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malaise

(269,202 posts)
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 08:25 AM Jan 2023

Let me make this pellucidly clear

The architect of this entire mess is their beloved Ronald Reagan.
Government is not the problem.
Disciples like Joescum don’t even understand their own contradictions.
There is no society without proper education, healthcare (healthcare is a social good not a for profit industry), open spaces and safe infrastructure.
The rich must pay their taxes not use some of their gross wealth to buy politicians.

Fuck all ReTHUGs. They own this mess.

73 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Let me make this pellucidly clear (Original Post) malaise Jan 2023 OP
Thanks, I needed Pellucid Clarity this morning bucolic_frolic Jan 2023 #1
Supercaliphreakingloutley! n/t Cheezoholic Jan 2023 #2
oh Malaise I agree with you! KarenS Jan 2023 #3
Lots more to add to that list malaise Jan 2023 #4
Reagan was a big advocate for food BOSSHOG Jan 2023 #51
He also said trees cause air pollution. The Wizard Jan 2023 #67
One of your best posts malaise. gab13by13 Jan 2023 #5
He is correct malaise Jan 2023 #6
Yes he is! burrowowl Jan 2023 #55
The wealthy will never stop buying politicians. KS Toronado Jan 2023 #7
Perfect malaise Jan 2023 #9
Inflation at a 40 year high. They forget, intentionally?, that corporate profits at 70 yr high. Augiedog Jan 2023 #8
+1,000 malaise Jan 2023 #10
BINGO! Bluethroughu Jan 2023 #33
Pellucidly Clear Roy Rolling Jan 2023 #11
THIS malaise Jan 2023 #12
Podcast of interest on this topic JHB Jan 2023 #13
This is fabulous - it needs its own Down Memory Lane with JoeScum malaise Jan 2023 #20
Republicans are the problem IronLionZion Jan 2023 #14
Plain truth. Thank you, malaise. Mister Ed Jan 2023 #15
They can all move to that no government multigraincracker Jan 2023 #16
Exactly, gab13by13 Jan 2023 #19
100% correct Reagan started this mess. The Jungle 1 Jan 2023 #17
I second that Joinfortmill Jan 2023 #18
But they Don't Care what you think YoshidaYui Jan 2023 #21
Nixon fucked up health care Warpy Jan 2023 #22
+1 n/t area51 Jan 2023 #27
Come on, Malaise, say what you mean. Will ya? jaxexpat Jan 2023 #23
You said it Malaise! They had so many chances to walk away from Chump FakeNoose Jan 2023 #24
Absolutely! SheltieLover Jan 2023 #25
And the Tax Revolt of Prop 13 was the wave on which Reagen surfed in Model35mech Jan 2023 #26
K & R...nt Wounded Bear Jan 2023 #28
Send that message to Joe. He still uses Twitter. And then send it to the new Dem Leader in House. Samrob Jan 2023 #29
See post #13 malaise Jan 2023 #30
Hear, hear, and we damn sure shouldn't be bailing them out of any mess. onecaliberal Jan 2023 #31
We've been here and done this. This is history's forgotten playbook. Bluethroughu Jan 2023 #32
You are correct malaise Jan 2023 #34
We're in this fight again, and we'll win again. Bluethroughu Jan 2023 #35
We are the government. We form it for our protection. Portions have been bought and subverted. Hermit-The-Prog Jan 2023 #36
Great links malaise Jan 2023 #37
K&R Blue Owl Jan 2023 #38
TAX GAP enforcement on the top 1% could net 160 BILLION, up to 537 BILLION if top 10% enforced. TigressDem Jan 2023 #39
Great empirical evidence malaise Jan 2023 #40
Great thread. 👍 Duppers Jan 2023 #41
Thanks Duppers- DUers added some great comments malaise Jan 2023 #42
Indeedy, they have. Duppers Jan 2023 #43
I think the Freedom Caucus and the Tea-Party were more a result of Newt Gringrich's slash and burn, Martin68 Jan 2023 #44
I think both were a response to the African-American president malaise Jan 2023 #49
Yes, Obama was the wildcard that brought the racists out of the woodwork and exposed the GOP's Martin68 Jan 2023 #69
like it republianmushroom Jan 2023 #45
Get thee to the greatest page! GreenWave Jan 2023 #46
Who/What is Joescum? diva77 Jan 2023 #47
Morning Joe😀 malaise Jan 2023 #48
Thank you! diva77 Jan 2023 #53
I want to like them but I find this repeated headline to be irritating and pretentious. mwb970 Jan 2023 #58
Aw, c'mon, mwb! :) diva77 Jan 2023 #72
Nothing pretentious about "pellucid"? mwb970 Jan 2023 #73
"The architect of this entire mess is their beloved Ronald Reagan." nightwing1240 Jan 2023 #50
Yep. That was the beginning of the end. calimary Jan 2023 #56
Exactly! nightwing1240 Jan 2023 #62
Yep malaise Jan 2023 #64
Yes! That two headed monster is one we are still paying for! nightwing1240 Jan 2023 #65
No question! Also, thanks to some clueless Dems who voted for Raygun. Dark n Stormy Knight Jan 2023 #52
Yes malaise Jan 2023 #61
Republican propaganda is 100% responsible for how we got here. Initech Jan 2023 #54
Malaise for Democratic Party Leader! tosh Jan 2023 #57
LOL😀 malaise Jan 2023 #60
Well, we should at least tosh Jan 2023 #70
I'm better at that malaise Jan 2023 #71
Government is definitely not the problem. REPUBLICANS in government, however... Beartracks Jan 2023 #59
That's Ronnie Rat Raygun RocRizzo55 Jan 2023 #63
The bribing class The Wizard Jan 2023 #66
THIS malaise Jan 2023 #68

KarenS

(4,089 posts)
3. oh Malaise I agree with you!
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 08:37 AM
Jan 2023

Reagan, for sure!

I would like to add one thing to your list tho,,,, Food. Without food, there is no education and healthcare gets bigger.

BOSSHOG

(37,122 posts)
51. Reagan was a big advocate for food
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 11:25 PM
Jan 2023

He declared ketchup a vegetable. And lo there was ketchup in School lunchrooms.

KS Toronado

(17,355 posts)
7. The wealthy will never stop buying politicians.
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 08:55 AM
Jan 2023

Even if new campaign finance laws took money out of politics.

Augiedog

(2,548 posts)
8. Inflation at a 40 year high. They forget, intentionally?, that corporate profits at 70 yr high.
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 08:55 AM
Jan 2023

Until the wealthy….individuals and corps…start paying their fair share for the society that provides them with the security and life style they desire there will be no resolution that actually works.

Roy Rolling

(6,941 posts)
11. Pellucidly Clear
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 09:03 AM
Jan 2023

Government is not a for-profit enterprise. Same with education, medicine, policing/military, and religion.

JHB

(37,163 posts)
13. Podcast of interest on this topic
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 09:06 AM
Jan 2023
Ep 683: No Fair Remembering Stuff - Joe Scarborough



This is the YouTube version (no video, just audio) because it's easiest to post here. Search for "The Professional Left podcast" on your podcast app of choice for other formats.

malaise

(269,202 posts)
20. This is fabulous - it needs its own Down Memory Lane with JoeScum
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 09:49 AM
Jan 2023

and Mikamouse
Thanks.almost finished watching.

Mister Ed

(5,944 posts)
15. Plain truth. Thank you, malaise.
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 09:32 AM
Jan 2023

If government really were the problem, then the solution would be...what, anarchy?

And anarchy is s what the GQP is showing us.

 

The Jungle 1

(4,552 posts)
17. 100% correct Reagan started this mess.
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 09:38 AM
Jan 2023

He ran on the promise to cut taxes, increase defense spending and balance the budget. The fools voted for a promise we knew he would not keep. Trickle down economics was a failure and it still is.
HE TRIPLED THE DEFICIT.
Eventually he did raise taxes when it was clear the budget was out of control. Any president can have a great economy when you spend the amount of money he did.

What sucks is the republicans still operate on his same lies. They promise to fix everything and not raise taxes. Then they raise taxes anyway. It is a lie that has been going on for decades. In Pa we have the highest fuel tax in the nation and it just went up again. Thanks to a republican congress and a republican governor. We also have the most expensive toll road in the world. However the schools in Philadelphia and Reading are underfunded and failing. We have however just won control of the House and have another Democrat governor.

Warpy

(111,367 posts)
22. Nixon fucked up health care
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 10:18 AM
Jan 2023

which had begun to work better with non profit insurance companies regulated like public utilities (they were). Nixon introduced for profit insurance as a personal favor to his good buddy Henry Kaiser. The whole thing metastasized into the malignant monstrosity we have now. That's one part of the mess Nixon owns outright.

Reagan did the rest, that sack of shit, pandering to the pompadoured frauds on "Christian" television because he knew their followers would be obedient and follow any crock of horseshit he came up with, all to ruin the progressive tax structure so his rich buddies could get obscenely richer, quicker, without having to pay much attention to what was happening.

Republicans are evil, just pure, fulminating evil. Anyone who votes for them is a pig ignorant fool--even the richest, since they're sowing the seeds of their own destruction as they attempt to own everything else. They can't or won't govern, they have no desire to administer anything that will cost a rich man a few pennies. They were bad enough when they waddled around with unread copies of "The Wealth of Nations" up their butts. Now that they've shoved the unread bible up after it, they are utterly insufferable.

Seeing all their petty tyrants battle it out in the House is doing me a world of good. I'm beginning to think I might see that Donnybrook at their next convention, after all. I just hope Muddle America (not a typo) is paying close attention to this mess. I want their stupid, piggy noses rubbed in what their votes for mealy mouthed incompetence have done to this country. I want them too ashamed ever to cast a vote again. Maybe their grandchildren will be a little smarter, a little less willing to vote for plonkers.

FakeNoose

(32,791 posts)
24. You said it Malaise! They had so many chances to walk away from Chump
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 10:40 AM
Jan 2023

Instead of doing that (well some did) but most of them followed Chump around like he's the Republican Jesus. That's exactly what they did to Ronald Reagan - they made him the Republican Jesus! Reagan never created one thing, all he did was try to destroy it all. When his eight years were over, the New Deal was dead by Reagan's hand. America has never been the same since.


Model35mech

(1,561 posts)
26. And the Tax Revolt of Prop 13 was the wave on which Reagen surfed in
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 10:46 AM
Jan 2023

The California Prop 13 that started that was 1978

And in that the R's learned the lesson that American's really loves rhetoric of cutting taxes.

Even the simple things require a supportive ambiance.

Samrob

(4,298 posts)
29. Send that message to Joe. He still uses Twitter. And then send it to the new Dem Leader in House.
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 10:52 AM
Jan 2023

One small message at a time to the public. Educate as we demonstrate. Your message is right on target, clear and can be understood by all citizens. We won't change all their minds, but give it a chance to enlighten a few. Many have never heard that message.

Bluethroughu

(5,202 posts)
32. We've been here and done this. This is history's forgotten playbook.
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 11:13 AM
Jan 2023

Fighting Bob Lafollette, fought against this corruption in the early 1900's along with unions(workers), socialists and communists. They pressured FDR to work for the people and they(rich) hated him for it. They even had a plot to take over during his administration. They greedy rich never have enough and never give up trying to take more.

FDR did save capitalism, but that was not good enough.

The rich hate FREEDOM, they want monopolies, no taxes, slave labor and less interference in control of the country, it's people and their assets. The rich want autocratic dictatorships.

Bluethroughu

(5,202 posts)
35. We're in this fight again, and we'll win again.
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 11:23 AM
Jan 2023

There are more of us then there are of them.

The ones that were easily distracted by Shiny things are finding out they bought fools' gold.

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,468 posts)
36. We are the government. We form it for our protection. Portions have been bought and subverted.
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 11:36 AM
Jan 2023

We form a government to protect us -- from enemies within and without. When one group gains too much influence, the protections break down and we have to fight to regain equalities and protections lost, rather than working to get closer to the ideal.

Since the Powell memo, Reaganism, Fox, and Kochs, the one group with too much influence has been the ultra-rich. Piece by piece it has bent government to aid its takeover of government.

https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/26/koch-brothers-americans-for-prosperity-rightwing-political-group

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216877108
https://theintercept.com/2022/06/30/supreme-court-epa-climate-charles-koch/

https://reclaimdemocracy.org/powell_memo_lewis/
https://billmoyers.com/content/the-powell-memo-a-call-to-arms-for-corporations/

https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/11/16/fcc-repeals-decades-old-rules-on-media-monopolies/

TigressDem

(5,125 posts)
39. TAX GAP enforcement on the top 1% could net 160 BILLION, up to 537 BILLION if top 10% enforced.
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 02:18 PM
Jan 2023

Last edited Thu Jan 5, 2023, 03:01 PM - Edit history (2)

WHICH IS WHY the reich Rich fear the IRS being "weaponized" by hiring enough people to handle the ENORMOUS returns and DOCs needed to audit those with money to burn and shadow companies to hide profits, bodies etc...


https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/the-case-for-a-robust-attack-on-the-tax-gap

The tax gap can be a major source of inequity. Today’s tax code contains two sets of rules: one for regular wage and salary workers who report virtually all the income they earn; and another for wealthy taxpayers, who are often able to avoid a large share of the taxes they owe. As Table 1 demonstrates, estimates from academic researchers suggest that more than $160 billion lost annually is from taxes that top 1 percent choose not to pay






ADD: 374 BILLION to that if we include the 9% below the top 1% or a total of 537 BILLION in reclaimed taxes from those profiting MOST off the rest of US.

$537,000,000,000 could PUNCH the National Debt right in the face..... approx.... $31,486,734,769,000

https://www.usdebtclock.org/


EVEN IF YOU BUY THE MEME that the top HALF or top 50% pay 97% of taxes....

That is BECAUSE the bottom 50% HAS ONLY 3% of the income.


SO THEY PAY TAXES on their 3% and the top 50% pays taxes on the 97% they collectively have.

BITCHING AT THE POOR gives you ZERO Cents. BUT the RICH gained $4 Trillion off the rest of US from 2000 to 2020.

Bottom 50% is PAYING THEIR SHARE. Top 1% is raking in TRILLIONS and sheltering their wealth from paying taxes.



Martin68

(22,900 posts)
44. I think the Freedom Caucus and the Tea-Party were more a result of Newt Gringrich's slash and burn,
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 06:55 PM
Jan 2023

take no prisoners, never give an inch, and demonize your opponents approach is a more direct ancestor of what we're seeing now. Nixon weaponized dirty tricks and Reagan tried to dismantle government and normalized an extreme right wing view that blamed government for everything that goes wrong - but Newt weaponized hatred, chaos and dysfunction.

malaise

(269,202 posts)
49. I think both were a response to the African-American president
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 08:57 PM
Jan 2023

Who shattered their myths about the African-American President

Martin68

(22,900 posts)
69. Yes, Obama was the wildcard that brought the racists out of the woodwork and exposed the GOP's
Fri Jan 6, 2023, 01:25 PM
Jan 2023

racism for all to see. Ever since Nixon, and heightened by Reagan, the GOP has depended on racism to get votes.

diva77

(7,663 posts)
47. Who/What is Joescum?
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 08:47 PM
Jan 2023

I love your "Let me make this pellucidly clear" posts -- just trying to understand every last detail in this one!

mwb970

(11,367 posts)
58. I want to like them but I find this repeated headline to be irritating and pretentious.
Fri Jan 6, 2023, 03:48 AM
Jan 2023

I can see that I'm the only one, but I can't help it. Calling them as I see them here.

diva77

(7,663 posts)
72. Aw, c'mon, mwb! :)
Fri Jan 6, 2023, 05:33 PM
Jan 2023

I regard the repeated headline as a sort of whimsical hook (not pretentious) to catch your eye so you'll be sure to read the content within which is usually a matter of great import.

But...as always, you're entitled to your opinion.

nightwing1240

(1,996 posts)
50. "The architect of this entire mess is their beloved Ronald Reagan."
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 10:30 PM
Jan 2023

You had me when you said that!

Their chickens have come home to roost. Screw em all indeed!

calimary

(81,523 posts)
56. Yep. That was the beginning of the end.
Fri Jan 6, 2023, 02:45 AM
Jan 2023

That bastard really turned the tide - ALL in the wrong direction.

Dark n Stormy Knight

(9,771 posts)
52. No question! Also, thanks to some clueless Dems who voted for Raygun.
Thu Jan 5, 2023, 11:29 PM
Jan 2023

I've believed this since before I was old enough to vote and I have seen no reason to change my mind: never, ever vote for a Republican.

Initech

(100,107 posts)
54. Republican propaganda is 100% responsible for how we got here.
Fri Jan 6, 2023, 12:56 AM
Jan 2023

The one-siderism of Fox News, Limbaugh, Alex Jones, and all that shit is how we got to this point. Fox is playing a systematic part in the destruction of our education system and they're 100% responsible for getting fucking idiots like Boebert, Greene, Gaetz, Abbott, Desantis and Trump into office. It's hilarious watching Hannity and Pirro attempt to backtrack what they've created. Sorry guys, the cat's out of the bag.

Beartracks

(12,821 posts)
59. Government is definitely not the problem. REPUBLICANS in government, however...
Fri Jan 6, 2023, 05:56 AM
Jan 2023

... are most definitely THE problem.

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