Al Owski’s Reviews > Democrats 101: A Primer for Us > Status Update

“Creating change isn't our real challenge. Creating consensus is, the kind of national consensus that makes real change possible. That needs to be our number one goal: creating a significant majority in America that emotionally identifies with basic American values. We need to drive people away from the subconscious artifacts of fear and threat that the Republicans have constructed...”

“This isn't 1950. It isn't even twenty years ago. It's now, and right now... despite all the noise and confusion... a majority of Americans inherently recognize our core values... things like the principles of justice and opportunity fair play... that they do understand. Not every body, that's for sure, but a lot more than 51 percent... and that's our future, bringing those people on board.”

“Basically, the Republican Party has managed to emotionally unite every White person who feels left out or left behind in America. And we have helped the Republicans. ... It's the assumption that our endless goal is to win that thin slice of America that tips us to 51 percent. It's the same subconscious idea that a lot of us cling to that demographics will fix everything, that we just need to wait for the babies.”

“We need Americans to understand that the real issue isn't the size of government, it's the use of government. As Democrats... we believe in government that gets done what's needed, when it's needed. Nothing more and nothing less. That's what we've got to make clear to people (and to ourselves): we stand for an effective government based on values that help people.”

“The point of all this is that we're not socialist and we're not capitalist... we're Americans who are trying to make this a better country to live in. The point is, capitalism is a foundation of our economy, something that is necessary but most definitely in need of regulation.”

“Large corporations aren't immoral, they're amoral. If doing good turns a bigger profit, they do good. If doing bad creates a bigger profit... they do bad. And we've already seen what happens when corporate greed meets no rules and no referees: inhumane work conditions, starvation wages, and child labor, culminating in the Great Depression.”

“socialism has lost any practical meaning. Does it mean communism? Or does it mean Social Security and Medicare? How about the right to clean air and clean water? Is that "socialist"? Or national standards to ensure fair voting in elections? The truth is, the Republicans have turned the word "socialist" into a bogeyman,' a label they can stick on anything they don't like to make it seem evil.”

“Protecting the rich is why they oppose Social Security and Medicare, and expanding Medicaid. It's why they oppose all social programs, the very ones that would benefit a lot of their base: Social programs cost money. And money means taxes...”

“Protecting the rich is why Republicans oppose things like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Protection Agency, why they oppose any kind of regulation of clean air or water, why they want to open our natural resources to unlimited exploitation and why they oppose any sort of research into the consequences of it. Rich people own the coal mines.”

“Protecting the rich is why the GOP keeps pushing huge tax cuts for the wealthy. It's the origin of Reagan's "supply-side economics" (also called "voodoo economics"), the idea that if you pour lots of money into the hands of the rich, some of it will slip through their fingers and "trickle down" to you and me.”