My Republican friends are all trending toward Conspiracy Theories to explain what happened and what is happening to the US economy. The party of wealth creation and free markets presided over the greatest wealth destruction in a century, and there must be some explanation. It couldn't happen without some invisible hand. Whose could it be?
The military industrial complex? Mostly Republican. The bankers. Republican. Insurers and financial engineers. Republican. Detroit auto executives? The brainiacs who wanted to hobble government by throttling regulatory capacity. Republican. It is a bad time to be a Republican. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not giving the Democrats a free pass. Far from it.
But to watch the Republican leaders in Congress walk en masse to the evening news microphones and solemnly say what America needs is tax cuts, and to hear their talk show bloviators hope that President Obama fails-- all this, in his first week-- well, it is a performance in spitting sand.
Among wealthy Republicans, who needs a tax cut when stock market losses will dramatically lower their April taxes and in years to come? The rest of America doesn't need a tax cut: America needs jobs, confidence and security. And, for thinking Republicans, cutting taxes at a time of severe recession makes no more sense than cutting taxes in a time of war. Which happened, of course, thanks to their incurious leader, George W. Bush.
To my Republican friends: don't turn your back on President Obama and his administration's efforts; necessary responses to emergencies your policies triggered. Yes I know Robert Rubin and President Clinton did Wall Street's work in the 1990's. But the wheels came off the wagon when you were at the wheel; you just look worse for denial. If you are going to be the minority party, the party of opposition, then stand for something constructive along the lines of reviving the economy by supporting new industries and, above all, transparency and accountability in the disposition of a trillion dollars or more of future obligations to taxpayers. Don't whine about the nationalization of industries, when it was your party's policies that so badly miscalculated risk. Abjure the fraud and corruption that took over financial markets. Reject the K Street Project.
I wonder what percentage of private jets hiding in hangers belong to Republicans. There are no escape routes for 99 percent of Americans from the peril we are in. Think about it: if the Democrats fail-- as you apparently hope they will-- the GOP could inherit an even greater mess than the one we are in. Cutting taxes is going to be the last thing on anyone's mind should that happen. So. Mess up your hair styles. Loosen your ties. And look contrite for a change. To err is human, to forgive is divine.
14 comments:
You have "Republican Friends"?
Gimleteye writes:
Some of my best friends are Republican! :)
and G.o.D. says my posts are predictable?
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I compare the last 8 years to getting a car stolen.
The Republicans stole my country 8 years ago and took it for a joy ride. 4 years ago, even though I knew who had my country, the Republicans threatened me and my family with bodily harm (terrorists) if they were not re-elected. Finally, after 8 years, I get my country back. Its a mess. My country's been stripped of just about everything. They even stole the change out of my ashtray. And now that I'm trying to get my country back to its original condition, we have the best mechanic we could find to do the job. There's not enough money to totally fix my country, but we'll do the best we can. And you can bet that when the Republicans look at my country in 4 years, they'll blame the mechanic that it doesn't look as good as it did 8 years ago, even though they are the criminals that illegally stole it in the first place.
I don't mind people being Republican. What I mind are people that blindly follow Bush and Co. I have no time or patience for these people while Iraqis are murdered and our soldiers die. When the only issue these people care about is abortion or Cuba, they need to realize that the last administration placed little value on a human life. They just told you whatever you wanted to hear to get whatever they wanted.
So, in short, some of my best friends are Republican, but I have no tolerance for a Bush supporter. (Unless you have an extremely low IQ.)
Only a blind fool would vote for the Obama bill as written. Is there no person still living who remembers the inflation of the 1980s? Obama is proposing to spend non existent money, printed money, on projects that the Congressional Budget Office will not stimulate the economy and will drive inflation in the near term.
Tax cuts and smaller government, in contrast, keeps money in the consumer's hands and eliminates the bureaucratic waste that is a necessary part of tax collection.
Obama's stimulus package needs to fail.
I find it amazing that people who have lived through the last 8 terrible years still are the great know nothing party. Being one of the rich (still) I know Obama's program will cost me money, but I want it anyway because it might save my Country. At least I will give it a chance before I say anything about it. And yes most of my friends are Republicans ,but I forgive them because to them their money comes first. The post was excellent and right on the money.
I also appreciated Anon speaking of having a car stolen. Very good.
I loved the Carter years. 20% interest, great for my cash!
"mess up your hair" ..good one.
This is the first friggin step and everyone is yelling. It's all they know how to do, yell.
The US has become one giant shovel ready project.
Your cumulative financial IQs are in rthe single digits.
1- Yes we had double digit interest rates during the Crater (mis) administration but we also had double digit inflation nullifying savings and investments.
2-Mensa (thats a joke right?) the Obama "stimulus" will not only cost you money it will cost me and millions of others many of whom aren't even sperm cells yet.
Gimleteye
3 You view the world through partisan glasses "Among wealthy Republicans, who needs a tax cut when stock market losses will dramatically lower their April taxes and in years to come?" wealthy Republicans aren't the only ones that are going to be paying higher taxes if Obama fullfills his promise to raise capital gains tax rate.
4-" The rest of America doesn't need a tax cut: America needs jobs, confidence and security." Something every politician since Julius Cesar has promised. GimlEteye security does not exist the only thing a politician from either party can give you is the mere illussion of security, who do you think creates PRODUCTIVE jobs? Surely not the government, and without productive jobs were just like a bunch of hamsters running on a wheel.
5-"And, for thinking Republicans, cutting taxes at a time of severe recession makes no more sense than cutting taxes in a time of war. Which happened, of course, thanks to their incurious leader, George W. Bush." It should not only be about cutting taxes it should also be about cutting government down to size something NEITHER party has the COJONES to do. Funny how were all supposed to just follow Obama like automatons, but when it comes to JWB its "their incurious leader. "
Personnally I think GWB and BHK are both power hungry aholes.
my recession battered 2 cents; keep the change.
Watch CSPAN. The debate is good, and needed. It plays out a bit better than watching the nightly pissing contest on CNN.
I am grateful that they are scrutinizing it.I believe, in the end, it will be to Obama's advantage and we will all be better served....Republican who voted for the "O".
Since 2/3rds of the budget is for the military (not including the off-the-book appropriations for the two occupations/wars) I guess the anon pushing for smaller government is calling for a down-sizing of the military.
Pick up a high school economics book and read the chapter on John Maynard Keynes
Don't worry, the "peace dividend" is just around the corner. Just like every Democrat before him, Mr. Obama will grow non-essential government spending and short-change the military. The liberals will canonize him and the terrorists will laugh, then plot. For a new era, it is all too predictable.
Republicans only have four issues guns, homos, stem cells, and abortion and none of those were mentioned in the stimulus.
I think the Republicans going nuts like they have, has disrupted the balance of the republican and democratic party.
Like, even if you didn't like Reagan and Newt Gingrich they brought balance to the universe of American politics, so that neither party could completely take over.
But the Republicans have reduced themselves to four issues that don't matter. They don't even care about their old economic policies anymore. Well, they can't. Because it has been proven they won't work in a global world. That their lack of regulation has created empires within empires. That's what the phrase "too big to fail" means. It means that a corporation has gotten so huge they are like they are mini state and government, and if they fail, it would be like a good sized in the Caribbean island's government collapsing.
Just FYI, The Republican party is not the party of free markets. They are the party of facist Mercantialism (ie, control of businesses by the state). There hasn't been a free market Economy in the US since the days of Thomas Jefferson.
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