Roach

The Beast Is Starved: Welcome to the Next Great Depression
by John Atcheson


Since Reagan, Republicans have been on a “starve the beast” campaign – by which they mean to eviscerate the government by taking away as much revenue as they can.

Starving the beast has been the biggest bait and switch con game that has ever been perpetrated on the American people. And the most tragic.

As Paul Krugman pointed out, Republicans offered popular tax cuts so that they could later cut popular government programs “as a necessity.” Oh, we’d love to continue providing low cost, effective medical care under Medicare, but you see, the country just can’t afford it … Of course we can’t. Billionaire hedge fund managers and Wall Street traders pay less in taxes than their secretaries. And most corporations pay little or no taxes.

Starve the Beast was coupled with a clever campaign to make government appear to be a collection of bumbling bureaucrats who wasted tax money for pure pleasure. Long after it became politically impossible to stereotype racial and ethnic groups (with the possible exceptions of Muslims) it was – and is – quite acceptable to characterize government workers as shiftless, lazy and incompetent.

As a result, once the Republicans succeeded in cutting government revenue to the bone and beyond, it became impossible to raise taxes – who wants to give any more of their hard earned money to a bunch of lazy bureaucrats?

Never mind that most big government programs are far more efficient than their private sector equivalents. That’s a mere fact. Can’t let that get in the way of starving the beast.

Bait and switch. Divide and Conquer.

So, after starting with a surplus in 2000, Republicans used two wars, two rounds of tax cuts, and a giant giveaway to big Pharma, to get the country racking up debt like a drunken sailor.

Along comes the Bush recession, and the debt accelerates, and the Republicans declare the debt to be an “emergency” and right on schedule immediately attack popular programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Student loans –and virtually anything that doesn’t help the uber rich or the corporations suddenly must be cut if we are to stay solvent.

Never mind that cutting Social Security to balance the budget is like attacking the mailman because your car doesn’t work. It has nothing to do with the budget – but again, that’s a mere fact. When you’re drowning the beast, facts don’t matter.

So OK. The beast is drowned. Keynes is dead. Now what?

Well, if past is prologue, welcome to the next Great Depression.

See, the dirty little secret is that we never had a debt “crisis.” We had a jobs crisis.

While Republicans were arguing about the faux “crisis” and the press and Obama joined them, we got a series of disturbing economic signals. Consumer confidence was down, manufacturing was off, May and June’s job numbers were pathetic. In fact, if not for a hiring binge by McDonald’s there would have been a net job loss in May. That’s something to hang your hat on: McDonalds accounted for what little job growth there was. What’s next, America gets saved by an uptick in Wall Mart greeters?

Look. This whole drown the beast strategy has been nothing more than a stealth tactic for instituting an extremist version of a laissez faire, market uber-alles policy designed by and for the Plutocracy.

And to be sure, it’s worked great for them. Today, the richest 1% owns 40% of the nation's wealth, and the top 10% owns nearly 75% of it.

The rest of us? Not so much.

Income and wealth inequality in the US has been increasing rapidly since Reagan, (with a slight break under Clinton). In terms of income inequality, the US now ranks about the same as Ivory Coast, Uganda and Cameroon – countries not exactly noted for being prosperous, equitable and just societies.

News flash for all the debt mongers, Tea Partiers and other assorted ignoramuses. You can’t run a consumer-based economy when the vast majority of consumers don’t have enough money to buy anything. After all, Paris Hilton can only buy so many yachts; Corporate CEOs can only purchase so many jetliners – even with their special jet tax credits; and Wall Street traders can only buy so many Bugattis. But middle and working class Americans need to spend their money on food, lodging, and other necessities.

Here’s the dirty little secret: Republicans want the economy to fail. They want Obama to fail, and they don’t care who gets hurt in the process. They want these things, because the beast is in the bathtub and they can almost taste its demise.

The pieces are in place for the Plutocrats final victory … an industry friendly Supreme Court; a Democratic Party that is either in collusion with the plutocrats, or so cowardly as to be neutered; a press that reports outlandish lies and objective facts as if they were equivalent; and a public that is dazed and confused and convinced the government is their enemy.

But government isn’t the enemy. Laissez faire economic policies are. Every time we’ve tried them, they've produced profound income inequalities and the severe economic downturns that inevitably follow.

With private industry sitting on top of some $2 trillion in profits, exporting jobs, and shutting down plants, only government spending stood between us and an economic Armageddon.

Now, nothing does.

So, congratulations, America. You’ve finally gotten big bad gubmint off your back.

Enjoy the coming Great Depression.

Attached Images

 

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DdC

X amount needed for the infrastructure and daily living. Rich sheltered their responsibility = workers pay. Nothing going to the safety nets, nothing circulated locally, again workers end up paying. 10 years of tax breaks to create jobs and stimulate the economy was the same lie we said it was when Reagan said it. Stupid or afraid or greedy, uncaring and spoiled like Qerry. GOP started two wars @ $2 trillion and no tax increase to pay for it. The money going to no bid contract piss tasting corporations with several war mongers profiting, no investigations? Forget the Rich, Eat the GOP and their ConPromising Appeasers! The Neocons are fiscally liberal and socially conservative. Their version of Southern Babletist Neoconfederate Khristzionity has no problem with the Military enforcing religious laws. Better dead than drugged. Women and kids, seen but not heard, to the back of the bus, minorities can walk. The more consumer dollars they remove from states and the more government tax money they keep from states. The more power they have and the less power the people have. Buying from international corporations or taxing service workers or prohibition gives the Neocons agenda a reality most believe can't happen here.



“Nickel & Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America”
Barbara Ehrenreich on the Job Crisis & Wealth Gap

What is it going to mean to you if you have no job now?" says our guest, Barbara Ehrenreich, who has just published the 10th anniversary edition of her book "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America." In the book, Ehrenreich tells the story of life in low-wage America and tries to earn a living working as a waitress, hotel maid, nursing home aide and Wal-Mart associate. Ten years later, she compares the current situation of low-income U.S. workers to "third-world levels of poverty." continued, includes rush transcript



Cargill Meat Recall Heightens Fears
Budgets Cuts Will Weaken Oversight, Threaten Public Health

Secretive Corporate-Legislative Group ALEC
Holds Annual Meeting to Rewrite State Laws



New Exposé Tracks ALEC Private Prison Industry
Effort to Replace Unionized Workers with Prison Labor

ALEC: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests In State Legislatures May 16
PFAW's latest Right Wing Watch In Focus looks at the American Legislative Exchange Council, a right-wing policy group that funnels pro-corporate legislation to the states at the expense of citizens whose rights and interests are sold off to the highest bidder. continued...

Kochaine A.L.E.C. Drug Detention Centers
$72,000.00 a head... Tax paid Teabogs...



Ganjawar: Slave Labor, Rape & Pillage Deterrent
At the same time, the United States blasts China for the the use of prison slave labor, engaging in the same practice itself. Prison labor is a pot of gold. No strikes, union organizing, health benefits, unemployment insurance or workers' compensation to pay.

NRA's Mandatory Minimum

The solution is simple. Eat the rich

Neocon Teabogs Really Are "Bloodlusting Terrorists"

Hitting the cartels where it hurts
Gary Johnson’s OpEd in The Washington Times

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John F. Kerry

sorry to interrupt your guyses circle jerk of spurrious and "fast and easy" facts.

if you want some insight into the expansion of the wellfare state over the last half century, give this a read.

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~i...les/wp2000.pdf

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Nasa under Obama

DdC

teabagging
April 13, 2009 Urban Word of the Day

The insertion of one man's sack into another person's mouth. Used a practical joke or prank, when performed on someone who is asleep, or as a sexual political act.

To have a man insert his scrotum into another person's mouth in the fashion of a teabag into a mug with an up/down (in/out) motion.

Some basic Teabagging participation rules JFQ edited by DdC

1: Participants have to be very low income (preferably on welfare). Participants believe they are owed it, take what ya can get, but no responsibility to contribute. Too lazy to work or too afraid to speak out for living wages and safe work environments. These they protest. Then cry about others getting fair wages. Bank on the lottery to by pass the middle class. Inbred at least three generations.

2: Participants have to be avid Fox News watchers (this makes certain the participants are brainwashed to the extent of being borderline retarded)
Update: they crossed the border!

3: Participants have to be Neoconfederates, closed minds, material worshipping, selfish, empty souls. Addicted to obedience, nonrenewable toxic materials and killing babies in wars, fake food and pollution. May God have mercy on their calloused hearts.



The Bush Iraq War

How did the U.S. government lead its people to war?

When will they pay back the $Trillion they coerced on lies creating the Iraq war? Down graded to a for profit no bid contract police action. Mission Accomplished. What did Qerry say? Two trillion to Wall St, what did the Neocons say? It's necessary or they will collapse the banks and mass unemployment, falling stock prices. Seems we could have saved the two tril since we're getting it anyway. When jerkoff Neoconjob limbogs and their ass kissing ditzo teabags get exposed for the cowards and frauds they are. How much is seen on Faux Gossip? As it is in the non corporate and International press. Same press who published the protests the American media silenced for the programmed propaganda gimp brains like Qerry sucked up like a dick. Traitors selling out the country for a political party... legislating for international corporations. Wrapped up in the flag burning the Constitution for temporary safety in the name of Liberty. I thought the Dick Armey of Karl's Roving Idiots needed an extra mouth from all the doublespeak. I see now in spite of their lips moving, that they actually are mostly just talking out of their ass. Official Fucking Neo-Assholes of the Universe. Not Qerry, he's a Tea Bag Wahhabist. With enough of our support, maybe they'll Secede. Oh but to have the American Constitution without Religionist Moneyslut classist deadbeats fucking it up. Until then TGIF. Thank Ganja It's Fourtwenty

The Corporate Muzzle

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ionlylooklazy

winter is coming

John F. Kerry

one thing i find pretty interesting about the way you hard core lefties are doing this is

the question of empathy.

it reminds me of one of the lessons robert mcnamera talked about in his movie with errol morris.

but its a common enough concept.

you put yourself in the shoes of the other side, and ask what their concerns are.


.... its just amazing how like totally oblivious the left wing and lsm media has been about attacking tea party people. demonizing them and all the rest, not even the fact that its total hypocrisy and when tons of new black first time voters came out to vote for obama that was something they celebrated and were so joyous about... but when it comes to republican grass roots support, its just demonized and laughed at and all the rest...

and then the empathy thing, its like, what do u think these tea party people want? do they want america to suck? um... hmm...what do u think? do they want us to lose ? or for people to have low wages? or for poor people to suffer? or for old people to not have care?

clearly no. but yet, the main stream media and democrats across the board have felt that they only way to deal with a massive grass roots outpouring against their liberal wellfare expansion and debt madness is to demonize those people and to be able to therefore set aside their concerns and talk about hateful and demonizing things rather than the issue.

like a good person trys to see what the other side is thinking, and to play to the better angels of each persons nature...which most reasonable people do, dem or rep (but literally no one on msnbc and most of the main stream media who are out of touch liberal elite whores basically) but most moderate or semi liberal or semi conservative people, they care about everyone, and they want whats best for everyone, the idea that most tea party people are against their neighbor who happens to be a union member, or whatever, is absurd.

its kinda like what i do on here where i recognize the problems they cause but also am happy for people who i like that they have well paying jobs . etc etc. so... the question of raising taxes or changing the system isnt really even the issue-

the way the ultra liberals present it is that all tea party people are trying to fight tooth and nail to save the rich people...which again, is absurd. most tea party people arent and never will be rich, and they just want to make america sustainble and sucessful again... and they recognize, like most reasonable people do, that the entitlements we have in our society are a huge problem, especially down the line, so reforming them for younger people is absolutely essential and , even if we do raise some taxes eventually, will need to be done, or else the entire system , for all, will collapse.


so how is that position turned into "tea baggery" and pictures of cheney as alice in wonderland and all the other absurd ridiculous shit that ddc posts all the time? like these people site in some room and imagine the whole world is out to get them- or maybe they benefit financially from selling it to retards, i dunno... but its like, all you have to do is do what most normal caring people do anyway, liberal or conservative, democrat or republican, which is, at least some times, try to put yourself in the shoes of the other side- if only to see if maybe your motivations and theirs are more similar than you might have thought, and the results you both want are pretty close too.

i think both sides are guilty of it. but it really is remarkable how the ultra bias of the nytimes and msnbc and the other liberal elites, and then it filters down to some of u like ddc... like how its just such a standby for "objective" and "neutral" but really is just totally partisan shill work to demonize the other side. the tea party are not terrorists, or wahhabists, or extremists, they are like regular joes who are going "obvious budget problem is obvious" and just wondering how much longer these senators and reps can draw their 150k a year and live in their golden city while the rest of the country just collapses from overburdening debt and a "hate-prosperous people" rhetoric that is totally opposite to what bill clinton did and turns off like 3/4s of people, and causes the economy to suffer because you demonize people who really only want to work, grow the economy, hire people ,and spend more- exactly what you purport to want, but instead stifle. ////BLEHHH

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Nasa under Obama

Bad dog

economics is pretty simple. if you spend more than you make, you will go bust.
governments have been spending more than they make for 30 years now.
as the debts became bigger, they needed to borrow more just to service the debt.

consumerism does not work. capitolism is over. there will be a period of unstability and war followed by a new system.

and i can assure that in the new system all drugs will be legal.

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this is where i live

mothernature

All this talk about entitlements, but what are we really talking about? Old people, health care, disability, food stamps? education?

So, ok, we cut these entitlements out. What happens to the old people? the disabled? the poor? the children?

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Sometimes sleep is the best revenge- Luke

Stonie Jo

We should be rioting.

*I am not suggesting any sort of violent actions. But if anybody should be rioting it should be us.

I wish there was some way "We the people" could step up and do the shit that needs to be done here and just send all the politicians home.

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I've thought of something cool a thousand times for this but as I sit here stoned right now I can't come up with any of them............

The Rev

If we see this unemployment problem continue, you might get your wish.

There really is no rich and poor, after all, but what a set of rules about property tell us. The poor agree to these rules so long as the rich provide certain things (like jobs and entitlement programs) that the poor need for security. When the rich start cutting back on these things, watch out, regardless of whether it's their choice to do so. I think the bank bailout was the last straw for some people; and unemployment certainly is for many more.

You take it much further, and people start to say, "Fuck those property rules! They don't help me, and I'm in trouble, so fuck it, I'm just taking what I need/want."



The Rev

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Roach

We should be. But don't forget why America has such huge military presence inside America. The "new world order" predicted civil unrest. It's why the international trade meetings are always backed by the military. Have a riot in america, or even just a huge protest, and you find the national guard and militarized police being called up.

A civil uprising in America needs to be a class war. The only way the poor/disadvantaged have a shot, is to vote the wealthy out of power. I agree that there needs to be a 20 million man/woman march on government institutions like washington and state capitols, as I see way to little of the "little" people voicing their opinions. And entirely too much political bantering from those in power. The system must change in the direction of the masses.
But like I said before violence gets attention, letters to congressmen do not.

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OldMan&TheWeed

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Nintey-three percent of what I say is brilliant, factual information and seven percent is complete bullshit. Have fun deciding which is which.

kamikazi89

and here we are about to send food aid to somalia ..where are our priorities?

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katie west is the best

John F. Kerry

^ it is pretty funny how obama is so invisible on important matters but when it comes to famine in east africa he can spring into action and drop 105 million in about a second.

thats 1/30th of the fatcat taxes he wanted to collect. so we already have only 29/30ths of it left to spend on fixing our problems....and the next thing obama thinks is bright and shiny he'll spend another 20% of it, and before you know it, all we'll need is to just raise taxes a little more on the fatcats.

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Nasa under Obama

kamikazi89

well, some of us happen to believe famine is an important matter, at least more important then making Libya safe for oil exportation or selling weapons all over the globe...or hosting $38,000 a plate dinners

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katie west is the best

Stonie Jo

Dude, I'm saying ALL politicians!! Yours, mine, theirs....ALL of them - they ALL suck!! I don't know enough of politics to argue any position but I can see when we are all being fucked!! And I for one am sick of it!! Blame ALL of them! (I say this with the greatest of urgence and not in a mad way, OK?)

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I've thought of something cool a thousand times for this but as I sit here stoned right now I can't come up with any of them............

kamikazi89

i don't hate the tea baggers, but the refusal of the self described tea partiers in the House to compromise on tax REFORM in exchange for greater cuts in spending then they will ever be able to accomplish on their own still leaves me in shock...
& i am in no way shape or form against "starving the beast"..tops on my list is defense spending and corporate welfare(which are one in the same when u think about it)

oh, and the reason there isn't any rioting going on now is because of the social safety net, abundance of food, television and gadgets

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katie west is the best

Dr. Nick Nasty

Welcome to the Second Gilded Age and the Crumbling of the First American Empire (the Republic died with Reagan). Get angry.

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BudSniffer

We oughtta do like some of the folks in Europe, everyone strike. Say we ain't movin' until some major things are changed, like immediately, not in next years congress....all congress takes a major pay cut, if you really want to serve the people prove it, if you don't get out! No perks for congress or the prez, all aid to foreign countries cut immediately, all pet projects killed immediately, no more damn highways, brigdes etc named after a sorry ass politicians...etc

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"Nobody thinks the way that I do, I guess nobody dares. My head's so full of things, I set my mind free of them. I'm breaking the rules, breaking all the rules. " -Ozzy Osbourne

Roach

another number you pulled from your ass ?

now multiply it by thirty years , then subtract 10 trillion in Bush 2's created debt.

Then subtract the interest on bushies spending like a nigger on payday.

the result is a balanced budget and less than 2 billion in debt.

What's that ?
Oh yea, that's right, you're republican...it MUST be Obama's fault.

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