“We should - we will - welcome people of faith into the political process... It is essential that believers enter the arena. Your involvement in politics helps determine how well our democracy works. We have finally learned that government programs cannot solve our problems. Government can hand out money, but government cannot put hope in our hearts or a sense of purpose in our lives.” PeopleShouldWellsHeartHelpingProblemHumorHandsGovernmentPoliticalPurposeProcessDemocracyOur LivesEssentialsProgramDetermineSolveBelieverWelcomeArenaInvolvementPolitical HumorGovernment Programs Author:George W. Bush
“By sending the contradictory message that the famous are just plain folks on Mount Olympus, America has forged a relentless tension between loftiness and accessibility. Stir in the fact that the inborn talent and intelligence needed to achieve fame are immune to distributive tinkering by government programs and you have a definition of fame certain to produce envious rage: somebody screwed democracy.” FactsGovernmentAmericaCertainDemocracyAchieveTalentProduceNeededFameMessagesProgramFolksDefinitionsEqualityEnvyRageTensionContradictoryRelentlessImmuneEnviousForgedAccessibilityGovernment ProgramsOlympusTinkering Author:Florence King
“Political systems must love poverty-they produce so much of it. Poor people make easier targets for a demagogue. No Mao or even Jiang Zemin is likely to arise on the New York Stock Exchange floor. And politicians in democracies benefit from destitution, too. The US has had a broad range of poverty programs for 30 years. Those programs have failed. Millions of people are still poor. And those people vote for politicians who favor keeping the poverty programs in place. There's a conspiracy theory in there somewhere.” PeopleYearsStillsPoliticalPoorPovertyMillionsDemocracyNew YorkProduceTheoryPoliticianEasierBenefitsProgramVoteFavorsAriseRangeTargetBroadsConspiracyPoor PeoplePolitical SystemsConspiracy TheoryMaoStock ExchangeNew York StockNew York Stock Exchange Book:Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics Source: Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics
“If you want to reinstate the 14.4 billion dollars that Bush cut out of the veterans program then vote democrat.” IfsWantDemocracyCuttingProgramVoteDollarsDemocratBillionsVeteran Author:David Cross
“The neoliberal programs of the last generation have in fact been, and were intended to be, a pretty serious attack on democracy, but also they've led to stagnation or decline for large parts of the population - the working class, the lower middle class, these people have essentially been cast aside.” PeopleFactsLastsClassDemocracyGenerationsMiddleSeriousProgramCastsPopulationMiddle ClassDeclineWorking ClassStagnation Author:Noam Chomsky
“In a democracy the day when you pay your taxes, April 15, would be a day of celebration, because you're getting together to provide resources for the programs you decided on.” Would BeTogetherPayDemocracyTaxesResourcesProgramDecidedCelebrationApril Author:Noam Chomsky
“There's kind of a hidden point which isn't being brought out, and that is that it is inconceivable that the U.S. would permit democracy in the Middle East, and for a very simple reason. Just take a look at polls of Arab public opinion. They exist. You can't find them in the press, but they exist from prestigious polling agencies. Released by major institutions. And what they show is that if there was democracy in the Middle East, the entire U.S. program for domination of the Middle East would be down the tube.” IfsLooksKindReasonShowsWould BeSimpleOpinionDemocracyMiddleMajorsProgramInstitutionsPressesEastAgencyPermitMiddle EastDominationPublic OpinionPollsTubesPollingPrestigiousDemocracy In The Middle East Author:Noam Chomsky
“Democrats will play the old Washington game of calling reductions in the rate of growth of spending for any program a 'cut'.” PlayGovernmentGamesGrowthFreedomDemocracyCuttingCallingProgramDemocratRateSpendingReduction Author:Bruce Bartlett
“Democracy doesn't mean much if people have to confront concentrated systems of economic power as isolated individuals. Democracy means something if people can organize to gain information, to have thoughts for that matter, to make plans, to enter into the political system in some active way, to put forth programs and so on. If organizations of that kind exist, then democracy can exist too. Otherwise it's a matter of pushing a lever every couple of years; it's like having the choice between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola.” PeopleIfsWayYearsKindMeanMatterPoliticalChoicesIndividualDemocracyPlansEconomicInformationCoupleHeroGainsProgramOrganizationActivePushingHeroicIsolatedOrganizePolitical SystemsLeversEconomic PowerCoca ColaPepsi Author:Noam Chomsky
“Placing a time limit on affirmative action would in all likelihood blunt the orchestrated politics of controversy that now bedevils it. And thinking about phasing it into a class-based entitlement program may at long last bring Americans around to a consideration of the growing inequality that threatens the harmony of our democracy far more than the alarmist cry of 'racial division.'” ThinkingMayLongActionLastsClassDemocracyGrowingCryLimitsProgramHarmonyInequalityConsiderationDivisionControversyEntitlementBluntAffirmative ActionAffirmativeLikelihoodEntitlement ProgramsAlarmistsTime Limit Author:Orlando Patterson