This is in response to being assumed to be a liberal, which is used by many as a perjorative:

First let’s be clear, President Obama is not a liberal, and I am not a fan. I wanted single payer healthcare, decriminalization (not legalization) of drugs (I have never used any illegal drugs at all, ever, but don’t think anyone should EVER go to jail for using) campaign reform, bank reform…the end of corporate welfare…..you know….things progressives, aka, people unhappy with the status quo want. I didn’t get any of it, which always makes me wonder why conservatives hate him so much!

Conservatives tend to self-identify as Christian in this country, right? Followers of Jesus, right? Show me where in the Good Book it says greed is good. Show me where the idea of amassing great earthly wealth at others expense is enshrined as a core value of Christianity. Mitt Romney comes to mind at this point with his famous line:  “I love to fire people”. Looting companies and putting people out of work for personal gain can’t be a hallmark of conservatism, can it? What happens to “job creation” when other similarly minded vultures are doing the same thing all over the US? Where, exactly are the workers supposed to find similar employment? Oddly, they often don’t. I have a hard time believing that someone who used to make around $50K a year would rather be on unemployment and food stamps….I think they’d rather be working with the possibility of advancement!

Now, if the crash of 2008 had been primarily promulgated by lazy people who just quit working, and thus brought corporations to their knees, I might be prepared to grant a point or two to the conservatives who cry that our current problems are due to lazy people who would rather collect unemployment than work. But that isn’t what happened is it? And has anyone responsible for the poor decision making on Wall Street that devalued the investments and retirement savings of millions of people suffered any palpable consequences? No. So is avoiding accountability now a conservative tenet? The economy has been looted, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t poor people that did it, or profited from it.

Is the DOW at record levels or not? Are the supposed job creators doing better than ever or not? Are banks in possession of more liquid assets than ever? Eisenhower said the best thing for the economy is a well paid worker. Businesses are in trouble not because of lazy people, but because the job creators aren’t creating jobs, at least not in the US. Banks, freed of the provisions of the Glass-Steagal Act no longer need to loan to small businesses to make money, so they don’t. I can’t grow when my access to capital is curtailed. No growth means no hiring. The banks and the “job creators” would rather possess more money, to hell with the social contract! If they can find someone in Bangladesh or where ever willing to do something for less, they do…..and so dispense with contributing to a stronger, better America. The race to the bottom has few winners! And look at the result: Many businesses that used to employ people in the service of the middle class are in trouble because there really isn’t a middle class anymore. The squeeze is on.

Now, an anecdote that informs my politics:

My father worked for Delta Air Lines in the regulated years when air travel wasn’t subject to much price competitiveness, but airlines prospered as did he because revenues and profits were higher. It cost more to fly then than now. He was making almost $34K in the ’80’s, as a mechanic, which would be near $100K today. His wife didn’t need to work a second job, much less a first one! He had plenty of vacation, a nice pension, standby privileges for the immediate family and a great healthcare package. In those days the CEO took home a lot less, too, and during the recession of the early ’80’s the leadership chose to take a 25% pay reduction and vowed to not resort to layoffs or down-sizings. The recession passed and the employees, through voluntary payroll deduction, bought the airline a new Boeing 767. Can you imagine Romney ever doing anything like that, or inspiring such action? Rather Romney and Ryan campaigned on chopping Federal worker’s salaries (but not their own, of course).

Conservatives used to care about making things better. Now, it seems, quite a few, but especially the wealthy ones, only care about making things better for themselves. It is a pervasive myth that by making things better for them, things will be better for the rest of us. Capitalism is based on the upward movement of money, but when there isn’t enough extra among those at the bottom, rather than pay more, so more can afford their products, many of these vulture capitalists simply drive their employees into the arms of the government. The current business model at Walmart, and others who rely on public subsidization of their employee costs would collapse if welfare and food stamps vanished!

As someone who would consider myself more liberal, even libertarian in terms of social contract and a desire to see government not turned in a plutocracy, I object to characterizations of liberals as somehow wanting “free everything”. I don’t know any that do, but we do value a sense of fair play and I don’t think even the most staunch conservative could say the political system we now have serves the people first. It has been bought and paid for, and legislation that doesn’t have corporate money behind it seldom passes. We waste billions….the Tea Party doesn’t want defense cuts, even though the Pentagon misplaces trillions but is not subject to audit. Conservatives decry people on welfare, but won’t hold giants like Walmart accountable for paying so little while actively sending people to apply for government assistance. Pro sports teams enjoy vast public subsidization. Let them build their own stadiums the way they want them, pay for the upkeep, the salaries, the advertising, taxes, etc, and then let them keep what’s left at the end. In other words, run them like a business!

As a fiscal conservative, I object to all forms of corporate welfare and believe if a for-profit company can’t stand up without taxpayer assistance, then it needs to fail. I also believe corporations should be allowed to exist so long as they enrich everyone involved with them, not just the guys in suits. I believe businesses should never ever be bailed out by a government. To do so is anti- capitalistic.

As a social liberal, I believe government should not be in the business of mandating behavior, so long as that behavior doesn’t infringe on others rights. The current obsession of the conservative Republicans over issues that affect a relatively small percentage of the population, like gay marriage and abortion, to the detriment of meaningful legislation on issues that affect everyone, is, to me, a huge problem. In the end, both sides are all, for the most part just politicians trying to kiss the right butt to keep their jobs. We need to get the money out of politics so our representatives represent ALL Americans, not just the ones that can buy politicians.

-D