EQ3: Koch Brothers ≠ Rational

Dear Friends,

Thanks to the Supreme Court the Koch Brothers are able to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to buy our democracy, and they are doing just that.  Keep in mind that their net worth increased $1.3 billion last year and is now over $100 billion so they have plenty of money to spend. (See here) Also it is important to know what they really want to achieve.  Senator Bernie Sanders has been making this point over and over again.  If you like him on Facebook, you will get his daily post.  I also heard him speak recently at a fundraiser to get out the vote which is something that all of you should be working on.  I could not remember his whole story about the Koch Brothers but fortunately he has put much of it on his website.

David Koch was the Vice Presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in 1980.  There is no reason to believe that the Koch Brothers have changed what they (and their father before them) want to accomplish since then.  Here are a few planks from the 1980 Libertarian Party platform:

• “We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”

• “We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaidprograms.”

• “We oppose any compulsory insurance or tax-supported plan to provide health services, including those which finance abortion services.”

• “We also favor the deregulation of the medical insurance industry.”

• “We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.”

• “We propose the abolition of the governmental Postal Service. The present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages governmental surveillance of private correspondence.  Pending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free competition in all aspects of postal service.”

• “We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”

• “We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”

• “As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”

• “We support repeal of all law which impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws.”

• “We advocate the complete separation of education and State.  Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended.”

• “We condemn compulsory education laws … and we call for the immediate repeal of such laws.”

• “We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”

• “We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”

• “We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”

• “We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation.”

• “We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call for the privatization of the public roads and national highway system.”

• “We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.”

• “We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”

• “We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”

• “We support an end to all subsidies for child-bearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children.”

• “We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and ‘aid to the poor’ programs. All these government programs are privacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals.”

• “We call for the privatization of the inland waterways, and of the distribution system that brings water to industry, agriculture and households.”

• “We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.”

• “We call for the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”

• “We support the repeal of all state usury laws.”

If the Koch Brothers are successful at buying our democracy, this platform makes clear what kind of government and country we will become.

The way to counteract the money in politics is to get active and get out the vote.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

EQ2: For Republicans, Any Problem During Democratic Administration = Proof that Government and Democrats are Bad

Dear Friends,

The worst thing about the recently exposed problems with scheduling first visits at the VA is not the humans who acted illegally and immorally, it is that the Republicans (and some Democrats) see this problem as a political opportunity rather than a problem that needs to be analyzed and the best solution possible implemented.  The Republican ideology only permits one solution in this case which would be to privatize the VA.  At least some Republicans recall the problems they had when they spoke out loud about privatizing Medicare and they do not want to alienate the Veterans organizations by trying that.

Recently all the news is about the issues being faced by the VA but the system consistently ranks at or near the top in terms of quality of care.  You might want to read this article from MarketWatch entitled "For quality, it's hard to top veterans' health care".  The Republicans cannot admit that a government run system such as Medicare or the VA can produce great results (which both programs do) so they grab any issue and twist it for political gain rather than trying to make the systems even better.

It is time for President Obama and the Democrats to focus on how great these programs are and how they could be even better and the problems fixed if only the Republicans would join them in working to fix the problems.  Clearly one of the fixes is that the VA needs more resources to handle the huge increase in demand that has been placed on the system by the wars started by President Bush and unfortunately not stopped fast enough by President Obama.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

EQ1: Never Ending Wars = More Veterans Needing Care

Dear Friends,

It is indeed a scandal that the United States continually fails in keeping its promise to its veterans.  We should be working to find solutions to the backlog of pending cases and the wait times for appointments in the VA system.  A recent Forbes article entitled "3 Things to Know Before You Judge the VA Health System (here) makes a very good case for not judging the VA system without knowing the facts. This quote from the article tells a lot:

The VA is experiencing a huge influx in Veterans and only a modest increase in staff.David Brooks reported that over the last 3 years the primary care visits went up 50% while the number of primary care doctors increased 9%.

 Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal