For too long Democrats have been derided as economically clueless tax-and-spenders. No wonder Americans so often vote against their own common interests.
We should know better. And now we do.
Alan S. Blinder, in The New York Times, drew recently (9.30.08) from Unequal Democracy, a new book by Princeton political science professor Larry M. Bartels. His takeaway could be a game-changer:
Over the last six decades, whether rich or poor, everyone has done better with Democrats in the White House.
And that is just the non-divisive, universal note that Barack Obama needs to hit and keep hitting, in response to the RNC, and in debates and in the press. So let's tell our McCain-leaning friends and family about this -- and also encourage the Obama campaign to make sure this message gets heard. It's easy; just fill out this form. (See below for the note I myself sent, which you can use as you wish.)
Among the most striking points:
> From 1948 to 2007 the average annual growth of real gross national product was 1.64 percent per capita under Republican presidents versus 2.78 percent under Democrats. Put another way, real per capita GNP grew 69.5 percent faster under the Democrats.
> Blinder notes that this 1.14-point difference over eight years would yield 9.33 percent more income per person -- and that's a lot more than most of us could expect from a tax cut.
> The best-off families (the 95th percentile) fared almost as well under Republican as under Democratic presidents (1.90 percent growth per year, versus 2.12 percent).
> Families at the 20th percentile (the poorest) did significantly better under Democrats than under Republicans. (2.64 percent versus 0.43 percent). Consider this: Eight years of a 0.43 percent annual rate of growth increases a family's income by 3.5 percent; but eight years at 2.64 percent raises it by 23.2 percent!
> Income inequality in the United States has been rising for about three decades, especially in recent years. Over the entire 60-year period, writes Blinder, "income inequality trended substantially upward under Republican presidents but slightly downward under Democrats, thus accounting for the widening income gaps over all."
Now is the time to bury forever the false portrayal of the Democrats' economic record and replace it with these hopeful facts.
[Here now is my own email to the Obama campaign. Please feel free to cut and paste it into the Obama website's feedback form.]
To Senator Obama and his campaign staff:
As you head into these crucial final weeks of your presidential campaign, you will face many challenges from those who would like to perpetuate the notion that the Democratic Party's economic policies serve "Big Government" and not We The People.
A new book, Unequal Democracy by Larry M. Bartels, puts this false characterization to rest. I hope you will not only take a look at this summary in The Huffington Post [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frances-moore-lappe/send-this-to-your-republi_b_123270.html ] but take these points up as your own -- doing so may be one of the simplest and most effective ways to make people see the stark, historically documented differences between the economic stagnation and division that the GOP consistently offers and the revitalization and greater fairness that the Democrats almost invariably deliver.
Frances Moore Lappe of the Small Planet Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the author of sixteen books, most recently Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage in a World Gone Mad.
Follow Frances Moore Lappe on Twitter: www.twitter.com/fmlappe
I know the math is difficult
but 23.2 % more income after 8 years is actually better than 3.5%
http://www.eriposte.com/economy/tax/tax_n_spend_truths.htm
We're each spending a few hundred dollars a month on this war. If Bush doesn't get us into Iran before he leaves, McCain will. It is too scary to contemplate. PLEASE don't take that chance.
Republicans have deregulated to the point that:
pensions and healthcare benefits aren't safe,
unions are weakened/broken,
equal pay isn't protected,
jobs are more easily eliminated or sent overseas,
workplace safety isn't protected,
unscupulous (loanshark-level) lending practices are legal,
air/water pollution standards are lowered,
THAT'S JUST FOR STARTERS!
And it's a war for capitalism and oil in Iraq. The media have bought into Bush's "war on terror" language. Try substituting "capitalism" for "freedom" or "democracy" when you hear what they're trying to spread to other countries.
Don't let them fool you anymore. They fool you with "family values" issues, but they're not on your side unless you're wealthy. There are wealthy, corporate and politician Republicans, and there are working class Republicans. The working class Republicans get manipulated into voting against their own interests and believe what the Republican politicians say.
Look up Bobby Kennedy, Jr. on YouTube. He cuts through the media hype and tells it like it is.
Democrats aren't perfect, but they are the lesser of two evils by a long shot! Vote for Obama and Democrats and keep the pressure on to repair Bush's damage!
it is about war ok ie warrors for god
if we dont kill them over there we will have to kill them over here
signed
just your average evangel neo con repub
at least we know how to win elections
unlike the demos
Wake up America!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms
The truth/data has been given to them repeatedly since Friedman released his economic non-sense manual but they will not even consider other viewpoints. There is no objectivity, reason or critical thought with these people, just ignorance/Darwinism and a "Stockholm Syndrome" mentality because they are weak and a need to belong to a (falsely) masculine "Team", and they don't care that their team captains are poisoning their Gatorade.
Our best bet is not to keep trying to make them think but to make sure they never have political power on this planet again.
Stevie please help him out...
Got to admit that is a catchy campaign song...lol, so I had to change the lyrics....
"We're all just hatin McCain, Com' on ya'll get off his train, we'll get out of his way, cause we're ALL just hatin McCayyyaan."
Act II
- McCain drives in to stump in the General Lee, and Palin strikes resemblance to Daisy Duke... you got it here first...
Ahh, wew... The future of the GOP.
wadenthewater...
World's richest got even richer last year: report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080904/us_nm/wealthmanagement_report_dc
#1 - They don't tend to like black women
#2 - I tend to be attracted to men from the North
#3 - I'm not rich enough for a Republican to leave his crippled wife to marry me. I've got to attract a man based on my brains and wit.
#4 - I don't make a pretty pitbull - I do; however, make a hot soccer-mom from a hot state (GA)
#5 - I'd offer my daughter contraceptives if she were engaging in sex
This is important stuff -- if we pass this on to everyone we know -- Republican, Democract, Other, and Undecided -- maybe people will sit up and take notice of what real economic change can mean.
My in-laws, on the other hand, are intelligent liberal catholics, inclined to see through all that bs.