ENOUGH!

For the last couple of elections I have found myself screaming at the TV that the respective candidates and their surrogates need to stand up for themselves, the party and ME. No one has a monopoly on patriotism. No one can tell me I do not love my country simply because I have taken to the streets to denounce failed policies and wars that should not be fought. It is for the very love of my country and my hopes for my children, family, friends and fellow Americans that I have spoken out and denounced my "Government" not my Country. So among the many things I liked about Barack's speech, it was this defense of who we are as democrats and of our ideals that stands out the most for me this morning.

It is deeply troubling that there are those who buy into this idea that you can only show your patriotism and prove your loyalty if you accept what the Government tells you. This is as "un-American" as I think one can get. This republic was formed on the very basis that no King, no Government, is supreme. No ruler has the right to dictate to us right and wrong. The Government's authority is nothing more than a short term lease governed by hundreds of volumes of restricted covenants. Patriotism is reserved for your Country, your people. A less tangible concept, but a far more powerful and righteous one.

The Republicans for many elections, have proved themselves to be masters at the overly simplistic attack. Turning "Liberal" into a bad word, despite all the major achievements this country has enjoyed under "Liberal" administrations. They accuse us of being against the brave men and women of our armed forces and of being unpatriotic merely because we oppose an administration that lied to us -- and to those brave men and women -- and took this country into war against a Country that in reality posed little or no threat to us while at the same time they mismanaged the fight against our true enemies.

They profess to be the party of family values and of individual liberties yet they have passed and proposed laws that curtail fundamental freedoms, spy on our citizens, and discriminate against people who have committed no crime but to love another of their gender. Not to mention the hypocrisy inherent in all of the actions I discuss here.

They claim that unlike the "Liberals" they are the ones who understand the need for fiscal responsibility and the dangers of enlarging government bureaucracy. However, it is under the Republican administrations going back to at least Reagan that this country has seen ballooning deficits, unbalanced budgets, growing trade imbalances, devaluation of our currency, and the largest growth of government bureaucracy since the New Deal. We are in debt to the Chinese to the tune of more than $503 billion and growing -- foreign countries overall hold $2.6 TRILLION of our debt.

They pander to us by talking about tax cuts, and making misleading claims that the Dems will tax people out of their homes, even though under this administration the vast majority of tax relief has been for already wealthy corporations and the government's mismanagement and lack of oversight of the mortgage industry has literally forced people from their homes. Talking about taxes, understand that there is a "zero sum" aspect to all this. Your tax burden is made up of more than just your Federal taxes. Whose state and local taxes have not gone up over the past eight year? The Republicans can cut all the federal taxes they want, but that just means the Federal government will have less money to share with States and localities -- which is why your local taxes go up. Republican tax policy will not only not lower your tax burden, but the opposite may very well be true while simultaneously continuing to increase our national debt; financed by dozens of different countries, including China and Russia.

They insist on returning to "trickle-down" economics despite it having been proved a failure during Regan and Bush I, and despite any undergraduate Econ TA being able to explain to you how and why money in the hands of the poor and middle class has a far greater economic impact than in the hands of the wealthiest few [google "multiplier effect"]. This means that tax cuts should be targeted to individuals and corporations who both employ large numbers of Americans and pass on their profits to the employees in the form of higher profits. But instead this administration creates tax breaks for the wealthiest corporations with insane and irresponsible executive compensation packages.

Enough.