It should be noted that the recent mid-term elections made one point patently clear: Middle Class America, the Silent Majority, has had enough.
The Quiet Revolution of 2006
Many viewpoints crisscrossed the issue frontier, with only the order and percentage of their appearance differing. This is of great significance because the opening volley to the Quiet Revolution of Middle America worked out to seven key points:
They no longer believe in the so-called ‘Free Market’ wisdom of the Republican Party
They have little faith in the governing ability of the Democratic Party but are willing, in desperation, for change - any change.
They have virtually abandoned all trust in their elected leaders to lead competently, with particular reference to President George W. Bush.
They want an increase in the Minimum Wage that will reflect the reality of day to day living needs, without regard to the need of the nation's corporate entities to be competitive in the new world market.
They want our troops removed from a theater of war that can't be won militarily - namely Iraq.
They want a government and political system reasonably free of corruption and controlling influence from large corporations and private financial interests. And in general one that is not up for sale to the highest campaign contributor.
And for the most part they are opposed to the concept of Same-Sex Marriage as an acceptable inclusion into the American social order.
In short, the American people have made it quite clear - they want their country back.
Government By the Rich and Well-Born
Middle America has acknowledged that it has been under attack for some time, by both the Left and the Right. They would appear to have come to the understanding that they have been robbed blind: first of their rightful economic worth for their labor and then, most cruelly, of the lives of their sons and daughters - lost to an ill conceived, completely unnecessary war in a country that did not attack us, nor pose any credible threat at the time.
As part of the answer as to how we got to this point, it is necessary to go back in American history to the time of its formation via vigorous debate. At that time, many ideas were put forth as to how the new republic should be structured. One such proposal was the following:
"All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and the wellborn; the other the mass of the people... turbulent and changing, they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share in the government ... Nothing but a permanent body can check the imprudence of democracy."
From a speech by Alexander Hamilton to the Constitutional Convention - June 18, 1787
That's right, none other than Alexander Hamilton (America's first Secretary of the Treasury), put forth the idea that the wealthy and well educated class should run the country. For Hamilton truly feared the possible ravages that might be visited upon the fragile new government, by a lower less educated class (most to only an eighth grade level) 'drunk' on the concept of democracy.
Therefore, Hamilton's fears were to some degree well founded. He was not so much an elitist as a realist, and his reasoning on this point had the weight of logical justification. Fortunately, the Constitutional Convention members, for the most part, chose to fortify the new Constitution against such possible threats from both the upper and lower classes with a series of 'checks and balances.' And in the long run, at least until the last 12 years or so, they functioned quite well.
The first lesson learned from Alexander Hamilton's failed appeal was that bad ideas do not always come from bad people; as the age-old saying states - the road to Hell is paved with good intentions!
The second lesson was - bad ideas like weeds, never die. They simply hibernate in the flow of time until the moment is ripe for them to flower again.
One such socially destructive idea is that if a society allows its wealthy to retain all of their wealth, with only cosmetic taxation, and offers the incentive of even more wealth, in the long run these actions will be in the best interest of the poorer classes; In other words - government by the rich and wellborn.
On January 2, 2000, George Walker Bush took the oath of office to become America's 43rd President, at a time when his party, the Republicans, held both the Senate and House of Representatives. And with the able assistance off a Vice President closely connected to privately held wealth and aligned 'skin-close' with corporate power, the two almost succeeded in making Alexander Hamilton's 'bad idea' an American reality.
A Den of Inequity: Thieves, Liars and Moral Reprobates
One would have to go back to the Teapot Dome affair at the end of the Warren G. Harding administration (1921-1923), to find a more corrupt gathering of political vultures and privateers under the roof of the American congress as in recent years.
From the moment of the great Republican takeover of 1994, there was in evidence an ever-increasing residence of K Street lobbyists in the halls of Congress. Their alliances, behavior and questionable associations resulted in the aptly described - Culture of Corruption.
The Tobacco Industry
In 1994, the heads of the nation's seven largest tobacco companies testified before congress, under oath, that the primary ingredient of their product, nicotine, was not addictive. They went on to testify that they had never seen any evidence that tobacco contributed to lung cancer or the generation of any other respiratory disease. In essence, they lied under oath to congress.
They gave were knowingly aware of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) studies indicting the following to be true: In the United States alone, an estimated 47 million adults are hooked on smoking; 400,000 addicted smokers die each year as a direct result of their smoking; and each day, 3000 children under the age of 18 become addicted to cigarettes.
The Enron Scandal
Led by CEO Ken Lay, CFO Jeffrey Skilling, former CFO Andrew Fastow and top executive Michael Kopper, one of the country's largest and, for a time, fastest growing and most admired energy suppliers, Enron, imploded and filed for bankruptcy protection on December 2, 2001.
In the aftermath of Enron’s collapse thousands of citizen retirement plans took massive hits. At the same time, thousands of Enron employees saw their own vested retirement savings vanish along with their jobs, while Enron executive pensions were shielded from loss. And what was the White House's involvement with this company and its Chairman, Kenneth Lay?
Well if you listen to President Bush, he had very little if any contact with Mr. Lay. However, Fig. 6b evidences many documents that state just the opposite. In other words, President Bush lied.
The Jack Abramoff Lobbying Scandal
As super lobbyist Jack Abramoff in his testimony before congress traded information to lighten his pending jail time, the Bush administration did everything they could to distance themselves from this man. In point of fact, President Bush went so far as to deny ever having met the man.
What he couldn't deny, however, was a photograph taken in 2001 at the White House as the he shook hands with the chief of the Kickapoo Indian tribe of Texas. There in the background, less than ten feet away, is a smiling Jack Abramoff.
Bush continued to deny that he'd ever met with this lobbyist privately, even in the light of documented evidence that Abramoff met with him at least five times, and was invited to his Crawford Texas ranch in 2003. President Bush lied.
In the wake of this incredible influence peddling scandal and the mass resignation and imprisonment of several House and Senate members, there came the fall of World Com and the indictment and jailing of its founder, Bernie Ebbers, and former Adelphia CEO John Rigas. Other than being embezzlers, what do all of these men have in common? All were heavy contributors to the campaign coffers of the Republican Party and the Bush presidency.
The Tom Delay Scandal
On September 28, 2005, already under a pending indictment in his home state, Tom Delay (R-TX.) resigned his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives under an ever-increasing cloud of unethical behavior charges, brought by the House Ethics Committee.
The indictment alleged that Delay, who was instrumental in organizing the Texas Political Committee - which was at the heart of the charge - participated in a conspiracy to funnel corporate money into the 2002 state election, " with the intent that a felony be committed." Using corporate funds for state elections is illegal in Texas and 17 other states.
The funds in question allowed 17 Texas House Republicans who received them to gain their seats, giving the Republicans control of the Texas House for the first time in 130 years. One year later, following a detailed plan drafted from Washington by Delay and his political coconspirators, the Texas House approved a sweeping reorganization of the state's congressional district map to favor Republicans. The move allowed five more Republicans to be elected to Congress in 2004 - which enlarged the party's majority in the House.
The Mark Foley Scandal
Just when did Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) know that Rep.Mark Foley (R- Fl.) was making homosexual advances to, and soliciting sex from under the age senate pages? When openly informed he first claimed that he'd had no prior knowledge of Foley's alleged pedophilic behavior. But Republican Majority Whip John Boehner (R-Mo.) counterclaimed that he'd informed Hastert more than a year previous about Foley's predatory behavior. Finally, Hastert admitted that he'd been informed, but had relied on others to take care of the problem. It now appears that Hastert's reluctance to move against Foley, was motivated by the fear of Republican loss of a House seat if Foley was forced to resign.
Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force and the Iraq War
Most troubling of all is the Vice President's possible involvement in the events leading up to one of the most tragic and senseless military blunders in the history of this country; namely the Invasion of Iraq. For regardless of the claims to the contrary by the Bush administration, there is compelling circumstantial evidence that the invasion was planned long before the events of 9-11.
In 2000, Vice President Dick Cheney put together a task force to study and make recommendations for America's energy future. But the question that would eventually rear its head was, who was involved in this task force? Many suspected the plan they eventually came up with was virtually written by the major energy producers themselves. But in order to prove this assertion it was necessary to have access to task force documents and a list of those in attendance at these meetings.
So determined was the Vice President that these documents not be turned over to Congress, or the public, that when a government watchdog group sued to gain access to them (as did the Comptroller General of the United States on behalf of the GAO). Cheney immediately counter sued to prevent being forced to release them under the Freedom of Information Act or to any government agency.
What ensued was a three-year federal court legal battle (that Cheney’s side lost twice), which ended in the Supreme Court in April of 2004. The key question being: was there anyone who was a non-government employee involved in making recommendations on government energy policy?
The Vice President's legal staff argued that such disclosure would raise privacy concerns. But Justice Antoine Scalia questioned this argument:. “…Why would that be such an intrusion …just to know whether anybody who voted on any of the recommendations was a non-government employee?” He asked.
Finally, the administration's top lawyer admitted that Enron Chairman Ken Lay and a few unnamed others from the energy industry were 'players' at these meetings, but would not reveal in what capacity. He chose instead to argue that the Constitution gives presidents and vice presidents power to gather advice and make decisions without being forced to reveal every detail of how those decisions were made. In the end Cheney's side prevailed.
There was however an even darker side to this affair, for many suspected that what was also discussed at these meetings were plans to take over the oil fields of Iraq. All that was needed was an excuse to invade; like -Weapons of Mass Destruction. Then came the opportunity afforded by the events of 9-11.
Since the task force meetings were initiated well before 9-11, any mention of the Iraqi oil fields contained therein would validate these suspicions. Naturally, the vice president and his associates would do everything they could to avoid such disclosures.
In 2005, unknown insider sources released documents and, most importantly, a map that was drawn up and purportedly under discussion during the White House Task Force meetings in 2000 (see 3b). It clearly outlines which companies are to be given control of which blocks of the Iraqi oil fields. Need we say more?
Hurricane Katrina, Iraq and Other Disasters
Why was an unqualified individual, Michael Brown, who's only credentials (other than being a Republican politically appointed short term under secretary in the Homeland Security Agency) was that of a failed executive of the Arabian Horse Association, be given the position of Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency - FEMA? The Katrina toll: 1,836 dead - $81.2 billion estimated cost.
How did we go from a budget surplus of $236 billion plus at the beginning of the Bush Presidency, to a deficit of $337 billion? How did the Iraq War grow from a projected $55 billion to the present projection in excess of $500 billion? And how many generations of young Americans to come will it take to pay off this massive debt?
The Real Report Card on America
If we listen to the apologists for the Bush administration, America is doing well: the stock market is at its highest level in decades, companies are posting huge profits, and unemployment is at its lowest level in years. All of this they attribute to the "Bush Tax Cuts" - 85 percent of which went to the top earning 2 percent of the country. Of paramount concern, however, is all of this real?
A country is only doing as well as the bulk of its citizens are, and Americans in general, especially the Middle Class, are not doing well at all.
According to the GAO and other reputable sources, more than 33 percent of Americans must maintain two Minimum Wage jobs - simply to run in place economically; more than 38 percent have no health coverage; credit card companies are allowed to charge interest rates that put loan sharks into prison in the 1960's; Bankruptcy laws have been tightened on the population at large, but not on large companies who wish to default on employee obligations; the majority of students who finance their higher education through government loans, will be paying off those loans for the rest of their natural lives; and the underfunded No Child Left Behind program has left just about every American child behind.
Middle America has had enough and is now willing to seriously vote for and put into office Independents. So Mr. President, hopefully,coming soon to a Congressional office near you - Honesty!
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