Economic absurdities that
Democrats must expose:
...because it's wrong to penalize success and hard work.
...therefore, we should eliminate the capital gains tax.
...After all, they came from, and understand, business.
...even though it is based on pitting the worlds' workers against each other.
...union bosses are only out for themselves.
...and the more the rich have, the more will trickle down to everyone else.
...Democrats are communists, or at least, socialists at heart.
...so when we tax wealthy investors, we lose jobs.
...so investors, not workers, create wealth.
...so we should give them all the tax breaks possible.
...Democrats just want to tax and spend today.
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General Issues:
...for those of Indonesia, Mexico, China and India.
...and how not to do it again.
...and the "crisis" is just a ploy by those who want to destroy it.
...Republicans' most important propaganda technique.
...and get the media on your side
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This Site
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Make the following points:
The leadership of the Democratic Party has been
tiptoeing around too many issues. We’ve hoped that a low-keyed, reasoned opposition
to the Republican programs we disagreed with would result in productive
compromise that would benefit the country. As a result, we’ve let too many
charges against us go unanswered. And our non-response has resulted in
Democrats being labeled as taxing, big government spenders who have no interest
in working Americans.
It’s time to clear the air and describe what is really
going on in our political system. To begin with, there have always been two
political parties in the South: Prior to the 1960s, they were the Bourbon
Democrats and the populist Democrats. Bourbon Democrats represented the interests of the big landowners, the textile mills, investors, the privileged and the wealthy, and the southern branch of the Bourbons (called "Redeemers") encouraged interracial strife to keep wages down. Populist Democrats represented the interests of workers and the disadvantaged, and were receptive to social justice for minorities.
Nixon's well-known “Southern strategy” of the 1960s
successfully, and correctly, blamed civil rights legislation on Democrats. As a
result, many Bourbon Democrats became Republicans, and many southern and
working-class voters across the country also became Republicans.
What voters didn’t, and still don’t appreciate, is
that the Democrats who historically supported minority rights are also the ones
who have always supported the interests of America’s workers. And Republicans
have historically, and still do, represent the interests of big landowners,
investors, corporations and the wealthy—at the direct expense of workers.
For the past 35 years, since America has become more
Republican in philosophy, actual legislation and judicial decisions, we’ve seen
the biggest income and wealth disparity between poor and middle-class
Americans—and wealthy Americans. Although some of this disparity was
unanticipated, much of it was intentional.
Intentional: conservative driven tax legislation,
anti-union legislation and court decisions.
Unintentional: globalization. (Explain the difference
between globalization and international trade.) The benefits of international
trade are obvious and significant. But the way conservatives have structured
it, and the way it has evolved, it has become one of our corporations’ best
weapons for holding down wage increases of workers. As presently practiced, it
results in skyrocketing profits for corporations and investors, while pitting
workers across the world against each other, competing for the lowest possible
wages and worst working conditions.
The biggest winners of globalization: investors,
corporate executives, and the established wealthy. The biggest losers: workers.
Make up for the disparity by a progressive income tax, changes in social
security tax rates, greater benefits for unemployment and training, etc.
It’s taken over thirty years to get to this point, and
it’ll take time to turn it around. It’s time to get started. (Analyze Bush’s
tax cuts and suggest alternatives.)
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