Time to put the Repubs on the defensive ?

[kentuck]

The best way to do that is to attack their weakest flank. That would be SPENDING and SPENDING CUTS. No government can work without spending money but when a government spends too much, especially when they spend more than they are taking in in taxes, it is only a matter of time until it starts affecting the entire economy. The Republicans have reached that point.

Their first inclination is to "cut" spending. They have begun to cut spending for veterans, for child nutrition, for education, for agriculture, and other programs that have been mostly beneficial to the people. So now the pain begins at the bottom.

But the pain doesn't stop there. That is only the beginning. It will sooon hit the markets. We are experiencing record high gas prices as we experience record high deficits - not that one is directly related to the other. But the dollar itself is under assault because of the massive borrowing from foreign entities.

Unfortunately, the Repubs are not very good at government and matters will only get worse the longer they are in power. Mostly because they would rather strangle their mothers than to raise taxes, they have put themselves in a situation where there is no escape.

[zbdent]

1. Keep pointing out that, for 40+ years, the Repukes have been the

ones crying over every $ of the deficit - until 2001 - then it was everybody else's fault, despite the fact that they were in control . . .

[Nickster]

2. You're assuming this isn't what they were driving to from the start

I think they are trying to create a situation of haves and have nots in the extreme. If you are a good, wholesome person you have lots of money and can handle paying for things on your own. If you are a bad person with little or no money, then you deserve the punishment of higher prices so you become motivated to earn more money. They don't think the government should be providing anything to anyone.

[kentuck]

3. They think they can have their cake and eat it too...

In other words, they can screw everybody and still stay in power.

[Nickster]

4. Yup, that's about it.

And the "bad" people will remain convinced that they deserve their punishment and keep voting against their own interests all in the hope that they will someday be "good" people and enjoy some of the benefits that the "good" people get, just as long as they work harder. I'm over-simplifying things, but that's about what it looks like.

[AngryAmish]

5. We must cleanse our nation of rethug filth

[welshTerrier2]

6. the "Sound Asleep" wing of the Democratic Party

for too long we've been told that we should not continue to raise "class warfare" as an issue because it implies expensive tax and spend programs and for too long we've been told that talking about the "corporate state" makes us seem "anti-business" ... these messages are being brought to Democrats by the "Sound Asleep" wing of the Democratic Party ...

if we fail to even recognize we are in a fight, what chance do we have of prevailing? ... the issues Democrats keep raising are the right ones: veterans, child nutrition, healthcare, education, social security, etc ... but lacking the context that we are at war with tyranny of the corporate state, our ad hoc battles will not succeed and will not lay the broader foundation that justifies supporting our causes ...

if we want the support of the American people, we have got to tell them the truth and stop fearing our own shadows ...

[Nickster]

7. Facts alone aren't enough

We need to start realizing that or we are going to continue to lose. To us on this board, the facts are enough. But to the people on the other side, the facts don't fit their frame, so they kick out the facts. We have to start learning the "voodoo" that the republicans used to get their message out and start using it ourselves. There's a reason that they Rs didn't have to move to the left, they built one hell of an infrastructure and we are WAY behind in that aspect. They need the culture wars to win and while we are mired in that cultural war, they are working to defund, demoralize, and destablize the Dem party. Our party is dying and we haven't even realized it yet.