A Message That Connects

[UnrepentantUnitarian]

Sen. Obama and his campaign have alluded to it, but haven't grabbed the meat of it yet: "Trickle down" was a mindset, an attitude, that needs to be thoroughly dismantled and "drowned in a bathtub." It was a flawed idea from the start. The only way to turn this country around is to put this train on a brand-new track. It can't be done all at once, but we can begin by laying the foundations for that new track. Begin by resoundingly rejecting the "authoritarian", elitist premise of corporatist-centered Neocon politics. Put the blame where it belongs, and promise to take this country back to democratic principles. We need to grow the mindset that proclaims that, in the final analysis, corporations have no inherent constitutional rights. People--people as individuals--have rights.

Sen. Obama should assure the American public that he will, from day one, begin a new commitment to the "trickle-up" premise upon which this country was built. It's not "anti-free enterprise," but it does understand that free enterprise exists for us--ultimately for all of us--and not the other way around. It also insists that freedom in the marketplace must never be confused with license. Freedom--real mature freedom--simply doesn't exist apart from the larger context of responsibility, common bonds and common interests.

If Obama would make "trickle up" a mantra for genuine change and reform, the public would understand it and would generally embrace it. A Neocon ideology has taken this nation on a path toward ruin--away from its founding premises--and an utter and emphatic rejection of it would be a clear statement that we can have "change that we can really believe in." I really believe that. What do you think?

[OneGrassRoot]

1. I like it. I love when I hear him say that nothing has...

trickled down to us. Yes, it's a flawed ideology, but they never intended for it to trickle down...they were simply words to pacify the voters who wouldn't otherwise vote for corporatocracy republicans. It was the beginning of the low-information voter.

Yes, "trickle up." Another way to envision Obama's grassroots approach.

Very nice! :)

[weezie1317]

2. He already used the phrase "trickle up" or something similar at the debate....

or a rally this weekend.

What Constitutional rights do corporations have that you want removed?

[eshfemme]

3. The only problem with "trickle up" that I see as a meme

is that the word trickle is associated with water or liquid and thus the direction down since gravity will pull everything downwards. Maybe "bottom up" or "build up" would be better as the use of trickle seems contradictory.

Just my $0.02 although I love the sentiment that Obama is trying to convey. I just wish he had his own term for it that he can coin other than one based on an anti-trickle down economics tack.

Any wordsmiths out there who can coin words? Maybe Stephen Colbert?

[CrispyQ]

4. Instead of 'trickle up'

I think he should say this: "A trickle down economy doesn't work because you never build anything from the top. You always start at the bottom."

If you build a solid foundation (middle class) you can build as high as you want. When you start from the top, you're in a precarious position from the beginning.