Don't Blame the Republicans Any Longer

Big Business transfers its loyalty, money to the Democrats

The two major political parties have been shifting their coalitions for a while now, as higher-income Americans move closer to the Democrats, despite the prospect of tax increases on high-wage earners. The Iraq war, which unsettled global markets, and the conservative social agenda combined to alienate many Wall Street executives from the Republican Party even before the recent financial meltdown. In the recent presidential campaign, the financial sector, long the biggest backer of the Republicans, actually gave more money to the Democrats, by roughly $65 million to $59 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

But if the financial sector split the difference between the two parties in 2008, it will probably skew toward the Democrats in succeeding elections, as Obama becomes the chief advocate of the Wall Street bailout. Such a development would be shocking considering the animosity between Big Business and the Democratic Party that began during the New Deal of the 1930s, which drove up taxation and slapped new regulations across many industries.

It is very apparent that the Big Business Machine is abandoning its Republican roots and is showing an increased loyalty to the Democratic Party. The Democrats can now longer blame the Republicans for being influenced by Big Business.

www.boston.com...

It's politics, not political party. Neither is correct. Both are guilty.

reply to post by cautiouslypessimistic


Of course both parties are guilty. The fickle finger of the big companies only points to those who will serve it best. Obama will be left holding the bag of the the big bad bailout/handout.

We're going to have a LONG hangover from the Bush administration and GOP congress of the last 8 years. Compare the US in 2008 to the state of the US in 2000. How can anyone defend a party which has destroyed our country in so many ways. We have been mugged and raped. We are bloodied and chained. It is a disgrace and it is why the populous is waking up to and turning on the GOP big business agenda albeit a little too late.

The GOP will rise again as corporations seek to defend their gains. What is it Reinhart (Reinhardt?) says? It is the job of Governments to pretend to fail. This is why we are caught in the two party system. two steps forward two steps back.

You better believe that I will be blaming the Republicans for a damn long long time. It will take forever to smooth out the destruction they have done to this country. Clinton had this country in the black, look what the republicans did to it. The ida that in 2 months Obama is sworn in and then all this trouble is his fault? I don't think so. Nice try.

Originally posted by damwel
You better believe that I will be blaming the Republicans for a damn long long time. It will take forever to smooth out the destruction they have done to this country. Clinton had this country in the black, look what the republicans did to it. The ida that in 2 months Obama is sworn in and then all this trouble is his fault? I don't think so. Nice try.

Oh yeah Clinton's famous "Lock Box" plan to raid social security.

Clinton’s lock-box plan is nothing more than a scheme to use more than $3 trillion in Social Security surpluses to buy down federal debt. In exchange, the Social Security trust fund gets another $3 trillion worth of IOUs. To be sure, most Americans would rather pay down the debt than use Social Security’s surpluses to fund pork barrel projects. But make no mistake, once that money is spent – to buy down debt or fund new programs – it will not be there to cover Social Security’s long-term liabilities.

f American workers were allowed take the money Clinton wants to use to buy down debt, and invest it in their own personal retirement accounts earning, say, 8 percent annually, they would own nearly $6 trillion in assets by the time Social Security goes into deficit in 2014; and, they would own $56 trillion in assets by the time the trust fund runs out of IOUs in 2034. Talk about owning a piece of the rock.

Source: The Washington Times on March 6, 2000

This is very interesting! A great post! Too bad this wasn't evident BEFORE the elections huh?

Originally posted by damwel
You better believe that I will be blaming the Republicans for a damn long long time. It will take forever to smooth out the destruction they have done to this country. Clinton had this country in the black, look what the republicans did to it. The ida that in 2 months Obama is sworn in and then all this trouble is his fault? I don't think so. Nice try.

This is why I have stated many times on this site that Obama could do absolutely nothing right for the next 4 (maybe 8) years and all the blame will be put on President Bush.

Originally posted by damwel
You better believe that I will be blaming the Republicans for a damn long long time. It will take forever to smooth out the destruction they have done to this country. Clinton had this country in the black, look what the republicans did to it. The ida that in 2 months Obama is sworn in and then all this trouble is his fault? I don't think so. Nice try.

No, sir. Reagan had this country in the black, not Clinton. Clinton raised taxes and saw the end of the Reagan era of prosperity.

Perhaps you forgot the embarassment that was the first two years of the Clinton presidency that prompted voters to usher a major political shift to the Republicans in Congress?

And as for destroying this country, your bloody Democrats are just as guilty. In fact, I believe a majority of your party voted for the $700 billion bailout to hand the bankers a free pass for screwing over the people. I believe many Democrats voted in favor of the Iraq war and in favor of the Patriot Act, AND your new president voted in favor of FISA.

Sorry, sir, but you don't get the luxury of sitting back and pretending there isn't blood on the hands of Democratic politicians when it comes to the sorry state of this country.

Originally posted by damwel
You better believe that I will be blaming the Republicans for a damn long long time. It will take forever to smooth out the destruction they have done to this country. Clinton had this country in the black, look what the republicans did to it. The ida that in 2 months Obama is sworn in and then all this trouble is his fault? I don't think so. Nice try.

you dont believe all that.

the democrats supported and ENABLED Bush they are just as bad, people who sit by and watch a bully beat up a kid are WORSE than the bully because they are SPINELESS

if you think bush is the worst thing ever blah blah blah then the democratic congress is just as bad if not worse for not stopping the war like they promised and supporting funding of the war

because they were too spineless to be the party that stopped funding the troops

your heroes, the democrats, are just as hawkish on the war as republicans.

Originally posted by jd140

Originally posted by damwel
You better believe that I will be blaming the Republicans for a damn long long time. It will take forever to smooth out the destruction they have done to this country. Clinton had this country in the black, look what the republicans did to it. The ida that in 2 months Obama is sworn in and then all this trouble is his fault? I don't think so. Nice try.

This is why I have stated many times on this site that Obama could do absolutely nothing right for the next 4 (maybe 8) years and all the blame will be put on President Bush.

That's nothing more than a statement giving Obama a free pass for any wrong he does at the expense of the Bush administration. All it does is feed irrational, blind hatred.

* Obama decides to invade Pakistan - must be Bush's fault because we set a precedent invading Iraq!
* Obama sanctions Iran - The Bush administration screwed up relations with Iran for the past 8 years to the point where Obama couldn't make it any better!
* Obama doesn't allocate money for education - That's because 'No Child Left Behind' obviously is getting in the way!
* The national debt gets deeper - Because we're trying to clean up the mess Bush made by spending money on programs we aren't sure we need!!!
* Obama beats his wife senseless - She had it coming because she started sounding like Bush!
* The Cubs still can't get to the playoffs - Bush's fault dammit!
* We're in a recession now - Bush's fault for not paying the bills!!!
* You suck at video games - Bush's fault for not supporting the video game industry!

Totally makes sense.

Originally posted by damwel

And as for destroying this country, your bloody Democrats are just as guilty. In fact, I believe a majority of your party voted for the $700 billion bailout to hand the bankers a free pass for screwing over the people. I believe many Democrats voted in favor of the Iraq war and in favor of the Patriot Act, AND your new president voted in favor of FISA.

democrat Obama and republican McCain were both pro-socialist bail out

the guy your arguing with doesn't care though

he really is just a troll...

Originally posted by jd140

Originally posted by damwel
You better believe that I will be blaming the Republicans for a damn long long time. It will take forever to smooth out the destruction they have done to this country. Clinton had this country in the black, look what the republicans did to it. The ida that in 2 months Obama is sworn in and then all this trouble is his fault? I don't think so. Nice try.

This is why I have stated many times on this site that Obama could do absolutely nothing right for the next 4 (maybe 8) years and all the blame will be put on President Bush.

I'm not sure how you stretch 2 months into 4 to 8 years. Seems like faulty logic. Anywho Clinton was blamed for tons of stuff during Bush's early years. As if it makes a difference. This my side versus your side stuff is boring. Let's take each president on his record and let the cards fall where they may.

simplified

LBJ: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos
Nixon: liar BUT opened door with China instead of opening a new front in the cold war
Ford: pardoned Nixon. fell down a lot.
Carter: peanut farmer, saw UFO, GOP hates him, Iran happened on his watch
Reagan: mysteriously hostages freed on his Innaguration day, trickled on economics, Iran-Contra (traitor), War on Drugs (police state facist - applies to all future presidents thus far)
Bush 1: NWO great idea, picked Quayle (2nd worst VP pick of last 50 years)
Clinton: sure friendo let's go ahead and Nafta things up, WTC 1, Ruby Ridge, Waco, fondness for chubby cheeked chicks
Bush 2: 911 on his watch, faulty premise for war, lost sight of Bin laden, Torture, katrina, bailout
Obama: yet to be played out

*the above is not comprehensive

remember, while you are pointing your finger to blame another, you have three more pointing back at yourself??

I love this though, obama isn't even in office yet, and people are trying to shift the blame onto him....
bush did do alot of damage I think, but ya know what people, they've couldn't of done it all without the gullible masses helping them on thier way! they were counting on us, playing with out weakensses the whole time....

has anybody thought to wonder, just what would the last 8 or so years been like if there wasn't a housing bubble inflating like made giving the people more equity to borrow against? think maybe we might have been pretty much the same boat as we are now? personally, I think there's something massively wrong with this system if we can go close to a full year in a recession and the powers that be were appearantly oblivious to it. the seed were planted decades ago, they grew and we are here. it would take a committee of the best minds in the country to sort it all out and figure out who should be getting the majority of the blame, what changes in the laws, who did what, when...ect....

and well....like I said, they were depending on the gullible masses....
they were depending on us to see our fellow americans as not as valuable, and therefore quite okay with the idea that they didn't need anything near a living wage....
they were content with the idea that all these production jobs could be sent overseas, they saw it as savings at the store....
they were more than happy to take out that loan for much more house than they needed....
they were willing to gamble, to take more risk than they should of, just to earn more....they were more than willing to use every little loophole there was to ensure that they did. heck, they were even willing to blacklist appraisers who stood in their way!!

maybe instead of finding the easy scapegoats, we should be evaluating our role in it, and finding a way to see to it that we don't fall into the trap again?

Haven't you guys heard that the Democratic led Congress is going to attach a rider to every legislation it passes while it has control of Congress.

It will read as follows:

Although the following legislation has been written and approved by a Democrat led Congress and signed by a Democrat President, the Democrat party shares no responsibility in its failure. All responsibility of failure and blame belongs to the minority Republicans and CAN and WILL be retroactively traced back to the problems the Democrats feel were created under the Bush administration that warranted this legislative action. However, if the legislation results in success, the Democrat party is more than willing to fulfill its patriotic duty of taking responsibility only when it is convenient. After all, we are Democrats.

Originally posted by jam321
Haven't you guys heard that the Democratic led Congress is going to attach a rider to every legislation it passes while it has control of Congress.

It will read as follows:

Although the following legislation has been written and approved by a Democrat led Congress and signed by a Democrat President, the Democrat party shares no responsibility in its failure. All responsibility of failure and blame belongs to the minority Republicans and CAN and WILL be retroactively traced back to the problems the Democrats feel were created under the Bush administration that warranted this legislative action. However, if the legislation results in success, the Democrat party is more than willing to fulfill its patriotic duty of taking responsibility only when it is convenient. After all, we are Democrats.

props.

its sad but true.

they democrats are funny people man, the powerful democrats must really get a kick out of their Shakespearean role as men of the people!

Originally posted by sos37


That's nothing more than a statement giving Obama a free pass for any wrong he does at the expense of the Bush administration. All it does is feed irrational, blind hatred.

* Obama decides to invade Pakistan - must be Bush's fault because we set a precedent invading Iraq!
* Obama sanctions Iran - The Bush administration screwed up relations with Iran for the past 8 years to the point where Obama couldn't make it any better!
* Obama doesn't allocate money for education - That's because 'No Child Left Behind' obviously is getting in the way!
* The national debt gets deeper - Because we're trying to clean up the mess Bush made by spending money on programs we aren't sure we need!!!
* Obama beats his wife senseless - She had it coming because she started sounding like Bush!
* The Cubs still can't get to the playoffs - Bush's fault dammit!
* We're in a recession now - Bush's fault for not paying the bills!!!
* You suck at video games - Bush's fault for not supporting the video game industry!

Totally makes sense.

makes about as much since as what the republicans HAVE been doing.....
everything's been clinton's fault, heck, blame it on carter, even though they've had decades to undo any bad policies carter may have initiated....
ya see that's the thing,
bush had what, 6 years of having just about the whole government locked in for the republicans? heck I remember the dems hiding in texas one time trying to prevent something being voted in. liberal lobbyists were told to just stay away, they wouldn't be listened to? and well, to be quit frank, I never got the impression that bush actually cared much about public opinion either....
so, well, he managed to shred the constitution, he managed to introduce torture into US policies and actually have half the population supporting the idea, he managed to about destroy our reputation across the globe.....
I think they could have managed to undo those few things that carter and clinton might have done if he saw they were adversely affecting our nation....
I guess that's just part of being a dictator, when things fall apart, there's no one else to blame since the dictator has been the one calling all the shots?

but, tell me, how the heck could we have been in a recession for close to a year, without him even realizing it? to me, this is just a sign of just how fake our economy is....has been fake for quit some time, much longer than bush has been in office. it doesn't matter if our businesses are failing, or if we aren't producing much of anything, the gov't will just tax more and let loose more money to mask over it all and keep on going....
well, we finally ran into the brick wall, it was bound to happen, ain't really anyones fault or maybe it's everyone's fault....
but well, if you must blame someone, heck, I don't know, blame the masons....they build walls, don't they?




[edit on 3-12-2008 by dawnstar]

Originally posted by sos37

Originally posted by jd140

Originally posted by damwel
You better believe that I will be blaming the Republicans for a damn long long time. It will take forever to smooth out the destruction they have done to this country. Clinton had this country in the black, look what the republicans did to it. The ida that in 2 months Obama is sworn in and then all this trouble is his fault? I don't think so. Nice try.

This is why I have stated many times on this site that Obama could do absolutely nothing right for the next 4 (maybe 8) years and all the blame will be put on President Bush.

That's nothing more than a statement giving Obama a free pass for any wrong he does at the expense of the Bush administration. All it does is feed irrational, blind hatred.

* Obama decides to invade Pakistan - must be Bush's fault because we set a precedent invading Iraq!
* Obama sanctions Iran - The Bush administration screwed up relations with Iran for the past 8 years to the point where Obama couldn't make it any better!
* Obama doesn't allocate money for education - That's because 'No Child Left Behind' obviously is getting in the way!
* The national debt gets deeper - Because we're trying to clean up the mess Bush made by spending money on programs we aren't sure we need!!!
* Obama beats his wife senseless - She had it coming because she started sounding like Bush!
* The Cubs still can't get to the playoffs - Bush's fault dammit!
* We're in a recession now - Bush's fault for not paying the bills!!!
* You suck at video games - Bush's fault for not supporting the video game industry!

Totally makes sense.

I agree 100%, but watch. It will happen, Everything will be President Bush's fault.

reply to post by jibeho


Ya but Clinton's Lock Box plan never was put into action was it!

That also does not mean that the country was in worse shape than it is today after Wushy Bushy's 8 years of "King Gorgie" rein.

And the big buisness roots do not care who is in control, rep or dem, because both will bail them out when big buisness comes crawling on its knees with a minor cut from the big bad buisness world.

Isnt it peculiar that both dem and rep parties will gladly bail out huge buisness but wont even bat an eye for a black eye for all of the small buisness that are the core of this entire nation.


IF big buisness would stop investing in overseas, cheap-quick profit now type interests, and reinvest in THIS nation and its people, then perhaps they would not be in such a muck.

Profit before people never worked...and the history proves that...past and present.


Cheers!!!

reply to post by RFBurns


The lockbox plan never really played out. He achieved his balance through higher taxes and lower spending especially Defense spending.

Higher federal taxes account for half of the decline in the deficit. In fiscal year 1992, federal revenues consumed 17.8% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In 1999, federal taxes are expected to eat up 20.1% of GDP, an increase of 2.3%. With GDP estimated to be $8.8 trillion next year, this means Americans will be paying an additional $200 billion more in federal taxes than they would if they remained at their pre-Clinton percentage of GDP.

This next part is a little eerie seeing as how this article was written in 1998.

It is too soon to say what price we will pay for Clinton's shift in budgetary priorities. But it is worth noting that the nation's last balanced budget was closely followed by a sharp recession.

findarticles.com...

Great points on overseas investing and the lack of help to small business. A plumber friend of mine could have used some of the bailout funds. He lost a great deal of business when his new home contracts dried up along with the home builders. In my area, many smaller lumber yards have recently closed up shop as well including multiple 84 Lumber locations in the region.