A radical ideology comes into sharper focus

[KamaAina]

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/radical-ideology-comes-sharper-focus

In last night’s debate in Iowa, Senate hopeful Joni Ernst (R) made two observations that connect in an important way. The right-wing state senator argued in support of a constitutional amendment that would require a balanced federal budget, before adding that she wouldn’t raise any tax under any circumstance.

Whether the Republican Senate hopeful understands this or not, the practical implications of these two positions are extraordinary: Ernst would effectively be required, under her own misguided constitutional mandate, to dismantle most of the federal government....

Though the far-right Iowan wasn’t quite as explicit as Mitt Romney was in his infamous “47 percent” video, the parallels matter. Ernst, in Romney-esque terms, complains that “a generation” of Americans “rely on the government to provide absolutely everything for them.” She vows to rectify this in a “very painful” way, presumably with the most acute pain imposed on those who can afford the least.

It is the very height of anti-populism – the Republican U.S. Senate candidate is convinced that families already struggling to get by simply have it too easy, with the public sector lavishing expansive benefits on them. For those who are just barely keeping their heads above water, relying on America’s safety net to survive, the right-wing Iowan has a bleak and punitive message to offer: you’ve had it too easy for too long, and Joni Ernst has a “very painful” future in store.

And the Libertarian candidate just died in a small plane crash, throwing Mrs. Scrooge the few percent of votes that might get her in the Senate.

[valerief]

1. Why is she allowed to breathe? nt

[woo me with science]

2. The corporate Republicans must be batshit crazy

in order for the corporate Democrats to continue moving rightward.

All part of the con.

[hifiguy]

4. Bingo.

Today's Democratic Party is slightly to the right of where moderate Repubs were in the pre-Raygun era. Tricky Dick Nixon proposed something not a long way from the ACA back in the 1970s and today it's considered communism. Even the Trickster would be surprised by that.

[woo me with science]

5. Excellent, excellent point.

He was the father of the whole corporate insurance/HMO thing, wasn't he.

It's a fabulous con.

They've had a good run with it, all based on the constantly propagandized memory that only the other side does such terrible things.

People want to believe that corporations have emotional attachments and loyalties to one party, just like the masses are taught to do.

It's still heresy to suggest that the corporatists' first loyalty might be not to party, but to continuation of the corporate agenda that enriches them, and that they now happily use *both* parties to that end.

[jwirr]

3. If she is elected I hope I can get my disabled brother and sister-in-law out of Iowa. She is the

greediest person who has ever run for Senate from Iowa. Teabagger.