When contemplating the ruthless brilliance of this system, it’s tempting to fall back on the theory that the GOP is masterminded by a cadre of sinister billionaires, deftly manipulating the political process for their own benefit. The billionaires do exist, and some do indeed attempt to influence the political process. The bizarre fiasco of campaign-finance reform has perversely empowered them to give unlimited funds anonymously to special entities that can spend limitlessly. (Thanks, Senator McCain! Nice job, Senator Feingold!) Yet, for the most part, these Republican billionaires are not acting cynically. They watch Fox News too, and they’re gripped by the same apocalyptic fears as the Republican base. In funding the tea-party movement, they are actually acting against their own longer-term interests, for it is the richest who have the most interest in political stability, which depends upon broad societal agreement that the existing distribution of rewards is fair and reasonable.posted by TheophileEscargot at 11:06 PM on November 20, 2011 [5 favorites]
Yet in the interests of avoiding false evenhandedness, it must be admitted: The party with a stronger charge on its zapper right now, the party struggling with more self-imposed obstacles to responsible governance, the party most in need of a course correction, is the Republican Party.posted by Jpfed at 6:06 AM on November 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury." - Alexander Tyler (in his 1770 book, Cycle of Democracy)So, a few generations into whatever Democracy..especially in relatively peaceful times.
Rather than workable solutions, my party is offering low taxes for the currently rich and high spending for the currently old, to be followed by who-knows-what and who-the-hell-cares. This isn’t conservatism; it’s a going-out-of-business sale for the baby-boom generation.may be overly simplistic (just like his "Axis of Evil" rhetoric), but also manages to very effectively cut to the core of the issue in a way that few have been able to. For all the outcry over Wall Street, there's been surprisingly little protest about the fact that the Baby Boomer generation appears to be extremely content to fuck over its children and grandchildren.
Here's my vote..BS. This crisis we're in has absolutely nothing to do with democracy being flawed, or with a "majority of voters" deciding to vote themselves largess, and instead has everything to do with a tiny economic ruling class deciding to tighten their control by dismantling the institutions of democracy and by themselves looting the public treasury. The public is remarkably sane in their management of the public treasury, compared to the "elites." Deploying antidemocratic rhetoric at this point in history, regardless of the pedigree of that rhetoric, is utterly wrongheaded.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury." - Alexander Tyler (in his 1770 book, Cycle of Democracy)
So, a few generations into whatever Democracy..especially in relatively peaceful times.
HENRY (VO)Baby boomer retirement plan in action. Glad to see some of them feel bad about the whole thing.
And, finally, when there's nothing
left, when you can't borrow another
buck from the bank or buy another
case of booze, you bust the joint out.
The pushback continues from the usual sources. We can group folks repeating the faux arguments into 3 distinct categories. Some of these reveal disturbing trends:posted by symbioid at 11:12 AM on November 21, 2011 [4 favorites]
1) The Cognitive Dissidents (my term for a those politically dissenting from reality); their brains simply will not allow them to see what disagrees with their ideology. This is a very real and unfortunate part of human nature;
2) The Political Manipulators, who cynically know what they peddle is nonsense, but nonetheless push the stuff because it is effective. These folks are more committed to their ideology than the good of the nation, and as such earn my disdain.
3) The Innumerates, the people who truly disrespect a legitimate process of looking at the data and making intelligent assessments. These innumerates — mathematical illiterates — seem to revel in their own ignorance; it si embarrassing.
The denying of reality has been an issue, from Galileo to Columbus to modern times. Reality always triumphs eventually, but there are very real costs to it occurring later versus sooner . . . (symbioid's emphasis)
They shout slogans like 'small government' and 'family values' then act however they damned well please.
If increases in government spending matter, then Mr. Bush is worse than any president in recent history. During his first four years in office -- a period during which his party controlled Congress -- he added a whopping $345 billion (in constant dollars) to the federal budget. The only other presidential term that comes close? Mr. Bush's second term. As of November 2008, he had added at least an additional $287 billion on top of that (and the months since then will add significantly to the bill).Spending Under President George W. Bush:
...President Bush increased government spending more than any of the six presidents preceding him, including LBJ.posted by kirkaracha at 12:42 PM on November 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
[...]
During his eight years in office, President Bush spent almost twice as much as his predecessor, President Clinton. Adjusted for inflation, in eight years, President Clinton increased the federal budget by 11 percent. In eight years, President Bush increased it by a whopping 104 percent.
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Be very scared. Sometimes I wish I had a bunker.
posted by dunkadunc at 9:40 PM on November 20, 2011 [1 favorite]