"Welcome to the Republican Party"

I received an email last night from a well intentioned friend. The email is below. My response is below that.
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Father / Daughter Talk

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth. She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.

He responded by asking how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, 'How is your friend Audrey doing?'

She replied, 'Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over.'

Her wise father asked his daughter, 'Why don't you go to the Dean's Office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.'

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, 'That's a crazy idea, and how would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!'

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, 'Welcome to the Republican party.'

If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between Republican and Democrat I'm all ears.

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And my response to my well-intentioned friend:

Hi xxx,

That email is scary. It's scary because I know that there are lots of people in this country that think that it's true.

The Republicans claim to be the fiscally responsible party, and they call the Democrats the "tax and spend" party. But since 2000, we learned what the Republican party would do when it had control of the white house and a majority in both houses of the Congress.

So how have the Republicans done over the past 8 years?

If you remember back to the Clinton (Democratic) campaign in 1992, they ran on the slogan "It's the economy, stupid." Clinton took office with a $236 Billion deficit (the government was spending $236B more than they were taking in each year. Similar to a family making 250K a year but spending 500K a year, and financing the rest by taking out loans). Over the next 8 years, true to their promise, the deficit decreased under the Clinton administration each year. When they left office in 2000, they left Bush with a $250B surplus (that is, the government was taking in MORE than they were paying out each year).

The Bush administration has taken that surplus and squandered it. This year, the budget deficit was projected to be $800 Billion BEFORE the current Wall Street bailout. Our national debt (the amount of money our government owes and must pay interest on each year) is almost $10 Trillion. That's an insane amount of money.

The Republicans believe that industries should be lightly regulated, if at all. Many of us think that can work, if done responsibly. But it's been way out of control, as lobbyists push Washington to back off on their businesses. As a direct result of the lack of oversight of the financial markets, the taxpayers (you and I) will now fund the bailout of the financial markets. That is the exact OPPOSITE of that email. All of America will now pay to bail out the excesses of a handful of gazillionaires on Wall Street.

There might have been a time in the past when the Republicans were fiscally responsible, and the Democrats wanted to increase federal spending on questionable social programs, but not any more.

I'm neither a Democrat or a Republican. I want fiscal responsibility. But at the same time, I am more than happy to pay my fair share so that the public schools have computers, and athletics, and honors programs, and programs for special needs kids. I'm happy to pay a little bit more so that college is affordable. Or so that someone who needs medicine or a doctor can get it. That's not a re-distribution of wealth. Those are basic services. And it's the government's responsibility to provide them to all citizens. That's their job. That's why we pay taxes. But now, much of our tax receipts will be going to bail out Wall Street instead, and there will be even less available to fund the programs we need.

The fox has been guarding the henhouse for the past 8 years. And this country is in big trouble right now. Don't believe it's as simple as that email you were sent.

Shouldn't the President be Able To Multi-Task?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/24/mccain-camp-wants-to-post_n_129079.html

What if they win? Will they put the presidency on hold when things get too crazy?

The fox is guarding the henhouse. Again.

Lifted verbatim from Paulson's proposal to Congress:

Sec. 8. Review. Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

The entire proposal is here:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/96820-the-treasury-s-bailout-proposal-and-its-faults

This just might make Hank Paulson the most powerful person in the world.