UPDATED: Who is Contacting Me? Colin Bonini With His Racists Signs, That’s Who
Bonini’s signs really bug the shit out of me.
The the line: “it’s YOUR money” is pure GOP dog whistle racism and this is how it works.
The whole republican system is about nursing grievances. It is about division and, ginning up outrage. It is a strategy that is inherently un-American because the whole the point of Democracy is to come together in goodwill and solve problems. Coming together to solve problems is something we’ve been able to accomplish for two-hundred years.
Blessed with abundant material wealth, we’ve elected governments to plan for the future, deliberate and collectively implement beneficial projects. On the local, state and national level, we have instituted systems which pool our money in order to invest it in schools, infra-structure, research, and all manner of civilization building projects large and small. To paraphrase Oliver Wendell Holmes, we all chip in to have a civilized society. It is OUR money.
Republicans like Bonini are more interested in power than that are in civilization or even democracy. They have taken the cynical, divisive course of painting ALL taxes as theft. For Bonini all taxes are confiscatory. It is not OUR money. It is YOUR money, and that is where the racism comes in.
The Republican gripes and grievances theme is so baked into modern American politics that he does Bonini does not even need to make the racism explicit. The slogan “It is YOUR money” implies the grievance that all Republican politicians are playing on. It is YOUR money – don’t let THEM spend YOUR money on unworthy black and brown people. (Ronald Reagan, may you rot in hell for what you’ve wrought.)
It does not matter to Bonini that the US has the third lowest tax burden among Industrialized countries. (Only Ireland and Iceland, two countries that are now utterly insolvent, have lower personal taxes).
No, it is all about nursing racial grievances. Forget the fact that US corporate taxes are less than 1% of GDP. Bonini’s, “It’s YOUR money” BS is not about taxes. It is about race.
Is Bonini sending around pictures of the White House with watermelons growing on the South Lawn? Who knows. One thing is certain – he is not above using the GOP’s coded racism in this treasurers race.
UPDATE: For anyone who needs help contextualizing Bonini’s casual racism, I recommend reading this timely kos post:
It’s not surprising that this generation of Republicans has made a hero out of Joeseph McCarthy. They admire the way in which he cowed his enemies and the way in which he distorted the meaning of liberty. They admire him because he generated fear.
The question of “have you no sense of decency” has been answered. They do not — at least not one that rises above their hunger for power.
you cannot be serious
More relevant than the fact that I am seriousness, is the fact that I’m right. If there are any Republican commenters on this thread, I predict that there will be two flavors. One will be those that are too stupid to see the truth in front of their face, and the other being those that know the truth, but play at being ignorant for the sake of expediency
Just remember this. All this anti-govt. from a man who has never held a job in the private sector. Has a father who is a college professor and brother who is a judge, all sucking at the big goverments tit.
What a terrific post. You had to think long and hard didn’t you to find a gripe w/ Bonini’s slogan? You know darn well he’s right–but you had to go all “Winston tastes good like (as) a cigarette should” on it. (For those of you who remember). Yup, it’s your money—and in the word “your” is “our”–and I am tired of it being assigned away in either epilogue, pet projects or personal friends and relations. Sorry, Jason—even though as treasurer, he’ll account as he’s legislated to cut checks–at least maybe he’ll make noise of where some of these checks are going–unlike the past. Shame on you for turning the color green into a new racial color.
Oh I have a better one – Colin Bonini is a racist – every year, in the legislature, he brought up the “english as the official language” bill for Delaware….
Now a little lesson on this –
1.the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title 6 mandates that any agency that serves a population of limited english speakers MUST provide that service in the language of the target population if they receive Federal money or goods
2. Puerto Rico under the Jones Act of 1917 made that island a protectorate and the poeple born there citizens – thier primary language was and still is Spanish
3. Lau v Nichols SCOTUS 1974 decision stated briefly that language discrimination is a form of national origin discrimination –
4. Once the Census figure are released – the state will see that over 5% of the population of Delaware speak Spanish(current appox say about 7.4%) – under the Voter’s Right’s Act of 1965, voting materials will have to be published in that language – mandated by Federal Law
Gee – where does Bonini’s English Only llaw fit into that mess – LOL
those above listed four points are just the tip of the iceberg..
therefore – taking all the above into account – Bonini is either a racist, an idiot or….both
and yes MJ – he’s another one that has PISSED ME OFF over the years – just like Curley and just like Curley he wil be treated the same way by me – and you know what that means….
“What a terrific post.” Thank you. If the GOP didn’t play this kind of sneeky race card all the time, I would not have to call you out on it.
Adding on to Jason’s righteous rant — the “It’s Your Money” thing would be a truer statement if he added on that “It’s Your Money That Pays for the Government You Want”. It is all a part of the massive GOP lack or leadership in 1) telling people what government they’d do away with that you are spending money on and 2) telling people that all of the government that they want costs money.
And let’s remember that Bonini himself can’t be bothered to pay his own taxes properly. So next time someone sees this clown, ask him what part of the government he doesn’t think our money should be spent on. Bet you won’t get an answer on that or certainly not an answer that would ever provide any serious reduction in either cost or government.
I wonder how Bobo deals with other stuff with that attitude:
To the government:
“It’s my money – don’t tell me how to spend it”
To the police:
“It’s my car – don’t tell me how fast to drive it”
To your wife:
“It’s my life – don’t tell me who I can and can’t sleep with.”
To the library:
“The book is in MY HOUSE – don’t tell me when to bring it back.”
Jason could you repost the url for the industrialized nations taxes article in the comments? The link didn’t seem to work for me.
Bonini is the anointed one because he pushed “Right to Work” legislation down @ legislative hall. The GOP big boys have given him favor for his efforts.
Colin does not want working people to have a living wage that’s why he is anointed.
He is a true believer in the GOP dogma of very minimum wage or hire a foreigner.
It’s your money so let intelligent Republicans spend it for you with no bid contracts to fellow Republicans. That’s the way the GOP rolls. Don’t let it happen. We see through is crap.
I’ve taken the liberty to forward your distorted perception via post jason to some former roommates of mine–big wage earners, hence tax payers who happen to be black. I’m sure they will just love your propagating the “don’t let THEM spend YOUR money on unworthy black (I corrected the spelling), and brown people.” As if the funded favors, loopholes, and match to money in a Delaware budget underwrites races. Get real jason–black, brown, yellow, red, rainbow, and white, all pay taxes–and all of us want to see it spent wisely–with every impropriety to be called out. No matter whose face is on it. I just wish the hubs blogged–he knows all these “brown people”–and even speaks their language!!! So yeh–it is a burden to try and make good, earn a living, save for the expense of citizenship authorization, AND pay some of these taxes for boondoggle expenditures. I hope to high heavens Colin Bonini calls ’em all out–and highlights the waste we fund, that some of us private citizens don’t have time to hunt down.
Sure hope MJ hasn’t picked his donkeyhat comment of the day–because jason should be wearing it.
The Southern strategy exists and it is very real. While Joanne pretends that Jason is the bad guy the GOP gins up fear of Muslims and immigrants, all to distract from the truth that the GOP has no ideas except the same ones that got us into this mess.
Sure–and Muslims and immigrants are such a real part of Bonini’s local treasurer race. Keep casting those nets wide…..oh wait is that a big tent?
There are a couple of ways to defend Bonini here. You could say that Bonini is guileless, a mere babe in the woods, with no awareness that his “It is YOUR money” campaign connects him to 20 years of GOP subtextual traditions or you can say that the GOP has no such racist traditions.
I scoff at both of those defenses.
To the police:
“It’s my car – don’t tell me how fast to drive it”
Speed limits don’t apply to cars, they apply to State owned roads. If a group of citizens built their own “Autobahn”, they can set the speed limit at any rate they wanted. They could charge a toll and it would be outside the jurisdicition of the police.
To the library:
“The book is in MY HOUSE – don’t tell me when to bring it back.”
The book is someone elese’s property and hence, it is stolen property. Your point is senseless.
To your wife:
“It’s my life – don’t tell me who I can and can’t sleep with.”
A marrage is a contract. If one party makes the above statement the other party may break or alter the contract. It has nothing to do with the State goverment charging 10x what the private sector charges for the same function but making you purchase theirs.
In the spirit of Hugh Akston:
“It’s YOUR money.”
No, it’s not. It’s either minted by the U.S. or printed by the Federal Reserve. You just get to use it.
Why don’t they say “It’s our money?”
Hugh, it wouldn’t at all be “outside the jurisdiction of police”. The government retains jurisdiction on land within its area. You cannot use “private property” to enact slavery, grow dope or tattoo numbers on your kid’s cheek… the government still has jurisdiction. However they may not bother to enforce rules Darwin already has covered, if you and your buds choose to drive fast in your driveway… but if you smash up your car failing to make the turn at the bottom the police will investigate and bring charges as they think appropriate.
“”outside the jurisdiction” lol.
So this Bonini character has been putting up signs saying “Its your money”. Either he wants to agitate voters into voting for his brand of fiscal policy OR he is speaking some sort of a secret language that only he and a mysterious legion of secret racist voters prepared to sweep him into office speak.
I’ve been tinkering with this “razor” concept, you might want to aquatint yourself with it.
So Occam takes the “he is an innocent baby in the woods” defense. That’s fine. I’m like Morpheus. I can only offer the red and the blue pill. I can’t make anyone accept that phrases on signs have more than surface meanings.
Occam has a point (or at least an edge):
Bobo strikes me more as the type to receive dog whistles than to send them. He is likely just repeating the whistles he hears without really knowing what they mean.
“Hugh, it wouldn’t at all be “outside the jurisdiction of police”. The government retains jurisdiction on land within its area.”
Actually, Brooke, state government doesn’t have jurisdiction on private property for most traffic laws..(a notable exception would be DUI), speeding included – RE: Title 21, Delaware Code. I believe Hugh was speaking to traffic law in his example (specifically, speeding). Did you know you can speed and run those stop signs in private developments and shopping malls without getting charged? (as long as they don’t enter onto a state maintained roadway, and you don’t have an accident).
As always, I could be wrong, and frequently am.
Hugh says: “They could charge a toll and it would be outside the jurisdiction of the police..”
Dover Downs comes to mind. Look at all that aggressive driving and crashes. No speeding, inattentive or reckless driving tickets there.
“You cannot use “private property” to enact slavery, grow dope or tattoo numbers on your kid’s cheek… the government still has jurisdiction. However they may not bother to enforce rules Darwin already has covered,”
Truth!… The government does have jurisdiction for those laws you cited. But it’s not exactly whether or not the agents of government “bother” to enforce a law, as their jurisdiction, and limitations, are clearly defined (Darwin’s, notwithstanding). By law, they can’t pick and choose which laws they enforce. In practice… they sometimes do. It’s the role of he courts to sort that out.
Because UI, if they said “It’s OUR money”, folks like jason would be all over it, acting like “our” is exclusive, and no other Delawarean has a right to it. For that matter–the “it’s MY money” would be taboo also. It’s great the way it is. Have a Winston?
I don’t think the dog whistle is for race. I think it’s for greed, a more widely shared attitude.
remember, the economy fell apart because Islamo-fascist, doped up, illegal, single mom, Welfare Queens were gay-marrying and driving BMWs paid for by food stamps. So Sayeth the Beck! stupid poor people.
“It’s your money” is an empty slogan. The dogwhistle is the additional content that each person fills in to complete the statement, based on their own biases.
“It’s my money – Congress doesn’t have the right to tax it and spend it.”
Well, actually they do. Representative democracy is the fairest way to make tax and spending decisions. That is what bugs these people – fairness.
Greed is surely part of it but it is not that simple.
They don’t just want to keep “their money.” They want to retain personal control over how the government spends revenue. Wars are OK, health care is not. They do not accept the spending decisions made by their elected representatives. In the mouths of teabaggers, “it’s your money” is a fundamentally anti-democratic statement.
Agreed, greed isn’t the entire picture. But I think it’s the majority of it. It’s only once you ask what they object to doing with the money that the Cadillac-driving welfare queens and the vastly overestimated foreign aid come up.
Always liked P.J. O’Rourke’s take: “Republican” – The party that runs declaring that government doesn’t work, gets elected – and proves it!”
Ha, he really lost his mind this time. Let me know when you find it. A racist slogan that only offends rich, white liberals is an interesting theory.