Rep. Goodlatte and the "Free Enterprise System"

I was breezing through the cable channels last night looking for something to watch and happened across the last 10 seconds of a show about the Civil War on the History Channel. The commentator, who looked like a very intelligent and respected member of the academic community was giving the final word, “Remember the North won the Civil War, but the South won the war of reconstruction.”

I promptly filed those words away in the recesses of my memory thinking, “hmm… that sounds oddly familiar. This morning I rise to read in the Daily News Record that, yes indeedy, the South is still on the Rise! Squire Duncan once again praises the culture of “the pre-Civil War Southern economy - based as it was on ’cotton, slaves, and arrogance.’"

It certainly is clear that this pre-Civil War Southern mentality is alive and well here in the Shenandoah Valley. As the editor kindly points out, low taxes, no labor unions, low regulation, and a cheap labor force are all powerful incentives to the unchecked Pursuit of Profit.

Locally our friendly politicians have actively supported this plantation mentality. As Rep. Goodlatte said several times in a telephone town meeting a week or so ago, "It's the Free Enterprise System and we don’t want to mess with that!" (A nod to kestrel9000 on Daily Kos and Blue Country Magic.)

Some highlights from the town meeting: (thanks again to Blue Country Magic)

From Fincastle: How about the federal government mandating a Living Wage (as opposed to a minimum wage) so people can actually afford to live?

Goodlatte's answer: Oh, it's a Free Enterprise System (he mentioned "Free Enterprise System" several times) and we don't want to interfere with *that*. It's bad enough we have a minimum wage. It's "damaging to our economy" (i.e., it makes the corporate profits smaller), so of course we don't want to do that. He also, using logic that eluded me, tied this to illegal immigration. I guess he was implying that if we were all working third or fourth jobs as apple pickers things would be so much better.

Let's not forget the wonderful benefits of unchecked Capitalism.. or "Free Enterprise!" Low taxes, cheap labor, a strong, vibrant (but very poor) working class, a strong (aristocratic and very rich) corporate culture, a hard-working but frustrated middle class, high profits, few government services, privatized education, health care if you can afford it, and a crumbling but “serviceable” transportation infrastructure.

More from the town meeting:

From Troutville: This poor man is a Veteran who has found that increased surcharges on his medicines and the payments he must make to the specialists he needs for heart and lung conditions are too much for him. He cannot afford his medicine anymore. I had no idea that the VA system was so broken, but apparently it's been as mismanaged as the rest of the government in the last seven years.

Goodlatte's answer: Check out the new low prices for drugs at Walmart.

Remember folks, Rep. Goodlatte doesn’t care about taking care of YOU, he cares about WalMart taking care of you!

Another highlight, (this is a hot button issue for me):

Goodlatte segued here into a one-way conversation about the Child Health Insurance program and how terrible the Democrats are for wanting to essentially raise the poverty line from barely able to eat to possibly making the house payment.

I guess it’s okay to ignore the needs of children and poor families since they left the cheap labor pool. Illegal immigrants fill the bill nicely. (wink wink) After all as the President (Goodlatte’s President, not mine…) said just this morning as he announced another veto of the SCHIP bill, “We should be moving these children into private insurance programs, not federal insurance programs.” In other words, the President also doesn’t care about taking care of children, he cares about corporations who (are supposed) to take care of children (if they can make a profit doing so). (I won’t even mention the article on the same page of the DNR reporting that Congress caved and gave the President all the billions of dollars he asked for to continue his War of Conquest and Profit in Iraq. Another blog another day...)

My favorite comment of the whole session was this discussion about organ donors and life insurance benefits. It’s a great commentary on how ridiculous the rigid adherence to the radical ideology of Corporate Profit can be.

From Goshen: A former nurse who is now on dialysis wondered if there was any way the government could create a death benefit for the families of folks who donate organs. She's on the waiting list for a kidney and there aren't enough going around. Medicare would save a lot of money if transplant operations could actually take place because dialysis is expensive.

Goodlatte: Hospitals and insurance companies should look into that. And also we don't want people killing themselves to get the money.

Holy Smoke! Can we get some indignation here please? How about some outrage? The irony is rich! I’ll use this quote on Goodlatte forever! He doesn’t want people “killing themselves for the the money?” Rich! Go Unchecked Capitalism!

Finally,

Goodlatte also took a survey. The question was what should Congress focus on - making your energy costs less, lowering your taxes, or cutting government spending.

The responses (keyed in on the telephone) were 18 percent wanted lower taxes, 30 percent wanted something done about energy costs, and 52 percent wanted the government to stop spending.

Note, of course, that there wasn't any suggestion as to what the government should stop spending money on, and I believe the government is currently working hard to stop spending money on the people who need it most - that would be the folks above who are desperate for health care, the elderly who need nursing homes, the fellow who is out of a job in Covington. No, it's far better to give the money to Microsoft and Exxon.

Yes the South is winning. The Plantation mentality is alive and well here in Rockingham County. The Old Money in this Small Town has had it’s way for a long time. How long will we accept “the way we do things here?”