A question to Democrats; and probe into the heart and mind of a Populist

When do you plan override Bush's tax cuts, which primarily favored the wealthiest Americans, and partially led to the disastrous deficit we currently have. To me, at least, it's been part of a larger Republican platform that makes the Rich Richer, and the Poor Poorer. I find it interesting, (and I'm just using the numbers that I think were the ones they used in the articles that I've read on this, they're not exact and I won't claim that they are), that the richest 1 percent of Americans hold more than half of the wealth. Yet, I've suggested to Republicans I know that wouldn't it fairer to tax these people, who are literally rolling in money, higher than those scrounging for a balanced budget and they act so outraged. They act utterly infuriated at the thought of trying to get a larger cut of a 600,000 dollar budget that a 16,000 dollar one.

If anyone doesn't have a job, or doesn't retire well off, it's they're fault for being lazy and immoral. It's the arugment I've heard so often, and it's what I ahve to hear from my grandparents in every argument over politics.

They oppose the minimum wage, and they tell me that inflation will immediately completely counteract the raise, yet the Federal Reserve, and past trends dating back 40 years say otherwise.

They so ardently believe in the trickle down theory, and again here, my numbers aren't the exact numbers, yet for every dollar that goes directly into a poorer Americans pocket, the rich person would pocket an additional ten thousand. Not only that, but I find it offensive that a poor American should regarded like that. The theory itself sounds like the way you'd treat a dog, to let it scrounge for the crumbs from the table, to reluctantly allow it to get a little food, the trickle down theory treats the rich like nobility and the poor like a dog who you have to throw a bone to.

The true economic prosperity of the U.S. lies in neither free trade or isolationism, but in not making idiotic, ignorant, and absolutely pointless trade agreements like CAFTA. (I'll post you all a little essay about that sometime soon. NAFTA was highly beneficial, especially since we have a very prosperous trading industry with Mexico and Canada, and they both are major consumers of our products. But, free trade Republicans like Grover Norquist, would have us going around with random, insignificant countries and creating pointless free trade agreements, which is what I oppose, not free trade itself. What good does CAFTA do, it creates a few thousand more jobs in port cities on the Gulf, but causes farmers and manufacturing industries billions of dollars, and tens of thousands ofjobs. It does signifcantly more harm than good overall.

We need to stop this insanity. We need to pass stricter trade embargo's on China that don't allow it to ship it's products to other countries, then straight to us, hurting our manufacturing industry. We need to pass to lower the amount of products China's able to sell us period, right now I find it's outrageously high, especially for a country whose workers are more often than not under what are bascailly slave labor conditions.

We have to protect our manufacturing industry, because it is the core of the American Economy, and has been since the dawn of the twenieth century. Republican policies have led to it's extreme decline. I'm outraged that Textile companies like Ralph Lauren Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, and virtually all other designer, or non designer brands are allowed to make a two to three hundred percent profit on their products, that sounds like price gouging to me. The same way it sounds like price gouging to allowing oil companies to sell oil at 60 dollars a gallon and make 40 billion dollar profits on it. I think gase prices could have been set at two dollars a gallon throughout this summer and there not have been any shortages, and the oil companies, like ExxonMobile, still could have made an sizable, and ungodly five or six billion dollar profit.

The best way to protect American industry is to outlaw the import of all products made by workers not making a standard five dollar an hour wage. This will stop the heartless outsourcing of American jobs to China, India and other parts of East Asia to workers working for ten cents an hour. People wonder why he have a huge trade deficit, well it's there because we've sold out our Manufacturing industry for the profit of investors and the rich, and to save a buck or two in our own wallet here and there. We've sent it over seas, what used to be made in American is made in Malaysia. We're importing goods from the same companies and brands that used to make their goods in America.

At the same time, many of our key exports are also being made overseas, instead of in America. I think that the problem is so severe, that I would strongly support an economic regulation that basically forbid corporations from shipping jobs overseas to below minimum wage countries, and forbid imports from those countries. That's what's grossly unfair to the U.S. The logic is, get rid of the savings, get rid of the outsourcing, and cause more companies to come back to the U.S., as well as get many countries to force business there to pay there employees a better wage.

And now, I have to have a quick rant against Walmart. There employee benefits that are supposedly so great, well in recent years they've been over hiring so that no one but the management gets enough hours to qualify as a full time worker, and subsequently, for those benefits. Not to mention, even regular full time employees are treated like shit. Walmart dismantled it's national meat slicing, (I believe it was), department just because a single sector in Florida was unionized. The way the company treats Unions is in itself repulsive. It's been proven from studies; Walmart actually destroys 1.5 jobs for every job that it creates, and the jobs it creates pay less, and have fewer benefits. The fact of the matter is to me at least; being cheap is what is destroying the culture of this country. They've led to the destruction of the locally owned pharmcy and grocery store, and the sellout of our manufacturing sectors to cheapo overseas labor. Why, I sound like a regular modern Huey Long don't I. In any case, this little tangent on Walmart has gone on long enough.

Those are just my thoughts on the major Economic issues, what are yours, do you have any thoughts on my thoughts?

Democrats reading this, even if you're a Northerner, we do have a Carptebaggers section, (or at least we will), you might want to check or group out. Here's the google grou to join: http://groups.google.com/group/southern-democrats . Also, if you google Southern Democrats Club my out dated and poorly designed freely hosted site is still up. While the grpahics are bad, and it's not user friendly, it is very informative, and gives a very good description of our group.