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U.S. is heading toward plutocracy; Thomas M. Finch; Beaver County Times; October 26, 2010.
Mr. Finch’s letters never disappoint. As usual, his letter is little more than a string of leftist talking points. It’s at least the 26th anti-Bush and/or anti-Republican letter from Mr. Finch since December 2004. Here is one example. I wish he could get a regular column in the Times. I also wish he could get at least five minutes per day on a local radio and/or TV station.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“The headline of Paul Dici’s Tuesday letter read, ‘Vote GOP to take our country back.’
“Huh? Take our country back to what? The manipulations of Karl Rove, and W’s idiotic favor-the-rich policies that let corporations buy legislation?”
[RWC] Note Mr. Finch doesn’t provide any examples of “manipulations” or “idiotic favor-the-rich policies.” Mr. Finch is simply a flamethrower who likes to make drive-by accusations.
“How soon we forget. It was eight years of corruption that ruined our economy, yet now it is somehow all ‘Obama’s fault’ and we should turn the reins of government back over to them?”
[RWC] More drive-by accusations without backup. As far as what “ruined our economy,” that’s right at the feet of Democrat/leftist policies and programs.
“The neo-con GOP tea partiers whine when anyone dares to blame Bush for his miserable administration. They say, ‘That’s all in the past, and is no longer relevant’ - yet his letter resurrected the abysmal specter of Michael Dukakis as a smear against Democrats? Maybe the past does matter after all.”
[RWC] As I’ve written before, Mr. Finch likes to use the term “neo-con,” but he never tells us what his definition is. I suspect Mr. Finch just heard it somewhere and likes the sound.
As far as claiming Mr. Dici’s “letter resurrected the abysmal specter of Michael Dukakis as a smear against Democrats,” not exactly. Mr. Finch’s ideological fellow traveler Lonzie Cox brought up the topic of Willie Horton, not Mr. Dici. Mr. Dici simply responded to Mr. Cox’s letter. Vince Avedon also ignored the fact Mr. Cox initiated the Dukakis/Horton discussion.
“Because of limitless funding from corporations to bankroll Republican neo-con campaign ads every five minutes on TV, the truth doesn’t matter anymore. If you repeat the same lies often enough, eventually you’ll convince enough of the unquestioning masses that they must be true.”
[RWC] I guess Mr. Finch missed all the Democrat “campaign ads every five minutes on TV.”
According to FEC data, most industries come close to an even split of donations to Democrats and Republicans. The sole exception? Labor union management contributes 93% to Democrats.
“Democrats can’t raise equal money to compete, so you end up with a one-party plutocracy. Voting for Democrats will keep us moving forward and preserve democracy. Don’t believe the lies.”
[RWC] “Democrats can’t raise equal money to compete?” Perhaps Mr. Finch should check FEC data. In 2008, Democrat candidates ($686 million) for Congress raised more money than did Republican candidates ($548 million). So far in 2010, Democrat candidates for the House have raised more than Republican candidates ($423 million vs. $397 million), but Republicans ($306 million) have raised more than Democrats ($202 million) for Senate candidates. In the 2008 presidential election, Mr. Obama raised $745 million vs. John McCain’s $368 million.
As for “Don’t believe the lies,” I agree. It’s too bad Mr. Finch isn’t leading by example.
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