How We Can Reclaim American Prosperity

As of Monday, August 23, 2010

Fifth of a Series

This is the fifth of a series in which Moore County’s Republican and Democratic party chairmen will address various political issues. Today's issue is the economy. Jim Heim is chairman of the Moore County Democratic Party. Robert M. Levy is chairman of the Moore County Republican Party. Click here for Heim's take on the issue.

When it comes to finding the key to an economy that has locked out job creation, both sides have claimed a hero. Yet, between the spending of traditional Democrats and the tax cutting of traditional Republicans, many voters fear "there's not a dime's worth of difference."

The theories of both John Maynard Keynes for the traditional Democrats and Arthur Laffer for the traditional Republicans are that increasing the money supply will "stimulate" the economy.

Traditional Democrats want to borrow money from the Chinese to create more bureaucrats. Traditional Republicans want to borrow money from the Chinese to lower taxes, encouraging "investment" like buying cheap Chinese TVs. In -reality, neither solution will create jobs. Because, -without reclaiming America's wealth, borrowing money from China is like paying for groceries on MasterCard. The result is obesity and bankruptcy.

But there is a new conservative solution emerging from Republican ranks. It is all part of a quiet revolution to return America to the prosperity and job growth we deserve.

A real recovery must begin with real jobs that actually create wealth. Yet wealth is not created by a government job pushing papers to the government worker across the hall. America's job problem comes not only from a lack of jobs, but also a lack of jobs that create -tangible wealth, jobs which -manufacture textiles, steel, and everything from Master locks to bobby socks.

Recently, America has exported jobs and imported immigrants. Much of our economy has been transformed from manufacturing goods we consume to consuming the goods that others produce.

When we manufactured the things we consumed, America was a wealthy, creditor nation. Now, the things previously manufactured by us are made in China. They now loan money to us. Any questions?

In order to truly recover from this recession, America needs to reclaim actual wealth-creating jobs previously abandoned. The biggest consumer market in the world must restrict legal imported goods and export unwanted illegal immigrants, creating jobs that last for the American workers who, for a change, need now to be placed first.

It will not be easy. The United States must withdraw from the multinational trade agreements to which we have surrendered our sovereignty. We must say to NAFTA and the World Trade Organization that the great -"sucking sound" of jobs leaving America will be silenced.

Congress must further restrict imports, which undercut the salaries of American workers. Goods manufactured with a labor cost of less than 75 percent of the American minimum wage must be banned from U.S. markets. The most likely result of this action will not only be an easing of the downward pressure on domestic salaries, but also a rise in the -living standard of the foreign worker - who, in turn, might have money to buy American exports.

Additionally, tariffs on imported goods must be raised substantially and in a manner similar to the method Ronald Reagan employed to save Harley-Davidson. Such tariffs are needed to rescue our aging industries and abandoned factories.

Other things are necessary, too. The elimination of the income tax, replacing it with the Fair Tax, will free a sluggish economy to create new wealth. It will encourage -corporations to again bring jobs to the United States, where profits will belong to shareholders, not political parasites.

Once jobs are reclaimed, many other controversies become moot. Workers who make textiles, -televisions or tap shoes will not need government "free" health care. People who have good jobs can buy their own either on their own or with employer help. Welfare could be almost -eliminated when replaced with a job that can provide enough wealth to pay for the necessities of life.

In the days of John Maynard Keynes, a few dollars injected into the American economy from a WPA job in Wyoming would create a consumer for a radio manufactured in Ohio. In the days of Arthur Laffer, a tax reduction for a trader in New York would -provide money to buy a sofa from High Point.

Today, that "stimulus" provides jobs for Mexico and China, while Americans figure out how to pay their credit card debt at "50 cents on the dollar."

In November, America will clearly reject the welfare state. But, as Churchill said, this will not be the "end" or "the beginning of the end." In our struggle for jobs, it will only be "the end of the beginning."

True recovery will be politically painful. Our newly elected Republican majority will need to befriend, as did Reagan before them, industrial union workers who have traditionally supported Democrats while their jobs were outsourced and their payroll office moved from the factory to the unemployment office.

Republicans will also have to stand up to wealthy manufacturers who advocate illegal immigration and foreign assembly to lower labor costs. Henry Ford realized long ago that the key to American wealth is a worker who can buy the goods he produces. The alternative is serfdom.

Yes, voting Republican, and "throwing the bums out," is -important. But the real solution for job creation is a conservative consensus to reclaim American manufacturing wealth in order to rebuild and sustain our "Shining City on a Hill."

Robert M. Levy is chairman of the Moore County Republican party. Contact him at Law52@prodigy.net.

More like this story

geoffcutler 2 years, 9 months ago

Mr. Levy, Prometheus makes a good point. The days of loyally pulling the lever for Republicans, only to see them elected, and then forget why we sent them to Washington, are over. In part, this probably explains the emergence and growth of the Tea Party. That groups power will become evident if they can help to weed out Rhino candidates from traditional conservatives, and then see those more conservative candidates elected. Republicans need to begin acting like Republicans again.

dustyrhoades 2 years, 9 months ago

"Republicans need to begin acting like Republicans again."

The problem is that different Republicans have different interpretations of what that means. Fiscal conservatives think it means low taxes and (supposedly) less spending, even though alleged fiscal conservatives spend just as much, if not more to benefit their interest groups as Democrats do when they get into power (Medicare Part D anyone?) . Social conservatives think government should be able to tell you what to do in your personal life and that the government should spend billions enforcing those laws. Libertarian conservatives claim they want to cut the size of government and the reach of its power. Then there are the paranoid conservatives who are terrified of everything and who will subsume any freedom or any American civil right to the demands of "security".

The bigger problem is that many so-called conservatives are holding at least two, and sometimes more, of these competing ideas in their heads at the same time. It's no wonder so many of them are crazy.

geoffcutler 2 years, 9 months ago

Dusty, your point about the different types of conservatives is valid in the same way there are different types of Democrats. Where Republicans are concerned, limited government, fiscal restraint and reasonable taxation are perhaps the common issues that most types of Republicans used to understand. If the party is to be successful once again, it will be because they are able to galvanize under traditional conservative principles. The debate would have been better without the "crazy" reference.

greentara13 2 years, 9 months ago

Excellent point about how we need to stabalize our economy with actual commerce and goods from America. (Take that walmart and your cheap plastic Chinese goods!)

Don't really care about what kind of political party endorses it. It is a basic fact! I'm all for an Empress at this point just to get the job done.

Is anyone else tired of the bickering of both of these silly outdated political parties? JUST DO YOUR JOB! PERIOD! You are a political servant, SERVE!

JimHeim 2 years, 9 months ago

Ah, yes, Republican fiscal restraint. Reagan/Bush I tripled the National Debt and George W Bush doubled it. And nary a weep from our teabagging friends. Double standard, anyone?

Sally244 2 years, 9 months ago

"The United States must withdraw from the multinational trade agreements to which we have surrendered our sovereignty. We must say to NAFTA and the World Trade Organization that the great -"sucking sound" of jobs leaving America will be silenced."

NAFTA never made sense to me either but every time I've expressed this I see people shaking their heads. What am I missing on this subject? I'd really like to understand why it was such a good idea for Americans.

geoffcutler 2 years, 9 months ago

Mr. Heim, I'm assuming that by now you are aware of what the term "teabagger" means. For you to use a derivative of it as Chairman of the Moore County Democratic Party is just further evidence of why your representatives are going to be sent back to their respective homes come November. I'm sure you have more to offer.

But just so there is no confusion. While the Democratic leadership is an abject failure, many of us see little better coming from the Republican party. greentara13 is onto something above in that Americans are fed up with all of Washington and politicians from both sides of the aisle who do little more than serve themselves and their own political futures.

JimHeim 2 years, 9 months ago

Geoff, yes, I know exactly what the term means. And I wasn't the one who originally adopted it. The first teabaggers did. I just don't plan on letting them off the hook. If you want to parade around with signs that say, "Teabag a liberal before he teabags you," then you have to live with it. I'm not going to help you re-brand your pathetic little group.

The once-proud Republican Party has been hijacked by the extreme right (once known as Birtchers) and is no longer a legitimate part of the political life of this country. It has been rightly dubbed, the Confederate Party, and deserves no respect.

geoffcutler 2 years, 9 months ago

Mr. Heim, Let me see if I get this straight. As Chairman of The Moore County Democratic Party, you will continue to use offensive language because The Tea Party, according to you, used the term first? What, is this Kindergarten recess or something?

Your disdain for The Republican Party and your insults about the Tea Party are consistent with how Democrats view the American people. Again, we'll see how dead the Republican party is, and how pathetic the Tea Party is come November.

dustyrhoades 2 years, 9 months ago

Geoff, the term "teabag" was first used by the Tea Party itself, apparently not knowing the "other" connotation of the word.

Not kindergarten...fact.

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2009-03-18-tea_bag_dems.jpg

They used it to describe their own eerly tactic of sending actual teabags to elected representatives to show their displeasure.

http://teabagparty.org/

When people started laughing at the fact they were using a term for a sex act to describe their activities, they got themselves all in a huff over it. And they still are, which is why people keep using it.

And it bears repeating: after eight years of Bushistas, many of whom are now Tea Partiers, calling me a traitor and terrorist sympathizer, I couldn't really give less of a flip about their delicate feelings.

buddysmith 2 years, 9 months ago

a little bit off the topic, but I have to ask, why is the congress investigating major league baseball? dont they have a commissioner for that? seems like a whole lot of time is being given to a problem(steriods or performance enhancing drugs) by our government and their is no real solution. they want to prosecute Clemmons for lying to the committee when he should not have been there in the first place. Why are we paying their salaries to sit there and investigate something most americans dont really give a hoot about?

dustyrhoades 2 years, 9 months ago

Actually, connor, I haven't used "teabagger" in my own writing in quite sometime. Because Geoff politely asked me not to.

And you are the last person here with any right to complain about "offensive terms."

Psychodad72 2 years, 9 months ago

The point of the article is that while Democrats and Republicans disagree on issues of big and small government and issues like whether gays can mary, these issues are irrelevant to prosperity and jobs. Both Democrat and Republican Washington insiders agree that America ought to be globalized. They believe that life and the mix of population should be the same in Memphis and Mexico City, the same in Santiago as Southern Pines. They believe that trade ought to be international and the labor force ought to be interchangable.

The way they do this, as the article says, is to export jobs and import immigrants. Their method is to export American factories as well as manufacturing capacity while having Americans borrow money to pay for the process.

The danger to America is not that Republicans and Democrats diagree on the size of government. The danger is that both parties agree on globalization, the process by which American wealth is exported to pay for cheap labor abroad. It transfers wealth from average Americans to international traders and the Third World. It also finances the campaigns of congress on both sides.

This recession has nothing to do with Government deficits or taxes. It has a lot to do with Balance of Payments deficits, Balance of Trade deficits. and China If we do not understand that, the economy will only get worse.

JimHeim 2 years, 9 months ago

Prometheus, When Reagan took office (according to the US Treasury) the National Debt was $990,885,000,000. When Bill Clinton took office (also according to the US Treasury), the National Debt was $4,064,670,655,521. You got some serious deficit spending right there.

Try to concentrate. I'm talking about the National Debt and you're bringing up the federal deficit. They are different things. If you wish to challenge my facts, try to stay on point.

JimHeim 2 years, 9 months ago

geoffcutler, I wrote the column as chair, but when I make comments they are my own.

I have no use for the tea party. I see it as a bunch of privileged white folks upset because they've been denied their constitutional right to a white president. With the federal income tax at its lowest level since Truman, they're "taxed to death."

This is a "movement" created and manipulated by Republican lobbyists and I'm delighted to see it taking the party down.

madstork 2 years, 9 months ago

"I have no use for the tea party. I see it as a bunch of privileged white folks upset because they've been denied their constitutional right to a white president. With the federal income tax at its lowest level since Truman, they're "taxed to death." - Jim Heim

Ahhh, the race card. Your party must be so proud of you as county chair.

OldSpook 2 years, 9 months ago

Jim, you were making some pretty good points to sway my opinion, but playing the race card just sent tanked it for me. Talk about bigotry!

Maybe I should give the Tea party a serious look as I don't believe they have such an issue with us “upset white folks" or our money.

geoffcutler 2 years, 9 months ago

Mr. Heim, Thanks for the clarification. Your take on Tea Party members and how the movement began is remarkable. I guess the voter will have to decide if this is the type of rhetoric that respects the average American citizen and reflects what they expect from our elected officials.

Psychodad72 2 years, 9 months ago

This conversation shows the problem in the Democrat Party. There used to be conservatives like Sam Ervin who joined with liberals like Ted Kennedy to create a dynamic party which held a congressional majority. Today, not even the chairman of a small conservative county can say to Tea Party supporters, many of whom are Democrat, "You may have a point. We will listen."

The article above takes both parties to task. The party that wins in the next decade will be the party that listens to and respects voters. The party that gets the "boot" will be the party that makes derrogatory assumptions about and disrespects the voters. So far, the Republicans are winning.

JimHeim 2 years, 8 months ago

Prometheus, I have no problem with President Obama increasing the National Debt dramatically. It's necessary to restart the economy and get Americans back to work. It's the right wing that's been hammering him for it. I merely point out that he's a piker compared to his Republican predecessors.

bigD 2 years, 8 months ago

Heim President Obama is no piker. He is a Great Whale when it comes to budgets!

moonchild7 2 years, 8 months ago

An NBC/WSJ poll(8/12/10) shows that: "The Republican Party is very much a Southern regional white party in terms of the demographics."

The South: (D)31% (R) 52% North East: (D) 55% (R) 30% Midwest: (D) 49% (R)38% West: (D) 44% (R) 43%

Do I hear gnashing of teeth? Any arguments with this? I do know that when I travel North(from Chapel Hill on) I see more Obama bumper stickers. Around here still a few Bush/Cheney but many I guess got torn off. The only way Republican/Teabaggers will win more seats in the Congress or Senate will be due to a LACK of voting on the part of those who last voted for President Obama or one of those "I'm mad at the world" anti-Obama kinda votes. Really not much to debate there.

The Capitalist Pigs of the World are the ones in charge. They messed up "a bit" the last few years by overfeeding at the trough and over-betting the amount of money they were quickly ACUMULATING and spending on THEMSELVES. So, they are in replenishing mode and are again trying to fill up their coffers. It might not be as easy this time since the amount of people's lives they destroyed or nearly destroyed multplied like breeding rabbits. SLEAZY money was EASY money. Do you think they have now developed the moral or ethical strength to help America get back on its feet? Haven't seen any of that happening. Might not. They have to begin to create again on a level probably NEVER seen in this country. How is that going to happen when they have "NESTED" away what's left of their wealth?

NAFTA is not the problem(it was meant to help Canada and Mexico since their economies depend on us). Americans have become fat, lazy and spoiled. That's the problem. And Buddysmith, the reason our congress has been investigating the problem with steroids in professional sports is because so many young people look up to those guys as HERO'S and want to EMULATE them. Who ever started that bunch of bull? Steroids can quickly kill a young person. Baseball and Football HERO's? My brother and I went to two World Series games between The Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburg Pirates in 1971 . It was the most horrible boring thing ever and we had good seats. I didn't see a hero anywhere.

madstork 2 years, 8 months ago

Piker

Definitions of piker on the Web:

Someone who bets or gambles only with small amounts of money; A cheapskate; An amateur; Someone who backs out of a promise or refuses to go out with friends

Perfect

moonchild7 2 years, 8 months ago

Not so sure "Comrad" Prometheus. Remember from a previous comment of mine that I made a "D' in college Economics, but when you used the term Mercantilism all I could think of was how the United States and the rest of the world was "operating" back in the 18th/19th centuries. I was sorta thinking about those cowboys and gold rush guys. And I found out that I was thinking kinda in the right direction. So I of course had to look up the word. Mercantilism is based on the gold/silver standard and a balance of trade while CAPITALISM is all about Free Trade and the accumulation of profits(wealth). The two schools of thought on the subject were Adam Smith(Consumptionist) and John Keynes(Productionist). So as I see it now(rather simply of course), the United States has fallen far off it's perch as "the country the world would best like to emulate" because it not only imports a lot of useless junk it also makes a lot of useless junk. It also just STOPPED making a lot of stuff too.

Therefore WITHOUT Government intervention on a huge scale our economy will NOT recover. Why? Because there are now very little incentives to recover. To recover the U.S needs to produce QUALITY and sell QUALITY but QUALITY costs too much. How long have we heard that mantra? The very simple definition of JUNK is: Useless and Worthless. The American people are still in "Junk-buying" mode. I see it when I shop and and dumb-founded at what I see a lot of people still purchasing. UNREAL. We have an abundace of great Artisans, Craft persons, and Product Designers in this country. Their wares are not in demand because of the "CAPITAIST PIGS" who RUN EVERYTHING and have brainwashed a whole lot of people into believing they need to move a lot of production overseas so they can stay in business. Let me tell you....those CAPITALISTS do not buy any JUNK!

moonchild7 2 years, 8 months ago

All of that is well and good but the one thing that is missing is the fact that I don't think ANY of our Founding Father's could fathom the idea that any ONE person could amass BILLIONS of dollars of wealth. According to FORBES(March 2010)there are 403 BILLIONAIRE'S in the United States. There are many more world wide. That is astonishing wealth! And wealth(for the most part)that Capitalism brought on us. Yes, the world is somewhat a much better place because of it. At the same time the "Evils" of it have now reared their very ugly faces. In 1800 Jefferson believed his home, Monticello, was worth about $6300 and after 28 yrs of building it, it was valued at about $100,000(from the Monticello website). Have you ever been there? I took my son there when he was 12 yrs old(I gave him a REAL American education by making sure he saw a lot of our history in person)and it is a magnificent home(except for the slave quarters underneath). Today it's priceless but I don't think even Jefferson could have imagined that one day there would be billionaire's here, who could build billion dollar houses! He also might not have thought about the population explosion our country would experience since that time. Modern life has become quite COMPLICATED with many many more people affected by government decisions. Life at Monticello was not nearly as complicated. Thomas Jefferson was our third President, he was an Anti-Imperialist and believed in a Republic form of government that protects the rights of individuals from those of "the crowds." Again, I don't think he was able to fathom that kind of wealth belonging to so many individuals and what kind of effect later on in our history it would have on those OTHER American Individual's. I think even Jefferson would see that the Ultra Wealthy who do a lot of "looking out for themselves" and not the myriad of OTHER individuals that are here today would need strickter guidelines to get them through the day. I also feel that if alive today he would probably be an Independent but would know that in the year 2010 those OTHER Individual's need protection from "todays crowd", THE CAPITALISTS. Maybe even perhaps he would have realized that people with those huge amount's of wealth needed to be "guided" into an ETHICAL amount of taxation to keep the UNION from spiraling into OBLIVION.

moonchild7 2 years, 8 months ago

What is your point? You've said nothing. You don't believe that wealth=prosperity? or vise versa? I believe that the million/billion/zillionaires have taken this country to the cleaners and destroyed a lot of lives. That's my point.

moonchild7 2 years, 8 months ago

That's because this is a predominately Republican county. You need to travel just a little more to the north.

moonchild7 2 years, 8 months ago

No, all of you have really missed the point which is that you CAN'T tax people who MAKE a WHOLE lot less, as much as the people who make a WHOLE lot more. And yes some people pay NO TAXES because they'd have NOTHING to live on if they did. What is so difficult to understand about that? Why can't the wealthy be GLAD they have that much more to help out the rest of US who have a whole lot less. The percentages that are determined by our government that everyone has to pay is the "sticking point" and as I have said many times before(read my my previous comments)there has got to be a point where the wealthy stop this insanity. The tax rates now are the lowest since the 1980's and were as high as 90% in the 1950's!!!!!!

Have any of ever seen where and how these super wealthy(over $1 million a yr income)live? I'm not talking Pinehurst or Southern Pines. Maybe not because if you did you'd see that they are still doing quite well. The ones who perhaps lost a lot maybe they made bad investments, gambled too much, whatever. They still have been able to survive this recession better than the lower incomed people. Where are all these hard hearted people coming from around here?

teufelhunden 2 years, 8 months ago

mauiman-you said it best.

moonchild7 2 years, 8 months ago

Quotes from the 35th President of the United States of America *****John F. Kennedy***

"Economic growth without social progress lets the great majority of the people remain in poverty, while a privileged few reap the benefits of rising abundance."

"If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."

"We have all made mistakes. But Dante tells us that divine justice weighs the sins of the cold-blooded and the sins of the warm-hearted on different scales. Better the occassional faults of a party living in the spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a party frozen in the ice of it's own indifference."

"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."

"Liberty without learning is always in peril and learning without liberty is always in vain."

moonchild7 2 years, 8 months ago

I was a public servant for over 15 yrs. My son is one now. My nephew is now in Afghanistan. My brother was in Saigon during the Tet Offensive. My father, uncles, cousins all served in WWII. My Mom and Aunts worked in the Baltimore ship yards on the LIBERTY ships. Before he joined the Navy my father helped install the MASTS(I still have his helmet)on those LIBERTY ships. He joined the NAVY because he said it was LESS dangerous than climbing those masts in the middle of the night. He also told me he saw too many men fall off those masts to their deaths. Both of my grandfather's served in WWI and my maternal grandfather suffered the rest of his life(he only lived to age 60) from the effects of the mustard gas from his time in France. The family lost another Uncle over the North sea in WWII.

I think now my "problem" with most of it is that after all the Blood, Sweat, Tears, and Guts my family has given to keep this country the best in the world it's spiraling into the depths of HELL and might not be able to crawl back out.

moonchild7 2 years, 8 months ago

I said it before that I think it's absolutely fabulous that several billionaires are giving half of their wealth away and NOT to the government. I hope which ever charities receive that money that they spend it very well. Actually, those billionaires, church's and others need to establish a PRIVATE AMERICAN Health and Human Services so that our government could stop having to use so much of it's tax money toward's the poor. Our infrastructure is crumbling. No, not all American's did what mine did at the time during WWII. It's not that those others didn't want to do more it was because of WHERE they were at the time. I've told many people "my families WAR" stories and they have nothing to compare it to. My families "proximity" to Washington D.C. more or less made them "front and center" to a lot more activity than others. The stories my parents told me of the "caravans" of people/family driving up from D.C to those ports in Baltimore are chilling, much less working all nite on those ships. My mother was never the same person afterwards. My nephew is a Lieutenant in the Army. Oh, I forgot about my paternal grandfather who died from Typhoid Fever just after serving in the Army during WWI.

To say that being a public servant in no way compares to military sevice is only partly correct. The Battlefied of War is full of horror and hell. The Battlefield of public service has it's own minefields. To be trying to help individuals better themselves and then get threatened with death is not pretty. To work long hours for little pay to make this a better place to live is nothing to belittle. My son could be working in the private sector making twice the income he is now. I've asked him to try and stay with his current job a bit longer. That's the most I'll ever ask of him.

Stop whining, stop whining. The whiners are the right wing nuts who are stirring up an unbelievable amount of HATE and FEAR. They disgust me. Why don't they do something postive to make things better instead of mouthing off everyday to a crowd that foam's at the mouth for such stuff?

moonchild7 2 years, 8 months ago

How is it that I have such little respect for those who do so much for me? Why did I, when I was 18 yrs old walk the streets of D.C. to protest the Vietnam War and risk getting beaten for it? The tanks weren't far away. It was for the LOVE of this country and what it stood for that I did that. It was to get those soldiers OUT OF THERE! No thanks anywhere and let me tell you it was very scary to walk the streets in protest against WAR and for PEACE and LIBERTY. It was time I felt for someone in the family to be for PEACE and not have to go somewhere else to fight in a WAR. And I've paid a very high price for my stand.....always the "LEFTIE" can become a bit lonely.

The example I've been to others has not been a perfect one but it has been sincere and uplifting....NOT hate-mongering. It's also a very sad state we live in when as I have at times expressed my positive and heartfelt beliefs and in return have my life threatened. It's a pretty bad time when a person like me had to get a gun and learn how to shoot it after some sicko's disgusting threat's simply because I believe in PEACE and NOT WAR! My son and nephew were together last fall for a homecoming we had when he returned from IRAQ. They expressed admiration for each other without judging their current state's of employment. Those two young men are both unbelievable examples of what is absolutely right and not wrong with our country.

JoeGarrison 2 years, 8 months ago

Mr. Heim thank you for making our point. 1. You say that the Tea party is racist yet it is diverse, you obviously are speaking of ignorance and jealousy, the tea party has more people at one event than the MCDP does in a year. 2. You say that the Republican Party is being drug down, yet 50% of the American people over 20% with around 30% undecided say they will vote GOP this time around. 3. You say that spending money and increasing deficits is bad for Bush but not Obama and that this type of spending is helping our economy. Double digit unemployment, jobless claims going up, with looming tax increases on the horizon for small businesses and middle class families, and an economy that continues to sputter. That is truly a good economic record, true to form of a liberal. Thank you for making our points for us. When the enemy or your opponent is hanging themselves just get out of the way and let them continue. Keep it up:)

JimHeim 2 years, 8 months ago

JoeGarrison: 1. The number of attendees says nothing of the racial makeup of the crowd. Looking at the photos posted at the Moore tea site is most educational. 2. We shall see how the extreme right-wingers the teabaggers are getting nominated will do in November. 3. I merely point out that Republican hand-wringing about federal deficit spending is hypocritical.

MikeNC 2 years, 8 months ago

Dear Moonchild, You call the Republican party comprised of white men. How much history of the Democratic Party do you know?

JimHeim 2 years, 8 months ago

MikeNC, how far back do you want to go? To the racist past when the Democratic Party was largely a Southern one? Or the party it's become since LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and abandoned the Jim Crow South to the Republicans?

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