Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Boehner Demagogues the Failing Economy


by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

The GOP's most influential mouthpiece --John Boehner --has said that now is the time that the US government 'tighten' its belt' to show the people that the government 'gets it'. Boehner doesn't get it! And neither does his stupid party! The US economy is contracting and may slide off into another 'Great Depression'. Nevertheless, Boehner would push us off the cliff rather than allow a Democratic President a chance to undo eight years of GOP incompetence and criminality.
What’s insane about Boehner’s remark? He’s talking about the current economic crisis as if it were a harvest failure — as if we faced a shortage of goods, so that the more you consume the less is left for me. In reality — even most conservatives understand this, when they think about it — we’re in a world desperately short of demand. If you consume more, that’s GOOD for me, because it helps create jobs and raise incomes. It’s in my personal disinterest to have you tighten your belt — and that’s just as true if you’re “the government” as if you’re my neighbor.

Plus, who is “the government”? It’s basically us, you know — the government spends money providing services to the public. Demanding that the government tighten its belt means demanding that we, the taxpayers, get less of those services. Why is this a good thing, even aside from the state of the economy?

Again, this is what the leaders of a powerful, if minority, party think. Can this country be saved?

--Paul Krugman, Can America be Saved?
There is substance to the charge that Boehner is not as ignorant or as stupid as his statements seem to prove. The truth is --Boehner has no interest in 'fixing the economy' on Obama's watch. Boehner is not really against a bailout. He's against a bailout that might not enrich his base. He's against a 'Democratic' bailout that might succeed. He's against a bailout if his 'base' of robber barons is not enriched by it.

You can bet your ass that Boehner would jump through hoops to take credit for a bailout if it should enrich his already rich base. You can bet your ass that whatever bailout Boehner supports would transfer several billions out of the economy and into numbered accounts offshore, out of the hands of Democrats who might have put that money to much, much better use as Democrats, in fact, did on Clinton's watch.

It doesn't matter to Boehner that Obama inherited the crash that was well-underway on Bush's watch. It doesn't matter to Boehner that Bush's bailouts were a last desperate payoff to those who 'brung 'im'. It doesn't matter to Boehner that GOP policies have both caused and exacerbated a crash that is well underway --that of Bush and the GOP!

It only matters to Boehner that the GOP figure out a way to pin the rap on Obama, just as Bushie Reaganheads tried to blame Clinton for twelve long years in which Reagan and Bush looted the nation and shipped the booty up to the 'base', offshore to havens, overseas to potential enemies and to the MIC which has apparently guaranteed that the US will have no shortage of enemies and real 'terrorists' many of which are inexplicably financed with US monies. One wonders --how do they get it? By way of the CIA, perhaps! How about we finance this bailout by taking it out of the CIA's ass? But --I digress.

Boehner, who has 'Presidential' ambitions, would love to pin the blame for a major crash on the current Democratic administration. Boehner is positioning himself for a run at the White House. There is a name for this: demagoguery!

Expect more lies from a party that has never 'gotten it', a party of the evil and the stupid. The stupid may really believe that tax cuts which benefit only the very, very rich will trickle down and stimulate the economy. The evil among them know better but exploit the fairy tale in order to enrich themselves and their base as they impoverish everyone else. Of what use are stupid, evil games of blame and brinkmanship when the US economy is owned by the Chinese? We should unite in order to get back our economy.

It doesn't matter what party occupies the White House if the policies which destroy the US are those of the GOP, the stupid and/or evil Boehner or the mavens of tax cuts which got us here? Typically, the GOP is trying to 'frame' the debate as a dichotomy between 'bailout Democrats' and a 'fiscally responsible GOP'. This position is disingenuous, a deliberate focus-group approved 'frame'. The first 'bailouts' were GOP. Not surprisingly --they failed! 'Frame' that!

The real issue is the fact that it was the criminality of the GOP that is responsible for the transfer of wealth upward to the nation's elite --a mere one percent of the total population. The mechanism by which the GOP effected this transfer of wealth upward is known to anyone with two working brain cells. Tax cuts! It was Reagan's tax cut of 1982 that began the trend which 1) made the very rich, much, much richer; and 2) resulted in a transfer of billions to offshore tax havens where they are not taxed and not invested in new jobs or industries or, in fact, in any way that benefits the US economy. This is not a matter for debate. The stats are beyond spin and 'interpretation'. They are a dispassionate data-base, a record of wealth transfers to the wealthiest one percent. 'Tax cuts' are how the GOP 'money launders' its payoff to 'the base'.

Republicans expect you to believe that bailouts are immoral or un-American. But that's only because it is not 'their' man proposing it. Even if the tax cut should benefit only the incompetent 'Wall Street' crowd responsible, the GOP could not be expected to cheer the man Rush Limbaugh has said he would like to see fail!

On another front, the GOP media has tried to blame homeowners for taking out loans they could not afford. But what about those who took out loans that they could afford? When they had jobs. Jobs that had not yet fallen victim to Bush/GOP/Reaganomics. Most homes are lost because of lost jobs and depressed property values. In other words: gop-o-nomics! Like the 'good' gopper he is, Boenher blames the victim. Can you say 'Heil Boenher'?

Bad loans are the fault of the incompetent and/or greedy bankers who made them. An expanding economy covers many sins. But as the economy begins to fail, the GOP can be expected to find a scapegoat. It's the Nazi way.

Boehner, therefore, is only doing his job on the behalf of a crooked party. He will blame Obama, the Democrats, and the millions who will lose their jobs and homes. The GOP --we are expected to believe --is without sin. If that is so, then let's nail them to a tree. Make them live up to the charade. We shall soon see how they enjoy playing the 'savior' they have never been and never will be.

That applies as well to the Military/Industrial complex whose accounting experts you can be sure calculated a dollar value for each Iraqi death.

Evil is screwing workers of their jobs and growing families of their homes. Evil is correlating your profits with Iraqi deaths. Evil is blaming the opposition for all of the above.

A great blessing would befall humankind if the GOP --as a class --choked on its stock mantra: 'big government'. It was Ronald Reagan who tripled the deficit and doubled the Federal Bureaucracy. It is the GOP that bankrupted the nation with reckless spending programs most of which wound up offshore or in a Chinaman's pocket. The soundtrack for all this has been Fox and Limbaugh --the two best arguments for the restoration of the Fairness Doctrine, limitations on corporate ownership of media, a bust up of Clear Channel et al!

Where was Boehner's big mouth when Bush, the War Criminal, was playing the bailout game to ENRICH his cronies, a last desperate grab, a 'kiss before dying'!??


The GOP has been 'short selling' the entire economy but just enough to enrich their cronies short of total collapse. Now that total collapse is here, they have resorted to the oldest, the most worn out tactic of them all. Blame the Democrats! Blame the liberals! Blame the media! Blame the fates! Blame everyone but your own crooked party!

This is a very dangerous game of 'chicken' and if the GOP should continue to play it, everyone falls off the cliff. If you should find yourself falling off that cliff, do the patriotic thing: grab as many lying, goddamned goppers as you can find! Take them with you. I will try to do the same.

Subscribe

Subscribe

Download DivX

Add to Technorati Favorites

Spread the word

yahoo icerocket pubsub newsvine

14 comments:

dougdrenkow said...

Although I guess it falls into the "misery loves company" category, I'm glad that someone else is furious over the unrelenting efforts by the GOP leadership (Let's hope that more than three of their senators owe more loyalty to the country than the party in the coming rounds of voting) to make good on Rush Limbaugh's nauseating desire to see Obama -- and thus our nation -- fail.

You know, though, when you step back from things a bit -- which is very tough to do since we're all in this boat together (a fact that the GOP leadership always fails to grasp, in their myopic me-first-last-and-always world view) -- it becomes apparent that there are some folks, many of whom we've never even heard of (Money can buy privacy as well as power), who are quite happy with the way things are: In the "game of life" they feel they have "won" -- they've already got almost all the money on the table, so why "play" any more?

But don't they need the rest of us, to do all the work that keeps society working? I mean, who's going to produce the products and deliver the services that they, in excess of their numbers, consume?

Well, haven't they got the rest of us right where they want us: The higher the unemployment, the lower the wages and benefits and, well, power of the working people. It's just a matter of supply and demand.

There is one fly in that ointment, though. And it's what propelled Mr. Obama into the Oval Office as much as his God-given gift of oratory, which he uses to such good effect for such good purposes: The power of the people, united -- greater than any force on Earth.

When the history of this era is written, I'm certain it will show that the Internet -- which created the unstoppable wave upon which the Hawaiian Obama surfed into the White House -- is the most democratizing force in history.

As long as we "unwashed masses" don't fight amongst ourselves -- which, of course, those short-sighted, greedy few and their political hacks always try to foment -- then we the people shall continue to make a more perfect union, to the benefit of us all (including the rich, invested in the companies that we patronize).

Onward!

Anonymous said...

Although I love your blog, I'm pretty disappointed to see that, in using an image from www.oldamericancentury.org, you ignored the one request of the sites owner in regards to using his images. That being that you not edit it - in this case you removed the web address from the bottom.

Come on now, Len... let's give credit where it's due. I'm sure this was just an oversight, and you'll remedy the situation quickly.

Anonymous said...

well, I just checked the image properties, and I've made a mistake. Len Hart didn't edit the image, he just borrowed an image from lewrockwell.com that had been edited, so he didn't have the opportunity to view the anti-editing request from oldamericancentury.org.

My bad.

My request that you use the non-edited image still stands though, as whoever posted this one over at lewrockwell was commiting intellectual property theft.

Here's a link to the original:
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/fasc_notus_prima_small5.jpg

Anonymous said...

Fuzzflash sez...

Say Seuss, you're obviously not a believer in sharing ideas and I profoundly respect your stance to be proprietorial about an image over which you claim ownership.

So would you eat an apple that grew on a tree which sprouted from germinal cells "misappropriated" by Johnny Appleseed?

Commies are an existential problem in cyberspace alright. The bastards can ne'er be trusted. All they do is rage against the machine and generally stir up trouble! These people have no respect whatsoever for "intellectual entrepreneurs" like your good self, Seuss, who seek either commercial advantage or at the very least, a doffed forelock.

How these looters and pillagers of ideas and images owned by others manage to show their face around the inter-tubes is a source of perpetual bewilderment to me and to all who justly claim that the quest for truth can always be calibrated commercially.

Shame on you, Mistah Cowboy!

You a berry nordy man!!

Anonymous said...

Look the looting still continues with the Democrats the bankers are still getting billions of dollars, trillions of dollars and doing god only know what with it.

Not much has changed. What the government needs to do is nationalize the banks.

Mr. Nourie predicts if Obama does not do this we are heading for a major depression.

Then we need to get rid of the Federal Reserve.

At this point then I would say there had been change by President obama.

Diane b

Unknown said...

Doug sez...

they've [GOP] already got almost all the money on the table, so why "play" any more?

That's a problem for 'them'. I have yet to see anything that will keep the GOPs elite case from being the sole beneficiaries of even an Obama bailout. 90 percent of this will wind up in an offshore tax haven. And the GOP will will --of course --blame the Democrats.

But the GOP has their own problem. Should another bailout likewise find itself offshore, the GOP will have killed the goose the laid golden eggs. The US eocnomy will collapse.

This will be worse that the Great Depression --as I have warned. At the end of the Great Depression, the US RESUMED making cars and refrigerators.

Someone --please tell me: WHAT do we produce now that China, Japan or India cannot produce more cheaply and distribute more widely?

Should the US fall off that cliff, I can't see anything that will break the fall.

Unknown said...

As for the credit ...I did not edit the image and would have been happy to have posted the credit. Trouble is --there wasn't one. I can assure you, if I were going to go to the trouble of photoshopping an image in order to remove a credit, I would just create an original collage of my own.

Anonymous said...

Len, there is little that will break the fall, you are right on that! But, I believe President Obama must not approve these bailouts. If he does they will blame the Democratic leader because he is at the helm.

Unknown said...

Anonymous said...

Len, there is little that will break the fall, you are right on that! But, I believe President Obama must not approve these bailouts.

Obama should let the banks go bust and bailout the people. I had hoped that Obama had read Keynes.

The total estimated cost of the bailouts is now up to 8.6 TRILLION BUCKS.

That money in the hands of Wall St et al will evaporate and leave the people penniless and worse --hopeless.

That money in the hands of the people just might be the seed from which a NEW ECONOMY might grow.

The lesson of history is that no one learns the lessons of history. A cursory read of Gibbon or, better, the original sources of Suetonius, Tacitus, Pliny et al are revealing. It is the story of how THE CREATION OF AN ELITE CLASS utterly destroyed the great empire the world had ever seen.

Alas --at this point, it may very well be too late! And human nature being what it is, Obama will blamed DESPITE the fact that THIS COLLAPSE began with the rise of Ronald Reagan to the White House.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry I reacted too quickly, without checking the image properties... When I realized I immediately posted a retraction. My ire was raised slightly because this image is routinely pirated, and it belongs to a man (not me) who does great work and his liberal news site and discussion forum continues to exist simply through his own personal investment and donations of those who value it as a resource. All the gallery images are up for the taking, without editing, simply to raise awareness of the site. It's not a bustling business, and the artist isn't exactly rolling in cash, so, although I understand the sentiments of Mr. Fuzzflash, I have to ask if you'd feel good about copying and re-distributing a film by a starving independent film-maker without giving something back?

To Len - My apologies. I love your writing, and appreciate your blog. I just spouted off too quickly without checking the source. I appreciate you changing the graphic, (once again, it's not mine, nor was my comment endorsed or suggested by the artist.) It's a shame that due to my rashness, I didn't frame the issue better. If you want the original image in its full size, it's available here:
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/fasc_notus_prima.jpg

I'm sorry my if tone caused any insult.

Anonymous said...

We should band together in the sharing of ideas, but we should also strive to assure that those capable of creating dramatic change in stagnant government should be recognized for their achievement in order to grow the influence of those worthy of the recognition. In a day, time, and place where the chairman of the RNC is seen as a bumbling buffoon, and Rush Limbaugh is seen as the de-facto leader of the Re-pube-lickin' party, sharing both credit and responsibility is they key to removing all undue influence. Re-building a broken economic system that values loyalty over innovation requires the recognition of those who innovate, in any field.

Anonymous said...

Sez Fuzz...


Sez seuss:

"I understand the sentiments of Mr. Fuzzflash, I have to ask if you'd feel good about copying and re-distributing a film by a starving independent film-maker without giving something back?"

seuss, a film reefed from the clutches of a starving indy and released globally without credit or remuneration is a "different breed of cattle" than using a single image as a header for a blog post about establishment demagogues.


But thanks for your considered reply. Linux-style cyber socialism has always been worth sharing, imho. Billy Gates started off that way too, then he saw a chance to turn a mega-buck....so he took it. Good luck to him. One helluva guy, that Billy!

Like the kid (with the fiesty mom) who attended Harper Valley High, guess I'm "just a little bit different" in this instance by seeing the world more sharey-feelingly than commercially.


Anyhow, seuss, as dougdrenkow sez...

"As long as we "unwashed masses" don't fight amongst ourselves -- which, of course, those short-sighted, greedy few and their political hacks always try to foment..."

La Cause, mon ami, plutot que le buck, n'est-ce pas?

Unknown said...

seuss sez...

I'm sorry my if tone caused any insult.

Don't sweat the small stuff.

You're always welcome here. The problem you refer to is something that folk who use the internet should work out. Admittedly, I assume (wrongly, it appears) that the image had been originally posted to be shared.

One of the best solutions was arrived at independently by The Wizard of Whimsy, Robert Dente --an exceptionally talented fine artist. [See: Wizard of Whimsy] Dente also does BRILLIANT political 'toons, puts his unmistakable logo on them and ENCOURAGES bloggers to 'steal' them. Links back to his site are encouraged and appreciated.

He gets the free pub and the blogger gets a GREAT and, often, sardonic 'toon! A win-win deal.

SadButTrue said...

The proprietor at Old American Century is one of the good guys, and I used to visit his site daily - it was one of the best news aggregators out there. Then he ran for state senator in (?)Wisconsin(?) and I fell out of the habit. He has TONS of terrific graphics critical of the Bush administration and conservatives in general, and WANTS people to use them. And I'm pretty sure he'd agree with the 'don't sweat the small stuff' meme.