We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Obama's Sellout on Taxes

by Michael Hudson from Counterpunch

He writes:
Yet Obama has only done what politicians do: He has delivered up his constituency to his campaign backers – the same Wall Street donors who back the Republicans. What’s the point of having a constituency, after all, if you can’t sell it?
What Hudson doesn't seem to understand is that the Democratic Party's function in capitalist America is to create the illusion of serving main street, the "little guy", working people, etc. and to create the impression among these people that they have a representative government, that is, they can choose their government leaders and policies through elections. Meanwhile, behind the scenes their Democratic leaders serve their masters in the ruling class. This is precisely what Obama has done. The same ruling class used Democratic Clinton to sell ordinary Americans on "free trade" policies that resulted in their jobs being shifted overseas.

The ruling class will reward Obama one way or another. Although they can't be too upfront about it, they love Obama as revealed in this publication. Also see this.

And the cuts in Social Security payroll tax deductions represent a stealth attack on Social Security which the ruling class also wants to destroy. See this.