I understand we need the “workers” to crank the economy, but the “leaders” are due a tax break as well for all they have put in to the system. To deny this stimulus package and its phase-out levels are a re-distribution of wealth is intentionally misleading others.

Well, Matt, it’s high time you learned something about economies. You see, there can be no such thing as a perfectly capitalist society; anyone who wants to earn lots of money must depend upon many other people to earn them that money by working for them or purchasing their product. No one can own everything. Therefore, the rich man requires the common/poor man (actually, many of them) to be rich. Without people spending money on his company, he cannot be rich, and without workers comprising the company that makes him money, he cannot be rich. So, he must give something back to the workers and the poor. He must pay the workers and make his business affordable. The money must trickle down, in a sense. If it does not, the boss risks suffering through the suffering of the small man, since anyone work elsewhere for more money if the opportunity arises. That is what balances the wealth in a capitalist democracy. The farther the gap between rich and poor people grows, the more unhealthy the economy is because the money hoarded by the rich could be used by the poor to increase standards of living which would then increase comfort, productivity, and overall health to the common man(/woman). It benefits the rich to provide their workers with more money since the indirect benefits greatly outweigh the (relatively) small monetary sacrifice. So, you see, there IS a ceiling to the amount of money one may earn in a society, and that ceiling is much less than the total wealth of that society. Otherwise nearly everyone starves or dies of exposure, and money is useless to those left alive.

Rich people fund our government, and those poorer than them move the economy by spending money. Rich people have more money than they know what to do with most of the time, so they just sit on it. Some portion will go into their company to eventually make them richer, but in the end they control more potential to create change in the society through spending their money. When they sit on it, nothing happens. We may think of money, then, as potential work done by society, which we may think of as a very large team (all of these are very broad approximations which in no way account for specific instances). The more that money is sat on, the less work that is done, and a lazy society makes a lazy economy. Therefore, we tax the rich more than we tax the poor because we know from simple induction that the poor use their money whereas the rich merely hoard it. The poor activate the society.

So your narrow-minded rants about a Marxist society go unheeded to the astute observer. Anyone can see we live in a capitalist society; I can get a job as a janitor or an engineer, and one makes more money than the other. There is no “slippery slope” to communism here; there are factors controlling the distribution of money, but the jobs have never been and will never be equal because of the elitist hierarchy and minimal (compared to actual communism) government interference. Think the government is close to controlling all aspects of business? Then ask yourself, can I still “move up” to make more money?

Then STFU.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji_G0MqAqq8

Thank you,

Jef

They can’t possibly put Humpty Dumpty back together again that is of any benefit to the people or the planet.

Their only solution to their maximize profit again is more war, corruption, death, global warming, etc. for the rest of us.

So the time to end this mess is now! Scramble egg time!

We Need a New People’s Peace Party
Independent of Corporate Money!

As both Democratic and Republican parties are now corporate funded, they both support corporate agendas. Both Obama and Clinton support a continuation of the war in Iraq, both support corporate “for-profit” health care agendas. On many issues essential to corporate profit there has been, for many years, bi-partisan support. We essentially have a corporate political establishment party with two branches. We need to establish a new party independent of corporate money that is free to represent the interests of the people.

We must go beyond looking for any one “candidate” or individual who can be trusted to become elected and then solve all our problems. Historically, these individuals end up being targets of assassination and corruption. Non-corporate third parties are typically very small, financially impoverished, and often committed to an ideology that is often incomprehensible to most people. We need to hold the people’s elected iofficials to account to a people’s platform and agenda. If they do not fulfill the promises, platforms, and needs of the people, they should be removed from office as soon as possible.

Now is the time to establish a new political party, a People’s Peace Party

The People’s Peace Party (PPP) shall be an “umbrella party” that will unite the millions of people now in opposition to the current corporate regime and it’s various foreign and domestic policies. Millions are opposed to the war in Iraq. Millions are of Americans are concerned about global warming, lack of affordable health care, lack of living wage jobs, the destruction of public education, etc. The massive shift in wealth to the benefit of a few is destroying the living standards of the vast majority of people.

There now exists a “virtual” People’s Peace Party among the tens of millions of people who are opposed to the on-going destruction of this country and it’s peoples. We are atomized and left powerless by the existing political situation. For many years we have joined single issue campaigns and have marched, protested, written letters, supported Pacifica Radio KPFK, listened to “Democracy Now!”, and tried to be as “activist” as personally possible. Despite all these efforts we remain collectively powerless and the needs of the people for peace go unfulfilled.

“Divide and conquer” has been used throughout history by ruling elites to maintain power and control over exploited populations. The existing corporate regime in the U.S. has constantly tried to destroy any natural alliances between oppressed peoples. Race, language, nationality, and class are constantly used to keep the people atomized and politically powerless. We the people of the United States, forever exploited and increasingly impoverished by these divisive tactics, understand how this has worked in the past. We must now seek a new way to unite our forces and energies to create an ecologically sustainable society that seeks to end the vast social in-equalities that are destroying us all.

Corporate control of government has meant that corporate agendas to maximize corporate profit have become federal policy. Or more simply put - the corporations are looting the federal government. War will continue as long as war is to make profit for oil companies and the military-industrial complex. Bush has stated that he would not endorse any environmental policy that threatens the profit of polluting business. No serious reconstruction aid for Katrina victims because there is essentially no profit to corporate business in helping poor people. Privatization of all social institutions is relentlessly pursued.

The principle of maximizing corporate profit now controls every aspect of social, economic and cultural life. This control and looting by the corporations of the government has led to massive federal debt, decline in the dollar, unending financial corruption, until the U.S. is now on the brink of economic collapse.

The People’s Peace Party (PPP) Founding Principles

* The PPP affirms the principle that the government of the United States is a government “of, by, and for the people”. In order to remain independent of corporate corruption, the PPP does not accept contributions from corporations or their individual representatives.

* The PPP seeks to prohibit corporate money (and thus agendas) in election campaigns by seeking government funding of elections at all levels of government, not just the federal level. The PPP seeks to end the “person hood” of corporations which grants them rights of citizenship without the responsibilities expected in society.

* The PPP seeks to end war. War will never end as long as war is waged for profit. Thus we will end the privatization of the federal government, especially privatization of the military (mercenaries, CIA outsourcing, etc.).

* The PPP seeks to end the corporate control of mass media. The corporate profit agendas has totally blocked accessible public discussion and dialog on the critical issues we are now facing. Public oversight and democratic local control of the mass media is essential for democracy to function. The vast potential of television to expand the cultural and intellectual life of the people has been subordinated and destroyed by corporate advertising and political agendas. Corporate advertising and control of mass media must be minimized and eliminated where possible.

* The PPP will create mass media programs of various types to educate the people on the PPP agenda, platforms, candidates to be widely distributed through existing non-profit networks. We would urge everyone in agreement to become active at what ever level is personally possible.

* The PPP would implement a program to transition to a peace economy. The proposal by Dennis Kucinich to establish a Department of Peace should be implemented. We would withdraw all U.S. troops for the Middle East. The PPP would reduce the military budget by 50%. Shut down the 700 plus foreign military bases. Shut down costly and failed military systems. (planes that don’t fly, “star wars” programs that don’t work, etc.) We would re-instate all tax cuts implemented by the Bush regime for corporations and wealthy individuals. A vigorous audit of corporations and wealthy indivuals would be undertaken to minimize tax fraud.

* The PPP works towards a humanistic immigration policy that uses the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as it’s guide. Nearly every article of the Declaration is continuously violated by the bi-partisan corporatist regime as it wages a global war of genocide (”collateral damage”) against unprofitable humanity. We would end all immigrant concentration camps, ICE raids that has incarcerated thousands and broken families. We would seek to examine and correct the conditions that have cause this mass migration into the U.S.

The PPP would end all “free-trade” treaties such as NAFTA, CAFTA that are destroying the economic life of millions of farmers and workers in Mexico. We would end subsidies to corporate agriculture that have dumped cheap corn into Mexico, causing subsistence farmers to leave the land.

The majority of people of Mexico are living in poverty. The PPP would insist that the Mexican government begin a vigorous program to upgrade the living standards of it’s citizens. Minimum wages, national health care, massively increase funding for schools and teacher salaries, etc. must be undertaken to stem the flow of immigration. Foreign and domestic corporations operating in Mexico, business and wealth in Mexico must be taxed in addition to massive foreign aid from the United States to remedy the massive inequality between the two countries.

By ending war and militarism, the “peace dividend” that was possible with the collapse of the Soviet Union would finally become a reality. The peace dividend would mean that the vast funds for war and destruction would become available to cope with the many crises humanity now faces.

The November 2008 election should be considered a starting point to establish the PPP, which would run candidates at federal, state, and local elections.

Millions of people know WHY we need to end the corporate control of government. We must create the MEANS to make this happen.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080118/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_reagan