signalmankenneth
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Forget all the details of what went wrong with the dysfunctional debt ceiling debate and how we got to where we are today. The fact is, Republicans, as Boehner was quick to say, got everything they wanted -- or at least 98%.
Now, instead of focusing on the immediate concerns of unemployment and a diving economy, Republicans will spend countless hours on passing a balanced budget amendment which, even if it is passed by two-thirds of the congress, will take months or even years to get three-fourths of the states to ratify.
The chances of getting unemployment down to 8% or less is considered impossible by most economic gurus. The accepted orthodox thinking by pundits like Chris Matthews is that no president has been reelected with unemployment at 8% or more. In order for that to happen (at least hypothetically) a minimum of 275,000 jobs must be added each month between now and the next general election.
So, if that's a slam-dunk truism then it should follow that Barack Obama will not be reelected and whomever the Republicans choose for their presidential nominee will enter the White House by default.
We can understand then why Republican/Tea Partyers are so euphoric over their chances. Given the "slam dunk" unemployment scenario, anyone, even a Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain and who knows, even crackpots like Sharron Angle, Carl Paladino and Christine O'Donnell will see an opening since it has become axiomatic that ANY Republican will win the White House.
If that is the case, then I think it's also safe to assume that with a Republican president we will see them run the table in November 2012 and once again control every level of government.
Republican-s say they don't want to leave the national debt for future generation-s' kids and grand kids. Therefore, say Republican-/Tea Partyers, we must never, ever spend one thin dime to repair and rebuild our nation's infrastruc-ture.
The cost of repairing and rebuilding our country's crumbling highways and roads, schools, eroding dams and levees, rusted out bridges, water lines, sewer systems, outdated, overstress-ed 100-year-o-ld electric grids, according to most experts would be in the neighborho-od of $2 to $3 trillion if we began those projects today.
The legacy Republican-/Tea Partyers intend to leave those kids and grand kids they feign concern for, however, will exceed $5 trillion. And that figure is barring any unforeseen calamities like protracted wars, natural disasters such as hurricanes-, tornadoes, floods and earthquake-s.
The "Satan's sandwich," solution to the nation's Standard and Poor's downgraded economy as one congressman referred to the debt deal, is so demonic that it defies explanation. Why would anyone agree to turn over all the decision-making for making cuts to twelve hand-picked politicians from both parties whose interest are still as partisan as those of the current 535 members of congress?
Are these people endowed with such special or inherent wisdom that in the next few weeks they think they can avoid all the bickering over a manufactured debt crisis that was drummed up over the last several months?
This "deal" has built-in conditions that guarantee absolute failure. The Republican choices for their apostles of greed allow for no taxes on the wealthiest 2% or the elimination of corporate subsidies (aka corporate welfare) such as Big Oil, Big Coal, Big Health Insurance companies who have been gaming our tax laws for decades.
One of the Republican members recommended to sit on this 12-person panel includes Paul Ryan, the Minnesota congressman who has practically taken a blood oath along with his Tea Party blackmailers to eviscerate Medicare by forcing seniors to shop around with a paltry voucher to find a private health insurer willing to insure an individual with the preexisting condition of -- getting older -- and most assuredly, sicker. Good luck with that one!
Now comes the real poison pill part of this Faustian deal. If the 12 apostles can't come to agreement on how much they want to cut from domestic programs or how to eliminate tax loopholes and taxpayer subsidies for the super-wealthy, or etched-in-blood tax cuts for the same affluent 2% demanded by the subversive, saboteur Tea Partyers, automatic cuts in spending programs will be balanced out between domestic discretionary programs (meaning every single safety net for the poorest, sickest and most vulnerable children)and the military.
OMG! Did we read that right? Cuts to the most sacred cow of them all, the Pentagon pet projects, huge taxpayer subsidies to the military industrial complex and all the funding for the future wars and no-bid government contracts which Republicans are already cooking up when the time comes for them to take unbridled authority over every lever of government?
Most of us have heard this broken record before but the game rules have become far more dangerous. Tea Paryers, like all authoritarian regimes which have wrested power away from democratic governments, which have already imposed their iron-fisted hegemony in at least 26 states, are moving to the next phase of their dismantling of our U.S. Constitution.
The twelve-person panel of bean counters of course is just a pro forma exercise in the Tea Party's quest for total control. Knowing that the top-heavy Republican majority House will reject any attempts to strip funds away from the $649 billion bloated annual defense budget (a 17% increase over last year) their next move will involve further draconian cuts to essential public services so deep that America as we knew it will be unrecognizable. Future generations will live in a third world country standard of living thirsted-for by the tyrannical Tea Party faction who are working frantically to usurp and overthrow our democracy.
It is far too facile to believe the Tea Partyers are simply raving lunatics whose lock-step discipline keeps them bound to their treachery against our nation. But, as they demonstrated their power at the polls in December 2010, ephemeral as it may be, that power has brought about irreparable harm to America and further damaged our honor and respect around the world.
It has come down to this: Individual liberties and freedom-loving Americans versus mole-visioned, anti-U.S. Constitution Tea Party tyranny and blackmail.
By RICHARD STITT
Now, instead of focusing on the immediate concerns of unemployment and a diving economy, Republicans will spend countless hours on passing a balanced budget amendment which, even if it is passed by two-thirds of the congress, will take months or even years to get three-fourths of the states to ratify.
The chances of getting unemployment down to 8% or less is considered impossible by most economic gurus. The accepted orthodox thinking by pundits like Chris Matthews is that no president has been reelected with unemployment at 8% or more. In order for that to happen (at least hypothetically) a minimum of 275,000 jobs must be added each month between now and the next general election.
So, if that's a slam-dunk truism then it should follow that Barack Obama will not be reelected and whomever the Republicans choose for their presidential nominee will enter the White House by default.
We can understand then why Republican/Tea Partyers are so euphoric over their chances. Given the "slam dunk" unemployment scenario, anyone, even a Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain and who knows, even crackpots like Sharron Angle, Carl Paladino and Christine O'Donnell will see an opening since it has become axiomatic that ANY Republican will win the White House.
If that is the case, then I think it's also safe to assume that with a Republican president we will see them run the table in November 2012 and once again control every level of government.
Republican-s say they don't want to leave the national debt for future generation-s' kids and grand kids. Therefore, say Republican-/Tea Partyers, we must never, ever spend one thin dime to repair and rebuild our nation's infrastruc-ture.
The cost of repairing and rebuilding our country's crumbling highways and roads, schools, eroding dams and levees, rusted out bridges, water lines, sewer systems, outdated, overstress-ed 100-year-o-ld electric grids, according to most experts would be in the neighborho-od of $2 to $3 trillion if we began those projects today.
The legacy Republican-/Tea Partyers intend to leave those kids and grand kids they feign concern for, however, will exceed $5 trillion. And that figure is barring any unforeseen calamities like protracted wars, natural disasters such as hurricanes-, tornadoes, floods and earthquake-s.
The "Satan's sandwich," solution to the nation's Standard and Poor's downgraded economy as one congressman referred to the debt deal, is so demonic that it defies explanation. Why would anyone agree to turn over all the decision-making for making cuts to twelve hand-picked politicians from both parties whose interest are still as partisan as those of the current 535 members of congress?
Are these people endowed with such special or inherent wisdom that in the next few weeks they think they can avoid all the bickering over a manufactured debt crisis that was drummed up over the last several months?
This "deal" has built-in conditions that guarantee absolute failure. The Republican choices for their apostles of greed allow for no taxes on the wealthiest 2% or the elimination of corporate subsidies (aka corporate welfare) such as Big Oil, Big Coal, Big Health Insurance companies who have been gaming our tax laws for decades.
One of the Republican members recommended to sit on this 12-person panel includes Paul Ryan, the Minnesota congressman who has practically taken a blood oath along with his Tea Party blackmailers to eviscerate Medicare by forcing seniors to shop around with a paltry voucher to find a private health insurer willing to insure an individual with the preexisting condition of -- getting older -- and most assuredly, sicker. Good luck with that one!
Now comes the real poison pill part of this Faustian deal. If the 12 apostles can't come to agreement on how much they want to cut from domestic programs or how to eliminate tax loopholes and taxpayer subsidies for the super-wealthy, or etched-in-blood tax cuts for the same affluent 2% demanded by the subversive, saboteur Tea Partyers, automatic cuts in spending programs will be balanced out between domestic discretionary programs (meaning every single safety net for the poorest, sickest and most vulnerable children)and the military.
OMG! Did we read that right? Cuts to the most sacred cow of them all, the Pentagon pet projects, huge taxpayer subsidies to the military industrial complex and all the funding for the future wars and no-bid government contracts which Republicans are already cooking up when the time comes for them to take unbridled authority over every lever of government?
Most of us have heard this broken record before but the game rules have become far more dangerous. Tea Paryers, like all authoritarian regimes which have wrested power away from democratic governments, which have already imposed their iron-fisted hegemony in at least 26 states, are moving to the next phase of their dismantling of our U.S. Constitution.
The twelve-person panel of bean counters of course is just a pro forma exercise in the Tea Party's quest for total control. Knowing that the top-heavy Republican majority House will reject any attempts to strip funds away from the $649 billion bloated annual defense budget (a 17% increase over last year) their next move will involve further draconian cuts to essential public services so deep that America as we knew it will be unrecognizable. Future generations will live in a third world country standard of living thirsted-for by the tyrannical Tea Party faction who are working frantically to usurp and overthrow our democracy.
It is far too facile to believe the Tea Partyers are simply raving lunatics whose lock-step discipline keeps them bound to their treachery against our nation. But, as they demonstrated their power at the polls in December 2010, ephemeral as it may be, that power has brought about irreparable harm to America and further damaged our honor and respect around the world.
It has come down to this: Individual liberties and freedom-loving Americans versus mole-visioned, anti-U.S. Constitution Tea Party tyranny and blackmail.
By RICHARD STITT
