Racism, Misogyny and Privilege: The Basis Of Modern “Conservatism”

Ken O’Brien

The Dow Industrial Average is approaching 18,000. Job growth in November hit a fifteen year high. Unemployment is below 6%. Gasoline prices are approaching $2.50 per gallon. And we are finally making progress in achieving universal health care – first proposed by Harry Truman over 60 years ago.

By any objective measure the Obama Administration has been a success.

This is especially true by comparison to our sister economies of Western Europe, which have consistently teetered on the brink of resurgent recession. 

Conservatives’ Pockmarked Past

Conservatives can't name one previous policy of theirs that helped the nation

Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg in Salon

Republicans are determined to dismantle Obamacare, not because they have any chance at succeeding–the president’s veto can’t be overridden–but because it’s of a piece with everything else they’ve been doing to embarrass this two-term chief executive.  They do so, they say, in the name of conservatism.

Now, name one program since Eisenhower, initiated by conservatives in Congress, that the nation looks back on and breathes a collective sigh, on the order of: “Whew, we dodged a bullet when we reversed that progressive misstep.” The left reflects proudly on the strongest part of its history: 

LOCAL WINGNUT POST-ELECTION WHINING

Ken O’Brien

Earlier today The O’Zone ran an article titled “RANDOM WINGNUT POST-ELECTION WHINING”.

The article was derived from another site. It addressed itself to a variety of national forums. But the idiocy espoused by them is nonetheless present locally.

As an addendum, The O’Zone posted a video from the “Morning Joe” program featuring David Frum.

Frum, an avowed conservative, with a long and illustrious record as such, made a point that The O’Zone has advocated for almost as long as this blog has existed.

Taxes The Rich Don’t Pay Could Eliminate The Deficit

Ken O’Brien

While conservatives focus on the deficit issue they ignore job creation, and insist that tax increases on the rich wouldn't generate enough revenue to balance the budget. They're way off. But it takes a little arithmetic to put it all together.

The following analysis was conducted by Paul Buchheit who teaches Economic Inequality at DePaul University. He is the founder and developer of social justice and educational websites (UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org, RappingHistory.org), and the editor and main author of "American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (Clarity Press).

In the analysis data has been taken from a variety of sources, some of which may overlap or slightly disagree, but all of which lead to the conclusion that withheld revenue, not excessive spending, is the problem. 

The Amoral Basis of Contemporary Conservatism

Ken O’Brien

Ayn Rand, author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged is extolled as the touchstone of contemporary conservative economic and social thought. Perhaps those who feel that their religious beliefs are intimately tied to and reinforced by political conservatism should learn a little more about the patron “saint” of the cause they so blindly espouse

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Spend And Borrow Conservatives Created This Mess

Kenneth M. O’Brien

After decades of listening to the epithet “tax and spend Liberals” the truth has become clear.

Anyone who can divorce themselves from their ideological (dare I say religious) biases need only look at the facts.

From the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 to the election of Barack Obama in 2008, Republicans controlled the White House for twenty out of twenty-eight years.