Left v Right on my Team of Horses . . .

In my last blog, I likened Bi-partisanship to a team of horses all pulling the same load in the same direction. That would be ideal. The challenge, however, is that neither side of the team (left v right) really wants to pull in the compromised direction. Each side wants to pull the load in their chosen, partisan direction.

The result is that the “coach” ends up traveling in a zigzag fashion as one side gains strength over the other and pulls in their direction. Then the other side gains strength, and on it goes. This zigzag pattern pulls us eventually through time to where we are now.

In the last cycle, (a very long Zig) the right side pulled us far to the right starting all the way back to Reagan. The left at first worked with the new direction, compromising and assisting. But as it got more and more radical, the left worked diligently to prevent the worst of such philosophy. The coach is now so deeply off the path of Bi-partisanship that the whole country is hurting, mired in debt, moving slowly and passengers are unsure of the way back.

Some of the things the left was able to prevent were the elimination of the Estate tax, the elimination of the Capital Gains tax and decreasing the Corporate tax. I think I heard an audible gasp through my computer. Yes, I AM serious! Think about it for a moment. Not with the partisan mind warping done by the right in the last twenty-nine years but with your rational brain.

How many readers of this blog are actually susceptible to any of those three taxes? I don’t know anyone wealthy enough to pay an Estate tax. I don’t know any leaders of industry that would pay a corporate tax. Since the middle class has decreased so dramatically under the influence of the right, there are not many left in the middle class that worry about a Capitol Gains tax.

Yet, these are the three taxes that the radical right propose to get us out of this mire and yet apply only to the very wealthy. Newt Gingrich said, “And we have three big things. First, we have zero capital gains. We eliminate the capital gains tax, which is the same as China and Singapore. Second, we go to the Irish corporate tax level, which is 12 and half percent. And third, we make permanent eliminating the death tax, so that small businesses and family-owned businesses aren’t threatened by the IRS when somebody passes away. Let me mention briefly on capital gains, cause it’s a new, bold idea.”

A “Bold new idea?” I don’t think so! It’s the same old strategy they have been using since Reagan. Notice how he calls an Estate tax a “Death Tax?” It’s the right’s way of sound-bite diplomacy to convince the public to vote against their own best interest. By calling it a death tax, it makes it sound unfair and unreasonable. In actuality, the Estate tax affects a very few who have exceeding wealth. Anyone wealthy enough to pay Estate taxes have enough lawyers and advisers to be able to protect their best interests and preserve their wealth. You and I don’t have that access and we don’t pay that tax.

The rights only answer to a sound-bite, created-for-media unfairness is to eliminate it. There are other ways to make things fair. If the level at which the Estate Tax kicks in is too low, then adjust the level with an inflationary calculation. Don’t eliminate the tax.

Will the right’s solutions get us out of the mess they created? NO! It’s what got us here! There will be more on this later.

That’s As I See it . . .

TEAM OF HORSES OR TUG OF WAR?

I think a fair analogy to make about Bi-partisanship and Partisanship would be to imagine a team of horses. You can imagine the Liberal/Progressive/Democratic horses on the left side of the team and the Conservative/Republican horses on the right side of the team. Let’s imagine them pulling a stagecoach like I used to watch in old TV westerns. That would be Bi-partisanship. Yes, we have different points of view but we are pulling in the same direction for the good of the stagecoach. We work together for a common destination, each member putting in effort.

Now picture a group summer picnic with its potato salads, chips, burgers and dogs and for entertainment, a tug of war game. After everyone has had a fill of the salad, grilled burgers or hot dogs, the game begins. In this type of game it becomes about winning. The goal is to defeat your opponent, or the other “team” in this case of tug of war. I can picture the teams struggling with all their might, straining on the rope to pull the other team to their side and thereby win the match. They sometimes make it interesting by putting a mud hole to pull the opponent into.

Which type of game do you want our Congress to play? I want the team of horses, pulling our country toward a goal of prosperity for all. Obama has been fulfilling a campaign promise to try and make Washington more functional, to make a cabinet of both Republicans and Democrats. He has been attempting to do that and at present has two Republicans there. He has reached out his hand of cooperation. He has traveled to the Congress to meet with Republicans and get their ideas. He invited conservative pundits to the White House for drinks to get their views and impress upon them the importance to this country of Bi-partisanship and with what result?

That hand of friendship and Bi-partisanship has been slapped, ignored, ridiculed and even insulted by those “tug of war” Republicans. Still, Obama has not given up. I believe he will continue with his extended hand diplomacy, but perhaps with a bit more discretion. What will be the result of the continued Republican stubbornness?

We the People should be watching this interplay very closely. Our future and the future of this country are at stake. If Republicans continue their lock-step opposition to efforts at making this country sound, they will continue to loose elections. If We the People don’t pay attention, they may win this Tug-of-War! And then what will happen to our nation?

I can see that symbolic team of horses now; the horses on the right keep pulling right to lead the team. The horses on the left keep countering the pull and pulling forward. The left horses only recently became successful because there are now more of them. But it hasn’t changed the tactics of the horses on the right. Those horses keep playing tug of war, even when it is in their benefit to pull as a team.

Democrats aren’t innocent in this game. Democrats, I believe, have been trying to get Bi-partisanship but have been conditioned into a tug of war by Republicans. I hope We the People are watching this and vote accordingly. We need a team in Congress expressing valid yet different points of view. We don’t need to continue this Tug-of-War Politics that has been happening for the last 16 years.

That's As I See It . . .