An obscure special congressional election in the 23^rd district of New York State made national news this last week. A traditionally conservative district Republican Dierdre Scozzafava was expected to easily defeat her Democratic challenger Bill Owens.

Enter Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman. Mr. Hoffman isn’t your run of the mill third party candidate with little chance of winning though. Doug Hoffman is actually the preferred candidate of what one pundit called the far “out” Right wing of the Republican Party. With endorsements from Sarah Palin, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and a lot of money Hoffman was easily able to out poll Scozzafava effectively pushing her out of the race.

The problem with Ms. Scozzafava was that she dared to have positions that are considered liberal like her support for abortion rights, same-sex marriage and union rights. As the ideology of what is left of the GOP continues to narrow each day, room for radical thinking Like Scozzafava’s just isn’t going to be tolerated.

Republican House Leader John Boehner in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," said "We accept moderates in our party, and we want moderates in our party. We cover a wide range of Americans." I laughed so hard I nearly split a gut. The Republican Party doesn’t want moderates. In fact they don’t want anyone that does not conform exactly to the Specified doctrine.

As a person looking at all this from a Left perspective I’m happy to see my adversaries implode. But at the same time I’m confused by seeing what otherwise seems to be educated folks acting so stupidly. Do the Republicans not understand that to win elections they need to appeal to the Center? And their rhetoric keeps getting more and more insane.

One of the things the vast majority of economists and Americans in general agree on is that the stewardship of our economy by Republicans has been a disaster of Biblical proportions. Yet the Republicans continue to espouse the virtues of low tax, supply side economics. They actually try to sell the idea that the only reason for the current economic situation was because they were not allowed to go far enough. The most confounding part is how this is supposed to create jobs. That’s what they claim yet it was during their watch we saw the economic collapse that led to the bleeding of jobs over the last year.

The Republicans have no explanation for this. When asked they side step into a rant on how the only reasonable way to create jobs is to lower taxes and “get the government out of the way.” It’s actually like trying to take something away from a toddler that doesn’t want to give it up. It’s the only way to describe the GOP’s obsession with the low tax, supply side approach… childish! They cling to it like a security blanket. Despite the blatant evidence that low taxes have bankrupt our States, Counties, and Cities as well as our Federal coffers. That supply side economics has turned Wall Street into a giant casino and our banking system into pyramid scheme for the ultra-wealthy, the Republicans sing the praises of these failed policies as of there were no other song. It really boggles the mind.

I’ve been hearing some Republicans saying that 2010 will be a comeback year. I don’t see anything like that happening. The reason being that each year the voters of this country ere becoming more and more diversified. At the same time the GOP is becoming less and less inclusive. That does not add up to a comeback.

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You can listen to Devin talk politics at earlymorningpundits.com with Dr. Candace House and Devin Barber every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00 AM Eastern and 5:00 AM Pacific. You can also listen to recorded shows anytime.

Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent

Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published weekly or more to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.

Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.

You can find all of Devin’s columns at LEFT OF THE RIGHT

You can keep up with Devin’s postings and his Gather activity by joining his Gather network. Just click here: Devin Barber and then select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.

You can find Devin and other Political Correspondents, plus celebrity content and plenty of other politics experts at Politics.gather.com.

The American people have ponied up an ocean of cash to bail out some of biggest corporations and financial institutions that exist in our country. And what have they done with it? Exactly what you’d expect a heroin addict to do if you gave them a bag of heroin. It’s been business as usual. Dylan Ratigan of MSNBC says the movers and shakers on Wall Street have turned financial markets into a giant casino. A casino where corporations like Bank of America, Citigroup, and AIG lost hundreds of billions of dollars that belonged to their customers (the American people.) The high risk unscrupulous schemes they participated in being the result of a Republican majority obsessed with removing any government oversight that would present an obstacle to that end.

Ever since deregulation and tax cut fever took over the Right under Reagan we’ve seen a steady decline in the integrity of the people controlling our financial markets. Playing “whose the richest SOB” has taken the place of reasoned behavior concerned with the overall economic health of our nation. Today the only thing that counts is the bottom line. And the only measure of a company is what it’s profit margin is at the end of the day.

Companies that demonstrate a true concern for the community they depend on are seen as weak. Companies that place their workers welfare above profit are called inefficient or foolish. I was listening to a radio talk show just after Reagan left the presidency. I don’t remember the guests name, but when the host asked him what Reagan’s most important legacy would be, the man answered, “Reagan will be remembered as the president who made greed a legitimate motive for success.” In other words. It’s not important to develop a sense of obligation to the society to which one is born when seeking success. One only need to concentrate on them self and the material things they desire to be successful. It was like telling a bunch of juvenile delinquents that all the rules had been suspended and they were free to do what ever they wanted.

And do what ever they wanted they did. The Reagan era ushered in a wave of mergers, buy outs, and hostile takeovers the likes of which had never before been seen. It was like a scene from the movie “The Blob.” With every merger, buy out, or hostile takeover the beasts grew bigger and more powerful. Today we are told that these corporations are too big to fail. Now if that’s not a monster I don’t know what one is. Too big to fail? That’s scarier than any horror movie I can remember. It sounds sickingly familiar to the kinds of excuses you hear heroin junkies use when they’re trying to justify why quitting would be pointless. “It’s too late, I’m too far gone man.” But as it is with heroin addicts, it’s never too late to get a junkie off the dope. And if we ever hope to fix the problems on Wall Street the last thing we need to do is give them more dope i.e., money.

To these corporations and financial institutions money has become their crack. And if we want to stop the madness giving them more crack is not the answer, We have to cut off their supply of dope. Therefore I want to advocate an idea Dylan Ratigan had. We must starve the beast. So, if you have money in any of the big national banks or are invested in any of the big national investment firms, take it out and place it with a small regional bank or credit union. Because as long as the money keeps flowing these miscreants will just keep gambling with OUR money and losing it. Especially if they know “we the people” will just bail them out.

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You can listen to Devin talk politics at earlymorningpundits.com with Dr. Candace House and Devin Barber every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00 AM Eastern and 5:00 AM Pacific. You can also listen to recorded shows anytime.

Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent

Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published weekly or more to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.

Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.

You can find all of Devin’s columns at LEFT OF THE RIGHT

You can keep up with Devin’s postings and his Gather activity by joining his Gather network. Just click here: Devin Barber and then select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.

You can find Devin and other Political Correspondents, plus celebrity content and plenty of other politics experts at Politics.gather.com.

It was 1962 and I was finally going to be allowed to accompany my older sisters and brother to go trick or treating. I had just turned 4 the month before. Finally the day came when my mom brought our costumes home from the store. My eldest sister was going to be a wicked witch ooooo! My older brother was going to be a ware wolf ooooo! And my other 2 older sisters were going as a ghost and a goblin ooooooooo!

Then it was my turn to learn what I was going to be. I opened the box of the one size fits all combination overall suit with a picture of what ever you’re supposed to be printed on it and plastic mask. For some reason these costumes were made of a material unknown in the rest of the universe. The first thing you learn about these costumes is that “one size fits all” is bullsh*t. The legs and sleeves were several inches too long for me. But my mom refused to cut them off. Instead she tried rolling them up. But the unknown material apparently had some sort of memory mechanism because as quickly as she would roll the material, when she let go it would unroll. So she rolled each of my legs and sleeves and secured them with safety pins. I learned later that there is nothing safe about safety pins.

The masks of these cheap as it gets Halloween costumes were miserable. The eye holes never lined up leaving the kid to peer out with one eye. This had the result of leaving you with no depth perception. The other peculiar aspect of these plastic masks was how the cool autumn evening air causes the accumulation of condensation on hard surfaces like the inside of a plastic mask. Combine this with sweat and saliva and you end up with your face swimming in a pool of a disgusting slimy mixture from hell.

But none of this was as bad as I felt when I learned just WHAT I was going to be. I opened the box and there was a costume of Biffo the Clown. Biffo??? Who the hell is Biffo? I’m going as a clown and it’s not even a famous one like Bozo? But there was going to be candy and nothing was going to stop me from getting my cut. So with sleeves and legs rolled and pinned we were off.

Before we were even out of our own yard my older sisters and brother took off running. Naturally I tried to keep up. Within 5 steps both pins holding up my legs popped and down they came. Now I’m running on the pant legs causing the whole thing to tug down on me as I stepped on the legs. Four more steps and I did my first face plant. Luckily it was on grass. By the time I got to the first door my older siblings were 5 houses down. Fearing I’d be left behind I by passed nearly every house trying to keep up. By the time the evening was over I’d done at least a dozen face plants and the skin on my face felt like sponge cake. And all I got for my trouble was a caramel popcorn ball that was now covered in lint because our trick or treat sacks also served as pillow cases and a scattering of candy corn and some Bazooka gum.

Year 2.

This year it would be different. I gave up on the idea of trying to keep up with my siblings. Instead I planned my own route that would ensure I would not get lost. Then came the day when we received our all in one box costumes. Mom was excited to tell me that this year I was going as a well known character. Now we’re talking, I’ll be the envy of all the Kindergartners. I opened the box and there was the face of Casper the Friendly Ghost staring back at me. Only it was truly spooky due to the blank eye holes. MOM!!! Casper?, you’ve got to be kidding. All that costume got me was my ass kicked when the other kids saw me. How humiliating.

Year 5.

Year 3 and 4 were lean years for us so instead of store bought costumes my mom put some old clothes on us, smeared chimney soot on our faces and voila, we were hobos. But in year 5 things were back to our normal all in one box store bought costumes. This year my mom would surely choose a costume befitting an 8 year old wise to the ways of trick or treating. My legs nearly collapsed when I opened the box and saw Slappo the Clown. MOM!!! Why do you keep buying me these lame costumes? Then the conspiracy was revealed when mom answered. What are you talking about. Your older sisters said they knew exactly what you wanted.

Luckily she had purchased the thing a few days prior so I insisted we return it for one of my own choosing. So, after burning the faces off several of my sisters Barbie Dolls we were off to the store to exchange the lame Slappo for what I wanted. It was 1966 and I was 8 so for me it was no contest. I was going to be Batman.

It was the best Halloween of all. I Batmanned my way from house to house and my final take impressed even my older brother. I loved that costume so much I kept wearing it and wearing it. That is until one day I stepped in front of a mirror and discovered I wasn’t Batman anymore. I had become Duct Tape Man.

That was the last year I ever went trick or treating. Several cases of wackos hiding needles and even razor blades in fruit and contaminating candy with drugs freaked my folks out. After that we just had parties at home.

The economy has dominated the news and sparked some intense political debate of late. An issue that has come to the forefront of that debate is regarding how or if Wall Street should be regulated. I was watching MSNBC’s the Ed show Wednesday and a Right wing commentator kept going on about how the America people trusted the private sector more than the government when it came to free enterprise and good old fashioned capitalism. And she said most Americans believe in capitalism. And she was absolutely right about Americans believing in capitalism. There’s just one problem. Wall Street and most of the big corporations have not been practicing capitalism for many, many years.

One of the strongest arguments for a public option concerning the health care reform debate is to increase competition. Yet the Republicans are against it. Why? Isn’t competition at the heart of capitalism? It’s becoming very clear that the Right is not and has not been interested in competition for a good long time. What they have been doing is fixing the game.

I believe that dissatisfaction with any economic system whether it be capitalist, socialist, communist, or even fascist is not because of the core principals of these systems. The dissatisfaction is because these systems are seldom if ever practiced in a fair and honest manner. We are told our system is a capitalist one.

Merriam, Webster

Main Entry: cap·i·tal·ism   Pronunciation: \ka-pə-tə-liz-əm, kap-tə, British also kə-pi-tə-\

Function: noun   Date: 1877

: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.

COMPETITION IN A FREE MARKET! This is the core of true capitalism. Yet the majority of big business and the financial institutions that support them have subverted the principals of true capitalism and have turned our economic system into one that is more like corporate fascism. Through the political arm of corporate America, the Republican Party, they have deregulated, provided tax loophole after tax loophole resulting in legalized tax evasion, and built a yellow brick road to the land of off shoring assets and jobs and the obscene profit for which it stands.

But things they are a changing. Yesterday the White House announced they were ordering corporations that received TARP money to slash the salaries of their top 25 executives by 90%. In addition any executive wishing to spend more than $25,000 on perks like using the company jet will have to get permission. Apparently the time limit for using the TARP money for what the government wanted on their own is up. Another promising sign is a move to make lifting the Anti-trust exemption the health insurance industry currently enjoys part of the health care reform bill. And that’s not all. The House Financial Services Committee is expected to vote on Thursday on legislation creating a new agency called the Consumer Protection Agency. And get this. Republicans on the committee suggested the bill creating the agency include a 5 year sunset clause along with total deregulation of the banking system. Rachel Maddow wondered if these were the same guys that are on the “replace the water in fire hydrants to kerosene” committee.

I am truly hopeful that we are seeing the beginnings of the end of corporate fascism and a return to a truer form of good old capitalism. And accepting human nature the only way to achieve that will be through thorough regulation with the teeth to enforce it. This along with a more reasonable tax system that recognizes that a government needs to be operated at a level that truly reflects the needs and desires of the people. Not a government operated at a bare minimum leaving infrastructures to crumble and no jam on the bottom shelf.

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Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent

Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published weekly or more to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.

Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.

You can find all of Devin’s columns at LEFT OF THE RIGHT

You can keep up with Devin’s postings and his Gather activity by joining his Gather network. Just click here: Devin Barber and then select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.

You can find Devin and other Political Correspondents, plus celebrity content and plenty of other politics experts at Politics.gather.com.