Old Retired Guy Blog
January 20, 2011
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Is Hope Gone?I haven't written anything in a long time. Given the direction of politics in this country it's been hard to think of anything good to say. The Republicans came into power and spent 8 years running this country into debt and closing its eyes while Wall Street stole and big business cheated its way to exorbitant profits. At the same time the income of middle-class Americans dropped and they fell deeper into debt. Then there was a change in power. A new president was elected with a promise of giving Americans a chance for decent health care, tipping the tax balance a little bit back to where it should be, and ending the waste of American lives and money in Iraq. But, for the past two years Republicans have relied on a continual barrage of outrageous lies to scare Americans away from positive change. Then, while quickly taking the money provided by the economic stimulus bill and proudly announcing their successes to their constituents, they screamed that this is a waste of money and that the stimulus plan was a failure. In less than two years they convinced enough ignorant American voters that the new administration was to blame for the country's troubles. So, now we have enough fools in power again who claim they can eliminate debt by cutting taxes. And, although Wall Street almost destroyed our economy, British Petroleum filled the Gulf of Mexico with oil, and companies like Toyota put profits ahead of human health, safety, and welfare, they want to continue to deregulate business. Worst of all, they want to destroy the few gains that have been made in the past two years. While they continue to scream about health care and pass bills to destroy it, they rely on that same health care insurance to protect themselves. The Democrats have not exactly been blameless in this fiasco. Had I been President I would have spent every free moment traveling the country and pointing out the jobs and the projects being funded by the stimulus bill. I would have been vigorously attacking the outrageous lies being spewed from the mouths of the Republicans. And, in the face of their refusal to work towards compromise, I would have pushed ahead with my agenda without trying over and over and over to get bipartisan approval. Is there anywhere an intelligent conservative who can explain to me -- explain, not yell and scream -- why they are so full of hatred and rely on lies and scare tactics to gain power? If their ideas are so good, why can't they rely on honest debate? The health care bill does not employ "death squads" and a nonpartisan assessment of its economic impacts shows that it will reduce the deficit. But, the right wing has never allowed the truth to get in their way. And now, with their encouragement, we have moderates and liberals being gunned down for their beliefs. So, I am discouraged. But, I'll try to work at getting some hope back. Fifty years ago today a great President was inaugurated and for a few years there was great hope in this country. Only time will tell if America will ever return to sanity and replace hatred and greed with love and hope.
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