A Civics lesson for the Hard of Headed

CAUTION: THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE OF MY LONGER POSTS...BUT PLEASE READ IT COMPLETELY AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND MY POINT.

A Civil lesson in Civics:

Thanks to all my friends that participated in the mini forum I had on my Facebook wall last night.

Even within my tiny circle of influence we have deep divisions and rancor.

But with that aside let me just say something I hope we can all agree on:

A good parent never gives into the demands of a child throwing a tantrum! Trumps Insistence on closing the government until he gets his way cannot be allowed to happen.

It circumvents the one thing the Republicans claim they hold near and dear to their hearts...THE CONSTITUTION!

Its not about a WALL and the EFFECTIVENESS of it. Its about the way we make laws in this country. We DO NOT give into terrorists demands.........(in a way this is exactly what the President is doing)

Lets assume the Dems agree to give him $5.7 Billion so he opens up the government...what about next time and the time after that. There are 3 co-equal branches of government for a reason. (those old farts with white hair were some pretty smart cookies) One cannot be more influential than the other or we are no better off than the Communist Dictatorships we swear to deplore...

(Or Socialism...since Republicans cant seem to separate the two)

School-House Rock

And Mitch McConnell is one of the main reasons this is happening........He says the Dems are being obstructionists...yet he refuses to put a bill to a vote on the Senate floor to see if there are enough votes for it to pass because he says the President wont sign it. (didn't anyone watch School House rock?) Thats not how the system works folks! You dont hold off until you know if it will pass or be signed. You put it up for a vote and if it does you send it to the President to sign. If he vetoes it, then it comes back to the Senate and they vote to override it. If it is overridden it becomes law, if not, it doesn't.

(Pretty Damn Simple and Fair way to run a Republic)

Thats all the Dems want to do. 

Thats fair. Thats Constitutional.

THATS HOW ITS DONE... 

So bitch all you want, but until we decide to at least play the game by the rules that exist since our inception, dont expect anything to change anytime soon.

The Return of the Gilded Age

  

Since many if not all of us were not around in this mans time, and even less of us have any interest in History, I have decided to dedicate this issue of the Puzzle Palace to a discussion of how taxing the rich is NOT detrimental to them or us.

It is a recurring theme of the wealthy to try and influence Congress to reduce the amount they pay in taxes while asking the common man and poor to pay more.

Turn of the century wealthy at a banquet to celebrate their wealth.....

The words of Teddy about this put into concise and sharp focus the reasons why they have an obligation to support the country at a higher rate than those of us on the bottom rungs.

As early as 1927 Fritz Lang's Metropolis (10 years after Teddy Roosevelt Presidency) showed us in one of the first and finest silent movies of the era  the  struggle of the working class against the Robber Barron's and Carpetbaggers of the time.

In fact, the same thing that Trump is doing to the Obama legacy is exactly what (William Howard Taft ) tried to do after Teddy left office.

One overlooked bit of history is Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican and instituted the Progressive Income Tax......Wait, What?

A Republican that was PRO tax?

Funny how the roles have reversed in the last 100 years eh?

So as we move through time, we had WWII and the growth of Corporations that would become synonymous with wealth and greed.  Suddenly the tax rate at the high end is 90%!

Now no one ever paid that and it was only on the super wealthy and large Corporations...In reality studies have shown that they were only taxed at 42%.

But what did we get for that? 

How about the National Defense Highway system?

 (INTERSTATE )  New schools.....water treatment plants.... major airports and the electric grid...to name just a few things that taxing the wealthy at the correct rate made possible.

All of the things that Make America Great!

 (Donald, are you listening) Its not about gold toilets and private jets...UGH

In the meantime, the major industries continued to grow and prosper...

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

Well, there have always been congressional lobbyists attempting to influence legislation to change taxes and laws to benefit corporations.  

Newspaper editorial cartoon from the late 1800's.

But, good men with iron will and resolve kept them at bay, knowing that what they did today would benefit generations to come, no longer roam the halls of our Congress or Senate.

 Unfortunately, those Ideals and Perseverance don't exist anymore. Gone are the Ted Kennedy's and the John McCain's of our time willing to walk up and stick a thumbs down in the air for all to see!

Which brings me to today and the inspiration for this particular blog.

Her name is Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez...

or AOC for short.

She seems to be the newest threat the Old Boy Network...This young attractive,  college educated...dancing 29 year old from NYC 14th Congressional District is about to set the government status Quo on its head!

Is she this generations Teddy Roosevelt?   Who knows, but in just the first few weeks of her on the National Scene the Republicans are going into crazy uncle mode trying to smear her reputation.

She hasn't even served on any committees yet!

This link provides a detailed explanation of the Progressive tax plan on Roosevelt and his reasoning behind it.

 Tax History of the 20th century

AOC's tax plan:

CNN/60 minutes interview of AOC

Since they are lengthy and detailed, you will have to do your own research at the links I provided...

(I can't do all of your thinking for you)

So in the end, it seems to me that after 100 years of slowly moving away from a progressive tax system that doesn't overburden the middle and lower classes, we are finally seeing a change in the Congress and the Next Generation of leaders that will be taking over from the ALL MALE ALL WHITE reign of power and to some...terror.

Maybe clean air and clean water will finally get us back on track to a fair and equitable tax system that keeps us all Happy and Healthy.

This is the beginning of how to Make America Great Again........because you all Fucked it up from before!

Trumpy Bear approves this message!