, sign political petitions or campaign for any candidate or political cause.” This doesn’t mean that newspapers don’t sometimes print one-sided pieces. However, the difference is that these will appear on the opinion, humor, and editorial pages, not in the news sections.

So, who really wants to slander Obama? Who wants to spread false rumors about him so that people lose their trust in him, thereby reducing his potential power to change the status quo?

The rich and powerful, of course. The owners of FOX News, for one, who will have to pay higher taxes, assuming the new administration will have its way. Greed of money is the strongest motivator for political manipulation. I ask these movers and shakers, do you really need that extra 4.6% in taxes that you will have to pay under Obama’s tax plan? How much money do you really need to live on? Isn’t fixing our troubled nation more important?

I did some research and learned that a person earning, say one million dollars a year, will pay 39.6% in Federal income tax instead of the old rate of 35%. (Social Security will only be taxed up to $106,800 in 2009 according to Wikipedia’s segment on income tax).

Here’s a comparison:

Tax on $1,000,000 for 2008:
Social Security: 6.2% x $106,800 = $8,170
Medicare: 1.45% x $1,000,000 = $14,500
Federal Income Tax: 35% x $1,000,000 = $350,000

Total tax: $372,670 (without deductions)
Take home: $627,330

Tax on $1,000,000 for 2009:
Social Security: 6.2% x $106,800 = $8,170 (same)
Medicare: 1.45% x $1,000,000 = $14,500 (same)
Federal Income Tax: 39.6% x $1,000,000 = $396,000

Total tax: $418,670 (without deductions)
Take home: $581,330 

That’s still a lot of jelly beans! You should be so lucky. Federal income tax of 39.6% is really not that high. According to Wikipedia, as recently as 1981, a person earning $1,000,000 would have paid 70% in Federal Income tax, or $700,000 per year without deductions. In 1954, they would have paid 91% or $910,000 per year, without deductions.

Other than high income earners, the only other individual I know personally who might have a legitimate worry is my dear friend, Mirabella, who is the ultimate capitalist. She runs a novelty item manufacturing company where most of her products are made overseas in China, currently her cheapest option.

Due to policy changes under the Obama administration, Mirabella will be motivated to move her outsourcing to factories located here in the United States, maybe even to here in Florida where WKMG Local 6 news reported that 8,000 job applicants showed up for a job fair in Orlando on Wednesday, Nov. 12 where only 2500 candidates were expected, so many that some were turned away. At the time, the Workforce Central Florida website listed only 946 open positions. Moving your manufacturing back to the United States could be a good thing – it’s hard to sell products to people with no jobs.

Today, the U. S. Department of Labor issued a report that 43 percent of the over 200,000 jobs lost in the past month nationwide were due to – you guessed it – a decrease in business demand, a.k.a. no customers.

I understand why the Republicans are afraid. I was once a Republican myself. Although I did not vote for Bill Clinton in the 1992 election, and did not even like Bill Clinton at the time, my life benefited exponentially over the course of President Clinton’s administration. A couple of years after Clinton took office, things began to look up for me personally.  Jobs suddenly seemed much more plentiful; prices of food and goods more affordable; I was finally able to qualify to buy a house; and I received good healthcare. I changed my political affiliation to Democrat in 1994. I was a true convert.

So, my message to my dear Republican friends: Just relax. Everything will be okay. Changes will come, but they will be for the better. I promise!

Maybe, even for you, Mirabella…

Christian Coalition Bears False Witness

On November 1, I was fortunate enough to vote early, thanks in part to Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist’s executive decision to extend voting hours. Governor Crist might be happy to know that both my husband and I voted for more Republicans than Democrats.

While waiting in line (nearly 3 hours total), I was handed numerous pamphlets and information sheets by actual candidates and some volunteers, most of whom had set up camp in one spot and waited for the line to reach them. It was a wonderful experience. I got to meet many of the candidates themselves and listen to them present their points of view in person, something you can’t get from a TV ad or a newspaper article.

Unfortunately, all experiences were not pleasant.

I was handed a 2008 Christian Coalition voter guide by an older gentleman. I read the lines one by one in disgust, pointing out differences between presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain. “No, that’s not true,” I told the man, “This is misleading. Barack Obama IS in favor of Charter schools. And he’s NOT in favor of teaching sex education to kindergarteners!”

With each statement, the man nodded his head and said, “Thank you.” He was not interested in discussing the accuracy of his flyer.

“It’s not that I mind people feeling differently than I do,” I said loudly, “but to lie about the issues, that’s something else.”

“Thank you,” said the man.

“Most of your facts are wrong,” I said. “If you’re going to put this out, at least tell the truth,” I pointed out.

He still would not say a word.

“You call yourself a Christian. Thou shall not bear false witness,” I said.

Still the man wouldn’t budge.

Instead, a young boy heard me and assumed I was talking about him. He had just handed me a flyer himself about a Democratic candidate running for a local office. “What’s that? Bearing false witness?” he asked.

“It means lying about someone else,” I said, “In order to hurt them. It’s one of the Ten Commandments!”

“Oh,” said the boy. He was not happy with himself, why, I don’t know, but he put his flyers down. The female candidate who was running against the candidate the boy was promoting came up personally and thanked me. She said her opponent was breaking the law with his flyers by putting the Florida State seal on them and cited the actual code and penalty.

The line moved and I went forward, away from the older “Christian” man, but the female local candidate stuck like glue, telling me about her hopes for rebuilding the area, attracting businesses and bringing in more jobs. Her speech was so positive, others around us listened in, learning more about her dreams for our beautiful state.

The line had moved forward, but the older man was still back there, still handing out his false flyers, still sticking to it. I was so disgusted with him, so unhappy that he was spreading such lies and even more unhappy that others were buying it.

I am very conflicted on two counts. First, what the Christian Coalition is doing is heresy. By bearing false witness, they are breaking one of the Ten Commandments, one of the sacred laws both Jews and Christians must follow, which is stated in the Bible as being equally as bad as stealing, committing adultery, and worshiping other Gods. Perhaps the coalition feels the ends justify the means, for they consider the act of abortion as breaking the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.”

Second, as a Christian myself, I am ashamed to be classified in the same category as these people who call themselves Christians. They are giving Christianity as a religion a very bad name. Jesus himself asks his followers to be loving, accepting, and empathetic of our fellow man, to be truthful and peaceful people who care for others.

Shame on you, Christian Coalition! Shame on you! Shame on you!

Republicans the Party of the Wealthy

A week ago, I took my friends Alfred and Lorie out for lunch at William's Landing restaurant in Astor, Florida. Alfred and Lorie are moving to Pennsylvania and it was a sad farewell. Alfred has already voted by absentee balot, which he applied for long ago since he's frequently away from home on business. Lorie took advantage of "early voting" this past week in order to cast her vote before moving.

As the owner of his own small business, Alfred works his fingers to the bone, sacrificing personal wants and needs over paying the business's bills, and burning the midnight oil to get work done while he envies those who get to punch a time clock and put their work behind them as they go home to their families each night.

Both Lorie and Alfred are voting for Obama this election. Alfred is a registered Republican.

Alfred explained to me that he is no longer happy with his party. The very reasons why he became a Republican, the core principals of fiscal responsibility and small government, seem to have vanished. The Democrats have adopted many of his values embracing charter schools, healthcare and gun rights. The Republicans have lost their way and lost touch with the average American.

I understand what he is talking about. I too, was a Republican, having joined the party in 1978 after listening to a talk at my school by a North Carolina Democrat running for office about the virtues of government handouts for the poor and destitute. I'll never forget his closing question to the audience, "Do you think we should make sure everyone has a home, food on their table, and the comforts of life regardless of whether or not they have a job, or do you think they should have to work for it?" It seemed a simple question to me. Of course, they should have to work for it. I mean, I did. Why not make them work, too?

At that time, in 1978, the difference between the haves and the have nots was not nearly as disproportionate as what it has become today and the Federally mandated minimum wage paid a living wage. Driving through the "poor" neighborhoods in my hometown in North Carolina, you could not find the poetic ramshackle hovels from the Grapes of Wrath where the poor were living in filth and despair. No, this was tobacco and textile production country and "poor" meant that you drove a used Cadillac instead of a new one, or maybe just a good old rusty Ford truck handed down from your grandfather.

I was born into the middle class, but my parents felt that earning your own way builds character, so I had to make it on my own. My first job as a cashier, paying minimum wage of $3.35 per hour or $6,700 per year, barely paid my meager bills of rent, utilities, food and toiletries. At that time, about $6,000 per year marked the official poverty level. I could not afford a car and walked to work, a mile away. I also could not afford health insurance, even then, but did not care, since I was young and healthy. I hated paying taxes, especially since I personally knew people who sat at home watching TV all day and didn't work, but got welfare checks, food stamps, and free housing for doing absolutely nothing.

Despite my own meager existence, I had no problem proudly announcing to the world that I was a Republican. I campaigned for Jesse Helms for Senate and Beverly Lake for governor, and a few other candidates who I've forgotten since then. I campaigned for the working American. I wanted us to keep what we earned and for the government to tighten their belts and stop giving out free handouts. Instead, I wanted the Federal government to concentrate on the big jobs -- fixing highways, making and enforcing laws to protect us, and training the military to keep us safe. I wanted the local State government to build schools; maintain libraries, museums, and parks; police the streets; and keep my house from burning down.

Wow! Things have changed dramatically, haven't they? The government has fallen down on the job. Like a prima donna employee, our typical Republican governing official has let the primary task of serving the general public fall to the wayside, instead choosing to take care of personal wants and needs. Most Republican spending, whether it has been to fight a war in Iraq or build a "bridge to nowhere," has not served the general public. Instead, it has been directed at helping big corporations, such as oil companies, who have earned record profits due to wars in Middle Eastern oil producing countries, or Haliburton, who has been awarded no bid contracts for the military. Big insurance companies and big banks get bigger, all with the help of the government. Many Republicans, including our own President Bush and Vice President Cheney, have stock in these companies or receive pensions from previous high level positions, and have personally profited from the legislation.

Only two years ago, my husband and I considered ourselves to be fairly comfortable. After paying the mortgage, utilities, food, gas, healthcare, and paying off the credit card each month, we were still able to keep 25% of our pay for frivolous expenses, such as travel, eating out at restaurants, going to shows, buying electronic gizmos, giving spending money to our young relatives in college, and other splurges. Now, only one year later, we are lucky if we have anything left after paying our bills. For this reason, we have had to dip into savings intended for emergencies and retirement.

So, the farewell dinner we treated our friends to could not be at the pricey, but special, Blackwater Inn in Astor, FL. No, it had to be upstairs in the more affordable, William's Landing which serves some of the best fried fish sandwiches you'll find in central Florida.

My friend, Alfred says, "The Republicans have become split in two. On one side, they are the party of the haves. On the other, they are the party of the far Christian rights, the extreme social conservatives. I don't fit into either category."