Nosaj Loc: Sarasota, Florida

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree- hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards.
With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.
He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.
Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.
He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants effete liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy wacko liberal union members fought and died for these working standards.
Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.
It's noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless commie liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.
Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime.
Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards.
He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.
He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to. In the Spring, he plans to take his his father and his family on a trip to Yosemite National Park, one of those big government’s expensive wasteful liberal spending projects.
Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that his beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day, every day.
Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a totally self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I always have."

user47602 Loc: ip 304.0.0.33.32

I think Joe blames Obama for his "wretched" life. :mrgreen:

Danilo Loc: Las Vegas

It's really no surprise, Nosaj, that the best results are obtained with both parties properly represented. You speak at length of Joe's societal benefits, worked and fought for by "crybaby liberals" (your words), but there is another side to the coin. Someone must keep our economy strong (unlike Detroit, Oakland, Sacramento, Stockton, et al) to fund all of Joe's benefits. There must be thriving businesses to employ Joe and his friends. There must be evil McDonalds, and Walmart to get young people on the road to a career path of their choice.

And lest we deceive ourselves into thinking one party is better than the other, we must remember that, in their current incarnation, ALL politicians are blood-sucking, lying, stealing criminals that must be watched like a hawk, because they DO NOT have their constituents best interest at heart. Democrats and Republicans are just two varieties of the same thing. We DO need politicians, but we MUST NOT love them!

user47602 Loc: ip 304.0.0.33.32

danilo... I don't think there must be giant evil multi-nationals... it is the business of government to protect its citizens from other countries and external groups as well as from business... Our government has just been bought out.

dljen Loc: Central PA

Joe Republican represents the "right" very well. :D

Actually, it is sad that they're so blind, deaf and dumb...

soba1 Loc: Somewhere In So Ca

Dljen User, and Danilo
I have to throw all your coments in a bag and mix them together,
User speaks of the new govt. bougth out by the corporations.

Nice thread op

Danilo Loc: Las Vegas

The giant multi-nationals are a logical extension of a small, successful business, user. Years ago my dad owned a small business, and he had to constantly raise prices on his wares to effectively limit the volume of clientele to what he, alone, could manage. He didn't want to become bigger, but he breaks the common goal of business. We can keep in mind that McDonald's, GE, Exxon, FoMoCo, Walmart, etc. employ millions of people, all of whom pay taxes.

Our southwestern border is a testimonial to how well our government protects its constituency. We should remember, also, there MUST be outstretched hands (both Democrat and Republican) for the big, evil special interest groups to place their blood money into.

Bazbo Loc: Lisboa, Portugal

First of all I agree that we need balanced perspective. But what makes the OP a breath of fresh air is that the benefits of our historical progressivism, from which we all benefit, gets very little air time here. These discussions are dominated by the snarling right wing. And let some one offer a different point of view and the Avalanche of vulgarity and personal insults follow pretty quickly. In fact, it is as predictable as the sun rising in the East.

I am reminded of the famous sign at an early Tea Party rally: "get the government out of my Medicare!!"

HEART Loc: God's Country - COLORADO

...AND she opens her mouth again; and as usual, nothing but wasted air.

Keenan Loc: Central Coast California

Well said.

Keenan Loc: Central Coast California

It's a myth that Republicans are good for the economy, or business in general. Cutting taxes for the investor class is not what grows the economy. That is the worn out supply side economics that only works in right wing fairy tales, not in the real world.

The only thing that grows the economy is demand, not supply. Businesses will not build factories or increase production if they can't sell their stuff, it doesn't matter how much you lower their taxes. Only when the consumer class has plenty of money to spend will the business sector thrive. Ask any good business man/woman, and they will tell you that the most important thing is demand for their products, not whether business taxes are 20%, 10%, or 0%.

Just look at the historical track record. When Republicans control the government you get recessions, depressions, massive debt increases. Under Democrats - the so-called tax and spend ruiners of all things business, the economy grows the fastest and the most jobs are created, and most profitable business conditions. The reason is that the poor and middle classes are given a boost, which results in more money in the hands of the consumer classes, which is what drives economic growth.

Keenan Loc: Central Coast California

Capitalism can only survive when there is a powerful nanny state to build the infrastructure, educate the work force, enforce private property laws, regulate and stabilize the boom and bust cycles of the financial markets, and redistribute the wealth that capitalism tends to aggregate into fewer and fewer hands at the top, depressing demand. Free market fanatics claim that if we can just eliminate the government and get it out of the way, capitalist utopia will finally be realized. But history shows that reality is the opposite. Capitalism quickly destroys itself without government to prop it up and serve all of those critical functions that the free market is not capable of handling.

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

Tell it, brother! It seems almost impossible to have any sort of civil discussion with the snarling right wing, as you so aptly describe them. So many of these bozos respond with personal slurs, many of which if made in person would be "fighting words." It seems that this indicates a paucity of intellectual capital with which to respond. And facts? "Don' bother me with no sinkin' facts. We don' need no stinkin' facts!"

user47602 Loc: ip 304.0.0.33.32

...AND he opens her mouth again; and as usual, nothing but wasted air.
:mrgreen:

dljen Loc: Central PA

Hearty is sooooooo clever. :D :D :D