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<P>Dear Visionaries,</P>
<P> </P>
<P>Just a note to share with you something that another friend shared with me. I
am a terminal fan of Molly Ivins and thought her comments might be of interest
here, post-school bond, post-Idaho legislature plucking of most of us, and
pre-"next marvelous plan for 'saving social security' that includes estimated
40% cuts for middle class and above folks and Congressional plucking."</P>
<P> </P>
<P>The problem is a lot bigger than Moscow.</P>
<P> </P>
<P>All the best,</P>
<P>Linda Pall</P>
<P> </P>
<P> </P>
<P><EM><STRONG>Molly Ivins on theocracy and plutocracy April 28,
2005</STRONG></EM></P>
<P><EM>All newspaper editors want to know what their readers like. If you would
like to read this feature in your local newspaper, please do not hesitate to
share your enthusiasm with your local newspaper editor.</EM></P>
<P>RELEASE: THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2005, AND THEREAFTER <BR><BR><BR><BR>AUSTIN,
Texas -- Being of the populist persuasion, I am a terminal fan of Thomas Frank,
who has gone from "What's the Matter With Kansas?" to "What's the Matter With
Liberals?" in the current issue of the New York Review of Books, which is a good
spot for it. <BR><BR>Those of us in the beer-drinking, pick-up-truck-driving,
country-music-listening school of liberals in the hinterlands particularly
appreciate his keen dissection of how the Republicans use class resentment
against "elitist liberals," while waging class warfare on people who work for a
living. <BR><BR>The unholy combination of theocracy and plutocracy that now
rules this country is, in fact, enabled by dumb liberals. Many a weary liberal
on the Internet and elsewhere has been involved in the tedious study of the
entrails from the last election, trying to figure out where Democrats went
wrong. I don't have a dog in that fight, but I can guarantee you where they're
going wrong for the next election: 73 Democratic House members and 18 Democratic
senators voted for that hideous bankruptcy "reform" bill that absolutely screws
regular people. <BR><BR>And it's not just consumers who were screwed by the
lobbyist-written bill. The Wall Street Journal shows small businesses are also
getting the shaft, as the finance industry charges them higher and higher
transaction fees. If Democrats aren't going to stand up for regular people, to
hell with them. <BR><BR>Now here's some populist lagniappe (that's a word us
populists often use) for you to chew on. <BR><BR>The Economic Policy Institute
reports the economic well-being of middle-class families has declined between
2000 and 2003 for three reasons: the generally lousy economy, the Bush tax
policies and the cost of health care. <BR><BR>-- Pre-tax incomes for
middle-class families of every type (children, young singles, seniors, single
mothers) are down, leaving the typical household with $1,535 less income in 2003
than in 2000, a drop of 3.4 percent. <BR><BR>-- After taking into account
changes in both pre-tax incomes and taxes, the finding remains that most
middle-class families lost ground between 2000 and 2003. This is true for
married couples with children, elderly couples and young singles, although
single mothers did gain 1.9 percent because of the greater refundability of
child tax credits. <BR><BR>-- Family spending on higher insurance co-pays,
deductibles and premiums escalated, rising three times faster than income for
those married with children, absorbing half the growth of their income.
<BR><BR>The Tax Justice Network recently reported the world's richest
individuals have placed $11.5 trillion in assets in offshore tax havens to avoid
paying taxes, a sum 10 times the GDP of Great Britain. The most authoritative
study yet done shows that rich people clip $860 billion in coupons a year off
this money. <BR><BR>"Governments appear unable, or unwilling, to prevent the
rich employing aggressive strategies to minimize their tax liabilities," said
the Observer of Britain. We can emphasize the "unwilling" with this
administration. <BR><BR>The ratio of CEO pay to average worker pay reached 301
to one in 2003. The average worker takes home $517 a week, while the average CEO
earns $155,796, according to BusinessWeek. In 1982, the ratio was 42 to one.
<BR><BR>Dialogue between President Bush and a citizen during a February meeting
in Nebraska, where Bush was trying to sell his scheme to privatize Social
Security: <BR><BR>Woman: "That's good, because I work three jobs and I feel like
I contribute." <BR><BR>Bush: "You work three jobs?" <BR><BR>Woman: "Three jobs,
yes." <BR><BR>Bush: "Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that
you're doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter.)" <BR><BR>One out of
every two jobs created in the United States over the past 12 months was taken by
a worker over 55. Economist Dean Baker says the flood of older workers is caused
by the falling value of retirees' 401(k)s and the cost of health care.
<BR><BR>The number of long-term unemployed who are college graduates has nearly
tripled since 2000. Nearly one in five of the long-term jobless are college
graduates, according to the Los Angeles Times. <BR><BR>The Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities has a brand-new study out showing the uneven division of the
fruits of the supposed economic recovery: <BR><BR>"The data show that the share
of real income growth that has gone to wages and salaries has been smaller than
during any other comparable post-World War II recovery period, while the share
of real income growth that has gone to corporate profits has been larger than
during all other comparable post-World War II recoveries." <BR><BR>In previous
recoveries, workers got an average of 49 percent of the national income gains,
while corporate profits got 18 percent. This time, the workers are getting 23
percent and the corporations are getting 44 percent -- about one half as much as
the share that has gone to corporate profits. <BR><BR>None of that apply to you?
Good. Go listen to Tom DeLay give another lecture on moral values.
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