Tea and Torture on a Spring Day

* The prestidigitation of the political right – There was much ado about very little with last week’s tax day Tea-Bagging protests about taxes and an assortment of sometimes hate-filled accusations. Although it was billed as a populist movement of significant proportions it was neither populist nor populous.

The event was repeatedly promoted by FOX News. While some consider FOX News a news station what it has demonstrated over the last 10 years is that it is the public relations arm of the Republican Party. FOX silence was telling on the subject of federal spending during the years that Bush and Republicans blew through the Clinton budget surplus and proceeded to build huge deficits. Who were the other movers and shakers behind Tea-Bagging?

Americans for Prosperity – a right wing think tank funded by billionaire David Koch. Koch Industries was fined $35 million dollars in 2000 for oil spills resulting from eroded and broken pipelines. “During the 1990s, the firm's faulty pipelines were responsible for more than 300 oil spills in five states, prompting a penalty of $35 million. In 1996, a flawed pipeline caused an explosion outside of Dallas in which two teenagers were killed. In a lawsuit related to the deaths, a trial court returned a judgment of $376.69 million against the company. Now there is a populist face to put on your tea bag tag.

The Independence Institute – This very conservative think tank is funded by the Coors Foundation’s Castle Rock Foundation both of whom advocate for the wealthy interests and their privileged needs. Just because they supply beer to the masses does not mean they are interested in the masses beyond the purchase of the next six-pack.

FreedomWorks – An organization that supports and promotes the interests of lobbyist Dick Armey. Those interests include Bristol-Myers Squibb, the insurance industry, and oil interests. Armey opposes health reform that would cut into the profits of branded drugs, works for deregulated life insurance reform and supports the status quo reliance on fossil fuels. Not to go unnoticed, none of these issues are in the interests of the American people.

The funders of the Tea-Bagging movement are to populism what the Republican Party was to the religious right. It is the illusion of representing the interests of a broad segment of the citizenry while in fact representing the interests of a select few. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had the appropriate response to the Tea-Bagging magical mystery tour. “The president, he stressed, had just recently passed a ‘tax cut that covers the most people in the history of this country’…The president promised significant tax relief for working families of this country, and in the first month of the administration delivered that to the American people.”

What are the facts concerning U.S. tax policy? A report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Federal Tax Burdens for Most Near Their Lowest Levels in Decades” concludes: Overall Federal Tax Burdens Are Low by Historical Standards; Federal Individual Income Tax Burdens Have Fallen Significantly; and Tax Burdens Have Dropped Most Sharply for the Highest-Income Households. I would suggest that this is what the Tea-Bagging rallies were about. It involved the wealthiest of society protecting their privileged tax concessions which they manipulated through congress in recent decades. And the sly shysters at FOX carried their water. What is being touted as a grassroots movement is little more than an assroots movement ensconced in deception and illusion.

John Perr at Crooks and Liars compiled a list of 10 Republican Tax Day Lies. They are listed below and the link provides fuller explanations:
1. President Obama will raise taxes on small businesses.
2. The estate tax devastates small businesses and family farms.
3. 40% of Americans pay no taxes.
4. Tax cuts always increase revenue.
5. The GOP is the party of fiscal discipline.
6. Ronald Reagan was the greatest tax cutter of all time.
7. FDR caused the Great Depression, or at least made it worse.
8. Obama's cap-and-trade plan will cost each American family $3,100 a year.
9. Obama's tax proposals will undermine charitable giving.
10. The rich pay too much in taxes already.

* The Torture Memos –Obama’s release of Bush’s Justice Department torture memos showed courage and at the same time focused attention once again on some of the moral and legal issues these memos engender. It required courage to go against the national security community, some of his advisors and the bulk of the political right. These memos broke laws and their release exposes the shrewd but amoral reasoning used by the Bush appointees who concocted these “justifications.” And make no mistake! U.S. laws and international laws were broken, as pointed out by constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com. How many times in the last two decades have we heard conservatives lecture about the rule of law, at least until the law is an inconvenient truth? Our laws, including international treaties, exist apart from political party or political perspective. They exist regardless of issue or circumstance.

My ambiguity about the CIA interrogators empowered by these memos uncomfortably surfaced when Obama said that CIA operatives would not be prosecuted for committing torture. This is a difficult subject to embrace from either side. From one standpoint if one thought that they were following the law they should be free of prosecution. And yet, the Nuremburg trials concluded that this was not a satisfactory defense. This is not an attempt to equate the widespread inhuman acts of the Nazi regime against innocent and defenseless people to what occurred at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and secret prison sites. It is a question of where one draws the line. It is my strong feeling that the line must not be subject to situational ethics. It is also a matter that these operatives were burdened with directives that stemmed from the Bush administration’s strained attempts to circumvent the law. It is interesting that when Obama said that CIA personnel involved in these interrogations would not be prosecuted there was no mention of a pass for the people that designed and authorized these programs. Perhaps there will be consequences but in either case we are at least addressing this difficult and challenging subject. Democracy and morality are not always easy and the fact that we question our actions in an open forum only adds gravitas to the proud claims we proclaim as a nation.

* Quotes of the Week:

~ Richard Armitage, second in command at the State Department under George W. Bush, said in an interview (about the torture of detainees), "I hope, had I known about it at the time I was serving, I would've had the courage to resign,"

~ “The image of the United States of America throughout the world (committing torture) is a recruiting tool for Islamic extremists.” John McCain 4/20/09

* “The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers”
Carl Gustav Jung (1875 – 1961) Swiss psychiatrist

A positive take during worrisome times:

* Remembering what we have – The following is an excerpt from an email exchange with a reader: There is also a positive side to our discussion. At the present time you and I, our family and friends, enjoy a standard of living and peaceful (safe) existence far better than 99% of the people that have walked this planet. We do not know what the future holds but there is merit in remembering what we do have. In large part it is the result of those who came before us and it is a responsibility I believe we now have to those who will follow - to continue to make this a better place in terms of freedom, health and standard of living.

* A helping hand – “Drugstore operator Walgreen will offer free clinic visits to the unemployed and uninsured for the rest of the year, providing tests and routine treatment for minor ailments through its walk-in clinics - though patients will still pay for prescriptions… Spouses and children are also eligible for free services if they don't have insurance of their own.” The linked article provides details of this offer. Some cynics have commented that Walgreen is only doing it to build business for its Take Care clinics. I do not know if the claim is accurate but I do say that an initiative that helps people in need is worthy of praise. If Walgreen benefits in the long-term by building a sound business model it has the ring of intelligent capitalism. We have not seen much of it in recent years but there is promise.

* Helping the land – “President Barack Obama signed legislation on Monday expanding and protecting US public parks and wilderness areas from oil and gas development, billed as the largest US conservation measure in more than 15 years… The legislation - backed by members of both parties -- is "among the most important in decades to protect, preserve and pass down our nation's most treasured landscapes to future generations.” It is certainly a breath of fresh air seeing Congress and the White House acting responsibly with respect to our natural resources and environment. This is a role of government abdicated in recent years.

* Helping the country – USA Today reports: “The early federal stimulus money appears to be hitting its target, paying for new projects and creating jobs… Most early spending is flowing, as planned, into "shovel-ready" projects — a new bridge over a Louisiana bayou, the widening of a mountain road in Colorado — that wouldn't have occurred this year without stimulus money.” The $750 billion stimulus package is being used in part to create jobs and fix a crumbling infrastructure. Some of these funds will go into education, health care and tax cuts over the next two years. It is a win-win situation.

* Helping the world – “President Obama plans to open negotiations to draft a new arms control treaty that could slash the American and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals by about a third and possibly lead to even deeper reductions, according to administration officials… Just setting a new limit would send a signal to the international community in general that the United States is getting serious about its disarmament commitments again,” said Peter Crail, an analyst at the Arms Control Association, a Washington advocacy organization.” This is not to suggest that America does not need a strong defense. But, like intelligent capitalism, it is beyond time that America strongly consider intelligent defense. For too long we have funded defense systems that are impractical, outmoded and economically crippling and unsustainable.

* Another Republican icon vaporized ~ again – This may not be positive news for the general populace but it sure is a lot of fun. An anti-union conservative group benignly calling itself Americans for Prosperity has been funding Joe the Plumber traveling to various sites to speak out against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Joe has become one of the faces of the Republican Party. He has also become one of the asses of the Republican Party.

Appearing in Harrisburg, PA to campaign against EFCA, people in the audience began asking Joe questions about the proposed legislation and why he was against it. “Pressed on the specifics of the law, Mr. Plumber repeatedly refused to answer, and finally lost his cool, telling his questioner: “Drop it, brother, drop it. I never said I was an expert, man.” Following some enthusiastic heckling Joe flushed his scheduled appearance in Philadelphia.

* The best news of all ~ the Republicans are no longer in charge – On April 1st congressional Republicans released their alternative budget to what Obama and the Democrats have proposed. The title of this Republican budget should read “Same Crap, Different Day” or “Dumb and Dumber” or “April Fools Meets Ship of Fools.” Some of the lowlights include:

~ The GOP plan would rescind the recently-enacted economic stimulus package, which would cause America—and the world—to spiral into Depression.
~ The GOP plan would hand over nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts to the rich.
~ The GOP plan would freeze non-defense, non-veteran spending for five years.
~ The GOP plan would privatize Medicare.

Not only is this an alternative to what Obama is proposing it is the antithesis of what is needed in a damaged economy and unconscionable given the state of this nation. How absurd is this Republican proposal? “The marquee item, however, in the Republican plan is their inexplicably regressive tax cut for the super rich. Wealthy Americans in the top three tax brackets would see their tax burden cut to a flat 25 percent from previous rates of 35, 33 and 28. According to the Center for American Progress, CEOs from any of the top 800 corporations would receive a tax break of around $1.5 million a year. Meanwhile, if you earn $15,000 a year, your tax break will be around $0 a year.”

In the land of Uranus, where Republicans reside, the only focus is protecting those who least need protection or support. The American people are awakening to the dismal and incompetent Republican message as the GOP continues to transition from a once vital and proud political party to a re-run of Hee Haw.

* Darfur – I received a broadcast email message from Ruth Messinger of the American Jewish World Service. On Monday she had attended a meeting with President Obama at the White House on the subject of Darfur. Messinger reports that the administration understands the need to ensure the restoration of international aid groups into Darfur. “The President also clearly indicated that finding a political solution to end the conflict is a top priority.” The full press release is available at the above link. In every generation, in multiple locations, the worst of humanity forms a puss-filled boil over a group of people. The world community has never been able to prevent it but there is a long history of overcoming man’s inhumanity to man. Let us hope that Darfur can be brought back from hell.

* America – Few would argue that a core problem burdening our nation is the inextricable link between money and politics. The high cost of running a federal level election campaign has two very specific downsides: it forces candidates and incumbents to seek funding that too often comes from the deep pockets of special interests; it forces the incumbents to be in almost constant fundraising mode thereby reducing the time they devote to actually representing constituents. Regardless of who wins the election we are the losers. It is the inordinate influence of special interests that has contributed to a degrading environment, reduction in product inspection and safety, reduction in oversight that allowed financial institutions to go over the cliff and a host of other problems that we now must deal with. It is beyond time that our country addresses how federal elections are funded and there is good news on this front.

“Fair Elections Now” is a set of bills just introduced in both houses that would fundamentally transform Congressional fundraising. The bipartisan bill is being sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Representatives John Larson (D-Conn.) and Walter Jones, Jr. (R-N.C.). It is based on key elements that have been successful at the state level in Arizona, Connecticut, Maine and North Carolina. The Public Campaign Action Fund provides details of this legislation and links to a number of non-partisan organizations that support this bill. If one sincerely wants to change the dynamics of what is a broken electoral system, action should be taken to contact one’s Senators and Representative and demand that this bill be supported. VoteSmart.org provides contact information for Senators and Representatives. Democracy is a participation sport!

* If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.
Aristotle