"When you don't have an argument against fair taxation, you come up with a slogan: Class Warfare."--Lawrence O'Donnell, MSNBC host

That “class warfare” bit is the usual dismissal by Republicans whenever the “great unwashed” bring up the subject of obscene wealth by the few, income disparity, minimum wage, capital gains taxes or whatever. But the very “warfare” of which they scoffingly accuse so many of us has been their own long-running genocide of the lower classes in perpetuating a true caste system.

When I refer to the “great unwashed,” I mean the common people, the lower classes, the hoi polloi. And when I say “caste system,” I am suggesting a resemblance to the old caste system of the Indian subcontinent—whereby a person’s social class was determined by birth. There was no upward mobility. We experience much of that today, as lazy and talentless dullards inheriting “old money” are among those keeping a political foot on the neck of the under-privileged in so many greedy ways.

And have you ever noticed how power-seekers to whom I refer use religion as a tool to seduce the masses? We’ll see a lot of hypocritcal Godliness during the run-up to the 2016 election—along with flag-waving and fear-mongering in many forms. Back in March, Republican House Speaker John Boehner issued an open invitation to Pope Francis to address a joint meeting of Congress. Depite my admiraton for this particular Pope, to me it’s as if the Tea Party can’t find virtue on its own and is attempting to import it. But I imagine it’s really just more about creating an aura of morality in the eyes of certain factions of the voting public. I feel we should hew more closely to the doctrine of “Separation of Church and State.”  Or, in fairness also invite atheist spokesman Ron Reagan to address Congress on Freedom from Religion.

Meanwhile, many among us devote their time fully toward dealing with the mean circumstances of their present station in life—and are held powerless by that very situation. Picture a single mother with several children and no particular job skills, a child from an impoverished family facing today’s college tuitions . . . anyone to whom a dollar or two increase in the minimum wage is a truly big deal. In a couple of years they may be making $15 an hour . . . $600 a week if they can get in 40 hours . . . $31,000 a year, possibly with no medical care for themselves or their family. Doomed to public transportation only in the foreseeable future, standing in line at the local food bank, an eventual pitiful level of Social Security their only “retirement”--if they should live so long, and if Republicans don’t manage to cut even that out of their future.

Many today are relegated to the role of lesser animals, with lives restricted mainly to a struggle for food, shelter and winter warmth—with no shot at all at self-esteem, individual identity or the much-heralded “American way of life.” One’s thoughts at this point perhaps should turn to the Baltimore riots.

Sometimes I have pangs of guilt over having survived reasonably well in the middle-class for 86 years that began just before the Great Depression, when Herbert Hoover was President—while our society is so full of impoverished and disenfranchised people who basically all are individual birds in the flock that is our society. But for them, the pecking order remains a reality. They may have certain equal legal rights but they definitely do not have equal opportunity to improve their lot in life. I doubt that any God will be able to provide all by Himself for the disenfranchised, no matter how much hypocrital lip service He receives from the indolent and oblivious basking in the comfort of their rewards from a raped planet and an anguished multitude.

Kshama Savant, avowed socialist and Seattle City Council member, has been a breath of fresh air to me in recent months. While her forum is somewhat limited and her methods sometimes over the top, she has instigated a movement in the direction of virtue on behalf of those who do not have the opportunity to speak for and represent themselves. Conservatives for much of my life have been laboring long and hard with their Big-Lie propaganda to make “liberal” a convenient dirty word.  They’re currently labeling everything not benefitting the monied class as “socialism.” Well, truthfully, Socialism has much to say for itself. Think socialized medicine; think free college for all. Such things are quite comfortably a part of some European countries. Even in Canada, national medical care is a comfort to all. It’s odd we can’t keep up, when we claim to be “No. 1.”

Most recently, regarding the  concept of the “Great Unwashed,” a refreshing moment in the news was heralded in the April 27 issue of The Seattle Times by the headline:”County exec pushes $65M levy for child, family, health services.” King County Executive Dow Constantine has proposed a levy aimed at early childhood with the aim of reducing costly problems later in life. The key quote to me in the story read: “The goal of Best Start for Kids is to sever the link between income and outcomes—to Create a King County where the circumstances of one’s birth no longer define the course of one’s life.”

Which is a segue to our state legislature’s fecklessness in dealing with a Supreme Court dictate that would more fully fund public K-12 education. Republicans feel they have a budget proposal that will partially accomplish it all—somehow without raising taxes or otherwise inconveniencing business and industry in any way . . . or disturbing the complacency of the well-to do. Democrats are seeking alternatives (and the governor has proposed a tax on carbon emissions which would serve the dual purpose of improving the environment). However, adamance of a Republican majority defies reason and leaves little hope for a better world. The blame, of course, all falls  back on the voters and whom they’ve put into office in the first place. 

And somewhere in these remarks should be mentioned the union-busting governor of Wisconsin who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination. His most publicized target was teachers.

If you’ve read this far, I’m putting a plug in for our Washington State treasurer Jim McIntire. A voice from the sidelines that likely will wind up a loneiy one quickly dissipated in the storm as he presents an educated and reasonable solution that would solve the taxation imbroglio, mainly to afford today’s children with a better education with which to deal with the embroilment that is our disparate society.

He knows his math, that’s for sure. And that’s a subject Republicans conveniently ignore—along with the reailty of Global Warming. He released a plan April 21 centering on a 5% state income tax. It looks good to many of us—and it backs up a proposal by state schools Superintendent Randy Dorm aimed at meeting the state’s court-mandated K-12 education obligations. From the news story: “Among other things, the McIntire plan would institute a 5% personal income tax with some exemptions, eliminate the state property tax and reduce business taxes. The plan would raise billions of dollars, some of which would go toward funding education under the state Supreme Court’s mandate . . . the plan also would lower the state sales tax to 5.5% from 6.5%.” McIntire stated the present problem succinctly when he stated: “It is mathematically impossible for us to sustain adequate investment in education on a shrinking tax base.”

To accomplish these goals, treasurer McIntire wants a constitutional amendment on the 2016 ballot. But according to a Republican legislator, despite the fact that that election is some 18 months away, it is “too late” for the legislature to take up such a matter. OMG!

Despite rational reality, our society these days often is influenced more by Tim Eyman, paid shill of the paranoid-but-complacent wealthy, with his anti-tax initiatives aimed at hobbling the legislature whenever it leans in a liberal direction. McIntire’s plan, meanwhile, would raise $7 billion in revenues yet lower local  taxes by $3 billion. Our state legislature looks pretty pathetic by comparison.

I’d like to make one thing clear meanwhile. There are Republicans and then there are Republicans. Some are the very wealthy and/or in positions of power—and seem to think that “altruism” is some sort of social disease. Some are the pretty regular guy next door with a viewpoint a bit different than mine. I’ve co-existed comfortably with the latter type, despite their propensity at the polls. We leave our political shoes outside the door at social gatherings. And I long ago forgave my own father. He was sort of socialist back during the Depression and voted for Norman Thomas for President. During his retirement years, however, he was treasurer of the county Republican party. But Republicans were a different breed back then. When he died in 1988, his wealth was an unimpressive $60,000 bank account—and a home he had built with his own hands in 1947. He was a mill-worker and a founder of the credit union at the local mill early in the Depression. He had been born on a ranch in Alberta, one of 10 children, 82 years earlier. He’d have little truck with the GOP in its present-day form. The times they are a changin’. Personally, I miss the likes of Republican governor/U.S. senator Daniel J. Evans. I’d vote for him again. He was (and still is) a true man of the people.

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TODAY’S QUOTE: "On topics as varied as climate change, health care, terrorism and the president's birthplace, GOP leaders and media figures have obfuscated and prevaricated with masterful panache, sowing confusion in the midst of absolute clarity, pretending controversy where there is none and finding, always, a ready audience of the fearful and easily gulled."--syndicated columnist Leonard  Pitts Jr. (April 26, 2015)

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