So the Sequester is just another SCAM too?

[bvar22]

Have you noticed that NOBODY is responsible for cutting Social Programs these days? Through this latest clever scam, no politician must face the Home Voters and admit that they cut Meals-on-Wheels, Head Start, closed Libraries, or the myriad other "social" programs that help the Working Class & The Poor.
It is always "The Sequester" that is causing it.

When you think about it, this is BRILLIANT Political Strategy to lend Plausible Deniability for the cutting of Social Programs to everyone involved, Democrats and Republicans.

This is reminiscent of the Perfect Timing of the Great Wall Street Bailout.
This Extortion Scam was perfectly scheduled to occur during the change over of administrations.
The Republicans get to claim that Obama implemented it badly.
The Democrats get to insist that TARP was passed under Bush.
Nobody has to man up and take responsibility.
[font size=3]Plausible Deniability.[/font]

The Military and the White House have all the funds they need to start new Wars and Teach the Bad Guys a LESSON around the WORLD.
The Sequester doesn't seem to be slowing them down at all,
but, back home on Main Street, 99% are seeing cuts and more cuts every day that HURT real Americans, our most VULNERABLE Americans.


We didn't want it.
They say they didn't want it,
but HERE it IS:
[font size=3]"Its not MY fault.
The SEQUESTER did it"[/font]

They have gotten good at this game over the years.



You will know them by their [font size=3]WORKS.[/font]

[forestpath]

1. K&R

[dgibby]

2. They all have blood on their hands on this one. n/t

[leftstreet]

3. DURec

[tkmorris]

4. Of course it is

It always was. You'll notice that anything that happened to get swept into the sequester which the PTB find inconvenient to cut manages to get excepted out, or worked around in some way.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Can't cut defense, ya know.

And can't touch those oil depletion allowances.

From March--

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/03/01/1654501/oil-subsidies-century/

Automatic across-the-board budget cuts will take hold on Friday, affecting job growth, state education programs, environmental agencies, and women’s health programs. The sequester actually shares an important anniversary — with Big Oil tax breaks. It is not as well-known a date, but one type of deduction, the percentage depletion allowance, celebrates its 100-year anniversary today.

Depletion allowances let oil companies treat the oil in the ground as capital equipment, and thus allows them to write off a certain percentage for each barrel that comes out. (See more here.)

The year 1913 marked the first time a Big Oil subsidy was written into the tax code. The Revenue Act of 1913 allowed oil companies to write off 5 percent of the costs from oil and gas wells beginning March 1 of that year. (For reference, see pages 172-174 of the Act.) A century later, oil companies can now deduct three times this rate, at 15 percent, although the very largest companies no longer qualify. The percentage depletion subsidy also increases when prices are high, at the same time that oil companies enjoy greater profit. It can even eliminate all federal taxes for independent producers.

A Center for American Progress report estimated that closing this tax break would save $11.2 billion over 10 years.

[Hydra]

5. The Kabuki continues

As you say, you will know them by their works(and results)

The results are freakish.

[phantom power]

7. everybody hates congress, but 96% of incumbents get reelected

[Ed Suspicious]

41. Everybody hates congress but everybody loves their congressmen. As long as they're bringing home

pork, most people are happy with theirs. It's the other guys congressmen who suck the bag.

(Although I openly hate mine, so it isn't a hard and fast rule.)

[Brigid]

8. No wonder I take blood pressure meds.

[Dustlawyer]

9. I have been saying this for awhile, Republican & Democratic politicians are like the

Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals, playing a fake game for our entertainment while making money for the owners!

[Iliyah]

10. all the hoopla about Syria

Why can't we join together and do the same for this gawd awful sequester? S*** with all the effing howling going on here lets do the same and bring more attention to it because it is steadily screwing America.

But I see it easiler to be negative.

[bvar22]

11. The Economic REALITY of Life for the Working Class in the New American Century...

...has a Negative Bias.

[Iliyah]

14. Not in my reality

but I'll keep pushing for the middle class and the poor while you remain in the negative, ok.

[bvar22]

58. Well, continue to bury your head in the sand,

as long a YOUR reality is GOOD!

Older Workers:.Set Back by Recession, and Shut Out of Rebound
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/booming/for-laid-off-older-workers-age-bias-is-pervasive.html?smid=tw-share&_r=3&

40% Of Americans Now Make Less Than 1968 Minimum Wage
http://seeingtheforest.com/40-of-americans-now-make-less-than-1968-minimum-wage/

50% of Working Americans NOW make less than $27,000/Yr.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023308914

Daily CEO Pay Now Exceeds the Average Worker's Annual Salary –
http://thecontributor.com/daily-ceo-pay-now-exceeds-us-workers-annual-salary




76% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck
http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/24/pf/emergency-savings/index.html


New Rule (Passed by Congress and signed by President Obama) signals Kiss of Death for Pensions
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100694955


Corporate Profits Have Grown By 171 Percent Under Obama -- Highest Rate Since 1900
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/corporate-profits-have-grown-171-percent-under-obama-highest-rate-1900

Wealthy win lion's share of major tax breaks
http://www.boston.com/business/news/2013/05/29/wealthy-win-lion-share-major-tax-breaks/Ua0UyYle21EUXub7g1suCI/story.html

Half of America is in poverty, and its creeping toward 75%
http://www.alternet.org/economy/real-numbers-half-america-poverty-and-its-creeping-toward-75-0

Wealth gap widens as labor's share of income falls
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/wealth-gap-widens-labors-share-income-falls-1B6097385

As the Economy Recovers, the Wealth Gap Widens
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/rick-newman/2013/03/11/as-the-economy-recovers-the-wealth-gap-widens

Top One Percent Captured 121 Percent Of All Income Gains
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/top-one-percent-income-gains_n_2670455.html

Corporate Profits Hit Record High While Worker Wages Hit Record Low
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/12/03/1270541/corporate-profits-wages-record/?mobile=nc

These things ^ do NOT happen by accident.
You could be NEXT!

[Stinky The Clown]

12. Bravo!

[GoneFishin]

13. I felt like I was seeing a similar con during the single payer health care debate.

Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and BO seamed to be playing a game of musical pass-the-buck. From one week to the next, two would be very enthusiastic, while the third was cautious or pessimistic. They took turns playing the bad cop week after week, like a choreographed dance. They were all part of the scam, but no one really took the full heat.

[Iliyah]

16. You do realize that single payer can be a reality?

Was no scam with ACA, and its starting to work, and maybe in the near future single payer will happen unless a Goper gets in the WH and goper majority in congress and you can kiss ACA goodbye, but at least you guys will have more to bitch about.

[GoneFishin]

21. I think many of the features of ACA are fantastic.

But he gave away the Public Option before the discussions even began, and then pretended he didn't. He did not then, nor has he since, spent any political capital in the interest of the 99%. And, I am not talking about a few dog bones he has thrown us which had no monetary price tag. When it comes to money, the 1% get pretty much everything they want, and the 99% get pretty much nothing.

[Iliyah]

27. Pres O wanted ACA to pass

telling the American public that there will be additions to it in the future, i.e. single payer.

It would not have passed with it, simple fact.

[bluestate10]

29. The Public Option wasn't possible when the ACA was being debated. The ACA will erode

the ground from under republicans and cause more Americans to become positive toward a Public Option, making it more difficult for republicans to demonetize the Public Option.

[GoneFishin]

87. I hope you are right. One thing is for sure, the republicans all have loads in their pants

in anticipation of ACA kicking in fully and having the citizenry like it, and also realize what a pile of shit all the talk about death panels and the other manure was.

[bvar22]

17. There was a lot of Kabuki Theater around killling the Public Option.

Ultimately, "they" blamed the willing scapegoats of Joe Lieberman and Blanche Lincoln.

Scapegoat Lieberman had nothing to lose, and took one for TEAM DLC
in return for retaining his cushy Party privileges & perks in The Senate.

DINO Blanche Lincoln was well rewarded for playing The Witch Who Killed the Public Option.

White House rescues Lincoln's Failing campaign in the Arkansas Democratic Primary

"So what did the Democratic Party establishment do when a Senator who allegedly impedes their agenda faced a primary challenger who would be more supportive of that agenda? They engaged in full-scale efforts to support Blanche Lincoln. Bill Clinton traveled to Arkansas to urge loyal Democrats to vote for her, bashing liberal groups for good measure. Obama recorded an ad for Lincoln which, among other things, were used to tell African-American primary voters that they should vote for her because she works for their interests. The entire Party infrastructure lent its support and resources to Lincoln — a Senator who supposedly prevents Democrats from doing all sorts of Wonderful, Progressive Things which they so wish they could do but just don’t have the votes for.

<much more>

http://www.salon.com/2010/06/10/lincoln_6/

This Administration knows how to take care of their Team Players.

[GoneFishin]

22. +1000. Nice Salon excerpt. nt

[Iliyah]

23. I guess you thought it was a cake walk for ACA.

GOPers and Libertarians HATE Obamacare so you think helping single payer will be easy as well. I'm fighting for it as well join me please.

[bvar22]

63. Don't you wish the President & Party Leadership had fought as hard for a Public Option...

...as he is now fighting to get a New WAR going?
That would tell me something.

People tend to fight for what they want,
and the Democrats abandoned the field all through TeaBagger Summer
and let the Republicans frame the whole debate.

These guys are SMART.
Nothing happens by accident when BILLIONS of Taxpayer Dollars going to "private" corporations are involved.

You may like the new Privatized Mandatory Health Insurance,
but I prefer a Democratic Plan.

[Octafish]

82. Majorities in BOTH Houses plus a MANDATE, to boot.

Which is what the Democratic leadership did, boot it.

Thank you for another great OP and thread, bvar22!

[Flatulo]

15. Actually, there's no money for hundreds or thousands of cruise missiles. We'll have to

borrow it.

Anyone want to bet on whether we'll find the money somehow?

[tritsofme]

18. This really is conspiracy theory nonsense.

I don't dispute that the sequester provides a convenient excuse for politicians, but it is crazy to think this is part of some master plan. Or that the 2008 financial crisis was part of some conspiracy between the parties.

Sequester was the least bad option to end the 2011 debt ceiling crisis, nothing more. We all know President Obama has tried to reverse the cuts for years, only to be thwarted by Republicans.

[Iliyah]

20. Thank you!

[GoneFishin]

24. Nonsense. If he had called their bluff they would have been the bad guys

plain and simple. But with the sequester he has in essence agreed to take equal responsibility for the program cuts.

It was either stupid or deliberate. And I do not believe BO is stupid.

[tritsofme]

25. You are right he is not stupid. He knew the benefit

of Republicans being the "bad guys" was far outweighed by the very dire and permanent consequences of defaulting on our obligations.

He has the responsibility to lead and govern, not just score points.

[socialist_n_TN]

37. Actually I think he has the responsibility to not make things worse......

If that means doing nothing rather than taking a BAD deal, that's his responsibility. And EVERYBODY knew that the sequester was a BAD deal. They even framed it at the TIME as a bad deal. Something so bad that neither side would let it happen and would make a better deal to PREVENT it from happening. Of course, that didn't happen, so the bad deal went through.

[tritsofme]

39. Sequester is bad, but default is far worse, by many orders of maginitude.

Sequester is definitely dumb bad policy, as the president has pointed out multiple times. But when presented with this shit sandwich, he had no other good options. Republicans were willing to default. You make it sound like there were other options, there were not.

[socialist_n_TN]

40. I said at the time, let the default happen and see how long.........

it lasted. That would have been the time to break the Republicans if he wanted to break them. He didn't and he didn't.

[tritsofme]

44. A sovereign default by the US would have caused a new financial crisis.

We could have been thrown back into recession.

It's not the same as the sort of partial government shutdowns we saw in the 90s, the consequences would be immediate and permanent.

This is not a political game, default was never a realistic or reasonable option to the president.

[socialist_n_TN]

46. Bullshit. The consequences would NOT have been "...immediate and permanent.".........

There would have been weeks and maybe MONTHS before the consequences of a default would have been felt. And the "sequester" option would have always been there.

[tritsofme]

52. Well now you are left making the Republican argument from 2011, I'll leave you to it.

Defaulting on our obligations would lead to immediate and permanent consequences.

[socialist_n_TN]

56. Even a blind pig will find an acorn at times.....

It doesn't matter who makes the argument if the argument makes sense. I also agree with Rand Paul about the NSA and about Syrian intervention, but no, I'm not a RW libertarian either. I'm sure our reasons are different being that I'm coming from a Marxist perspective, but as Trotsky said, you can make a united front with the Devil himself if necessary to further the cause of the working class.

[bluestate10]

30. The far Left has it's theories. Let them wonder in dream land. nt

[socialist_n_TN]

32. Funny how the "far Left" is always proven correct in their theories......

It's happened so often there's even an adage about it now. "Those damn dirty hippies were right."

[fascisthunter]

34. everything from the right appears far left

fair is fair

[neverforget]

57. ha! excellent!

[rhett o rick]

77. If you arent the left, who are you? And plez share your theories. nm

[socialist_n_TN]

31. Call it a conspiracy or call it the system, but.........

the sequester was what the capitalist class wanted all along. They wanted austerity and they got it in the form of the sequester. AND they were able to call it something other THAN austerity since austerity has gotten such a deserved bad rap.

Now to get it passed they had to cut both domestically and the DOD equally, so they didn't get everything they wanted, at least not in the proportions they wanted, but they got austerity nonetheless. I figured that they planned on changing the proportions before the cuts to the capitalist enforcers bit too deep and put it ALL on the working class and poor. This war is probably part of the plan to restore the cuts to the military. Like I said, they got what they wanted which was a cut in government spending. It probably WAS a conspiracy in that it was laid out beforehand as a plan of attack, but I just call it capitalism.

I researched this and wrote an article about it for Workers Power. I think my analysis is pretty good on it.

[deutsey]

69. This goes all the way back to Reaganomics

and the effort to undo the New Deal. That's when the seeds were sown. Those seeds have grown and taken root over the past few decades and now we're reaping the bitter harvest.

[socialist_n_TN]

74. Yep. As a lot of us have noted, and not just the Classic Reds, but........

the left reformists among us, the capitalist class has been trying to unravel the New Deal since it's inception. But as I said, you can call it a conspiracy if you want, but I just call it capitalism.

[deutsey]

75. Yes...they tried to stage a coup in the '30s with Smedley Butler as their figurehead

but he had too much integrity and exposed the plot.

Not that anyone learned anything from it, unfortunately. Well, the capitalists did learn something, I suppose: choose your figureheads carefully (ala Reagan and G.W. Bush).

[AdHocSolver]

33. When the deck is stacked against you, it is foolish not to suspect a conspiracy.

The "debt ceiling crisis" is part of the conspiracy.

One doesn't have to witness the players getting together in secret to infer that a conspiracy is occurring.

When many of the players who might be expected to have some opposing interests work in lockstep in such a way that pretty much leads to a result that benefits all of them, then it is NOT foolish to suspect that they are working in collusion.

The culprits do not have to have met at midnight in a smoke filled room to work in collusion (although they may have). Such an action is not required

[tritsofme]

42. It really wasn't that complicated. The only players were the Republicans who took over the House

and held the nation hostage. The president had only two options, strike some sort of deal with crazed Tea Party House or preside over a national default.

Unless you think default was reasonable, there weren't any other options.

[socialist_n_TN]

43. A default would NOT have happened overnight......

There would have been weeks and maybe MONTHS to put pressure on the Teabaggers to come up with a deal. And the sequester deal would have ALWAYS been on the table as a fallback.

[tritsofme]

45. SS checks had to be cut barely a week after the BCA passed.

We were truly on the precipice, there was very little time.

[socialist_n_TN]

48. Social Security was not and never was a part of the budget..........

It's a separate system. The only reason to threaten to withhold SS checks would have been to pressure Congress.

[tritsofme]

50. If Treasury did not have the cash to make the payments

They could not go to the capital markets to get the funds. Payment prioritization was a Republican scam that was not practical.

[socialist_n_TN]

54. Cash flow would not be a problem for the US government....

Priority might be a problem, but the income from SS taxes alone would be enough to pay SS checks.

[tritsofme]

59. Revenue would only cover about 60% of expenses.

The choices would be stark and real.

[socialist_n_TN]

60. If that's the case then why is so much of the SS Trust Fund .......

STILL going into the general revenue fund in exchange for bonds? That one fact tells me that there is enough income from SS taxes to pay current SS obligations.

[AdHocSolver]

53. You are totally ignoring the influence of the one percent.

If a government default were inimical to the interests of the one percent, it would never happen.

Conversely, if a government default were beneficial to the interests of the one percent, it is going to happen.

Most of the Congress members are just taking care of the interests of the one percent. They are not acting independently to promote the interests of their constituents. They are just following the orders of their puppet masters.

[rhett o rick]

76. I think we are overusing the CT card. I dont think the OP means there is a "master plan"

between parties. We get into this discussion mess because we try to frame discussions using Democrats vs. Republicans. Good vs. Bad. This is inappropriate. We need to frame our discussions with the 1% vs. 99%. The 1% is certainly conspiring to gain wealth. That's what they do. It's easier for them to gain wealth by stealing it from the 99% than it is to build it or steal it from each other. The 2008 financial crisis was not an accident of nature. To think there wasnt conspiring going on is naive. The same holds true for the sequestration. More politicians work for the 1% than the 99%.

Thinking Democrats are good and Republicans are bad is a distraction from the real problem.

[spanone]

19. of course it happened under a DEMOCRATIC President!!!!

[MotherPetrie]

26. Funny how that works, huh?

[99th_Monkey]

28. K&R - Good post! nt

[Fantastic Anarchist]

35. Yes. K&R

[2naSalit]

36. DING DING DING!!

As Caribou Barbie would say, "You betcha!!"

[socialist_n_TN]

38. Sure it was a scam. The capitalists wanted austerity and they got it.....

The only thing they lost on was the proportions of the cuts. I'm sure they wanted it to fall ENTIRELY on the working class and the poor, but to get it passed they had to say they would cut the military too. I figure the owners thought they could worm their way around those military cuts by ginning up another war. Oh, wait...

[quakerboy]

47. When was it not?

The real answer here is... Did you vote for the sequester? If so, then these cuts are your doing, and the people harmed should be on your conscience.

If you didnt.. well, then i guess you are in the clear on this.

The sequester did not come into being on its own. There were a whole bunch of politicians who voted it into existence, knowing exactly what it would do.

[bvar22]

62. The Sequester is not really that simple.

There were a couple of rounds of 3-Card Monty and some Shell Game Misdirection involved.


They rigged this one up, but good.

In the summer of 2011, when Democrats and Republicans couldn’t agree on a way to cut spending in exchange for increasing the federal government’s borrowing limit, legislators settled on the Budget Control Act instead. The law capped federal discretionary spending to save almost $1.2 trillion over a 10-year period, but also mandated that a bipartisan, 12-person congressional committee find at least $1.5 trillion in additional cuts. If the committee failed to come up with a plan, another $1.2 trillion in cuts would occur automatically — half from defense spending and half from discretionary spending on domestic programs — through sequestration.

At the time this was deeply downplayed by the participants in BOTH The Democratic & Republican Parties as something that will NEVER happen. When questioned about the advisability of something this drastic, they haughtily discounted the concerns, and worked together to marginalize anybody who spoke up.
By then it was a Done Deal, but they needed the VideoBytes to Cover their Asses, and to maintain their Plausible Deniability.
"Who could have ever foreseen THIS".
"Its not MY fault!"

Meanwhile, Defense began working on ways to End Run, Trap Door, Scam, and target the Military Social Programs to bear most of the burden of the Sequester Cuts.

The automatic cuts were supposed to take effect in January, but the president and Congress agreed to delay them until March 1 to give themselves more time to work out a deal. Now, as the new deadline for sequestration draws closer, many Republicans blame the president. And though it’s true that the idea of sequestration originated in the White House, there would be no possibility of automatic cuts had members of Congress — both Democrats and Republicans — not gone along with the idea.

http://www.factcheck.org/2013/02/the-obamaquester/

This latest betrayal of the American Working Class & The Poor is a Bi-Partisan piece of work, and it is only going to get WORSE.


[font size=4]Its not MY fault.
The Sequester did it![/font]



You will know them by their [font size=3]WORKS.[/font]

[G_j]

88. //\\

[underpants]

49. It is affecting the poor but we don't talk about that poor

so for people watching TV news it doesn't even exist.

[liberal N proud]

51. There is always money for war

Feeding Americans, not so much!
Healthcare for Americans, not so much!
Infrastructure, not so much!

The militarily industrial complex has a death grip on American taxpayer through congress.

[Uncle Joe]

55. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, bvar.

[mick063]

61. It isn't just about voting

It is about educating people, gathering followers, appealing to both common sense and emotion.

This decade is our last chance to win back some semblance of representation before it spirals completely out of control.


No more status quo. Don't settle for mediocrity.

[Doctor_J]

64. Not going to happen unless Big Media is completely realigned

and I mean in a very enthusiastic and lasting way.

[mick063]

66. Media will pursue market.

There are all forms of media. Big, medium, and small. There are multiple television networks and multiple web sites. The 1960's strangulate hold of the big three, ABC, NBC, CBS isn't as "all encompassing" as it used to be. Because of diverse media, there is an increasing echo chamber due to people tuning in to "niche" media that reinforces their views. This explains the extreme gulf between political agendas as many people are not being exposed to alternate views. The biggest influence upon views, however, is daily life. People can discern when their personal life is not going well. For example, glowing job numbers don't mean much to the working poor. Spin can only work to a certain degree.

There is a relatively new form of media called social media. A media that in it's infancy, sparked Arab Spring and Occupy on a global scale. We have not fully realized the effect of social media yet, but government is obviously fearful of it's potential political power. Early evidence indicates that despite the huge volume of Super Pac money in political campaigns, there are examples of social media being up to the task in combating it rather effectively.

Media has reached the point of near sensory overload. There is early evidence that despite market saturation due to the huge volume of Citizens United induced money, a relatively broke candidate like Rick Santorum can defeat Mitt Romney in a few states where he is outspent at 100:1.

This is the information age and free speech is undergoing a Renaissance. Hence, a big push by political powers to get it under "control". We will see great effort in the near future to "contain" it.

It may take a few decades before we see the full effect of the information age and the efforts to control it. It will prove to be the next great political battlefield.

[gopiscrap]

65. No kidding the problem is that

too many in this nation are asleep at the wheel of their civic duty.

[workinclasszero]

67. Of course its a scam

We have billions and billions and billions of dollars to go to war in Syria.

So we also have the same amount for Meals-on-Wheels, Head Start, closed Libraries, etc.

[ymetca]

79. Secretary Kerry claims our partners in the Middle East will pay the cost

... so there! A cost-free military intervention, Q.E.D.

Why do I think this has to do with trying to burn down the Islamic form of banking that forbids usury?

[fujiyama]

68. I find it incredible that just a few months ago

people were crying about Pentagon contractors possibly not being paid due to sequestration and conveniently over the last week or two Raytheon's stock has shot up by X%.

[Doctor_J]

70. there were LOTS of us who knew that money would be found for the mic

but the austerity would be applied to the poor and sick at home. No surprise whatsoever

[woo me with science]

71. It really sucks when a nation of citizens

wakes up to realize they are really farm animals for profit.

Thank you, bvar22.

[rhett o rick]

78. It sucks worse when a nation doesnt wake up at all. Look at some of

the responses in this thread. And these are supposed to be politically liberal. Some dont care what happens to the 99%, even defend the actions, as long as the president is a Democrat.

[woo me with science]

81. Yes, it does...

But I think it's important to keep pointing out that there's lots of propaganda at DU. Lots and lots and lots of it. Like being in a cow pasture after a bean delivery. This is the same relentless, tiresome group as always, that incessantly attacks liberals and defends every corporate outrage imaginable. They are commercials, and DU knows it.

The nation is more united against this particular helping of neocon/neolib swill than they/we have been against any of the scams and outrages and assaults so far. Even NSA.

We always hear about the "critical mass" that will be needed to wake this country up and help people see what we are really fighting here, the real depth and entrenchment of the corruption even across party lines, and how important it will be for all Americans, regardless of party, to unite to stop it.

Coming on the heels of the NSA, I think this clusterfuck is opening more eyes. More and more eyes. My only comfort in this insanity is that it's a step toward critical mass.

[rhett o rick]

83. Yes I agree with the critical mass comment. And I dont think it can end good.

I tend to believe in the Elite Theory that claims all leaders are elite. The masses just need to get elites in power that are sympathetic to the masses. If not sympathetic, at least recognize that killing the masses will kill the goose.

[woo me with science]

85. I guess critical mass can be used in a lot of ways.

FDR accomplished a lot using critical mass. I both anticipate and fear the reaction of the elite to, say, an Elizabeth Warren candidacy. I don't think they are going to lie down easily even to critical mass that tries to work within the system. Their plans right now are ambitious and don't involve sympathy for the masses.

Maybe we need our own Trojan Horse candidate.

Someone who will tell the corporate funders everything they want to hear, make all the promises, run the fake grassroots campaign, but then once in office shock everyone by REALLY standing up for the 99 percent.

One can dream...a dream without a subsequent plane crash.

[CRH]

72. There is no political system in the world, ...

better at disguising perfidy than the US two party system of little alternate choice. With campaign finance laws and gerrymandering the house, career politicians keep the process impermeable to change. Add the corporate media to the mix and you end up with the hopeless cluster fuck that is, the US body politic, complete with its kick ass military stick.

[blkmusclmachine]

73. The Feds wouldn't LIE to us,

again.

[sabrina 1]

80. You are correct. They have gotten better at it, they pay Think Tanks enough money to perfect the

scam and it looks like they are getting their money's worth.

But we are learning also and there are more of us than of them, especially if we reject the old 'blue team, red team' game we've all been playing.

Their worst nightmare is that all the people will join forces against them and that is why we see so much of the rhetoric 'oh, so you're a Paulbot' etc. But it isn't working so well anymore, I notice and that's a good thing and a start on what will be a gargantuan job to restore this country to at least where it was a decade or so, which wasn't great, but then to start all over again restoring what they have stolen and wasted, hopefully out of their thieving pockets.

[iamthebandfanman]

84. Its all a SHAM

we aren't broke. we have never been broke.

we have plenty of funds for all our domestic programs AND a strike on Syria.. regardless of how many right wingers you've heard spreading the 'were broke! we have no money!' lie.


http://werenotbrokemovie.com/

[Not Sure]

86. You get a rec for this n/t

[CrispyQ]

89. Not unlike the bailout that occurred right at the 2008 changing of the guard.

I predict a repub president in 2016 & another bankster bailout.

I'm joking, I think.