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Title: John Baer: Decades of working-class neglect - now that's insulting (OBAMA WAS RIGHT)
Source:
Philadelphia Daily News
URL Source: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/col ... ct_-_now_that_s_insulting.html
Published: Apr 14, 2008
Author: John Baer
Post Date: 2008-04-14 10:58:31 by aristeides
Keywords: None
Views: 172
Comments: 8
John Baer: Decades of working-class neglect - now that's insulting By John Baer Daily News Political Columnist SOME THOUGHTS on the latest diversion of Campaign '08, a campaign apparently hell-bent on keeping the nation mired in its own stupidity. As a native-born, small-town Pennsylvanian, a son of native-born, small-town Pennsylvania parents - one from the coal region, one from Lancaster County - let me assure you that the so-called offensive, condescending things Barack Obama said about the people I come from are basically right on target. "Bitter" perhaps best describes my late mother, an angry Irish Catholic who absolutely clung to her religion. Dad, also a journalist, wasn't really bitter as far as I know, but he sure liked to hunt. So, despite carping from Hillary Clinton and annoying yapping from her surrogates (really, it's like turning on the lights at night in a puppy farm), I take no offense. What's offensive to me is suggesting that small-town, working-class, gun-toting and/or religious Pennsylvanians are somehow injured by a politician's words. Are you kidding me? They're injured all right, but the injury is long-term and from lots more than "just words." They've been injured from decades of neglect by political cultures in Washington and Harrisburg driven by special interests. They're injured by a system of isolated, insulated political leadership that protects itself and the status quo above all else. They've been harmed by a lack of political guts to fix a health-care system that works against the poor and forces middle-class families to pay more for less, while at the same time giving politicians the best coverage taxpayer money can buy. They've been taken for granted by political parties and candidates who stay in power by - and this was the apparent gist of Obama's remarks - forcing attention and debate on issues tied to guns, religion and race (precisely because such issues resonate) rather than real problems such as health care and the economy. They've been consistently made fools of by their own elected representatives who, year after year, pull fat salaries ($169,000 for every member of Congress; $150,000 in salary, perks and benefits for every state lawmaker) with automatic raises no matter how little gets done. A new Associated Press poll shows Congress' approval rating at 23 percent. And don't even get me started on the Pennsylvania Legislature. Insulting? What's insulting are the sizes of salaries and perks of politicians in a state where the median household income is $43,714. What's insulting is the ongoing failure of elected "leaders" to deal with long-term, working-class worries while insuring their own futures with hefty, over-rich pensions. And, look, what Obama said, given a charged atmosphere close to a critical primary, was ill-advised - not because he's wrong, but because it changes the discussion. The 24-hour broadcast-news cycle will jabber on this for days - the irony being that Obama's "words," which had positioned him so well, now threaten to trip him up. Another irony is that the candidate running to effect change where change is needed, and to offer hope to those without it, is suddenly tagged as somehow diminishing those he seeks to serve. So the question is whether Obama effectively defuses this, as he did the controversy surrounding his former minister. And that remains to be seen. Just don't tell me that he insulted a state or, given his background, that he's an out-of-touch elitist. And I especially don't want to hear such arguments from a candidate who spent decades in the bubble of a governor's mansion, the White House and the U.S. Senate, and under the blanket of $109 million income during the last eight years. Pennsylvanians might cling to religion and guns. I hope they don't cling to stupidity. Send e-mail to baerj@phillynews.com.
Philadelphia Daily News
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#1. To: All (#0)
As the Bronx-bred son of an Irish Catholic New York City bus driver, I can only agree.
To reason, indeed, he was not in the habit of attending. His mode of arguing, if it is to be so called, was one not uncommon among dull and stubborn persons, who are accustomed to be surrounded by their inferiors. He asserted a proposition; and, as often as wiser people ventured respectfully to show that it was erroneous, he asserted it again, in exactly the same words, and conceived that, by doing so, he at once disposed of all objections. - Macaulay, "History of England," Vol. 1, Chapter 6, on James II.
The author. As the son of a Brooklyn born, Irish Catholic cop, a black supporting a fellow black comes as no surprise.
You are no credit to the Irish, sir.
To reason, indeed, he was not in the habit of attending. His mode of arguing, if it is to be so called, was one not uncommon among dull and stubborn persons, who are accustomed to be surrounded by their inferiors. He asserted a proposition; and, as often as wiser people ventured respectfully to show that it was erroneous, he asserted it again, in exactly the same words, and conceived that, by doing so, he at once disposed of all objections. - Macaulay, "History of England," Vol. 1, Chapter 6, on James II.
What's insulting is the ongoing failure of elected "leaders" to deal with long-term, working-class worries while insuring their own futures with hefty, over-rich pensions. he and Obama were correct about this. what i find amusing is that this man believes that Obama all by his little self is going to change it.
Obama tried to explain rural poverty through a lack of government programs. Baloney!! Unlimited legal and illegal immigration has destroyed our currency so our pensions and paychecks are devalued almost daily. If we add 50,000,000 morepeople through Amnesty and H1B visas, we will have to import all of the oil those 50,000,000 people consume. And we will have to bid that oil away from foreigners with our depreciating dollars. Soo if we add 50,000,000 people and raise the price of oil to $210 from $110, all 350,000,000 people will have to pay $210 and not just the last 50,000,000 immigrants. That is a government program. The flood of legal and illegal immigrants has lowered wages. And trade agreements have shipped many factories from rural America to Mexico, Asia and elsewhere overseas. No wonder people are bitter.
The Truth of 911 Shall Set You Free From The Lie
Everything about New Yorkers/Yankees is more intense, even the racism. I wasn't even curious about the race of this columnist and certainly wouldn't have gone to the lengths you have in posting his photo. The Dem race is just becoming boring. Everybody knows Insane McPain is going to be taking that oath of office and then ending civilization soon aferwards through ramping up the wars into radioactivity. That's if the Chimp doesn't beat him to it.
“I would give no thought of what the world might say of me, if I could only transmit to posterity the reputation of an honest man.” - Sam Houston
Unlimited legal and illegal immigration has destroyed our currency so our pensions and paychecks are devalued almost daily. If we add 50,000,000 morepeople through Amnesty and H1B visas, we will have to import all of the oil those 50,000,000 people consume. And we will have to bid that oil away from foreigners with our depreciating dollars. Soo if we add 50,000,000 people and raise the price of oil to $210 from $110, all 350,000,000 people will have to pay $210 and not just the last 50,000,000 immigrants. That is a government program. The flood of legal and illegal immigrants has lowered wages. And trade agreements have shipped many factories from rural America to Mexico, Asia and elsewhere overseas. Amen Horse.
#2. To: aristeides (#0)
#3. To: Jethro Tull (#2)
#4. To: Jethro Tull (#2)
#5. To: aristeides (#0)
What's insulting are the sizes of salaries and perks of politicians in a state where the median household income is $43,714.
#6. To: aristeides, Jethro Tull, Robin, Peppa (#3)
#7. To: Jethro Tull (#2)
#8. To: Horse (#6)
Obama tried to explain rural poverty through a lack of government programs. Baloney!!
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