Jon Stewart put it nicely. Now filmmaker Michael Moore takes the gloves off. Visiting Madison, Wisconsin this Saturday, he told the crowd “America isn’t broke.” Rather, the money that used to run the country simply got siphoned out of the system and put into unproductive Wall Street accounts. Strong words, but if you consider that most US corporations pay no US taxes, that billionaire hedge fund managers pay far lower taxes than the rest of you, that we’re preserving the unsustainable Bush tax breaks that overwhelmingly benefit the extremely wealthy, then you start to think about our national deficits and Wisconsin’s battles with teachers in a different light.
Make no mistake about it. The deficits are a real problem. And any truly excessive perks for public workers should be cut. But the middle class shouldn’t bear the sole brunt of the national sacrifice. And, so far, that’s all we see. Main Street took the hit in 2008 while Wall Street walked. And that’s what’s happening again…
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I didn’t know this is a political website.
Very well stated, Dan. Bravo.
Fortunately, we can be in favor of cutting public sector salaries AND raising taxes on the rich, right? Oh, wait. . . . That’s a no from both parties? Oh, alright. I guess we can just name-call instead of searching for a fair solution for that majority of Americans who make far less than either Wall Street bankers OR public sector employees.
As a lover of OC, I third that motion… Ditch the politics.
Everything is politics. But before the comments on edu-poli-culture was only a little lefty. But at least we know where you are coming from.
If Mr. Coleman had posted something about George Orwell’s 1984, would there have been comments such as, “Ditch the politics,” or “Please return to being apolitical?” Probably not.
OC is read by people outside the United States. I’m one of them. The term “lefty” means pretty different things in different countries. I think it would reflect better on Americans and their culture if commenters would argue the merits and deficits of a post in an intellectual manner, and refrain from name-calling.
great michael moore!!!
Please save this stuff for the Daily Kos and stick to cultural and educational media here.
micheal moore is “kind of a dick”.