by Richard Trotsky
This morning I read two articles in the local paper that I found of particular interest, one of which was significantly disturbing. The first touched on the obvious divide within the Republican party, which blatantly caters to the wealthy in contrast to the Democratic party which does so in much quieter, less public ways, yet it still does.
According to the article there is a growing divide within the party on fundamental issues which has the potential to result in a split, however this will be meaningless as even less known parties in our 2 party system are still subsidiaries of the main players, the Democrats and Republicans. This is evident from funding sources, voting records, and political connections of those who are elected officials in these smaller parties.
So, in all actuality, there are only two real parties that ever come to power here. The rest are simply nothing more than a “smoke and mirrors” illusion to facilitate the belief that there is the possibility that change to the system can come from within the system itself. Over the last several decades how many “third party” candidates have actually been elected?
Since 1900 only 40 third party candidates have ever been elected, and none to the presidency. Even though they are termed third party, many have still been affiliated with the two main parties. Logically then, is a third party candidate really any different than voting for candidates of either of the two main parties? I dare say no.
The second article I read I found considerably troubling. For quite a while I have not mentioned presidential candidates by name, only the statements made by them, however what I read and the statements made by this candidate are significant cause for alarm as historically when individuals like this come into political power, it has had disastrous results.
At a recent Trump rally in Rock Hall, South Carolina several individuals who were in opposition to Trump were in attendance. One happened to be a Muslim woman who wore a shirt that read “Salam, I come in peace” to the rally. This woman caused absolutely no disruption at all, however the crowd began to chant “Trump, Trump, Trump” (this has become the unofficial way that the crowd has someone ejected) and the woman was removed from the rally. Some attendees of the rally next to her apologized to her but yet remained in attendance.
Let’s have a closer look at his platform, or in reality lack thereof. Unless I’m incorrect, the only mention of any platform points have been on taxation, vague comments about foreign policy, illegal immigration, and the inflammatory comments he has made about Muslim immigrants, which the last can’t justifiably be considered a platform point.
If you analyze his tax policy (http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/2000560-an-analysis-of-donald-trumps-tax-plan.pdf), yes, there would be a benefit to the middle class and the poor, but what he doesn’t mention is the interesting change made to corporate taxes. He proposes to reduce corporate taxes from the current rate of 25% down to 15%, and the changes made to individual taxation rates. At present an individual (filing single) who earns $423,500 and more per year pays 39.6% at the marginal rate, however under his plan that same individual would be taxed at a rate of 25%.
The truth of the matter is that the wealthy, particularly the top 1% of income earners would see the greatest benefit to this plan, as their tax rate would be cut by a whopping 14.6%, most of the rest see a bit of improvement. There are only two other groups that would see significant cuts to their taxes, those being individuals who earn between $47,750 - $54,000, and those who earn between $19,525 - $29,000. Those two groups would see a 15% reduction in rates.
I happen to fall into the latter income range, and as far as I’m concerned, I’d rather pay 15% more in taxes then let the rich get even more rich. It’s obvious that simply giving them more money is doing nothing for the benefit of the majority. In the 1950’s the tax rate of the wealthy was set at 91%, just check IRS tax rate history.
Some economists argue that the wealthy still have effectively the same burden due to the lower income levels having lower tax rates, but that’s an invalid argument as the rates for the wealthy have actually been lowered to an even greater degree. At lower levels the rate has been reduced by as much as 10%, but for the top earners it was dropped a staggering 54.1%, so how does that equate to the burden being the same, it simply doesn’t. That shift started in 1981, along with deregulation of the market, thanks so much Reaganomics for helping create the monster we have today.
Moving on to foreign policy, I seriously question as to whether an individual as callous as Mr. Trump would be truly effective at diplomacy. That requires a certain delicateness yet firmness that has obviously not been shown as of yet. All he has done is alienate himself from different groups and political rivals that were former allies.
This technique would most undoubtedly serve as invaluable when attempting to negotiate with foreign leaders such as Vladimir Putin, who, while respecting strength, will not subject themselves to one sided negotiations. I imagine Mr. Putin would simply thank him for his time and declare the meeting over.
Diplomacy is more an art than an action, making acquisitions of businesses is much different than attempting to negotiate with leaders of world powers, and always having an aggressive stance is the one definite way that we would isolate ourselves from the world. Yes, being aggressive is at times necessary, but knowing exactly when to be aggressive is the key to negotiating.
Now in regard to the comments made about Muslim immigrants, the explosion in individuals emigrating is a direct result of the conditions or conflicts that they are facing in their home nations. There are quite a few underlying reasons but the main perpetrators are the quest for financial gain and ever expanding spheres of influence.
Most of the regions that are experiencing these main two perpetrating factors are the direct consequence of foreign policy decisions that in effect destabilized said nations to a degree, whether it be politically or economically. The populations simply want to live securely and financially comfortably, and due to events transpiring there simply cannot. Therefore, the result is a mass exodus from these nations, which we have observed in the past year.
Unfortunately, terrorist organizations are exploiting this, but even they, however, are a direct result of foreign policy decisions. Political and economic depravity do nothing more than polarize people to be more open to violent measures, these organizations understand this, and utilize it in recruiting.
All the rhetoric of Mr. Trump during his rallies is frightening reminiscent of two groups that came to power using very similar rhetoric. They declared that they supported the working(middle) class, promoted a national rebirth of the country, and had racist views towards certain ethnicities and groups. They were wildly popular in the countries that they were located in. Who were the leaders of those two groups you might ask, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.
editor's note: Read Naomi Wolf's The End of America if you really want to know more about how America is slipping into Fascism.
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