US politics: cash, taxes and Jesus

Where (some) of the money is

On the road again with US politics.  The Occupy Wall Street Movement is and will continue to have a positive influence on US political life, pushing the Democrats to the left a little and even increasing divisions between different wings of that party.  The Labor leaders too are responding to as their goal is to get Obama elected in 2012 and the OWS movement is shifting the direction of the debate from workers having to pay for the crisis to the bankers and Wall Street which has given impetus to Obama's efforts to increase taxes on the rich as well as helping undermine the right wing and it's Tea Baggers.

There are dangers in this of course as there is no indication so far that what appears to be a major goal of the OWS movement, a serious assault on moneyed interests and the inequality in US society, is not necessarily the goal of the Democratic Party for sure or their allies atop organized Labor.

A friend and I were talking about this this morning and that it is important not to be overly awed by the emergence of the "shared sacrifice" mantra that is used all the time by the Labor hierarchy and the Democrats.  This slogan has been bouncing around for some time and was used to sell furloughs (temporary or part time layoffs)  of public sector workers which amounted to a 20% pay cut. Massive cuts in public services have been justified on the basis of us all sacrificing together. With the attacks on Wall Street and the Bankers growing, the call for a little more sacrifice from them is being touted as what will do the trick. 

Any increase in the share of the burden that shifts from the shoulders of the workers and middle class to bankers and the rich is welcome but we must not lose sight of the massive wealth that has been accumulated over the past period and the equally massive transfer of public funds that has taken place since the economic crisis began.  My friend and I batted a couple of figures around, $16 trillion allotted to the banks, the trillions spent on predatory wars.  Then there is the more than $2 trillion that the corporations refuse to part with because they see no profit in it. When we are talking about shared sacrifice, or when Democrats and top Labor officials are talking about shared sacrifice, we need to keep in mind the money that is out there, “There is a cash crisis in corporate America”, Jason Zweig wrote in the Wall Street Journal back in May of this year, “although it comes not from a shortage of the stuff.”.

Talking to your campaign manager

Let's keep our eyes on the prize.

Meanwhile, US politics rolls along.  Mitt Romney, a leading figure in the Republican Party who is running for the party's nomination for president isn't  responding much to attacks from right wing Christians. Romney is a Mormon and one of his competitor's religious gurus, an evangelical  Texas Pastor named Robert Jeffress has accused him of belonging to "a cult" and that most evangelicals wouldn't accept Romney as "part of the Christian family.".  The land of innovation is not too distant from the Mullah's in Tehran when it comes to politics and religion.  Last election Romney had to state publicly that he believed "Jesus Christ is the son of God" to quell fears he might be tricking us all and be a closet Muslim.  What nonsense when you think about it, a supernatural being impregnated a Jewish woman who gave birth to this supernatural being's son.  The competitor in question is Texas Governor Rick perry who makes the imbecile Bush look like a genius but he said in response that he doesn't believe Mormonism is a "cult".  The fame and fortune associated with such an earthly role as US president knocks god in to second place.

Today's Wall Street Journal reminded us of a poll taken earlier this year by Quinnipiac university wherever that is that asked people how comfortable they would feel having a president of certain faiths. The Catholics topped the bill with 83% "Somewhat or entirely comfortable" and 13% "Somewhat or entirely uncomfortable." The Jews came next with 80% and 15%, Evangelicals, 67% and 26%, Mormon, 60% and 36%.  They didn't ask normal Protestants. 

The numbers changed when it came to the thought of a Muslim president 38% to 59% concerned.  It just shows how the media can change public opinion.  When Christians go on mass rampages and shoot people they aren't describes in the media as specifically "Christian".

But there's one group worse than Muslims when comes to popularity for president and that's a group I'm in, Atheists.  The numbers there were 37% for, 60% against.  That's actually not bad given the endless propaganda about gods, demons, angels and other fantasies in the US media, film and mass press. And that 80% figure for Jews is not accurate I don't reckon.  I'd be interested to know where the poll was taken.

I'm so glad we have separation of church and state here.