Kucinich: the class war is over - we lost

[NorthCarolina]

ucinich said the following statement this morning in a Subcommittee Hearing examining Treasury's (OUR) investment in private banks:

I want to point out something that really does trouble me about what is happening, the way that the wealth of this nation is being accelerated upward. That’s one of the problems that I had with the bailout. You could say that it helped stabilize the American economy, but what I see is the separation between the real economy and Wall Street. Wall Street is stabilizing, markets are a lot better, banks are doing well - they parked their money at the Fed for a while so they could get higher interest rates.

All across this country people are starved for capital, small businesses are failing, you have shopping centers that are becoming vacant because people can’t afford the rents anymore because the people who own the malls, the developers, are getting cash calls and credit is tightening.

We are in a deep recession that has not yet bottomed out, despite the statistical correction in the November statistics. This separation between the finance economy and the real economy is real. This is not some fake idea. You can’t call that class warfare. That’s a fact.

The class warfare is over, we lost. I want to make that announcement today. Working people lost. The middle class lost. Don’t tell me about class warfare. Come to my neighborhoods in Cleveland. I will show you class warfare. I’ll show you hollowed out areas. I’ll show you businesses that went down because they don’t have access to capital. And on Wall Street it is fat city. Don’t tell me about class warfare.

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/aftrs/kucinich_the_class_war_is_over_we_lost/

[niyad]

1. we lost it a long time ago--it is only now that a lot of people are starting to notice

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Too true.

Regan started it with union busting in the 80's.
But since Bush-Wah, the income gap has rapidly accelerated.
and many in Congress, being bought off, are very complicit.
In fact, they are actually enemies of the people.
We need to be thinking of them that way.
They gave away the store and it will not stop until we have honest representatives.

[clear eye]

6. Push for FENA

Supporting public interest organizations have grown to 38, including groups not usually concerned w/ election law like The Sierra Club, NOW, and HCAN.

Make sure your representatives in Congress and the Congressional leadership know that you expect them to act on this, and remind them regularly. Ask anyone you think might act to do the same. Ask any of the supporting organizations you may belong to, like those above, to put info on the bill on the home page of their website.

[Tutankhamun]

9. thx for the FENA link!

[clear eye]

10. Thanks for looking into it.. n/t

[rudy23]

2. They only call it class warfare when we fight back. nt

[Laelth]

4. k&r for the Honorable Dennis Kucinich. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[winyanstaz]

5. K & R...I love Dennis Kucinich as a great human being.....

and one of the few brave enough to speak truth to power.
Thank you once again Dennis Kucinich. The voice for the American people.

[wolfgangmo]

20. Dennis - stay off of small planes.

Being a liberal with a mouth you are likely to die on one. We don't want you to get Wellstoned.

[winyanstaz]

24. Yes...good advice!

[Mithreal]

7. K&R Voice of a dying middle class

[Vidar]

8. K&R.

[Javaman]

11. we lost the day the supreme court appointed moron* in violation of the Constitution. nt

[bvar22]

14. No.

The Working Class LOST the day Clinton signed NAFTA.

[snot]

16. Or the day he signed the repeal of Glass-Steagall.

[Javaman]

23. No, we lost the day ray-gun

dimantled Welfare.

Sadly, we can do this all day. :(

[dflprincess]

25. That was Clinton who passed welfare "reform"

I get very nervous whenever Democrats talk about "reform" these days. I've come to interpret that as meaning they are about to sell us out again.

[Vermontgrown]

22. We

have not lost yet.

[Dover]

12. kick

[KoKo]

13. Seems so...until 2012 or 2016.. ugh...I'll be so old I won't care anymore...

but others will remember....and that's a good thing.

[democracy1st]

15. K & R

[Cobalt-60]

17. Now the real fighting starts

We're no longer laboring under the illusion that anyone represents us, much less fights for us.
We'll have to do it ourselves. With individual and small unit tactics.
Our basic goal is a simple one : Starve Republicans and Corporations for money.
It might look impossible. But it isn't.
Stop before every transaction and ask yourself: who gets this money?
If it's an obvious Republican or a large corporation STOP.
Look elsewhere for what you seek.
Frequently you can get what you need from another individual.
Less frequently you can find a smaller corporate source.
Wherever you have to spend: Pay Cash.
The pigs currently in control of Washington purchased it with your interest payments.
Interest that was paid by many without the patience to save for optional purchases.
Paying interest is like digging your own grave.
It may be unavoidable on large items.
But there's no excuse for paying 30% interest on a candy bar.
The payment of unnecessary interest to be disloyal to our cause.
Interest makes us weak and them strong.
They'll be much more later.
For now, get an iron grip on yourself and your cash.
And keep it safe from Republican Banksters.

[reprobate]

18. Here are the four economic rules I try to live by. And they work well.

1. If you can't pay cash for it, you don't need it. Flexible for large purchases-cars, homes, etc.

2. If it sounds too good to be true, it is!

3. There is NO free lunch.

4. Never spend principle.


If all Americans lived by these rules there'd BE no class war. We'd have won.

[bvar22]

19. My Wife & I went "On Strike" in 2006.

We cashed out, sold everything, moved to The Woods, and planted a Big Garden.
We also keep chickens and HoneyBees.
We don't use credit. Don't pay a mortgage.
We buy almost nothing NEW.
What we can't make ourselves, we buy or barter 2nd hand or salvage and make it work, or do without.

We grow a good percentage of our own food.
What we can't grow ourselves, we buy in bulk and cook from scratch.
We've reduced our "taxable" income to a low level, but still live well.
Wall Street can live or die without our money or concern.


We are no longer Good American Consumers.

Next year, we will "consume" even less.

Our focus has become local Humanitarian Issues, and developing NEW ways of denying FUNDING to Corporate America and their BOUGHT Politicians.

This is NOT for everybody, and we realize we are very fortunate in being able to do this.
We have no dependents, are both strong and healthy, and have a complimentary set of skills that make this fun.
We are using things we learned how to do in the 60s. :hippie:

If The Democratic Party is going to:
*Keep the WARS going and INCREASE defense spending

*Bailout Wall Street

*Tell Working Americans that they CAN WILL compete with 3rd World Slave Labor for their JOBS

*Require every American to buy a faulty, invisible product from For Profit Corporations that manufacture NOTHING and create NO Wealth...
They will do so WITHOUT our help, funding, or Tax Money.

[Vermontgrown]

21. So,

it's high time for the American people to rise up against the Nazi right wing and shut them down and send them packing. Take from them what they have stolen from us. Take America back for the people. Take our money back and tell the eletists in Washington they're fired. Go home and don't come back. If force is what they wantthen force is what they'll get...