"We're broke" is the GOPs most effective meme, and Democrats need to go after it: But how?

[reformist2]

We're not broke at all. It's just that the rich have fallen in love with their big piles of money and don't want to pay taxes anymore.

But sadly, a lot of Americans are buying into the idea that "we're broke". They've been cowed into submission by GOP propaganda that suggests that the rich already pay enough in taxes, and that it's the rest of us who need to tighten our belts. Democrats need to come up with a way to attack this absurdity without looking like we're attacking wealth and success per se.

[mmonk]

1. By opposing them.

[BanzaiBonnie]

16. Calling forth the spirit badger

Cunning badger of the forest,
Guide me to wisdom, truth and light.
All injustices against me,
Wipe clean the slate and set them right.

[polichick]

2. By calling our their lies instead of adopting them. nt

[xchrom]

3. +1

[rug]

4. If we're broke, can't afford an army in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If we can afford an army in Iraq and Afghanistan, we're not broke.

If we're not broke, why is there an army in Iraq and Afghanistan when things are falling apart here.

[Octafish]

5. Make it clear that the GOP Broke the USA.

Red Ink Ronnie, Poppy, Smirko and all their helpers and enablers have instituted welfare for the wealthy, which means zero squat for the rest of us.

[woo me with science]

9. Wrong place. Delete. nt

[SmileyRose]

12. GOP might be broke but America IS NOT broke

95% of us work hard, spend our money as frugally as possible and show up for each other when difficulties show up. The owners of the small businesses that hire most of the workers are going to figure out how to keep the doors open, and the big box stores will figure out how to import their products and the hotels and gas stations and everyone else will figure out a way to keep on keepin' on without the fucking GOP - or even without the fucking federal government for that matter.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. We are broke because of THEIR choices

The rethuglicans CHOOSE to pay for war. They CHOOSE to give tax cuts to the rich. The CHOOSE to stomp on the middle class. They CHOOSE to micromanage our private lives while ignoring the important task of growing the economy and creating jobs.

We're broke and its their fault.

That's what we need to push to fight them and their selfish, controlling, non economic stimulating agenda.

[Tesha]

11. Actually, they chose to *BORROW* for the war; it isn't "paid for" at all! (NT)

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. Yes that is true.

I still hate them though :)

[dkofos]

7. You are broke because of corpoate tax breaks.

They're persons now, TAX THEM LIKE PERSONS!!

[KittyWampus]

29. Not just corporations, it's the executives running them not paying their share.

[Tesha]

8. The *REASON* we're broke is you gave all of our money to the rich, ...

...both directly and in the form of the most sweeping
(and undeserved) tax cuts ever!

All we need to do to not be broke is return the tax
system to the barest shadow of equity.

Tesha

[woo me with science]

10. Most people don't realize that corporate profits are soaring.

but the STRUCTURE has changed so that regular people no longer see any of that wealth. The STRUCTURE has been changed to bleed us dry for the profit of the rich.

Show people the truth. No, everybody is not broke and suffering. Some are doing exceptionally well, and they have rigged the system to steal from the rest of us.

[JoePhilly]

13. Respond, "The GOP is morally bankrupt".

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

14. What's more broke, the GOP or the USA?

When Boehner stands up there and talks about being broke I think he is talking about his party.

[highplainsdem]

15. Democratic politicians need to be more direct about the facts.

There IS class warfare happening, but it's a war of the rich against the middle class and the poor.

Tex rates on the rich are too low, and income inequality has increased as a result. Most Americans have no idea how much tax rates on the rich have dropped over the last few decades, and how much income inequality has increased. This needs to be brought up again and again.

RWers are fond of harking back to the 1950s, the Eisenhower era. Remind them of what the tax rates were then, and what levels union membership were at then.

Our politicians are going to have to be blunt and willing to use the FACTS to win this debate. They can't operate within the GOP framework of lies and win this one. No matter how much Democratic politicans try to appease the rich and corporations, they'll always come in second to Republicans who'd be happy to sell the entire country to the rich (they're even lobbying for a government "yard sale" now to sell off national parks, mineral rights, etc.).

Compromise is sometimes necessary in politics, but you can't compromise on facts (or keep quiet about them for fear of offending certain people, or certain donors), or you completely cede the playing field to your opponent.

[reformist2]

20. It is true that during the golden, halcyon '50s, the top tax rate was 91%.

Tell that to a teabagger and watch his head explode.

[randr]

17. By repeatedly telling the American people who stole the money

and begin to prosecute the bastards.

[madokie]

23. Simple fix looks to me like

no one has to get down and dirty except the dirty bastards who've stolen us blind and their government enablers. The rest of us will go unscathed and in fact our lives will improve because of it.

[MannyGoldstein]

18. Taxes on the wealthiest reduced by 2/3

Over 50 years.

Non-defense government jobs are the smallest part of the economy since Eisenhower.

[liberal N proud]

19. The response should be "Raise taxes for the rich"

[reformist2]

21. Yes, but we need to have good reasons why they should pay their "fair share".

I think a big stumbling block with a lot of teabaggers -and even average non-political people - is the concept that the rich should pay a higher percentage of their income than the rest of us. They get that the rich should pay more, but why a higher percentage? It's actually a complicated argument to make, but it can be done.

[liberal N proud]

25. Because it will hurt them less than it will the workers

A tax bill of $100,000 hurts the billionaire exponentially less than $1,000 does on the guy making $50,000.

The really challenge is to make the teabaggers realize they will never be rich and that the rich are coming for their benefits too. Do that and they might turn on the rich or at least turn off.

[rfranklin]

26. It comes down to whether or not you want a third world nation...

with a corporate oligarchy or hereditary wealth ruling 99% of the population. The only way to prevent that is to prevent the very few from amassing wealth through the labor of the many. (This may sound like Marxism to the Teabags types but most of them are already on the dole and denying it.)

You're right that it is very difficult to sell this idea when people have been brainwashed that "the government is the problem." The government is mostly a problem for those few who want complete power to amass wealth without regulation and taxes.

[du_da]

27. The problem is

"because they can afford it" is not an acceptable justification in the minds of most people. That is too much like stealing from them. The problem starts with the acceptance that a person's wealth belongs to them. If we want to win this war we have to openly and honestly attack that core problem.

[JVS]

34. Because that's what's necessary for the country to not be broke.

[JVS]

33. Yup. The response is to make us unbroke by increasing revenue.

[Cirque du So-What]

22. TAX THE RICH!

Can't get much more simple than that.

[Fozzledick]

24. BUSH STOLE THE MONEY!!!!

It's not our fault that BUSH STOLE THE MONEY!!!!

It's only because BUSH STOLE THE MONEY!!!!

The reason we're in this mess is because BUSH STOLE THE MONEY!!!!

We didn't have these problems before BUSH STOLE THE MONEY!!!!

And let's not forget that BUSH STOLE THE MONEY!!!!

[LiberalEsto]

28. They say "We're broke"

and we say "You broke it"

[blm]

30. Bush's pro-wealthy policies made states poorer, made workers poorer, and enriched the wealthiest.

And GOP governors want to put all the financial burden on the workers as they seek to protect and increase the wealth of the wealthiest.

[Flubadubya]

32. If you haven't yet, please read...

"The Republican Shakedown" article by Robert Reich:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-republican-shakedown_b_827706.html

Check my sig line for the most poignant quote from the piece. :thumbsup:

[reformist2]

35. Good stuff! I think we need to get a better handle on "fair share" though.