A Call for Class Warfare

[CanonRay]

The other day I read some piece by a right-winger, likening Progressive calls for and end to Bush’s tax cuts to a call for Class Warfare.

I say, Bring It On.

Wake up people, we ARE in a Class War. It's against the Middle Class and the Poor. The war began early in the Reagan administration, when Ronald Reagan began dismantling the unions, and fired all the air traffic controllers.

The war against us continued through Bush I, and even our own Democratic President Bill Clinton, who was talked into backing NAFTA. The war has only accelerated under King George I, with manufacturing jobs (the few that are left) heading overseas, real wages falling, CEO salaries skyrocketing, a savings rate of less than zero, and the continued assault on Union membership., not to mention massive tax cuts for the very wealthy. Not only that but our balance of trade is such that we don’t actually make anything in this country anymore except agricultural goods.

We are not only in a Class War, it’s about over and we’ve lost.

So I say, let’s just admit it, and all of us declare War back.

Let’s take to the streets, millions of us, and make our demands be heard.
Let’s make our politicians repeal NAFTA, CAFTA and all the other “Shafta” trade
treaties.
Let’s protect and grow our manufacturing jobs with protective tariffs.
Let’s demand a repeal of the tax cuts for the wealthy.
Let’s bail out Social Security by taxing all incomes at any level.
Let’s tax the wealthy more to finance National Health Insurance.
Let’s repeal the charter of any corporation not paying its full tax share.
Let’s end corporations going “offshore” to avoid taxes.
Let’s amend the constitution so corporations are no longer treated as people.
Let’s not eliminate the estate tax, but raise it.
Let’s raise the minimum wage to $20 hour.
Let’s spend our money on roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals; things People use
instead of bombs, bullets, and armored Humvees.
Let’s replace all our coal plants with massive solar projects and make electricity free for
everyone.
Let’s pass Federal campaign financing, and eliminate all corporate political contributions.
Let’s put a windfall tax of 80% on all oil companies. Or better still, nationalize them.
Let’s dare to dream, and make our politicians turn those dreams to reality.

The hell with them all. Let’s wage a real war on the rich. They want a war, let’s give ‘em one they’ll never forget.

[BridgeTheGap]

1. Amen!

Working people should know better!

[Mythsaje]

2. They started it...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1485036

[AnneD]

3. I got your back brother....

It HAS been class warfare every since Reagan...some people are finally waking up and calling like it is. There is no shame in calling it a class warfare-because that is what it is. We like to think that all men are created equal, but they never were. The only equality you get is what you carve out or negotiate. They have been gradually been stealing the gains we made during the Depression and Civil Rights movement. These clowns will have to learn their lesson ALL OVER AGAIN.

Call this squeeze on the middle class and poor what it is....CLASS WARFARE.

[Brigid]

4. I'n in!

At this point, we've got nothing to lose. That's why I don't know why the Democrats in Congress are still so afraid of the Bush regime.

[damntexdem]

5. We don't have to declare class war.

All we need to do is fight back in the one declared against us.

[ninkasi]

6. K&R

[Prophet 451]

7. The war is already being fought and we're losing

Class war has been ongoing for nearly thirty years in the US (my native UK joined in a couple of years later) and the bastards at the top are winning. Best way to win a war is to make the other side think you're not fighting one. Everything that Republican administratiosn have done for thirty years has been about screwing over the working and middle classes to the advantage of the upper classes. Clinton's most memorable fuck-up wasn't Monica, it was NAFTA, another shot across the bows of the working class.

Here in Britain, Thatcher did the same, Major did nothing to improve matters (although, in fairness, he spent most of his reign being used as a chewtoy so he didn't have much chance) and Blair made matters worse. The jury's still out on Broon. Here, we had the punk movement (now, not the whining emo bands that call themselves "punk" now, real punk was inherantly political) and quite a few riots as protest but the bastards at the top still kept on screwing us over.

[Warpy]

8. One problem: "Let’s bail out Social Security by taxing all incomes at any level."

That won't do a damned thing until we get the overpayments out of the general fund.

Right now, 40% of your OASDI payments are going into the general fund along with income tax revenues. We need to get it OUT. We can lower the rates for now, then increase the cap as the pay as you go system needs additional funds.

Unless we get the amount we've been robbed since the Reagan years, when the increase in payroll taxes was sold as a "fix" for Social Security but used as a way to fudge the numbers on what a disaster the tax cuts on the richest were, out of the general fund, no additional fix has a prayer of doing anything but fudging another batch of tax cuts to the richest, the ones that were passed in 2001.

The truth is that the increase in OASDI was a back door income tax on the poorest, who have no dedictibles to alleviate the burden. Until and unless we're willing to face the fiscal disaster that giving the wealthy a free ride has caused, there will be no "fix" to Social Security that will actually fix it.

[ladjf]

9. I think that your ideas are good. I'm not sure they could become

realities. It's going to take more than "taking to the streets", although that has worked in other countries.

[Bjorn Against]

10. It has worked here as well

The civil rights movement and the women's suffrage movement were largely won by people taking to the streets. Of course there were other courses of action taken as well, but it was the protests that really got those movements under way.

[ladjf]

13. Yes, and the same is true of the Viet Nam protest era.

But it seems that now, the people are somehow incapacitated by depression and hopelessness. I am afraid that there is a general feeling that the cards are so stacked against us that there is no hope.

If the demonstrations get too large, the police would arrest thousands. That might explain why large prisons are being constructed for holding ?. (I have only heard that the prisons are really being build. Have no solid proof.)

[paparush]

11. Amen..and pass the remote would ya..

[nealmhughes]

12. I am reminded of what Churchill supposedly said in reply that Italy had just declared war on the

Empire: "Good, it saves us the trouble of doing it to them." and as a follow up: "Thank God, given what noble allies they were in the First War. . ."

[Fearless]

14. BRING IT.

It's more than about time. :patriot: :applause:

[PinkyisBlue]

15. Good list.

Let's tax capital gains, interest and dividends at the same rate as income, and increase the top federal income tax rate to pre-Bush levels.

Let's increase everyone's standard deduction on federal income tax to $10,000.

Let's bring back the luxury tax on boats and automobiles costing over $30,000.

Let's institute a new energy tax on non-commercial vehicles that get less than 15 miles per gallon of gasoline.

Let's allow every US citizen to obtain the same medical and dental benefits that our politicians in Washington get.

Let's increase public funding for higher education; every qualified and interested citizen has the right to a college education.

Let's bring back the draft, so that all of us have an equal stake in fighting our wars and protecting our country. As it stands now, the rich have the most to benefit and the least to lose when our country goes to war.

Let's bring back the fairness doctrine, so that we can hear different points of view about the topics of the day.

[Lifelong Protester]

16. Yours is a GREAT list....

the two I most agree with ar that every US citizen gets the same medical/dental as any Congressman gets, and that the luxury tax should be brought back, and if you drive a HUMMER, the tax on it should choke ya.

And until we have a draft, so that every mother's son or daughter could be the next to go, rich, poor, whatever, this war will not be brought to an end. We as Americans are not suffering equally because of this senseless war.

[PinkyisBlue]

17. I agree.

Money can buy a lot of irresponsibility.

Bush talks a lot about an "ownership society." Let us all claim ownership of our environment, our health care, our wars, our economy; as owners, let us all share in the profits and burdens of these institutions. Money can't remove our responsibility as a custodian of the environment or a protector of our nation. If our politicians choose to involve us in a military conflict, as an "ownership society" we all own this war and all are responsible for defending our nation. If our air or water is polluted, we all must take personal responsibility for this problem and take measures to correct the problem. If we choose not to do the responsible thing, we should pay dearly for the privilege. If the economy is doing well, we should all share in the gains; each of us owns our share of society and we should be rewarded when things are going well. If the CEO and top management get a raise or bonus for a productive year, each employee should receive a similar raise or bonus, as a percentage of annual salary. This way, we are truly an "ownership society".

[EstimatedProphet]

18. I'm with you

I'm tired of fucking Repubs fucking up our country and blaming it on us. Let's see what you got, fuckers!