Fairness & Equality

In a tepid historical perspective, the Democratic Party would like to frame their policies on fairness and equality.  But where is the equality of slavery? Where is the fairness in the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow?  It was Democratic majorities that upheld slavery in America.  The abolitionists were in the Republican Party and it was a Republican administration that freed the slaves.  It was Democrats that formed the Ku Klux Klan and enacted segregation through Jim Crow laws.  Democrat Senate Majority leader Robert Byrd from West Virginia was a  recruiter for the KKK.  Edward Douglas White, a Democrat from Louisiana served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and was a known member of the KKK as were many prominent Democratic Senators and Governors from southern states.  Democratic President LBJ is credited with ushering in civil rights legislation yet it was Republican legislators that provided the crucial votes for passage as Southern Democrats voted against the measure.

Democratic President FDR is credited with enacting Social Security and while we may agree in a need for a safety net, is it a fair system?  Is there equality in Social Security?  Is it fair that my friend paid in over 40 years of social security but died before he could collect any benefit?  His spouse is only entitled to a portion, not the whole.  Where is equality in that?  Is it fair that my grandmother never paid a dime into social security but collected benefits for her as well as her husband?  Is it fair that my wife paid in 20 years of social security before becoming a teacher but cannot collect her social security benefit?  Is it fair that today’s workers are paying for someone else’s retirement and not their own?  In any other financial arrangement, Social Security would be considered a Ponzi scheme and illegal because benefits are paid from current payers, not money that was paid into by retirees.  As such there is no Social Security “trust fund”; all payments into social security go to the general treasury for Congressional expenditures.  If there is not enough money to pay both Social Security benefits and budgetary expenditures, Congress just borrows funds and adds to the national debt.  So is it fair that Congress uses your retirement funds for other discretionary expenditures? Further, there is no guarantee of what benefit amount you will receive, if any, but is determined by whatever Congress and administration is in power.  Therefore, Social Security becomes a political carrot dangled by candidates vowing that they will either give seniors more benefits, or dare not vote for the other guy because he will take your Social Security away from you.

The Democratic Party also wants to tell you that they are altruistic and voting for them will bring fairness and equality in economy for the common man.  But what about Diane Feinstein, Joe Biden, Bill and Hillary Clinton?  Diane Feinstein introduced legislation that funded $25 billion taxpayer dollars to the FDIC after  it had awarded her husband’s firm a lucrative contract with compensation well above industry norms.  Additionally, another company that her husband had a substantial stake in was awarded a $600 million defense contract in 2002.  Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, sits on the boards of two foreign companies culminated after visits to those countries by his then VP father.   The Chinese company is a $1.5 billion investment fund.  Bill and Hillary Clinton received $7.7 million in speaking fees from big banks, Goldman Sachs and UBS. Additionally Bill received $48 million from foreign governments and foreign businesses while Hillary served as Secretary of State with obvious interests in relations with the Obama administration as well as matters pertaining to the State department.  From 2001-2016 the Clintons had been paid $153 million in speaking fees.  But before you claim that these fees went to the nonprofit Clinton Foundation or the Clinton Global Initiative, leaked memos disclose how the lines are blurred as to how the Clintons receive millions personally from the donor relationships, especially CGI.  Sadly it has been reported that the Clinton Foundation spends only 15% of donations for charity with 85% spent on salaries and wages.  Is it fair that elected Democrats run on “equality” for the common man, only to enrich themselves and their families by their status and positions in our government offices?  Why aren’t millions flowing back to families that need it?

Voting Democratic has made the families of career politicians Feinstein, Biden, Clinton and others wealthier than any of us would ever dream for ourselves.  Where is the fairness? Where is the equality?