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Title: Why Today’s GOP Crackup Is the Final Unraveling of Nixon’s ‘Southern Strategy’
Source:
The Nation
URL Source: https://www.thenation.com/article/w ... g-of-nixons-southern-strategy/
Published: Oct 17, 2015
Author: William Greider
Post Date: 2015-10-17 09:20:42 by Willie Green
Keywords: None
Views: 3742
Comments: 34
Fresh chatter among Washington insiders is not about whether the Republican Party will win in 2016 but whether it will survive. Donald Trump—the fear that he might actually become the GOP nominee—is the ultimate nightmare. Some gleeful Democrats are rooting (sotto voce) for the Donald, though many expect he will self-destruct. Nevertheless, Republicans face a larger problem. The GOP finds itself trapped in a marriage that has not only gone bad but is coming apart in full public view. After five decades of shrewd strategy, the Republican coalition Richard Nixon put together in 1968—welcoming the segregationist white South into the Party of Lincoln—is now devouring itself in ugly, spiteful recriminations. The abrupt resignation of House Speaker John Boehner was his capitulation to this new reality. His downfall was loudly cheered by many of his own troops—the angry right-wingers in the House who have turned upon the party establishment. Chaos followed. The discontented accuse party leaders of weakness and betraying their promises to the loyal rank and file. At the heart of this intramural conflict is the fact that society has changed dramatically in recent decades, but the GOP has refused to change with it. Americans are rapidly shifting toward more tolerant understandings of personal behavior and social values, but the Republican Party sticks with retrograde social taboos and hard-edged prejudices about race, gender, sexual freedom, immigration, and religion. Plus, it wants to do away with big government (or so it claims). The party establishment, including business and financial leaders, seems to realize that Republicans need to moderate their outdated posture on social issues. But they can’t persuade their own base—especially Republicans in the white South—to change. The longer the GOP holds out, the more likely it is to be damaged by the nation’s changing demographics—the swelling impact of Latinos and other immigrants, and the flowering influence of millennials, the 18-to-30-year-olds who are more liberal and tolerant than their elders. Nixon’s “Southern strategy” was cynical, of course, but it was an effective electoral ploy. Now, however, it is beginning to look like a deal with the devil. For 2016, the GOP has to cope with very different challenges. The party has to find a broadly appealing nominee who won’t scare off party moderates and independent voters, but who at the same time can pacify rebellious right-wingers and prevent a party crackup. Looking over the list of possible nominees doesn’t reveal an obvious solution. Trumpish extremism is entertaining, but it could simply boost voter turnout among Democratic constituencies. Hard-core Tea Party types threaten to play Samson and pull down the temple if they don’t get their way. To grasp the GOP’s dilemma, it helps to understand that the modern Republican Party was founded on some basic contradictions. It has been an odd-couple coalition that unites the East Coast Republican establishment with the hardscrabble segregationists of the white South. Richard Nixon brokered the deal with Dixiecrat leader Strom Thurmond at the ’68 convention in Miami, wherein states of the old slave-holding Confederacy would join the Party of Lincoln. It took two election cycles to convert the “Solid South,” but Nixon and GOP apparatchiks made it clear with private assurances that Republicans would discreetly retire their historic commitment to civil rights. Scott Lilly, a liberal Democrat who for many years was the sagacious staff director of the House Appropriations Committee, explained the GOP’s intra-party fracas in that context. Boehner’s resignation, Lilly wrote in The Washington Spectator, “was, in fact, about the steady unraveling of a coalition that has allowed the Republican Party to hold the White House for 27 of the past 47 years and maintain a seemingly solid base for continuing control of the US House of Representatives.” Nixon’s reconfiguration brought together “polar opposites among white Americans,” Lilly noted. The traditional wing of the party— “country club” Republicans, who include corporate leaders, financiers and investors—became partners with poor, rural, church-going voters, among them the Southern “segs” who had previously always voted for Democrats. Black Southerners didn’t count in the equation, since they were still mostly being blocked from voting. After Congress enacted the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Lyndon Johnson confided to a White House aide, “I think we just delivered the South to the Republican Party for a long time to come.” Nixon’s new Republicans became a formidable national party, Lilly explained, but they always straddled the tension between rich and poor. “The problem,” Lilly said, “is that this latter group has almost nothing in common with the country club wing.… The country clubbers don’t care about prayer in the public schools, gun rights, stopping birth control, abortion and immigration.” On the other hand, common folks don’t worry over marginal tax rates, capital formation, or subsidies for major corporations. “If they ever fully understood that their more prosperous party brethren were contemplating deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid to pay for those policies, they would be in open rebellion,” Lilly observed. Nixon and his successors hid behind ideology and obscured the contradictions by pursuing a strategy I would call “no-fault bigotry.” Every now and then, especially in election seasons, the Republicans played the race card in dog-whistle fashion to smear Democrats, with savage effect. The GOP never attempted to repeal civil-rights legislation but sought cheap ways to undermine enforcement and remind whites, South and North, that the party was on “their” side. In his first term, Nixon himself made a memorable gesture by supporting federal tax subsidies for the private “seg academies” springing up across the South. He didn’t prevail, but he won lots of political loyalty among Southern whites—a generation of voters who had been raised to vote Democratic, but who were beginning to switch parties. In 1980, Ronald Reagan opened his presidential campaign at the Neshoba County Fair in Mississippi—a few miles from where three civil-rights workers had been murdered in the 1960s. Reagan announced his intention “to restore to states and local government the power that properly belongs to them.” That is Dixie’s euphemism for opposing racial integration. In 1988, George H.W. Bush smeared Michael Dukakis with his notoriously racist “Willie Horton” ads. In 1990 in North Carolina, Senator Jesse Helms ran for reelection against Harvey Gantt, a black former mayor of Charlotte, with a provocative ad called “white hands, black hands” attacking affirmative action. Helms won, and of course so did Bush. In 2008, when Americans elected our first black president, most of the heavy smears came after Barack Obama took office. Grassroots conservatives imagined bizarre fears: Obama wasn’t born in America; he was a secret Muslim. Donald Trump demanded to see the birth certificate. GOP leaders like Senator Mitch McConnell—who had been a civil-rights advocate in his youth—could have discouraged the demonizing slurs. Instead, McConnell launched his own take-no-prisoners strategy to obstruct anything important Obama hoped to accomplish. At least until now, Republicans have gotten away with this bigotry. As a practical matter, there was no political price. Democrats often seemed reluctant to call them out, fearful that it might encourage even greater racial backlash. Indeed, the Dems developed their own modest Southern strategy—electing centrists Jimmy Carter of Georgia and later Bill Clinton of Arkansas to the White House. But the hope that Democrats could make peace with Dixie by moderating their liberalism was a fantasy. Conservatives upped the ante and embraced additional right-wing social causes. So what caused the current rebellion in the GOP ranks? It finally dawned on loyal foot soldiers in the odd-couple coalition that they were being taken for suckers. Their causes always seemed to get the short end of the stick. The GOP made multiple promises and fervent speeches on the social issues, but, for one reason or another, the party establishment always failed to deliver. This belated realization stirred the anger that has flared across the ranks of the followers—and not just in the South. The financial crisis, the bailout of the banks, and collapsing prosperity intensified their sense of betrayal. People began mobilizing their own rump-group politics to push back. The Tea Party protests were aimed at President Obama, of course, but they were also an assault on Republican leaders who had misled and used the party base for so long. Tea Party revenge took down long-comfortable legislators and elected red-hot replacements who share the spirit of rebellion. A Republican lobbyist of my acquaintance whose corporate client has been caught in the middle of the political disturbances shared a provocative insight. “I finally figured it out,” he told me. “Obama created the Tea Party.” I laughed at first, but he explained what he meant. “We told people that Obama was a dangerous socialist who was going to wreck America and he had to be stopped, when really we knew he was a moderate Democrat, not all that radical,” the lobbyist said. “But they believed us.” In other words, the extremist assaults on the black president, combined with the economic failures, were deeply alarming for ordinary people and generated a sense of terminal crisis that was wildly exaggerated. But it generated popular expectations that Republicans must stand up to this threat with strong countermeasures—to win back political control and save the country. I suggested that racial overtones were also at work. “That’s your opinion,” the lobbyist said. “I don’t know about that.” The point is, the grassroots anxieties were disappointed by the party establishment’s responses. The GOP kept denouncing Obamacare and predicting Obama’s failure, so it was a great shock to the rank and file when the president won reelection. He proceeded with executive action on immigration that further inflamed defeated conservatives. Tea Party patriots observed that once again the GOP had failed to deliver on their social discontents: Abortion was still legal. Gays were getting married. Republicans won control of both the House and Senate, but the leaders declined to shut down government or force the president’s hand in other ways. America was burning, they believed, but Washington didn’t want to disrupt business as usual. If my lobbyist friend is right, the Republican establishment brought this crisis on itself by cynically manipulating its own rank and file. The party can’t deal with the real economic distress threatening the nation as long as rebellion is still smoldering in the ranks. Of course, that suits the interests of the country-club and Fortune 500 wing of the party—the last thing they want is significant economic reform. Confusion and stalemate have their political uses. On the other hand, the GOP can’t give the Tea Party rebels what they want without darkening its electoral prospects for 2016. Chaos to be continued. The confusion and feared crackup may actually open a brighter path for future politics, because the country is changing, including among white Southerners. The most resonant political moment in 2015 may have been what occurred in South Carolina after the church massacre in Charleston. Many politicians fumbled around, not sure what to say, but GOP Governor Nikki Haley stepped forward and took ownership of the shame. She burned the Confederate flag, so to speak, by acknowledging that it is a symbol of hate and calling for its removal from conspicuous display, which the state legislature agreed to do. Other Southern states swiftly followed with similar moves. This seems like a small symbolic gesture alongside the squalid history of racial oppression. But I think it signals a yearning for greater possibilities—a “New South” wishing it could truly escape the claustrophobic society created by the legacy of racial apartheid and the punishing social edicts imposed by demagogic preachers. As recent events have made clear, the corporate partners who dominate the GOP coalition have their own strong interest in promoting progressive social change—their customers demand it, and their employees and overseas markets expect it. Deep political change cannot reverse history in a single election cycle—it will take many elections—but Democrats have a great opportunity to force the question on the nation in 2016. Instead of playing limp and vague, Dems can launch what Howard Dean called for in 2004: a 50-state strategy that runs on liberating issues. Instead of ignoring GOP bigotry, the Democratic ticket can promise to challenge it on every front and attack reactionary Republicans who try to impose the past on voters. Above all, Democrats should demand that Tea Party rebels explain why they are in league with a party that intends to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security in order to finance more tax cuts for billionaires. As Scott Lilly suggested, if common folks ever understand the corrupt nature of the Republican coalition, we will see a popular rebellion that makes the present chaos look like, well, a tea party. Tea Party rebels are exposing the deep rifts between country-club elites and social-issue hard-liners.
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#1. To: Willie Green (#0)
I think it bothers the elites more than anything including the dimwit elites. People misunderstand what Trump stands for. Average everyday people most of whom have given up on the political scene because the good ole boy habits of the elites from both parties have removed citizens from the political process via voting against the wishes of the people or allowing court system to override constitution[elites found the easy way out by allow courts to do what they did not have the balls to do]. Mock Trump because as far as I can see he will be the next president and I don't care who the dimwits have. The black vote might for the first time vote for the GOP in real numbers because of Trump.
That statement is just hilarious! What you are really saying is damn pubs they took our dimwit voters? Who kill more blacks north or south? Well without a doubt north. Blacks murder rape assault more blacks than anyone(95%+). In fact its the blacks that harm more other races than anyone(5+ to 1 difference). This is north or south. This has been the way from the beginning. Only simple minded progressive believe other wise and use their controlled media outlets from the north to pick special cases of super abnormality to put in the press while ignoring thousands of other cases. Example is the white kicked that did the knock out game on an old black man in Houston. Thats all you hear about in the news. Why don't we here of the hundreds if not thousands of black kids doing the knock out game against other races(not just whites)? Who's the racist? This happens right in the north were your racial harmony exist!!! Bias bias bias. You guys are the biggest hypocrites in the world!!!!!
Right. And what did they do with that power? NOTHING! The author thinks that winning the White House or the Senate or the House is the goal. Whew! We won. Now let's start fundraising and campaining so we can win again. "Nevertheless, Republicans face a larger problem." Republicans have a problem? Seems to me the Democrats are the ones losing Congressional seats and governorships. The Republican "problem" is simple -- they forget who put them there.
How long until dimwits run out of other peoples money to give away? This is the only real strategy they have. If not for the freebies dimwits would not get more than the crack pot votes!
DING, DING, DING, DING! WE HAVE A WINNER !!!! And they will still follow the lead of Karl Rove, Mitch McConnell, etc, etc, because they are STUPID ! Si vis pacem, para bellum Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
The Democrat debate should have been called "The Battle of the Santa Clauses". The latest is "free" college. Right. We offer free high school and the dropout rate is 50% in the big cities. Most of those who do manage to "graduate" can't read their diplomas or do basic math. This country would be 100 times better off if we graduated 95% from high school with a diploma that actually meant something. And bring back vocational schools. And reform schools.
In 1988, George H.W. Bush smeared Michael Dukakis with his notoriously racist “Willie Horton” ads. Yes the Santa Claus party! Vocation is out. No jobs and the jobs that are there are going to illegal aliens. To fix America we would have to undo 50 years of laws and damage done by those laws. America is dead and I don't see it being revived. The progressives have done a down right good fucking of America.
They follow the instructions of their big donors who claim they put them there.
What's dead are the good paying jobs for those with low skills and little education. What's dead are jobs in the inner cities, due to businesses being driven out by crime and high taxes. What's dead are U.S. manufacturers being forced overseas by unions, taxes, regulations and lawsuits. It CAN be revived when people recognize and accept the problems. When we have a leader with the guts to point out these problems.
The problem is more the global trade deals that our STUPID leaders agreed to. Unions may be part of the problem but that is small. There is nothing wrong with wanting a decent wage for your labor.
What's dead are jobs in the inner cities, due to businesses being driven out by crime and high taxes. What's dead are U.S. manufacturers being forced overseas by unions, taxes, regulations and lawsuits. Yes It would take some major pain for the America people. A wake up call that cuts the laws in half. We would have to clear out half the federal judges and the supreme court would have to be cleared out. I just do not see all these things happening. Its just not a financial/job issue its a whole new way of living by Americans. Its getting back to small government and Americans must deal with their own problems instead of special rights by a few small groups. I just do not see this happening.
Well, it depends on your definition of "decent". If by "decent" you mean you're paid what the job is worth, then we agree. "Unions may be part of the problem but that is small." Unions are bankrupting companies and cities with their demand for higher wages, benefits and pensions. They protect lousy employees. Companies are either moving to states where they don't have unions, or they're moving offshore. Unions, where they exist, are a huge problem.
I will agree that Unions have caused a lot of the problems. But I do not think they bear sole responsibility for our nations economic woes. A lot of the blame falls on the Federal government, and to a lesser extent, onto state and some local governments. These entities are responsible to the taxes, regulations, zoning laws, EPA rules, etc, etc that have played a big part in industries leaving the country. The Federal Government even financed a lot of companies moving to Mexico, or China. The Fed Govt are the ones that set up the trade deals with other countries, and are responsible for foreign products coming in so cheap. Yes, the Unions have not helped, but the Governments ( Fed, State, Local ) have caused even bigger problems. Si vis pacem, para bellum Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
You left out the part about our elected officials passing legislation like NAFTA. That more than anything was the beginning of the end for American manufacturing You think that was bad enough? Wait until the TPP goes into effect. In a Cop Culture, the Bill of Rights Doesn’t Amount to Much Meanwhile, the 'Rats have a smelly old felon, a smelly old socialist and a smelly old retard to choose from. That's certainly mo' betta, right?
You left out the part about our elected officials passing legislation like NAFTA. That more than anything was the beginning of the end for American manufacturing You think that was bad enough? Wait until the TPP goes into effect. Well thats do to taxing of wages instead of taxing of goods and services by the feral government. You get unions under control(right to work laws) and get rid of income tax then its a whole new ballgame! Right now foreign products pay zero taxes while domestic pay all the taxes. If you go to a duty or tariff tax then it just starts wars between countries. The only solution is a government run on sales taxes paid by the consumer at the end product. Now then if a country wants to have a tariff war then its just gravy for US. Our tax system works against the poor to middle class. The more you buy the more you pay in taxes which is the way it should be. No tax breaks. Tax only the final sale to the consumer of the product/service. If you manipulate it and resale then its not to be taxed. The hardest thing about taxes is educating people. Right now the poor/middle class pay 50% taxes. So when they spend 100% of their income and save near zero then they are taxed at 50%. Where a upper class spends 50% of their income save save 50% they are taxed at 25%. The rich who spend 10% of their income save 90% are taxed at 5%. Under a 25% sales tax you spend 100% of you income you are taxed at 25%. If you spend 50% of you income you are taxed at 12.5%. If you spend 10% of you income you pay 2.5% of you income. When you eliminate tax breaks rich will pay more in the end because they can't right off everything and have $1 incomes. They will have to pay for their expensive cars, houses, boats, toys, $1000 meals etc. In the end it must be reasonable fair to all. The poor will always pay a higher % of taxes to income then the rich. I thinks thats why progressives went to the income tax because they thought they could soak the rich but they forgot the golden rule. He who has the gold make the rules. I believe the fairest tax system in the end will be a sales tax because all pay equally but those who are rich who spend more pay more in actual taxes.
Will businesses be required to pay you your gross salary (plus employer's portion of FICA) or will you continue to get your net salary and require all business to reduce the price of all their goods and services by the federal tax amount? A federal sales tax on the end product would have to be very high to bring in the same money. When you add in the state and local sales taxes, you're close to 50%. When a tax is that high, it invites cheating. People will purchase untaxed used products, lowering the demand for new. People will turn to bartering goods and services to avoid the tax completely. Revenues will be below expectations and the tax rate will rise, causing more to cheat. The solution to the whole mess will be ... wait for it ... an income tax in addition to the sales tax.
Only pay sales tax on items that consumed by the last consumer. Example Baker buys flour to make bread they pay no taxes on the flour because they turn flour into bread to be sold to the grocery store chain. The grocery store buys the bread but does not consume it but uses its serves to sell it to the consumer who consumes the bread. The grocery store charges tax on the final sale of the product which it holds for the government. The baker buys the building to make the bread. So he pays taxes on the buying the building. Baker buys the trucks that move the bread so they pay taxes on the truck when they buy the truck. Baker buys the bags to put the bread in which is not taxed since it is directly being sold with the product. A federal sales tax on the end product would have to be very high to bring in the same money. When you add in the state and local sales taxes, you're close to 50%. Not at all. All a sales tax would do is eliminate special tax breaks and show the citizens how much they are actually taxed. At just 15% national sales tax on 14 trillion GDP would bring just over $2 trillion in taxes which is what the revenue was just a few years ago. Its just tax manipulation so people don't see how much they are really taxed in the end. Remember corporations are not people and can't pay tax. Also remember if you buy a car from Japan or China they pay zero taxes(some minor tariff/duty tax which adds up to less than a 1% of taxes while sales are in the +20% range). When a tax is that high, it invites cheating. People will purchase untaxed used products, lowering the demand for new. People will turn to bartering goods and services to avoid the tax completely. How is this any different than now? Companies already have to keep track on all sales. To me it would put the company in the no win of having to collect taxes or pay themselves. It could actually cut down on fraud in the end.
We're spending $4 trillion, so right away the tax is 30%. The sales tax in Chicago is around 10%. The Illinois state income tax is 5%. That's 45% in taxes, and that's assuming the GDP doesn't decrease -- which it will. People will buy used instead of new to avoid the tax. People will cheat. People will barter. "How is this any different than now?" Nobody's going to cheat to save 6% sales tax. But they will to save $450 on a $1000 HDTV.
People who want to improve themselves can get needed skills and education. Companies are also moving overseas to pay low wages and increase their profit margin. People can protect themselves in inner cities by taking responsibility for themselves and their own safety. The ones who don't want to take responsibility move where they imagine themselves safe.
Psalm 37
We are spending nearly that much but that doesn't mean we are taking in that much. Not even close. $3 trillion for US revenue. Thats taxing the average citizen around 50% tax. Those hidden taxes are costly. Plus foreign good pay not even 1% on taxes towards our government needs. We subsides foreign countries. How pathetic is that! BTW they are already taxed that high but people are scammed to believing its 10-20%. Then you still have to add local government on this issue. People will start balking when they see the real tax and demand governments stop spending so damn much. If you are a conservative thats what you want. We need to get government to stop spending on wants and instead needs. Kick the illegal aliens and people who can work off our dime! As long as progressives can hide the real cost of taxes they can screw everyone and have them thank them!
Correct. We are running a deficit of $500 billion to $1 trillion every year. "As long as progressives can hide the real cost of taxes they can screw everyone and have them thank them!" A National Sales Tax will hide it even better. Right now, when you file your taxes, you know exactly how much you paid. "We need to get government to stop spending on wants and instead needs." Correct. And we don't need to change the tax system to do that.
Wages are only a part of it. It's the corporate tax, regulations, employee ben benefits and benefits and our out-of-control legal system that add to the cost of doing b business in the U.S.
There is a reason why most politicians have lawyer's degrees. But don't forget that corporate greed has a large part to play in corporate actions.
Psalm 37
"Corporate greed". "Increase their profit margin." Boy, you got all the buzzwords down pat. But you should know what you're talking about when is comes to corporate profits -- which are paltry. State and local sales taxes average 7%. They take more of your money than the manufacturers -- and twice as much as the "greedy" Walmart.
Buzz words? I do know the English language and use it. I can see the price of goods constantly going up. Would you consider Supply and Demand as buzz words? Supply and demand are constantly manipulated. What would you consider advertising to be or reducing oil supples? I remember years ago whe the price of coffee went up because cold weather killed coffee beans somewhere in South America and the price of coffee never went down afterwards. In fact, it has continued going up. Remember that saying about you can fool some of the people some of the time ....? BTW, if you believe all of the stats published, you need a little healthy skepticism. Psalm 37
A National Sales Tax will hide it even better. Right now, when you file your taxes, you know exactly how much you paid. How is that possible when you don't see even half the taxes when its hidden in domestic goods and services? Lets face it people who make less than $50K a year don't see any taxes because of accounting games when they pay nearly half their salary in hidden taxes.
Uh-huh. And you attribute that to greedy corporations taking more profit, huh? "I remember years ago whe the price of coffee went up because cold weather killed coffee beans somewhere in South America and the price of coffee never went down afterwards." Coffee prices were 25% below average when the drought hit Brazil. Prices returned to normal afterwards, and have been going down. Look, if you believe the price of coffee will continue to rise, then buy stock in the coffee companies. But you won't because you don't.
White, either you think I am nuts or you are. One of us is and I haven't been certified yet. Have you?
Psalm 37
The price of nuts is out of control. Used to be a couple bucks for mixed nuts; now the price has doubled.
The taxes "hidden" in domestic goods and services are those paid by the business and passed on to the consumer. That information is public.
We like nuts too. Yeah, the price of nuts is soaring.
Psalm 37
No way. You are asking simple minded people to think which they never will. You put what they will have to pay out in the open and they will run Obama and his clan into the sea! I find income tax the worst of all taxes with inheritance taxes being a close second. The harder you work the more you pay is just wrong. The more you use government[public] services the more you should pay.
Fresh chatter among Washington insiders is not about whether the Republican Party will win in 2016 but whether it will survive. Donald Trump—the fear that he might actually become the GOP nominee—is the ultimate nightmare.
#2. To: Willie Green (#0)
Nevertheless, Republicans face a larger problem. The GOP finds itself trapped in a marriage that has not only gone bad but is coming apart in full public view. After five decades of shrewd strategy, the Republican coalition Richard Nixon put together in 1968—welcoming the segregationist white South into the Party of Lincoln—is now devouring itself in ugly, spiteful recriminations.
#3. To: Willie Green (#0)
“was, in fact, about the steady unraveling of a coalition that has allowed the Republican Party to hold the White House for 27 of the past 47 years and maintain a seemingly solid base for continuing control of the US House of Representatives.”
#4. To: misterwhite, Willie Green (#3)
#5. To: misterwhite (#3)
" The Republican "problem" is simple -- they forget who put them there. "
#6. To: Justified (#4)
"How long until dimwits run out of other peoples money to give away?"
#7. To: Willie Green (#0)
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#8. To: misterwhite (#6)
#9. To: Stoner (#5)
"And they will still follow the lead of Karl Rove, Mitch McConnell, etc, etc, because they are STUPID !"
#10. To: Justified (#8)
"America is dead and I don't see it being revived."
#11. To: misterwhite (#10)
What's dead are U.S. manufacturers being forced overseas by unions, taxes, regulations and lawsuits.
#12. To: misterwhite (#10)
What's dead are the good paying jobs for those with low skills and little education.
#13. To: A K A Stone (#11)
"There is nothing wrong with wanting a decent wage for your labor."
#14. To: misterwhite (#13)
#15. To: Justified, misterwhite (#12)
What's dead are U.S. manufacturers being forced overseas by unions, taxes, regulations and lawsuits.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#16. To: Willie Green (#0)
#17. To: Deckard, misterwhite (#15)
What's dead are U.S. manufacturers being forced overseas by unions, taxes, regulations and lawsuits.
#18. To: Justified (#17)
#19. To: misterwhite (#18)
Will businesses be required to pay you your gross salary (plus employer's portion of FICA) or will you continue to get your net salary and require all business to reduce the price of all their goods and services by the federal tax amount?
#20. To: Justified (#19)
"At just 15% national sales tax on 14 trillion GDP would bring just over $2 trillion in taxes which is what the revenue was just a few years ago."
#21. To: misterwhite (#10)
#22. To: misterwhite (#20)
We're spending $4 trillion, so right away the tax is 30%.
#23. To: Justified (#22)
"We are spending nearly that much but that doesn't mean we are taking in that much."
#24. To: Don (#21)
"Companies are also moving overseas to pay low wages and increase their profit margin."
#25. To: misterwhite (#24)
#26. To: Don (#25)
"But don't forget that corporate greed has a large part to play in corporate actions."
#27. To: misterwhite (#26)
(Edited)
#28. To: misterwhite (#23)
"As long as progressives can hide the real cost of taxes they can screw everyone and have them thank them!"
#29. To: Don (#27)
"I can see the price of goods constantly going up."
#30. To: misterwhite (#29)
#31. To: Don (#30)
#32. To: Justified (#28)
"How is that possible when you don't see even half the taxes when its hidden in domestic goods and services?"
#33. To: Fred Mertz (#31)
#34. To: misterwhite (#32)
The taxes "hidden" in domestic goods and services are those paid by the business and passed on to the consumer. That information is public.
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