This terrible habit's so damn ancient. Whenever the economy hits a bump we decide the gods must be displeased, so we starve and beat our body politic like penitents, scourging ourselves to appease the flying spaghetti monster.
It's not just the crazy Tea Partiers: local pols across the nation are spreading their fear in order to gut public projects in the name of virtue....Congress and Obama able to do no better than the tax-breaks-for-unemployment trade...pointless cruel national deficit hawks given all the airtime they want.. our motherfucking Tim Eyman resurgent for the millionth time....
Happy rainy weekend everyone. To cheer myself up I'm off to watch that movie where James Franco cuts off his own arm ONLY BECAUSE HE REALLY TRULY HAS TO.
Everyone knows that if you cut taxes, it raises revenue. Sure, it doesn't work, but we know it anyway. Ronald Reagan said it was true (even if he did end up raising taxes when he saw it was a disaster) so it must be true.
@5, I'm no expert, but reading the squabbles between those who seem to be, only a truly massive stimulus could have lofted us up out of the recession with the speed necessary to save us from this inevitable resurgence of the Chicken Little faction at the local and national levels. (The long-term impact on the deficit would have been just fine - powering a quick recovery does wonders for the expense-to-GDP ratio, i.e., what Krugman said a million times.)
While it's true the recessionary effects are lifting, it's happening suuuper slowly - for years we'll still have plenty of panic on hand to fuel the rise of the new crop of fearmongering careerists.
Obama coulda done an FDR for us, but instead he's pulled a Hoover, and fashionistas on the right and the left are following suit.
@5,
You could replace "Obama" with the name of pretty much any politician, or pretty much anyone at ALL in this country.
Our society is absolutely steeped in the "consequence-free, instant-gratification" mode all the time. Capitalism only flourishes if people constantly spend money, regarless of whether they actually have any money to spend or not.
Gloomy Gus @5: Shut up already, even if you are 98% correct. I cannot believe the few remaining Obama-maniacs who still think he's Hope and Change personified. I want whatever drugs -they- are on.
What I don't really get is that everyone knows politicians are all liars, yet everyone believes the shit they say again and again and again.
It's like politicians have learned the Jedi mind trick or something.
"These aren't the droids you're looking for."
"These aren't the droids we're looking for."
"I will balance the budget and restore the economy."
"He will balance the budget and restore the economy."
I wonder if politicians are just really good practiced liars before they ever get into office, or if they magically turn into liars upon getting elected?
We have our version of the Tea Party in Seattle. They're not as ridiculous as the rural/suburban version, but they still follow the same dumb practices: For example, the Conlin/Burgess faction of the city council, who repealed the $25 head tax last year, raising the city's deficit another $5 million, and who oppose parking increases.
Maybe he is like Reagan Dunn, republican King County, and cant tell the difference between a positive number and a negative number in a budget. It's the numbers in ( )'s that you gotta look out for, dose are the negative ones fellas.
Halfway through the article are a couple paragraphs less melliferous to progressive ears:
Mr. Mangano got rid of the energy tax. But he never came up with offsetting spending cuts. That sets him apart from Republicans elected in New Jersey and in Westchester County last year, who have warred with unions and made painful cuts in services.
Indeed, while Mr. Mangano was a beneficiary of an anti-incumbent taxpayer revolt, he was something of an insider, with 14 years in the county legislature and friendly relations with union leaders.
The basic story here is that the Tea Party was nothing more than a well-funded rebranding effort by the Republican Party to make their base forget that they really believe in all the policies of George W Bush.
It's not just the crazy Tea Partiers: local pols across the nation are spreading their fear in order to gut public projects in the name of virtue....Congress and Obama able to do no better than the tax-breaks-for-unemployment trade...pointless cruel national deficit hawks given all the airtime they want.. our motherfucking Tim Eyman resurgent for the millionth time....
Happy rainy weekend everyone. To cheer myself up I'm off to watch that movie where James Franco cuts off his own arm ONLY BECAUSE HE REALLY TRULY HAS TO.
Enjoy your movie gus, I hear there's fapping, so that ought to improve your mood...
While it's true the recessionary effects are lifting, it's happening suuuper slowly - for years we'll still have plenty of panic on hand to fuel the rise of the new crop of fearmongering careerists.
Obama coulda done an FDR for us, but instead he's pulled a Hoover, and fashionistas on the right and the left are following suit.
You could replace "Obama" with the name of pretty much any politician, or pretty much anyone at ALL in this country.
Our society is absolutely steeped in the "consequence-free, instant-gratification" mode all the time. Capitalism only flourishes if people constantly spend money, regarless of whether they actually have any money to spend or not.
It's like politicians have learned the Jedi mind trick or something.
"These aren't the droids you're looking for."
"These aren't the droids we're looking for."
"I will balance the budget and restore the economy."
"He will balance the budget and restore the economy."
I wonder if politicians are just really good practiced liars before they ever get into office, or if they magically turn into liars upon getting elected?
(mine always look funny, sigh...)
Expect more. Much more.
SAVE US JEEBUS!