Friday, March 5, 2010

GOP Obstructionism is the plan by Rich Republicans

Quotes from WashingonIndependent.Com
Sen. Jim Bunning’s (R-Ky.) recent one-man stand against legislation extending unemployment benefits offered a high-profile airing of a popular GOP message: Deficit spending, in almost any form, will cause more harm than good to a fragile economy.

Standing in the way of the Republicans’ reasoning, however, has been another formidable group: budget experts. Most are urging additional, though temporary, deficit spending as the surest way to tackle the jobs crisis and prevent the economy from slipping back into recession. It hasn’t helped the GOP’s argument that a good number of them are fiscal conservatives.

Few observers, for example, would accuse David M. Walker of being a liberal spendthrift. Indeed, the former U.S. comptroller general has spent most of the last decade forging a personal crusade against deficit spending. Yet last week — on the same day that Bunning, a Hall of Fame baseball pitcher known more for his curveball than his economic insights, initiated his drive against fiscal imprudence — Walker wrote in Politico that “a focus on jobs now is consistent with addressing our deficit problems ahead.”

“A huge recession can yield a huge deficit,” Walker, now head of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which advocates for balanced budgets, wrote in an op-ed co-authored by Lawrence Mishel, president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute. “Though a concern, most of the recent short-term rise in the deficit is understandable. Furthermore, public spending can help compensate for the fall in private spending, and help stem the pain of substantial job losses.”

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, agrees. Zandi, an adviser to Sen. John McCain during the Arizona Republican’s 2008 run at the White House, has urged lawmakers in recent weeks “to be aggressive” in tackling the continuing jobs crisis, which has left nearly a fifth of the nation’s working population without a job or underemployed.
“If we have another recession, we will have no policy response,” Zandi told a House panel last week. “We have to err on the side of doing too much.”

The message from the experts is clear: If you think adding $10 billion to the deficit is dangerous to future economic growth, wait ‘til you see what happens when millions of unemployed folks, denied access to a government safety net, slash their consumption (at best) and foreclose on their homes (at worst).
http://washingtonindependent.com/78288/gops-deficit-crusade-faces-opposition-from-fiscal-hawks

The only reason these Obstructionist Republicans are against Deficit spending is because they are Rich and can last out this recession during a slow recovery. That is not considering the fact that if they go back into control of Government they will do the same mindless thing all over again and destroy the economy. They are like a one trick pony, have Tax Cuts for themselves and their Rich friends while the people they treat as dirt, which is the American People suffer.  Have undisciplined Capitalism and while the Rich reap the rewards the poor suffers by their hand.
They show a total lack of compassion for the country they claim to love and they destroy bits and pieces of it everytime they are in office. We need to see them by their actions not listen to their myriad of lies. The only reason that everything that President Obama has tried has not had the results he wants is because of Republican Obstructionism and even with their mindless fighting the economy is still showing signs of recovery. Think of how much faster it would recover if the Republicans were intelligent enough to help instead of holding the process back with their Obsrtructionist tactics of screaming at everything the President does.
Now they are training armies of insurgent terrorists to form a terrorist resistance. It has already reached possibly epidemic levels of psychosis since Thom Hartmann reported on his radio program that he is not able to buy more than two boxes of ammo to go target practice as everyone is hoarding ammunition, causing the gun shops to regulate sales.

17 comments:

  1. Would you be inordinatley upset if I said "What?"

    I hope not as I do like your blog old bean.

    I am English though.

    'Quotes from WashingonIndependent.Com' was fine, as was 'causing the gun shops to regulate sales.'

    I just have no idea what the middle bit meant.

    Sorry old bean...4D...and keep the upper lip stiff

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  2. Teeluck,
    IMO this parallels the Iraq War, with Repubs lying about WMD and Dems struggling to appear equally stupid. In this case Reps speak of balancing the budget and slashing public spending, and Obama and the rest of the Dems again choose to echo the Repub idiocy.

    In order to fuel Aggregate Demand the govt HAS To deficit spend-the private sector is deeply in debt due to borrowing to keep up the consumption binge due to stagnant wages.

    Automatic stabilizers-unemployment/food stamps/increased SS/lower taxes kicked in to help us thru it, thus the deficit.

    The Federal Budget isn't like some ignorant-ass teabagger trying to balance it's checkbook, it's a series of accounting identities. The govt spends as it needs to, there's no correlation between inflow of taxes and fiscal outflow.

    What these bastards are ultimately gunning for is privatizing SS and probably slashing Medicare deeply. And dipshits will go along because they keep hearing politicians and TV guys talking about the debt. Medicare IS severely underfunded, can be corrected by Single Payer. SS is fully funded-there is nothing wrong that raising the 97K cap won't fix.
    Sorry to rant Tee!

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  3. The Republican's seem to be doing whatever they can to run Obama out of office.
    It seems to me that they really don't give a rats ass about anything except regaining power in the White House.
    Even to the expense of people just trying to get by and have a decent life.

    But I'm Canadian. What do I know??? :P

    ((Hugs))
    Laura

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  4. Dinners, you English bean, alas too many beers is taking it's toll on you...let me translate the middle...
    David M. Walker the former U.S. comptroller general says we need to deficit spend to get out of the slump and fuel future economic growth.

    My advise to you old chum is to switch from beer to Scotch on the Rocks... sometimes a straight Brandy and a cigar will get you to your senses ;)

    Oso, I love the ranting bro, it's what we do. I loved this article, it hit the spot. Now these idiots are saying we have the best Medical care...for the Rich, but ask them how we compare Globally with our Mortality rate or Infant Mortality and they shut up or change the subject.

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  5. It's scary what the division in this country has come to. The right is so stubborn that rather than do what's best, b/c their man isn't the one doing it they'd rather see the everything go down the drain jsut so they can blame it on Obama.

    Sad.... grown ups acting like children.

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  6. Good post, Tee :)

    I've always thought of this recession as an engine block threatening to crack.

    Take the economy - that's the engine. Money is the oil that keeps the moving metal parts lubricated and working in proper order. When the bottom dropped out in September 2008, the block nearly cracked, because the oil stopped flowing through the engine. Money stopped moving nearly completely, and the engine stalled. If the citizenry isn't putting the money/oil into the economy/engine, then the block is going to crack and to the junk yard the engine goes. Some of the citizenry couldn't put money into the economy - they got laid off, and had no money to spend on anything other than the barest of essentials. Some got scared, rightfully so, and wouldn't spend. If the money isn't coming from the private sector, then it has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere by default is the Federal government. If those laid off lose their homes, values continue to drop, because once that foreclosure is recorded at the local courthouse, then the drop in value becomes official. If the laid off don't have some money coming in, they'll end up on the streets eventually, because there are maybe 5 survivalists out in Montana who can live off the land completely. Most people couldn't do that if they knew how, because they live in suburbs with tiny yards and maybe even neighborhood restrictions saying they can't keep a chicken for eggs, or they can't sow a victory garden to feed themselves. Every single thing the republicans have said on this issue (and some of the dems, too) has been so far removed from reality that I begin to wonder if they really exist, or they themselves are characters in a bad novel. So, when those benefits finally run out, and the repubes finally succeed in killing extensions, more will be living in shelters or in their cars (if the car wasn't repo'ed already, that is). And it will continue to degenerate if money doesn't move. That's where the government steps in.

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  7. Bee,
    I believe you're exactly right. Oil's a good analogy for it.

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  8. Not that I necessarily want to defend this character (this, in that he absolutely CAN be a douchebag from time to time) but on this one he may in fact have a point (Chris Matthews evidently thinks he does, too). I don't think that he's necessarily opposed to the legislation here. He just wants it to be paid for. The government spends so much money on things that DON'T help people/create jobs, I would think that we could find X amount to help the unemployed. And, plus, the CBO now says that the debt and deficit are going to be far, far worse than we originally projected. Yes, Bunning is clearly being a hypocrite. But that doesn't mean that he's totally wrong here. Even a broke clock.....

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  9. Laura, even you over in Canada can see more clearly than these Republicans who think stalling things because of their own issues is more important than people who are trying to feed their starving families, thus is the Nature of the Beast. They do not care.

    Mrs. D, Rich Rebublican Representatives are not hampered by the poverty they create, as a result they will be as Obstructionist as they need to be to regain the White House. Their actions cause so many people to suffer and die...they are a shame to this country.

    Bee, well said. I like that analogy. They are effectively eliminating the middle class. They know that without a middle class, they and their Corporate elites will enjoy the control they had so long ago before we had a strong middle class.
    This is a plan that has been long in the making, Starting with Reagan. He knew that the Government protects it's Citizenry so he started a campaign to whittle down Government to a size that they could go around without being affected. The end result is that they want no taxes, thereby no operating funds, which they know will stifle the Government programs that are the support for a vibrant economy. That's why they call all Gov't programs Socialism...I'd like to see them do without Socialist programs like Schools, Postal Services, Police and Fire Departments.

    Oso,I think we are the last frontier in stopping those Repuglickers from destroying the country. Keep up the good fight bro.

    Will, we cannot stand idly by and watch these Repuglickers destroy the country...I know that they are trying to distract us with all sorts of issues which are not as urgent. They know that if we do not deficit spend we will not recover. When we have recovered then we can pay all our bills. It is like being without a job, you have to use your credit and run up debts just to eat and feed your family, you know that when you get a job, you will be able to pay off your debts. If you don't deficit spend, your family will starve and die, then even if a Fictitious God blesses you to win the lottery, it will not matter, because your family is already dead, so deficit spending is the only quick way out. We can't save money and watch the country starve and die.

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  10. The Republican leadership has nothing but contempt for working people; for anyone whose salary is under six figures. Jim Bunning's one-man filibuster made this more obvious than ever.

    The sooner Obama/Pelosi/Reid stop groping for "bipartisanship" -- it doesn't exist -- the sooner they can get past this constant Republican blockade. They need to treat it like a speed bump and run over it.

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  11. Teeluck, if deficit spending, in and of itself, was the answer, then we should clearly have the greatest economy in the history of western civilization ALREADY. We have a 13 TRILLION dollar debt (yes, the Republicans have contributed greatly to it) that is projected to nearly double if the current proposals are enacted. I mean, hell, we just might be looking at a bankruptcy here. It's time for BOTH parties to start acting like some grown-ups here.

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  12. Tom Harper, you are exactly right, I would also like to see them speed over the bumps of obstruction and get the job done. Bunning is the perfect reflection of the old Republican guard...

    Will, if spending alone would do it, then yes we would be the greatest economy, but alas that is only part of what is needed my friend. The barrel has many holes for Corporate interests through which all the rewards flow... We also need to have the mindset of being great as Americans, leading the world through much higher values than religious delusions or Corporate greed...not catalysts of criminal foreign policies and wars.
    Spiderman was told... with great power comes great responsibility... something the Repuglickers willingly choose to ignore in greater numbers than Dems.

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  13. Just for the record, Teeluck, I'm actually in favor of this legislation. I just think that we should at least try and pay for it; out of the TARP, out of waste in the stimulus, or, if you prefer, by raising taxes. This Bunning guy clearly is a dick, no question. I just think that somewhere in that long rambling of his, there was in fact a point or two.

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  14. Will you are right, we have to try to pay for it sometime, and as timing is everything I think we have to get out of the slump first and then pay for it with the profits we would realize from the recovery, if we use the resources to pay now, we will only be holding back on the speed of the recovery.

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  15. I agree we need to pay, but not now necessarily. I agree with Tee in that increasing taxes now may just add an additional burden on the already overburdened tax payers.

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  16. Why do you assume that these rich republicans love this country?

    Do they pay taxes?

    Do they serve in the military?

    They love power and if you really want to know what they think about this country and its citizens then study Paul Ryans proposal to balance the budget....

    Its the return of the Monarchy....

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  17. Tao, they do love this country, just as every pimp loves their whores, just as every husband likes the wife after she checks out of the Hospital and does not report him for busting up her face or aborting the baby when he kicked her in the stomach.... of course they love America, because they have the power to do what they like even though that means the country takes the hit.... Bushs' Presidency was a testament to this, I still maintain that he was the most successful Republican President in recent Presidencies... echoing the wishes of his party and his supporters...we have to look at the results of his tenure to see what Republican success means... unnecessary war, recession, foreclosures, the threat of a depression, the loss of schools, Fire and Police services, the loss of more jobs than anyone of us have seen in one lifetime, yes they love America... of course the Rich do not pay taxes by hiding their fortunes offshore and in secret foreign bank accounts...who wouldn't love that? Many of us won't if we see that it will be done at the expense of the country. Most don't serve in the military nor do they allow their kids to do so, that is something that suggests they love the freedoms that this country affords them...so yes they do love this country...just like Bernie Maddoff loved his friends and family members who invested in his funds.

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