Tax the Speculators!

As far as I can tell, the economic stimulus package that Obama is taking on the road in an attempt to drum up populist support, is another boondoggle for the poor and working people of this country. The cuts that have been made in an effort to appease the Rethuglicans (and I feel like I have to resort to name-calling in this instance, just to make myself feel a little better) are of the very things that everyday people need in order to pull themselves out of this hole that our government has been digging for nearly the last 30 years. (Thanks, Ronald Reagan. You were a saint. Not.) Look at how the cuts that are proposed by [extremely wealthy] "centrists" Susan Collins and Ben Nelson disproportionately affect women and children. Again. They just don't get it, or don't care.

What is the answer? Well it seems as if a lot of people have answers, from Jon Stewart to Paul Krugman to Ralph Nader, the man that progressives love to hate. If only Congress would listen. This is what Nader posted on Wednesday, and it makes good sense:

Let’s start with a fairness point. Why should you pay a 5 to 6 percent sales tax for buying the necessities of life, when tomorrow, some speculator on Wall Street can buy $100 million worth of Exxon derivatives and not pay one penny in sales tax? Let’s further add a point of common sense. The basic premise of taxation should be to first tax what society likes the least or dislikes the most, before it taxes honest labor or human needs. (Read the whole thing here)

Wow -- tax the rich. What a concept! I, for one, am sick and tired of being trickled down on. What would the world look like if we really put the needs of people first?

I try to make a practice of not hating ... anyone. I believe in living by nonviolent principles, and hate is violent. But I come dangerously close to hating the wealthy, corpulent politicians who are where they are today because of a lifetime of privilege, who use their position of power as a bully pulpit to preach "work ethic" to the rest of us. Now, I cannot pretend that I have known poverty. My dad was a doctor -- albeit one who worked in the public sector, so though we were never ridiculously wealthy, we were always well off.

However, I have worked for my entire adult life. We live in a modest house and have always taken modest vacations. We have very little in savings, certainly not enough to guarantee a college education for our children or an easy retirement for us. We may not be poor, but our future is looking anything but certain at this point in time. And how dare they, HOW DARE THEY, give more of our money away to the already fabulously wealthy while wagging their fingers at the general populace and talking about "work ethic"? These people who wear $1,000 shoes, maintain multiple homes, send their children to private schools, and eat out every day -- often on the taxpayers' dime?

This entire stimulus plan should be thrown out and started over. The Rethugs need to be told, "Shut the hell up!" and the Dems (including Barack Obama) asked, "Just who do you think elected you to this office?" I'm pissed off!