Watch and Learn

so not sure how many people out there are hip to republican strategy. since knowledge is power i'd like to share with you exactly how they are taking over this country. and maybe if more people know how it's happening more people can step up to help stop it (more on this later).

first, let's lay out 2 of the policy stances republicans are known for:

1. wanting school vouchers
2. not being a big fan of labor unions/working people

those issues, stated like that, have very little likelihood of becoming law. there is organized opposition to both - strong organized opposition.

so how are republicans going to make these issues into law? simple - step by step. by tying in vouchers and prevailing wage limits into the katrina relief efforts. in a bill that will most likely go through (unless some dems grow some balls) the republican hold house and senate will push through bill allowing school vouchers for students without schools due to katrina, and also allow contractors not to pay the prevailing wage on construction efforts due to katrina.

so maybe you're sitting there thinking, ok, well it's not like it effects me - and it's only because of this huge disaster, and if it help people in the short term get their lives back, then great. wrong. it is just a simple step into making these 2 issues commonplace. they're setting legal precedent. once the government pays for some school vouchers it will be that much easier to have the government pay for more school vouchers. once it's ok in some situations not to pay the prevailing wage, it'll be ok in all situations not to pay the prevailing wage. get it?

if not allow me to remind you of 2 other examples.

1. late term abortion. remember this beauty of a bill? restricting some abortions is just a hop skip and a jump from restricting all abortions . . . getting people to think of abortions/a woman's right to choose as a bad thing is the first and more important step. afterall, this is a democracy and having the people's will (manipulated or not) behind you is usually helpful.

2. patriot act. hello! classic example of using a tragedy to push forward legislation that benefits their ideological stances. who needs civil rights when we had john ashcroft protecting us!?

so there you go. and now you wonder - what can i do? well there are a few things we, as democrats (or even as moderate, pragmatic people) need to do.

1. write your congressperson and let them know how you feel about this.
i know it's very cliche, and as a former congressional intern i know exactly how much time and attention those letters see - so here are my thoughts on getting your letter read - 1) write legibly 2)write your own letter, not a just a form letter 3) mean what you say, 4) ask specific questions. granted one letter won't mean a lot - but if there are a lot of them it does make people sit up and take notice.

2. we need a majority in the house and the senate
in order for this to happen you need to support dem candidates across the country (esp. in connecticut!) you can do this in a few ways - 1) right now the game is money, 2) volunteer your time to the campaign - everyone needs volunteers, esp. quality motivated volunteers, 3) sign up for email lists and stay informed.

3. when the time is right, vote.

so there you go - my political rant for the day. i know it's been awhile since i've done one of these - but i have to say that all of this is the reason i'm here - i want to do what i can to keep our country from falling further into the hole that bush and his crew have created. and come on, if i can move to connecticut for this you guys can at least sign up for a few email lists!