why i love teddy kennedy
I believe that, to his dying breath, he will advocate for the poor and disenfranchised in this country. I love this man and his passion and his sense of social justice. I pray that he will recover from his recent health scare and can continue his irreplaceable work in the Senate throughout the next president's term.
Here he takes Republicans to task for blocking the minimum wage bill. He is magnificent.
Here he takes Republicans to task for blocking the minimum wage bill. He is magnificent.
Labels: great men, prayers, teddykennedy
posted by BigAssBelle at 10:32 PM
15 Comments:
Even now, no one can take them to task like Teddy. Say what you will about the man (and they always will) but the senate will be a poorer place without a voice for the disenfranchised when Teddy finally calls it quits.
Sorry, Ted Kennedy would be great if actually did fight for those things, but he is a hypocrite concerned only with his own well being and his now-irrelevant family name. There are so many examples of Kennedy saying he's a liberal and then acting in the complete opposite manner. One of my favorites was when a group of environmentalists wanted to put windmills up in Massachusetts. It would have provided power to thousands of homes, including many poor neighborhoods. Guess you rejected it? Yep, old Teddy because... no joke... the windmills would be in the path he liked to take his yacht through. Unbelievable. This guy is just a nasty man, and the Senate will be better when he is gone.
DL ~ there's plenty to say about him, and i've heard it for years. but i love him for at least caring enough to work up some righteous anger about conditions for the poor and working class in this country.
fireworks ~ i read about the windmill thing earlier this year. he wasn't alone in his rejection, there was an organized opposition to it and yes, it was a bunch of rich folks with their beach properties not wanting to look out at the horizon and see windmills. my understanding was that they wouldn't actually even be able to see them. whatever. i don't expect perfection and certainly will never get it. but i appreciate fight and i love him for trying, even if he has blind spots and self interest, just like the rest of us.
Oh, yes, let's applaud Kennedy for wanting to raise the minimum wage. Basic economic theory lesson follows: In an economy where all else is equal, by raising the minimum wage, the government essentially says to employers, "Set aside at least so much more money to pay your employees than you already do." On the surface, not a bad thing, and very humane.
Of course, the dent in profits that will result leaves owners faced with an unpalatable choice--accept smaller profits, which means less money plowed back into the business...or re-evaluate their employment situation, by either freezing hiring or by letting people go. The first can lead to harming the business long-term, and the second does lead to higher unemployment.
And remember, this is when all else is EQUAL. We got away with raising the minimum wage in the 90's without any ill consequences, because we were in the midst of a major economic boom. But take a look at where we are now--sluggish economy, rising prices in almost every area...is our economy really healthy enough to absorb the impact of a wage hike? For some people, raising the minimum wage NOW will make matters far worse.
I know what you're thinking--"Yeah, but big business deserves it." Ironically, big business won't really be hurt very much. They'll farm out more work to cheap labor markets and keep their profit margins intact that way. Small businesses, however, who have far less money and far fewer resources, will take a hit from which some of them won't recover.
And what about the workers who learn that the government will guarantee them a higher wage, the week before they learn that they don't have a job anymore because their boss can't make the numbers work? People who will then file for unemployment, which is a drain on all of us? Do you think they'll be better off knowing that higher wages await them, if only they can snag another job in sub-par hiring conditions? As prices continue to go up? Hmm?
Long-term, a minimum wage increase means that some people will get richer--namely, big businesses and those workers that keep their jobs--while small businesses (the backbone of the American economy) and unlucky workers take the hit. And let's not even mention how much worse this will make things for the already-unemployed. Yeah, Teddy. Way to crusade for social justice.
demosthenes-usa, go away, you corporate tool. but first, may i suggest that you educate yourself on the actual impact of an increase in the minimum wage?
new york voluntarily increased its minimum wage several years ago. the result was a complete contradiction of the republican we-get-richer while you-get-poorer myth of trickle down economics: an increase in the wages of lower income people actually did stimulate the economy and it improved as a result of folks who had nothing being able to put some of that earned income back into the marketplace.
the results was that business was stimulated to produce more, profits increased, and the economy improved.
you've swallowed the free market koolaid and yes, i deleted your comment above because i'm just so done with people like you.
the allegedly free market we have in this country simply is not working for anyone but the ultra rich. it's not me, though i own and operate a very successful business, and i doubt that it's you.
corporations have received plenty at the hands of our pseudo-free-market politicians: immense tax breaks, handouts, corporate welfare.
it's not a free market in the classical sense, that's true. but people like you insist that the problem is that the market needs to be more free and that no regulation is the answer.
but it was lack of regulation and oversight that brought us the subprime disaster. it is lack of regulation and oversight that is creating fuel costs without end and a food crisis worldwide.
i am democratic socialist. i don't believe in pure free market economics, though the market has a place in the system. neither do i believe in pure socialism where the government owns all of the means of production.
it's balance that i seek, a new deal redux, coupled with enough freedom for the markets that money can be made but greed is reigned in.
it's human nature that must be balanced out. it seems that human nature will always lead us down the path of unbridled greed and unbridled greed eliminates conscience. the natural conflict between a healthy government and a healthy market economy will provide balance and better lives for all.
for all. but people like you could give a shit about anyone else and so yes, fuck you. comments deleted. i don't want to talk to you or anyone of your ilk. i am sick of your voices, sick of it.
shut the fuck up. your time is limited. enjoy it while it lasts, but not here.
San Francisco has the highest min wage in the US and I don't see that cities businesses going belly-up at a record rate.
I am sick of the free-market bimbos shilling for the top one percent. I am sick of capitalism going unchecked and the only folks making money are the top one or two percent while the wages of the rest have stagnated under Bush.
Actually I think you erased my comment, but it's okay, I loved your response. Rock on baby!
I love ted Kennedy too. He and his family have given 'til it hurts to this country. Perfect? No. But he has carried on his family tradition of looking out for people not rich like him. If he looks out for the rich a little, well I won't complain. His family brought the Peace Corps, Job Corps, Head Start and the Special Olympics to this nation. Get well Teddy!
He is a liberal in the true sense of the word in that he practices what he preaches, and he really is committed to the issues he advocates for, many on a personal basis.
I was very saddened to hear of his health issues. Being in the medical field I know how grim a diagnosis that can be, but on the other side of the coin, rules always have exceptions and people are never as simple as rules. There is reason to be hopeful.
"He is a liberal in the true sense of the word in that he practices what he preaches, and he really is committed to the issues he advocates for, many on a personal basis."
That is totally false. I admire Kennedy for many reasons. But he most certainly does not practice what he preaches, and there are numerous examples- the windmill example above one of them- where that is shown to be true. It's great that he is flawed, and we should not make a god out of a man.
As a trollie Anon, your entitled to your pov, but that doesn't make it a fact either..not by a longshot.
The windmill farm was opposed by many of the residents in the area, not just the Kennedys..its another case of NIMBY's...and everyone gets a case of NIMBY's on occasion.
No one is calling him a God...except you.
Anon,
What dusty said.
But also....extrapolating "a god" from my comment was a nice stretch and implies an emphasis that was not present in my words. Especially considering I am agnostic. Before you get all literal and protest anon, I'm just playing with you.
At any rate, my point was in his consistency. I'm certain you can point to several inconsistencies on his part, but for a public servant with his length of service, they far under number his vast, consistent record.
That was admirable. Can you imagine if a poor man was given the same forum to speak?
That was very admirable. Can you imagine if a poor man had the same forum to voice his concern?
I've just googled the minimum wage for the US, and am amazed that it is so low, even San Fransisco which appears to be the highest looks mean compared to what I thought was a piss poor £5.70 in the UK which comes to about $11.00. And we don't have things like health insurance to worry about either.
Post a Comment
<< Home