Powerful Gay Republicans Cower in the Closet
Homophobia has been a central part of Republican electoral strategy for years - most notably in 2004, when Republicans put anti-gay-marriage amendments on state ballots around the country to increase turnout by religious right voters.
But now that Mark Foley has exposed closeted gays as a major problem for the Republican Party, those closeted gays are covering their closets with layers of plywood.
Less than 24 hours after Rep. Mark Foley resigned in disgrace, some 50 gay Republicans gathered at a friend's house in Virginia. They were in a brittle mood. Foley -- one of their own, in terms of sexual orientation and party ID -- had, by his misconduct, exposed them to personal and even professional recrimination. And they feared a backlash. A close friend of Foley's summed up the situation this way: "It is a disgrace. It's a disgrace for the party, and it's a disgrace and a disaster for all of us."
The quote is anonymous. In fact, reporter Marc Ambinder couldn't get one of the 50 closeted gay Republicans to speak on the record.
How can a gay person work for a party that loathes them and wishes them and everyone like them exterminated?
When 50 powerful gay Republicans get together, why do they cower - rather than stand up for themselves and demand understanding and acceptance as human beings from the party they work for every single day?
Talk about a disgrace - these cowards are a disgrace to themselves and to every gay person who struggled to come out of the closet to affirm their humanity.
And Marc Ambinder is a disgrace for adding another layer of plywood to their closet by pretending that GOP chair Ken Mehlman isn't gay.
Earlier this year, Democratic strategists delighted in gossiping about Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman's sexual orientation. Mehlman told the New York Daily News last May that he's not gay, and he joked that rumors to the contrary had hurt his social life for a while.
Hahaha. Hey Marc - everyone knows Mehlman is gay.
Update 1: John Aravosis asks a key question: Do conservative Christians have a predilection towards pedophilia?
Did anyone else notice how many days it took the religious right to condemn Foley's actions and the actions of the Republican leadership in covering-up Foley's crimes? Foley's sickness was announced publicly on Thursday. The religious right didn't respond until the following Monday. What - they were too busy preparing for Columbus Day? Apparently man-on-boy sex isn't a big deal to conservative Christians so long as the man and boy (and their enablers) are all Republicans.
And when the conservative Christian groups finally did speak out, they were more preoccupied with promoting their anti-gay agenda than they were the health of the children and the sins of their predators and enablers.
America must ask itself why so many conservative Christians are involved in this scandal? And why so many conservative Christian groups were so slow to condemn the sexual abuse of our children?
These are uncomfortable questions, but we live in uncomfortable times. For the sake of our children we must find out why conservative Christian leaders seem to have a predilection towards pedophilia. Perhaps we've tolerated conservative Christians in our congress, in our schools, and in our pulpits for far too long.
Update 2: Sara Robinson says conservative Christians do have a predilection towards pedophilia:
when conservatives say that gays are pedophiles, they may also be accurately reporting what they see on their own side. As I've discussed here before, a core reason people become conservative because they're afraid of losing control. (Words like "repressed" and "tightly wound" may apply here.) Psychologists who work with pedophiles -- both hetero and homo -- say that virtually all of them suffered some major innocence-shattering life trauma when they were at a similar age as their victims. Their psychosexual development stopped right there, and never went any further. Thus, in a real sense, pedophiles are sexually still children themselves, and thus simply seeking out their developmental peers.
It follows that somebody who sustained a severe trauma like that in adolescence -- especially if the trauma was all bound up with the dawning awareness that they were attracted to other men -- might become a) conservative and b) a potential pedophile. The whole desperate quest for control began with the need to control their own unresolved desires, and radiated out from there to form the foundation of their entire worldview.
The upshot here is that, if you're a Republican, it seems quite possible that an unusual number of the gays you know really are pretty sick and twisted characters who prey on boys. Evidently, there's a nonstop parade of these guys in God's Own Party: in fact, what we're seeing this week is that they're so pervasive that Sidney Blumenthal recently called the GOP the "largest walk-in closet in Washington."
Which means that we may need to realize that when our conservative friends start going on about those gay child sex perverts, they're just calling it exactly as they see it.
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50?
50? Oh my God. This really IS a party of closet cases.
They have self-hate
They have so much self-hate and that's why they belong to a Party which loathes and condemns them. It's like whipping themselves all the time. Sick.
Corn's "List
According to Corn's "List"...
www.davidcorn.com/archives/2006/10/the_list_of_gay.php
"Pedophilia" vs "hebephilia" wrt late teens
I suppose by now it's a lost cause trying to point out the difference between pedophilia (the attraction to PRE-pubescent children) and hebephilia (the attraction to adolescents), or that Foley's targetting 16-to-17-year-olds falls under the latter category.
But all those popular songs about "sweet 16", "16 candles", etc., are not celebrating pedophilia.
Once again, playing
Once again, playing semantics with the medical or legal definitions of sexual predators who stalk minors is a pedantic attempt to diminish the seriousness of Foley's (and others') crimes. This "word game" also reeks of a slimy effort to place a portion of the blame on the victims. Rape is rape, whether it is sexual rape, emotional rape, or the rape of innocence.
When an adult is sexually obsessed with, and/or uses a position of authority to sexually prey on, children -- society views it as deviant and, in the case of the latter, criminal behavior. It does not need a special name. It is, what it is.
The lost cause seems to be
The lost cause seems to be getting across democrats.com's AGREEMENT with subtleties.
AND
As Bill so eloquently points out, missing the forest for the trees.
JSL, no, "Sweet 16" songs celebrate the coming of age
for a young woman.
It is similar to the Quincinera, for young Latino women.
'Hebephilia' is the correct term for Foley's attraction to teenage boys.
It is an older term for 'ephebophila'.
After searching in four dictonaries, on and off line, I could not find
'hebephila', I had to google it.
Hence, most people are unfamiliar with it, so they us 'pedophilia'.
The press uses the term also, so there is a big chance that word
will stick.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/sex_devia.htm
CactusPat covered the topic of terminology in this node;
http://www.democrats.com/node/10269
All the above terms involve child abuse by an adult.
That is the main point here.
A Gay Republican
I’m a gay republican and no I do not have self hate, nor am I going to vote for people simply because they have a so-called gay friendly campaign. I am also concerned with issues like security, illegal immigration, taxation, pro-business policies, and terrorism.
If I am killed by a terrorist marriage to my husband will not manner!
If illegal aliens (who by the way a huge homophobes) ruin our economy and health care system marriage to my husband will not manner!
Faced with being taxed to death or not getting marriage right, I’d choose not getting marriage rights
Lastly if business leave the economy will tank and I will be broke, so what if I can get married.
Furthermore let’s look at so records;
Arnold just passed several pro-gay bills including a bill which allows gay couples to fill their taxes jointly at the state level
Clinton passed DOMA
You Democrats only pretend to be pro-gay to get our votes and then you forget us. So I can be a republican and be safe, have low taxes, and be able to find a job, or I can be a democrat who gives me a lip-service and then raises taxes, is opposed to the war on terror, and is anti-business.
I know the far-right hates me, but at least their honest, you guys give us lip service and then in office are anti-gay!
So why should I be a Gay Democrat?
Let' see:Your anti-Science
Let' see:
Your anti-Science Welfare-Whore party:
-Turned a Historic Surplus into a Historic Deficit.
-Mounted an anemic attack on those that ACTUALLY attacked us while creating a totally predicted clusterfuck in Iraq, leaving those who attacked us to build a massively increased base over the last few years.
That is just to start.
Please tell me too why I
Please tell me too why I should vote for a Republican Party that taxes OVERWHELMINGLY more than the Democratic Party?
Well Alan Smith...you havent been here very long...
and already you are accusing people of just giving you lip service. Not a smart move on your part.
Gropanator, in signing the tax bill giving gays the option of filing jointly OR separately is a step in the right direction.
No one here is gong to diss you for being gay. No one has, is that not correct?
The main reason you should be a Gay Democrat...is so that you can post on this blog. If you wish a dialog, then remain civil and don't attack in advance, those who have said or done nothing to or against you.
www.democrats.com/rules
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
Louis Pasteur
Get this straight:Democrats
Get this straight:
Democrats Tax Monopolies and spend it on the vast majority.
It is as complex as that and no more.
You might also take a look
You might also take a look here with respect to the Illegal JOB problem:
http://www.democrats.com/node/10031
Unless you started naked in
Unless you started naked in the words and worked your way up to building a space shuttle, please pause one moment to entertain the possibility that the reason everything has gone wrong these last 5 years is due to uneducated Republicans running with monopoly control of all branches of government.
You might also take a look
You might also take a look here for a different take on taxation:
http://www.democrats.com/node/7018
If you mean by "pro
If you mean by "pro business" fucking over men who work their asses off but are not skilled in manipulating people then of course the Democratic Party is not for you.
An MBA is a trivial degree to acquire. One might even note that students who get one probably could not get any other degree of import. I am of course being a colossal prick because I have heard ten years of Right Wing Hate Radio bash the bottom 90% of professions along with the homeless as "bums" gays as "fags" the 93% of top scientists -who don't believe in God- as "FUCKING ATHEISTS", etc. Maybe then it is time for folks like me to move out of our comfort zone and hit back. So I say again, be my guest, try to get rich and when you see someone who is rich you know YOU failed. The only way to get rich is to convince people to work for a crappy salary or to charge an arm and a leg for a product.
(If you want footnotes and are willing to hold an actual conversation then I'll throttle back because there are certainly addendum's. Some folks actually invent a gadget or algorithm that increases productivity and lessons all our burdens (and hence increases all our wealth). Bless them.)
I see you hit and run. Great...
You are overwhelmingly more likely to be killed by Terrorists with Republicans in power. They have created new genres of terrorists as well as ran from those who actually attacked us.
You don't invade country X and start killing in an effort to reduce the number of people in the world who might someday want to attack us with razor blades. AND you certainly don't do is as if there is nothing to lose. We are losing in Afghanistan because of it. We are losing Nuclear Allies. Etc.
If the Nation does continue its slide, it's great to know you will provide no help for those who interpose their bodies for your welfare. If they imprison dissidents without recourse to an attorney, as Republicans (and DINOs) have just allowed for, you be sure to scream for blood.
Maybe they'll pass over you being Gay.
Thanks for surely all the Democrats out there working their asses off need no encouragement.
Hello Adamsmith; I will
Hello Adamsmith; I will leave it to Jim, Bill and Grinch to discuss the economic issues with you, if you are really interested in a dialog, about those. I want to ask you some simple [but very hard for me to understand] kichen table questions.
We democrats do not walk in lockstep. I mention that to say that you will never understand who you are dealing with, for better or for worse, if you don't understand that.
As to your remark or was it a real question, about why you should be a "Gay Democrat"? You should not. Democrats are for the most part not authoritarian, that doesn't seem to fit your bill. I agree that you have to vote your own best interests on a broad range of subjects, not just sexual orientation.
I am a small business person and I can tell the difference between nice words and realism in business as well as in life. The BA has spend my grandchildren's wealth, before they even get into the workforce. That bothers me greatly. China and Japan along with several other countries would own most of this countries recourses, if they were to foreclose on what Bush has borrowed from them to finance your tax break and his $300,000,000,000 war. Short term gains can at best bring long term headaches. That is not fiscal responsibility on any level.
If you expect to gain from the corporate government that the BA has initiated, you had better own a very large corporation and plan to take it off shore.
Democrats don't want you to marry. They want you to have the right to marry if you wish to and to receive the same benefits as heterosexual couples, if you really commit to being a couple. Most of us think that is more fair. Frankly my gay friends and family members don't want to get married and don't care if they are allowed or not, but I care that they have equal rights under the law. I also would like to see them treated with the same respect that anyone else is treated.
I wonder though if there isn't just a small part of you that resents being used as the personification of evil, just because of who love? I understand that most republican politicians don't really care that much about your sexuality, but find it useful to rally their evangelical base, by holding you up as evil. I am sure that hasn't escaped you. The argument is as bogus as "axis of evil" and "death tax" and "we fight them there so we shouldn't have to fight them here" and "stemcell research is just another name for cloning". Geez doesn't that crap give you a headache?
Aren't you bothered by the personal price you are asked, by the republicans, to pay for such a small amount of tax moneys? I would very much like to know what you mean by the democrats forgetting you once you join them or vote for them.
Sorry if I tried to cram too many questions into one message. If my brevity seems harsh or too blunt please forgive me. I have never had a chance to ask a gay republican why and I really do want to understand.
Thanks
Di
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross." ~ Sinclair Lewis
In a time of deception telling the truth is a revolutionary act. ~ George Orwell
Reply
"I wonder though if there isn't just a small part of you that resents being used as the personification of evil, just because of who love? I understand that most republican politicians don't really care that much about your sexuality, but find it useful to rally their evangelical base, by holding you up as evil. I am sure that hasn't escaped you. The argument is as bogus as "axis of evil" and "death tax" and "we fight them there so we shouldn't have to fight them here" and "stemcell research is just another name for cloning". Geez doesn't that crap give you a headache?"
Yes of course it does bother me; I'm currently living with my partner of 5 years, and would love to be able to get married, however under California law, where I live, most if not all the rights and responsibilities are given to us. I am also sympathetic to the idea behind the “satiety of marriage” and I am willing to forgo the title of marriage as long as we have the same rights and responsibilities. I would also like to have no taxes, but understand that it is a necessary evil; I also understand that preserving marriage for a heterosexual couple, while giving equal right under the title domestic partnership is also a necessary evil for the sake of society. I am a registered republican but I am more a libertarian at heart, I want government interaction and restrictions to be as limited as possible, and I see the Republican Party as the means to do so. I also take issue with the Democrats alliance with Secular-Progressives, I want equal right for myself and for all homosexuals but I don’t want to take away rights from Christians in this nation, because I have to look my self in the mirror, and I don’t want to look like those who would deny me equal rights.
“I would very much like to know what you mean by the democrats forgetting you once you join them or vote for them.”
The Democrats have done nothing to help us. In California Arnold sign 7 out of the 9 pro-Gay bills that crossed his desk. Including a bill which will allow me and my partner in April to fill jointly, this is a bill that Davis vetoed. Clinton signed DOMA, and he said that we would fight for homosexuals to serve in the military, but then settles on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, which is nothing more then a legal form of the way it was before. The ACLU is currently aiding Westbro Baptist Church (God Hates Fags) saying they have a right to spew their hate. It was several Republican governors who signed laws banning them from picketing at funerals.
I want the right to marry yes, and I resent being called evil by the right wing and moderates wanting their votes, but I also want to be able to walk down the street, I don’t want to have to worry about not seeing my partner again when he goes on a business flight, and if my partner dies I don’t want evil men and women picketing his funeral.
You know Alan...you really don't know what you are talking ...
about. Clinton, for one example, attempted to gain for gays, the rights to belong to the military. If you look that up...you will find that the very evil Newt Gingrich and the rest of the right-wing screamed like they were being attacked by rabid dogs. They continued that for almost everything that Clinton wanted to do.
I don't honestly see where you have achieved any sort of state where you see the larger picture.
How, by the way, did your Repugnant brothers handle the problem of discrimination? They really don't do well when it comes to people's issues do they?
Your remark about the ACLA helping Phelps...well, that could have been a constitutional issue couldn't it? They also helped Rush Limbo in his pill crisis; also a constitutional issue...and Jerry Falwell--you know, the fat little fellow who hates Rinky-Dinks and purple flags. Staunch Repugnant he is.
If you wish to belong to a party that can only excell in these areas: lying, cheating, stealing, mass murdering, and now diddling little kids...then you are welcome to your membership.
Just remember, their hates run deep and long. When you hear THAT certain knock on your door in the dead of night...that they represent ... and resent you.
****edit to add****: Alan, sorry I hadn't noticed your age. Since you are only 18, according to your profile, you are essentially under fire from mostly mature adults. At 18, you really can't know very much. I sort of question your relationship of 5 years--that would have made you 13 when it started.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
Louis Pasteur
Di and Karen and Bill...what we have in Alan is a troll...
look at the bottom of my last post on this thread.
Sorry Jim, didn't see you come in...Alan scooted when this post went up.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
Louis Pasteur
I guess it is that maternal
"thing" that suckers me in every time Grinch. He was pretty good at sounding young and innocent and just misguided.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross." ~ Sinclair Lewis
In a time of deception telling the truth is a revolutionary act. ~ George Orwell
LOL Di...The last time he came on...I brought up his profile...
again and even used my magnifying glass to make sure I could read it(yeah, my eyes are getting bad).
The birthdate of 1988 hit me in the face. I got snookered too. What tipped me was his posting...then running off to write his next Magnum Opus.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
Louis Pasteur
Ha, I already wrote an
Ha, I already wrote an alert. Check the other site.
I almost feel like I have to school trolls. We can chat elsewhere.
Note how they gain publication time by NOT responding to questions.
I did not get 1 reply. Not one.
Off to walk the pooch.
.
.
.
And that's not a euphemism ;)
Jim (17:07:29 PM): Off to
What was that from Bill?
What was that from Bill?
Just my lame attempt at
Just my lame attempt at humor...;-) Foley IS still walking free ya know.
LOL!I thought so at first
LOL!
I thought so at first, then it struck me that I might have missed something in the entire exchange!
My uncle would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark.
Hey Grinch
What is the point of trolling when you bring no arguments???
Seriously.
(OK Fido is begging emotionally now...)
Jim...must have been a very slow day in San Diego...
We ought to call the recruiters and tell them to come to the house and enroll us into the service. LOL!
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
Louis Pasteur
He may be going to the Charger/Steeler game.
It's starting in less than an hour.
Who knows?
Again you point towards the
Again you point towards the right wing. Also the Republican Party is not the only party which lies, cheats, steals and has sex with little children. Both parties have done evil things and both have skeletons in the closets.
As for Phelps, the Supreme Court has ruled that Hate Speech is not protected by the 1st Amendment, cross burning is illegal.
As for the larger picture read this from David Corn:
http://www.davidcorn.com/archives/2006/10/from_a_list_to.php
He states that the Democrats plan on releasing “The List” to cause a civil war in the GOP; they plan on using us to achieve their goals. That is not gay friendly.
Furthermore as I’ve said I support honest over any vale of deception the Democrats always accuse the Republicans for being anti-gay, but Kerry supported the Gay Marriage Ban, and Dean has stated the Dems have a lot in common with Evangelists
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/060510a.aspx
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001999067_kerrygay07....
You know Joseph, you did not
You know Joseph, you did not come here for dialogue, but to pick a fight. Regardless of your sexual orientation, you are a Republican, and typical of the right-wing "it's all about me" mindset.
Democrats believe that ALL Americans are equal, while Republicans believe that only the Americans that they approve of are equal.
So do me a favor: please take your whiny, Republican, selfish, ass to another blog and let us get on with trying to save this nation and its Constitution from you and your Republican "friends."
Oh, and BOO! There's a terrorist under your bed...
And I did not even have a
And I did not even have a chance to tell Allan that NO, it is not alright if his open "heart" toward one half of the "Christians" in this Nation, by allowing idolotry in my kid's public school, is okay.
Oh, he's still with us. It's
Oh, he's still with us. It's been a dull Sunday...;-)
Well I have not gotten the
Well I have not gotten the courtesy of a single response and I have to watch Project Runway with my kids so tah for now folks.
It sounds like fun, Jim.
Enjoy yourself!
;-)
Good! Hopefully he can answer
the question:
If Kerry is opposed to gay marriage, which you allege,
then why is Massachusetts the only state to legalize
gay and lesbian marriage?
Alan took off,
No answer- just accusations.
Wow- talk about pretzel logic,
he wrote the book on it.
Seriously Alan everything
Seriously Alan everything you have "dung up" so far with respect to Dems being weak on equal rights we will AGREE with.
The difference however is one of perspective. While some Dems (read DINOs) may be bastards, the middle group you believe you are winning political points about are simply WEAK not evil, but WEAK.
The feel the pressure of the Right Wing and they buckle. They can be won by REAL Democrats standing strong. Get it? Can ya help?
-------------------------------------------------------
I have to press upon you however before any of this continues that YOU Alan Smith are the recipient of massive government interference for your own benefit and without which you would likely be dead or impoverished. In particular you vote for anti monopoly laws which take from the winner and give to the loser (namely you). You vote for time limited patent laws to again via government "interference" take from the Winner and give to the Loser (again YOU). Etc.
If you would like to tear a hole in the fabric of space-time allow a bit of what you hear here penetrate you, as you will not hear the arguments advanced here in the main stream media (yet).
About Kerry supporting the Gay Marriage Ban,
did you read the part in the above article where he states
it is a state issue, not a Federal one?
Interesting, isn't it, that Massachusetts is the only
state in the Union that recognizes gay marriage.
Hmm-- so much for your argument.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachussets
Hello again Alansmith
Hello again Alansmith. First excuse me for mangling your name. Really it wasn't intentional yesterday I called Poland Germany. Thanks for responding.
If these people in the present government were what the republican party once was I could understand that. But these neocons are nothing like real republicans. Look at the rights they have taken from us. I live in Florida and dubya came here for a big rally shortly after he was "elected" or nominated by the Supremes. That was the first time in my memory that citizens were herded into "first amendment zones" 5 miles from where he was speaking or where his parade rout was to be. It didn't start with 9-11 it started as soon as his swearing in ceremony, when once public seats in the bleachers along the parade route up Pennsylvania Avenue were given only to republicans who would swear allegiance to him. In my America the president walked the last few blocks to cheering crowds of all kinds, not just republicans.
I have never talked to a democrat who wanted to take rights away from churches. We just want them to follow the rules and not preach about politics and tell parishioners who to vote for, as has been the custom since the founding fathers added that protection for both church and government to our Constitution. I don't want a faith based government nor do I want evangelicals to have a special office in the White House. Keeping a separation between church and state protects everyone.
You are right. I think that Clinton had his heart in the right place, but it turned out miserably. If anything it made things worse for gay and lesbian soldiers.
The truth is that if we take away the rights of organizations with hate filled agendas we lose our rights too. That is why the KKK can parade and the skinheads and the Westbro family. We can hate what they say and I think we all do, but if we make them be silent we lose our rights to speak out along with them.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross." ~ Sinclair Lewis
In a time of deception telling the truth is a revolutionary act. ~ George Orwell
This is classic. A
This is classic. A Republican who wants authoritarian government intervention in everything but monetary matters.
Beyond that, if he is a Republican in the bottom 90% or so he actually WANTS government intervention in monetary matters AND gets it, but bitches about it because it may help Soldiers, Cops, Laborers, Scientists, etc. while hurting the Hiltons.
When they were growing up,
When they were growing up, Republicans became so used to "allowance day," that they could never quite get over it.
They have just transformed it into "payday" and expect Daddy to cover their expenses, without questioning what he does with the rest of their money.
He obviously felt he could
He obviously felt he could gain some time by wearing the cloak of someone Democrats defend.
Now I know how to infiltrate a Right Wing message board:
I'll be a torturer, born to wealth, who hates Blacks, Liberals, Gays, Christians who don't hate, Illegal Immigrants except as slave laborers (theeeeeerrrrreeeee great!), etc.
Well Alan, Democrats
Well Alan,
Democrats throughout this Nation will continue to fight for you. Continue to be ridiculed. Continue to take it on the chin (literally at times). Continue to press for equal rights, and this does not simply extend to marriage. No no. This applies to a constant fight within the cultural arena for civility and more.
I wonder if you will give anything to Democrats?
For example, many people I know work their behinds off. Some for corporations who have kept them at 38 hours a week so as not to pay them benefits. They have also NOT allowed them to labor at a competitor even at manual labor! Their bodies are now failing them. Bulging disks, failing fingers, etc. Heavy labor will do that as the decades pass.
The Republican answer to this of course is something along the lines of: Get another job. Get an education.
The problem of course is that the Republican Answer is NOT an answer at all and I do not mean with respect to morality or arguments about efficiency. No, if you think about it, the Republican Answer is literally a non answer. You see, any individual can squirm a bit. The Republican Answer does apply to a very tiny spec of individuals but the jobs that must be done in America DO NOT CHANGE. (At least on the time scales we are talking about.) Even if a few "advance" the jobs are still left to be done by somebody!
Democrats understand the structure of civilization. They understand that certain JOBS need to be done and that yelling at a very few people who might LEAVE them to join another more lucrative profession will not solve a systemic challenge: A decent days wage for a decent day's work. This same perspective Democrats bring to the issue of citizenship. There are no second class citizens in America and so no separate rules for Gay people.
Maybe the next time you pay your taxes you will wince microscopically less knowing the relief you enable above (due to a progressive Income Tax).
If not, then perhaps you believe in the Democratic notion of paying for services rendered? Wars are fought to defend a Nation. You should pay that portion of the military budget in proportion to the pot of gold you need defending. (Hence, again, a Progressive Income Tax).
Jim
Earth to Dems in Power: A Favor.
I know this is the height of egotism BUT:
Can we please end income tax on the majority so I (yes I, me, this being) does not have to keep explaining that Democrats Tax Monopolies and Spend on YOU.
People who vote for a dumb ass to run the 5th largest economy in the world do not seem to understand the complexity above so can we just bloody end it?
For me.
Please?
.
.
.
.
.
.
With a Cherry on top?
Ah, yer a scientist Jim...you should realize about now,
that none of us understand your explanations. Look out at the crowd...mention economics...and watch the eyelids fall. LOL!
Historic grinch note: I took a class in economics once from a doctoral candidate of Milton Freedman. That was undoubtedly the most humbuggery class I ever took. And...I never took another on that subject.
A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.
Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623
The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.
Louis Pasteur
;) 1) The majority of
;)
1) The majority of professions are underpaid.
2) Drop the Income Tax on the first $60,000 made, to compensate.
3) Place those taxes on the Monopolies that rip off the majority.
The above reminds me of a sports anecdote that my brother told me so long ago that I forget all the details. It involved a coach at half time telling his team he was going to go slooooow. He picked up the ball and said: "This is a FOOTBALL!" To which a team member replied: "Can you go a little slower coach?"
The coach was not happy.