GOP MISSION IS A 'DEAD PLAN WALKING'; PEOPLE POWER IS THE COUNTERWEIGHT TO CORPORATE GREED

photo:  Ove Overmyer

Rochester, N.Y.-- America's 24/7 news cycle has delivered some good news recently, both here at home and abroad. Never mind the obvious stuff concerning the death of OBL and major advancements in the war on terror.

The overshadowed news that's not being told is that America gained 244,000 new jobs last month.

That’s a quarter million workers back on the job; a quarter million unemployment checks that taxpayers won’t have to pay for; and a quarter million families pulled back from the brink of ruin.

And that’s great news for the entire country. Consider these three indicators released by the U.S. Department of Labor:

1)  This was the best individual month of job creation since before the recession.

2)  It was also the 14th straight month of private-sector job growth, with over 800,000 new jobs created so far in 2011.

3)  Best of all, many of the states hardest-hit by the recession are coming back the strongest. Manufacturing centers like Michigan and Ohio are seeing their best job growth since 1999.

Despite this glimmer of hope, why are House Republicans still trying to short-circuit the recovery by attacking the elderly, working families and the poor? They have done absolutely zero when it comes to job creation.  The only thing they have been focusing on is fighting a culture war-- taking away a women's right to choose, devaluing LGBT Americans, and pummeling the poor and working class at every possible opportunity.

Democrat Kathy Hochul speaks
before the Rochester Labor Council
on May 12, 2011.
photo:  Bess Watts

Our local NY 26th Congressional District race gets national attention

The House Majority PAC is the second major Democratic group to devote resources to this race that has now grabbed national attention.  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee made a $250,000 ad buy earlier this week. Republican groups, seeing Conservative candidate Jane Corwin's lead shrink, have the upper hand in the money race to help her so far.  They have spent upwards of $1 million now in independent buys, including $650,000 in ad time that Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS has reserved and a $400,000 ad buy from the National Republican Congressional Committee, which they upped from $265,000 just recently. 

The NY 26th Congressional District has a top-heavy Republican registration and this race should of been a forgone conclusion.  However, the GOP are now running scared-- they are spending national money because this race has become a referendum on Medicare and the Ryan Plan.  The GOP has an exploding cigar on its hands. 

As of today, the race is a three-way toss up with Corwin, Democrat Kathy Hochul and perennial candidate Jack Davis.  Davis, who is running as a Tea Party endorsed candidate, is  proving once again he is completely unelectable regardless of where he positions himself on the political continuum.  The special election to fill the seat vacated by the disgraced, shirtless Buffalo area businessman Chris Lee is May 24.

Anyway you look at it, the GOP has a losing strategy here.  What the Republicans are proposing just doesn’t make economic sense and the voters know it.  The Ryan Plan, which is supported by all the GOP Representatives and GOP congressional candidates like Corwin is simply a "dead plan walking." 

And while we're at it, Corwin's television ads that try to appeal to upstate western New York's "working families" has reached the pinnacle of hypocrisy.  They are offensive.  How stupid does her campaign operatives think western New York voters are?  

Image property of JaneCorwin.org.  Thank you Ian of BuffaloBeast.Com!

It’s bad enough that House Republicans voted to destroy Medicare and replace it with an inadequate voucher scheme-- something that Corwin says she definitely supports.  Corwin also supports giving tax breaks to the wealthy while the most vulnerable will no doubt suffer.  And now, non-partisan analysts have also revealed that this GOP budget plan actually increases the national debt by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next ten years-- and it still forces seniors to pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket and potentially cuts off health care coverage completely for millions of Americans.

GOP plan attacks the working-class

No economy can function without a strong, vibrant middle-class. When you deny the elderly and working families a living wage, you eliminate any spending power by the majority of Americans. Job security and freedom from workplace injustice make it possible for families to plan for the future and improve their lives. It's what drives the American economy. Our president basically has us on the right course folks, and we need to support him. If you need some motivation to do so, just consider the GOP alternative.

In state after state, right-of-center legislators seem to have one primary goal in mind since they took over the state houses and the House of Representatives-- to take away people’s rights in the workplace, privatize public services and pay back their big donors by giving away our tax dollars to the filthy rich. That is the same wealth that has been generated by middle-class working folk and the money that was guaranteed to us when we bought into that thing called the American Dream.

As for taxes, having to pay them is no longer a sure thing either, especially if you're a corporate giant like General Electric, with a thousand employees in its tax department, skilled in creative accounting. You'll recall recent reports that although GE made profits last year of $5.1 billion in the United States and $14.2 billion worldwide they would pay not a penny of federal income tax. Chalk it up to billions of dollar of losses at GE Capital during the financial meltdown and a government tax break that allows companies to avoid paying U.S. taxes on profits made overseas while "actively financing" different kinds of deals.

Republicans insist the oil companies need our taxpayer subsidies. So Big Oil hammers you twice-- once at the pump, and then again in your paycheck. This corporate welfare has got to end. Now.

And, it gets worse. In 2009, Exxon-Mobil didn't pay any taxes either, and last year, they had worldwide profits of $30.46 billion. You know who else didn't pay taxes?  Neither did Bank of America or Chevron or Boeing. According to a report last week from the office of the New York City Public Advocate, in 2009, the five companies, including GE, received a total of $3.7 billion in federal tax benefits.

People power

GET OUT THE VOTE
photo:  Ove Overmyer

If our job growth continues like it has, Republicans will lose more credibility-- as if they had any in the first place.  When more Americans figure out that the Obama's health care initiative is empowering citizens rather than big pharma and the mega-providers hellbent on profit alone, they will understand that we are in better hands.  Americans are starting to realize that the GOP plan is a disastrous one for 98 percent of us-- and one that doesn't discriminate by political party affiliation.  But that probably won’t stop them-- facts don't matter much to these talking heads when it's all said and done.  The only thing that can stop this carnival ride is you-- only you and your efforts can right this ship heading straight for 2012.

Again, the only thing that will beat the corporate-backed GOP is people power at the ballot box and a focused, well organized grassroots political action effort. That's you and me folks. The future of our economy and our working families depend on it. So, let's get to work. Are you in?

Cartoon courtesy of DenverPost.Com