skippy the bush kangaroo: the cult that is destroying america

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

the cult that is destroying america

paul krugman again, calls it like he sees'm. and he's so spot on.

think about what’s happening right now. we have a crisis in which the right is making insane demands, while the president and democrats in congress are bending over backward to be accommodating — offering plans that are all spending cuts and no taxes, plans that are far to the right of public opinion.

so what do most news reports say? they portray it as a situation in which both sides are equally partisan, equally intransigent — because news reports always do that. and we have influential pundits calling out for a new centrist party, a new centrist president, to get us away from the evils of partisanship.

the reality, of course, is that we already have a centrist president — actually a moderate conservative president. once again, health reform — his only major change to government — was modeled on republican plans, indeed plans coming from the heritage foundation. and everything else — including the wrongheaded emphasis on austerity in the face of high unemployment — is according to the conservative playbook. - nytimes

Labels: conservatives, krugman, multi-millionaire media, nytimes

posted by Cookie Jill at 8:12 PM |

3 Comments:

Career Politicians

The advantages of being a federal career congressman include:

$170,000+ salary
PREMIUM health care plan (free)
GENEROUS pension and perquisites

There is also the ability to command lecture fees, write books, make paid apearences, and enjoy other income enhancements difficult to measure.

Obviously, these are coveted positions - coveted even by those already wealthy. Power has its own attractions. The major flaw (for the citizenry) is that politicians will give up their principles to keep the huge amount of money flowing that enables them to continue their career. We cannot sensibly expect them to legislate term limits on themselves; nor would their "deep pockets benefactors" allow such a thing.

The voters, however, can do this. We must make it our policy to never allow ANYONE to hold office more than twice, even if it means voting for someone we'd like to condemn to a desert island. We may lose some good people this way, but keep in mind that even "good" politicians go "bad". The worst offenders have been career politicians, although there may(?) be a few decent ones.

commented by

Joy Zocco, 10:35 PM PDT

Pisses me off that the repugs are framing the debt picture in this way.

By demanding no new taxes.... (always a popular theme)... they are essentially cutting out a revenue source.

This is a reverse Robinhood:
You have oober wealthy people & corporations, not contributing a fair share, or worse taking subsidies....

So in turn they hit up the middle & lower classes & entitlement programs meant to be both a safety net & lifeline must be sacrificed.

commented by

Fran, 9:59 AM PDT

Someone PLEASE tell me how eliminating the mortgage tax deduction is somehow NOT raising taxes on the middle class homeowners, you know, the ones actually investing in this country? How is forcing seniors to work several extra years at the end of the lives NOT taxing the middle and lower classes?

commented by

Anonymous, 7:56 PM PDT

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