The inmates are running the asylum

[Deb Della Piana]

In November of 2008, there was a mandate for change. The Republicans were resoundingly voted out of power, largely because the economy was in the tank and the American public had no confidence that the GOP could get us out. In fact, it's pretty clear that the Republicans – led by George Bush – got us into this mess. Someone, then, should remind the Democrats that they are allowing the inmates to run the asylum. There is not one good reason for the Republicans (and their cowardly centrist tag-alongs) to be leading the charge and calling the shots on the economy. They've had their chance and failed miserably. There's also no good reason for the GOP to gut this stimulus bill. It's all about power politics and nothing more.

Hey, no offense to President Obama, but if the American people thought for one single minute that John McCain and his band of Republican know-nothings had the answer, McCain would be residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the Republicans would be in the majority. Instead, McCain's back in the Senate playing politics with wide-mouth Lindsey Graham while the American people continue to suffer. Make no bones about it. The Democrats are allowing this to continue. Let's cut to the chase. The Republicans have become so desperate to remain relevant that they are now looking to 'intellectuals' like factually-challenged Rush Limbaugh and rabid pundit Michelle Malkin for direction. Imagine having these two as the repository of all knowledge for your political party? Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Not that John McCain has much more to offer. He has once again shown that the Republicans have absolutely no clue what they are doing. After listening to his whining, grating voice over the past couple of days, it's no surprise that our economy is in the gutter and it's no surprise that he lost the election. So, what we have here is a teaching opportunity: All you members of the GOP, listen up! A “spending bill” and a “stimulus package” are one and the same thing. The premise is that in order to stimulate the economy, you have to spend money. Got that? Now, what the Republicans want is not a stimulus bill. What they want is more tax cuts for the rich. They continue to insist that tax cuts are the fastest way to stimulate the economy in spite of the fact there is not one ounce of statistical proof that this is true. What is true is that every single time they've cut taxes, they have failed to stimulate the economy. Why? Because the tax cuts are going to those who already have everything they need. The Bush tax cuts to the top 1% earners that John McCain now wants to make permanent have done absolutely nothing. Since these tax cuts have taken effect, the economy has continued to deteriorate. Can you identify any visible stimulus to the economy as a result of these taxes? Good. Because nobody else can either. So, the question is, how many more pieces of useless legislation does this government want to offer up to a frustrated (and angry) American public?

In a twisted effort to entice the Republicans to get on board and make this a bi-partisan bill, the Democrats have sold out the American people. What started out as a fairly strong (although not perfect) stimulus bill now includes 42% in tax cuts (non-stimulus activity). That's a sell out. And, guess what? The Republicans aren't satisfied with that either. They want to gut the bill even more. One of the absurd areas they want to cut back on is food stamps. Let's just look at that for a moment. If there's one thing that will stimulate spending, it's food. Why? Because people need it and the poor and middle class need more than what they are now able to provide for their families. Giving them food stamps is a guaranteed stimulus. In fact, for every $1.00 spent on food, $1.73 is put back into the economy. How can the Republicans justify cutting food stamps?

Senators like Lindsey Graham and John McCain continue to prove that their time has come and gone. They should be put out to pasture. They are political dinosaurs who care nothing about the plight of the American people. Don't kid yourself. This GOP whining and complaining isn't about being able to afford this stimulus bill. It isn't about good economics vs. bad economics, or about responsible vs. irresponsible spending. It's about politics. The Republicans can ill afford to have Barack Obama's fiscal policies succeed if they want to use the 2010 mid-term elections as a referendum on his new administration's performance. Lest you doubt that assertion, consider the other areas where we have been irresponsibly spending.

Can we afford the Iraq war at a $12 billion a month? No. In fact, our free pouring of money into the black hole known as Iraq has been a primary cause of our economic condition. I don't see any Republicans standing up and suggesting that we slow down funding for the war to debate whether or not we can really afford the $3 trillion tab we're going to end up with. And please, let's not use that old Republican argument that war stimulates the economy. Take a good look around. We've been in the quagmire known as Iraq since 2003, and the economy has done nothing but spiral downward. The only people benefiting from the Iraq war are Haliburton, KBR and Blackwater.

Could we afford the $700 billion bailout we asked the taxpayers to foot to save the corrupt and greedy financial industry? That didn't stop George Bush and Hank Paulson from coming to Capitol Hill with their hands out, and it didn't stop the Republican led 110th Congress from giving them what they wanted with no strings attached, no change in behavior asked for and no checks and balances required. Yet the Republicans have a problem when it comes to bailing out the American people. That's rich, isn't it? Suddenly, their watchword is fiscal responsibility. They are a disgrace. Lindsey Graham's assertion that the current stimulus bill will not pass public scrutiny is pure bunk. The Republicans, my friends, have already failed in the arena of public scrutiny. They are no longer in charge, and they are no longer in charge because of the economy, stupid. I'm a political junkie and I can't remember the last time Lindsey Graham had anything positive to offer the American people. He simply takes up valuable oxygen in a room.

According to Pulitzer Prize Winner Paul Krugman, Washington “has lost any sense of what's at stake – of the reality that we may well be falling into an economic abyss, and that if we do, it will be very hard to get out again.” So, yes, by all means, let's just give the Republicans what they want and slow this process down. Let's take a breath. After all, the privileged lawmakers don't have to worry about choosing between paying the electric bill and buying food for their children. They want to “get this right,” and their idea of getting it right is 'tax cuts.' In the meantime, Nissan announced yesterday that it will lay off 20,000 workers. General Motors announced today that it is cutting 10,000 salaried workers. The economy dumped more than half a million jobs in January. The number was about the same in December. And what I really want the Republicans to do is get up on that Senate floor today and explain in detail to the American people how their tax cuts are going to create jobs. I bet the explanation will be fascinating.

Creating jobs and stimulating the economy is not rocket science but – in spite of this – it does appear to be out of the grasp of most of the GOP. So, here are some basic economic facts for dummies: There is supply, but not demand, so the idea is to get people to spend money. Therefore, you put the money into the hands of the people who need the goods the most. And those people are the poor and middle class. The only reason they haven't been spending on necessary goods is that they don't have enough money. Then comes part two. The economy gets stimulated and jobs are created by the government spending money. Some of this investment is in public works projects. I don't think anybody can argue that our country's infrastructure is in serious need of work. Our roads and bridges are in dismal shape from years of inattention and lack of funding due to the vast amounts of money diverted to George Bush's war in Iraq, by the billions of dollars in tax cuts to the rich that took stimulus money out of circulation, and by the bloated Pentagon budget.

While the Republicans are whining about the stimulus bill not being bi-partisan, let's remember that the Democrats gave in and allowed $70 billion to protect the wealthier earners from increased taxes that would otherwise be levied against them. While crazy John McCain continues to assert that tax cuts are the way to stimulate the economy, the more knowledgeable and non-partisan Government Accounting Office asserts that the $70 billion will do little to create jobs. The Republicans have been given an opportunity to become part of the solution and, instead, they have chosen to continue to be part of the problem. It's time for the Democrats put their collective foot down, find a way to grow a spine and stand up to these fools masquerading as public servants. Expose them for what they are: Obstructionists who are willing to sabotage effective policy and sell out the American people for political gain. They've overstayed their welcome, and it's time to vote the rest of them out of office in 2010. However, let me remind the 111th Congress – a Democratic majority – that they were voted into power to make change, not to “make nice.” And yes, it was a mandate to make those changes with or without the Republicans in tow. If they don't want to be part of the solution, cut them out of the process because time is running out.

[wagelaborer]

The very wealthy became more wealthy in the last 30 years. Reagan cut their taxes and attacked the working class, lowering wages, thereby increasing profits.
What did the rich do with their excess wealth? Did they invest in more productive capacity, as advertised? Kind of. Just not in this country. They moved productive factories to even cheaper labor countries. The rest they gambled. Like dissolute playboys, or oil shieks, who drop millions of dollars at the blackjack tables in Las Vegas, but they did it in the stock market and the hedge funds.
And the clueless American working class, ever more poor, worked longer hours and sent parents to work, including parents of newborns. I wouldn't separate a puppy from its mom before 8 weeks, but most American mothers are back at work within 6 weeks.
Watching the rich get richer on Wall Street, working class Americans were convinced to join the party. How pathetic. We weren't really invited to the party, just invited to help pay for it. To this day, most of my co-workers still believe that their 401Ks will someday rebound. Notice that there is NO talk of reimbursing the billions of dollars missing from 401Ks. Nope. Didn't you read the fine print? Past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
But if you're wealthy, you just pay the Congress to hand over the Treasury.
And the housing bubble, put into place to save the economy after billions were lost in the dot com bubble? Yes, it was stupid for Americans to take out second mortgages for vacations, and four-wheelers, but only they are paying now. The bankers who enticed them, (and my bank, for instance, had posters of Tahiti right by the clerk's windows, to encourage me to borrow) are being rewarded with billions of dollars.
We need infrastructure, but not more roads. Remember global warming? Remember peak oil? We need to invest in public transportation and sustainable energy production.
We have more problems than the collapse of the economy. Our ecosystem is also collapsing. Can we not hold two ideas in our head at the same time?
The solution to both problems is the same. Figure out a more sustainable form of organizing our society and then put ourselves to work building it.
And the right wingers are scary. I don't listen directly to talk radio. I hear it second hand from the right wing Christians I work with. They are stockpiling weapons and ammunition, just waiting for the downturn.
They won't use the weapons as long as they have jobs, I know that. But, if they don't, we're toast. Because they aren't angry at the ruling class. They're angry at liberals, welfare mothers, minorities, gays and lesbians and that's who they are ready to kill.

[janice blodgett]

Lately I’ve been consuming as much conservative media as possible (interspersed with TUMS ) to get a better sense of the mind and mood of the right. My read: They feel isolated, angry, betrayed and besieged. And some of their “leaders” seem to be trying to mold them into militias.



At first, it was entertaining — just harmless, hotheaded explosions. Of course, there were the garbled facts, twisted logic and veiled hate speech. But what did I expect, fair and balanced? The distortions can be mildly amusing at first, but if I stay too long it makes me sick and I pop another TUM .

But, it’s not all just harmless talk. For some, their disaffection has hardened into something more dark and dangerous. They’re talking about a revolution.

Some with loaded language about the fall of the Republic. We have to “rise up” and “take back our country.” Others have been much more explicit.



Chuck Norris, wrote earlier this month on the conservative blog WorldNetDaily: “How much more will Americans take? When will enough be enough? And, when that time comes, will our leaders finally listen or will history need to record a second American Revolution?”