Archive for the “Election 2008” Category

What can I say….i’m quite crafty when I want to be

I wanted to write in response to an article from Salon.com today posted on Twitter by @taxgirl . While the article was meant to be a sarcastic take on “Joe the Plumber” and his socialist rantings, the premise of the article absolutely broke my heart.

The focus was on taxes and the claim that Obama wants to take the money out of the hand of working Americans and redistribute it to the ’slobs’ and ‘losers’ in this country.  But the best part was the satirical analysis of actually how much a person making over $250,000 would be giving up to help take some pressure off struggling Americans.

Ready for this?  $257 bucks.

All of that griping and cries of socialism for $257 bucks!

And that’s in the case of a person that just crosses the tax bracket.  I’m even more disgusted with the big corporations out there crying socialism and issuing public threats such as “Under Obama’s tax plan, we will have to reduce our spending which will eventually cost jobs for American workers”.

Really?!

Under John McCain, the largest corporations would recieve $45 Million in tax breaks.  And you know what these companies will do with their tax breaks?  They’ll open new factories in Taiwan and Indonesia because they can employ 15 workers at $5 a day as opposed to one American at $75 a day.

And with this same money that they used to take away our jobs, they will produce cheap products using cheap materials that eventually make us sick or put us in danger (Case in point: lead paint toys, toxic dog food, tainted baby formula, contaminated heparin).

And when your baby drinks toxic formula or you are injected with contaminated heparin in the hosptial, who is gonna foot the bill?  Certainly not the ‘poor’ corporation that put their profit ahead of your livelyhood.

I say these companies shouldn’t get one red cent in the form of a tax break becuase clearly they are doing a wonderful job saving on labor and manufacturing costs and really don’t need additional help from me.

Beyond that, if you are blessed to make more than 95% of the rest of us in this country, how could you be so selfish as to not wanting a small portion of your money going to a single mother of 3 that came down with cancer, is sick to death from chemo and relies on government assistance just to survive?

How can you turn a blind eye to the millions of people facing foreclosure and homelessness,  yet you are the first one to rally for a bailout when you see a dip in your 401(k)?

All I can say is this.  Your money could be gone tomorrow.  All it takes is a few unfortunate turn of events to find yourself homeless and begging for state aid– and one day the policies of greed and selfishness that you advocated may very well come back and bite you when you least expect it.

You may already know that I’m a christian.  I even belong to a pentecostal church.

The kicker:  I’m a hardcore democrat.

Admittedly, this has caused some hard feelings between me and my church friends.  Instead of logical questions regarding my position and my support for Barak Obama, I get emotional accusations such as “Your a murderer if you support abortions,” or “How can you let those gays get married?” etc.

Those ignorant accusations don’t really phase me though, as I typically inform naysayers that Jesus is a borderline socialist.  After all, the apostles were instructed (and later taught their followers) to live in common.  That meant those with extra were to give it away so everyone was equal at all times. 

Jesus also harped on the fact that the widows and the poor were to be taken of- no questions asked.

Finally, Jesus was ridiculed for hanging out with “sinners” or those that did not believe or adhere to his Jewish upbringing.  For example, Mary Magdeline was quite the hoochie.  If she lived in our day and age, I’m sure she would have a few abortions under her belt.  But he loved her anyway. 

In my opinion, the lifestyle and teachings of Jesus are the exact opposite of those on the religious right.  Yes, the bible teaches certain things are wrong- but you are required to love these people anyway and support them financially if they are among the poor– even if it requires giving welfare to a “white trash” single mother with 5 kids barely getting by.

Sadly, It’s that type of intollerance that caused a literal fist fight at a family wedding tonight (I know, I know… more white trash).  Basically, my uncle by marriage who beats anyone he encounters with his bible (yet hes the biggest hypocryite you’ll ever meet) decided to talk smack to my dad.

Mind you, my father was raised by his single dad, ate government cheese for years, served during the vietnam war, and took a union job with the Teamsters- from which he retired 8 years ago.  Does my dad identify with anything republican? Heck no. 

He votes for the little guy.

Cue the crazy uncle with his religious right rantings.  According to him, if your not voting for McCain, your “giving the country over to the mulims,” “letting the faggots do whatever they want,” and “murdering babies because you support abortion.”

His intollerance sooned turned into anger, which turned into name calling, which led to threats and ultimately a gesture that he would hit my dad who is twice his size.  Well in the spirit of “self defense” my dad clocked him in the face- which is the perfect example of just how polarizing this election really is.

But the point I want to make is that the “religous right” better get their act together. 

The Jesus I know woudln’t treat people the way you do.  The Jesus I know would gladly support tax dollars going into programs such as WIC, Head Start, Welfare, etc. to give the poor a little extra boost in this world. 

The Jesus I know would not sign off on your greed and lust for money.  He would probably set fire to your multi million dollar mega churches, knowing full well that donations built those churches instead of helping the poor.

Note: If I really wanted to help people and took a non-profit job tomorrow, I would have to come to terms with the fact that i’m not going to be the richest girl in the world.  I think the same should hold true with church executives.  You don’t “deserve” a bentley from your people because your the “man or woman of God.”  You don’t “deserve” to be poor, but you don’t “deserve” to be a millionare when you choose to take a job of this nature. 

Finally, don’t assume all democrats are baby killers or closet gays.  I may not support abortions for example, but I don’t have the right to make that decision for someone else.  My God is a God of free-will and free choice.  I can nicely explain why I personally do not belive in such things, but I have no right to force my beliefs onto someone else.

That’s exactly why the separation between church and state is a good thing.  I don’t want someone else forcing their religion on me, nor should the religious right be allowed to inject their views on an unwilling audience. 

We are to win people over by our love and examples.  Sheer ignorance will get you nowhere my friends.

So in the meantime, you will continue to loose your clout, as two promient evanglical leaders have this election year due to intollerance.  And the further you shy away from social justice, the more you will look like complete hypocrites…because social justice is what this thing is all about.