Category Archives: class warfare

by Barry Kelly | November 20, 2015 · 7:22 am

INSIGHTS 239 — IMMIGRATION, A KEY PART OF TRANSFORMATION

The President could hardly wait to see what the Advisor thought of his plan to bring thousands of Syrian refugees into the United States. He toyed with his coffee cup, lit a cigarette, and said, “Well old man, what do you have to say about my immigration plan?”

“Nothing you do not already know. Let’s see if I have it right. First, it is a great issue. You can use your impressive political messaging skills to bash the Republicans and the renegade Democrats who worry about national security issues. What is really impressive is that you, single-handedly, caused the migration of people out of the Syria and Iraq and no one is even blaming you for creating this nightmare. You can now use the refugees to spread your ideology of transforming the Western world and the Middle East. The financial burdens on the already shaky economies of Europe will be enormous.

“They will be forced by their own morality to take in and care for people who will not assimilate into the cultures of France, Germany, and Scandinavia. Instead, the Muslim refugees will establish their own enclaves with their traditional way of life and Sharia law. The redistribution of European personal wealth will be one of the results. High taxes will be required, as will a growth in the size and scope of government, to cope with the problems of immigration and failed integration of the diverse cultures. The natural course of these factors will lead to a single-party system run by an elite group who will make decisions once left to the people and local government.

“America is better equipped to deal with refugees and the numbers they take in will not stress the economy to the same extent. But the federal government will grow to cope with the problems of immigration of groups of people who do not want to be assimilated into American culture. Nevertheless, the immigrants will increase the polarization of America.

“Your messaging will ensure the immigrants support your progressive party. The progressives will drive hard to give these people a quick path to citizenship. With the black, Hispanic, and Muslim votes, the progressive party will thrive and establish deep roots. You have never failed to use issues to destroy the opposition and this one is handmade for you. Your only danger is you cannot stay in office long enough to make all this happen. Without your destroy-America philosophy and political skills, the transformation process will not be able to continue. The test will be if you can uphold your veto of any legislation stopping or limiting the immigration of Syrian refugees and, at the same time, convincing Americans that your administration can and will vet each and every refugee, male and female.”

“You know, this is a weird scene. Here, I, the President, of what was the most powerful nation in the world, is sitting in a furnished underground cave discussing my plans with someone whose name I don’t know and yet, you know more about me than any of my closest staff. Your description is right on. I don’t think anyone else really understands. Of course I caused the breakdown of the Middle East, the rise of Iran, the disintegration of Iraq, the chaos in Libya and the constant push of the Muslims against the false state of Israel. Not to mention the replacement of American imperial influence in the area by the Russians. Thousands of angry devout Muslims were the real power of change.

“I wish I had more time to destroy the entire Sunni power structure. And I am very thankful you are powerless to warn anyone. Not that anyone would believe your story. Even I doubt you really exist, locked down here in the caverns beneath the White House. I may come down again, but don’t count on it. Don’t get up. Save what energy you have left. My last joy will be doing a victory lap down here in your cave.”

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, centralization, class warfare, Conservative views, democrats, Eight Decades of Insights, financial policies, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Iran, ISIS, Israel, Middle East, Politics, Progressives, Russia, Saudia Arabia, Sunni

by Barry Kelly | September 24, 2015 · 6:53 am

INSIGHTS 232 — CREATING CLASS WARFARE

The President had been so forthcoming during their last session, the Advisor thought, I’ve often wondered what the President knows about financial policies. Maybe, if he seems in a good mood, I’ll ask him to help me understand what he is trying to accomplish.

The soft buzzing of the warning the President is on his way sounded and the Advisor hurried to get prepared. Fresh coffee, a clean ashtray, and a freshly polished gleaming table top all set the stage for another of the unbelievable sessions he had been having with the President.

When the President was ready to begin, the Advisor asked, “Mr. President, with your permission, I would like to devote some time to understanding your financial policy.”

“Please go ahead. Financial policy is critical in the transformation process.”

“The basic principle of your transformation process seems to be the re-distribution of wealth from the haves to the have-nots. Yet, just the opposite is occurring. The people who have the money to invest in the stock market have done well while those who cannot participate in the buying and selling of stocks, commodities, and other securities are falling farther behind.”

“The redistribution of wealth is a complicated process. You have described only one step in the process. Yes, the income gap is widening. And it will continue to do so. I cannot move the United States from capitalism to socialism and state ownership of the means of production without first creating a large angry group of people. I am doing that by deliberately stimulating the stock market while depressing the capitalistic economy through taxation and constant regulations. The majority of Americans are not investors and depend on a growing economy to prosper. As this majority loses wealth in an economy that is far weaker than the numbers we release indicate, they will become more and more strident. ‘Occupy Wall Street’ was just the warmup. When the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the country is ripe for a Progressive take over.

” You and 99 percent of the people are focused on the issue of growing the economy. I have used financial policies to create a large majority of Americans who see no downside in changing a failing capitalistic system for a socialist system that will greatly reduce the income gap. You see, ‘the issue is never the issue.’ I talk about doing everything I can to help the middle class. In fact, I’m destroying the middle class. They are an obstacle in the creation of a progressive system of government. I want only two classes, the growing class of have-nots and the rich who are the enemy.

“No party can overthrow a strong government with a historical belief in the power of capitalism and the free market. Progressive change depends on class warfare. There is no other way. We may need two more terms of progressive leadership of the American government before progressive socialism will be a welcome change. The more the Republican Party identifies with capitalism and the free market, the more they provide us with a perfect enemy. In my government there will be no place for people who resist socialism. It may be a good thing that I never closed Guantanamo Bay.”

“So, Mr. President, you do not believe the stock market is a true indicator of the economy?”

“No. And it has been a very long time since you could evaluate economic growth by the success of the Wall Street game. I hope that helps you understand how transformation works. If you’re still alive you may be the first person I send to Gitmo. You are just too intelligent and crafty to be running around in the world above this cave. Goodnight.”

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Filed under Alinsky, Capitalism, class warfare, complexity, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, financial policies, Intelligence & Politics, political solutions, Progressives

Tagged as class warfare, Conservatives, Republican, socialism, transformation

by Barry Kelly | September 8, 2015 · 7:31 am

INSIGHTS 229 — WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?

The Advisor was all primed to ask the President about his understanding of Keynesian financial policies, when he suddenly changed direction. “Mr. President, we have talked extensively about your plan to transform America. I have a more limited question. What have you done to the Democratic Party?”

“So you’ve noticed. You’re the first person who ever asked me that question. It is the cornerstone of my entire transformation of America. I knew I didn’t have the tools I needed when I was elected. I needed to first transform the Democratic Party. The party of the past wouldn’t have cooperated with me. The old Southern Democrats, the Scoop Jacksons, the Tip O’Neills, the Lyndon Johnsons, and even the Hubert Humphries were all proud of America and its historic place in the world. I don’t share any of their pride in America. I couldn’t expect the Democrats I inherited who revered these prominent party members of the past to destroy present-day America.

“Fortunately, there has always been a strong populist movement in America. These people from the ‘rust belt’ area were ripe for a move to the left. The urban elites of the Northeast and West Coast who believe everything is subject to change for the good if directed and managed by an intelligent core of the faithful were anxious to be included in a move to more centralized government. They, too, hated much of the results of the presence of American economic and military power in the world. They actually feel guilty because the generations before them built such a powerful nation. Add to that the number of indoctrinated graduates pouring out of our leading universities where they were taught the evils of capitalism and conservative ideology. The revolutionary minded tools I needed were growing before I was even a Senator in the Illinois State House.

“We had the leadership necessary for a social revolution. Now, I needed a mass of angry disillusioned followers. Racism, Vietnam, Watergate, the growing gap of wealth and opportunity between the haves and have-nots, the Bush wars, immigration, and growing unemployment with the attendant accumulation of debt and dependence on welfare, provided the voters and the demonstrators. I should also point out that my candor about transforming America was never understood or resisted by the self-serving Republican leadership wedded to working within the imagined protection of traditional checks and balances. They still don’t understand. Power has always been there for those with the courage to take it.

“The Democratic Party is gone in everything except name. In certain states, thousands of people are turning up to hear an old do-nothing socialist speak about the utopia he will provide in America if he is elected. Under a true socialist one-party government under the control of my Progressive Party, nuts like the senator from a tiny state will only be preaching in the solitude of their cells. Don’t these people ever read history? The first decade or so of one-party leftist rule is not pretty. Some discipline can only be accomplished by using very harsh procedures.

“To answer your question. The Democratic Party is gone forever. I needed the Harry Reids and Nancy Pelosis in the Congress and my people in control of the civil service, especially the Department of Justice, to allow massive immigration and to control whatever Republican or conservative opposition that tried to stop me. The only problem is that I don’t have enough power to remain in office for a third term and the person who follows me must not allow American nationalism to turn back what I have accomplished. I don’t see a new leader I trust to carry the progressive banner further.”

“Mr. President, I suspected some of your answer but the scope and breath of your response has shaken me. You are a political genius but you know I do not share your vision.”

“It’s more than a vision. It is a reality. You are a very worthy adversary but there are too few of you and you are locked up in this cave. Thank God.”

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Capitalism, centralization, class warfare, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, financial policies, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, political solutions, Progressives, Utopian

by Barry Kelly | September 3, 2015 · 7:02 am

INSIGHTS 228 — GETTING READY TO TALK ABOUT THE ECONOMY

The Advisor was lost in thought, in between talks from his only visitor, the President.

The President has been so candid recently. I have to get ready to ask him some more challenging questions. I think he enjoys the challenge. He’s got to be immersed in the current economic crisis so I’ll start getting my background material ready. Many Americans do not see the economy, the process of making and selling things, as being different from the stock market. But they are two very different areas. While one affects the other to some degree, it is very difficult for experts to agree on the exact cause and effect of changes in the stock market. Economists talk knowingly about the state of the economy and what is needed to improve its performance. But in reality they should be called political economists because their analysis depends on whether they are supply-side economists or Keynesian economists.

The President’s progressive wing of the Democratic Party is nearly exclusively Keynesian. Those people believe the level and management of government spending is the key to growing the economy. The opposing side of free market/supply side economists believe growth can only come through the capitalist process of making and selling products outside the governing process. The fewer the regulations and the lower the taxes, the more the economy is free to grow. In their minds, a growth rate of between 4 percent and 8 percent is ideal with a tax rate on corporations around 15 percent.

The Keynesian monetary policies have never worked anywhere, though they were tried extensively during the Roosevelt era. Since government spending on sectors such as infrastructure can only be financed from taxes from people and corporations, Keynesian management of the economy inhibits the growth that is necessary to finance needed infrastructure, human services, and the military. Most everyone is in favor of these items but only the progressives with their Keynesian finance managers believe spending on social welfare and infrastructure stimulate the economy to grow. The first place they look for money for social services and infrastructure is the military budget. Few progressives believe in maintaining a strong military. I must remember to ask the President about his views on Keynesian economics.

Regardless of the financial philosophy, effectiveness of the process must be based on a real reporting and understanding of the facts. When the administration and talking heads go on about the well-being of the economy, they are mostly talking about the stock market that has done very well. Indeed it should with the Federal Reserve printing $86,000,000,000 per month for a program called Qualitative Easing. This level of printing money went on for many months. If you could afford to invest, you did well. The President’s program, instead of distributing wealth to narrow the gap in income between economic classes, actually widened the gap. Turning from the stock market to the business of making and selling things, the real economy, you see a much different picture. Real unemployment is closer to 12 percent than the 5 percent the progressives claim. Employment participation rates are lower than at any time since the 1970s. There are more people on food stamps and welfare now than ever before and that is not just due to the growth in population. Health care costs are growing. Wages are stagnant. Graduating college students cannot find jobs. Student debt is way up. People have given up looking for non-existent jobs. The economy is way below the growth rate needed to sustain services and our national debt. The only measureable that is up is the number of people on welfare. I wonder what the President will say about his commitment to the redistribution of wealth.

The last area to ask him about will be the energy sector. I wonder what he’ll say about the Saudi’s program of pumping oil at a level that is continuing to increase the glut of crude on the market today. Doesn’t he realize the Saudis dumping oil on the energy market is motivated by their need to remain the predominated supplier of the worlds oil and to weaken Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Russia, and the United States? Their strategy is working. Many oil drillers in the United States are gone. They and others like them around the world cannot profitably sell oil much below $60 or $70. Unless the Saudis change their strategy, the current glut of oil may be with us for a few more years.

The Advisor stopped his pacing and his thought process.

I think that is enough for more than one session with the President, he thought, feeling more prepared.

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Capitalism, class warfare, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, financial policies, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Iran, Obama, oil, political solutions, Progressives, Russia, Saudia Arabia

Tagged as economy, free market, government, keynesian economics, Progressives, qualitative easy, socialism, supply side economics

by Barry Kelly | May 17, 2015 · 7:59 am

INSIGHTS 206 — THE PRESIDENT TALKS TO THE ADVISOR ABOUT AMERICA

The president smiled and said to Chris, his Secret Service escort, “I can’t wait to tell this guy what is really going on. He must belong to some old geezer cult to be willing to spend his last days underground. Or maybe he is just on the last stage before he really goes underground.” The president grinned at his witticism and so did Chris, but his grin was faked. His thoughts were real: What was I thinking when I volunteered to take a bullet for this man? I truly don’t think he really cares about anyone.

The president put his palm on the ancient iron door and as it swung open, he was greeted by the Advisor who escorted him to the conference table and poured the coffee brewed to the president’s taste.

“I know I said I would give you the thinking that has led to my domestic policies, but would you mind asking me a question or two so I can fill in the gaps in your understanding?”

“Of course not, Mr. President. What are your core beliefs about America?”

“Going right for the hard stuff, are you? Okay, that’s a good place to start. I hope you realize that I can speak without reading from a teleprompter. Some people doubt I can. I have a very objective view of America for I did not grow up in America so I wasn’t brainwashed by years of propaganda from kindergarten through high school. With what my parents and their friends told me, I was able to see through all the hysterical ranting of the bigoted conservative American politicians about the greatness of America and its role as a ‘shining city on a hill’. The truth is that the world today would be a lot better if America never existed. You see, the real vision of America is that of a ‘polluted city on a hill’ churning out products to make the rich richer. The people making those products they cannot afford, can’t even feed or clothe their families.

“The populous ‘have-not class’ in American society is doomed to remain there and the middle class is conditioned to recognize their proper place to keep from falling into the lower class. Your churches, schools, and capitalist organizations all preach a philosophy that ensures the stability of the status quo. There is no free market and capitalism is the chain that holds this nation stagnant. Your history is shameful.

“From the very start, the colonists put property over people and the individual rights of the rich founders above the rights of the masses. Your wars from the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, to the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East have all been to gain economic power and further riches for the one percent. Let’s not forget the slave labor that built your economy and is today still second-class citizens oppressed by the police and confined to ghettoes in the big cities. How can you be proud of that heritage?

“I have laid the groundwork to destroy what I inherited. If I had another eight years this nation would be an example of fairness to all. Where everyone would have a fair shot and the playing field would be at last level. There would only be one class: the one hundred percenters. My only problem has been to get all the old Democrats to recognize my goals and to help me achieve them. In the future this nation will take its law and guidance from the United Nations.

“Tell you what, the next time I come to see you, I’ll listen to your response. Now I have to go. My wife thinks I’m in the gym or sneaking a smoke.”

“Goodnight Mr. President,” the Advisor said to a closing door. He muttered to himself, “Did I just hear what I heard?”

The above is a fictional account of a president meeting with a legendary but fictional advisor.

“ISIS: Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, is now available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble in print form and nook and Kindle formats. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.