There is 1 reason ONLY...why we lose election after election, IMO.

[mtnsnake]

and it's not because of any the issues that people claim it is.

Of all the people I personally know who voted for Bush last time, they did NOT vote for him because they're anti-abortion or because they're pro-guns or because they're pro-War, or because they really give a hoot about same-sex marriage or because they're very religious or anything else like that. While they may be some of those things, these are the issues that they simply use for an EXCUSE to vote the way they do.

The REAL reason these people vote Republican is because of MONEY. Money is the #1 priority of the rich and the ignorant, PERIOD, and most people's votes in this country can be bought for a lousy couple hundred dollars in promised tax savings. THAT is why people vote Republican, at least all the ones I know of which includes people from all classes. Unfortunately, this philosophy accounts for the majority of imbeciles in this country who have no idea that it takes a certain amount of tax dollars to make a country operate successfully.

The recent and ongoing catastrophe in New Orleans should be a fucking wake-up call to the country that THERE IS A REASON why countries need tax dollars. Those measly few "extra" tax dollars, dollars that they think Democrats are trying to take away from them, are necessary for projects such as building levy walls a little higher, which would have/could have prevented the most recent disaster, at least in the New Orleans section of the catastrophe. Necessary tax dollars would've given us better and quicker responses to the disaster, too.

Our Democratic leaders have a perfect opportunity to educate the ignorant voters of this country by explaining to them that a few NECESSARY tax dollars out of YOUR wallet now will prevent a monumental loss of money out of YOUR same wallet later. If our spokes people can't explain THAT in simplistic terms on a blackboard, then they might as well either quit their jobs or simply do the same thing as Republicans do....court the ignorant into voting for us by promising them more of a tax break than the Republicans do. It shouldn't have to come to that.

[Arkansas Democrat]

1. I could not agree with you

MORE!! It's all about money!

[mtnsnake]

10. Exactly. "It's all about money!"

and we need to educate voters into realizing that if they vote Democrat, they WILL have more money in the LONG run and life will be better in general. Somehow, our spokespeople have failed in getting this message across.

[ShockediSay]

42. $ buys votes thru MSM advertising

whereby good hearted, well intentioned people are scammed, people who don't have the sophistication or education to see through a well greased fraud served up just for them.

And of course MSM* profits through the whole business; why should they rock the boat?


*or maybe SBM, sound bite media

[patdem]

2. Amazing how the rich are willing to pay for a quality pair of shoes

claiming 'you get what you pay for' and think you can be cheap on America's infrastructure and still have a quality country. I tell them to move to Haiti if they want slave labor and no taxes. Hire their own armed guards to keep the riff raff from looting their homes and lives. :grr: :grr: :grr:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. The Repuke lies are coming home to roost

More and more middle class people are realizing that they are NOT better off under Bush. They are looking at their $300 tax break and seeing it more than offset by the increase in state and local taxes. Small business has finally realized that Bush doesn't give a hoot about them.

And then Katrina hits. As you say, the Bush response to this disaster makes it plain as day why we need a federal government and why said government must be supported with tax dollars. In the back of everyone's mind has to be the question: What would have happened if this had been MY city/county/state?

[madeline_con]

4. The tax dollars you write about

are being used in Iraq.

The cataastrophe is not the result of the gov. not having money because of our tax refunds.

It's because every penny DUH-bya nad Co. can get their hands on goes to Iraq, and they all get a tax break.

[Richard D]

5. I had a teacher in high school . . .

. . . that everyone hated. He'd take every issue, for example why Lincoln freed the slaves, and ask why he really did it. The students would come up with all the appropriate answers. Then he'd pull out his wallet, slap it on his chest a few times saying "NO, it was Power of the Purse". Took me a long time to realize he was right.

[mtnsnake]

11. Yes, "Power of the Purse"

The majority of ignoramuses definitely vote with their purses/wallets. Any other reason is just their excuse.

[Arugula Latte]

35. I had a history teacher in high school who did the same thing.

People didn't hate him, though. He was really the only teacher I had in high school that started to put things in a context for me. Before that, I just thought, okay history is A happens then B happens and C happens. No -- there is a reason for everything, and money is almost always the reason.

[CTyankee]

6. but plenty of repubs are screwing themselves

The ones that are not rich but just magically wish that if they vote repub they will be rich, or at least richer than they would be with those tax soaking democrats. Meanwhile, they scarf up their social security and medicare. My repub brother in law has materially benefitted from at least 4 Democratic presidents: his SS (thanks FDR), GI bill allowing him to go to law school and pull himself out of poverty (thanks Harry Truman), medicare (ty very much LBJ), a booming stock market getting him great returns (merci Bill Clinton)which unfortunately has been whittled away during the last 4 1/2 years under his repub prez. and his STILL bashes Clinton!

Isn't it amazing?

[mtnsnake]

15. Your examples are crystal clear, but our Dem spokespeople have to

lay it all out in simplistic terms so that even a moron can get that message. All too often our Democratic spokespeople simply mention the word "taxes" but never make people UNDERSTAND how it all works.

[tsuki]

23. No. There is a certain group of people in this country who believe

that they are privileged and entitled. I know someone who bitches about medicaid and all the "welfare queens" every chance she gets, but in almost the same breath will bitch how much time and trouble she had protecting her mother's considerable assets so she could get medicaid when they put the mother in a nursing home.

[CTyankee]

38. That burns me up!

My mother paid her fair share of assisted living costs and would have gone on to pay for her nursing home care if she had lived.

OF COURSE your repuke aquaintance would attempt to scam the medicaid system. She, like the rest of them, are very bad people.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. You're right. * started in 2000 with "It's YOUR money" and the government

shouldn't have it. Dems (yes, Gore) should have responded, "It's OUR (all citizens') money and your neighbor is depending on the community pot, and if not your neighbor, one day it could be you who needs it."

Republicans talk about money as a commodity that is an individual property right. Dems like FDR and Johnson talked about money as a collection of funds that really was an investment in making this country strong, proud, and great. And it required sacrifice of giving up an individual's pot of gold (without becoming communistic) to the greater good for all citizens.

Dems need to return to the message. It's needed, it's more valuable than ever, and yes, people need to be reminded.

[gulliver]

8. Don't forget that Bush is spending more than any ...

... president in history. That money is going on our credit card. People are saving a couple hundred bucks in tax cuts and taking on twice that in debt. Republicans and math; vinegar and oil.

[KaryninMiami]

9. It's also about rigged elections and deliberate disenfranchisement

of possibly millions of Democratic voters. Please don't forget this. Bush cheated his way through both elections and they rigged the mid-term elections (on electronic machines) as well. I was one of the ones who experienced this first hand when my vote didn't "stick" during the 2002 Gubernatorial race.

[area51]

31. rigged elections.

There's really only one reason why the nazi party wins ... b/c they own the cos. that control the voting machines.

[patrice]

12. I think you are right about this.

All of the other "reasons" you sited are window-dressing for Money - plus - the basic assumption that Everyone is trying to Rob them all of the time, trying to rob them of what is Theirs, "theirs" with "Divine" justification, and that includes everything, anything, and anyone they can grasp and control as their own, i.e. not just limited to taxes.

Though taxes are a big public issue for this kind of person, the type of mind I'm trying to describe here translates all forms of value into $/material things, materiality, everything and everyone is valued materialistically, without materiel they would despair, which is odd since many of this kind of person say they care a great deal about "God".

They say they trust and have faith in God, but grasp everything they can for their own, exclusively, and call it proof of "God's" "love" of their own "worthiness". Material/$ are proof of god's love, Which, apparently, comes in finite quantities, because this kind of person "shares" in a very narrow, self-serving, but Public ways, only with certain, greatful, others "I/we deserve $$$alvation/profit for my/our $!".

Many people, At heart, resent helping others, because it co$t$, time or money.

The god who pays them is Mammon.

[mtnsnake]

27. That's a good point about the relationship you talk about

between materialistic people and their God.

[patrice]

28. It's a general point, meant to be relevant to all in some degree, which

I hope they take responsibility for, as do I. AND Freedom is necessary to the evolution of "self".

[Q]

13. USING TAX DOLLARS FOR PRIVATIZATION is the problem...

The New Republican party and their New Democratic cohorts have gutted our government services and turned them into nothing more than a shell of what they used to be. FEMA is nothing more than a FRONT for corporations with contracts that cater to the bottom line...not helping people first.

What we're seeing in New Orleans is a direct result of the plundering of our national treasury and destruction of our government infrastructure.

[patrice]

17. Patronage pure and simple.

Go along to get along and you have one of the "best" jobs in the country.

Growth in Government under Bush has been 12%, what is it now?

[H5N1]

14. Rigged elections and party affiliation

KKK is KKK, always gonna vote KKK.
We need to get the vote fair again.
My vote didn't count, did yours?

[patrice]

20. ABSOLUTELY no doubt in my mind that Racism,

in All of its varieties, beats deep in the heart of this country.

I guess I'd better ammend my previous statements about materialism. Racists are one group who will "cut their own nose off to spite your face". Their power is primal and it has been and is used by the Ari$tocratic Cla$$ as a very handy and successful tool.

[samplegirl]

16. Throw a hundred dollar bill and the American Flag

up in the air in front of a Repbulican
and see which one hits the ground first.

[patrice]

18. If you did that in some Evangelical "churches", there would be a lot of

head injuries from the congregation all diving for that 100. at the same time.

[samplegirl]

29. Amen

sista

[mtnsnake]

21. Perfect!!

That is so true. All this stuff about people voting for Bush because "he's better on the terrorists" or because "blah blah fucking blah" is bullshit. These voters simply are not willing to admit that they voted for that crooked bastard because of his promised tax break to them.

I don't know how many people told me last fall what they planned to do with their tax break that Bush was going to give to them. One guy told me he was going to put it towards a stereo. One told me she was going use her $225 tax break for diapers she needed for her baby!! I told her she better put it towards some extra books to educate her kid because the tax dollars she was gaining would come out of programs like education. These people just don't get it unless it's spelled out in front of them.

[patrice]

25. The tax breaks AND their middle-class business cartels

that often center around churches for some reason.

Ask the un- or under- employed about getting a job or trying to start your own business, especially anything b-to-b.

[samplegirl]

30. It will cost the average American

and extra $600.00 this year alone in gas.
So much for their tax cuts.

[TheFarseer]

39. I was out with my friend and his family and

we were talking about gas prices. I was being extra civil because I don't know these people but my friend's uncle(that whole family is rolling in dough) said even if you drive 15,000 a year that's still only $2,500. I wanted to say, "F*CK YOU DICKHEAD, that's alot of money to me. That's 5 months rent!" But all I said was, "yeah"

[area51]

32. Actually,

I think one has only to throw a penny & an American flag in front of a nazi party member; they're extremely greedy.

[CTD]

19. With this admin, more tax $ would just mean more $ to Iraq

The poor and needy and the crumbling infrastructure still wouldn't get squat. It would all go to their cronies via the Iraq "reconstruction" contracts.

You need a real administration with real priorities to use tax dollars to actually help PEOPLE.

With an administration like this, you might as well reduce taxes because that way it's just less money to get rerouted directly to their business associates.

[patrice]

22. One of their initial objectives was to ground War-Profiteering in

the Middle-Class jobs' base. They have a good start on it, from what I can tell from running all over K.C. Bush's strongest supporters are just like Saddam Hussein's, his middle-class business cronies. Contractor$$$, we call 'em here in Amerika, selling Death and Destruction to make their house/car payments.

[mtnsnake]

24. What you say is a real possibility, and it's the reason we need a Dem

president ASAP, to make sure our tax dollars go where they belong...which is back to the people themselves in the form of quality programs and conviences which make life better for ALL its citizens, not just the wealthy.

[patrice]

26. I'm a Sprint layoff approaching 60. I've been watching the Ks state

job board for 3+ years now. There are certain jobbers on their with certain jobs, contracting at Ft. Leavenworth . . . VERY good jobs.

I've also been in the streets with some other folks, since the buildup to the war. We've seen and heard a lot. I'm an ex-highschool teacher, so I'm pretty observant of others. I'm actually a people person (they like me), but there ARE some who, in their hearts, are scared and selfish and, often, mean-to-the-bone. Putting a suit/dress on one and putting them in an expensive SUV doesn't make them okay.

[ldf]

33. interesting the difference in the core of the gop

versus the core of the dem.

the gop depends, and promotes in subtle, and some not so subtle, ways:

prejudice.

some people will always hate others that are different. the gop are counting on that. they will stoke the fires of prejudice, and use them as wedge issues. (see last election.)

piety.

many so-called christians are masquerading their prejudice and hate as religion. they can find all sorts of justifications, and permissions, in the so-called "good book". the gop are also counting on that. they will have the hatemongers, FROM THE PULPIT, dictate how they should vote, and the religious haters will do just that. (again, see last election.)

and of course, privilege, or greed.

those who have it, are going to keep it, no matter what is sacrificed. the wannabes are eat up with envy, will go into extreme debt to assume the roles of the haves and have mores, even before they "arrive". toss 'em a few bucks, or tell them they will get tax cuts, and they will toe the line, again, no matter what the cost.

so, that's the GOPPP. Guardians of Prejudice, Piety and Privilege. and they can ALL be bought. money IS the key.

Contrast that with the core of the democratic party. and yes, these are all LIBERAL and PROGRESSIVE attitudes.

we want to help. help those who can't help themselves. help those who just need a slight assist. medically, economically, socially, psychologically. we care about our fellow citizen.

we want a living wage for a decent day's work. if organizing helps to achieve that, so be it.

we want an educated populace, educated in the true sense, not pumped full of religious crap, calling it an education.

we want a WELL populace. everyone. not just the rich who can afford the latest drugs and procedures. we want a healthcare system that is not just for the elite.

we want a healthy planet, not just for us, but for those coming behind us. we want a peaceful planet, for obvious reasons.

we want to EXPAND our freedoms, not curtail them.

we want to embrace different peoples, cultures, lifestyles. find a republican who is willing to say that.

if the democratic party, and it's "stay the course" leadership, can not find a way to communicate that to the american people, they need to be tossed out on their collective asses.

i, for one, am ready to kick their asses out.

edit for grammar

[mtnsnake]

34. You summed it up perfectly. The comparisons you made are dead on,

and it all can be linked to the God almighty dollar when you're talking in terms of Republicans.

[TheFarseer]

36. I think you are totally wrong

Look no further than farmers. Who always wants to take away their subsidies? republicans. Who always saves their subsidies? democrats. Who do they always vote for? Republicans. My sister is a teacher. Who wants to cut the school budgets? Republicans. Who wants more spending for education and higher teacher pay? democrats. Who does she vote for? republicans. Some people will cut their own throats to save a fetus). There's lots of examples of people voting against their wallet.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

41. I voted "against my wallet" because I can see the bigger picture

Kerry guaranteed me he would raise my taxes. I voted for him anyway because taxes are necessary.

Sh*t runs down hill. If you cut federal taxes (especially while at war), the state has a greater burden. When the state runs out of money, it falls on the local municipalities.

Gee, wonder why my little Johnny is in a class of 30+ kids? Gee, wonder why they don't fix all those potholes? Gee, wonder why all those people died of thirst in New Orleans?

[TheFarseer]

44. Thank you

For realizing that "your interests" are more than just lower taxes.

[bee]

45. I too completely disagree with the original post ...

are we really attempting to say that ALL repubs vote due to money? C'mon... and another post suggests that all other issues are "window dressing" huh? There are REALLY people who voted for * based on issues of religion and sexuality only. People like my uber-religious mom who doesnt know the first thing about *'s tax cuts. She doesnt follow politics at all and couldnt care less as long as she votes with her "faith". For people like her, and I personally know several... religion and suppression of "gays" is the MOST important issue. We are doing ourselves a disservice trying to lump everyone under the "greed" umbrella.

[ProudDad]

46. The exceptions

that prove the rule...

[Imagevision]

37. We lose because of receiptless machines last time checked!!!

[GreenPartyVoter]

40. Money, yes... and

DIEBOLD

------------------------------------------------------
Save New Orleans, then save the nation!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[Name removed]

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