Beating Graham

Some of you may not know that Lindsey Graham does actually have an opponent in the upcoming election.  Brad Hutto has been around and involved in state politics for awhile, and represents SC Senate District 40.  I was so impressed with his strong stand on women's right to reproductive freedom and privacy that I hoped that he would be that candidate who is unafraid to really promise to make a difference.

Sadly, based on his website, this does not appear to be the case.  Other than promising to fight for a woman's right to make her own health care decisions without government intervention, his statements on issues tend to be along the lines of trying not to say much that might be controversial.  Getting people off food stamps, improving education and infrastructure (while making sure government tightens its belt).  He's going to "fix" the Affordable Care Act, by allowing people to choose the best plan and at the same time not letting the insurance companies be in control.  Granted, he promises to support alternative energy development, but even Exxon claims to do that.

I like Brad.  And we all know it took guts to step up to run against Graham, who has been courting the biggest of the big money backers for a very long time.  He doesn't have lots of billionaires who are going to be writing him checks because frankly, they have Lindsey Graham in their pockets.  What he does have is lots of people who might make the effort to get out and vote for him if he is willing to take a strong and public stand for them.

I don't know anyone who is sponging off the government by collecting food stamps.  That allotment is a pittance, and yet it helps to sustain more of us than you can imagine.  I like that Hutto is speaking out in support of raising the minimum wage.  But $10.10, by the time it gets passed in the Senate is still inadequate.  It will still keep families living in poverty.  By the way, those of us who are living with the help of food stamps -- you don't even know who they are, because they are embarrassed and afraid to admit it.  In order to get rid of the need for food stamp assistance, our government needs to take a strong stand against employers who claim they are unable to stay in business if they give employees a living wage.

And here's more unsolicited advice to State Senator Hutto:

Don't be afraid to speak up for Obamacare.  Honestly, if you're willing to campaign on all the great benefits of the Affordable Care Act, you will be doing a great service to the public, because you will be fighting the absurd and destructive disinformation campaign that idiots like Graham have been promoting, all in the name of fear-building in order to garner votes.

And by standing up to right wingnuts on women's reproductive health, you've gotten our attention and a lot of loyalty.  Mention it every chance you get, and we'll actually get out and vote for you.  

Here's something few politicians do in South Carolina:  talk about the great work Elizabeth Warren is doing to curb the great and powerful Wall Street beast.  And specifically talk about the bill that was recently defeated that would have allowed people to refinance older student loans at current lower interest rates, and Lindsey Graham's part in that defeat.  And if you want students to get out and vote for you, talk about making college more affordable.  Oh, go on, even talk about subsidizing education, the way we subsidize big oil and big agriculture.

For that matter, you might even get some hard-core republican farmers out to support you if you talk about how failure to regulate and large government subsidies have strangled the family farm, and small business in general.  Because Graham and his gang have convinced voters that the enemy is government, where the enemy is actually the giant corporation with their lobbyists and lawyers that control people like Lindsey Graham.

So many issues, and it's just a matter of explaining to people how the current system, with Graham and Scott, have worked to keep us one of the poorest states, with bad roads, failing education, low-paid workers, inadequate health care, oh, and gun violence.

The issue that seems to have alienated more of us Dems than any other is that of gun control.  Hutto voted for the ridiculous bill that allows guns in bars and restaurants, putting the onus of responsibility on the bar/restaurant owners.  If you're afraid of the people here who are passionate about their guns, you should know that even gun owners understand that there is a time and a place for wielding that weapon.  Here we are in 2014 making the country's top-10 list for gun violence.

I would give pause at the voting booth when I consider that you might be in the US Senate, voting on a bill that would require background checks and limit ammunition capacity.  Such a reasonable law, adopted in states that recognize the need, a law that might actually make life safer on the streets and in our schools, I would have to say at this point you would vote against it.

All things being equal -- and in politics in 2014 they are not -- you just might win against Graham.  But because all things are not equal, Brad Hutto needs to be a strong alternative to Lindsey Graham, not a lukewarm bunch of promises.  My motto here in South Carolina is, if you're going to lose anyway, you might as well speak out.  In fact, and in a wonderful irony, speaking out will get you the greatest chance of beating the odds and winning that election.

So, Brad, go out and defend us against the likes of Lindsey Graham. 

My Children or Yours?

As you know, if my blood pressure has been under control for awhile, I get inexplicable and self-destructive cravings for C-Span.  A week or so ago, I had the misfortune of tuning in to hearings about student loan debt.  I don't tend to hobnob with those who can readily pay for their children's college educations.  I do know that many of us do what we can and hope that the loans our students are so readily offered will get them through college and into jobs where they can be paid off.  These days we mostly fear that they will be paying off those loans for a very long time.  And the loans are so big that their young years will be spent having to budget incessantly and hope that their jobs are secure, and that no unexpected financial hardships arise.

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders have been tireless in fighting to change this system whereby the wealthy see their kids through college and the rest of us are forced to see our kids saddled with college loan debt.  Of course, it would be foolhardy to try to push through legislation wherein college costs would be funded by the government.  All the current proposed legislation would have done would be to allow students to refinance loans to a lower interest rate, as do corporations and people with mortgages.

I tuned in just in time to hear Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin begin his "questioning" of a recent college graduate, Brittany Jones, in which he was trying to get her to admit that if she "could go back in time would (she) incur this much debt?  Would (she) try to figure out a different solution?"

He was obviously frustrated when she reiterated that in order to achieve her goal of teaching it was necessary to get student loans, so then proceeded to tell her about the College of the Ozarks, "they go by the moniker of 'Hard Work U.'  All the students work and nobody incurs debt."  It sounds a little like the wonderful land of Oz, and it is, full of happy munchkins who sing happy songs to keep the wicked witch of the real world at bay.  After Ms. Jones once again said that in her case without a loan she would have been unable to pursue her career goal, he shifted gears.

Turning to Rohit Chopra of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Johnson began to sing the sad song about "shifting debt from a select few to all our kids and grandkids."  And when Chopra explained the rationale behind refinancing, Johnson sang the chorus once again.  And asked him how he felt about a 2007 act which forgives student loan debt after ten years (and doesn't that burden our children and grandchildren, sing it again...).  And Chopra explained that there was no data as to how that would work, BECAUSE NO ONE HAD EVER BEEN ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.

And on and on about "piling on our kids and grandkids," and taking loans "on the backs of American taxpayers and our kids and grandkids."

You get the gist.

But the reality is that Senator Johnson and his fellow plutocrats don't mind if debt is incurred by the government while the wealthy stash their millions in offshore tax-free accounts.  And they sure don't mind if the government incurs debt through subsidies to big corporations.  What he has a problem with is giving a student an opportunity to get a higher education when that student can't pay up front.

Conservatives are only conservative if they are the ones who have the money and are able to hoard it.  To that end, they are constipated by their own dogma, and unable to see real world connections between being able to go to college to join a profession and being able to then contribute to the maintenance of our society.  Those blinders just can't see where all our children who are burdened by poor education and low wages will not just go away, but will have the vitality sapped out of their own lives as well as the country.  The poor, the unemployed and underemployed who could have gone to college, could have gotten jobs with living wages, are unable to raise children in healthy and rich cultural environments, unable to then invest back into the country.

College?  People like Ron Johnson don't want to spend money to repair a bridge, much less send the country's children to good schools.

And so it is all about believing in and investing in this country, the one that all those flag-wearing right wingnuts brag on in their meaningless mantra.  Those of us who can, invest in ourselves, our homes, our families, our communities, and when we were able to do that our country was able to grow and thrive.  When the haves began to insist that they deserved to keep it all, opportunity began to shrivel, communities became drained, and we all suffered.

Except perhaps people like Senator Johnson, who I presume has enough and wants to keep it, plans on passing it on to his kids and grandkids and plans on having them keep it as well.

But he doesn't look that happy.  I think he worries a lot about a world in which my kids have the same opportunity as his kids.  And I think that, my friends, is what this is all about.