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--> --> Republicans strike gold By Harry L. Cook Ashland President Bush has struck gold - the perfect formula to guarantee re-election, and even better to complete the groundwork, began some fifty years ago, for a permanent Republican plutocracy (government by and for the wealthy) in which the Democratic Party is at most a minor annoyance. There is nothing like a war, especially a defensive war, to unite the country around the president. By promoting the horrific event of 9/11 by a few dozen fanatics into the equivalent of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and declaring in every other breath that we are at war, there arises the image of a nation under siege. War-time footing is required sufficient to demand unqualified and uncritical support for the president, but not severe enough to cause much actual inconvenience. And with all of the evil empires out there is ample grist for a permanent semi-war status. If we tire of one, another can easily be found, as illustrated by the seamless shift from Osama Bin Laden to Saddam Hussein. As for any organized opposition, the icing on the cake is a Democratic Party too timid to take issue with anything. Republicans are salivating over their political future. And for good reason. Now they not only have control over all branches of government - executive, legislative and judicial - but they face an electorate with a mind-set that is anti-liberal and receptive to the corporate sponsored brand of conservatism that has been relentlessly dominating the media for several decades. As long as attention is tightly focused on terrorism and Iraq, the public can be counted on to remain safely asleep on everything else. But further insurance can do no harm and Republicans have engaged in a long standing effort to weaken the democratic process in three ways. The only source of information about political and economic affairs is the mainstream media, which Republican/conservatives have more or less successfully discredited in the public mind as so liberal biased it is not worth reading. The federal government, the only instrument to enact social policy, is portrayed as a threat to liberty and inevitably corrupt and wasteful. Reagan's mantra was "Government is the problem." A major Republican goal for years has been federal aid to private and parochial education, which would weaken public education, but would facilitate more control over content to ensure conservative oriented education. Two bedrock principles always drive Republican/conservative politics. One is to increase military spending and the other is to reduce spending for social programs. A major corollary is that the primary beneficiary of all policies is either or both big business and the upper echelon of society. President Bush's policies in outline parallel those of Reagan. Create a large deficit through tax cuts (mostly benefiting the rich) when the economy is already depressed. This, along with big increases in military spending, will guarantee that there is not much left for social programs. In addition there are other consequences of Bush's policies that the public may or may not ever perceive and/or relate to President Bush. One is that quietly in the background is the dismantlement of 30 years of programs protecting the environment by anti-environmentalist department heads. The other is that the slow economy is severely reducing income to the states as federal aid to the states is being reduced. Since states cannot run deficits, this will mean cutbacks to unemployment benefits, financial aid for medical needs, programs for children and the elderly and for education. There will also be tuition increases for college students. With Republican/conservative success, America will become quite a different country. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing